Adding sound, navigation, interaction, and annimation confusion

I feel like a complete idiot right now. I have sat down for what it feels like is about the 12th time to try to figure out this flash stuff for globaloria, and I have still gotten nowhere. I felt like the mini game tutorial was much more user-friendly because they gave us a step-by-step tutorial along with providing pictures of what the screen should look like. For these little projects, I'm having a hard time figuring out what things are supposed to look like and where things are supposed to go. It is the end of the semester and it feels great to be able to start crossing things off this long list. However, these little projects feel like something I cannot get myself around. It is making me nervous, because I don't want my grade to suffer and we're all supposed to have this stuff posted to the wiki. But I don't know what I'm going to do if I STILL can't figure this out.

Content and menu bar: Completed

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders to be able to say that I have FINALLY completed all of my content for my website . The rest of this week will be spent transforming my content into the website. I feel like this process has been very long and I can't wait for everything to be pulled together. I had planned to do more work during the break, however due to my thanksgiving plans, I was unable to make it on campus to get anything done. I'm seeing that I'm not as behind as I was initially worried. Hopefully, I can remain calm and buckle down, and all of this coding and web designing will be a thing of the past. I will be so happy when this semester ends and I can finally relax..

Food Forecast and Team Awesome

As I continue to do my research for the game, Joel has been working on the opening page as well as the main characters. Chelsea has finished drawing the unhealthy foods, and I'm pretty sure Lauren is doing what she can in her maternity leave. We're all pulling our weight, and I am looking forward to the payoff of having all of these things completed. I still need to work on some globaloria projects, but as long as I keep busy and focused, I know I will get it done.

Pulling Everything together during a stressful time

As far as my website goes, I have the first 10 pages completed, along with most of the content that I want to use and what it's basically coming down to now is coding and having everything come to fruition. DreamWeaver is a lot more complicated than I initially thought and as the deadline is approaching, I'm starting to feel the pinch. I'm trying to plan out everything to the point where my goal is to have all of my pages completed by the time we get back from Thanksgiving break. I wish the lab could be open, so I could really make use of my free time, but I guess those are the breaks. At this point, I just want my site to be completed and this semester to be OVER.

I'm anti-UNO Moo

Since I am taking a game design class, I felt that it would be appropriate to talk about other games that are on the market. I was watching tv the other day and I saw an ad for UNO Moo, which I found to be slightly appalling. I understand the concept of UNO Moo is to dumb down the game so that it can be fun and easy for young kids, however UNO original isn't that challenging to begin with. The main source of my irritation stems from the idea that certain toy companies feel the need to change games that have nothing wrong with them to begin with. "If it aint broke, don't fix it" I believe the old cliche' goes, and I absolutely agree. Bellow is an ad for UNO moo, what do YOU think?

Ginza in Charles Town

Last night, my boyfriend and I decided to go out to a restaurant outside of the confines of Shepherdstown, and headed toward Charles Town. We stumbled across Ginza Japanese Steakhouse, and decided to check it out. The sushi selection wasn't bad in terms of the variety of specialty rolls. A unique aspect of going to Ginza was that the specialty rolls also used various types of seaweed. In my years of eating sushi in many different cities, I have never encountered that. Although that was unique, the taste of the sushi was so-so. The fish wasn't particularly bad, but the taste was nothing spectacular. My boyfriend said it best when he described it as, "standard". I would recommend going there if you want to have the Japanese steak house experience and don't want to drive to Hagerstown or Martinsburg, but I wouldn't necessarily suggest driving out there for the sushi alone. If I were to give Ginza a grade it would be a B-. I wouldn't mind going back there, but I'm in no rush.

Creating a game = fun Researching for it, not so much

I took on the role of being in charge of the research and development of our game, "food forecast" and all I can say is that it is BO-RING. It's interesting to know the health benefits of eating different vegetables, but when you are researching 12 vegetables at a time over a course of 3 hours, it tends to be monotonous. We all know that vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals that are essential for immunity and weight loss, and going over each individual veggie and the included nutrients becomes quite daunting.
I've also found some slight difficulty in designating a crop to a specific season, when certain ones are grown in two different seasons. When I took on the job, I thought it would be more cut and dry but I'm learning that isn't the case. Thus far, I've completed my research on 12 spring vegetables, and I am now working on the summer ones. I'm not sure when all of the research needs to be completed, however I'm trying to get it done in a timely manner, so my team will have more to work with. I wish it were more exciting and fun, but in any job or position, it won't always be.

