Absence note for Practice in Context (11/12/2012)

Unfortunately due to a sickness bug in the winter of 2012 I was unable to take part in this session.

I hope that I will be able to go back and complete any work set for this day, but until then I just felt it was only fair to write in my blog why the work was not put online.

Presentations 2 (26/11/2012)

Feedback on 'Meta-fiction and The 4th wall in video gaming':

Personal notes on this presentation: 

• The fourth wall is the barrier between the player and content e.g. the character Deadpool from Marvel Comics is always breaking the fourth wall as he knows he is in a comic book.
• Meta-fiction is similar to the fourth wall in that parodies are used e.g. Easter eggs that the player can find in games that reference other franchises.
• Both of the above are fun to include in video games as players love this type of humour and discovery. However, if the game is meant to be serious then including these may not be a good idea as it can disrupt the intended atmosphere of the game. 

• Used a lot of very good images and even Gifs which was nice to see as this was the only presentation to include animated aspects.
• Very confident and loud. They also asked the audience for input at points which I felt kept us engaged. However, even though it was a very good presentation only one of the pair spoke, the other did try at the end, but was left with nothing more to say. Therefore maybe next time they should try and figure out who says what, otherwise it may seem unfair on the other person who didn't talk, though this could just as easily be a confidence issue.  

Lecturer's thoughts:

• An example of a movie to break the 4th wall is at the end of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' when the police stop the epic battle from happening at the end by rounding up the knights and one of them even covers up the camera with his hand, thus ending the movie.  
• Pantomime also uses a lot of these features as the characters are constantly engaging with the audience and making pop culture references. 

Feedback on 'Stereotypes, Male versus Female':

Personal notes on this presentation: 

• Used good examples e.g. the protagonist from the first 'Silent Hill' game is a caring and vulnerable hero with a skinny build, whereas Marcus from 'Gears of War' is a super musical solider that uses a lot of swearing, thus the stereotype seen in most war games. However, whereas the first character example character is more human and thus players may relate to him better, Marcus is also a lot of fun to play as as he is what most people would call a 'bad ass'.
• Princess Peach from the 'Mario' series is almost always captured in ever single game and thus not only is she the damsel in distress, but she is also the player's goal in terms of saving her. Whereas Lara Croft from the series of the same name is a strong female character who has proved over the years that she can look after herself. She is however also considered a sex symbol as the first game in her series was created by an all male team who set out to create a likable female character in gaming due to the past industries shortage of them.  
• Ashley from 'Resident Evil 4' is a example of a very bad female character in gaming as although she is meant to be the President's daughter she seems unable to not only defend herself, but also look after herself, thus the player is forced to constantly save her in this game. 

• Used a lot of good images as examples for their presentation. 
• Overall a good presentation, shame one of the group was missing, but at least someone else stepped in to read his notes.  

Feedback on 'Female Characters & their Representation in Games': 

Personal notes on this presentation: 

• Talked about how video games over sexualise women and make them look weak or sulty in games. Sadly however they didn't have an overall conclusion. This was a shame as the girl who spoke brought up some good examples and interesting points.    
• Their slides seemed to be covered in lots of example images that were both good examples and related well to the presentation. This was good as they did have text, but at the same didn't over fill the pages with them as I have seen before. 
• Sadly most of the group looked bored and hesitated to back up the only girl who spoke who was nervous. This was a shame as most of the group was female and thus their opinions could have strengthened whatever argument they were trying to get across. However I say good on the girl who spoke and gave it her all, thus making the presentation interesting to listen to.  

• At the end of the presentation I decided to ask them what they thought of the new upcoming Lara Croft game as this one will still portray her as a capable character, but will also make her more human as she is put into vulnerable situations and reacts to them realistically. In response they said they did like this change for the series and look forward to seeing how it turns out.     

