On Tuesday, I also got given feedback for the tome I created as well as the weapon and steampunk items.
Lena suggested showing the feather dagger to look more sharp and pointed as it is quite round at the tip. Also showing a texture on the feather would be helpful as it isn't obvious that is is tough or hard..looks more like something that will tickle someone to death rather than poison them.
For the steampunk item, Mikayla noticed the 2 magnifying parts of the goggles and said a neat idea regarding them. As the goggles see into the near future, the magnifiers can see further into the future, but the range of sight is smaller. I like this idea is it puts a use to this part of the goggles and isn't there for decoration.
Showing posts with label game analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label game analysis. Show all posts
Friday, 12 August 2016
Horror Environment Concepts + Feedback
I've been meaning to post this for the last few days!!
On Tuesday we were given the task to draw 4 horror game environment concepts. I drew my ideas up fast, so they aren't thought out very well. They had to include a sunflower and a baby flower rattle.
This concept is quite boring and doesn't have much going for it. My tutor Lena, suggested playing around with the lighting. E.g. light coming in from the window, which will cause the sunflower to simply be a black silhouette. Taylor said the sunflower can cast a creepy shadow. My own thoughts on it include, shifting the window over, so it's not in the center, more toys on the ground and perhaps a different angle of the view.
When I think of a baby rattle or toy, I begin to think of other related baby things, in this case a cot. Lena suggested making it more clear on which direction the attack on the cot is coming from. I said that I wasn't sure if someone attacked the cot or if it was the baby that wreaked the cot. So I understand that showing a clear indication of the direction of the attack would help the player better understand the image and what happened. Jerwin said that the sunflower on the wall makes it look creepy. Mikayla suggested having the image crooked on the wall or even on the ground, showing that it has fallen off. I really like this idea, but I reckon it can definitely go both ways. - A messy room with something untouched can add emphasis to each thing depending on the way you look at it. A fully messy room can shock the player.
I took the previous concept and changed it up more. I originally wanted the hands to be coming out of a big shadow, but didn't get around to drawing it in. I added shadow to add emphasis which looks a lot more interesting than the previous concept.
This concept isn't much of an environment concept, but I went with it. Tea suggested that the flower that the baby is holding would be dead, while the sunflower next to it would stay alive. This is a neat idea as it suggests that the baby is possessed or some sort of demon or not from this world.
On Tuesday we were given the task to draw 4 horror game environment concepts. I drew my ideas up fast, so they aren't thought out very well. They had to include a sunflower and a baby flower rattle.
Sunday, 3 April 2016
WEEK 6 Game Analysis
Could your game have developed its narrative and told the same or a similar story without any of the characters?
This week I played the puzzle platformer called Fez (2012). I argue that the game could have developed it's narrative and be told similarly if the characters were removed from the game. The term 'characters' tend to refer to a person or something that has humanoid tendencies. If a character in game were to be replaced by something that is lifeless like a pencil, it is still possible for the narrative to play out.
As long as the player has a sort of avatar to control then , I feel, that the game and narrative will still work. "The avatar is, in this most basic sense, the user’s representative in interactive digital space..." (Jessica Aldred, 2013). It wouldn't necessarily have to be 'who will the player control?' , it could be 'what will the player control?' If Gomez was replaced by a shape like a sphere, that sphere would still have the mission to save the world with the narrative being unchanged. Gomez is a bunch of squares joined together to form the shape of a person, so transforming him into a simple square could still do the job of saving the world. A character named Dot is a guide for Fez and tells him the means of the 3D world. Dot is represented as a floating 3-Dimensional shape and could be removed by acting as a narrator of some sort.
The playable character Gomez is important as he was chosen by Geezer (old man) before him who also wears a Fez hat. It's as if whoever wears the Fez hat, can see the world as 3D and save the world from being destroyed. If these important characters were removed and replaced by something more complex or even more simplistic like a shape then it is possible for the narrative to develop. This is why I argue that the characters could be removed or even replaced as the narrative should still be able to play out.
This week I played the puzzle platformer called Fez (2012). I argue that the game could have developed it's narrative and be told similarly if the characters were removed from the game. The term 'characters' tend to refer to a person or something that has humanoid tendencies. If a character in game were to be replaced by something that is lifeless like a pencil, it is still possible for the narrative to play out.
