Analysis of Light

After a lecture with Nigel we had to find two images and analyse the light in them.

My first image is a great example of directional light, light which is coming from one direction. In this image, the light is natural and is coming in from a doorway behind the girl. Because of this being natural light, the side or room which is being lit is the side by the door. This means the back of the girl is being lit, alongside her face. This draws the viewers eye directly to her. The other side of the room is slightly lit, however is much darker. The use of the light behind the girl has been used to create reflections on the tabletop as well.

This next image also uses natural light but is a great example of how it interacts with objects. The whole image is lit with natural light, however there is a key light source in the centre of the image. This light source has been used to create a light effect on the umbrellas, creating a warm glow through the material. The light in the centre also creates reflections in the water. This acts as a focal point on the painting. There is also artificial light in the image through the rock and roll sign and lights on buildings. These sources aren't as strong as the others, but create an overall realistic image.

CS Presentation (Followed on from Research)

CS Essay Focus - Narratives in Games

My focus for this Contextual Studies 2,000 word report is to be looking at narratives in games and how this has changed games and how they are developed over the years. There is no doubt that the use of narratives in games has had a substantial impact on how we play and interact with games, but looking back through the years we can see where it all began, and its development. I will be looking in depth at the background of game narratives right from where it all began with the smallest and most simplest of games. Then looking up the timeline you can see a slow increase in the inclusion of a narrative, with the first major one in 1983 with text based adventures following a plot line. The use of narrative then became more prevalent with the increase in technology, with games such as 'Suer Mario Brothers' and 'The legend of Zelda' being released. These games, although being driven by the gameplay have extremely strong narrative structures, even though very simple. They both follow the 'save the princess' story arch.

I then want to look at games such as 'Final Fantasy' and 'Pokemon' as early examples of both narrative driven games, and Transmedia storytelling. Also, I will look at other examples such as 'Resident Evil'. This is also where I want to explore the films industry and games. Games narratives have become so advanced and immersive that they have been transformed into films. 'Resident Evil' is a brilliant example of this.

To finish off the report I wanted to address the recent advances in storytelling in games, mainly the impact of interactive storytelling. This type of narrative is in almost all of today's games in some way. This type of storytelling gives the player the opportunity to create their own path, and have a different outcome every time. This makes the story unique to the player and makes it feel much more realistic. Examples I am particularly interested in looking into are 'Heavy Rain', 'Mass Effect' and 'Fallout'.

It is safe to say that the inclusion of narratives in games has been a successful step in the development of games. Without stories in our games they aren't nearly as immersive or realistic. Nowadays, a games narrative can have a major impact on how it sells, and gamers even buy a game just for its story, just like a film or a book. In my report I hope to get across the importance of narratives in games.

Digital Painting- Shop front

Ok, so having a chat with my tutors I have found out the key to a good digital painting is reference images and creating a palette of colours. So, here is my first attempt! I first collected a few images of Japanese shop fronts.

I then began drawing up an outline, and creating a palette.

I then got carried away and didn't save any more progress images. So here is the final image.

I am actually really pleased with how this has come out, and hopefully there will be more decent digital paintings to come!

More CS Research

'Resident Evil'

Also in 1996, the series 'Resident Evil' began with its first game for the Playstation. Made by Capcom it follows the story of Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine in the midst of a zombie outbreak in Raccoon city. The story was immediately popular and so Capcom continued the story through to the next game, and so on until today where the series is on its sixth main instalment. Here is a time line of the games from the beginning. 

Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 have been placed on lists of the best video games ever made.

Novels and Comics

Also sprung from the original game release, novels and comics were released alongside the game in 1996. S.D. Perry has written 6 titles each following the main narrative but addressing different peoples stories and giving background to the main narrative in the game.

A comic was released in 1997 by Marvel comics, which was a single issue which was sold alongside the game. However another series of comics was released by Wildstorm in 1998 which was a monthly comic. This only lasted for 5 issues.

