It was a pleasure to have Rob Strouse share with us his experience as a research designer via Skype. Like what Dan has mentioned in his response, it’s good to hear straightforward remarks on the current rules of design researching. His stern stance against surveys gave me second thoughts on using said method for future research. Some data I’d like to collect is the importance of narration in digital games to the player. Would players prefer gameplay with story or strictly gameplay? When is there too much story? What are the gamer audience and the causal audience’s response? Likely, these questions could be answered by the use of surveys, and it’ll probably still be effective, but another method might be more effective, such as contextual inquiry. Being able to observe players in their environment and interacting with other players may extract some answers, or at least set the journey on the right path. With technology evolving faster than ever, such as Google and Weta Workshop’s tight-lipped (and incredible) project, Magic Leap reinventing the status quo, will we ever have a permanent answer? If we did, new questions will likely emerge and so, the journey continues.
Author: huevaj
Ethnographic Empowerment
The paper by Dr. Sanders hits upon the importance of design at Microsoft as a service for the everyday persons by considering ethnography. By understanding cultural differences and similarities, the end result of a product will become more universal. Being Hmong American, it’s exciting to see products incorporate an aspect of my culture into their designs, especially since the history of the Hmong people and their journey to America after the Vietnam War isn’t covered much in U.S. History classes and remains obscure to a majority of Americans today. So seeing products acknowledging my culture earns them a lot of respect. Even if it were an item I’m not interested in purchasing, I’d share what I saw with friends and family, unintentionally advertising the product. The designer placing themselves in the shoes of or spending time with the end user is a smart move and even smarter if the end user is of a different culture. In terms of game design, ethnographic research is important in communicating to a wide variety of audiences and to avoid stereotyping. Role-playing games today allow for heavy customization by the player, therefore minimizing criticism of the protagonist’s gender, race and attitude, appeasing to a wide variety of audience. In the mobile game that I’m creating on my free time, the protagonist is of Japanese decent, but has a Hmong name: Tou. In the game, he meets a Hmong girl who calls him ‘Tou’, which means ‘boy’ or ‘son’ because he has no name. It’s common to call a young man or boy whom you don’t know Tou. (‘Mai’ is the equivalent for a girl). I thought it’d be interesting to add that into the narration as cultural inputs help feed character believability, another plus for using ethnography in design.
Theses Overview: Animated Documentary Film
The theses I read is titled “Observational Animation: An Exploration of Improvisation, Interactivity and Spontaneity in Animated Filmmaking” authored by Jeremy Baker of the Ohio State University. Baker’s focus was to establish a successful connection between the character in an animated documentary and the viewer. The key in capturing that element he states is based on the camera operator, filming in the style of cinema verite, or ‘truthful cinema’. This technique is usually shot by a handheld camcorder giving it a home video aesthetic, which immerses the audience into the lives of the characters in a participatory fashion. We’ve seen this style rise to popularity in Hollywood in the horror genre with The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, but Baker attempts this technique in a 3-D Animated documentary called Wade.
Wade is based on the life of a drug addict whom Baker knew personally. The characters and environments were built in a 3-D software but instead of using the virtual camera within the software, Baker used a motion-captured camera that directly links up to a virtual camera. This way, the handling of the camera will feel more human, which is the intent of the piece and which I thought was pretty cool. The final version was on Vimeo and for the most part it was successful in immersing the viewer into the world of Wade. Though I felt the camera movement could have been a little more subtle as it seems unnaturally heavy handed. But I definitely enjoyed it and there should be more animated sequences shot like this.
The research for this was decent but not extraordinary in terms of academic citations. But it is understandable as scholarly research on animation isn’t as abundant as other domains. Baker cites Bill Nichols, founder of contemporary study of documentary films, very often and I’d like to see more diversity of expert opinions. We live in the age of the Internet, so a lot of his references are online but the sources were, for the most part, online journals. Baker also made another short animated documentary called Grandpa with this theses and it was shot in an observational perspective. Unfortunately, it wasn’t finished, but having both films to compare and contrast would be interesting. What took away from the theses are the grammatical errors; one more proofread would do it a lot of justice.
