Because we are much used to this randomness that is Quark, we tend to go with the weird flow when one of us has an awesome brainfart.
Ah I've made you curious haven't I? Alright then, please continue reading while I explain the situation that caused this awesomeness.
At our school, it was decided every project group would showcase their current project. This basically means that every group showed what their project was all about (Like our project "Time Therapy"), and some groups would even let people playtest their game.
This would be possible for some groups who were already working at their project for six months, but a lot of projects (like ours) started about two months ago and didn't have anything really playable yet.
And just when we thought we would have to suffice with showing concept art, a paper prototype and giving a spirited speech to an already bored crowd, one of us came with something Quark is (in)famous for.
The random brainfart.
I took the liberty of making a very (ahem) accurate recollection of that moment:
Quark member: " Hey guys here's a crazy idea!
Why not make a playable paper-prototype, or wait..why not make an interactive puppet show?!"
Other Quark members: Omygosh..... *looks at eachother* we should totally do that cause it would be frikkin' AWESOME YESSSSS!
Quark member: But..wouldn't it be kind of hard to realise this? We have like one... day to make it you guys.
Other Quark members: We have to! Even if we don't sleep. Even if we don't eat. THE SHOW MUST GO ON!
And that's excactly how it happened. *wink*
And thus, with the help of paper boxes, scissors, straws, paint, tape and Quarkish enthousiasm, we made a cardboard puppet show in which you had the control of our hero -Nathan Quinn- and had to solve puzzles to get through the level, very much like how our real game will be.
Making the puppet show was already rewarding enough for us, but performing the show for an actual audience was even more fun than we could have imagined.
With me as the voice actor of the unfortunate Nathan and Nils moving the characters it became sheer madness, in the best way possible. Robert was the game master, guiding the audience (and us behind the curtains) through the story. The show wasn't very long, (because we only wanted to test one puzzle) but it was long enough and the audience (our fellow gamedesign students, teachers and students from another school) seemed to enjoy it almost as much as we did.
It wasn't all fun and games though, Quark actually learned something that day too. We learned that making a playable paper prototype -or in our case, making an interactive puppet show- actually comes in handy. We were able to instantly see what the player felt about it, which puzzles worked (or didn't) and how the player thinks.
Visualising the level also caused us to think like gamedesigners and kept us on the same train of thought. Its actually a very good way to check if everyone is still thinking about the same thing, visualising stuff is great.
Not to mention the reaction from the audience, our performance sure made us stand out from the crowd. And from what I've heard; If you want to make it in the Game Indusry, you'd better stand out. In a good way ofcourse, which I think we've managed quite splendidly.
Now, I'm pretty sure you're getting a bit bored of me. I would have loved to show you some visual stuff, but you'll have to wait until Rene has uploaded the video material on Youtube (YES, there is a video!) When it has reached the internets, we'll post it on our blog right away so our faithful readers (all six of you) will have the chance to watch the madness that was the puppet show.
Much love,
-Hanny
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