Make Play Believe

Is like the age of zeroes and ones. Again. Attaching labels on everything in order to count them into equations. Simple, right? Just think about everything that is possible thinkeble, attach a ...let's call it value, or better power and count it. Do artifacts have politics? Where are the missing masses? Blur.

One may ask: why is it so hard to remember how you hate that ...teacup? watch? pencil? colleague? Are feelings towards object different than feelings towards persons? You smash the teacup, you avoid the colleague. Still, we don't really want to be materialists right? But people do merry in the name of money.

Materialism isn't far from capitalism, value based processes. We like or we disregard it, here there are some that embrace it. Objects do have politics. They do have agency. (Prison)> a list (if looked at it in one dimension) of constraints that were design to have a political, social, humanistic, technological function.

We that are not materialists. Disregard the power of objects just like that. Setting: North Korea. Or one other if it was few decades ago. Go in front of that big pile of concrete or bronze statue of whoever is standing and do something that is characteristic to the human nature (be unorganized chaotic: e.g. run about and shout that you need a change). That still mass of material will punish you. Yes we dip into waters of symbolism, but objects stand close to their definition. The difference is that objects act more directly by themselves in comparison with still statues.

We assume from this point on that every thing, has politics and agency, an expression of a defined system. We shall not be surprised when one smashes the keyboard, screams at the mouse, at the designer, at a statue, at a football player, at a door, at self.

Slam! the door shuts in my face. Who the * designed it? Should I go and complain at the administration? Should I just disable the mechanism? Should I remove the door? Just a few options. All have consequences, all have impact.

We design consequences. But who designs us? We design to design our-selves. Discipline, creation, evolution. Caught between the carrot and the lash, we multiply selves. Multiplicative replaceable technological partial scoped imperfect clones — objects.

The nature of the game, as a survivor FPS makes it rather interesting in terms of game play and decision making. It is by far a complex cerebral stimulating tool but it requires a certain amount of involvement and care in order to establish a position that translates into goals. In notion of storytelling, space navigation decision making, the possibilities are limited. The challenge is not what decisions the player makes, but how the game it is being played.

The most obvious aspect that needs the attention of the player is the ammo conservation. It seems that the game world is scarce on resources and bullets are no exception. It is important that you are not left only with the knife as the only weapon but a pistol, rifle or gun is available to you, or otherwise it is doubtable that one could succeed in completing the stage (loading to last checkpoint is available). At time, when together with one of the NPCs in the battle field, the player finds itself obligated to dodge damage and leave the NPC do the job for you, as you know the on-rails nature of the game will eventually move you to the next scene. This is not possible every time, as some NPCs require the help of the player in order to survive.

The choice of weapons is also something to consider when playing Metro as it can make it easier or impossible to complete it. The player might have a hard time picking the right weapon giving the following:

Ammo scarcity

Defectuous damage AI

Underpowered weapons

Level design

Goals

While you make some calculation and try to synchronize each step and bullet, the player is often left with the surprise that the hostile part can take multiple point-blank shots (shotgun) until falls to the ground. It sometimes happens that a full AK47 clip is fired and the enemy is still able to shoot you.

Another issue is related to the way characters understands silence. There are a few stealth stages which might be possible to pass only by keeping silent, but the defectuous AI implementation spoils it. The enemies will —at times— spot you in the dark or ignore the triggered traps. It is not possible to make use of this choice because the way is implemented.

One last thing to mention is the alternative ending scene. Along the way there are a few choices that the player is faced with, e.g. take a post card from a fellow, spare the life of an unarmed enemy troop, etc. If the player did the right choices, then the ending will alternate (good/bad). Another level of choices —that this time directly influences the gameplay— are the choices presented in dream sequences. It is a bit puzzling as it is not clear what the player has to do (e.g. run from the evil one? or don’t let yourself dragged in the red room?).

