Project Dev. & Planning

Assignment 3 Part 2

Project 1: Game Installation

For my individual project, I am looking to create an installation based on games, an expansion from a previous idea called Game Face.

It is commonplace for players to record themselves while they’re playing a game and post it online, or even live-stream their adventures on twitch. We watch them react to situations in the game, and we can comment on them, but that’s about the furthest point we can reach when it comes to influencing them. Words.

This lead me to think about how it would be different if you were in a space where you are not merely playing a game and reacting to it alone, but there was others watching you, and responding with you? How would this change anything?

This project focuses on how we react to games and the emotions that they evoke. Anger from a difficult level, happiness from passing one, or perhaps, nothing at all? In this installation, I propose to create a display where a person will be playing a game, and the emotions he experiences will be reflected on a separate screen, with the video loops of several other players feeling the same emotion as himself.

The final installestion will be set up in this manner:

1 game console, 1 video camera, 2 screens (1 game screen, 1 video loop screen), 1 player

While a player is engaged in a game, a video camera will be recording his face and determine the emotion he is experiencing, from there, a selection of videos based on his expression will play in a loop on a screen above the game screen. For example, if he is experiencing frustration or anger, a series of videos of people reacting angrily to a game will be played in a loop. If he is calm or has a very neutral expression while playing, a series of calm players will be played.

WBS

Gantt Chart

Project 2: Isometric RPG (Pair)

For my pair project, and my ideal FYP, I will be working with Darryl.

We are looking at creating a video game that focuses on action and strategy.

The inspiration for this game comes from traditional 2D pixel games that were played during our childhood, long before AAA games came into the market. In fact, there are still many pixel games that are still being developed today. It is a timeless and irreplaceable form of art.

The game will revolve around placing points, called Totems, around the map which will act as beacons. The space created by placing these totems will cause different effects based off the type of totems placed. When two totems are place, a single line of action will occur. When three are placed, a triangle is formed to create an area of effect. The type and combination of totems placed will create a different effect. The totems come in 3 types, attack, defence, and support.

The game will also encompass a strong narrative in order to give the game a good flow. The game and the narrative is set in a sci-fi fantasy realm, with the protagonist being a mysterious man who doesn’t know who he is, and the only things he has in his possession are his totems.

Premise: A man wakes up in the middle of the desert and he can’t remember his name. The only things he has in his possession is a poncho, and 3 mysterious totems in his pocket. He wanders to look for food and shelter and he stumbles upon a hermit living in a yurt. He shares his story with the hermit and reveals the totems in his pocket. The hermit, recognising these totems, teaches the man to use them.

We are looking to use GameMaker Pro to program the game, and Photoshop to create the necessary game art.

While most of our equipment is without cost, we will be looking at outsourcing the sound design for our game to create relevant and high quality music, environmental sound, and sound effects.

WBS

Gantt Chart

Guest Lecture: Justin

The guest lecture with Justin was a really good experience and it really opened my eyes to the reality of the gaming industry. As much as it sounds fun and exciting to be a part of the industry, Justin also tells us that there is a lot to think about and that there is a lot more that is required to do in order to have a game take off the ground and for it to succeed.

In ADM we are taught to rely mostly on ourselves and the members of our team and to rely on each other’s strengths and weaknesses, we aren’t really taught how to deal with budgeting in the real world, as well as getting others to look at our idea (besides our professors), and have it developed further.

He also exposed us to the different aspects of creating a game, the art, the design, and the programming. While game designers readily understand the difference between art and design in games, it was still refreshing to have him talk about the key difference and why one tends to be more essential and of greater importance and prominence in the success of a game as compared to another. His analogies also allowed me to open my mind to different ways a game can be made, and that I did not need to stick to the ideals and the standards that society or the industry have set.

Assignment 3 Part 1

For my first idea, it is actually something I was thinking of pitching for my part-time job at Red Bull, which would be to create a freshmen care package for the incoming NTU freshmen. As of now they have a moving-in package for those staying in halls but not across the faculties. I am proposing to make a small booklet of about 4 pages (not including the cover and the backing), of how an NTU student can survive university with Red Bull, and how student committees can readily engage the Student Brand Managers in the school.

For my next idea, I proposing to create a comic book that allows the reader to choose the next part of the story. For example, the reader will follow one character in the story and when the character comes to a crossroad, they will decide whether the character will choose A or B, therefore progressing the story in a different manner.

Thirdly, I propose to make a survival game with a 2D interface. Most survival games are 3D based, such as Day Z, and Left4Dead. Instead of making them a player versus player based game, I intend to make it a narratively driven game.

For my fourth idea, I propose to make an installation piece based on games. Game invoke different emotions to different players based not only on the genre but on the difficulty. I propose to make an installation piece that can detect a person’s face and it will display a series of videos of player’s faces during phases of a game that relate to the expression. Such as if you frown, it will display players who are facing a difficult part of a game and tend to be frustrated. Or when you smile, it will display players that are feeling a sense of accomplishment or joy in a game, such as their reactions when they defeat a difficult enemy or when they complete the game.

