Here is the 2D essay as promised, hope you guys enjoy it!

Abstract

This is a reflective report about how to guide the player through game moments in the most distinct and appealing way possible.

Keywords

• 3D Games
• Player movement
• Tutorial
• Graphic communication

Method

To get a deeper understanding of some of the new information received from the course and fill the thirst of history and future of game graphics this report will take on an observatory approach to analyze the design choices made to tutorialize and guide the player in game moments.

At first there are two things that are good to be aware about since this analyze will be based on these methods.

• The Seven elements of art

• Lines
  • Most used to define shapes and space in two-dimensional art because of its thickness and length.
• Space
  • Space is the area where artwork is displayed (paper, canvas, screen etc.). Space includes distances of objects in the artwork by width, height and depth (X,Y,Z).
• Shape
  • Shape aka silhouettes is a 2D object without depth, such as fonts, circles, triangles and so forth.
• Form
  • Objects having height, width and depth (3D).
• Value/tone
  • The use of light and dark, shade and highlight.
• Color
  • Color is hue, temperature and saturation and they are used to show emotions, time, different seasons and materials.
• Texture
  • Textures are used to define materials to separate different objects, such as wood, metal, fabrics etc.

• The principles of art

• Contrast
  • Contrast is used to make an artwork more visually appealing by making specific areas stick out, being different from one another by example using extremely light and dark values.
• Movement
  • Movement is used to guide the viewer’s eyes throughout the artwork.  The artist has the ability to control this by thoughtful composition of the objects and contrast.
• Unity/Harmony
  • Unity/ harmony are when different objects in an artwork build on each other, and become a whole, from concept to final.

• Variety
  • Too much of the same things become easily boring, therefor it’s important to use variety to create visual interest. Variations can be created with all the elements and principles of art.
• Balance
  • Balance is about arranging the elements so no area of an artwork overpowers, or seems heavier than any other part. Most common methods to achieve balance are by combining light with dark, detail with simplicity large with small etc.
• Focus/Emphasis
  • Guiding the beholder to look at a specific area or in a specific pattern in the artwork. This can be achieved through applying contrast, good composition and more.
• Proportion
  • Variation in size and shape of objects compared to each other creates contrast in proportions and makes the artwork more visually interesting.
• Rhythm and pattern
  • Rhythm and pattern is about guiding the eye through an artwork by repeating color and shapes etc. A great example of this is Claude Monet’s water lily paintings as well as his entire garden in Giverny which is still today a remarkable artwork.

Claude Monet’s famous garden in Giverny, France. Picture taken by me (Alexandra Hytönen) a rainy midsummer’s day 2013.

Teaching the player

It’s important that the player easily understands what to do when beginning a game and there are different ways to do so. In some games there are instructions in the menu and in rare cases the player gets tutorialized through the menu, as in the game Fruit Ninja. But for larger games that option isn’t optimal. It would be messy to tutorialize the player through the menu in a FPS for example. The reason for that is because the player has much more options in a FPS than in Fruit Ninja, it’s possible but most likely the result would be confusing for the player.

In Fruit Ninja (which is a game for android and iPhone) the player learns the core mechanic of the game simply by not being allowed to click through the menu. When the player tries to do so an icon shows up, this tells the player to slide its finger over the object, and that is the only thing the player needs to know in order to play the game because it’s about slicing fruits with your finger.

But in FPS’s the player usually needs to know how to pick up a weapon, how to change between different weapons, jump, run, crouch, zoom/focus and many times much more. Therefor it would be difficult to teach the player so many things in such a short time. A more effective approach is to tutorialize the player through game play.

The reason why distinct tutorialization is so important while creating games is that the game developers need people to play their game and there is no one who will do that if it’s unnecessary complicated to play. It’s especially important if they have to spend money on it, if the player doesn’t understand the game he/she will feel its waste of both money and time, and most likely the player won’t be shy to share the horrible experience so others won’t do the same mistake by buying the game.

Also if the tutorialization isn’t clear enough it gets harder to guide the player through the rest of the game since the player might not be aware of all the different controls and what those might have for relationship to the rest of the environment.

