idea updates etc

Haven't been posting much as much research has been needed before i could really advance. Have also been busy tying my ideas to theory work that's been looked at mainly in class.

The fully formed idea at the moment is a game for kids that allows them to update levels and design it as they play. I decided to design it for kids (again) after talking to Rona Innes about my concerns of pigeon holing myself. She said if that's what i want to specialise in then its fine to revolve most of my projects around that.

Anyway, the game will be an online flash game where players draw on the screen to solve problems and pass on to the next level.

The narrative has the theme of children's nightmares. Playing a lot of 'escape from the room' gave me this idea, as well as talking to Sarah Strickett who advised me to look into old stories for children by the likes of the brothers grimm who wrote very creepy stories.

Using this theme players can design their own characters, perhaps things they've had nightmares of witches, vampires etc and upload them to the website where they can then be designed into a character the player can battle.

I like the idea of having players draw on the screen mainly using a wacom tablet as this incorporates the idea of having a replica of an old media (pen and paper) to interact with something contemporary.

Many of the theories in "the myth of interactivity" (manovich) relate back to my idea for the game. "New media is interactive. In contrast to old media where the order of presentation is fixed, the user can choose which elements to display or which paths to follow, thus generating a unique work. In this way the user becomes the co-author of the work"

The above quote links back to the idea of designing the game as its played, therefore making it completely unique when it is updated and also allowing the user to become the co-creator of the work rather than just a consumer, combining the idea of wikinomics

The whole idea needs some fine tuning, like how exactly it will work and the limitations of it, rather than going too far and having too many elements. Also need to look at more examples of games (preferably online) that allow users to design and upload levels for others to play.

Will now start the design process for the aesthetics of the game and upload some images of this soon.

mulings

started to think more about my dissertation and am interested in the idea of sound used in movies, as mentioned in a previous post i think. Was guided to a term called "text painting" meaning the musical technique of having the music mimic the literal meaning of a song. In film however i believe this means more having the action sync the music.

One of the main examples that springs to mind is a scene in an old movie (1961 i think) called "The Errand Boy".


This scene perfectly captures what i like in films and i think there is quite a lot to write about and have also found that the term "text painting" or "mickey mousing" can have some negative connotations, particularly with film makers and critics and although I haven't found a lot of theory on this as yet I have found a few blogs that talk about these terms, the impications and examples which could prove to be useful.

Mickey Mousing

Sound as Vision

Now I have my starting point i need to find a few more examples of films and perhaps get quite specific. E.g films based in New York particularly Scorsese's work have music and sound that specifically relate to the time period and setting.

and now for something completely different

now that hellish essay is out of the way, never ever to be looked at again ever, i can start thinking about something useful, like computer games.

loads of games have been suggested to me and one of my favourites is "Attack of the Funky Disco Zombies" which looks really pretty.



Not highly intuative which does give me something to think about for hints and tips in games, whether they're truly needed or take away some of the challenge. Also with constant hints does that make the game bad? should they be intuative without any sort of help. Same with instructions, maybe we should just know how to play something without being told if arrow keys or mouse movement is required.

Just been told about a game that has no instructions and is completely intuative. Fl0w reminds me of that old school snake game found on horrible brick like mobiles but much prettier.

Maybe within the narrative pieces at the beginning of games and the cut sequences helps in someway without actually telling the player all the whats, whys and hows. Like in playstation games, specifically the platform games so many cut scenes act as tutorials.

Also really need to think about the audience for my prospective game, if i make it for kids would it then be too boring or simple for older people to play? Do i need to make the narrative appropriate for a wide range of people? Or do i really need a narrative at all? Maybe the narrative could be built as it is played. Although i like the idea of a narrative.

i generally tend to think that what makes a game a success or more enjoyable is a clear cut goal, a good narrative and intuative but slightly challenging. I think more research is needed into this aspect and Chris Crawford seems to be my man.

I have a bit of an idea for a narrative, but seems quite focused on being for kids, which all my work seems to be about. I don't know if i want to get bogged down with the same sort of stuff or just go with it and make it what i specialise in.

Too many thoughts - bloody essay

specicicicicficity

horrible, evil essay. long words. long unnecessary words. long unnecessary boring words. little understanding and few points. not all doom and gloom, i did discover the word 'ghetto-isation' which is lovely and i will find a way to fit it into my dissertation somehow, and the word 'youtube-isation' which probably doesnt exist but can be coined for the sake of academia.

this blog is really just me regurgitating my notes into something that is readable:

- new media age dematerialised - not tangible whereas a sculpture for example is physically there.

- systems theory - cybernetics and shit. systems that exist in sociology, technology and culture etc and transfer them into other things e.g. group of people and how they systematically interact can be transferred to computers
re: system art - Simon Morse

"Todays 'new' media quickly becomes defunct, and the object of nostalgia and aestheticisation"


prioritising of non-visual aspects of the work e.g. Ellie Rees cake film was not about the visuals of cake (cake or death)
modernist priority was pure function and staying true to materials etc and in opposition it is now subordinate

what a load of old cack

theory stuff

Brief lecture about the text we had to read came up with some interesting points. Most of which i either can't understand or can't remember. But there were a few things that i thought i'd better write down. My notes may not make much sense here, but in my mind.. they do.

- Audience becoming actors - Big Brother stylee something about audience particpation integral to the show.

- comparison of a book with a computer game, a seemingly redundant comparison as players immerse themselves in a game and help write it as they play it, with books you just get to read someone elses words.

does playing games count as research?

the good thing about developing an interactive game is that i get to play games. Have actually been looking at games that are relevant to my idea, not just playing random games (much). Have found quite a few that requires the user to escape from a room by collecting things and solving puzzles. I realise this type of interactivity isn't new and won't be earth shattering but its just nice to look at different types of gameplay.

Gamershood has many games like the aforementioned so screen grabs a plenty are going in my sketchbook.