Props
We have narrowed down the prop we will be using and used pictures to make a quick mock up of the room layout. We will be talking to our client next week to try to confirm that the furniture we want to use fits the constraints given.
Art
We are exploring the idea of using a tree growing in the center of our scene, along with stained glass to color the environment. We are building and rendering the scene and have gotten several carts to build our own version of a “cave” in our project room to test how the environment looks.
Sound
We are developing the ambient music further and will be recording our own music over the weekend.
Script
We have decided on the simplified script. Instead of having a record missing, the character asks the guest if they are willing to add their stories to our collection. This allows guests to exit out of the experience early if they’re uncomfortable with the subject matter. We will be playtesting this version of the script next week once the phone is installed in the GLCR.
Tech
We are working on a duplicate telephone so that we can run playtests onsite while we continue developing. This phone should be installed by Monday in the GLCR with various software upgrades throughout the rest of the project. We are also working on the motion sensor technology, specifically figuring out what would be the best place to put the sensor in the room to make sure that it does not pick up people outside.
Voice Acting
We are testing out several people as voice actors for the narrator. Our main focus at the moment is testing if the guests respond better to a male or female sounding voice. Once that is decided we will start looking into finding a specific voice type.
Playtesting
We have set up our personal “cave” (three monitors on carts) in our project room to be able to test and edit the experience quickly without needing to travel to the GLCR. We are play testing questions over the weekend as well as setting up in the GLCR so we can have the room available for playtest starting hopefully next week.
Questions
We have organized our questions into the six following categories:
- Family
- Death
- Relationships (Both Friendly and Romantic)
- History about Yourself
- Present Self
- Future
We are working on adding additional questions to each category. We plan to set up the experience so that the questions the guests are asked are picked from the same category throughout the experience instead of being randomly selected from a master list. We are also considering offering the guest an option as to which category they would like to take the questions from, since we noticed in our playtest that certain topics might make different people close up based on past experiences.
Faculty Advisor Meeting
The main advice we got from our advisors was that the character starts talking too quickly and our example responses needed to be shorter. Additionally, they recommended that we put up text with the instructions in case the guest misses or forgets what the character tells them.
Conclusion
We are making steady progress on the project. We hope that being able to have an installation in the GLCR while we’re still working will give us lots of valuable feedback.