Can that wall be climbed?  Is it possible to crawl and take shelter underneath that object?

At first the player needs to be aware of the controls before he/she can fully enjoy a game.

Games from the past

A well-known game was analyzed to demonstrate the changes throughout the past ten years. The game is called Far cry and was released by Ubisoft back in 2004.

In such a big game there are surprisingly much feedback and tutorializing missing.

To begin, the font in the main menu has a plain shape, small size and the color is too similar to the background, which is also moving. This makes it hard to notice the menu options in the first place because they disappear in the background, which could easily been fixed by changing the fonts color, size and possibly its shape.

When starting a new campaign the player is first introduced to a short cinematic which shows how the player got into the characters situation and gives an indication what he’s supposed to do. When the player finally gets control over the character he/she is step by step introduced how to move (W.A.S.D), crouch, jump, run and how to climb a ladder. But when it comes to introducing the player to enemies and weapons the feedback is surprisingly bad, especially considering it’s a FPS.

At first the player is introduced to an enemy, the audio and visual feedback tells the player to trick the enemy by throwing a rock, which should result so the enemy has a smaller chance detecting the player and instead turn or walk towards the location of the rock. But there is no indication in what direction or where the rock is going to land, this is a problem mostly because of the location. The player has view over the enemy through a stone” window” that is a few steps away from the player and in the characters head height which makes it harder for the player to aim the rock at a specific location. An easy mistake is to throw the rock inside of the ‘’window’’ which creates attention towards the player so the enemy has a bigger chance of detecting and possibly kill the player.

That design choice was really bad because it has a too big risk of failing, making the total opposite of its intentions and punishing the player who was doing something that he/she was told.

There is also a meter that represents how close the enemy is detecting the player. This is introduced by a small text but there is no other visual feedback on where the meter actually is or how it’s supposed to look like.

When it comes to weapons the player is never clearly introduced to them. When the player walks into a room a short movie starts automatically, in this movie it’s possible to see one weapon and some ammunition but the audio feedback draws the players’ attention elsewhere while talking about and showing an exit out of the room. The entire scene has bad timing which can confuse the player, especially combined with the audio. And when the player does walk forward to inspect what the items actually are they disappear by auto-loot, leaving the player wondering where they’ve disappeared. Shortly after the character equips the weapon automatically and three different notes are displayed in the bottom left corner, notes which tell the player how to shoot, reload and focus its aim.

The problem is that the text passes by so fast that not all players have time to read it. It’s also unclear through the entire game what items are equipable since there are no visual feedback for that, except that some items disappear while others don’t. Something that would help is to add more light or a glowing aura to the equipable items so they stick out from the environment making it easier for the player to detect them as well as it separates them from other non equipable objects. The same method could also been used for introducing the detection meter mentioned before so that the player understands of which meter they were referring to.

Perhaps players that are used to FPS’s would never notice these things, but it is punishing for players that might be playing a shooter for the first time. This analyze was made in easy mode so the visual feedback should be even more important.

When the player finally comes out from the building he/she meets a beautiful view over the ocean and some cottages, soon to notice there are enemies around.

The audio tells the player to sneak around carefully while the environment is asking for being explored. What gives this feeling is the player’s first view, the sky and water is so intensively blue and when the water meets the sand it creates such a great contrast so the player instantly draws towards the water. In far cry it’s easy to get detected therefor the player will most likely be noticed while going towards the water, creating the total opposite of the audios description. And when the player makes it to the water there is a vehicle which draws much attention to it because of its shape, size and the contrast it makes towards the sand. Vehicles are used within the game but this water scooter can’t be used and is just standing there, which is unnecessary, more teasing the player than preparing that more of those vehicles are going to appear later on in the game.

The view coming out from the basement is an incredible first impression and creates a “wow” effect first time seeing it since its meant for the player to focus on that view, but the composition and color is talking for itself against the actual mission, where the player is supposed to go.

And to be in a jungle would seem to be beneficial for the player so he/she can hide from enemies fast, but this has a great negative part as well because the player has hard to see where to go or spot other enemies as well since the shapes and size of the bushes are pretty big and similar to each other. More rhythm and pattern would help a lot and make it more enjoyable for the player to explore the forests and staying of the roads where it’s a greater risk getting caught.

