#ARDN611

[jackhealybct]

Dropping Eaves

My Idea One day I was sitting on the train on my commute and as per usual people watching and listening. This provoked me to think about what causes this kind of thing and is it something that interests people outside of just filling time on the train? Is the curiosity of what goes on in other people’s lives basis enough for a game? And furthermore, what are the repercussions for people noticing you listening to them or paying attention to them, as this stranger, considered to be a rude, nosey thing to do. From here I started dreaming up my prototype for a game based around eavesdropping on peoples conversations and the reactions they may have. I started looking around and was surprised by how little I could actually find on this phenomena. There was an article about a woman who shared as much interest as me in listening to strangers, but nothing about why or what causes it. However, I came across a couple of related videos that talked about conversations and a quote from Dr. Jordan Peterson was what clarified for me the basis for this interest in random peoples lives. “...people are ridiculously interesting, and everyone has their own characteristic experience that is actually unique, and so if you have a real conversation with someone and they tell you what is unique about their experience the probability that you can learn something from that, well its certain that you can.” (Peterson, 2018). This helped me to articulate this sensation that I was trying to invoke. Everyone lives their own life with their own values and experiences and it means that the amount that can be gleaned or the worlds that can be explored even just listening in to the day to day of random strangers is a relevant and interesting topic I wanted to explore. I personally find curiosity to be one of the most potent and defining traits of humanity. We have so many questions that we seek to answer every single day. As a species, we will seek these questions far and wide as well, which leads to amazing discoveries, fantastical development, and gorgeous art. My dad has told me from a young age that he believes that as long as we have dreamt it, we will do it. For people it is not a matter of if we will do something, it is a matter of when we will do it. This is described by our imagination, but it is driven by our curiosity. I think no more strange then, is to be curious of each other, and curious about our own mentalities. The strangest part of being human is that we have more than 7 billion different people, and we will likely never know even up to a single percent of them all. This means that it almost makes perfect sense to want to listen in to as many different strangers conversations when you have nothing else to do. Try and interact with as many alien lives in this short and sweet time we have to meet them.

In Context of Play There is a large discrepancy between listening in to the musings and conversations of strangers and using gameplay mechanics to listen to what dialogue has been written. The purpose of testing out this prototype was to begin seeing how something like eavesdropping can be gamified. Once it is a video game then it is an accessible way to look at both how people interact with it in a safe, contained way where they won’t be worried about being rude. Furthermore, I think it can contribute to game making, especially in world building. One of the greatest assets in building a city is that you can put hundreds of people in it. People that are capable of telling the player hundreds of things about the world they are entering. I think that eavesdropping and ambient dialogue is a criminally under-realised method of delivering information in a natural and potentially quite enticing way. Games have started exploring this, and I think with more and more technically powerful systems, more and more systemic dialogue options will be able to create fascinating and potent experiences thanks to the dialogue between two random stranger AIs. Play is such an engaging method of exploration and experimentation, that it would be fantastic to find ever bigger and better ways to explore society and the human condition through play.

[leifratahibct]

Context Of Games & Play Week 3 - Composition

This week we explored the concepts of emergence and depth within games and play. Canvas (2013) describes emergence as a game with simple mechanics but with complex dynamics. To get a clearer understanding of this some examples of emergent gameplay can be seen in fighting games like Street Fighter and Tekken in the form of combos. Combos create emergence by mashing a set amount of buttons in certain formations to stun opponents increase attack speeds or create instances that unlock the ability to use complex moves after the initial encounter. An example in a sports game basketball the initial rules intended was to pass the ball between players in order to get a clear shot to score but there was nothing in the rules to say that players could not pass the ball to themselves hence where the concept of dribbling was conceived. In easier terms emergence is when players exploit new ways to play within the confines of the set of rules explicit to each player.

