• Behavioral modeling is an important part of NPC development for games. Should emotive modeling be part of that development?

•   In my opinion, there is no right and wrong answer for this question because the game might end up with something completely different from what a games designer expects, or it could be just a good way to improve player experience, for example in an RPG game, the player accidentally kills an important NPC and rest of the NPCs will stop their job because they are angry about what they have done which makes the game harder to complete.

    L.A.Noire sort of uses emotive modeling in the game because players have to capture people’s facial expressions to claim which one is the murderer. Through the investigation NPC will have certain emotions on their face, and players have to make a decision, if the decision is correct, NPC will show more nervous on their face, but if it is not correct, NPC will become more confident (L.A. Noire, Wikipedia).

    Another example could be Nintendogs+cats. In this game player will treat them as real pets because they have technology similar to the emotive modeling, for example, reactions to player’s interaction that depends on how well the relationship between players and pets: Pets have more reactions when they are happy and opposite when they are not happy (Nintendogs + cats: Golden Retriever & New Friends).

    In conclusion, emotive modeling is still in an experimental stage which could be either developed into a higher level or become worse.

  References:

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_modeling

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Noire

  https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/nintendogs-cats-golden-retriever-and-new-friends-3ds

  • Consider your favorite video game. If it contains AI-controlled agents how individualistic are they and their behaviors, and, how might you set about improving them?

    

    I will use ‘Assassin’s creed origins’ as my example.

    This game contains AI controlled agents and most likely can be seen in a fight: When players cause conflict with enemies, they will try to find a convenient position to kill the player, for example, archers climb up to higher places because it is easier for them to aim and shoot; Soldiers will try to find horses to ride because they are quick and strong; Citizens will run away because they have no combat skills, and allies join the fight to support players, each of these type of NPCs react in different ways which show how individualistic they are, and it also creates a strong, believable atmosphere for player to be immersed (Assassin’s Creed Origins: How Combat Works, Youtube).

    In my opinion, to improve AI behaviors in ‘Assassin’s creed origins’ should be focusing more on how NPC react to another NPC, for example, if a soldier found a dead body, they will no longer just go and check, but also call his ally for help and try to wake him up, just like in Metal Gear Solid (How do you usually dispose of enemy bodies? Replied by Bigger Boss 12), this increases the difficulty of the game but also makes the events seem more realistic.

    However, realism is not going to be a major part of the game because it could make player’s experience quite tedious.

  References:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4RHkQdBb2g

  http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/how-do-you-usually-dispose-of-enemy-bodies.152722470/

• Select one example to outline the key concept of human-computer interaction. Reflect upon the role of the ‘human’, the ‘computer’ and the ‘interaction’

I choose the keyboard as an example to outline the key concept of human-computer interaction.

  The keyboard is a tool that helps humans to interact with the computer by typing letters, symbols and numbers (What Is a Keyboard? Lifewire). It is one of the most important components when operating the computer.

  In the role of the ‘human’, we have a completely different language to the computer, and one way to communicate with it is through typing in the computer language, known as coding (What is Coding? Codeconquest). Usually, there are 104 keys on a standard keyboard (How many keys are on a computer keyboard? Computer Hope). Nowadays keyboard also used as a game controller, for example in most of the PC games, WSAD typically represents moving forward, backward, left and right, and it is a method to tell the computer which direction your character is moving to.

  In the role of the ‘computer’, it mainly receives data from its own language because it doesn’t have an independent ideology, the keyboard converts human language to computer language which helps the latter to understand the human’s order.

  In the role of ‘interaction’, the keyboard has good ergonomics to support the human. For example, the wider range of the button ‘space’ allows human to type easily (Why space is so long? Quora); letters  are surrounded by symbols and numbers because they are mainly what the human would utilize; letters, symbols, and numbers appear on keyboard because it is a type of language that the human can understand (Computer Keyboard); These are all the interactions between the ‘human’ and the ‘computer’.

References:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-keyboard-2618153

http://www.codeconquest.com/what-is-coding/

https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001598.htm

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-spacebar-key-so-long 

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-best-examples-of-human-computer-interaction-interfaces-either-being-developed-or-in-use

https://www.hanselman.com/blog/HumanComputerInteractionDiversity7DevicesThatARENTAMouseAndKeyboard.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_keyboard#Key_types

• Discuss the application of user research methods in game design. Reflect upon the role the game’s designer in this context. Can we anticipate player behavior?