As long as the player has a sort of avatar to control then , I feel, that the game and narrative will still work. "The avatar is, in this most basic sense, the user’s representative in interactive digital space..." (Jessica Aldred, 2013). It wouldn't necessarily have to be 'who will the player control?' , it could be 'what will the player control?' If Gomez was replaced by a shape like a sphere, that sphere would still have the mission to save the world with the narrative being unchanged. Gomez is a bunch of squares joined together to form the shape of a person, so transforming him into a simple square could still do the job of saving the world. A character named Dot is a guide for Fez and tells him the means of the 3D world. Dot is represented as a floating 3-Dimensional shape and could be removed by acting as a narrator of some sort.
The playable character Gomez is important as he was chosen by Geezer (old man) before him who also wears a Fez hat. It's as if whoever wears the Fez hat, can see the world as 3D and save the world from being destroyed. If these important characters were removed and replaced by something more complex or even more simplistic like a shape then it is possible for the narrative to develop. This is why I argue that the characters could be removed or even replaced as the narrative should still be able to play out.
Thursday, 24 March 2016
WEEK 5 Game Analysis
How does morality influence the choices you make in the game?
When I played the telltale adventure game The Wolf Among Us (2013), I would make choices that would go against my morals, but then I'd jump back to doing the right thing again. I planned on making some jerk choices like throwing the fable out of the window in the first sequence and staying silent at the wrong times, but then I feel bad, not just for Bigby, but because I'd be going against my morals - I wouldn't really throw someone out the window if they got on my bad side.
This did influence the choices I made at times as the character Bigby isn't liked by many characters and is 'the big bad wolf' and I felt sorry for him, I wanted to make good decisions and choices that would benefit him and others around him. Especially playing as a once villain, I wanted to make choices that would perhaps go with his true morals. Colin the pig said to Bigby that he likes to be seen as a lone wolf, which might not be the case.
The game does allow me to get into the character of someone else as it gives me multiple options on what to say to another character. This makes me feel like I really am the character, so I feel like I need to stick with my morals to help Bigby out.
One thing that did take me off guard was when a note in the top corner of the screen would say 'Colin will remember that'. This also influenced me to make moral based decisions and made me guilty for making a bad decision.
In 'Ethical Dilemmas and Dominant Moral Strategies In Games' , Brandon Perdue said "The model that rewards certain choices over others, or different choices in different ways, tends to functionally make the choices for the players; the player will be more successful at the game if he picks the optimal choice for his strategy." In Bigby's case, making the optimal choice definitely benefited his reputation. This is proven when I would choose the right dialogue or action to help others and it was greatly appreciated by the other characters.
In the gaming world morality does at times slip away, but eventually comes back. I can't say this for everyone's case, but this does apply to me when I played this game.
When I played the telltale adventure game The Wolf Among Us (2013), I would make choices that would go against my morals, but then I'd jump back to doing the right thing again. I planned on making some jerk choices like throwing the fable out of the window in the first sequence and staying silent at the wrong times, but then I feel bad, not just for Bigby, but because I'd be going against my morals - I wouldn't really throw someone out the window if they got on my bad side.
This did influence the choices I made at times as the character Bigby isn't liked by many characters and is 'the big bad wolf' and I felt sorry for him, I wanted to make good decisions and choices that would benefit him and others around him. Especially playing as a once villain, I wanted to make choices that would perhaps go with his true morals. Colin the pig said to Bigby that he likes to be seen as a lone wolf, which might not be the case.
The game does allow me to get into the character of someone else as it gives me multiple options on what to say to another character. This makes me feel like I really am the character, so I feel like I need to stick with my morals to help Bigby out.
One thing that did take me off guard was when a note in the top corner of the screen would say 'Colin will remember that'. This also influenced me to make moral based decisions and made me guilty for making a bad decision.
In 'Ethical Dilemmas and Dominant Moral Strategies In Games' , Brandon Perdue said "The model that rewards certain choices over others, or different choices in different ways, tends to functionally make the choices for the players; the player will be more successful at the game if he picks the optimal choice for his strategy." In Bigby's case, making the optimal choice definitely benefited his reputation. This is proven when I would choose the right dialogue or action to help others and it was greatly appreciated by the other characters.
In the gaming world morality does at times slip away, but eventually comes back. I can't say this for everyone's case, but this does apply to me when I played this game.
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