ponnilavanmuthuramalingam

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Critical Analysis

Aarseth, E. (2012). A Narrative Theory of Games. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games - FDG ’12. International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. doi:10.1145/2282338.2282365.

The section of paper I've chosen to analyze is from Espen Aarseth, Head of the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen. Ì have chosen to analyse pages 131 and 132. The following paper was submitted at the Foundations of Digital Games conference on 2012. The paper presents a theory for narrative in games by basing it on the framework of standard narratology to provide a solution to the debate of combining Video games and stories.

This article is relevant to my study since it explored the multitude of ways in which a story can be conveyed to player via well designed worlds and as an environment artist its necessary to have an understanding on how to give visual forms to stories in my own projects.

The paper goes into great detail into the Ludology vs. Narrativism debate pointing out the flaws in the topic by highlighting that it is not one but two debates conflated into one, where the one is the potential of game-based narratives and the other is whether games can be considered stories. The article also uses the example of Max Payne, which is not simply a game but an integrated crossmedia package that includes graphic novel pages and cinematic sequences in between gameplay and should be regarded as a piece of software that an incorporation of multiple media forms in addition to a game.

In order to provide an answer to this debate, in section 3 at page 131 of the journal the author cites examples like MYST, Knights of The Old Republic (KOTOR) and Half-Life which have used a variety of techniques in narration to tell their underlying stories. So in order to reflect this diversity in techniques the author proposes a variable ludo-narratological model which divides the design space as four separate dimensions namely WORLD, OBJECTS, EVENTS , and AGENTS which are an integral part of every game but each game uses it in a different configuration. He further categorizes game worlds as having a linear, multicursal, or open narrative structure, and Objects as static and dynamic and Agents as deep characters and shallow bots, and the events that occur in a story can be open, selectable or plotted. The author also states that the narratological concepts of kernels (Events that define a story) and Satellite (Supplementary events to fill out the Kernels) gives rise to four types of games namely the linear, hyper-text, the “creamy middle” and the non-narrative type.

With such a deep classification, the article posits that there are a plethora of ways in which a narrative may be included into a game, and that the above model illustrates that when narratology is correctly used, it can enable a successful incorporation of tales into game design.

In order to build this model, the author takes the standard narrative model as the base framework and relate it to the aforementioned dimensions with examples of classic tales like Little Red Riding Hood and uses the concepts of kernels and satellites which serves as points of recognition in a story, where in Little Red Riding Hood, If the wolf does not eat Red and her Granny the story isn’t as recognizable. so, eating becomes a kernel of that story. these two concepts enable ways that games can contain one or many potential stories.

Starting with the World dimension in page 131 the author considers them as physical or pseudo physical structures clearly defined by topology. He also adds that games contain two-types of space, the ludic (playable) and the extra-ludic (non-playable) spaces. The author elaborates that games use these variety of topological structures. The author divides the playable space into 3 types namely the linear corridors (Half-Life), the open world of (Oblivion) and the multicursal labyrinth (KOTOR, Far Cry 2) and states that applying various combinations of these 3 types of spaces, we can end up with five different structures in which a particular story can be conveyed in each of them. The author also acknowledges the further combination of these five topological types to further create complex worlds.

The author then elaborates the Object dimension of the model in page 132 classifying them based on interactivity that determine the degree of agency of the payer in game. On the Character dimension provides a simple classification of bots and shallow characters based on whether they have an individual identity in the story.He then elaborates the final dimension of Events, categorizing them as fully plotted, dynamic kernels or dynamic satellites or just having a pure game. He also gives examples of games like Half-life 2 where the games is a combination of all the aforementioned event categories.

Finally using all the above elements, Aarseth creates a variable framework where he makes the observation stating that while World and Object dimension describe player agency, the Agent and Event dimensions describe the narrative agency and in order to create effective ludo-narrative investing in the characters to make them rich, deep and interesting.

The main strength of this article lies in the wide range of examples taken into account for the development of the framework and the multi-angle approach to each of the narrative types with multiple examples helps avoid missing out the subtle differences that two games of the same narrative type might have between them. In addition to using a wide variety of examples he also cites the previous research and debates regarding the topic which provides the reader with the context and basic of the upcoming discussion. Also, citing materials ranging from strictly videogames to conventional folk stories, literature, and mythology adds perspective to the framework and underlines the interdisciplinary influences in video game storytelling.

The section I analyzed contained a well-structured analysis of all the elements required for telling a story in a game, but I feel that the authors decision to consider only Characters and Events as important factors to telling a good story in a game to be somewhat one-sided. The argument is aided by the examples of Heavy rain and Dragon Age: Origins, with them having deep characters and a character-oriented gameplay to tell a story. The author also acknowledges that the other dimensions of the frame work like world and objects have inherent narrative qualities and the complexity of a harmonic integration of all the elements. For example, In a game where the story is not directly told to the player but encourages the player to explore the world in order to learn more about the world they are exploring and its underlying lore, games like Dark Souls tell a major portion of the story through the world design and very structure of the levels themselves.

