Point & Tap Adventures - The Quest For A UI

Point & Tap Adventures
The Quest For A UI

Alasdair S. Collinson

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn

droidcon Berlin 2013

Alasdair Collinson (Uni Bonn) Point & Tap Adventures droidcon Berlin 2013 1 / 45

Outline

1 What is an adventure game?

2 The UI Journey

3 Problem?

4 What's out there already?

5 Designing interfaces


What is an adventure game? The beginning of Point & Click

What is an adventure game?

When I did Maniac Mansion, there were people who did not think
Maniac Mansion was an adventure game because it was not a
text adventure, it didn't have static pictures, the characters
actually walked around the screen.
- - Ron Gilbert speaking with Jordan Mallory


What is an adventure game? A denition


Denition (Adventure game)
A video game in which the player controls one or several characters with a
focus on
(a) puzzle solving,
(b) exploration and
(c) narration

Alasdair Collinson (Uni Bonn) Point Tap Adventures droidcon Berlin 2013 4 / 45

What is an adventure game? Common elements


Other common elements include:
linear or partially nonlinear storylines
branching storylines
slow pace
several explorable screens or rooms
non player characters (NPCs)
inventories
timed or random events


The UI Journey Verbs

Verbs

Denition (Verb (from Wikipedia))
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word [. . . ] that in syntax
conveys an action (bring, read, walk, run, learn), an occurrence (happen,
become), or a state of being (be, exist, stand).

In adventures:
in imperative mood (= commanding)
used to control actions



Verblists

similar to textparsers
can oer every verb we want
now often represented by
symbols
over time, many verbs were
combined

Read What is Maniac Mansion (1987)
⇒ Look at
Push Open Unlock Turn on
Pull Close Pick up Turn o
Give Use Fix
⇒ Use



One click

very simple interface
needs much less space than
verblists
may be context sensitive
two buttons = two verbs
⇒ use on smartphones tablets is
easy

Myst (1993)
Image source: http://steamaddicts.com/wp-content/
gallery/retro-wednesday-myst/myst-1.jpg



Verbdiscs

Full Throttle (1994)


Verbdiscs

more options than one click
oers
needs less space than verblists
can be modied to the games
theme (b) Look at
(a) Use / Take
may be context sensitive
⇒ an interesting compromise
⇒ also usable on smartphones /
tablets

(c) Talk to / Lick (d) Kick
Verbs in Full Throttle



Right click chooses

The Feeble Files (1997)


Right click chooses

more versatile than one click
needs even less space than
verbdiscs
a lot of clicking (a) Walk to (b) Look at (c) Pick up
no right click on smartphones/tablets
⇒ unavailable on these devices

(d) Use (e) Use with
Verbs in The Feeble Files


The UI Journey Inventories

Visible Inventory

permanently shows available
items
⇒ less taps
takes up space
⇒ possible on mobile devices

Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (1993)


The UI Journey Inventories

Hidden inventory

shows items only on command
⇒ more taps
takes up less space
⇒ also possible on mobile devices

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1994)


The UI Journey Dialogues

Dialogues

The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)

Fact: Most adventures have dialogues



Verbose

shows exactly what the
character will say
(well, normally)
oers space to give hints / make
jokes / etc.
can take up a lot of space ? ?
however: this space is normally
available

Edna Harvey: The Breakout (2008)



Icons

shows topics as pictures
⇒ less reading
⇒ dicult to understand at
times
hints / jokes / etc. are more
dicult
very space ecient
Edna Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes (2012)
can be very aesthetically
pleasing



Topics

shows topics as words
⇒ can be easier to understand
than pictures
hints / jokes / etc. are dicult

very space ecient
can be less aesthetically pleasing
than pictures

1112 episode 01 (2011)


Problem?

Problem?


Problem? Size

Size

A 15 inch monitor with a mouse cursor A 9.7 inch iPad with a nger tip

small screen + small cursor small screen + average nger tip
⇒ no problem ⇒ problem


Problem? Touchscreens

Touchscreens

Input with ngers leads to:
less accuracy
left click = right click
multitouch capabilities
a more haptic experience


What's out there already?

What's out there already?

I'm not the only one who thought of this:

My feeling is that most games in the future will be downloaded
onto tablets or something very much like tablets. Because it's
just a natural progression.
- - Stephen Marley [Adv13, 4:48 - 4:59 minutes]
at AdventureX 2012 [Adv12]
Let's have a look.


What's out there already? Direct ports

Direct ports


What's out there already? Direct ports

Direct ports

two types of control possible:
touchpad-like or direct control
magnication added for direct
control
small targets are still hard to hit
command bar moved to top of
the screen

Simon the Sorcerer for iOS (2011)


What's out there already? Modied ports

Modied ports


What's out there already? Modied ports

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

classic and highly modied interface
possible:
classic interface mainly for
nostalgic reasons
new: direct control
new: verbs displayed through
symbols
new: hidden inventory
command bar moved to top of
the screen The Secret of Monkey Island SE (2009)


What's out there already? New games

New games


What's out there already? New games

1112

context sensitive verbdiscs
rst person perspective
hidden inventory
pinch zoom
limited use of sensors

1112 episode 01 HD (2011)


Designing interfaces Mockups

Mockups

So, what works? I conducted an experiment...