Metro is clearly an FPS, but a one that can deliver strong atmospheric virtual space. While this is the strongest aspect of the game in terms of how much it can drag the player inside the virtual, it is not so successful on delivering clean ways of interacting with the avatar.

The controls are similar to any other FPS game, which are standard now. The use of w, s, a, d keys plus the mouse for aiming, are the basic controls that a player needs to know. It is a success in this sense, because it delivers what is expected in order for the player to focus on other aspects of the gameplay.

There are though a few aspect related to the controls where Metro 2033 fails —glitches. At times you get stuck in between rocks or other similar world elements that are peripheral to the game play. This affects the way you move your character and it is not clear if you did something wrong or not. If you don’t get stuck, than the creatures that you fight against will, or if they don’t than you can probably find a sweet spot to chew them without taking any damage.

An interesting aspect of the kinesthetic involvement and why the player need to pay attention to it is related to the spatial involvement, or in other words, how the player transports the avatar into the game space. As previously mentioned, the environment has a few tricks that the player needs to pay attention to in order to succeed in reaching the goals of the game. The navigation of the avatar is directly related to the controls and mastering them is essential to the gameplay.

Controlling the avatar is made harder by the default FOV (45), but on the bright side it feels more close to the virtual world as one has to engage more with the controls and screen in order to perform at decent levels. Also, some people might get dizzy by moving around with the zoomed glasses on. It makes it more difficult to aim and close combat is awkward and feels like trying to catch a fish between your legs while looking through binoculars. There are ways of configuring the default FOV but one must edit the configuration file located in the used directory (Windows).

On the good side there is the HUD which is contextual and most of the times clear. It doesn’t distract the attention of the player so one can play the game even without the crosshair. On the same side, there is constant visual feedback on the movement, e.g. when you climb a ladder or when you get hit or shot. It makes things harder for the player which has to put more attention in order to perform at a decent level.

Metro 2033, as expected, offers spatial scenes that go hand in hand with the story and emotions that the game wants to transmit. As mentioned earlier, the game has a clear on-rails gameplay which is reflected in many aspects of the game, such as storytelling, goals, navigation, player choices, etc. The way space navigation is explored, is simply as fluent as the storytelling is storied. It looks perfect, but from behind a glass wall —it is a cover up for the limited resources.

It is not hard to find your way through the game space, as on-rails suggests it is just like going straight. There are though at most two areas that allow a more complicated (relative to the rest of the space) architectural structure, which took more time to navigate and to find the way, but other than that it is simply pretty and easy to go by. Even though it’s straight forward with many tunnel like structure, in terms of space complexity and choices allowance, the way it is presented keeps the player’s attention on the task. The space is rather interesting, presenting a 3D world which is easily navigable in all dimensions. It is often required to move in all three in order to reach the goals. This is typical to FPS games and Metro brings no surprise. What it does instead, is to bring a simple puzzle like navigational environment that surprises more by the emotions it transmits rather than logical complexity.

The virtual environment presents structures that are common in our understanding: city, metro tunnels, tubes, interiors (of buildings, blocks, library, offices, churches, etc.). The simplicity does not come from the fidelity of representations of these objects, but from the way they have to be navigated.

The space is intended to be traversed only once. The path is represented on a map that is shown at the loading screen between stages and the player can’t link the game space with its map representation. This is a common behavior in FPS games, not surprising or confusing.

The interest arises from the attention that the player has to offer to the world in order to meet the minimum requirements of the goals: to stay alive. The environment can cause death to the player in expected, unpredictable, repetitive or erroneous ways. The player can easily fall into a hole while trying to silently pass the enemies, trigger a trap or get stuck in a glitch. The game space is taking its share from the user attention and is one thing that the player has to focus on at all times.

As Calleja (2011) makes clear, the dimensions of the Player Involvement Model are not intended to be separated, but only for the purpose of analysis, I will write about shared involvement, fading the focus from narrative involvement (previous post) to the dimension of shared involvement.

