Fun with Objects Experiment

Flying Experiment...

I took this picture after the pilot decided to crash the plane. I jumped out before it hit the floor, only to not crash, but be redirected somewhere else.

Flying after I hitched a ride with someone, cause it seemed like I couldn't fly anywhere.

Two planes, both of them I couldn't fly.

Appearently, neither could Jane.

Cool Places in SL

1) Microsoft Island - Dorky? Yes. But I think its pretty neat that they have a spot dedicated to speaches, and they even have an Xbox XNA spot too. I think they have something going on every day at 1-3pm.

2) Sarah Nerd's Freebie Paradise - So much free crap, omg. It's amazing. I got a babydoll dress, a motorcycle and new hair. It's also a weird place too cause some of the stuff they have for free is weird. I saw they had skin for free, and sold pubic hair. I don't really see myself spending dollars on pubes, mostly cause Cartman did it first.

3) Stanford University Libraries - They have a cute choo-choo train making tours around the area. One of their attractions is the very first largest aquarium in all of SL. They also had beer and a lecture area.
Honorable Mention:
GossipGirl1 - an area dedicated to Gossip Girl. Visit the show's landmarks and get a free cellphone/cellHUD. The area looked like a very empty New York.
Gotham City - can't fly here, but you can walk around and take the Gotham City tram places. I haven't seen Batman here yet.

Gamer test.

Test Results:

Bomber Oller

Test Results:

Laura Munoz

Comparison.  In real life, I am a thoughtful MMORPG player.  My alter ego is more reward driven.  

Personal opinion: This test succeeds as being as acurate as every other personality test on the web.  Unfortunetly, those other test like this one, miss the point.  This test could've been more precise if there were more answer options.  

Example:

Would you rather?

Become a hero faster than your friends

Know more secrets than your friends?

Seriously, when I play a game, these two things do not go through my mind.  I would rather level up, as much as possible in order to help out my friends.  My main complaint about the questions and answers is that they assume the player is only thinking about themselves.  Perhaps there are people who are only out there to play an MMO as if they're playing a regular single player game, but I would think the majority would be playing for co-op. 

I don't think of myself as an explorer, I think of myself as a gameplayer.  Not that explorer is a bad term, its just that assumes I just want to wander around and don't care how far into the game I am.  I am not an explorer.  Yes, I do like to explore a little, but I always want to improve my character, accomplish quests, and I enjoy playing with others.  This test did not identify myself correctly, but it did identify my alter ego, because my alter ego lacks the depth that would bring them from being more than a stereotype. 

Concept #3

Objective: A zone of griefers.

Problem: There's so many people who just like to say crazy shit to offend folks and bother the hell out of others.

Solution: Send them away.

What happens would be that people who grief would be sent away to a spot that's caged up. The people would have their teleport and flying disabled for ten minutes. And if they tried to log off and log back in, they would just spawn back to same Griefing Zone.

How to review who's being a douche?
Scan dialogue for certain words.

What to find within Second Life?
Random characters looking for griefers. I wouldn't call them police, it would just be nice to be able to set up a Wanted ad in SL warning people of certain griefers, these would be the worst ones.

Concept #2

Premise: Order pizza in Second Life get it in real life.

Key Factors:

• Avatar can go to a pizza seller within Second Life.
• Inside avatar would pick which pizza they wanted and submit the order.
• Pizza delivery service (in real life) would receive the order and payment because it would be bought using SL dollars.
  
• Avatar would receive a digital pizza, while user would wait for their real pizza.
• Using GPS to locate where the pizza is in relation to where the user is, SL would update how far/much time will it be until the pizza arrives (in real life).

Goals:

• To mix Second Life decisions with real life results.

How:

• People would set up an account (linked to their avatar) with a the pizza seller. (Outside of SL, at a website)
  
• When ever someone wanted pizza, they would fly over to the pizza seller in SL, order something, it would be charged on their credit cards.
• The order would be sent to their phyiscal residency, and their SL counter part would receive a digital pizza.
• Once the order is sent out on delivery, a gps on the car would track where it is.
• Although, the user will never know where the car really is, it should give an exact timeframe of how long will it take for their pizza to come.

