As the previous post about this beautifully made game, ‘Life is Strange’ is an episodic interactive game which many label as an “interactive” film. This could be down to the atmosphere that the game creates because the visual techniques used are similar to those which are used by filmmakers. The overall atmosphere of the game is quite gentle and melancholic, the portrayal of Arcadia Bay is very reminiscent of a small run-down community that harbours secrets and angst. There are a number of qualities such as the use of lighting and colour, use of camera and the music, that contribute to this. Since this game is heavily reliant on a narrative and having a story-arc, the game play is closely related to that of a three-act structure used in films as the techniques used throughout are developed and manipulated through the episodes creating a different atmosphere for the player to become immersed in. This means that the atmosphere of the first episode will differ to the 4th episode where there is high tension and a climactic build up and these will then differ to the atmosphere at the end where the conflict becomes resolved and the game winds down. In saying that, we’ll take the atmosphere in the first episode as an example of the previously mentioned development. The beginning is very autumnal, quite warm in colour yet with an underlying coldness to it. This is seen through the use of lighting. Many of these scenes to begin with are reflective of natural lighting when the sun is quite warm and soft. The contrast between light and dark is also softened and there are longer gradients between transitions in colours. The camera techniques used are still quite calmly paced, following the characters steadily and in the short sequences, cuts are slow and montages are faded. This is pared with quite calm music, usually instrumentals. This can be seen when Blackwell Academy is introduced and Max is still introducing the story, the characters and the places that the player will explore. As the game progresses this atmosphere shifts. By episode four, the mood becomes darker, more tense and sinister as the storyline builds to a climax. The colours are reflective of the story and events playing out. The colour pallette is a lot less diverse and becomes more grey and sterile in comparison to the “lived-in” town vibe of the prior episodes. Shadows are more stark and there is almost a monochrome feel to the environment. Lighting becomes more “artificial” as the settings are based more indoors with lighting imitating that of white fluorescents as seen in the bunker scenes. There is also the use of dim street-lights as scenes tend to be set in wet stormy weather. The atmosphere becomes tense and stormy not just literally but also in terms of the emotions evoked, this is also carried by the use of camera where angles are more tilted and there is more use of low angles to suggest intimidation as well as use of faster cuts through sequences and moving characters through environments becomes more jerky, slow and difficult.. This then shifts towards the end of the final sequence where things become resolved. The lighting is restored almost similar to the beginning, except is a bit more crisp as there is no longer any more foreshadowing left to be played out. Lighting is not contrasted nor soft, it is clear and calm. Reminiscent of a wind-down in the story, a resolution to the “film”.
Over the past year of studying and practising my ideas on world design with thought processes that lectures and sessions of study have given me a new understanding of world design. It has taught me to think about the critical elements in games which may sometimes be shoved under the rug. My personal favourite post was the camera perspective about player unknowns battle grounds because of how much I love that game and the design methods that went into it.
I can say now that I know more than what I did at the beginning of this year and I will continue to improve on my understanding of how game worlds are created. I have always been fascinated about how things work in games, I even like to deconstruct small elements from games and create my own swing on things. For example with our third year project “Klepto” I have found myself generating ideas from other games which I may not have been able to do otherwise if not for these blog assignments. I would have liked to learn some more things, which are not covered in the blogs that I have done such as narrative between characters and their situated environments or Creature designs and how they connect to the geological creation in landscapes. A few things that are nice about the entire year of lectures and blogs I have sought new insight into things, which I would not otherwise. Learning what goes into creating these vast and elaborate environments from the backstories the meanings and how much thought goes into every aspect of design is far greater than what I have ever imagined. In addition, with that comes a great responsibility for the environment artists, they hold the keys to the imagination in way. They create the bridge between player and immersion. Because without immersion players would be left wondering aimlessly through the worlds that are created for them, we as designers must guide the players through the world at an effective rate. Without that we would never be able to create things that the player can easily navigate and for me I think that’s is what matters in a game. I think the greatest thing I can take away from this whole exsperiance is peobably my mind. Think about it for a second, without knowing the words or pictures from this year’s lecture my mind would never be able to expand through the foresight of the unknown. It would be like me saying to you “we have an extra toe when we are born, you can still feel the nub of where it was” not knowing that that was there and now knowing that it is something in on itself. An arbitrary example I know but I hope you get what I’m going for, and for that I thank you the reader to be humbled by my blogs and my thoughts and processes I made to create the amazing and perhaps not so amazing work of my past and present. For this week’s blog I created a map using Photoshop, I used a combination of layers, embossing and color maps to combine elements together. I created a heavily rocky mountaineer with a coat line with a small island off in the water. These islands are a representation of what is ahead of exploration. For example if this is in a game you would see the island in the distance and want to explore more to see if you could reach it. The map also has snow, with the second layer not being overly example of this but once you know you can depict it from the rest.
