Design of landscape objects

Basic Idea Generation - Day 1

We have decided upon 4 broad categories of objects to be designed for the forest terrain and surrounding water. These are:

• Environmental objects for land
• Artificial objects for land (hybrid environment of the ancient ruins of Atlantis in combination with modern futuristic elements)
• Objects for ocean
• Artifacts to be collected

User Interviews/Testing - Day 2-3

Introduction: As a team-4 our primary task is to design different sets of objects for the Atlantis Sinks game developed in our studio. During the ideation session we created an essential set of objects and obstacles to be implemented in the game. However, to be more efficient we employed Design Thinking methodology and conducted user tests [1] and interviews [2] with open-ended questions. By setting aside personal assumptions we can collect insights from the gamers and understand their expectations. The primary purpose was to design assets together with the users as well as to evaluate whether existing objects would be beneficial in Atlantis Sinks from the user’s perspective.

User tests (conducted by @Annabel-Kennedy): User tests were conducted to identify what general aesthetics and objects users associate with a hybrid environment of the ancient ruins of Atlantis with modern futuristic elements. The testing involves users drawing basic images and writing descriptive words that they associated with the 4 different categories previously identified. It was firstly explained to users what Atlantis is and the overall basis behind our game. Users were then given 90 seconds to draw/write the first thing that comes to their mind for the ancient and futuristic version of each of the following categories (12 mins total) and then asked to explain their vision if clarification was needed.

1. Environmental objects for land:

• Draw what first comes to mind when I say ancient Atlantis forest terrain
• Draw what first comes to mind when I say futuristic forest terrain

2. Artificial objects for land:

• Draw any artificial objects you associate with the ancient ruins of Atlantis
• Draw any artificial objects you associate with a futuristic, advanced island

3. Artifacts to be collected by the user:

• Draw what first comes to mind when I say ancient Atlantis artifacts
• Draw what first comes to mind when I say futuristic, advanced artifacts/game power ups

4. Objects floating on the water surrounding Atlantis:

• What ancient objects would you expect to see floating in the water surrounding Atlantis?
• What futuristic objects would you expect to see floating around a modern island?

User interviews (conducted by @a-siroki):

1. Find out what kind of environmental objects for land, users expect to see in the game

• When I say "Ancient Atlantis Forest" what things come to mind?
• When I say "Futuristic Atlantis Forest what things come to mind?
• Why? (Probing question, if user won't provide reason why particular object interests him/her)

2. Open ended questions to help design objects for the water area (ancient and futuristic)

• What would you expect to see floating in the water surrounding Atlantis?

3. Artifacts discovery questions - special items that can be collected by the gamer to receive additional perks.

• What are your favorite perks/power-ups in any game? Why? (Open ended questions to derive primary data and later rebuild the idea to fit “Atlantis style”)
• When I say "Ancient Atlantis artifacts" what items can you think of? Why?
• When I say "Futuristic Atlantis artifacts" what things come to mind? Why?

4. Final question about artificial objects that are associated with Atlantis.

• What would be the top 5 objects that you would add into the ancient ruins of Atlantis? Why?
• Can you name a few objects which you would like to see in the game futuristic version of Atlantis? Why?

Based on the conducted user tests and interviews we identified several interesting and innovative design opportunities which we could implement into the design process.

List of objects from user interviews and tests

List of potential objects to create after user tests/interviews:

Environmental objects for land (ancient):

• Trees - derived from drawings
• Rocks covered with seaweed - regular with basic shape
• Long Seaweed plants
• Deep Crevices
• Gas eruption
• Mountains
• Volcano
• Lava eruption
• Coral reef
• Large patches of very green, leafy big trees (untouched by technology so overgrown environment)
• Hills
• River
• Abundance of moss and flowers (i.e. bushes with flowers)

Environmental objects for land (futuristic):

• Trees - abnormal shape with straight branches
• Rocks covered with seaweed with solar panels
• Long Seaweed plants
• Deep Crevices
• Gas eruption > neon waste
• Mountains
• Volcano
• Lava eruption
• Coral reef > illuminating coral reef
• Glowing vines
• Very dry patches of forest, with predominantly dead trees
• Rocky mountains

Artificial objects for land (ancient):

• Wooden tower
• Basic fence
• Wooden / Concrete buildings
• Primitive sign displays
• Wooden shipwreck
• A Greek fisher
• Pen & Paper primitive map
• Temples (limestone, gold material)
• Medallions
• Greek statues
• Pillars
• Greek-style pottery
• Small, village style houses
• Sandstone castles

Artificial objects for land (futuristic):

• Wooden tower > Space tower
• Primitive wooden fence > Laser fence
• Wooden / Concrete buildings > UFO style architecture
• Primitive sign displays > LED Billboard / Neon Lights
• Wooden shipwreck > rocketship / spaceship
• A Greek fisher > A Greek astronaut
• Pen & Paper primitive map > Smart digital map with emergency warning “Atlantis is sinking” (in unknown futuristic language
• Robotic wildlife
• High rise houses and castles, attached to the ground via a single elevator (UFO/geometric shaped buildings)
• High rise buildings connected via geometric bridges
• Hovercraft (star wars aesthetics)
• Scrap pieces of metal from hovercrafts
• Rocket landing platform