The paper effectively categorizes the many forms of narrative integrations in video games, and the preceding analysis that goes into developing the framework includes some critically acclaimed titles that demonstrate how this issue is relevant to contemporary game development paradigms. By using a multifaceted and multidisciplinary method, the author demonstrates that ludology vs. narrativism merits further research.

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Reader :

Aarseth, E. (2012). A Narrative Theory of Games. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games - FDG ’12. International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. doi:10.1145/2282338.2282365.

The author of the article presents a narrative theory for video games, built upon the principles of traditional narratology as solution to the debate of ludology and narratology. He does so by first comparing the common elements between video games and stories and then using the common elements to form a narrative theory specific to games. He points out four elements in common: Events, character, things and places. He elaborates on each of these four elements how they affect the degree of player agency in the game and puts them together in a four-dimensional variable model and comes to the conclusion that the most important dimension for storytelling in videogames is that of the character and is and effective way of creating ludo-narrative content. The theory presented in the paper provides a detailed analysis of how stories are told in games using detailed classifications with multiple examples. This article introduced me to the techniques of analyzing and converting a story into a playable game environment.

Adams, T., Bauer, R., Böckler, S., Dubbelman, T., Faller, F., Flanagan, M., Glashüttner, R., Götz, U. and Hack, G. (2021a). Narrative Mechanics: Strategies and Meanings in Games and Real Life. Bielefeld: transcript-Verlag, pp.56–59.

The chapter gives an introduction into the theory and practice of using Stories in a game not just as a narrative element but as a secondary game mechanic which supports the other smaller elements of the game in the form of Environmental Storytelling. The game Bioshock (2007) is taken as an example to illustrate environmental storytelling where the narrative elements are embedded in the places we visit over the course of the game. This participatory approach induces deductive thinking in the player who then becomes an active participant in the narrative rather than being a passive spectator. The author gives a detailed analysis of environmental storytelling with examples like The Witness (2018) and Journey (2012) which were critically acclaimed among the players and developers for their environmental storytelling. This chapter is relevant to my research since it discusses a method where instead of using specific narrative tools like cutscenes or text-based dialogue for telling a story, the playable world in the game itself is used to tell the story of the game which, as an environment artist is a good opportunity to hone my storytelling skills.

Alex, L. (2013). Designing the Bleak Genius of Papers, Please. [online] Game Developer. Available at: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/designing-the-bleak-genius-of-i-papers-please-i- [Accessed 30 Dec. 2022].

The author of this article talks about how the developer of Papers, please took a counter-intuitive concept of playing as a bureaucratic inspector instead of the usual spy, smuggler and let the player experience not only the story of the player character but also the stories of the characters the protagonist encounters in his daily life. The game has no preset story but a set of static and dynamic goals, where the protagonist has to earn enough to support his family against a static goal of letting only people with the proper documents into the country. When the player tries to achieve gives them a unique in every playthrough and every gameplay iteration. The scripted events and conditions add a further layer uniqueness to the narrative the player constructs in their minds. This article is relevant to my research since it shows how a game with no underlying narrative can still give a solid framework to the player construct one in their minds with the game mechanics.

Brice, M. (2012). Narrative Is a Game Mechanic. [online] PopMatters. Available at: https://www.popmatters.com/153895-narrative-is-a-game-mechanic-2495891347.html [Accessed 1 Jan. 2023].

In this article Brice talks about the debate of whether narrative is a game mechanic or not. He identifies issues in these discussions where the terms narrative and story are interchangeably but from a designer’s point of view they are two separate things where narrative refers to the method using which an event is communicated and stories are descriptions which use the aforementioned narrative elements. The author highlights how game designers try to give the players not a just fun but multiple and complex emotions and experiences enabled by the use of narrative elements. He also explains how games rely on past media to tell their stories and the games which tell stories in their own unique way using the game Ico as an example. With this article, the author explains how narratives can be used a gameplay mechanic and vice-versa. This article got me into the Ludology vs Narratology debate and motivated me to look deep into using environments in games as a narrative element.

Dubbelman, T. (2016b). Narrative Game Mechanics. Interactive Storytelling, [online] 10045, pp.40–42. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48279-8_4.

This paper discusses the resulting viewpoints from the narratology vs ludology debate, on how telling a fixed sequence of past events to someone can be done by game whose very nature is to produce a dynamic sequence of real-time events using the input of the player. Dubbelman argues that when playing a game, the player continuously constructs a mental narrative to understand the past and present actions and plan the future actions. He gives the example of Left 4 Dead 2 (2009) and Paper’s Please (2013), where the former uses the games’ AI to regulate gameplay and provide a unique experience to every player and the latter’s game mechanics encourages the player to construct their own mental narrative. This chapter provides a theoretical perspective of the use of a game’s AI to tailor the experience to each players’ own playstyle. Thanks to this article I have been able to explore more innovative ways of using in-game systems and mechanics to tell a story.

