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Story and Game Development

brainstorm ideas – talk them through – shape ideas – share with other groups – review – structure and flowchart – script

Over the weeks the different groups of young people from the different school brainstormed ideas for different scenes. They shared ideas and talked about them. They thought about the structure of the story and the logic of the game. For example:

1. Pys has created an AI set of glasses – cross between modernist and steampunk. The player is the glasses.

2. She sneaks around forbidden places looking for old tech to play with. The player/glasses help her.

3. She gets caught by Security Droid.
.
.
.
X. She gets banished from the city.

The different groups reviewed each other’s ideas, critiqued and revised them. It was amazing how well they collaborated. They were supportive and encouraging of each other’s work, and enjoyed seeing what other people had come up with, and then taking it that little bit further.

They shaped their ideas using mind-mapping software, planning the different events that followed from the player’s decisions and creating flowcharts.

This was a very challenging process. Working out the player’s choices and the different paths they might take was new to them, and required some deep thinking.

These flowcharts included all the main elements for the game:

  • summary of the text
  • background sounds
  • sound effects
  • images
Workshop Flowchart
Workshop Flowchart
Junkyard Flowchart
Junkyard Flowchart

From the flowcharts, they wrote the dialogue scripts, which provided the speech for the performers and the text for the designers. For example: Script: Draft 1

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Publicity

articles on news websites – print articles – front page news

App Launch Event

pye cutout – lighting – venue decoration – game themed cakes – excited young people – proud parents – delighted funders – press

Coding

testing Kwik – accessible coding – mentoring ability

Dialogue and Soundscape

record dialogue – add post-production effects – create soundscapes for scenes

The Junkyard

research imagery – manipulate imagery to produce design

Design The City

discuss commonweal’s ideas for the city – research – print – cut and paste – mood board

Pye’s Secret Workshop

mindmap ideas for pye’s workshop – design and draw the background – design and draw items for hidden object game

Choosing a Voice

learn about using tenses and voices in creative writing – evaluate and discuss – choose a voice for our game

Character and Story

design the city – develop the lead character – outline the story

Project Launch Event

what is a gamebook – choose a genre – what is that genre about – create a world for your story – create a main character for your adventure

What is a Gamebook

find out about gamebooks – try some out – decide what ours should be