Out of Lives: Death in Games

A friend asked me a question today that really got me thinking about games and game design. His question was "Is it possible to make a serious game about suicide?". As a subject it's a pretty dark one, and one so rarely discussed publicly; there is still a certain taboo-ness about the subject, and this is relatively understandable. Historically, culturally and religiously it is often seen as wrong or a sin to remove oneself, although not universally. In some cultures, senicide or geronticide was common practice; this means that when the elderly or infirm were unable to care for themselves or the household, especially in times of famine and drought, they were either killed or would voluntarily remove themselves from the group in order to protect them and ensure their continued survival. It is a touchy subject in today's society, especially for those who have been through the horrific experience of losing someone they know and love to it.

Games don't often cover serious topics like this, and yet the subject of death is such a common theme and simple mechanic to extend gameplay or allow players to retry sections of the game they have not yet mastered. Ryan Kuo, in his article 'Loss of Death: Suicide in Videogames' uses the example of a level from Super Mario Bros. 2, the super difficult and often frenetic Japan-only release that at one stage has the player find a warp pipe that will lead them all the way back to the very first level. This area is inescapable and the player must choose between the pipe or jumping down a hole, an action the player knows will lead to death and restarting the level. They must choose which is more preferable, death or the effort and potential loss of further lives it would take to return to this point and select a path that doesn't lead the suicide warp pipe. For most it's a simple decision to make.

A simple decision to make (Source)

Do games trivialise death then? In a sense, yes, though not in any exploitative sense. Consequences are rarely doled out for death, often simply sending the player back to a checkpoint or the start of a level. In some titles the stakes are a little higher; Kayin's impossibly difficult platform title, I Wanna Be The Guy: The Movie: The Game forces the player to restart the whole game every time she dies. To add to this, the game is unforgiving and requires repetition and twitch movement skills to complete. It is impossible to complete on a first playthrough as pieces of the environment will fall, rise, move, drop, reveal hidden traps and become an enemy itself throughout various parts of the game. Without learning where these all are and what the correct path to take is it is impossible to get through and is extremely punishing. But is this just an extreme in the same vein? Death is no less trivial, simply more frustrating than in other games.

A familiar sight from I Wanna Be The Guy (Source)

Death is not so simple in all games though, in some it is more than just an inconvenience. Jesse Venbrux, creator of the Karoshi series of games, explores using death to advance the player in his game Karoshi: Suicide Salaryman. The game is a puzzle platformer, and the only way out of each level is to find a way to kill yourself via various methods, including jumping on spikes, electrocuting yourself, ricocheting bullets off surfaces so that they hit you and much more. As the game ramps up in difficulty the player finds herself expending more and more effort to die, something we know is not encouraged in most games and so a fairly counter-intuitive operation. This action shines a light on the culture of death and violence in videogames and how willing we are to accept virtual death. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this acceptance inherently; when it comes down to it virtual death is not real, it has no consequence outside of a game and this is part of the reason we enjoy games so much, they allow us to live out fantasies, dark or otherwise, without the pain, suffering and guilt of reality that prevent us from performing said actions day-to-day. There are many games that attempt to make death more meaningful, or at least a more terrifying prospect for the player, especially roguelike-likes such as DayZ, the Hardcore mode of Minecraft (which actually deletes the world when a player dies) and many others that use perma-death as an element of play.

Eeeeep! My house! (Source)

Inner Vision, a dialogue game by Sunil Rao is one of the few titles I have come across that actually attempts to deal with suicide. The is short and simple but places the player in the role of confidant to three suicidal people. The player must talk with them, listen and select meaningful responses in order to help them find reasons to live. Every Day the Same Dream from Molleindustria deals with drudgery, repetitiveness and suicide. The player repeats the same day over and over but is allowed to make small changes to become a new person, and suicide is one of these changes, but this character's death only ends that day's dream and returns the player to their bed to repeat the day over again. The death, or attempted suicide of the game's character tells you so much about him without lines and lines of exposition, hours of cutscenes and narrative setup. Everything we need to know about this man is told in virtual silence through his actions, OUR actions in the game. So suicide and death is not just a plot point or mechanic here but a part of this person's character and this game's story.

