CS mini presentation

How the genre has changed through improvements of technology.

Andre Agassi Tennis - Controls were difficult to execute properly. you needed to move to the ball aswell as aim the shot while also being pin point accurate. the AI would even struggle. It's almost a miracle to get a rally going.

sprite graphics 16 bit colour poor physics and hit detection

Sega mega drive, named to represent  superiority (Mega), and speed (Drive)

most popular games sidescrolling platformers like sonic and beat em ups all much easier because of the D-pad allowing for 8-directional movement and the 3 buttons for various attacks or moves.

Marketed using celebrities and innuendos "the more you play with it the harder it gets" obviously not a very family friendly joke. Word play - To be this good takes AGES, to be this good takes SEGA, this would probably be considered quite tacky now.

Andre Agassi Generation - Slick interface, fluid controls, and realistic gameplay

3d graphics, 32bit colour much more forgiving hit detection and more realistic physics

PS2 controller setting the standard right up into this generation for controls. extra joysticks and split-d-pad allow for much easier control and much more variety paving the way for nearly every genre of game available today.

Advertising campaign gave the impression that the console was a force to be reckoned with, serious, bold and overpowering, sleek tone to their ads.Down right creepy ads like the one featuring the girl with the incredibly disproportioned face. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF PLAYSTATION

Grand Slam Tennis - beautifully intuitive, surprisingly strong tennis game and an interesting evolution of the Wii controller too

realistic graphics, 32 bit colour hit detection is immaculate thanks to wii-motion-plus physics are nearly exactly the same as reality.

First console to ever fully embrace motion controls as the default. fitness titles and sports titles are amongst the most popular and sell incredibly well amongst children and adults.

Contrasting the PS2, the wii's advertising campaigns was a very bright and lively affair, family friendly and focusing on fun. It quite literally contrasted the PS2's very dark visuals with white being the dominant colour of the Wii ads.

Final note, the advancement and mass production of hard ware help create more powerful devices which enable more vibrant and interesting game possibilities.

Propp Presentation

Vladimir Propp - Morphology of the folk tale
The functions of dramatis personae - Spheres of action
7 Spheres -
1 The villain
2 Donor
3 Helper
4 Princess/Father
5 Dispatcher
6 Hero
7 False Hero

Propp says there's a privilege of function over the individuality of the character, they're all essentially tools in developing the story.

For our presentation concerning this we need to find a couple of games with strong narratives and analyse them in terms of Propp's list of functions.
We'll compare and contrast the two games in terms of their structure. The breif is as follows:
Consider the world of the game as a dramatis personae.
What spheres of actions would you assign to these two worlds and why?

We (Aaron and myself) chose the Portal universe, both Portal and Portal 2 and Alan Wake for this mini project.

We thoroughly investigated the functions of the two games and found the following:

1 ABSENTATION: A member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This may be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later need to rescue

2 INTERDICTION: 'don't go there', 'don't do this'). The hero is warned against some action

3 VIOLATION of INTERDICTION. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale). This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero.

4 RECONNAISSANCE: The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc.; or intended victim questions the villain). The villain (often in disguise) makes an active attempt at seeking information, for example searching for something valuable or trying to actively capture someone. They may speak with a member of the family who innocently divulges information. They may also seek to meet the hero, perhaps knowing already the hero is special in some way.
6 TRICKERY:

7 COMPLICITY: Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain.

8 VILLAINY or LACK: Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc., commits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments);
9 MEDIATION: Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc./ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment). The hero now discovers the act of villainy or lack, perhaps finding their family or community devastated or caught up in a state of anguish and woe.
10 BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action. The hero now decides to act in a way that will resolve the lack, for example finding a needed magical item, rescuing those who are captured or otherwise defeating the villain. This is a defining moment for the hero as this is the decision that sets the course of future actions and by which a previously ordinary person takes on the mantle of heroism.
11 DEPARTURE: Hero leaves home;
12 FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR: Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc., preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
13 HERO'S REACTION: Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against him);
14 RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
15 GUIDANCE: Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
16 STRUGGLE: Hero and villain join in direct combat;
18 VICTORY: Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
19 LIQUIDATION: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
20 RETURN: Hero returns;
21 PURSUIT: Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
22 RESCUE: Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
23 UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL: Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
25 DIFFICULT TASK: Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
26 SOLUTION: Task is resolved;
28 EXPOSURE: False hero or villain is exposed;
30 PUNISHMENT: Villain is punished;

Yellow highlights that the function belongs to that of Alan Wake

Blue highlights that the function belongs to the Portal universe

Purple highlights that the function is shared by both games.

