Go Rabbit, Go! Production Notes 12/22/2006 This game was created exressly for the DonationCoder.com Accessibility Game Coding Contest, beginning on December 18th 2006, when I heard about the contest. My girlfriend works at the University of Delaware Center for Disability Studies, and she and I came up with a game idea that we thought would be playable by people with a variety of disabilities but also fun for everyone regardless of ability. The audio-only idea was fascinating, but we couldn't come up with an idea that we could produce in so short a time. The idea is based on a mathmatical puzzle known by some as a 'broken tractor maze' in which you must traverse a maze, but can only turn left (or only right). This fit with the constraint of a switch game, since basically we had to decide which controls to remove. By making the switch control turning, we had to make other forces, such as velocity, constant, or at least controlled by the computer. The character moves at a constant rate and must grab all the carots on the screen. A flying tortoise chases the character, at 1/3rd the character's speed, helping to motivate the activity. When a carrot is landed upon, it is replaced with a clod of dirt, through which the character cannot pass again, so the rabit essentially creates a maze for itself as the level progresses. Each level includes three pairs of colored holes, which connect to each other, allowing quick escape from the tortoise. If the tortoise catches the character, the character and tortoise are both sent back to their original positions. There is no way to die in the game, except that it is possible at the higher levels to create a maze that cannot be passed. The levels are randomly-generated and infinite, with speeds increasing slightly each level and one additional carrot each level. The game requires only the flash plugin in any browser, is about 6K in size, and plays in a large area (640x520) all three of which were concerns for making the game truly accessable. This is a beta until I can create better graphics and add sounds. --- Rev 1 Notes 12/30/2006 REVIEW After some playtesting by friends, kids, and people in the field of disability studies I got two sets of reviews - those who played a lot of games said this game was too easy, and those who didn't (also the people with expertise in accessibility design) said it was too hard. So I decided to make it more interesting, but with a longer learning curve so that people could more easily get up to speed. The number of carrots at the beginning is key, and I settled on three, so there is a reasonably-challenging goal on the very first screen, but one that can be completed in under a minute. The carrots in number until there are 9 on the screen - more than that is too many. SCREEN LAYOUT The screen is 10x8 (80) tiles, with the top and bottom rows and left and right columns left open (leaving 48). There are three pairs of colored 'warp' holes, and those are placed randomly (with the blue ones always in the upper left and lower right, the red ones in the other corners, and the yellow ones in the middle) - leaving 42 tiles. The carrots are placed randomly in the remaining free tiles, but not where they will be adjacent to a colored warp hole, effectively meaning there are 18 available tiles for the carrots. Having 18 carrots would mean very restricted movement, but half of that, 9, seems to be challenging but still fun. Each screen is randomly laid out, and some good advice I received was that if I want this to be more of a puzzle game (strategize which carrots to get first) rather than an action game (hurry to get all the carots as quickly as possible) then I should design each level, planning out the maze that the rabbit will follow. I agree that I should do this, but I didn't have enough time to implement this feature. I plan to continue working on the game, and intend to design the first 10 levels, after which each screen will be random. GAME SPEED Unfortunately, nobody tested the game who actually has limited mobility, so i wasn't able to see whether the game moved to fast or slow for the intended users of the game. But, the rationale I settled on was that people whose mobility was so restricted that they would be limited to a single-switch interface would also probably have reduced reaction time, so the game would need to be at least a little slower than the typical 'shmup'. The game begins quite slow (the turtle's speed is always 1/3 that of the rabbit) but increases by about 10% each level. However, being slow or having slow reaction times does not 'kill' the player character. Being slow means more likely to get caught by the turtle, which costs you one carrot (point) and send the rabbit back to its hutch in the upper left of the screen. A serious player may try to get the highest score or highest level in the shortest amount of time, but a struggling player will still be able to play, just in a longer amount of time. POWER-UPS A few people suggested I added 'power-ups' to the game to make it more interesting, and I came up with a long list, in the farmyard theme: - radishes that make the rabbit immune from the turtle for 10 seconds - onions that send the turtle back to the starting point - rutabagas that increase the vale of all the carots for 10 seconds - hidden pitfalls that freeze the rabbit for 5 seconds - hidden easter eggs with bonus points All of these are typical power-ups seen in many games. I realistically had time to implement only one of these, and I wanted to select one that enhanced gameplay the most. The onion seemed like the best choice. There is always exactly one onion on each screen, randomly positioned, and players seem to regard it as a backup - they try to clear the level (collect all the carrots) without getting caught by the turtle, but the very primitive