Game Technology.

Steam & Desura.

I chose to look into digital distribution software, specifically for the PC. This led me to focus in a little more on the opportunities that certain pieces software from this background have created.

While digital distribution had been a valid format for other forums of media since the 1980s, it didn't become a popular method of distributing games till the early 2000s. This was primarily due to bandwidth limitations relative to the size of the average game. Before then, there were a few attempts to create an online distribution service for games, the first of which was GameLine, which operated in the early 1980s and died during the video game crash of 1983. GameLine was used with the Atari 2600 to rent out specific games to users for 5 - 10 days.

During the 1990s and late 1980s, Nintendo and Sega released various peripherals for their consoles in order to enable online functionality, including the Famicom Modem, Satellaview and Randnet. These platforms were used to provide subscribers with extra content such as game cheats, connectivity with friends and occasionally a very small amount of DLC.

The PC platform granted easier access to digital distribution in this time due to the hardware already being available for online connectivity. However, there were no dedicated services for digital distribution and most content sharing was done from person to person in the form of user content.

In the early 2000s, digital disribution changed forever. Valve Corporation had encountered issues releasing patches and content for their online games. Releasing a patch would result in a disconnection for a large amount of their userbase for several days at a time. To counter this, they resolved to make a platform that would enable them to update their games automatically, while providing better anti-piracy and anti-cheat measures.

While Steam started out primarily as a means to provide updates to players for their games, Valve soon began making deals with independent and big name developers in order to bring their games to the platform. Social aspects were also included, allowing players to keep track of and talk to their friends in a streamlined format similar to instant messaging software like MSN and AIM.

This interface, accessible within games through the keyboard shortcut of shift + tab, brought the social aspect of couch or LAN gaming to games that were otherwise single player and cut off. Many gamers began outright abandoning other forms of instant messenger. Steam capitalized on this fact by providing everything a gamer would need on their one platform.

The Steam Workshop is a place to find user-generated content for games like Portal, Tf2, Scribblenauts and so on.

Dedicated distribution platforms like Steam began to create a very centralized, all encompassing and self-contained environment for games and communities that had previously been very spread out or even isolated. Games could be updated and updates applied smoothly and automatically, keeping security and stability intact with little effort from or disturbance to a player's experience. News sections kept players filled in on new and upcoming events on Steam and with Steam-related games, allowing games with little advertising of their own to step into the limelight. The indie community flourished in this environment, especially with the release of Steam Greenlight.

Steam Greenlight was released on August 30th of 2012, and allowed indie developers to put their game at the community's mercy for a small, one time fee. Using Greenlight, Steam users were able to vote on games that appealed to them and that they wanted to play. With enough votes, the game would be put on Steam as a fully fledged item in the store. This allowed indie developers to continue working under their own employ as they always had; without meddling from publishers or executives and, at the end of development, they were able to place their finished product on a platform responsible for an estimated 70% of the digital distribution market (in 2009). [Brad Wardell, 2009]

With the big franchises and developers not appealing to every section of the market, digital distribution platforms allow communities to play and support what they want to see. A big issue indie developers had was finding a publisher for their 'risky' and intuitive game ideas. Steam bypasses this issue, allowing indie developers to put their game straight onto Greenlight and allow the public to decide on whether or not they want it. With Steam collecting statistics for purchases (only available to game companies and secured with an NDA) and votes, hard evidence can be provided in regards to the popularity of each game and each genre, showing exactly what consumers wish to buy and see more of.

Games that may previously have struggled to sell have sold extraordinarily well on Steam. Terraria, a 2D adventuring/building game (think Minecraft) sold over a million units in a year. Demilogic via Youtube on 25 Nov 2011.

Another very similar platform to Steam is Desura. Desura, however, focuses more on the indie side of the games industry (and did so long before Greenlight existed). Desura provides much of the same essential functionality with Steam, and the developers do not view their program as a rival to Steam -- only a similar platform that focuses on another area of the market.

Developing games to place on Desura is transparent and easily accessible even to the average viewer -- the main software page dedicates a section to it.

