For a class assignment, we were designing and testing designs that demonstrated theories from a book. My assigned theory from Chapter 12 of Designing with the Mind in Mind by Jeff Johnson was more so a rule: (paraphrasing)
The program must always communicate to the user about any time estimates of action and any completions or failures to complete a task as soon as they happen. Users should always stay informed if it's more than just buffering behind the scenes. It is the most important above all other design aspects in regards to user satisfaction.
The Project
My final project ended up being a choose your own adventure style visual novel created in Google Slides. The most challenging part of the project was developing the game mechanics that could still be implemented in Google Slides — this was also one of the most interesting things about it as a concept. Google Slides isn’t really made for game design, yet the linking features gave me a framework to test out the idea.
Story
For designing the prototype, I knew I wanted to switch to a game, if it was possible, instead of a previous idea which was a comic to demonstrate the rule from chapter 12. But to make enough material for even a short section of a game I started spitballing ideas for a game story. As with the convention of the visual novel genre of games, the story drove what needed to be included in the design of the game. I brainstormed with friends and family for what could be the plot and setting for the game. I borrowed a plot device from Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers and we set in a medieval castle.
With all that talking, I designed a main character to act as the player character and a mystery to solve that would allow the player to interact with other characters and the environment. It was very tempting to keep writing the story but I just need a small workable section to prove the theory.
I found that the rule from Chapter 12 applies to video game mechanics and could be part of the game mechanics. The players are normally informed when there is something significant, and there is appropriate feedback to signal the player about interactive elements, main gameplay areas, etc. In the game, I wanted to give opportunities for time-responsive and nonresponsive feedback to the player when the player interacts with items or with the environment.
You might be thinking that sounds awfully complicated on Google Slides, Oh it was! The Branching style of routes that I wanted to implement in the game was heavily reduced in its depths because it was being put in slides but it was doable. It worked well enough as proof of concept and was scalable enough to be tested as a prototype.
Art
But to make the game playable enough, I had to make some visuals for the player to look at besides it’s the most fun aspect. I started rapid-fire sketching after making the characters and their roles, taking inspiration from medieval art and manuscript illumination and helpful Facebook costumers who take photos of their medieval clothing. It was really fun thinking about character art, designing for the setting, and researching medieval clothing and household items.
I wanted to commit to making the veneer look as finished as possible with accompanying backgrounds, but the time didn’t allow so they're in the void for many scenes.
Testing
But the most important thing in all of this was not just the creation of the prototype but what the testers spotted when playtesting. I had 3 testers with varying levels of knowledge of video games of the visual novel nature and varying levels of game-building knowledge.
My testers found most of the major game-breaking errors when stitching the slides with links. These were easily corrected so that later testers could look at the fine progression without being majorly interrupted. The testers also pointed out areas that seemed confusing and made some suggestions for improvement. One tester's suggestion helped to solve the problem of the Dialogue being hard to follow because the progression was not always chronologically left to right by suggesting an animation to queue the sequence of who saying what first in a dialogue.
Conclusion
Overall my takeaway is game design is deep and complicated. My initial choice of Google Slides was a small start, but enough that I know that it is scalable. It’s nowhere near the quality and enjoyability of a finished clickpoint adventure game or visual novel, but thanks to running tests, it has the potential to rise to that level. Now, only after I made the prototype I know there are more specialized tools for creating visual novels that could make this work better.
