Projects

As a group project we had to come up with a fun and playable game either board or video game. We thought it would be interesting to create an addictive and easily accessible game that could be played on the run.

Our game is called “Armadillo Tumble,” which is a single player action game developed primarily for mobile devices. Given it's simple and intuitive nature, this game targets a wide range of audiences. Children, adolescents and even adults could find themselves playing this addictive game whenever a spare moment arises. The game is laid out as one long, continuous segment, and the objective is to make it as far as possible whilst collecting as many points as you can.

Here is the link to our prototype, our production schedule and storyboard:

http://newhybrid.concordia.ca/be_sim/midterm/index.html

Readings

Video Games and Computer Holding Power
Sherry Turkle, 1984

Video Games and Computer Holding Power by Sherry Turkle discusses key issues about the distinction between the television as we know it and video games. Watching television requires no effort from the viewers, on the other hand video games demands constant interaction whether it be physically or subconsciously. She states ”Video games are something that you do” meaning there is interaction between the game and the person playing it. You, being the gamer, is transported into another world and forced to interact in it. Turkle adds that gamers see video games as a pass time ie: “sports, sex, or meditation.” She describes this as a learning curve where the gamer experiments and learns how to learn. When one game is accomplished then another one is to be accomplished also.

Turkle also reveals some skills that must be taken into consideration to become a good gamer. She does agree that time is required to become successful. You cannot be a pro overnight and like everything in life, practice is key. (When you are playing a game you are automatically practicing and perfecting your skills as a gamer, exactly like a sport.) The game of pinball often comes up. Turkle separates and makes clear distinctions between the more "traditional" game and interactive video games. Both require a certain amount of interaction but are very different from one another. Here is why: we play with pinball, on the other hand with video games we take on the roll and become it. With pinball everything depends on real life obstacles like gravity, the floor being level or un-leveled, and time. With a video game nothing is actually real; everything can be abstract. Video games have no limitations or consistent boundaries. It is what the designers wants them to be. This gives a consistency to the game, compared to pinball machines where no pinball machine is the same. "If a designer wants to change the game, for example, to put a new monster on the screen, he or she doesn’t have to “make” a monster, but simply has to write a program that will trace out the monster’s shape. To have the new monster engage in a chase requires another program. Pinball games were constrained by mechanical limitations, ultimately by the physical laws that govern the motion of a small metal ball. The video world knows no such bounds. Objects fly, spin, accelerate, change shape and color, disappear and reappear. Their behavior, like the behavior of anything created by a computer program, is limited only by the programmer’s imagination."

Turkle also speaks about a boy named Jarish who started playing pinball at the age of 5. He always saw himself as a short individual which made him self-conscious. Soon pinball gave away to video games which was a revolutionized way of gaming for the time. In video games the players can be nameless, ageless and faceless. No one can discriminate or judge. Age, sex, race, and physical attributes play a major role in most competitive activities, but they mean nothing in video games. This is something very positive when we think about individuals like Jarish who feel that their physical qualities can be a set back.

Simulation versus Narrative: Introduction to Ludology

By Gonzalo Frasca

In "Simulation versus Narrative: Introduction to Ludology", Frasca presents the contrast between media past and newcomer, video games. It is though different mediums like paintings, photos and books that the truth and the real representation lies. Through this, one can decode and produce a retrospective of the medium. Fransca then goes on to describing what ludology is all about. She explains it as the following: Ludology can be defined as a discipline that studies games in general, and video games in particular. This isn't a recent topic as Fransca says it is particularly known amongst the gaming community. He says there is clearly a distinction and a lack of coherence when it comes to narration (narratology) as he calls it. Viewing video games as an extension of narrative is over simplifying the issue; it's much more complicated than that.

Mediums like film, music and writing all require a particular way of communication that are linear and sequential. For example to fully understand an author's book, one must read it step by step word by word to more deeply understand it's content. Thus the differences that video games has to any other medium; it has a multitude of connections that make it interactive to the player. One must find all connections when playing a video game. The use of of parameters in games allows proper functioning. New ways of interacting with video games allows players to be actors in their own fantasy. They are given more freedom of movement and new improved sensory multi-media.

What this text raises as a question is the necessity to introduce sequential narrative elements in the simulation environments in this case, video games. Authors must let players room for the imagination, incorporating simulation without telling too much through narrative points of views. Frasca believes that simulations can express messages in ways that narrative can simply not. As he says, unlike narrative simulations are not just made of sequences of events but they also incorporate behavioral rules. Simulation in Frasca's mind is not necessarily a better environment for the way we see the world but it is the form of the future. It does not deal with the past or the present, it simulates the future. Unlike narrative its essence lays on an assumption that chance is very much possible. It is up to game designers and players to keep simulation alive as a form of entertainment in our lives.

Narrative remains a functional and accomplished field for the video game industry, Frasca says, but the promise of the unexplored field of simulation is still extremely vast and virtually un-touched.