Desura is more accessible to indie developers than Steam. This is both good and bad; less confident developers can get their game onto Desura more easily but have to compete with a fair few trash games for attention. Notably, unlike Steam, Desura does not use DRM where possible. In regards to games that require DRM (due to requests from publishers/devs), Desura will allow DRM and inform potential buyers of that fact before purchase. [Keith Poole, 2011]

Digital distribution for PC games has vastly improved the diversity and accessibility of what is immediately available to all levels of gamer. These platforms have helped raise awareness of many independent games and have, in some cases, been the cause of the of the success of individual games. In recent years, Valve has expanded Steam's reach onto the PS3 via Steamworks, allowing cross-platform play between PS3 and PC when playing Portal 2. The same will be available for Valve's Counter-Strike: GO, with the additional option of mouse and keyboard support in order to allow for equal play. [Mike Bendell, 2013] This brings once divided communities even closer together, allowing those who were once isolated on the PSN to communicate with gamers using Steam.

Digital Distribution Software and network platforms in general have allowed gamers to expand their horizons and friendship groups. Having developed software that focuses the community of a single console or platform, developers are beginning to focus more on the concept of cross platform play, further expanding the linked network of gamers and bringing an ever-diversifying library of games to the attention of more and more eyes.

Brad Wardell. (2009). Customer Report for 2009. Available: http://www.stardock.com/press/Reports/Stardock2009.pdf. Last accessed 03/01/2013.

Keith Poole. (2011). Interview with Keith Poole from Desura. Available: http://www.gamingonlinux.com/index.php?threads/interview-with-keith-poole-from-desura-part-2.503/. Last accessed 05/01/2013.

Mike Bendel. (2011). Valve Confirms Cross Platform Co-Op for PS3 Portal 2, Steam Copy Free With Purchase. Available: http://exophase.com/20856/valve-confirms-cross-platform-co-op-for-ps3-portal-2-can-unlock-copies-on-steam/. Last accessed 05/01/2013.

Research links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_%28software%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_live
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live_Marketplace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desura
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_distribution_in_video_games
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_video_game_development 

Transmedia/Adaptations/Coherent Worlds.

I decided to look into the failures and successes of movie/book to game adaptations -- specifically in regards to their creation of coherent worlds. Henry Jenkins' was my main source of information in this subject; his talks and articles on transmedia were most enlightening.

"Transmedia" is a little different from a straight out adaptation, though they could all be defined as parts of the same thing. Film to game adaptations are restricted by the fact that they are a part of a franchise. Jenkins writes; "Much of franchising has been based on licensing arrangements which make it hard for media producers to add or change anything beyond what is already in the primary text or the mother ship." [Jenkins, Henry. (2011)]

This is true enough -- many film to game adaptations are restricted. They can't always include more content than the film provides them. However, the games I want to look in to often come in under the level of content given by the film -- cutting out interaction and sections of the world/story. This struck me as very strange. Movies often cut out content from books they're adapted from, due to time constraints. While a film is two hours on average, a book can take dozens to finish. However, games under ten hours are considered short and thus can very easily accomodate a film worth of content without overstaying their welcome.

One of the first games I felt I had to look in to was the Golden Compass, based on the book/movie & criticized quite harshly.

Golden Compass Gameplay.

One of the first amusing things I noticed was that the uploader outright said that they gave up doing a series of videos because the game got dull.

Golden Compass - Gamespot.

While the visuals are initially impressive, reviewers advise that even those are lacking after a while. Along with everything else. Exposition is "glossed over", and gameplay is a mess of lazy quick time events, and without (and to an extent even with) seeing the movie players don't really understand what's going on.

Golden Compass - IGN.

"The Golden Compass is based on the film and follows the story of Lyra Belacqua and her journey to... well, that's the first big problem, really. This title does an absolutely horrendous job in telling a story, even when it's already been told in film and novel form. In fact, we can only assume that the game was designed with the pure and unbridled assumption that the player has already read the book or, more probably, seen the movie. We were flabbergasted at how convoluted the game narrative was, because so much dramatic potential is utterly lost in the transition.

Roughly speaking, the game is poorly attempting to recreate the story of Lyra's journey as she seeks out a bunch of missing children, including her dear friend Roger. Although there are clips from the movie featured throughout the game's narrative, they seem to be thrown in rather haphazardly and are often spliced together with a hasty narration dubbed on top. It's almost laughable at how cluttered the end result feels while playing." [Clements, Ryan (2008)]

Another game I wanted to look into was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, having played it as a child. When I went back to it as an adult to stream for friends, I was severely unimpressed. Scouring through reviews, I found others were of the same opinion.

HP1 Review.