The end? Not for this dreamer (Source)

But game designers have to be careful about how they deal with sensitive topics such as this. Many will remember the controversy over Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and its 'No Russian' level, where the player is tasked with going undercover with a group of terrorists in an airport and has the option to assist in killing innocent civilians. It is possible to skip this scene entirely as the developers knew it may cause some controversy, and it is also possible to complete without firing at a single civilian. The scene caused outcry with many and raised many questions about the role of videogames in society, their comparison to film and television and the effect of interactivity in comparison to passive forms of media. The scene was even discussed in the House of Commons in the UK and many were very upset  and disgusted that the game allowed the player to take on the role of a terrorist but treated intervention as failure. The AI of the civilians was also a harrowing sight for many, watching as these innocent people tried to protect themselves and their loved ones, dragging the injured or themselves to safety as they are fired upon. It was too much for many, and I won't be discussing the finer points of the argument about violence in video games simply because I think a lot of it has already been said. But what this controversy showed is that people still retain the idea that games are toys for children. Despite the ubiquity of games and gaming there is still a sense that games are for kids and anything of a more serious, violent or mature nature should be censored, removed and buried. One point that is often raised about interactive media is just that, the interactive nature. When watching a film or reading a book, even if the reader is cast as the character and drawn into believing they are taking on the role in the words they read or the images they see they are not truly taking on that role. In a game, they are. Perhaps then, as games become more realistic and blur the lines, especially so in terms of their aesthetic representation and its level of realism, we will become more able to accept and learn from scenarios like this. The scene, in my opinion, was not entirely crafted to cause controversy, although there seems to be an element of it there. It told a story, tied together a plot and did a lot to dive into the character of Makharov, the leader of the terrorist group, and what kind of enemy the player is facing. Could it have been done in another way? Sure. Would it have been as effective? I'm not so sure. The emotional bang a player experiences in this scene is one that many didn't realise they could feel, and the fact that the game caused players to feel strongly about something is a huge leap forward from the pure adrenaline-pump that early arcade games tried to foster with high-speed gameplay and quickly ramping difficulty levels. A game doesn't have to cause controversy to make you feel, and I don't think that aiming to be controversial is a good move either but I do think that a bold move such as this will always be controversial until society recognises the role and impact that videogames can and have had.

An opening shot from 'No Russian' (Source)

GDC used to hold a regular game design challenge and in 2010 the theme of that challenge was 'Real Life Perma-death'. The challenge was to explore the nature of death, not just in games but in real life and in the context of games. The winning entry, for example, was from Jenova Chen of thatgamecompany. His idea was 'Heavenville', a social networking game where players are able to 'buy stock' in dead people who's stock value is determined by the amount of Google search results their name produces and their relevance considering the time that has passed since their death. Stock would inevitable rise upon death and fall as a person became less valuable in terms of their Google popularity. Another example was Heather Kelley (Kokoromi) and Erin Robinson's (Wadjet Eye Games) idea 'Last Game and Testament', a scaveneger hunt that makes the creation and reading of a will a more interactive and personal experience. Instead of writing a will the soon-to-be-deceased puts barcodes on their earthly belongings and puts information about who the object is being bequeathed to and why into the game. At the will reading the deceased's loved ones gather, take out their smart devices and go on a scavenger hunt, scanning barcodes and guessing who they think the item is for. Once all votes are collected information about who each item belongs to and why is imparted by the deceased and a final item is bequeathed to the person who guesses most items owners correctly. Kim Swift (formerly Airtight Games and Valve) presented her idea, Karma. This game would be prescribed to a terminally ill patient and is designed to allow them to play through their grief. The player has an energy bar and must play through the last two months of the life of a terminally ill patient. The player goes through various settings, like the character's work, home and stay in the hospital towards the end. An energy bar would determine how many actions can be performed daily and the player has the option to assist people in their life; helping a co-worker fix a computer, talking to a neighbour or mowing their lawn. These tasks are envisioned as unique minigames, each raising the overall karma of the player. Every two weeks the setting changes and the energy bar reduces to mimic the effects of the illness. Finally, as the character lies in hospital, barely able to move they are tasked with tracing a smile with analogue sticks. This is difficult as energy is extremely low but the whole game is designed to nurture a person through the pain they must be experiencing and the hopelessness they feel. Swift wished to teach people that though their time may be short there is no reason they can't make an impact in people's lives and be a positive force in all the negativity they face. We all deal with our own mortality in different ways, some like to escape into games to deal with life and this idea sounds perfect for people who use games in such a way. Although these are hypothetical designs at an annual panel that will probably go no further than that it is still refreshing to see that things like this are being discussed, both in a tongue-in-cheek way and with a more serious, nurturing perspective too. These are the kinds of discussions we need to have and the kinds of games we need to design to push our medium forwards as a device for storytelling, immersion, learning and healing. Games are capable of all this and it is in the hands of game designers to explore their own lives and deaths, their worries and concerns. Interactive, immersive media is the perfect tool for introspection and exploration of the existential as the audience is no longer passively and vicariously experiencing these questions but actively involved in the outcome.

