Not posted for a while so I am going to list and discuss what I have been up to over the last month. First off the team handed in the initial document on time and I am really pleased with it overall. My contributions came in the time table for tasks, level design and narrative sections of the document and the introduction and conclusion. I also created the presentation that will be delivered to Brian and Phil this Friday. Below is the work I submitted I n the document:
Narrative
The narrative elements that will be incorporated in the final digital artefact will be used to effectively instil feelings of unease and paranoia within the player. Games that successfully create these feelings through the narrative elements of the game will be discussed below.
The narrative success resident Evil 2 revolves around the company Umbrella and its neurogenic weapons compound the T-Virus. Each title uses this as a base for the game with each title following on in the storyline. Having an aggressive destructive element is at the core of the narrative in Resident Evil without the T-Virus infected zombies the game would fail to create the desired emotional effect. Another contributing factor to the narrative and overall design is the playable characters; they must be engaging enough to create some form of attachment to the player. This would then aid the narrative and drive the story forward without an engaged player the story cannot continue and the game ends before it has begun.
The games tend to play from a third person perspective and a more geared so that they play at a slower pace than say Fist Person shooter Games and because of this the narrative of the story can be driven along in a different fashion. This being said Survival Horror games do change the pace of the action to vary the game play and keep the player on the edge of their seats. The genre itself is can trace its routes back to film and books and lot of the techniques are employed in survival horror games.
The narrative structure of the final artefact will be based on Joseph Cambells a hero’s journey. The ideas on archetypes and the structure of the hero’s journey model could be used effectively to deliver the narrative the team desires.
References
Alexander,L. (2008). Does Survival Horror Really Still Exist?. Available: http://kotaku.com/5056008/does-survival-horror-really-still-exist. Last accessed 20/10/9.
Louchart,S. (2005). Authoring emergent narrative-based games. Available: http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~michael/papers/JOGD.pdf. Last accessed 1210/09.
Craig A. Lindley. (2008). Story and Narrative Structures in Computer Games1. Available: http://intranet.tii.se/components/results/files/sagasnetLindleyReprint.pdf. Last accessed 12/10/09.
Level Design
In terms of level design it is important to recognize that for each genre there is a different type of level design and a different type of rules that govern them. This being said this all so can occur between games from the same genre. This is because game mechanics and narrative directly influence level design (M. Nerurkar 2009). So when creating a level in a game where one of the most important features is to place the player in a very uncomfortable or fearful state (the mechanics will drive this) then the level design must be adhere to the overall create vision of the project, without breaking any of the rules of the game.
For are team project to effectively stir feelings of paranoia and unease in a player then looking at which games which successfully do this is paramount. The survival horror genre in computer games is well established with over one hundred titles credited to it according to MobyGames 2009. A survival horror game places the player in a dangerous situation with the usual objective being to escape or thwart the enemies advance. Enemies in the genre differ from each game zombie; ghouls and ghost are the usual suspects.
The Resident Evil series created by Capcom initially back in 1996 has seen successful iterations of the franchise 50 in total, across multiple platforms with cross media success with the release of three films. The games have made Resident Evil the most successful in Capcom’s portfolio selling 34.5 million worldwide (Martin. M, 2008).
The original game was based in the fictional Racoon City in America here the player was introduced to the storyline. Setting the series of games over a large time frame and area (Resident Evil 5 was set in Africa, the first game not to be based in the U.S.A) allows the develops to change how the game will be delivered to the player in terms of setting.
The titles in the Resident Evil Series employ similar designs for their levels; narrow corridors are intended to restrict the player’s movement and vision often making the encounters with enemies close tense affairs. This being said in Resident Evil 2 there are areas which offer a space that is open and are in contrast to the level design as a whole. One example of this is the main police station, where there are long twisting corridors that converge at the main entrance hall a vast and expansive space.
Image taken from eurogamer.net
First person shooter genre is well established across multiple platforms and has a variety of narratives to choose from. One of the most successful series of games in the first person genre is Infinity Wards Call of duty, published by Activision. The fourth game in the series saw major success selling 7 million titles in 2007 (BBC, 2008). It also won Best Action Game of 2007 from E3 according to the same article.
The game comes with a first person and multiplayer game modes, the report will be focusing on the later. As one of the leaders in the genre the importance Infinity Ward have placed on the Multiplayer aspect of the game can be seen with the play time it takes to complete the single player campaign, just 4-6 hours (Stuart, k 2008). Paranoia is facilitate and the main cause of this is in the level design, going into each hall way, rooftop or street the player is has to look at every sightline to make sure that no enemies players sneak up behind or appearing round a corner to make sure they stay alive. This constant state of alertness the player has to be in to achieve a better score is a positive example of how paranoia is used to by the player to achieve their goals. This is a positive example how paranoia for the player is a good thing.
The levels in Resident evil 2 and CoD4 are based around the rules and objectives in the gameplay and this is true throughout the game. For the team project the level design will also be based around the rules and overall atheistic the team finds will benefit the players Objectives.
References
Martin Nerurkar . (2009). Level Design is Game Design. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MartinNerurkar/20090828/2861/Level_Design_is_Game_Design.php. Last accessed 25/10/09.
BBC. (2008). 2007's best selling game revealed. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7213009.stm. Last accessed 13/10/09.
Keith Stuart . (2007). Call of Duty 4 - a lesson in level design. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2007/nov/05/callofduty4alessoninlev. Last accessed 13/10/09.
Matt Martin. (27/05/2008 ). Resident Evil series hits 34.5m units sold. Available: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/resident-evil-series-hits-34-5m-units-sold. Last accessed 9/10/9.
Moby Games. (2009). Survival Horror. Available: http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/x,102/list-games/. Last accessed 9/10/9.
Rob Bridgett. (2009). Dynamics of Narrative. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4143/dynamics_of_narrative.php?page=2. Last accessed 9/10/9.
Images
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/retrospective-resident-evil-article
This is just a part of the work submitted.
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