FInal Post
As some of you know, I'm an honors student and I've started work on my thesis this semester (sorta), which mostly entails writing stuff for the thesis class I've been taking. But as my thesis project is also a VR game, it does feel at least a little relevant (and I guess someone liked it since I received the HURA for next semester to fund it).
Anyway, that's all just to say that I figured maybe I'd post my prospectus (like a detailed proposal for my thesis and the last thing I had to write for class) for anyone interested. There's a bit on research and what exactly I'm going to be doing next semester but also it's over 10 pages so I don't blame you if you skip it.
Without further ado:
Anyway, that's all just to say that I figured maybe I'd post my prospectus (like a detailed proposal for my thesis and the last thing I had to write for class) for anyone interested. There's a bit on research and what exactly I'm going to be doing next semester but also it's over 10 pages so I don't blame you if you skip it.
Without further ado:
Samantha
Spreitzer – Honors Senior Thesis Prospectus
Virtual
Reality: Creating an Artistic Game Based on Factors that Make Other Games
Successful
Introduction
Virtual reality (VR) is a relatively new technology,
but it is also one where strides are being made almost constantly. Of the uses
for VR, video games are among the most visible, recognizable, and commonly
known for the general population. Though some games are ported from their
original platforms—that is, modified to be used as a VR game—the VR games that
are often the most successful are those that utilize VR as a native platform,
making the headsets and motion controllers of systems like the HTC Vive and
Oculus Rift vital parts of the game. VR games, like more traditional video
games for PCs or consoles, are also excellent platforms for artists for either
their own artistic creations or to create games influenced by or making heavy
use of their art.
VR games are still inherently
different than their traditional counterparts, and there are factors that must
be taken into account when developing them. These include everything about
other video games, like art styles and game mechanics, as well as a few issues
related to those issues that arise sometimes in both types of games but often
more obviously so in VR games. The uncanny valley, whereby something that seems
not quite real enough despite its efforts to appear realistic that then causes
discomfort, can be found in almost all types of media that use digital art but
is certainly a potential problem when accounting for the style of a VR game.
Virtual reality sickness (VRS) can cause symptoms similar to that of motion
sickness due to awkward use of a headset or controls, which is then another
factor to carefully consider when creating a virtual world and how a player
interacts with it.
One of the factors that can either
add to or detract from an engaging VR game is related to movement in-game.
Every game must address it in some way, often through teleportation since
physically moving around is generally not an option. This involves a system of
allowing players, in-game, to essentially point and click at where they want to
go and reappear in the desired virtual location. Some of the most intuitive and
engaging games, however, require either no movement, having the user simply
remain in place and interact with the environment around them, or utilize more
natural feeling movement, such as moving through a space by grabbing onto the
environment and pulling it towards or pushing it away from the user.
These are just some of the factors
that can determine whether or not people generally like a VR game, and hence
whether it sells well for the person or company who created it. In my project,
I will create a new VR game that especially focuses on the aesthetic and
artistic appeal of the game. One of the best ways to determine what exactly
people find appealing in a game is to go through the reviews that have been
written for games and analyze them, determining what factors helped lead it to
success and perhaps those that might be improved upon. In addition to analyzing
reviews, I will also play multiple games and evaluate their enjoyability for
myself to inform my research so I can implement similar concepts in the game I
create. The end goal of this project is to take all of these factors into consideration
and create a VR game that not only functions but is fun and intuitive to play
and aesthetically pleasing through its art. Being able to create my own game
should certainly be possible, as a number of successful VR games are fairly
simplistic in style and interaction, but are fun enough that they are still
enjoyed and often offer replayability as well.
Creating a game like this, and the
accompanying research that goes into it, is an exercise in finding out exactly
what makes one VR game successful and what makes others fail. These are
critical aspects to know when developing a game, as it gives insight into what
people like and, for the gaming industry, what games offer reliable
marketability and profitability.
Literature Review
Developing any video game requires
certain considerations to be made, and they range from every stage of
development. The two most pressing concerns are an aesthetics issue that has
been coined “the uncanny valley” and a more game mechanics issue that is referred
to as virtual reality sickness. Other important factors that influence
development of VR games are how they are marketed, where new techniques have
had to be implemented, and how their art styles affect gameplay.
