Spheres of action, we covered some of the Vladamir Propp's theories on narritive
An extract of his 31elements to narrative, we looked at different games that this applied to.
-The Villain
-The donor
-The Helper
-The Princess/father
-The dispatcher
-The Hero
-The falso hero
Our group which looked at Folklore for a previous assignment applied this theory to this game:
-The Villain: Netherworld
-The donor: The Cloak
-The Helper: Belgae, Scarecrow
-The Princess/father: Mother, caller
-The dispatcher: Whoever wrote the note, Caller
-The Hero: Ellen, Keats
-The falso hero: Scarecrow
To see if it worked with other games we picked out, Final Fantasy I, Golden Sun and Silent Hill 2
FFI
-The Villain: Chaos
-The donor: Cosmos
-The Helper: Cid
-The Princess/father: Crystals
-The dispatcher:Crystals
-The Hero: Warriors of light
-The falso hero:Garland
Golden Sun
-The Villain: Alex
-The donor: Alex, various
-The Helper: Alex, Kraden, Djinn
-The Princess/father: The world, Parents
-The dispatcher: The Wise one, Alex, Saturos,Menardi
-The Hero: Issac, Felix
-The falso hero: Alex, Felix (1st game)
Silent Hill 2 Proved to be the most interesting.
-The Villain: James
-The donor: James
-The Helper:James, Pyramid Head, Laura
-The Princess/father: James, Mary?
-The dispatcher: James, Mary- initally shown to be
-The Hero: James
-The falso hero:James
As answering each section for Silent Hill it brcame more and more apparent that James suprisingly Fit every subject.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Looking at the Characters of Silent Hill
To start with I will be examining the main character of the game, James Sunderland. He is the games protagonist; however he also serves as the antagonist in a way. This fact isn’t really noticed unless it’s really looked into. James is the anti-hero on the basis of he was repressing the memory of actually killing his wife, he instead lead himself to believe that his wife died 3 years ago due to the disease she was suffering from.
He is working against himself, which I find really interesting. He is the antagonist, protagonist and in a sense the ‘princess’ that is meant to be saved.
http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/James_Sunderland
Before going over the other characters it should be pointed out that every character James meets along the way seems to each represent a part of James psyche; which I found fascinating as it made the small amount of characters that are in it even more integral to the plot.
The character I started analysing first was Maria, as she is essentially the heroine of sorts to the game, she is also one of the most in depth characters I found.
Maria’s link to James psyche is without a doubt his desire and longing for his wife; her appearance also further emphasises that the game does revolves around James sexual repression. As the game progresses it appears as though Maria is beggining to suffer for the same ailment as James' late wife.
She is essenttially a bit question mark to the game as, the player is always skeptical whether Maria is real or not.
http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Laura
Next to Maria, Laura is probably the most important side character in the game as she is the only other person who actually knows Mary ( his deceased wife), She is bratty and blunt, however most interactions with her makes the player question Mary’s death.
Laura is essentially the voice of reason, the truth that James is seeking out. James’ whole reason for going to Silent Hill is to clarify whether or not his wife is actually dead.
Another interesting fact about Laura is that she seems to not see the monsters nor Maria, due to her being such an innocent of mind, she see the town how it really is.
The first character met in the game, Angela is a strange character, she’s a teenager looking for her ‘Mama’ and the rest of her family. James meets her just before entering Silent Hill, she warns him of the town.
She is definitely suffering from psychological instability, foremost being a manic depressive; one scene she is see wielding a bloody knife – it is strongly implied she is trying to kill herself.
I had a bit of trouble breaking down what Angela could represent, what I managed to come up with was that she was James’ need to be punished, his guilt and fear; she also possibly represents the comfort James wishes to seek out.
Angela frequently apologises during many conversations, mentioning it was ‘her fault’, It isn’t directly mentioned, however but it appears as though Angela also killed her father; Making her and James even more relatable to each other.
Finally there is Eddie; his initial meeting is possibly the most memorable, throwing up in a toilet.
