Available for Download: Playing Fiction: Mechanics and Story in Digital Games + Forward March (an experimental videogame)
It's long overdue but my 2012 RMIT Media & Communications Honours Research Project, Forward March and exegesis, Playing Fiction: Mechanics and Story in Digital Games are available for download.
This also marks an end to this particular work-blog, I'll be creating a new one soon enough and link to it here. All in all it was an enjoyable process. I think the results are interesting, some things turned out well, but some things could've been improved; I believe the game needs extra work. But for a super hectic year of research, analysis, writing, development, presentations and production (with a big learning curve), it was fun. I'm only scratching the surface too! Hopefully I'll be building and expanding on this in the near future and either way I hope those reading this enjoy my current results.
(Download links below)
Take it away Tumblr -
Playing Fiction research abstract:
The storytelling ambitions of digital games have grown in recent years, and commercial games have been increasingly driven towards more story-focused outcomes. However problems can arise in pursuit of these ambitions, and sometimes the act of playing can be in opposition to the story itself. For game designers this raises questions of how to approach interactive storytelling.
This project investigates the relationship between game mechanics and story, through the development of a game. Informed by theoretical research, the game aims to build an understanding by practical means. The game is also an artefact that provides potential insights for designers. The game is an attempt to enact a more effective relationship between mechanics and story and to develop a more sophisticated design language that treats games as a medium in its own right, rather than a medium that is no more than simply a convergence of prior media.
The research findings revealed the combination of story and mechanics is to be a complex assemblage, with multiple potential approaches and understandings. The role of the player is also revealed to be an important part of the storytelling experience. Their influence through game mechanics is often neglected, despite being an influential agent in the combination of story and mechanics. The implications of the relationship between story and mechanics are revealed to be of crucial importance in game design.
Forward March screen captures and description:
Created as my final 2012 Honours research project Forward March is a experimental videogame. It investigates the relationship between game mechanics and story by experimenting with functions, narrative structures and storytelling methods. Forward March draws upon theoretical research and practical examples to explore my research hypothesis. Within this hypothesis the game concentrates on the influence and role of the player when engaging with game mechanics within a story-setting, to build a progressively unfolding narrative through play.
In Forward March the player assumes the role of a soldier between tours of duty who is understood to be suffering a form of agoraphobia. Through the players understanding of the 3D environment (consisting of a traversable city, and building interiors), reflective text and interaction with game mechanics, a sense of character, story and plot is developed. The player is faced with challenges in story progression hindered by mechanical obstacles. These must be avoided and the environment carefully traversed to explore more of the environment and learn about the characters dilemma past history, and place within the story.
Player actions and understanding of the narrative are reflective and contextual to the characters development and story arc, in effort to attain a more seamless blend between game mechanics and story. These may lead to two alternate conclusions or result in a third less conclusive end. Each of these are reflective of the the character and players own understanding and willingness to engage with the narrative and the game mechanics.
Downloads:
Playing Fiction: Mechanics and Story in Digital Games PDF download
Forward March experimental game download (Windows Version)
Forward March experimental game download (Mac Version)
To install Forward March extract the Honour_Project file, open it and run Honours_Project.exe or Honours_Project.app.
If you have any thoughts about my work feel free to contact me at alexandermuscat(at)gmail.com, I'm always happy to hear and appreciate any sort of feedback or criticism!
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I've always enjoyed hammering print screen buttons in games, perhaps too much. I'm no Duncan Harris, but there's something special about seeing a game being distilled into a single split-second image. And sometimes for all the animation and action in a game, the composition itself just looks pretty cool.
Towards the end of my research and Honours studies I presented my research findings, and more or less summarised the process and what it meant for me. The actual thesis itself is a much more readable piece, so there's no real point in annotating all the presentation slides, but as a snapshot that doesn't involve trawling through thousands of words, this does work nicely.
The research question had also been slightly refined:
"How can (game) mechanics and story be considered together?
What considerations face designers in relation to the combination of mechanics and story?â
Lurching Forward, Looking Back: Completion of the Honours Project
It has been another eon since last posting, and study is over and done with which is pretty gratifying. Despite it being over I think it's important share the content and keep the record of it ongoing, and a ton has happened since the last post. It would be a shame not to!
So since then the game I have been working on as part of my research is complete, still stuck with a working title 'Honours Project'. I'll post a download link eventually, but for the time being here's a description of it from a portfolio of mine, and some screen shots.
"Created as my final Honours research project, the Honours Project built upon the Precursor Project as an experiment into the combination of game mechanics and story. The Honours Project is first person perspective, story driven experimental game. It draws on my research of numerous theories, studies and texts, exploring my hypothesis in investigating the influence and role of the player, when engaging with game mechanics within a story-setting, to build a progressively unfolding narrative through play.
The player assumes the role of a soldier between tours of duty who is understood to be suffering a form of agoraphobia, through the players understanding of the 3D environment (consisting of a traversable city, and building interiors) including reflective text, and interaction with game mechanics. Through player interaction a sense of character, story and plot is developed and the player is faced with challenges in story progression, which hindered by mechanical obstacles. These come in the form of non playable characters populating the environment. The player must avoid these characters in effort to discover more of the environment, and learn about the characters past history and place within the city setting.
Player actions and understanding of the narrative are directly reflective and contextual to the characters development and story arc, resulting in a more seamless blend between game mechanics and story. The players actions lead to two alternate story outcomes and mechanical conclusions, each reflective of their own understanding, perseverance and care for the narrative and the game mechanics"
All in all it turned out pretty well, and for more information about the process the presentation no.2 slides and the exegesis itself contain a good deal of information.
They Live! Research Questions, Project Direction and Ludonarrative Dissonance
It has been an eon since the last Honours blogpost, rest assured I haven't been a lazy sod since then. Research is focused an exegesis is being written and a game is being developed. Which is all good and proper, the question is what are the changes? I beg to ask:
"How can game mechanics and story be considered together as a way to engage the player?
Arising from this what considerations face designers in relation to the combination of game mechanics and story?"
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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A conclusion to the production of the Precursor Project and final thoughts.Â
The Precursor Project has wrapped up with little issue. Development towards the end of it became a little hectic, due to a conflict of time with two major assignments and final presentations, but it's all done and dusted for now.
Everything is textured, lighting corrected and the floating text has been added. The text was easily done in Maya using the text creator, then exported as a model, and imported back into Unity. The one issue with the text are the recurring statements of where the text is placed - in front of the window for instance restating 'The window' which detracts a little.Â
Living area window and desk
The living area from the doorway
Living area coffee table with journals and newspapers
Journals behind the table
Living area from the hallway
Living area from the foot of the bed in the bedroom
Bedroom from the hallway
The bed
Bedside table
Front door in the entrance
Key hook next to the front door
The hallway from the entrance
The hallway further from the entrance - note the ceiling sloping changing
The bathroom from the hallway
The hallway from the bathroom
Most textures simply use  a flat coloured shader applied, certain textures like the carpet and the wallpaper were applied for extra effect. The lighting also changed dramatically with the inclusion of textures, so this will have to be taken into account in terms of shaders textures are applied to and the environment. The floating text for most of the part worked very well, and the feedback I have received letting people have a go at it has been quite positive.
All in all, the precursor was a positive experiment in coming to terms with the Unity engine, and working in conjunction with an artist and writer. It was also a great way to test the superimposed next and use of objects populating the environment. The final project will be expanding on this kind of storytelling and introducing a game mechanics into the mix, working in conjunction with the elements introduced here.Â
My final Research Strategies assignment in full, discussing relevant research into level design, and useful level design theories which integrate story and play through 3D spaces.
"What is level design and its relation to integration of narrative and game mechanics?"
At its core digital game level design is the design of vessels, in which gameplay exists and can be explored. Levels are environments for gameplay, digital playfields to facilitate rules; as a chessboard is to chess or lines for tic-tac-toe scribbled on paper. Levels have always been intrinsic to games, however the craft of creating levels as interactive environments, which facilitate both, story and play is fairly new. In this piece I discuss what level design of 3D environments is, and contemporary theories that explore the integration of game mechanics and narrative through levels. These include notions of levels not just as vessels for gameplay, but as digital environments; 'story worlds' and 'narrative spacesâ that facilitate story.
Byrne's recognition of game levels as constructs of convergence, and Nitsche's analysis of 3D level architecture, sees levels as spaces of both play and narrative containing a multitude of defining elements. The theories of Bizzocchi and Calleja draw on in the idea of levels not just as playing spaces, but as environments facilitating an 'experiential' narrative through self contained 'micro-narratives', and 'environmental storytelling' through a process of alterbiography and player synthesis. The idea of levels as spaces which offer multiple layers of narrative context though the containment of objects is investigated in Pinchbeck's theory of affordance and Mott, Lee and Lester's theory for goal recognition is discussed as a way to structure more complex, dynamic narratives contained within more open and freeform levels.
