Using Light to Indicate Areas of Interest....

As stated in my previous post, using light as a method of visual sign posting is extremely effective. So I though I'd use it in my scene as more that just a means of lighting up the room, but to show specific areas and evoke a certain mood.

Clearly, this attempt didn't go down to well. The light was far too harsh and extreme. The contrast between lit and unlit areas was far too great.

Second attempt went down a bit better with the addition of two floor lamps and using spotlights. It cast long looming shadows, which I liked because looming shadows are supposed to indicate a feeling of unease, and as Topher's work raises some severe moral dilemmas (though maybe not for him) I found this quite fitting. However, the rest of the room is pitch dark apart from one area in the back right corner where I added a point light to break it up a bit and show that the TV was a source of light. This didn't have the effect I was after as it just looked strange because the TV screen was still dark, but the surrounding area was lit...

Next attempt definitely illuminated the room...but it's far too bright for just two spot lamps which are pointed in a specific direction...
Also I increased the irridiance on the TV screen in attempt to make it seem brighter as a source of light in the background but it ended up too bright and looked odd.

AO. Included another lamp over by the dresser area as another source of light.

Lmap on dresser has two point lights inside, one that casts light and shadows, and the other which only casts light. I like this more, although the long looming shadows by the desk are lessened majorly...
Going to have to trawl through some more tutorials and experiment with global and caustic illumination and try out photons to get the effect I'm after. Also have to include more light sources.

Visual Sign Posting in Games

A technique many games make good use of, is visual sign-posting. A notable example being Journey from ThatGameCompany. The game begins without context in which the only apparent objective is to approach the large mountain on the horizon which has a bright light atop it. The use of light to highlight areas of interest in games in highly effective.

This subtly suggests to the player that this is the direction in which the must proceed. Simple sign posting such as this makes the player feel as though they are exploring the game world based on their instincts and their own choices, as opposed to the designers intention. Mysterious ruins scattered throughout the desert landscape provide hints at the back-story of the game.

Mirror's edge, though an older game, makes good use of the colour red to define the intended path to the player. It indicates objects which can be climbed/run over etc. Though a clear path, such obvious visual sign posting as this can have the effect of making the player continuously aware that they are playing a game, as climbable objects in real life are not simply all the same colour. It can even reinforce to the player all the current constraints that the game imposes on their play, and furthermore, makes them at all times aware that they are following an intended path. Journey's approach to visual sign posting felt much more natural. A slight breeze pointing you in the right direction, whereas Mirror's Edge's approach is more like a sharp prod.

Dear Esther, from Thechineseroom received much critical acclaim due to its innovative approch to environmental storytelling and have even been the spark of yet another debate about what constitutes a game, and whether or not games are art. The lead artist, Robert Briscoe spoke at the 2012 Game Developers Conference about adding history to the environment through the implementation of details such as old shipwrecks, to build a past and not just a present, and stated that this helps to define the reality of the game world.

Both Journey and Dear Esther use this technique excellently in that the implications of a time long past is soft and subtle enough not to remove the player from the game. Light was important in Dear Esther, as it was in Journey. Especially in the caves, the light represented a path to follow, furthered by the glowing patterns and writing on the walls.

Game Environment Analysis - Houses in Heavy Rain

Embedding Narrative in an Environment

Designers use a technique known as "embedding" to place symbolically influential props/objects in the environment as an alternate means of storytelling, meaning they don't have to rely on flashbacks and cut-scenes as much. Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain (2010) makes good use of this technique. The plot of the game revolves around a father, Ethan Mars, whose youngest son Shawn is presumed to have been kidnapped by a serial killer known as the "Origami Killer". At the beginning of the game, the player assumes the role of Ethan Mars before any of these events have taken place. By exploring Ethan's house, the player can learn a lot about his personality and his current lifestyle. Books on architecture and bridges can be found all over his house, which indicates his interests and possibly his job.

Props, Textures, Colour and Lighting. 

In his bedroom there is a note left on the floor from someone we presume to be his partner, but by examining the photo (fig1) on the dresser of Ethan's bedroom the player learns that it is his wife. The bunk beds (fig 2) in the room next door indicate that Ethan has a young family and possibly two children. Ethan's house is large, bright and colorful which are all indications of a friendly and happy environment. The area downstairs(fig 3) in the house is quite quirky and features an open plan raised seating area with pillars/columns. This suggests to the player that Ethan is quite wealthy and due to the information already gleaned from the books around his house that he may have in fact designed the house himself. This idea is further solidified when the player inspects the office downstairs and discovers that Ethan is in fact an architect.

Left, (fig 1) Wedding Photo. Right, (fig 2) Bunk beds.

(fig 3) Downstiars 

(fig 4) Garden

The back garden (fig 4) of Ethans house is very spacious, neat and well cared for. There is also a colourful child's play area complete with climbing frame and chute, which again tells the player that Ethan has children who are happy and well looked after.

This bright and happy living environment starkly contrasts with the house Ethan later lives in two years after one of his sons Jason is killed in a car accident (fig 5). This house is much darker, and has a lot more neutral colours and tones in comparison to the bright and colourful hues in his previous house. The textures on many of the surfaces such as the peeling wallpaper and poorly conditioned wooden door frames are dingy and make the props look like they are old and decaying. There are cardboard boxes (fig 6) all over the house which tells the player Ethan has only just moved in and away from the previously happy family home, or that he hasn't bothered to unpack yet, which is an indication to the player of his lack of motivation and depressed state of mind. The back garden(fig 7) to this house reflects the atmosphere of depression and decay as the grass is unkempt, dead looking and patchy with muddy puddles
everywhere.

(Fig 5) Ethan's Dingy House

(Fig 6) Cardboard boxes

(Fig 7) Unkempt Back Garden

The effective use of props, colour, texture and lighting as a storytelling technique can make for a much more personal and meaningful play experience as each player brings their own thoughts and experiences to the table. In an interview with David Cage, the creator of Heavy Rain, he mentions that;

 "We really wanted the player, through his actions, to tell the story and for these actions to have consequences. We tried to do our best in the writing to have an interesting and strong proposal for gameplay and for narrative in every single scene in the game. That was challenging because we don't use mechanics, we don't use patterns in the game. What you have to do and how you are going to do it is pretty much different in every scene. " 

This, I feel, aptly describes their approach with Heavy Rain. The game is designed to be a personal experience with many different ways of play and choices to make, and the game environment plays a big part in this. The player may decide what objects to look at/interact with and therefore decides just how much information they will absorb from the narrative subtext implemented into the environments. This in turn leads to different plot paths and ultimately, an ending which is entirely dependent on the player's approach throughout the game, which is in turn motivated by their interpretation of the physical make-up of the environment and the props with which they interact. 


-David Cage Interview available from; http://www.fastcompany.com/1558681/heavy-rain-creator-david-cage-reveals-secrets-his-photo-realistic-serial-killer-ps3-game

Well it's been a while...

It's been longer than I'd like since my last update. This was due to project proposal madness. Finding out that the majority of my research wasn't as relevant as I thought was definitely a blow but it meant I still had some time to restructure. Now that's handed in and I just have to cross my fingers and hope that I've done everything right and expressed my project aims and research effectively without somehow managing to plagiarise someone else's work, which I'm petrified of.

I went back home for the holidays, which is another reason my posts have been stunted as my home is now an internetless void, which was a horrible Christmas surprise...

Anyway, onwards to some more work. My next post will be a compilation of game environment analysis and contrasting some of the techniques undertaken by the art teams involved in their creative approach to environmental storytelling.