BA7 - CS

For all my work i mainly used a reflective journal/note book to write down and explore ideas - this most definitely being the case for Contextual Studies.  So i have scanned the pages i have used for exploring ideas for my work.  As well as researching and completing my Research Report, i frequently sent my work to my tutors and got feedback to work from.  Hopefully you can read whats on the scans, but i will explain whats happening with ideas, thought process and decisions made.

The first post i have done!  I was not sure what topic to write about and at the early stages.  I started off thinking about writing about either 'The Brain on Games' or about 'Human and Non-Human Companions in Games'.  I decided to choose 'Human and Non-Human Companions in Games.', so i went and bullet pointed the main aspects of the subject i wanted to explore.  I chose that topic because it was easier to try and achieve than the other one and it also relates closer to my Studio Work.

Continuing my research for 'Human and Non-Human Companions in Games', i was curious as to the psychology of companionship in both human and non-human relationships.  So i started by gathering some information by reading a book called Psychology: The Science of the Mind and Behavior by Richard Gross.  I went ahead and made notes!

I completed 250 word plan of what i waned to do for the 'Human and Non-Human Companions in Games' topic, but then soon scrapped it.  I wasn't completely settled on that topic to write about; i felt like it wouldn't work out.  So, i changed my topic!  After researching ideas for my Studio Work, i came up with the topic 'Symbolism in Games'.  Here i went ahead and explored the idea, noting down games that use symbolism in its game design and story.

Here, i am roughly structuring and planning out the topic to see if it would work and if i was settled on it.

I then went to the University Library to do some research.  I went ahead and noted down some books that could be useful.  Only 2 were which are circled.  I went ahead and read as much as i could of the two books and with the use of sticky notes, marked on the book possible quotes i could use.

Here i finally structure a more finalized frame work of the Research Report before writing a 250 word plan.  I then went on to write a number of drafts and worked on the feedback i got given, as well as finding more research for my Research Report.

BA7 - some game play points and functions!

Here are a list of points about the look of the game, potential game play functions and main game features:

• focusing on immersion, nothing to distract the player from the immersion i.e. no maps or buttons on screen
• the player is encouraged to interact as much with the environment as possible, such as playing with leaves, splashing water, open/close doors, turn on lights, tap on glass and even pet Dodger
• shadows will represent/replace people that should be there i.e. in shops
• it is creep and lonely - use of having a shadow figure following you, making you see things (like in Dear Esther)
• light and colour play a big part in setting the mood by having an individual colour scheme for each location and having the use of flushes (A Single Man)
• having Dodger as a guide and overseer - asking Rose questions which determines the ending
• Each story chapter relates to Rose and the stage of loss and grief she is currently at
• The stories are completed by finding all the missing pages in the locations- by finding them all you continue to the next location
• When someones speaking there are no words, just sounds (like in The Legend Of Zelda) subtitles are included
• there is no obviously set location or language = more things for the player to interperate and is more relateable
• want a solitude and alone experience
• can talk to Dodger to find out what you last did and access inventory

BA7 - Flushes

I have thought of a potential mechanic that was inspired by the film A Single Man.  It is such a brilliant and beautiful film with such a style to it, that really portrays the story and main characters emotions.  The potential mechanic that i want to incorporate into my game idea from the film is from 02:17 on the video below from on-wards; where the main character George (played by Colin Firth) is being perused by Kenny (played by Nicholas Hoult) and when the two flirt, as a insight to Georges' emotions the camera saturates like a flush on Kenny.  This happens through the film when Georges' positive emotions come through, contrasting against the neutral/monochromatic colour of the film.

I think using this idea, the saturated flushes of colour, would provide a good and interesting way for the audience to get to know Rose better by visually displaying what she does and doesn't like/ whats familiar and unfamiliar/ safe and unsafe.

BA7 - The Dream World - brief talk

"It is a ghost story/adventure game. You play as a young girl, trapped in a dream like world. You discover, along with your best friend a toy rabbit, who you were and what happened to you in order to escape.  The story is abstract and is episodic; each chapter of her life being a story book. At the end, you are confronted by the 'Judge' and discover the meaning of this 'dream world'.