Through the discussion of these theories level design will be considered as a highly important factor in the integration of narrative and game mechanics; a bridge between developer and player and a point of convergence in game elements. The understanding of these theories will help facilitate the creation of more complex, multifaceted, convincing digital worlds and game experiences.
Level Design and Convergence.
Simply put a level can be defined as a 'container for gameplay', a world which houses game mechanics; the rules which make up a game and structural elements that make up a games design. Every game "takes place in an environment" (Byrne, 2005, p.7) and the design of levels is the fundamental process of "putting the 'ground' in playground" (Byrne, 2005, p.7). The rules and systems are the 'backbone' of every game, however the design of levels is the implementation of game mechanics and the application of ideas in a playable form. Level design is also the process of carving out environments, creating interesting visuals and spaces for the player to inhabit and engage with an interactive experience.
Level design in theory and practice is a point of convergence, disciplines of design, art and engineering funnel into the design of a level. As a piece of design levels are constructs for decision making, whereby designers "let players make the surface decisions while maintaining control of their ultimate destinations" (Byrne, 2005, p.4), or have players "guided along a narrative path" (Byrne, 2005, p.4). Â Levels rely on the "art of illusion to create believable and enjoyable game spaces" (Byrne, 2005, p.4) in suspending the players disbelief, immersion and sense of agency within a problem solving environment. Scripting of levels is also utilised to provide a sense of believability to the environment, and create more elaborate situations for the player and creating an interesting play space. The technicalities involved in this convergence of elements must be taken into account; levels are where a games technical and design problems will also surface, in the form of errors and performance issues.
Levels are not only designed as spaces to facilitate play but as places that contain narrative, and are often setup up in such a fashion. Games which feature a form of story to draw the player along "use levels as a book would use chapters" (Byrne, 2005, p.11), dividing story into segments and allowing arcs. In many cases a level "is like a novella - a short, self contained story that has an introduction, a series of encounters and challenges, and a final resolution" (Byrne, 2005, p.11). As narrative is an important focus, the design of levels share similarities to building a movie set or describing a location in a book, but is set apart in interactivity; "the player has the opportunity to choose and alter the flow of events to his desires" (Byrne, 2005, p.8). Levels act as a storytelling space, which evoke narrative through the actions of 'play' in gameplay.
While the historical origins of level design as an "extension of early forms of playfield design" (Byrne, 2005, p.12) are still present, in serving a functional purpose as spaces for play they have increased in complexity. As a "convergence of materials into the final package that players experience" (Byrne, 2005, p.12), levels also function as storytelling environments; game worlds which converge game mechanics and narrative elements, integrating gameplay and story through the design of a space which is evoked through interaction.
Spaces, Architecture and Evoked Narratives
As forms of 3D space, levels are environments that contain a wide array of elements to engage the player. Nitsche believes in measuring key qualities of navigable 3D environments by looking towards the experience of play. Levels are recognised as play spaces, which "evoke narratives because the player is making sense of them in order to engage with them" (Nitsche, 2008, p.3). "Through a comprehension of signs and interaction with them, the player generates new meaning " (Nitsche, 2008, p.3). These signs contained within the level (architectural focal points, objects, animated cues) are defined as "evocative narrative elements" (Nitsche, 2005, p.3). Evocative narrative elements are described as not containing a story themselves but triggering important parts of the narrative process in the player, a "generation of a form of narrative" (Nitsche, 2005, p.3).
This narrative generation is an idea of levels containing a "concept of space and the spatial experience" (Nitsche, 2005, p.3); environments that are assigned architectural quality, and feature spatial structures the player can interact with. Within these 3D spaces players engage "not with the screen but with a fictional world" (Nitsche, 2005, p.3). Screen is recognised as an important layer in unfolding a digital world, however experience, comprehension and spatial practice are generated from the players cognitive awareness within the level environment. Because of the players awareness within this video game space in which narrative becomes a "form of understanding of the events a player causes, triggers, and encounters" (Nitsche, 2005, p.7). The functions of what a player may do in the game - how they interact, 'play' and the environments response is contextualised as a form of story within the virtual space.
Narrative "is a way for the player to make sense of the in-game situation" (Nitsche, 2005, p.44) and evocative narrative elements as part of the design of a level direct and inform the player. The implementation of these evocative elements, combined with the architecture of spatial structures encourages the player to create connections, and project meaning onto events that happen within the level. It is from these connections where players form their own narratives that refer to the game world. Be it a blood trail leading down a corridor and under a door or a broken vending machine on a train station platform, these evoked elements "generate context and significance in order to make the space and the experience of it more meaningful" (Nitsche, 2005, p.45). These structuralist elements that make up a 3D level are fundamentally designed to facilitate play; objects and architectural forms serve the purpose of player orientation, items, focal points. However they are also recognised as also being designed to facilitate narrative in providing meaning and connections to the games story.
A player uncovering the virtual space and their engagement in its events and drama through game mechanics goes "hand in hand with the gradual comprehension of events and objects into narrative context" (Nitsche, 2005, p.45). This means that through informed level design there can be a interconnection between play and narrative space. Levels can exist as places which contain story, play and meaning, through encouraging the player to interpret and decipher the environment, strengthening their involvement with the narrative and game mechanics.
Story-worlds and Micro-Narratives
The theory of 'story-worlds' recognises levels as environments within which the game in its entirety unfolds, transcending the separation of play and narrative functions and integral to the narrative framework. As story-worlds, levels are regarded as a "critical narrative parameter in game experience"(Bizzocchi, 2007, p.4) through the process of "environmental storytelling" (Bizzocchi, 2007, p.4). In environmental storytelling levels become a stage, which evokes "pre-existing narrative associations, embed narrative information within the mise-en-scene and provide necessary resources for the gameplay itself" (Bizzocchi, 2007, p.4).
The individual moments of play within a level change in context to set up fresh complications; problems framed as challenges for the player to overcome as they progress, as part of the process of gameplay. These moments of gameplay are part of the narrative development phase as "intermediate successes and failures"(Bizzocchi, 2007, p.7) that "act as interim resolutions and localized climaxes" (Bizzocchi, 2007, p.7). Defined as 'micro-narratives', connected moments as complications which make up a level are "smaller moments of narrative flow and coherence that occur within a broader context of gameplay" (Bizzocchi, 2007, p.4). Segments of gameplay act as self contained narrative arcs present in the design of levels, and are embedded within a longer narrative development "such as the fate of the mother and the baby carriage in The Battleship Potemkin" (Bizzocchi, 2007, p.7).
Examples like "the raising of the flag in Call of Duty" (Bizzocchi, 2007, p.7) and "individual missions in Starcraft" (Bizzocchi, 2007, p.7) are cited as micro-narrative examples. As part of the game and level design conditions, micro-narratives are at work through the experience of gameplay and fundamental to the believability of the story-world. Bizzocchi proposes that micro-narratives could have multiple gameplay conditions, that are trigged by player condition or failure within moments of play in the level. Levels with micro-narratives designed into them, become a story-worlds where " we no longer draw a distinction between game and narrative, but we see the two conjoined in an ongoing process of engagement" (Bizzocchi, 2007, p.7).
Experiential Narrative, Alterbiography and Synthesis
Calleja proposes within game environments there should be shift in emphasis from storytelling, "the dominant mode in literature and cinema" (Calleja, 2009, p.1) to "story generation" (Calleja, 2009, p.1). This is the notion of "experiential narrative"(Calleja, 2009, p.1), where the game narrative is "grounded in the specific qualities of the game"(Calleja, 2009, p.1) and contained within the levels play-space. The "cognitive dimension" (Calleja, 2009, p.1) of play is retained and story is fully integrated rather than detached.
This experiential narrative is generated through the process of 'alterbiography'; interactions with the level which "generate story though the players interpretation of events occurring within the game environment, their interaction with the game rules, human AI, entities and objects" (Calleja, 2009, p.1). This shares similar notions to Bizzocchi's theory of environmental storytelling and Nitsche's evoked narratives. However Calleja believes that story in games is generated primarily through interaction within the level itself, during gameplay. The concept of alterbiography is concerned with the design of levels for games which feature "spatially navigable virtual environments populated by entities and (or) objects with whom players can interact" (Calleja, 2009, p.2), citing Grand Theft Auto IV, Call of Duty 4, World of Warcraft and Half Life 2 (Calleja, 2009, p.2)as examples.
Levels are recognised as 'virtual environments', "computer generated domains which create the perception of traversable space and afford the exertion of player agency" (Callja, 2009, p.2). This distinction separates the design of levels as virtual environments to digital games such as Bejewlled or Tetris, that do not feature the 'contextual framework' of environmental back-story which facilitates narrative.
Defined as "scripted narrative"(Calleja, 2009, p.4), level designers implementing narrative that is written by the game designer is regard as a controlled 'push' mode of storytelling. Scripted narrative is separate to alterbiography's narrative generation during gameplay. Alterbiography is defined as having three separate focalisations; miniature (the player does not embody a single avatar, or is anchored within the game world), entity (stories relating to a single entity the player controls), and self (when players interpret the events are happening to them, commonly evoked in first person games). These focalisations help distinguish how alterbiography's narrative generation is designed as part of the level, in relation to appropriate forms of gameplay.