CS - The role of robots in eastern/western culture.

Animism plays a key role in how the east has such an accepting policy on robots in their culture, this ancient belief that all objects have a spirit enables them to trust anything be it a robot, person, animal or rock to some degree.
This contrasts with the west's belief that only god can give life, so anything man-made will definitely not inherit any kind of personable features. It will be cold and lifeless, regardless of how well it behaves and how impressive it's disguise, no one will trust it as much as an easterner.
The west researches military applications for robots where as Japan researches much more heavily on the every day application of robots. The west prefer robots to be able to emotionally express themselves effectively where as the east doesn't care so much about whether they can do it realistically but care more about the actions they take and read into those for the emotional intent, despite there being none.

Having talked to people who watch anime quite avidly I rounded down my research into a few animes that feature robots and robotic themes.
I watched the entire series of Time of Eve (Ivu no Jikan) which essentially covers all bases of what he think the east and west represent when it comes to robot culture.
There are characters who don't trust or want anything to do with robots and there are people that absolutely love them and use them for companions. They have their own derogatory term for an android-holic which is Dori Kei. An android-holic will treat an android as though it were another person. Within the show there is a political group who are actively against this kind of behaviour. I think the use of androids in eastern culture is far more acceptable than in the west, because they actively research how to make androids more intelligent and lifelike in behaviour, where as in the west we aren't doing anything of the sort. The furthest we've come with any kind of human-like android application was when Disney created a robotic Einstein.
Within the show there are robots that are quite clearly robots, undisguised with metallic bodies, but there are also much more modern versions that are completely identical to a typical person appearance, the only way you know they're a robot is by the holographic halo above their heads. This plays a key role in the show as they enter places known as grey-zones where they are allowed to turn their halos off and behave as though they are humans to better their understand of us.

This series uses the 3 laws written by Isaac Asimov, that a robot must:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

These laws have been used in spirit in many productions. I, robot explores these laws in depth from a westerners point of view in a world where they are accepted by the majority. He's right to distrust the robots for the most part but one who has a mind of his own unlike any of the other robots gains the leads trust to overthrow the seemingly evil master computer that controls robots to seek out and destroy the lead as he is seen as a threat.

In both cases the laws were upheld by the robots but they took drastically different actions. One where humans would be locked away for their own good, and the other viewing that as oppression and an infringement of freedom.

No such disaster is present in Time of Eve but it certainly has very strong opinions on either side of the argument as to whether robots can be trusted, concluding with the opposite outcome to i, robot that they can be trusted and the morality circuits function perfectly well.

--Edit--

I'm now using Lee's research for the presentation, giving the research I've done to Aaron to support his part in the presentation.

This is a short clip from Time of Eve I recorded to support one of our points but didn't put in the presentation as it was quite long.

Sumo Q+A

They changed from gremlin to sumo and are sheffield based.
They've worked on licensed games like virtua tennis, doctor who etc.
Punk philosophy was a big influence in his behaviour, he admired the do it yourself attitude and lived his life by it, doing his own exhibitions, being sociable amongst potential clients.
The normal approach to the industry is to specialise in a platform, Iphone/Ipad
It's possible to teach yourself skills to publish your own titles on these kinds of platforms as they are much more simplistic.
In Sumo the team is roughly 50/50 art to programmer types.
Character development and story are very different things in gaming,
Narration is good as it's easy listening but it's often annoying if you accidentally skip it.
The Ui designers within Sumo are essentially graphic designers.
Advice to:
3D modellers- make relatable objects to better impress potential clients showing that you have a knack for realism.
2D- be informed about all types of styles and themes to impress clients.

Indie companies usualy form as a result of both an artist and programmer or other compatible roles that can accomplish finished products.

Within gaming it is often better to deal with emotions with actions rather than narrative which in essence create the narrative of the game.

The kinect was not really worth investing time into as it was so unpopular.

His most annoying gaming related thing is that the sega allstar game requires that every single studio who works on the characters must be contacted and shown the work of Sumo for the OK, this slows down the process and the changes the studios demand must be met otherwise the characters cannot be used.

CS Essay guidelines

Intro - What is the essay,  what research do i have, the roles i've chosen, the inconsistencies between different companies of what the job role requires.

