Design of landscape objects
We have decided upon 4 broad categories of objects to be designed for the forest terrain and surrounding water. These are:
- Environmental objects for land
- Artificial objects for land (hybrid environment of the ancient ruins of Atlantis in combination with modern futuristic elements)
- Objects for ocean
- Artifacts to be collected
Introduction: As a team-4 our primary task is to design different sets of objects for the Atlantis Sinks game developed in our studio. During the ideation session we created an essential set of objects and obstacles to be implemented in the game. However, to be more efficient we employed Design Thinking methodology and conducted user tests [1] and interviews [2] with open-ended questions. By setting aside personal assumptions we can collect insights from the gamers and understand their expectations. The primary purpose was to design assets together with the users as well as to evaluate whether existing objects would be beneficial in Atlantis Sinks from the user’s perspective.
User tests (conducted by @Annabel-Kennedy): User tests were conducted to identify what general aesthetics and objects users associate with a hybrid environment of the ancient ruins of Atlantis with modern futuristic elements. The testing involves users drawing basic images and writing descriptive words that they associated with the 4 different categories previously identified. It was firstly explained to users what Atlantis is and the overall basis behind our game. Users were then given 90 seconds to draw/write the first thing that comes to their mind for the ancient and futuristic version of each of the following categories (12 mins total) and then asked to explain their vision if clarification was needed.
- Environmental objects for land:
- Draw what first comes to mind when I say ancient Atlantis forest terrain
- Draw what first comes to mind when I say futuristic forest terrain
- Artificial objects for land:
- Draw any artificial objects you associate with the ancient ruins of Atlantis
- Draw any artificial objects you associate with a futuristic, advanced island
- Artifacts to be collected by the user:
- Draw what first comes to mind when I say ancient Atlantis artifacts
- Draw what first comes to mind when I say futuristic, advanced artifacts/game power ups
- Objects floating on the water surrounding Atlantis:
- What ancient objects would you expect to see floating in the water surrounding Atlantis?
- What futuristic objects would you expect to see floating around a modern island?
User interviews (conducted by @a-siroki):
- Find out what kind of environmental objects for land, users expect to see in the game
- When I say "Ancient Atlantis Forest" what things come to mind?
- When I say "Futuristic Atlantis Forest what things come to mind?
- Why? (Probing question, if user won't provide reason why particular object interests him/her)
- Open ended questions to help design objects for the water area (ancient and futuristic)
- What would you expect to see floating in the water surrounding Atlantis?
- Artifacts discovery questions - special items that can be collected by the gamer to receive additional perks.
- What are your favorite perks/power-ups in any game? Why? (Open ended questions to derive primary data and later rebuild the idea to fit “Atlantis style”)
- When I say "Ancient Atlantis artifacts" what items can you think of? Why?
- When I say "Futuristic Atlantis artifacts" what things come to mind? Why?
- Final question about artificial objects that are associated with Atlantis.
- What would be the top 5 objects that you would add into the ancient ruins of Atlantis? Why?
- Can you name a few objects which you would like to see in the game futuristic version of Atlantis? Why?
Based on the conducted user tests and interviews we identified several interesting and innovative design opportunities which we could implement into the design process.
List of potential objects to create after user tests/interviews:
Environmental objects for land (ancient):
- Trees - derived from drawings
- Rocks covered with seaweed - regular with basic shape
- Long Seaweed plants
- Deep Crevices
- Gas eruption
- Mountains
- Volcano
- Lava eruption
- Coral reef
- Large patches of very green, leafy big trees (untouched by technology so overgrown environment)
- Hills
- River
- Abundance of moss and flowers (i.e. bushes with flowers)
Environmental objects for land (futuristic):
- Trees - abnormal shape with straight branches
- Rocks covered with seaweed with solar panels
- Long Seaweed plants
- Deep Crevices
- Gas eruption > neon waste
- Mountains
- Volcano
- Lava eruption
- Coral reef > illuminating coral reef
- Glowing vines
- Very dry patches of forest, with predominantly dead trees
- Rocky mountains
Artificial objects for land (ancient):
- Wooden tower
- Basic fence
- Wooden / Concrete buildings
- Primitive sign displays
- Wooden shipwreck
- A Greek fisher
- Pen & Paper primitive map
- Temples (limestone, gold material)
- Medallions
- Greek statues
- Pillars
- Greek-style pottery
- Small, village style houses
- Sandstone castles
Artificial objects for land (futuristic):
- Wooden tower > Space tower
- Primitive wooden fence > Laser fence
- Wooden / Concrete buildings > UFO style architecture
- Primitive sign displays > LED Billboard / Neon Lights
- Wooden shipwreck > rocketship / spaceship
- A Greek fisher > A Greek astronaut
- Pen & Paper primitive map > Smart digital map with emergency warning “Atlantis is sinking” (in unknown futuristic language
- Robotic wildlife
- High rise houses and castles, attached to the ground via a single elevator (UFO/geometric shaped buildings)
- High rise buildings connected via geometric bridges
- Hovercraft (star wars aesthetics)
- Scrap pieces of metal from hovercrafts
- Rocket landing platform
Objects for ocean (ancient):
- Floating raft
- A shipyard
