Media Test - Art Style

When it comes to immersion, there is lots of different factors that can affect how immersive a game is. Usual, people become immersed in games that attempt to be as realistic as possible and this includes in art style. With graphics improving beyond belief in modern games, developers are doing their best to make their games as real looking as possible in order to immerse the player in the game.

Among The Sleep

Among The Sleep differs from this as it's art style is very stylistic. It has avoided realism completely and gone for a more fun, vibrant looking style. This however, still helps immerse the player within the game. The reason being is that the art style fits with the scope of the story. As you are seeing through the perspective of a toddler, it makes sense to have everything look bright and vibrant and thrilling too look at. It even manages to capture this 'vibrantness' when the environment becomes dark and creepy. Everything you see is still interesting to look at.

'Among The Sleep' by Krillbite Studios

Media Test: Art Style

I began by finding a reference image online and quickly modeled it, ready to test some textures on it. The textures were kept reasonably close to the reference image. Basing my first test on 'Among The Sleep' I made the textures vibrant and much more interesting to look at. Admittingly this was difficult to accomplish with just a hallway. However I continued and after that I de-saturated the textures to attempt to create a more interesting hallway with a sinister feel to it.

Media Test: Art Style

Learning Outcomes

After carrying this out I discovered that the art style was rather difficult to achieve. I tried making it look vibrant but in my opinion, its not obvious. However, I got a fellow coursemate to check it out and he mentioned that with furniture and other pieces placed in the scene may help bring out the art style more clearly. He also suggested removing a light as lighting is effective for making a scene more interesting and therefore more immersive.

Personal Notes

Next I am going to place some added pieces into the hallway and keep to the vibrant style. Hopefully this will make the environment a lot more interesting. I also want to create another room except this time the artistic style will be more realistic looking at influences such as, Outlast and Silent Hill's Playable Trailer. After this I can compare environments and discuss which is more immersive for a player.

I must also not that a lot of factors result in immersive gameplay. This is my attempt at trying out different theories and testing different techniques in order to help create my own, immersive interactive experience.

Week 9 - 3D Practice - Weapons

Chapter 3 of Michael McKinley's 'Game Environments and Props' was showing you how to model a well detailed gun. Up to know I have not been concentrating as much on my actual project in regards to practical work. These 3D practices have been more too get me back up to speed with Maya as well as learning some new useful techniques. I will still be carrying these out over the next few weeks but not in as much detail. I am going to focus on media testing and concepts ready for my hand ins.

I will not be going over exactly what I did in this chapter as it has purely been for practice but basically I modeled a high resolution gun, then adapted a low resolution version which was used for the UV maps.

Project: Creating a Gun

Personal Notes

As stated, due to time constraints, I am not going to waste too much time discussing this project as it was merely a modelling exercise. However what I will be carry out in the next few weeks is:

1. Concepts/Story Ideas
2. Media Tests
3. Modelling Environment Examples

This is in preparation for my hand ins in a few weeks time.

'Willing Suspension of Disbelief'

http://izquotes.com/quote/40129

In the last article I read (and blogged about) I came across a wonderful phrase that hit exactly, how I tend to feel about games and films. When I watch a film or play a game, I want to be immersed in it. I want too feel the emotions that the characters and scene is trying to portray. If a game or film is successful in doing so then for me, it's a great piece of media. I have always found it difficult to explain in words what I mean when I really like the atmosphere of games and films hence I like there to be no talking during a movie or whilst playing a game so  I can get lost within the medium and become immersed. This is a very personal thing which differs for everyone. Recently I found this quote that describes how anyone can be immersed within a certain media but they have to want it and allow it;

'Willing suspension of disbelief'

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a poet who had a deep interest in numerous things including the human imagination. He published this phrase/theory although it was believed that this concept came from the work of Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather. Sadly I cannot find the direct reference - the best I can give is the book citation:

'Coleridge published the theory, however, and made it accessible by extricating it from the mass of Darwin's somewhat unreadable prose. (Schneider 1996, p 103)'

Even though Coleridge used this phrase with regards to poems it is still used today with respect to all different kinds of media. What the phrase really means is that even if something in a media is unrealistic - e.g teleportation in a science fiction movie - the viewers are willing to ignore all the unrealistic traits and become engaged in wanting to believe what they are seeing. In many instances they know it is impossible but they ignore that disbelief in order to enjoy the entertainment that is being shown to them.

Focusing on the important matter - the phrase itself, I find it an extremely accurate phrase that in my opinion is the root of atmosphere. If you want atmosphere you need to want it and hence, have a willing suspension of disbelief in whatever you are watching/playing in order to become immersed and benefit the atmosphere being created.

Personal Note

Every time I play a game or watch a film, I desperately try to get immersed in it. I willingly suspend my disbelief's and become engrossed and immersed in the media. This is something I quite often wish a lot of people would do in order to truly appreciate a film or game. I would love to accomplish this idea in my interactive piece and after finding this quote, I feel I can really develop a unique way of capturing the audience and keeping them immersed in my experience, much like I often do.

