Red Lab C Final Blog

This was the final week for the Mustard Seed project, which meant a lot of work had to be finished.
During the short lab this week, all of the groups had their prototypes finished, and were just finishing up testing reports. The teams presented the prototypes to the lab on Tuesday. All of the prototypes were a success and they were all easily related which was a very important feature. This being the final lab, all of the teams were dividing up the final report.
The representatives for the open house were chosen by the lab on Tuesday. We decided to break the presentation into one hour blocks, for a total of 4 representatives. The Open house went very well, all the Lab coaches and the Mustard Seed representatives were very impressed with the professional look of our prototypes as well as the prototypes themselves.
There are not a great deal of changes that we would have liked to make, but as always it would have been better if we had done more testing on the prototypes which was limited by the time issue.
All in all the project was a success, every member of the lab will leave this class with a new understand of teamwork and what it is to be a real engineer.

Last Post Lab D

This week:

This week was when everything got pulled together. All of the teams finished up their games during short lab. On monday we gave Mitch the games so that he could compile them all into one game (thankyou for that). The long lab was mostly dedicated to tying up loose ends (portfolios, logbooks, open house schedule)with presentations at the end. The presentations went well. All of the groups were ready to go, which was great. Outside of lab time, Jay got the manual and poster printed off after going through some very last minute deadline panics. After switching print companies all turned out well.

Conclusion:

The lab worked very well together on this project. We had no major disputes or missed deadlines. Game maker was difficult to deal with at times and I think that there were a couple people in each group that stepped up to do most of the programming, because it was not feasible for everyone in the group to learn in the time given. Each group had a very different game to suit their theme, but they all fit our city theme. With that in mind, I think our end product was good for the time given. After the close calls on printing the manuals and the poster, I think that next time it would be good to get started on that earlier, but it turned out really well. I would definitely print the poster and manual again. It was expensive, but when divided amongst the group the price was manageable and the end product looked more professional. Overall we had a great lab that worked well together and got things done. All that is left is to finish the final report.

Red Lab A - Status Report #5

As a Lab:

ACCOMPLISHED THIS WEEK

• Assigned who will be included in the poster group
• Discussed poster design, and what materials to use
• Pooled money to acquire GameMaker Pro for import-export feature
• Found out how to create save points in the game once it is compiled
• Came up with a naming system to ensure that sprites and rooms are named intelligently for compilation time
• Assigned quick keys; S = save, Q = quit
• Redesigned quiz room to resemble main room, with separate doors for each subjects quizzes
• Decided who would be in the group to write the design manual
• Read over design manual requirements, and divided responsibilities among group members
• Figured out how to incorporate 8 direction movement into the game, and figured out how to incorporate boundaries into the game
• Figured out how to do multiple choice questions for quizzes
• Worked on game design and quizzes, set due date for all games (Thursday April 8, 2010 in the am)
• Every group recorded testing data for their final report
• Came up with game title – “Math Master”
• Every group discussed outline of final report and divided roles

TO BE DONE NEXT WEEK

• Finish making presentation poster
• Have Open House presentation ready
• Game prototype will be all compiled and will be able to be played
• User/Design Manual to be completed and ready for Open House
• Present final product at the Open House on Thursday April 15th
• Have our last discussion about final report and finish/submit

Lab D Update 5

Accomplished this week:

This week each group finished up their sections of the program. Thanks to Mitch, we now know how to put all of the individual games together to make one game. The project managemnet group met during long lab to discuss the final stages of the project. Work was divided up amongst most of the members, although Jay definitely took on most of the work with the poster and the final touches to the manual. So far everyone seems to be getting along and staying on track going into the last week of the project.

Next Week:

Next week during short lab, the groups will be combining their sections of the game into one game, deciding who is going to be at the open house, and working on the poster. During the long lab final testing on the prototype will occur to make sure it is ready for the open house on thursday. Groups will start working on the final reports in long lab as well.

Lab C Status Report #5 April 9th 2010

Accomplished this week

• Finished initial prototypes

• Tested initial prototypes

• Refined Prototypes and Tested again.

• Defined roles for the final report.

• Started and completed certain parts of the final report

• Completed filming (Group 2)

• Completed Survey (Group 2)

• Finished cards for Board Game (Group 5)

• Tested Game with half the game cards (Group 5)

• Completed Transfer Package (Group 8)

To Be accomplished next week

• Finish all testing and finalize any last adjustments

• Present Prototype at Open House

• Finish Final Report

• Complete a professional looking prototype of the game board. (Group 7)

• Test Games and Instructional Packages amongst peers (Group 8)

• Finish editing of film material (Group 4)

Additional Thoughts

The package is coming together nicely and most groups are on schedule to finish the prototypes and final reports on time. Overall the entire lab group has worked together very well with lots of patient discussion amongst various groups to reach a desirable outcome for everyone. The team has met personal expectations despite a challenging task, the final prototype might not be of quality to implement in the real world but within the time frame provided a group of first years students have done very well.