Films

There have been 5 live-action films following the game series, all produced and written by Paul W.S. Anderson. Instead of following the games narrative solely, they follow the story of another character named Alice. However, main characters from the game series are featured such as Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield etc. Making over $600 million worldwide, the films have been a major success, and even holds the world record for the 'most live-action film adaptations of a video game'. It is also described as the most successful movie series which is based on a video game. The films are as follows:

• Resident Evil (2002)
• Resident Evil: Apocolypse (2004)
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
• Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
• Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
• Resident Evil 6 (TBA)

There have also been CGI movies based on the games narrative:

• Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)
• Resident Evil: Damnation (2012)

Merchandise

There has also been a widespread amount of merchandise for the series, and its popularity is now so massive there are even large cosplay groups dedicated to the series. There is even a Resident Evil themed restaurant open in Tokyo. 

CS Idea; The Influence of Narrative in Video Games

For Contextual studies I had a few ideas I wanted to look into, the one I was going to pursue was researching Steam. However, quite a few people seem to be doing this so I decided to think a bit differently. Therefore I came up with this idea. I want to look at the origin of narrative in video games and the effect that this has had on games now. I feel that narrative has evolved how we look at games, and through research I will discover where narratives in games started and its evolution through time.

Games have always had narratives, maybe they aren't crystal clear and the game play isn't driven by them, but they are present in some way. Looking at the timeline of the history of games, this is prevalent. Looking way back into the past at the first computer games, electronic 'Noughts and Crosses' (1952), and 'Tennis for two'(1958), these are examples of non-narrative based games. They are played purely to compete with another player and win. However the games following these, 'Spacewar' (1961) and 'Computer Space' (1971) do have narratives. 'Spacewar' is about a war in space, and although the game play is simple and not driven by the narrative, there is still the background story prevalent.

Looking a bit further down the line in 1975 at the first computer game 'Gunfight', was based around 2 cowboys having a stand-off and this was for 2 players to fight each other. It has a very thin narrative, but it is still there. in 1976 'Death Race' was released which also had a very thin narrative, where the player had to run over 'gremlins' in a car.

In 1978, 'Space Invaders' was released into arcades. Another game driven mainly by its game play, but it still has a narrative. The player is stopping aliens from invading Earth.

From then on, games such as 'The Portopia Serial Murder Case' (1983) and 'Dragon's Lair' (1983) sparked a new type of game. One driven by its narrative, more like a movie. Both of these games featured little actual game play, but focused more on telling the story. Then in 1985, 'Super Mario Brothers' was released which was one of the first very popular game which also had a strong narrative. Its characters and their stories make this narrative very strong, while still having unique and addictive game play.

'The Legend of Zelda' (1986) was also one of the first games to introduce a strong narrative to games.Still going strong today, it tells the story of Link his quest to rescue the princess Zelda.

Plot Summary
"A long, long time ago the World was in an age of Chaos.

"In the midst of this chaos, in a little kingdom in the land of Hyrule, a legend was being handed down from generation to generation, the legend of the 'Triforce'; golden triangles possessing mystical powers. One day, an evil army attacked this peaceful little kingdom and stole the Triforce of Power. This army was led by Ganon, the powerful Prince of Darkness who sought to plunge the World into fear and darkness under his rule. Fearing his wicked rule, Zelda, the princess of this kingdom, split up the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and hid them throughout the realm to save the last remaining Triforce from the clutches of the evil Ganon. At the same time, she commanded her most trustworthy nursemaid, Impa, to secretly escape into the land and go find a man with enough courage to destroy the evil Ganon. Upon hearing this, Ganon grew angry, imprisoned the princess, and sent out a party in search of Impa.

"Braving forests and mountains, Impa fled for her life from her pursuers. As she reached the very limit of her energy she found herself surrounded by Ganon's evil henchmen. Cornered! What could she do? ... But wait! All was not lost. A young lad appeared. He skillfully drove off Ganon's henchmen, and saved Impa from a fate worse than death.

"His name was Link. During his travels he had come across Impa and Ganon's henchmen. Impa told Link the whole story of the princess Zelda and the evil Ganon. Burning with a sense of justice, Link resolved to save Zelda, but Ganon was a powerful opponent. He held the Triforce of Power. And so, in order to fight off Ganon, Link had to bring the scattered eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom together to rebuild the mystical triangle. If he couldn't do this, there would be no chance Link could fight his way into Death Mountain where Ganon lived.