1- describe role choices with citations
2- compare them
3- show how roles have developed using human resources information

Conclusion- are they what i expected, what do i need to be capable of to be hired.

bibliography

appendix- use this for dodging the word count, insert all quotations here.

Lo5- understanding major historical/culural references to games
Lo6- range of approaches to creative problem solving
Lo7- understand skills that are relevant to games.

Talk from Drew Castalia

http://hwstn.net/
http://www.hwstn.net/soultrader/bioware-guide.pdf
http://www.hwstn.net/soultrader/guava-bundle.pdf

He spoke of auteurs like the creator of the game Braid and his own game Heaven and Earth. The advantages of having things created by auteurs is that the overall feel of the game or film or what ever it is that's being produced is much more consistent. It often has a much more select audience than things that are created using tried and tested methods to achieve a maximum audience with little in the way of freedom.

Games he talked about:
The Dig, Avernum: Escape the pit, Exile, Braid, Heaven and Earth

He currently works at an apple shop and writes narrative in his spare time. So far he hasn't had a lot of success but that is to be expected when he doesn't quite fulfil his clients breifs in the way they'd like. He is somewhat fixated on stories that are realistically saddening as opposed to sensationalist stories that sell well.

12 basic principles of animation - within games

The first principle is squash and stretch. This basically means squashing and stretching an object within the animation so that the viewer can get a grip of how it behaves physically. Some objects volumes will not change when they are squashed, like balloons and balls as they can stretch. Sponges however will do little in the way of stretching when they squash because they are so hollow.


Squash and Stretch

A good example of how squash and stretch has been used in games is shown in this clip, where
A bad example of squash and stretch is in the game angry birds, the birds are completely static upon impact where they pop without the slightest hint of a realistic impact. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNNzRyd1xz0

Staging, Overlapping action, Secondary action

 - In this clip I have examples of staging (the cityscape), follow through and overlapping actions (making people stumble by running into them) along with secondary actions (the flapping of the tail of the coat). These are all in my opinion good examples of the 3 rules I have mentioned. What makes the tail of the coat such a good animation is the use of simulated physics that determine the animation of the cloth which is a far better judge than a person usually is.

Exaggeration

 - In this clip you can see that there is a complete lack of a real static turning animation, the feet just slide on the floor. This doesn't fall into any particular category but it just shows how the animators have neglected to animate a particular action. The sprinting animation however seems very laboured which may be a result of over exageration of how a person sprints. A good example of exageration is shown here in this clip of Saints Row: The Third - Every action is exagerated but not so much that it would be completely unbeleivable. The actions look as though a gymnast could perform them.

Saints Row: The Third -

Straight ahead action

As for a straight ahead actions as they are animated frame by rame a sprite animation would best be suited for this category. All of Terrarias animations are produced through animated sprites which are a pleasure to watch where as this jump animation from the NES game The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt seems to make very little sense and feels odd because of the strange pose the character makes while in mid-air.

Terraria -

Adams Family - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmgS0IAgav0#t=45s

Solid Drawing

I think that Shadow of the Colossus is the best contender for this as it has convincingly massive objects in the game. The very sluggish movement of the bosses makes them appear to be gigantic in scale, which of course they are relative to your character.
This is very unlike the transformer games where the large robots animate at alarming rates which make them seem to defy physics as they look as though they are made from very heavy metal. You can see right at the very beginning it near instantly transforms into a helicopter and brings the rotary blade up to speed in an instant which is down right ridiculous. This is completely unbeleivable but this may not be too high on the developers concern as it is meant to be like the movies, a spectacle of amazing speed and power.

Shadow of the Colossus - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1_lQ-go2o
Transformers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd-SXnTi5cU

Arcs

The animation within the Battlefield 3 game is very good concerning player movement with only 1 issue shown at the end where the player is able to rotate very quickly. This issue is only present on the PC because of the lightning fast speeds a mouse can provide. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHc_vFjijjE
One of the worsed games I can recall where the joints of the characters don't seem right is Giants: Citizen Kabuto - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sh_VuxYqBY
The characters legs don't seem to bend very well but instead jolt up and down when they walk. The elbows bend in all manner of directions and peoples feet don't seem grounded, they slip backward as the character doesn't keep up with the speed of the animation.

