#objectperformance2016

Out of every single task, I have done since entering university. This is the one where I managed to learn the most. Personally, I am not that happy with the outcome, mainly due to the final project not working well in unison. But in the bright side, we have found the biggest fault in this and all our game related projects. The answer being game design.

Contextual Statement

For my Moving Object paper this semester, I have teamed up with Martin and Shaydn to make a project. In the past we had more “freedom” in terms of what we wanted to create, since the start of this paper we have felt restricted and narrowed because of the context within the paper, moving object has been one of the more challenging studio papers in terms of what we are used to compared to the past. We are forced to follow a theme and because of this we had to cut down many of our original ideas, in saying this though there are some good sides to it because we have come to learn new skills and an entirely new way of thinking. Overall this experience has been a positive and negative journey due to having our perspective’s changing and adapting to new ways to approach our ideas.

Coming off from our last project (http://leungandy.weebly.com/virtual-environments.html), our team has always wanted to make a game which we could be proud of, so for our last project of our degree we decided to do just that. Our original idea was to make a fun and interact able game with many mechanics implemented into it, so sticking to the theme of “Alice in Wonderland” we decided to make a puzzle game as the world of Alice is quite abstract and unique. With this project we took an approach where we stick to the theme, but we are also adding our own ideas to it, so that people can find the game more interesting and unique, what we are making will be purely for people’s enjoyment, they will be able to solve puzzles forcing them to think differently and to be entertained while at it. (http://www.flashgamesplayer.com/online/alice-wonderland-puzzle-a-free-online-game.html)

Alice in Wonderland is a classic tale known worldwide by not only children, but also teenagers and adults ("Alice | Sabian Assembly", 2016). We thought about how we can use this theme and to adapt to it, along with our own ideas into the mix of it, but we also did not want to stray too far away from the original setting. We firstly looked at the plot of Alice in Wonderland, how she falls down a rabbit hole, meets friends, goes on a long journey and then comes back to reality which is also known as home. We used this storyline to try and replicate it within our game, how she is forced into an unknown world without any knowledge looking for a way to get back home. By using the plot of Alice in Wonderland, we were able to have a more structured setting for our game from start to finish, we took key elements from the original story line and changed them into a modern setting intake.

By using the abstract theme and setting of Alice in Wonderland, we thought about how we can create a unique world and environment based on a modern phenomenon and we figured because Alice is a teenager, we thought about what most teenagers would have and one of them would be the cell phone. With the rise of technology nowadays, one of the more notable rises is the cell phone era, nowadays a cell phone is essential to everyday life (Ehrenberg, Juckes, White, & Walsh, 2008)., it has many benefits that would help you and without a cell phone, it would be very hard to navigate or communicate with people while outside, so we wanted to use this concept and make a game out of it. Everything within the map relates to Alice in Wonderland or technology in one way or another, meaning we are sticking the theme and not striving away from it, what we didn’t want was to show by telling, but instead through the use of puzzles within our game. The end product should have our ideas along with an Alice in Wonderland Theme as the backbone of the whole game.

With the help of Unreal Engine 4, we hoped to make a game where people feel immersed, fun and enjoyable in a modern world with an Alice in Wonderland theme. We had puzzles, cinematics and heaps of fun mechanics implemented in hopes to have players feel excited, just like watching the movie, always making them wonder what is next and is there to explore. By being in our game players will be solving puzzles to open doors, they will wonder what’s beyond the doors to the next stage and so long as they are wondering what’s next into the world then our job as a team is done.