The answer to this question is: yes we can anticipate player behavior.

  A good example of this case is an eye-tracking system used in ‘Assassin’s Creed Origins’ called Tobii’s Eye Tracking technology. It allows the computer to understand, track where players are looking at and create suggestions for their intentions, for example, when player is in a fight, Tobii’s Eye Tracking technology will make sure enemies are always in sight which helps player to be aware of their presence (Both resource and picture are from Tobii Eyetracking, Assassin’s creed Origins page, Enemy Tagging).

.

In the role of the game designer, they always want to know what players need and ways to satisfy players. In this context, Tobii’s Eye Tracking technology is not only for improving the player’s experience, but also collecting data for games designer. For example, when a player is looking at something, the system will assume their intentions, and the data will be sent to the game designer to help them anticipate the player’s behavior, so in the next development, the game designer will add more elements which might interests players (Game Design and Player Feedback).

  Not only technology can help us to anticipate player behavior, but also by using affordance. Another example, in ‘Assassin’s creed origins’ is that there is always a haystack under a tower or a high platform which encourages players to jump for a soft landing, this is also a part of the anticipation of player behavior, because game designers assume it is an easier way for players to transport.

References:

https://tobiigaming.com/games/assassins-creed-origins/

https://www.gamedesigning.org/learn/feedback/

• Explain and showcase examples of key concepts of the indie game concept

The key concept of indie games are:

1. Independent
2. Low budget
3. Intellectual

  ‘Independent/Indie’ means the team doesn’t belong to any company such as Sony, Nintendo or Ubisoft, and they publish their digital products onto certain websites, for example, Steam and Xbox game store (Indie game, Wikipedia).

  However, independent means that the team rarely have any strong background to support their products, and no publisher. This will be a tough circumstance for them, because of low recognition and user credibility. ‘Super meat boy’ is a good example of showing these cases (Super meat boy, Development and Marketing).

  Another major problem of being independent, is low budget (It can be as low as $5000) (How low can an indie game’s budget be? Responded by rilpas). It means that the team doesn’t have enough money to produce a product which has the same standard as GTA 5.  Games like ‘Super meat boy’, ‘Shank’ and ‘Don’t Starve’ are mainly 2D because according to the budget, the 2D cartoony style is the best method for Indie game development to produce and present.

  So how can the Indie games become out of the ordinary? It is because of the intellectual ideas that brought out from the games, ‘Braid’ is a typical example. In Braid, players have to complete levels by going backward the time which gives the game more ways to complete (Braid (video game), Wikipedia).

  In conclusion, Indie games are now becoming more and more popular and start turning to a terminology to describe quirky game development teams who prefer to not work for a major company.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_game

http://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Meat_Boy

https://www.gamespot.com/forums/system-wars-314159282/how-low-can-an-indie-games-budget-be-29373768/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braid_(video_game)

• Has the term indie become meaningless?

 Yes, it has. 

  The term ‘Indie’ used to be a description of a small independent pop group (Oxford dictionaries), but nowadays people start to use the term to describe an independent team/group/person of creating games.

  However, a prominent game publisher, EA released an ‘EA indie bundle’ on steam to cater to a niche market (EA Indie Bundle released on Steam. Wait, what? By Henry Winchester).

  So what does this mean for the game industry? The answer was given from an article: ‘To be an independent game developer and to be an indie game developer are two different things now.’ (Opinion: Why ‘Indie’ Has Become A Bad Word’ by Nathan Grayson) As it quickly becomes a genre, indie brings out thoughts of ‘intellectual’, ‘creative’, ‘experimental’ and ‘pretentious’, but so does the independent developer who has a publisher behind, for example, ‘Minecraft’ was created by a one man studio, and the developer (Minecraft, Wikipedia), Notch, created a company called Mojang because he wants to make sure he can develop Minecraft independently rather than work for a major game studio, but in 2014 Mojang was acquired by Microsoft (Notch, Wikipedia), so all the add-ons on Minecraft after acquisition still counts as updates from indie developers or it becomes something from the independent developers?

The first picture is from Minecraft App store, the second picture is from Minecraft Official website

In my opinion, indie could be a description of the situation of a studio but not as a genre, for example, an indie group could make a 2D ACT game but so does EA, even though the term indie brings the essence of a niche and intelligent production, it still functions as any other game.

