Finding of the week #129

Veröffentlicht am 5. September 2015 von Sebbi

Telling a story

During my ongoing literature review I often discover interesting facts about things I’ve never thought about. Sometimes I can connect these facts with my own observations: The result is mostly a completely new idea why things are as they are. Maybe these ideas are new to you, too. Therefore I’ll share my new science based knowledge with you!

This week: This time, I think about the entertaining aspects of creating Let’s Play videos and telling a coherent story across multiple episodes.

Since the last days of October 2013, I am creating so-called Let’s Play videos (LP). Creating an LP is a special form of playing a computer game as the player is commenting and recording the own gameplay. Therefore, the resulting video shows the computer game’s content that is extended by an additional story.

The most interesting and entertaining part of creating an LP instead of just playing the computer game comes from the fact that this method allows me to tell a unique story. Naturally, the uniqueness of the story depends on the game itself as an open world game provides more freedom than a linear story based game. However, it is still possible to create a unique LP about a story based game as each player can approach certain events in the game in a completely different way and thus add a unique story layer to the gameplay.

Open world games, however, are perfect to tell a story as they do not feature a predetermined story and thus surprise the players with unforeseen events. Furthermore, open world games do not have a clear goal and allow the players to set their own goals and try to achieve them. These two features can be used to tell a unique story as the player can choose a goal and document the own actions that are necessary in order to achieve the selected goal.

All the unforeseen events that take place during this time are the basis for the narration. During the gameplay, the player has to react to those random events and thus a new entertaining story begins. Moreover, some of the random events can distract the player from the main goal and tell a story-within-the-story. In the case of a very ambitious goal, it is even possible that the unique LP story becomes a vast narrative.

In the end, all the small episodes are connected by the overall goal that was set by the player and hence they become a coherent story that was surprising to the player and to the viewers of the resulting LP episodes.

Finding of the week #128

Veröffentlicht am 29. August 2015 von Sebbi

Morale issues

This week: This time, I think about the great potential of computer games to present and discuss morale issues.

During the gameplay of a computer game, players frequently have to make choices in order to proceed with the game. Depending on the type of the game, those decisions can have a significant impact on the story and/or the player’s progression and, as a result of this, the game becomes more entertaining as choices do matter. The importance of choices is even enhanced by the fact that the virtual worlds are highly immersive and thus feel real to the players. Especially role-playing games (RPG) benefit from a system that allows the players to make important choices as it enhances the immersive feeling of being part of the virtual world.

For example, during the gameplay of the Mass Effect [1] trilogy, players frequently have to make important decisions that will have an impact on the whole story. In one of the core missions of the first game, the player has to choose between one of two squad members as there is only enough time to save one of them. The decision made during this mission has an impact on the rest of the trilogy’s story as one of the both squad members will die and hence the story connected to this person will not be available for the player during this playthrough.

The system of decision making can even be used to confront players with morale issues and to allow them to test their own morale values. During the gameplay of such a game, players can train morale decision making by analyzing morale and immorale effects of the potential actions. Furthermore, they will get a feedback about the outcomes of their decisions and thus can evaluate the morality of their actions.

Aside from actively demanding a morale decision, computer games can also raise ethical questions by presenting controversial topics. Recently, I have completed the computer game „Hacknet“ [2] that puts the player into the role of a hacker who has to break into computer systems in order to complete missions and finally to learn about the fate of one of his friends. During the gameplay, the player has to accept a mission that requires the sabotage of a patient’s pacemaker, as the patient is hospitalized and has been denied the option of death although he asked for it. Due to the morale issues that are raised during the mission, the player can deny the request and is not required to complete the contract. However, accepting the mission is the only way to get the IP address of a server where an important hacking tool is stored and thus the player gets introduced to the topic of euthanasia even if he decides to abandone the contract after having downloaded the important software.

Hacknet – Project Junebug

The game itself does not continue to discuss the topic of euthanasia, but it will stick in the player’s head and make him think about the morale issues of active euthanasia. Additionally, the game also raises questions about the storage of medical data and the technological advancements of sensible instruments as the player has to hack a medical database in order to find the IP address of the patient’s pacemaker which has a constant access to the internet in order to be updated.

Moreover, the player can start to think about his assignment and the way how he solves the request. At first, the player receives an e-mail that contains all the important information, but he never meets someone in person. Furthermore, the player searches for the IP address in a medical database, but there is no guarantee that this entry is correct. Finally, the player sabotages the pacemaker via a short console command and remotely ends the life of someone else. In the end, the player has to test the own morale values and think about the own reasons for completing the contract.