Peer comments:

• This group as well as other peer members brought up the fact the many Japanese games put their characters (both men and women) in revealing outfits and argued whether this was a good thing or not in gaming. I personally believe, as others in the group did that this is merely a cultural thing, and whereas they can over do it at times they have been known to come up with some wonderful and orignal designs which help to keep their games fresh in comparison to others.
  

Feedback on 'History in games':

Personal notes on this presentation: 

• Talked about the history seen in gaming and how games don't always get it right e.g. technology, architecture and character appearances.    

• Used mountains of white text on peach backgrounds which overcrowded the screen and made it hard to see. This together with the fact that they went through the slides very quickly meant that you couldn't read them in time, let alone understand what the pages were saying. 
• Did a lot of research as demonstrated by their examples. 
• Some slides were just read to us and not simplified.
• All of them had the chance to talk and even though some were nervous they at least gave it their all.  

Lecturer's thoughts:

•  Historical games can still be unrealistic e.g. endless waves of the 'evil Nazi's'.

Feedback on 'Grand Theft Auto, Female representation':

Personal notes on this presentation: 

• Women in the series don't wear a lot of suitable clothing and tend to be over sexaualised.
• The game contains lots of controversial content including the 'hot coffee' mod that allows the player to play a mini game in which they have sex with their girlfriend. 
• No female cops seen until the previews of the upcoming GTA5. 
• GTA5 will be the first GTA to feature three playable characters, however, all of them are male, thus continuing the GTA trend of no playable female characters. 
• All the GTA posters have always had suggestive women on them e.g. revealing clothes and big chests.  

• Only one person did the presentation, but he was confident and overall did very well. 
• Used too much text on the screen, but explained it well.
• Did a lot of research as he gave many good examples. 

Feedback on 'The killing of children in video games':

Personal notes on this presentation: 

• As some game developers are concerned  with having the killing of children featured in their titles some don't allow the player to kill or even harm children e.g. 'Fallout 3' and 'Skyrim'. Yet some games have included the death of children in them including the 'Persona' series and 'Zone of Enders'.

• Good simplified slides, but went through them far too quickly and had no images. 
• Only one of the two talked, but he was confident and the topic was interesting.  
• Overall, the presentation was short, but sweet.

Peer comments:

• Some peers after the presentation argued that players should be able to kill children in video games as you can already kill adults and that an adult could just as easily be as innocent as a child.

Lecturer's thoughts:

•  A morial justification should be included in games if gamers want this feature to be included.

Conclusion:

After paying attention to two weeks of presentations I am pleased to have seen and heard many interesting topics which have made me think.
Although it was a shame to see many members in the groups looking bored and/or hesitant to even take part or help their team members.
I look forward to covering these topics again in the future as I am always interested in not only the gaming industry, but also the content of it titles and how they deal with difficult subjects, breaking new ground and the representation of characters. 

Presentations 1 (26/11/2012)

Lecturer and peer feedback on our group presentation 'Relationships and Sexuality in Gaming': 

Personal thoughts:  

• Stumbled at first but got slightly better later. Likely due to trying to make sure I was clear enough. This surprised me as not only do I have a long drama background, but I also rehearsed it before the start of the session. I cannot put it down to nerves as I wasn't nervous at all, however I was still unsure on how the group would react and therefore feared that they may of criticised it and/or not taken it seriously as in my previous course.
• I had imagined I would be able to present my work with no difficulties. And whereas the enthusiasm was there my words were not. For next time I may use a similar method to the safety net by using cue cards with notes or my words on them. That way I don't always end up looking down at my sheet of paper like I was forced to do for this presentation. 

Peer comments:

• People liked it and didn't complain or contradict our work.
• Someone recommended that we could have used in our category Gender Confusion the Golum from Dragon Age: Origins who, at the end of the game found out they used to be female and not male as they had suspected.

Lecturer's thoughts:

• Very well done and to the standards our lecturer would expect later in this foundation course. 
• Used very good and interesting examples.
• Using notes was absolutely fine the lecturer said as it gave me a safety net and helped me to stop mumbling later. Especially since I saw others do this later.  