Team Awesome and Our Awesome Roles

Recently, my team (awesome) met and discussed our jobs and roles as group members which are as follows:
Joel-"scripting and animating the characters"-each season has a different character which he will be in charge of animating as well as doing a lot of the work using coding and scripting.
Lauren- illustrating the good foods-The object of our game is to match the appropriate crop with the right season. Lauren will be collecting and drawing these using photoshop, and mailing them to us, as she is about to go on her maternity leave (Good Luck!).
Chelsea- illustrating the bad foods- During our game, the "bad foods" will be chasing the characters as a way to sabotage the player's ability to select the appropriate crops, which deducts points from the overall score. Chelsea will be illustrating these foods which will be used in the game.
Me- research and development of crops- As part of our game, we are providing information regarding the health benefits of each of the crops to be used. I will be researching 12 crops per season, providing the information to be used in the game as well as assign the crops to the seasons. . In addition to that, I will be doing any other outside research that would be required into making "Food Forecast" a reality beyond the existing paper prototype. With the jobs in order, the development of "Food Forecast" can begin.. Hooray!!

Navigation Bar: Completed

Last week we learned about the coding and linking up the navigation bar. I think it's interesting to look at websites now and understand how these pages are put together. When you're building your own website, one understands more clearly what goes into web building, and I no longer look at websites at face value. In a way, I think it's pretty cool to look at a navigation bar and think, "I know the coding for that." Although it's somewhat frustrating to learn, it's interesting to see that you know it, and get it. As the semester is rounding itself out, I know that I am getting that much closer to getting the final product, which is actually a little exciting as a novice webpage designer.

Paper Prototype

On Thursday, the other groups presented the paper prototypes for their games. I felt that everyone succeeded in creating something that went along with the theme, as well as created something that was an actual game that someone would play. I was worried that since we were all assigned to create a game based on the same book, that maybe we would all end up with similar variations, which I was happy that wasn't the case. Today, my group presents ours. When I was creating my part of the presentation, I was reminded something about myself; I can't draw. I hope that doesn't take away from our presentation, only I doubt it will. The sample on Globaloria didn't exactly look like a masterpiece.

Sakura on Sundays

If you like sushi and don't mind driving to Hagerstown on Sunday afternoons, I recommend going to the buffet at Sakura. Last weekend my boyfriend and I went there and they charged 12.95 per person for all you can eat sushi and hibachi. The sushi was actually good AND there was absolutely no crowd. With a deal like that I would have expected more people. In terms of sushi buffets in the area, most people talk about the Asian Garden in Martinsburg, but that's never really impressed me. I would say it was mediocre at best, and that buffet costs 18.95 for all you can eat sushi plus a (very) small selection of chinese dishes. Sakura definitely blows it out of the water. I included a link to their website in case anyone is actually interested in going, which I highly recommend. http://www.newsakurajp.com/

First Five Pages: Done! Resume: to be continued

So I was glad to get my first five pages submitted and over with. 5 down and 20 to go? It didn't take me too too long because I was pretty well researched from my powerpoint presentation. My site could still be a little more sexed up in terms of background and color, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
As for my resume, we are continuing to work on them in class using Dream Weaver. I never realized how computer illiterate I was until I took a Monica class. My parents and my 88-year-old great aunt make me feel like a genius for even being able to use a computer, but wow, there is a lot to learn. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Working with code is something new for me, and I don't always get it right, but figuring what does what and what means what is part of the process and it's teaching me a lot. I think knowing how to use these programs will definitely help me gain a competitive edge over others in terms of finding a job.

Resume/ bad sushi experience

This week, we are continuing to work on our resumes. I'm a little nervous that mine is not exciting enough to make me hire-worthy, but Monica says that if we mention the programs we have learned to use in class, it will work to our benefit. I've started to do that, so hopefully that will make me a more qualified candidate. As for using Dreamweaver, I was worried that I didn't quite understand all the coding , but it all makes sense when you sit down and start applying it.
As for my sushi topic, I once again had sushi this weekend, but the China Kitchen really effed up my favorite roll, which was disappointing (especially because it was like 15 bucks). Hopefully that was a one time mistake, or else I will have to write a bad review on my website (the ultimate threat). The other rolls aren't that spectacular either, but it is the CHINA kitchen, so I'll cut them some slack considering sushi is Japanese. And Sushi aside, I think I had the WORST server in history; she gave me the wrong soup, emptied the bowl and used the same one to put the right soup in and left splashes of the old soup on the side of the bowl, then she dropped my friend's food on the table and used her [my friend's] fork to put it back on the plate. I'm not a bad tipper, but I was that day. So my message is: Step it up, China Kitchen.