From the word go the audience know Eddie is a coward. I made the assumption from this, Eddie is James whole running away from the problem. James doing so by repressing the memory of killing his wife.
Although with Eddie he takes it to more of an extreme and outright denies killing a man and a dog, although still mentioned that fact he fled from the police to Silent Hill.
To begin with Eddie is merely seen as a coward, as the game progresses he gets much more extreme and violent; I think this puts some perspective in James’ eyes, that he needs to be more rational and that his own actions in that past can’t be absolved be ignoring it.
Along with is that the multiple ending also correspond with each character.
For instance, the ‘correct’ ending, the ‘Leave’ ending is Laura, James overcomes his problems and leaves the town with Laura
‘In water’ ending is representative of Angela, James is begging for his wife’s forgiveness still unable to let her go, who appears to commit suicide after that.
‘Maria’ ending is, actually Eddie, his dead wife blamed him for killing her, however he dismisses it and leaves with Maria, who is miraculously alive again; she starts coughing- showing James is just going to go through the same events once again.
‘Rebirth’ is Maria, throughout the game the player collects items to help resurrect Mary.
He is working against himself, which I find really interesting. He is the antagonist, protagonist and in a sense the ‘princess’ that is meant to be saved.
http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/James_Sunderland
Before going over the other characters it should be pointed out that every character James meets along the way seems to each represent a part of James psyche; which I found fascinating as it made the small amount of characters that are in it even more integral to the plot.
The character I started analysing first was Maria, as she is essentially the heroine of sorts to the game, she is also one of the most in depth characters I found.
Maria’s link to James psyche is without a doubt his desire and longing for his wife; her appearance also further emphasises that the game does revolves around James sexual repression. As the game progresses it appears as though Maria is beggining to suffer for the same ailment as James' late wife.
She is essenttially a bit question mark to the game as, the player is always skeptical whether Maria is real or not.
http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Laura
Next to Maria, Laura is probably the most important side character in the game as she is the only other person who actually knows Mary ( his deceased wife), She is bratty and blunt, however most interactions with her makes the player question Mary’s death.
Laura is essentially the voice of reason, the truth that James is seeking out. James’ whole reason for going to Silent Hill is to clarify whether or not his wife is actually dead.
Another interesting fact about Laura is that she seems to not see the monsters nor Maria, due to her being such an innocent of mind, she see the town how it really is.
The first character met in the game, Angela is a strange character, she’s a teenager looking for her ‘Mama’ and the rest of her family. James meets her just before entering Silent Hill, she warns him of the town.
She is definitely suffering from psychological instability, foremost being a manic depressive; one scene she is see wielding a bloody knife – it is strongly implied she is trying to kill herself.
I had a bit of trouble breaking down what Angela could represent, what I managed to come up with was that she was James’ need to be punished, his guilt and fear; she also possibly represents the comfort James wishes to seek out.
Angela frequently apologises during many conversations, mentioning it was ‘her fault’, It isn’t directly mentioned, however but it appears as though Angela also killed her father; Making her and James even more relatable to each other.
Finally there is Eddie; his initial meeting is possibly the most memorable, throwing up in a toilet.
From the word go the audience know Eddie is a coward. I made the assumption from this, Eddie is James whole running away from the problem. James doing so by repressing the memory of killing his wife.
Although with Eddie he takes it to more of an extreme and outright denies killing a man and a dog, although still mentioned that fact he fled from the police to Silent Hill.
To begin with Eddie is merely seen as a coward, as the game progresses he gets much more extreme and violent; I think this puts some perspective in James’ eyes, that he needs to be more rational and that his own actions in that past can’t be absolved be ignoring it.
Along with is that the multiple ending also correspond with each character.
For instance, the ‘correct’ ending, the ‘Leave’ ending is Laura, James overcomes his problems and leaves the town with Laura
‘In water’ ending is representative of Angela, James is begging for his wife’s forgiveness still unable to let her go, who appears to commit suicide after that.
