Day of the Figurines Authoring Tool

This is a set of tools that support the behind the scenes authoring and orchestration activities of Day of the Figurines.

The Day of the Figurines authoring tool is web based, constructed using the Web Application Framework, and is used to create and input game content that is authored spatially – for each location in the virtual town, and temporally – on a timeline that stretches over the 24 virtual hours of the game in order to trigger and deliver text messages to players. The tool consists of a set of automatically generated web forms that authors use to add, edit and delete game objects, which are used in conjunction with an applet that is used to arrange content spatially and temporally. These are supported by scripts that check the consistency of entered content, and to see how content will be seen by players in a text message.

The Day of the Figurines orchestration tool is again constructed using the Web Application Framework. It supports the task of operating the game, by allowing operators to register new players, open and close the game each day and to respond to requests for help from players. It provides several interfaces for monitoring the ongoing game, including high level views of how many messages have been sent and received, and interaction with key content. This is contrasted with the ability to drill down into an individual player’s experience in detail. Finally, the tool supports intervention, allowing modification of global game variables such as the mapping of real to virtual time, and acting on behalf of a player or sending individually tailored messages.

Contact information

Martin Flintham
Mixed Reality Lab
University of Nottingham
mdf(a)cs.nott.ac.uk

http://www.dayofthefigurines.co.uk/