Project One: Sensory Ethnography
Powerpoint Slides
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
CCDN 231
Experimental Design Ideas
Project One: Sensory Ethnography
For this project I had to observe, document and analyse my own sensory experience for 3 everyday activities, with the reveal of the experiences that often go unnoticed. My proposal is that I will look into the activities that I do every morning, so I know in and out the actions that I do on a regularly basis. This will help me reveal the sensory experiences that I don't take into accounted for.
The first activity that I analysed was the very first thing that I do in the morning after I wake up and that's check what's going on in my social life. It's become a habit these days and I thought I'd look into it more deeply. I wanted to analyse the activity of typing, and to compare the differences between typing using my computer, and typing out a text on my phone. Here's what I came up with:
Typing on my computer:
I, like most people are often on their computer either doing work, or simply just rummaging around checking our Facebook and talking to friends. Whilst we're doing this, we don't take into account that we are constantly typing (wow I just realised that I'm typing right now). Every keyboard has a different feel to it but once you've used it enough, it becomes part of you. Instead of paying attention to what was happening on the screen, I glanced down lower to consider the sensory experiences I was having with this 68-key keyboard right in front of me. The first thing I noticed was the unique sound of the keys being pressed over and over and over and (you get the point) over again. Most of the keys sounded exactly the same, except for one that stood out more than the rest.. Yes that would be the space bar. It was flattering. Another sensory experience I had with typing on the computer was the feel to it. Although the letters "F" and "J" have unique bumps to it to aid people to type without looking at the screen, it only just crossed my mind that this was happening. That I could feel these bumps all the time but just didn't take it into account. The last sensory experience I had was that I noticed that I kept looking down to make sure I was typing correctly, call me a rookie but we (most of us) do it.
For the second part of this activity, I used my phone to type instead of the keyboard. Me having an iPhone 5, it is fully touch screen and if my phone is on silent (which it always is), I don't really get any sensory experiences with it that are unique, it's smooth to touch, the only sound it makes is my fingers tapping on the screen which is equivalent to a fish farting in the ocean.
Cooking Breakfast:
The second activity that I love to do in the morning is to cook breakfast. The day I chose to document this activity I happened to have sausages. I thought wow, this would be a good idea! And it was, and it was tasty. The process however was quite slow but the very first thing I noticed was that I got oil on my hands. This feeling really does suck as oil is a pain in the butt to wash off. It made my fingers all shiny as well. Moving past that the next part was turning the over top on. This was exciting as to when I turned it on, it made a random sound that sounds like I had just ignited something. Like it was ready for the sausages, and the sausages were indeed ready for it. With the tensions running high, I placed the sausages on the frying pan and my senses tingled. I heard the sizzle from the oil and water scorch away, the strong meaty smell whiffs in my nostrils, the savagely hot oil scalding my skin as it flares my eyes. And all of a sudden, out of no where..the toast jumps up like a kangaroo playing Marco Polo in a field of wheat. It scared the crap out of me! When the sausages were done and placed nicely on the toast, i grabbed the tomato sauce and shook it. I heard the almost empty bottle splash its content around with the weight changing between the shake of my wrist. I opened the cap *POP* and squeezed it like my life depended on it. Now this is where I had to go look at myself in the mirror. No matter what age you are, or how mature you are, the sound of an empty bottle farting is hilarious! I couldn't help but laugh as it extracted itself from the plastic bottle.
My um..Hair:
So I was pondering on ideas on what to do for my last activity that I do every morning. And I had to do it. My hair. First step is to twist the tub of goodness open, feeling that old sticky and stuck feeling of an old container trying to restrain itself from letting me open it. I dipped my finger inside it's sticky self, smelling the combination of the cherry and rose aroma, slowly spreading it all over my hands as the friction between them picked up. I looked at myself in the mirror, and said yes, I am ready. I spread my hands over my short and straight hair like I was patting a Lion for the first time, carefully and surely. I heard my hands twisting my hair as it thickened to a better shape. By this time the scent got so strong that I could almost taste the cherry blossoms on my tongue, as I parted my way through my hair to make it as perfect as I can. With a few final touches I noticed that my hair had now gone hard and spiky, as it prickled me while I played with it. I stopped, looked at my reflection and smiled. I turned the tap on and it made a rusty crooked sound like it needed oil, once again restraining itself from my forceful pull. The water blasted and splashed my feeling the cold wetness of the temperature. The sound was eradicating, blasting my ears away like a Pokemon using a special move. I ran my hands over the cold water shivering slightly, as I rubbed them together to wash off the remains of the hair product. The smell slowly started to go away and my nostrils tingled with cleanness. I shook my hands and heard the water slap the side of the sink. I was ready.