WebMap: Complete Next: Dream Weaver/ Resume

I was happy to be done with my webmap, because it showed me that I will be able to fill about 30 different pages, which is well beyond our requirement! We are now doing work with our resumes, using the Dream Weaver program. This seems pretty boring, but useful considering a resume is essential to the job application process. I just hope I paid close enough attention yesterday, so it won't be difficult. I'm not sure how this is supposed to tie into the whole project, but I'm assuming that it will all make sense later.

I kinda hate using flash

I felt so accomplished once I completed the mini game exercise. Now, we have to go back and personalize our games and this is where I screw up. I know that this is all supposed to be a learning experience, which will benefit us in designing our games, but this is highly FRUSTRATING. Also, I am terrible at adobe illustrator. The cucumber I made looks more like a boat when you put it on the same screen as a well illustrated bunny and carrot. Due to the fact that my illustration was so crappy, I opted to use the pizza symbol provided by Globaloria. I am now having trouble reorganizing the code, so the bunny will lose points from eating the pizza and gain points for eating the carrot. Although it sounds simple enough and the game is rather elementary, I'm still having a terrible time getting this up and running. I'm hoping that after a weekend of relaxation, I'll be refreshed and clear headed by next tuesday when I try it again.

Confession: I eat vegetables out of a can!

Last night, after I got home from a long weekend, I wanted to make something quick, and easy. Without really thinking about it, I went to my kitchen and made this canned chicken lowmein. As I looked around at what I had, I noticed that I have a lot of canned vegetables in my house. Then it occurred to me: I'm a hypocrite. As someone learning about the local foods movement, which I agree with and support. I realize that I have not done enough to incorporate this into my daily life. How can one support local farms when their vegetables come from a can that has been imported from who knows where? I feel bad. Not every vegetable I eat comes from a can, in fact I have a FABULOUS garden at my house, it's just sometimes, I think it just comes down to laziness. I see where people can live a lifestyle where all of their food is fresh and grown locally, and I agree that it is a healthier and more inexpensive way to be. I just don't always demonstrate that in real life. Hopefully this will be something that can be improved in the future, as I try to fully practice what I preach.

Website Code

Today we had our first lesson in coding and I must admit that it is not as scary as I initially thought. I'm still working on my webmap on Omnigraffle, but I'm not worried about being able to have it completed by friday.

On a different note, I've noticed that since I've decided to devote my website to the topic of sushi, I'm eating and craving it a lot more. A few years ago, I went through a phase where I had it 5 times a week (no exagerration). Right now, I'm not that bad, but I'm back at a once or twice a week rate. It's not bad research, I am certainly enjoying it. I just hope that I don't suffer a jeremy piven from eating it so often.

From powerpoint to website model

So now that the powerpoints are out of the way, I am one step closer to creating my website. This week, I made an outline of the content and now I am using this outline to organize my site using the Omnigraffle program. The organization is pretty easy though, I'm not sure how this map I'm making will eventually be the foundation of my website. Obviously this is a class and the learning process is one that runs step-by-step, but I am becomming very curious to see how this will come together. Aside from my curiousity, I'm also realizing that the creation of this website is going to require A LOT of time and work. Sushi is a topic rich in content and I feel that it is going to be challenging to try to figure out the line between having the sufficient amount of content and too much fluff.

adobe illustrator/flash =no friend of mine

Our assignment was to find a picture of a vegetable or something that would be relevant to our game design, trace it, and fill it in with color on Adobe Illustrator. When one thinks about tracing, the words "easy" and "simple" come to mind. Well, not for me and not when it comes to adobe illustrator. I had a hard time getting my lines to connect and I even had trouble getting the color that I wanted. Initially, I started out with a carrot, which seems easy enough, however, it proved challenging enough for me to have two rough drafts, end up throwing in the towel, and settling for a cucumber. Tracing vegetables on the computer is one of the most tedious, and humbling things I've had to do so far this semester. Unfortunately, this task was only half way complete, we then had to take the vegetable and put it into motion using flash. I've known alll semester that eventually we will all be using flash, and fearing it all the way. With the help of my classmates, I was able to put it together, and submit the project. But the idea of doing this on a regular basis, scares me a bit.

We have currently moved on to another flash project called "mini game", I can't say that it's any less tedious, but I do appreciate the step by step directions that globaloria provides for us. As much as I don't want to keep doing this, I feel that practice makes perfect and eventually this will be easy and familiar to me. Or at least I'm pretty sure that's the idea.

Yay for eating local foods

http://100milediet.org/

I found this website when I was googling the local food movement. It serves as an easy and informative website, encouraging people to eat locally. The concept is to only eat foods within a 100 mile radius, for it proves to be healthier without skimming on taste. The information is cut and dry, without giving people facts that are hard to understand. I feel this website can be useful to helping create a game for "Animal, Vegetable Miracle" as well as inspire others to eat locally.