‘Maria’ ending is, actually Eddie, his dead wife blamed him for killing her, however he dismisses it and leaves with Maria, who is miraculously alive again; she starts coughing- showing James is just going to go through the same events once again.
‘Rebirth’ is Maria, throughout the game the player collects items to help resurrect Mary.
Making of Silent Hill 2 DVD
To start with my research for the presentation I thought it best to start with watching the dvd with interviews from the creators.
"Silence is also a sound." Akira Yamaoka
Environments-
Repulsion and attraction
Their aim was to keep an aura of mystery in the enviroments, by making the city appear larger than imagined it gives as sense of isolation, emphasised due to the severe lack of people.
When first starting out creating the game the starting point in the game; the public toilets was the yard stick for the whole image of the town. It was the first room created, giving birth to the style of the game.
One of following areas was also an interesting key focus was the forest path leading to cemetery which leads to the town. They made it so the path was so long to the cemetery that the player wouldn't want to turn back, the fog covering the way back almost immedietly after taking a step.
A noise filter was applied to the whole game also added to the overall gubby image.
Characters-
"The main character doesnt essentially have the main role."
For the characters the dvd mainly looked at Maria, the 'heroine', she was created to have some ambiguity to her.
"Heroines are perfect." The intention with Maria is that she isn't pefect, Human characters have bad points as well as good, it makes them more real.
Monsters-
The aim with the monsters design was that they'd have a deformed human shape; the player would think its human.
"...Undermine this human aspect by giving them weird movements"
One of the artists mentioned when looking at people. "...Mannerisms, walk of drunk people or young children tentatively walking."
Pyramid head, with his desgin the artists aim was to have something with a hidden face.
He originally had a distorted face, however it was essentially just a man with a mask. This brought them to a triangle shaped helmet, with the shape of the triangle showing that it would cause the wearer pain.
Music-
"...Conveingly melancholy."
"...challenge your imagination, as if the sounds are getting under your skin." The composer, Akira Yamaoka wanted to draw a physical reaction from the player with the sound, making the player feel uneasy and apprehensive of their next moves.
Psychological-
A key element to the game, the team brainstormed over the human mind and heart; uncovering humans core motivation, their reason for living; their answers being sex and death.
This ironcially brings back to Maria, "...Icy cold, like death, to suddenly sensual
Silent hill 2 revolves around the human psyche.
Prison Scene-
This scene is possibly one of the most effective moments in the game, the emotional ambiguity really plays with the players and James' emotions.
James finds Maria behind prison bars, as the conversation between the two of them progresses the player begins to question whether it’s Mary of Maria behind those bars. “...Maybe she is Mary.” However the rug is pulled from under the player as she suddenly switches back to Marias old self.
What is also interesting about this scene is that this room makes it look like both Maria and James are in prison.
"Silence is also a sound." Akira Yamaoka
Environments-
Repulsion and attraction
Their aim was to keep an aura of mystery in the enviroments, by making the city appear larger than imagined it gives as sense of isolation, emphasised due to the severe lack of people.
When first starting out creating the game the starting point in the game; the public toilets was the yard stick for the whole image of the town. It was the first room created, giving birth to the style of the game.
One of following areas was also an interesting key focus was the forest path leading to cemetery which leads to the town. They made it so the path was so long to the cemetery that the player wouldn't want to turn back, the fog covering the way back almost immedietly after taking a step.
A noise filter was applied to the whole game also added to the overall gubby image.
Characters-
"The main character doesnt essentially have the main role."
For the characters the dvd mainly looked at Maria, the 'heroine', she was created to have some ambiguity to her.
"Heroines are perfect." The intention with Maria is that she isn't pefect, Human characters have bad points as well as good, it makes them more real.
Monsters-
The aim with the monsters design was that they'd have a deformed human shape; the player would think its human.
"...Undermine this human aspect by giving them weird movements"
One of the artists mentioned when looking at people. "...Mannerisms, walk of drunk people or young children tentatively walking."
Pyramid head, with his desgin the artists aim was to have something with a hidden face.
