Impossible Choreographies

This exposition discusses the emergence of the database as a creative methodology, and key organising principle in the generation of a series of 3D digital animated artworks. Through detailed explication and demonstration of a complex creative process utilising a range of media formats including video, 3D model views, and interactive 3D, I aim to elucidate an intricate relationship between technology, process and artistic intent, framing this within relevant emergent critical frameworks around digital creative practice. This design strategy will enable the effective communication of some of the inherent qualities of 3D digital production, and the mapping of the operations of the ‘database’ as a pliable creative tool. Working directly into high-end 3D modelling and animation software, and taking the actions of a generic male figure as a point of departure, my animations are created in a modular fashion, building up units of performed movements, loops and cycles (both animated and motion-captured), creating a sometimes complex movement vocabulary. This recalls Lev Manovich’s notions of the database and the loop as engines of (non-linear) narrative in digital media work, in particular his principles of modularity, automation and variability as intrinsic to new media objects. In working with complex software tools I also acknowledge in the fabrication process what Rachael Kearney has termed the ‘synthetic imagination’, and Malcolm Le Grice’s conception of submerged authorship in the interaction with the ‘intelligent machine’ – the creative act as a collaboration with the embodied intellect of the software itself. Drawing on and remediating a range of sources including the photographic studies of Eadweard J. Muybridge, the choreography of Busby Berkeley, nineteenth century optical toys, and the contemporary digital video game, these works present figures which occupy a space between the animate and the inanimate, between automata (devices that move by themselves) and simulacra (devices that simulate other things).

The Musicality of 140: Tempo, Rhythm and Structure

This paper explores relationships between video games and music through a close reading of the minimalistic platform game 140 (Carlsen, 2014). Of particular interest to this investigation are concepts of tempo, rhythm and structure, and how these ideas can be extended to discuss the immediate case study as well as video games as a medium. Most importantly, this analysis is concerned primarily with these elements in a performative, spatio-temporal sense as opposed to an expression of sonic qualities. Comparisons between video games and other forms of media, while certainly valuable, can become problematic as the interactive nature of games is inherently unique. While cinema or literary texts can be seen as interactive, it is the explicit nature of the interactivity that games manifest which sets them apart from other disciplines. It is in this sense, that commonality can be found between games and music through the act of play. 140 facilitates a unique dialogue on this topic as it is a game that is intensely musical while also functioning outside of some of the precincts of traditional music games, providing a distinctive lens for analysis without being distracted by its own aesthetics. Evidence of this can be seen in the game’s design, aesthetics, mechanics and spatiality—a game where the player becomes part of a greater performance, enacting the musicality of space through play.

Enduring Design Challenges in Western Roleplaying Video Games

A roleplaying game (RPG) is a fuzzy class of video games that includes at least three quite different subclasses. This paper focuses on one of these subclasses, Western RPGs, which stand out for their focus on discovery and expression. It proposes a definition of a Western RPG as a video game that: encourages players to assume the part(s) of one or more virtual characters, in large open environments, with plentiful freedom of expression throughout game narratives. This definition is evaluated against archetypal Western RPGs and related genres. The paper further identifies three enduring challenges in Western RPG design: (1) bipolar morality scales, (2) quest distribution, (3) oversimplified difficulty scaling. Concrete suggestions for overcoming these challenges are provided.

The Ethos Framework: Generating Contextually Linked Dynamic Quests

In today’s video game market there are hundreds of massively multiplayer online games, many of which boast dynamic content—the content that responds to player’s actions and changes accordingly in runtime. Such content is not truly dynamic and is usually attributed to events on a timer. This presents a major flaw as it heavily affects the re-playability of a game. In this paper we examine four major frameworks: the TRUE STORY, Context Aware Petri Net, Hierarchical Generation, and The Grail Frameworks. These frameworks presented some very good ideas but they also suffered from drawbacks. We propose a new framework for creating dynamic content and called it the Ethos Framework. The Ethos Framework is based on four major components: Character, World State, Story, and Library, that will contribute towards the creation of dynamic content. The Ethos Framework takes the best pieces of current methods to create a unique practical design so that on every playthrough of a game the player has a genuinely unique experience.

An absurd re-ordering of game design through the possibilities of the database

This paper presents an alternative perspective in which to view creative generation and the practice of game design. A design research methodology incorporates sketch-based creative practice and the discussion of two theoretical frameworks: database and absurdity. The absurd is a rebellious embrace of a chaotic world, while the database is a new media structure for collecting, thinking and producing. These frameworks are competing yet complementary concepts that allow for exploration and ordering. The creative practice described within embodies a database compulsion: the process of sketching many rough ideas instead of perfecting a single idea; the creation of a toolbox of general components, expressions and universal units; the creation of work that is non-linear, repetitive and/or random. Emerging from this structure, and yet rebelling from established order, is the notion of the absurd. Using Steve Hodges’ notion of the digital absurd, a playful, absurd sensibility is proposed with the following qualities: unconvention; frustration; purposelessness; repetition. The practice of sketching, coupled with the frameworks of absurdity and database, demonstrates a new media and interdisciplinary approach of playful ordering and re-ordering, re-classifying and reframing of game design and idea creation.