Feedback on 'The Legend of Zelda' presentation: 

Personal notes on this presentation:  

• The content was rather random, but overall the presentation was fun as they used interesting and amusing images. 
• Talked about how the Tri-force represents courage, power and wisdom which relates even to today e.g. politicians and rulers need a balance of all three of these in order to do well. This was also represented in the game with the need to own all three pieces to unlock the tri-force's true power.
• Link is a representation of courage as he never talks. Thus he excepts his responsibility without complaining. 
• Legend of Zelda has dark themes sure, but it is suitable for young players as well. 

• Understood their subject, but had not decided who talked about what in advance, therefore it felt very disorganised.
• Kept good eye contact with the audience.

Lecturer's thoughts:

• Lecturer suggested from watching this presentation that the group should maybe read the video game books known as 'The Philosophy of...'. Different variants exist including Zelda.

Feedback on 'Ethnic Representation within Grand Theft Auto (And game design in general)' presentation: 

Personal notes on this presentation: 

• They talked about how the games deliberately exaggerate themselves. 
• They contrasted the games class structure of the rich and poor with lower gang members and higher up drug lords. 
• They talked about how over exaggerating something runs the risk of people taken it too seriously e.g. racism and the depiction of current issues like immigration.  
• Uses influences from film as well in order to convey stories and characters. 
• Uses a lot of stereotypes e.g. black gang members.

• Used notes 'safety net' to help them which is a good thing. However, they only read their lines and didn't put much emotion into them. Didn't look much at audience either.
• Presentation could have used images which it lacked. 

Lecturer's thoughts:

•  GTA is set in America, but is writing by British writers.

Feedback on 'Choice in Games, How does choice affect gaming? presentation: 

Personal notes on this presentation: 

•  Both books and games have used choices in order to progress the game.
• Some games change depending on the players choices e.g. Fable. 
• In Dishonored depending on the players tactics e.g. murderer or stealth the ending will change. Thus its the players actions and not choices that change the ending. 

• They used plenty of images.
• Kept calm and clear. Spoke to the audience as well.
• Used very good examples of games with choices e.g. Ultima and Deus Ex. 

Peer comments:

• Good examples of choice in game by audience: Heavy Rain as a main character can die in just the first thirty minutes! And yet the story continues.
• Choice games are also becoming popular as people like to talk about what choices they made compared to others e.g. The Walking Dead.
• Games need to go beyond just black and white story telling and instead go more grey with a true non-linear narrative.

Presentations on Game space (13/11/2012)

Each one of our groups were tasked with presenting a demonstration of a game space we were given. Below are my opinions and those of my peers:

Feedback on our game space (Text Adventure game):

A lot of people really enjoyed our presentation on 'Snow-Tal Recall' and overall felt that we spoke confidently and had put together an informative and visually appealing slide show.
As for ideas our group felt that you could include character skills alongside the character customisation that we had come up with. They also really liked the survival idea as it would add something not usually seen in games, but also add the suspense of making sure you did what you had to do quickly.
Personally I felt our presentation was really good, but I feel we missed the opportunity to tell people more about our game's story as some of the others groups did with theirs e.g. talk more about the helicopter crash and the forgotten city you find in our game. 

Split screen space:

The idea for this game was that both players had their own side of their split screen and would have to jump up descending platforms in order to not only avoid falling into the lava, but to also try and shoot the other player as they are in the same area. The catch to this game however, was that you would have to watch both your screen and your opponents as not only are they invisible on your screen, but so are their projectiles and platforms.   
Therefore the concept of having 'screen watching' as a positive in a game rather than a negative interested most of the group as we hadn't seen anything like it before. We also felt that this would be interesting as more people play online instead of playing split screen with their friends in the same room. We felt that this was a shame as having your colleagues in the same room with you allows you to also eat together and jokingly beat each other up when one of them keeps winning. 

