Concepts behind Elementalism.

There seem to be a consistant set of elements considered in both western and eastern Mythology. Earth, Fire, Air and Water are the main four, with Void or Ether being a fifth that is not in every set of beliefs.

Another World

I recently rediscovered this forgotten gem of the game world. The stunning clarity of narrative (non-verbal, I might add) really surprised me for such an old game. The visuals are, also, fantastic. I am definitely using this as an influence, it’s amazing how this doesn’t seem dated in the slightest.

Thematic Levels

For the moment I am going to be designing my levels with specific themes in mind, and as I hinted at in my first visual design post, one of those will be a Lava/Fire themed stage.

More later.

C♯ Developer Links

Here are some useful links, once again, so that I may come back to them later when I can afford to be more thorough.

XNA Game Studio 3.1 help files.

…and also…

The download for XNA Game Studio!

Lava Level: Puzzle 1

Here is a visual aid to help describe the current puzzle climax of the Lava stages.

Elements: Part 1

The different elements are part of the focus for my game.

I think each element will have an ovveriding property to it that might allow for more scope in design, meaning I could use multiple textures that have the same set of properties (ala, Little Big Planet).

Textures

The properties could range from: Hard Material, Soft Material (destructable?), Liquid, Gassy (which you could walk through) with the option of making certain hazardous.

Stone

Stone is a hard element, and would be heavy. It could be used to weigh down lifts, seesaws and pulleys. It could also be used to spring things up on seesaws, if it was dropped from a height. It’s pretty sturdy, and would not be affected by other hazardous elements.

Another element that would have the same properties as stone could be Metal.

Marble

Metal

Metal would also be magnetic, and would conduct electricity.

Wood

Wood is a light material that can be broken, but only with heavier objects or enough force. It’s boyant, and would float in water but would get eaten up fairly quickly in acid (although that might put restrictions on how fast levels could be completed if you needed to cross an acid vat).

Wood could also be flammable, but that may require adding fire as a controllable element? Where does that fit in? Could you change a fire into something else? Perhaps if you changed a fire sprite into stone it would merely leave a stone in the shape of a fire.

…to be continued.

Abstract

With a little help from ‘How to write an Abstract‘ I’m writing up a plan for my essay.

Motivation:
Why do we care about the problem and the results? If the problem isn’t obviously “interesting” it might be better to put motivation first; but if your work is incremental progress on a problem that is widely recognized as important, then it is probably better to put the problem statement first to indicate which piece of the larger problem you are breaking off to work on. This section should include the importance of your work, the difficulty of the area, and the impact it might have if successful.

I have a genuine interest in the future of interactive storytelling, as it is and has been one of my favorite activities for several years. I think it is an important part of new and old media and ties into traditional storytelling and thus has a cultural importance as much as anything else. I think it bolsters creativity, it helps people remain literate and it’s entertaining.

Problem statement:
What problem are you trying to solve? What is the scope of your work (a generalized approach, or for a specific situation)? Be careful not to use too much jargon. In some cases it is appropriate to put the problem statement before the motivation, but usually this only works if most readers already understand why the problem is important.

I want to bring interactive storytelling forward as a genre. Multi user dimensions have always felt niche, but with technology progressing forward at the rate it is I think it could easily see MUDs and the like not moving forward until they die on their feet. I’d like to find a way to approach a new audience, people who enjoy writing or roleplaying who might not otherwise be exposed to the kind of interactive storytelling I know about.

Approach:
How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? Did you use simulation, analytic models, prototype construction, or analysis of field data for an actual product? What was the extent of your work (did you look at one application program or a hundred programs in twenty different programming languages?) What important variables did you control, ignore, or measure?

Results:
What’s the answer? Specifically, most good computer architecture papers conclude that something is so many percent faster, cheaper, smaller, or otherwise better than something else. Put the result there, in numbers. Avoid vague, hand-waving results such as “very”, “small”, or “significant.” If you must be vague, you are only given license to do so when you can talk about orders-of-magnitude improvement. There is a tension here in that you should not provide numbers that can be easily misinterpreted, but on the other hand you don’t have room for all the caveats.