Objects for ocean (ancient):

• Floating raft
• A shipyard
• A shipwreck
• A ship wreckage (piece of wood)
• Buoy
• Fishing boat
• Ancient wooden sailing boat
• Sandy, deserted, small uninhabited island
• Whales breaching in the ocean
• Floating lily pads, leaves and flowers from the overgrown forest
• Floating wooden barrel from ship
• Birds and other wildlife

Objects for ocean (futuristic):

• Boat with neon lights
• Sunken spaceship
• Broken LED billboard
• Neon Modern Buoy
• Massive container ship
• Rubbish floating in water
• High tech fish farm
• Space/starships/hoverboats with flashing lights
• Space office/base built floating on water
• Ocean is a different colour → more purple

Artifacts/perks/powerups (ancient):

• Ceramic vase
• Gold coin
• Spear / Sword / Shield
• Helmet / Armor
• Treasure chest
• Mermaid
• Treasure chest
• Treasure map
• White robe
• Sailing ship
• Clay pottery
• Red wine
• Glowing crystals
• Chisel
• Heart icon for extra stamina
• Gold bars
• Goblets, challice
• Gemstones, jewellery
• Ancient tools
• Ancient greek armour (adaptive to biomes)
• Compass

Artifacts/perks/powerups (futuristic):

• Ceramic vase > illuminating modern vase
• Gold coin > cards with credits
• Spear / Sword / Shield > futuristic with neon lights
• Helmet / Armor > futuristic with neon lights
• Treasure chest > illuminating chest
• Mermaid > gemstone spirit
• Treasure chest > futuristic with neon lights
• Treasure map > translucent display with map
• Spaceship/spacecraft
• Hoverboard
• High jump shoes with springs
• Laser guns (similar to star wars)
• Binoculars
• Modern smartphone/tablet with GPS
• Time machine

User interview reflection

In total, 5 participants aged 21-26 (2 female and 3 male students) who game daily were selected for the interviews. These types of users have a very broad knowledge about different types of games (RTS, RPG, Puzzles, Sports) on different gaming platforms (consoles, PC, mobile). In addition, during the interview questions we observed behavior and emotional response from the participants such as pausing, tone of voice, feeling frustrated, expressing curiosity, body language, etc.

• Insights from the interviews helped to identify and design uncommon "Atlantis" specific objects for the game. For example, robotic tree, stone with solar panel (solar panel inspiration came from an Interviewee who suggested to add sustainability).
• Collected data allowed us to increase the list of objects for the game by almost 400%. This could be useful for future reflection because derived data could be used as a base for additional research, for example, identifying futuristic objects that could potentially improve immersiveness and engagement.

In conclusion, interviews allowed us to look beyond just designing object for the game but reflect on cognitive and emotional aspects of it too. For example, one participant mentioned "...hmmm... trees. I don't think birch or pine fit here...". We can infer from this comment that aside from designing object we need to think about gamer’s cognitive perception too. For example, pine trees (object designed before user tests) predominantly grow in colder regions and because Atlantis is mostly associated with warm temperatures (Atlantis Location hypotheses points to warmer climate region) we need to consider biodiversity of warm regions – thus designing a Palm tree instead of a Fir or Pine makes game more realistic and logical from the user's perspective.

User tests reflection

Along with the list of objects, based on the drawing exercises conducted with 3 participants, the following design aesthetics for Ancient Atlantis and a futuristic environment were observed.

Ancient and futuristic Atlantis forest: All 3 participants associated a very green, overgrown forest abundant with trees, mountains and other greenery with Ancient Atlantis. In a futuristic forest, all 3 participants introduced advanced technology elements (including hover tech, sky scraper elevators leading to geometric housing and robots). 2/3 participants also associated a much dryer, less green, more dead forest with the future.

Ancient and futuristic artificial objects for land: All participants associated ancient Greek architecture, building materials and/or treasures with Ancient Atlantis, including pillars, gold medallions, pottery, temples, limestone and sandstone. In particular, 2/3 participants drew pillars. All participants associated high-tech flying vehicles (hover crafts and rockets) with a futuristic Atlantis and 2/3 participants drew very geometric architecture (based on squares and rectangles).

Ancient and futuristic Atlantis artifacts: Gold was a common theme among participants for ancient artifacts and the most common ancient artifacts were grand wines/chalices, gold coins and crystals/gemstones (with 2/3 participants either drawing or writing each). All participants associated advanced technology with futuristic Atlantis artifacts and the most common futuristic artifact were laser guns and 2/3 participants drew their inspiration from Star Wars.

Ancient and futuristic objects floating on water: All 3 participants associated basic sailing boats with the ancient aesthetic and geometric, technically advanced, larger boats with the futuristic aesthetic. One participant demonstrated the boat was technically advanced through flashing lights on the boat and another participant demonstrated this advanced technology through hover craft elements.