A comparison of the rising stock of Barack Obama

and Susan Boyle in HeavenVille (Source)

I'm running through a few ideas in my head at the moment based around the concept and trying to figure out how to present it. It's a tough one but with all the examples given, and the many more I didn't mention, I think it's something that game designers are just learning to toy with. These early stages are always the most difficult and perhaps people will be more willing to accept more serious topics in games as the generations that grew up killing everything on-screen become leaders and policy-makers and as we start to see more games released with themes of dealing with the emotional side of death. Now how to implement it...

Quick Thought: What the Fuck is Metal?!

I'm not what you might call a 'Metalhead'. I suppose it's fair to say my appearance might cause some to assume that I am, and in a way I suppose I am. But I tend to make a distinction between Metalheads and myself. Compared someone who identifies as a Metalhead I listen to comparatively little metal. I'm not a fan of genre, I'm a fan of music and my playlist is varied and confusing. I spent time as a youth listening to little but metal, but I have since grown out of it and realised that there is so much more. I am aware that metal, especially the heavier and more dissonant varieties can confuse and scare the masses, and so I thought I'd write this post to explain my understanding, fascination and love of metal in its many forms.

When I was growing up I looked to my older brother for social cues; he was older, therefore wiser and knew what he was doing (in theory). He grew to love Rock and Metal and the heavier and darker side of music, and as I was exposed to it I grew to love it too. I can't count how many ties I drew Slayer and Metallica logos on my notebooks all throughout my school life. After school, my brother and I would walk to Church, the place where our mother both worshipped and worked as a PA to the pastor and await her to finish work. In the meantime we would entertain ourselves with games, puzzles, toys and anything else our imaginations could come up with. Once my brother had begun to learn drums we began to play with the drum kit and bass guitar that were kept at church and started to jam songs we knew and other things we'd made up. I began guitar lessons at age 11 and never looked back. Those formative years, where I was listening to metal and nothing but, had a great effect on me. I was introduced to the darker side of things, was aware that anger, pain, fear and hatred were normal feelings too, and could be expressed just like happiness and joy.

There's always time to be Metal as Fuck (Source)

Recently, for no damn reason at all, I was reminded of a band, specifically a song, that I used to listen to as a teenager. I immediately sought the song out on YouTube and after a couple of listens had to buy the album. The song was Spheres of Madness by Decapitated, a Polish technical death metal band. I saw this song as the pinnacle of drumming ability, the apex of musicianship, the height of technical skill. I'm aware that many see metal, and especially death metal, as simply noise. I'm gonna come clean here and admit that I don't have a clue what the lyrics are to the Decapitated album, Nihilism that I purchased. I can't understand most of what is being growled. The content, or narrative so to speak, is not the thing that draws me to it though. It's the pure and simple feel; the pit of the stomach tightening, the mind darkening, the skin tingling like a bolt of lightning nearby. Metal is unique in that it allows me to travel to a place that no other music does. I can listen to Chopin's Prelude in E-Minor and feel utter sorrow and despair. Conversely I can listen to Anamanaguchi's Japan Airline and be content and happy as a pig in poop. Metal takes a unique route, it allows me to visit a place much darker than anything else. That doesn't mean I'm a violent psychopath, I simply like to channel through sound. I can appreciate what a more dissonant sound can do for the psyche, the same way people like to listen to depressing or sad music. Sometimes it's nice to let loose and hit something a little heavier.

I have eclectic tastes and love many bands and musicians but will always appreciate the technical skill and power of metal. I don't expect to change anyone's mind about it but hopefully someone will 'get it' a little more than they might have. I also listen to The Dø who I've just bought tickets to see in November, and I recommend you do too! So don't judge me as a demon worshipper if you haven't heard Finnish/French indie music, kay?

LUUG 30 and New Horizons

Another month has gone by and this meant that the regular London Unity User Group meetup were due an evening of talks and networking, an invaluable tool for any designer. This month's LUUG was gratiously held at London South Bank University, but the organisers are always looking for venues (free of charge mind) so if you know of somewhere within 30 minutes or so of Central London that is wored for sound, projection from a laptop, can hold a decent amount of people and would be willing to host the LUUG meetings get in contact with the organisers on the LUUG Meetup page, they'll be more than glad to hear from you.

This is Harry the Hobo, LUUG's lead organiser, scouting for locations (Source)

The show this month featured Tom Matcham, a solo indie developer and founder of coAdjoint with a maths background, who was discussing the idea of personalised, adaptive games and non-linear narrative as a tool for creating a more involved experience for the player. Also featured was Danny Goodayle from JustAPixel, a small indie outfit who are set to release Light: The Game, a Team17 published stealth-puzzle game on the 14th of July. Danny was discussing procedural generation and the techniques and methods he had used to create terrains, water, environments and buildings.

