Visual Style and Gameplay Assignment

Unit 40 Assignment 1 P1, M1, D1

Visual Style

Every game has a visual style, during previous years games have advance hugely in how you are shown the visual aspects. For example games can now be played in 3D rather than plain old fashioned 2D, some popular examples of games that have used the 2D perspective are Pacman, Space Invaders or Mario. These help the player to experience the game from various different ways. As technology progresses the 3D types of games begin to develop and gain increased exposure. Genres such as FPSs or MMOs begin to thrive because the 3D view enables for a much more immersive experience. A visual style consists of many various components, these components are:

• Terrain, objects and architecture- Worlds in video games tend to become realistic so that the player can be connected and more immersed in the game world. A more realistic world can provide more interaction that other types of worlds resulting in a more surreal and imaginary experience for the player/user. The architecture is some games is much different than in others, some games make certain objects stand out making them much more noticeable than others. GTA V is a fully open world game, travelling across the wide and vast map and the city of Los Santos could take the player a long while even with a fast method of transport. The player isn't limited in the ways of transport that he can use with the variety and availability of land, air and sea vehicles. The map of the game is a large island filled with large mountains, a desert and a dense city. The architecture within a game world are the buildings, structures and various monuments that may appear throughout gameplay, these features need to be specifically designed to fit a certain style of a game world. The architecture is a very good feature to have in games because it makes the world seem vast and filled with opportunities instead of empty and boring. Another brilliant example of a game world is Minecraft, the world of Minecraft is created by mere blocks. These blocks create a whole entire world that's made up of different varieties of biomes ranging from the hilly mountains, a jungle with enormous trees and vast deserts filled with cacti. The player gets to adventure through this world and explore dangerous areas such as caves and dungeons.

• Characters(Playing and NPC)- Characters can vary noticeably from game to game. Some characters are given the option of customization however some have to look the same and cannot undergo any changes. Characters can be either 2D or 3D. 3D character models enable the user/player to inspect the entire character. Characters tend to interact with each other especially in online/multiplayer games. This functions enables the communication between your friends or the NPC's in the particular game. An example of a character that a player can play as could be Franklin from GTA V. Characters are one of the most important aspects of games today, they make the gaming experience feel immersive, responsive and interactive.

• GTA V has three main characters which all come from very vast backgrounds. Franklin's character comes from the so called 'Hood', his story revolves mainly around gang activity, drugs, guns and vehicle fraud. Franklin meets another main character called 'Michael' when Franklin attempts to steal a vehicle that was purchased by Michael's son. Franklin's background is very different to Michael's because he doesn't come from a rich background and lives in a compact house with his auntie.

• An example of a NPC type character in GTA V is Simeon. Simeon is a car dealer in the center of busy Los Santos, he is tied in with Franklin's story line as Franklin works for him. Simeon's personality is very self centered as he mostly cares about himself and his business. Simeon is important in the story because he is the reason that Franklin and another main character 'Michael' meet. They meet because Michael's brother wants to buy a car from him and they end up clashing with Franklin when the deal goes wrong.

• Feedback Interface: Visual feedback is crucial and very effective in games. This helps the player to constantly improve. Visual feedback will give the player tips meaning that he will remain entertained and interested for longer as well as improving their performance in the game. The feedback in GTA V comes in the way of levels and completion percentage. The player will constantly level up his characters improving specific aspects for example the stamina of a character will be improved if the player travels a certain distance on foot, the level up will result in the character becoming faster, more agile and having more energy. Some other very common features of a feedback interface are health bars, mana bars, experience bars, mini maps and quick action bars.

• Perspective: Simple games started off in 2D however as technology rapidly developed 3D games started to become more and more popular. 3D games are now widely available and very popular among users, these types of games provide a much cleared and more vivid image compared to the 2D perspective. The player is given the ability to take on various different insights on games which was difficult to achieve in 2D. Popular games that use 3D are Call of Duty or Battlefield. These games can also be played in aerial view which can help the player to shoot enemies and achieve the set goal of the game. Other different perspectives to use are first person (see through the main character's eyes), third person (A view from behind the main character) or sometimes context sensitive (The camera angle moves depending on the current gameplay), an example of a game that uses context sensitive camera angles is zelda.