References:

-          Alice | Sabian Assembly. (2016). Sabian.org. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://sabian.org/sabian_alice.php

-          Ehrenberg, A., Juckes, S., White, K., & Walsh, S. (2008). Personality and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Young People’s Technology Use. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 739-741. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2008.0030

-          What is Information Era | IGI Global. (2016). Igi-global.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/information-era/36120

-          Sanctuaree l Andy Leung (2016). Retrieved 1 October 2016 from

http://leungandy.weebly.com/virtual-environments.html

-          Alice Wonderland Puzzle a. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2016, from http://www.flashgamesplayer.com/online/alice-wonderland-puzzle-a-free-online-game.html

 Conceptual Statement

For my Moving Objects paper, this semester I have teamed up with Martin and Shaydn to create an enjoyable and fun game called “Elica” which is a modern intake on the classic tale “Alice in Wonderland” ("Alice | Sabian Assembly", 2016). The original idea of “Elica” was to let people have fun by solving puzzles and riddles to move on in within the game, what we wanted to create since the beginning was a game with heavy mechanics and game development, so by using the aspects from the world of “Alice in Wonderland” we came up with many ideas and from those ideas we produced a lot of content all relating the theme of “Alice in Wonderland”, Overall the idea is to take Alice in Wonderland and twist it into a modern day theme, where it is relatable to a larger target audience who don’t necessarily have to understand or have read the novel or watched movies.

We wanted to base Alice’s story in our own world and project that through the lens of playing through a familiar yet mysterious environment and having to overcome obstacles along the way which is an underlying theme from the novel ("Alice | Sabian Assembly", 2016). Alice goes through many hardships and one of the main hardships is being alone and isolated from others. In our game you are placed in a world where you are lost and you have no clue what is happening unless you move forward, we thought that this would be a good idea as we are trying to relate to how Alice is feeling within the movie.

We also took upon a more modern approach on Alice in Wonderland, because we figured out how Alice is also just a teenager, we figured that it would be a good idea to reference her to the teenagers of our generation. There is something in common the teenagers of our world would have compared to Alice and that would be the always feeling lost and wanting somewhere where they feel that they belong to ("Alice | Sabian Assembly", 2016). The feeling of being alone came from Alice as she felt it at many parts throughout her journey in Wonderland. At certain times she would helpless, weak and discouraged.

Our level design is quite abstract and unique as we have walls within walls, giving off an idea where you need to break free from the place, just like in Alice in wonderland, where she is needed to break free of her fears and to move on. The level was designed in a way where the first section is your safe place and as you play the game and slowly proceed throughout the sections you will feel challenged and needing to solve riddles along with puzzles to move onto the next area and to get out.

The point of most game is to get from start to finish and in this case it is to try and get home from the elevator (rabbit hole). Within the story, Alice faced with many problems and is forced to adapt too many situations, so we referenced this within our game by putting obstacles and puzzles for you to solve in order to get home. Elica will be a game about trying to get home from a foreign unknown place. The game explores the idea of loneliness and the ability to adapt to the situation. We want to engage users in something new and unique all while expressing our creativity while using Alice in Wonderland as a reference.

What we also implemented were many platforms where players will have to jump upon in order to collect a piece of a puzzle, after collecting all the pieces they are then able to move onto the next stage, I thought this was a pretty good idea, because it brings in the puzzle aspect along with trying to solve problems before moving onto the next stage by being one of the mechanics that makes our game.

The relationship nowadays with teenagers and technology is something not be ignored, technology helps teenagers and people in many different ways to the point where it is needed to just live. Each action within the game relates to how technology is being used and one main factor of technology that we are using is the cell phone ("What is Information Era | IGI Global", 2016). The cell phone has many functions and one of its main function would be navigation, so we made the cell phone very essential to the player as it can help you with information and tell you where to go, what we also did was put battery packs throughout the map so that you have to collect them or else your phone would die essentially meaning game over. (Ehrenberg, Juckes, White, & Walsh, 2008).,

All in all “Alice in Wonderland” has been around for 150 years with many different takes on the story by many different people, “Elica” is our take on the story of “Alice in Wonderland” and we relate to it nowadays.

