EcoVision

Week 13 – Beyond MVP —— Final Touches

This week, we focused on enhancing our Minimum Viable Product by adding extra layers of polish in three key areas: audio, visual effects, and educational takeaways. These improvements aim to deepen immersion, clarify interactions, and reinforce the environmental messages at the heart of our experience.

Bringing Characters to Life: Voice Recording

This week, we finalized and recorded all character dialogue to replace the temporary AI-generated voices used in earlier builds. Thanks to the support of our instructor Jessica and ETC student Samantha, we now have natural, expressive voice-overs that greatly enhance the emotional tone and clarity of the game. This change directly addresses one of the most consistent pieces of playtest feedback—that the AI voices felt robotic and distracting. With real voice acting in place, the characters feel more authentic, and the narrative is easier to follow, creating a more immersive and engaging experience for our players.

Mini-Game for Reinforcing Takeaways

To better support our transformational goal—encouraging players to take environmental action—we added a mini-game at the end of the experience. This interactive quiz is designed to reinforce the environmental knowledge gained throughout gameplay. Players select answers related to what they learned, and receive audio feedback based on whether their answers are correct or incorrect. This playful ending helps solidify key concepts in a memorable and rewarding way.

Visual & Interaction Enhancements

We also added several small but impactful visual improvements that elevate the overall quality and clarity of the game:

  1. 🌿 Swaying grass and tree branches
    • These elements now move gently with the wind, adding life and realism to the environment.
  2. 🐣 Visual feedback for baby bird sounds
    • A subtle sound visualization effect now appears when baby birds chirp, helping players identify the source and connect with the scene.
  3. 🐦 Bird wing animation update
    • The bird character can now fold its wings properly, replacing the previous stiff T-pose that drew unintended attention and broke immersion.
  4. 🐿️ Squirrel mouth movement
    • The squirrel now has synced mouth animations during dialogue, making it easier to see which character is speaking, an issue that confused players in earlier builds.

With these updates, we’re getting closer to delivering a polished and impactful experience. As we enter the final stretch, our focus will remain on refining the emotional beats, smoothing transitions, and ensuring that every detail supports both the educational message and the immersive storytelling of EcoVision.