Research
This research page will be showing how I will carry out all kinds of game research in order to find out how to make a playable demo for my final project. This will involve design ideas and inspirations, codes and conventions, game-play mechanics, camera placement and everything else in between, so sit tight as I find and discover what to look for when constructing this demo!
Also, for the smaller things that I have discovered whilst making my demo, check out my blog linked below. It shows my development stages on this project and it also has a lot of research updates included! So stay tuned to those updates as and when they come out, as I will be updating it often.
Opening Stage Review – Portal 2
To evidence my understanding and knowledge of the context, I will start by applying the study diamond as a way of analysing an opening sequence of my choice: that being Portal 2, a puzzle platforming game from Valve with a great story and innovative gameplay.
The game begins with you, the player waking up inside of what seems to be a hotel room all while being greeted by an unseen robotic voice telling the player how long they have been asleep. Also informing them that they must comply with state and federal regulated wellness exercises while in the Aperture science extended relaxation centre, just this opening alone makes me wonder what’s in store. By restricting the player to this enclosed space with no view or way out is one way the developer can use this as an opportunity to lead the player through a simple navigation tutorial, whereby the robotic voice instructs the player to look up and down with a loud buzzer indicating when they must do so. Additionally, asking the player to move towards a painting teaching them the basics of movement, it is during this time that button prompts appear on the screen to inform the player of what button or mouse movement is required. After which the player listens to some classical music then returns to the bed, and the screen fades to white, this is when the first chapter of the game begins. This simple introduction to the game, not only teaches the player basic navigation but also sets the scene of what’s to come, and leaves the player wanting to know what happens next.
Fast forward X amount of years and the player wakes up in the same room but everything inside the room is worn and damaged by the passing of time, and the robotic voice is broken and distorted all while someone is knocking at the door asking if anyone is in there and if they could open the door. Once the player has moved towards the door it opens automatically and the player is greeted by the voice in the form of a robot on the other side as the robot screams at the sight of the player. Suggesting that they are not in the greatest of conditions but being told that they look fine after many years in stasis to keep the character calm, this also offers some comedic value to the player. This is when the distorted voice announces that they must prepare for emergency evacuation, the robot then tells the player to remain calm, prepare and to not move as they try to get them out additionally telling the player to hold on to something. This second opening sequence is a way that the developers have shifted the players perspective of their surroundings, from a warmly lit hotel room to a dilapidated cold hotel room showing that a considerable amount of time has passed.
As this title is a sequel to Portal, it is expected to follow in its footsteps with the use of portal guns, and companion cubes and the player does indeed get to interact with these items later on in the level in which they have their tutorials. But as far as these first impressions go, the developers have used multiple techniques of interacting with the player to get an appropriate response, i.e. by using jokes aimed at the player or by playing classical music followed by a loud buzzer as to play with the players' emotions. The scene carries on with the robot giving the player exposition as to why they are in this predicament as they make their way through the large warehouse filled with similar containers as the players one as they finally reach a wall in which they crash through revealing the test chamber on the other side.
After this introduction, I feel that in my opinion Portal 2’s introductory level is one of the best to come out in a while due to not only the setting and narrative of the game that came before it but also Valves use of their source engine showing the player what it is capable of.
All Portal 2 related images are sourced from included video.
YouTube. (2019). Portal 2 Intro (HD). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XLBhlSxwX8 [Accessed 8 Mar. 2019].
OpenLearn. (2019). Taking your first steps into higher education. [online] Available at: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=18906§ion=4# [Accessed 27 Mar. 2019].
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Opening Stage Review – Fallout 3
My second game of choice is Fallout 3, a post-apocalyptic RPG set in an alternate timeline of America 200 years after the great war. The game starts with a camera focused on an old tube radio that flickers to life and begins to play the song “I don’t want to set the world on fire” by the Ink Spots, this song was chosen as it fits in with the post-apocalyptic theme of the game as the world has been set on fire by the great war. I feel that the developers used this song as satire, as they could have used any other genre of a song but chose this, as not only does it fit in with the theming, but it also in part sets the mood that is being portrayed to the player. The camera then slowly pans out to reveal a bus that has been torn apart and is located outside of one of the game's landmarks after which the soundtrack of the game plays over the first song with an unknown character stepping into the frame then fades to black with the games logo appearing.