References:

-          Alice | Sabian Assembly. (2016). Sabian.org. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://sabian.org/sabian_alice.php

-          Ehrenberg, A., Juckes, S., White, K., & Walsh, S. (2008). Personality and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Young People’s Technology Use. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 739-741. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2008.0030

-          What is Information Era | IGI Global. (2016). Igi-global.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/information-era/36120

-          Sanctuaree l Andy Leung (2016). Retrieved 1 October 2016 from

http://leungandy.weebly.com/virtual-environments.html

Shaydn Estreich – Conceptual - 1323729

Ecila is a project created through the collaboration of game designers and the story of Alice in Wonderland. ("Alice | Sabian Assembly", 2016)Through Alice in Wonderland we grew many inspirations that affected our outcome. These come in the form of ideas/themes, characters and events that transpired throughout Alice. Our goal in the object performance paper was to create a game which was fun and engaging while still fitting the object performance brief of objects performing.

Ideas:

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,”-Alice “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” … “You must be,” “or you wouldn’t have come here”- Cheshire Cat ("Alice in Wonderland quotes - Alice-in-Wonderland.net", 2016)

The main idea which we tried to portray was the idea of “isolation and loneliness”, something Alice initially faces when she first appears in Wonderland. In our game you are “lost” in a strange place where you don’t know what is going on. With the idea of a, somewhat modern take on Alice in Wonderland we thought it would be good to reference the children of our generation. This lead to discovery of excessive use of technology within the younger generation and the addictive tendencies it brings.  (Ehrenberg, Juckes, White, & Walsh, 2008). The relationship between our young generation and technology is a common motif in our game. Each action relates back to technology which we can argue is the representation of the information age. ("What is Information Era | IGI Global", 2016).

Isolation came from the trapped feeling Alice begins to feel as she struggles to escape wonderland. Enclosed in walls users try to break out and become “free”. This is also a metaphor representing our generation. The first section is your safe haven, inside the walls you put up between yourself and others. As you play the game and slowly proceed through the sections you also fight to change and break out of your shell to reveal your true self as someone strong and willful.

Characters:

“you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad” – Chesire Cat (Carroll, 2016)

Cheshire Cat: The Cheshire Cat aside from Alice had the most influence in our game out of the characters in Alice in Wonderland. We really liked the way the Cheshire Cat viewed the world, and gave new perspectives of things we would think is common sense. We took in this different perception and implemented this into our riddles and clues. Cheshire cat also talks in riddle, a fitting representation of one of our main mechanics which is based around riddles.

“'So here's a question for you. How old did you say you were?'

Alice made a short calculation, and said 'Seven years and six months.'”

'Wrong!' Humpty Dumpty exclaimed triumphantly. 'You never said a word like it!'” – Humpty Dumpty to Alice (Carroll, 2016)

 Humpty Dumpty: Is the character which represents our second section and parts of our third section. He is the character which is based off the old nursery rhyme where he falls off a wall and splits into pieces. Our idea was that players would go and collect pieces (not of Humpty) and that would be a mechanic which would engage players and expose them to challenges.

“Mad Hatter, why is a raven like a writing-desk?” “Have you guessed the riddle yet?” “No, I give it up, what's the answer?” “ I haven't the slightest idea.” – Mad Hatter to Alice (Carroll, 2016)

 Mad Hatter: He is the representation of the third section and also the source of the “craziness” in our game. Everything seems random but links together to add to the bigger picture which is what we are going for.

 Events:

A key event which we referenced and drew inspiration from was when Alice ate a piece of mushroom and switched between growing and shrinking. This was a simple mechanic to implement into our game and gave a nice change in pace in how the game was played. The idea was to reference the quote the Caterpillar told Alice. By bringing the mechanic to the player’s controller, it brings a whole new dynamic to our game.

“'One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.” – Caterpillar  (Carroll, 2016)

 The goal of the game is a representation of the first Alice in Wonderland book in a whole. Basically it is to get “home”, while going through a journey. We start you off in a “safe zone” and then expose you to the modern setting which is a city. This is the same as how Alice falls down the rabbit hole (which we have metaphorically (elevator)) and is exposed to Alice in Wonderland making her wonder how to get home.