This a brief talk about the Dream World - what its purpose is, how it functions, what i want the world to portray and its potential look/feel with inspirational images.  I will go into detail more on specific things; this is just a brief over view of the Dream World.  I am looking a lot into the Rule of Rose for its use of symbolism and (not very obvious) underlining themes and external stories.  Someone has created a web page based on the plot and theories (many of which work very well) in the game.  You can access it here.  I read through a lot of the contents of this web page and it has proven very inspirational.  From reading it and thinking it over, a few aspects of my idea for The Dream World have changed/altered.  In the rule of Rose, there are no definite answers - only suggestion and interpretation, which i find to be a powerful tool to make the player really think and observe the game they are playing.

This is the simple structure of how the game/dream world works (remember that it is episodic. please see my prev posts on more information):

• Each chapter begins with a page or two of the current story
• You uncover pages in the area by solving puzzles and finding them scattered in the area
• You discover certain objects/information that link to who you were and the place you are currently in - many is up to interpretation
• By finding all the pages in the area and answering Dodgers questions, you move onto the next chapter
• By answering Dodgers questions, which are multiple choice, it leads to multiple endings when finally meeting the Judge - the over all ending is similar, however.

Keeping with what i have learned from the website i have just mentioned about Rule of Rose, i want to use a lot if symbolism and use of interpretation in the game.  Jennifer in the Rule of Rose is also in her own 'dream world', reliving her time at the orphanage in her own mind and overcoming issues presented in order to be at peace.  An example of interpretation, suggestion and symbolism would be The Mermaid Princess Story, which is about sexual abuse Jennifer witness happen to one of the other orphans.  The final chapters boss's room (a mermaid) resembles that of the headmasters bedroom - this is suggestive.  After the boss fight, you witness the headmaster talking to one of the other orphan girls, interrogating her as to"who made the mess" in his room whist pawing her.  When you see this scene, even though Jenifer is standing in the room, it is done at such an angle that it looks like Jenifer originally saw it in reality by peeping through a key hole (theory of this can be found here).  Things like this are slight and can easily be over looked.  But when found, really add to the depth of the story and each storybook's underlying themes.

So, i was thinking that perhaps when Rose does go onto see the Judge, The Judge is also created from her perception of what the Judge would be and everything that follows is how she imagined crossing over and going to the afterlife would be like?  Maybe that's perhaps a bit too deep and doesn't make a lot of sense, but Rose is an adventurous girl that loves discovering new things.  She could have wanted to be an archaeologist or some type of explorer?  Which would mean having some reading material on various discoveries including Ancient Egypt which she could have a serious love and interest in?  I don't know, i am still playing around with that idea.

Here are some inspirational images that help to illustrate the style, theme and mood i want the dream world to be like.

I also went around Norwich for some inspiration for architecture! Here are some of the photos i took that day that i could use for the dream world:

BA7 - The Man

"It is a ghost story/adventure game. You play as a young girl, trapped in a dream like world. You discover, along with your best friend a toy rabbit, who you were and what happened to you in order to escape.  The story is abstract and is episodic; each chapter of her life being a story book. At the end, you are confronted by the 'Judge' and discover the meaning of this 'dream world'.

The Man is the person that attempts to abduct Rose and eventually kills her.  He is unidentifiable, with only the use of shadows to denote the character, as Rose doesn't know who the man is.  He appears big and scary as that's how Rose perceives him - a threat.  Not much is known about The Man given in the story as Rose doesn't know him - the Dream World is as Rose knows it and perceives it; if she doesn't know some one/place/thing then it will appear unknown as a fog/shadow in the game.

All that is known about him is that he is lives in the same town/village as Rose.  He is a very troubled man with Rose being his first abduction and kill, hence the clumsiness and rash behavior.  It is suggested at the end of the game that he goes on to abduct/kill again.

The effect i want on the player when seeing The Man is to be fearful, to see the early stages of a man giving in to the voices in his head and impulses, becoming an animal.  As i mentioned before, he will be a black silhouette, maybe with parts of his clothing/skin/hair/features being picked up by the light.  I think showing his eyes being big, bright and rounded to mimic an animal for blood lust would prove to be very effective; like a cats eyes gleaming in the light.  As the Dream World is how Rose perceives it, he should embody something she is afraid of or learned to fear, such as strangers and strange men from her parents.  He could have a more supernatural look to him by embodying a boogie man, or embodying some sort of evil character from a myth/fairy tale - Rose could be suppressing her death and killer by replacing elements with something else to achieve this.

Here are some images i am using as influence for his concept design!