Beach Level - After

This is what the beach level will look like when the user has collected all the stickers by answering all the questions correctly.

Beach Level - Before

This is how the beach level will look when the user goes onto it and they have to answer questions to unlock the stickers which they they place onto the beach.

Beach Level - Objects

I have now started to create the objects that will be on the beach level using flash.

Unlocking Items

I have decided I am going to change the way the game works when the user has correctly answered a question. Originally, once the user had answered a question correctly, an item on the beach became available instead of it being faded out with a red cross over it and they could move the item around the island. I am changing it slightly so that on the island screen there is a sticker book icon and when the user clicks on this, it displays a screen which looks like a sticker book and also the items that are available to unlock on that level but they will be greyed out. The sticker page will not take up all the screen, it will leave the left side of the screen so the user can still see the edge of the island. Once they have answered a question correctly, an item becomes available and they then have to drag the item from the sticker page and onto the island. I have decided to do this so it is more fun for the user because there is more interaction but it also gives the user a clearer idea of what they have to do in the game.

Above: The sticker page with the greyed out stickers that are available and also the edge of the island. On the edge of the island you can see the dotted outline of the starfish. This shows the user that this is where the starfish sticker goes once they have unlocked it.

Postcard Storyboards

When the user reaches the stage where they can send a postcard via email, this is the first screen that is displayed. Down the side it has a picture of each island and then it asks the user their name which they type in the box below and then click 'OK'.The next screen that is displayed is the front of the postcard and the image on it depends on what stamps the user has collected. If the user has only collected one stamp, an image of the level they earned the stamp on will be displayed. At the top of the image there will also be the name of the game and at the bottom of the image there will be the user's name.If the user collected two stamps, there will be two images on the postcard, one of each island they collected the stamps. In the top right corner there will be the name of the game and a island image. In the bottom left corner there will be the user's name.If the user collected all the stamps, there will be an image of all of the three levels. Like the other two screens, this screen will display the name of the game which will be at the top of the postcard and also the user's name which will be the bottom of the postcard.When the user has seen the front of the postcard, it is then flipped over so they can view the back. On the right side of the postcard there will be the stamps that the user has collected in the game so there could be one, two or three stamps displayed depending how well the user has done. Underneath the stams there will be the user's name to tell the recipient who the card is from. On the left side of the postcard is where the user can write their own message to the person who they are sending the card to. Once the user is happy with their message, they then click the send button and the bottom of the screen.

Changes to Storyboards

I have changed two things on the first screen that is displayed on every level. The first thing that has been changed is the icon where the items are placed. There was originally a padlock in the place where an item would be and it would disappear and the the item would appear once it had been unlocked but I thought that some children would not understand the padlock idea so I decided to have a faint image of the item with a cross on top of it so when the user unlocks an item, the cross would disappear and the item would appear.

The second thing that has been changed is the icons for the other levels. They were originally just images of something on that island e.g. trees for the jungle, a jellyfish for the underwater one, and they were just floating there so the user might have got confused therefore I have created an island with trees on for the jungle and for the underwater one I have drawn an island with a water level and then drawn jellyfish under that water level.

Storyboards:

Website:

The user will enter the website and the interactive game will be on the home page and there will be a large play button on the game and the user will click this to start the game. The website will just be a holding place for the game.

When the user starts the game, there will be an instructions screen. Because of the age range the game is aimed at, the instructions will have to be quite simple but effective. There will be a ‘Start Game’ button on this page and it when the user clicks on it they will be taken to the first level in the game.

Screen 1:

The first level is on the Beach. The only objects on the island are palm trees but there are padlocks where the sun, a beach ball, a starfish, a beach chair, and a beach brolly should be and in order for them to appear, the user has to correctly answer 5 questions. At the bottom of the page there is a question section where there are five individual squares with numbers 1-5 in them. To answer the first question they will click on the number 1 square. It will then take the user to screen two. Screen two displays a box that contains a question for them to answer and will be multiple choice. Each question number (1-5) will have 3 different questions and one will be randomly picked to ask the user. This is so the user doesn’t get the same question if they play more than once. Once they have answered the question there will be one of two screens displayed. If the user correctly answers the question the game will take the user to screen four where the sun will appear. If the user does not answer the question correctly, screen three will be displayed and will give them the option of trying again or going back to the beach, but the user will not have unlocked the sun. They can then choose to answer any of the other questions and if they answer any questions correctly and unlock items, they can move the items around on the island. If they manage to answer all the questions to unlock all the items, they will receive a Beach stamp (screen 5). There will also be icons on either side of the island, one of a jungle-maybe a monkey and one of underwater- maybe a jellyfish. These icons also have to be unlocked. The jungle icon can be unlocked by the user correctly answering one question. The underwater icon will be unlocked when the user has correctly answered a question in the jungle level. When they have unlocked the jungle icon and they click on it, it will take them to screen six.

