A simple walkthrough of the map I made in SDK (click the link to view)
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Expanding my experience with SDK
Due to my familiarity with Source as a map creator I've managed to start experimenting and expanding my idea. Originally there was little game-element to my planned studio work. But with SDK I can start to include triggers and objectives. For example I can lock off an area, requiring the player to explore his environment or pick up a key item before the area opens up allowing the player to continue.
In addition to this I am experimenting with particle effects and different func. utilities in the engine, allowing for more atmospheric maps. I can fill rooms with smokes, cause sound triggers to fill the environment to provoke responses in the player. I want a solid experience that is both audible and visual. This I feel is key to the concept I am attempting with my map. The effect on the player is much more powerful if I am invoking more than one sense at a time.
In addition to this I am experimenting with particle effects and different func. utilities in the engine, allowing for more atmospheric maps. I can fill rooms with smokes, cause sound triggers to fill the environment to provoke responses in the player. I want a solid experience that is both audible and visual. This I feel is key to the concept I am attempting with my map. The effect on the player is much more powerful if I am invoking more than one sense at a time.
Switching from UDK to SDK
In my Learning Agreement I said I was going to create my studio work in UDK, however I have decided to change to using the SDK. I am trying to create a floor of an apartment complex, where each apartment on this floor is an environmental example of an abstract concept, ie loneliness.
I was having too much trouble with UDK. I am unfamiliar with the engine and the tools at hand, even with the use of tutorials. I had trouble keeping things to scale, none of the interior environments looked how I wanted them to look and every step was taking twice as long as I had to keep rechecking guides as I went along. Using the SDK however is much easier. I have experience with it, which lets me experiment with new lighting methods, triggers and sounds. The familiarity of SDK means I can create a more enriching experience and hopefully provide more depth to the abstract concept I am trying to put across within my studio work. So that is why I am choosing to abandon UDK in favour of SDK. Obviously there are still downsides to this. I originally wanted to use UDK because graphically its a much more impressive engine. Its also more widely used in the industry and the computers at the university where I study all use it. However I feel the benefits of using the SDK outway the benefits of sticking with UDK.
I was having too much trouble with UDK. I am unfamiliar with the engine and the tools at hand, even with the use of tutorials. I had trouble keeping things to scale, none of the interior environments looked how I wanted them to look and every step was taking twice as long as I had to keep rechecking guides as I went along. Using the SDK however is much easier. I have experience with it, which lets me experiment with new lighting methods, triggers and sounds. The familiarity of SDK means I can create a more enriching experience and hopefully provide more depth to the abstract concept I am trying to put across within my studio work. So that is why I am choosing to abandon UDK in favour of SDK. Obviously there are still downsides to this. I originally wanted to use UDK because graphically its a much more impressive engine. Its also more widely used in the industry and the computers at the university where I study all use it. However I feel the benefits of using the SDK outway the benefits of sticking with UDK.
Thursday, 22 November 2012
fear in games
http://www.edge-online.com/features/how-make-fear/
The article above from Edge shows the steps required to making a scary game. It shows that there is definitely more to a scary game than dark lighting and jump scares. This suggests to me there is as definitely a connection between a game and the effects it can have on a player.
Fear is a base emotion but the fact that games can and do have an effect of scaring their players shows games can reach past the screen and into the heads of their players.
Silent Hill rather famously does this, with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories taking it a step further and changing the game enviroment, assets and character models depending on a psychological survey taken of the player at the beginning of the game to better scare that player. This shows a level of interaction between player and game quite unlike anything else.
The article above from Edge shows the steps required to making a scary game. It shows that there is definitely more to a scary game than dark lighting and jump scares. This suggests to me there is as definitely a connection between a game and the effects it can have on a player.
Fear is a base emotion but the fact that games can and do have an effect of scaring their players shows games can reach past the screen and into the heads of their players.
Silent Hill rather famously does this, with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories taking it a step further and changing the game enviroment, assets and character models depending on a psychological survey taken of the player at the beginning of the game to better scare that player. This shows a level of interaction between player and game quite unlike anything else.
Psychogeography
Having been pointed to Psychogeography by Marie Claire I have started to look up links on the subject to see how it could relate to my research report and my game itself.
http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display/2
The above link was useful in that it explained the concept of psychogeography and also provided a critique of it, letting me see for myself its usefulness in relation to my work.
"Psychogeography could set for itself the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals. The adjective psychogeographical, retaining a rather pleasing vagueness, can thus be applied to the findings arrived at by this type of investigation, to their influence on human feelings, and even more generally to any situation or conduct that seems to reflect the same spirit of discovery"
What struck out at me from the above quote from the aforementioned link is "influence on human feelings".
The idea being that environments can have an effect on the emotions of those residing in those environs. This has applications to both my essay and my BA8 studio work. Psychogeography could potentially be applied to a digital environment in a game. Which is the main point of my studio work.
However the implications for my essay are that indeed a digital environment could effect the player, and means I should look more into that.
http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display/2
The above link was useful in that it explained the concept of psychogeography and also provided a critique of it, letting me see for myself its usefulness in relation to my work.
"Psychogeography could set for itself the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals. The adjective psychogeographical, retaining a rather pleasing vagueness, can thus be applied to the findings arrived at by this type of investigation, to their influence on human feelings, and even more generally to any situation or conduct that seems to reflect the same spirit of discovery"
What struck out at me from the above quote from the aforementioned link is "influence on human feelings".
The idea being that environments can have an effect on the emotions of those residing in those environs. This has applications to both my essay and my BA8 studio work. Psychogeography could potentially be applied to a digital environment in a game. Which is the main point of my studio work.
However the implications for my essay are that indeed a digital environment could effect the player, and means I should look more into that.
emotions in games
Looking at how games attempt to manipulate the emotions of the players requires checking journals and studies conducted by psychologists and sociologists.
Here's a selection of studies I looked at:
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2810%2900942-5
http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/09/06/video-games-may-enhance-social-skills-for-autistic-youth/44256.html
http://www.bowenresearch.com/studies.php?id=3
The last link above, Bowen Research was what particularly interested me. It was a study that looked at the emotional effects games have on players. Using a Survey targeted at 535 gamers the study looked at whether or not games provoked emotions in the players and what sort of games provided the biggest emotive response.
Interestingly it shows that gamers do achieve an emotive connection to the games they play. With Role playing games being the most emotive. That suggests to me that games do infact evoke emotions within their players and the more a player is in touch with the player character (such as in a role playing game where the player is taking on a role) then the stronger the emotional connection.
Here's a selection of studies I looked at:
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2810%2900942-5
http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/09/06/video-games-may-enhance-social-skills-for-autistic-youth/44256.html
http://www.bowenresearch.com/studies.php?id=3
The last link above, Bowen Research was what particularly interested me. It was a study that looked at the emotional effects games have on players. Using a Survey targeted at 535 gamers the study looked at whether or not games provoked emotions in the players and what sort of games provided the biggest emotive response.
Interestingly it shows that gamers do achieve an emotive connection to the games they play. With Role playing games being the most emotive. That suggests to me that games do infact evoke emotions within their players and the more a player is in touch with the player character (such as in a role playing game where the player is taking on a role) then the stronger the emotional connection.
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