Wraparound space:

For this game space the group came up with the idea in which up to four players drove around an arena trying to destroy one another with an assortment of crazy weapons that the group loved including a rail gun, acid launcher and even a gun that fires a bear! The players would see the action take place at a bird's eye view and the wraparound space itself would allow the cars to drive through one side and reappear at another (think Pacman). 
One idea that one of my fellow peers came up with was the inclusion of portals in order to make the transition from one side of the arena to the other seem more plausible. 
Overall I enjoyed this fun presentation just as much as the confident group who came up with the ideas did.

2D side scroller space: 

This group came up with the idea of telling the story of Frankenstein and his wife on their honeymoon. When they visit a restaurant they are suddenly attacked by angry peasants. Depending on whether the player chooses to play as Frankenstein or his wife the player's goal will be to run away (not always in one piece) from a variety of threats whilst collecting their loved one's body parts that have been scattered around the land, thus bringing them back to life using electricity.
On the whole I was quite interested by this idea as not only was the concept art for it good, but you also had to electrocute yourself in order to return your depleting health back to normal. However, using any of your special abilities also consumes health and therefore the player would have to think quickly in order to decide the best course of action in certain situations. 
Another interesting thing they said was that the ending was deliberately going to be harsh on the player as no matter what, Frankenstein and his wife would finally be burned to death on a windmill similarly to how the book Frankenstein ended.This ending is certainly different to most games, but whether or not that is a good thing would depend on the way it was done. Therefore I remember saying that the game could perhaps have a 'true' ending should the player complete certain objectives.
Overall as you can tell this group put a lot of effort and ideas into their work, they also seemed very confident and sounded as though they knew what they were talking about. Therefore, well done to this group for an excellent presentation.

2D contained space:

From what I could hear and understand the next group decided to create a game in which the player had to get from one side of the screen to the other through randomly generated dungeons whilst spikes on the ceiling lowered to stop the player's progress.
When creating this game idea they used numerous game space examples including a Dungeons and Dragons board, but in the end decided to make it more of a platforming dungeon crawler, or so I presume. 
As you can guess from my description this group were unfortunately not very clear or audible, therefore I struggled to understand what their game was entirely about and think that the rest of the group may have had a similar problem. 

2 axis space:

When asked to describe their game (Kung Fu Cleaner) this group responded by saying that you would be "Kicking ass and cleaning trash". This made sense as the 1-4 players playing this arcade style fighter are expert martial artist bin men who have to pick up trash to collect points and beat up evil hobos. So a game similar to 'Metal Slug' and the arcade version of 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'.
One fear that my peers had was that players got to beat up homeless people, thus that may be a negative part of the game and one that some people may find offensive. In response the team clarified that the hobos would not only be evil, but the game itself would be rated 18+, thus allowing them to possibly get away with the content.
The game sounded and looked very silly from the example drawing they showed, but this is probably why we all loved the idea of it so much. Overall I would say that it was a very good presentation with a very good concept. However, for a team of five not everyone had a say, therefore if this team were to work alongside one another again they should at least give everyone a chance to contribute, even less confident group members.

Isometric space:

Taking inspiration from tactical games like 'Xcom' and 'Sims City', 'Geoscape' is a game unlike others as the player doesn't directly control the AI, nor does the AI know of the existence of the player. Instead the player creates the world's resources and controls its weather. For example, the player can fill the planet with numerous resources that would benefit the races who live on it, thus stopping them from thinking about war. Otherwise the player may spend their time making the planet full of deadly materials that may force the inhabitants to fight for new areas to live in, in order to survive.
When I first heard the idea I was intrigued, I had not heard anything like it before and it sounded like it would make for a good 'protect the environment' type game. However, many of my peers thought that not being able to control the AI may stop the player from succeeding in their goals e.g. the player may want peace, but the AI may want war and vice versa. In response to this fair question the group said that this would be part of the game's general life like simulation as the player would set their own goals and overcome setbacks when necessary, rather like in 'Minecraft'. They further went on to say that the player would be able to take on certain set objectives in order to play the game in other ways e.g. make peace or prepare the planet for an alien invasion in a limited number of years.  
Overall I was very impressed by this group as not only did they stay calm when asked numerous hard and almost harsh questions about their game, but they were able to answer them in rapid succession and with answers that made sense. Thus keeping their cool in tight spots and making for a clear presentation.

