Things can go wrong but life goes on.
If you think work is tough, try being hungry.
For the photo booth tutorial, I learned how to generate sounds of command to position my face for the webcam to take a screenshot. It was a complicated patch, and I had a hard time getting it to work. After getting the patch to work, I substituted the sounds with other sounds to create funny effects. I had fun making the patch and get it to work. The following is my documentations of my patch. Enjoy! š
MEMORIES OF SOUND
Bao Song Yu & Zhou Yang
For our final project, we decided to shift away from the idea of creating an interactive installation depicting the experience of walking in a cave in a dark room. We feel that the cave experience is cliche and does not add meaning to our project of using sound to create an experience.
Instead, we decided to experiment using sounds to create a narrative experience for users. For example, the sound of wind can means a storm is approaching, or it can mean a breeze from the sea. If another layer of sound is added to the context, it will become an entirely different meaning. We feel that it will be interesting to see how people react to different sounds and how they feel about it.
Therefore, we decided to experiment with different sounds to create a different context for the users. We will be blind folding the users experiencing our installation so that the impact of sound can be enhanced. The users will also be wearing headphones to prevent distraction from the surrounding sound. This allows them to experience only the sound and nothing else.
After looking around, we decided to use the space at the concrete wall in Adm for our installation. The uniform color wall will serve as an excellent background for our color tracking sensor of our Max patch. The open space will also invoke interests from passer-by when the users are interacting with the installation. We also tested out the volume needed to be input into the headphone to cancel out the surrounding sound.Ā
In game narrative content
Goh Cher See |Ā Nicholas Makoto |Ā Zhou Yang
The transition from the main game page to chapter one game page:
Dialogue:
This is the first time I am holding a gun. I was given a rifle along with my friends. We were trained to shoot and take cover from enemy fire. With a few days, we were sent to the front. We thought together with the British; we could protect our family from the Japanese.
We were wrong.
I miss them.
Content forĀ chapter one
Introduction:
On the 8th of December 1941, with the major world powers engaging in power struggle throughout Europe, the Japanese took the opportunity to expand its empire through fighting various battles in an effort to drive out the white colonial master from Asia.
Photo 1: The push
In merely 55 days of fighting, the Japanese Imperial Army drive the British Empire forces down the Malay Peninsular for over 600 miles.
The war was at our doorstep.
Photo 2: Battle for Singapore
After suffering a series of defeats, the British finally realized that they are fighting an army that is at least on equal footing with them.
Photo 3: British surrendering
15th February 1942, after more than a hundred years of colonial rule over Singapore, British surrendered unconditionally.
Photo 4: Japanese marching into the city
For those left in Singapore, what lay ahead was over three years of pain and suffering.
Photo 5: Plan to capture all Chinese rebels
The Japanese want to get rid of all its anti-Japanese elements in Singapore as they did not want guerrilla activity. They wanted to ensure the Chinese community was subdued.
Photo 6: Sook Chin
All Chinese male above the age of 18 must report to detention centers for mass registration. There were supposed to be no exceptions. There were 250,000 men on the island during the Japanese Occupation. For many, this was their final journey.
The massacre that history would call Sook Chin had just begun.
Transition from chapter one game page to chapter one game play
Dialogue:
When the Japanese came to Singapore, everyone was afraid. They ordered all the Chinese from the Chinese communities to report to them. My dad and went with his neighbors. The other people from the neighborhood went with them as well.
I never saw my dad again.
Main game play
Dialogues for character interaction
Character 1
Name: Tan Jiao Ming
Age: 23
Occupation: Warehouse labourer.
Family background: The eldest son of his family. He lives with his parents. Two siblings: a younger brother and sister.
TJM (Tan Jiao Ming): Please let me go! I didnāt do anything wrong. Iām innocent. Please.
T (Traitor): We shall see. Are you part of the Delta force member?
TJM: No, Iām not! Please let me go.
T: STOP LYING!!! (1) * Fine, we can sit here all day until you tell the truth. (2)
TJM: I am telling the truth. Please. I did not take part in the war. Please let me go.