Next, a voice states that “War, War never changes” a well-known phrase used within the Fallout franchise, the voice continues with a dramatic telling of history with slides that correspond to this. As the voice continues with its monologue many slides appear throughout depicting various scenes of destruction and desolation with one slide showing an animation of a nuclear explosion in a suburban neighbourhood, this use of still imagery and animation is a great way to express to the player how severe the great war was and its effects on the world and humanity. Additionally, providing the player with a narrative backstory on how and why there are still people living in the wastelands and the vault where the player begins their journey stating that “it is here you were born, it here you will die” while the vault door closes, and the camera pans back away from it. This method of narrative storytelling is used by the developers to portray the world as it will appear to the player, with the use of narration, imagery and direct speech aimed at the player allows the player to fully immerse themselves within this game.
The camera fades to black, and the monologue finishes for a period of time, suddenly the screen fades to white and becomes bloody, with the sound of a baby crying and slowly the white fades away revealing two unknown characters with one of them asking if you are a boy or a girl. This is when the player is first allowed to interact within the game, with a dialogue box appearing with the options of choosing a gender of a boy or a girl. After selecting one of the options, the character that asked the question then exclaims that the player is of that gender to an unseen character out of the players' view, in which the unseen character is pleased. After a brief interaction with your “father”, he then asks the player what their name is with a dialogue box appearing allowing the player to enter their name, after which the character customisation menu appears allowing the player to choose their sex, race, face and hairstyle. By allowing the player to customise their character, allows the player to project themselves or others if they decide to do so.
After creating a character, the father then asks what kind of person the player is but is interrupted by the character off screen as they slowly pass away, and the player is removed from the room with the sound of a heart monitor flatlining. By removing the player from the scene and having them experience a traumatic death, leaves the player with a lot of questions surrounding the death of their mother which can play with their emotions, I believe that the developers used this form of storytelling to not only give the character more backstory but also to emphasise the players connection with their character.
Continuing with the opening level, the screen fades to white with one year later appearing for a short amount of time, also during this transition the player can hear multiple voices after which the white fades away and the player is greeted by their father encouraging them to move closer to him with button prompts appearing to the upper left of the screen telling the player what to press in order to navigate the room. Once inside the playpen the players' father leaves the room and the tutorial continues with additional prompts telling the player to leave the playpen by interacting with the gate to open it, once outside of the playpen the player can now explore the room they are in and interact with the various toys around them. After which the player can interact with a book which allows them to allocate skill points by using the S.P.E.C.I.A.L system which stands for Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck. After the player has finished allocating their skill points the father enters the room surprised that the player has escaped the playpen. The developers used this room as a basic navigation tutorial to teach the player how to navigate in the game and to also teach the player about the interactive items that can be found within the game, additionally this room is used to provide additional narrative elements such as the bible verse which will play an essential part towards the end of the game.
Furthermore, the opening stages of Fallout 3 teach the player about the multiple game mechanics that are available, such as navigation, conversation and combat. By using vault 101 as a tutorial, this lets the player explore these mechanics in a linear style as to not interrupt the player later during gameplay, this approach of a linear start to an otherwise open world RPG provides the player with the necessary skills and knowledge to assist them after they have left the safety of the vault. In my own opinion, I feel that Fallout 3’s introductory stage is a perfect example of how to guide the player through the different mechanics available without it feeling like a tutorial and additionally to engage the player with plot elements early on rather than later which can have a lasting impact on the player.
All Fallout 3 related images are sourced from included video.
YouTube. (2019). Fallout 3 Part 1 - Intro and Growing Up (No Commentary). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiILu4TAAy4&feature=youtu.be [Accessed 9 Mar. 2019].
Primary Research
Here is my primary research that I have conducted during this project, It includes any reference images of items I wish to recreate or be inspired by when creating my demo and a questionnaire asking an audience what they feel and think about my project.
First I will start with all of the images I had taken for reference, this includes items objects that I had found which I could use in my final project.
With these images, I chose objects that I could use for inspiration towards creating concept art for this project along with any possible ideas for textures.
As my project is based in space and has a sci-fi/cyberpunk theme I chose to look for items that suited this, ideally, bits of technology, pieces of circuitry or anything tech based. A problem I faced when trying to find this content originally was where I would find such content and how I could use it, this led me to look at different methods of trying to find the relative objects and being able to use them creatively within my work such as old scrap and books or films to find these.
One method that I have found to be useful towards finding inspiration and references for this project is to block out a rough model of the object that I wish to recreate then add my own elements of creativity to it and add any additional aspects of design to it. Once finished with the initial block out of the object I will then export an image of it as a line drawing then add any textures of extras as a way to create concept art for the project, I feel this benefits my workflow as it helps me to create various assets quickly and of different themes. If needed I will switch between basic modelling to performing research and referring to it when it is required.