Depth within video games can range from a wide variety of different concepts like alternate paths, different dialogue choices, an extensive range of weaponry or even multiple mechanics in which to expand and strengthen the length or replayability a game has. Depth in the context of play offers the user choices for which direction the player wants to experience a game. Having depth causes players to think about things like in first person shooter games players have a large variety of weaponry to choose from but it is up to them to decide whether using a machine gun to spray down their opponent or using something like a shotgun for a more powerful kick.

[dirtfurby]

Games in their Context

Settling Catan, The weight of context. 

This paticular issue in board games is complex, because the initial intent of the creator of Settlers of Catan, Klaus Teuber do not seem to be malicious at all. He simply was playing and enjoying playing, play testing with his family and creating a elegant beautiful peice of gaming. However through a slightly more modern lense it is slightly unsettling that the indigenous people of Catan exist in a ghost space in the original game. Loring-Albright’s edition, First Nations of Catan does provide a elegant solution to the problem by implementing them as a player through the tribe token.  It does look like she wanted to keep with the games initial peaceful intentions too by making the peice mostly passive, but I feel like the militant mechanic has a lot of potential. Contextually both parties enjoyed the game immensely and I think it’s important to enjoy the games within the context you create for them and the context you exist in. Which brings me to the next reading’s points “The Euro Game as Heterotopia” 

Hetrotopia - To see one’s self 

There’s something special about euro board games in their naive choice to discard violence and heavy themes, they discard most other personal themes with them. Some people take this on a surface level and are disgusted by the impersonal nature of the abstract games, feeling alienated by the lack of simulation, like  Tom Vasel  and his opinion on Vasco da Gama. Vasel isn’t necessarily playing the game incorrectly by not making his own theme and story with the parts he’s been given, but there is a way he could enjoy it more. Devin Wilson talks about Michel Foucault’s theory on mirrored identity. How if we can see past the unreality of our “mirrored” selves we have a opportunity to shape the world beyond that.  Wilson talks about taking issue with the initial implied theme that The Castle of Burgundy seems to have, that animals are property to be eaten or used for their wool, their milk. He’s a vegan (wait don’t run away he’s making a good point) and doesn’t think we should use animals for ANYTHING that involves taking their lives or parts of them from them. So the idea of animals just being commodities doesn’t sit well with him. Instead of throwing up his hands and deciding he just didn’t like the game like Vasel would, he decided to adapt its meaning. Wilson chose to view the animals as companions, and the game suddenly became a whole lot more palatable. 

Context matters and maybe the initial themes and meaning of games initially might be unpalatable, but we can choose how we play them. 

For me personally, this is a thing I recognise a lot in my own gaming. I’m not usually very conscious of it, but the way I act in minecraft is a example. In minecraft my playstyle is to put down my roots, settle, and spend an extensive amount of time building. I can focus for a long long time on tedious tasks in minecraft, whether that be building roofs or digging out the foundations. There are rare occasions where I stop building, usually it’s to go on a big material gathering mission. The other task I’ll do is explore caves. I can spend hours upon hours wandering and collecting every bit of ore. Minecraft is reflective of the fact that I can do mindless tasks, if I like my environment and motivation enough. 

Please touch the art - Interactive art and its humanistic beauty 

Something that I find really stunning and beautiful about Connected worlds is kinda generic in relation to interactive art. Its interactive. That might be a cop out answer but the thing is is I adore the fact that the audience gets to live and exist with the art, touch it, feel like they’re affecting it. I think it’s wonderful to make art so accessible, so human so present. The cold distance that portraits behind glass has can be demoralizing, so to have this bright colourful island of interactive joy is beautiful. I especially like the aspect of it really encouraging children in paticular, making it playful and engaging them. This can foster a love of art throughout their lives, and that’s invaluable. 

E-sports and gaming addiction - Modern horror 

This video was a little scary I’ll admit. Something seems dystopian to me about the idea that Korean young people will spend endless hours playing in PC bangs, to the point where they never actually leave. I can understand the group who likes to play in them because it’s a quieter activity than clubbing though. The e-sport players, are different again. On one hand you can have positive opportunities for poorer Koreans to make a name for themselves. 