Timing

In Assasins Creed Revelations your characters animations are very fluid and seemingly plausible as a result of what i beleive to be good timing on the animators part.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlg9Lrzygtc&feature=youtu.be

Anticipation

In GTA4 the jump animations are delayed for realism in the animation where your character will take several steps to run into the jump to make it flow with the running animation. While standing still your character will bend at the knees to prepare for the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHZfI6-o30Q&feature=youtu.be

1000 word report

Word count 1052 not including title/references/conclusion heading

How and why have the military forces contributed to the video games industry?

I aim to find out exactly what the military contribute to the advancement of technologies used in the game industry as well as what they gain from their help.

Some notable recent technological advancements that have both helped the military and universities worldwide is the introduction of the cheap and effective body tracking equipment made by Microsoft, the Kinect.
The creation of the Battlefield 3 simulator, for channel 5’s The Gadget Show was the most advanced publicised simulator concerning foot soldier combat.

The basic necessity of a video game is to have a functioning computer. The first video games were very simplistic and were made from what was at the time a very simple circuit board with various components to give the player the capacity to control.
Computers were originally invented for military purposes in the 40s and 50s.

The US Army utilizes video games as a recruitment tool openly, with the development of the Americas Army game series. The game has had a huge number of players making it to the top 10 played shooters between 2002 and 2008. The game is a close representation of basic training with an online competitive mode. The amount of information about basic training within the game has attracted recruits and has reduced the number of drop outs significantly.
This is a serious game, one which entertains as well as giving the player insight and promoting behaviour which will help in, in this case training, education, and health objectives in the military.

The UK’s military has created a campaign for recruitment with both adverts and a flash game. The game has very simplistic 3d environments with very simple goals. The player has very few controls and the experience isn’t as polished as the fully fledged game made by the American Military. (The British Army, 2009)

Further training in the army can be risky to do in a combat situation which is why they utilise virtual reality to give the soldier an idea of what they will need to overcome. They are using game controllers to both train with and use bomb diffusing robots for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Robillard, 2011)

The video game industry is the most important industry for digital 3D as it is the biggest industry for the art form. This is mainly because most of all games are created with the intent of giving people a new environment to explore, which more often than not is best appreciated with as lifelike graphics as are available to the consumer. The military however don’t need mind blowing realism in visuals, although it does help with immersion.

For hardware to be cheaply available for the military there needs to be a lot of demand, from the consumer market. The demand for computer hardware rises as the world digitalises. People need more powerful computers year on year. It is this demand that keeps companies like Intel and AMD producing more and more powerful and efficient processors and graphics cards. The video games industry helps to feed this process by making demanding games, creating a constant need to upgrade. It isn’t just these industries that help keep costs low for the military, but a combination of many industries that support each other and help to create a more cost effective product. Profits rise and the cost of the product falls closer and closer to its production cost.

In medical training virtual reality workbenches are used to project 3d images of bodies so that the person training and the real medical staff can experience the operation properly. This way they can have a very natural feel to the operation.
The same workbenches are very good for military use as well because they can show the battlefield very accurately allowing for easy decisions to be drawn from the environment available. A good model of the battlefield will help reveal enemy encampments and potential bottlenecks.

In gaming virtual reality has played a part but it hasn’t been of a very good standard until recently. The earliest virtual reality kits were very basic with poor visuals due to very limited hardware, but now with cheaper much more powerful equipment 3D graphics has started to enter the mainstream. Nvidia’s 3D vision kits use very fast monitors to display the image of each eye successively very quickly switching between the two. The glasses worn are shutter glasses unlike the ones used in cinemas and the I-max. These glasses are powered and shut one lens at a time to give the illusion of a 3d image being produced.
The other main competitor in graphics equipment provide another way for better immersion in game in the form of Eyefinity which is a way of displaying one programs image across multiple displays. The most common use of this is in gaming where a player will have a much more extended peripheral vision giving them a much more pleasant experience and sometimes even an advantage over others in online play.

Virtual reality has proven useful in the aviation industry as it avoids the need to build several different prototypes. By using virtual reality, engineers and designers can work together to make virtual working models of planes and other aircraft in a virtual environment that simulated real life physics which means full sized models do not have to be made. This saves both time and money which means their designs can be even better in a much shorter time span. This technique has been utilised by NASA to create a helicopter and Boeing to make their latest aircraft. This method of production has made planes safer.

