Resume

To link to my resume copy and paste

http://farrelltripp.com/resume.pdf

into your search bar

interface design

this is a general post to the people working on the interface design. we need to have a sketchup in photoshop of a general design scheme for the flash maps. if in the end, the manatee people like some of our layouts with the map, then the mint people could take on the role of using our designs and working with it to go into their stuff. but yeas, so by monday, have digital sketches of the flash map in a website setting. be creative and be neutral and remember to put in an area for logo (we don't have to design a logo, mint does).

Preliminary LAYERS for manatees

I wasn't taking notes, can anyone think of anything else I missed? I will try to put up some idea sketches of this later - for now:

Layers - Summer

-Boats
-Speed zones

-Live manatees
-Dead manatees

-Seagrass (x% of manatee diet)
-Mangroves (x% of manatee diet)
-Areas of depth greater than 6ft

-Winter – (all of the above)

-Warm spots (power plants)

These could be buttons slightly separated from the layers menu:

***Composite “Happy Manatee” layer (predicted manatee location zones [3 or 4 of the manatee “likes” combined] + info on how many feet away from food/warmth sources manatees stray, which could be highlited as a colored zone on the map vs. live manatee locations)

*Composite “Sad Manatee” layer (boat locations vs. dead manatee locations vs. speed zones)

Postpartum Progression

I should probably come clean and explain why I have neglected to participate in my CS project. I have tried multiple times to contact the CS partners I was assigned to via IM these past few days, but never once did they ever respond to me. They were either always Away or they always logged off after an insanely long amount of time after my initial greeting. My class partner Lyuba, who gave me their IM names, also informed me of where they were meeting at one point, Library West, but nobody showed up, even though I knew it was the correct date and time. So apparently, this failure of communication between me and my partners is partly the reason why I was unable to attend Friday's presentation. The other reason is my seemingly in-bred discomfort at group participation. You should probably know by now that I tend to work better individually than in a group, but obviously group participation rather than isolation is unavoidable in a post-graduate world. Ongoing emotional malaise notwithstanding, the CS project has made me realize that I have become so focused on the projects that I think are REALLY important (the Senior Project and the Manatee interactive map) that I ignore the lesser yet necessary assignments that also need to be done. Granted, I'm still coming to grips with how I can improve this general dissatisfaction with my performance in this class so far, but I just need to put in more effort. It's as simple as that. And I've occasionally been sending IMs to other classmates without responses (though I'm sure it's understandable, given the hours I actually send them and the amount of work we're all doing.) So timing is also a personal qualm that demands improvement, I suppose.

At least you'll be pleased to know I'm missing 'Heroes' in order to write this post. :P

http://kotaku.com/gaming/sims/britney-shaves-gamers-react-239766.php

placing of senior proj

alright. so i really need to get on the roll with space issues.... i'm going to go talk to tom (the librarian) about a space in the fine arts library. i'm not sure where i would be putting the project in concern to me wanting window space...i have to go in there and take some pictures and figure out where i would put my piece....i also need to figure out whether this piece is an installation or a free standing sculpture. the other thing that i need to do includes emailing marcia about the hallway.... or setting up an appointment. the other thing that i'm going to do is email the atlantic gallery and the other gallery space next to the hippodrome and ask them about the space, although i am pretty sure that they are booked all the way until the end of april, but i'm still going to try. one other place includes the reitz union next to their gallery infront of the windows.

CS Meeting Last Meetings

In our last week, our group met 2 more times. On Tuesday, all of us met and on Thursday three of us met. Marie and I were present at both meetings. This last week was spent ironing out the details of the story of the game, putting together the power point presentation and creating rooms and puzzles. The portion of the story that we needed to finalize was the middle, more specifically we needed to determine what puzzles we were going to use and how they would all come together with the general theme of the game. In addition to talking about these ideas outside of class, it was my responsibility outside of our meetings to create all of the puzzles in the context with our game and its characters. A lot of my time the past week and a half was spent developing these puzzles and running them by the group, through our meetings and emails. Before the meeting on Friday, I sent over all of the information I had developed so that the CS members could work on the coding for the puzzles in the game and so that they could be discussed in our meeting Friday. In addition, I took it upon myself to write up the document that the CS students needed to turn in by Wednesday at midnight. This 3 page document needed to cover the overall theme of the game, the puzzles, characters, rooms, and ending of the game. In addition, by wednesday they also needed to a few screenshots. Marie was the main person in charge of creating the powerpoint presentation. The last couple meeting she showed us what she had done and asked for any input on how to make it better. We all thought she did a great job and didn't really have anything to add to what she had already done. She was able to do a lot of the presentation during our meetings so we were there to add input if needed. Lastly, our two CS members were working on the coding and screenshots for the game. One member worked mainly on the dialog and coding for the game while the other member mainly worked on creating the graphical environment. Our two memebers seemed very knowledgeable in what they needed to do and seemed to get things done quickly. They were able to get everything they needed to get done for the presentation on Friday and were able to send over everything Marie needed for the powerpoint presentation. They were also able to get everything done for the midnight deadline on Friday. Overall the last week went very well and we were able to get everything done by the deadline.

Late Night Musings

You know you love it:

http://www.hornymanatee.com/

Lyuba - CS MEET AGAIN

Throughout the past 2 weeks my group and I have been talking quite a bit on the internet, but still mostly about the same things. I continued to urge them to start working on the technical stuff and they are indeed cramped for time now, as I expected they would be. For the sake of time, they decided to switch to RPG Toolkit to build their game, but some of the content also suffered a bit. I think the RPG toolkit is a good idea but it seems like they would need a lot more time to fit in everything we discussed. They are also spending some time on visuals, but I think this would be a good way to win favor even if it’s not required. They can make a cute old-Zelda-style game (in appearance and perspective) with the RPG Toolkit. The beginning of the game is staying mostly the same, with the old blind man establishing the character and setting in the first scene in the dark room. The idea was to feel loss of senses here in total blackness; traveling around the room, the player would find nothing. I thought this was pretty interesting. They decided to just do one of the theme worlds for the demonstration Friday although they would say the others existed just to have time to develop that example enough, I suppose. I’m not sure if this is a good idea. I would say dealing with each of them briefly, as much as just having an empty room with some sort of suggestion even, could show the idea well enough and shouldn’t be too difficult? I’m not sure what they have in mind here; I’m afraid that their puzzles and content will not have much to do with the themes we planned out earlier. It seems that with this use of one world only, they are going back to a previous general theme they had about good versus evil in lucid dreaming and a nightmare that constantly tries to creep over the character. I guess this is a good idea too.. It seems like they took some inspiration from our earlier brainstorming to make a pretty good concept out of it, although I am not sure how well their product will be able to bring their idea across. Unfortunately they are being pretty secretive with this process though I think I could help them out here. CS student Amos keeps saying that there’s not much I can help him out with whenever I ask since I do not know how to program, but it seem that he is forgetting that there is a step between a concept assignment and the programming of it – as in, how to do it, and what exactly to do. They are being pretty stubborn and saying I have been a great help with the ideas and such; I am not sure if it’s my job to help them implement them or not anyway. I think they are doing an OK job though, they certainly made a successful concept I think. They are still supposedly giving the character a choice in the beginning to interact with objects that take them to worlds located in a forest, at sea, or in a city, as in the society, nature, and technology thing and the nightmare is related to the hell level. The content in the forest zone has some sort of allusions to our ideas with the tree of knowledge and collecting items to awaken it or something.. also something about chasing squirrels? I think I could really help them out here, haha, if they would let me.

