Wednesday – Visuals, Composition and Layout part 3

Radii Compos
 Continuing from last weeks post now looking at  Radii composition. This is very similar to circular composition but instead of using circular patterns to guide the eyes its uses a a focal point and lines. see image below.

Fig[1]

L composition 
L composition is useful when you want to "frame" something in your pieice. This can be used to increase attention in some areas and less it in others.

Cross composition
cross composition is very similar to "L" composition  only it has a cross instead of an L its a cross.


Iconic
Finally we come to iconic which is essentially the subject of the piece is placed in the center taking prominent position among the other details. This technique is often used for subjects of reverence or renown. 



Bibliography

Straub, Phil. "Phil Straub Composition Tutorial | Cgsociety". The CGSociety. N.p., 2005. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

Available at: http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/phil_straub_composition_tutorial

Image refrences 

Fig[1] https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fd/dd/fa/fdddfa7f2ef714fe2857e64d6818f911.jpg

Monday Environmental Storytelling part 3

Part 3 of my research into environmental story telling. This week I'm looking at how the player might interpret your environment and what factors govern this. Player interpretation can be a benefit or a hazard to environmental story telling, its difficult to Gage how a person will react or what conclusions they will draw from your scene. Take the ending scene of inception. Everyone is present with same information during the course of the film, but people often draw different conclusions from this ending.

Fig[1]

While its true the ending was designed to be ambiguous this does pose a problem for designers on how their work will be viewed. Gestalts Law of Closure (Sincero, 2017) can explain why one person may look at the ending of inception and see a good ending, while conversely another may see a bad ending. People will inevitably fill in any gaps the designer leaves either with imagination or past experience or both. I need to bear this in mind when designing my environments, you can put an amazing amount of detail into an environment but that its still no grantee the player will see things the way you want them to, so what I decide to make and show the player will have to guide them in a way that is predictable.

Continued in part 4

Bibliography

Smith, Harvey and Matthias Worch. “What Happened Here? Environmental Storytelling”. Gdcvault.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

Availble at: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012647/What-Happened-Here-Environmental

Sincero, S. (2017). Gestalt Laws: Similarity, Proximity and Closure. [online] Explorable.com. Available at: https://explorable.com/gestalt-laws-similarity-proximity-and-closure [Accessed 11 Dec. 2016].

Image References

Fig[1]

http://dazedimg.dazedgroup.netdna-cdn.com/1200/0-0-1677-1118/azure/dazed-prod/1120/2/1122563.jpg

Wednesday – Visuals, Composition and Layout part 2

Continuing from last weeks post looking at composition techniques.

The Circle

Circular composition is a form in which circular patterns are used in the piece to herd the viewers sigh to a particular point or to keep it in a certain area. An example of this would be a tunnel as seen bellow.

Fig[1]

The circular nature of the tunnel guides and confines the viewer's attention towards the exit.


The Triangle

The triangle is simply composition technique that uses a triangular  pattern, usually placed in the center. Triangle composition often gives an impression of height and strength. An obvious example of this type of composition would be a mountain.

Fig [2]

You can see the mountain triangular composition projects a very imposing form on this image without taking up the entirety of the image's space.  Church towers and pyramids also give the off the same impression using this principle.

Fig[3]

Fig[4]

So these to techniques could be useful depending on what I'm trying to go for. It might also be possible to combine these to composition techniques, perhaps creating an imposing tunnel or something along those lines could be interesting.

Continued in part 3

Bibliography

Straub, Phil. "Phil Straub Composition Tutorial | Cgsociety". The CGSociety. N.p., 2005. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

Available at: http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/phil_straub_composition_tutorial

Image refrences

Fig[1]

http://photographinglondon.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Greenwich-Tunnel.jpg

Fig[2]

https://img.grouponcdn.com/deal/5EXVDNMDEe1mtyEK6Pgp/ZC-1057x634/v1/c700x420.jpg

Fig[3]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/02/08/article-2275732-176E91DB000005DC-790_634x878.jpg

Fig[4]

http://www.planetware.com/photos-large/EGY/egypt-pyramids-of-giza-chephren-pyramid.jpg

Monday Environmental Storytelling part 2.

As a continuation on from my previous part one I’ll be looking into the GDC done by Harvey Smith again this time starting with the concept of Narrative Context. So what is Narrative Context? Well simply it is the way an environment can show the player what context it has in game, what role it is supposed to fulfill. An environment with good Narrative Context will be able to give the player visual cues as to its function in the story and in game, what type of inhabitants it may host, who build it, its history and current condition as well indications as to what may happen to the player next. It is the closest you can get to the principle of show don’t tell.