Kempshall, C. (2015). The First World War in Computer Games. 2015th ed. Springer, pp.17–21.

The chapter discusses with narratives of First world war in games, or lack thereof. Kempshall explains how First World War does not give itself to any form of the traditional heroic narratives and compares it to the Second World War where the fight was against a clear enemy, the Nazis. Whereas the First World War did not have such a clear motive. Instead, the horrors of war and the pointlessness of the fighting itself becomes the setting and narrative. Kempshall also puts forth an interesting point that even the locations that both the World Wars took place influence the imbalance in the number of narratives between both wars, with the Second World war taking place in large varied locations and an urban setting whereas the First world war consisted mainly of trench warfare, constricting the amount of visual variety for a narrative.  This book discusses both the historic reasons and artistic constraints in the First World war and how it shaped creator’s approach to such large historic events. The author highlights the imbalance in content between the world wars and this chapter is relevant to my research since this illustrates the factors that have an affect gamification of historic events.

Kleinman, E., Caro, K. and Zhu, J. (2019). From Immersion to metagaming: Understanding Rewind Mechanics in Interactive Storytelling. Entertainment Computing, 33(100322). doi:10.1016/j.entcom.2019.100322.

In this article, the authors exhibit the results of a mix methods study on whether rewind mechanics in a video game affect player engagement. In this regard they brought into discussion the example of games like Life is Strange, Undertale and The Stanley Parable where the games use various different types of rewind mechanics to allow a player to rewind to past point in the gameplay or a choice they made during gameplay. For the purpose of this study, the authors designed and developed a game called Rough Draft with 3 different versions, With unrestricted, restricted and no rewind mechanics. The results of this study revealed that on testing with all three versions of the game, the participants did not feel any interruptions in their immersion and emotional engagement with the game. This article provides interesting revelations that can disprove concepts laid out in the past. Since the paper is supported by practical research, This paper gave me a fresh perspective in research on how different combinations of a simple mechanic can influence player decisions while playing a game.  

Lebowitz, J. and Klug, C. (2017) Interactive storytelling for video games: A player-centered approach to creating memorable characters and stories. New York, Massachusetts: Focal Press., pp 23-26.

The authors of this book discuss the Cinematic evolution of Stories in video games. They identify the point of transition between the delivery of the video game narrative began to break out from its old text-based adventures to more graphical and visual forms of storytelling. The chapter discusses the evolution of storytelling in videogames using FINAL FANTASY VIIas an example of where even when the market was filled with many successful games of other genres, Final Fantasy became a runaway success greatly increasing the popularity of the RPG genre and introduced a new method of cinematic story telling called full-motion videos (FMV) which brought forth a whole new level of immersion into the story lines of video games. This chapter highlights the introduction of a major technical development in the games industry that revolutionized story telling in games and provided a whole new method for narratives in video games. This book is useful for my research because it highlights the important breakthroughs and techniques of story telling in games and provided new areas for me to explore for narratives in games.

Sim, Y.T. and Mitchell, A. (2017). Wordless Games: Gameplay as Narrative Technique. In: 10th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, ICIDS 2017 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, November 14-17, 2017, Proceedings. The International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

This chapter discusses the various interactive storytelling methods in Videogames, especially the use of gameplay as a narrative tool. To illustrate this technique the authors, use Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (2013).  It’s a story about two brothers on a journey to find a cure for their sick father. The game mechanics requires the players to make the two brothers work together to solve puzzles using the left and right joysticks. This coordination is further amplified by giving the brothers unique characteristics by having elder brother be stronger and the younger brother be small enough to maneuver small spaces. The game removes the elder brother from the gameplay towards the end and the controls adds to the emotional impact of the loss of the older brother. The book encourages developers to factor gameplay as a narrative tool to make immersive gameplay experiences. This article introduced me to an interesting game which puts a really unique twist on some of the most basic mechanics in a videogame to tell an emotional tale of the adventures of the brothers and this in turn lead me to search for more of such innovative narrative techniques in games.

Ulaş, E.S. (2014). Virtual environment design and storytelling in video games. Metaverse Creativity, 4(1), pp.75–91. doi:10.1386/mvcr.4.1.75_1.

The author of this article talks about the debate of ludology versus narratology, where there is an argument that the inherent nature of interactivity in video games takes a considerable amount of control away from the author and gives it to the user, which might change the sequence of events in a story in a different way than the author had envisioned. Therefore, the author takes up the task of identifying the traits of traditional narrative which can be used in video game storytelling. He identifies spatiality as one of the traits and provides two spatial structures, the Labyrinth and a Rhizome. The former is a maze-like level design as seen in Doom (Id Software, 1993) and the latter is an interconnected open world as seen in Myst (Cyan, 1993). The author gives the potential of these two structures being used in the level design of a game to provide the pieces of a plot to player who then assembles it into a coherent whole. This article provided me some fresh perspective on how world design and world building is influenced by the underlying story and lore.