We ended up meeting briefly in person one last time when they were working on the game the day before it was due. After looking for them for an hour all over library west I went home and got on AIM to find that they were in the CSE basement because they couldn't find enough PCs together and couldn't call me because they probably didn't bother to bring my number, but hey I didn't bring theirs either. They were pretty stressed out and ready to pull their first all-nighter in a while to finish it. When I came in, CS student Anna was warking on a pixelated zoom of a tiny squirrel picture and CS student Amos showed me what they had so far for the playable game. There was a dark room in the beginning, followed by several forest rooms with not much inside so far. It looked pretty good so far (reminded me of Zelda-type games), but it looked liek they had A LOT of work to do- I hope it worked out for them.

CS Meetings

Me and Brandon had an extensive meeting concerning the content and meat of the story. We kept going around and around on this idea of premonition and changing fate, or rather the futility of regret since in the story our protagonist would not be able to change the overall events of the story. That idea evolved into another one where we would have the protagonist change the events in his premonition, however in doing so it would cause some awful event to occur. He would accidently or unknowingly be the culpret of some awful action. We figured that was a more compelling angle to take. As far as actual events, we started to each offer ideas, and then after analysis it really became apparent that everything we talked about had already been done in a way in another area. Basically our idea seemed less and less intriguing and more and more stale and conventional. I then had the idea that we continue with the idea of a premonition, say we have a male, sleeping, then he sees glimpses of an event like a woman, then a scream, then something else. Then we have him wake up, and encounter the woman he saw in his dream, she will seemingly be in danger, and the user has to try to save her. However, by the users end, what they thought was a premonition will actually be a memory. A memory belonging to another personality of the user. Our character would be a man with two personalities, one violent, and then one "good" one, the one that the user controls through the game. So in your "premonition" it was actually a memory of lets say 20 min ago of her running away from your other self. The protagonist wont recognize that the woman is his actually his wife/gf until the end. It will only be told that she has a familiar face. In general. the idea became to set up the story like it was a conventional tale of a person seeing an event through some psychic means then trying to change the course of events, but have it actually not be scifi and more Alfred Hitchcock in nature. Instead of determinism and the futility of regret we would be dealing with the unrealiable narrator, the good well meaning protagonist that the player identifies with and controls throughout the game, but who then is revealed to be the villain of the story.We also decided on a small setting, like an apt room and an outside hallway for the story. Me and Brandon worked on sample go through narrative for all the start rooms from the start to one of the paths and ending, and included what kind of choices and puzzles would be in them, and i fleshed it out as far as literary text.

The one partner we are working with seemed excessively uninterested earlier this week. I finally got in touch with him about his progress on the programming of our agreed room structure and he told me he made 10 rooms and added puzzles with cups that had keys in them. I was confused because our plan was 13 rooms. We showed him a sample of the narrative and he was just like ok. On one hand I sympathize because the other kid from his class has been missing the whole time, but its just really disheartening. I know me and Brandon talked this story to death over and over and then we describe it to him hoping to get feedback or advise as far as how to implement it better with the coding and we get nothing. Its like talking to an empty shell. Its hard to direct someone to think critically and offer input. It just fells like me and Brandon have put more effort in and havent been greated with the same enthusiam. I wish we had opinions to deal with, even if he was like "I hate this I want to do this" rather than being totally resigned. Again I think it comes back to critiques and discussions that I know happen in classes on the arts side and I guess not so much on the computer science side. After reading that Xerox article about collaboration I think in our own experience the "desire to collaborate" and the "members with similar interests" was missing. I am grateful though that he has participated, unlike our other group member who will reply in email a week after we have met to say that he cant, and that he is basically busy mon - sunday with other classes, but to let him know what he can do. Like he is doing us a favor in contributing in his OWN project. Even though I think we started ok on this towards the end here it has become pretty shaky. In my own viewpoint I thing the collaboration experience was a success, because no experience is fruitless. Its good to realize these kinds of things happen and its not an idealistic meeting of the minds that will occur every time. Frustration is good if the trade off is experience and being prepared for this kind of thing in the future.

Final meeting with CS group before presentation

Last night we had our final meeting with each other before our presentation. Steve and Josh were working very hard on making the 5 rooms playable to turn in Friday night, so they didn't seem as interested in discussing how to further the plot any. Jason was late, so Steve had to leave before Jason came in. The middle part of the game was the only part that isn't completely written out by that point, and the puzzles were Jason's part, so Josh and I stuck around until Jason made it. He seemed to have some ideas, so I offered to stay online last night in case he needed to run anything by me, but I didn't hear from him, so I'm not sure how far along he got.

We also decided how to preset our story tomorrow. We split it up into the topics we worked on - Josh will present the technical aspect of the game, I will present the plot and characters, Jason will preset the puzzles, and Steve will present the town layout and the rooms.

I've found that even though we all offer to be online for help, no one seems to utilize it. We sometimes talk through email, but we still get the most done when we all meet together. I think we all feel like we could have further developed the interactive fiction aspect of our game more to make it even more dimensional, but it was just too difficult with finding meeting times that worked for everyone. It felt like we were all crunched for time and got the majority of our ideas on the spot during meetings, and didn't think about it too much otherwise.

I know Josh was asking some questions about how the players could interact with each other, but for the time being we felt limited to the constraints of the game builder. We're basically stuck with dialog showing up at the top of the screen.

I was with the others for 2 hours last night, and I don't felt like I accomplished much by being there for them. They didn't have any questions for me, and they didn't seem interested in more brainstorming anymore.

CS Update for the last few days

So this is an update from the last few days. Over that time, Dominick and I have fleshed out the story, and Dominick (thank you Dom) has taken it upon himself to write / flesh out the ideas we hammered out for the story. That story, after some review, has been sent to the group. So at that point we had sent them both the structure of the game and the content for each "room." Of course, we cant force our group to do work, but we once again know that at least Bo cares.

This is one back-and-forth e-mails we received from the other group members, Grant. Giving him credit to actually get back to use about once a week, even though he doesn't give us any direct help:

Sorry, I've been slammed lately... If you guys are meeting today, let me know when and where.

-Grant

On 2/16/07, GIUNTA,KYLE < cybrid@ufl.edu> wrote:We already met yesterday at 12 and discussed the story and idea of
the game. The attachment is our chat. All we need to have done
by Wednesday is 5 rooms, 5 objects, and one character implemented
into the game. We decided we are going to use inform. I might be
able to meet online Sunday so between us we can decide who does
what with the programming. My AIM is CYBRID2004.

On Thu Feb 15 19:24:34 EST 2007, Grant Beaty <gbeaty@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Sorry guys, I can meet maybe for a bit tomarrow after 6pm, or
> near any time
> on sunday. Other than that I have zero time. I've got project
> iterations and
> labs due on friday, monday and tuesday
>
> Lemme know how I can help.
>
> -Grant

So those are a few e-mails that went back and forth. As you can see, he says he is able to help, but only a few hours a week, if that. I am hesitant to go into great detail the interaction we had with Grant because I want to save that for the reflection on the project. You can at least get a just of how the he operates.

He receives all the e-mails we send, so he is definitely still in the information loop even if he hasn't had direct contact with us. Bo has stated repeatedly he will talk with Grant in class, but we are worried that he is too afraid to speak up. None the less, both of them have all the assets we gathered and created for the game. In our minds, Dominick and I did everything we could to prepare them to make the game itself. It is unfortunate they could not get us a working model before the meeting tomorrow, but we can only push so hard. I do know that Bo claims to have it ready, but it will be a surprise to us tomorrow I suspect. I would have liked to go back and forth with the mock-up of the game to make sure our concept worked in the constructs of Inform, but I will (as I stated before) cover my issues with the group collaboration in my final reflections.