Most of my experience with the game is related to the micro-involvement aspects as I didn't take time to expend it or share it with others. In-game wise, interaction with other agencies (characters) is essential to the game-play. The on-rails property of the game affords interaction with others, but it is always guided and tunneled. It is in opposition with freedom, but nevertheless, the game affords a good contact with other NPCs.

The storytelling is done with the help of other characters. You don’t get to spend too much time alone, as the game alternates between sole and cooperative gameplay (just like in HalfLife 2, Alyx and Gordon). When not in the hostile dark tunnels or on the toxic surface, but in the warmth of the underground cities, you are surrounded by characters with who there is a minimum of interaction. Simply by following a discussion, knocking on a door or press the action key on a person, you might get feedback. The characters that make more sense to the line of the game can’t get disturbed whenever the player wants, but only when the game sees fit. Superficially, it seems like a real social interaction —only if you pose as the intended player—, otherwise the game interaction with others feels like behind a glass wall. Anyway, it feels like the perfect cover op for a strict narrative, with the goal to make you feel involved.

The most prominent and well done artifact, as well as the most appealing part of the game is the mix of sole action and cooperative play. There is always a context set before the action and usually is set together with a NPC that takes part at the story and action of the game. The characters and the player merge seamlessly into one symbiotic team. Same thing often happens along the progression of the game. First you are briefed with the context of the action, then tension is built and finally, together with your comrades, resolves the conflict. Sometimes the player and his cooperator(s) have to help each other in order to progress (e.g. one drives and one shoots).

Metro 2033 has a great potential in terms of expressing narratives —big part of it being storytelling and atmosphere. In fact it’s the game’s strongest points. The story succeeds at being expressed through some interesting ways (at least in terms of video games and present standards).

The most apparent way that the story is being created is through the expressive audio-visual environment. The setting is detailed and carefully crafted, trying to transmit emotions and complete the storytelling: the inside of the outpost is more likely to make you feel like home, in a cozy ambient surrounded by people that chatter and have things to do. In the tunnels, or outside the idea is opposing the nice and cozy and turn into a mystical, weird, paranormal and depraved post-apocalyptic-gray-world. The details —which are often limited by technical and economic resources— have a good enough depth to create the ambiance, which, expresses part of the story —the setting, adjacent to the storytelling.

The developers succeeded at setting up a perfectly on-rails story in an interactive way. Even if there is absolutely no alternative to the proposed one, the game is delivered more as an overall experience rather than a ludic chaos. At first you are introduced by the intro of the game, where Artyom give a monolog (while typing) about his past and present life. Just like the tempo of the briefing, the games caries in the same way: at the beginning of each stage the protagonist talks his thoughts. This helps at connecting with the avatar even though there is no actual choice, but by empathizing with him you start taking part at story. This kind of connection does not drop in importance inside the game. It affords long discussions between the game characters. There is no alternative other than to listen, but by being there, and being put and taken in/from the conversations —more like monologues here— (the game takes control of your character and shows/does things that you should (know).

Despite my insistent thoughts about the on-rails game-play, there is an actual alternative ending —your actual contribution to the story. Depending on some choices that you make (i.e. take a NY postcard from a soldier or spare the life of a scared opponent) you have the good, the bad or the neutral ending.

As I mentioned in the previous post describing my first Amnesia encounter, I will stick with Metro 2033 (4A Games, 2010) for the purpose of the Block 3 Analysis - FPS against the Player Involvement Model (PIM) (Calleja, 2011).

Metro 2033 is based on a Russian novel by Dmitry Glukhovsky —this is worth mentioning not because the widespread post-apocalyptic setting but because the game does a good job at expressing its story throughout the game-play. The surface world is devastated by a nuclear war, populated by mutant hostile creatures and the only hope is hidden in the underground of the metro stations, where the remains of the population lives. Artyom, the protagonist, a young man, is determined to do something about the slow-dyeing-underground-cities so he gets his first quest.