The military have turned to game companies to create training applications for their recruits. The goal of these is to produce an experience close enough to reality for the participant to remember key learning objective that can be applied to field practice. There is no intention of entertainment value for these programs so they lack story and levels, but they still need to keep the participant attentive. (McNamara, 2008)

Conclusion

The military forces have benefited greatly from utilising videogame software to both attract new recruits and train them, making a better, safer world. The popularity of first person shooters and their inherent militarised theme has made the people a lot more likely to think of the military as a viable career path.

References

The British Army (2009) Start Thinking Soldier Available from: <http://www.army.mod.uk/startthinkingsoldier>[Accessed 14 Nov 2011]

Robillard, Tracy. (2011) Picatinny advances EOD training with video game technology Available from: <http://www.army.mil/article/53259/>[Accessed 15 Nov 2011]

McNamara, Jennifer. (2008)Education and Training: Beyond Serious Gaming Defence management Journal, 41 Available from:

<http://www.defencemanagement.com/article.asp?id=342&content_name=Education%20and%20Training&article=10182> [Accessed 13 Nov 2011]

CS notes

Working title - How and why have the military forces contributed to the videogames industry.

1000 words 10% leneance each way.

Sub headings- History , Culture , Design

Bibliography - to be produced at the Harvard standard.

Document to be exported as PDF.

Quotes may be included but keep clear and concise as they contribute to the word count.

Group meeting with tutor, Harley and Jake about CS drafts. 17+18th November

10 points I found interesting in "I have no words i must design" written by Greg Costikyan

1: He enlightened me as to how people found sim city fun.
I can remember my brother playing the game, and i disliked it because of it's apparent goalessness. Costikyan wrote that it was the multiple player-made goals that makes the game fun, which I do not enjoy personally but I can see the attraction to setting and completing ones own goals.


2: He pointed out that games can refer to more than just what is normally thought of as games like puzzles. A game changed as the player plays it, but that isn’t the case with crosswords as they are games as well but nothing changes other than the level of completion. Crawford says that puzzles are static and that games are plastic, which essentially means that player input will change how the game will play with multiple outcomes as a result of this interference where as with puzzles the game will not change in any way other than how much of the puzzle is solved or completed.


3: That having multiple goals can make a game stale because there is too much choice, like in MUDs or RPG games. You can be stuck in a position of progressive stagnation as there are so many places and people to meet in the game world and you feel as though no one of them is particularly advantageous over the others. You may also want to progress your character in the best way possible and having so many choices raises doubt in your mind as to whether or not your are playing the game to its best.
I myself have found myself in this situation playing WoW where I am leveling a character and find myself torn between to different locations, taking quests from all over the place and not being able to complete them as fast as I’d hoped because of all the travelling between.


4: Contrary to real life, we like our games to have struggle. We don’t want to reach a goal without having had a struggle hard enough to warrant that achievement. It gives the result a feeling that it was worth the struggle and makes you feel accomplished.


5: Competition is also as good at giving players a difficult experience but often a much more involving one as you are directly competing against other people as opposed to struggling against artificial intelligence or algorhythms. I myself much prefer the competition of a game over a struggle, unless the struggle is shared cooperatively. Shooting games are often a lot more thrilling when playing against other people, as they are usually the hardest to defeat. There are games that have mastered the struggle, much like Left for Dead where players work together against hordes of zombies, to reach an escape point with as many live players left. The thrills and achievement in that game are for me less strong than that of an entirely competitive game playing against other people.


6: He mentioned a level of fairness that is needed for multi-player games. This is interesting to me as I am not entirely sure how fair a game should be when played amongst others. An entirely level playing field would become boring for some as the actual gameplay wouldn’t really change drastically, but for others it would be great because they’d get a fairer representation of how they fair in this particular activity. I enjoy unlocking new items for use online, but don’t enjoy how in some games others can pay for the same item without having put in the play time or effort to unlock it themselves. I think a certain level of deservedness should be achieved before one is able to use an item which is why I dislike the introduction of microtransactions in games like TF2. There are some truly game breaking un-lockables that can be bought without having put in any effort into actually playing the game.


7: Leblanc’s Taxonomy, the eight pleasures of games. One being sensation, good visuals and controls help to make a game more pleasing, they help with immersion and with how intuitively the player can interact with the game. Having never studied games academically before that this was very interesting but I imagine for those already familiar it is very much a done thing to keep these pleasures in mind while creating games.


8: Initially wanting to become a concept artist I naturally found what Costikyan wrote about artists to be interesting. He says that artists begin with imitation of their favourite artists, recreating their style before attempting their own. I can relate to that in a way as I do myself try to replicate some of the styles used by my favourite artists.