Tom Matcham believes that games, especially AAA titles, have illusions of cinematography. This is a very true statement for a lot of reasons; games are still a relatively young medium while film is now over a century old. Games often take cues from film as the tropes are well established and any time not spent explaining things to your audience the easier, quicker and cheaper it is to create something. We are now at a stage in our society where the budget of video games is fast overtaking the budget of even the biggest movies. Bungie's latest offering, Destiny is reported to have cost $500 million to make, a far larger budget than any Hollywood movie has ever had. With such a large amount of money riding on a title it's understandable that companies want to reduce risk and appeal to the masses, and a cinematic format is a good way to do that. But as young as games are, they have proven time and time again that they are capable of presenting more than just mindless entertainment and it is certainly time to push the envelope and design games as a medium all of their own and not rely on the conventions of another medium. Tom believes that dynamic, responsive games are a step in the right direction.

Tom's background in mathematics really pays dividends in his approach to a solution as it seems to give him the tools he needs to break down and analyse his response to the problem. His method of injecting more dynamism into a gameplay experience is quite central on data collection and runtime analytics; by collecting data and using the right tools to analyse it a game can adapt and change based on certain criteria. Tom showed a demo of his software, Orbit (available on the Unity Asset store along with Tom's other contributions) which collects data based on rules set by the designer. In the example shown it was used to analyse morality of a player based on actions they chose; a player who chose to adopt a child would have be assigned a more positive morality rating, but if they then chose to rob a bank that rating would be reduced until eventually, after enough robberies, the character would be assigned a negative morality rating. This allows for a deeper morality system beyond the Infamous style binary system of "this action = bad; this action = good". Instead, each action is evaluated by a number of criteria, and while some actions are inherently good others cover more of a moral grey area and this is displayed in the data. This data can then be used to inform the structure and narrative of a game.

Tom mentioned his love of the old "Choose-your-own-adventure" books that he grew up reading in the 90s and sees non-linear narrative such as this as a way forward, and I'm very inclined to agree, though Tom does make the point that branching story lines like these books are based on decision trees, which can lead to repetition and a less-engaging experience. When an experience is new every time it is played users cant help but be intrigued as to how it twill turn out next time, what decisions they could have made to change things, and thus is the beauty of non-linear narrative. A point was raised in the Q&A after the talk that non-linear narrative is not a goal of the AAA industry simply due to the economy of game creation. In a AAA producer's mind a whole section of game that many players may not even see is not worth the time and money spent on it, and so it is avoided. But this is where the indie community can and does really shine, especially with the ease of access we now have to professional grade software. It is up to us to shape and form the future of games as a medium and creating a truly interactive experience that not only learns from the player but responds is a a great way to increase and improve player retention and interest.

I spent an entire holiday choosing my scare once,

true story (Source)

Tom goes a little deeper into the theory behind his tools and his method for modelling player-game interactions and has even written a whitepaper on the subject (And you thought maths was boring!). Tom's an intelligent man with a noble goal and it is my belief that his desire for deeper experiences through interaction modelling are a great leap forward from the usual binary morality systems we see. Combining this with non-linear narrative and the possibilities become almost endless. The issue lies in convincing larger budget developers that this is a way forward, and that is the job of the indies; push boundaries and break barriers, create amazing experiences and show the industry that games can be more than point, shoot, pretty explosion, cut to expositional scene . Just because a player may not necessarily even see part of your game due to their play-style it is not a wasted effort, as to create a more personal, engaging experience one must also create a unique experience. This inherently means that they may see parts others don't or miss parts others were able to play, but the experience is entirely their own. Doesn't sound like a bad thing does it?

What you did there, I see it... and I like it (Source)

Danny Goodayle was up next explaining some techniques he'd used in procedural generation in Unity. His discussion was more of a forum for conversation about techniques but he did go through some of the basics of what he had done. Using various methods of pseudo-random number generation, e.g. Perlin Noise he was able to produce a mountainous landscape including rolling waves and a daylight system by using noise to affect the height and position of verts and a sine wave algorithm to produce the wave effect. The demo is available on JustAPixel's website and Danny is always looking to learn and pass on his own knowledge via his personal blog and his Twitter account. Danny also showed off a piece of procedural generation that could create cityscapes by taking user-generated data about the size and shape of buildings and applying them to a map. The example he showed was of downtown Manhattan and the effect produced was great.

