Show and Tell in class
Today's class was a casual discussion of our project thus far, what we did with our keywords/the journey with them as well as feedback from other students. As first in the list, I set the bar but also felt I took the longest. This meant more feedback, but more chances of losing this feedback as new information came in. Surmised below is what I gathered from responses, to what I can remember most.
Feedback:
- Making the red line not so literal, aka how can I make it more of an experience
- Can you interact with it?
- Wayfinding ~ how can I extend this and explore more with it
The Mirror texture looks wet or as if it had just rained on a road, was this intentional or can I also do more with this?
- Sensory Deprivation (How I have taken away several of the senses by confining the space and color)
- Taint in the sense of changing something //to taint it as you go or interact/touch
- Use of sound
- Play on Scent (back to wayfinding)
- Simulation or Fluidity (also to do with wayfinding)
- Can I make it more poetic or evocative. Should I add words to it instead of the line
- Does the Mirror texture work on other computers/Do I use other computers?
- Was there a reason for the 'almost clinical' red line (how linear, minimal, and straight-edged it was) appearance of the line?
- (What) does the player have to do with it (the gun)
Don't include the gun (as it has nothing to do with the experience)
- Why don't you make it into AR or add another layer to it //in terms of mixed reality and mediums
- Level Design ~ What happens if the red line disappears? Can there be something that changes to the line?
- What if you change or work with gravity and physics?
These were not all of the questions and pieces of feedback, but some that stood out more than some others I could talk about as future endeavors.
My reflection on all the feedback, as I had answered and further thinking, is that I have many avenues to pursue in experimentation, not all of which I have to do. Still, there are a lot that seem interesting or exciting to include. This involves placing the scene into a VR setting and keeping the ball from the first-person player as an interactable object, as a guide, and as something to play with. I am also intrigued by the thought of creating a simulation or something that floats/fluidly moves that can act as that red line. Whether it becomes particles or just lighting will be interesting. There's also the use of sound, in my current experiment it does not feature this but I did think about implementing it, I just couldn't get around to it. These two things (sound and the simulation) can help the player move towards the end room or place I want them to go and would be forms of wayfinding. If I were to include touch as well, in the interactive sense (as touch is lost when using controllers aside from haptic feedback), I would change a wall or attributes. It could also be a checkpoint, to know how far/much you've progressed.
If I make this experience more poetic and/or evocative I wonder how it would change the game feel. As it is, this experiment is a 'Walking Sim' (walking simulator, a game with no goals other than exploration), so to turn it more towards the art installation/work aesthetic and functionality could be something to further. If I were to make this more about collecting words and or gravitating towards an ending poem (or similar) how would it change the game? Should I adapt the way the walls work or leave them as is, keeping them for aesthetic purposes.
Below are some interesting screenshots from the game, where the angle can change the outlook (in the editor).
Two texts relevant to my exploration are Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion as immersion is something that I realize I use by default because VR immerses the player into a new world/reality. And Game Spaces Speak Volumes: Indexical Storytelling, talks about narrative by using Environmental Storytelling and Indexical Storytelling (which is similar to environmental but tacitly uses indicators and signs). Both of these texts explore what I need to think about and approach my experimentation and research. They're both interesting because they somewhat go hand-in-hand with each other. Some narrative in games often requires the story to be told in a different form to just text or dialogue-based prompts, it can also lead to better immersion for the player as if they are the detective, driving the story. It almost gives a non-linear story feel to something that is completely directed. So, where I want people to go (as I have shown with the red line on the walls and floors) can be made possible by implementing other indices/indicators. I have already had feedback on this (indicators) but both also talk about "traces" or letting the player create meaningful history in the game (where, because they have interacted with something, it is something another player/viewer can see as an event that occurred before they were there).
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