Alterbiography is the "construction of an on-going story that develops through interaction"(Calleja, 2009, p.5); the process of gameplay within the level that builds the narrative. The players own interpretation of "certain representational signs and the mechanical operations that animate them"(Calleja, 2009, p.5) is dependent on their own individual disposition. Â What one player might find narratively stimulating within the level, another might find lacking in qualities that inspire story, or not be interested at all. This part of the processes dubbed 'synthesis', whereby a players mental construct is generated from the designers implementation of alterbiography; the narrative signs of a level, the rules of play and their own subjective interpretation. Synthesis is the "culmination of the effort between designer and player" (Calleja, 2009, p.5); signs and rules contained within the level are abstracted in combination to build the interactive experience and when interpreted by the player, their imagination fills in the gaps "adding to the on-going alterbiography" (Calleja, 2009, p.5).
Synthesis' process of connections and the alterbiography created by developers are concepts specific to game environments. When working in conjunction a sense of a "single, coherent text" (Calleja, 2009, p.8) in the combination mechanics and narrative is built. As the designer is crafts a level the playersâ subjective interpretation and imagined narrative must be taken into account, a valuable consideration as part of integrating the two coherently. It is the level designers role to perceive the possibilities of the players imagination, generated by their construction of alterbiography within the digital environment; the level acts as a framework for story generation and imagination to create an experiential narrative.
Affordances and Homodiegetic Devices
The theory of affordance is used to understand homodiegetic devices as means of managing immersion and discontinuity in games. First person games are established as driving towards "unbroken immersive experiences with fewer breaks from real time delivery" (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.1) with greater complexity and depth. However these first person games also retain their "basic ludic structure" (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.1). This puts pressure on homodiegetic devices; such as objects within levels used to convey story. Homodiegetic devices are a form of narration to the player, who embodies the protagonist in first person. Sharing similarities to theory of evoked narrative, levels are described as 'content placesâ, which integrate narrative content into real time gameplay.
First person shooter Quake 4 is subjected to analysis as a game representative of the first person shooter genre, which commonly utilises detailed levels to create the illusion of a virtual world. First person shooters are generally based around a simple ludic structure; gameplay primarily involves moving and shooting throughout the games duration. However the increasingly complex depiction of worlds, require increasingly "complex sequences of action " (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.8) to sustain player engagement. This is measured by the concept of affordance; the visual clues and functions of an object that give it meaning. By interpreting the objects role of affordance, the meaning in its functions of play and narrative within the game world can be interpreted at a theoretical level.
Objects which hold ludic affordances "enable direct play action to take place" (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.9). A health kit when activated by the players place on it, affords a change of state in the controlled avatar. Objects that have no ludic affordance may "retain a function in terms of aesthetics, engagement or narrative" (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.9), however despite being oblivious to functions of play they "assert an active influence upon player behaviour" (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.9). Computer terminals, a common sight in Quake 4 are cited as static, passive objects which afford no play action, however yield a narrative affordance in the game worlds "corroboration of the reality" (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.9). Other classes of objects serve a ludic and narrative affordance; 'Strogg health stations' are reflective of the world, offering a change in avatar state and act as cover for the player. Another class of object is one critical to the games progression; exit buttons, doors and 'goal objects' involve ludic action and are "mapped to narrative progression within the game" (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.10).
These homodiegetic devices vary in influence from directing and interacting with the player, to providing narrative context of the players place, providing believability in the world. The concept of affordance poses the notion that when designing levels "integrated content" (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.13) serves an important purpose in bridging story and gameplay through their various functions. What may serve a ludic function can have narrative implications. Levels designed as more sophisticated and detailed the environments, demand more well crafted and implemented content to "withstand the scrutiny of play" (Pinchbeck, 2007, p.14), and homodiegetic devices are at the core of managing a convincing play space.
Dynamic Narratives through Goal Recognition
The increased complexity of game design and increasingly complex narrative in games, demand more structurally complex levels to facilitate them. Levels described as "interactive narrative-centred virtual environments" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.187) dynamically craft engaging story-based experiences for players "who are themselves active participants in unfolding stories" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.187). Recent levels designed to be dynamic 'narrative environments' in games, are cited as lacking a key functionality that could significantly increase their ability to create compelling stories. Despite environmental complexities they are unable to recognise player goals as they interact with a virtual story-world. This is problematic in more freeform games such as Skryim and Red Dead Redemption. Recognising the playersâ goals through the process of play, within a level is posed as a key challenge to "dynamically orchestrate plot elements and character actions, to create rich customised stories" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.187).
Goal recognition is a plan integrated into the design of a level. This gives planners of game design and narrative the ability to accurately recognise the players goals and "ascertain whether a user's actions were threatening a plot" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.187). The playersâ goals to unfold the story and progress are inferred by three sources of information. These three sources are playersâ actions dubbed "narrative goal recognizers" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.188): narrative state (plot and story arc progress), user actions (interactions with the environment) and user location (precise locational information within the play-space).
Using this information and n-gram and Bayesian networks, a model of responsiveness between narrative states and action is formulated. Information sources represent the variables of a players state within the level. In response narrative states are triggered to influence the user to where they can perform actions and what actions they perform in that location. This model updates "goal prediction for each new observation" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.190), and "requires only noting the previous prediction" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.190), utilising the user data acquired from their actions within the level. The games narrative isn't rigidly 'pre-scripted' and flows in conjunction with the actions of play, the virtual environment that contains this dynamically responds to the playersâ actions as they progress.
This model for goal recognition was evaluated in a '3D story-world' featuring a complex narrative, multiple characters and manipulable objects. Named The Crystal Island (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.190) players were tasked with discovering the origins of an unidentified illness at a research station. The level was designed around "three hundred unique actions the user can perform, and over fifty unique locations in which actions can be performed" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.191). Â Culminating in twenty unique goals. The play experiences of fifty-three college-aged subjects with The Crystal Island were evaluated and results suggested, "users clearly enjoyed their interactive experience"(Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.191) despite the relatively high expectations in interactive entertainment. Based on the narrative structure within the game environment, player goals differed from session to session and players would continue to progress in order to reach a conclusion.
This reveals that level design that caters to the model of goal recognition, can craft story experiences that are more engaging through planning and prediction. By integrating the game mechanics and player choice as narrative functions, the player is participating in "dynamic plot construction" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.190), and partaking in a far more personal story experience. Predictions of player action help facilitate narrative potential outside of pre-scripted confines, and enhance playersâ sense of presence and agency in the game environment. Goal recognition can increase believability of story-worlds, integrating game mechanics and narrative through a complex model of level design and prediction. Design of the levels ensures narrative compliments action by assessing plot threats, interleaving narrative objectives and "ensure that steady plot progress is made" (Mott, Lee, Lester, 2006, p.192) without interfering with the act of play.
Conclusion
These theories inform my research by providing their own unique understanding, ideas and perspective in theoretical and practical integration of game mechanics and narrative, and the production of my research artefact. By understanding levels as a point of convergence in disciplines and game elements, proper integration of mechanics and narrative can be understood, facilitated and executed through level design. While functioning as elaborate playfields to facilitate game mechanics, it is evident that pre-existing levels largely contain layers of narrative elements, to inform the player and build a compelling interactive experience. These are defining aspects of level design that can be capitalised on in order to build a stronger sense of narrative intimacy, agency and narrative context to action and play.
These theories acknowledge that levels are spaces where the player is empowered and given means to interact; where narrative engagement and play experiences are at their highest. The game designer must understand and test the malleability of their designs and intended narrative experience through a levels design and production. Intelligent use of objects and space and their meaning in association with play mechanics and narrative, means levels can become functional means of communicating the story itself. Elements in the design of levels with practical functions; architecture acting as points for navigation, and homodiegetic objects with ludic properties populating these spaces, serve to facilitate play. However their presence within the context of a 3D environment inherently adds a layer of narrative, and provides a convincing level of immersion and engagement, even if the ludic structure of the game is simple.
This integration of narrative elements into the play space, made part of the act of play an integral process for levels to transcend existing only as spaces made for ludic functions, and become story-worlds and narrative-environments. Complex prediction methods of player actions can help build dynamic narratives within levels, and this concept can be utilised even in a simple practical manner of player prediction. By listing player verbs of interaction and the deliberate meaning and functions of environmental objects, player actions can pre predicted and addressed through the design process.
From this research a greater and stronger understanding of the larger scope of integrating narrative and play, and examples of practical implementation is attained. My theoretical understanding of the integration of game mechanics and narrative only exists to the player within these digital environments. These theories insights provide value in understanding how to communicate directly to the player through level design, and provide a compelling experience in which the differences in game mechanics and narrative are transparent.
References
Bizzochi, J 2007, âGames and narrative: an analytical frameworkâ, Loading..., vol. 1, no. 1.
