Apple Interactive Project - Bibliography

These are documents I have either referenced, directly quoted or influenced me in this project:

Books:

Saffer, D (2009) Designing for interaction: Creating Innovative Applications. New

Riders; 2 edition (27 Aug 2009)

Bondo, J (2009) iPhone User Interface Design Projects. Apress; 1 edition

(December 1, 2009)

Websites:

Apple Inc. (2010) iPod touch Specifications. Available from:

http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/specs.html

[Accessed 15^th November 2010]

Apple Inc.(2010) iPhone Specifications. Available from:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/specs.html

[Accessed 15^th November 2010]

Apple Inc. (2010) iPad Specifications. Available from:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

[Accessed 15^th November 2010]

‘Junso’ (2010) Why indies need to pay attention when someone says that the market is dead,crowded or saturated. Games Producer Blog. Available from:

http://www.gameproducer.net/2010/06/15/indies-need-to-pay-attention-when-somebody-says-insert-platform-here-market-is-deadcrowdedsaturated/ [accessed 1^st November 2010]

Shiels, Maggie (2009) Apps to be as big as internet. BBC News. Available from:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8157043.stm

[Accessed 17^th November 2010]

(2010) iPad- the next essential handheld? Games TM magazine. Available from:

http://www.gamestm.co.uk/features/ipad-the-next-essential-handheld/

[Accessed 17^th November 2010]

Wikipedia (2010) App Store. Available from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store

[Accessed 17^th November 2010]

-Play (2010) MotoGP 2010 App. Available from:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/motogp-2010/id381301564?mt=8#

[Accessed 5^th November 2010]

Backflip Studios (2010) Tunnel Shoot Pro App. Available from:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tunnel-shoot-pro/id376449570?mt=8

[Accessed 5^th November]

Apple Inc. (2010) iPod touch Specifications Jpg. Available from:

http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/specs.html

[Accessed 24^th November 2010]

Apple Inc.(2010) iPhone Specifications Jpg. Available from:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/specs.html

[Accessed 24^th November 2010]

 Images

(Date Unavailable) iPhone image

http:// www.modernmom.com/media/hottopics/Iphone.jpg

[Accessed 21^st November 2010]

Apple Inc. (2010) iPad Specifications Jpg. Available from:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

[Accessed 24^th November 2010]

(Date Unavailable) Alligator Image. Available from:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Alligator.jpg

[Accessed 10 November 2010]

(Date Unavailable) Black Widow Spider image. Available from:

http://www.spyderwood.com/images/Spiders/JSC%25209911%2520Black%2520Widow%2520belly%25202.jpg

[Accessed 10 November 2010]

Sollfors, Stefan (2010) Spider Eyes. Available from:

http://www.eurospiders.com/spider_eyes.jpg

[Accessed 10^th November 2010]

Backflip Studios (2010) Tunnel Shoot Pro App Screenshots. Available from:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tunnel-shoot-pro/id376449570?mt=8

[Accessed 5^th November]

Videos

HowToiPhone (2008) CubeRunner Game - iPhone & iPod Touch 2.0 3G - cool game (Free App) Available from: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvWj3Y4N1f8&feature=channel>

 [Accessed 29^th October 2010]

Julianlhj(2010) MotoGP 2010 Trailer and Download. Available from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_txyvB_UmU

[Accessed 5^th November 2010]

Flush Racing - Summary

Now that the project is in the closing stages I thought it would be appropriate to try to summarise my app as it would be on the App store:

Flush Racing

Full Accelerometer Controls: Flush will push you and your iPhone to the limit with fully integrated Accelerometer navigation

High speed gameplay: Fast bikes but even faster dangers! Obstacles will come thick and fast to stop you completing the race.

5 unique racers – each with their own special ability:

Elaina Raine: A former cop now taking part in the underground racing league known as ‘Flush’.

Special Ability: Last gasp speed (at third stage damage can move at stage 3 speed)

Starter Racer

Simon ‘Spider’ Seven: Modelling both himself and his bike off a spider, this 4 time Flush champion is aiming for his 5^th. Are there any contenders that can stop him?