Project One: Sensory Ethnography
For this project I had to observe, document and analyse my own sensory experience for 3 everyday activities, with the reveal of the experiences that often go unnoticed. My proposal is that I will look into the activities that I do every morning, so I know in and out the actions that I do on a regularly basis. This will help me reveal the sensory experiences that I don't take into accounted for.
The first activity that I analysed was the very first thing that I do in the morning after I wake up and that's check what's going on in my social life. It's become a habit these days and I thought I'd look into it more deeply. I wanted to analyse the activity of typing, and to compare the differences between typing using my computer, and typing out a text on my phone. Here's what I came up with:
Typing on my computer:
I, like most people are often on their computer either doing work, or simply just rummaging around checking our Facebook and talking to friends. Whilst we're doing this, we don't take into account that we are constantly typing (wow I just realised that I'm typing right now). Every keyboard has a different feel to it but once you've used it enough, it becomes part of you. Instead of paying attention to what was happening on the screen, I glanced down lower to consider the sensory experiences I was having with this 68-key keyboard right in front of me. The first thing I noticed was the unique sound of the keys being pressed over and over and over and (you get the point) over again. Most of the keys sounded exactly the same, except for one that stood out more than the rest.. Yes that would be the space bar. It was flattering. Another sensory experience I had with typing on the computer was the feel to it. Although the letters "F" and "J" have unique bumps to it to aid people to type without looking at the screen, it only just crossed my mind that this was happening. That I could feel these bumps all the time but just didn't take it into account. The last sensory experience I had was that I noticed that I kept looking down to make sure I was typing correctly, call me a rookie but we (most of us) do it.
For the second part of this activity, I used my phone to type instead of the keyboard. Me having an iPhone 5, it is fully touch screen and if my phone is on silent (which it always is), I don't really get any sensory experiences with it that are unique, it's smooth to touch, the only sound it makes is my fingers tapping on the screen which is equivalent to a fish farting in the ocean.
Cooking Breakfast:
The second activity that I love to do in the morning is to cook breakfast. The day I chose to document this activity I happened to have sausages. I thought wow, this would be a good idea! And it was, and it was tasty. The process however was quite slow but the very first thing I noticed was that I got oil on my hands. This feeling really does suck as oil is a pain in the butt to wash off. It made my fingers all shiny as well. Moving past that the next part was turning the over top on. This was exciting as to when I turned it on, it made a random sound that sounds like I had just ignited something. Like it was ready for the sausages, and the sausages were indeed ready for it. With the tensions running high, I placed the sausages on the frying pan and my senses tingled. I heard the sizzle from the oil and water scorch away, the strong meaty smell whiffs in my nostrils, the savagely hot oil scalding my skin as it flares my eyes. And all of a sudden, out of no where..the toast jumps up like a kangaroo playing Marco Polo in a field of wheat. It scared the crap out of me! When the sausages were done and placed nicely on the toast, i grabbed the tomato sauce and shook it. I heard the almost empty bottle splash its content around with the weight changing between the shake of my wrist. I opened the cap *POP* and squeezed it like my life depended on it. Now this is where I had to go look at myself in the mirror. No matter what age you are, or how mature you are, the sound of an empty bottle farting is hilarious! I couldn't help but laugh as it extracted itself from the plastic bottle.
My um..Hair:
So I was pondering on ideas on what to do for my last activity that I do every morning. And I had to do it. My hair. First step is to twist the tub of goodness open, feeling that old sticky and stuck feeling of an old container trying to restrain itself from letting me open it. I dipped my finger inside it's sticky self, smelling the combination of the cherry and rose aroma, slowly spreading it all over my hands as the friction between them picked up. I looked at myself in the mirror, and said yes, I am ready. I spread my hands over my short and straight hair like I was patting a Lion for the first time, carefully and surely. I heard my hands twisting my hair as it thickened to a better shape. By this time the scent got so strong that I could almost taste the cherry blossoms on my tongue, as I parted my way through my hair to make it as perfect as I can. With a few final touches I noticed that my hair had now gone hard and spiky, as it prickled me while I played with it. I stopped, looked at my reflection and smiled. I turned the tap on and it made a rusty crooked sound like it needed oil, once again restraining itself from my forceful pull. The water blasted and splashed my feeling the cold wetness of the temperature. The sound was eradicating, blasting my ears away like a Pokemon using a special move. I ran my hands over the cold water shivering slightly, as I rubbed them together to wash off the remains of the hair product. The smell slowly started to go away and my nostrils tingled with cleanness. I shook my hands and heard the water slap the side of the sink. I was ready.