Updated Gantt Chart

Lab B - Week 5 Update

It is almost the end of the year and we are making our final push!

Accomplishments for the week:

The groups have completed their respective games
Regarding the final product:

-Game introduction has been created
-Primary screen in the form of the map of the world is functional
-The games are being merged by a selected group of individuals

Both the poster and manual design team was formed
Some groups are already working towards the final report
The deadlines have been set regarding the above


To be accomplished next week:

Have the final prototype ready for testing by the instructors
-Further testing of prototype to have it ready for open house

The design manual and poster should be ready
Final report should be completed
Prepare an oral presentation!


Some issues:

Initially it was difficult to merge the games together. We were saved by the export/import functions that the GM has which allowed us to compile the games together without doing it manually(IE copy/paste). Still some minor issues with it which shouldn't hold us back.

Good Luck to everyone!

Lab A Accomplished This Week - Week Four

As a lab it was decided that:

• The game must be designed in a more linear fashion; this means that when the user passes a quiz it will unlock one module, instead of opening multiple rooms at once. The order of the rooms is as follows:

1. Simple Math
2. Data Analysis
3. Units and Conversions
4. Geometry
5. Algebra/Patterns
6. Coordinate Systems
7. Trigonometry
8. Functions

• Whose laptops will be used for the demonstration at the open house presentation
• Each main game designer from each individual group will be expected to help the main compiler put the game together after each individual module is complete
• Team management group will put together the User Manual
• One team member from each team (other than PM Members) will be selected to help put together the poster for the open house presentation (group of 7)

D Lab Update 4

Accomplished This Week

This week was focused on programming and developing questions. Each group was building a solid foundation for their program while researching to find questions to incorporate into the game.

Next Week

Next week all of the groups will be finishing their sections of the game. The project management team will have to meet and discuss possible ways to put all of the sections together into one game. By the end of next week our lab should have a completed section of the game from each group and an idea of how they are all going to come together into one final product.

Lab A - March 28

To be accomplished next week:
- Teams are expected to have their sections completed at most by the end of the week of April 9th
- Compilation to begin shortly after all sections have been received
- Testing is to be done individually by every group before submission of sections
- The Poster Team is to begin preparing a layout and theme, as well as preparing colour schemes etc.
- The Design Manual team is yet to be assigned, contributors of which, will begin working on their assigned parts
- A Presentation Team has to be assigned, contributors of which, will also begin working on their assigned parts
- Final polishing of each section’s plot as well as backgrounds, sprites etc.

Lab A Week 4 Gannt Chart

Reb Lab B - Weekly Status Report #4

Due to the long weekend this week, there was only one short lab this week. As a result, most of the teams did not have too much class time to work on the actual game. However, the work that was accomplished this week will be outlined below as well. Also included are the tasks that are to be accomplished next week as well as a graph that outlines the progress of the lab.

Accomplishments this week:

Individual Teams:

• The final sprites have been implemented into each of the games
• Most teams have completed the first few levels of their game
• The individual game designs and concepts have mostly been finalized and are simply waiting for completion
• Some teams have assigned tasks to team members to work on the game during the long weekend
• Teams have set out testing criteria and will be able to test once their game is complete
• Some teams have actually began to conduct and record some forms of testing
• Some groups have assigned work packages to each team member for the upcoming final report

Lab as a whole:

• The lab nominated four individuals to represent the lab at the Open House Presentation
• A Game Assembly team was formed who will be responsible for compiling the individual games into the final integrated game
• One person from each group has been assigned to be in the Poster team; this team will be responsible for completing the poster that will presented at the Open House
• One person from each team has been assigned to work on designing the 'Instruction Manual' for the final game

To be accomplished next week:

• Each team is expected to have their individual game completed so that the integration process can begin; a date will be set during class as to which date the game is to be completed and sent to the Game Assembly Team
• Testing is to be conducted and finished next week
• Most teams will be starting to work on the Final Report
• The Poster team and Design Manual team will begin to work on their respective parts; a date is to be set during class as to when each of the components should be completed
• Presentation Team will begin writing their presentation for the Open House
• Come up with a catchy name for the final game

NOTES:
Some of the individuals in the lab that are working on creating the actual game for their team have expressed some concern as to having some difficulty with working on certain elements of Game Maker 8.0. There seems to be a lack of instruction on how to utilize the program to accomplish some of the tasks that are required for building the game.

If anyone working on the game in Red Lab B is having any difficulty, please be sure to contact someone in the Game Assembly team for assistance:
Brandon C. (gyrosese@hotmail.com)
Dan S. (dan_the_man_sander@gmail.com)
Mitch W. (yamahaguy_630@hotmail.com)