Dev Blog: Interfacing our fears
Here at WWHQ we’re hard at work cleaning up the alpha version of our game, which we will soon be testing with students in schools.
Of course users means user interfaces, and the code-heavy testing interface we have been using to pull together functionality just isn’t going to cut it for our testers.
We’re pleased with what we’ve produced, but also aware that this is a step on a longer joumey - and looking forward to serious testing. The philosophy here is to put software in front of our audience as quickly as possible, and re-work according to their needs as often as it takes.
Following this method leads us to stronger solutions. Nonetheless we’re excited to present to you the current state of our alpha interface:
Let me talk you through it:
- Our stories are split into chapters. Narrators set up detail about each chapter in advance. At the top of the page we’re displaying the Chapter’s summary as well as it’s cast, the protagonist’s objective and how much of the story has been completed.
- The story text is read out below this. The Chapter summaries are fixed, so the text flows beneath it. We’ve worked on the behaviour of this text as it is displayed to encourage coherent writing - even though the story is written as a dialogue between two parties, we de-emphasise chat-like behaviour and keep all story text in it’s own column.
- We have a system for resolving conflicts in the flow of the story which we are call ‘force’. It allows protagonists or narrators to try to overturn statements which they feel don’t fit the narrative.
- Narrators play Encounters during a chapter to keep the story moving along. Encounters can be characters that appear, or events that happen - playing them gives the Narrator a bonus to her force.
It’s exciting to see our ideas coming to life - drop us a line to hello@thewrittenworld.co if you’ve got any feedback - we’d love to hear it.