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Saturday, 27 July 2013
MDDN 243
Introduction to Computer Game Design
Project 1: Variations
Game Five:
Plants vs Zombies 2 is a tower defence game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts (EA) and a successful prequel to Plants vs Zombies. The objective of this is game is to use plants to fight for you against waves and hordes of zombies trying to reach your "brain".
Core Mechanic:
- Defend
Secondary Mechanics:
- Kill Zombies
- Collect Points
- Unlock Plants
Progression:
- Beat waves of enemies
- Unlock next stage
Narrative:
- Don't get eaten
The 2 screenshots below is a simple game I was playing from start to finish. As you can see, you start off with an empty space and the objective is to collect points (or in this game "sun") to be able to unlock the plants and place them so you have some sort of defence. Every plant has a different sort of ability whether they assist or attack. The second screenshot is of the last wave of zombies and as you can see, I have built a pretty unstoppable defence where the zombies have no chance!
Project 1: Variations
Game Five:
Plants vs Zombies 2 is a tower defence game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts (EA) and a successful prequel to Plants vs Zombies. The objective of this is game is to use plants to fight for you against waves and hordes of zombies trying to reach your "brain".
Core Mechanic:
- Defend
Secondary Mechanics:
- Kill Zombies
- Collect Points
- Unlock Plants
Progression:
- Beat waves of enemies
- Unlock next stage
Narrative:
- Don't get eaten
The 2 screenshots below is a simple game I was playing from start to finish. As you can see, you start off with an empty space and the objective is to collect points (or in this game "sun") to be able to unlock the plants and place them so you have some sort of defence. Every plant has a different sort of ability whether they assist or attack. The second screenshot is of the last wave of zombies and as you can see, I have built a pretty unstoppable defence where the zombies have no chance!
MDDN 243
Introduction to Computer Game Design
Project 1: Variations
Game Four:
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 or any of the CoD series will be agreeably one of the most popular First Person Shooters on any gaming platform. It is developed by Treyarch or Infinity Ward and published by Activision.
Core Mechanic:
- Shooting
Secondary Mechanics:
- Run/Sprint
- Jump/Crouch/Prone/Dive
- Reload
- Throw
- Customisations
Progression:
- Progress through campaign missions
- Beat the other team (online multiplayer)
Narrative:
- Shoot, shoot, shoot
The 2 gameplay screenshots below showcase the core mechanics of Call of Duty which is shooting. The first is in the view of a player holding the Skorpion EVO with a "target finder" attachment which is one of the many different customisable scopes on the game. The second screenshot is of a player holding 2 pistols which is yet another way a player can customise their load out.
Project 1: Variations
Game Four:
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 or any of the CoD series will be agreeably one of the most popular First Person Shooters on any gaming platform. It is developed by Treyarch or Infinity Ward and published by Activision.
Core Mechanic:
- Shooting
Secondary Mechanics:
- Run/Sprint
- Jump/Crouch/Prone/Dive
- Reload
- Throw
- Customisations
Progression:
- Progress through campaign missions
- Beat the other team (online multiplayer)
Narrative:
- Shoot, shoot, shoot
The 2 gameplay screenshots below showcase the core mechanics of Call of Duty which is shooting. The first is in the view of a player holding the Skorpion EVO with a "target finder" attachment which is one of the many different customisable scopes on the game. The second screenshot is of a player holding 2 pistols which is yet another way a player can customise their load out.
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
MDDN 243
Introduction to Computer Game Design
Project 1: Variations
Game Three:
Slender is a horror style game developed by Parsec Productions which is played in a first person perspective. There are many different levels of this game now but are all played the exact same way using the same game mechanics. The first game that came out started the player in the middle of the woods at night, with just a flashlight in their hand. The aim is too find 8 pages before Slenderman catches you.
Core Mechanic:
- Exploration
Secondary Mechanics:
- Collection (Collect 8 Pages)
- Escape/Survive
Progression:
- Pass Single Level
Narrative:
- Survive/Collect
Project 1: Variations
Game Three:
Slender is a horror style game developed by Parsec Productions which is played in a first person perspective. There are many different levels of this game now but are all played the exact same way using the same game mechanics. The first game that came out started the player in the middle of the woods at night, with just a flashlight in their hand. The aim is too find 8 pages before Slenderman catches you.
