Supervisor Meeting (Group)

We had our first meeting with our supervisor today - Ryan Locke. His plan is too have maybe two more group sessions as well as half hour individual sessions every week. We began by discussing each others project so he could get a more in-depth idea of what we were looking to do. He was fully on board with my project and I felt he understood what I wanted to achieve. He mentioned that I'd need to re-word it for a more suitable title as well as complete plenty research into other games.

The next few weeks (before Semester 2) I plan on creating a story for my environment and planning exactly how I want my environment to be so as soon as semester 2 starts, I can begin building it. I have already emailed the hotel I am basing it on asking for some reference images and archive photos so I can begin looking more into that in order to figure out the story I wish to convey.

Media Test - Importing into UDK

With my final project aim to have the user explore my environment it was time I imported my practice environment into a games engine for practice using another program. I decided to use UDK as I used it a little bit last year and so am some what familiar with it. I was happy too discover I succeeded with only some 'typical' minor problems. These issues have happened to me before but I need to research further on how to sort them. At the moment, I believe its the light maps but will need to keep tweaking them in order to hopefully resolve the issue I have, ready for when it comes to developing my final project.

Importing into UDK

There was only one major issue I was having with my environment and that was (what I believe to be) the lightmaps. I had a lot of annoying shadows in places that did not look right or make sense. I have a feeling that this is due to my light maps and I need to do much more research on these are as they are a vital factor for making a UDK environment look good.

Problems With Shadows

Things To Consider

• Still early practice in UDK - plenty time to sort
• Still need to try out animating objects in UDK
• Sound also needs to be looked into in preparation for next semester
• All in all, scene came together nicely

Personal Notes

Using UDK was not scheduled in my plan until next semester however starting it now has definitely given me not only a kick-start into the program but has raised issues and concerns I now know I need to look at ready for semester 2.

Media Test - Story

Recently it came to my attention that there were more parts to this interview from Don Carson :

http://www.primitive-eye.com/pdf_files/Enviromental_storytelling_pt1.pdf

So far I have been applying the practical skills learnt in Michael McKinley's 'Game Environments and Props' book to an environment I had created to carry out various tests and practices regarding environmental storytelling. I was basing these tests on Don Carson's techniques used in the theme park industry and had believed that the link provided was the full interview. I have jsut been made aware that there is a lot more too this which I can use for future practice later in the year. For now, here is the last media test from part 1: Story.

Using ideas on how to convey or tell a story from other games I have done so with a few examples. This first one is a standard typical horror style in which you see lots of blood in the environment which can highlight danger or just add to the sense of worry you have whilst playing the game. The example below are from 'Outlast' (2013).

Media Test - Story (Method 1)

This is an effective method which can be used to suggest something as oppose to using any form of text or obvious happening. It can be also very useful as it is not obvious what has happened which leaves the user's imagination to run wild and a common technique in film and games, is too not show the creature/what happened as someones imagination can create something much more scarier. For example, in my scene, you do not know what has happened except someone or something has been seriously hurt (or killed) This adds a chilling atmosphere in which the user proceeds more alert and becomes much more careful when progressing through the level.

Another method which is very common in various genre's of games is having scrawled writing on the wall. The writing can be clues, hints, ideas or just random rubbish. 'Left 4 Dead' (1&2) (2008/2009) effectively used this in the safe-houses set around the level. They use this to tell a story without the need of cut-scenes.

Media Test - Story (Method 2)

This technique proves very effective as it can subtly convey a story to the user without over-use of literally telling a story. The user can choose to acknowledge the information, take it seriously or just ignore it. 'Portal' (2007) was also famous for this method of storytelling with writing on the walls of hidden rooms which led to the story's outcome.

This next technique I have taken from 'Splinter Cell: Conviction' (2010) and adapted it. Here the text is clearly displayed on buildings to help introduce a level or task as well as offering tips. I went for a more subtle approach in my scene by having the writing much harder to see which would result in the user having to look hard and carefully if they wanted to find out some story aspects or help.

Media Test - Story (Method 3)

This technique would be effective if I wanted to tell an under-laying story that was into necessary to know when exploring the environment. I was using this technique with the idea that 'the environment' was talking/helping the user. This can be explored more in depth once I decide on what the final story will be. The issue that I noticed with this method was that it can be difficult to see so care would have to be taken when carrying out this method.

Things to Consider

• There a loads more techniques similar too these that can be used to tell/enhance a story
• Each of these can be explored further
• Having a story idea and how it's going to be told needs to be looked at soon