Limited 3D space:

Coming up with perhaps the weirdest game idea, this group's game (Collision) is about alien blades of grass escaping in a space ship from a planet of evil cows trying to eat them, their destination, a planet of T-rexs as they won't eat the grass due to being carnivores. However, the ship is hit which causes it to spin out of control, therefore the player has to steer the spinning ship in order to get past the enemy cow ships shooting at them. To avoid these attacks the player can move left and right out of their line of fire and then using their life absorbing cannon steal health from them in order to try and repair the ship.
The game play is meant to be reminiscent to the orignal first person Star Wars arcade game, however the spinning ship idea concerned some of us. Therefore when we asked if the screen would stay stationary they said no as they deliberately wanted it to be a hard core game. This is concerning as although their idea sounds fun the spinning screen idea, depending on its speed could make the players feel sick and therefore want to stop playing the game. Perhaps if they were to remove the spinning screen completely or only make this happen on the hard difficulty setting then this would be ok. 
Now whereas this group was originally reluctant to start they ended up being very good and overcoming their fears. Therefore I congratulate them for getting up, but would perhaps recommend them being a bit fairer on the players for their next idea. After all, you want people to buy your games, not avoid them. 

Adjacent spaces:   

From memory I think that this group did not have a presentation to show due to a missing team member who had the work. Unfortunately instead of standing up and at least trying to explain their idea they were reluctant to even take part and just sat down and talked, thus making the presentation unprofessional.
Their idea itself was a point and click horror game similar to other games such as 'Clock Tower' and 'Maniac Mansion'. There would be suits of armour in the game that you would later find out hid the crazy man following you. However, they didn't really talk about much else which is a shame as I love point and click games, although from the sounds of things they did plenty of research by playing an assortment of point and click games, but probably didn't get round to doing much if anything after that.
Overall, it could have been nerves and the lack of a presentation that put them off talking about their work, but I wish they could have been a bit more engaging.

Side notes: 

• 'Quest' is the same free to download online program that the second years are using. Using this program would allow me to create text adventure games and thus get a head start on what I will be doing in the future in order to learn about writing in games.
• Overall as a task I really enjoyed it as each group demonstrated their creative mind sets and came up with fun and original ideas for game spaces that they would perhaps not otherwise have thought of. These results were exactly what the lecturer was looking for as it teaches us how to leave our comfort zone and beat the limitations and obstacles we have been set by using our vivid imaginations. This is quite possibly good training for the game's industry as who knows what games we will have to make and what will be required of us in the future.

Group assignments (29/10/2012)

During half term my group met up in order to complete the two group assignments. We prepared a PowerPoint presentation for our talk on relationships and sexuality in video games, and another PowerPoint presentation which describes our text based adventure game.These can be seen below:

'Relationships and Sexuality in Video Games' presentation:

'Creating a text adventure' presentation:

Overall I am very pleased with both of these and I look forward to presenting them soon.

Notes on Environmental Story Telling (24/10/2012):

Four types of environmental story telling exists. Below are the four examples with notes to explain included what they mean.