The short film can be viewed here:
http://jeremycbaker.prosite.com/228135/934834/3d-work/thesis-film
Role of Research in Game Development
Currently, I’m developing a mobile game for the Apple iPad and research plays a strong role in the design of the product. Mobile games or apps have exploded due to the democratization of game design which has increased competition and decreased originality. I looked at the top 10 apps on Apple’s App Store and took note of their design. I also looked at the unpopular ones and took note of their design. With those results, a few of my teammates and I tried to design a game that was unique enough as to not blatantly copy the popular apps, but not too crazy that it’ll fall into the realm of unpopular. Anthropomorphic protagonists were one of the popular trends so we included some of those designs into our game but made them the antagonist. What we realized in the unpopular ones were lack of a unique aesthetic. The ‘cute’, cartoonish style seemed to be a trend in most of the mobile apps, good or bad, so we strayed away from that look and incorporated a 90’s comic book aesthetic due to the rising popularity of comic book films. Also, in mobile games, the gameplay can be elementary and still be very successful so the mechanics of our game isn’t and shouldn’t be too complex.
We wanted the game to have a sense of history. In doing so, some of the characters were designed using cultural influences. For example, one of the stages used aesthetic details from Mongolian armor, architecture and weapons. The female protagonist used designs from the Hmong culture seen on their Paj Ntaub (flower cloth) and the male protagonist is of Japanese decent, as he’s shockingly, a ninja. We felt combining art from the real world into a digital one will enhance the believability of the fiction.
We also also focused on ergonomics and sustainability. The GUI (game user interface) became problematic when a tester with really large fingers complained of how uncomfortable it was not having enough space to press the buttons on screen. Another tester who had smaller arms complained how heavy the iPad became as her wrist began to give way. Our GUI was placed at the very bottom of the iPad screen which forced players to hold it in a way that caused stress on their wrist. Lastly, how do we increase the replay value of this game? Since we’re limited on hardware and software, we decided to attack what we could control: the artistic value. The solution and result of some of these designs are still pending as the game is near complete, but I feel the role of research is what makes or breaks your product.
Animation Domination: Potential Rise of 2-D Animation
In the little over 100 years that the idea of animation, the illusion of motion, has been around, it’s apparent that the one style of representing the art form has been to meticulously hand draw every frame 24 times a second and the process continues with ink and paint. It’s a long process that in this day and age, hasn’t the time nor the patience to execute in that traditional style. In the past decade, computer generated animation, or 3-D animation, has been the new dominant form of representing the illusion of motion. So it would seem 2-D animation is on the cusp of extinction but it’s this very struggle to survive that could potentially unlock a dormant creative reinvention of 2-D animation.
Studios in Europe are beating the drum to a unique aesthetic that opens new insights on the hand drawn style. 3-D animation is poking holes at the declining 2-D animated features, particularly in the United States. This ‘calling out’ traditional animation has pointed out unoriginal aesthetics and most importantly, poor storytelling. The Western style and the Eastern style, Disney and Anime for the most part, has influenced one another in a cycle that we’ve seen too often. Influences in aesthetic design should break that cycle and look to Europe. Low quality storytelling will eventually be the nail in the coffin for 2-D animation, as Pixar has shown how important narration is in their films. Given a pleasing aesthetic design with quality storytelling, it’s no wonder why 3-D animation has dominated that way it has. But this downslide in 2-D animation, being as complacent as it has, will now have nowhere to look but up, as that is the only way out of their slump. A 2-D revival may be on it’s way.
So along with the research, I also pitched an idea for a possible 2-D animated short that will utilized the aesthetics as a means of storytelling. The story focuses on two individuals who are ideas that exist but have not been realized by the artist. Once they are realized they disappear from their known reality into our’s as works of art. It touches upon themes of death and rebirth as well as the reoccurring themes we’ve seen in class: Materialism, Humanism, and Transcendentalism. As ideas are realized they become immortal, much like the reality we live in may very well be a place of salvation for ideas. Before that, they’ve always existed, but in our minds, with no purpose. They might very well rely only on faith to ponder their existence, as like how we very so often wonder about life after death and the meaning of our existence in a reality that we still know so little about.