Busby, J, Parrish, Z & Eenwyk, JV 2004, Mastering unreal technology: the art of level design 1st ed., Sams.
Byrne, E 2005, Game level design, Cengage Learning.
Calleja, G 2009, âExperiential narrative in game environmentsâ, IT-University of Copenhagen.
Crawford, C 2003, Chris crawford on game design, New Riders.
Mott, B, Lee, S & Lester, J 2006, âProbabilistic goal recognition in interactive narrative environmentsâ, in Proceedings of the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, p. 187.
Mott, BW & Lester, JC 2006, âU-director: a decision-theoretic narrative planning architecture for storytelling environmentsâ, in Proceedings of the fifth international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems,pp. 977â984.
Nitsche, M 2008, Video game spaces: image, play, and structure in 3d worlds, The MIT Press.
Pinchbeck, D 2009, âAn affordance based model for gameplayâ, Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory.
Pinchbeck, D 2007, âCounting barrels in quake 4: affordances and homodiegetic structures in fps worldsâ, Proceedings of DiGRA 2007: Situated Play, pp. 8â14.
My final Futures assignment in full, discussing 4chan.org as a communications technology, and how its audience has utilised its functionality to create their own community and influential 'culture industry'.
In its infancy the Internet was been seen as a bastion in providing people with unique freedoms. The
ability for users to express themselves through communicating, creating and sharing in a digital
environment without borders. Liberated from geological and cultural barriers, and unspoken rules of
 interaction face to face. However in an era of web 2.0 this ideal has been replaced by a 'radical
transparency'. Driven by commercial interest, social networking services like Facebook encourage
users to remove the divide between us and our digital selves, and store our digital identity remotely.
Bulletin board 4chan.org however stands as an important example of a technological opposition to
this trend. Cited as one of the "biggest online forums in the world" (Liu, 2010, p.1) and home to
"10 million unique visitors" with "705 million page views a month" (Grigoriadis, 2011, p3), 4chan is
made up of an almost entirely anonymous audience, and regarded as being a cultural driving force in
the digital landscape and influential in contemporary popular culture.
 I will discuss how as a communication technology 4chan's technological freedoms of anonymity have
enabled its audience to become creatively empowered as "producers and active participants"
(Turnbull, 2006, p.80). Through 4chan's the ease of sharing, saving and repurposing how an audience
has developed "connections among dispersed media content" (Jenkins, 2006, p.3) and defines itself
by the content its audience produces, shares and repurposes in representation of their "identity and
stake in the world" (Gauntlett, 2009). 4chan's technology has fostered "making and doing culture"
(Gauntlett, 2011, p.6) unique to the Internet, where consumers act as a "a form of universally
distributed intelligence" (Levy, 1999, p.13) in the creative process. As a result how 4chan's audience
acts as its own "culture industry" (Adorno, 1975 p.12) producing artefacts in the form of memes
without the consumer pressures of "the demands to interact" (Sterne, 2012). I will also discuss how
4chan's allows its audience to respond to adoption of user created content by the "forces of
commerce and profit" (Fiske, 1989 p.112) with creative "tactics" (Certeau, 1988, p.29) of resistance,
challenging "older notions of passive media spectatorship" (Jenkins, 2006, p.3). Â That because of this
4chan.org stands as an important communication technology on the Internet.
 Identity through Anonymity
4chan.org's origin was an act of "textual poaching" (Jenkins, 1992). Since the late 1980s the tech
savvy has been involved in sharing and discussing anonymously, having risen in sophistication and
user numbers. One of the most popular is the Japanese Futaba Channel bulletin board (founded in
2001), where posting anonymously is norm. 4chan founder Christopher Pool at 15 years of age in an
act seeded in "participatory culture" (Jenkins, p.3, 2006) copied Futaba's free, public source code,
repurposing and creating an English speaking board to discuss Japanese anime and manga in a
setting with Japanese cultural relevance. While notions of the importance of anonymity were
not in the  creators mind Pool had participated in a culture of "making-and-doing" (Gauntlett, 2009),
interested in Futuba's fast communication between users and image sharing. In "contrasts with older
notions of passive media spectatorship" (Jenkins, 2006, p.3) The creators actions inadvertently
marked the foundations for 4chan's legacy; a participatory culture encouraging users to communicate,
express, share, create, reappropriate, and find creative solutions to problems.
 4chan's very raw and basic design and function is almost tailored to the idea of 'making is
connecting'. Users "connect things together" (Gauntlet, 2009), content and ideas, through posting text
and images. 4chan features over 50 'boards' tailored to a specific audience or genre of interest, such
as anime (/a/), politics (/pol/), video games (/v/) or random posts (/b/) - the most popular board which
accounts for 30% of the websites traffic. According to 4chan's demographic section users are
generally between the ages of 18 and 34, about 65% male and 35% female. Described as being the
'Wild West' of the Internet content only in violation of US law is moderated; users are free to post as
long as it stays within the boards topic and discussions. Unlike most online bulletin boards 4chan is
an 'image board', where posts revolve around the posting of images rather than being text heavy.
With every post a user may upload an image and every new 'thread' must have an opening image.
 4chan as a 'tool for thinking' encourages users to share images when they post and experiment,
which "can open up new perspectives" (Gauntlett, 2009) with the relationship between image and text.
This emphasis on image and text gives users what can be describes as presence; "through making
we can declare our identity and our stake in the world" (Gauntlett, 2009). With the use of a simple text
field entry and image upload the posters identity is defined and project into the content posted, which
is judged by a consumer audience.
 Gauntlett's notion of declaring identity and stake is further evident in each users post, due to the
lack of a requirement to login or register. Each post by default shares the title Anonymous and 90%
of users post anonymously. This lack of identity results in "traditional reputation systems being
unworkable" (Bertein, Hernandez, Harry, 2011, p.2) and 4chan's audience has devised its own
form of identification through language. To a first time visitor to the content on 4chan's most popular
board Random (/b/) would seem almost foreign. Tasteless content is frequently posted, and content
ranges from hardcore porn, movie posters, pet photos, food images, comic book pages to Japanese
anime and messages in threads "endlessly recycle inside references, catchphrases and fragmentary
punch lines" (Dibbell, 2010, p.4) : "herp derp", "newfag", "over 9000!", "serious business", "The Game
(you just lost it)" and "dubs" are a few of many. This is language known as 'Chanspeak', a derivative
of 'LOLspeak', a common way for users to identify each other due to the commonality of anonymous
posting.
 Humorous references and in jokes are a way of identifying "the authenticity of other users" (Mack,
2010, p.4) within the "virtual picture" (Levy, 1992). 'Chanspeak' allows a faceless anonymous user to
define themselves as someone who understands, and is part of the 4chan community, and acts as a
barrier to those who aren't. 4chan's user anonymity makes it a unique 'knowledge space', "a space for
meanings that do not exist elsewhere, representing a new generation of communication" (Levy,
1992). Those literate to  'Chanspeak' understand the language the audience has adapted within
4chan's framework of anonymity, removed from its context it loses potency and meaning. As a barrier
of entry, understanding the common tongue of a 4chan is a process of learning, and failure at some
point is part of the learning process.
   0The Freedom of Failure
In contrast to web forums which utilise pseudonym titles, the default posting a Anonymous means
there is no name or title for the user to be judged, and reputation and identity is not sustained.
Described as "radical opacity" (Dibbel p.03) in contrast to 'radical transparency' users can
communicate, interact and share without fears associated with judgement or social pressures and
ostracism. Described by its creator, "people deserve a place to be wrong" (Pool, 2010).
 4chan's freedom to fail means users can express themselves beyond fixed identities. A user posting
under a pseudonym may make an attempts at humour, If they fail other users may associate that
pseudonym with failure. This freedom encourages 4chan's audience to become "active participants"
and media "producers" (Turnbull, 2006, p.80) without the downsides of failure. The projection of one's
self into the content being posted, is a strong reason for 4chan's prominence in cultivating creativity
and not stifling the 'making and doing culture'. In a sense 4chan allows its audience to be creatively
liberated and free to experiment and share, in an web environment clouded with imposed user
identity. 4chan's function as a 'knowledge space' has lead to the creation of many popular inside
jokes, carrying meaning and value with its audience.
 A Creative Collective
As part of 4chan's ethos in communicating and sharing, the legacy of content posted is left in the
audiences hands. 4chan doesn't feature a system that archives content or posts, consumers are
responsible for documenting 4chan's history and perpetuating its content. Every board consists of 15
pages made up of threads, with newest threads on the first page. Thread popularity is measured in
posting activity; when users stop posting in a thread it moves upwards in pages and is eventually
removed from the 15th page. Once this happens all of the threads content, images and text is
deleted and as a result the "value of any bit of information increases" (Jenkins, 2002, p.140). Users
must be proactive in keeping threads 'alive' by communicating with each other, encouraging 4chan's
audience to operate as a self organised "collective intelligence" (Levy, 1999, p.13) whose interest in
threads, topics, discussion and content changes.