He originally had a distorted face, however it was essentially just a man with a mask. This brought them to a triangle shaped helmet, with the shape of the triangle showing that it would cause the wearer pain.
Music-
"...Conveingly melancholy."
"...challenge your imagination, as if the sounds are getting under your skin." The composer, Akira Yamaoka wanted to draw a physical reaction from the player with the sound, making the player feel uneasy and apprehensive of their next moves.
Psychological-
A key element to the game, the team brainstormed over the human mind and heart; uncovering humans core motivation, their reason for living; their answers being sex and death.
This ironcially brings back to Maria, "...Icy cold, like death, to suddenly sensual
Silent hill 2 revolves around the human psyche.
Prison Scene-
This scene is possibly one of the most effective moments in the game, the emotional ambiguity really plays with the players and James' emotions.
James finds Maria behind prison bars, as the conversation between the two of them progresses the player begins to question whether it’s Mary of Maria behind those bars. “...Maybe she is Mary.” However the rug is pulled from under the player as she suddenly switches back to Marias old self.
What is also interesting about this scene is that this room makes it look like both Maria and James are in prison.
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Presentation research
For my presentation I am most likely going to look into coherant worlds of horror games.
How everything is intergral, the characters and the environments must work together to create an atmospheres that scares the player and character.
I more so want to look at how powerful a character can be for a player, as in how relateable they are and similar traits. For that I will predominately look at the main characters for the 'Silent Hill' series.
How everything is intergral, the characters and the environments must work together to create an atmospheres that scares the player and character.
I more so want to look at how powerful a character can be for a player, as in how relateable they are and similar traits. For that I will predominately look at the main characters for the 'Silent Hill' series.
franchises
The franchise I looked at to pick 5 iconic elements was the original Spyro games.
1. Purple.
Spyro's one outstanding feature was that he was purple. The purple and yellow were the trademark colour scheme, it is the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning Spyro.
2. Dragonfly.
Spyro is never seen without his dragonfly Sparx, it is ironic that the thing that serves as Spyro's health bar has achieved a character for itself.
3. "Thank you for releasing me."
This one phrase is said so many times it is essentially a catchphrase for the dragons in the first game, the installment after the first game played off of this phrase by having another character saying it, it was suprisingly nostalgic.
4.Egg theives.
These blue hooded theives were the bane of my life, they had an irritatingly taunting laugh that made you want to chase them to the ends of the earth but they were by no means easy to catch; and that satisfaction the player feels when catching one is massively triumphant. Until another one pops up.
5. The exploration.
One thing I loved about the old Spyro games was the suprising amount of freedom they had. You were somehwhat restricted due to plot devices, like bosses but aside from that you were pretty much free to do what you want.
The immersion the game has isn't really plot immersion, however that plot for the games are usually more entertaining; not usually over serious. This is particularly applied to the first game.
All the dragons are trapped in stone due to one of the dragons offending the antagonist Gnasty Gnorc (By calling him ugly.), save for Spyro. Game starts from there.
With this the relationship between the main character and the goal it is purely to save your race, that is a about a much detail that can be pointed out.
1. Purple.
Spyro's one outstanding feature was that he was purple. The purple and yellow were the trademark colour scheme, it is the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning Spyro.
2. Dragonfly.
Spyro is never seen without his dragonfly Sparx, it is ironic that the thing that serves as Spyro's health bar has achieved a character for itself.
3. "Thank you for releasing me."
This one phrase is said so many times it is essentially a catchphrase for the dragons in the first game, the installment after the first game played off of this phrase by having another character saying it, it was suprisingly nostalgic.
4.Egg theives.
These blue hooded theives were the bane of my life, they had an irritatingly taunting laugh that made you want to chase them to the ends of the earth but they were by no means easy to catch; and that satisfaction the player feels when catching one is massively triumphant. Until another one pops up.
5. The exploration.
One thing I loved about the old Spyro games was the suprising amount of freedom they had. You were somehwhat restricted due to plot devices, like bosses but aside from that you were pretty much free to do what you want.