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog Post 10 : Theories of Race and Gender

On the lecture about politics in digital media, the topic of race, gender and their representation in digital media was discussed. In this regard, I would like to discuss how the recent reboot of the Tomb Raider game franchise portrays a female lead in an action adventure game.

Female characters in games, Have always been designed and written in an highly objectified manner even if the design doesn't suit the character's position in the story. The body is presented simultaneously as women's source of power and as always already unruly and requiring constant monitoring, surveillance, discipline and remodeling (and consumer spending) in order to conform to ever narrower judgments of female attractiveness (Gill, 2007).

The lead of the Tomb Raider game franchise, Lara Croft has been portrayed as both a symbol of empowerment but at the the same time, the visual design of the character has been tailored more towards the male audience in the earlier instalments of the franchise. So when a trailer of the Tomb Raider(2013) was released some disturbing scenes of the trailer rising controversy about the how the character is going to be portrayed in this new instalment.

The game is about a young Lara croft in the beginning of her archaeological career who survives a shipwreck on a pacific island and is forced to fight for her survival and also save her friend from being sacrificed by her ancestral tribe. The game on release was received well by both players and critics for the fresh take in story, but was criticized by critics for portraying Lara as someone uncomfortable with killing but forcing the player to use aggressive tactics and killing every one she comes across, effectively reducing the chance for an entirely pacifist gameplay.

In terms of a female lead in an action game, both the visual and narrative portrayal of Lara croft has been better than the earlier franchises and does a good job of balancing the inexperience and mental strength of the character. The potrayal of Lara croft was such that even though she might be wounded and afraid, she's going to press on regardless.

This change in portrayal and avoiding overt sexualization of a female character, though not perfectly executed in Tomb Raider (2013) its definitely a positive step in the portrayal of female characters in video games.

References :

Gill, R. (2007). Gender and the Media. Cambridge ; Malden: Polity Press.

Tomb Raider (2013). 2013. Windows, Playstation, XBox[Game]. Square Enix Europe: Worldwide.

Pinchefsky, Carol. “A Feminist Reviews Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft.” Forbes, 12 Mar. 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2013/03/12/a-feminist-reviews-tomb-raiders-lara-croft/?sh=3ee6e2325d92. Accessed 06 Jan. 2023.

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog Post 9 : Structures of Interactive narratives

On the topic of narrative theory, I would like to talk about the path structures of interactive narratives and their usage in various known media objects.

Path structures of interactive narratives : Analysis

The path structure for interactive narrratives as classified in Mary Laure Ryan’s book Narrative as Virtual Reality 2 consists of three types, The complete graph ,The Network and The Tree. These structures are classified based on the narrative cohesiveness in the stories

The Complete graph

The complete graph is a narrative structure where all the story nodes are connected and the reader has complete freedom of navigation for the reader since the structure allows a free shuffling of text . This type of a narrative can be seen in the game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor in the form of 'Nemesis' system where the antagonists in the game, the orcs, are not just the regular nameless NPC's who are cannon fodder to the protagonist but a living society with an unstable foundation internal conflicts and power struggles.

Other than fighting with the protagonist, they fight amongst each other to reach top ranks of the orc society. They have their own weakness and strengths which are reflected in gameplay. This adds an additional direction to the narrative of the game where an orc that might have barely survived an earlier encounter with the protagonist might come after him in revenge.

The Nemesis system creates an interconnected web of stories where every character have their own physical and mental traits allowing every playthrough to be memorable and the clostest implementation of the the complete graph narrative structure.

The Network :

This type of narrative has limited freedom in the readers navigation. An example for this would be the critically acclaimed action RPG Elden Ring.

Elden Ring consists of an intricate and deep lore of the Lands Between, a fictional world ruled over by several demigods. It was previously ruled by an Immortal queen who guarded an Elden Ring, a physical concept of order. When the ring was shattered and each shard of it went into the possession of the demigods. The player is a Tarnished, one of a group of exiles returning after the shattering. The goal of being the player repairing the elden ring and becoming the elden lord.

The story has six possible endings and based on the players actions in the game they can receive one of these 6 endings. But Elden ring gives the player a point of no return beyond which they are locked into one of the 6 endings. on reaching this point the player has to do certain actions like obtaining a certain item or defeating a particular enemy in order to reverse their progress to a certain extent and get a different ending.

The Tree :

This type of narrative has branching paths but is uni directional with no option to return to a previous point.

A Prime example of this would be The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The players play as Geralt, a legendary witcher in the search for his adopted daughter Ciri, who is being pursued by otherworldly tribe known as the Wild Hunt.

