Level 3 Team Project - Environment Study (Left 4 Dead)

After reading Kyle's recent environment study on the secret base of Goldeneye, I decided perform an investigation of my own. I decided to look into another area of our test location, the beginning office section, and decided that the office complex found within Left 4 Dead's 'Dead Air' campaign would be an ideal candidate.

"The office complex found within the second chapter of the ‘Dead Air’ campaign in Left 4 Dead is an environment worth our team analysing for a number of reasons. Firstly, Left 4 Dead has been built using Valve’s ‘Source SDK’ [2], the same editor we will use to create our testing environment. This means the tools that were available to the Valve Developers during the production of Left 4 Dead are identical to those available to us when creating our environment. It also means we can study Valve’s metrics, getting an idea what dimensions door frames, rooms and other areas should be. Secondly, the office complex found within Left 4 Dead has a sense of crisis and panic between the player and the NPCs on their team, similar to that of ours when test candidates are ordered to exit the office building at the start and when gunfire is heard."

To view the three page document in .pdf format, click here.
 

Level 3 Team Project - Source Analysis (Related Studies)

As part of the teams ongoing research, I've written a short two page document on Katherine Isbister and Clifford Nass' 'Consistency of Personality in Interesting Characters' study.

"The study ‘Consistency of Personality in Interactive Characters’ performed by Katherine Isbister and Clifford Nass examines how people respond to four different on-screen characters, one introvert with matched dialogue, another introvert with extrovert dialogue and vice-versa."

"Ultimately, Isbister and Nass predicted that those who interacted with one of the on-screen figures that possessed a matching posture and personality would be the most likely candidates to be influenced by that character, leading them to change their answers. By doing this, Isbister and Nass prove that the more consistent a character is, the more believable they appear to the player. In addition to this, it’s also hypothesized that out of all the versions of the character, the extrovert with consistent responses would influence almost all candidates under it to change their answers. This would prove that, as this figure has both charismatic poses and interesting responses, it would be the most engaging character out of the four." 

I feel that this source is one of the most important encountered during our research so far. Due to this, not only has this analysis been written, but also all team members have been asked to at least skim-read the fifteen page report alongside the two page document.

To download the full two page .pdf version of the source analysis, click here.

Level 3 Team Project - Analysis of NPCs within Fable II

As part of the teams ongoing research, I have performed an analysis of non-playable characters found within the Xbox 360 title, Fable II. The five page document discusses NPC archetypes and stereotypes, compares the characteristics of certain NPCs to others and provides an analytical insight into their roles.

Fable II [Lionhead Studios, 2007]
 

"The NPCs found throughout Fable II are interesting, as despite having large roles in determining the final outcome of the story, they’re all shallow, uncharismatic bots whose entire list of traits and characteristics can be viewed at any time via a small dynamic menu screen. Merely shells for the mechanic they so influence, NPCs not directly linked to the main storyline in Fable II are a very common affair, with hundreds scattered throughout the land of Albion, though each one fits the same purpose as the next. It isn’t each individual NPC that directly matters in Fable II, but the views of large groups of them affecting several of the player’s stats. As an example, the more quests the player does for NPCs found around town, the higher renown score they gain. Similarly, the more gifts a player gives to different NPCs, the more they’re appreciated."

"One thing to mention- the mentor character of Fable II, Theresa, interestingly breaks the typical mentor archetype by both being female and having a large disability. The Hero of Strength, Sister Hannah, is another interesting character to consider, her character being reversed with Garth, the Hero of Will. Typically, the female would take the role of the wispy magic user while the male would assume the role of the powerful warrior. This switch aids in helping both characters appear more surprising and compelling to the player. Despite obviously having no dialogue or characterisation, the dogs actions throughout, and especially towards the end, of Fable II help shape it into a compelling character, especially since it is linked with one of the biggest decisions the player is presented with."

"By creating stereotypical minor NPCs, Lionhead has managed to create multiple characters out of one personality, perfectly fitting for the roles those characters play. However, due to this, these minor characters are thoroughly uninteresting and do nothing but contribute to the games mechanics."

To download the full five page .pdf version of the analysis, click here.
 

Level 3 Team Project - Project Methodology Report

As part of the teams research this week, I decided to write a document looking into Project Methodology. Software development processes Scrum, Waterfall, Agile, Spiral and Iterative are mentioned, with a short explanation as to what each one is along with some examples of how the process can be used and whether or not it would be useful to us. The report concludes saying the team would benefit most from the Scrum process, making good use of its two to four week sprints and frequent meetings.

"Software Development Processes are a very important aspect of design, with each aiming to aid teams along the development cycle by providing an organised project flow and several different terms and phrases to help identify ‘stages’ of production."

"As part of our project research, we’ve decided to look into several of these software development processes and decide which one would best suit us. The processes looked at here are Scrum, Waterfall, Agile, Spiral and Iterative. A short explanation as to what each one is will be given, along with some examples of how the process can be used and whether or not it would be useful to us. The five development processes featured are some of the most popular used throughout the games industry, with development studios such as High Moon making use of Scrum."

To download the full five page .pdf version of the report, click here.

