Fortnite

Tangible and Sharable interfaces

Go through the research and design considerations for both interfaces and consider whether they
are relevant for the game setting and what considerations they raise.

A shareable interface is designed to be used by more than one person. For example, when more
than one user plays Fortnite on a PlayStation and each user has their own PlayStation controller. This
allows each user to participate in the game while sharing the same television screen that is split. A
tangible interface is designed for a user to be able to interact with the digital world by the form of
touch. An example would be, a user playing the game Fortnite on their pc. This allows the user to
use the buttons on the keyboard as well as the mouse to interact and play the game. Therefore, both
these interfaces are relevant for the game setting.

Describe a hypothetical scenario of how the game would be played for each of the two interfaces

Fortnite is a game that can be played on a pc which is a tangible interface since the user can make
use of the buttons on the keyboard and mouse. The game can also be played on a PlayStation using
more than one control which makes it a shareable interface as more than one user can play the
game.

Consider specific design issues that will need to be addressed. For example, for the shareable
surface would it be best to have a tabletop or a wall-based surface? How will the users interact
with the game elements for each of the different interfaces—by using a pen, fingertips, voice, or
other input device? How do you turn a single-player game into a multiple player one? What rules
would you need to add?

Some of the design issues faced with the shareable interface would be that the game can only
accommodate two players as the screen will split into two viewings for each player. The players will
interact by using their controllers that can be wired or wireless to play the game. In order to change
the game from single-player to multi-player one person has to click (using their controller) on the
multi-player option so that two players can play. Some of the design issues faced with the tangible
interface on the pc would be that the feeling of the keyboard is much different to the feeling of
holding the PlayStation controller. The keyboard doesn’t have any vibration like the dual shock
controllers. Therefore, the user gets less virtual reality experiences from the tangible interface.

Compare the pros and cons of designing the game using the two different interfaces with respect
to how it is played on the smartphone.

Shareable interfaces

Pros

More than one player can play the game sharing the same screen unlike a smartphone where only
one player can use their own phone to play the game. The screen size of the television is also much
larger than the screen size of the smartphone.

Cons

The display size is slightly affected as the screen becomes smaller when it has to split into two
screens for each player. With regards to the smartphone, the size of the screen remains the same
and is different depending on the size of the phone you are using.
Tangible interfaces

Pros

The game Fortnite was originally designed for a pc thus making it used by many players that already
know how to play the game using controls on the keyboard. Typing is also much easier which allows
for more communication. Another pro about playing Fortnite on a pc is that there is a better
precision of aiming and it is easier to build fortresses in the game. However, with the smartphone,
users have to touch and move their fingertips across the screen to play which could sometimes be
tricky.

Cons

The user cannot experience the vibrating sensation that the dual shock PlayStation controller or
smartphone has. Therefore, there is better alert signals for players on the Smartphone and
PlayStation compared to the pc.