The adventure consists of the main storyline along with additional side quests. The storyline has several different combination of several different endings based on the players decisions in game. The main storyline starts to branch at set number of points during the story and the combination of decisions made by the player at these points influence the final ending of the story.

In conclusion, I find that video games can be a versatile tool with regards to storytelling, using many of its constituent parts to tell multiple narrative types to players in an engaging manner.

References :

Ryan, M.-L. (2015). Narrative as Virtual Reality 2 : Revisiting Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor . 2014. Windows, Playstation, XBox [Game]. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment: Worldwide.

Elden Ring . 2022. Windows, Playststation, XBox [Game]. Bandai Namco Entertainment: Worldwide.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. 2015. Windows, Playststation, XBox [Game]. CD Projekt: Worldwide.

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog Post 8 : Realism

In the lecture about Extended reality, I would like to discuss the concept of extended reality experience giving rise to new opportunities for using an entertainment software in real-life training situations. I will be using the example of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

This is called the concept of immediacy and discussed in detail Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin in their book Remediation(1999) where the describe the concept of immediacy as the act of getting lost in the world of a book or a game. also, the concept of hypermediacy was discussed by the authors, which they define as the concept of having certain elements in the media object which draws attention to the medium through which the content is consumed.

The Analysis :

The 2020 edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator was critically acclaimed as a simulator with unparalleled graphical fidelity and accuracy in simulation.

This level of realism in visuals was achieved not only to a particular geographical area but the entire earth using a combination of satellite, aerial imagery and photogrammetry along with procedural generation to fill out missing data covering over 2 million cities and thousands of airports around the world.

In addition to recrating the cities on earth, the different weather conditions that prevail around the earth are also simulated using real-time weather data and affects the way the player/user interacts with the simulator.

With the right peripheral hardware and equipment, the graphical and technical fidelity of MFS 2020 allows users to experience a simulation with almost perfect realism to the point where commercial pilots are considering it as a great tool for helping beginner aviators to learn the basics, but still has some room for improvement in order for it to achieve real-life accuracy in terms of simulation.

This serves as a good example for both immediacy and hypermediacy where the visuals of the immediacy is a near-perfect replica of the real life but some interactions in the game might cause the user to realise that they are experiencing a simulated reality.

In conclusion, I believe  Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is the closest when it comes to Entertainment software being considered for a real-life application and manages to narrow down the gap between actual reality and graphical reality to an extent.

References :

Adams, Danny. “An In-Depth Look at Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.” Novatech Blog, 6 Oct. 2020, www.novatech.co.uk/blog/microsoft-flight-simulator-2020/#:~:text=A%20focus%20on%20realism%20and%20simulation&text=Even%20wind%20is%20simulated%20to. Accessed 7 Jan. 2023.

David Bolter, J. and Grusin, R. (2000). Remediation : understanding new media. Cambridge, Mass. Mit Press [Ca.

Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020).2020. Windows [Game]. Xbox Game Studios: Worldwide.

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog post 7 : Emergent and embedded narratives

In reference to the topic of narrative theory, in this post I will be exploring the topics of emergent and embedded narratives in games using BioShock games as an example.

The concept of embedded and emergent narratives discuss the use of gameplay as an agent to deliver the story to the player. The embedded narrative of game is conveyed in terms of the visual design of the environment and auditory elements like NPC dialogue and certain side stories that usually is used to convey a deeper lore or backstory of the world the main story takes place. Emergent narrative are parts that are revealed as part of the players interaction with the game. Every game has its own way of ocmbining embedded narrative and emergent narrative to tell an rich and interesting story. Embedded and Emergent Narratives : BioShock

The BioShock is about a survivor of a plane that crashes into the middle of the ocean. He discovers a bathysphere that takes him to an underwater city of Rapture, a once- glorious city built by a business magnate to be an isolated underwater utopia. But the city ended up becoming a dystopia since a scientific discovery made in the city gave rise to unexpected consequences leading to the citizens of Rapture becoming zombie-like creatures.

The starting minutes of the game does not give the player all the above details but just a lighthouse to swim towards and a bathysphere to enter. As soon as the player enters the city they are caught up in an ongoing war between the chieftains of various areas in Rapture, who the player has to fight their way through to progress the game.

The player is progressed thorough the game by a character named Atlas who contacts us via radio to give us the essential information to progress the game. This is done so in a manner which does not disturb the flow of gameplay making it a prime example of emergent narrative where completing each objective progresses the story to the next stage.

In addition to the main objective, there are also items scattered across the playable space which are totally optional elements called audio logs that the player whether to pick up or not. On picking up these audio logs, the player can listen to them as they play the game. These audio logs are not essential to progressing the narrative but they enrich the narrative space.

Also the narrative spaces in BioShock are also split into physical stages in the game where the visual and structural design of the environment acts as a narrative device to deliver content related to that area. There is a well balanced pacing of information throughout the levels in BioShock using these types of narrative spaces to the allow the plot events and struggles in rapture to be shown to the player.