I plan for this to be a three part animated short. The first one is below in the Vimeo link. The other two are still in the works.
Here’s the link to the animatic.
Future of Game Design
BY HUE VANG
From the academic facilities privileged enough to house massive computing technology in the 1940s, digital games emerged solely as a research tool and quickly captured the imaginations of designers, entering the mainstream media today as a billion dollar industry. From the inception of digital checkers to the multi-million dollar projects today, digital games have evolved from vector lines to the realm of virtual reality, embedding itself into our culture, one pixel at a time. From our television, to smart phones, tablets and the internet, digital games have invaded our electronic space, expanding it’s territory into other domains, such as the military, medicine and science. Whether technologically or artistically, the fascination we have with experiencing altered realities have pushed the boundaries of creativity towards a more interactive, visually stunning, social experience. But where is the industry headed? Is it even just to call the digital game world an ‘industry’ when the discipline has been democratized. With that level of accessibility, the future of digital gaming may have just merged onto an evolutionary fast lane.
In the future, console gaming may not survive; in fact, the current 8th generation of consoles may not live to see a 9th. If they do, it will be in a rebooted form, foreign to what we’ve see in the past, such as a powerful tablet to rival mobile and online gaming, as games may become non-exclusive to a particular platform.
Screenshot from presentation created using GameSalad
Having contacted Dr. Andrew Williams, professor of History of Interactive Media and Dr. Brent Dingle, professor of Game Design, both instructors here at UW Stout believe that virtual reality is lingering on our doorstep. Are we ready to answer the doorbell when it rings? I believe we’re hungry to see something new and innovative so our doors are already open. But with the excitement that VR brings, also invited are the ethics of this untamed technology. Here’s an interesting paper by Kurt Reymers on the ethics of virtual reality, concerning the Virtual Chicken and the Chicken Wars.
Another question is whether or not digital games will one day be considered a legitimate form of art. As Dr. Williams pointed out, Art is always changing so in time, there will be a genre for artistic games, but as a whole, maybe not, for digital games (and Art) are primarily commercial products made for financial or mental consumption.
Gamification is going to play a large role in the future of communication. Gamification uses game design in other domains to enhance the experience of the user, much like how I have used a game as a platform for my presentation during class. VR training in the realms of science, sports, military and medicine will be popular if the VR genre is done correctly. So here we see the idea of game design come a full circle, being initially created by scientists for human-AI interaction to now being channeled back to the lab for breakthroughs in their respective domain.
The amount of money needed to make AAA digital games are increasingly high and will only increase in the future. The recently released first-person-shooter, Destiny, took $500,000,000 to produce and market. This staggering number is a primary reason why original intellectual property (IP) is so rare today because companies are afraid of the potential risk in being original. We see sequels, prequels and reboots galore, as they already have an audience to promise revenue, but at the cost of artistic expression. Creatively driven games are seen more in indie games as they do not have the monetary burden to hold them back, though consequently, they don’t have the monetary advantage to market their product. But as indie developers increase, we will inevitably see in increase in original ideas.
So here then is the greatest issue for game design in the future: creativity. William Wright, creator of The Sims, states in this video interview, we’ve had an arms race to achieve the best visuals, but have been lacking in innovating new gameplay experiences. As Dr. Dingle greatly asserts, “technology does not drive games, imagination does.”
I believe digital games should look beyond the sense of visual/audio and focus on the sense of touch, taste and smell, which will reinforce a different way of storytelling. Of course, something this immersive will raise ethical issues but it’s time we experience new ideas beyond the explosions, guns, and elves. There’s nothing wrong with those ideas as we all do enjoy a good beat-em-up game from time to time, but time-to-time does not mean every time. As games have gone a full circle, being born from academia and now returning to education, science, etc in the form of gamification, we must too return to our source of innovation that made digital games so enjoyable: the imagination.
Screenshot from presentation created using GameSalad
Design Denizens 