|
The Bee Dance Game consists of two main interfaces: the Help Mode, and the Playing Mode. The Help Mode contains both descriptive text about the current phase of the game, and a Flash demo of the specific part of the bee dance which is required at that stage of game play. The Playing Mode is a symbolic representation of a natural terrain, with the sun, the hive, a bee, sky, ground and the nectar source placed inside a flat sphere. The graphic style is extremely minimalist in order to focus attention on the mechanics of the prototype. Symbols will be used as stand-ins for the final graphics, ultimately created in collaboration with a designer. Overall, there is no movement on the screen other than the sun, which travels from bottom to top on the course of its diurnal day (12 hour path across the sky). The time limit is set for 6 minutes: this represents the time that honey bees can successfully transfer instructions to a particular source. After 6 minutes have elapsed, the sun will have moved significantly enough so that the angle information will no longer be accurate.
The purpose of the Help Mode interface is to learn about the terrain, and in turn, how to play the game. This is where the user learns about the bee dance, and how each part of the terrain is reflected in the bee dance. The demos for quality, angle and distance visually demonstrate the variation between three levels of each attribute, respectively. These particular elements are considered "Bee Dance Variables" (B.D.V.); i.e., those that provide information about the bee dance. The Playing Mode also introduces "Game Play Variables" (G.P.V.), which affect and determine the game play, in particular, the game time limit and the health of the hive. The game time limit corresponds with the traversal of the sun, which for game play purposes will be set at 6 minutes. Hence, every two minutes, the sun will move 1/4 of its total path. The other G.P.V. is the health of the colony, which is also linked to the time limit: every 2 minutes, the honey level of the hive decreases by 20%. As a visual cue, the hive could fade out according to the timer, indicating a slow death. Another solution might be to play a sound clip of buzzing becoming increasingly soft. |
BEE DANCE GAME TERRAIN
|