AI used by the turtle (simply follow the rabbit) means that by the end of the level the turtle is usually lurking in the middle of the screen. Sometimes the player can use the warps to lure the turtle away and then quickly jump to the center of the screen, but sometimes the onion is the only way to move the turtle. So again, the design is intended to give certain players a helping hand without interfering with the game-playing style of more advanced players. DESIGN GOALS The design mission has been to minimize the player's frustration - In many games, the player has 3 'lives' and must restart a level after each failure, restarting the entire game if all three lives are gone. This is too frustrating for many players (children, the elderly, the disabled, or simply people who are new to gaming conventions) and my objective is to maximize fun while minimizing penalties for messing up. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE - Update code The game is coded without objects, which made prototyping faster for me (just a 2D array for the tiles and functions attached to movie clips), but ultimately I will want to use OOP to make everything more efficient Also, the code for bumping into the sandtraps (the holes left after collecting a carrot) is a little 'sticky' and needs to be improved. - More power-ups I'll consider the list above, but the next power-up will probably be a hidden egg, that when crosed over reveals a second egg elsewhere on the screen. When that is gathered, all remaining carots are worth more points, but a second turtle emerges from the bottom left corner. I like the idea that every benefit is tied to a cost (the onion costs one carrot to use) so simply having carrots worth more doesn't seem as fun as having to dodge an extra turtle. And again, this power-up is completely opitonal - a player struggling as it is can simply avoid this. - More enemies I'd be curious to see additional types of 'pursuers', perhaps a hedgehog who chases the rabbit, as the turtle does, but is restricted (cannot fly) and must move around obstacles - Revised mechanic Something else to test is to have some levels limited to right-only turning and others only to left-only. It could be quite challenging to have to shift from one perspective to another - could be too frustrating as well - Designed levels All levels are randomly laid out, but ultimately the first 10 or so levels will be designed, ideally introducing each component along the way: -- level one, practice moving only to the right -- level two, practice using a warp -- level three, warps of different colors -- level four, experience the sand traps left after collecting a carrot -- level five, introduce the turtle -- level six, use the oinion etc. introducing the additional power-ups, one per level The levels after that will be randomly laid out, and will contain all the elements of the earlier ones - Screen layout Something obvious (to me) that I did not include was pre-existing roadblocks. Future versions will include this, to create more of a maze for the rabbit. - Music I added sound effects with this revision, and that helped a lot in giving feedback as to what exactly was happening. Music will help give the game some polish, however, wit hconsideration for deaf players, the sounds will remain an 'extra' and will never be a necessary part of the game. - Graphics All the graphics are currently static, but ideally they will be a little more lively, with animations (actually see the rabbit hop, and see the turtle move its flippers) and more texture in the various elements In making an accessible game, I need to keep everything visually distinct, especially for those with impaired eyesight, that means every element should be distinguishable from each other by size, color, and texture/pattern. The warps fail in this regard as they differ only in color and would be difficult to distinguish by someone with color-blindness, so I should change that. As I update the other graphics I will make sure to keep everything else visually distinct. 1/7/07 # LANGUAGE - If someone is unable to read English, whether they are do not speak English, are illiterate, or have impaired vision, the person should be able to figure out the rules quickly without having to read the instructions. # DESIGN - The design is very simple so that people with impaired vision will still be able to distinguish all the elements from each other, which all differ in size, color, and texture. # EASE OF GAMEPLAY - Most people (with or without disabilities) do not have the skills to play traditional action games. This game begins quite slowly and while quick reflexes will help they are not required. # MINIMIZED FRUSTRATION - It can be easy for a person with a disability to get frustrated with a task that seems simple to others. "Go Rabbit, Go!" does not have limited 'lives' or any way to 'die'. Penalties for mistakes are mild and do not force the player to start again. There is no timer # FILE SIZE - Part of being accessible means having access to the game itself, not just access to the interface. The current file size of the SWF file is 39K, meaning that even those who do not have access to broadband internet can play. # ICONOGRAPHY - Almost anything can be offensive to someone somewhere in the world, and almost any symbol can be misread. So, when thinking about CULTURAL accessibility, it is important to think about universal symbology, or at least to not rely on local customs (eg. The color of money is not green for most of the world outside the U.S.) Rabbits and turtles seem as innocuous and familiar as any animals I could think of, and the main message, that you are a creature with a disability (unable to turn left) who has to outwit the slow but unceasing force that pursues you, seems universal, or at least, not offensive to anyone.