Feedback from studio

In our studio today, we received feedback from team 5 on our list of objects and some low fidelity volcano and tree designs. Based on the user drawing exercise tests, it was clear that users associated square- and rectangular-like geometry with futuristic designs so we had initially thought to make some of our environmental objects more rectangularly geometric to adhere to our hybrid environment of ancient Atlantis with futuristic elements. However, team 5 suggested that the game environment would be more familiar to and better received by users if only the man-made land objects contained futuristic design elements (i.e. rectangular geometry) and if the natural land objects (e.g. trees and rocks) were kept realistic and were made a reflection of trees in today's environment. We agreed with their point and decided to not design any more futuristic versions of natural land objects.

After speaking with our team about the progress of the map, it was also decided that we would only design objects for the land this sprint. Additionally, as the map was still rather small, it was suggested that the volcano be transformed into a geyser, which would mean the shape would remain roughly the same but it could be significantly downsized and reasonably fit on the sprint 1 map.

Inspiration and Research (trees and rocks)

Based on the insights from the interviews related to biodiversity and ecology we decided to further improve the overall design perception of environmental objects. The purpose of the research was to derive inspiration from nature by analyzing ecology and environment that could have existed in Atlantis. Data derived from (Atlantis Location hypotheses) pointed to the location of modern Greece. Based on that we conducted an additional research where we focused on biodiversity of ancient Greece. That way, the design would look more natural and potentially fit the environmental objects that could have existed in Ancient Atlantis.

Trees associated with Ancient Greece

• The Fig Tree - originally was one of the most sacred trees in Greece, later replaced by olive trees for cultivation purposes. Fig tree has dark green colors, very wide and densely packed.
• The Almond Tree - dated to 8000 B.C this tree is associated with rebirth in ancient Greece. When blooming it has no leaves, visible twigs and is covered with white or pink petals.
• The Cypress Tree - an evergreen tree associated in Greek mythology with youth, death, and betrayal. It has a "needle" like shape with a mix of various shades of green varying from dark to light.

Rocks associated with Ancient Greece

• Marble stone - predominantly used to build sculptures. It has a smooth appearance and when cut in between we can observe the spread of darker (red, brown) patterns that look like veins
• Limestone - buildings and temples in Greek architecture were built using limestone. It is formed out of fossils and has light white, beige or yellow tones

Additional user testing (trees and rocks)

User Test (by Aleks Siroki). Additional user tests were required to confirm data derived from desk research which covered biodiversity and ecology assumptions. We needed to understand whether users indeed associate the proposed designs of 3 types of trees and 2 types of stone material with ancient Greece or it would cause more confusion. For the purposes of research, we conducted an interview session with 5 participants aged 21 - 26 where we showed them images of designed objects and asked to name countries, they associate objects with. According to the data, Italy was the most mentioned country, followed by Greece and China. We can infer from this that users can quickly identify and most importantly associate our proposed environmental objects such as trees and rocks with ancient Greece.

Initial object sketches and low-fidelity designs

Trees and rocks:

Geyser, ancient pillar, gold chalice, electronic billboard, vines:

Additional user interviews (geyser, pillar, chalice, billboard, vines)

Conducted by Annabel. I interviewed 3 more potential users based on the 5 objects I had created in pixilart.com to confirm that users can easily identify the objects and that they associate these objects with ancient Atlantis and a futuristic environment. Additionally feedback on the designs were recorded so any changes could be made. The questions asked were:

1. Please state what you think each of these objects are.
2. What type of environment, situation or landscape would you expect to see these objects in? If they need further clarification provide an example. e.g. I would expect to see a shopping trolley in a major supermarket in a populated, civilised society.
3. Tell the user what the objects actually are. Based on what the objects actually are, do you have any changes or improvements you would make to them?

The most notable results/pieces of feedback from these interviews were:

• All interviewees correctly identified the general idea of what each object was, with the exception of the geyser, which 2 participants thought was a volcano and 1 participant thought was a tree stump. All participants said that they understood how the first object is actually a geyser though, and believe that when placed in the right environment to scale this would not be an issue. One participant also thought the chalice was a trophy.

• Both participants who identified the geyser as a volcano associated it with an island location (i.e. Atlantis). All participants associated ancient Greece (i.e. Atlantis) with the pillar and an overgrown or forest area (i.e. our chosen terrain) with the vines. All participants also associated the billboard with a civilised environment showing danger around/ahead, with one participant specifically saying it reminded him of a futuristic world with flying cars (i.e. a civilised Atlantis that is sinking). Finally, everyone associated the chalice (or "trophy") with ancient treasure or a prize (i.e. a collectable artifact in our game). These responses confirmed that the objects are appropriate for our ancient Atlantis/futuristic game environment.

• The chalice I had designed for these interviews did not have a gemstone on it; however, after all the participants suggested adding decoration or stones to the chalice to make it appear more ancient and treasure-like, I added the purple gemstone to the cup. This can be seen in my final designs in the section below. One participant also suggested adding leaves to the vines and another suggested adding water and steam coming out of the geyser - both of which I would like to visit in the second sprint.

Final pixel designs

landscape_objects folder

Appendix

Interview transcripts and user test sketches