This can also be used in other virtual worlds, its just a matter of having the virtual world giving out information to an outside source. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening world-wide, most likely just in condensed cities, due to cost-effectiveness.

Concept #1

Premise: Online Pokemon-esque game within it's virtual world.

Key Factors:

• User would aquire one monster/pet to start.
• While roaming the world, user's monster/pet will detect other monsters/pets.
• User's monster/pet can chose to battle other creatures in order for user to aquire more monsters/pets for their group.
• Users can trade or challenge other Users with their monsters/pets.

Goals:

• Monsters/pets would be used as currency and trophies within its own virtual world.
• Top collectors and traders would be listed in a world-wide ranking for status.

Comparison of SL and There.

I've been spending sometime in There and Second Life. Both are popular virtual worlds and the regular outsider would think that all virtual worlds are alike. And the people who are interested in virtual life would wonder which is a better world. I've come to the conclusion that there is no better world, but these two places are far from being alike.

How can they be different, but neither is better than the other? Well, its because its a matter of personal preference. Much like in real life, we face personal preferences that lead us from either having a zune or an ipod. It isn't that one player is better than the other, its that some people like one method of attaining music versus the other.

That being said, bring on the comparison! The difference between There and SL is like Todd Oldman furniture vs. Ikea furniture. There is a full completed package of a virtual world. SL is an incomplete buildable world.

SL is not for the faint of heart. You absolutely need to spend time in orientation island because its difficult to know what you can do in SL without it. SL also features a completely customizable avatar from the begining. Suprisingly, customizing plays a very big part in SL. Most of the time spent in SL was re-doing my avatar and creating new things for my avatar. Even though socializing is apart of SL, I found myself going back to customizing things.

On the other spectrum, in There your avatar is customizable, but not as much as in SL. Much of the time spent in There is exploring the world. Unlike SL where everyone can make their own (unfortunetly a lot of the stuff they make looks like crap), There is made mostly of pre-fabricated objects. But I love when I go to the map, pick a spot and search for stuff. I found a graveyard and hoverboard. Unfortunetly, since its so open of a world, I haven't been spending enough time trying to customize my avatar. I've pretty much given up on that.


Friends what is a virtual life without friends? In There, its pretty hard to keep track of where your friends are, but its still pretty fun to interact with people. I prefer the speach bubbles to SL's standard MMO-esque messenging.

SL has some really interesting elements, flying for instance. Its nice that a big strech of land can be covered in a shorter period of time. The graphics are also much cleaner in SL.

In conclusion, I think There was made much like Toontown was, to create an accessible virtual world for a the average person. Where There lacks in it's customization, it makes up with an easy to use interface and large easy to naviate world. However, this does not make There better or worse than SL. Second Life features all customizable big world, its satisfying to be able to change and build things.

I Spit On Your Grave

I found a graveyard in There. The place was kinds need. I needed to be in my underwear because it's not a horror movie tribute unless there's a nearly naked co-ed in danger.


And that guy was trying to bone me. Goodnite everybody!

Highlights of There

• Plenty of space for everyone.
• Quick start.
• Easy Controls.
• No need for opening doors.
• Objects have action buttons on them.
• Easy gestures.

There, now a noun.

I wish my real self could play Donkey Kong right now.

This is a screenshot from There. The world is very vast but a little empty. I'll play again later when I'm on a better computer.

Non-Event Places

Welcome to Korea!

I think its Korea. When I arrived I saw a Korean flag, so I just assume. But it was weird to see the Golden Gate Bridge there. I dunno. I think my second life is more dull than my first life. But at least I can fly underwater in my second life. Its also pretty fun to just fly and stop flying in midair.

I had a pretty dull adventure in SL. I was just walking around and flying around looking for stuff to do. I think I spent most of my time on my avatar and learning the controls. I think I'm more interested in creating things inside of SL, than participating in SL. A lot of people have that problem. Wanting to create than talking to others. Maybe I'm a virtual introvert. I'll try again later to do more.

Alright, so I think I stumbled upon a Cosplay Convention.

After I asked if I stumbled upon a Virtual Cosplay Convention, someone said, "Sorry." Another person said, "Nice analogy."

