Update Showcase
Update Showcase
Heres a quick update on my progress on this project. Today, Ive been refining my inventory, adding an information tab, user buttons and for the sake of testing stability, a new weapon for the player to use. These weapons are incredibly quick and easy to both make and implement, so I look forward to making more and adding real depth in my own way.
I have also implemented a very basic UI and reload system. However, I have had several set backs implementing this system and I have now thought of a better alternative for implementing the reload mechanic... This can be done at a later stage though. For now, I will look at implementing enemy AI and a Skill tree, and hopefully by the end of next week Ill have a game that is in some way playable.
In terms of research, I have laid out a plan on how to approach it. After my chat with Jim and looking over the notes from our research lectures, I have decided that each day, I will look into a method of character development for the purpose of viewer and gamer interaction, both within and outside the Games industry.
So, following on from that I have been looking into an essay by 4 students at Middlesex University, London. This study details what decides our real feelings for virtual people. Whilst general, it has some interesting conclusions over what makes a character relatable and ultimately appealing to a player and the use of references gives me a good span of other studies to look at going forward
This essay has some really interesting points about our perceived relationships with virtual characters. For example, the phrase 'Uncanny Valley' is rightfully mentioned, as this phenomena can really strain an observers ability to perceive the subject character in a positive way. When presented with a character that is extremely realistic and yet not quite 'real', the natural reaction is to be almost repulsed, as this idea of realism is essential to making a character attractive to our perception.
Attractiveness, is also a key point I have taken from this essay. In a study performed by McCroskey & Richmond, 1996 and 2006, it was theorized that attractiveness can be placed under 3 essential categories: physical attractiveness, social attractiveness,
and task attractiveness. These 3 categories combined make a person attractive to those who find that individuals unique persona in said categories alluring. Having said this, Artificial characters differ from this pursuit, as we cannot interact freely with said characters and through our relatively limited scope of reaction, we are naturally gifted to find other ways to be attracted to them. According to previous studies on the subject, we take 7 other potentially important factors into consideration when assessing our relationship with a virtual being. These are: personality (Arellano, Verona & Perales, 2008), politeness and impoliteness (Campano & Sabouret,
2009), rapport (Gratch, Wang, Gerten, Fast & Duffy, 2007), directional attention (Mojzisch,
Schilbach, Helmert, Pannasch, Velichovsky & Vogeley, 2006), the social dynamics of display
(Ochs & Prendinger, 2010), and similarity/homophily (Jones, Pelham, Carvallo & Mirenberg,
2004). In the essay I have been looking at, the latter factor comes under particular analysis. Similarity. Its looked for in relationships in life itself and theres no change in the virtual space. A character shouldn't be judged solely on its own reflection, but also on the reflection of the player interacting with said character. That is to say, whilst one player may have a bond they will forever remember with a character from their favourite game, another player will come away from the title with less of an interest in that characters unique story. A very good example of this comes from the much debated title Fallout 4. Coming off the back of Bethesda's last independant installment in their 2 most popular franchises (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) many players went into the game expecting the same award winning performances and story telling. To this day, the success of Fallout 4 is still debated. Character changes such as the introduction of a speaking player character made grounds with many fans, wheras others depicted the new found voice of their character as restrictive, taking away from their ability to imagine their characters persona. In January 2019, an article by Den of Geek (https://www.denofgeek.com/us/games/fallout-76/277974/fallout-76-problems-fallout-4), depicts the title as a turning point in Bethesda's original ethos, which they first envisioned back when ES: Morrowind was released. Additionally the main story of Fallout was somewhat neglected by fans, who had no interest in following the character on their journey to interact with family, as traditionally, Fallout games allowed the player to create their own relationships. Linking back to the similarity between characters and the players interacting with them, its quite difficult for a player to relate with the story of coming out of Cryofreeze 200 years after a Nuclear annhilation and realising their son has spent more time outside of said cryofreeze than themsleves. And although its equally difficult to imagine a nuclear apocalypse, the thrill of experiencing this with your character and discovering your own story would give you a developing bond with your character.
These will be interesting topics to go into and I hope tomorrow to find some research on how Companions supporting characters shape the relationship you have with a game and your own character.
Comments
Post a Comment