Interation Summary.

This is a summary of the artwork throughout my creative process. However, text explanations and reasoning and problem solving can be found further down this PDF/blog.

Concept Summary.

This is a summary of the concepts for my work. Further details, designs and text explanations can be found throughout this PDF/Blog.

Last minute game fixes & completion.

Fixed the scrolling issue in S2 -- the scene wouldn't pan with a camera follow actor behaviour and the seedling would just stop dead in the middle of the fall. Fixed this by creating a gradient background in photoshop, loading it into Stencyl and setting it to vertically scroll upwards at a speed of 90. This allowed the whole scene to pan without looping at the same rate the seed fell. I also created a separate seed actor duplicate and removed the 'die in pit' behaviour, which appears to have stopped the problem where the seed would stop midway due to scene boundary limits.

I also added a start and end screen. For the end screen, Stina provided the artwork and I followed her example to create a 'Thanks for playing' actor that looped the player back round to the start of the game. For the start screen, I created the text, interactive actor 'Start Game' and used Stina's atwork to create an opening screen. I achieved this by layering the two colours of background over each other and using a soft eraser at Stina's advice to blend the two.

Game update.

Changes:

Managed to fix the jumping behaviour when an actor walks off of a platform (not jumps off). I downloaded the 'Fall Jumping' behaviour from Stencylforge, but as one commentor advised there were a few blips. For one, holding down the jump button caused the actor to continue flying off into space. Additionally, the animation was not switching correctly from fall to jump when fall jumping. I examined the 'Air Jumping' set of behaviour and used information from that to fix the issues with Stencylforge's Fall Jumping.

Stina implemented basic scene transitions. These work, and I set them up to point them at each subsequent scene. Reloading the behaviours seems to have also solved problems with single frame animation blips.

v1.3

No DRM digital distribution sites:

http://www.gog.com/

http://www.abandonia.com/

http://www.humblebundle.com/

http://news.softpedia.com/news/DRM-Doesn-t-Stop-Piracy-Game-Content-Does-Good-Old-Games-Believes-237641.shtml

Origin account bans & Physical vs Digital.

Owning a game vs owning a license to play a game -- one that can be removed very suddenly. EA placed numerous forum account bans in 2011 that affected the games of the offending account.

EA Forum Ban.

Retracted.

Still a problem.

Mistaken ban + games blocked.

Documentation of ban ordeal. 

Digital distribution and content delivery software bring the question of owning a game vs paying for the ability to 'rent' a game to the forefront. Gaming lawyer Jas Purewal states;

"[....]he explains that the commonly taken position is that when we buy a boxed game, we own the DVD, but only have a license for the software on it. “A ‘licence’,” Purewal explains, “is essentially a limited personal right to use the software on certain terms and conditions – it doesn’t give you the right to e.g. sell/transfer/copy/reproduce the software.” [Walker, John. 2012]

However, the article goes on to note that with a physical DVD, we at least have some power over resale and ownership. However, in the digital distirbution market, there is no power over resale and at any time, the ability to play the games you've bought can be taken away.

In 2012, Valve changed their ToS to deny customers the right to a class-action lawsuit -- stating the only way to resolve a dispute is through an arbitration. Customers sent query in regards to what would happen if they did not wish to accept this new terms of service, and received the following response:

 
"Thank you for contacting Steam Support. We can permanently deactivate your account for you, remove any stored payment information and clear your Steam profile. Disabling your account will not result in a refund, as explained in the Steam Subscriber Agreement. The games in your account will not be accessible for future use. It is impossible to make your games available once your account has been deactivated and your information deleted or archived. Once we have permanently deactivated the account, we will not be able to reactivate the account upon a future request.

Please let me know if you would like to proceed." [Alderman, Justin. 2012]

Ubisoft DRM.

Do we own our Steam games?

Steam changes ToS, will remove games if customer doesn't accept.

Account disable.