References:

https://minecraft.net/zh-hans/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minecraft-apple-tv-edition/id1164598841?mt=8

http://www.pcgamer.com/ea-indie-bundle-released-on-steam-wait-what/

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/05/03/why-indie-has-become-a-bad-word/

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/indie

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft

• Select one example to outline the key concepts of the interactive narrative genre?

I chose ‘The Stanley Parable’ as an example to outline the key concepts of the interactive narrative genre.

  The definition of interactive narrative in video games is that the storyline is not predetermined, this means what player does will largely influence the story in the game which gives player more experience throughout the game (Interactive storytelling from Wikipedia).

  ‘The Stanley Parable’ is a good example to represent interactive narrative because the story of this game totally depends on players’ decisions:

  Story: In this game player is a person called Stanley who works in an office building. The story is completely liberal, and because of this, there are multiple endings and stories for players to explore which increases players’ experience (Story, Stanley Parable Wikipedia).

  Interactive narrative: During the game players will hear a narrator speak, and they are the key to understand how the story goes because the narrator will give players instructions of what they are going to do next, but because of the liberal of the game, players can choose not to follow their instruction which might cause an interesting ending.(Gameplay, Stanley Parable Wikipedia)

  However, the game is not only about exploring different endings and stories. The key concept of this game is experimenting players on how they see this game and interact with it, for example through the gameplay, players will find out lots of unexpected cases which let them think a lot about the game itself. (The Stanley Parable, and How to Understand its Meanings by GotYourGoat)

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stanley_Parable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBtX0S2J32Y

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_storytelling

http://steamcommunity.com/app/221910/discussions/0/792923684001914023/?l=hungarian

http://thestanleyparable.wikia.com/wiki/The_Stanley_Parable

Does the interactive narrative still have a role to play in video games today? Give exemplary examples?

The answer to this question is: yes it does.

To support the definition, I’ll choose an example which can be used to describe what interactive narrative video games are like. It is one of the video game series called ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt(2015)’.

The concept of this game is about a Witcher called Geralt fight with his enemy Wild hunt. During the game, the player will be given multiple options to choose through different conversations, and each decision the player makes, might affect the storyline (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Wikipedia), here is the example in one of the main quests:

Geralt is helping Bloody Baron to find his daughter, and all clews led him to a monster. After a short conversation, the player has to decide whether kill the monster or let it go. If the player decides to kill the monster, the outcome of this decision is the death of innocent children; If the player decides to let the monster go, the villages around it will be destroyed and takes Bloody Baron’s own life.

This example explains how decisions made by players affect the storyline and player experience because if Bloody Baron is still alive, he could bring out an expended quest or just a normal NPC that player can chat with (Bloody Baron (quest) from Witcher Wiki).

Interactive narrative is still an important role to play in video games today because nowadays players are more interested in what they can do in the game instead of a predetermined system.

reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_storytelling

http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Bloody_Baron

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B7%AB%E5%B8%883%EF%BC%9A%E7%8B%82%E7%8C%8E

• Explain the grid system and related golden ratio?

The grid system is how elements positioned within the layout of lines in 2D, which helps designers to determine the proportion and let compositions of elements look comfortable. The evidence of Grid system was discovered in ancient Egypt, a sculptor used eight horizontal guidelines and one vertical line to split figure through the ear, this shows an early method of Grid system.（ First chapter in Grid Systems in Visual Art – EVIDENCE FOR GRIDS., OLD KINGDOM GUIDELINES., GRIDS IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOM., GRIDS IN THE NEW KINGDOM.）

. Picture from The designer’s guide to the Golden Ratio By Creative Bloq Staff August 29, 2017   

Golden ratio was first called ‘Divine Proportion’, it can be defined by the mathematical method as ‘dividing a line into two parts so that longer part divided by shorter part equals the whole length divided by longer part.’ This method is shown in the picture below (History of the Golden Ratio, May 13, 2012, by Gary Meisner). The famous example of the Golden ratio is ‘The Last Supper’ by Leonardo Da Vinci: The golden ratio can be seen in between Christ and disciples (Golden Ratio in Art Composition and Design May 4, 2014, by Gary Meisner ). Similar to the Grid system, the Golden ratio is also used for positioning elements into a comfortable composition.

   picture from The designer’s guide to grid theory By Sam Hampton-Smith 

Link back to the connection between the Grid system and Golden ratio, the conclusion is that the Golden ratio is a method based on the Grid system, for example in the first picture above, it’s clearly separated into 26 units, this is a Grid system. Based on these 26 units, grid splits into three parts two squares (shown on the picture above), which forms a golden ratio graph.