Video gaming is a relatively accessible thing because of the PC bangs, so it’s easy for rags to riches stories to happen. On the other hand there is the darker side that can affect any person playing in E-sports, of any nation. The match fixing, a dangerous thing in Korea. It is a thing that exists in other physical sports, like soccer or cricket. 

However I don’t know if we should only compare physical sports and E-sports. I feel like it would be valuable to compare E-sports to competitive chess. In a lot of situations the games are specifically strategic, not unlike chess. It’s also always held over a sit down game. E-sports does however reflect physical sports through its teamwork, and the massive dramatic stadiums for spectators. There’s a lot of mixture between the two actually, perhaps it could be held as a stepping stone between chess and soccer as entertainment play. 

[benbct]

First weeks readings

Flow is the state of which self-awareness is nullified. All that matters are the actions you take within the environment that the objective is given. The state of flow is important in game design. If flow is not achieved, it means there is something wrong with the objective and/or skill level. If the audience find the game too easy, the may find themselves very bored and therefore not enjoying the game. The opposite is also true as if the game is too difficult, the player will be over-exhausted and not enjoy the game to its' full potential. Everyones’ area of where they achieve flow is different and can also rapidly change as flow is based on the perception of the audience. But if flow can be achieved through your game, the audience will be immersed in your world and hopefully enjoy playing it.

The magic circle is about a time and place where certain actions that people may never do at any other point are deemed okay and in some respects, necessary. The magic circle is another important aspect of game design. The actions and consequences of a game should only last for that game. For instance, if you lie to a friend because the game has told you that you have to. That betrayal should never compromise that friendship afterwards. A way of avoiding this is to state the magic circle very clearly at the start of the game. If the actions that people must take to win the game are clearly stated before the start of the game; The players will expect those actions and know that they are only doing those things because the games' win condition demands it. If a player feels uncomfortable in doing said actions, then the game may be asking too much and/or the magic circle wasn't clear enough before the game. This could make or break a game since instead of the game being a fun to play with friends, it becomes more a battlefield in which relationships are ruined. A good example of a game that needs a clear magic circle is Town of Salem. The game relies on the audience lying to one another to win the game. If it is not clear that lying is a part of the game. It could be taken to heart and ones' perception of the one lying could change dramatically.

[icantplaythis-bct]

Feel

Secrets of Game Feel and Juice | Game Maker's Toolkit (Brown, 2015) 5 mins

www.youtube.com/watch?v=216_5nu4aVQ

Play: Celeste (Classic) or Celeste ($25 ish) (Matt Makes Games, 2015, 2018) 30 mins https://mattmakesgames.itch.io/celesteclassic https://mattmakesgames.itch.io/celeste https://store.steampowered.com/app/504230/Celeste/

In what specific ways does the game Celeste manifest game-feel or “juiciness”?

Game feel is appeal

Someone’s juice is someone’s enjoyment

How does game feel make you feel good

If you don’t get feedback it doesn’t feel good

Matches expectation more than reality

Celeste was warm and inviting - addicted

Wanting the try again and again - go further

Easy to try and try again - instantly revive

Hard game but in bite-size level

Pulse and inertia when you collide

Nice animation when you land

Satisfying when you boost

[vahidzbct]

Personal Choice in Games

Apply this author’s line of thinking to other playful situations: video games, sports, etc. Do you see your values and your personality more clearly when you play? Provide an anecdote if you can.

When I play games I do try and separate my personal thoughts and beliefs from the game though this does greatly depend on the game i play. In a game like Mafia or Secret Hitler even though I obviously don’t like killing people and I’m not a Nazi ill still play the game the way its meant to be played. but in a RPG or tabletop game i will make decisions i would make in real life because why not unless the character I’m playing as has his own personality then I will try and match what they would do.