As always, the guys from Space Unicorn were there to catch the whole thing on video and get some exclusive interviews with the speakers so keep an eye on their YouTube channel, like the Facebook and follow the Twitter for updates on the next video. On a further note, the new horizons spoken of in the title of this post refer to my new role as host of Space Unicorn's weekly news show! So follow my Twitter and keep up with my blog for news of my first episode, which was filmed this week. There's a little teaser below so you can see how cool I look with a bit of editing but the full episode is OUT RIGHT NOW so go ahead and watch for all your gaming news needs!

"Space Unicorn, made with 100% Dan (from concentrate)"

Thanks to everyone at LUUG, speakers and organisers alike, for another great evening. If you want to attend LUUG tickets are free but they run out quickly. They are always released exactly a week before the event, so 7pm the previous Thursday. Get yours quick or miss out! If London's a bit too far or rooms of real people aren't your thing then catch Space Unicorn's coverage, usually released the week following the event. Hopefully I'll see a few new faces for LUUG 31, and remember, LUUG needs free venues! Help the cause, be a pal :)

End of an Era, Start of Libella

So here I am, I've finished my final piece for the year and for my degree and now all I have to do is show up in July to collect my certificate. I achieved a 2:1 which I'm super happy with and I'm so glad it's finally over! I've been in some form of education since the age of four and now, 20 years on, I can finally say I'm done with learning organised by someone else (I am fully prepared to have that bubble burst when I start some proper work but hell, let me enjoy it for now). Now the true hunt begins though, finding a real, proper job I can turn into a career. Anyone hiring (he says with his sweetest grin)?

Sadly I am currently unable to show you my final project at the moment as it takes a bit of setup and file download and, although it worked great for the one night of the exhibition it was needed to work it has since decided it doesn't fancy it. I am awaiting a meeting with my co-designer, Francis so we can plan continued development and figure out the bugs. But not to worry! We should also be recording some footage of gameplay and taking a few high-res screens to show off to all you lovely people. Onto the show and the lessons learned.

2spooky4me guys!

First up, never put a barrier between you and your audience! For the show Francis and myself had secured a space separate from most others pieces, a double-edged sword. Being right near the entrance but not in full view of it we felt people were walking past without even stopping to look in a lot of the time. That wasn't such a big deal as we were able to grab people in by asking if they wanted to play. The problem was that initially, we had decided to hang a white sheet over our entrance onto which we stuck a Victorian silhouette of a man in a top hat. This was removed with great speed and placed on the table holding the TV. Putting that sight barrier up did us some damage in terms of foot traffic. We had assumed it would add to the mystery of the thing, make people wonder what was behind the curtain. Well apparently everyone had read The Wizard of Oz that night and figured that whatever was behind the curtain wasn't going to be any better than a fat man in a suit with a bunch of empty promises. That or they thought it was storage. Either way, that might have been ok to do had others been set up similarly and nearer to us. Line of sight is important and we broke that, didn't do enough to draw people in. The show was on the inside of the booth and really there should have been more outside of it to entice people in the first place. Hard lesson learned well!

"I can toooooootally show you a good time, don't you

trust my warm smile and happy, sunshine eyes?" (Source)

Anyway, sheet removed we soldiered on through some technical issues, got them solved and continued to show the game. We had a nice chat with Maria, a producer from Sony UK who gave us some advice on how to better present our game for a pitch meeting and the things she would like to see from us and the game, so perhaps we'll spend a little time creating a build closer to what she wanted for showing to industry types. For the course we had to design a more complete experience than what we might have made for a pitch meeting, because that's the brief we had and that's how we were marked. What Maria would have liked to see was one room where everything worked the way it was supposed to and we could show off all the important mechanics and features of the game. So there's a little life lesson for you budding designers and developers looking for funding; short, sweet, compact and dense with polished content, or as much of that as you can manage in the time frame you have.

Most of the reactions we had were very positive and encouraging, there were a few salient points we took away with us. We were aware going in that our controls weren't amazingly polished, but we'd had to do a last minute build before the show began and before we had time to make edits. This left our forward movement relatively smooth but our turning and rotation was a little clunky and slow, but that was an issue with a simple fix. One thing we picked up on throughout the course of the evening was the importance of playtesting. We had kept the project mostly under wraps, saying little and showing even less and the show was the first time anyone had played our game. We discovered so many things from people simply playing through the experience. Even though it's something I've read about and had drummed into me for years, "Playtest, playtest, playtest" it had completely slipped my mind for this one and suddenly the mystique was more important. I think there's a balance that can be achieved between secrecy and still allowing for playtesting and in this case it was tipped too far in the wrong direction. But there's nothing like an experience to teach you a lesson. But seriously, playtest!

"It isn't a storage area? Really?" (Source)

All-in-all we had some great advice, some super positive feedback and learned some really important things from the show and having people play our game. I look forward to keeping everyone updated on the further development of Libella and hopefully screens and gameplay vids will be uploaded soon. Keep your eyes here and on my Twitter feed for more in the coming months.

