Fearsome Thorny Pigeons Laz Matech_week1assignment_march2015

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Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics Fearsome Thorny Pigeons Assignment 1 Full Sail University

Transcript of Fearsome Thorny Pigeons Laz Matech_week1assignment_march2015

Nielsen’s 10 HeuristicsFearsome Thorny Pigeons

Assignment 1Full Sail University

Game SummaryThis game is an adventure platformer focusing on an enchanted snowball that was brought

down to Hell for a ceremony. The snowball decides to try to escape, and the game’s various

levels revolve around that escape, with the final trial being a fight with the Devil himself.

In the game, the player will progress through levels of varying layouts including platforming

and puzzles as they try to progress to the next area. They will encounter various enemies,

ranging from the Damned, a slow moving zombie-like enemy, to massive dragons.

Problem Damage that is sustained is not adequately conveyed to the player.

Rating Important

Description While the player is moving through the world, he can sustain damage from enemies

on screen. This damage is not conveyed by sound or visually. This keeps the player

from being aware of losing additional health.

Solution A simple blink of the screen or flash of color on the character when a hit was taken

would convey that damage was being received.

Reference Shot

Visibility of System Status

Problem Arrows used for power ups do not accurately imply shrinking/growing of the character

Rating Minor

Description Arrows aren’t able to show that they are able to make the player shrink or grow.

There is no text or image to show that it does anything.

Solution Either add text stating shrink/grow, or change the animation from an arrow into a

contracting/expanding circle respectively.

Reference Shot

Match Between System and the Real World

Problem The death screen gives no indication on how to respawn

Rating Important

Description When the player dies by any method, there is no prompt or message that informs the

player of what to do next.

Solution A simple string stating <Press SPACE to respawn> would suffice, and lead to less

confusion after a death

Reference Shot

User Control and Freedom

Problem Mapping of arrow keys is inconsistent with gaming standards.

Rating Important

Description If a player wishes to use the arrow keys to move, the standard left / right arrow keys

do not work for moving the character left or right. Instead the player has to use the up

/ down arrow keys to move which is inconsistent with the visuals.

Solution Change the key bindings in order to match the visuals.

Reference Shot

Consistency and Standards

Problem The quit/exit buttons do not give the player any confirmation after clicking them.

Rating Medium

Description There is no confirmation menu to clicking either the Quit or Exit buttons, they simply

kick you straight to the main menu/desktop.

Solution Within the Pause Menu and Main Menu, The Quit and Exit options should have a

confirmation dialog for the user to verify their choice.

Reference Shot

Error Prevention

Problem Doesn’t teach player how to play or explain any elements of the game.

Rating Important

Description There isn’t a point within the game that the game stops and tells the player any

information about the game, leaving the player to figure everything out by trial by fire.

Solution A quick pop up that explains some basic information would work in explaining

controls to the player.

Reference Shot

Recognition Rather Than Recall

Problem Controls are not stated, cannot be remapped, and there is no way of checking them.

Rating Important

Description There is no menu for the controls, and they cannot be remapped in any way. This

means players are forced to use one set of controls throughout the entire game.

Solution Creating a menu allowing the controls to be remapped to different parts of the

keyboard or mouse to allow players to use a set up that is more comfortable for each

player. This also allows for players to figure out the controls of how to play.

Reference Shot

Flexibility and Efficiency of Use

Problem Menu buttons and text match too closely in color. The menu layout is also in a strange

location in the lower right portion of the screen.

Rating Minor

Description The menu buttons have a “snowy” background with white text in the foreground,

making the text difficult to read. The menu is also situated in the lower right part of

the screen, making it hard to notice if you are not paying attention.

Solution Make the menu buttons a plain color, like white, and the text black to have better

contrast. Move the menu centrally so that the player is more likely to notice it.

Reference Shot

Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

Problem No character feedback upon player death

Rating Important

Description There is no information given when the player dies. The player model despawns, and

the rest of the game continues playing with no prompt or anything displaying what

happened.

Solution Give some form of prompt or information when the player dies. A simple <You have

died> with the game stopping in the background would suffice.

Reference Shot

Help Users Recognize, Diagnose and Recover From

Errors

Problem No help menu, and provided documentation is out of date

Rating Important

Description There is nowhere in the game that tells the player how to play in menus or otherwise,

and the included documentation is out of date in regards to the controls ie. it has no

mention of mouse control.

Solution Providing a tutorial on how to play and the game or outside up-to-date

documentation of the mechanics of the game for players who are new can easily pick

up and play.

Reference Shot

Help and Documentation

ReferencesNielsen, J. January, 1995. 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design. Retrieved from

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/

Nielsen, J. January, 1995. Characteristics of Usability Problems Found by Heuristic

Evaluation. Retrieved from http://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-problems-found-by-

heuristic-evaluation/

Gill, T., Mangold, M., Patterson, L. West, K., Whildin, J. May, 2012. Snow Chance In Hell.

Produced by Full Sail University