I also prepared a 4-slide powerpoint for tomorrow, so I hope they are ready to present...Dominick and I are.

Senior Project keeping going...

I've come to the conclusion that I cannot state anything with just one art piece... so I'm not going to try to. I will post a map of what the "floor plans" are of my senior show when I get a chance. I have decided to have in the Sweetwater Overlook at Payne's Prairie. I am waiting for someone to get back to me on whether or not this will be possible. I want to showcase all of the work I have been working on this semester (and some from last). I am going to work with the overlook and use make my utilization of the space to enhance my point. There is no other place that I want to show this work... so it will just not be possible for me to do this anywhere else. I am using a lot of collaborative approaches and interpretive reactions to the space as the basis for the show. There will be grass drawings, the solar tree installation, a collaborative drawing that inhabits the information space before the overlook, potentially a video collaboration with a non art student friend of mine who has been documenting trips to the prairie, the windsock installation revisted with lyuba, an ardesia root wire map... and plaques (like those that can be found around the prairie. This is what I am doing and hopefully people will feel like walking a mile to see it... if not, oh well.

final face to face meeting.....hopefully

So this is really our last meeting with the cs people until the presentation time. We’re going to still keep in contact with each other through email as the date approaches. I went ahead and fixed the background images for the slide presentation in powerpoint. Me and Farrell made known the problems we had with the game thus far and the presentation. One thing specifically was the imagery used for the game. We believed that if imagery was used, it should be specific to what the story has stated in its descriptions and that it comes from an environment that at least looks like it was taken from within a rainforest. Now that I think about it, this thought was expressed during the first time we met, when both me and Farrell expressed that if any type of imagery is used, it should be cohesive with the overall story. Their response to the images was that this is a mock up, so they could just get rid of the visuals since the story is the most important. I was really happy with their revelation, especially with Harold’s, about how the story was the most important part in this game, but how they were just willing to get rid of what was already achieved through the visuals, it disappointed me. When Harold stated that we should just take out the images, all three of us, me, Farrell, and Brandon, said that taking it out was not necessary. The visuals added another dimension to the game that was created. It would be a shame to just get rid of it all together. We determined that the images in the game now could act as placeholders and if the game was chosen then better imagery that tied into the rainforest motif would be implemented later. After discussing this, I brought up the presentation itself and how it just won’t do. I explained that when presenting a project, you have to be professional, it has to look good, and that we are trying to sell the game. If the presentation looks tacky, then most people would not be drawn towards the game. Harold understood this idea, he really liked how I fixed the layout and background, but Brandon fought over this issue. He stated that he did not think that the presentation is important in selling the idea. I was shocked at this comment, so I got into a mini argument with him over it, and it just ended with him saying, “That’s just how I feel about it. I wouldn’t be affected by the look of the presentation.” We also discussed the title. The original title was “home away from home.” Farrell and I agreed that this title did not go with the game at all. The game is about cultural shock, and about trying to find your way home. If the object of the game was to learn to live in the society and assimilate into the culture then that title would be fine. Again, both engineers fought with this idea. They were saying that you’re learning to live in a new environment and you can eventually call the place home, but this option is only one of the endings and again, the object of the game is that you are supposed to find your way home. Both of them felt that the title was not important at all and they brought up the title Final Fantasy. First of all, the idea behind that title was to create an illusionary world, a world of fantasy. The title has a lot to do with the game and making the game known. Why would you want to have a title that’s long stretched and not catchy? Apparently titles just don’t matter to them. In the end, Farrell exclaimed that she could easily find a new title, and they were fine with that. She found a good title that was translated into a rainforest tribe’s language, which was awesome. The title now is Lusim, which means leave or abandoned. I also mentioned that they should have an outline and know what they would talk about for each slide. I guess that it did not occur to them to think about what they would say for the presentation. Harold knew what to say for each slide because he made it, but Brandon did not know anything, nor did he input anything when I was trying to list out certain things to talk about during each slide. Personally I think that they did not want to work on this project anymore, which was fine. The making of the game was a huge part, and now it is mine and Farrell’s responsibility to finesse the presentation; bring it up a notch to get people to choose this game. What made me sad was that it seems like they had lost interest in making the game. In fact, while me and Farrell were somewhat talking, I overheard the guys talk to each other about whether they wanted to work on this game or not. They pretty much said that they didn’t. It’s always sad to spend so much time on a project outside of class and have our teammates not want to work on our own project. the thing is, they saw other presentations of the games. Apparently people did not implement the idea of interactive fiction. Other people created a world that was similar to the old school Mario game with mazes. They (the cs guys) stated that those people apparently spent a lot of time implementing the graphics into their games and that they probably wouldn’t get a bad grade for not creating an interactive fiction game. This really aggravated me only because I believe that people should be punished for not following the guidelines, even if a project had a lot of time spent on it. They (the cs guys) felt the same, but I did not feel sympathy for them wanting to create a game the way others created their game. The only reason I feel this way was because the other day Harold created a mock up game similar to what others did, the Mario/ Zelda look alike, and when he presented it to us, I specifically told him that if he this is what he wanted to do, just ask his professor to see if this type of game would be fine for the project. He didn’t want to ask his professor and instead just went ahead with the original adrift idea we had. Oh well. The meeting was short with them (the cs people). Farrell and I stayed after for two hours, finishing up the presentation. She helped me find imagery for the backgrounds of the presentation and I worked on each slide in photoshop to make them somewhat appealing. While I did this, Farrell worked on a mini-guide of what to talk about during the presentation, almost like an outline with sentences. This was when she searched for a new title too. Eventually we finished and sent the guys what we had.

Today I’m not sure if I learned anything from the guys that I didn’t learn the other day. It just seems like we always have to keep defending certain things that should be known by all, such as the quality of a presentation or the meaning behind a title. Compromise, again, had to be made in concern to the visuals in the game though. I feel that if you want to do something and you are unsure if it is allowed, you should speak up; if you have a certain idea that you want to use on a product for a client, you should ask your client about what s/he thinks before ridding yourself of the idea. Who knows, the idea could a grand one in the client’s eyes. I guess what I mainly learned is to expect the unexpected; when things seem to be fine and finished, they aren’t, mini arguments will continue to rise and it’s how you argue the matter to get your ideas across, even if you only reach one other member and not the other.

Meeting #4.5 (b/c of email difficultis)

So Kim and I met with Brandon and Harold today. This meeting did not go as well as the previous meetings. Kim and I want the presentation to look nice (we think it is important to sell our ideas to the class) and Harold and Brandon think that it's not important. Brandon said "our teacher told us to make sure the presentation was on a dark background with light text to make it pop". He liked the rendition Kim came up with, but said we shouldn't bother wasting time on it. I addressed the inconsistencies in the images with Harold. I told him that if they don't strengthen the story then they aren't necessary. If you can't take them out and look at them and have them make sense together then they should not be there. He thought the images weren't important and that the people who decided to do this project would throw out our ideas anyway. They seem to have lost interest in this project now. So, Kim and I stuck around after they left and fixed the presentation (kim designed it) and I wrote out slide by slide points that they should address on Friday (highlighting our concept and nonlinear structures). They were really blowing this presentation off when in our eyes it was the most important thing. If you can't communicate your idea clearly then no one is going to get excited about it and all this outside work was for nothing! Hopefully they do ok on Friday without us.