LUUG 29: A Feast for the Senses

UPDATE: Space Unicorn's coverage of LUUG is live so head on over to the Tubes of You to check out what you missed.

LUUG, or the London Unity User Group is a mostly monthly meetup, featuring talks and discussions from indie developers and industry experts alike, all united by their love and use of Unity3D. Now being organised by Darrenlloyd Gent, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, this months event took place at the University of Greenwich in one of their lecture rooms and featured 2 guest speakers, both with very different things to discuss, but more on that later. LUUG is a very exciting opportunity for current indies living in London and using the Unity engine, and it doesn't solely focus on games either. Any use of Unity is acceptable discussion matter and an open mic session at the end of the discussions, a 'Pitch & Putt' session an hour prior (where people are able to freely show their work to other attendees) and a drink at a local pub after all is said and done provide a perfect opportunity for discussion of your own work and ideas, along with a breeding ground of thought and intelligent discussion of Unity. It's a great place to network and even find projects and work, with most people taking the mic offering opportunities, at least at this particular event. If LUUG isn't on your radar as a London indie now's the time to turn that all around!

Is... is that what opportunity looks like? (Source)

The first talk was from Barnaby Smith, a Unity3D developer at Kwalee. His topic of discussion was some work that he'd been doing in his spare time on procedural rendering of planets and terrain in Unity. He talked about the various methods of generating noisemaps, the algorithms used and their benefits and shortfalls. One very interesting technique for noise generation is known as Fractional Brownian Motion, a technique that layers multiple frequencies of varying wavelengths, called Octaves, to create a line of random troughs and peaks, ideal for terrain generation.

There's a poop joke in there somewhere, I just know it! (Source 1 / Source 2)

Smith then had to solve the problem of mapping these new textures to objects. Standard mapping usually uses a rectangular texture that is wrapped around an object, not ideal when your goal is to create spherical bodies like planets as you run into problems with seams and polar distortion. Cube maps on the other hand deal with many of these problems for you. Smith decided to map his textures with a cube map and apply this to his planet object. Many of the mapping issues dealt with themselves as cube maps are designed to display reflections of the environment around an object, meaning seams and distortion are less likely to cause problems. Combining various techniques like the ones described, combined with vertex placement and the creation of an atmosphere using a noise map with alpha controlled by height makes Smith's planets look unbelievable and he can produce a wide array of results with the tools he has built. He wishes to work on more tools to create even more stunning environments, including erosion algorithms and climate generation and it all adds up to a very exciting bit of kit that can really take the hassle out of creating terrain and environments! He is also working to reduce the rendering times of the tools, as the tools render everything live within Unity. A 20 second render of three planet objects was demonstrated, ,which is a considerable achievement, but with optimisation Smith feels he can take this down even further. None of Smith's work is up on the asset store but he's quite open to discussion about his work and you can hit him up on Twitter if you're interested in his techniques and expertise. You can also find his slides from his LUUG talk with more detail and code snippets if you're interested in trying out some of the thing's he's discovered riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight aboooooooooooooooooooooout here.

Next up was Leonard Burton, a freelance Web Designer by trade but a VR enthusiast by night (a Batman-esque existence to be sure). His topic of discussion was VR in Unity and its potential going forward. He began with a brief history of VR, beginning with astral projection and spiritual journeys. These experiences, in a sense, are a kind of virtual reality; a spiritual and mental precursor to the technology driven VR under discussion here. The idea and feeling of being transported elsewhere is not new or recent and has been a human goal for a long time, proven in both our history of fiction & narrative and our longstanding interest and study of things like astral projection and hallucinogenic compounds. Later, in the last century, we begin to see technology evolve to accommodate VR. Stereoscopy and binaural sound are used as a spectacle, to enhance the immersion experienced by the senses and to dazzle and amaze. Later, technology is developed by the military for training and combat and, as it often does, this technology eventually trickled into the public sector. By the 1990s it had exploded and VR machines were in every arcade, with VR glasses the talk of the time. The technology still hadn't matured and was often viewed and designed for as little more than a spectacle or a show, with many VR applications featuring large amounts of movement and many even utilising hydraulics to move the player's chair. This high speed action and large amount of movement often resulted in people feeling ill and never really explored the things that really immerse a person in an experience.