Core Mechanic:
- Exploration
Secondary Mechanics:
- Collection (Collect 8 Pages)
- Escape/Survive
Progression:
- Pass Single Level
Narrative:
- Survive/Collect
The first screenshot below show one of the pages from the Slender game. The second screenshot shows the player encountering slenderman out in the woods with the flashlight beaming at him.
MDDN 243
Introduction to Computer Game Design
Project 1: Variations
Game Two:
Gears of War is a military style science fiction game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios. It is a third person shooter that has both a storyline campaign and multiplayer only available on Xbox 360.
Core Mechanic:
- Cover System
- Third Person Shooter
Secondary Mechanic:
- Cause as much gore as possible
Progression:
- Progress through Areas, levels, waves of enemies
- Beating the other team in an online game
Narrative:
- Save The World
This is a screenshot of the first campaign level on Gears of War 3, where your main character is using this wooden box to stay in cover from the enemy.
The second screenshot is taken in an online multiplayer game, of someone sniping another player's head into bits. This is a mere example of the gore that is incorporated throughout the Gears of War franchise.
Project 1: Variations
Game Two:
Gears of War is a military style science fiction game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios. It is a third person shooter that has both a storyline campaign and multiplayer only available on Xbox 360.
Core Mechanic:
- Cover System
- Third Person Shooter
Secondary Mechanic:
- Cause as much gore as possible
Progression:
- Progress through Areas, levels, waves of enemies
- Beating the other team in an online game
Narrative:
- Save The World
This is a screenshot of the first campaign level on Gears of War 3, where your main character is using this wooden box to stay in cover from the enemy.
The second screenshot is taken in an online multiplayer game, of someone sniping another player's head into bits. This is a mere example of the gore that is incorporated throughout the Gears of War franchise.
MDDN 243
Introduction to Computer Game Design
Project 1: Variations
Game One:
Fruit Ninja is a game developed by Halfbrick Studios which makes the player swipe fruit that is tossed into the air by their finger on the iPad or iPhone, and by waving their arms in the Xbox 360 Kinect version.
Core Mechanics:
- Swipe and Slice
Secondary Mechanics:
- Combos
- Avoid Bombs
- Accumulate Points
Progression:
- None
Narrative:
- Set High Scores
This here is a screenshot that I took of a simple game of fruit ninja which shows the game mechanics of swiping/slicing, combos and accumulating points all in one.
MDDN 243
Introduction to Computer Game Design
Project 1: Variations
I was researching game mechanics on the internet and found a useful website that showed me a diagram for games relating to its game mechanics. The diagram explains games and their mechanics in 4 different stages.
The first if the Core Mechanic. This is the mechanic in the game that is used the most frequently, for example in Mario the core mechanic is jumping.
The next is the Secondary Mechanic, which is the one that has the least interaction in the game. In Mario, it would be such things as removing enemies and collecting coins.
Progression is the next one and it is the source of change within the game system.
The last is the Narrative, which puts together all inner layers into context. And of course we all know what the narrative is of Mario, and that is to save the princess.
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| Image Retrieved from http://www.funstormgames.com/blog/2012/06/designing-around-a-core-mechanic/ |
MDDN 243
Introduction to Computer Game Design
Project 1: Variations
Game Company Ideas:
- Bethesda Software
- PopCap Games
- Epic Games
- Treyarch
- Parsec Productions
- 343 Industries
Game Ideas:
- Fallout 3
- Plants vs Zombies
- Fruit Ninja
- Call Of Duty
- Saints Row 3
- GTA 4
- Slender
- Mortal Kombat
- Gears Of War
Core Game Mechanics:
- Shoot
- Fight
- Jump
- Race/Drive
- Swipe
- Explore/Survive
Other Game Mechanics:
- Achievements
- Disappearing Corpses
- Random Enemy Encounters
- Infinite Gameplay
- Tutorials
- Damage From Touching Enemies
Project 1: Variations
Game Company Ideas:
- Bethesda Software
- PopCap Games
- Epic Games
- Treyarch
- Parsec Productions
- 343 Industries
Game Ideas:
- Fallout 3
- Plants vs Zombies
- Fruit Ninja
- Call Of Duty
- Saints Row 3
- GTA 4
- Slender
- Mortal Kombat
- Gears Of War
Core Game Mechanics:
- Shoot
- Fight
- Jump
- Race/Drive
- Swipe
- Explore/Survive
Other Game Mechanics:
- Achievements
- Disappearing Corpses
- Random Enemy Encounters
- Infinite Gameplay
- Tutorials
- Damage From Touching Enemies
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