SP Udate, met with Jack and Max so far

So, I just had my meeting with Max this afternoon, I had my meeting with Jack last Friday, and I'll have my meeting with Katerie this Friday.

Both Max and Jack gave me a lot of really good ideas that I now need to sort out and figure out what I want to use and what I don't.

Jack said I shouldn't use a projector to display what my computer is already displaying, and suggested I have a map that the viewer can choose points from to view the video of that area. He said I should build a kiosk that has a map of my route with key points on it going southbound and northbound. Those points will be hooked up to sensors that go to an arduino that goes to my computer which Max/MSP/Jitter reads and selects videos that correspond to that location from an array and play it on the projector for the viewer to see. That way the viewer can choose the location, and they can compare my audio thoughts. However, how will I get the audio/video represented??? If I just have one video, the audio can correspond to the video no prob. If there are multiple videos displayed of the same location (like some were suggesting) I could have all the audio playing over top of each other, which doesn't make sense because I want people to be able to hear it. I could have the videos play initially without audio and have the viewer interact to choose the audio - BUT HOW??

I want to have a way to have a map that viewers can select the place they want to watch, and the video and audio just come up. I need to be able to represent my audio and video of multiple video clips all at once.

Max told me I have two forms of mapping going on - thoughts based on geography or location, and my thoughts also make up their own geography. He gave me a few more ideas about how to visually represent my audio and video. I particularly liked the idea of having two projectors playing on opposite walls - one end being going southbound video, and the other going northbound video. That way you're immersed in the space. The video could be the entire trip from end to end, and the viewer could control the video - move it forwards or backwards.

In essence - these two meetings have made me REALLY REALLY CONFUSED. HELP!!!!!

questions

What is Xerox parc?
This is a collaborative project involving a mix of artists and researchers in order to advance in both fields of study. The artists bring in new ideas and ways of thinking and seeing, while new scientific innovations are developed. They are a company that collaborates with others (sponsors and clients) to produce new business concepts to solve current needs and delivers to customers valued creations. Their environment is relaxed with the want to take risks. It is a mix of art and science to create a better output.

Describe John Seely Brown’s vision of collaboration between artists and scientists
His vision consists of collaborations between artists and researchers who often use the same media, though they are usually in different contexts. The result of the collaboration is a creation of interesting art and new scientific innovations. The artist is seen as the leader in creating new ideas and ways of seeing. His idea works on a question answer basis, where “the problems you work on will be the ones you help invent.”

Reflect upon your recent experience with artist-scientist collaboration. What are the connections (if any) between your experience and that described in this article?
My recent collaboration with the cs people were similar to some aspects of collaborations in the article. I find that in collaborating, as an artist, with engineers, two people from two different worlds, we learned quite a bit from each other. We were the creative minds that guided the engineers towards a different direction; to create a game with a story and concept behind it. This creation led to a merge of two different worlds to make a game for others. There are things that we are still trying to fix; there is a section in the game where one has to talk to someone. Instead of having a command just to happen when the player types in talk, you have to type in talk to so and so. This was somewhat complicated for us which helps them realize that the audience is somewhat limited to what they type. We present another way of thinking. The only difference that I see between our collaboration and theirs would be that we were not paired by interests and was not random.

What do you think are the ingredients of a good collaboration between artists and scientists? Talk about this in terms of the article and your personal experience.
To make a good collaboration work between artists and scientists is that both groups have to have an open mind and that they are open to change. This thus needs to show a mutual respect of ideas. One can not walk into a collaboration with and “I want this” and “I want that” idea. I also believe that there should be some sort of research prior to the grouping of individuals to find specific interests that each person has and group them accordingly. I believe that I was somewhat lucky in the group that I ended up in. although there were some differences amongst us in ideas and views, we worked cohesively as a group. They both need to have a want to create what they are creating. If not then the project will turn out to be something terrible, and the feeling would be projected in the final project.

JReq - Xerox Parc interview

1. What was Xerox PARC?

A program within the Xerox corporation, PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) incorporates the cooperation of both artists and researchers to expand ideas in both fields and help create new ways of seeing the world through experimentation and collaboration.


2. Describe John Seely Brown's vision of collaboration between artists and scientists.

Brown's vision is to have free-thinking, left-brained artists work with logic-minded, right-brained researchers in order to discover well-balanced ideas and solutions to existing problems that benefit both sides.


3. Reflect upon your recent experience with artist-scientist collaboration. What are the connections (if any) between your experience and that described in this article?

Ideally, our experience should be quite similar to Xerox PARC's model. However, factors including meeting conflicts, schedule issues, and level of cooperation of the collaborators exist in our case.


4. What do you think are the ingredients of a good collaboration between artists and scientists? Talk about this in terms of the article and your personal experience.

I believe having artists and scientists agree on a common goal, be interested in the goal, and want to work together to achieve that goal are the ingredients that will result in a successful collaboration. In my experience, such ingredients are essential, as well as maintaining a level of respect and acknowledgment of the collaborators' ideas and concerns.

XeroxPark Collab by Lyuba

What was xerox parc?
Xerox PARC is the scientific research department of Xerox, where scientists develop ideas using current technologies. PAIR was introduced as an artist in residence program to invite artists who may be using the same tools in different contexts to collaborate with the researchers.

Describe John Seely Brown's vision of collaboration between artists and scientists.
Seely attempts to encourage the opening of new frontiers for both artists and scientists. He urges that stepping out of the comfort zone of one's work is key in getting to the root of an issue and progressive, out-of-the-box research. Pitching artists and scientists together stimulates this kind of environment where new paths can be forged in areas that are not only yet unexplored by barely even imagined. Bringing knowledge, personal tastes, and experiences from both (possibly opposing) perspectives into one project is Seely's plan to foster innovative ideas for the future of document-based market as well as informed art. The ability of each collaborator to contribute significant in-depth knowledge to a project that requires expertise from fields as divergent as art and science increases the success of the work.

Reflect upon your recent experience with artist-scientist collaboration. What are the connections (if any) between your experience and that described in this article?
I found that keeping an open mind during collaboration was most important; it was easy to become frustrated with group members' lack of understanding or desire to compromise. It is true that collaborators from different disciplines have certain ideas about eachother and the value of eachother's contributions. On the other hand, the CS students' technical skills and comfort level with computers and programming was well complimented by my ability to develop narrative ideas (although the CS students had their own ideas and were also open to creative suggestion). In the end, the collaboration may not have worked out as well as Seely proposes it should. Many ideas were compromised on both ends; perhaps more time and a more effective division of responsibilities may have worked along with simply tossing several different collaborators into one project. Reall it helped to have CS students who were a little interested in narrative, and art students who were a little interested in interactive gaming.

What do you think are the ingredients of a good collaboration between artists and scientists? Talk about this in terms of the article and your personal experience.
Open mindedness must be the first and foremost step in taking on any endeavor; this is most true when working with people from completely different backgrounds. The openness to exchange and development of ideas is as important as the well-honed individual skills possessed by each collaborator. Each collaborator should be a sort of expert in his or her field; the combination of these skills would result in a much better product than would be created by one person who makes art but is also interested in science and dabbles in programming. Results are effective due to technical proficiency, scientific accuracy, as well as creativity that encourages communication. It would also probably be beneficial to uses scientists who are interested in or at least appreciate art, and artists who understand or are inspired by science and technology.

Xerox response question

What was xerox parc?