[jackhealybct]

‘Critical Play’, ‘Flow’, and ‘The Magic Circle’

Critical Play There are many types of play not only in the modern world but in the world over time. Not exempt from this is play designed to break down and restructure ideas in the real world. Mary Flanagan discusses this ‘Critical Play’, in which play can be used to help people think critically about the world around them. ‘Critical Play’ let’s the hands on and immersive experience that is play be used to expose and explore ideas for people in ways that may go unnoticed, or in new ways entirely based on the experience. When Prof. Flanagan uses the term ‘Critical’ she seems to be referring to how the play is analysing the world around us and bringing that into a new medium to challenge and realise these issues, but also that this kind of play comes in a time when it could have a strong and decisive impact on our future as it could be a defining aspect of what brings about crucial changes. Flow ‘Flow’ is how Csikszentmihalyi articulated the whole immersion in an experience. However it so clearly drives forth this image that it is not just doing something, it is this marriage of your consciousness and your actions. For such a union to occur however it goes beyond just thinking hard about it, it is a tentative and liquid state that requires a significant set of factors to achieve. You have to be enjoying what you are doing to begin with. You can do something but how are you supposed to become one with it if you constantly have your mind drift off out of boredom, or think about how much you aren’t enjoying yourself. You have to be aware of what you are doing, and how you are doing it. It’s not enough to absent-mindedly act, but to actively engage and know you are doing that, be it knowing that you are moving your chess piece into an advantageous position or picking the right plant to deal with the zombie wearing a bucket invading your lawn. You have to intrinsically get something out of it. Sure a pat on the back or a cash prize would be nice out the end of a race, but if your mind is in a constant drift to the external reward then how are going to become wholly one with the task in front of you, the task you are supposed to be melding with. ‘Flow’ appears to be something that is easier to be taken out of than to get into, but it is a rewarding experience when you are able to meet the requirements. The Magic Circle Where ‘Flow’ is what happens when you become immersed in an experience, ‘The Magic Circle’ is where it can happen. Around most games is this metaphorical circle that is the arena in which the game can take place. It is a world of it’s own wherein different rules apply than that of the normal world. While the circle varies depending on what you are playing it very much is fundamentally the same in that what you can do inside can be in most ways, shapes, and forms, be very different to your day-to-day life. Take the game musical chairs for example. While in normal social circumstances, it is conceived as ludicrous to physically scramble for a seat and to do your best to steal one from your peers in a survival of the fittest type simulation, the magic circle around the game permits it. However ‘The Magic Circle’ doesn’t defy all normal societal behaviour. Even in Musical Chairs it’s against the rules to knock the other players out and drag them off to the side to get your seat. Games aren’t the only places with magic circles, and some magic circles are much clearer examples. Libraries and Theatres, for example, have a magic circle that dictates that you should be much quieter, whispering at most, as opposed to the normal permission to speak at most volumes you choose when out in public. Boxing rings have a very clearly marked magic circle, where once inside you can assault your opponent until they fall down unconscious but once you outside a single punch could land you in jail. Life becomes much different in ‘The Magic Circle’ since, depending on the rules inside it, your decisions, actions, and relationships can differ greatly. Playing a role playing game, a happy couple might decide to play rivals or enemies. A person who follows every rule to the letter might steal, cheat, and kill, contrary to their nature outside of the circle. Depending on the game you might become an evil murderous dictator upon stepping into the circle. What ‘The Magic Circle’ allows means that many options are open, and they in theory shouldn’t have an impact on life outside of the circle. So should you then see it fit to deceive and back-stab your fellow players. This is really quite subjective. Even inside ‘The Magic Circle’ you aren’t immune to your actions bleeding into your normal life. The happy couples go at being enemies could easily bring up arguments that they take home with them. The law abiding citizen might see the thrill of crime and go torrent a movie. We at the heart of it are only human. So keeping this in mind it’s a dangerous game to go around lying and deceiving. Of course there are games where it’s a core mechanic or a necessary evil in order to effectively take part. Plus you have to think about the people you play with. Some people could get a real kick out of a little deceit, where as other could find it an affront. While it’s easy to say to anyone, “it’s just a game”, thinking ‘The Magic Circle’ protects against consequences, it is very much up to the circumstances you find yourself as to whether you want to test the boundaries of the circle.

