Friday, 30 March 2007

Week 5 - Getting on a Role - No Rainchecks

This lesson we presented the class with the storyline, and the class gave critique on this.

Role Categorising - self-categorising flour - more roles than a human bakery. Today I was given four human roles for lunch.

Story > Puzzle/Logic. Cliff = Logical, Joseph = Creative
Sound Lead > Joseph, Sound Team: Winchey, Ellie. Sound = 60% of a game's immersion.
SME [subject matter expert] > Research > Joseph
Level Compiler/Designer > AGS = Joseph; Game Flow = Winchey; Programming = new Guy

The Design Document [the games bible] is due by next lesson, so I have a lot of work on.


Jason: Can you think of ways games could be less scripted and imagination external? Is there something there that could be used in our game?

Here is my brainstorming for this.

Going out and finding pieces to puzzles outside of the game.
Cut Scenes where the gamer must visualize the scene himself.
Gamer draws using mouse inside the game. Draws rooms and scenarios - selects objects in drawn scene and applies commands to them. Creates own weapons. Makes doors.

A game where the gamer is constantly asked to draw on past experiences.
Static images (like a comic book) where the gamer would be likely to imagine motion, probably supported with text.

Matrix - Creating the game
Wireframe game - insert colour yourself.
Breaking Rules - How?

Association/Description. A game like basketball the player has no reason to visualise images - only some visualisation of playing tactics and line of shooting etc. A game like monopoly however... has more potential for visualisation.

For instance, a simple hole could have a story behind it. It could be a bunny rabbit hole, a meteorite crater. Giving less visual information and more clues to what it really could be is a good way for many possibilities of visualisation.
Blurring and masking is a good way for imagining.

Having variables is also a good way to extend the imagination and thinking of the gamer.
Using sound to suggest the visual. The sound of a car whizzing past you has more effect (because of the uncertain, the variable of wondering 'how far away is the car from me?' simply because our judgment of sound localisation is far less developed than our visual sense.

The unknown poses limitless possibilities for imagination. A black wardrobe with no advisory is likely to make the gamer cautious and even wary of what could be inside! What if a horrible tongue smoking amphibious rabid giraffe sticks its neck out at you! These things are composed from and exaggerated by fear.

Likewise an image of a car's suspension rocking backwards and forwards would naturally (for the liberal gamer) bring on images of sex.

So mystery. Elements of mystery are needed to encourage the gamer to imagine scenarios thus not only having the strengths of wondering what could be in that obscured area but the personalising of the game by the gamer having contributed something to the story.

Anything abstract, anything that is potentially writhe with ambiguity is an opportunity for the gamer to theorise, use logic and creativity to apply their own experience into the game experience.
Simple teasers like having objects poised on edges will keep the gamer himself on edge and more alert, for he will be imagining that object falling and interacting with his character.
A seemingly good character could be holding a typically sinister item [like a sickle].

Newspaper articles could mention future events, like an oncoming storm, which will make the gamer hesitate thinking of the significance this information could have on the character and the gameplay.

Example:
"Police Raid House to Find Alien Robe of Young Boy"

this would have the added element of knowing the police are aware of a foreign presence, so hence you must tread carefully. Makes me think of countless stories/movies where the character must disguise himself and change his identity, his imaginary job/career/wife/history etc. in order to remain anonymous.

A pool of blood - animal kill or something else?
An alleyway - mystery and uncertainty.

An interesting puzzle could be counting the lines on the palm of your hand then connecting the edges to create a shape. This would take the gamer outside of the game for awhile, and would then be utilizing logic then creativity then logic again.

4 comments:

ValHallen said...

My Blog:
http://valhallen.blogspot.com/

ValHallen said...

Jason: Can you think of ways games could be less scripted and imagination external? Is there something there that could be used in our game?

Dude, love some of those Ideas, some have been done before (Comic = MaxPayne etc) but some nice ones in there.

Don't think we're going to have the time or sheer grunt in the engine to implement most of them, keep the ideas, but try to fit them into the framework you have to work with you know?

Joseph Jujnovich said...

Thanks.
I didn't really think too much into what had been done before, and how such ideas could be applied to our situation - more of a general small brainstorm. However I shall see if any are worth recycling from here. This self reflection as well as discussion time in class is giving me a good insight into what makes a game.

Jason X' Lee said...

:) I am here, Joseph, nice blog, I am a little be shy in this class, but I wanna improve it, and talk more ideas to our classmate if I can, we are friends always :)