Audience Research
To start with the production of my project, first I had to understand what my key audience will be. This meant creating a survey for people to fill in asking various questions such as what platform they are using and in this case what features should be included in a project such as this one i.e. When deciding to buy a game, what factors are the most important to you?. This allowed me to break down the data from the responses and better tailor the experience towards this particular audience that this project is aimed at.
Below are the results of the survey.
Starting with my first question of how old the user is, I did this to see what demographics my survey was reaching by using social media platforms and by asking friends if they would kindly share the survey. The results of this show that a large amount of the responses are between the ages of 22-29, this shows that the methods I had used limited much of the replies as most of the people on my social media are similar in age, one way that I would be able to expand these results is to reach out to other platforms such as forums of a relatable subject.
Additionally, I also asked the gender of the participants for reference, this shows that a majority of the responses of the survey are male indicating that this genre may be more enticing towards this gender. This could be changed with a different approach geared towards a range of genders rather than limiting to a primarily male bais.
For extra information on my audience, I chose to ask of the location of the participant to see if my survey could be reached outside of the UK with one response being from Canada and a majority being from within the UK. As mentioned before, I could extend the reach of my survey by posting it to multiple forums online with similar relatable subjects.
The fourth question I used as a way to find out where people discover their gaming news and information, which ties into the issue I had of pushing my survey towards an audience that would guarantee more responses resulting in more extensive and detailed data for my survey. Many of the responses were as expected with most being that of YouTube and Social media with a select few being from word of mouth.
Question five consisted of asking what platforms that the audience primally uses, the results of this show that most users use their PC as their main platform with Xbox One and PS4 being tied in second place with mobile taking third place. Overall these results show that the PC is still number one in terms of what is the most popular platform that people chose to game on with consoles slowly catching up behind as more and more people embrace a future with a console in their homes. My reasoning behind asking this question was to find out what market I would try to push my game in and what platform it would be on as I would want to have as many people playing my game as possible.
For question six, I asked the audience to pick three of their favourite genres of games. From the results, it's clear what are peoples favourites which are FPS, Action Adventure and Role Playing being the top picks with Simulation, Strategy and MMO genres coming in second place. This shows us that a majority of the respondents prefer games such as Call of Duty, Fallout 76 and Mass Effect with others choosing games like Sim City and World of Warcraft for comparison. With this variety of answers, I am able to create a game which would fit into some of these categories which will be apparent further on during development as many concepts and ideas are subject to change according to these results.
I decided to ask the audience in Question 7, "When deciding to buy a game, what factors are the most important to you?" based off of the first being the most important factor, second most important and third most important factors. To which I had received some great answers such as how many times a person may play a game after beating it which was a most important factor another being the story and characters. This shows that people want a game that has increased replayability with great characters and a storyline to match, next is what people chose as their second most important factor which consisted of the style of the game mixed with the overall status of the game when being reviewed by reviewers. And finally, the third most important factor that people have chosen shows that people want a game that is low in price as not to break the bank and buying it, which is understandable as I agree that many games have an ever-increasing price point when it comes to grabbing a copy. By asking these questions I was able to better understand what people feel is most important to them when choosing a game, this has allowed me to focus more on the concept of a larger story element to my project which I wish to implement at a later date.
The next question of the survey asks the audience "How important do you think the following game features are for a Space Action RPG game?". By using a rating scale of 1 being unimportant and 5 being important I gave the options of what concepts I could explore when designing my project, one of the options was to have plenty of content and game modes suggesting that I could implement various game modes such as team deathmatch, capture the flag and many others into this development if I chose to do so. As I have already given my pitch for this project I will consider adding these If my design allows it, for the time being, I will be continuing my work on expanding the story element of my game.
Question nine asks the audience to pick up to six features that they would like to see in a Space Action RPG Game, ranging from Minigames to the overall replayability of the game. From these results, you can see that the top four features that people would like to see in this title are as follows, Skill-level development in first place, an open world in second place and in third is a deep and engaging storyline closely followed by a customisable character. These are great results in terms of what I wish to add to my project as all of these features are ones that if I have not added them in this current project, I will be in my future projects.
Finally, question ten. I decided to ask "What feature would you personally like to see in a Space Action RPG game?" and allowed the audience to add their own ideas and thoughts on what they wanted to see in this genre of game. I did this as I may have missed a potential feature that would be suited to my project, additionally one comment was that I have the main character focus on a threat that seems almost impossible to defeat e.g. the Reapers from Mass Effect. This was a good response as I had pitched a similar idea previously during my pitch. Many of these responses have offered an insight into what needs to be included in this particular genre of game and I wish to implement these if and when I can, albeit if my schedule allows it.