The immersion the game has isn't really plot immersion, however that plot for the games are usually more entertaining; not usually over serious. This is particularly applied to the first game.
All the dragons are trapped in stone due to one of the dragons offending the antagonist Gnasty Gnorc (By calling him ugly.), save for Spyro. Game starts from there.
With this the relationship between the main character and the goal it is purely to save your race, that is a about a much detail that can be pointed out.
characterisation
The presentation covered 'Pip' from 'Great Expectations and the protagonist from 'Fable'; along with the Difference between characterisation and the true character; characterisation being what the outward appearnces are of the character, what is initally seen. The true character however is how they act, the choices they make and why, it is something that can only really be shown if the player/reader is willing to go through their story.
How the character in Fable progressively gets older, gains battle scars; depending on how the player goes about their playthrough. 'Protagonist' is the blank slate character, his journey and experiences are dependant on the player; the player is the hero and the author; they create the story for this hero and they themselves are the hero.
The name 'Pip' implies he is a pip, seed which will grow into something bigger.His real name is never mentioned and his title progresses to Mr.Pip.
He is in a similar light, the same as protagonist from Fable, he is seeing the potiential and making something of it, he is the hero.
How the character in Fable progressively gets older, gains battle scars; depending on how the player goes about their playthrough. 'Protagonist' is the blank slate character, his journey and experiences are dependant on the player; the player is the hero and the author; they create the story for this hero and they themselves are the hero.
The name 'Pip' implies he is a pip, seed which will grow into something bigger.His real name is never mentioned and his title progresses to Mr.Pip.
He is in a similar light, the same as protagonist from Fable, he is seeing the potiential and making something of it, he is the hero.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Creating co-herant worlds
Interactivity is key to games core mechanics
For instance, in the lesson we looked into 2 different games in groups, one set in the past and the other in the future. What the differences they held and the ways they are executed.
For the game set in the past we chose Red Dead Redemption, a western setting.
Features that were pointed out in this game was the accuracy of the weponary for it's time period, along with that the environment, which is evident that it was the focus for this game due to it being free exploration; the towns in particular can immedietly be seen as a western setting. The freedom that the game allows also makes it even more so a convincing western game, cowboys do what they want, when they want sort of vibe.
Modes of transportation also reflected the time period as viturally everything at that point went down to travelling by horse.
The people that you interact with in the game also help with the setting; they way they talk to you, their accents; which we also mentioned the voice acting definately aided this area of the world of Red Dead.
Law in the game is also kept historically correct, political posistions and so forth as well; for instance the posistion of Sheriff is held mainly to Western set situations.
For the future setting, we looked at Dead Space.
Unlike Red Dead Redemption, this game has the freedom of what they can do with the whole setting as it is in the future, there's nothing holding them back with ideas as opposed to a historically correct game.
However with futuristic settings more often than not mean the genre is sci-fi.
For instance, in the lesson we looked into 2 different games in groups, one set in the past and the other in the future. What the differences they held and the ways they are executed.
For the game set in the past we chose Red Dead Redemption, a western setting.
Features that were pointed out in this game was the accuracy of the weponary for it's time period, along with that the environment, which is evident that it was the focus for this game due to it being free exploration; the towns in particular can immedietly be seen as a western setting. The freedom that the game allows also makes it even more so a convincing western game, cowboys do what they want, when they want sort of vibe.
Modes of transportation also reflected the time period as viturally everything at that point went down to travelling by horse.
The people that you interact with in the game also help with the setting; they way they talk to you, their accents; which we also mentioned the voice acting definately aided this area of the world of Red Dead.
Law in the game is also kept historically correct, political posistions and so forth as well; for instance the posistion of Sheriff is held mainly to Western set situations.
For the future setting, we looked at Dead Space.
Unlike Red Dead Redemption, this game has the freedom of what they can do with the whole setting as it is in the future, there's nothing holding them back with ideas as opposed to a historically correct game.
However with futuristic settings more often than not mean the genre is sci-fi.
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