Dodo Blog

It’s been a little while, but there’s much still to be said on the subject of interactive animation. So let’s continue…

These are some exceptions…

Let’s start with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

It has been much lauded for its use of animation and there’s definitely a few interesting things going on in-game. Nathan Drake adapts to his surroundings by layering together different contextual animations like shielding himself from fire, clutching a gunshot wound, losing balance, taking cover and so on.

Of particular interest is the game’s use of what I’m going to call “contextual anticipation”…

When Drake is climbing around he will extend his free hand towards reachable areas, indicating to the player it’s safe to jump as well as where this will take him.

A more subtle example is when you’re hiding behind cover and a guard comes around the corner. There is a short window of time where Drake can surprise the guard and disable him without making a noise. At just the right moment (the window within which the player can stealth-attack), Drake ducks down, arms ready, anticipating the grabbing action. The sudden change of posture (1:00) communicates that now is the time to strike, and it’s all you need.

We spend much of our time staring at our avatars in 3rd person games. Not a bad place to put your gameplay feedback…

Some links for perusing purposes:

The psychology of avatar customization,

Patrick Redding on co-op narrative and NPC interaction,

intriguing insight into Valve’s design process,

and a cool new animation blog and podcast.

Enjoy responsibly.

If you’ve read my blog for any length of time you’ll know that besides animation I also enjoy game design and I’ve recently been tinkering with a little prototype that started as a movement-test and is slowly growing into an actual game.

Graphics are placeholder. Haven’t decided what to do for visuals yet…

This is old, but I was re-reading it recently and there’s some great points about game writing in there… Bloodlines is one my favourite games, a real diamond in the rough; unfinished in places, but community patches have solved most issues and at its best it rivals classics like Deus Ex for character interaction and atmosphere.

The story discussion continues.

Again, SPOILERS…

The heart of a good story are its characters. They don’t have to be likeable, but they have to be interesting and above all believable. Sometimes a character will say or do something that just seems wrong… People change, certainly, but you know that character would not make that choice at that point in their life…

For example, when Anakin turns to the dark side in Star Wars Episode 3 it seems hard to believe that despite all his fear and anger he would suddenly murder innocent children in cold blood. Darth Vader? Sure. But Anakin’s not there yet.

Maybe a cheap shot picking on Star Wars prequels, but there you go…

It hurts the believability of the character and makes it harder to buy into the story as a whole. If you want people to care about your story you can’t betray your characters.

But enough about movies… What of the troubled relationship between story and interaction? Staying true to character in games is a tricky one:

PLAYER/STORY-CONFLICT

Often referred to as “ludo-narrative dissonance“, it’s a fancy way of saying: the actions the player is encouraged to take do not mesh with the fiction of the game world. You play a likeable hero, but the gameplay is based around murdering hundreds of people. You’re out to save the universe, but you do it by stealing everything that isn’t nailed down… that kind of thing.

Not a new problem, but it has become more noticable as game stories develop a certain degree of subtlety. Nathan Drake may be a lovable rogue during cutscenes, but in the hands of the player he’s a ruthless killer. GTAIV may let you have a pretend social life, but on the way to your date you probably ran over twenty pedestrians.

It’s a difficult problem. The games that get it right – where what the player is thinking and doing matches the character – are all the more powerful for it.

I mentioned developer credit as a problem the games industry is still struggling with, but another more pressing issue is quality of life. A few years ago “ea_spouse ” brought to light some disturbing development practices at EA, today it seems similar things are going on at Rockstar. The United States seem particularly prone to excess in this regard, but development practices in Europe are hardly perfect, though it varies from company to company.

The IGDA has suggested solutions, but their implementation remains limited. Making games and having a life should not have to be mutually exclusive.

[I should probably note I haven't done any crunch lately... my concern is directed at the industry in general]

Two great interviews with four gaming legends: Mechner, Chahi, Raynal and Cuisset, creators of such games as Prince of Persia, Little Big Adventure, Flashback and Another World. (en français)

The first is also available in English.

Prince, LBA and Flashback are still among my fondest gaming memories and it’s a treat to read about their creators’ thoughtful and eclectic approach to design.

“Don’t dissipate the energy and passion of the original idea by becoming your own critic too early in the process. (…) start taking the necessary steps to turn your idea into reality, while you still feel the clarity and strong desire of that first inspiration” Jordan Mechner

“Story prolongs the enjoyment of the player, but it does not create it.”
Frédérick Raynal

Worth a read:

Edmund McMillen’s has tips on indie game development,

and Adam Saltsman advocates accessibility.

Games are a relatively young industry and there’s much still to improve… One of the first steps for game developers to be treated fairly is receiving proper credit for the work they do, which appears to often still be a problem.

Some various links of interest:

Charlie Brooker makes a compelling case for games as a medium,

Bioware has tips for those looking to break into the industry,

Gausswerks rethinks some games that could have been great,

and here’s a nifty open-source tool for analyzing video reference!