"Woah, these space boobs are so real!" said nobody, ever (Source)

We are now at a stage where many of VRs past technical problems have ceased too plague us, or at least have become more manageable and affordable to resolve. With things like the Oculus Rift, Sony's Project Morpheus and the the newly announced ControlVR (which has a Kickstarter which you should totally go to right now and back because it looks fantastic), combined with the thriving indie community that is now able to get their hands on such devices, virtual reality experiences are now very possible and we can begin to explore a more personal space with it, a space someone is comfortable visiting in their own home, a more matured and deep experience. Burton views VR as a medium unto itself, and I fully agree. While the platform can and most definitely should be used to create games it can also do so much more in terms of interactive narrative and experience. Burton then discussed the Oculus guidelines for design and stated that some of them will lead to a better experience while others are rules perhaps made to be broken. As an example, a seated experience is suggested but this may not always be conducive to the experience. A group at Zurich University created a device that places the user flat on their stomach with arms outstretched and is able to tilt and roll. Combined with motors, fans and an Oculus Rift the user is able to feel like they are flying through a virtual world. Burton calls on designers to design for VR as now is the time to do it. He states that experiences should be designed for VR from the ground up, not ported later as this tends to be less convincing. He also believes that designers shouldn't shy away from problems or wait for others to solve them but should actively pursue them however they can. He also discusses the importance of 'presence' within VR, something that goes beyond immersion. One can feel immersed in a book or film but to feel present and to experience a world through ones own senses is a far greater feeling altogether.

Did someone say presents!? (Source)

Burton then discussed some interesting examples of the use of VR. Aldin Dynamics have created an Oculus experience called Trial of the Rift Drifter; the game puts the player in the role of a someone who is accused of using the Oculus Rift to travel between dimensions. The game is advanced and controlled by gestural movements; shaking or nodding one's head, looking away guiltily as one is asked questions. Sightline is a game developed as part of a VR game jam but is now finding it's footing on the internet and being turned into a much larger experience. The game revolves around using the player's line of sight and altering the environment when the player isn't looking. Paths that may have been broken will be fixed once one looks away and then returns their gaze back to it, an extremely intriguing concept. Burton urges all indie designers to break into VR and be a part of shaping its future, and I myself am currently looking into the financial viability of an Oculus dev kit and some hand and gestural tracking devices to develop some ideas. Leonard Burton can also be hit up on his Twitter if you're so inclined. Both talks were covered by my pals at Space Unicorn Productions (website pending), who will be taking on the duty of covering all the LUUGs from now on. Subscribe to their Youtube channel to keep updated with LUUG so you won't miss it, even if you can't attend. The information is invaluable and the speakers even give private interview after their talks to the Space Unicorn guys, so you're getting even more than LUUG attendees!

I have so many ideas floating around in my head now, if anyone has an Oculus they're giving away I will take the burden off your hands, and I will do it for free because I'm a real nice guy like that.

Good Things, Small Packages

UPDATE: According to their Twitter, @ustwogames are currently working on new levels for Monument Valley, yaaaaaaaaay! :D

I recently saw a bit of gameplay for a mobile release called Monument Valley by ustwo studio and was instantly hooked by the visuals. The following day, with it fresh in my mind, I decided to purchase it and experience it for myself. What I found was a beautiful, perfectly balanced, relaxing and engaging experience. The look alone, the thing that initially grabbed me, is gorgeous; a 3D isometric view of your environment, mostly simple shapes and models, a soundless, almost featureless protagonist, solid, pastel colours and a slightly eastern architectural design. It's beautiful to just sit and watch for a while and reminded me of another amazing title, visually anyway, Journey from Thatgamecompany, an amazingly beautiful experience that I am not at all upset to be reminded of.

Simple, clean and a little bit gorgeous

Next, on to my favourite bit to talk about, the simplicity of its rules. Everything is so simple in this game one can learn to play simply by playing. There is little in the way of instructions except for a couple of prompts at the start, directing you to touch a point on screen to move your character. The character will then follow a path, if it is clear, to the point you have touched. Some aspects of the environment can also be manipulated, from dragging and rotating blocks, chunks, buildings and platforms to manipulating levers and handles in order to create a path to the goal. All of these things are clearly marked and introduced at a perfect pace, if I was ever a little stuck on a puzzle it was because of me, not the game. The more interesting and exciting aspect of the title though was the echocrome-like perspective puzzles. These can be difficult to explain, but essentially, as the perspective is changed parts of the environment will link up, move, connect or disconnect based on the viewing angle. This was a very exciting feature of echocrome and Fez, two titles that used their camera angles very effectively to produce some mind-bending platform puzzles.

If Escher made games... Dick...