The story has a good chance at being transmitted, as the strongest point of the game is the atmosphere. In other words, the game succeeds at transmitting its narratives through a variety of elements. The sum of all this contributes to an in-game experience that has to be accounted as a whole in order to see it flawless. A technical analysis would probably lead to flaws (glitches), inconsistencies (poor AI) and limitations of games (on-rails) —the shooting part is not that great, actually can be frustrating at times. It is badly implemented as sometimes it can take a full round just to get an armored soldier dizzy, or a couple of point-blank shells emptied into the traditional rat-dog ugly creatures.

The underground metro stations are filled with warm cozy feeling. Fire lights everywhere, people talking, kids playing and drawing, a woman wipes the floor. It resembles the atmosphere found in a city where people get together and form the society. Difference subjects circulate around, some complaining about the uselessness of life, some gossip and some make plans or tell stories. It seems that people know you, but they don’t have much to tell you. Everything is filled with story and “life.” It gives the impression, or better said the sensation that you belong to the place and it is you home — well, it is your home.

Gray-metal nuances are the only color you get; it leaves a taste, look and feel of desolation — like everything was wiped by a nuclear blast. It is the post-nuclear remains, in winter. Is rather calm and peaceful surrounded by demolished buildings and soviet blocks. The place is absolutely lifeless —idyllic, like a senile piece of poetry of a Romanian author named George Bacovia. Yet, you are not alone. Evil lurks all around and threatens with its unrelated presence. The creatures that you can’t relate to are hostile and ready to hug you. But you are determined to keep your promise —you hold tight on your weapon and suck spasmodic breaths through the dirty filter filled with toxic remains.

I've spent 30 minutes on trying to figuring out what is which and what you use it for. No, there is no singular answer, as US, UK, France, Germany, etc. all use rather different rules.

For my purpose, break of though, interruption stronger than parentheses, I use em-dash (—), preceded or succeeded by a space on the external side of the break of thought.

Is not all about a dash, but reading about it I made me see how can threads of thought be expressed in text. Reading a text with such detail, might add extra value to the understanding.

The last game I have been playing (and finish) is Metro 2033 (4A Games, 2010). I intended to apply it against Gordon's Player Involvement Model but last night I felt motivated to try a new one. I have started to play Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Fictional Games, 2011). Initially having in mind to blog-blabber and write about this game, after successfully playing through the first stage (5 minutes) and briefly parts of the second, I took a break to figure out how to make in-game screenshot (ended up with a free version of Bandicam). Well, the technical details got me thinking as well at the fact that while Amnesia it is a first person survival horror, is not a shooter. A FPS is required to enter the competition, but since I took some time with this game I will have a post about it. I will stay with Metro 2033 in the meantime.

Since I intended to write about this game I did some advance preparations, parts of which I do with every game, regardless of purpose. First, I took the precautions that nobody around me would disturb me while playing this disturbing game because the consequences could be major (e.g. hit the ceiling). Getting comfortable can be important. It is about my play station —the space around my computer, surrounding lighting and sound, comfort, etc. I don't emphasize so much on this, but I think sometimes does matter in order to create a good in-game experience. So, the room was dark and quiet, my headphones on my ears, I sat comfortable and...

I look into the settings of the game, getting familiar with the potential of the game in technical terms, controls, and most important video settings. I wouldn't want the game to run jerky or to be laggy, so I set up to appropriate levels —I don't have an endless resources machine. An important setting to be mentioned here is the brightness adjustment. Because the virtual world is mainly composed of dark space you wouldn't want to ruin the potential of the game by setting the brightness too low/high.

I finally press the magic button and a spooky sound surrounds me. This voice starts talking about how he forgets things and how he can barely remember his name:

Don't forget... some things mustn’t be forgotten. The shadow hunting me... I must hurry. My name is Daniel, I live in London at... at... Mayfair... What have I done? This is crazy. Don't forget. I must stop him. Focus! My name is... is... I am Daniel. [fainting..] [light glass smashed..] [falling on the floor..]