Overall, On the topic of embedded and emergent narratives, BioShock is a well-made example of how emergent and embedded narrative techniques can work together in harmony and provide a enjoyable, story-rich experience to the player.

Reference :

Juul, J. (2011). Half-real : video games between real rules and fictional worlds. Cambridge (Massachusetts, Usa): The Mit Press.

BioShock . 2007. Windows [Game]. 2K Games: Worldwide

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog post 6 : Environmental Storytelling

In the lecture about narrative theory we also focused on the topic of environmental storytelling, which I would like elaborate in this post using the critically acclaimed Dark souls franchise as an example.

Environmental storytelling in Dark souls : Analysis

Dark souls is set in a fictional universe where the world has fallen into the dark ages, inviting the players to set out into this dark and dangerous world to seek out the "First Flame" which they can choose to preserve or extinguish.

The game's director, Hidetaka Miyazaki had worked on an earlier, spiritual predecessor to the Dark souls franshise called Demon's Souls. In Dark Souls, there is no cutscenes in regular intervals (except on major plot advancements). The storytelling instead is left to the environment where the visuals, interactable objects, weapon and enemies provide the pieces of the plot which the player has to piece together as part of their adventures. This avoids the tiring and clunky dialogue systems and uses a more subtle approach to storytelling, utilizing using the latent potential of video games to convey the story.

This approach to storytelling can be seen in every aspect of the game, right from the way the locations are placed to the types of enemies that the players encounters in their adventures. The theme of the game revolves around a once prosperous world that has fallen from its graces and its people have become undead monsters.

For example, in the Dark souls 3, the environment is set on a world where the lords have failed their duties in protecting the first flame which lead to the world falling into ruins. The game has this sense vagueness in the delivery of the lore which keeps players intrigued. This allows more emotion to be injected into the story where every new discovery might shine a new light on the player's earlier encounters and experiences.

The most significant aspect of Miyazaki's approach is the instead of providing the player with a plot, he instead provides a rich lore to go along with the intricately detailed world, providing a backstory to the events that led to the current state of the world. Every piece of loot the player comes across gives another piece of lore, encouraging players to piece together the lore for themselves which is more impactful and memorable for the players.

This subtlety in storytelling can also lead lead to players missing an chunk of the story in their first playthrough, only to discover it in their second playthorugh which might change their perspective of the story towards an totally different direction.

In conclusion, the Dark Souls franchise pushes the boundaries of how storytelling can be approached in videogames and how it can have an impact on every player that plays the game.

References:

Richter, J. (2021). How Dark Souls Mastered a New Type of Storytelling. [online] Game Rant. Available at: https://gamerant.com/dark-souls-storytelling-new-unique-good/.

Juul, J. (2011). Half-real : video games between real rules and fictional worlds. Cambridge (Massachusetts, Usa): The Mit Press.

Dark Souls. (2015). Playstation 4, PC, XBox[Game]. Bandai Namce Entertainment: Worldwide.

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog post 5 : Semiotics

On the session of Semiotics, we discussed about how we perceive certain media objects, the surface level and hidden meanings and signs and the underlying cultures and ideologies as stated by Roland Barthes.

With regards to this topic I'll be talking about the game Bloodborne, an action role playing game by From software.

Semiotics : The Analysis

Bloodborne is a game set in a fictional victorian era town of Yharnam where a mysterious plague has turned the people into beasts and player is a hunter who sets out to find the source of the plague. The story of the game is inspired by the tales of H.P Lovecraft, with many references in the form of monsters and symbols are given to the authors tales.

In terms of semiotics, I believe the games developed by From Software are prime examples of how a story can be conveyed to the player using the most objects in-game and subtle signs and hints.

For example, the very first note the player gets in the game reads “Seek the Paleblood to transcend the hunt.” this single line when revisited after beating the game gives us the realisation that it was not just about the player fighting through hordes of beasts to find the source of the plague but a deep, twisted tale of mankind experimenting with forbidden knowledge, This method of giving away the plot of the story in the very beginning with a very simple note and still managing to take the player on a long and exciting journey is in line with many of Lovecraft's stories. This also is a prime example of the concept of Denotation, Connotation and Myth.

The game also features a heavy dose of symbolisms relating to the eye, signifying the relation of man with arcane knowledge. This is also used as a gameplay mechanic called insight, where the more insight the player has, the more differences in game play and environment the player will notice. Like a player with high insight can see the creatures called Amygdalas hanging from the buildings whereas they are not visible to players with low insight.

The clever part about bloodborne is the while it explores all of this very Lovecraftian ideas, it does not outright use any of the characters of the Lovecraftian tales. For example the game has a lot of characters with tentacle and fish like humans but it never outright uses any of the Lovecraftian creatures which could have been used. By creating their own mythology, the developers are able to explore their ideas of cosmic horror with more freedom than outright following the Lovecraftian Universe which makes it much more unique even after having such an inspired tale.

