Color Conundrum
Color Conundrum is a game project that I completed in an advanced programming course in Fall 2014. I designed and developed the game in Qt, a cross-platform application and UI framework for developers using C++.
Featured Skills: Research, Design, Development
Featured Skills: Research, Design, Development
Research
Competitive Analysis
Using other similar games as an example, I conducted a competitive analysis to determine how successful similar games were and pinpoint what worked and what did not. A major aspect I focused on was figuring out a good starting difficulty level.
Using other similar games as an example, I conducted a competitive analysis to determine how successful similar games were and pinpoint what worked and what did not. A major aspect I focused on was figuring out a good starting difficulty level.
Design
Brainstorm & Sketch
My design process began with brief ideas and rough sketches on my iPad and by hand. Using the information from my competitive analysis, I focused in on what I wanted to accomplish in my game and got rough sketches down.
My design process began with brief ideas and rough sketches on my iPad and by hand. Using the information from my competitive analysis, I focused in on what I wanted to accomplish in my game and got rough sketches down.
First iPad sketches of game board
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First sketch of main menu
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Graphical User Interface Creation
I created the UI using a program called Qt Creator, using Qt widgets and a subset of HTML 4 markup that Qt supports. I used my sketches as a start and slowly added detail from there, basing changes on information that I gained from my research.
I created the UI using a program called Qt Creator, using Qt widgets and a subset of HTML 4 markup that Qt supports. I used my sketches as a start and slowly added detail from there, basing changes on information that I gained from my research.
DevelopmentProgram
I used C++ in Qt Creator to add life to the user interface that I had already created. I started by creating just a single level, tested it on some friends, and then iterated through this process as I developed it. |
Final game board
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Research
Usability Tests
After I had a working first draft of my game, I conducted informal usability tests with a couple of friends. To prepare, I pinpointed "things to look for" during gameplay observation. This included tasks involving their ability to navigate effectively, learn the rules of the game, and their frustration levels during different levels of the game. My main finding from this study was that people were having difficulty quickly detecting the color of the square that they were standing on due to the character graphic being too large and not having a transparent background. I applied the solution, retested a different set of users, and saw significant improvement in my user's abilities to play the game.
After I had a working first draft of my game, I conducted informal usability tests with a couple of friends. To prepare, I pinpointed "things to look for" during gameplay observation. This included tasks involving their ability to navigate effectively, learn the rules of the game, and their frustration levels during different levels of the game. My main finding from this study was that people were having difficulty quickly detecting the color of the square that they were standing on due to the character graphic being too large and not having a transparent background. I applied the solution, retested a different set of users, and saw significant improvement in my user's abilities to play the game.
User Interviews
I also conducted informal interviews with friends who had played the game immediately after gameplay. I focused here a lot on frustration levels that they felt during gameplay so that I could perfect the difficulty levels that the game offered. I also discovered through these interviews which power-ups users thought made the game too easy or too hard, and adjusted them accordingly.
I also conducted informal interviews with friends who had played the game immediately after gameplay. I focused here a lot on frustration levels that they felt during gameplay so that I could perfect the difficulty levels that the game offered. I also discovered through these interviews which power-ups users thought made the game too easy or too hard, and adjusted them accordingly.
Demo of final completed game