References:

https://www.goldennumber.net/golden-ratio-history/

http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/123/Grid-Systems-in-Visual-Art.html

http://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/grid-theory-41411345 

http://www.creativebloq.com/design/designers-guide-golden-ratio-12121546

• Demonstrate examples of this in use in Game UI, UX, and Design

The Grid system is an important element in Game UI, UX, and Design.

   For example, Resident Evil 4 applies visual Grid system into inventory which visualizes how many objects the player can carry and also see the size of the objects rather than assign weight values

(Picture from Designing an RPG Inventory System That Fits: Preliminary Steps by Robert DellaFave).

However, the Grid system can also be found in RTS games, for example, Age of Empires (Both resource and picture are from Forge of Empires Buildings and Production Statistics by HaekelHansi ). This game uses grid system as the measurement for buildings or other in-game items that can be placed in those assigned units, and this gives the player clear instructions for measuring spaces in the game.

Golden ratio largely applies to the Game design for example characters, scenes and UI. 

Sonic series is a good example of using the Golden ratio, this method gives the character a fluent feeling, links to the theme of the game, it supports the characteristic of Sonic: fast and nimble (picture from The Fibonacci Spiral by MoSJ).

In Rust, Golden ratio also applies into inventory UI, this is shown in the picture below:

(picture from Rust UI Design concept (Golden Ratio) by mescalineuk).

By splitting Inventory with Golden ratio method, it presents a comfortable composition for players which gives them a clear instruction of what to look at first and how it should be organized.

In conclusion, the Grid system and Golden ratio are two key elements that could be used in Game UI, UX and Design 

References:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1wsmce/golden_ratio/

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=176096493

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/wasteland-2-kickstarter-update-43-new-ui-grid-inventory.89552/

https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/designing-an-rpg-inventory-system-that-fits-preliminary-steps–gamedev-14725

http://guidescroll.com/2012/05/forge-of-empires-buildings-and-production-statistics/

AI or (Artificial Intelligence) according to techopedia is defined thusly:

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is an area of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans. Some of the activities computers with artificial intelligence are designed for include:

• Speech recognition
• Learning
• Planning
• Problem solving”

Human beings often have a hard time imagining something they have never seen/heard before. When we are introduced to a new situation we often rely upon a previous experience to help us understand what is currently happening. I believe this is why people prefer to use “human” like AI rather than Logic based AI. This isn’t to say that I think people incapable of logic but more that as a society we rely on what we can understand easily rather than the logical thinking. People design AI with human tendencies because it is the easiest for us to understand, not only this, it is also easier for us as we know and understand the perspective of a human being.  When people think about AI they often think about “Hal” or “Skynet” and the fact of the matter is that this isn’t possible with our current technology and way of thinking. AI is currently incapable of being nothing more than a very clever illusion of persona or rational thought. Ai is very good for monitoring tasks and doing mundane jobs that a person might find boring/challenging ( such as overlook the digital ecosystem of a game.)

AI is often represented in mass media as something that is potentially dangerous and scary. Nearly every article I read after googling the term “Artificial Intelligence” showed results of how “deadly” AI will become in the future. People are often unaware that as impressive as AI is, it is not sentient and capable of free will. AI is not able to decide what it wants to do. The most important aspect when designing AI is the intent behind the design, as this intent will shape the decisions of the AI.  If mankind where to ever achieve true “strong” AI I think it would probably take the form of cybernetic engineering and body- computer integration. I think that we will probably end up augmenting ourselves to the point that “AI” and Intelligence would be one and the same. I think the consequence of humanity achieving a true AI would be the eventual destruction of humanity, either through annihilation or assimilation. Thankfully I do not believe that true AI is possible. I think that people are very good at anthropomorphising technology and applying more credit to a program that could be very simple. People are often a little disillusioned when they find out how AI actually works.

http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2017/06/07/ai-inside/

Sources

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/logic-ai/

http://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~russell/intro.html

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/190/artificial-intelligence-ai

A) select one game of your interest and explain why does it have a good/bad game UI

User interfaces can make or break games; without a simple, streamlined display the immersion of the player in the game can be ruined. Fortunately for Hearthstone players, the interface in this game is slick, stylish and compliments how the game is played.