 Aerial, birds eye, overhead, top down view was commonly used in certain older games and is still used in some of the more modern MMO games in order for the player to see lots of characters at one time which provides a better perspective on the game. GTA V uses the more modern 3D perspective and it offers a first person and third person experience, the user is not limited and may switch to which ever perspective he prefers and likes best. The aerial view perspective was used in one of the first Grand Theft Auto titles however the switch towards first and third person was definitely effective and much more immersive. The idea of perspectives is fantastic because it gives choice and variety, the player can choose to play and view the game from many different angles that cannot be viewed in 2D.

• Full motion video- Some games contain this element, this is pre-recorded footage that is placed in the game, it's more commonly referred to as a 'cut-scene' and game developers use this in order to make the game look better and more immersive however they cannot use this to advertise the gameplay of the actual game. GTA V uses this very well in order to portray the story of the several different characters in the game. This helps the player to visualize the goal that they have to aim for and achieve in the game. Cut-scenes are a very important aspect of GTA V as they help the player to understand the goal and the story line that the game is following. The use of cut-scenes is much more effective than the simple use of text, more people follow cut-scenes as they are much more immersive, entertaining and interesting. This is very important for the player because it makes the game story more interesting in a way that if someone doesn't enjoy large amounts of information about the story he may still be interested in following the story in a different way. Another great game that uses fantastic and immersive cut-scenes is Tomb Raider, the game is filled with cinematic cut-scenes that help to tell the story of the character and take the player through their adventure

Gameplay

• Interaction model: The interaction model is how a player will be represented and controlled inside the game. The use of an avatar interaction model when the player is represented on screen by a character. The focus of the game depends on how the character is controller and how the player moves through the game. Omnipresence interaction model is used when a player needs to control more than one character, this could be an group or even an army, a very good example of a game that utilizes omnipresence to its fullest potential is the classic 'Sims'. In the Sims the player has the option to control multiple characters at once and live their life for them from going to work to every day activities. GTA V uses an avatar interaction model because you are always controlling one character at a time however GTA V gives the player the ability to switch between the characters at most times within the game. The use of one character at any single time means that the gameplay can mainly focus on that specific character's story line and it also results in the player having more freedom of exploration from that characters point of view.

• Single player and Multiplayer: Single player allows the player to play on their own in order to compete against the AI of certain NPC's or even objects within the world. Single player was very important in early games because it was the simplest mode to design. As technology improved players could begin to use multiplayer in order to play with or even compete against each other within the same game. The MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) games allow large amounts of players to play with or against each other during gameplay. GTA V uses both of these because it has a separate singleplayer and multiplayer mode, the player gets the ability to choose between the two modes freely. The single player mode offers a very high level of immersion as it takes you through the story of the three main characters Michael, Franklin and Trevor. The single player mode offers a large amount of cut-scenes and narrative and in my humble opinion is much more immersive than the available multiplayer. The multiplayer mode gives the player an opportunity to involve themselves with a variety of interesting missions, heists and even races on water, land and sea. The player can then save up multiplayer money and level up his character in a similar way to single player. A good example of a single player game is tomb raider, the player has the ability to explore and experience the world through one specific character's eyes in this game it's Lara Croft. This offers much more immersion because the player has time to bond with one character and play the game through that character's life. Tomb raider has few main characters because Lara Croft is the main focus of the game. Halo is heavily multiplayer based because the player can team up with other people online in order to go against other users in certain challenges.

• Narrative: This is used in games to tell the story. This can be linked to cut-scenes (Full motion video) in order to explain a goal or what can emerge during gameplay, this could also depend on the player's progress. It can also be used to tell the player what's happening or what's happened withing the gameplay, narrative can take several forms such as graphical, textual or auditory. GTA V uses lots of narrative especially in it's cut-scenes, narrative is used between characters in order to describe and explain what the player has to do or what has happened he was away. Narrative is also used while out in the gameplay world, NPC characters will react to you when you're walking past or driving past meaning that they will respond with a narrative. I think that narrative is very good and effective alongside FMV (Full motion video) as it's a very key part to immersion. Narrative can come in many shapes such as graphics, texts and audio during the players gameplay. Narrators tell the player what to do and where to go during gameplay, this helps the player to navigate the game world with ease and helps them to progress much faster.

• Game settings:

Physical and Temporal- This is the physical setting of the game and the story. Using the example of GTA V the story/game is set on an Island in the country of San Andreas. Temporal setting means when the game is happening, e.g. GTA V is set in 2013. This could be a made up fantasy type location or a real life location that actually exists. GTA V is set in a made up island however some parts of the world are based on real life locations that exist outside of the game.