Games today

Although the first Far Cry had some weak design choices, lack for guidance and tutorialization Ubisoft has certainly learned from their mistakes. The second game analyzed is the previous games sequel, Far Cry 3. Everything that was missing in the first game has been filled in and so much more has been added to enhance the player experience.

Far Cry 3 begins as well with a short cinematic but this time it tells much more about the character, such as age, personality, interests etc. but it tells also how he got into a hostage situation.

The basic move such as crouch, climb etc. are introduced in a more effective way. At first there are notes as in the first game, but this time the font is larger and a colored mirror is placed behind it separating the information from the game environment. The note doesn’t only tell how to do something but also for what purpose and the most important words are also in a different color, making it even easier to understand what to do. In this way the notes are more noticeable but they are also more informative and players get longer time reading them.

For example:

• [X] Crouch
• Reduces noise and visibility

Something that enhances the readability is also the new location of the notes. Before they were located at the bottom left corner, but have been relocated to the top left corner instead, something which seems to be a standard in games nowadays, possibly because the eye usually first looks to the top left, same as you are reading this text.

When it comes to the weapons the player is first introduced to a vendor who has many different guns and ammunition to choose from which is a great approach introducing not only one weapon but also different options that are available in further gameplay. Shortly after exiting the village the player is introduced how to use the weapon in a calm environment, instead of being pushed out to enemies right away.

The auto-loot system has also been removed and the player now has a choice to pick up an item or not which is (if looted) represented in the middle of the screen for a short period of time. Another great visual feedback is that the items are glowing, making it easier for the player detecting loot-able items and separate them from other non-loot-able items. Light and contrast is also being used to guide the player through the game world in a more advanced way than before. The colors are brighter in the direction where the player is supposed to go and both paths and roads are more visible.

Together with the improvement of the tutorial, level design and graphics it becomes much more obvious what to do. After first introduced with a brilliant tutorial and at the same time and further in the game get guided by the graphics which is achieved by the elements and principles of art combined with great design and evolved technology it becomes a more enjoyable gaming experience.

The future of game graphics

Each decision through the game developing process has much more value now than it has ever had before, and it’s constantly growing. It’s interesting to see such a big evolution in quite a few years and it’s even more interesting to see what lies in the future. Something that is popular today is achieving realism in game characters and environments but to achieve that without getting in the uncanny valley is challenging and requires great technology combined with skilled artists.

It’s hard to tell how tutorialization can be improved since it’s done in so many different ways, some are succeeding with it (such as in FarCry3 and Fruit Ninja) and others need to research the subject more. But to achieve more realism in future game graphics that might help guiding the player is the improvement of 3D scanning, which is a technology developed for animation purposes but is also used in games, mostly to make characters look more realistic by scanning a real life person and apply it on a 3D character. In a soon future were going to see that technology being used to scan real life environments for gaming. This technology combined with artists could improve the player experience in whole new levels. At first the player can easily relate and identify a specific place if it’s taken from real life since it’s possible that the player has been in a similar place but also the texture work will be more precise so the player easily can separate different objects and materials which could be used to guide the player.

Conclusion

Analyzing games while having the seven elements and principles of art in mind allows to not only see the game through a game designer’s point of view but gives a deeper understanding of how things can be changed through a more artistic perspective.

One way game design, level design and deep understanding of graphics is connected to each other but gaining experience in all areas could give the optimal results while developing games. Instead of having one expert in each subject it would be amazing if more people were to widen their horizons and see things from other perspectives. The more people that would do that the better results it would bring I believe.

References

Sandberg, Leo (2009). Imagine: creating art for entertainment. Fabpics.

Andersson, Thomas (2014-01-09). Get Even – Tidernas snyggaste spel? FZ.se.

http://www.fz.se/artiklar/nyheter/20140109/get-even-kan-bli-tidernas-snyggaste-spel

KOJIMA Productions (2013). Metal gear solid 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbPxvBbZAhs

Games

Fruit Ninja, for iPhone

FarCry, for PC

FarCry3, for PC