The Leisure of Serious Games: A Dialogue

by Geoffrey M. Rockwell, Kevin Kee

All in all this lecture presented interesting facts about gaming and the gaming world. Showing viewers that games can and many are educational. Dr. Geoffrey M. Rockwell and Dr. Kevin Kee performed at a 2009 conference a dialogue on serious issues dealing with video games. This was presented in a way that the viewers could then participate in an open discussion. A beautiful quote that I'm sure all gamers would appreciate is the following, "Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn't know the first thing about either.”
Marshal McLuhan. Throughout the discussion we learn that Geoffrey is going against what Kevin is trying to say about education and games. He debates that video games and education cannot go together; that they are from two different planets. He gives an example of this “Making games educational is like dumping Velveeta on broccoli. Liberal deployment of the word blaster can't hide the fact that you're choking down something that's supposed to be good for you”. Kevin wants to show us the opposite and shows the viewers some examples of educational games like September 12 which provides people with a profoundly educational experience. Kevin also mentions flight simulator games, that provide gamers with practice that one needs to gain experience, without being a danger to the populations. He also tries to explain that games and simulations are closely related. We sometimes call serious games simulations. "Simulation is what drives most "serious games" (you learn to pilot a plane, or to deal with a crisis like a first responder), and simulation is the backbone of all entertainment games - in fact he calls entertainment games a "subgenre" of simulation."

There is nothing wrong with integrating fun into serious games, as they are educational all while captivating the audience. Kevin states "Why can't we create an educational culture of play around serious games?" And he is right, why can't we? The lecture finishes with a quote “Yet individuals can once again become involved, and thought and action can again be integrated, in games created to simulate these social processes. The zest for life felt at those exhilarating moments of history when men participated in effecting great changes on the models of great ideas can be recaptured by simulations of roles in the form of serious games”.

Immersion, Engagement, and Presence, A Method for Analyzing 3-D Video Games, by Alison McMahan

In this particular article McMahan tries to explain what it means to be "immersed" into something, in this case video games. She explains this to be the process of being sucked into the game; a complete immersion, where the person playing feels like they are actually part of the game rather than simply play it. To do so the creator of the game must create some suspense and disbelief that almost utterly closes off the outside world to the gamers. In other words, to create a successful game a designer must think about three things: Immersion, engagement and presence. These are essential to keeping the audience passionate and intrigued.

A gamer is usually immersed through the use of an avatar, this being a character than one can relate to and therefore get attached to. The player then feels completely immersed through the use of a character. By hiding the face of the avatar one is forced to imagine and is therefore easier to replace it by his or her own. When it comes to face to face communication abstraction is key to realism; it becomes almost like the game characters are talking to you. Cinematic's is also important for the complete immersion of a video gamer. Games that use cinematics is often refereed to as 'Half Life'. This is a first person game where a script unfolds and the person playing must traverse it.

There is also something as too much immersion where players are encouraged to use glasses or headphones. This may result in cutting people off from on another; doing the opposite of what social games are suppose to do. It is important to have a balance to make a successful and playable game.

Theory by Design WALTER HOLLAND, HENRY JENKINS, KURT SQUIRE

If one looks at the emergence of film theory, it is obvious that it comes from the press reporters and moving pictures. One might add that it is about pushing the medium to its full potential (coming from film practitioners). Many of the practitioners wanted to show the aesthetics through their own work. When film was much more established in the domain as a medium, more specialized language emerged as cinema studies strug­gled for acceptance as a legitimate academic discipline. In this text one may find information concerning theorists who independently reflect on different games specifically in their developmental stage.

J. Wolf also discusses issues dealing with graphic abstraction in the first generation games. As time evolved what was once cut off by technological limits, it therefore obliged the developers to schematically evoke figurative elements. This led to the perfecting of the games and further led to a greater degree of real environment simulation. It is said though out the text that designers don't exploit the abstract side of games enough. All in all according to the author the use of schematic forms for certain designs would result in a far richer and complex cognitive environment.

Exercises

Two games

2001 Playstation 2 Jak and Daxter- Naughty Dog:

Christmas morning, gift opening. This big beautifully wrapped box sits under the decorated tree. Opening it I realize that my dream has come true. I have finally received my PS2 and of course the game I have longed to play; Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. For hours and days and weeks and months I have enjoyed this game day and night. Some might call it obsession; I call it dedication to saving the world, of course! Now, lets talk about the game. Jak and Daxter has four major characters including

Jak: the main protagonist.

Daxter: the secondary character from the video game series. He is Jak's sidekick, and is always getting into trouble.

Then there is Samos the Sage: the most prominent in the first video game ‘The Precursor Legacy’. He serves as a guide throughout the series.

Last but not least there is Keira: she is Samos' daughter and Jak's main love interest in the series.