Life is Strange is a highly interactive episodic game that plays on the ideas of time. It’s a choice-based story game that follows a main character - Max. Max is a high school photography student that discovers she can manipulate and rewind time in order to avoid tragic or dangerous events and solve strange things happening in Arcadia Bay. Released in 2015 by DONTNOD Entertainment, it has 5 episodes (or “chapters”) with the second installment and prequel “Before the Storm” (this time by Deck Nine) releasing in 2017 which follows Chloe instead.
Interactive storytelling is used which makes the narrative as a whole is directed by the player. Since the game is to be dictated by the players choices, the settings and architecture of the game not only have to be able to translate the foundations of the storyline - which without it, could be confusing and possibly neverending - but they would have to lend itself to the player by being as interactive as possible. Without such a level of interactivity the label ‘game’ would be debatable as some have labelled it as an “interactive movie”. A major feature of the game is in the way the developers approached the visuals. The stylistic choices make for a very aesthetically pleasing visual, making it more intriguing to explore. The atmosphere created makes for a very autumnal, tired and lived-in environment which is reflective of the mood and themes of the narrative. The settings have been designed to replicate a small town environment, with run down buildings, historical campuses, small homes, beat up cars, etc. which all work together and despite being a content-rich setting, each aspect has a purpose within the storyline which makes for effective environment storytelling. Players explore places such as the Blackwell campus and dorms, the junkyard and diner of Arcadia looking for clues, making connections, collecting photographs and putting pieces together as they gain more and more information that helps them determine their decisions. As the player progresses through the episodes, there are many subtle changes in the environment. For example buildings can look more run down, rooms can be more cluttered, the “weather” can be more grim making colours more muted and lighting more stark in contrast. All of this is changes depending on the reality created by the players choices and how often they make Max rewind and manipulate time which then contributes to the narrative. This pared with the interactiveness of the settings makes for a very interesting and varied gameplay. The environment not only tells a story but are made to be interacted with. Through the environment clues are picked up, objects can be used and puzzles can be solved to get out of sticky situations. As the player navigates Max through places, items or people are highlighted to show that they are able to be interacted with, picked-up or used. Max also has her notebook and camera which the player can often refer to for diary entries, text messages, character profiles and photographs. Overall, the thought and work put towards every detail in “set” design, colour and lighting of the environment is evident and greatly enhances the gameplay experience. Every aspect is intertwined, from the themes of time to the under-lining connection of photography, and makes for a very pleasing game not only to play but to create and experience. Open world games gives players freedom to move through a virtual world. There’s a lot more
freedom for players around how they approach the objective of the game. These games usually have large settings with different areas and structures to explore as well as a non-linear game play. This kind of freedom and space tend to make players feel a lot more “in control” compared to many games that have linear structures and story lines to follow. ‘Astroneer’ is an open world game that was released as an early access pre-alpha game in December 2016. It’s described as a “game of aerospace and interplanetary exploration” and set in the 25th century. The aim of the game is to explore a new planet in outer space and survive by collecting resources (oxygen/power, resin, compound, laterite, etc) using a terrain tool, which they can use to create tools and expand bases for different modules (printer, storage, research, smelter, vehicle bay, etc.). A game begins by being launched into outer space in a habitat pod - which is used as the first base that can be expanded from.The player lands onto a planet which has randomly generated terrain for every game and from there they can explore the planet as they please. They begin tethered to the habitat which gives them oxygen and power to use the terrain tool (E). If they venture too far they run on their own stored oxygen and power, so to explore further they have to find and collect oxygen and power to stay alive when not attached to a base or tether that feeds it to them. The game play in Astroneer is unique in the sense that the player may do as they please, you can collect resources and roam to a new starting area, create your own houses and many more things. Players can also be accompanied by three other players making for a multiplayer free roam game, although if you chose so another player may live on another planet while two others are on another. In addition to the free roaming aspects Astroneer is in early access so what you can do in this multiverse is somewhat limited to those mechanics. I would compare Astroneer to games such as MineCraft for their building system. Like MineCraft, Astroneer uses real time geometry manipulation tools similar to 3d sculpting softwares like Sculptris where the geometry can be explored more. With these tools players, in any case create structures or cities, villages and have a sort of role play aspect within the game. Using the given mechanics players can build their own ecosystem or play families by having roles of only have one driver, one builder, one collector and maybe one surveying. I Think the point to open world games is to enable players to explore their creativity, their imagination should be built upon and grow as more tools/mechanics become available and the open space of which you can explore be opened up by a multitude of possibilities. world design theory - BLOG POST #10 - Klepto first five levels - pacing - JUANE GRAY-HIGGINS1/10/2017 This week’s blog is about the difficulty curve experienced through playing the KLEPTO Beta build. You can see from the evident curve where players would expect to encounter challenging tasks, which they should learn how to do by the next level. I think that the curve is representative of accurate play testing done throughout testing phases. Players would often die multiple times in the second level creating repetition, this means that games would be prolonged, as well as the greatly increased level size, players would spend anywhere between 3-30 minutes trying to complete the level based off their skill level. In saying that this difficulty curve is more accurate to new players.