 This is amplified by the fast life cycle of threads on 4chan. The most popular board, Random (/b/) has
been described as "extremely ephemeral" (Bertein, Hernandez, Harry, 2011, p.2); threads on average
spend five seconds on the first page, and five minutes before expiring. Content of interest to
consumers has far more weight and value in such a climate, and such a rapid pace of content
creation and removal means user posts that stand out have an even higher value. This is exemplified
by consumers acting as "active participants" (Turnbull, 2006, p.80) in saving content in order to store
it, functioning as 4chans own audience based archive. The audience must be proactive in keeping
shared content, operating as a 'collective intelligence' in perpetuating content. This creates an act of
media repurposing; where content takes on a greater meaning as it increases its consumable
properties, and spreads from user to user.
 'Textual poaching' and repurposing is encouraged as part of 4chan's function and design. Such an
emphasis means 4chan's audience acts as its own 'culture industry', fusing the "old and familiar into
 a new quality" (Adorno, 1975, p.12) through repurposing content for consumption, creating new
variations at a fast and varied rate. 'Connecting through sharing' is very much 4chan's lifeblood, users
posting what they have saved has helped build the language of 'Chanspeak'. Users reposting
circulates content, if circulation multiplies then its popularity organically increases. On the surface
content may not have implied value, but through this process it is injected with meaning within the
'knowledge space' by the audience circulating it.
 This is when content circulated by 4chan's audience becomes an artefact. It has attained cultural
value within the "virtual picture" (Levy, 1992) with an audience who understands the content. Content
shared as "collective intelligence" (Levy, 1999, p.13) creates a connection amongst the 'invisible'
become "tailored in consumption for the masses" (Adorno, 1975, p.12). however, in contrary to the
idea of commercial interest behind mass consumption, they are tailored by a participatory audience.
Value and meaning manifests because 4chan's audience acts as content consumers and content
producers, injecting "meanings that do not exist elsewhere" (Levy, 1992). Through the act of 'making
and connecting' 4chan's audience integrates image content as part of its language and audience
 identity through repurposing. This interactivity between anonymous, active consumers working as a
collective, is evident in how memes are created and popularised.
Making Memes
Memes are popular jokes which can be repurposed and reused. Examples range from "I can haz
cheezeburger"; an image of a portly cat smiling with  'Chanspeak' superimposed, 'Rick Rolling' a
bait and switch where users provide a link to something of interest which is actually a Youtube video
of 80s pop singer Rick Astley performing 'Never Gonna Give You Up', and 'Rage Guy' a crudely
drawn face yelling expletives. On a surface level these jokes appear superficial, however, they hold
cultural value with 4chan's audience in their ability to be reproduced and reused. While highly Â
consumable by 4chan's audience they are not "manufactured more or less according to plan"
(Adorno, 1975, p.12), they grow organically and circulate at the hands of the community. Memes have
capital within 4chan's anonymous community; they exist as cultural artefacts of it 4chan's history and
representative of the audiences creativity and capacity to share, utilising the technological framework.
 "I can haz cheezeburger" was bought to prominence by users of 4chan's Random board /b/. The
image of a portly âhappy catâ grinning had existed before being shared by an anonymous user on
4chan, however easy sharing functions it was soon 'textually poached' and given the super imposed
quoted 'Chanspeak' text. In an act of collective intelligence; "intelligence, constantly enhanced,
coordinated in real time" (Levy, 1999, p.13) users began to create and post their own variety of other
funny cat images featuring 'Chanspeak' superimposed such as "OM NOM NOM goes the hungry cat".
Random board /b/'s audience collectively dubbed Saturday 'Caturday' Posting cat images en masse,
effectively resulting in the creation of the meme LOLcats.
 The creation of the LOLcats meme is an example of collective "universally distributed intelligence"
(Levy, 1999, p.13), where an audience enabled by 4chan's technology, could engage with an image
as an impetus for creation of new original content, curated at the hands of an anonymous consumers,
united in humour without being "infatuated by the idea of self fame" (Liu p.1). Community identity is
cultivated through the act of  'making and connecting' and encouraged by audience responsiveness,
high turnover rate and a lack of archiving. Due to 4chan's very raw framework and anonymity users
were free to share and circulate creations and be involved in the joke, creatively liberated without
concerns of being associated with failure.
 Industrial Reappropriation
Contrary to belief that audience interaction is normalised and driven by commercial interest which
"demands to interact, to participate" (Sterne, 2012, p.3), there is no demand or commercial interest
involved in 4chan. 4chan does not run to commercial profit, featuring small banner ads and a lack of
advertisers who do not wish to be associated with the undesirable content posted by users. What
income it generates does "little more than break even" (Christopher Pool, 2010).
 Content produced by the 4chan's audience has no inherent commercial value, and there is no direct
monetization of the audiences participation. However content produced and repurposed by 4chan's
audience is not free from commercial interest, particularly popular memes which can be
sustained outside of the 'knowledge space'. 4chan's content which is product of its own "culture
industry" has been commercialised and "tailored for the masses" (Adordno, 1975, p.12) by the "forces
of commerce" (Fiske, 1989, p.10).
 The popularity of LOLcats spread outside of 4chan's confines, gaining popularity with audiences
removed from the 4chan 'knowledge space'. The humour could translate to a wider consumer
 audience, and the meme was soon commercialised in the creation of Icanhazcheezeburger.com; a
blog featuring LOLcat images bearing the superimposed 'Chanspeak' text, that were originally
'textually poached', repurposed created and circulated by anonymous users.
Icanhazcheezeburger.com reportedly receives 1,500,000 hits per day, and its creators have published
book (I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun) featuring the LOLcat images. The LOLcat
meme was an act of an audience participating as a 'collective intelligence', tailoring content for itself
within 4chan's technical confines. Inadvertently 4chan's audience was acting as a 'culture industry' for
a wider audience, providing content to be capitalised on for commercial interest. The
commercialisation of the meme by Icanhazcheezeburger.com monetized the anonymous audience's
creative input and social action, and in  an act of ownership branded the LOLcat images with a
Icanhazcheezeburger.com watermark.
 Commercial adoption of the meme in turn affected the meaning and value of the content with 4chan's
audience. On 4chan LOLcats meme served "two types of function, the material and the cultural"
(Fiske, 1989, p.112); As a joke which can be repurposed for social interaction, and part of the
audiences identity. The use of 'Chanspeak' as a social barrier, conceived by the audience for
determining a users authenticity was incorporated into the "dominant system" and "robbed of any
oppositional meanings" (Fiske, 1989, p.114). This was further evident in Icanhazcheezeburger.com's
implementation of a 'LOL Builder'. Users can generate their own LOLcats for sharing, 8000 are
submitted per day on average and a dozen are featured on the blog each day. Combined with
implementation of user commenting and ratings to encourage site traffic, these "demands to interact,
to participate" (Sterne, 2012) have strong commercial intention; interaction and participation in the
meme itself had been capitalised on. What was repurposed and shared by 4chan's audience, a piece
of their anonymous identity and product of 4chan's function as a communications tool, has become
repurposed by the 'dominant system'.
 However, exemplifying the idea that "change comes from below" (Fiske, 1989, p.115) 4chan's
technological framework of 'making and connecting' allows users to also creatively resist popular
adoption. Certeau's idea of "tactics" are employed by 4chan's audience against commercial
"strategies" by utilising 4chan's capabilities. Ease of sharing at the hands of a collective intelligence,
means memes also pass through a 4chan consumer lifecycle; LOLcats and "I can haz cheezeburger"
significance and value diminished with 4chan's audience. When popular mainstream growth of
memes driven by commercial interest happens the anonymous audience responds. In 4chan's
'knowledge space' memes wane in and out the audiences popular focus, which is measured in the
rates of sharing and receiving audience feedback. Once popular memes become part of 4chan's
creative legacy, they have passed through what the audience has determined to be a cultural
lifecycle.
 Proactive Resistance
4chan's anonymous audience is also capable in employing creative 'tactics' in active resistance
against industrial 'strategies' outside of their domain. Meme "Rage Guy" received attention from
American clothing retailer Hot Topic, printing the image of a crudely drawn face yelling with the
caption "FFFFUUUUUUUU" on a t-shirt. Acting as a 'collective intelligence' 4chan's users quickly
 spread news of this through various boards, in a call to action dubbed "Operation Black Rage". Citing
the commercialisation of "I Can Haz Cheezeburger" as a reason to act, attention multiplied, 4chan's
audience rallied in an "effective mobilization of skills" coordinating in "realtime" (Levy, 1999, p.13). In
similar fashion to how the original "Rage Guy" memes was conceived, what was once product of
4chan's audience was retold as "Race Guy" with the intention of spreading disinformation. The joke
was repurposed in a deliberately offensive racial context by 4chan's audience, emailing Hot Topic
and news outlets en masse complaining of Hot Topic's use of a 'racist' joke. The audience's creative
tactics were initially successful and effective, Hot Topic responded stating intention to remove the T-
shirts from their stores. However Hot Topic re-strategized and revoked its decision; citing meme
database knowyourmeme.com's (in affiliation with icanhazcheezeburger.com) published record of
"Operation Black Rage" and 4chan's audience disinformation in the creation of "Race Guy", as reason
to continue selling the shirt; the "forces of commerce and profit" (Fiske, 1989 p.112) had won.