Xerox PARC is a collaboration effort between scientists/researchers at Xerox and visiting artists. The research they embark on together is completely open-ended and is expected to be radical. The reason for its existence is to foster new thought and research without the hindrance of money and resources. By bringing together professionals of two different fields such as this, the artist (usually dealing with digital media) can collaborate with the researcher/scientist to create new works of art or technologies not otherwise envisioned or tested in a normal setting.

Describe John Seely Brown's vision of collaboration between artists and scientists.

JSB believes the relationship between the two sides should be completely open. There should be no traditional limitations, and the only limitation is in the mind of the participants. Beyond the bounds of traditional aesthetics lies truly radical research where prior notions are thrown out the window to make way for new explorations into the realm of digital media.

Reflect upon your recent experience with artist-scientist collaboration. What are the connections (if any) between your experience and that described in this article?

Certainly the two sides of the collaboration are similar in that the two professions are the same. We were also brought together for similar reason; for the growth of new ideas through differing backgrounds and trains of thought. Even though our level of success in this regard may differ completely from the PARC project, the general idea and motive remains the same.

What do you think are the ingredients of a good collaboration between artists and scientists? Talk about this in terms of the article and your personal experience.

I think first and foremost, the environment that the collaboration occurs in must be considered. Not only the physical environment, but other factors that may affect it. Resources, money, and motive are factors that constantly must be battled in an academic setting. In the PARC example, motive is opened up by a sole purpose (no distractions) and the abundance of resources helps to prevent limiting thought. In our current setting, such factors can cause issues since the "consequences" or "rewards" for such collaboration are not as easily seen or felt. In a job setting, money is a driving factor. In an academic setting, while a grade should be a driving force, it rarely pushes every member in the collaboration to go the furthest they can. In PARC, all outside factors are removed (or at least that is the attempt) in an effort to allow thought to be the prevailing motivator and nothing else. It is like creating a control situation for an experiment, and outside of an example like PARC, you have a hard time finding that balance.

CS group meeting, almost there!

We met again last night (the whole group!!) to combine what we have so far. We'll have one more meeting on Thursday to put everything together for the presentation on Friday. Jason is still going to be there for the presentation; I still need to find someone to pick up my work shifts or I can't go.

Last night we didn't do as much collaborative work as individual work. We all were off doing something - the CS guys were building some rooms for the presentation, and I was making a powerpoint for them. Jason came in late, but he had some ideas for puzzles that he ran by us, and we added some ideas to them.

I'm still a little worried about how little we've gotten done, but I think for the most part we have enough for the presentation - I don't think the presentation is supposed to be long from what the CS guys tell me (no more than 4 minutes).

I'm still finding it difficult to really get some good ideas being thrown back and forth. Last night I tried to stay a bit more quiet to hear what the others were thinking (because I had done a lot of talking before), and it seemed like some parts were still fuzzy to the others, but we sorted it out. Josh and Jason started working really well throwing some puzzle ideas back and forth while Steve and I were working on our tasks. I'm noticing that now that it's crunch time, I'm seeing more output from our CS partners, which is good, but I wish I had that energy from the beginning. I really think they work well with due dates, and if I were to do this again, I would probably make a specific outline for everyone, so they know what they need to accomplish and when. Also, questions always seem to be good, from both ends. They were asking us some questions last night which made me very happy to know they're thinking conceptually as well.

Reaction to Parc article

On the blog please write about the following
What was xerox parc?
- Xerox Parc is an artist in residence program where artists in new media are pared with researchers in order to come up with ideas and new ways of thinking.

Describe John Seely Brown's vision of collaboration between artists and scientists.
- John Seely Brown's vision of collaboration between artists and scientists is borderline creepy (and extremely political). It's absolutely obvious that JSB was gung-ho (is that how you spell it?) about artists and scientists collaborating. I really found it hard to get past all the propaganda and make it through the reading. He talks about artist researchers as being "role models", creating new ways of seeing the world (what world?), and the whole thing about "rich gold" and a bunch of other stuff that I didn't really agree with at all (but I guess the answer to this question doesn't come from being a cynical critic). The answer is: JSB felt that when artists and scientists collaborate great new ideas come forth.


Reflect upon your recent experience with artist-scientist collaboration. What are the connections (if any) between your experience and that described in this article?
-I don't feel like collaboration b/w cs and art was as successful as this guy feels it is. I mean... in our group a lot of the artistic creativity was stifled in the beginning, making it a little frustrating to further the practice of "ai". It wasn't like the ideal situation that JSB suggests happens when art and science syntesize. I'm certain that there was no pushing the boundaries or "avante-guarde" stuff going on.


What do you think are the ingredients of a good collaboration between artists and scientists? Talk about this in terms of the article and your personal experience.
I agree with JSB about the pairing of artist and scientist as being everything. Creativity can't happen if there isn't any chemistry.

Xerox Parc

What was xerox parc?

a collaboration project that they hope will lead to breakthroughs. They stay very loose in their approach, prefering to take risks and give up more methodical methods in favor of new and varied ones. It is a paring of the artist and the researcher to get a better output

Describe John Seely Brown's vision of collaboration between artists and scientists.

He says that individuals from two areas with similar interests will work together and feed off of each other. The artist is supposed to be a role model to help the researcher to go beyond the frame and reinvent. But the artist is a role model in a way that allows both them and the artist to work together.

Reflect upon your recent experience with artist-scientist collaboration. What are the connections (if any) between your experience and that described in this article?

I think our goals were the same in that we are supposed help the CS people to go beyond the framework and push themselved creatively. However I also think the ideal is something to be strived for and sometimes just not obtained. I think a difference between our collaboration and theres was that our partners were random and werent paired by any kind of interest.

What do you think are the ingredients of a good collaboration between artists and scientists? Talk about this in terms of the article and your personal experience.

I think a good collaboration 1st and foremost needs to have both sides interested and wanting to work together. There has to be a desire or it will fail. From my experiences there needs to be mutual respect for the ideas of the other party, and also there needs to be a critical aesthetic in which both sides are able to share ideas and give each other feedback without worrying that they are stepping on the others toes.

Xerox PARC response

Xerox Parc is a company that uses artists and researchers to collaborate to further the advancement in both fields of study to experiment with new ways of viewing the world.
The COMPANY PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) collaborates with sponsors and clients to discover breakthrough business concepts that solve real needs, and transform how enterprises deliver value to customers. John Seely Brown is his own boss at Xerox, but it's still part of PARC. His vision is to pair up artists and scientists who are interested in similar topics so they can help each other get new ideas and further development of the topic.

There are some similarities between this pairing at Xerox PARC and my collaboration. We are both students looking to create digital media - for us it's art, and for them it's a game. By pairing up, we learn from each other. They know a lot of programming and game strategies, and we know a lot about context and design. We aren't exactly working or researching the same things as they are, so in a different circumstance we might never have worked together, but it's still a pairing of two mindsets.