I chose to bake my lighting using our first level in Klepto - Space thief. I started by arranging the directional light where it would shine through the holes I created in the walls. I then placed multiple area lights in front of the holes, 1 facing forward, and one facing backward. I also placed one above the entire scene and where the light hit the other wall from the lights passing through the holes. I created faked "god rays" of which consists of three types of particle systems. The map took 40 minutes to bake onto a 4k texture map with 750 rays for final gather and cranked up the texels, padding and resolution of lights.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) uses a unique system when speaking about the camera. They use first and third person as separate mechanics but can also work in tandem with one another.
For the majority of the game you will be focusing on the back side of your character primarily in third person. You can use ‘Left Alt’ to look around your player as well, this is particularly good for players that want to be more aware of their surroundings. The player can move forward, left or right based off the ‘W, A, S, D’ characters you input, but momentum based off your initial motion previously to pressing ‘Alt’. I’ve often been able to catch other players by using this technique and I generally encourage team members to use it. This implementation is also seen in H1Z1. However, their competitors in H1Z1, you are limited to left and right excluding the rear. Personally I enjoy the full control option over the H1Z1 method. Additionally, to the camera being third person for the majority of the time, players have the option to switch to first person mode. Even though this hinders the player at certain moments, it can often be good for close quarters combat. For example, you'd use this if you were in a bush or shrubbery and wanted to see the other side of the bush or if you were inside a small office or bathroom it gives players the ability to engage and react faster. While the player is in first or third person you also have the ability to ‘Peak’ when pressing ‘Q and E’ respectively. This means the player can see around corners ledges and walls without being seen. This gives the player a greater advantage over their opponent which can be arguably an abuse mechanic because the other player doesn’t have enough time to react. However; if everyone has the same abilities and opportunities, it some-what evens out, after all it’s a cards game. Another feature to the use of camera in PlayerUnknown’s battlegrounds is that the player can choose to shoot in one of three different modes. First being normal fire, where you just ‘Left Click’ the gun and hope for the best. Second, hip fire when you hold down ‘Right Click’ you gain slightly better accuracy and gain a small crosshair which enlarges while you shoot. The third and most accurate is first person when only tapping ‘Left Click’ once, this aims you down the sight of the barrel for the best resulting shots. To recap, the player can use third person and first person for general gameplay. Players can peak to get better vantages over other players. There are three modes of gunfire for situational moments which hinder or increase your chances and the ability to look around your character while moving or standing still. These are the core camera principles in PlayerUnknown’s battlegrounds and without them the game would be greatly different. For an example I have player in games where players are locked in first person for everything. You gain the feeling of being small, vulnerable and handicapped from the start. It’s nearly impossible to see anything and limits the use of cover; from playing on local discord channels, this is also the common response. Today I created a building which utilizes its curves to contrast the ever moving world around it. The inside is hollow and the outside sits upon the water side. The glass planes on top shine light through the structure to radiate light from inside to the open world. I chose to create this structure based off the quote by Pablo Picasso - "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls". This piece was inspired by the city of arts and sciences in Valencia, Spain. It was created by artist Santiago Calatrava with comments such as "Reason is intelligence taking exercise, imagination is intelligence with an erection" - Victor Hugo.
View from the Axis – Using a basic array to draft a stair way through the settlement of Axis, you can see the green and red from your stand point but you will only connect at one point in many locations. To some, the color represents Z or Y, but it’s up to you to determine the axis. For me this is a vivid explanation of how everything is connected through a bridge of geometry the DNA we all have. Perhaps the very construct of everything that has ever been? For you, I present the wall of blue at which your perception is masked.
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World design theory (WDT)DevelopersThe goal of this blog is to relate current and past attempts at world design to further improve our understanding. Archives
October 2017
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