Then everyone mingled to each other, I tried getting into conversations but no one was really giving me anything to work off of. So my whole being silent and rude to people didn't work out. If no one wants to talk to you, then you're not being silent and rude, you're just being ignored.

I can't believe someone took the time to look like a character from Dragonball Z. I didn't think that show was popular anymore. And its too soon for it to be considered retro and ironic. Oh, well.

I was asked if I wanted to be bitten at one point. Then I backed myself out of there. Vampires are so lame.

Real Conversations in SL

Bomber: Is that a monkey?
[To glamourous person holding a critter.]
Person: Its a friend hon.
[Person flys away.]

And yeah, the guy in the back did name his creature syphilis. Which is very funny and original, if I was 12. Maybe I should just start Rickrolling people to get into a Second Life mood.

Second Life

Say hello to my avatar. Bomber Oller!

Who is Bomber Oller?
She's a former waitress turned assassin for hire. She keeps a very low profile. She also chooses to never answer questions in detail, leaving anyone who converses with her to think she's being rude. To be honest, she isn't rude, she just doesn't like talking to losers.

Toontown Virtual World First Person Research COMPLETE

1. List the components of the HUD (Head Up Display = every informational, status, ID, or tool): Health meter, Friends, Catalog, Menu, and two chat options. It also lists the names of characters around your avatar.
2. Describe how each component of the Toontown HUD is used to inform you of things not visible to the camera? Health meter keeps you aware of your mortality within the game. The Friends button allows you to keep track of your friends within the game. Catalog is meant to keep you aware of all the things you can buy with the money you earn from playing minigames. The two chat options are meant to allow you to talk to people within the game.

3. Describe how other toons, maps, objects, and the Head-Up Display (HUD) help you locate other users and objectives? Usually a character will pop on the screen to tell you your mission and if you happen to forget what that mission was the game will tell you what it is through the HUD.

3. What other ways – other than text – are used to inform you about the world, how objects work, and your avatar's status? Character animations help and if something is movable an option will appear.

4. Give some examples of how color, shape, contrast, position, motion, and sound in Toontown allow you to know what is and is not interactive?

Color = Usually its the pastel and muddy colored items that are non-interactive.

Contrast = Vibrancy in the game is a visual clue that an item is either important or interactive.

Position = When your avatar is in the right spot a message will activate that something is interactive.

Motion = I've seen a character stop dead in its tracks when an event happens.

Sound = A sound happens when an item is interactive to confirm its status with the user.

5. How are various tasks and goals communicated to you at the start of the game? How and why does this evolve as you gain more experience? Goals and tasks are communicated by a character telling you what to do or the game telling you the objectives on the bottom screen in a message.

6. Name several ways that you are encouraged to complete tasks and attain goals. Unlockable items that can be bought through earning money from minigames help encourage gameplay. Interaction with other players also help advance the game.

7. What is the step-by-step procedure you must complete before defeating a Cog? How are you guided through this procedure? How does this change when you're attempting to defeat a relatively powerful Cog? The fighting system within the game is turn-based. Each character takes a turn, they can either choose to attack with a joke or just stand and allow another player to attack. Once everyone has chosen an action, the cog will attack, then each character has their turn. I haven't seen this model change because I've never been in a fight alone with a powerful cog.
8. Which features of Toontown contribute to an immersive feeling (like you are really there)? Being able to jump and move around in a 3D open space helps me feel like I am immersed in the game.

9. Which features break that immersive feeling? The extremely busy HUD breaks the immersion because it just keeps me aware that the screen is too crowded.

10. Attempt some collaborative actions such as EZ Chat and teaming up to fight Cogs. Describe the basics of what you did and the results. What were the limitations you experienced? I would chat with my buddy, but we could only use family friendly dialogue. In order to get into a fight the both of us would just run up to a cog, usually other people would join in. I noticed that a lot of people didn't fight because they just wanted the experience without using their items.

11. The concept of “health” of each avatar is a key element in all online virtual worlds. In Toontown, how is “health” managed and its status displayed? Health is measured in hit points by a number on your HUD. Its called happiness within the game, but really its hit points. Depending on how much damage you taken your number decreases.

12. Chose ONE of the Book features and briefly describe/sketch how you would redesign it to be part of the HUD, i.e. omnipresent in the user’s view. Design both a compressed and expanded form. Add notes to your sketch to convey how it would work.