I think a good pairing needs to have two people from two different fields who are open minded enough to get help from someone else. They also need to have a common goal. If they are too closely related, there won't be as many radical ideas being thrown out. But if they're not related enough, there won't be any collaboration. Like JSB says, "as long as you can provide the right -- what I call gradient -- the right field forces that cause things to grow in certain directions, like the Sun ‘pulling’ plants in a certain direction - if you can honour the context -- then you can produce great things collaboratively." I think my group pairing works pretty well because we're all open minded to the other's ideas, but there is a separation of knowledge between the computer science and art majors. However, I feel the CS people could input more of their ideas. They seem to rather be told the ideas so they can just do it.

email update on interactive fiction project

Currently, as Farrell has stated, we are keeping in contact with each other via email. It seems like everything is working fine and we are almost ready to present. Harold and Brandon worked on the powerpoint presentation as well as the adrift game. It is finished and worked fine with minor errors is spelling, which Farrell addressed. The presentation needs some work though. I think that it is important to include the concept behind the game, like what is the object of the game. It should probably just be included in the introduction, but then again if we are presenting it, then it should be just known and spoken about. Here’s a screen shot of one powerpoint slide. The colors, the style, it doesn’t go with the rainforest motif. I emailed the guys back saying that the colors and style look like something from an oriental asian theme. It’s also very girly, which probably won’t make others want to play the game. We’ll probably keep in touch with them until the presentation. If the guys are meeting up tomorrow after class I may just head over there. I still personally think that we should meet up, go over the game together, and if there are any discrepancies then we deal with it on the spot. If, Farrell can’t make it tomorrow, then at least I’ll be there… I’m not sure if these engineers understand the project pitch idea and trying to make the presentation cool, cool enough to play. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

senior proj

just a little update, my project is about stress and trying to get people to think about stress in concern to their life. i talked to jack today and found that it was helpful. he was suggesting that as i go over the journal entries, try to find a common ground that everyone can relate to. like if there's a certain reoccurring stress factor, make it big and elaborate on the installation space. he gave me an example, valentine's day, if i chose to go this route, make it so that people can relate to it. maybe think about the items used for my project. instead of clear or white fabric, pink. think about meaning in relation to color. spacewise, if i wanted it overwhelming it would be interesting to fill the entire corridor hallway to the library with columns of fabric. overwhelm the space. " the corridor" of stress. that's if i use it. here are the mini maquettes of my ideas on how the piece will look. led lights will be used. i want to also show correlations between each day on what stressed me out. the lights and wires will be connected in a manner in order to map these reoccurrances. the lights will be used in a manner where if a viewer wants to see specific correlations, they would be able to by activating some type of switch.

oh and the other day i went by some gallery spaces including the grad show, here are some pics.

the first two are of the gallery space next to the hippodrome, a very beautiful space. the other was in the butler plaza and like lyuba said, it was huge. the projects in the space seemed so small and seemed overpowered by the space. i kind of wished that they put more projects than just one in that space. utilize it yanno. there are some pics of the show as well.

Group RXN 4: Email Contacts

We've been keeping in contact via email and probably will be until Friday. I think Harold and Brandon are going to meet after their class on Wednesday to go over the presentation. Harold did an AWESOME job on the game. He sent it to us and I played through it. Kim and I emailed him some suggestions (I fixed a few spelling errors for him). I also commented on the powerpoint presentation he sent us as a draft. I could see the pictures he used in our game in the powerpoint, but not in the game (b/c I have a mac). None of the pictures flowed visually together, so I sent him about 10 pictures for each of the rooms that I thought would go better together and would create more visual interest for the viewer. I also commented on the style layout of the power point. It was kind of bland. Hopefully he will take our suggestions.

Manatee Site Link

http://digitalmedia.arts.ufl.edu/~brandon/Manatee_site/index.html

Manatee Information Links

Manatee Information Links:

http://www.manateeinfo.com/html/flash.html
Once you get past the initial intro, this Flash site has a very interesting layout and design, with information about manatees and swimming with them.

http://sofia.usgs.gov/geer/2003/posters/radiotrack/
USGS South Florida Information Access – Along with manatee images, there are diagrams of how they track the manatees and what they use. There are also many good images and maps (colorful J) of the tracking and movements of the manatees.

http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/posters/manatee_winter/
USGS South Florida Information Access – Same site, but with different map images.

http://gis.broward.org/maps/Manatee/index.htm
Broward Country GIS maps of manatee locations – There are maps of manatee mortality, Port Everglades facilities, surface water monitoring, ground water monitoring, etc. There seems to be reliable information for boaters.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/m/manatee_map020602.gif
This is just an image of a manatee migration map, spring 2002.

http://www.jupiterinletdistrict.org/BoatersGuide/info_speedzonemap.html
Map of Jupiter Inlet and the Loxahatchee River – Shows the speed zones for boaters.

http://www.jupiterinletdistrict.org/BoatersGuide/info_interactivemap.html
Interactive Map from Jupiter Inlet site (slow loading). Points of interest: Marina Maps, Movable Bridge Table, Speed Zone Map, Resource Directory

http://www.savethemanatee.org/btsigns.htm
Pictures of signs found in slow manatee zones. The symbols may be useful for our interactive map.

http://cars.er.usgs.gov/posters/Manatee/Agent_Based_Manatee_Model/agent_based_manatee_model.html
"Structure and Parameterization of an Agent-based Manatee Model for Southwestern Florida," information about GPS tracking of one manatee with some charts, maps, and photos.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/spring2004/manatee/Update033104.html
More manatee tracking with emphasis on food habits, with maps and photos.

http://www.manateecam.com/manateecam.html
A live webcam underwater that refreshes every 30 seconds.

http://4adventure.com/SWF/aaa_manatees.aspx
Sea World's Manatee Rescue Page- there isn’t a whole lot of manatee information, but the design of the page is nice. There are some bubble animations at the top, and the colors are nice.

http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/manatee.html
West Indian Manatee website, there is a cute picture of a manatee on here, but that’s about it.

some categories of stuff

IMAGERY

http://www.escambia.k12.fl.us/schscnts/ense/webquests/images/mantswim.gif
manatee gif

http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/manatee.html
sketches, pics


- SYMBOLOGY/SIGNS

http://www.savethemanatee.org/btsigns.htm
slow speed signs

http://consensus.fsu.edu/manatee/Survey_Comments/com_boat_b5.html
sign info


FLASH


- Technical
http://www.templatekit.com/tstore/product_info.php?products_id=254
example using XML with Flash

http://fallscreek.com.au/map/
colorful, overlays of information on the map with photo pop up.

http://www.flashmapusa.com/us_flash_map/real_estate_maps.htm
sideway view animation of a map

http://www.wizeguides.com/wizeguides/
the idea of 2 views of the map at all times so that the user doesnt become disoriented.

http://www.seaworld.com/sw_index.aspx
nice water rollover

http://jimmyjohns.com/
very sleek

- Unique Styles of Maps:
http://justin.everett-church.com/ymaps/radarMaps.html
- radar map

http://justin.everett-church.com/ymaps/pirateMaps.html
- pirate map

Manatee Flash site and pics

http://www.manateeinfo.com/html/flash.html

Once you get past the initial intro, this Flash site has a very interesting layout and design, with information about manatees and swimming with them.


MANATEE PICS:

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/44702138/?qo=2&q=manatee&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5

http://www.savethemanatee.com/manatee.drawing2.gif


http://tn1-3.deviantart.com/150/fs7.deviantart.com/i/2005/226/1/b/Bee_Bee_Manatee_by_cme.jpg


http://rvsd.marin.k12.ca.us/whitehill/studentwork/manatees/images/manateedraw1.jpg


http://www.childstoryhour.com/images/coloring/manatee.gif

AI Project Documentation

Collaboration Update:

*Ive had blogging problems so this was prewritten and waiting to get posted*

So me and Brandon met amongst ourselves to figure out 1st what we wanted to do story wise, so that we could be on the same page when we met with the rest of the group. The main thing me and him have clung to since the start of this was the idea of treating the rooms only as far as the coding goes. We thought it would be more interesting to get away from a generic "navigate the mall" scenario. Anyways we mulled over a lot of ideas and traded criticisms, but weve basically narrowed down the a general concept for a story, which involves ideas like determinism and the futility of regret. Our character is going to have some kind of dream in the beginning thatact as a catalys of the adventure. We are still working out the details, we just have a general idea for structure, because thats what we needed to come up with a room design.



