Experiencing Environments

Experiencing EnvironmentsIntroduction Introductionwww.gamearch.com Page 1 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsIntroductionMartin NerurkarLevel Designer & Game DesignerDiploma-Ingenieur (Architecture)Making games since 1997Started with modifications for the Quakeseries and other FPS gamesJoined the games industry in 2008Currently employed as Lead of GameDesign at GameforgeTeaching Game and Level Design3 years as Level Design teacher at the Games Academy FrankfurtMultiple lectures as a speaker on game conferences and eventswww.gamearch.com Page 2 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsIntroductionWhat are Game Environments?Are made up of many different elements: • Textures • Lighting • Entities • GeometryThese properties have many uses orgoals: • Limit progression • Hide information • Provide challenge • Trigger emotionswww.gamearch.com Page 3 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsIntroductionWhat Experiences is this Talk about?This talk focuses on two very specific usesof game spaces:Environmental StorytellingThis is the art of using a pre-designedenvironment to inform the visitor. It iscomparable to set design in movies andtheater or to theme park design.Player NavigationUsing cues in the environment to subtlyguide the visitor or his gaze in the desireddirection or to help him orient himself.www.gamearch.com Page 4 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental Storytelling Environmental Storytellingwww.gamearch.com Page 5 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingWhat is Environmental Storytelling?Environmental Storytelling is the telling of „stories“ through a space andits contents.This is the art of using a pre-designed environment to inform the visitor.It is comparable to set design of movies or to theme park design.For video games this is done using all the tools at the Level Designersdisposal. This includes: • Textures • Characters • Geometry • Sound effects • Visual effectswww.gamearch.com Page 6 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingExample 1www.gamearch.com Page 7 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingWhat can Environmental Storytelling do?There are three primary ways toenvironmentally tell stories:Macro StorytellingSupports the larger story of the game byproviding subtle context.Micro StorytellingPresents small story vignettes within the spacefor the visitor to interpret.Player StorytellingProvides a playground for the players to createstories.www.gamearch.com Page 10 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingWhy do We need Environmental Storytelling?There are a few differences to classic exposition storytelling:Exposition (audible, textual or visual) • Requires concentrated attention from the audience • Often creates a break in the game flow • Tends to be explicit: It makes it obvious what its about • Audience is only passive, can only consumeEnvironmental Storytelling • Audience can soak up peripheral information without interruption • Often seamlessly integrated into the game experience • Tends to be subtle: Information is not directly told • Audience is required to actively interpretwww.gamearch.com Page 11 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingReading Environmental CuesHumans are trained to take cues from theenvironment: • We recognize patterns • We compare them to learned patterns • We come to conclusionsThis happens within microseconds. • The subconscious „auto-pilot“ can register a lot more information than focused attention can. • It only alerts our active thoughts if there is something of special interest.www.gamearch.com Page 12 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingInformation InterpretationOnce the pilot has been alerted theviewer will focus his attention on thestimulus and actively investigate it. • The visitors curiosity is piqued • He wants to solve the puzzle, to understand the situation • If he is not interested, he can simply ignore the informationThis will lead to the players version of thepresented information: his own storycreated at his own pace.www.gamearch.com Page 13 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingWhat can Environmental Storytelling tell Us?Environmental storytelling providescontext to the visitor:About the Place • What is this location or its purpose? • What happened here? What is the history of this space?About the People • Who are the usual visitors/inhabitants of this place? • Who are you in regards to this place? At home? An intruder?www.gamearch.com Page 14 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingMacro StorytellingPaints a picture of the entire space in broad but subtle strokes.What can it do? • Sell the reality of the environment as presented in exposition. • Support the larger story of the game by providing context. • Provide a visual reward through variety or special unique scenes. • Reinforce the player identity by clarifying the relationship to this place • Set up expectations for the location and its contents (affordances)www.gamearch.com Page 15 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingHow is it done? • Spatial sequence: Progression from room to room • Coherent use of subtle cues, both small and big • Establishing a fitting moodwww.gamearch.com Page 16 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingMicro StorytellingPresents the relics of specific events within a space.What can it do? • Add character to the individual scenes. • Provide warning or examples for player to learn from. • Give hints to game functionality • Can be used as breadcrumbs to focus visitor attention • Support the larger setting through fitting vignettes. • Give insight into specific events in the history of this place.www.gamearch.com Page 17 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingHow is it done? • Handcrafted scenes showing the remains of previous actions • Remains can be coincidental evidence of these actions • Or they can be a conscious expression of previous „visitors“www.gamearch.com Page 18 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingWhat does it need to work?The information has to be noticed • Create contrast to clearly highlight your scene • There are many ways to attract the visitors attention • Movement and strong light & color contrasts work well • Redundant information makes finding the clues more likelyInformation needs to be understood • The player will interpret the information based on his perceptual space • Intuitive understanding is necessary to avoid confusion • Use familiar objects or carefully introduce new oneswww.gamearch.com Page 19 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingPlayer StorytellingProvides methods and opportunities for player-created stories.What can it do? • Players are able to express themselves directly in-game. • Or the game simply records the „evidence“ of their actions. • Players can find out what has happened in game based on this.How is it done? • Actions change the environment and its contents, be this bullet holes, a paintbrush or