Mastery Journal for Game Usability and Testing

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          Throughout the program there have been many areas of study that have sparked my interest, as is evident in previous journals.  Based on information I’ve learned this month, a topic I would like to study is the possible integration of eye-tracking/expression-reading software into Virtual Reality.  From previous studies, I’ve learned that improvements in VR usability have been and continue to be studied, tested, and applied. Enough improvements have been made, in fact, that there now exists programs that allow people to have discussions and interactions across the globe for personal or business use, such as VRChat and Rumii, respectively.  Therefore, instead of studying how to improve VR usability as I’ve previously journaled about, I think it would be more productive and interesting to study how best to integrate VR and eye-tracking/expression-reading software. The integration of these technologies together would possibly allow us to study the VR interactions and how what affect these experiences have on users, with the end goal being improving both technologies to expand the possibilities of their uses.

           Another topic I would like to study is the effects video games have on military veterans.  In previous journals, I’ve discussed the issues combat and non-combat veterans face when reintegrating into the civilian world.  As video games have become a more mainstream form of entertainment in recent years, the number of individuals that play video games in some form or fashion has also risen, which obviously includes military members. It would be interesting to study reasons what, how, and why veterans play games compared to their civilian counterparts.  These findings could prove useful in finding ways to help veterans recover and/or reintegrate into the civilian world in ways similar to how VR is at times used to help veterans with PTSD deal with their trauma.

           The third topic I could study and discuss is the use of video games as educational tools for not just young people but adults as well.  There are many educational games for children and young people.  However, the engaging and interactive learning element becomes lost the further along people go in their scholastic careers.  As we’ve learned in previous classes, both undergrad and graduate, one of the best ways to learn is by gamification combined with traditional instruction.  While this information is slowly being accepted and applied, it may help increase the interest, speed, and funding for the changes that are needed in curriculums and job training.

           In summation, any of these topics would be interesting and educational to study and present.  I am happy to discuss my reasonings for any or all of them as they are things I am very interested in and believe they can have an impact on the game industry as well as other facets of everyday life.  Any of these topics has the potential to change or improve someone’s experience with either games, technology, or life, which is the aim of user experience research to varying degrees.  I am open to any suggestions and feedback on these proposed topics.

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Asset Management Individual Post Mortem

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          This month, the team decided to continue working on the game we had started two months prior, Water ‘loon Splash.  Initially, this seemed like a good idea, as we are all busy in our capstones and creating something completely new would take time we didn’t have.  However, this month seemed to get off on the wrong foot, and it was an uphill struggle from there.  Poor communication, confusion between the ‘teams’, ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’, with regards as to how the producers were running things, and lack of attention to details plagued the team until the last week. 

         We started the month just before Thanksgiving break.  Due to people traveling or visiting with friends and family, communication within the team broke down.  This started a bit of a snowball effect of issues for the rest of the month.  As the level designer for the team, it was difficult to work at times due to miscommunication and misinformation, even when I reached out directly to who I needed answers from.  I also had to use Unity for the first time in over a year, which wasn’t difficult, but was time consuming.  I had to learn functions I hadn’t used previously while also dust off the cobwebs of what I knew and learn how those functions had changed.

          I learned that even if someone knows what they are doing and has been assigned a task, you should still check up on tasks and progress, even though there may be a hierarchy established.  Due to trusting that everyone knew what their job was and how they should do it, I was often focused more on my own work and capstone rather than checking to see if priority items from previous milestones had been completed. All in all, the game turned out alright, though I feel my work was more time consuming than it was difficult and thus altered my designs a bit.

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Individual Postmortem for “Water ‘loon Splash”

          The development process of our game was interesting to say the least. The idea/concept came of the initial prototype came together fairly smoothly with ideas being bounced off one another in an iterative way.  However, as the physical prototype began to be transferred into the digital prototype, communication and clarity of information started to suffer.  At times, it was difficult to get any information from team members and unit cohesion started to falter about half way through.