 Performing Objects:

 To get objects performing in our game was quite difficult. The reason being was that we were over thinking a lot about how objects should perform looking more in a theatrical direction. Once we started to interpret the brief in an advantageous way our true creativity came was shown. In the format of performing objects we have; door explosion, dynamic model sizes, sequences and more. We really wanted to incorporate our interpretation of objects performing while keeping to our theme of Ecila. This required reasoning on my end due to my nature of logical thinking. Although one embraced I managed to make the moving objects look even better with particle effects and blueprint scripting. What I found helped a lot was when our lecturer showed off animated performances of the 1933 Betty Boop in Blunderland ("Betty Boop-1933-Betty in Blunderland", 2016). It displayed a nice mix of story with performance, all the characters moved in a “funky” type of way and grew inspiration from this when detailing some of the objects in our project.

 Conclusion:

 Our project Ecila is the embodiment of how we interpreted Alice in a modern like setting. User’s problem solving ability and just pure hand co-ordination is tested. This is our answer to the brief of Object Performance while still achieving what we initially wished to do. Conceptually Ecila is rich in inspiration from not just Alice but also the younger generation of our real world.

 References:

-          Alice | Sabian Assembly. (2016). Sabian.org. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://sabian.org/sabian_alice.php

-          Alice in Wonderland quotes - Alice-in-Wonderland.net. (2016). Alice-in-Wonderland.net. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/resources/chapters-script/alice-in-wonderland-quotes/

-          Ehrenberg, A., Juckes, S., White, K., & Walsh, S. (2008). Personality and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Young People’s Technology Use. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 739-741. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2008.0030

-          What is Information Era | IGI Global. (2016). Igi-global.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/information-era/36120

-          Carroll, L. (2016). Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper. Cs.indiana.edu. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from https://www.cs.indiana.edu/metastuff/wonder/ch6.html

-          Carroll, L. (2016). Humpty Dumpty | Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll. Sabian.org. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://sabian.org/looking_glass6.php

-          Carroll, L. (2016). Advice from a Caterpillar | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. Sabian.org. Retrieved 1 November 2016, from http://sabian.org/alice_in_wonderland5.php

-          Carroll, L. (2016). A Mad Tea-Party | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. Sabian.org. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://sabian.org/alice_in_wonderland7.php

-          Betty Boop-1933-Betty in Blunderland. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 1 November 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf6RohRVKBY

                    Contextual Statement – Ecila – Shaydn Estreich - 1323729

The original context of choice governing what our project would be was game development. We wanted to create a game based off play mechanics without restriction. We had quite the shake up when we were moved from our original choice to be placed into one of a theatrical backing. Because of the switch, restrictions were placed on us, on what we could do and what we wanted to achieve. Initially we were lost, we didn’t know what to do nor where our place of contextual belonging was. Three aspiring game developers suddenly having our project options narrowed with restriction affected our mentality greatly. Before settling on our current project we questioned ourselves multiple times, “should we be game developers?”. It was disheartening being moved from your paper of choice which you have strived for since day one. I came to the conclusion that this “opportunity” is one which will enable me to grow as not only a developer but also as a person. You do not always get the jobs that you want, sometimes you have to grind through it and accept the decisions for what they are. This is a good opportunity for me to show case that I have this ability to take on tasks and projects which don’t “appeal” to me as a developer.

Our discovery of the idea “Ecila” and our contextual background of indie gaming development came from the influence of Alice in Wonderland along with our urge to hone our skills as developers. Our game revolves around subtle metaphors and references which represent our generation. An example of this is the metaphorical representation of technology and our current generation and the addictive tendency it has created. (Ehrenberg, Juckes, White, & Walsh, 2008). I wouldn’t call what we created a serious game because it does not bring awareness of any sort to the table. Using real world problems as inspiration for in game mechanics and aesthetics show cases our resourcefulness as creators and our creativity when “showing” the metaphor.