Level 3 Team Project - Source Analysis - Book 2

As part of the team's ongoing research, I've looked into testing methodology using the book "Game Usability: Advice from the experts for advancing the players experience" written by Katherine Isbister and Noah Schaffer as my source. I've created a two page document discussing the relevant information found in Chapters VII, IX and XV and given an insight as to how we can use the information gathered in testing of our own.

“Game Usability: Advice from the experts for advancing the players experience” [1] written by Katherine Isbister and Noah Schaffer gives a good insight into effective testing within the games industry. Chapters VII, IX and XV provide the most relevant information regarding our project, talking about evaluation, metrics, biometric measurement and tracking real time user experience."

"An in-game feedback application as seen in Voodoo Vince [6] could be a useful tool for gathering data. One advantage of this being the player can tell us exactly what they’re thinking the moment it is happening within the game. It’s also possible to present players with an application such as this while masked as an in-game mechanic, asking players if they wish to engage more conversation with NPCs or not, whether or not they wish to travel with one NPC over another and so forth. Games such as Team Fortress 2 [7] offer in-game questioners on certain servers, allowing players to rate the current map they’re playing on, the people they’re playing alongside and the quality of the server. This links back to information found in Chapter VII, as if we’re to include such an application in our product it will have to remain easy to use and simple to understand."

"Game Usability: Advice from the experts for advancing the players experience’ by Katharine Isbister and Noah Schaffer has been a useful source to consider when looking into testing both our prototype and final product. While most sections in the book were not entirely relevant to our project, some of the points made throughout can still be considered, such as the information on the evaluation process and hints to how we can collect data effectively. We may also benefit from including in-game logs as mentioned by Kim in chapter XV and also record player emotion by using equipment such as a web camera to see facial expressions throughout the testing."

To download the full three page .pdf version of the source analysis, click here.

Level 3 Team Project - Source Analysis - Book 1

As part of the teams research into non-playable characters in games, I borrowed the book 'Better Games Characters by Design' written by Katherine Isbister. I've created a three page document analysing certain areas of the source that are relevant to our project.

"'Better Game Characters by Design’ by Katharine Isbister has been a very useful source for finding out information on NPCs within games and how players react to them depending on a variety of different variables. Reading this book has helped us to look deeper into many aspects of characters within games and a lot of examples and suggestions given by the author must be taken on-board if our characters are to be convincing and realistic."

To download the full three page .pdf version of the source analysis, click here.

Level 3 Team Project - Case Study - Frank Fontaine (Bioshock)

As part of my Level 3 Team Project research I've completed a small case study on Frank Fontaine, an antagonist found within first person shooter, Bioshock.

"Being a game driven mainly by its narrative, the NPCs found within the world of Rapture are of many different varieties. The most interesting of all perhaps, is Frank Fontaine, a con-man who arrived in the city twelve years before its demise. Fontaine first makes his appearance in Bioshock under the guise of Atlas, a pleading Irishman who contacts Jack as he takes his first step into the city. Speaking to the player via a radio transmission, Atlas explains what has happened to the city and why, informing Jack what he’s lead himself into. Atlas then goes on to mention that his wife Moira and infant son Patrick are lost somewhere in the city, desperately pleading Jack to help him get them to safety."

"After studying Fontaine throughout the course of Bioshock, we’ve learnt that you can easily lead and trick the player by creating a convincing character, making them think and act exactly how you want them to. In Bioshock, the fact Atlas appears at the very beginning of the game and educates players on a world they know nothing about automatically lays a level of trust between that character and the player. Then, match this with Atlas’ many convincing traits and the player will perform his every request. The switch between Atlas and Fontaine makes the characters personality far more interesting, especially after seeing how quickly the player warms to him at the beginning of the game. Due to this plot twist found in Bioshock, the Atlas/Fontaine character has become very well known throughout the entire industry."

To download a .pdf version of the full case study, click here.

Games Portfolio - Model and Terrain Development

Model and Terrain Development Overview

For our final assignment, we are expected as individuals to create and import our own 3D Models into the Supreme Commander Tool Set, producing and shaping our own terrain. Before this development process can take place however, research must be conducted as to how these 3D Models are created and imported, and how the SupCom Map Editor works.

When creating models for Supreme Commander, several different programs will need to be utilised. Firstly, custom units are produced in 3D Editing Software such as 3Ds Max or Maya. These models will need to be fully textured and exported as .MDL files, ready to be transferred into Supreme Commander.

When finally importing models into Supreme Commander, a 'Model Importer' can be downloaded from the Internet and used to transfer custom models into the game files. The importer has been made available from here and allows users to import saved models created in 3Ds Max or Maya, and then simply export them into the game.

Terrain creation for Supreme Commander can all be taken place inside the official SupCom Map Editor, of which is available here. The map editor allows users to build up terrain, place in scenery such as trees and lakes, and paint the areas with a series of different textures.

The following links give some very useful tutorials when attempting to use the SupCom Map Editor:

http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Official_map_editor_tutorial

http://www.supcomtalk.com/2007/06/11/official-map-editor-released/

To see all posts concerning this unit, click the 'Games Portfolio' tag below.