PowerPoint Presentation Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I am set to do my powerpoint presentation. I should probably reherse a few more times so I'm not nervous once I stand up there. I'm a little stressed out because I have an exam right after I present tomorrow, so I'm a little worried that my mind will be elsewhere. I just hope that it doesn't show through my presentation. Aside from my nerves, I'm happy with the way my presentation came out. I've never created a PowerPoint on my own, so when I heard things like "annimations" and "notes" it sounded like a foreign language to me. However, once I sat down and put it all together, it wasn't as scary or as challenging as I initially believed. From what I've seen, everyone has managed to pull together presentations that are researched and informative. I must say that I'm happy for my classmates. Of course, I want myself to do well, but it's nice to see the people around me excelling as well. So congratulations everyone and wish me luck...

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Game?

For our game design class, our main assignment is to create a game inspired by the book, "Animal Vegetable, Miracle". The book follows the experiences of Barbara Kingsolver's move from Arizona to Appalachia to become an organic farmer. It includes recipes and articles about the benefits of eating local, organic produce. I'm not sure how to make a game out of this. Right now I am reading the book and trying to pull anything out of it. In order for anything to materialize, you must brainstorm first so, here are a few random thoughts...
The book discusses something called the "Vegetannual" which is related to the months of the year that certain crops flourish. I thought that perhaps a gardening game could be created where the player would have to manage their garden over the course of a year and be able to save food that could be stored in dormant months. I also thought about a game that could tackle the obesity crisis, by helping a figure make the appropriate food choices. Right now these are just ideas and I don't really know where I'm going to go with this, or what the final product "team awesome" will come up with, but I'm confident that everything will fall into place.

Preparing for my powerpoint presentation

Well I decided to go with a different clip for my PowerPoint presentation about how to eat sushi. Because the presentation is an introduction to the topic, the video would be more appropriate. I feel that before one would want to prepare sushi at home, they would probably like to know how to eat it. It seems like people would already know how to do that, but that's not always the case. I remember going on a date with this guy who didn't have a clue what he was doing, and he used that to try to be cute, but I thought it was a semi-lame ploy to make conversation. At any rate, I thought it would be helpful to incorporate that into the presentation. Also, the "how to eat sushi" clip is a lot shorter than the "how to make sushi" one and when you only have 7 minutes to work with, time counts.

Putting the powerpoint together seemed like it would be really hard at first, but once I gathered my research and found accompanying images, it all seemed to fall into place. The only thing that I'm slightly worried about is speaking in front of the class, fumbling my words, and sounding like an idiot. I always fear presenting in class because I am talking to a group of strangers, however these strangers are somewhat familiar because I have to see them three times a week for a few months, and I don't want to be known for the rest of the semester as that dumb girl who messed up her presentation. But I feel like as long as I'm rehersed and rested, I should be fine.

My website is going to be about sushi!

Although some people thought I should do a dinner party themed website, I've decided the focus will be sushi. I am currently doing research for my PowerPoint presentation and finding that 25 pages will not be hard to create. I am currently looking for brief information in order to introduce the topic to the class. I am also considering using a youtube video similar to this one, demonstrating how sushi is made. Right now I have a lot of ideas, and I'm not sure how it is all going to come to fruition, but I'll figure it out eventually.

My Expectations for Game Design

Thus far, I am not sure what I will be expecting this semester in Game Design.  Since we are the first class to work with the Globaloria program, there is no way for me to really know what to expect.  I do like that the class size is small and that we are creating games on and offline.  I feel like this class will sharpen my computer skills as well as inspire me to be more creative.  That being said, I look forward to the rest of this semester.  

Brainstorming about my website topic

I have been asked to create a 25 page website devoted to one specific subject. Since I am investing so much time to one thing, I believe it is necessary for me to select a topic that interests me. Thus far, I am considering two options; sushi and dinner parties. First of all, sushi is my favorite food, so I thought that I could enjoy the project by learning and writing about something that I love. The website would include content examining the various types of sushi, the history of sushi, how to make sushi, and profiles of sushi restaurants. The topic is so broad that filling up 25 pages would not be challenging or monotonous. Also, being considered is the topic of dinner parties. I enjoy throwing dinner parties and entertaining guests, so I felt that creating a "how to" website would be fun. This website would include content relating to various dinner party themes, recipes, place settings, decorations, cocktail suggestions and invitations. I thought this would be fun because at least once a week it would give me an excuse to invite friends over to test out different suggestions and post the feedback on the site. I feel that both topics would work well with the assignment, now I just need to make a decision. I welcome suggestions from anyone, and I encourage anyone to responses to this post. If anything a second opinion would prove helpful in making my decision, but time is running out...