http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/5772/revival_horror_new_ideas_in_.php
interesting article!
Monday, 15 November 2010
My Honours Project!
So I did register this blog AGES ago, but I've been a little reluctant to post on it to be honest. Mainly cause I've started sketchbooks, so didn't really see any point, but hey it's better to have more than less, right?
so here's the deal! I'm going to use this blog for the honours project and it's progress, but not only that, for more personal use as well in terms of art work and what I've been doing in my spare time!
I used to write on Livejournal every week, and I think its about time I transitioned to the blogger world so to speak! So here it goes! :D
Basically I already know what I'm doing for my 4th and final year project for University, and it's very heavily based around level and environment design! Having talked to some lecturers and what not, It's mainly heading down a more survival horror genre-esq road.
I want to prove how effective good level design is now days and how much it is actually needed, especially in a horror game. The level needs to be just as alive as the characters and fuel the player sub-concious to make them even more unsettled and cautious.
What I plan to do to show this is make a level/environment in the Unreal engine, and have two versions of the same built level, just changing the lighting, textures and what not, and record how the environment effects a players pacing through games.
Question and Research Proposals
---------------------------------------------------
Originally I had narrowed my project down to my original draft of Question and Research proposals, the the Development process, which where -
Q - How does artistic style and environment design influence and change the players emotion and pacing within levels?
R1 - Research which games the general market find the most emotionally evoking just from the environments
R2 - Research into what types of scenarios/environments change a players pacing through levels
R3 - Research how lighting and mood can change how a game is played
R4 - Research how sound also plays a role working with the level design in evoking the players subconscious.
D1 - Develop one (maybe more) level using the Unreal Engine that a player can physically play through
D2 - Have two versions of the same level, changing the lights/texture/mood
D3 - Document the players choices and pace throughout each time playing.
End Result - To have a clean and better understanding into how effective level and environment design can fuel and influence a players emotion and subconscious while playing through a game.
---------------------------------------------------
After running them through with a lecturer, I've begun to start narrowing them down and combining some that are similar and changing the working right to be able to construct a manageable and easy to understand project and time period to execute it in.
First was to link all my research into one
- Research into what scenarios are the most emotionally evoking and which change a players pace through a game, and also to how phobias can be used to unsettle a player.
- Summarise the research into possible props and designs for my level(s)
- Create the level(s) and use the biometric (?) vest in recording the results of the players emotions and mood.
And also change my proposal/title to
- The Impact of environmental design on the patents in game play.
I still need to talk to Jim Brown some more on the structure of my newly formed sentences and what not, but I do feel progress coming on :)
Jim summed the project up in a good way actually, saying your to research X to deliver Y
---------------------------------------------------
Some interesting research video's and articles on some of my favourite survival horror games!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9guD7wkEdTM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFppxz5owfU
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/top-ten-gt-countdown/14536
so here's the deal! I'm going to use this blog for the honours project and it's progress, but not only that, for more personal use as well in terms of art work and what I've been doing in my spare time!
I used to write on Livejournal every week, and I think its about time I transitioned to the blogger world so to speak! So here it goes! :D
Basically I already know what I'm doing for my 4th and final year project for University, and it's very heavily based around level and environment design! Having talked to some lecturers and what not, It's mainly heading down a more survival horror genre-esq road.
I want to prove how effective good level design is now days and how much it is actually needed, especially in a horror game. The level needs to be just as alive as the characters and fuel the player sub-concious to make them even more unsettled and cautious.
What I plan to do to show this is make a level/environment in the Unreal engine, and have two versions of the same built level, just changing the lighting, textures and what not, and record how the environment effects a players pacing through games.
Question and Research Proposals
---------------------------------------------------
Originally I had narrowed my project down to my original draft of Question and Research proposals, the the Development process, which where -
Q - How does artistic style and environment design influence and change the players emotion and pacing within levels?
R1 - Research which games the general market find the most emotionally evoking just from the environments
R2 - Research into what types of scenarios/environments change a players pacing through levels
R3 - Research how lighting and mood can change how a game is played
R4 - Research how sound also plays a role working with the level design in evoking the players subconscious.
D1 - Develop one (maybe more) level using the Unreal Engine that a player can physically play through
D2 - Have two versions of the same level, changing the lights/texture/mood
D3 - Document the players choices and pace throughout each time playing.
End Result - To have a clean and better understanding into how effective level and environment design can fuel and influence a players emotion and subconscious while playing through a game.
---------------------------------------------------
After running them through with a lecturer, I've begun to start narrowing them down and combining some that are similar and changing the working right to be able to construct a manageable and easy to understand project and time period to execute it in.
First was to link all my research into one
- Research into what scenarios are the most emotionally evoking and which change a players pace through a game, and also to how phobias can be used to unsettle a player.
- Summarise the research into possible props and designs for my level(s)
- Create the level(s) and use the biometric (?) vest in recording the results of the players emotions and mood.
And also change my proposal/title to
- The Impact of environmental design on the patents in game play.
I still need to talk to Jim Brown some more on the structure of my newly formed sentences and what not, but I do feel progress coming on :)
Jim summed the project up in a good way actually, saying your to research X to deliver Y
---------------------------------------------------
Some interesting research video's and articles on some of my favourite survival horror games!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9guD7wkEdTM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFppxz5owfU
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/top-ten-gt-countdown/14536
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