Hidden inventory, A verbdisc Visible inventory,
icons in the four corners icons to the right


Designing interfaces Results

Results

Within my test group:
1 identifying with the character was easier in third person perspective
2 interacting with the environment was independent from the
perspective
3 combining objects was easier with a visible inventory
4 controlling the character was easier with a hidden inventory
5 one click interfaces and verbdiscs were both easily usable


Designing interfaces Choose your weapons

Choose your weapons

So, you want to be a/////// an adventure developer?
/ Hero
one click or verbdiscs?
visible or hidden inventory?
verbose or icon or topic driven dialogue?

It's up to you.


Thank you

Thank you for your attention!

Any Questions?


Sources Bibliography

Sources: Bibliography I

Alasdair Collinson.
The transfer and extension of concepts from classical point click
adventures for smartphones and tablets.
bachelor thesis, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, April
2013.
Kurt Kalata, editor.
Hardcoregaming101.net Presents: The Guide to Classic Graphic
Adventures.
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,
https://www.createspace.com/, rst edition, May 2011.



Sources: Bibliography II

Yong S. Park, Sung Ho Han, Jaehyun Park, and Youngseok Cho.
Touch key design for target selection on a mobile phone.
In Mobile HCI'08, pages 423426, 2008.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1409240.1409304.
Pekka Parhi, Amy K. Karlson, and Benjamin B. Bederson.
Target size study for one-handed thumb use on small touchscreen
devices.
In MobileHCI '06 Proceedings of the 8th conference on
Human-computer interaction with mobile devices and services,
MobileHCI '06, pages 203210. ACM Press, 2006.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1152215.1152260.



Sources: Bibliography III

Jenifer Tidwell.
Designing Interfaces, chapter 10, pages 441476.
O'Reilly Media, 2nd edition edition, December 2010.


Sources Internet sources

Sources: Internet sources I

AdventureX.
AdventureX 2012.
http://www.adventurexpo.co.uk/, 2012.
Retrieved on March 21st, 2013.
AdventureXpo.
AdventureX - 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iKTYTdA1GE, March 2013.
Adventure Game Studio.
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/.
Retrieved on July 29th, 2012.



Sources: Internet sources II

Android Open Source Project.
Metrics and Grids | Android Developers.
http:
//developer.android.com/design/style/metrics-grids.html.
Published under the Creative Commons 2.5 Attribution License.
Retrieved on March 25th, 2013.
Android Open Source Project.
Supporting Multiple Screens | Android Developers.
http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_
support.html.
Published under the Creative Commons 2.5 Attribution License.



Sources: Internet sources III

Apple Inc.
Custom Icon and Image Creation Guidelines.
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/
UserExperience/Conceptual/MobileHIG/IconsImages/
IconsImages.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40006556-CH14-SW1,
2012.
Apple Inc.
Information Property List Key Reference: iOS Keys - UIDeviceFamily.
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/
general/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Articles/
iPhoneOSKeys.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009252-SW11,
September 2012.



Sources: Internet sources IV

Bob Bailey.
Paper prototypes work as well as software prototypes.
http://www.usability.gov/articles/newsletter/pubs/
062005news.html, June 2005.
John Hornick.
Icons.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997538.aspx,
September 1995.



Sources: Internet sources V

Jordan Mallory.
Inside the mind of Ron Gilbert.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/18/
inside-the-mind-of-ron-gilbert/, June 2012.
Retrieved on April 4th, 2013.
Microsoft Corporation.
Welche Edition von Windows 8 ist für Sie geeignet? - Microsoft
Windows.
http://windows.microsoft.com/de-at/windows/compare.



Sources: Internet sources VI

Windows 3.1 Hardware Compatibility List.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/83210/en-us, December
2000.
Last Review. Retrieved on March 25th, 2013.
Windows 95 Installation Requirements.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138349/en-us, April 2007.
Last Review. Retrieved on March 25th, 2013.



Sources: Internet sources VII

Interactions and usability with Windows Phone.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/
design/hh202889%28v=vs.105%29.aspx, March 2013.
ScummVM Website.
http://www.scummvm.org/.
Retrieved on July 29th, 2012.
Wikipedia.
Verb.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verb.
Retrieved on April 4th, 2013.


Sources Games

Sources: Games I

Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and David Grossman.
The Secret of Monkey Island.
Lucaslm Games, 1990.
Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and David Grossman.
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition.
Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick.
Maniac Mansion.
Jane Jensen.
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.
Sierra On-Line, 1994.


Sources Games

Sources: Games II

Alexandre Leboucher.
1112 episode 01 HD.
Agharta Studio, 2011.
Rand Miller and Robyn Miller.
Myst.
Cyan Worlds, Inc., 1993.
Jan Müller-Michaelis.
Edna Harvey: The Breakout.
Deadalic Entertainment, 2008.
Jan Müller-Michaelis and René Anhaus.
Edna Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes.
Deadalic Entertainment, 2012.


Sources Games

Sources: Games III

Tim Schafer.
Full Throttle.
LucasArts, 1994.
Tim Schafer and David Grossman.
Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle.
LucasArts, 1993.
Simon Woodroe.
The Feelbe Files.
Adventure Soft, 1997.
Simon Woodroe.
Simon the Sorcerer.
Adventure Soft and iPhSoft, 2011.
iOS version.


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