Conclusions:
What are the implications of your answer? Is it going to change the world (unlikely), be a significant “win”, be a nice hack, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is a waste of time (all of the previous results are useful). Are your results general, potentially generalizable, or specific to a particular case?

Siggraph

For research into both my Specialist Project and my Dissitation I have been looking at various recourses, one of which I tried was the Siggraph website I previously mentioned as something worth looking into. This is the website for the annual computer graphics and technology convention, which has been stated as being at the forefront of the industry. Unfortunately, having briefly shuffled through their website I have found nothing particularly useful, the website is pretty frustrating to navigate and there doesn’t seem to be any intuitive method for searching through the journals published.

Interestingly enough, I have looked into Siggraph before, as they released a number of videos over the summer that provided quite interesting glimpses as to where computer recourses may be spent in the near future. Here is one of the videos:

Ultimately, I found Siggraph interesting, but contextually unhelpful. Luckily I am not hoping to focus on graphics specifically, so I can leave this one as tried and unsuccessful.

Piano Stairs

This is an amazing example of how a simple interactive exhibit can change the way people approach things like their daily commute. I thought this was fantastic, and I’d love to do some live work that had a focus on making people change for the better in such a subtle way. Top banana.

Learning Agreement: Specialist Project

Name: James Crawford
Course: BA(hons) Digital Media Productions
Level: 6
Unit: Specialist Project
Reference number: IMD610
Credit points: 30
Study hours: 300
Tutors: Phil Beards and Liam

Synopsis of Study

In my specialist project I wish to work on a precursor to a creative game. I would like to research and write up a design brief for a live

teamwork, creativity, community, writing, live narrative

I would like to create a 2d side scrolling game that used a variety of self referencing gameplay mechanics. One of the main gameplay mechanics I would like to implement is the ability to change the textures of objects, as I think this would be an interesting way to deconstruct the way that the game design process works. This will give me a broad knowledge of…

I would like to do this project because I think it would help build up my knowledge of the design process, specifically relating to video game design. I also think it would lead me into my Extended Major Project with a good level of knowledge to work on something that furthered my creative ideas.

Aims

1. To confirm and develop your systematic understanding of key aspects of digital media, previously acquired in Level 5.
2. To encourage the acquisition of detailed knowledge, some of which is at or informed by the forefront of developments within the subject including aspects of current research, or equivalent scholarship.
3. To develop your critical awareness and understanding of historical, contemporary and personal practice within the broad context of the field.

Learning Outcomes:

1. That you have transferred your systematic understanding of key aspects of digital media, previously acquired in Level 5.
2. The acquisition of detailed knowledge, some of which is at or informed by the forefront of developments within the subject including aspects of current research, or equivalent scholarship.
3. Through written work demonstrate that you developed your critical awareness and understanding of historical, contemporary and personal practice within the broad context of the field.

Assessment Requirements

A prototype design as defined in your Learning Agreement.

• 75%: Finished Design (Tutor Assessed)
• 25% A written report for one of the projects supporting the conceptual, contextual and production issues involved in the completion of practical work. (Tutor Assessed)

Assessment Criteria

• Evidence of knowledge of key contextual and theoretical issues – Knowledge concerned with contemporary practice acquired from Level 5 and applied and developed to a higher level (LO1)
• Evidence of critical concepts represented in the breadth and depth of subject knowledge – The contexts of production (LO2, LO3)
• Evidence of realisation through the application of technical knowledge and skills – Documentation of the project, its planning and execution (LO1)
• Evidence of understanding through critical evaluation and reflection – Relevance of research and relationship of theory to practice (LO3)

References

In units which require a learning agreement, you should provide evidence of the references you will use during the project. Each course will indicate in the assignment brief what is required in terms of references to be included in the learning agreement, but any bibliography for AIB projects must be presented using the Harvard System, details of which can be found in the library and in the HE Regulations handbook.

Action Plan

Research/Research/Coding/Product/Graphics

Time Plan

Gant Chart

Signed: James Crawford