9: The section entitled What Makes It A Game was incredible as it was a huge list of questions to ask yourself throughout the entire game making process.


10: “One of the most difficult tasks people can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good game.” This along with his explanation of it’s implications was a brilliant ending to a very informative and concise article about game design.

One of the first and most simplistic games I played

One of the first and most simplistic video game I have played was Blagger.

This is the only video of the game that I can find online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZxaEAYvh00

This is a platform game about a thief who collects keys while avoiding hazards to reach the reward in a safe. the game gives the players a challenge by restricting the time per level that can be played and that in that time each of the keys must be found and retrieved before the timer runs to 0. They also have to finish the level by running to the safe.
The game plays similarly to Manic Miner as you need to collect objects before the time runs out and reach the finish point of each level. There are multiple targets to reach and in different orders which makes solving a puzzle nearly impossible on your first go unless you are either incredibly quick witted or are lucky.

The player can only move left or right and can jump. The jump mechanics are very simple, one a jump is initiated from either standing or moving the trajectory is always the same in terms of height and distance traveled. Players must think about where they jump from more thoroughly otherwise they may over or under jump their target.

There are moving enemies on some of the levels that consist of cars, aliens, mad hatters and giant mouths. They all move in predetermined routes and keep doing so throughout the entire level.

The fun of the game is when you successfully solve the puzzle, and can complete it within the time limit. It’s very rewarding as you recieve a harder puzzle in the next level. Each level gets harder and harder, and feeling of accomplishment also increases with that.

Gaming experience assignement

This is my paragraph that dramatises the experience of playing Portal.


Sprinting though a chamber, frantically unlocking doors to my past. GlAdOs cheekily taunting and teasing me about my impotence. It only spurs me on and makes my past all the more important. I finally find her... destroy her.

Caillois Assignment

Caillois states:
A characteristic of play… is that it creates no wealth or goods, thus differing from work
or art. At the end of the game, all can and must start over again from the same point.
Nothing has been harvested or manufactured, no masterpiece has been created, no capital
has accrued. Play is an occasion of pure waste: waste of time, energy, ingenuity, skill,
and often of money…
As for the professionals – the boxers, cyclists, jockeys, or actors who earn their living in
the ring, track, or hippodrome or on the stage … it is clear that they are not players but
workers. When they play, it is at some other game. (Caillois: 1962: p.5)

Do you agree with Caillois’ ideas about waste?

Answer: no, here’s why...

At the time of writing, it was probably more correct than it is now, but people have gambled for years, and gambling is sort of a game. Plenty of people would propose bets which could be thought of as games. Most bets are the result of a disagreement in the likelihood of an event, each contestant as sure as the other about the conclusion as the other and a wager is set as a reasonable value that often corresponds with the confidence of the contestant.

I disagree with the idea that a game cannot create wealth or goods because of my previously explained experience of gambling. In the long run however gambling against slot machines is definitely not a good way of creating wealth, as the game is made to be lost more often than not.

A fairly modern occurrence is that of e-sports, which is a videogame played so much and so competitively that they have actually been aired on TV aswell as having very high value prize money. The most popular game at the moment in e-sports is Star Craft 2. It is played alot more seriously in Asia than in the west. His point about “no masterpiece has been created” is also false in that the players of games like these have made themselves a masterpiece of skill and knowledge within the field. The skills that they have picked up from playing these games are transferable to typing and micromanagement in other fields. They also learn a lot about combat strategies and how to best overcome obstacles, so they may very well find that their skills are useful in the military.

He is also wrong about professional sportsmen. They usually do it because they love the sport. When they “work” as he put it, they ARE actually playing. The sport they devote so much of their time to is their fun aswell.

“Play is an occasion of pure waste” - This is most definitely false in modern day gaming. The interpersonal skills gained from playing cooperative styled games give people good teamwork skills and often very good foreign relation skills. Gamers who play World of Warcraft are often part of something called a guild. Each guild is comprised of a group of players who are all in agreement and shared duty toward a goal that they set themselves. There are different types of guilds, usually specifically for PVE or PVP which are the 2 main gameplay types in the game. The guild leader will develope leadership skills and the rest of the guild will learn to adapt to each other for greater efficiency, often sharing the work load in situations where it’s needed.
This is talked about in more detail by Jane McGonigal in her talk: Gaming can make a better world.