Week 3

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The team is now having a nice entertainment center feeling place for having playtests later on thanks to the efforts made by the team members and faculty. A 55-inch TV and three consoles along with a decent sofa are set up, so it is easier than ever before to do relevant console game research at this beginning stage of project development.Crescendo Encore finished the project branding by the middle of the week, which includes logo, poster, half sheet and web banner for showcasing on ETC’s website. An up-to-date project website is also on, and it will be kept updated.

In week 3, the team has been working on building a primitive prototype by using XNA. It is very much a tech oriented task, with the purpose of getting familiar with the new tool the team will be developing with through out the semester. Rather than a design idea demonstration, this two week rapid prototype is aiming to resolve the very basic game mechanics.

The team has also been spending a decent amount of time in researching for and making decisions on the overarching design. New instruments are being selected from four different perspectives: music arrangement, hardware interaction, instrument type and pitch range. With the support from hardware research, Crescendo Encore nailed down Timpani as the first selected instrument for the new game. Its new hardware solution should be able to fix the delay problem happened in DoReMi Pets. For other possible instruments, Crescendo Encore has been doing a lot of hands on study such as taking apart the existing Xbox peripherals to see what we can use and how they’re made. In the meantime, the team is keeping in mind to simplify the player-instrument interaction.

Next week, Crescendo Encore will be focusing on transforming the playable prototype from PC to Xbox 360, finalize basic design of the game, and continue trying out hardware possibilities.