27/05/25 – Reflection: Global Timer Success, Voiceovers, and Narrative Polish

⏱️ Global Timer Breakthrough

After wrestling with how to implement a unified countdown across all rooms, I finally cracked it:

• Discovered the fix in an Immersive Freshdesk seminar on gamification.

• The issue? I'd been trying to use a Boolean atom (true/false) instead of a Float atom, which allows for seconds-based tracking.

• Now, all room timers are synced through one global Float atom, ensuring players know exactly how long they have left across the entire experience.

Next step: Add a "game over" state at the end of the timer in each room. Something cheeky like:

"Boooo. You didn't make it. Better luck next time."

🧠 Help Button + Anagram Logic

I've added a "Help" button in the English room for the Romeo & Juliet anagram challenge. After players get a few questions right:

• They can click the button to reset the questions, giving them another shot at unlocking the clue.

• Might need to reposition it or test different triggers, as the Capulet/Montague pairing is still tricky for some.

The challenge is meant to tease staff a bit—so the balance between difficulty and fun still needs testing.

🎵 Sound Design & Music Atmosphere

• Scrapped the Mission Impossible music (reserved for the ADHD build).

• Replaced it with tracks from the Tron: Legacy soundtrack by Daft Punk—cool, ambient, atmospheric.

• In the Blockbuster game, I've added a rickroll Easter egg—if they mess up, Never Gonna Give You Up plays. I'm not even sorry.

🎙️ Voiceover & Dynamic Feedback Plan

I'm now adding voice-based reactions after challenges are completed. For example:

"One down! Well done."
"That was... something."

These are delivered through interval atoms and help guide players back to the hub with humour.

Narrative angle: these aren't narrator lines—they're student voices watching and mocking the staff.
Sample idea:

"Don't worry, there's nothing in that cupboard that can kill him... we think."

Next steps:

• Record all lines

• Possibly voice each question and even narrate notes/clues

• Optional: add audio hints for inclusivity and accessibility

🧩 Other Enhancements & New Mini-Game

• Splat Game: Planning to add a fast-paced challenge using media team members' faces (with permission).

  • It'll inject a physical arcade-style break between quizzes and clues.

• Whiteboard Logic: Players "clean" the board to reveal the final sum.

• Rainy window effect and Rocky clips now added as looping backgrounds using screen recordings of PowerPoint slides—works surprisingly well.

🎥 Testing Strategy

• Planning a live test session with ~5 volunteers.

• Will use the 360° camera placed in the room to:

  • Capture team dynamics

  • Review what worked/didn't

  • Collect feedback on clarity, timing, and narrative delivery

🚦 Current Status

✅ 3+ rooms functionally built
✅ Global timer functioning
✅ Blockbuster game logic finalised
✅ Humour and narrative polish in motion
🟡 Audio still to be recorded
🟡 Final "reset" logic needed at end of session
🟡 Test group still to be confirmed

🧘‍♂️ Personal Reflection

Stacey (rightly) noted that this has become an all-consuming passion project—"first thing I do in the morning, last thing I do at night." I need to reclaim some balance and make sure I'm not neglecting family time in the process.

That said, this is the most immersive, cohesive escape experience I've ever built. It's fun, functional, and narratively rich—and I'm proud of it.

✅ Next Steps

• Record audio: narrator lines, question prompts, mocking student voices

• Finalise splat game design and media assets

• Add ambient music loops to all rooms

• Test the full run with volunteers and 360° camera

• Build in room reset logic and post-game transitions