           The communication and task confusions/issues we were having were addressed in a team meeting after class of the third week and more reliable ways of reaching certain members in the group were established. From there, the issues seemed to stem from disagreements on how coding issues should be fixed and what the prototype needed to be for the demonstration.  The team continued to push forward and work through the issues by adapting and overcoming obstacles.  The prototype we came up with is something that I believe will demonstrate to a potential investor/publisher how the game will work, what the game is about, and what the demographic is.

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August 2017

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Mastery Journal Entry

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         This month, research and scientific methodologies were discussed in detail.  This helps me with not only my current Capstone track but with ideas on how to perform studies and tests that coincide with my research topic and mastery plan.  These methods will also help the validity of future research into my selected track, both for GDC and for the UX Lab.

          In this class, we covered methods of testing user engagement, how user engagement can cross over with user experience, and the different testing methods for engagement.  We also covered, in almost medical detail, how the eyes and the ears function.  The reason for this is to help us understand how to design for user engagement while thinking about everything that ties into a person’s engagement and experience right down to their physiology.

          My team and I utilized self-reporting methods to test our hypotheses about two mobile games created by the same development company.  Our participants completed surveys that required them to select a best-fit option as well as provide a short answer for certain questions.  My team experienced first-hand how attrition rates can affect the validity of a test.  We also exemplified the reason that tests should be done within a controlled environment when possible.

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27 July 2017

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Mastery Journal Entry

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           The area of research I decided to explore was that of user experience (UX), with the aim of learning how to best improve UX to help those who would benefit from it physically, mentally, and emotionally.  By studying UX, I can also become a better game designer by utilizing the knowledge obtained by said study to make games that are more likely to connect and immerse whatever audience I end up making a game for.

           UX research is important for the game industry as it can affect whether or not people will want to play, or continue to play, your game.  This will affect sales, marketing, and reputation of the game maker during future projects.  

           Research that was done in the fourth month was the effects VR and games have on the treatment of someone’s social, physical, or mental issues like anxiety, depression, and PTSD.  Based on the articles researched, there were promising results in using said methods for treatment.  However, each study also showed a decent attrition rate, and more research with larger pools of participants must be done to obtain substantial data on the issues.

           This area of research connects to the UX capstone, and my intended career in UX and game design, based on the nature of the information gathered.  On the one hand, the attrition rates showed that UX is more important than some companies (and researchers) may think, and is important to learn what you can to apply it and get the results you want. On the other hand, the results of the participants that stayed on to complete the studies show that improvements must be made to current methods, as well as revealing promising beneficial results for those using VR and games as treatment.  All of this supports the need to research and learn how to apply UX properly for success in the game and simulation industry.

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25 June, 2017

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Mastery Journal PTM

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          This month was full of information meant to increase our knowledge, understanding, and implementation of good leadership skills, as well as skills important for project management and team management, if that wasn’t already obvious.  While it was meant to give fresh and new information, a lot of the class ended up being review for me, at the base level at least.  Having served for eight years in the military and gone through a month and a half of leadership school, I saw parallels in the lessons of this class and that of my previous training/schooling.  Obviously, the major difference is that one course was tailored to military personnel and the other to the civilian workforce.

          While some of the lessons this month were indeed review, some of the information was new or helped reinforce old lessons learned.  Some also reaffirmed what my own ideas of what good leadership should be and do. There were also many great tools given or taught that I know will help in the future, like the Project Management plan, which combines schedules, budgets, risk management steps, so on and so forth, to aid in the early stages of project development and beyond.

Some of the other great tools given were the different leadership styles and leadership methods needed when dealing with multiple people who all have their own ways to be reached and interacted with.  The course also discussed multiple methods and styles of running a team.  While we already went over the pros and cons of different sized teams and organizations last month, this month went a little deeper as far as deciding what pace and team size the project demanded, and then deciding the best method that would suit the project’s needs while also taking the human factor into account.  Overall, the class for me could have been shorter, especially since I had no break between the Bachelors and Masters programs, however I’m sure the assignments and lessons benefited all in one way or another.