'Willing Suspension of Disbelief: Poetic Faith in Film' by Anthony J. Ferri

The Interplay Between Immersion And Appeal In Video Games by Georgios Christou

http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.abertay.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S0747563213004391

In preparation for the Research Proposal and later on, the dissertation, I have been looking at some credited journal articles for references that I can use in my proposal/dissertation. Currently I am not looking to begin writing them yet however I do want to begin a basic draft by the end of the week. This blog's purpose is too note down some interesting references from this article that I may or may not use.

This article discusses the relationship between 'immersion' and 'appeal' for player experience of games. It goes on to introduce the concept meanings of immersion and appeal stating that,

'Immersion is generally accepted as one of those constituents of player experience...'

After a quick introductory argument on the importance of appeal is in a game Christou states,

'...appeal is a major factor of the gameplay experience, However, in the literature it is only mentioned incidentally, without deep examination of its impact on the other gameplay experience aspects, such as immersion.'

Interesting Quotes

Whilst reading this journal I came across many interesting quotes:

'...there is no immersion unless a player decides to play the game and engage into the process of willing suspension of disbelief.' - a wonderful explanation of what immersion requires - the user to want too believe and want too feel and pretend that the experience is real.

'...three successive levels of player immersion - engagement, engrossment and total immersion. Each of these levels suggests that the player further loses touch with the real world and becomes more involved both physically and psychologically in the virtual world of the game.'

'GameFlow framework offers several characteristics which could be seen as incremental in their application to understand the state of immersion. These are (I have changed format for a more readable list):

1. players should become less aware of their surroundings
2. players should become less self-aware and less worried about everyday life or self
3. players should experience an altered sense of time
4. players should feel emotionally involved in the game
5. players should feel viscerally involved in the game'

This is an extremely accurate list in my opinion of what immersion involves. This is definitely something I wish to pursue and research further. This is what I am aiming for in my interactive experience.

'Knowing that appeal is considered to be the driving force behind the act of choosing a game to play, as well as the driving force that drives players to continue playing  a game...' - appeal is just as important as immersion when getting a user to continue within an environment.

'...players who find a game appealing will also find it more immersive, and the opposite: players who find a game immersive, will also find it more appealing.' - the is what the study managed to show.

'Immersion is not affected by the players' amount of playtime of the game in question...This may suggest that immersion is a player trait rather than a game trait...' - this could easily make sense with relation to the quote above  that mentions that immersion is a willing suspension of disbelief.

'The lack of difference hints to the supposition that players may initially evaluate a game, and the initial perceived appeal decides their further relationship with the game...therefore, first impression may play a big role in whether players will adopt a game or not.' - This statement supports a passage I read a while back relating that in immersion and environment storytelling, first impressions are very important.

The conclusion of this article highlighted a few important links and features of appeal and immersion for games. He counters their findings by highlighting that first impressions help appeal a player hence if the first impression  of appeal is high, then 'the player should experience a high level of immersion'  and vice versa - low appeal equals not immersed. However considering this theory in reverse - immersion leads to appeal - then this would require the player to take the time too get immersed in the game before feeling the appeal. This reversal would require the player to be patient in the idea of wanting to be immersed - again, this lovely phrase comes too mind, ' a willing suspension of disbelief'.

New Project Proposal

My previous project aim and research question was along the lines of:

Create a 3D environment which, through exploration, tells a story. Focus will be on atmosphere, transformation of environment and immersion.

I admit this is a bit clunky and not very precise. After reading an article on Gamasutra (mentioned in previous blog post) I have come across a more interesting and more appropriate research topic that is suitable to my interest within 3D environments. I admit that my last idea was not overly exciting and not very unique but I hope this new idea will be more original and interesting for other peoples viewing.

My New Research Question and Project Aim

http://minimonstermedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/video-game-music-player-immersion.html

How to quickly immerse a player in a 3D environment and keep them interested until the end of the interactive experience, without an actual ending in sight.

Or re-worded as:

How to quickly immerse a player in a 3D environment and, without an actual ending in sight, keep them interested until the end of the interactive experience.

So here I am looking to create a 3D environment with a storyline built deep within it. The user will explore the environment and find out some sort of story. There will be no obvious end in sight for the user however I will look into keeping them immersed and interested until the end of the interactive experience.

Environmental Storytelling: Creating Immersive 3D Worlds Using Lessons Learned from The Theme Park Industry by Don Carson

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

Following on with research regarding environmental storytelling, I discovered this article that specifically discusses imported techniques that, if carried out effectively, will immerse the player in the environment.

This article focuses on the lessons we have, and can, learn from theme parks to help us create immersive 3D worlds. Theme park rides tend too do their best to enhance the overall experience by taking careful measures to insure the user is 'immeresed' in the ride. The techniques they use can be applied to 3D environments for games or other interactive experiences.