Our text adventure we have come up with takes place through 13 rooms. Since our "rooms" arent really rooms, but more so instances of time in the story, the user will be forced to proceed forward throughout the adventure. There are 4 different endings. And anyway the user decides to proceed, the journey from the start mark to the end mark will consist of 4 rooms, and 2 instance where the user has to decide in on a path to take. The other rooms will have a puzzle that the user must figure out or do before they can proceed. So every path will be the same experience in general but the story elements will be different. We did this so that it will be easier to make all the story segments in the different rooms to correlate and cohere with each other.

After me and Brandon had worked out some ideas we then presented them to Bo. We met for about an hour and talked about what we had been thinking and showed him our room designs. Hes been really receptive to our ideas. During our meet I began to worry that Bo might have different or other ideas but be hesitant to interject them into the meet. I think from the arts side of things we are more used to a critique settings. In every class im in a situation where i discuss my work and the work of my peers, and we trade criticism and praise of the work. I think over the years that has improved my mentality in the collaboration atmosphere because I'm used to participating in that kind of discussion where there are different opinions at work. If my ideas aren't popular ones I am not going to be offended if someone else objects to them. So I started to ask Bo directed questions to really get his thoughts out. Instead of asking him "do you like this or that", I asked him "how" questions, or things like what he thinks would specifically help in certain areas. I just didnt want our side to be the only sources of creativity at work. And it worked, he opened up more and actually had some good ideas like what if we had the character do something in one "room" that affected what the user can do in another room. Im glad that its been going smoothly. I admit I went into thing believing that my ideas would be viewed with a stereotypical bias and that I would have to work to make sure they were heard. But so far its been going well. The main thing though that I would say I've noticed is me and Brandon have been more willing to openly exchange ideas, where as with the other side of the group there is a hesitancy. It made me realize the actual impact my classes have had on me. I think i used to have a similar kind of hesitancy when I 1st began here. Our other group member has continued to be elusive and unresponsive for the most part to emails. Since our other member has class with him he is going to physically get to him to make sure that he does his share of the coding.

Manatee map links and stuff

here' a crappy paint skecth of a map idea, the map window is framed by a little scene of graphic symbols, but i think this is a pretty recognizeable manatee silhouette above^

Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostrus)

some links (mostly about manatee tracking, speed zones, and other info):
http://www.jupiterinletdistrict.org/BoatersGuide/info_speedzonemap.html manatee speed zone map** related page:
http://www.jupiterinletdistrict.org/BoatersGuide/info_interactivemap.html# "interactive boaters guide" map
http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/manatee.html lots of kids drawings of manatees and some info
seems like all the florida govermnet sites on manatees and speed zone maps are down, cannot be found? or never updated.. i hate this about many non profit or environment related resources - never updating their websites.. mid 90s web design if there is somehting.. it woulkd be lucky to even find images as many of them are jsut text and lines ----------- what's going on? i'm glad the seagrant people have decided to redo their site even if flash seems like a little too much for them.. guess those office crappy computer people will have to deal with it but at leats they may be able to keep their attention on the info instead of getting lost in a sea of poorly formatted text..
http://www.savethemanatee.org/btsigns.htm pictures of signs found in slow manatee zones**
http://consensus.fsu.edu/manatee/Survey_Comments/com_boat_b5.html a long writeup on why exisitng signs are hard to read and what could make them better, kind of interesting
http://cars.er.usgs.gov/posters/Manatee/Agent_Based_Manatee_Model/agent_based_manatee_model.html "Structure and Parameterization of an Agent-based Manatee Model for Southwestern Florida" heh heh info about GPS tracking of one manatee with some charts maps and photos
http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/posters/manatee_winter/ more GPS on manatees
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/spring2004/manatee/Update033104.html more manatee tracking with emphasis on food habits, with maps, other info about food
weird picture of manatee mouth?
http://www.manateecam.com/manateecam.html looks like it is possible! manatee cam, photos, facts..
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/wip/examples/manatee/manatee_t_files/manatee.gif nice simple manatee picture
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/m/manatee_transmitter_illustration.gif diagram of how tracking device is attached to the manatee tail**
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/m/manatee_transmitter_photo1.gif crappy photo of transmitter on manatee.. looks like it doesn't really stick up but is just floating sort of on top of him
http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/current-style.cfm the link isn't that important, but maybe a boringish business page type style would be effective here (if mixed with somehting attention grabbing, stylish, maybe even cute? hah) -i am thinking easy and like windows in appearance or something (bleh, but basically you know - recognizeable)**

Map updating cuz

So, Kim and I were talking about the technical aspect of the map tonight. We agree that with flash, we should use some kind of database to handle the data. If they don't have those capabilities, we can use XML just the same. This method will keep the file size down as each icon is the same template with data plugged in by Flash on the fly. The map layers can be turned on/off with simple buttons, but the overall feel will be mostly determined by what we see from MINT on Monday. I, personally, cant foresee any other options that we need to consider. Maybe some video clips or sounds but that is easy enough with my knowledge of Flash.

I would like to take the lead on the technical side for the project. I would like to give out specific jobs for our group so that everyone learns some Flash along the way. I'm more than welcome to help you all, but I think it would be unfair to you all if Kim and I did the coding. It would do you all no good in learning it, so I want to make sure I can help to that end. I'm open to opinions and discussion on my suggestion.

So ya, that is where I see us being at. In terms of actually showing them, the 352 link and the sky resort one would be good. The 352 one demonstrates the XML information, and I have access to it's source code.

xml and flash

here are some sites explaining the use of flash and xml

xml and flash 1
loading xml in flash
more xml file with flash

implementation ideas for mapping

Because we are creating a flash based map, we are some what limited on the approaches towards the making of it. One way that was discussed the other day would be an integration of flash and xml. From what Brandon described, xml is a text based program that would contain the lists of information that will be given to us by the Manatee people. To implement this, we would first have to ask them if they have the capabilities of using xml and if it is easy enough for others to able to enter the xml file and update any kind of information in it. The other way to approach the creation of this flash mapping, would be to use a notepad doc file as the source of the information inputted into flash using dynamic text options and actionscripting. As for the look of the mapping, we can choose to go with a vector based look, a photographic real look, or a mix of both worlds look. I believe that because this is done in flash, we should go with either a vector look or a mix of both. The vectors can be done using either the bitmapping within flash, but I would recommend the use of illustrator if we went this route. To begin this project, we must first talk with the manatee people, look at the information that they would like to be mapped to see if it can be done in xml or the later, develop the design, create a mock up of it to see how it would function before implementing it, and then put it all together. Hopefully mostly everything will be taken from external sources so that the loading time would be limited and that it can be easily accessible for future changes to the site.