The review makes some very good points, mostly in regards to the realism and immersiveness of the world for those who are playing it as fans of the series. Below:

"The game awards house points for successfully completing goals, which is a nice touch, but there are some serious logical flaws in it--when Hermione says that Professor Sprout would 'surely give Gryffindor ten points for that,' how does the House actually get the points? Was Sprout watching? This is probably something that wouldn't phase kids playing the game, but as someone who is steeped in the lore of the Harry Potter world, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone makes some glaring jumps like this.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about this game, though, is the way that it limits you. Instead of being able to wander about and do your own thing, you're always on the run to a class, to a challenge, to something else. It never felt like I was actually in the gameworld; it felt like this was some sort of funhouse Hogwarts, which existed merely to torment my Harry avatar by throwing challenge after challenge at him." [Bordelon, Phil (Unknown)]

Another review states:

HP Review - Gamespot.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone also performs a balancing act of sorts by borrowing some of the actor likenesses from the film, like those of the various professors you'll encounter, while using almost cartoonlike versions of the protagonist and several other key figures. The introduction, which sums up a sizable chunk of the story, is conveyed in a brief ink-on-parchment still-image sequence [....] These narrative shorts seem incredibly rushed and don't give proper due to the source material. Overall, the story isn't revealed in any compelling manner and seems more like obligatory filler between platform-jumping sequences." [Villoria, Gerald. (2001)]

The issues with these games are clear; they take the fame of the worlds they come from for granted, and tell extremely condensed, glossed over versions of the stories they're based on. Both games essentially become objective running: ticking off things on a list and receiving the next set of objectives while giving the player little motivation or reason to care.

A step up from this level is Spider-man 2. While the game still suffers in terms of voice acting and characters to a point, it uses many different devices to create a believable world for the player. A review states:

Spider-man 2, IGN

"The reason this is such a big deal isn't because someone else made an "open-style" game or that you can wander or rather web sling around town doing anything you want at any time. And it's not that the game is based on the second Spider-Man movie, with all the stars, villains, and story developments that follow. That's all fine and dandy. It's how incredible the web-slinging feels, and what you can do with it that adds a gameplay dynamic that's so different than any other game it's hard to put into words. What Treyarch has done, in actuality, is to blend in that nearly unattainable addiction so inherent in Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series and meld it with Spider-Man's web slinging in a Grand Theft Auto-style open city.

"[...] players find that web-slinging is skill based and wildly addicting. It engenders an amazing sense of freedom and exhilaration. Treyarch nailed the peculiar sense of elasticity and athleticism that was so brilliantly captured in the Spider-Man movie, while capturing a dazzling sense of aerial freedom like no other game has before it." [Perry, Douglass (2004)]

In a Harry Potter game, players truly want to feel like Harry Potter. The HP game stumbled on this, a little. However, Spider-man 2 excells at truly making the player feel like Spider-man. In a one-step forward, one step back kind of situation, Spider-man 2 throws the player into a world where they truly feel like Spider-man himself, but manage to drag the player back out of it again with bad voice acting and list-of-objective type missions.

"Unfortunately, much of your time playing the game will be spent uncovering relatively little content spread across an admittedly large environment. The game is broken up into chapters, and it feeds you objectives as you proceed." Gerstmann, Jeff. (2004)

 An interesting Jenkins quote RE transmedia; "We are drawn to master what can be known about a world which always expands beyond our grasp." [Jenkins, Henry (2007)]

Which games excel both in immersive gameplay and characters/narrative to create coherency?

Book-based series Witcher 1 & 2 achieves something very special. On the storyline, RPGamer states:

RPG Gamer review: The Witcher 1. 

"Enough cannot be said about this story. Based off a Polish novel, it is full of detail and character. The story and dialogue is so well written that, at times, it singlehandedly pulls the player into the game. The world of The Witcher is not a bright, green happy-go-lucky wonderland either. Filled with greed, racism, and poverty, the setting portrayed here is as close as any game has ever come in mixing real world problems with fantasy creatures such as elves, druids and dwarves." [Willis, Phillip. (Unknown)]

The gameplay is 'simplistic' when compared to some games of the same genre. However, this plays to the game's strength and fits very well with the world presented. The harmony of these elements is of huge importance in creating a coherent world.

http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/xj48qh/the-witcher-review

“The Witcher is a classic example of a game that is more than the sum of its parts. If you just look at the RPG mechanic, The Witcher appears a little shallow--especially compared to other big fantasy games like Oblivion. But when married to the excellent storyline and setting, everything works wonderfully. The game practically demands that you become a part of the game world and that you take the time to understand it. For example, you can only mix up potions while you’re resting. And unlike most RPGs, you need to find a safe place to do it either by taking refuge at an Inn or other friendly dwelling, or by locating a campfire. Furthermore, there’s a full-on day and night cycle that needs to be considered since some non-playable characters have their own schedules and may or may not be around when you come calling."

