My Website

Finally, it's done. I've spent countless hours on this in the last month and a half and I've finally got it finished and uploaded today.

Click to view my site

It features all of my graphic/web design work that I've done - both client and non-client work. I'm also offering my design services via this website, so if you know anyone who wants a website - or practically anything design related - send them on! I'm offering 20% off to students off certain web packages.

I designed the entire site in Adobe Photoshop, before slicing it into the appropriate images and coding the entire site by hand. All of the XHTML and CSS code validates to the xhtml 'strict' doctype.
Also, some of the pages feature some fancy Javascript code; whilst I adapted this code to my needs, I didn't write the Javascript - it was acquired (legally).

Have a good new years and make sure you drink plenty - I know I will!

Football Club Manager 2008/09 (Interactive Narrative)

Football Club Manager 2008-09 by ~Ste68 on deviant ART

Here it is, finally, after countless hours working on it.

Since my last blog, I've added in quite a few new graphics just to add more points of interest to the scenes to stop the user becoming bored. I've also added a lot of sound effects; again, to maintain the users interest as well as to make the whole experience feel more real and to make the overall piece more interactive. Some of the sound effects are used to reinforce the decision made; for example, when you click an option to sign a player, there is a 'kerching' sound effect to reinforce the fact that a player has been signed.
Let me know how you do ;)

Interactive Narrative Progression

I began my project on Thursday night by planning the storyline. I had a vague outline of the narrative and its various pathways, but to ensure a more efficient process, I wrote the text for each 'frame' including the options and stated the frames that these options are directed to. I soon found that my idea was very broad and rather complex (over 30 frames) when I considered the amount of pathways that were created by the amount of options I wanted to present to the user. After writing the story, I drew up a frame map, showing which frames were connected to each other and displaying the general order of the frames. This gave me a solid plan to use for creating the actual interactive piece, which I believe sped up the process considerably.

However, despite the thorough planning, I've probably worked on it for over 12 hours from yesterday (Sunday) and have finished my first version. It is a 'complete' version as all the frames are present and the narrative is featured in full; however I would like to add some audio at some point and perhaps some more images and animation.

So, basically the idea is based on a football season, with you as the main character, as you are a football manager. You are the manager of a club which is bottom of the league when you take over and you are forced to make various decisions which will make or break your season. There are various outcomes, with winning the league being the ultimate aim of the story. Another satisfying outcome is automatic promotion, whilst it is best to avoid certain pathways as these see you get sacked or see your team relegated. The other outcome is mediocrity; which is - well - neither good nor bad.

The football club I have based this narrative on is Hereford United; for two reasons. Firstly, because I support them and secondly, because in their official photographer, I have a willing source for photographs to use. In terms of appearance, I designed each of the frames in Adobe Photoshop first, before transferring the appropriate images into Adobe Flash. I did this to ensure a piece that doesn't just rely on a solid narrative but also on aesthetics that will satisfy and interest the user.

I will postpone the uploading of my piece until it is fully complete and I am 100% satisfied with the outcome. Here are a couple of screen shots of the first two frames;

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Football Club Manager 2008/09 (Interactive Narrative)

Interactive Narrative Progression

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