The first definition of the uncanny
valley was proposed in 1970 by a robotics professor from Tokyo, Masahiro Mori,
in a paper titled, in its English translation, “The Uncanny Valley”. Though it
was not widely received or reviewed at the time, it has come into more
prominence in the past few decades in a number of fields. Essentially, the
uncanny valley is that, in a person’s perception of things that are real or try
to seem real, there is a large dip, a valley so to speak, between looking absolutely
perfectly real and those that do not actually try to seem real but have a more
stylized approach to their design. This valley is made up of the items that try
to seem real but do not quite hit their goal and tend to leave people feeling
that something is off. Originally, the idea of the uncanny valley was referred to
regarding robotics and objects like prosthetic hands, since that was Mori’s
area of expertise. More recently, however, the term has been applied to almost
any area that utilizes forms of digital art, from the special effects in movies
to TV shows to video games. Humans and humanoid subjects are often the most
critiqued in these circumstances, and bad computer-generated imagery (CGI) can
leave people feeling upset at something they watched, even if it was not
supposed to be that way. A good example is a short film Pixar released in 1988,
entitled “Tin Toy,” in which the test audiences “hated” the short’s animated
baby, which had been modeled in what passed for a realistic style in 1988, and
which ultimately led Pixar to generally keep their animated characters quite
stylized (Hsu). There are certain desirable effects, however, with the uncanny
valley that can be used in genres like horror, where a robot that is not quite
human or a zombie creeping the player out is what the developers want.
On the issue of problems caused by game mechanics, there is the
phenomenon known as virtual reality sickness (VRS), which is similar to motion
sickness. The symptoms are nearly identical to motion sickness and, like motion
sickness, vary from person to person. In general, it has been found that what
causes VRS is a conflict between what someone sees through a head-mounted
display (HMD) and what their brain would expect to see. Several studies have
also found that women, who are generally more likely to experience motion
sickness, are also somewhat more likely to experience VRS (Moroz et al.). The reasons for
the causes of VRS in VR games are varied but generally have to do with how a
game’s controls work, particularly in relation to movement, which needs to be
addressed by anyone creating a VR game, even if they decide that the player
will experience no player-controlled movement within the space whatsoever, as
in a sit-down game like Star Trek: Bridge
Crew. Similarly, if something moves within a scene that wouldn’t appear
that way normally, then the player could also experience disorientation.
As for the art style itself, video
games have come a long way from their early days of animation. Currently, it is
almost expected that any title coming from a top studio is either developed
with a unique, non-realistic, style in mind or one that is hyper realistic,
where a screenshot may not be easily discernable from reality. Andrew Nguyen, a
producer for Maximum Games, discussed why VR games might choose either of these
styles. Largely, Nguyen argues, that these choices depend on whether the
developer wants the player to experience something very particular, like an
environment, which could influence them to choose a more realistic approach. Or
a developer might want the player to have more creative freedom in imagining
what a more simplistic world might hold, or simply to give the world a more
light-hearted feeling, and thus they would choose a non-realistic approach. It
is worth noting, however, that Nguyen specifically states that a simplistic
style does not always mean a light-hearted game, as he uses the game That Dragon, Cancer, an acclaimed
serious game about a family dealing with childhood leukemia, as an example. A
mix of the two, a middle ground between full realism and full abstraction, is
what Nguyen advocates for in the case of more serious games, like Loading Human, a science-fiction
experience his studio is working on. However, Nguyen notes that regardless of
genre, the art style of any VR game is an integral component to the game itself
and in how the audience reacts to it.
Virtual reality is such a unique and
upcoming genre of video games that whole new marketing techniques are being
developed as it becomes more popular. Tim Salvitti, a senior community
developer from Insomniac Games, a gaming company that built its success on
traditional console games but is working to branch out with VR, emphasizes the
“‘WOW!’ moment” that players experience
in VR. The important thing for marketing a VR game is to somehow get this
feeling of wonder, to show, in Salvitti’s words, “how amazing it feels to be in
this [virtual] world” across to consumers who engage with any of the game’s
marketing materials. Even in recent years, in-game recording and display on a
traditional monitor has changed from showing video of both “eyes” inside the VR
headset to rendering from one “eye” to showcase a more seamless video. This
alone has been hugely important in making videos of VR more engaging to anyone
watching the footage, whether that is someone watching someone else play
through a video online for fun or a potential customer checking out a game
trailer. In general, there are a few agreed strategies from dedicated marketing
teams like Kuvion and various technology websites like VU Dream, IT Business,
and AList to help developers advertise their games. These include creating
social media channels, giving game copies to people to stream, and, like
Salvitti’s advice, creating videos that help show the virtual world of the game
itself.