"Villages, urban areas, and the countryside are all convincingly crafted and populated with locals, travelers, merchants, bandits, murderers, monsters, and guards. The effect is one of exploring an honest to goodness living breathing world.” [Gametrailers Staff. (2007)]

Another review specifically praises the depth of character and the quality of the adaptation.

Gamespot's Witcher 1 review. 

“Story and setting have been borrowed from The Last Wish, a Polish fantasy novel published way back in 1990 by Andrzej Sapkowski, and for once such an adaptation has been pulled off successfully.”

“Characters seem like real people, not the good-evil-neutral triad of stereotypes that populate most fantasy games. Only a few aspects of the story and setting remind you that you're just playing a game.”

An important thing to mention about the Witcher series of games is that they are true transmedia extensions, as opposed to full on adaptations. The Witcher is based on the Polish book series, but actually creates its own storyline that begins after the books finished. Jenkins talks about adaptations vs extensions in Transmedia 202:

"I have sometimes talked about a distinction between adaptation and extension as fundamental to understanding these shifts. Basically, an adaptation takes the same story from one medium and retells it in another. An extension seeks to add something to the existing story as it moves from one medium to another." [Jenkins, Henry, (2011)]

Reviews on The Witcher 2 extend the praise of the storyline and the coherency of the world.

IGN - The Witcher 2. 

“You're Geralt of Rivia, a stoic and distinctly un-heroic monster hunter with a few memory problems and a faintly inexplicable way with the ladies. Though sworn to impartiality on matters of the state, he is drawn into this complex political maelstrom by a series of regicides that brand him a criminal and pull him back into his own, forgotten past. The Witcher 2 is a game for adults, and not just because of all the sex and violence. It expects you to be intelligent and interested, to care about the political machinations, racial tensions and complex history of its world. Plenty of games shield you from their lore, afraid that it might scare you off. The Witcher 2 drops you right in the thick of it, and expects you to deal with it.“

“The Witcher 2's history and lore is built into its world and geography as effectively as it's written into characters' dialogue.“ [MacDonald, Keza. (2012)]

GamingNexus - Witcher 2 review.

“The detail found in conversations between characters can be reminiscent of a Lord of the Rings novel with frequent references to various kings and lands that are under conflict. The Witcher 2 goes far beyond recent role-playing games by truly offering decisions that have meaningful impacts in the narrative’s outcome.” [Huinker, Travis. (2012)]

Gameinformer - Witcher 2 review. 

“Depending entirely on the player, Geralt can be a beacon of hope to the common people, a whimsical drunkard, a terrifying avatar of vengeance, or a selfish smartass. More importantly, the witcher has logical reasons for each action or response and the player simply decides which of his motivations has priority. Furthermore, the situations (treatment of minority groups, occupation by a foreign power, abuse of authority, etc.) have obvious real-world analogs that have far more emotional resonance than your typical save-the-world video game plot.“ [Biessener, Adam. (2012 )]

The Witcher 1 & 2 are the definition of a coherent world; parts that all add up consistently to create something that the player can believe and lose themselves within.

----

References:

Biessener, Adam. (2012 ). The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition. Available: http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_witcher_2_assassins_of_kings_-_enhanced_edition/b/xbox360/archive/2012/04/16/the-witcher-2-enhanced-edition-review-the-brilliant-dark-fantasy-adventure-is-just-as. Last accessed 20/11/12.

Bordelon, Phil. (Unknown). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Available: http://www.gamevortex.com/gamevortex/soft_rev.php/368/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-pc.html. Last accessed 20/11/12.

Clements, Ryan. (2008). The Golden Compass Review. Available: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2008/01/08/the-golden-compass-review. Last accessed 20/11/12.

Gerstmann, Jeff. (2004). Spider-Man 2 Review. Available: http://uk.gamespot.com/spider-man-2/reviews/spider-man-2-review-6101646/?page=1. Last accessed 20/11/12. 

Huinker, Travis. (2012). The Witcher 2 Review. Available: http://www.gamingnexus.com/Article/The-Witcher-2-Assassins-of-Kings/Item3484.aspx. Last accessed 20/11/12.