 The strategies employed by the ' forces of commerce ' may have succeeded, however it was also Â
creative impetus for 4chan's audience. The technological framework of 4chan and freedom for users
to communicate, enact, create, 'textually poach' new material, meant new content for adaption is
always readily available. User creativity in itself is a 'tactical' response by 4chan's audience, who are
responsible as creators in keeping their culture and identity relevant ahead of industrial entities.
Creation and circulation of alternate memes play on 4chan's technological aspects, evolving
'Chanspeak' within 4chan's confines.
 "Doubles Guy" is an image of actor Christian Bale's character Patrick Bateman from the film American
Psycho pointing to the upper right. It is posted in response to another anonymous users number value
in their post. Each post on 4chan features a string of numbers, when a users post has a sequential
set of repeating numbers it is considered to be "dubs" or "doubles" (two), "trips" (three), "quads" (four)
etc. in 'Chanspeak'. "Doubles Guy" is usually posted in response with humorous intention in
deviating and distracting from a thread topic. Users have 'converged' a variety of media; film, image,
language and applied it to the unique context of 4chan's 'knowledge space'. "Doubles guy" meaning
does "not exist elsewhere" (Levy, 1992) and only resonates when being posted within 4chan's
environment for its own consumers. Removed from its context and it's an image of Christian Bale's
character in the film. This is an act of convergence which builds the language of 'Chanspeak' and in
itself creative tactic, in which industry cannot strategise and repurpose for a wider audience with
commercial interest.
 4chan as a communication tool allows its audience to adapt which "contrasts with older notions of
passive media spectatorship" (Jenkins, 2006, p.3) in retaining its identity as a web culture. Despite
tactics of resistance in "LOLcats" and "Rage Guy" failure, they proceeded to fade out of relevance
with 4chan's collective conscious. As artefacts of an audience whose identity is represented and
defined by their work in "making and doing" (Gauntlett, 2011, p.6), new effort is transferred into the
creative process, in cultivating an array of new memes. These new artefacts are exclusive to 4chan's
technology and anonymous "knowledge space" (Levy, 1999, p.5) and become part of its audiences
cultural barrier. What was once culturally relevant and important has become part of 4chan's legacy
and representative of its influence.
 Conclusion
4chan as a communication technology is an important driving force in contemporary popular culture,
evolved by an audience "united by the intangible" (Mack p.01). As a technological construct easy
posting system, sharing content, and the promise of true anonymity has fostered a participatory
audience of media producers connecting, sharing and making. By containing the users âidentity and
stakeâ in their content and providing the freedom to fail, the audience has become creatively liberated
as producers, forming a unique culture of making and sharing.
 The change in the representation of the individualâs identity, has redefined what the consumers and
audiences role is in the 4chan âknowledge spaceâ. Content consumersâ acts as an archive, creators in
turn share, propagate and repurpose without ideals of individual fame. The audience cycle of creating,
sharing, consuming and propagating is organic; the audience acts as a collective intelligence without
predefined rules and constructs imposed.
 4chans success as a communications technology is evident in audienceâs establishment of their own
dialect and artefacts. These are culturally important representations of community identity on 4chan
containing âmeanings that do not exist elsewhereâ (Levy, 1992), and evidence of users creatively
working in collaboration within the technological confines of a message board. Content quality may be
determined by the community, however the popular spread of memes is representative of its value in
communicating and translating its humour to a wider audience; an affect of 4chans own âculture
industryâ.
When capital interests threaten to undermine 4chanâs technological advantages of âradical opacityâ in
reappropriating audience creativity, 4chanâs flexible nature as a communications technology enables
the audience to self organise, creativity resist and adapt. These technological implications of
interaction on 4chan have grown the audiences sense of worth as active participants, encouraging
community interaction as âcollective intelligenceâ, despite having traditional of ideals of identity
stripped.
 Creatively enabled and very verbal, 4chanâs participatory audience is free from binds to historical
archives and perpetually looks forwards in in new creative endeavours. 4chan has challenged
"people's assumptions of Web industry", and is representative of being "so different from the way
other people were thinking about community" (Peretti, p.7) in a web 2.0 society. In an era of âradical
transparencyâ 4chanâs technology has proven anonymity can thrive; a communications technology
that defies popular web 2.0 conventions in social networking, and the creative liberation of users and
the promise and ideals in that Internet represented.
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Walker, R 2010, âTaking web humor seriously, sort of,â The New York Times, accessed May 15, 2012, from <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/magazine/18ROFL-t.html>.
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Precursor Project Architecture and Unity Construction
Week 11 - Slow Lab
Production of the precursor project has come along quickly since the development of the 3D assets. During the time assets were in development apartment environment floor plans were drawn up, experimented with, and finally modelled within the Unity 3D engine. Objects were added, scaled, placed and moved about, composition set up and tweaked, first person movement added, edited and lighting and the mood set, things are all coming together nicely.
It's a first time experience properly using the Unity toolset, which turned out to be a much more enjoyable experience then what I was expecting. Generally it's a lot friendlier and intuitive then a comparable editor and engine toolset like the Unreal Development Kit, and importing assets and setting up projects has been a breeze.
Initial sketches toyed a bit with the use of space in the environment. By using the information discussed with project writer Mathew Stone (as outlined previously), and Jason Prentice's distinct low-fi visual assets, a sense of atmosphere and place could be drummed up.Â
Asset list following into floor plan sketches
Space between walls and ceiling heigh were particularly important aspects to identify in setting the mood. Heights in rooms were planned to vary, and the corridors in particular feature slight inclines in ceiling height, heading away from the central 'heart' of the corridor, intended to increase the sense of distance and discomfort as part of the atmosphere within the space.
Floor plans were refined and object placement and negative / positive space was thought out
With floor plans established object placement came next, which was a surprisingly easy endeavour; the deliberate asset pool was quite defined and it was determined that a lot would come down to in-engine tinkering. So following this construction, asset placement, lighting, function and testing came into play. While assets and the environment is yet to be textured, the results were as follows:
Rendered 3D floor plan including lighting and objects. Rooms are as follows: Entrance - left, Living Area - bottom, Bedroom - top, Bathroom - right.
The Entrance
 The corridor from the Entrance towards the bathroom - distance is heavily emphasised, though travel time while 'walking' in first person isn't that slow
The Bedroom from the corridor doorway
The bed and possessions within the Bedroom
The bookshelf and additional possessions within the Bedroom - note the boots are the only object textured in this image
The Living Area seen from the Bedroom - keep in mind the spaces cotaining elements of comfort, distractions and the past being close together, and viewable. Also the window is deliberately visible from the bed, and the doors are missing (hinges remain).
The Living Area - keep in mind the positive and negative space, the 'lived in' aspects, and the lack of exterior assets and skybox outside of the window
The 'left' side of the Living AreaÂ
Kitchenware in the Living Area
Bound newspapers and journals on the coffee table within the Living Area
The desk, couch and various possessions in the Living Area
The Entrance from the corridor beyond the Living Area and Bedroom
The Bathroom (close) from the corridorÂ
Finally, the Bathroom
While textures still need to be added, the mood and tone is pretty defined, and the environment is all traversable 'in game'. Thankfully it's also very easy in Unity to quickly build the scene and project, and deploy it as a .exe file for presentations and sending.
The next step is implementing the hovering text into the scene as assets. Project writer Mathew Stone has drummed up the written content, however implementation has proven difficult due to 3D text being shown through objects, due to a lack of depth calculation when rendering in game. Once this and texturing is complete, if time prevails function for looking at objects and having text appear can be executed. Onwards!
Following the previous post about the Slow Lab Precursor Project and its outline, production is well under way. With design and intention established, and architectural plans, programming feasibility and writing being processed, asset production has taken to the forefront.
Project artist Jason Prentice has produced a variety of assets; objects contained within the apartment, low-fi in visual style. Collaborating and working  the theme, tone, design and writing intention into visual representation has been very enjoyable, and the results, courtesy of Mr Prentice have been grand:
With objects for the apartment nigh complete, architecture for the environment needs to be produced within the Unity game engine, utilising brushes, then objects implemented and placement experimented with. Following this the function of suspended hovering text needs to be worked out and implemented, as well as the additional function of viewing the suspended text, when looking at an object.
Using the allegory of Malcom Bullâs proposition of an âanti-Nietzcheâ, the suggestion that readers identify with the âlambs instead of with the birds of preyâ, Sterne states that despite new media being held above traditional juggernauts of âpassiveâ media, it itself is passive. On the contrary to the Lunenfeldâs case of downloading and television embodying passive consumption, and uploading presenting participation and production, Sterne indicates that is also a form of consumption and a problematic distinction.