The puzzles in Monument Valley are handled extremely well, and a couple had me really flexing my ability to visualize the spaces and consider the angles, but the wonderful thing about this game is that if you're not sure, try it out! The best way to figure out any of their puzzles is by twisting, turning, swiping, rotating and tapping until all becomes clear. As each chapter is split into a few separate puzzles most sections do not take very long to complete and aren't massively sprawling. This allows for experimentation, as a wrong step won't send you very far back or force you to complete a huge amount of steps for the puzzle again, only to fail at the same point. To use the phrase again this title is perfectly balanced; it feels like something that would be easy to pick up and play for most users, new or veteran, yet has enough to keep any fan of puzzles, whatever their status, happy and playing for a while. While not much of a gripe, the game is extremely short; my play-through lasted around an hour, give or take. It isn't much of a bad thing to say you want more of a game but perhaps a slightly more expanded experience would have been nice as the replay value is virtually nil. In saying all this, I think the price of £2.49 for the app was pretty fair but hope there is some sort of expansion or update that allows for further play.

More, more, more! (Source)

All in all this game follows the design principle I love so much, simplicity. With simple graphics, simple rules and a serene and relaxing soundtrack Monument Valley is a beautiful example of what can be done with touchscreen devices. These perspective and spacial puzzles I'm seeing is something really, frustratingly fun and difficult and stretches the mind, even in a simple form. Touchscreens are a perfect platform for games like this as they allow for a player to use their hands and physically manipulate objects in a far better way than any controller or mouse can offer and it was a delightful learning experience in the design of these puzzles to play Monument Valley. Thanks guys, keep up the good work!

A Blast From the Past at Last

I was rooting through a cupboard trying to find a little USB hub (to no avail, might I add) and discovered an old notepad. I had originally used it, very briefly, to take notes at college a few years ago but then it turned into a log book for workouts. It got all full up and got put away, the workouts long forgotten, the penis doodles never to be seen again. Or so it thought...

Dun dun duuuuuuuun! (Image Source)

There was one occasion I can recall where I had the notepad with me at college. As Richmond is the last stop on the District line and also the location of my college, trains would often wait at the station until it was their scheduled time to leave. This particular day I had no form of passing the time other than the notepad and decided to whip it out and write something. It ended up being a weird poem based around the 'W' sound, using lots of words that begin with the letter W or it's sound. For some reason I cannot describe, explain or even begin to understand I have decided to transcribe it here. It has been extremely imaginatively titled 'W', that's just who I am.

W

I wish I was a washer with a wall on which to wish,
And I wish I had a waiter, waiting while I watered fish,
With a willow waving to the West and wailing in the wind,
I would wish and wash and wave and wail and whack a Will O' Wisp,
With a wizard waving wands and a willing whale or two,
I would wear one hundred worms with a witch that I would woo,
We will walk along the water while the women stop and stare,
Why do their eyes wander? Why they wuv my wavy hair!
I will whisper to a waiter when the wizard wants a meal,
And I'll whack down the willow when I want to make a wheel,
And the whale, with his wondrous wit, will have a bright idea,
"Why don't I wear the wheel and you can ride with me up here!?",
Well I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings, why don't I accept?
What ever would go wrong with a whale as my pet?
So the wizard, waiter, witch and willow, at least whatever's left,
Will climb up right away and wheel off into the wet,
"What's this?" I wailed through water, "We've left the Will O' Wisp!",
We turned and watched the water, the whale wading through the mist,
When suddenly we heard a whimper whipping through the dark,
"Woah!" I cried out to the whale and laughed a whimsical laugh,
Wandering through the wide, wet water, the Wisp was what I saw,
So I swam away, towards poor Wisp as he whimpered, pawed and clawed,
"Little Wisp! I've found you! Won't you come aboard with me?",
"Why certainly" he wailed as we climbed out of the sea,
"Whatever were you thinking when you didn't climb the whale?",
"Well I wanted to, I really did, but he hit me with his tail!",
Well it's lucky I'm a washer as the Wisp was wet and dirty,
"Not now!" I wailed at the witch, as she was getting flirty!
I washed the Wisp and watched the water and hollered to the whale,
"Whale, we should spin around. Switch your head and tail",
We went back to the beach, and I waved to my new friends,
And I went back home and went to bed and wished it wouldn't end,
When I awoke I felt so sad, but when I opened my hand,
I found a whale's whisper and a wad of cold, wet sand,
I knew my friends were happy with the wish that I had made,
The wizard, witch, whale, waiter and Wisp had really made my day.

A little late but I used the word, happy?! (Image Source)

So there it is, a poor Seuss-esque mess of W. If I could art, I would draw a scene from this though, make it really moody and awesome. Like use pastels and rounded edges, have a wheeled whale swimming the tides with a witch and wizard on his back and a dude swimming towards a glowing Wisp, pink and orange sky, slightly cartoony. Damn I wish I could art...

One of these things if you were confused (Image Source)