Environmental- This setting is based on the environment and what you're surrounded by when you play. In GTA V you're surrounded by a variety of environments such as the desert, the urban city, hilly mountains, the beach etc. Some games utilize the environmental setting of a game really well, games that do this brilliantly are assassins creed and tomb raider. The historic architecture and the setting of the game is very authentic and the player is guided towards utilizing the environment to its full potential in terms of scaling the buildings and using vantage points to help the player with getting rid of enemies or avoiding them.

Emotional and Ethical- Games tend to attempt to draw out emotions in the player e.g. when a player looses a certain round or fails/dies in a game they might have angry emotions but on the other hand when they achieve something they will be greeted with happy emotions and an accomplished feeling however most games lead to disappointment when they are completed. Completing a difficult mission or a heist in GTA V can result in an emotional response from the player. Ethical problems occur when games like GTA encourage people to do horrific things such as murder people or rob people. This can cause issues involving people believing that these types of games can encourage violence.

Goals, Challenges and Rewards- Accomplishing a sense of achievement in games is done through facing and completing difficult challenges, achieving rewards, treasures and completing goals. These types of things are what a consumer/player is attracted to in the first place. A short challenge in GTA V might be to take back the purse from a thief. Examples of some goals that you might come across in GTA V might be to kill an X amount of enemies in a specific area or steal a specific thing like a vehicle or an object. I think that goals are one of the most important things in games, this is because if a player doesn't have a goal he may become uninterested in the game as he doesn't know what to do or what there is to do. Goals and challenges have to be linked together, when a player completes a goal or challenge he must be rewarded in order to remain interested and keep progressing. Challenges can be a good aspect of the game however sometimes they can become overdone meaning that the player cannot always complete them successfully. If a challenge becomes too difficult to the player the player may become uninterested and frustrated at the game resulting in the player quitting, some players enjoy a difficult challenge however some even dread it. Goals within a game can also take the form of short/long term goals e.g. a short term goal would be the execution of a target in order to receive a reward in the form of experience or gold. An example of a long term goal would be the killing of a main enemy or boss which would be much harder and take longer to achieve than short term goals. Long term goals tend to be much more rewarding than the short term ones.

Addiction- This can be seen as unhealthy however its very important for a game to have exciting and thrilling gameplay which encourages the player to emerge into the game almost as if they were the main character. Addictive gameplay shouldn't be seen as negative because many fun things are found to be addictive. This isn't necessarily a bad feature however it has its pro's and con's, addictive games tend to be very successful because they are fun and enjoyable, the cons of addiction is that it could lead into something unhealthy that could affect the player in a negative way. 

Balancing- Balancing within games means that its ensured that encounters/games will be fair whilst going against an opponent that will result in equal/fair results. The game needs to be perfected and adapted to a certain point ensuring that it's not too easy or too difficult. Early phases of the game need to be designed to let the player build up his basic skills and knowledge of the game, the player should be given a chance to improve his skills as the game progresses and becomes more difficult. Balance could also be linked to the difficulty settings, most games come with setting like these to enable the player to choose how difficult he wants the game to be, increasing the difficulty will make the game more challenging to the player. GTA V's has difficulty settings in singleplayer and multiplayer, in singleplayer the setting can be set straight away however for multiplayer the setting can only be adjusted for missions, heists and certain races. The Witcher 3 is also a good example of balancing as it offers multiple difficulty settings making it easy for the player to adapt his gameplay.

Rules- Rules are set to define how a game should be played, it sets out boundaries to the user/player in order to show what is right to do and what shouldn't be done, a good example of a game that uses rules is fifa. In fifa rules are set out and if the player doesn't follow these specific rules he gets punished with a yellow card or a red card.

Mechanics(Inventory, Scoring and Win condition)- Mechanics can determine many things and can allow the player to acknowledge many things e.g. the inventory of a player will enable them to view the items that they currently have in their possession. Scoring is used to show a player how well they are currently doing on their journey, scoring is particularly useful if there is a competitive aspect to the game, the win condition will be decided upon the use of formulas to work out and decide who has won at the end of the game. A game that is a good example of an inventory system is Minecraft. This game uses a simple inventory system which holds and contains all the items that the user collects. 

Game Structure(Flowchart)-When rules and mechanics are designed for games every aspect needs to be considered and certain parts of information need to be passed onto programmers. This information includes how the components will work and interact with each other and how the flow of the game works.