Evocative Spaces:

• Feels like your playing in a familiar environment, whether that be because the player recoginses from a existing franchise or something similar to one. For example, playing a movie based game the player will more likely get more enjoyment out of the game from reenacting beloved scenes from the film. Whereas playing a game like Red Dead Redemption (a cowboy game) may put the player in familiar territory seen in cowboy movies such as the scenario of pistols at dawn.  
• Above also relates to theme park rides as visitors love to 'step in' into a visual representation of a story they may know and love. 
• Using Evocative space could also be useful if a game's company decided to retell a known story of a existing franchise e.g. creating a darker version of the children's book Alice in Wonderland with the video game known as American McGee's Alice.  
• Overall, the use of evocative space is very useful as people often prefer to start with something familiar with which they feel secure in, before they move on to something different. If the environment is totally unconnected to anything they know or have experience off then the player will feel no emotional or sentimental attraction to it and they may reject the game all together.     

 Enacting Stories:

• The key features of these stories is the environments and not the plot.
• Instead of relying more on a story, games that use enacting stories are basically games that rely on the player exploring for every hidden thing rather than a narrative e.g. Sonic and Hedgehog.  
• The player's satisfaction comes from finishing both a level and the game itself rather than working through an in depth narrative.
• Sometimes the narrative is told through the background e.g. trails of blood and burning buildings. In these stories there is a strong sense of a journey.    

Embedded Narratives:

• The Mises-en-Scene contains the story.
• Often this can also mean when multiple stories are mixed in with one another, thus making the player correct the narratives order. e.g. One story could be chronological and the other out of sequence, in short polysemic which means having multiple meanings and interpretations as seen in Indigo Prophecy.

  
Emergent Narrative:

• The player is able to interpret or re-imagine the story of a game in any way they want as there is no built in narrative within the game and the player is therefore able to construct their own narrative within the confines of the environments they are given. E.g. The Sims in which you create a family and make them live their lives the way you want them to. You may also make them look familiar to people you know so they have relevance to the player's situation in real life. For example, the player might chose to play as a character they would secretly like to be in real life and one that lives they live in a way they want to but can't. Modding games also works as you can replace character models with anyone imaginable and therefore come up with the scenarios for why these characters are in the game's world. 
• In short, the story is constructed by the player.  

Harvard Referencing:

• Banks, R. (2010) 'Sims 3' screen shot [Online image]. Available at: http://www.brashgames.co.uk/2010/11/03/the-sims-3-xbox-360-review/ (Accessed: 24/10/2012).  
• Ron. (2010) 'Sonic the Hedgehog' screen shot [Online image]. Available at: http://www.retrogameoftheday.com/2010/01/retro-game-of-day-sonic-hedgehog.html (Accessed: 24/10/2012).  
• Unknown. (2011) 'Red Dead Redemption' screen shot [Online image]. Available at: http://www.ireddead.com/guide/reddeadredemption/duels/ (Accessed: 24/10/2012). 
• Unknown. (Unknown)Indigo Prophecy screen shot [Online image]. Available at: http://www.adventurelantern.com/reviews/indigoProphecy/indigoProphecy.htm (Accessed: 24/10/2012).

Practice in Context Notes (23/10/2012):

Narrative Spaces (See article Narrative Spaces by Henry Jenkins.):

• "Game designers don't simply tell stories, they design worlds and and sculpt spaces". 
• Narrative exists outside the game space e.g. the experience.
• D&D: "The Dungeon Master's activities start with designing the space... where the the players' quest will take place".
• Environments should be able to tell stories or contain elements that can be easily interpreted as story e.g. imagery and character types. Good example: The Lord of the Rings, it could be argued that it is just 3 movies/books based on walking.
• Does a game have to use an 'on-rails' system in order to tell a story or not?
• Freedom over story telling, or story telling over freedom? e.g. Should story telling be done through cut scenes which the player can or can't skip? Or through game play that you can miss by accident?  
• In such games as The Sims and Journey the player can create their own stories in order to replace a lack of narrative. 
• Good examples of things I should try to watch and play: The movie Memento and the video games American McGee's Alice, GTA4 and Star Ship Titanic. 