(Amnesia, 2011)

The voice (and message) is helping me understanding the situation and empathize with the character. It does so be presenting a subject of confusion in which it is easier to fall curios about. It is not only about the story, but sound and lighting make the most. I probably could ignore the voice, but not the sounds. It seems that there is a wide stereo separation, which gives a feeling of confusion, as if you turn around there is an obvious difference in sound that flow to your ears. The developers intend is obvious:

We believe the sense of immersion and engagement you get when you are pitched directly into the world is really amazing and powerful. Our games focus on this experience, this sense of being there. We place very heavy emphasis on this immersive experience, rather than mechanics, so story is central to our design. Audio and music is integral to this, as is striving for the highest quality in virtual environment design.

(thechineseroom, 2011)

The developers try to tell the story by making use of techniques that appeal to human senses. I am not going to argue how the developers used the words immersion and engagement but I am sure that they want to pull you from the chair into the world of Amnesia: to seize all your sense and incorporate (Calleja, 2011) you in the virtual world.

The way the developers tend to achieve this is by focusing on visual and sound elements rather that complicated controls or maneuvers. The lighting is poor and you have to be careful where you step. There is blood (if you care) all over the place but most important is this feeling of delirium and hallucination that affects the state of the player. The image is stretching about and —if I would have a larger screen— it gets you pay attention to the square screen. When you move around, the steps can be felt with visual and audio sensors. The image leans about following on the cant slow pace of Daniel. Sound is following all along with creaks and twitches of the wooden floor or various environmental sounds.

I think that the developers of this game didn't do amazing things, but focused on a specific issue. It’s not that the visual-audio-storytelling trio is extra-ordinary, but emphasizing this elements/some dimensions (Calleja, 2011), let's you focus better on them. As a source of inspiration for Amnesia, one could consider Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Headfirst Productions, 2006). Overall I thin Amnesia does it better, but then it would be against fair-play as CoC is a 2006 game. I will leave this comparison to another time though.

Initially, Minecraft can look to simple to offer something to grasp and many fail to understand it. It’s simplicity can be overlooked either by deep exploration of the game or by thoughtful reflection of the wiki, guides and others’ achievement. After discovering what kind of things can be achieved in the game, the initial square look does not mean simplicity anymore, but freedom. On top of that the developers are continuously adding features that boost the possibilities twice the height. Bringing criticism to such kind of system is mostly pointless, because the power is in your hands.

Minecraft has an interesting, if not unique learning curve. By it’s nature it keeps some players away, but that is normal with every game. The interesting idea comes when you think that even the cat could have some good time in this game. It covers such a broad ways of dealing with the world that it’s almost impossible not to find something to do. The problem with this is that it does not offer specific goals and paths to follow - is all up to you. We are already used with the idea that all games have goals - as silly as might be. When someone plays a game that has a whatsoever goal, or better said rails, it is more simple to engage with it even if you forget the goal starting with your second step. Some are annoyed by freedom and enjoy delivered experiences and some create their own, in the sense that walking on rails is boring. Some prefer both, or depending on the mood.

I have very limited knowledge of psychology but I will still drop a few words about personality exposing in Minecraft. Not being an expert in personality types does not stop me from at least making some assumptions. The reason I think is a good idea to highlight this is that the simplicity of tools found in the Minecraft world can easily expose some common behavior pattern. The openness and the simple complexity leaves the player with much freedom and observing on player's experience is exposing the way one choices to play the game and in consequences tips on player's personality or interest at the time. The results could reflect a tight scenario, but this is enough for my purpose. Maybe results could also reflect outside the game world, into the player's persona.