T: ADMIT IT NOW!!! (1) * It is time to tell the truth. (2)
TJM: I really know nothing of the Delta force. Please let me go. I beg you. Please.
T: Are you kidding me? Letting you go? A rebel to the Imperial Japanese Army? (1) * You have to give me something so I can let you go. You understand me? (2)
TJM: You have to believe me. I did and know nothing. Please let me go. Iām begging you.
T: TELL THE TRUTH NOW OR I WILL KILL YOU!!! (1) * You have to give me something. (2)
TJM: Pleaseā¦I really know nothing about the Delta force. Please let me go home. Pleaseā¦
T: Take him away. He is one of them. (1) * He can go. (2)
Character 2
Name: Ong Jia Yan
Age: 35
Occupation: Business man.
Family background: Married. Five children: three boys and two girls.
OJY (Ong Jia Yan): What do you want from me? I know nothing.
T: Are you sure? (1) We shall see about that. (2)*
OJY: ā¦
T: Keeping quiet is not going to help you. (1) Tell me what you know. (2) *
OJY: Please just let me go. I seriously know nothing. I wouldnāt be of any help to you.
T: You better tell me what you know. Or elseā¦ (1) Mr Ong, I am sure you have a family. It will be pretty sad if anything happens to them. (2)*
OJY: What do you want from me? Please do not hurt them.
T: Why donāt you start by telling me things that I want to know? (1) They will be fine if you tell me what you know. Surely your family is more important than anything else. (2) *
OJY: ā¦
T: Come on Mr Ong, I donāt know how long more I can keep up with this. (1) Come on Mr Ong, think about your family. Just by telling us where those rebels are operating, you can go home with your family and get protection from the Imperial Army. (2)*
OJY: I donāt know muchā¦ but I know one of their operating bases is located at the warehouse near the dock. They stored weapons and supplies there.
T: Tell me more! You definite know more than you say! (1) Anything else you want to tell me? I donāt think that is enough to keep your family safe.
OJY: ā¦
T: TALK!!! (1) ā¦(2)*
OJY: Their main operating base is located underground in one of the farms opposite the river bank. The exact location Iām not too sure. Thatāsā¦thatās all I know. Please do not tell people that I told you about all these. Thatās all I know. Canā¦can I go now?
T: Take him away. (1)Ā You may go now. (2)*
NeighbourĀ
Name: Yan Hong Yi
Age: 45
Occupation: Postman
Family background: The father of three children, two girls and a boy. His wife died two years ago due to malaria.
He lived next to your house and you went to regular fishing trip with him from time to time.
YHY (Yan Hong Yi): Ah Huang is that you?
T: Mr Yan, please know where you are now. (1)* Mr Yan had being a while since we last met. (2)
YHY: Why are you working for the Japanese? What will people think of you?
T: I donāt care. Just tell me anything you know about the rebels. (1)* I donāt have a choice. You think I want to do this? (2)
YHY: I donāt know what you talking about.
T: Mr Yan this is for your own good. If you do not co-operate with us, Iām afraid I canāt protect you from the Japanese (1)* Please Mr Ong tell me something so I can help you. (2)
YHY: What are you talking about Ah Huang? Do not forget you are a Chinese yourself. How can you expect me to help the Japanese?
T: Come on give me a break. Helping the Imperial Army is the only way to survive. (1)* I will guarantee protection for you and your family if you provide me with information. (2)
YHY: I got nothing to offer. And even if I did, I will rather die than tell you. Betraying your own people. You will meet with no good end.
T: Take him away. (1)* (Only left with the āTake him awayā option)
Childhood friendĀ
Name: Xia Han
Age: 25
Occupation: Factory Worker
Family background: The second eldest child in her family. She lives with her father. Her mother died of malaria two years ago. Three siblings: two younger brothers and one elder sister.
She is your childhood friend. The two of you used to play together back in the earlier days. She told you she wants to be a teacher when she grows up.