Unlike the earlier ideals Sterne references, such as Chrisopher Smallâs (1977) vision of a world âwhere the distinction between musician and non-musician no longer existedâ, and Jacques Attaliâs 1985) imagined world where the means of creativity is inhered in each person; now active participation is seen to be a âprivileged mode of consumerismâ. Contemporary media has shifted with an increase in integration of audience based interaction; user response is an important form of commerce in todayâs new media. In the rise of social media there is a demand for active participation driven by commercial intention, subsequently pressuring the user for it to become intertwined with their life.
Attracting the attention of audiences during the broadcast era was the goal for institutions in profit sectors, which has had âsmooth continuityâ within the internet era. Interest and participation has market value and subsequently it has become compromised. According to Sterne this is not democratic participation, rather any social good intended has become part of someone elseâs business. Be it âagreeing to termsâ or âretweetingâ, the demand to participate can become âcoerciveâ and is pictured as exhausting the celebration of participation.
However Sterne believes that there isnât a need for a âpure space from which to critique capitalismâ, rather occasions for reflection and disengagement on peopleâs own terms. Rather than focusing and on distinctions between positives and negatives weighted between passivity and participation, Stern proposes the notion of audiences choosing not to identify with the interactive promise of new media from time to time. This is an act of defiance and empowerment of the individual, not the âactive userâ interacting on the terms of software and machines steeped in commercial intention.
Personally I found Sterns points to hold weight and have quite a fair amount of merit; however I did find there to be a touch of irony; its place on the web, a comments section encouraging and facilitating responses and the implementation of a trackbacks & pingbacks counter, all there to drive site traffic. While in all fairness Sterne doesnât dismiss the merits of interactivity even if pushed by commercial interests, I do think that the slant towards mass culture results in something less conclusive. Mass culture has slanted towards commercial interest well before the inception of the internet, and ideals of interconnection in past eras can be subject to a similar kind of scrutiny.
Those ideals of participation outside of commercial influence can be found on the web, places such as 4chan.org which fuel cultural change on the web thrive without commercial interests, involving a diverse global participatory audience. I donât believe commercial alone primarily drives the ânormalisationâ of interactivity in becoming the ânew passivityâ, itâs far more multifaceted; a combination of technological shifts, commercial interest, enabling and extending our own social nature. Commercial interest is a threat to itself in overexposure and over-implementation. Within a framework such as the web users are presented with choice in avenues of interaction and they may simply close, delete, log off and take their interactivity elsewhere.
Reference:
Jonathan Sterne, What if Interactivity is the New Passivity? Jonathan Sterne / McGill University | Flow. Available at: http://flowtv.org/2012/04/the-new-passivity/ [Accessed May 4, 2012].
As part of the slow lab Iâve been looking into potential avenues for exploring my research question and slow in games. Predominantly Iâve been looking into first person storytelling, and having an additional layer of characterisation as the player inhabits a protagonist character.
This would be done by providing two layers of interaction:
Visual through player guided exploration of an environment which is reflective of a character (e.g. the opening to Rear Window), an environmental storytelling method dabbled with in games, however generally far more in regard to world building than characterise a protagonist character.
Introspective text in the form of the characters thoughts about objects contained within the environment, overlayed as suspended hovering text. Self narration and text or audio observations from a protagonist character (in first or third person) have been done before in games, however with major focus on providing additional information as part of problem solving; there is an emphasis on practical merit (as frequently seen in point and click adventure games).
This is something I want to pursue as part of my major project, as it falls into the category of the relationship between game and narrative design, but have not tested or tried it.
A variety of ways of exploring this came to mind, particularly use of augmented reality and QR codes, attached to objects in a real-world setting. However this posed the challenge; a fictional character would need to be created to facilitate the real world environment, which deviates entirely from creating a fictional setting. Another issue was augmented reality software complications, and the general cumbersome nature of QR codes in delivering text. However I do believe thereâs interesting potential here, but I was doubtful of the potential to inform my research question.
The other idea was a prototype game; acting as a possible small portion or experiment to inform my major project. This prototype would be a (low fidelity) detailed interactive environment, which acts as a space deliberately intended to create a compelling character which player inhabits (assuming control of them from the first person perspective), and develop a sense of a greater of a world where this location is contained, building a sense of scale from within the restricted environment.
In order to ground this idea and explore it further without delving into production, I created a very rough document outlining the contents and intention:
Precursor project:
A prototype of a detailed interactive environment, which acts as a space deliberately intended to create a compelling character which player inhabits (assuming control of them from the first person perspective), and develop a sense of a greater of a world where this location is contained, building a sense of scale from within the restricted environment.
One of the many highly detailed and carefully scripted interactive environments in Metro 2033
The setting is an apartment containing a multitude of personal artefacts and connections to the world outside of the apartment. The characters thoughts and feelings of the artefacts, particularly the impactions of them are overlayed as hovering text, and text textured onto the environment.
This explores multiple layers of storytelling, and is indicative of slow in games. The visual information that the environment provides, which a player can investigate provides a layer of characterisation of its inhabitant. This is environmental storytelling is similar to that in film (Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window) and many first person games such as Half-Life, Call of Cthuhlu, Metro 2033 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.. However this leaves much room in terms player speculation, of their characters true feelings in associating to the environment and emotional state, resulting in only a surface layer of characterisation.
Protagonist Jack Walters in a cut-scene, one of the many methods to convey story in Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
First person ames such as Call of Cthulhu have addressed this by adding first person narration, however it was used primarily as a form of feedback in helping the player solve problems, than as a central method in developing protagonist Jack Walterâs character; usually relying on more traditional means in fragmenting the storytelling through cut scenes.
This is also similar in many third person games, featuring a controllable protagonist. In point and click adventure games such as Grim Fandango, the protagonist Manny will briefly quip through audio about an object clicked on. Information received is divvied between characterisation and entirely practical implementation, also encouraging players to hunt for objects with the mouse cursor, combing the screen for intractable objects. The result is something fairly impersonal and a sense of disconnect, despite offering layers of information.
Protagonist Manny Calavera in Grim Fandango
The added layer of suspended, descriptive and personal text in the precursor poject gives the player a far greater sense of perspective, and involvement in inhabiting the character, acting as a secondary layer of information in support of the first; added depth in creating something compelling. This gives objects far greater context in their place, purpose and role, as well as reflective of the character in reverse; resulting in a far more involved and personal interactive experience.
Views of the environment outside of the apartment, as well as artefacts directly related to this bigger picture will also play a role in defining the character, and the world they inhabit. Using basic audio cues and scripted events, action and animations in the environment outside may happen, creating the illusion of an active, breathing world, compared to the suspended time within the apartment.
Still a work in progress
Characters traits are:
Returned soldier
Suffering a form of post traumatic stress disorder
An extreme condition similar to an extreme example of anthropophobia and agoraphobia
Undergoing a form of rehabilitation
Was once in a position of authority within military ranks
Well read, articulate
Former journalist
In a vulnerable state, emotionally dazed
Lacking motivation, stuck in a cycle of avoidance that's comfortable
Removed from people they once cared about or for, and struggling with current circumstances
Apartment contents:
Medication (in a certain form, pills perhaps)
Window (single medium size, closed) with a view of the outside
Single bed
Very small bathroom, no mirror
Possible slight dilapidation problem of apartment
books, cluttered, many
locked 'war chest', half pushed under single bed, stuck half in half out
Empty wardrobe
large main door to outside (locked)
(not many personal affects, a few very deliberate ones)
Clock missing handles
Empty picture frame, or facing downwards (typical) on table / desk
Boots - military issue related, ever dependable
bathroom has no door, but visible hinges
Key hook near front door, no keys
Nothing in doorway
desk in front of window, rough illustrations on it, some crumpled (birds?)
stack of paper, unused, neat
pens all lined up next to paper, unused neat
one pen used next to illustrations
Bound journals on the floor near desk - closed and pushed the side
stack of newspapers, bound with rope near the desk
candle on desk, half burned
empty kitchen
Some books scattered in near piles on a shelf (rather than ordered), moved and roughly placed, spines disordered and facing incorrectly
Practical objects with personality, chipped mug, table with a short leg
cup wedged underneath it, unkempt bed
Very few objects linked to the outside world, pills being the major
A mail slot at the door for packages, and a mail tube in the wall near the door (where letters fall out into a basket beneath it).
Apartment architecture:
Relatively confined
Spaces: Bedroom (very small, wardobe, chest, bed), main living area (area of comfort, desk at window, shelves, few items - largest room), hall and entrance doorway (no items, no lighting), hall to bathroom on the other end opposite the hall opposing the entrance, bathroom contains small sink, no mirror, tiny shower (missing head), and kitchenette - attached to living area, few cupoards - no doors, 'minibar' like fridge amongst them, - sparse.
Corridors and ceiling elevation change. More suffocating towards the entry and bathroom - elongated hallways - living area has a wider space, higher ceiling, bedroom an in between.