Methodology
The first part of the work to be
done is testing VR games already on the market in order to identify the factors
that have led to a game’s commercial success. These games are chosen on the
basis of generally high reviews on their sales platforms, namely the Steam and
Oculus Stores, which can be found either online or in their own dedicated
applications. The factors reviewers mention, both good and bad, within the game
will also be taken into account in order to help identify those factors that
lead to success. I will also personally be testing a number of these games to
form my own opinions of which parts of the game make it fun to play and, thus,
successful. Many of these more commercially successful games utilize simpler
playstyles that encourage either replayability, as in the case of a rhythm game
like Beat Saber, or that lend
themselves to an experience that is engaging and fun, as in the game Job Simulator. The aforementioned two
games will be among those tested, as will be The Climb, Space Pirate Trainer, Super Hot, Trials on Tatooine, and Star
Trek: Bridge Crew, among others. I will be testing these games using the
HTC Vive system available in the Digital Media lab for Digital Media students. These
games will be purchased using funds obtained from the Honors Undergraduate
Research Award (HURA).
After I have identified the factors
that helped to make these VR games successful, I will work to identify which
ones I can use in my own game, taking into account what I can reasonably do as
one person in the timeline I have created. The specifics of the game, such as
art style, mechanics, and overall themes will be largely influenced by the
previously-played VR games, though the end result will still be an original
game of my own creation.
At this point, it will be time to
create my first prototypes. For both these and the final game, I will use the
free game engine Unity and test using the same HTC Vive system as mentioned
above. I will also start creating the assets I will need for this game, as
making an aesthetically-pleasing game is one of the most important parts of
this project overall. I will create a number of the 3D models and such needed,
using more free programs to do so, such as Maya from Autodesk. Any sort of 2D
assets needed (whether background art, a 2D image for the user interface, or so
forth) will be made in Adobe Photoshop, which I already pay an ongoing
subscription fee to use for both personal and academic use.
Aside from the assets I create on
my own, I will also be utilizing assets acquired from outside sources such as
the Unity Asset Store. Creating a game and the assets that go into it are time
consuming processes, so using these premade assets will help me to be able to
focus my energies where they are most needed, as well as give my overall game a
more polished looks. Aside from other models, these outside sources will also
include music and sound effects, as those are vital parts of creating an
engaging game as well. As music is something I have very minimal experience in
creating, sourcing my in-game music from outside sources is a necessity to
include music that is high quality and appropriate for my game. All outside
assets that have a cost associated will be purchased using funds obtained from
the HURA.
As I work to create both prototypes
and my final game, I will also be extensively testing the game myself. I will
be the sole person testing my final game and in doing so, I will apply what I
learned through my own research and testing of games and my own experience in
art to assess whether certain factors, both in terms of art and game mechanics,
work in my final game.
Anticipated
Results/Significance
At the end of this project, I will have created a
fully-functional and playable VR game. By basing elements of the game off
factors that have made other VR games commercially successful, this game will
be an example of those factors and show how they can contribute to a game that
can be found to be both enjoyable and engaging. Several different elements of
game development will contribute to this, including artistic direction,
intuitive gameplay controls and mechanics, music and sounds that are appropriate
that add to the game’s ambiance, and an atmosphere that is overall pleasant and
engaging.
Creating a game based on what makes
other games successful gives insight into the nature of what people find fun
and enjoyable to play. And for the video game industry, this is highly
important as it directly translates to sales numbers.
The discussion on art and video
games is a wide-ranging but necessary one. Though people can and do argue that
video games are not art, it is almost unfair to our contemporaries who work on
games to say so. Any game includes some digital art, and larger development
groups behind often have a sizable art department to create assets both before
a game is even created, like concept art, as well as the final objects that
appear in-game (Hallisey). Nearly equal to the programming going on the
background to make the game work, art has become a vital component of any video
game, and upon release, judgment will immediately be passed by those playing or
reviewing the game. A visual style that does not mesh, either with the rest of
the game or with the game mechanics, can ruin a game’s chances just as much as
game-breaking bugs and glitches can. Video games are art as much as any movie
is, just another form of it. The game I create will take this heavily into
account, as I am concerned not only with creating a game that functions and is
fun, but also with creating one with a well-developed visual style that can be
enjoyed just as much as the game itself.
