Interaction Design

‘Shaping our everyday life through digital artefacts for work for play and for entertainment’

  This is a quote from Gullian Crampton Smith the author of Designing Interactions. The book talks about Bill Moggridge (founder of the first laptop computer) and his stories from an industry insider’s viewpoint, tracing the evolution of ideas from inspiration to outcome. Interviewees discuss why personal computers have windows desktop, what turns a game into a hobby and why Google is the search engine of choice. This book proves and explains how the needs and desires of people can inspire innovative designs.

 See more at http://www.designinginteractions.com/interviews/GillianCramptonSmith

 

I also found Gullian Crampton Smith introduced the 5 dimensions of Interaction Design in the introduction of her book.

 

·         1D – Words – words are the interaction that users use to interact with.

·         2D – Visual Representation – things that the user will interact with on the interface in the following video Alan Blackwell gives a brief introduction on Visual Representation and how it links with the modern technology we use today.

·         3D – Objects or Space – the space in which the user interacts is the third dimension of interaction design. It defines the space or objects.

·         4D – Time – the time with which the user interacts with the interface.

·         5D – This defines the user’s actions or reactions to the interface and how they respond to it.

 
  These 5 points made me think about how specific consoles are designed with the user in mind, the visual interface and where or when will the advancement stop? A good example to show the technological and design advancements would be pc/console controllers. For example the Nintendo NES controller released in 1986 is similar looking to a brick sliced in half with four buttons in comparison to the curvy X-Box 360 controller released in 2005 supporting 15 buttons!

  The overall concept and purpose of the controllers is the same, they want the user to interact as much as possible with the game however improvements in technology has allowed this interaction to become easier for example over 20 years consoles have become a household item, they’re affordable, visual content has become more realistic and a bigger variety of games are available along with free downloads.

  This interesting review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xqPbDPiqzE
from Classic Game Room talks about both consoles and their advantages but doesn’t really cover the disadvantages. Personally I think they are both great consoles in their own era. Just the fact the Nintendo NES still works perfectly 20 years from its release proves it was a solid and successful build but can the same be said about the x-box?

Recent forums on Yahoo show that the common ‘Ring of Death’ otherwise known as the red ring surrounding the ON button says otherwise, leaving many customers with an unfixable console.

 See this at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100316204717AAokxlc

 

  I have yet to face a problem with my X-box 360 and see the hardware as a successful entertainment system however I was surprised at how good the graphics had improved in comparison to my previous PS3. I’m sure I will once again be shocked at how the future console will compare to my present one.

Sound for Games

 Video game music refers to the soundtrack or background music in games. This type of sound has adopted the same complexity associated with TV and film soundtracks. Video game music has grown a lot in recent years and now even includes full orchestra pieces for example London Philharmonic Orchestra did pieces for Halo and Battlefield. Another well-known Italian composer named Michael Giacchino composed music for both Film and Video games such as The Incredibles, Cloverfield, UP, Medal of Honour and Call of Duty.

 

 Video games generate sound or alter their soundtrack in accordance with what the player’s current action or situation is for example an intense action scene would incorporate loud up-beat and dramatic sounds, compared to a stealthy creeping scene would use low tones with a small rpm. This technique hasn't changed entirely in the past 15 years but the music and soundtracks used definitely have. Originally limited to simple melodies and synthesiser technology the industry now use licensed musicians and orchestras.

 Some of the key composers currently working in games include Christopher Lennertz. Much like Michael Giacchino he started composing for films such as Meet the Spartans, Dr. Dolittle, Horrible Bosses and decided to compose for games as well. He successfully won several awards for his soundtrack on Medal of Honour series and also worked on Mass Effect 2&3, The Godfather 2 and Quantum on Solace. A very influential German composer and music producer named Hans Zimmer, famous for his pieces in The Lion King, Inception, and The Dark Knight has also recently been working on video games like Call of Duty and collaborated with Borislav Slavov to create the score for Crysis 2.

 

 One of my personal favourite soundtracks belongs to Devil May Cry 3. The hash and slash beat’em up game has provided me with hours of entertainment with an amazing soundtrack produced by Tetsuya Shibata. He worked on the whole DMC series but number 3 is unforgettable because he decided to change electronic music with vocal sounds which meant various battle and ending scenes became more memorable and recognisable. He talk about his scores on DMC 3 and new innovations for DMC 4 in this interview : http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/tetsuyashibata.shtml
My favourite song would have to be ‘Out of Darkness’ sung by one of the main characters the power and vocals of the song fit so well into the core of the game and its story.

  The Chic, regarded themselves as a rock band for this disco movement, formed in 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and Bassist Benard Edwards. They were successfully known for their commercial disco songs such as Everybody Dance, Le Freak and Good Times. In 1979 the group released the album Risqué and the lead track ‘Good times’ in which I agree with publications such as the Guardian upon this being one of the most influential songs of that era. The song was sampled many times including being the basis for ‘Rappers Delight’ by The Sugarhill Gang, this helped initiate the Hip Hop music format we know today. I think the band revolutionised the late seventies disco music and without this there would be no Destiny’s Child.

Game Engine

 I am going to discuss what are the advantages and disadvantages of the most popular and current game engines used? I’m very keen to start using UDK (Unreal Development Kit) for the first time as I can finally see my assets in a playable level.

What is a game engine?

This is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. The purpose of a game engine is to provide a suit of visual development tools essential for progressing in completion of a level with such things as sound, scripting, animation and 3d graphics for example.

The most popular game engines currently used are UDK, developing games such as

·         Borderlands

·         Devil May cry

·         Bioshock

And Cryengine, which have been successful in releasing

·         Crysis

·         DRIVE

·         Enemy Front

Unfortunately I have not had a chance to use Cryengine, so from doing research from users I have found the following pros and cons..

Game Engines	Pros	Cons
UDK	Similar interface to 3ds Max Widely used for easy access Variety of rendering Physics engine Great interior detail	Limited lighting effects Exteriors seem to be less effective Outdoor scenes lack detail
Cryengine	Free to use Cheaper licence if making a game Fastest high end render Sandbox gives full control of creations Edit everything in time	Relies on custom export tools in 3ds and Maya   No custom shaders in material editor

 

UDK – Developed by Epic Games in 1998 this is the most used game engine in the current industry. Although primarily developed for first person shooters it has been successful in a variety of game genres including stealth and RPG’s.  UE3 (Unreal Engine 3) has also seen adoption from other non-

gaming projects for example the popular children’s TV show ‘Lazy Town’.  Personally I think UDK is user friendly with a comfortable interface to navigate around, moving assests is very simple as is assigning textures. I give a positive opinion but I must take into consideration I haven’t used any competing software, once I have successfully used both programs I can then review them again.

 

Cryengine – A game engine designed by Crytek in 2006, there is now Cryengine 1,2 and 3 successfully developing Far Cry and Crisis. Not as widely used as UDK but the rendering scenes I have seen from playing such games as Crysis seem super realistic in comparison. The Sandbox (level editor) has emphasis on large terrains which means that it uses an algorithmic form of painting textures and objects onto the landscape.

I will be using UDK a lot more this year essentially with the group projects so I will have a better understanding of the software however I definitely refuse to rule out even trying to use Cryengine. From the footage I have seen, especially within environments I must at least try developing something of my own using it. Once I have tried both I will make a personal decision on what engine I think would suit me best.