Outside:
Cityscape with high elevation
View inside of other apartments opposite (Rear Window), implied activity or sounds within them, a voyeuristic aspect and heightened sense of removal and isolation within what is a populated location. However NPCs are not visible.
Implied distant activity within the confines of the urban environment, using predominantly audio. Possibly odd questionable sounds to create a sense of unknowing and passive uncertainty.
Plant life outside, cabling too â animated, a sense of wind due to the elevation.
Modelled to enhance a sense of vertigo, and textured to contrast with the apartment confines
Possible states of the apartment â exploring the characters troubled mental state through very passive environment changes based on world triggers. When the character moves to X location at Y interval, then Z objects in the world disappear, or reappear, or suggest change within the environment. This characterises the protagonistâs mental instability, forgetting objects or having an even more unstable mental state underneath the descriptive thoughts.
Visuals
Muted colour pallet, heavy on âdullâ colours â greyscale, brown, muted blue, possible minimal use of muted greens â yellowed horizon. This will result in contrast with the far brighter white framed with black suspended text, which can have gamma applied to its texture, for visual brightness.
Assets are deliberately low polygon, and textures are flat. The environment will be minimal in visual character in terms of texture, relying on text based description to provide further details, then player visual scrutiny, also fitting with the distortion in characters frame of mind.
An example of low fidelity visuals in Gravity Bone
Production:
Production should not be difficult, it requires modelling assets, writing text and then implementing it in engine (Unity), before writing a few basic scripts for the aspects of interaction.
Asset production is the major issue. Working as the designer, writing is collaborated with a creative writer, however they are not responsible for any implementation. It may be advisable collaborating with an 3D artist in modelling environment assets after determining the development time.
This could tie into the major project as a location, within the same setting and involving the same character. This is essentially a small experiment of one possible aspect of the project, in realising a layer of interaction and player involvement, when inhabiting the character, to be expanded on.
Letters â while a major part of the main project, letters in the precursor project offer a detailed window of the outside world, and characters other than the protagonist. Implementing functionality of picking up â and reading might be difficult, but opened letters with descriptive text could be doable. This can reveal both connections with other characters, as well as the protagonistâs thoughts about characters other than themself.
Alternatives:
A design document covering all of these aspects, and an illustrated, planned out environment, listing objects, written content related and the character inhabiting it.
Alternate avenues for exploration â To explore this prototype pre-production the idea of labelling thoughts onto projects using QR codes has been raised, as well as augmented reality software. QR codes being the easy alternative, when stuck onto objects they can be read, revealingâinvisibleâ characters thoughts about that said object and offering greater meaning in its context within the environment.
The Village â The idea of telling a greater story through a non linear narrative has come to mind. Within the village space, âlettersâ could be scattered with vague and possibly deliberately misleading text, within the context of a small epistolary story. Encouraging participants to read and decipher them, a location as a âhubâ could be created where these are taken to, and compiled to create a greater scope of fiction; a fragmented story compiled of these letters. The content however will have to relate itself to this format, and the act of play will have to be done in a way which is involving, instead of merely a basic treasure hunt; possibly more parameters and details. The biggest issue however is creative writing not being my discipline â the writing work is a collaboration with a friend; them being responsible for the execution of written text from our discussions and my own development.
            After a bit of deliberation and uncertainty I've come to see Slow as much more of a purposeful, deliberate and contemplative form of interaction in games. This is not necessarily relative to the length of play, or the pacing and 'moment to moment' gameplay, but the focus within and absorption of a digital environment, engagement with mechanics, systems and the agency of story participation.
Games which are indicative of slow tend to focus on a higher level of engagement, through providing layers of information and levels of reactivity, building upon their multifaceted nature to create an emotionally compelling and engaging player experience. A stronger connection and heightened sense of involvement between the player and game is forged through these elements of slow within the act of play.
I can think of no better example of this then Ice-Pick Lodge's The Void (pictured above), a Russian made 'afterlife simulator' which absolutely defies genre conventions. Having players interact with a thematically and mechanically abstract world through an array of multi-layered and abstract systems, and engage with a multitude of diverse, complex and reactive characters are the raw foundations of involving sense of engagement which it builds.
The stunning otherworldly aesthetics, removal of genre tropes and unusual setting, present a fundamental challenge in providing something grounded for players to interpret. However through these layers of interaction and play mechanics, understanding is built and the world is revealed to have distinguishable functions which respond to the player. It is through play and the language of games which this foreign environment can be decoded and interpreted. Thus a much greater sense of meaning and intimacy is built due to this high level of involvement despite so many abstractions; a heightened sense of investment and emotional gratification from these layers of participation in the experience.
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Using the case of Lord of the Rings fans partaking in an opening day screening of Return of the King, Turnbull investigates involvement of fan audiences with the media. This audience separate from a general one is interpreted as partaking in an âembodied masqueradeâ; immersed âimaginatively in the text, blurring the boundaries between the ârealâ world in which they âactuallyâ live and the âfantasy worldâ they inhabit in their imaginationsâ (p. 181). The fan experience is underlined as an inherently complex and multifaceted one, featuring an emotional connection and involvement that extends beyond general audiences.
Fans are viewed as being part of a âcommunity of the imaginationâ, one difficult to study due to the invitation for the researcher to âinvent his or her own creative solutions to fill in the gapsâ (p. 182) when focusing on what is ânotâ being said by participants. In order to study this audience of fans a questionnaire about âpleasure and enjoymentâ is utilised, noting recurring terms and patterns of response. This was chosen instead of contacting a group directly, which would have directed research as a âstudy of a particular kind of fandomâ (p. 182). Of the 125 responses the frequency of emotional terms was assessed, resulting in the emergence of three thematic clusters; the âfelt connectionâ, âemotional impactâ, and âaesthetic rationalesâ.
Aesthetical rationales are judgements based on cultural and aesthetic frameworks, a visual interpretation and one weighted by expectations of fans. These act as creating preconceptions and distinct foundations to the emotional impact; the emotional connection with the film. This relates to affect of the experience in watching the film, such as being described as âbeyond wordsâ and rendering them âspeechlessâ and the emotional fulfilment which is experienced in return. This is associated with the notion of a âperformative fanâ who seeks âimmersion in a fantasy world in which one has powerful emotional investmentâ (p. 186). The inability to find words and recounting the film in relation to physical reactions comprises the felt connection, a âlivedâ experience.
This level of immersion and connection is cited as being relative to the films length, and the broad range of emotions experienced as part of the film. However despite this level of engagement viewers remain critically aware, metaphorically keeping âone foot on the floorâ through self questioning and rationalisation. It is established that fans rationalise their reactions to the experience, and distinguish between a persona âemotionalâ response to âintelligentâ, âimplying a hierarchy beginning with an embodied response and collimating rationalisationâ (p. 187).
This raises the notion of the film being a âlived experience of the audience, an embodied, deeply felt, and emotional eventâ (p.188), a statement of affect as well as assessments of how these affects might have been achieved, via a range of filmic strategies and techniques. These are alternately osculating interpretations build the rationalisation of locating the source of pleasure, framing the act of âliving throughâ Return of the King as an embodied and emotional experience as fundamentally complex, and reflective of the diversity of fans as social conscious. The fan experience is highly individual nature, very different to the misconception of fans as a group which can be easily generalised.
From personal experience I can agree with Turbullâs analysis and sentiments. While not involved in fandoms or being part of fan communities I personally know quite a few people who are; and they do not delude themselves when discussing subject matter theyâre invested in. Many of which are actually quite critical of these pieces of media that they care about, which seems to be part of a heightened sense of attachment; emotional involvement and focus can result in scrutiny and a critical perspective.
In environments such as the web, fans can be viewed as taking this to utter extremes, blurring the lines between being participants, being highly critical of even creators, transcending their position into one almost of ownership. A prominent example of which is the divisions between creator George Lucas of Star Wars, and the fan reception of the âprequel trilogyâ of films; still evoking strong criticism within fan communities and rifts within the community itself.
 References:
Turnbull, Sue. âBeyond Words: The Return of the King and the Pleasures of the Textâ, in Martin Barker and Ernest Mathijs (eds), Watching Lord of the Rings: Tolkienâs World Audiences, Peter Lang Publishers 2008, (181-190)
Research Question - Mechanical Game and Narrative Design
"In what ways can mechanical game design and narrative design be considered together as a way to guide audiences through experiences? Arising from this, what are the key considerations facing narrative designers working with contemporary play mechanics?"
The full length variety is now new and improved, revised and focused:
Storytelling in games has proved to be a subject of challenge to designers, traditionally resulting in the separation of story from function, and recurring dissonance between written intention and design execution.Â
In what ways can mechanical game design and narrative design be considered together as a way to guide audiences through experiences? Arising from this, what are the key considerations facing narrative designers working with contemporary play mechanics?
My project will explore the correlation between mechanical and narrative design, through the creation of a character based first-person game entirely dependent on the act of play in establishing and developing story, and subsequently addresses the designerâs role as a storyteller.
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