Jenkins, Henry. (2011). Transmedia 202: Further Reflections. Available: http://henryjenkins.org/2011/08/defining_transmedia_further_re.html. Last accessed 20/11/12. 

Jenkins, Henry. (2007). Transmedia Storytelling 101. Available: http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html. Last accessed 20/11/12. 

MacDonald, Keza. (2012). The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition Review. Available: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/04/13/the-witcher-2-enhanced-edition-review. Last accessed 20/11/12.

Perry, Douglass. (2004). Spider-Man 2. Available: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2004/06/29/spider-man-2-8?page=1. Last accessed 20/11/12

Gametrailers Staff. (2007). Witcher. Available: http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/xj48qh/the-witcher-review. Last accessed 20/11/12.

Villoria, Gerald. (2001). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Review. Available: http://uk.gamespot.com/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-review-2830234/. Last accessed 20/11/12.

Willis, Phillip. (Unknown). The Witcher: Enhanced Edition - Staff Review . Available: http://www.rpgamer.com/games/other/pc/witcher/reviews/witcherstrev2.html. Last accessed 20/11/12.

Illusions - LA Noire: An interesting criticism.

One of the main criticisms about LA Noire is that during interrogations, the way the Cole reacts or speaks does not entirely match the kind of prompt the player gave.

During interrogations, the player can choose 'truth', 'doubt', or 'lie' to determine whether or not they believe the statements a witness is making. These are fairly inaccurate descriptions, as many players found out. When choosing to 'doubt' a person, the player would often end up watching Cole fly off into a rage that seemed a little over the top for something that was meant to be the unsure, middle option. Additionally, the player would sometimes choose 'lie' in order to indicate that the witness was lying about a specific statement. However, the game will sometimes choose to have the detective accuse the witness of lying about everything and of being the murderer. Different interpretations cause frustration.

Doubt and Lie.

A slight overreaction. 

Brendan McNamara, the main man behind LA Noire, was asked about this oddity.

Meanwhile, McNamara explained why central character Detective Cole Phelps, played by Mad Men star Aaron Staton, sometimes responds with particularly aggressive lines of dialogue when prompted by the player in interrogation scenes. 

"It's funny. A lot of people say Aaron turns into a psycho," he said. "When we originally wrote the game the questions you asked were coax, force and lie. It was actually force because it was a more aggressive answer. That's the way we recorded it.
"But when the game came out it was truth, doubt or lie. Everyone always says Aaron on the second question is a psycho. So that's not his fault."

Yin, Wesley (9 November 2011). "McNamara: why you thought LA Noire's characters were "dead from the neck down" •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 20 November 2012.

This inconsistency between the names of the 'questions' and the fact that the 'questions' were outright vague in both forms meant that players would often select an option they thought would give one result and get a completely different one. I wanted to use a question and interview system in my game, and this problem influenced me to make sure that questions in the game would be specific.

Illusions

Our group quickly agreed that the DS style visual novel would suit a Portopia reimagining very well. It was decided that in order to keep true to the spirit of the original, we would retain the murder mystery theme while revamping the dated interface. Sam took the role of 2D character design, and Chloe the design of 3D assets. Stina took charge of anything photoshop related, such as logo design, game document design (I'm working primarily on the content) and game screenshot mockups. I requested to take control of the narrative and some of the gameplay aspects, though most things gameplay related are fed back and forth through all members of the group.

While I originally wanted to map out the entire flow of the game, the scope of the project would have gotten away from me and Matt advised that the project is not a creative writing one. Therefore, within the game design document, I am creating a timeline of the flow of only one of the first sections of the game. This shows how it would be played, without going into excessive detail or straying from the point of a game design document.

Setting wise, our group chose to keep the game world within Japan, in an unspecified city. Inspired by the geisha of Kyoto, Stina suggested we base our murder mystery around the beauty of their world. She and I later decided after a little deliberation that we would create our own version of a geisha-like entertainment, named the Illusionists. I found it interesting that Stina had the wish to base the game in a culture so idealized and beautiful considering Portopia's subject matter. However, I liked the idea of such a stark contrast and started thinking about opposites and incorporating that into the theme of the game. It was an easy theme to consider implementing, as it could be done across many different areas of the game; through the characters, through the visual style and through the setting vs the subject matter.