Even though video games themselves
have been around for several decades, and their associated art and artistic
games, VR is still a new and emerging field. Artists who work on these games,
in whatever capacity, are doing so as pioneers in a field where visuals tend to
hold great importance.
Outline
I.
Abstract
II.
Introduction
a.
Game
development process
III.
Literature
Review
a.
VR-specific
issues and considerations
b.
Marketing
of VR games
c.
Aesthetic
and art issues
IV.
Game
Reviews
a.
Beat Saber – a rhythm game
b.
Job Simulator – a simulation game
c.
The Climb – a physical activity game
(etc)
V.
Development
Process Documentation
a.
Gameplay
b.
Other
game mechanics
c.
Art
assets
d.
Assets
from outside sources
VI.
Aesthetic
Analysis
a.
Style
inspiration
b.
Comparison
to other VR games
VII.
Conclusion
a.
Significance
of game development
Timeline
August
2018 – Begin discussing project with mentor.
September
2018 – Begin writing HURA. Submit mentor agreement. Finish discussing project
with mentor.
October
2018 – Finish writing and submit HURA proposal.
November
2018 – Draft prospectus. Begin writing literature review.
December
2018 – Finish and submit prospectus. Begin game reviews. Begin writing
methodology. Finish writing literature review. Creation of early prototypes.
January
2019 – Finish game reviews. Finish writing methodology and begin writing
analysis of VR games. Continue prototype creations. Continue documenting
development process. Creation and acquirements of first assets.
February
2019 – Finish analysis of VR games. Continue game development and asset
creation/acquirement. Continue documenting development process. Finish draft of
thesis.
March
2019 – Continued/end of game development. Finish asset creation/acquirement. Submit
thesis draft to mentor. Revise thesis. Submit revised thesis to mentor.
April
2019 – Final tweaks to game, polishing. Revise written thesis component.
In-game recording. Oral defense.
May
2019 – Present at NURS. File with Honors Program.
Works Cited
Hallisey, Brad. “Building a Virtual World:
The Pipeline and Process.” Computer, vol. 45, no. 12,
Dec.
2012, pp. 90–92. IEEE Xplore, doi:10.1109/MC.2012.402.
“How to market and promote VR game in a
competitive market.” Kuvion, 24 May 2018,
https://www.kuvion.fi/markkinointi/vr-game-marketing/.
Hsu, Jeremy. Why “Uncanny Valley” Human
Look-Alikes Put Us on Edge - Scientific American.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-uncanny-valley-human-look-alikes-put-us-on-edge/.
Accessed 26 Nov. 2018.
Martin, Ellie. “How to Market Your VR
Product.” IT Business,
https://www.itbusiness.ca/blog/how-to-market-your-vr-product/101179.
Accessed 22 Nov. 2018.
Metry, Mark. “Complete Guide to Promoting
Your Virtual Reality (VR) Game for Free.” VU
Dream,
13 Nov. 2017,
http://www.vudream.com/complete-guide-marketing-promoting-vr-virtual-reality-indie-game-free/.
Mori, M., et al. “The Uncanny Valley [From
the Field].” IEEE Robotics Automation Magazine,
Moroz, Matthew, et al. “Sensitivity to Visual
Gain Modulation in Head-Mounted Displays
Nguyen, Andrew. “Detail or Abstraction:
What’s the Right Art Style for Virtual Reality
Games?”
Loading Human, 13 June 2016, https://www.loading-human.com/detail-abstraction-whats-right-art-style-virtual-reality-games/.
Peterson, Steve. “Op-Ed: How To Market VR
Games.” AList, 8 Aug. 2016,
https://www.alistdaily.com/strategy/op-ed-marketing-vr-games/.
Salvitti, Tim. “How to Get to ‘WOW!’: The
Challenging Road to Marketing VR.”
GamesIndustry.Biz,
26 Apr. 2018, https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-04-26-how-to-get-to-wow-the-challenging-road-to-marketing-vr.
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