Perfect Pitch Part 2

For my first idea, I had proposed to make an riddle based escape room. I would potentially keep the same idea, but as an individual project it would be a bit more difficult. So, individually I would develop it as more of a simple maze type game which would require the player to find their way out of a maze while battling a timer/darkness that follows them from behind. At the same time, they will have to tactfully avoid creatures that would kill the player in the maze. I would use Unreal Engine for the programming, Maya and Mudbox for the game assets.
If I could develop my solo idea into a big project with multiple people on board, what I would do is open up the project to more people, whereby people can readily add their own content into the game. Therefore, what would happen is that there would be a base game where a room is set up and the player must find their way out of the room by solving riddles or finding clues to unlock the door while facing an impending darkness. Other people will be able to create their own rooms and add them to the game, as well as add to the maze portion of the game. With an extended budget and timeline, I believe that I can have people manage the quality of the added content as well as to maintain the intense programming required to run this system.
As for the pair project, I propose to create a 2D survival game. Most survival games are 3D based games, so I think a 2D pixel based survival game would be refreshing. The game will also be driven narratively rather than open-world sandbox.

Processing Plant

All the projects by Prof. Louis-Philippe Demers is unique and thought-provoking.

The projects deal mainly around technology, would you say you’re limited by the technology available to execute the project or is the technology engage limited by the project itself?

Project Pitch

Solo:

A riddle based escape game where the player must find clues to exit the room before the time runs out. As the time lessens, the room gets darker until it get pitch black. If they player is able to finish the riddle a door to another room will open and the player must continue to solve another riddle. If the player fails and the room goes completely dark, another door will open into a maze where the player must find their way out and into another room before a “beast” catches them.

Pair:

A 2D top down isometric action RPG with hand-drawn sprites. It will be a rogue-like, meaning players have to start from the beginning once they die. But this time it will follow a narrative with 3 acts similar to that of the 3 act structure or the hero’s journey. Maybe I’ll call it “Mono-myth”.

Hyper Essay “What is Performance?”

Performance. What is performance, or rather what do you think about when you hear the word ‘performance’?

Darryl talked about the critically acclaimed musical, Wicked. From it’s origins as words in a book to sold out tickets on Broadway (and in international waters), Wicked has become one of the most famous and popular musicals in the world.

In order to produce this musical performance, Wicked required incredible creative talent in order to turn words into reality. Artists had to be engaged to create costumes and stage props, actors to play the parts and bring characters to life, musicians and composers to breathe emotion into scenes. Days, weeks, months, even years, have gone into making this production and performance possible. With every change in cast, in language for performances and a different set of actors in countries like Japan, new actors must be trained and become familiar with the role, perfecting it as their predecessor has. New costumes and props must be made as damage comes with the wear and tear from the endless performances put up.

The planning for Wicked never ends, in fact it still goes on today, and with every performance to come.

Then comes the ‘performance’ by Amalia Ulman (from Angel). What appeared to be an artist hitting rock bottom, turned out to be the greatest social media performance to date, even said to be a masterpiece by The Telegraph.

To summarise, her work, Amalia Ulman used social media to post her ‘enviable’ lifestyle, showing off how she looked, what she had/did, and sometimes rather promiscuous tendencies. However, beneath it all, it was all fake. Everything she had ‘done’ was fake, and nothing she had posted was real, revealing this all at the end of an elaborate and painstakingly long ordeal.

In this case, we will never truly know the length in which Amalia had taken to prepare for her performance that dazzled and turned the heads of thousands. While unlike Wicked, which drew critical acclaim from the very beginning, Amalia Ulman’s piece had caused many to hate her and even criticise her for what she had been posting, not realising that what she had created was nothing more than a facade, a performance to begin with. She didn’t make money, and in fact, she suffered in order to keep her performance alive, while Wicked constantly raked in large sums of money to keep the production alive.

If you look at them both, side by side, they are both performances, performances of vastly different scales. On one side, Wicked is a large scale production that requires large amounts of manpower and capital in order to keep the performance going for years and years. With a lack of manpower, it would be nearly impossible for such a production to go out. On the other side, Amalia’s performance required just herself, however, it is hard to say that it was any less difficult than the production of Wicked. While it only too one person to execute this performance, the hardship that she, as single person, went through was incredible, and also with little to gain.

Posts from https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/dlim014/2016/01/21/case-study-wicked/ & https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/suhui001/2016/01/21/instagram-as-a-medium-for-art/

Burning Man

Burning Man is an incredible festival that brings art, performance, and culture to life. What started out as a small group of people eventually became a culmination of artists, performers and over 50 thousand individuals.

Boyhood

Boyhood was one of those unusual movie projects. Unlike other productions where a plot is created and script is completed before production begins, Boyhood’s direction was forged over 12 years. It is unconventional but also incredible.

Pulled by the Roots

Leandro Erlich‘s ‘Pulled by the Roots’ displays a piece which looks like a house having been pulled from the ground by a crane. Roots, like those of trees, appear at the base of the house. To have something so large and what we usually associate with being grounded being suspended in midair is something to think about.