XH (Xia Han): Peh Huang!?
T: Xia Han, do you know why you are here? (1) ā¦(2)*
XH: What are you doing here? Why are you working for the Japanese?
T: That is none of your concern. Please answer my question. (1) I donāt have a choice. I must protect my family. (2)*
XH: What will people think of you? How will your family cope with you as a traitor to the people?
T: Just answer my question! (1) I donāt care what people think of me. My family is what matters to me.
XH: Please, Peh Huang you need to stop doing things for the Japanese.
T: I donāt think you understand the situation here. (1) How? I canāt just stop. It is the Imperial Army you are talking about.
XH: Huang, do you have any idea the harm you are doing to the people? Do you have any idea?
T: I donāt care. Thatās nothing I can do. (1) I know. But what do you want me to do? Do you think I want to do this? (2)*
XH: Huang being a traitor is not going to save you and your family in the long run. They will ask you to do more and more. And thatās when you will see the true colours of the Japanese. You need to find a way to get out of this.
T: Please shut up. I donāt want to hear all these. (1) Han, pleaseā¦ (2)*
XH: Huang we know each other for so long. I know you are not a bad person.
T: I donāt want to hear any of these. (1) Please stop. (2)*
XH: Huang pleaseā¦
T: Take her away. (1) I am going to let you go. Please stay safe. (2)*
Transition from the end of chapter one page to chapter two game page
Dialogue:
They were, I think some spies for the Japanese. They started going around and pointing out people. The people that were pointed out were told to stand up. There was this man in his fifties who was my neighbor. He was pointed out, and he stood up. When no one was looking, I signaled to him to sit down. Those that were standing were put in lorries and sent away.
They have never heard again.
Credits
My father provided the Chinese who were fighting against the Japanese in mainland China with money through buying of bonds. He hid them on the roof of the house. During the sook chin operation, the Japanese managed to find the bonds, and he was arrested, I donāt know how it was discovered. Someone must have told them. The soldier arrested him and took him away.
We never saw him again.
PROJECT OCCUPATION
Goh Cher See |Ā Nicholas Makoto |Ā Zhou Yang
Project Occupation Game Art
We have completed the game scene to the point whereby the traitor willĀ be faced withĀ moral dilemma of interrogating people that he knows. Ā
Updates:
We are still having problems with the gaming mechanics in terms of coding. For demonstration purpose, we are planning to use scripted scenes to explain our game flow if we are not able to resolve the issues before the final presentation.
At the same time we are also working on the narrative content of the game. We are trying to include first hand accounts by witnesses to give the game a more personal connection with its players. We will also be adding in bits of stories that led up to Sook Chin to give enough information for the players to have a clearer understanding of the event.Ā
After much discussion and refinement, we have decided to create a cave experience through the use of audio in a dark room setting. A confined dark room is a perfect metaphor for a cave. Each participant will be given light sticks to placed on both his/her ankles. These light sources served as trackers for the cameras put in the room to trigger cave related sounds through the notion of walking around the space. We feel that it will be interesting to explore the interaction of people with a place when the element of sight is cut off from them. We are planning to have additional cameras set up to allow the people outside the installation space to view the interaction happening inside the space. This is to allow participation from the people outside the installation space.Ā
Referencing sounds:
The Wolf Among Us is a fascinating narrative game developed by Telltale Games. It is the same game developer that produced The Walking Dead. It brings the players through various adventure and thrilling experience with the main character, Bigby Wolf.
I love the art style produced by Telltale Games. There is no fancy graphic or computer animation, just pure story book graphic style presentation.Ā It creates a mysterious feel for the game and makes the players feel they are going through a story. It blends perfectly with the story that is going to unfold before the eyes of the players.
A huge bulk of the game involves interacting with in-game characters through Bigby Wolf. The things that Wolf said to them is going to affect how they react to him in the future. The decisions Wolf does will also influence the outcome of individual events. I feel that this is one of those games that you will spend hours trying out the different options for the interaction portion to discover different outcomes. The engagement aspect of the game is immersed. The players will feel that they are part of the game, part of the story. They have a personal connection with the in-game characters and feels that the choices they made matter.
