Updates to the website:
The main update we did to our website was essentially just the aesthetic and layout of the whole thing. Initially, we used a template that was already created on Wix, but we felt that it didn't fit with the overall theme of our project and it wasn’t how we wanted it to be presented. Alliya ended up creating her own design.
Updated description of story experience:
We came up with a narrative for the future that requires filling in blanks, and these words can be found on the back of the puzzle pieces players receive in return for answering questions. The good answers give players a good piece and the narrative reflects an ideal future and vice versa for the bad answers. This allows players to basically create their potential future based on their current actions. After they complete the game, they can go back and see which answer caused them to receive a bad piece. Then, they can reflect on how they can change their habits to prevent pollution from becoming a serious problem.
Resources:
Sun, F., Roderick, M., & Farquhar, G. (2018). Rainfall statistics, stationarity, and climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(10), 2305-2310.
Zhang, Xin, Chen, Xi, & Zhang, Xiaobo. (2018). The impact of exposure to air pollution on cognitive performance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,115(37), 9193-9197.
Croke, E., & International Congress of Transportation Conferences -31 Washington, District of Columbia, United States (Eds.). (1972). The Role of Transportation Demand Models in the Projection of Future Urban and Regional Air Quality.
National Climatic Center. (n.d.). Local Climatological Data. Seattle, Washington. National Weather Service Ofc. Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Monthly Summary.
Jareen Imam, C. (2018). Cities with most air pollution revealed. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/20/health/air-pollution-report-irpt/index.html
Descriptions of issues that have come up:
An issue our group had was coming up with an idea that was doable and not entirely impossible to create. We had so many ideas that ended up being too difficult to create on our own and required technology that wasn’t easily accessible. We thought that incorporating a puzzle into our story should be a novel idea that no other group has. We eventually all agreed on a product that captured what we all envisioned together and that wouldn’t be too difficult for others to understand. We could not find suitable images for our puzzle on the internet so we took our own photo and edited it using photoshop to create a polluted version.
Details about the making of physical part:
For our prototype, we decided to develop two images of the Seattle skyline: one that displays clean air, and the other with heavy pollution. For now, we cut the photo into rectangular pieces so people could understand the gist of our project. Initially, we planned to have a mad lib on the back of the puzzle, but the creation was difficult because the words didn’t align with the puzzle pieces. Instead, our prototype is going to have a separate sheet of paper with a paragraph that contains keywords that determine which puzzle piece players receive. For our final product, we plan on creating actual puzzle pieces for both of the pictures and those puzzles will be identical to each other so the pieces will be interchangeable.
Details about the making of the digital part:
For our digital part, we are going to create a Twine game for our audience. They will be asked questions regarding the relationship between their daily habits and climate change. Based on their answer, we will tell them to pick either an A or B puzzle piece to build their puzzle with. If players are used to acting in a non-environmentally friendly way, they will get a bad picture.
Flowchart:
Photos of our progress:
Reflective paragraph:
Nathan
The role I’ve played so far is to create a narrative about the future that requires players to fill in the blanks with words written on the back of the puzzle pieces players receive from playing our Twine game. Good pieces create a narrative where the world is an ideal place while bad pieces do the opposite. I wouldn’t say we’re doing extremely well but we’re doing great compared to a few weeks ago when we were still trying to come up with ideas for our project. Initially, we were having difficulty coming up with an idea that everyone liked. Moreover, some of the ideas that were well received seemed almost impossible to create by ourselves. However, once we settled on an idea that everyone agreed on and was fairly doable, the pace started to pick up and we were able to get a lot done. I’m fairly confident our project will turn out how we want it to and it will be an interesting, new experience for our classmates because we are the only group using the idea of a puzzle. What I’ve learned from this project so far is how to create games on Twine. It’s interesting and I might use it for group projects in other classes. I’m grateful that my team members are doing their job properly, like Alliya with creating the website, Ken with creating the twine game, and Shiyi for supporting everyone.
Shiyi
For this project, our team doing very well. I'm not very good at making web pages or thinking about new ideas, but my team members are very friendly and helpful. We encountered many difficulties in the initial idea pitch, I put a very normal idea pitch for the project and it doesn’t work. After discussion, we came up with a complete idea pitch which is puzzles. For my roll in this creation, I usually do some editing and help my teammates to do the rest of things that they feeling overwhelmed. Each of us actively participated in each group meeting. What we have learned so far is we need constant communication and encouragement in the project process. We need to good at listening to others' opinions and accepting others' opinions. A team is more powerful than a person. Teamwork is the essential essence of any team. It is a selfless dedication based on mutual trust.The process of making web pages by interactive media is very complicated, but very interesting. Through learning, we can learn more about the fun of doing website. All the teammates did what they had to do. Also, I am really like my teammates who can help me a lot on doing this project, twin, and the website. It is lucky to collaborate with them in this quarter. Thanks a lot to Nathan, Ken, and Alliya.
Alliya
The role I’ve played in this project so far is the creation of the website and posting the updates of our project on the blog. Wix only allows one person to access the website at a time, so what our group does to create all our posts is collectively write our inputs in a google document, and then one of us goes into the website and posts the required documents. As far as our progress so far, I think we’re moving at a decent pace. At first, it was difficult for us to come up with an idea that we could all agree on and understand, but eventually, we came to a conclusion and I’m confident in how things are turning out. The most interesting thing I’ve learned so far is the creation of games on Twine. I appreciate Ken for taking the time to learn the production of a game on Twine and taking initiative on creating the prototype for our project. I had a difficult time writing the paragraph for our puzzle, and I appreciate Nathan for taking on the task and successfully creating the storyline. Shiyi has been supporting the group and helping out with the posts and I appreciate her doing her part of the project. Overall, I would say that we all work well together and with the pace we’re going, I’m confident our project will turn out great.
Ken
The role I’ve played in this project so far is created and edited the picture for our puzzle. As a Media and communication major student, I feel isn’t hard to do photo editing for me. Also, my other position in our group is to create a twine game. Before working on our group project, I don’t have any experience using HDML format to create something and even making a game. As far as our progress so far, I think we are in the correct track, all of us clearly know what should we do and having useful communication. Although we feel confused at the beginning, we still have some idea to work on it and we finally know what should we do. I appreciate Alliya help us a lot with website creation. She did a lot to our group. Also, Nathan has a lot of useful ideas to create our puzzle game. He helps us to think about the question and make the game make sense. Overall, I would say we all have our position and this is what a team should looks like.