Semester 2 Week 4 - Reading 4

Week 4 Reading 4

This will be very disappointing in terms of progress made...
Due a lot of confusion, fatigue and lack of clarity to the readings, little progress has been made in these few weeks. But thanks to Sam and his email containing a simplified explanation of the readings which really clears things up.

Under the criteria of this weeks readings, I did what I could with the information I currently have:

1. Regardless of aesthetic choice of realism or stylized, immersion is rather important whichever the case. One of a game's most important aspect is how immersive the world is and the art style can help the player sink deep into the world of the game. Realism give the world a down-to-earth, familiar feel while stylized, cartoonish art style creates the world in a different and abstract manner.

2. Fidelity with Realism: Like what I said in the post last week, the realistic look needs to be believable but not 'creepy' in order to make the world 'feel like home'. Same goes with stylized art style, if the art style is too abstract and feels like a drug-trip, unless that's the aesthetic choice you went for and designed around, it can turn off players as easy as the depth of the uncanny valley. Failing in both can make the world look messy and without pulling punches, repulsive. The game's world must be appealing as so to interest the player than to disgust them to prevent them from playing.



In order to approach the writing I need to structure the flow of the writing in some way. I currently have an approach I want to take:


First start with answering the research question of what the purpose of the world is in a video game: What draws in a player to the world of the game?

Story/lore, environment, characters, interactions and aesthetics, etc.

Next it's the aesthetic choice of a game with the main two being:
Realism vs Stylized (Realism vs Animation sounds weird.)

One leaning towards high definition graphics and real-looking models and world design.

The other leaning towards exaggeration, vibrant colours, stylized assets and characters, etc. which some may call cartoonish to some degree.

Both of these styles will be compared, their differences, feel and their purpose in the game they were used in.

This should be relatively how the paper will be structured. Obviously it will be subject to change but it's better than last week.
I still have some things that are still slightly muddled, but I have went through similar things before and I know what to do.

(Many thanks to Sam who wrote that life-saving email that made everyone's life a little easier.)


Zhen Li