Did you know that you can use hihaho to create a video game? We didn’t, at first. We used hihaho mostly for creating videos for educational and sales purposes. But then, a few of our colleagues got very creative! They share their experiences and tips in this article.
Maybe you’ve seen our blog about the hackathon. The teams had 24 hours to create an interactive video. Time was limited. And the Murder Mystery Game below was the result of one of the teams. “We wanted to do something different. Something new”, Freddy Kalwij says. “And then we thought we could use invisible hotspots and transparent buttons to create a Point and Click game.”
Before they explain how they did this, it’s best to play the game first. So give it a go!
Tips for creating a game
The story
“Think about your story and clues right from the start”, Elien Kersjes says. “We didn’t have a lot of time for this, since we only had two days. This video is more like a pilot. But if we’d do it again and have more time, we would definitely take our time for this. But of course, be open to new ideas during the whole process as well. Some things can be added later on.”
The interactions
When adding an interaction, the Action Type “Link to a specific time in the video” is very important in a game like this. When a viewer clicks on an invisible hotspot, transparent button or text box, the video jumps to the right scene. For instance, to a certain room or a certain clue.
Furthermore, the team created many ‘loops’ using the Jump To interaction. When the video keeps jumping back after 10 seconds, viewers can study a clue for as long as they want. Of course, there has to be a ‘Back button’ to make sure that the viewer can get out of this loop. You can create a Back button using the Image or Text interaction.
Usually, a video pauses when someone clicks on the screen. When you create a Point and Click game, you probably want to prevent this from happening. In that case, go to ‘Settings’, then to ‘Advanced’ and click on ‘Enable 360-degree video settings’.
Filming
“If you want to film a clue, it’s best to hold the camera still”, Elien says. “For instance, we wanted to put an invisible hotspot on a door. But since the camera was sliding, I had to place a hotspot every 0,5 second so the door stayed clickable. I think I’ve put 10 hotspots on one door.”
Editing
Creating an interactive video consists of two steps: editing a video first and then adding interactions later. That means you sometimes have to create “room” for your interactions when you’re editing your video. “Because our time was limited, we just added four minutes of black video to the end of the video. When we added the interactions in hihaho, we put all the clues there”, Elien explains. “And then the hotspots and transparent buttons jumped to that part.”
“But if you have more time to think about the story, it’s easier to put some “space” between de scenes. Leave some room for the clues after the scenes. Don’t forget to add some music, so viewers enjoy studying the clues more.”
Design
The team wanted to make the video look spooky. So they created buttons using Microsoft Paint and Photoshop and then added them by using the Image interaction. Click here if you’d like to learn more about creating buttons.
Try different things
Creating games is one of Freddy Kalwij’s hobbies. Before he started working at hihaho, he created a game called Pigeonpanic. So it’s not that surprising that he was in the team that came up with this Murder Mystery Game. “My advice would be: don’t be a perfectionist. It’s better to try things, see what works and what doesn’t and improve the game along the way.”