Computer games are an ideal environment for presenting and discussing morale issues as the immersion makes them feel real. Additionally, the player immediately receives feedback about the own actions and has to deal with results. In the end, computer games can help the players to morally analyze problems and to practice their morale decision making in a safe environment [3].

Finding of the week #127

Veröffentlicht am 22. August 2015 von Sebbi

The rewarding effects of trial and error

This week: This time, I think about the rewarding effects of improving a design by trial and error in a computer game.

In some computer games, players can design their own vehicles [1], factories [2] or cities [3]. The design process itself mostly requires a lot of testing and redesign in order to achieve great outcomes. Although it can be quite frustrating to deal most of the time with issues of the own design, this part of the gameplay can be also really rewarding when the idea has become reality and is working without any flaws. For instance, creating a perfect infrastructure in Cities: Skylines that does not cause too much congestion can be quite difficult, but as soon as the player has solved all the issues and can observe the flowing traffic, he feels really rewarded and is proud of the own accomplishment.

However, the design game mechanics do have a very important requirement: they need to be based on strict rules which can be learned by playing the game and more importantly by analyzing the own failures. Moreover, it is very important that the players are provided with tools in order to diminish certain failures once they have understood the underlying principles. For example, constructing a reliable aircraft in Kerbal Space Program (KSP) is one of the more complex challenges in the game. The main reason for the difficulty lies in the laws of nature that are simulated in the game.

During the design process, players have to keep these laws of nature in mind in order to construct a functioning airplane. One of the main difficulties to construct an airplane is to find the right balance between the center of mass and the center of lift of the aircraft. Only if the aircraft is well balanced under all conditions, it will perform well during an actual flight. In order to achieve such a balance, the player is provided with tools that show the center of mass and the center of lift. Furthermore, the player is able to adjust the amount of fuel in the fuel tanks in order to simulate the change in the center of mass due to the fuel consumption during the flight.

The indications for the center of mass and center of lift are enabled.

New players have to develop an understanding for the principles and the balance between these two main factors before they can build capable vehicles. This learning process involves a lot of trial and error as they have to experience the effects of changing the airplane’s balance. After each test flight, they can evaluate the effects of the changes they have made to their designs and learn from their mistakes. Over time, they will develop a basic understanding of the underlying principles that will help them to finally construct their first stable aircraft. Furthermore, due to the fact that KSP is based on the laws of nature, players can even look up additional aerospace knowledge in order to improve their design skills.

Personally, I find the game mechanic of constructing own vehicles very rewarding. It is interesting to observe how the initial idea for a vehicle gets improved over time due to the effects of the laws of nature. The most rewarding moment is when a certain vehicle finally performs as desired after a long development and testing period. This moment makes me realize what I have accomplished and how much I have improved my initial design. Recently, I was developing a new spaceplane that can take off from a runway, reach orbit and finally land back at the same runway without jettison any parts. The main challenge for me was to find the right amount of fuel and the right amount of engines to propel my spaceplane. The more fuel I added to the airplane, the more engines it needed. On the flipside, more engines require more fuel and so I was doing many test flights in order to find the right balance. Finally, as I achieved orbit for the very first time, I was really proud of my work and felt really rewarded.

Finding of the week #126

Veröffentlicht am 15. August 2015 von Sebbi

The importance of a quiet and comfortable workplace

This week: This time, I think about the importance of a good workplace in order to be productive.

Writing is a very demanding task as the author has to be fully focussed on the writing process in order to convert the own thoughts into written passages. Structuring and experessing the own knowledge is very demanding for the human brain as it has to extract the meaning and finally to express it in an understandable way. Furthermore, the demand for brain power increases when the topic becomes more complex and/or abstract as it is mostly the case in scientific writing. For the purpose of productive writing, it is absolutely necessary that the brain can fully focus on the task and does not get distracted by other events taking place around the writer. Moreover, the writer himself should feel comfortable as feeling not well can result in a reduced concentration.

In this case, it is very important to have a quiet and comfortable workplace in order to be productive. In general, a good workplace will increase the productivity as the author will not be distracted by other events and thus can fully concentrate on the writing without being in danger of losing focus. In such a productive environment, the writer can dive into the work and potentially get into some kind of flow that will keep him motivated to continue the writing process.

However, it is very easy to lose focus while writing as even the smallest distraction can reduce the required amount of brain power and disturb the process. In other words, a phone call, a playing radio or even a loud noise can disturb the writing process as the brain will automatically allocate some brain power to analyze the event. In this case, it is necessary to eliminate all potential distractions at the workplace in order to be productive.