With this in mind and knowing our setting was firmly based in the east, I began to contemplate how to counterbalance it. I decided on using the main character to do so, knowing he would be present at all times and always able to provide that opposite view point. With the setting in the east, I wanted a character from the west -- this would allow for the portayal of very different cultural views, as well as allowing these views to influence gameplay (cultural ignorance creating conflict between characters, for example).

With the Illusionists being so graceful and an attempt at embodying 'perfection' through beauty and idyllism, I wanted to create a character who was very much a cynic and blunt in his interaction and handling of culture differences and barriers. I wanted to portray these things and get them across immediately -- so the character could be something familiar to the player in an unfamiliar environment. I didn't want to give the player an empty avatar to control, but I also didn't want the main character's past, motives and personality to distract too much from the main story and other characters. Thus, I began to create a character who drew on the established traits of a private investigator or former detective/policeman. In doing so, I hoped to create something that would be immediately recognizable as that kind of person in the first few minutes of gameplay.

I began by mapping out the beginning, middle and end of the scenario I wanted to take place, as well as establishing the dynamic between the two main characters. Many games that are story heavy feature a 'sidekick' type character so that multiple views, personalities and ideas can be bounced back and forth while keeping the fourth wall intact. Furthermore, many crime based and murder mystery shows feature two partners for the same purpose; to present multiple views and ideas and allow a conclusion to the case to be plausibly reached without becoming unlikely or unrealistic. Keeping with my theme of opposites, I wanted the second main character to be someone to counter the main character -- it made sense to make the secondary character a member of the Illusionists, considering that was what the main character was meant to be the opposite of.

I wanted a secondary character that was light hearted and optimistic. This was an easy trait to find in youth, and I got the idea to use a younger character from the shrine in multiple roles; the best friend left behind, the sidekick, and the red herring.

Above: Maia Fey and Louis DeNonno, the optimistic side kicks to the more serious main character.
Below: BBC Sherlock's Watson, the realistic, empathetic and exasperated sidekick to Sherlock -- eccentric, at times sociopathic, and ever energetic.

I looked into television shows and games about police work and detectives in order to determine some reoccuring situations and attempt to incorporate them into gameplay mechanics. Some of the reoccuring things I found were:

Reoccurring situations:

• Interrogation/Interviews.
• Clue hunting. 
• Evidence examination.
• Suspects.
• Red Herrings.
• Audience kept at the same level of knowledge as the investigators – maintaining the mystery.

Shows like CSI are well known for their 'forensic science' and evidence examination. It also has interrogation/interview sections, suspects, red herrings, clue hunting, and generally the audience doesn't know who commited the murder any sooner than the characters. LA Noire, a game in which the player follows Cole during his rise through the ranks of the police force features evidence examination and interrogation both.

Evidence scanning from CSI: The Game.

An issue with this form of 'interrogation' or 'interview' is that the options of 'truth', 'doubt' and 'lie' are very vague. The player doesn't know exactly what they're getting in to when they click each one, or how Cole will vocalize what they selected. This can lead to frustration when one thing is expected and another occured.

The player can pick up various clues at the crime scene and turn them over to hear commentary from Cole.

Evidence is then filed!

Phoenix Wright has a form of this, too. Evidence examination was touched upon in a previous blog post, but characters can also be 'interrogated' outside of the court room. The process is slightly more fantastical than the more down to earth LA Noire.

When asked a question they don't want to answer, characters will lock down. This is portrayed literally with 'psyche locks' holding back their secrets. The player must prevent relevant evidence to answer the green key questions Phoenix asks during the process in order to break the locks and find out the secret a character is keeping.

One interesting and well known form of testing is using luminol. Luminol is a versitile chemical that reacts with appropriate oxidizing agents. It is useful in crime investigations in that it reacts to the iron found in hemoglobin. Upon react, the chemical turns a distinctive glowing blue.

With the Illusionists presenting themselves as something fantastical and unreal, I wanted to make the UI very grounded and immersive. After walking with Stina, we considered a system wherein the player had to go into the main character's bag and withdraw items that corresponded to whatever function they wanted to perform. Inspiration for the bag took the form of Stina's actual satchel.

The following items were chosen to perform various functions within the game:

Save/Load System: Character's mobile phone.

Travel System: A map of the city.

Character Profiles: Kept within the MC's case file.

Notes on what happened previously and where to go next: A journal/memo book kept by the MC.

Suspect List: A page of the character's journal.
Player made memos: A pen that the player uses to write in the MC's journal.
Inventory: A zip-lock bag of evidence.

