{"id":228,"date":"2026-01-16T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/big-picture-studio\/?p=228"},"modified":"2026-03-04T20:00:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:00:55","slug":"devlog-week1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/big-picture-studio\/devlog-week1\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 1 – We Need a Game Design Document!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Semester started! Over the break, individual team members made explorations on distinct functions. Some downloaded puzzles games like Burgle Bros for reference, many of us played Gorogoa, some researched networking capabilities of the phones, and some read about puzzle and system design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the first few meetings, we’ve aligned on our goals for the project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Create a game!!!<\/strong> Showcase it at Festival of Gaming (previously Game Developers Conference) in March at ETC booth, where 5\/6 of our team members would attend.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Design space innovation<\/strong>\n
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    • A game that fully showcases coolness of many screens converging and changing dynamically. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • -> This entails that we want 4+ phones that can be rearranged modularly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • And we discover, define, and develop for this medium.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Qualifiers: coherent and profound<\/strong>\n
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      • The game doesn’t just have narrative, gameplay, and 2D and 3D art. It has to coherently work together that utilize the design space.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • e.g. Instead of gameplay then cutscene for the narrative, the story has to be told with the mechanics as well. The visuals has to find a form<\/em> that expresses the platform well, especially since our project is very pictorial-focused.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Chicken-and-Egg Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Building upon these goals, in order to have a complete start-to-end experience at the end of the semester, we needed to work incrementally, as opposed to brainstorm blindly, and choosing arbitrarily our champion moments. Each prototype and playtest would be to answer a critical question we encounter while working towards the final product. Our team calls this the chicken-and-egg problem, as no exploration can be directional if there is no final vision, yet no final vision can emerge if not for extensive exploration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Even so, the first questions still has to come from some consolidation of exploration!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Looking at our winter break summarization of our references, and our pitch explorations, even though we proposed a pretty promising heist game that seemed cool with the vertical phone, we still felt that the game idea still felt too boardgame like, and not fully utilizing what the platform can do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        \n
        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
        Past references<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
        \n
        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
        Past explorations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Brainstorming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Hence, a new round of brainstorming started!! Knowing we’re looking for a narrative experience, on an spreadsheet, we brainstormed individual “phone sequences”, or “moments<\/strong>“, to which our team then on used to refer as the magical moment we are looking for. Here’s an example using the heist idea, followed with other ideas that were developed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
        \n
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        The Intro Sequence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

        \n

        UI Nightmare (phone UI utilized for a surprise moment)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
        \n

        Zoom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        Spatial Mechanics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        • Zoom<\/em>\n
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          • Zoom in or out to match edges<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Zoom on a phone that is already in a formation and effect other screens<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Activation <\/em>\n
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            • Unlock\/lock gate<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Closing the stage curtain<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Closing an opened bridge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • One screen affects the other<\/em> \n
                \n
              • Projectiles flying over destroying objects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Light seeps into a dark room<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Natural forces like wind\/magnet\/jump pad making objects move<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Alchemy, merging liquids or air. Like lava one side and water on the other when connected creates vapor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Portal<\/em>\n
                  \n
                • Connect two different scenes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Break<\/em>\n
                    \n
                  • Remove one phone from a completed picture, like making a glass shatter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Connect<\/em>\n
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                    • Connecting pipes\/electric wires<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Connecting pictures on a wall<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Continuous reposition<\/em>\n
                        \n
                      • Character exploring a space<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      • Train traveling on a horizontal track with background changing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

                        Sci-fi Church<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        Mangled Corpse Narrative Moment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                        Unsolvable Puzzle<\/strong> (Florence drifting mechanic)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        With all these, we tried to decide which moments had the greatest potential. Yet, after several attempts, we realized it was not yet time to converge. All of these are great, and we don’t know how to choose! There’s a need for a player experience guideline!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        Gold Spikes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

                        In addition, for the medium to work itself, we experimented with how the simple 4 phone tech space gives us opportunities to work on, to determine the simplest form of tech possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        3D Perspectives: top-down and isometric<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        Our 3D artist went all the way to create 3D worlds for different perspectives that the phone could be good for when being connected together. It served as a great reference for what kinds of camera movement would benefit a new scene, whether it’s narrative moments or puzzle solving moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        \n
                        \n
                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
                        Perspective<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
                        \n
                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
                        Top down<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
                        \n
                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
                        Isometric<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

                        More beautiful renders exploring other kinds of scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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                        \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

                        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        Tech connection architecture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        The tech team had a discussion with whether the underlying phone connection architecture should be peer-to-peer or client-host. There was not a decision, so they simply started trying to make it to see what roadblocks they would encounter, and in the end chose a client-host structure (p.s. even when developing with peer-to-peer structure, client-host still proved to be useful to mitigate the problems of sending connection acknowledgements to each other!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                        Jigsaw!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n