[leifratahibct]

Context Of Games & Play Week 2 - Situation

For week two of games and play we looked at the golden age of board games when European board games and westernized board games started using techniques from each other in the way they were made. Tabletop games of the Euro-style genre usually have an emphasis on strategy rather than conflict between other players or by being the luck of the draw whereas with American styled tabletop games they involved much more attributes of conflict between other players or involved aspects of luck that would cause drama between players. Examples of Euro-style board games or tabletop games are Settlers of Catan and Bohnanza. Some very good examples of American styled board games are Monopoly or Twilight Imperium.

Other things we looked at this week were physical installations. With physical installations, we focused on an installation called connected worlds. Connected Worlds was an installation that allowed users to interact with many different ecosystems within the New York Hall of Science. What interested me about the Connected Worlds installation was the way users could interact with the installation all at the same time creating different impacts that did not mess with the system.

[dirtfurby]

Week 7

This week was more about figuring out my own research question and direction that I’m going to work in. My idea currently is to work on soft body rigging that mimics the movement of cats. I want to do something more technical and a lot of the work is going to be in programing. I’ll be honest I have no idea what the hell I’m doing but here’s the question I have so far  How can I use soft bodies to mimic the physics of cats in jars? 

Also here’s some concept art: 

and here’s a game I’m going to use as inspiration because y’kno, soft bodies, sushi cat 

To note: It doesn’t have to be a cat I just think they’re neat 

[onlyryan]

Contexts of Game and Play

Here is the process and development of the game jam, I have broken it down into 5 main phases and provided a few clips of examples of how I made the models.

This is phase 1 where I began to develop the map from the ground up. I began by creating a landscape plane, maximizing brush size and tool strength to influence the surface. Because the scale was quite large, it was appropriate to apply higher settings. Basically the point of sculpting around the ridges first was to define the boundaries of the experience so they cant fall off a cliff. 

After the edge of the plane were sculpted to a sufficient height, I then moved onto sculpting the islands making my way towards the center of the map. 

I then followed up with phase 2 by adding a water plane to give the scene more substance and a more full perspective of the map as a whole. The water plane also helped to properly develop a judgement of the height of the islands and meant that I could go back and sculpt according to the height of the water plane if some islands were too low. I simply wanted to create variance of depth and form to create a little more interest in the map.  

Phase 3 was applying the cell shading to the map which was made by Aldo. This added more visual depth as it added a somewhat stylized effect with regards to the lighting and shadows. Progressively adding levels of materials seemed to work well, presumably a lot better than throwing all the materials in at once and working around that. It allowed us to judge how compatible the color scheme was- predominantly with a focus on that of the rock terrain and the water plane.

Phase 4 was integrating the assets (made in blender) into the map (Unreal Engine 4). Here’s some quick examples of how I went about making them in blender. 

After making the assets and applying basic materials, I quickly UV wrapped them (simple shapes, quick to wrap), imported them into UE4. The method of placement for the mushrooms/toadstools was through the foliage tool which I could then paint onto the surfaces. The main parts of this tool I had to change was the foliage density and randomization of their size and placement.

This process was followed by manually placing in the other assets and integrating the mechanic based element into the experience. The whole process was cut down to the most efficient ways of doing things as only one of us had experience with game jams. The biggest factor by far is time and gauging the scope of the project in relation to the time period that we have to achieve this by.