In conclusion, Bloodborne is a prime example of how through clever adaptation of symbols and visuals a game with such heavy influence from an existing can have its own distinct world giving it a more "inspired uniqueness".

References : Bloodborne. 2015. Playstation 4. Sony Computer Entertainment: Worldwide.

Barthes, R. (2009). Mythologies. London: Vintage Classics.

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog post 4 : SOURCES

In this lecture on sources, we discussed about transmedia and intertextuality. I found these concepts to be a perfect point to further elaborate in discussion with an example, In this case the movie Ponniyin Selvan (2022).

Transmedia is described as a technique in which vital aspects of a fiction are systematically spread across different distribution channels in order to create a coherent and coordinated entertainment experience (Jenkins, 2007). Based on this definition I present the following analysis of transmedia with a known media object.

Transmedia and Intertextuality : The Analysis

The movie Ponniyin Selvan is made from the novel of the same name published on 16 May 1954, written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. It was first serialized in the magazine Kalki then made into a novel. The story revolves around Vandhiyathevan and his friend Arulmozhi varman, a chola prince.

Based on the real history of the Chola dynasty, Kalki wrote a tale of adventure around the actual history of cholas, which gives way for an interesting read for everyone, Kalki's style of writing sparked the imagination of all the readers no matter the age and in each line of the story, every one will have their own version of chola era of south india.

One of the best things that Kalki managed to do with the novel is that he managed to give a wildly vivid narration, a tight knit plot, witty humor and a clever unravelling of the power struggle in the chola dynasty all in one package of the novel giving it a massive cult following.

As an avid reader of the novel, reading both the magazine series and the novel, when the movie was announced I was really excited to finally see my favorite characters from the novel come to life.

Even though I was excited for the movie, I felt that it would be better to see this novel made as a TV show than a movie since it being such intricate and tightly woven plot would be too long even for an anthology of movies.

My doubts were proven true on watching the movie, even though the movie was a really well-made recreation true to the source material, there was a lot of really good story points in the plot were cut considering the runtime of the movie. It felt like the beginning of the movie was like seeing the novel on screen line for line but as the movie progresses the movie skips more and more of the plot. Although it doesnt affect the viewing experience for readers since they can fill in the events having read the source, the audience who haven't read the novel would have a tougher time to understand why certain events happen in the movie. Having such a tightly woven plot, it would've been a much better experience seeing it as a TV show without skipping any of the plot points which would've given the viewers the experience Kalki intended.

In conclusion, Ponniyin Selvan is a great example on how transmedia adpatations of literary content requires much more work to capture both readers and non-readers and with something like the literary magnum opus of Kalki, If done right a transmedia adaptation of literary works can be really enjoyable for the audience.

References :

Jenkins, H. (2007). Transmedia Storytelling 101. [online] Henry Jenkins. Available at: http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html?rq=transmedia.

Krishnamurthy, K. (1984) Ponniyin Selvan. Chennai, Tamil Nadu: Vanathi Pathippakam.

Ponniyin Selvan : 1 (2022). India: Lyca Productions.

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog post 3 : DEPICTION 

Strategies of Realism

During the lecture on realism, we discussed the topics of types of depictions of realism, In particular the distinction between representation and simulation.

For this post I will be talking about the concepts of representation and simulation, using the example of Hitman 3.

Analysis

Representation in modern media can be illustrated with the examples like paintings or a movie, where the audience get to experience the media visually and acoustically and in case of movies and games, both but the consumer views a reality from outside of it. Simulation in modern media can be best illustrated with Virtual reality games and applications where the audience is put into the virtual space, giving the audience a chance to experience the virtual world from inside of the world itself.

I chose to use Hitman 3 as an example since it provides both a representative with the base game and simulation experience to the players via the VR version of the Game.

I believe that Hitman 3 and Hitman sandbox VR provide very different experiences of the same in-game world where in Hitman 3 we play it as a regular computer game where the viewer is immobile and in the VR version the player is dropped into the same game world but this time the player is immersed in to game world as the protagonist himself in VR.

This release of the Hitman, even though the locations in-game are not reproduction of real-life locations, but rather inspired from those palces. Even then the visuals in-game provide us a very close representation of reality in the concept of representation. The Vr version of the game drops the player into the same world, giving that much needed immersion in the game.

The actions that can be performed in the VR version is more visceral than the regular version. Where firing a gun in the regular version is just a button press, The vr version requires the player to use their hand, like physically raise their hands to aim and fire a gun, which gives the feeling of immediacy in a media object.

Hitman 3 is an example of how recent games can provide the feeling of experience a realistic world both from outside the world (control the character on a computer screen) and from inside the world (as the protagonist in VR ).

Reference :

Hitman 3. 2021. PC, PS4, XBox [Game]. IO Interactive: Worldwide.