Unfortunately, I had some issues with my workplace during the last weeks and thus all my scientific writing came to an abrupt hold. Normally, I can keep my workplace quiet and I feel very comfortable sitting at my desk. However, both conditions were no longer met during the last weeks as my region experienced a very hot summer period and thus my workplace was everything but comfortable. Aside from the heat, the silence of my workplace was disturbed by two large excavators that were demolishing the building on the other side of the street.

A noisy workplace

It might be true that science will never sleep, but science can be disturbed by unforeseen events …

Finding of the week #125

Veröffentlicht am 8. August 2015 von Sebbi

Utilizing modifications to telll a unique story

This week: This time, I think about the utilization of modifications in order to tell a unique story.

A ‚Let’s Play‘ video (LP) [1] documents the progression of a player through a video game and adds an additional narration to the gameplay as the player comments on the own actions and the game’s story. Depending on the type of the game being played, the resulting video can have many forms. An LP of a story based game mostly documents the player’s progression through the game, whereas an LP of an open world game can also be used in order to tell a unique story.

A story based game already features a story and does not allow the players to deviate from the story in order to experience something unique. In contrast to those games, open world games do not offer a pre-determined story, thus providing an empty canvas to the players [2]. During their gameplay, players can explore those virtual worlds and experience a unique story no one else has experienced before. Using open world games for the purpose of creating an LP series is especially rewarding as each LP tells a different story and, as a result of this, differentiates LP series about the same game.

Although each LP of an open world game tells a unique story, all the LPs do have one thing in common: they are based on the same game, hence the environment and characters mostly look the same. This minor flaw, however, can be deminished by utilizing some modifications [3] that allow a greater customization of the game world and, as a result of this, allow the creators to create a completely unique story. Additionally, some modifications allow the implementation of custom textures, thus giving the game world and the characters a new appearance. Vested content creators even can create personalized textures in order to emphasize their narrations.

The emergence of open world games that allow the utilzation of modifications resulted in the phenomenon that one game can tell an endless amount of stories. Moreover, vested content creators can utilize these games as an empty canvas to create a unique narration.

Finding of the week #124

Veröffentlicht am 1. August 2015 von Sebbi

Modifications

This week: This time, I think about the categorization of game modifications.

Many computer games feature a modification support and thus can be modified in various ways by the players in order to enhance the game’s functionality, change the game’s audiovisual impression or to add new contents to it. Aside from the fact that this approach allows the players to personalize their gameplay and to experience a unique story, it also greatly increases the replayability of the game. In general, modifications can be classified in three different categories.

The first category does not change the gameplay, but adds useful features that are not part of the original game. Additionally, this category includes modifications that changes the audiovisual impression of the game. On the one hand, these modifications usually help the players to play the game in a more efficient way by displaying additional information, such as statistics about the player’s status, performance and progression, or by adding additional camera modes that provide the players with a better overview. For instance, most of the World of Warcraft modifications allow the players to display additional information about their performance or to reallocate all the user interface elements in order to play the game in a more efficient way. On the other hand, these modifications also allow the players to personalize the visual appearance of the game by exchanging the textures and/or models that are used in the game. For example, Minecraft features a lot of texture packs and allows the players to create custom skins for their avatars.

The second modification category changes and/or enhances the gameplay of the game by modifying the settings and/or the balance of it. Additionally, modifications of this category even add new elements to the game that allow the players to perform new interactions with the game world. For example, some of the Kerbal Space Program (KSP) modifications add new parts to the game that allow the players to perform completely new experiments or to build more enhanced vehicles. The KSP modification ‚Remote Tech‘ even adds the feature of radio communication to the game. Players who use this modification are required to establish a satellite network that relays radio communication signals in order to constantly control a robotic mission.

The third modification category does not alter the gameplay of the original game. Instead, modifications belonging to this category utilze the core functionalities of the game in order to create a completely new game that has no connection to the original content. Players of these modifications experience a completely new gameplay and new game mechanics. Popular examples of this category are Counter Strike and Day Z.

Finding of the week #123

Veröffentlicht am 25. Juli 2015 von Sebbi

Visualization of the own learning process

This week: This time, I think about how open world building games are a perfect environment to visualize the own learning progress.

Normally, I do not look up any information when I start to play a new game. The only thing I do is to take a look at the keybindings in order to get a basic idea about the things I can do in the game. Subsequently, I start to play it from scratch and to improve my gameplay based on the experiences I make. Depending on the genre of the game, this approach sometimes involves to start over again after having learned how to properly play the game. However, in the case of an open world (building) game, I often continue to play my very first game as the outcomes of the initial phase of my gameplay are an important part of my story in this particular game.