[dinomightofficial]

MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research

06/03/2018

Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics were the three key words emphasized. Aesthetic referring to the type of fun/play the player experiences whilst going through a game. The paper describes and demonstrates the use of this formal analysis method of games to simplify our understanding and categorizing of games.

My understanding is that the method of developing and iterating a game through the MDA method is for games that are close to finished production and want to reflect and polish their game so that it satisfies this formal method. I was wondering throughout this reading how this same process would work in conjunction with experimental game design. I imagine that for things like VR play a new subset for MDA would have to be made especially with realism and varying levels of immersion in mind.

I was also wondering how this framework could be taken further in a competitive scene where team dynamic is heavily dependent on game mechanics. For example; Overwatch is considered a very teamwork dependent game if you wish to succeed in competitive play. However, I remember in earlier seasons of Overwatch the game mechanic contained clearly much less team dependent game mechanics. A commonly overlooked (and my favourite character) was Roadhog and it was well known throughout the Overwatch community that with this beast of a character there was no way of beating this character one versus one if you were to be even remotely close to him. Roadhog had the mechanic of hooking other players in and could basically kill any other character with a single shot. I loved this character because even if other players weren’t doing so good in a particular game I could just make up for their behalf by myself with less team work/dynamic required. As a result I was able to get to a pretty high rank in competitive play and I absolutely loved playing Overwatch because of it.

However, later on Roadhog was substantially nerfed and its stats reduced as the developers thought that he was a bit overpowered and wanted to make players focus more on teamwork and team dynamic rather than domination. For me however I remember Overwatch never felt the same again and it was no longer fun. 

For an example like this I’m not so sure the MDA format can be helpful as substituting team work for fun can be a difficult and almost an impossible achievement for a game designer. MDA is an attempt at one for trying to formalize game design. I feel however that this method accomplished more at generalizing design rather than giving a real and effective tool for developers to iterate their product on. I’m certain that this paper may have some useful implications for certain games but I imagine that the amount of games that can take full use out of this formal analysis would be quite small.

http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf

[finleymbct]

Contexts of Game and Play: Readings Week 7

For this weeks readings we’re meant to be playing (and reviewing) three different games. So, what have I been playing this week?

Blizzard’s Overwatch

My main game for the past year or so, there is something so compelling about everyone’s favourite hero shooter. For me it’s a combination of competitive matchmaking, the wide variety of play styles available with the different heroes and the fact that it feels like one of the first shooters to come out in a long time that isn’t at all cynical in tone. Virtually every single FPS I’ve ever played in recent times has had a dark, cynical edge to it - when the setting’s futuristic, it’s typically a cyberpunk dystopia or some kind of gladiatorial blood sport laced with black humour. But Overwatch, in spite of it’s villains, shows a more optimistic view of the future: one where the technology is shiny, the world isn’t crumbling apart and not everyone’s chasing that bottom line. While there are still problems in the world - there’s still people fighting one another after all - overall, it’s a brighter and more pleasant future.

It might be wishful thinking, but you never know. 

It’s never too late.

Dinosaur Polo Club’s Mini Metro

Admittedly haven’t finished this one, just played about an hour. It’s in fact developed in Wellington, so it’s nice to play some Kiwi games every now and then. Anyway, in this one you have to progressively build up a metro system, based on various cities around the world. You unlock levels in a sequence, and quite fittingly, the last (and supposedly hardest by that measure) level you unlock is Auckland. I had to laugh at that one.

So, as time goes on you need to manage your different lines, and balance various aspects of their infrastructure - you have a limited number of river crossings for example, and people want to get to various different stations - you want to get them there as quickly as possible and ensure that your stations aren’t overflowing with passengers. It’s relaxing and at the same time quite engaging - you’ll need put thought into your urban planning.