Valve's ToS.

Valve sued in Germany.

 

Walker, John (2012). Thought: Do We Own Our Steam Games?. Available: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/02/01/thought-do-we-own-our-steam-games/. Last accessed 06/02/13.

Alderman, Justin. (2012). 0 Valve: Accept New Steam Subscriber Agreement Or Disable Your Account. Available: http://wegotthiscovered.com/gaming/valve-accept-steam-subscriber-agreement-disable-account/. Last accessed 06/02/13.

Steam submission

Unfortunately Steam's FAQ has changed since the release of Greenlight, so I can't really find out what the specific processes were before its release. However, it seems as though one of the first steps would be to email Steamworks about publishing at steamworks@valvesoftware.com.

Link to Steam FAQ.

Steamworks Brochure.

Content delivery software appeals to indie developers due to low to no costs for updating, activation, bandwidth, etc.

These costs and advantages apply to games on steam post Greenlight.

Microsoft's Indie Game section of XBL requires an annual membership fee to submit games, according to their FAQ.

http://xbox.create.msdn.com/en-us/home/faq

Indie Games & Content Delivery Software/Digital Distribution.

Potential essay title: How has content delivery software/digital distribution changed the games industry?

Another: The positive and negative effects content delivery software/DRM and digital distribution have had on the games industry.

After discussing my report with Sharon, I've decided to try an Industry Report in order to keep the writing style similar to previous essays.

Elaborating on some of the points I brought up in my presentation:

For indie developers, content delivery software such as Steam has been a godsend -- allowing them creative freedom where previously they may have found themselves restricted or held back by the demands of publishers, or even the systems they developed for. A recent example of these restrictions:

[Holmes, Jonathan. (2012), via Edmund McMillen's Twitter]

The final paragraph is most relevant to my research, though the entire quote stresses the problem indie developers have with publishing their games; themes and content can often clash with what a publisher or distributor feel is safe or appropriate for their consoles. This either stops the game from getting published entirely, or forces a change from the original vision of the game.

Other points:

Negative aspects of content delivery include:

• Privacy. EA's Origin underwent a lot of controversy after its original EULA was examined. Section 2 & 3 cause most of the issue.

"You agree that EA may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address), operating system, Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online services,"

"EA may also use this information combined with personal information for marketing purposes and to improve our products and services," the section continues. "We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you."

The Section 3 passage reads: "EA reserves the right to monitor communications on the Application and disclose any information EA deems necessary to (i) ensure your compliance with this License; (ii) satisfy any applicable law, regulation or legal process; (iii) protect the rights, property and interests of EA, its employees or the public. EA also reserves the right to edit, refuse to transfer and/or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, in EA's sole discretion." [EA, 2011]

The EULA then goes on to note that if customers do not agree to these terms, they shouldn't install the application. However, as Origin is required to play some of the latest EA titles, gamers were left either submitting to the EULA or simply missing out on the games they want to play -- perhaps even after purchase.

This EULA was revised after a public outcry, and now includes a passage addressing customer concern and other amendments.

"EA knows that you care how information about you is collected, used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly," the document now reads. "Information about our customers is an important part of our business, and EA would never sell your personally identifiable information to anyone, nor would it ever use spyware or install spyware on users' machines."

"In addition to information that you give EA directly, EA collects nonpersonally identifiable (or anonymous) information for purposes of improving our products and services, providing services to you, facilitating the provision of software updates, dynamically served content and product support as well as communicating with you. The non-personally identifiable information that EA collects includes technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address) and operating system, as well as information about your Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware. As noted above, this information is gathered periodically for purposes such as improving our products and services, troubleshooting bugs, and otherwise enhancing your user experience." [EA, 2011]

There is no longer any mention of sharing information with third party users. However, this EULA still indicates that Origin will collect information on hardware and software unrelated to itself. To play their games, PC gamers are forced to install a piece of software they may or may not want.