This approach is especially interesting when the game in question is an open world building game such as Minecraft or Cities: Skylines. During the gameplay of these two games, players can construct and design buildings and/or build even huge cities. All the time I start playing such a game for the first time, I start with a small project in order to gain my very first experiences with the game. After gained some experience and learned how to realize a project and solve issues, I move on to the next more ambitious project. Over time, my very first game world features a lot of different projects that represent the different phases of my gameplay and also act as a timeline of my learning process. Finally, I can begin to incorporate the earlier projects into later projects in order to create a well rounded environment which still shows my progression through the game.

Serious traffic issues in Cities: Skylines

Recently, I began to build my very first city in Cities: Skylines. During the gameplay of Cities: Skylines, players create gigantic cities by placing and connecting roads, creating building zones and establishing a solid infrastructure. As the city grows, the traffic becomes more and more the central game mechanic the players have to deal with. At first, many crossroads and intersections might look useful, but over time they will cause a serious congestion and, as a result of this, the players have to find more efficient solutions.

Trying out a different street layout

As I developed my very first virtual city, I learned how to deal with the virtual traffic the hard way. The oldest part of my city features many crossroads and has serious traffic issues. After I noticed the problem, I moved to a different location in the virtual world and built a new district with a more efficient street layout. At some point, however, the increased traffic also became a problem for this layout and so I learned from my mistakes and built a third city district. As my city growed, I began to connect the districts and to combine them into one huge city and thus my city shows my learning progress.

The highway helps to control the traffic

Personally, I think this visualization of the own learning progress throughout the gameplay is really motivating as it shows how we can get better, if we analyze issues and learn from our own mistakes. It can even help us to build up some confidence that mistakes are not necessarily a bad thing as we can learn from them. Moreover, especially in the case of a virtual city, the constant change in the layout makes everything look more natural and more interesting.

Finding of the week #122

Veröffentlicht am 18. Juli 2015 von Sebbi

Perception of speed

This week: This time, I think about how playing a realistic racing simulation can improve the player’s driving ability and perception of speed.

Computer games can train and improve our reaction time when certain game mechanics which demand a fast reaction on the player’s side are used. Subsequently, the players are constantly challenged to react in time during the gameplay, thus training their reaction time.

Recently, I made the observation that computer games can even alter the perception of speed. Over the course of two months, I was frequently playing Assetto Corsa [1][2] which is one of the most realistic racing simulations as it utilizes a very accurate physics engine and provides a photo-realistic visual representation of the virtual race events. During the game sessions, I gained a lot of racing experience with various race cars on various racetracks. The cars as well as the racetracks are realistic virtual versions of their real world counterparts, thus resulting in a very realistic and immersive simulation of race driving.

In most of the cases, I was trying to master a certain racetrack and a certain race car during so-called practice sessions. During these sessions, I was completely alone on the racetrack and tried to improve my lap times by figuring out the right braking points and the right speeds for each turn of the racetrack. Aside from learning the racetrack, I also trained my reaction time and my spatial attention as achieving a great lap time required the perfect execution of the racetrack which was especially challenging with high performance race cars that achieved a speed of more than 300 km/h on the straights. At those speeds, the right braking point lasted only for a fraction of a second as braking too early resulted in a slower lap time and braking too late could have resulted in a trip into the gravel.

Ferrari LaFerrari in Assetto Corsa

Over the course of those two months, I really got used to driving at these high speeds and the incredible performance of the race cars. Furthermore, the gained racing experience, the improved reaction time and the improved spatial attention led to the development of some kind of racing flow which helped me to intuitively control my race car.

Aside from practicing my racing skills, I also got used to drive at those high speeds. At the end of these two months, my normal cruising speed on the Autobahn felt really slow as my perception of speed has changed. Although regular driving seemed to be really slow, my racing experience made me feel much saver while driving as I was used to operate a car at much higher speeds in a very demanding environment.

In the end, I was able to transfer the knowledge I have learned in the racing simulation to the real world and, as a result of this, playing a realistic racing game can improve a driver’s driving ability. Unfortunately, all the racing experience can not prepare the player for the insanity on the roads that is caused by the other drivers.

Finding of the week #121

Veröffentlicht am 11. Juli 2015 von Sebbi

Iceland is absolutely spectacular! Amazing waterfalls, vast fields of gravel, colorful hot springs, high mountains and deep valleys are only a few of the things that can be discovered on this young part of our pale blue dot.