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29 May, 2017

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Mastery Journal Blog Post

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          This month, I learned of the importance of scientific approaches to making games.  I learned about four different validity types to check studies and tests against, thought we only focused on three of them.  I also refined my knowledge of how to lead and inspire those under me when placed in a leadership position as I had planned to do this month.  Some of the information we learned on this subject were nothing new to me and other veterans in the class, however there were some things I was not aware of and have now added them to the database within my brain.

           This month, we were also put into teams and went through the early development stages of creating a game.  While it started out pleasant enough, there were some issues that had to be ironed out eventually using our own methods and those discussed in our reading. This I found a bit interesting as most of the classes this month have not had such a clear-cut connection between material we were learning and activities we were doing until then.

           For the article analysis’ we were all required to write, I wrote mine on articles that focused on virtual reality and user experience.  I have a great interest in the UX Lab track, and so I wanted to start getting a decent idea on what methods were used and what items are studied when dealing with user experience.  This aided me as I shadowed in the UX Lab and assisted to aid those that are working there already.

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20 July, 2016: Why Design Games?

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Throughout my life, video games have been a way of connecting with others, coping with life issues, as well as a source of entertainment, discovery, and relaxation.  It is because of the impact that video games have had on me that I chose to study Game Design.  This blog post will be about myself, my achievements thus far, and my goals after graduating from Full Sail University.

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My earliest experience with video games involved a Sega Genesis, my two older half-brothers, my father, and myself.  My brothers would alternate weeks between being with their mom and my dad, so my time with them was precious to me.  As the youngest brother by a decade, I always wanted to be around my older siblings and be involved with whatever they were doing.  Since I could never match them in body slams, wrestling around, and general tomfoolery brothers do with one another, games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter 2, and Joe Montana Football gave me, as well as my father, the opportunity to interact and connect with them on a level playing field.

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Eventually my brothers grew up and moved out of the house(s).  I fell away from gaming for a while until one day some years later when my eldest brother showed me Halo: Combat Evolved on the original Xbox.  As my gaming experiences were a bit outdated, the advancement of the graphics and storytelling blew me away.  After he had graduated college and moved just 20 minutes away, my brother and I were able to reconnect and have loads of fun, spending weekends together every now and then and playing Halo and other games on his Xbox.  As I grew older and also got an Xbox, then later an original Playstation, I began to broaden my gaming horizons, having my own solo gaming experiences, and getting a feel for what made an enjoyable video game.

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Right after I graduated from basic training for the United States Air Force and arrived at Technical School, the first big purchase I made was the recently released Xbox 360 and Halo 3.  This and other games helped me make new friends and connections, as well as assisting me in destressing after long weeks of training and learning.  Games would again assist with stress and coping after I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (cancer) a year and a half later (two months after getting married), going through treatments, and a few years later divorce.  When I decided to leave the military, I wanted to help and positively impact people the same way I had been through games. 

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Since starting the Game Design program at Full Sail University, I have learned how to code using C#, the importance of player choice and immersion, taken map/level designs through the idea-list-drawing-computer creation iterations, and created mini-games in Unity that include player feedback and simple AI.  While learning these skills, I have successfully created text-based “choose your own adventure” style games, recreated Pong, created a top-down 2D game similar to Galaga, and created an entire level based upon a creative vision, blocked out and coded that level, then made changes and iterations of it so it would flow well with two other student’s levels.  It is my goal at the end of my tenure at Full Sail to take the skills I have been taught and apply them in order make whatever projects I end up working on a positive and enjoyable experience for other players.  I want my work to help someone make meaningful connections, while also distracting them from the constant negatives of the world.  I hope to one day work on a project that has the same effect on someone as Halo had on me.