PlatinumGames’ NeiR: Automata

I’ve achieved two of the five endings for this one, and have started on the third. Calling them “endings” is a bit misleading: in the second one you replay the first one’s story with a different perspective, different mechanics and a far more in depth story. It changes how you see the “Villains” in [A]. The story has been quite emotional, dealing with androids who are becoming less and less certain of what they’re fighting for and why. The third ending continues on where [B] left off, and from what I’ve seen so far, has much and more story to explore. I also got the troll ending [O] by messing up and leaving the play area in the beginning of [C]. This must be the Yoko Taro I’ve heard about, a man both scathing and mocking of the games industry. Apparently he writes the most messed up ending first then works his way back from there, so I’ve no doubt he’s got some depressing, heartbreaking stuff on the way. This is also the same guy who, when asked about a (later proven fake) controversy about protagonist 2B’s butt, had quite an amusing response:

“Due to the 2B butt controversy, many outrageous drawings are being made. Collecting them to share individually is a pain. It would be great if we can group them together to make it easier to distribute them every week.” – Taro Yoko

It’s a pretty interesting point of difference compared to most triple A game devs, particularly those here in the west. 

[isthisprogress]

Contexts of Game and Play - Mid-Semester Break (Jam)

Honestly, over the break my schedule has been all over the place. I started working full time on a project that involves making a Training simulator on a Hololens. As a result, I was not that flexible with time. This a was relevant to our biggest issue, where our free times did not align well. As a result, we worked at different periods.

Our question was “How do walking simulators work in VR?”. Where for our Jam we tried to make a VR Kayak experience. I lost track of the time spent and went through multiple iterations. By the end I had failed to achieve the intended goal and had to pivot into a speed boat.

The issues I faced throughout the iterations:

1. The kayak would clip through objects.

2. The kayak would not move.

3. The kayak would move but not rotate.

4. The Kayak would glitch out.

Overall, it was an interesting experience where I learnt a lot about Virtual reality techniques to use in Unreal Engine 4.  

[jackhealybct]

Politics and Identity, but in a fun way

Political Statements Censorship While censorship has its place in protecting young children from gratuitous violence and explicit sexual displays, I think that it is a dangerous game to be playing to be censoring play. Yes, there are still recovering wounds from tragedies like World War II, and fresh wounds from acts of violence like 911, and respect should always be a factor in discourse concerning these kinds of events, I don’t believe, however, that there should be an enforced prevention of these kinds of media being produced. An insensitive game that doesn’t have its place should not be removed by a government or a bill, but rather removed by peoples aversion to engaging with it. Play should be free.

I can understand, on the other hand, the shock and horror that might come with seeing something horrific made into a game, and I think the abstraction of a tragedy into a cheerful enough game is a minefield that lots of thought and time and discussion should be put into before release. Commentary The Free Culture Game is an interesting little game about trying to keep creative ideas free and available to redistribute in a free market, and out of the hands of copyright, so as to avoid everyone becoming passive consumers. The gameplay has you control a cursor that guides new ideas around the creative commons, while the “Vectorialist” tries to consume the ideas by sucking them into the market. The ideas float away from your cursor when it gets close, so it becomes something along the lines of trying to herd cats away from a heater. The frustration of trying to keep creative ideas going around while keeping it away from being commercialised very much reflects the same in the modern world, especially topically now that copyright is being further enforced such as in the EU. The way the game feels to play very much reflects that feeling that while creative ideas are somewhat random and unwieldy, they have a common ground in wanting to avoid being sucked into the market to just become a product made for profit.