13. What features did you find the most difficult to use and why? How would you redesign them to operate better? I wish the controls were better explained. I don't think most people know that you can jump in the game. The objectives during the minigames come on the screen too fast, I'm left wondering what am I doing.

14. What features would you add to help yourself navigate better? I would add a compass and a better world map. The world map is pretty, but its not exactly clear where you have been and where can you go.

15. How do objects in Toontown tell you how to operate them? A message usually appears on the screen saying how to operate objects.

16. What was your favorite activity in Toontown? I like exploring Toontown, the world is colorful and I wish I could explore more of it without having to battle a cog every minute or having a mission.

18. Comment on 3 aspects of ToonTown that relate to the HOH-Agency Chapter.

Toontown can fit within the category of games as symbolic dramas it fits all of the criteria.

Instead of being a completely linear game, Toontown allows the user to explore to an extent. The game was designed similar to a labyrinth.

Similar to the child telling their parent, “This game will never end,” Toontown does not seem to have an end. This is a very similar case with all MMO's, I don't think the people of Toontown will ever be safe from the cogs.

Minigames!

Well this was fun. I just had to buy my car and get used to the controls. This is the practice level. You can earn tickets towards going into the big races. Yes, you have to have both tickets and a car to get into the actual race. The real race looks very much like Mario Kart. You can throw things at other players and their are small boost areas. I think I like this minigame the best because I have a soft spot in my heart for racing games.

3 aspects of Toontown

Toontown can fit within the category of games as symbolic drama it fits all of the criteria.
Instead of being a complete linear game, Toontown allows the user to explore to an extent. The game was being designed similar to a labyrinth.
Similar to the child telling their parent, "this game will never end," Toontown does not seem to have an end. This is very similar to other MMo's , I don't think the people of Toontown will ever be safe from the cogs.

What do you like to do in Toontown?

I like exploring the giant 3D world. Everything looks so adorable, I sometimes can't stand how cute they are. But the style reflects exactly what Toontown is, and that's awesome. My only complaint is that there's really only so much you can do and the minigames sorta suck. I think my main problem in the minigames is the control. Certain games don't explain the controls and/or the objective. If they do, then it appears so fast that I can't read it, SUPERMAN 64 had a similar problem.
No really the controls are not that great. The characters don't have enough weight in their movement. At certain points when I try to run and jump, and I just jump straight, but when I'm still and I jump, its like I'm on the moon, I jump so high. I know this isn't a platformer, but if there's the option to jump then why can't I run and jump correctly?
It feels more like a tease. "oh hey you can jump, isn't that awesome!" "no, but you can't run and jump like in any other game."
Back to the minigames, they really are lame. The swinging one is the worst, but this could all just be me. I'm more used to having more control by playing with a controller for console gaming. Perhaps my keyboard fingers are not as agile as my thumbs are.

Toontown Blogging

12. Redesigning the HUD. I would just move all the information into the book. There's also no need to have the names of everyone around you listed. I just feel that's it clutters the space too much. Traditionally the menu is just a place to focus on your items, missions, and other features like maps. Being aware of outside serves to be more confusing than helpful because all I want to do is look at my map or items. There shouldn't be so much clutter on the screen. The subscribe now button just makes me angry. I genuinely dislike being reminded I'm not paying for the full game.

13. What features would you add to help yourself navigate better?
I would add a compass and a better world map. If I have a mission, I like knowing where I am going. Its nice that in the world there are distinct landmarks to show where you are. Its all well until you reach a point in the game where everything looks alike, the only difference are the signs on the building faces. In these parts its more like playing a dungeon crawler because its such an enclosed space. A simple grid map would be helpful in trying to navigate around the labyrinth parts of the game.



Screenshots:
Menu

Gameplay

Overworld Map

Things to look up

• THERE
• Forterra Inc
  
• USC Institute for Creative Technologies
• Singapore Mixed Reality Lab

Disney's Toontown

Notes:
Controls are ok.

Everything is a bit too colorful for my tastes.

Naming things silly names.

3D Related Links

Ray Casting:
http://www.permadi.com/tutorial/raycast/

2D into 3D images from Carnegie Mellon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuoljANz4EA

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