[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog post 2 : Narrative theory

In the lecture on Narrative theory, we discussed about the narrative techniques used in the game ''Little Nightmares''.

For this post I will be talking about the experimental narrative style and techniques used in the South-Indian movie ''Super Deluxe'' by Thiagarajan Kumararaja.

Overview

The movie is about the lives of an unfaithful newly-wed wife, a priest, and angry son and an estranged father, people who are total strangers to each other and how their lives intertwine unbeknownst to them on one fateful day through a series of predicaments.

The movie starts with the unfaithful wife's affair with her ex which leads to the latter's death in an unusual situation and the husband upon knowing this decides to bury the happenings by disposing off the ex's corpse.

The movie then goes on to show the predicament of a group of teenage boys when they break the Television set of one of the boys when they see something they shouldn't have and have to replace it with a new one before their parents come back home.

The third story is of a boy, who has never seen his father yet and has been waiting eagerly all his life to meet him. The father returns one day, but to the shock of the family the father had undergone a gender reassignment procedure and returns as a trans woman. But the boy accepts the father's decision and decides to take him to his school. But the duo runs into trouble on the way with a corrupt cop.

The fourth story is of another boy from the second story, the one who broke the television after seeing his mother in an erotic movie. Angry at this revelation he tries to attack her with a screwdriver but ends stabbing himself after tripping over a flight of stairs.

The tales meet up at a point where the actions of one, both directly and indirectly helps the others to get out of their predicament and forms the climax of the story.

Experimental narrative

The narrative style in this movie is definitely a non traditional way of storytelling. The story arc of each of the characters in the movie fairly linear, with the distinction between the stories slowly blurring as the movie progresses. The first half of the movie takes its time to setup all the 4 story premises and creates the conflict required for all of them with the second inter twining them gradually with the climax unfolding the entire story at the end.

The story also does not follow any of the Propps's narrative functions or character types since no character in this movie is pure good or pure evil. All the characters respond to situations in a way they right.

I would say that even with the overall story structure being non linear, Its more of a mesh of multiple linear stories. Each of these stories, when separated has the structure of the Todorov's narrative. Each of the character have an established equilibrium, which is then disrupted by their own actions or others actions and then they repair the disruption to move on towards a new equilibrium.

The complexity of the stories combining is done with involvement of a common character namely a corrupt cop who arrests the boys father from the third story and also catches the newlywed couple from the first story red-handed with corpse of her ex. He is ultimately killed when the groups of boys dispose of their broken TV which falls on his head, finally untangling the storylines and move the characters towards their new equilibrium.

References:

Super Deluxe. (2019). [Theatrical, Netflix] India: Tyler Durden and Kino Fist.

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[ponnilavanmuthuramalingam]

Academic Blog Post 1 : Medium Specificity

In the first lecture, We discussed about the concept of ''Gesamtkunstwerk : Total work of art'' . The concept defines about the total artwork, a work which is the result of various forms of art interacting and cohabiting in a harmonic manner. In this topic we talked about the concept of medium specificity using a known media object.

Medium Specificity

Medium specificity discusses about the the inherent qualities of each type of art that makes it distinct from the other forms of art. This sparks the debate of whether the act of combining two forms of media interferes with one another trying to deliver an expression.

During the lecture we discussed about the South Indian movie ''Psycho'' and how the filmmaker used Colors and Sounds to cleverly indicate the things that the movie's blind protagonist is unable to experience in his life. Although this was a movie that my group enjoyed talking about, I chose a different media object that better suits my field of study, which is the critically-acclaimed game franchise of Metal Gear Solid by Hideo Kojima.

The media object

Analysis

The entire franchise of Metal gear solid has had one defining characteristic which invokes the discussion of medium specificity, The cutscenes. Hideo Kojima is known for creating a cinematic feel to his games, to the point where Metal gear solid 4 now holds the Guinness world record for the longest cutscene, with a duration of 71 minutes in the epilogue. This creates an interesting mix where video games, a medium that requires active interaction from the consumer and Cinema, which usually doesn't require an active interaction from the audience.

The creator shows the major story events in the form of a cutscene and the progression between the story points as a playable chunk of the game. The stories of the games in the franchise are complex and intertwined which when played consecutively gave me an experience of playing one very long story line. The cutscenes in Metal gear are polished such high levels with virtual cinematography and motion capture to the point where the every cutscene gives the satisfaction of watching a series of short films which when combined with the gameplay gives us a very satisfying experience.

This franchise I believe, is a perfect example of where the mixed delivery of two types of media provides a fulfilling experience by giving the players an opportunity to move the story forward with the playable portions and reward them with revealing more of the story with a incredibly well-made cinematic cutscenes.

I think If the tools and method used in the delivery of the artwork changed it would still give us a similar experience as the mediums change.

References :

Kojima, H(1998), Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Kojima Productions.