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 :)

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.