The Idea
We had the idea to make a creative console for the game Fire Boy and Water Girl. We thought this would be a good game to design a new console for because it uses the arrow keys and letter keys for the two players so it would be easy to use the Makey-Makey tool to replace this. We wanted to design a console that represents the game so we thought of making one console for each player which would include their respective players. The 3D figure will be able to move back and forth, moving the player in the game in that direction, and they will also have a button to make the players jump.
First Prototype
Our initial idea was to 3D print the figures of the players, but for the purposes of the prototypes, we decided to use simple pieces of cardboard to represent the players.
At first, we made a base of cardboard which we just folded in half to create the two layers. We cut a slit in it to make enough room for the figure to slide through and then we connected all the cables.
The idea and design worked, and we were very pleased with it however it was still a very rough prototype.
Final Prototype
For the final instead of hand cutting and folding the cardboard we laser cut it and glued it together to make it look less “rough” and more finished. The finals used the same ideas as the prototype we just tried to find ways to elevate the look, such as laser cutting to make it look more like what the final product would look like.
Challenges
The main challenge was that on the day of the final Layal was sick so making two consoles by myself was very difficult in the time frame we had. Because of this, I wasn’t able to 3D print the figures of the characters or paint the consoles to make them match the aesthetic of the game which would have elevated it a lot. Furthermore, as the game we chose needs 4 keys per player, the Makey-Makey boards were very full when both consoles were completed which lead to them not always working well when we were playing.
Reflection
Overall, we definitely managed to improve the final prototype from the initial one although there are still improvements that could be made like the ones mentioned previously. However, for the time and materials we had given this was a good attempt, and we definitely learned how to use both Makey-Makeys as well as improve our prototyping skills.