After watching a GDC talk about the development of Hearthstone’s user interface, I learnt that it is an aspect of the game that the designers took very seriously. It took multiple iterations and redesigns for them to decide on a strong theme that balanced charm and simplicity. The idea of physicality is what drives this design; having grown up collecting cards as children, the designers wanted to translate that sense of magic into how the game should feel when being played and when opening card packs. They settled on a design that made the game look like it was expertly hand-crafted and carried value – an incentive for players to purchase and collect cards. The most interesting part of this design for me is how integral it is to the game; the mechanics and user interface influence each other – rather than like some games where the UI is an afterthought.

Hearthstone

Overall, I would say Hearthstone has one of the most elegant and meaningful user interfaces in all of gaming; each texture, sound and animation has been specifically selected to direct players and best create the illusion of a physical experience.

B) discuss how technology augments human abilities. Reflect upon the implications of the future of HCI.

Voice commands are becoming a more popular way to interact with computers at home and on the go. Software such as Siri has been a staple on Apple products for a while now, with equivalents on competing mobile devices appearing shortly after, but the introduction of voice activated home devices is a relatively new feature.

The dream of a ‘smart’ home is still yet to be a reality for most people but products such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home are pushing that dream. Being able to control home appliances and general household duties with voice commands is slowly being implemented; at least 8% of US households are estimated to have an Amazon Echo according to The Guardian. This number is expected to grow, thus more companies are going to jump into the smart home device market and push the smart home dream.

Google Home

What this means for the future is that this type of technology is going to improve year by year until we can seamlessly control every aspect of our homes with a short sentence. Because of this, products may be stripped back due to the lack of a need to use buttons; after all, humans are able to talk much quicker than they are able to type or navigate menus. The combination of AR and VR technology mixed with voice commands might be the way forward for the innovation of smart devices.

Sources:

https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/289637/6_examples_of_UI_design_that_every_game_developer_should_study.php

https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1022036/Hearthstone-How-to-Create-an

https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/hearthstone/images/e/e4/Hearthstone_UI_Guide.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130324192626

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/22/home-battleground-amazon-google-voice-technology

Key Concepts of Interactive Narrative

We can define an interactive narrative as one that the author has not created a definitive path for the player/reader to follow. This is where the player/reader gets to chose their own way to follow the story and have an outcome that could be completely different to another player/reader.

One example of a game that uses interactive narrative is Heavy Rain as this game uses a system where the choices made by the player affect the outcome of the game later on such as killing main characters. The narrative of the game focuses on a serial killer which itself is quite an intense concept. The game also has rapid quick time events that can increase the pace of the narrative as the player would have to react quickly or risk a bad situation happening that could potentially affect the player.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Rain#/media/File:Heavy_rain_move.jpg

The role of interactive narrative in video games today

The idea of interactive narrative mostly started with the introduction of text-based adventure games back in the 70’s. However, even though this concept started somewhat a while ago, the idea of interactive narrative still plays a roll in modern video games. It is true that a lot of modern games today, especially triple A titles such as Call of Duty are slowly dropping narrative and focussing on ways of making money, games that still have a narrative often have elements of interaction that can affect the story or gameplay.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was originally released in 2011 however, is still played massively so I will include this game as an example of interactive today. As the game is an open world RPG, the gameplay is affected by the way the player acts. Does the player choose to side Imperial or Stormcloak? Does the player want to harness the powers of the dragons or does the player want to ignore this and become a master of the arcane? The game also allows the player to choose from a selection of different dialogue options when talking to NPCs which can affect the way the NPC reacts to the player and can often shape the outcome of the interaction or even the quest. For example, the player could choose to Persuade, Intimidate, or Fight a guard to let them in, however, if the player chooses incorrectly, it could risk them being arrested or killed. Branching off of this, Skyrim’s dialogue can also vary if you have completed certain quests or unlocked specific skills. For example, a guard might say “Is that…fur? Coming out of your ears?” if the player has chosen to become a Werewolf in the game.

Screenshot taken by myself ingame

To conclude this, I feel that the modern games industry is still including interactive narrative in their games but not to so much to the extent that it completely shapes the narrative. This is unless the games main focus is interactive.

Helpful Links:

Link to Skyrim’s guard dialogue – en.usep.net/wiki/Skyrim:Guard_Dialogue