Inclusion – More Close-Range Weapons

Other weapons which I have thought to include are close range weapons which function much differently to others.

These weapons would be quite risky to use in the game but would work quite effectively. These weapons include the chainsaw, fire extinguisher and flame thrower. All these weapons require a range of 2 metres to work.

A chain saw will require a raise and drop gesture at a close, 2 metre range to slice an opponent. The bottom button on the iPhone needs to be pressed in order to start the chainsaw. This weapon, I feel will be tempting for user to try, just so they can hear the sound of the chainsaw at work.

The fire extinguisher works to paralyse an opponent, and so they will not be able to attack for others for a period of 15 seconds. The paralysed user’s playing will begin to flash, they will still be able to move , however weapons would not work when fired. The fire extinguisher may also be swung at opponents like a bat to damage them. A button does not need to be pressed to swing the fire extinguisher, but it does need to be pressed to paralyse opponents.  

The flame thrower is probably the most damaging of these weapons. Pressing a button and moving the iPhone from left to right (or vice-a-versa) allows you to spray opponents with a damaging flame. This has an initial damage of 25 on opponents and also continues to damage opponents by 5 each three seconds for a time period of 15 seconds. In order for users to avoid this they need to run away to avoid the further damage. Its like if you are on fire, you drop and roll, I figured that most people would not want to do this so, user will need to run in order to extinguish the flame.

Inclusion – Melee Weapons

One of the users in my focus group sent me an email recently about the idea of the inclusion of melee weapons.

This was something I was considering during the original development of my application, however, the problem with melee weapons is the fact that contact between players is needed for them to work. Since including ranges of various weapons, I now believe that, with specific small ranges, melee weapons could work.

Melee weapons such as brass knuckles, nightsticks or knives would requires a close range of about 1.5 metres.

Other melee weapons like bats, shovels and katanas have a slightly further range of 2 metres.

Unlike all the other weapons, no button needs to be pressed to activate/use these melee weapons. As long as they are selected/equipped in the weapons/items menu, they can be used. Like all other weapons, a gesture is needed to use them. So if the brass knuckles are equipped, a punching gesture is needed to inflict damage on opponents. A weapon like a bat or katana will need a swinging gesture.

Change – Weapon Icons

One design aspect of my application which I have decided to change is the icons of the weapons in the weapons/items menu set.

 

I felt that the detailed pictures draws users attention away from the map which is the central focus of the playing screen. To replace these, I have decided to use cartoon, style icons of the weapons to replace those in the screen-shot above. These I feel will better suit the game as no aspects of the screen appear to be realistic (e.g. like the map; it is not a real bird’s eye view). The icons I will use are shown below:

 

 

Images like these are used in many games, and what they become is a symbol to the real weapons which the users become familiar with. So in time, when they see these images, they will know what they represent.

Change – Logo

I have decided to change the logo of my application. This logo was used in my second minisite.

This change has been made because of some comments which have been made about the logo, some people not seeing the name/message too clearly. I thought it would have looked good to share the ‘ive’ between the two words ’live’ and ‘active’. This similarity was not seen by some and hence the name was read differently (I don’t know how the hell Kristian got ‘A.C.T Live’ from it!). Rob also thought that there wasn’t a need for the great emphasis on the letters ‘IVE’. This seemed to raise questions about why these letters appear much larger to the others.

Its funny how things like this aren’t really noticed until somebody points them out. Of course now looking at the logo, that’s all I can see, and after getting a few more mixed opinions, I decided to make the change. Its things like this which make user testing an invaluable source of information.

The new logo has not yet been designed however, it will be much clearer, with the two words ‘live’ and ‘active’ being separate.

Minisite 3 – Difference to the Other Sites

My third and final mnisite is going to be designed much differently to the sites that came before it. After all, this site will be presenting the final design of my application.

Minisites one and two were more informative then anything else, updating people about the changes which have been made as a result of user testing. Minisite three on the other hand, needs to sell the product, so the presentation of the content needs to attract users. One strategy which I will be using is similar to that in the ipod-nike website; teasing users to find out more about the product advertised. What I mean be this is that a link to a certain area of the product doesn’t directly take you to the information about this area. What you have to first endure is the advertisement of this area of the product.

Marketing strategies such as these are key in selling products, and so there use can only advance the appearance of the product to users. My site will contain much more images of the product itself and the product in action in order to not only help potential users  know more about the application at hand, but also give them a desire to find out more about the application.

 This site will no longer be titled ‘minisite 3′ in any area of my websites but instead will be titled ‘production site’ (or something similar). This is because of the fact that this site is different to the others, being much larger, more advance, and of course worth the most marks!