Latest group assignment:

My latest task is to pick a subject seen in video games and analyse it using examples with the group I worked with previously (Jim, Bonnie and I). We will need to present our findings as a presentation. We will have 2-3 weeks in order to complete this presentation.

What we could talk about:

• Sexual diversity. 
• Historical representation. 
• Violence and how we perceive it differently in video games as opposed to movies. 

What we decided on: 

• Homosexuality and relationships in video games. 

Game examples we can use: Persona 4, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, Dragon Age, Red Dead Redemption, Mario and Grand Theft Auto.  

Practice in Context Notes (16/10/2012):

• Text based adventures can create worlds and spaces without visuals. 
• Read the book 'Space Time Play'.

Characterizing of space.

Different Game Spaces: 

• Text based game space or imaginative game space. e.g. Zork and Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. 

• Contained 2D space (screen does not move). e.g. Pong and Space Invaders. 

• Wraparound space (A visual representation of infinity) e.g. Asteroids and Pacman. Or recently Eve Online. Einstein once said that "Space is Infinite".  

• Spaces that scroll along one axis (the screen moves with the player character). e.g. Spy Hunter and Defender. 

• Scrolling along two axis e.g. Gauntlet and Hockey. (This adds an element of choice). 

• Adjacent spaces one room at a time (the player can enter into new areas/rooms). e.g. E.T for the Atari. 

• Scrolling with multiple background layers. e.g. Streets of Rage and Double Dragon. In short, this is how the backgrounds move with the player i.e. when the player is on a train the background will go past super fast. 

• Limited 3D space: Perspective in the scene (space moves towards the player as the player moves around the screen) e.g. the old Star Wars arcade game where you played inside an X-wing fighter.  

• Isometric 3D space (the player moves along an isometric screen) e.g. Paper Boy.

• Window to the outdoors (as if the player is looking outside through a window) e.g. Duckhunt.

• Two spaces on one screen/silkscreen. e.g. Spy v.s Spy.

• Video Capture (filming a person and then putting their sprites into the game e.g. photo capture) e.g. Mortal Kombat. 

• Mapped space - pre-rendered panaramas (when the player chooses to go somewhere and therefore activates a per-rendered video that takes them to that location. And when the player is looking at the screen stuff happens. Like a video is playing whilst the player plays the game) e.g. Myst. 

• Early 3D space - One horizontal plane (a mix of 2D character sprites and 3D game spaces) e.g. Original Doom and Wolfenstein.    

• Full 3D space - horizontal / vertical movement (the ability to look and go almost anywhere) e.g. Call of Duty and Half Life 2.  

Creating a concept for text based adventure game:

In order to create both an enjoyable and semi-functioning concept for text based adventure game, our group was told to research and play numerous text adventure games. Therefore my group, which consists of Jim, Bonnie and me played both Zork and the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the computers. Thus learning important lessons such as how a text adventure game is played, what one looks like and how one functions.

Following this research we decided to set our text based adventure game in the frozen arctic and make it consist of mystery, discovery and survival.
We also wanted to make sure that it felt original whilst keeping a close connection to previous text adventure games in terms of how they looked and how they were played . We also wanted to include the tongue in cheek humor that these games usually included.

The following are things that we felt were also important to include in our game concept.

• Mock game play in the form of pre-written text that closely resembles original text adventure games. 
• Deliberately poor illustrations made for certain scenes in the game by using the program Paint  as a nod to previous titles in the genre.  
• Cover image for the games non existing box art.
• A map of the game's world. 
• Possibly a presentation on the concept which contains more information on the features that would be included such as charterer customization and other features. 

Harvard Referencing:

• Cormier, J. (2013) 'Pacman' Screenshot [Online image]. Available at: http://digitaldeconstruction.com/win-pacman/#.UZI6YaPAGnA (Accessed: 16/10/2012).   
• Grossman, L. (2010) 'Zork' Screenshot [Online image]. Available at: http://levgrossman.com/tag/zork/ (Accessed: 16/10/2012).  
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Semiotic Interpretation of ‘Left 4 Dead’ (9/10/2012)

Semiotic Interpretation of ‘Left 4 Dead’

Robin Foale        9/10/2012

I have chosen an image from ‘Left 4 Dead’ because I wanted to both talk about and analyse a game that I enjoy and therefore feel I can write about in some detail.  

