Inspiration

 Inspiration for next transition area 

           In this next project I want to further my previous project 'the sense of self'. Using inspirations from other artistic mediums to add emphasis and explore the emotional reaction gauged by the player. 

Areas such as fine art are an influence in this process as this practice focuses heavily on abstract and emotionally impactful products. I hope to use the lessons learned in my previous work to create a small narrative that intends to leave the conclusions to the player's own interpretations - much like within the world of fine art.  

Beth Cavener Stichter

“Kept-Variation in Cream and Grey” By Beth Cavener Stichter 

Beth Stichter creates animal sculptures that convey human emotions. Using other beings, other then humans, for a strong emotional impact is effective as people find it easier to relate to complex or difficult feelings when it is more as a representation. This means that her work can convey a lot of powerful emotion and encourages people to talk about these topics more openly. 

Okami

Art based games such as 'Okami' use similar premises and art based styles. 

Image from Wikipedia 

The black and white ink style in 'Okami' adds to the dynamic and free style gameplay. 

Ori 

Ori and the Blind Forest has stunning visuals which is one of the main factors that made this game stand out so much from others. Mixed with the narrative and it makes for a very emotionally impactful experience. 

Image from Wikipedia 

The Unfinished Swan 

This game uses ink projectiles to paint in the white surrounding areas so that you can make your way through the map. This alongside the narrative work very effectively 

Image from gamespot. Image from  By Justin Clark

 

Library scene Reflection

 Conclusion 

    From this project I feel that the visuals definitively impact the emotional connection and impression on the player. Transition areas could be improved simply by improving the visuals in the environment. The flaws of this do still exists for the industry though and so would remain unreliable to use consistently (especially for companies or games with less funding) as this issue is not quite as relevant for AAA games that can justify these costs and time expenditure. 

    The visuals for this scene improved but still had flaws that I would like to address in future. Such as the plant pots. To save on poly count I left a small gap in the top for the plant stems. However, this left gaps that light could get through, which reflected underneath the pots and further affected the lighting in the environment as a whole, causing incorrect reflections. 

  From this experiment I have learned that the visuals do play a big part in the emotional impression on the player. For my next corridor I would like to explore the idea of improving the visual impressions while also tackling the problem of time and funding problems that this causes. 

Library Play through

 Testing 

Library scenes By Yasmine Brough

   For the test I got a player to play through the old and the new scene and asked and interviewed them on the emotional response from them both separately and then as a comparison between the two. 

First Library

  For the first (older) scene, she described it as very plain and basic visually, however could tell what the items were meant to represent; especially with the narrative aid. She did feel that the emotional impact and intrigue of the narrative and desire for exploration were impacted by the visuals. She detailed that it was a small space with lots to interact with, however felt this was detrimental to the transition area as it was an overwhelming amount of information to take in, in such a small area. This, she said, was problematic as transition areas reflect the pacing of other areas as well. Making the player want to avoid exploring with these things would possibly reduce interest in the world that it is supposed to be promoting. 

Second Library

  The second one she felt was a lot better in both layout and visuals.  She stated that despite this version of the scene had more in it, it felt less overwhelming due to it being more spacious. The rounded effect and corridor going upwards gave the player a good sense of direction with freedom to explore. As an aspiring lighting artist she felt that the colors and lighting gave this scene a much better sense of magic and wonder. However she did feel that the red rug in the center was distracting and disconnected to the magic theme as the contrast disconnected it with the theme.  

Final thoughts on comparison

   I asked her; in regards to her thoughts on the two scenes, how did she feel the visuals impacted this. She believed that the first scene would have improved a lot with more visual details like in the second. However she stated that the overall design and layout along side the visuals all contributed to the improved atmosphere. 

Conclusion and Reflection

After this project I feel that the visuals can impact the overall emotional impact gauged by the player to a degree that the other areas I was testing have been affected. My current style of project is reflected by the visuals, in that since they are tests rather than produced works, they have a more abstract feel. This however does not mean this style is inevitably detrimental to the projects. In projects such 'a sense of self' I used this style in a different way, inspired by games such as the 'Beginners Guide' that use abstract visuals as a way of enhancing the emotional impact. In my next project I am going to look more in to this concept. 

Finished Scene

 Library scene complete

Library By Yasmine Brough

Library By Yasmine Brough

Library By Yasmine Brough

Library By Yasmine Brough

Library By Yasmine Brough

Library By Yasmine Brough

Library By Yasmine Brough

Library By Yasmine Brough

Library By Yasmine Brough

Library By Yasmine Brough

 The final renders of the Library scene. They contained the same premise of narrative with line trace giving a description of an item. 

Library Progress

 Library Progress 

Progress of Maya props for library scene. By Yasmine Brough

Modular pieces to make the multiple layers of the library and to get the height. The center-piece is the twisty staircase and the globe placed on top within the dome. I added bookshelves inside most of the props, like the walls and the staircase along side an independent bookcase. 

Library Research and designs

  Library Research

Space

                                            Photography By: Sean J Yan 

              

The main thing that struck me about this image is the 'grand' and beautiful nature to it. It has the length and restrictions of a corridor and yet the height and detail really make this corridor look more spacious and elegant. A lot of images I saw for magic libraries had a globe in them, I would like to include a globe as a prop in my scene also.  

Color

Image found on CG Society: By Petrovodd

        The colors in this depict surreal lighting that enhances the magical feel of the environment. Using purples, greens and striking blues the lighting itself gives of the impression of magic without the need of added effects such as particle effects. 
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Aesthetic

Image found at: Blenderartist.org By Ali Nasiri

      This image depicts a different kind of magic scene. Using elegant decorum in combination with magic items, this scene looks more like the magic is apart of the main-stream world. Originally I was wanting to create a magic library that had earthly ties, such as large quantities of plants and a more crowded corridor to give off a more 'hidden-in-world' effect. However after seeing this scene I want to take my corridor away from the earthly chaotic side to a more elegant approach. Resembling more of a fantasy mansion library.  

Vasilyev Mansion Entrance Hall. Image from on Fandom

Designs

Library design by Yasmine Brough

Library design by Yasmine Brough

Library Continuation

Library Project Continued

         Previously, I would restructure my projects to better fit external complications, such as work or sickness. The visual aesthetic of props would be the first thing that I would reduce. Such as using place holders or less detailed models to ensure it was completed in time for testing. 

    In my essays I wrote that time was saved on transition areas by not putting these features in as heavily as they do in main gameplay areas. This ultimately does save the industry time and costs that they would prefer to spend on the areas that are essential for game-play, as transition areas are for downtime. 

       By following this within my own projects I feel it may have caused more problems then solutions. My projects are developed around the concept of ways of improving transition areas, not to create them using the same restrictions. However these restrictions do still exists within the industry, so I would like to explore this in my continuation of the library scene. Reducing the visuals I feel had an effect on changing the emotional impact the projects have had on the test players. 

       For the second iteration of my Library test scene I am wanting to recreate the environment with improved visuals and test what effects the visuals have on the players emotional response to the environment and the possible effects this may have had on previous projects.