"Can Link really destroy Ganon and save princess Zelda?

"Only your skill can answer that question. Good luck. Use the Triforce wisely."

( http://zeldawiki.org/The_Legend_of_Zelda_(Game) )

The 'Final Fantasy' Series (1987+) along with 'The Legend of Zelda' also revolutionized narratives in games. It was one of the first series to introduce a new characters story in each of its games, but continuing in the same world. It also introduced a new type of game play, with a 'turn based' fight sequence.

Plot Summary
'In Final Fantasy, the villain Garland creates a time loop. Garland makes a pact to live forever by having the Fiends of Chaos summon him 2000 years in the past when he is defeated by the Light Warriors. There, Garland sends the Fiends of Chaos to the present, continuing the loop. When the Light Warriors travel back in time, they kill the Fiends and confront Garland, who transforms into Chaos and is defeated. This act ultimately breaks the time loop.

In Final Fantasy II, The Emperor's dark side goes to Hell when he is killed and takes it over, raising its capital,Pandaemonium, to Earth. As well, the Emperor's light side ascends to Heaven and enters Arubboth, Capital of Heaven. Firion and his allies kill the Dark Emperor, while Minwu and the spirits of other dead characters kill the Light Emperor, ensuring the Emperor is destroyed and gone for good.'

The story continues today with the series now on Final Fantasy XIII-II.

'Wing Commander' (1990) was said to be one of the first games to directly attempt to incorporate traditional storytelling into games. It was a 3D Space combat simulator, where the player plays as an unknown pilot whom they can name. It follows the narrative of  a space war, and features live actors such as 'Mark Hamill', and 'Tom Wilson'.

http://www.lingualgamers.com/thesis/story_video_games.html
http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/The-History-of-Video-Games


'Pokemon'
Looking down the line further at 1996, one of the first games to introduce transmedia storytelling was the 'Pokemon' series. The first games to be released in Japan were Red and Blue versions of the game closely followed by the Yellow version. Closely following in 1997, the trading card game was released, allowing people to collect Pokemon on cards and battle others using the game. The popularity of these cards was astonishing, with people still collecting them to this day.

Also following the games success and the success that the narrative had, the Anime shortly followed. First aired in 1997, the Pokemon Anime followed the story of Ash and his Pikachu and his adventures of becoming a Pokemon master. The story arch was mirrored of that in the games. The anime still continues to this day across the globe, still extremely popular. In 1998, the first movie was also released, expanding on the story from the Anime. There are currently 16 Pokemon movies, each being released following its current generation. It is currently on Black and White generation, with 3 movies already released following the story arch, and one still in the making.

The games which followed the series became more advanced in technology, and each game released gave the player a whole new experience.

Generation I
Game Boy

Pokemon: Red Version
Pokemon: Blue Version
Pokemon: Yellow Version- Special Pikachu Edition
Pokemon: Green Version (Only released in Japan)

Generation II
Game Boy Color

Pokemon: Gold version
Pokemon: Silver Version
Pokemon: Crystal Version

Generation III
Game Boy Advance

Pokemon: Sapphire Version
Pokemon: Ruby Version
Pokemon: Emerald Version
Pokemon: FireRed Version
Pokemon: LeafGreen Version

Generation IV
Nintendo DS

Pokemon: Pearl Version
Pokemon: Diamond Version
Pokemon: Platinum Version
Pokemon: HeartGold Version
Pokemon: SoulSilver Version

Generation V
Nintento 3DS

Pokemon: Black Version
Pokemon:White Version
Pokemon: Black Version 2
Pokemon: White Version 2

(http://www.listal.com/list/evolution-pokemon-games)

Pokemon has released a new generation following each new handheld released by Nintendo. The technology has gotten increasingly better throughout the games, and the popularity of the games is still strong. People still cosplay as characters, watch the movies and Anime, collect cards and of course still play the games. The amount of merchandise also created is exponential.