enemy corpses.www.gamearch.com Page 20 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsEnvironmental StorytellingStorytelling ExerciseA small exercise to help you understand how to tell stories through theenvironment. You have 30 minutes to: • Take a game or setting you know or make one up on the spot. • Think of a specific place, a Macro and a Micro Story within that world. • Write your stories down, dont show them to the others. • Come up with concrete ways in the environment to tell these stories. • Take some time to list these methods or make some sketches. • Outline the game and setting so we know the larger context. • Describe your scene to the group, dont explain the story! • The rest of the group tries to come up with their own interpretation. • Compare this to your original story ideas. Do they match?www.gamearch.com Page 21 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer Navigation Player Navigationwww.gamearch.com Page 22 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationWhy Player Navigation?Players need help finding the right path or important spots withoutbeing frustrated by an apparent lack of options. • Constant increase of complexity of spaces in games • Early games were perfect information: all on one screen • Then we introduced multiple screens, creating a need for maps • With the step to complex 3d simple maps become unfeasiblewww.gamearch.com Page 23 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationWays to Help the Visitor navigate?Immersed ToolsThese methods are created by the Level Design within the space. • Attract the visitor to specific spots • Help the visitor identify different areas • Provide concrete guides and signsDiscrete ToolsThese options are a part of the interface and not the world itself. • A map provides an overview over the space • Markers are useful to highlight specific, possibly mobile, spots • The compass provides information in relation to the visitor positionwww.gamearch.com Page 24 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationAttractThe goal of this method is to attract the players attention to a spot. • Useful for linear level design to keep the flow • In non-linear levels it can highlight areas of interestThere are many ways to achieve this: • Contrast • Composition • Weenies • Motion • Cutscenes • Pickups • Characterswww.gamearch.com Page 25 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationContrast • Visual contrast attracts the eye • Color, shape, brightness are all good ways to create contrast • Light usually works really well on a broad but subconscious level • Try the squint test to see what stands out in a certain viewwww.gamearch.com Page 26 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationComposition • Environment subtly points toward the target • Lines are oriented as desired • Lines crossing boundaries have a stronger effectwww.gamearch.com Page 27 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationWeenies • Larger structure visible over a greater distance • Provides reference points for navigation • If interesting enough the player will be curious to investigate • Works especially well in non-linear level designwww.gamearch.com Page 28 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationMotion • Motion is really good at capturing attention • This is usually a conscious attention and far from subtle • Effects are an excellent way to introduce motion: Sparks, flickering...www.gamearch.com Page 29 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationCutscenes • Cutscenes take away control of the camera from the player • This way specific areas and paths can be clearly highlighted • However this interrupts gameplay and could be skippedwww.gamearch.com Page 30 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationPickups • Place items (weapons etc.) to lead to your desired location • The in-game value of the item will attract player • Often these items are also visually highlightedwww.gamearch.com Page 31 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationCharacters • Characters often combine movement and game value • Player is trained to react to characters, esp. enemies • Even if he is not aware of them, if he is attacked he will be • Following friendly characters also leads the player alongwww.gamearch.com Page 32 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationIdentifyThis method helps the player to distinguish between different areas. • Different locations get a strong identity • Makes it to remember and create a mental model of the space • Very useful if the player has to create his own path (non-linear or multiplayer maps)www.gamearch.com Page 33 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationLandmarks • Large, immediately visible features of the location • Within the area its hard to overlook the landmark • Can also be used as Weenie to attract over longer distances • Generally used to refer the location to other peoplewww.gamearch.com Page 34 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationStyle • No single dominating feature • Create a contrast between different locations • Different styles (architectural, lighting, textures...) for different placeswww.gamearch.com Page 35 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationGuideGuides provide in-world information about the different locations andtheir relative position • Useful if players know where they want to go but not how • They are only relevant if there is a choice of routes available • Can be confusing if there are multiple routes to the same goalwww.gamearch.com Page 36 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationSigns • Useful for non-linear level design • Often difficult to use without breaking immersion too much • Requires conscious attention from the player to readwww.gamearch.com Page 37 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsPlayer NavigationLines • Visualizes path between two locations • Difficult to show info about path and goal at the same time • Often tough to integrate into the world seamlesslywww.gamearch.com Page 38 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsQuestions? Questions?www.gamearch.com Page 39 / 40

Experiencing EnvironmentsQuestions?LicenseThis work is licensed under the CreativeCommons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.To view a copy of this license, visit the following website: • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.Photo Credits • http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethykae/2692952672/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/3812947301/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettyx1138/25901056/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/loozrboy/5173417215/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/18448945@N00/367341351/www.gamearch.com Page 40 / 40

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Experiencing Environments

by Martin Nerurkar on Apr 16, 2011

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Experiencing Environments — Presentation Transcript