Creation and Realisation

For our application we need to make a visualisation of the map of the shopping centre so that people can select where they are on the map and can see where their friends and family are. The map is shown on the main screen and the user can plot where their friends are.

In order to make this I took a screen shot of an overview of Drake Circus for Google Maps and uploaded it into photoshop. This helped me get the general outline of the shopping centre and helped me plot out where I needed to put all the shops.

Once I had the photo in photoshop i drew the outline of the centre over the picture so I could get it accurate. After this I plotted out the shops and drew in where they all go. 

Below is a mock up of a possible screen capture from the iPhone and an example of how the game works. The hider can click on the shop that they are in and receive a collection of photos from a cache of images of the area they are in. The players can flick between the levels of the shopping centre and select the different shops. The screen won't look exactly like this but this shows how the concept will work: 

Inspiration:

From the screen shots in the post above you can see how hide and seek has influenced the way we have designed our game and they way you play it. The original concept of hide and seek, one person finds all the people hiding, has been incorporated in the way that the first user selects themselves as the finder and the rest of the people linked into the game become the hiders. From here the group can split into separate locations across the map and its the seekers job to find them all.

However we have tried not to be too literal with the game of hide and seek. Although our application can be played like this we wanted to make it a bit different to try and develop the game more and bring it into modern day using the features on the iPhone. Players can send photos of the location they are in to get the seeker to guess where abouts they are on the map. This adds a bit of fun to the game as the seeker has to guess where they are rather than simply finding the hider. The seeker can also send 'blips' to the hiders phone when they get close to their location to make the hiders phone make a noise so it is easier to determine where they are. Again we have tried to develop on the original game to make it more technological, and more fun for the players.

As well as the game function the application has a more practical aspect. If you and your friends are lost in the area and can't find each other the application acts as communication between you so you can send an instant message telling your friends where you are. We wanted to include this more practical feature to make our application more than just a game. Hopefully this will make it appeal to a wider range of people and make the application more helpful.

Meeting the Requirements:

• The application is clearly linked to the game we chosen, hide and seek, and uses this concept effectively. It is obvious how we have incorporated the game into our ideas and final designs and we have expanded on the original concept to take the application to the next level. 

• The application is easy to use. The interface is really simple so could be used by anyone of any age and uses the same layout and styling as other iPhone applications which would help a new user as they would already be familiar with the layout. 

• We will be able to get a better idea whether the application is enjoyable to use when we test it but so far we have made an effective application that does what we want it to and has a game function and a practical function so should be enjoyable for the user. We aim to make an enjoyable application so hopefully our final product will be. 

• We have taken our ideas to the next level and developed them as a group. We have always liked the idea that our application goes back to the basics of what a game is supposed to do, bring a family together, and we have made something that practically does this. We put all our skills together to complete this project and we have collectively created something that has expanded our ideas and led us to be more creative. 

• Our final application was made using iWebKit as a web application. 

• The website for beacon can be accessed on the iPhone 4 and downloaded to the desktop to be played directly from there where the user wants to.

• We hope to develop our application onto other smart phone platforms. Currently the app can only be accessed from the iPhone but in the future we want to develop it further and make it a multi-platform application. 

• Our game is practical and fun to use and the user can choose which function they want from their application.