Below are the draft pages for the suspect list and journal pages.

Hotel Dusk - UI and Gameplay

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is a visual novel and logic puzzle game for the Nintendo DS. It follows former detective Kyle Hyde as he attempts to uncover the mystery behind his missing partner. While similar to Phoenix Wright in terms of story being the main part of the game, the overall tone is far more serious. Hotel Dusk attempts to immerse the player and make them feel like Kyle himself via an in-character interface. Also interesting is the way the player is required to hold the DS. Unlike many games, Hotel Dusk requires the player to turn the DS on its side, as though they are holding a book in one hand.

As a standard when moving, Kyle's view of the room is shown on the left and the floor plan esque map representation is shown on the right. To move Kyle around, the player touches the stylus to the screen and drags, much like in Phoenix Wright spinoff Ace Attorney Investigations. For accessibility, the player can choose to set the game to left handed mode, allowing them to turn the DS the other way around and play in exactly the same way in comfort. Other games in this format neglect to implement such an option, so this is a smart decision on the part of the developers. As can be seen below, the layout is very versitile, swapping screens around when needed.

When investigating an area..

Questioning another character..

Observing character reactions..

Or solving children's puzzles!

As mentioned previously, the UI keeps the player immersed in their character of Kyle Hyde. By selecting the notebook item while in movement mode, the player can access the save/load menu, the character list, the item list and the memos (a free draw page where the player can write info for themselves). Please excuse the quality of some of the screenshots below -- my capture device didn't like the horizontal layout.

Note: All screenshots below were taken using the left handed setting.

The memo pad, seen on the menu screen above, allows the player to record their own notes. However, with the small stylus and limited screen space, notes often end up squashed and difficult to read. Combined with the game's own very adept way of recording information via the characters screen below, the memo feature ends up seeing very little use. In my own multiple playthroughs, I've only ever used it when forcing myself to attempt to involve the feature.

The mood maintained in Hotel Dusk is one similar to old detective and crime shows. Colours are muted and are regularly absent entirely, with character portraits often done entirely in black and white. The main protagonist is dry and reflects this art style quite accurately. Stylistically, the artists involved with the game have chosen to regularly leave things looking incomplete or unfinished -- possibly a reflection of the run down state of the hotel and many of the characters involved.

Phoenix Wright - UI and Gameplay

Phoenix Wright, originally designed for the GBA in Japan and moved over to the DS with its first English release, is a relatively simple game in terms of gameplay mechanics and graphical style. The Phoenix Wright main series covers four games, with a couple of spinoff games already published or in the works. The bottom screen is dedicated to UI functions, movement and other commands while the top screen is used almost entirely for conversations.

On the top screen, you can see character dialogue (the blue, bracketed text indicates internal thought) and on the bottom screen is the character's court record. This record holds evidence and profiles for the various people involved within the case. The player can tap specific pieces of evidence in order to view more information regarding them.

As can be seen below, the user can also cycle between profiles and evidence by tapping the button in the top right corner.

This setup allows the player to examine evidence and profiles against whatever is happening in the top screen, useful when attempting to find inconsistencies and lies within witness testimony. Generally, the player looks between these  two screens at all times when participating in court trials.

Out of the courtroom, the interface changes slightly. While evidence and profiles are still available via the court record button, the player is also given a set of commands that they can perform on any given screen.

This is very similar to the old point and click menus featured in games like Deja Vu, Portopia, and Simon the Sorcerer. However, in Phoenix Wright, the player does not move, talk or present to the background environment. Talk and present are relevant only to whichever character is on screen at the time. Examine allows the player to look at objects in the background, and the player need only tap each object to interact with it. The move command allows the player to select an area out of a list of discovered places in order to travel to it.

When examining, the bottom screen becomes searchable.

Introduced in the last case of the first game was a special examine evidence feature, put into place on the English translation of the game in order to show off the touch screen on the DS (the original Japanese edition was on the GBA, and didn't have these features). This examine evidence feature was not heavily expanded upon in later games.

The player was able to take a piece of evidence out on the lower screen and twist and turn it around in order to find less obvious clues. The player could also use fingerprint powder and luminol in order to find further clues.

All of these features are convenient and help with the player's engrossment in the game, giving them the freedom to look over the evidence and people involved with a case in a way that does not break immersion and keeps the player in character.