There are many examples of  visual story telling in not just video games but films as well. a classic example is the shark warning sin and shark dorsal fin in the movie "Jaws". These both foreshadow and clue the audience in to the inherent danger in the environment and story.


Fig [1]

Fig [2]

The environment can be used to give the player all types of information to the player. an example is the settlement at the beginning of fallout new Vegas. 

Fig[3]

This area is filled with small but immersive visual information about the inhabitants of this settlement for the player. There are animals and crops showing some of the people that live here are farmers. There are also water tanks and windmills, a general store and a saloon. All of these things gives this environment a immersive quality as nothing in it seems out of place or no nonsensical.

Continued in part 3

Bibliography

Smith, Harvey and Matthias Worch. “What Happened Here? Environmental Storytelling”. Gdcvault.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

Availble at: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012647/What-Happened-Here-Environmental

 Image references

Fig[1]

https://www.overthinkingit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/amity-sign.jpg

Fig[2]

http://www.top10films.co.uk/img/Jaws_The-Unseen-Monster_shark-dorsal-fin.jpg

Fig[3]

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/8/8d/Fnv_es_location_goodsprings1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20101101234747&path-prefix=es

Wednesday – Visuals, Composition and Layout part 1

In these posts I’m going to being exploring how composition techniques can be used to draw the player attention. Whether it is to lead a player to a specific area or object or to simply create a certain mood or atheistic.

This week I was looking at an article by Phil Straub. The article covers compositions  with regards to concept art.  Some of these I had already learnt in my first year. I decided however to return to composition as a start for my research and reacquaint myself with them seeing what I could use for my three pieces.

Golden Rule

First is the golden rule, a concept where a grid made of four intersecting lines if placed over an image or view. Where these lines cross are act as focal points for the eye, as such they are the best place to put the subject of your composition or were you want to lead the viewers attention.

Fig[1]

A similar composition technique is the rule of thirds. This like the golden rule uses the same grid and focal point layout. However in addition to the main focal point chosen by the author, the other three can be used. While the main point of focus is placed directly under the intersection, the other points are placed slightly of off their respective points so as not to compete with the main focal point.

Fig[2]

Continued in part 2

Bibliography

Straub, Phil. "Phil Straub Composition Tutorial | Cgsociety". The CGSociety. N.p., 2005. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

Available at: http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/phil_straub_composition_tutorial

Image References

Fig[1]   Fig[2] http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/phil_straub_composition_tutorial

Monday Environmental Storytelling part 1

Welcome to my part 1 research post on environmental story telling.

So starting of this week’s bout of research. The first piece I found was a very comprehensive slide show on the GDC done by Harvey Smith who worked on dues ex in the early 2000s and  Matthias Worch who worked on dead space 2 and mafia 3. As this slide show is quite large (around 80 slides) and contains many areas that are applicable to my project. For this post I’ll just be focusing on what is relevant to environmental storytelling and will continue it in later parts. Here are a few key aspects summarized:

Familiar visual references – This is the idea of using familiar or well know objects to give cues to the player either in terms off story or mechanics. For instance an example of this, medic packs.

Fig 1          

     Fig 2

Medic packs are used so often in videos games that they have almost become a trope, but this is not without good reason. Most people can identify what a first aid kit looks like or at least a red/green cross,  so most people would associate these objects in the game world with health and vitality. Another example of this would be a Super Durper Mart like the one in fallout 3.

Fig 3

Again thanks to the buildings gigantic sign, the large car park, vending machines and trolleys strewn around the player can easily infer that this is a super market and may contain valuable resources. It also uses the bodies being hung around this location to imply that this area may not be safe and that their could be further dangers inside. So just by looking at this scene the player has a lot of information to go on, being presented with a kind of risk and reward scenario.

Reinforcing the player Identity – This is about using the environment to reinforce the players identify in game. In the slide show they use portal as an example with the player having to perform puzzles and being made to feel like a lab rat. Another example of this can bee shown in games like halo.

Fig 4

Through out halos game play your constantly pitted against waves of hostile aliens, the few allies you have are nowhere near as powerful as you are and your often fighting in exotic sci-fi environments. This all helps to reinforce the players image of themselves as this unstoppable super soldier in the future and the last hope for humanity.

Continued in part 2

Bibliography

Smith, Harvey and Matthias Worch. “What Happened Here? Environmental Storytelling”. Gdcvault.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

Availble at: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012647/What-Happened-Here-Environmental

Image References

Fig 1

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/2c/34/31/2c343134f6e529492a04d39af6fa503c.jpg

Fig 2

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f8/ed/9d/f8ed9dcd6a25f3f730e4b0c4e0da4f95.jpg

Fig 3

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/2/2b/Super_Duper_Mart_front_view.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110628001952

Fig 4

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eWhdbtey4s4/maxresdefault.jpg