The game ‘Left 4 Dead’ is all about team work as each player plays as one of four survivors of the zombie apocalypse. They must each work together to survive the campaign they are playing as on their own they are vulnerable, whereas together they are strong.

Numerous things can be seen and interpreted in the video game ‘Left 4 Dead’ both when playing it and just viewing it on its own merits as in the image above. For example:

·         Looking at the image you can see directly in the middle of your view a considerable amount of blood and a mangled body.

This suggests that this is the scene of a recent and violent kill. Also the amount of blood shown clearly indicates that this is a bloody / violent game.

·         We can also see four characters facing in different directions who are all carrying guns.

Perhaps the characters in this picture are thugs? This would be suggested since the character in the middle looks as if he belongs in a biker gang (often associated with trouble). Therefore, perhaps they killed the person on the floor. We do not know if they killed in self-defence or for another reason.    

·         The setting of this image is inside a building which appears rather bare as there is not much furniture and no carpeting. The furniture that is in the main room does not appear comfortable and looks more like old office furniture. In addition, the windows are boarded up.

All this gives the house an uneasy atmosphere and looking at this image one might assume that the building is abandoned by its owners and / or used by squatters or other groups who own the equipment on the table.

·         There is a lack of light in the house. What light you see in the image comes from the flash lights on the character’s weapons and the odd source of light in room next door. Why would the light not be on? Why would these characters need to use their flash lights?

One assumes the building is either out of power, or the occupants did not want to attract the attention of others. This is supported further with the use of boarded up windows as this can is a sure tell sign that either those inside the house do not want things getting in.

·         The character’s clothing looks unwashed and they also have beards.

This suggests that these characters have possibly lived rough for quite a while.

·         The colour palette for this game is manly dark colours that gives an almost ‘worn out’ or unkempt appeal as you can tell that the characters clothes and the environment where once colourful but are now dulled.

Thus further suggests that the events (in the game) have been going on for a while.

·         On closer inspection the papers on the floor look like maps and charts.

Therefore, maybe the corpse was killed for these, or he tried to steal them, thus further explaining why they are scattered all over the floor.

·         Lots of shadows can be seen in the image.

Perhaps the amount of shadows in the game suggests that this game is going to be scary and atmospheric.

·         Two of the characters seem to be facing one another whilst the one in the immediate foreground appears to be running away.

Maybe these characters are fighting one another? That would then explain both the body on the floor and the positions of the characters. However, the positions may suggest that these characters are working together and they are also looking out for one another as each one seems to make sure that each corner is covered.

·         All of the characters have their weapons at the ready.  

Despite the dead body they all seem to be aware of danger present although the building appears empty, thus suggesting that they are perhaps in a constant danger. The above would also perhaps suggest that the game is a co-operative four player game.

·         The characters themselves are mixed demographically in terms of gender, race and possibly occupation. Perhaps they would not usually be seen with one another due to their distinctive differences. For example, you wouldn’t normally see a biker who is usually considered to be a trouble maker hanging out with an army veteran who is generally seen as a law enforcer.

This implies that something has brought these very different characters together in the first place.

Evaluation:

If I were to do this task again I believe that I would try and find an image of a game that I do not know about or haven’t played. That way I believe I would be able to write a more accurate semiotic interpretation due to not having an experience with the game and thus my writing would only be based on what I could see and my own assumptions.   

Referencing:

• Bland, S. (2009) Left 4 Dead Screenshot [Online image]. Available at:http://darkzero.co.uk/asset/2009/01/left-4-dead-2.jpg (Accessed: 9/10/2012).