It's worth noting that the style of the main series means that the player is not given free roam movement. While this likely started out as a way to compensate for hardware limitations of the GBA, it eventually became a signature style for the series. However, one of the spin-off series for the franchise breaks away from this formula. Based on one of the main characters (who becomes a reoccuring character in subsequent games) of the main game, it focuses entirely on out-of-court witnesses and evidence gathering. The game features fully animated models in a 2D environment, and, unlike the original game, allows the player to view the action instead of just reading the text that accompanies it. In the original games, actions were generally dictated by sound effects and character reactions before, after and during. In the spin offs, the player was able to witness movements around the screen and limited amounts of animated interactions between models. They were also able to move the main character and his partner around directly.

Much of the original game is still visible in the spin off, including the text and dialog style. While not shown above, the usual character portraits are still regularly used when characters are speaking to each other. The character art on these portraits has been updated, though, and two often appear on screen at the same time during conversations. Also worth noting is that the main character is regularly seen on screen, as is shown below. This is interesting as in the main game, Phoenix (the MC) is only ever shown in the courtroom phases and never makes an appearance during any other section of the game.

  

 Movement around the game no longer relies on move menus. Instead, the player can freely steer their character around the crime scene, and must place him at the relevant location in order to examine something.

The player moves the character around through dragging the stylus along the floor map featured on the bottom screen. The MC will then move relevant to where the stylus is being dragged on the top screen. This movement system is similar to the one in Hotel Dusk, with enhancements.

Also worth noting is the game's use of colour and art relevant to the tone and genre of the narrative. While the game deals with murder and the criminals involved, the dialog within the game and the overall humor is very lighthearted. The game has some emotionally touching moments, but overall the series is very much known for its puns, lively characters and pop culture references. This is reflected in the use of bright colours and cartoony art.

 

Illusions - Game Design

For this project, we were given the task of reimagining one of a selection of games given to us. After a little bit of debate within our group, we chose to do the Portopia Serial Murder Case. This presented quite a challenge in regards to research, as the game was never translated into English and is pretty aged on top of that. Outside of flat out piracy, the easiest way to get some experience with the game was to search up various lets plays. Eventually I stumbled across a Let's Play that took screenshot form, along with flavour text in paragraphs below each one.

Link to Let's Play.

One of the most important things I took away from this Let's Play was that the threads to follow for the red herrings and to the murderer themselves were not overly convoluted. Most of it was as simple as following directions and pursuing each possible suspect until they could be dismissed/cleared of suspicion. This was a huge relief to me, as one of the most daunting ideas about doing a game in the spirit a murder mystery was the idea of having to weave the various pieces of the plot intricately together in the style of a murder mystery novel. With that worry eased, I looked into other areas of the game. In terms of UI, Portopia features a menu based command system, the kind seen in titles such as Deja Vu. Portopia, as I found after looking into the history of point and click games, was indeed an inspiration for titles like Hideo Kojima's Snatcher and Deja Vu.

John Szczepaniak (February 2011). "Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken". Retro Gamer. Retrieved 27-10-2012. (Reprinted at John Szczepaniak. "Retro Gamer 85". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 27-10-2012.)

This interface, while acceptable for the genre and time, could be considered cluttered and unnecessary in today's games. Modernized, many point and click games have a far simplified interface. Games took on more streamlined methods of interaction, either simplifying it straight to a click or allowing the player to scroll through a more condensed list of interactions via the mouse wheel or a quick menu. Often, this completely eliminates the need for most of a traditional UI.

From this..

To this!

Point and click games have found a comfortable home on the Nintendo DS system, replacing mouse based point and click with stylus based touch. Many DS games combine the point and click features with the feel of a visual novel, due to graphical limitations and stylistic choice. The ones that specifically caught my interest in this area due to their similarity to Portopia -- they feature detectives and murder mysteries.

The games focus more specifically on different areas. The first, Phoenix Wright, details the adventures of a lawyer and the murder cases of those he chooses to defend. The player participates in both the evidence hunt/detective work, but truly comes to life when the focus shifts to the courtroom. The second game, Hotel Dusk, follows former detective Kyle Hyde as he attempts to unravel the mystery of his missing partner. Both games focus heavily on plot and puzzles. The former uses puzzles in terms of the interrogation and detection of lies from witnesses, while the second features more traditional point and click puzzles -- using your items and environment to creatively overcome obstacles. These games, in my mind, feel very much like modernizations of what Portopia brought to the table -- though perhaps with much more complex a story due to relative budgets and project sizes.