December 2009
1 post
Video Clue Test →
P.S. My Team is Called the A-Team.
Approaches to test a “hackable website”
Testing how obvious it is that the user should attempt to hack the site: Testing how much of a push in the right direction a player needs to have in order to realize they’re supposed to try to ‘hack’ the website.
Without telling them what the website is, have the players visit the ‘hackable’ test sites in the order...
November 2009
8 posts
The Stata Center Scavenger Hunt Challenge
For this test, I would like to find out more about what kinds of hiding places are feasible to use for a visual scavenger hunt. This would be useful for a puzzle involving a visual search for items hidden in various hiding places. When developing a puzzle involving something like this, you always run the risk of completely underestimating or overestimating the difficultly of the tasks they give....
Potential Test
Here is a potential test that I wrote up:
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TEST game design
TRACK ONE
Puzzle one (Standard word puzzle, on paper or online, etc):
You are in a Cathedral
There are doors leading to caves 5, 3, and 9.
Cast your gaze upwards to the eye.
See how easy it is to count the spokes?
A number so beautiful and even,
...
“Potential endgames. They need to be fleshed out once we figure out what the...”
– Potential endgames.
MIT Folklore/Hacks
Courtesy some fantastic alums. Most of the stories and more are retold here: http://everything2.net/index.pl?node=hacking+stories&lastnode_id=124&searchy=search
Compiled by an old Senior House type person.
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List of MIT Folklore/Hacks
I’ve included some interesting hacks because they seem to be at...
October 2009
14 posts
Hunt the Wumpus (take 2)
Story A new Athena game is released on campus by some company. People play the game for a while and then get to a part where the game says something like “come back tomorrow for more.” That night, something bad happens in a physical location at MIT.
People somehow connect the bad thing that happened with the game. There is some contact information on one of the screens that mentions...
Deus Ex Athena Concepts
To begin, we would need to get people involved in the game, get them to notice something out of the ordinary that would pique their interest. The following are suggested:
Flyers
People don’t usually pay too much attention to flyers, but they do pay attention to flyers that are interesting. A simple white sheet of paper with the word “Help”, pinned up by a corner as opposed to...
Hunt The Wumpus
-Basic outline put together by Adam, Greg, and Eric. Updates to come over the weekend.
Rabbit Holes: - Athena Terminals: need programmer for basic Athena prompt - - Special Terminals specifically for the program (marked) - First Act: need performers - - Establish key plot points, allude to game purpose - Followup Acts: need improv performers - - Global Progress...
ARG Outline: Outbreak!
Rabbit Holes:
· Half-hidden message seen on Domeview, leads to web videos on TechTV
· Various flyers around campus that hint at this new fungus being developed
Settings:
· Set in the present
· Fungus discovered recently, brought back to MIT campus
· Currently being studied by scientists at the MIT campus
Plot:
· There is an outbreak on campus
· People on...
Wumpus-Inspired ARG
Hunt the Wumpus gave me the idea of an ARG that’s becomes very fleshed out before the players even begin scouting locations. The primary backstory of the game would be discovered online through a series of websites. This might solve the issue of the IAP schedule confusion, and hook more people on playing the game.
The story of the ARG takes from Hunt the Wumpus its strangely quasi-sentient...