Problem Attic, and the problems in my attic. Problem Attic is a fascinating little game that breathes frustration, symbolism, and the telling of a deeply personal story. Liz Ryerson has clearly set out to tell us about a journey, but not just to lay it out before us, to have us experience almost first hand what it felt like. Despite this, I also think that there is very much something personal to each player to be taken away from this, that may not become relevant until discovering the intended commentary on gender within the crosses and dots. Ryerson communicated a specific story and a non-specific one at the same time, and I think that may have been very much by design. When I played Problem Attic I didn’t get very far, thinking I’d reached the end before I had, however, I had a personal insight into the game that I discovered an extra layer to when I discovered the intention of the symbol of the crosses. In one of the early levels you are able to get up on moving platforms, or you can stand on the cross to have it lift you to the top, a sort of “exploitation” of the mechanics of the crosses. One issue I had with this was my personal aversion to getting help in games, or to not overcoming the challenge set by my own personal perseverance. I felt nearly disgusted or disappointed with myself for picking the easy way. However, upon discovering the cross was meant to symbolise masculinity this was compounded even further. One of the glaring traits of masculinity is not wanting to receive help or feeling disappointed when you can’t do something yourself, and so this I felt was heavily reflected in myself with that level.

[leifratahibct]

Contexts Of Games & Play Week 1 - Context and Definition

This first week of contexts of games and play we looked at the play and the magic circle. Our first reading for the week was a TEDx talk from Mary Flanagan about critical play. She talks about play within the social aspects of life in ways that we may not initially think its play but with we look at things in a different way or a different mindset we can actually see that play is involved in many different forms other than within games. What does Flanagan mean when she uses the word critical? Flanagan uses the word critical to express the way that games over time have hit a transitioning point to conform to more social norms represent within today's society. One of the examples she used was chess with the queen in earlier times started out as a weak piece but as more women started to become leaders of power over time the queen chess piece ended up becoming the stronger chess piece and the king was given the queens previous abilities.

For our second reading for the week, we learned about flow experienced through play. Csikszentmihalyi (1975) states that flow is the state in which action follows upon action according to an internal logic which seems to need no conscious intervention on our part or in an easier terms a state of intense concentration in with we do not need to think about what we are doing and no need to think of what we need to do next.

The last thing we learned about this week was about the magic circle. The “magic circle” is where the rules of reality are essentially suspended and players of said game respect the rules present within the confines of each game. Some examples of the magic circle can be seen within games like basketball or chess where the player essentially knows the rules involved and respects them in order to stay within the golden circle. Whenever a player cheats or goes against the rule the magic circle is essentially broken.

References:

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Play and Intrinsic Rewards. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 15(3), 41.

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[dirtfurby]

CREATION

Steenhuis has 3 pillars of design to attract people to play  - Motivation : Do something to get attention. Play (ahahaha) to the monkey brain. Make noise, have colour, have movement, have chaos.  - Invitation: put out a invitation. Give them a peice of the game, verbally ask, but also give them a option to decline. Give them something - Engagement: Have a factor that ramps up the excitement. Maybe put up a wall between the two teams that slowly comes down, have a build up to the action. 

Cheese and Price - Time, Time and getting yourself to create.  When you’re trying to create things there’s a large variety of ways that things can go wrong, and that’s ok. If you’re thinking of things you need to be able to laugh at yourself a bit, do whimsical things to formulate things. Designating time to do things is vital, even if you’re not feeling like it. It has to be a every day practice so you don’t overwhelm yourself. There’s no shame in stealing ideas and making them yours, there’s nothing wrong with laughing your ass off while you do it. It shouldn’t be made too solom. Creativity is a loose wild animal so you have to sit down with it, have a quiet moment to acknowledge it and let it come to you. Be gentle and light of mind, it will come.

Blow and Grey - Kill your crib babies  It’s really scary but you can’t polish a turd. The best way to do this is to throw the baby at the wall and see if it grabs. That metaphor got away from me, just prototype. Make a thing see if the thing does the thing and if it does go for it if it doesn’t kill it or figure out why. Blow and Grey encourage RAPID prototyping and I mean white water rapid smash through like 5 different rocks prototypes before you’re even halfway through rapid. Ok maybe that’s a little bit hyperbolic but not much. By working FAST you’ll quickly be able to figure out if the baby can crawl, and if it can crawl you can then give it the tools to work. By doing quick and dirty prototypes you get the chance to say no to bad ideas and dig the gems out of the shit.