Audience Research continued..
Codes and Conventions
When taking codes and conventions into consideration, I have to put myself into the mind of any particular player that may have an issue or difficulty with playing my game or that the theme does not meet the requirements set by the genre. First I will talk about the audio that will be used throughout my project and how I will be making changes to how it is presented to the player.
When sourcing the audio for my project, I found this to be quite the task as the nature of my environment is very industrial with many sounds and effects being artificially made through the use of programs such as Garage Band and Adobe Audition to name a few. With these programs at my disposal, I will be attempting to create many of the sounds that are present in a sci-fi environment as for how the player will experience these sounds will be through audio cues and closed captioning if I am able to implement it during development. Additionally by using a pickup sound when the player interacts with the key in the level as a way to inform the player that they have obtained an item.
Developer.valvesoftware.com. (2019). Closed Captions - Valve Developer Community. [online] Available at: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Closed_Captions [Accessed 14 May 2019].
Now onto the technical elements such as gameplay and how a player might navigate a level with indications as to where they need to go. By using popup indicators on the players HUD suggesting to the player where they need to go and also to present them with a task such as using a key to open a particular door in order to progress through the level. Alternately by using a system like those found in Mirrors Edge where elements of the environment stand out showing the player what way to go.
Mirror's Edge Wiki. (2019). Runner Vision. [online] Available at: https://mirrorsedge.fandom.com/wiki/Runner_Vision [Accessed 14 May 2019].
Visual elements and how I can use them to engage the player and to aid them if required. By using floating text telling the player what button to press in order to interact with objects in the environment is one way I can achieve this. As this project is based as an explorative sci-fi adventure I will be using many textures that seem similar in appearance but will ultimately have different uses such as a floor being used as a ceiling as an example. In terms of lighting a level, I will want the player to be able to navigate with ease and as such, the lighting will play an important role in this project by using multiple light sources and different lighting levels I will be able to recreate similar lighting found in other sci-fi type media.
Indie DB. (2015). Floating text labels image - Lockdown Protocol. [online] Available at: https://www.indiedb.com/games/the-platform-shooter/images/floating-text-labels [Accessed 15 May 2019].
Analysis of Relevant Games and Media
Blade Runner 2022's art style verges more on the side of anime rather than the western cartoon style that we all know. With this, it offers a more dramatic/extreme style when creating action scenes with the use of bold colours to draw our attention to the main protagonist's actions.
Based in a much larger universe 2022 is a telling of an event between the two films where replicants have detonated an EMP which sets the stage for the second films story to take place.
The soundtrack used in this short is composed of a technological soundscape with populated environments, futuristic beats and tones similar to the current day music.
Cowboy Bebop's story is a tale of sorrow where the main protagonist has a dark past which they cannot escape which results in the protagonist pursuing the life of a rogue bounty hunter.
The art style of Cowboy Bebop is one of my favourites as the show takes inspiration from noir stories, westerns and science fiction as it has become its own genre in itself. There are not many shows that fit into this style as it is more westernised so that it appeals to more of the general public rather than a more niche audience making it one of the more renowned shows of its time.
The audio used plays a major role in the series as it is used selectively in each episode title card which sets the tone for each episode such as in one episode where the protagonist is having a good time the music is more upbeat featuring jazz-funk stylings.
The character design used shows a variety of characters each with their own in-depth story ranging from a retired cop to someone exploring their own existence due to memory loss and even abandonment. As characters development grows so does the audience's connection with these characters as they face their struggles and fears which is an important aspect to have when telling a narrative story.
Space Engineers has little story elements behind it due to its early access status but as it is a more creative game it is up to the players to create their own story and adventures.
The art style of Space Engineers has a light realism with a marker style feel overlayed on the top and everything has a high contrast to it to help differentiate between the different spaces.
The audio used in this title has an orchestrated feel to it emphasising the vastness of space and the power of your ship. Additionally, the ambient audio found on planets really makes the player feel like they are there.
The target audience for this game is a wide variety of ages from 12+ onwards as it is a sandbox type game, where the audience enjoy creating in an open world. Similar to other games such as Minecraft where players are placed in an open world free to create whatever they want. Creativity is key when working together as a team.
YouTube. (2019). BLADE RUNNER 2049 - "Black Out 2022" Anime Short. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrZk9sSgRyQ [Accessed 15 May 2019].
YouTube. (2019). Cowboy Bebop Episode 1. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob_jEzju-TI [Accessed 15 May 2019].