Screen 2:

Screen 3:

Screen 4:

Screen 5:
Screen 6:

When the user first enters the jungle, there are only a few trees and some grass displayed. Again there are five items to unlock and these are a bush, a snake, a monkey, a frog and a bird. The user plays this level exactly the same as the beach level and it also has two icons, one either side of the island, one which will be of something on the beach such as a beach ball and the other will be of something underwater such as a jellyfish. So they next click on a question number and then it takes them to screen seven where the question is displayed and gives the user a multiple choice for the answers. If they answer the question incorrectly the game will take them to screen eight. If they answer the question correctly, they will be taken to screen nine. If all the questions are answered correctly they will be taken to screen ten where they are rewarded with a jungle stamp.

Screen 7:

Screen 8:

Screen 9:

Screen 10:

Screen 11:

Screen 12:

Screen 13:

Screen 14:

Screen 15:

Screen 16:

After the user has attempted all three levels, a postcard button displays at the top of the screen (screen fifteen) and when they click it, it takes them to screen sixteen. Screen sixteen is the front of the postcard and depending on what stamps the user has collected, determines what images are on their postcard. There will also be an arrow on the top of the page and if the user clicks it, the postcard will flip to and display screen seventeen which is the back of the postcard. On this screen the user will be able to write a message.

More Visual Designs

I have created a storyboard for my interactive game using sketches to show what screens would be displayed when the user plays it:

I was originally going to have a town scene on the island but I thought that it would be more interesting and fun do do something underwater so I have changed the town scene to an underwater scene.

Development Schedule

I have created a design schedule for this project so I know what I want to have done by the end of each week.

Week 1: Design sketches and mockups
Week 2: Create the beach scene
Week 3: Create the jungle scene
Week 4: Create the town scene
Week 5: Create the quiz boxes for each scene
Week 6: Create the questions and answers for the quiz
Week 7: Create other artwork such as the stamps
Week 8: Animate objects in each of the scenes
Weeks 9: Transitions for scene to scene
Week 10: Transitions for scene to scene
Week 11: User Testing
Week 12: Create a simple website with the flash game on it

Visual Design: Design Sketches

Above: Sketch of the beach scene on the island

Above: A sketch of the question box on the beach scene

User Experience: Competitor Analysis

I decided to have a look at existing flash games that are educational and aimed at young children. The first one I looked at was 'kidspsych' (http://www.kidspsych.org/index1.htm)

Above: This is the first screen on the flash game. You get a choice of age groups and also information for parents.

Above: When I clicked the age group 6 to 9, the following games were displayed.

Above: An example of a flash game on the site along with instructions on how to play.

Above: This is the 'about this game' section and it tells parents what the game is testing for.

I don't think the first two screens we saw were visually attractive so this might put the parent off letting their child play the games on that site because they might think that the games will not be good as the website is not very good. I thought the pages with the game and game information on were a bit better but overall I thought it was very poor.

The second one I looked at was 'funschool' (http://funschool.kaboose.com/index.html)

Above: This is the websites home page

Above: This screen is what is displayed when the user clicks on a game and it is showing the user how to play the selected game.

Above: This is a screenshot of one of the flash games on the website

I looked at this website and I really like it although it isn't exactly what I am going to be creating but the games on it have been made using Flash. Overall it looks fun and there is a choice of different games on there which are educational.

Other flash games I had a look at include:

http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/index.html

http://www.paulysplayhouse.com/paulys_playhouse/game_page/game.html

I think that some of the games I have looked at are quite good but I have noticed that, because they are educational games, they are all about maths, english, science or exercising different parts of the brain and that is all the game is about, they do not have anything to collect or unlock which make games much more fun for the kids to play. I now know that what I am going to create is different from most of the existing children's Flash games.