of Coming up with concepts and inspiration for my games, I started putting together the first versions of the games. I started with creating the starting pages, each inspired by the developing visual language from the previous weeks. I was also brainstorming over the names of the games, even when recontextualising the games, I wanted to continue with the type of the names from projections 1, as I thought they had a nice ring and playfulness to them, reflecting perfectly the idea of the game, but also what the player is asked to do in the games. I decided to name the third game WINK WINK (as the player is asked to use their face to copy facial expressions – emotions). Also including NOM NOM and CATCH CATCH, together all three games created a collection NomCatchWink. 🙂
Creating the games, I continued using P5.js, which is a JavaScript library for creative coding. I started putting together the first chunks of codes, focusing on the mechanics of the games, reflecting the goals and ideas from my previous research and experiments.
THE GAMES DEVELOPMENT AS FOR 18 / 4 / 2024
NOM NOM
Using mouth to eat buzzwords/hashtags off the screen to collect points
CATCH CATCH
Similar to projections 1, using body movements- catching, to collect likes and points
WINK WINK
Using face and emotion recognition to copy facial expressions on the screen to gain points
After setting the base of the mechanics of games, I started working on adding the downloadable outcome. Same as in Projections one, CatchCatch outcome was a moving gif, a dancing performance from screengrabs taken throughout the game. For Wink Wink, I recycled the idea of image gallery, as it worked perfectly with the inspiration coming from capturing moments and still images that we share online. For nom nom, the inspiration for the game was the way we consume and produce information, that often is misleading or edited to the form so it gets the highest amount of likes and shares, often not paying attention to the content or reliability of the information. I created a list of hashtags and buzzwords that I outsourced from social media, and created a database of random sentences divided into 5 different types of thematical categories. Each of the sentences has a random word in them that is replaced by some of the hasthags the player has eaten, resulting into a collection of sentences.
BEHAVIOUR / PERFORMANCE / SOCIAL MEDIA / GAMIFICATION / BODY RECOGNITION
In my project, NOM CATCH WINK, I am using gamification, creative coding and face and body recognition tools to create a set of playable experiences, each inspired by specific behaviour on social media, that subvert the way we create and share content in digital spaces. Using a dash of humour, playfulness and irony, the set of games aims to prompt players to reflect on their actions and interactions within the game and in online world, fostering critical thinking about online performative behaviours and the influence of digital spaces.
“Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals” (Salen, Zimmerman, 2017)
A resource with rules and guidance when making games, inspiration for NomCatchWink to create an experience that is easy to interact with, well playable:
1. Game Design Core:
– Understanding mechanics, dynamics, and systems. -> exploring different body recognition libraries, coding in connection to my motivation and enquiry
– Clarifying rules and player interaction. -> clear instructions in the game, but also during the game
– Creating immersive game worlds. -> Combining the physical world (camera) with funky visual elements
2. Compelling Mechanics:
– Offering meaningful choices and interactivity. -> Interactivity in form of engaging with body movements to play through the game
– Balancing skill and chance elements. -> the items in the games are random, but as active the player is, higher score they get
– Encouraging creativity and exploration. -> Encouraging reflection and realisation through the games
3. Player Engagement:
– Empowering player agency and control. -> physical embodiment of actions, using body to control the game
– Providing feedback, rewards, and motivation. -> rewards in form of points, badges, feedback in a form of performance at the end
– Implementing dynamic response mechanisms.
4. Dynamic Gameplay:
– Allowing for evolving dynamics and player influence.
– Incorporating strategic depth and adaptive systems.
– Balancing between competition and cooperation.
5. Iterative Design Process:
– Engaging in continuous iteration for improvement.
– Prototyping, playtesting, and refinement.
– Incorporating player feedback for enhancement
THE GAMES DEVELOPMENT AS FOR 26 / 4 / 2024
After having my 1:1 tutorial and after doing some research on games, all three games got to the point when. they could’ve been called the first “final” version (meaning they had a playable beginning, middle and ending :)). In the development I focused on better playability as I was encouraged in my tutorial, adding clear and easy-to-understand instructions, adding better languages to the endings of the games, and adding sounds for a more immersive experience. I was ready to bring these games to my production surgery with Oliver Smith, to talk about the possible framing and context of all three games, as I was still looking for a way to combine them into one, easy-to-circulate experience that would connect all three games nicely together without taking the meaning and motivations away. Talking to Oliver he helped me to realise what may be missing in the whole experience and what may be thought of when bringing the games together:
Moments from Oliver’s Feedback after showing him the games as they are displayed below:
- As the games can be played separately, there is an opportunity to add something before / after or even in between the games, connect them to one
- The physical embodiment of performance is 100% there
- How can we add the social aspect? To create a feeling of a social space?
- Using the website I am creating almost a platform for people to engage in, which could be a good concept to work around
- I came up with the idea of the outcomes being shared in a collective gallery as presented in projections 1. -> How to frame the collective gallery?
- Offering the player with metrics / social aspects in the form of chat, communication, and reactions?
NOM NOM
CATCH CATCH
WINK WINK
At this point, I am aware that I have a lot of work ahead. I can’t wait for the games to come together into one experience, as there was a lot of effort, energy, research, tears and hundreds of hours of work already, but I am also nervous as none of my ideas seems to feel right.. well it’s a process of course, and I believe eventually I will come up with something! I feel like at this point everything is more about making rather than more research, so I will just get to it and see how it goes haha.
Anyways, a little advice: if you’ve done a bare minimum to no coding and you are thinking about choosing that as a tool to work with for your project, please think twice so you don’t end up on the edge of mental breakdown as I did many times when working on this project :))) Yes, tutorials exist, chat GPT can also help, talented and smart friends and boyfriends as well, but after all, you will spend 8-16 hours pretty much everyday trying to figure out the smallest details haha. Well, it’s been fun!