Special Ability: Web Coating (invulnerable from track obstacles for 20 seconds)

Starter Racer

‘The Alligator’: a former engineer and race hand turned racer this year. But something dark lingers inside him.

Special Ability: Hard Shell (a tough armour plate on his back means he has four lives instead of three)

Unlocked when beaten in story mode

Natalie ‘Goldie’ Finn: a daredevil acrobat turned racer

Special Ability: Gold Rush (All time trial clocks turn gold for a certain period of time)

Unlocked when you beat the ‘gold’ time on two time trials

On: this mysterious girl appeared at the track one day without a bike and came away a champion. Just who is she?

Special Ability: True Speed, True Risk (immediately begins the race with no lives and at ‘3^rd’ level shed)

Unlocked in Special stage when you have completed all of the characters Story Modes.

Three Modes of Play:

Story Mode: Progress though each characters stages at the 10^th Flush tournament

Time Trial Mode: Think you can beat the tracks in the quickest time? After each race is completed you can post your score on the online leader boards and through Facebook

(Online)Elimination Mode: Can you outlive your opponent on the track?

No Risk, No Reward gameplay: to have that extra edge over the opponents why not shed your bike parts? Simple? Not when those parts are your lifeline!

Drive, Jump and Escape: Think racing games are simple? Not when you might be racing one moment and escaping fast oncoming water the next!

Screenshots:

Finished Bike Sprites - Raine

This is a compilation of all of Raines Bike Sprites. It includes all three stages of Shedding as well as the 'full damage' sprite

Obstacle Design

Track obstacles

Today I designed some obstacles for my track, considering the early mind map to inspire me.

Column: The design didn’t really fit the colour scheme of the track too well, but then again this is what I had planned as the game is very fast paced so the obstacles need to stand out from the rest of the track, else the player will feel aggrieved if they do not notice it. Many games make use of using bright but out of place colours in map or track design, EA’s Mirrors Edge being the most obvious example.

As for the columns actual value and placement within the game, I would say that it is likely to be the most common form of barrier or pitfall the player could face in a track.

Hole: Designing the Hole was difficult and definitely had to be tailored purely for that track. This was because just a simple black square wouldn’t have sufficed as in other track designs it might look out of place. I was impressed with the final look of the hole, but again another issue had arisen, not from lack of specialisation to the track, but from it. I designed the hole from a certain perspective. As the cylinder is moved as are the track obstacles and there lies the problem. Should the cylinder move then surely the perspective is changed. This would be something that would have to be addressed in the design of the game (Solution: multiple ‘Hole’ designs varying on placement on the track. Or if the game is run using 3D graphics then perspective will undoubtedly fit as the 3D cylindrical model is moved).

Nevertheless the Hole demonstrated the game pitfall well enough for the concept and clearly conveys how it would look in game.

Energy Ball: The energy ball oddly enough was born through my design document construction. At the time I was constructing my ‘mind map’ page and was reading through all of the areas again. Then the item Tennis Ball was mentioned in Character design. This made me think about the attributes of the ball (first my idea was to have it as a bouncing object) but the  I considered how fast one can move when hit and combined that with my futuristic theme. From that the energy ball was born.

I was both happy with how the Energy ball looked and how it would potentially run in the game. As an object it is the easiest to see. But as it moves towards the player by itself on top of the players own movement it then poses both an obvious but quick threat to the player. It could be common or rare, likely depending on the track or story stage. Nevertheless even now I can see it tripping up many a player of the app (especially overconfident Shedders).

Propeller: the propeller would be the only game asset to potentially ‘hang’ on screen. When a player encounters it they first have to avoid its initial approach and then the subsequent cycle (s). This would add extra difficulty as if would force players onto a particular segment of track. While I wasn’t entirely happy with how the end result looked, it demonstrated the point well, and if I have time this is another game asset of which I would like to have a chance to create a second concept of.