AI project update thingy

So this update is a little after the fact, and I guess it is two updates in one. I'll start with the one last week where Dominick and I met online to flesh out the structure of the game so that our partners could build it while we fleshed out the story content itself. The meeting went really well, and we collaborated well while maintaining a good sense of critique to ensure a good product. We questioned even our own ideas to make sure it would all work in the way we envisioned. By the end of the night, we had a good map of the rooms. Again, we aren't treating rooms in a literal sense, so this map was just a way of visualizing the progression through the game for the AI people to make. We figured they could spend the weekend doing the coding, and by early next week we could give them the copy to paste into the the game. We would also need them to later program in some "puzzle" type of situations because we wanted the game to have a sense of challenge as you moved through it. I will post the map we came up with in a bit. We were actually trying to meet somewhat impromptu with our partners that night, but our luck with catching them on the fly isn't really going well. I think our concept comes through our map well. We have the "rooms" planned out in a divergent-convergent kind of way. You start at the same beginning each time, but your path diverges from there. You can cross over into the same ending sometimes, but the idea is more that no matter the ending, the "outcome is the same." Let me explain, if I haven't really well enough before. The idea stems around the concept that even though events can be changed, the outcome stays the same. So in our map, you may think, from the first room and it's dream set-up, that you can affect the future. The dream will set up a negative event that the user will undoubtedly think they can and should change. However, no matter the path, it doesn't change. One can try to change the outcome, or one can let it happen, either way, even if the ending circumstances are different, the final outcome stays the same. Our map illustrates that, as you see below.

















At our second kind of meeting, we basically explained the whole thing to Bo. See, as you would expect, the other partner still hasn't shown. He says that other than a few specific times that we cant guarantee, he is unable to help. He basically just said let him know what he can do, ya, real help. I wish it were that easy. So, back to the thing with Bo. We tried to flesh our the puzzle-type things a bit. Searching for things, deciphering codes, small things of that nature that can be done with pure text. He did assure us that we wouldn't have to worry about the Adrift coding. He seems to have a good grip on the program, and he is making an effort in his own time to understand what we need so when we talk to him he already is on the same page about how to do it. He is still under the impression it is 5 rooms, but considering he seems to be on his own, it doesn't seem like an unreasonable request. He did say his part needed 5 objects, but that plays into our concept well enough as is.

As was kind of said here, but I will reiterate, Dominick and I are fleshing out the story and should be handing (e-mailing) it to Bo and the other guy in the next day or two. It shouldn't be a problem because the basic format will be done.

Zero contact (cs group update)

I have tried 4 times to contact my cs partners, but I have been unable to contact them. Lyuba has given me their IM names, and I've sent messages to them, but they been unable to respond to me. I recently contacted Lyuba and she doesn't know much either. They either tell her "they have everything under control" or they are "just working on coding." I suggested it would be a good idea for another face-to-face meeting sometime this week and Lyuba agreed. We are currently in the process of finding a good time to meet.

next cs meeting

Me and Farrell met up with the two cs guys again on Thursday the 15^th. I keep mentioning them as the cs guys or engineering guys, their names are Brandon and Harold. Harold was the guy that I had problems with and Brandon, well he just seems to be there. Brandon’s the guy that wanted to just have the professor give him a storyline so that he could just make the game; no creativity. Today three of us showed up on time at the reitz. Brandon was a little late because he had class late. We discussed where we were at and what else we needed to do to finish. Harold actually built, in adrift, a mock up of the game from where we left off last week. I thought that what he did was great because now it seems like they, the cs people, were getting interested into the project. Unfortunately, the game that he made was not really finished to where we were at last week. We were able to go to the different rooms, but there was no description of the room, no narrative, none of the characters or objects. So mainly, I thought that Harold created a map of the game; the only thing that you were able to do is go north, south, east, and west. I kept my tongue though, and it turns out that he did create a narrative for the game and something happened. He said that he hoped he saved it and I was just thinking hmmm… I hope he saved it as well. It turns out he didn’t save it. That sucks. You would think that as engineers, they would encounter the same problems that we have encountered involving saving our files. Well after that he went over some difficulties that he had in the creation of the game. Apparently the trial version of adrift only allows you to create 10 rooms, 3 characters, and a limited amount of other stuff. When I found out that to buy the full version of adrift was only $20, I didn’t see a problem with that. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t just buy that because eventually they would have to buy it if our project was chosen for them to continue on later or if another project that they worked on was created in adrift. It’s only $20. If I could just buy max/msp/jitter for $60, I would be happy to cough up the money. The compromise seemed to involve the deletion of one room. The room ended up being one of the side rainforests, but I didn’t want to really get rid of the room. I told them that they don’t need to get rid of the room since this is only the trial period, just take screen shots of what we need for the presentation and then if the game is chosen then buy it and continue with the full plotline. I think we agreed on this.

jpeg map here's the link to the pdf file

Farrell exclaimed that we really needed to continue with the plot and finish the storyline. So I went ahead and opened the indesign file I had created the other day of the mapping. By then, Brandon showed up and the plot development continued. To just reiterate our concept, it is about the idea of culture shock. We had previously created the environment to take place within a rainforest. The object of the game was to find a way to get around through this culture of indigenous people by not doing anything detrimental to their society. From the endings that we came up with we also developed the puzzles because the puzzles actually help the player get to the ending of the game. The last we left of with was that the player can have the option of going into three different huts, the witch doctor, the beautiful girl, and the elders. This is the second time that the player would actually encounter specific characters and talk to them.

While we, Brandon, Farrell, and I continued to work on the narrative, Harold worked on making the game fuller than what he had already made in adrift. In the middle of finishing the storyline, Harold became really excited. He found out how to place a jpg image into adrift. I thought that it was the funniest thing. It looked terrible, he created it using paint, but at least he knew that it was terrible. Later he created another image of the plane crash, again terrible, but funny. It was all good. We all thought that it was awesome how he was able to do that. As we finished the plot, we realized that we wouldn’t be able to go with some of the endings that we had created the other day, which was ok. We just took out some of the things that didn’t go with the story that we already had. I was kind of upset that we didn’t implement the bartering system, especially when someone encounters an indigenous culture, I thought that bartering, instead of using money, was an interesting idea. It would take another thing away from what we usually do in the US and thus reiterating the idea of culture shock. Again, compromise had to be taken to finish the narrative. If we went back and added something involving barter, we would have to fix around a lot of stuff. So we left it out. I guess that creating the endings, working backwards, although was a good idea, seemed like almost a waste of time. We made endings that were detailed, instead we could have just thought up of some endings, and then if we used it, expand on it. Later Farrell had a really good idea about the pictures. She said that instead of drawing pictures you could actually get photographs of certain indigenous tribes from the rainforest. This would eliminate the fear of having something in the game that looks terrible.

As for what I learned during this meeting, I found that it was easier to work on what we wanted to work on. Although I realize that in the real world we would have to actually designate certain roles to people because people sometimes need guidance and assigned roles. It just turned out really well that I took on the role of recording the plot, Farrell and Brandon were really the creative minds, I assisted here and there with my thoughts while drawing out the map, and Harold took on the role of creating the actual game. The only thing that I feel bad about is that I can’t really help him make the game. It doesn’t seem like Brandon is helping Harold in the making of it, but then again Harold seems to like working alone in that. Harold kept exclaiming that it was easy to create the game. I still felt bad about that. I’m going to email him saying that if he needed help just email everyone asking for it. When asked if we should meet again next week before the presentation, I said yes, everyone else said no. I don’t know, I like the idea of meeting and getting ready for presentations, figuring out who says what and such, but if I’m the only one who wants to meet, I don’t want to make everyone meet. Farrell said that well we have email addresses so if something complicated comes up, or questions arise, we could just email each other, which was fine. I told everyone before I left that I would email them the pdf mapping of the game and Harold said that he was going to send the adrift file to us. He felt that everyone should play the game so that we know what we were talking about during the presentation, which we all agreed on. So we’re good. Any problems will be seen next week upon the testing of the game. The only thing I’m worrying about is the graphics. Harold also mentioned putting in some kind of music, which I’m not opposed to. I just hope that it goes with our narrative.