I personally chose, or maybe it was not a choice at all, but what I could do at the time, to play the game as an adventurer. I have described my experience in this and this post about me venturing into the deepness of the world generator algorithm of Minecraft. After two sessions of this kind, probably I will venture in the underground only for needed materials. I will spend more time on the surface, exploring but also making some sort of building and mostly crafting (which probably will send me in the underground).

Some people start with building stuff, like Lars and a lot of the other people as well. Others are interested in crafting, opening portals, building farms and taking care of the garden, killing mobs, knowing everything on the map, create relationships and teams, and so on. There is not one precise template, but a mixture.

It could be interesting to study the association between the personality and the way people play Minecraft. The results could bring improvements to the game, more fun, expending players own borders and so on.

I got lost. Hungry and all alone in the dark. Why? Because I dug deep enough so I couldn't find my way back to surface and rotten food was scarce at those levels. It's true, strange things happen when you venture deep underground. The above creature.. which I never seen before, looked quite friendly even though it was carrying a dirt block in it's long hands. Only when I aproached it it became hostile, but I found a sweet spot and hammered it from there without taking damage. 

Not only that but a strange room I came across made me wonder what is this all about. A room with moss rock (which it's only use is decorative) on the floor and a caged inflamed pig looked strange and purposeless. Except if you are superstitious.

I should have learned that venturing on my own into the deep is not going to keep me alive. But there was nobody on the servers, except one who was busy building his palace way above the clouds. Well, it was looking fine up there, safe, but.. I was up to explore the undergrounds. I should schedule a meeting with some of the guys that are interested in this. Actually I have seen in the proximity of my temporary residence that my neighbors made a path underground. Is not going to deep, but it is a start.

This was my second session and I have dedicated it on going deep underground -for the second time. Next time, if I'm going to be on my own again, I will try being on the surface for a little longer, eventually build a small dwelling, somewhere high or just on the plains.. easily accessible.

(i3 2.55, 6G RAM, Nvidia 540M 1G VRAM)

Are you serious? It is fine to swallow this much but at least to have a smooth experience. Not to mention that it uses the dedicated graphics card.

This Minecraft thingy is no awesome. I don't know what kind of choices this guys were face upon, but the game is kind of heavy and laggy and all. It almost got my machine stuck a couple of times. I had to end task the 'javaw.exe'.. a few of them.

Others had even more trouble with it. The game crashed every 3 minutes. Oh, and the server is down, for some reason. Well, don't bother.. I'll have a single player game. But this leads me to the thought that I have payed for this thing, 20€. Well probably is not the only game out there that people pay for it and then it is technically disappointing. And I suppose is not about the fact that with the same amount you can get an game that makes you eyes cry mana. I'm not saying anything about the game as its design but about the technical quality. And maybe I expect it to just work because the game seems so simple, raw and rude.

The game was first released in 1991 and by some sources is a ‘cinematic platformer’. It is a 2D platformer, and I suppose it is called cinematic because at times it has film-like scenes. The real-time game is interrupted for this cinematic scenes that are suppose to transmit a deeper, more like a spectator experience (in some of them) or a more personal one, first person view like in others. The vectorial graphics look simplest but expressive. This technology was avant-guard at that time and was actually a result of the hardware limitation. The game was required to fit two floppy disks and the processor to be able to display it at the appropriate fps.

While the visuals are simple but appealing, the game-play hides plenty of surprises. Right from the first scene the player is confronted with the challenge to figure out the tight situation. The avatar, after the accident in the plot intro scene, suddenly appears underwater (while still at his desk). The task is to get him out of the water by pressing the up or action key. In the panic moment, my first experience was actually draining him. Well, the second time I got him on the shore but while standing there and staring around, the underwater creature grabbed and ate me. Third encounter was with the poisonous leeches. Initially they didn't appear to do any harm so I just stepped on them (and subsequently felt down like a pillar), and second time, the distance that I had to encounter them was to short, and got stung again. And so it goes until the end (which I didn't get to, yet).