- A shipwreck
- A ship wreckage (piece of wood)
- Buoy
- Fishing boat
- Ancient wooden sailing boat
- Sandy, deserted, small uninhabited island
- Whales breaching in the ocean
- Floating lily pads, leaves and flowers from the overgrown forest
- Floating wooden barrel from ship
- Birds and other wildlife
Objects for ocean (futuristic):
- Boat with neon lights
- Sunken spaceship
- Broken LED billboard
- Neon Modern Buoy
- Massive container ship
- Rubbish floating in water
- High tech fish farm
- Space/starships/hoverboats with flashing lights
- Space office/base built floating on water
- Ocean is a different colour → more purple
Artifacts/perks/powerups (ancient):
- Ceramic vase
- Gold coin
- Spear / Sword / Shield
- Helmet / Armor
- Treasure chest
- Mermaid
- Treasure chest
- Treasure map
- White robe
- Sailing ship
- Clay pottery
- Red wine
- Glowing crystals
- Chisel
- Heart icon for extra stamina
- Gold bars
- Goblets, challice
- Gemstones, jewellery
- Ancient tools
- Ancient greek armour (adaptive to biomes)
- Compass
Artifacts/perks/powerups (futuristic):
- Ceramic vase > illuminating modern vase
- Gold coin > cards with credits
- Spear / Sword / Shield > futuristic with neon lights
- Helmet / Armor > futuristic with neon lights
- Treasure chest > illuminating chest
- Mermaid > gemstone spirit
- Treasure chest > futuristic with neon lights
- Treasure map > translucent display with map
- Spaceship/spacecraft
- Hoverboard
- High jump shoes with springs
- Laser guns (similar to star wars)
- Binoculars
- Modern smartphone/tablet with GPS
- Time machine
In total, 5 participants aged 21-26 (2 female and 3 male students) who game daily were selected for the interviews. These types of users have a very broad knowledge about different types of games (RTS, RPG, Puzzles, Sports) on different gaming platforms (consoles, PC, mobile). In addition, during the interview questions we observed behavior and emotional response from the participants such as pausing, tone of voice, feeling frustrated, expressing curiosity, body language, etc.
- Insights from the interviews helped to identify and design uncommon "Atlantis" specific objects for the game. For example, robotic tree, stone with solar panel (solar panel inspiration came from an Interviewee who suggested to add sustainability).
- Collected data allowed us to increase the list of objects for the game by almost 400%. This could be useful for future reflection because derived data could be used as a base for additional research, for example, identifying futuristic objects that could potentially improve immersiveness and engagement.
In conclusion, interviews allowed us to look beyond just designing object for the game but reflect on cognitive and emotional aspects of it too. For example, one participant mentioned "...hmmm... trees. I don't think birch or pine fit here...". We can infer from this comment that aside from designing object we need to think about gamer’s cognitive perception too. For example, pine trees (object designed before user tests) predominantly grow in colder regions and because Atlantis is mostly associated with warm temperatures (Atlantis Location hypotheses points to warmer climate region) we need to consider biodiversity of warm regions – thus designing a Palm tree instead of a Fir or Pine makes game more realistic and logical from the user's perspective.
Based on the insights from the interviews related to biodiversity and ecology we decided to further improve the overall design perception of environmental objects. The purpose of the research was to derive inspiration from nature by analyzing ecology and environment that could have existed in Atlantis. Data derived from (Atlantis Location hypotheses) pointed to the location of modern Greece. Based on that we conducted an additional research where we focused on biodiversity of ancient Greece. That way, the design would look more natural and potentially fit the environmental objects that could have existed in Ancient Atlantis.
Trees associated with Ancient Greece
- The Fig Tree - originally was one of the most sacred trees in Greece, later replaced by olive trees for cultivation purposes. Fig tree has dark green colors, very wide and densely packed.
- The Almond Tree - dated to 8000 B.C this tree is associated with rebirth in ancient Greece. When blooming it has no leaves, visible twigs and is covered with white or pink petals.
- The Cypress Tree - an evergreen tree associated in Greek mythology with youth, death, and betrayal. It has a "needle" like shape with a mix of various shades of green varying from dark to light.
Rocks associated with Ancient Greece
- Marble stone - predominantly used to build sculptures. It has a smooth appearance and when cut in between we can observe the spread of darker (red, brown) patterns that look like veins
- Limestone - buildings and temples in Greek architecture were built using limestone. It is formed out of fossils and has light white, beige or yellow tones
In our studio today, we received feedback from team 5 on our list of objects and some high-fidelity tree designs.
User Test (by Aleks Siroki). Additional user tests were required to confirm data derived from desk research which covered biodiversity and ecology assumptions. We needed to understand whether users indeed associate the proposed designs of 3 types of trees and 2 types of stone material with ancient Greece or it would cause more confusion. For the purposes of research, we conducted an interview session with 5 participants aged 21 - 26 where we showed them images of designed objects and asked to name countries, they associate objects with. According to the data, Italy was the most mentioned country, followed by Greece and China. We can infer from this that users can quickly identify and most importantly associate our proposed environmental objects such as trees and rocks with ancient Greece.