• Centralization of games -- the good and bad.

There are positives to having all of your games in one central location. Ease of access, safety vs physical media (disc scratches, lost disc, etc), ease of updating for bugs and content patches. The negatives include enforced use of content delivery software for DRM purposes.

Chris Priestly on ME3 & Origin: 

"1) Will Origin be a requirement to play all versions of Mass Effect 3? (Digital and/or from a retail brick and mortar store)
Yes, Origin is required for all PC editions of Mass Effect 3, physical or digital." [Priestly, Chris. 2012]

Steam is similar in that certain games require Steam to be running, but others can be launched straight from their executable in the Steamapps folder. A list of games that require Steam to be running (and will launch the program if it is closed) can be found here.

• Death of game re-sale vs accessibility on any PC.

Games bought digitally via content delivery systems like Origin and Steam cannot be sold on later. They can, however, be redownloaded from the appropriate account and installed on as many machines as the consumer wishes. However, restrictions still apply on games that require the content delivery software to be running and signed into the appropriate account.

• What happens if the companies responsible for the software go bankrupt? 

There's a worrying lack of an official statement on this. The Steam forums indicate that Valve would release a patch to allow all installed games to be played without the Steam Client (or at least with it offline), but this is all third party whispers and the official source appears to have been lost. EA's Origin FAQ merely states "Origin is powered by EA, the leading publisher of the world's best games, and we're not going away anytime soon." [EA, 2012]

Holmes, Jonathan. (2012). Nintendo won't allow Binding of Isaac on the 3DS eShop. Available: http://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-wont-allow-the-binding-of-isaac-on-the-3ds-eshop-222917.phtml. Last accessed 06/02/13.

EA. (2011). EA EULA Origin June Launch. Available: http://eacom.s3.amazonaws.com/EULA_Origin+_June+launch_.5.17.11.pdf. Last accessed 06/02/13.

EA. (2011). Origin EULA 8.24.11. Available: http://eacom.s3.amazonaws.com/EULA_Origin_8.24.11.pdf. Last accessed 06/02/13.

Priestly, Chris. (2012). Origin and Mass Effect 3. Available: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/8975536. Last accessed 06/02/13. 

EA. (2012). Origin Frequently Asked Questions. Available: https://help.ea.com/uk/article/origin-faq#18. Last accessed 06/02/13.

EA FAQ.

On Steam Bankruptcy.

Origin EULA Revision.

 Origin EULA article & discussion.

Swimming seedling.

Concepted a swimming type seedling for our game design document. This won't make it into the game (as with the dandelion seed), but it's relevant for our game design.

I actually got inspiration from the idea thanks to Amazon's 'recommended for you' sections. Having been looking at plantlife and seeds for a while, I'd been seeing similar things in my recommended section. This particular link caught my eye:

Grow your own Lily Pad.

While the item itself got terrible reviews, I googled the concept and came across these:

To me, the seed shoots looked like tadpoles. I liked the idea, but wanted to change it up a bit as my last design involved thin, seed shoots. So I began looking at fish fins, sticking to the idea of aquatics.

I didn't want to go overboard with the billowing, expansive designs so I took the idea of a fish fin and condensed it slightly.

I came up with these designs, attaching the seed shape I had developed to the idea of a flowing, aquatic creature.

Art stuff.

Picasso's Stravinsky, drawn upside down as part of a left brain/right brain exercise. Not sure how long it took, I didn't time it.

Game revisions.

Changes to game:

Put in some of the tiles Stina made, and updated the collision boxes so that the seed doesn't fail to fall from a platform until you walk a few steps into mid air. Also corrected an alignment issue with the fall/jump animations not looking smooth.

I've created a thread about an issue I've been having with air jumping behaviours within Stencyl, to hopefully get some community help.

Help thread.

Links.

Saving these links for later once I pin down my report title.

Origin.

OLD.

XBL.