Pipes: The pipes are yet another simple and common pitfall the player may face. There is one twist to them – in that they are not directly horizontal across screen but are more diagonal. This means that it forces the player not to move back to that same spot and can act as a measure to prevent ‘camping’ on one area of the track for too long.

In addition to the pitfalls, I also designed two positive track assets, Time trial clocks and Speed Pads. Both of these assets were born to add yet another possible level to the Time Trial mode. The clocks have three variants – gold, red and blue. The gold clocks are the rarest, and offer a large deduction from the players overall time. They will be placed in ‘difficult’ spots for players to get to, so there will be a risk’ reward element to play. The orange clocks are the opposite (easy to get to, common). By doing this more experienced players will push themselves to the limits to reach top times.

The reason I included speed pads was as oddly both a positive and a negative asset. Players who are moving slowly will welcome the boost in speed (and will likely improve their score). Players who are moving at insane speeds will hit the speed pads and reach the speed of their next ‘shed’ for a few moments. Players already fully shed can hit even higher speeds but this is at a great risk. I think it adds this nice level of almost oxymoronic value to the speed pads. On one hand, increased speed = great, on the other increased speed = objects come quicker at player. It was this kind of methodology that made the miscalculation cards in the board game project

Games TM article on the Ipad

Recently I was told about a really interesting article in the magazine ‘Games Tm’, which discussed the potential of the iPad in the gaming Market.  As a device for developers to create something for low budget, the App store has become a clear revolution, at least in early stages.

Opening in July 2008, the App store has since flourished – today offering over 300 thousand third party apps and over 7 billion downloads. This of course has led to many other companies imitating Apple to create their very own ‘App’ system. But yet, due to the unique accelerometer and touch screen features, App design for the Apple platform seems to be the most innovative route – at least this point is argued by the Games Tm article. The emergence of the iPad has further caused discussion over whether or not the platform could be adopted as purely a games console to rival the substantial success of the Nintendo Ds and PlayStation portable. Early signs it seems make this idea seem unlikely: 

Of the 300,000 people who bought iPads on the first day of sale in the US, Aaron Yeung, associate producer on Geometry Wars Touch, estimates that only around 10-15 per cent fall into the ‘hardcore gamer’ category, and that the rest were early adopters, “more interested in the gadget/tech side than the games.” (Games Tm page 2)
Furthermore unlike conventional systems, the IPad is not likely to boast exclusives titles that are not there simply due to the visual restraints of the iPhone/ iPod Touch;
 “It’s not a huge amount of work to port an iPad application to the iPhone, and, at least for now, that’s where all the users are,” he claims. “Maybe we’ll see applications coming out for one device or the other first, but we feel that ultimately, unless the hardware platforms diverge significantly in subsequent revisions, we’ll see very few iPad-only games that do so for a reason other than that they wouldn’t work on the smaller screens…” (Games Tm page 2)
But conversely, some developers will see the iPad as a portal to creating a larger more immersive experience. Travis Boatman, Vice president at EA Mobile stated in the article that:
“The much larger screen does two things. First, the touch interface becomes larger since they are one and the same. With more places to touch, the player has more options for interaction. So designers can do more to make games interactive. The second part of that is the larger display, which offers more visual information to users. In some games you’ll be able to see more of the world. It’s a larger, more captivating experience. Need For Speed Shift offers a good example. With the larger screen only a couple inches away from your face, you’re completely immersed in the racing experience.”
“The fundamental difference between the iPhone and iPad”, Boatman continues, “is that the iPhone is not a destination device. It is always with you. The iPad, because of its size, is more like a laptop, so it’s something you choose to take with you. Games for the iPad are and will continue to be more about playing for a longer period of time for a far more immersive experience.” (Games tm Page 3)

Having been reading iPhone User Interface Design Projects, much of the emphasis was on perfectly tailoring a game/ App for the screen size so it this is a valid point. However, one issue that plagues all current App platforms is the cataloguing system. Currently the App store offers hyperlinks to various other forms of Apps, however there is no internal ordering system. Users must know the title of exactly what they want. If not then they are presented with numerous different Apps – none of which have any kind of preview system.