Proving to be one of the best games of its console by becoming Playstation’s player voted icon in 2008 ("Crash Bandicoot voted PlayStation Icon by OfficialPlayStation Magazine readers", 2016), Crash Bandicoot became my main source of inspiration outside of Alice. Through research into Crash game play ("Top 10 Crash Bandicoot Levels", 2016) we developed our own game mechanics which honed and emphasized our conceptual thinking. One website in particular helped myself a great deal. It was a biography / portfolio of Andy Gavin. On it was a very descriptive reflection on how he helped create Crash Bandicoot and process it took. (Gavin, 2011). What I discovered the most which helped me keep a level head through-out this project was how he described each event. The multiple emotions he described throughout the entries that I too have come across became very relatable. The more I read the more I felt like I started to feel influenced by his entries. My thought process was not as linear as it was before, I started questioning every action I did in relation to the game. The most asked question directed to not only myself but also my team mates was “why?”. Why should we add this? What benefit does this bring? What can we do with it? How does this relate to our concept? These questions were pushed constantly throughout the project to further our understanding of our own content.

Game design documents contributed greatly to my thought process. I found it essential to continue reading and learning throughout the project, regardless of what stage the project was at. By learning more about game design, the more I felt confident in voicing my ideas and disagreements. My mentality was not an “I know it all” one, it was more along the lines “I am learning so I can share my knowledge with you”. One article about game design stood out the most. It was written by James Marden (Marsden, 2016) and talked about the “checklist’ for indie game creation.

“Concept is Context’ – James Marden (Marsden, 2013)

What made our game fit the context of indie development was our decision to make games, but what decided Ecila’s belonging in this massive contextual space were the game mechanics and the idea behind the game, the concept.

It was not only Ecila which grew as the game progressed through development, but I felt I also grew with it. Blueprint scripting skills gained through repetitive use as well as the logic to implement and trouble shoot problems. I found that I was the go to guy if something in the code wasn’t working which was fine with me, as I gained more experience. The future of Ecila doesn’t look bright, but regardless it was the process in which I found the most satisfaction.

 References:

- Ehrenberg, A., Juckes, S., White, K., & Walsh, S. (2008). Personality and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Young People’s Technology Use. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 739-741. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2008.0030 

- Top 10 Crash Bandicoot Levels. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 27 September 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imGP1RYXJlo&feature=youtu.be&t=170

- Marsden, J. (2016). IndieGames.com The essential checklist for making an awesome video game, according to Futurlab. Indiegames.com. Retrieved 27 October 2016, from http://indiegames.com/2013/07/the_essential_checklist_for_ma_1.html

- Crash Bandicoot voted PlayStation Icon by OfficialPlayStation Magazine readers. (2016). Develop-online.net. Retrieved 27 October 2016, from http://www.develop-online.net/press-releases/crash-bandicoot-voted-playstation-icon-by-official-playstation-magazine-readers/0202143

- Perry, A. (2016). 5 ways 'Crash Bandicoot' made a huge impact in the world of video games. Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 28 October 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com.au/crash-bandicoot-impact-on-gaming-2016-6?r=US&IR=T#/#4-its-use-of-3d-was-mindblowing-4

- Gavin, A. (2011). Making Crash Bandicoot – part 1. All Things Andy Gavin. Retrieved 28 October 2016, from http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/2011/02/02/making-crash-bandicoot-part-1/

- Marsden, J. (2013). IndieGames.com The essential checklist for making an awesome video game, according to Futurlab. Indiegames.com. Retrieved 29 October 2016, from http://indiegames.com/2013/07/the_essential_checklist_for_ma_1.html

Hectic!

Just that one word. With this hand in, my university life is pretty much over and I have to wait patiently to see my grade.

The past week has been the most hectic out off all 12 weeks here, as usual. I feel our team worked well this semester compared to last semester. BUT we seemed to have our focus too narrowed on our project that we looked over the small things. Like testing the second tv properly and getting headphones etc.

THIS could have been avoided if we werent so set on creating something good for our last year. Because of our inability to look at the larger picture we may have cost us a majourity of our grade unfortunately. Multiple problems can arise now. Say the tv turns off, the game stops working, the pc turns off, etc.

Final Studio Exhibition Submission - Lost in Wonderland