PROJECT OCCUPATION
Goh Cher See |Ā Nicholas Makoto |Ā Zhou Yang
We were looking into the presentation of the story for the game. Due to time constraint, we are looking for a more efficient and concise way to tell our story to our players. We want to bring our message across to them in the shortest possible time so that the game flow will not feel draggy.Ā
The introduction portion of the game will be cut short. We feel that we do not have enough time to refine the story line to provide a good story telling experience for our players. Therefore, we look into alternative.Ā
We decided to tell the story through theĀ medium of a file that keep track of the incident. Different partsĀ of the game will be from the different parts of the documents. This is to emphasis the narrative element of the game. The game will be made up of memories kept in the document and unfold right in front of the players.Ā
This is the finalized game flow of our game.Ā
The different sound required for the different scenes in the game.Ā
The key scenes in the game.
Moving Forward:
With the game flow finalized, we will be focusing on materializing the game. The main problems we haveĀ is with game mechanics. We are have difficulties in getting in game interaction to run. But we are getting help from gaming forums and relevant people.Ā
21 March 2017
Concept refinement
Current project direction/idea:
Four players will interact with each other as well as the computer to create sound in a dark room. There will be a total of 4 computers, each with four colors corresponding to a certain instrument or beat. Players have to mover near to the computer to trigger faster beats and further to trigger slower beats. The player can switch lanes to trigger a different instrument on another computer.
Project prototyping
We will be researching on patches that can track colors to trigger audio output as a starting point for our project.
This is one of the videos we found on that talks about tracking specific color that will lead to sound.
*Update* We tested out the patch, and it works. The reading was not very accurate because there are a lot of surrounding light that affects it. Once we have a more refined patch, we will be testing it in a place that has limited light.Ā
28 March 2017
Project prototypingĀ
Once we get the color tracking system to work (hopefully), we will be exploring and experimenting with a different combination of sounds.
The following are some of the sounds we are looking into.
We feel that using everyday sound to create music is an exciting area we can explore.
Chinese classical music is another aspect that we feel is an intriguing area that we can work on.
04 April 2017
Project prototypingĀ
Finalize on the audio output.Ā
Recording of the audio output.Ā
Booking of room for the project presentation.Ā
11 April 2017
Final build
Project documentation.
User testing.
18 April 2017
Final presentationĀ
18 April 2017
Final OSS submission
THE PURPOSE OF SOUND
For our project, we are looking into experimenting with sound. We feel that sound is an interesting element that we constantly overlook due to its abundance existenceĀ in our life.Ā As sound is a non visual element, We feel that it isĀ a favorable circumstance for us to use our other senses other that our sight which we so depend on, to feelĀ and appreciate the spaces around us. In the process, we hope to gainĀ freshĀ realization on our reactionĀ of sound by our body.Ā Therefore, we want to use this opportunity to have an interaction with sound free of any outside distraction. We want to find out about the significance of sound and its purpose in our daily life. Ā
The following are some videos that give a rough idea on the type of interaction we are looking into and hope to achieve.Ā
Since my project is on creating a narrative based game, I had been researching and looking into games that have the similar components. And I feel that The Walking Dead series by Telltale Games will be an interesting sharing.
It is a zombie survival game. However, it does not priorities the action and problem-solving qualities like many other survival games. Instead, players are exposed to the engaging narrative and character development of the game. Through playing the game, players will grow personal connections with the in-game characters. I feel that Telltale Games did an excellent job in providing the quality story line that keeps the players engage and at the edge of their seats.
During the game, players have to make choices. Some of the choices are pretty straight forward while others will put players into moral dilemmas. To add on to the challenge, there is the time limit for players in making their choices giving them the real-time problem-solving experience. These decisions will later affect the outcome of particular events or the fate of individual characters. Therefore, I feel that it provides the players with a legitimate experience of trying to survive in a world filled with danger.