Meanwhile Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation, said he was not sure the consumer or the industry needed any more application stores.

"The App Store is flawed - right now [it] is just a bucket of apps. You need to get beyond that bucket and give the consumer the opportunity to wander down a really relevant aisle of content and applications that they can get access to.

"When this problem is solved, the type of application you will see will be about more than an iBeer drinking app or a candle that flickers in different colours.

"The type of application you will see will help enrich your life in some way. It will let you do your image sharing, your social networking and establish presence with your friends, colleagues and family in completely new ways - which is really what mobile applications are all about," said Mr Williams. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8157043.stm, M Shiels)

“It is very difficult to find anything that you don’t know the name of and are specifically looking for, or isn’t featured,” says Yeung. “We think it will have to be improved greatly to become a more dedicated gaming delivery service. Having said that, we’re sure that over time it will change to accommodate games more… we’d hope so, anyway.” (Games tm page 4)

My own viewpoint of the iPad as a machine build purely for the playing of games is actually simple. While the large screen size, touchscreen and Accelerometer features mean that the iPad is Innovative, many buyers can obtain both an iPhone and a traditional gaming console for the price of the iPad. Furthermore the iPad is of a large size and even gamers will not want to have to manipulate an object of that size and cost in the public domain. Coupled with the current issues on the App store, I feel it is going to be very difficult to match the success of more user friendly consoles.  It is these facts that have personally put me off aiming my Application solely at the iPad. And Aaron Yeung, shares this viewpoint:

Does Apple really have the right device to torpedo the traditional games market, though? Yeung, whose studio has also produced Geometry Wars games for Wii and DS, is sceptical. “Absolutely not!” he exclaims. “There are many reasons why. First, it is too big to be considered a truly portable gaming device. Second is price; it will never drop to £100-£150. Third, control devices. The tilt function is fine when using an iPhone, but using it on something the size of an iPad regularly? Also, the sheer size of the thing makes it uncomfortable to use ‘touch stick’ controls for extended periods. (games tm page 5)


Information sourced from

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8157043.stm
http://www.gamestm.co.uk/features/ipad-the-next-essential-handheld/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store

Bike Sprite design

Over the last couple of days I have been looking at two books; 'iPhone User Interface Design Projects' and  Designing for Interaction '' - both of which are focused on looking at the design process and one in particular about user interface. A big problem with designing for a touch screen based console is that buttons have to be just big enough to be able to touch, but small enough to not over populate the screen - a particular issue that plagues iPhone App designers. I thought heavily about how the HUD would run in my own game. Since the game makes the player focus on the characters, making it on the side of the screen would be far too impractical. However in the centre of the screen would be distracting. So that causes a problem. How can I present a HUD on my App?
Well thinking about what the player needs to know, there is only two things that would be necessary. How many Lives/ Sheds they have and their current race time/ percentage of race completed. The way I solved the Shed/ Lives problem is intergrate that into the sprite. Players will have three lights on the back of the bike (at least for Raine's Pulse bike). Each time they crash or use a Shed, one light will turn red. After all three lights turn red, they blast off the bike. At this point the player will know that they cannot make any more mistakes or shed. As for the percentage of race completed information, perhaps it could be opaque and hang next to the bike. In my next mock screenshot after obstacle design I will experiment with this.

Track Design - Tunnel

Track Design.

Track design has been one area that I’ve been somewhat confident in how it will look, but never the less have been sidestepping somewhat. This wasn’t because I didn’t want to create a concept, but rather as designing a track of this style presents me with a somewhat unique challenge in terms of perspective. Nevertheless today I designed one track for my game. This particular track is very conventional in terms of ‘futuristic’ games. By this I mean it features metallic textures, slight neon lights and a very geometric series of lines running throughout.

In terms of the outcome of the track, I was really impressed. Using a basic paper guideline, I constructed each row and column carefully – making sure to convey the smooth metallic textures and slivers of neon in each area. The feedback I received was really good but I know that the end result will look better when some solid bike sprites and obstacles are placed on it - two areas which I shall cover soon