Physical Space

When designers are wanting to convey a certain story and more importantly, convey an emotion during a ride they must consider the physical space that the ride takes place in. This is vitally important and the main features which are incorporated with physical space are; colour, lighting and texture. Each of these variables can be changed in order to convey a different emotion or tell a different story. These factors are hugely important as this is what the users are experiencing first hand. The lights, colours and textures will literally be the first thing they see, and initial impressions are very important.

'...the next most important task is to answer your audiences first question.... "Where am I?" No matter how well designed your environments are, if your audience can not answer this question in the first 15 seconds, you are already lost.'

Story

The importance of story is another important feature of immersion. If the story does not make sense (i.e objects created after the 1980's featuring in an environment set in 1970) then the story looses it's authenticity and immersion in the environment is broken. Keeping the story matched with the environment will help the player get lost in this created world and appreciate everything that is happening around them. There are various ways too tell the story. This must be carefully planned and tested as some ways can be more enjoyable than others.

'Self discovery can be even more enjoyable than having the story spelled out for you in the opening credits. There are lots of ways designers can place story elements throughout their environments to lead their audience to conclusions designed into the game plot.

Familiarity

An important feature of storytelling and immersion is the use of familiarity. Certain objects will trigger a thought or idea in the users mind and with rule of thumb, they can decipher the objects meaning and perhaps understand more of the story - location, date, genre etc. Of course this can sometimes depends on the personal views of the user but for example, simple things such as a bed, light and wardrobe in a room would suggest that it is a bedroom.

Contrasting Elements

Having contrast in your environment can be very effective. Variety in your spaces can add interest as well as realism. Different sized and types of room can be very exciting to wander around in in order too discover and appreciate certain aspects of the room.

'...medieval cathedral or even a large old church, there is a reason the vast interior is so awe inspiring. What you may not realize when you enter, is that the architects of these places have forced you to enter the church through a small confined space, before revealing the monumental interior of the main church. This is done quite on purpose, and it is the contrasting effect of having been confined in a small space that makes the adjacent room all the more dramatic.'

Conclusion

After reading this article I have come to find my research topic and main question change slightly. It is still within same scope so all previous research is still relevant. I will create a fresh new blog in order to signify the next chapter of my project.

3D Practice - Foliage

Continuing with Chapter 2 of 'Game Environments and Props' by Michael McKinley my next foliage task was to create a tree. This incorporated a very similar approach to before which helped cement the techniques used into my mind. The techniques used a very effective and efficient in creating quick props and items for 3D environments. Again, foliage is not going to be used much in my environment (maybe plant pots etc) but seeing how it has done has enhanced my knowledge of techniques that can be used in Maya and Photoshop.

Project: Creating A Savannah Tree

The Steps

1. First I created the tree trunk. I created a polygon cylinder and deformed it. After this I created the branches using the CV curve tool.
2. Creating the smaller branches was done with curves also except this time, using a NURBS circle to create the radius for the branches.
3. The leaves were created in bulks to save time. Each bulk of leaves was duplicated and altered to maintain a random effect. In order for less polys - a snapshot of these bulks were created and then applied to a plane and the plane was used as the main leave geometry.
4. The same process was used to create the filler leaves. This really helped to quickly bulk out the tree.
5. Next I created the bark in Photoshop. The leaves and branches were just coloured through Maya.
6. The last part was correctly UV mapping the tree trunk in order to allow the bark too look accurate and appear seemless.

Learning Outcomes

I haven't learnt much more than I did in the previous part of the chapter. This is due to the tasks carrying out similar procedures however there is one part I would like to write about, due too it's usefulness and efficiency.

Using a Snapshot as a Texture

Using a snapshot as a texture

A very useful technique was used to create the leaves on the tree. As oppose too modelling each individual one which would require lots of memory and would be incredibly costly, a technique was used that not only sped up the process but only required a plane to show a whole bunch of leaves. To begin with you create a small branch covered in leaves. You then set up the top view camera to only view a certain size plan in your scene. With this plane you would capture an image shot of your branch and leaves. With this image, you then create a plane of the same size and apply this image to the plane. With this complete you can add extra edges to the plane and move the vertices slightly in order to give the impression of depth.

Personal Notes

Even though my environment will not need much foliage if any at all, this chapter has still shown me some essential skills in Maya and in Photoshop. I must comment that all the settings used in Photoshop cannot necessarily be learnt. They are tampered with until the artist feels it looks right. The best I can take in with regards to the Photoshop sections is the understanding of different features so that I can apply these to my designs later. It is now Monday and I am a bit behind on what I wanted too complete over the weekend. This means I am behind on the week. I will be looking to have caught up by the end of this week. Here's what I am wanting to have completed by Sunday night:

1. Finish Case study and blog a summary of it
2. Carry out Chapter 3 of Game Environments and Props + blog post
3. Carry out a few research blogs using journals/internet
4. Have a meeting with a lecturer
5. Draft my Research Proposal using Student Handbook

The next few weeks I am going to be focusing a lot on hand in materials so this week I am looking to get some ideas in my mind ready to start bringing things together in the next few weeks.