Pocket Planet
Interactive stories
Platform:
Role:
Team Size:
Dev Time:
Web-Based
User Tester, Producer, Designer
5
4 Months
Scrolling interactive stories focused on meeting curriculum standards, and featuring inbuilt mini-games and audio.
Contributions
Design
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Arranged the layout and flow of images, mini-games and text.
Producer for the team
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Was involved in scaling, optimising, and realising the vision of the projects writer.
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Responsible for creating efficient asset lists (making images that could be re-used and edited for least effort, and most variety).
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Supervised the junior developers of the built in mini-games.
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Testing
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Interviews with teachers, and focus groups with students. Summarised and reported results to team.
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Major Challenges:
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Relinquishing control over the Joko's World narrative.
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Balancing expectations of writers and capacities of development staff.
Major Success:
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Overall I consider this product of Joko's World unsuccessful - over budget, not satisfactory to students or teachers, and placed dev staff under undue stress.
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However, selfishly it was great learning about scrolling technologies, working in teams of diverse backgrounds, management styles, and mass production of art was extremely beneficial for my development and understanding.