Upload.wikimedia.org. (2019). [online] Available at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Cowboy-bebop-754433.jpg [Accessed 17 May 2019].
YouTube. (2019). Space Engineers: Now out of Early Access!. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWZQj-1oK8k [Accessed 15 May 2019].
Wider Historic Research
In order to find and create my own original ideas, I am going to look into the various time periods related to the science fiction genre that I find interesting and to develop my knowledge further in the history and lore of science fiction.
Ex Libris AG. (2019). 1984. [online] Available at: https://www.exlibris.ch/de/buecher-buch/english-books/george-orwell/1984/id/9780141036144 [Accessed 16 May 2019].
Trickster, T. (2013). Game 32: Neuromancer - Introduction. [online] Advgamer.blogspot.com. Available at: https://advgamer.blogspot.com/2013/05/game-32-neuromancer-introduction.html [Accessed 16 May 2019].
WWG. (2018). 'Cyberpunk 2077' Nabs 'Edge' Magazine Cover. [online] Available at: https://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/09/12/cyberpunk-2077-edge-magazine-cover/ [Accessed 16 May 2019].
T3.gstatic.com. (2019). [online] Available at: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSKWeplicF676cMRKV8kqkCErnbNxp6Sm2XQyrrjGNpoLp_lrjI [Accessed 16 May 2019].
Technical Research
Materialize
I had discovered Materialize early on during our group project where I had to teach myself and my team the basics of using this software which could be used to generate multiple texture layers from a single image.
This software has helped speed up the production of material development as the more I have used it, the more I can create detailed materials in a shorter amount of time. As I continue to generate materials I will be learning more about how to effectively use them in the Unreal Engine to create my environment.
As you can see from this image I was able to create a 3D floor material using the various sliders and options available to me.
I will link the software below as it is a free program to download.
Boundingboxsoftware.com. (2019). Bounding Box Software - Materialize. [online] Available at: http://boundingboxsoftware.com/materialize/ [Accessed 17 May 2019].
Unreal Engine 4
As I am using the Unreal Engine 4, I will be referring to the documentation available online as all of the features are written in detail and available to view.
With this program at my disposal, I will be researching into the different methods and techniques used within game development such as correcting models so that they have no errors when importing, creating shaders to overlay on top of the player's camera as to add a different visual style to my project and finally the methods used to create multiple blueprints for a variety of uses.
Additionally, the ability to download content examples which can be used to learn about these features first hand is a great implementation which I plan to use throughout this project.
When creating the blueprint for the door animation I had to search multiple sources in order to find the correct layout for the door that I am animating as most tutorials depict a singular rotator door that opens as the player approaches it whereas I require a door that not only opens when the player interacts but also with an attached key found in the level.
I also discovered how to implement audio into the animation sequence as seen.
Door Animation with Key
One aspect of my project that I wanted was the visual style to be cell shaded similarly to the Borderlands franchise, and I have achieved this by finding a tutorial in which it shows the developers of the Unreal Engine creating such a shader from scratch which I implemented into my own work. This has had a great impact on the visual style as beforehand much of the interior seemed too flat with not much being emphasised in the level.
Shader Creation
3DSMax + Space Engineers
I had discovered this by accident but the game Space Engineers has the ability to export character creations into a 3D model with textures included. This has given me the idea to attempt to implement a ship from this game into my project as the setting of my level is aboard a space ship and this would greatly reduce the time required designing, modelling and texturing a ship from scratch, with only a few alterations where required. I have experimented with this technique and have ultimately decided not to use it at this time due to limitations with how much 3DSMax can render as these ships can be upwards of 300MB+ in file size and would require more time spent optimising than implementing into the Unreal Engine.
The story is an important element that requires a lot of attention to get right especially when dealing with a particular genre such as science fiction. This means that your story must adhere to the key principles whilst also creating pure fiction which can be a difficult balance to get right, such as the further away from Earth you become the more outlandish your story becomes whilst still referencing back to Earth and the home comforts we know and appreciate. Science Fiction as a genre has many different branches, all heading in their own respective direction. When including an interactive element to this genre i.e a videogame, you must remember that there is a centain limitation to what the player can experience and do. This is when the implementation of a quest journal becomes important as having a world as big as space the player can become lost in what they must do and thus the quest journal comes into play. Not only can the journal inform the player what they must do, but it can also be used as an index and log of events that can happen.
Formeinfullbloom.files.wordpress.com. (2019). [online] Available at: https://formeinfullbloom.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/dandytwo.jpg [Accessed 17 May 2019].
