Blog Post #1 ♡ I See Button, I Hit Button

 Introduction

It’s good to be back!  This blog will detail all of my fun adventures in my Game Development class (in other words, 60% will be my work and 40% will be me complaining about how tiresome scrum can be). In this particular blog post, I will be talking about my button and door idea, and detailing the thought process and inspiration behind them.

A Door and A Button (but cooler)

When I first think of a door, I think of a plain brown and rectangular 80inx36in door that can be opened with a push/pull movement. When I first think of a button, I think of a circular but flat-topped red object that can be pushed down. However, since we are encouraged to re-think our definition of a button and a door (Heagney, 2021), I also thought about other possibilities that could be considered a door and a button. A particular example that comes to mind is the entrance to Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter universe. The following video shows the secret way on how to enter Diagon Alley. When I compare this scene into the button/door idea, the “button” is the particular way the bricks are tapped, and the “door” is revealed not by a push-or-pull motion, but instead by the bricks rearranging themselves to reveal and entryway.

Another creative button/door combo is in Return of the Obra Dinn. In this game, the “door” is the Memento Mortem pocketwatch that transports the player from reality into a memory, and the “button” would be finding the location of a corpse in the memory and reality.

My Door and My Button (but not as cool, I think?)

I was trying my best to brainstorm creative ideas for my project while playing Genshin Impact, and while walking around, I was inspired by all the foliage and plants around one of the towns. I thought to myself, Wouldn’t it be so pretty to do something with flowers and ivy? 

After a lot of deliberation, I eventually came up with an idea that I was satisfied with. Since we are not limited to just one button (Heagney, 2021), my “button” would be the player using a watering can to water several plants. I think it would be awesome to animate a flower grow after it has enough water. 

Once the player completes the watering task, I would have the “door” open, which would be vines lifting and revealing a hidden pathway. The vines would be attached to part of a wall in the room, which could be the wall of an old castle tower. It would be interesting to try animating several “stages” of the vines lifting, like multiple layers disappearing til the pathway is revealed.