Jak and Daxter is very similar to platform games such as Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64 where the player can progress through the game by collecting and gathering specific items. Players might to be exposed or awarded special powers such as double-jumping, a rapid spinning kick, and sustaining only limited damage through falling from great heights. The character’s life is determined by a life meter that goes down accordingly if he/she gets attacked or falls off high platforms. What I absolutely adore about Jak and Daxter is the decors and the magical environments that you get to explore throughout the entire game. Jak and Daxter takes place on a fictional planet created specifically for the game. It has different areas that have various themes such as snow,swamp, jungle, be aches, and volcanoes. Everything about this game evokes a ‘cartoonish’ style. Though this might seem childish, this game can be played and enjoyed by people of all ages. Though quite easy, some challenges are a bit harder and more challenging for the older, more experienced crowd.

2008 PC Left 4 Dead- Turtle Rock Studios:

Close but yet so far from being similar is the famous cooperative first person shooter, zombie killing game called Left 4 Dead. This videogame takes place in Pennsylvania. The city is highly infected by the "Green Flu"; which is a highly contagious virus causing extreme aggression and loss of higher brain functions (in other, easier words, zombies). Four survivors Bill, a Vietnam veteran; Zoey, a student; Louis, an IT Analyst and Francis, a biker go on a quest around the city, killing the infected on their way to every safe house.

This game is largely based on teamwo

rk and group cooperation. It is by working with your team mates that you advance in this game. ie: If a player falls off a ledge, then they may automatically hang onto it and can only be helped up by another player. Same thing goes for reviving a team mate that is wounded. You can play L4D in different modes including campaign, versus, survival, and single-player. The main difference between the two is the realism that lacks in Jak and Daxter compared to Left 4 Dead. It remains two completely different styles. I was always more compelled to videogames that were more realistic than cartoony.

Though Jak and Daxter has revolutionized that aspect for me. That magical, infantile and fun environment makes playing so much more enjoyable for me.

Inventing three Games

Pre-School Video Game

For this particular category we had to come up with a video game that young children would be able to play and even learn while playing it. This is quite challenging since young children (3-5 years of age) have very low attention spans. Therefore the game must be entertaining while educative. This is what I came up with:

Played on an ipad

The game would have easy but yet challenging levels that the child must accomplish to move up. A cartoon man, woman or child would be standing with only their underpants or only few pieces of clothes and one or no accessories on their head or on their feet (ex: a hockey player boy has a hockey stick in his hands.) The child has choices of clothing or accessories on the side bar (ex: a doctor white uniform, a suit with a tie, a football uniform, a ballerina tutu, ect) The child must drag with his/her finger the clothing or the accessory that is the more suitable for that particular person. The child is therefore learning what people in society wear for particular activities or jobs. They also associate for example that a hockey player needs skates to play, or a golf player needs a golf club. The child can also learn to manipulate on the ipad and build their motor skills.

One button game

For the one button game I thought it would be interesting to create something more traditional yet addictive. There are always games online where one has difficulty leaving their computer screen because the game is so DAMN ADDICTIVE! So yes I thought about doing this one using:

PC

The scene takes place deep in a rain forest. An explorers hand and arm, in this case the players’; holds a bug net (like the ones used to

catch butterflies.) The scene is cropped so all the player sees is the hand and arm of the fictional character. The player must catch particular bugs to be successful. They must catch the butterflies only and not the bees! The space bar must be pressed for the character to raise the net and therefore catch the wanted bugs. Catch three bees and your out. Levels would increase the difficulty of the game as the player passes one at a time. To add to the fun the character is running/walking in a forward motion changing the perspective and the beautiful scenery. This game would be created in more of a realistic genre.

Turning on your team-mates

For this particular section I leaned towards a “World of Warcraft” approach. Usually in games, especially online and team based games you don’t usually go around killing off your team-mates. So this took some thinking on my part and I thought about the television shows I watch and one in particular came to mind; Survivor. I’ve been watching it since it came on television which was in the summer of 2000. This game starts off as two separate teams winning challenges for their tribe and people get voted off little by little often backstabbed by their own team-mates who they thought were their alliance. This is a perfect example of a game where one must go against their own team-mates to get further in the game. So I came up with this:

Xbox, Playstation, PSP, PC

The game starts off with two opposing teams, the Indians and the Cowboys (the player gets to choose it’s team.) Both have strengths and weaknesses. To stay alive in this game you must learn to live like your fellow team-mates. (ex: if you are an Indian you must know how to build a fire, and hunt for animals using nothing but a bow and arrow.) It is all about team-work; if you decide to take off and leave your team-mates behind you will probably end up dying. Through out the game you must learn how to interact with the opposite tribe in order to find sufficient resources. (ex: to barter and trade fur for weapons.) This game is similar to the Sims and closely related to the television show Survivor. Though you become closely aligned and attached and may even create bonds with the other tribe fights evolve where you face difficult challenges of having to kill people you became close to. You may also want to switch tribes as the game progresses. This creates tension and conflicts and a lot of backstabbing.