Perceptions Of Space

I have been  creating 3 dimensional environments exploring the possibilities of virtual space. Initially I was just experimenting with the world, trying to think of ways to implement non-Euclidean geometries inspired by the games I looked at in my previous post. 

When coding the virtual camera there is a parameter that defines the field of view of the screen. I accidentally entered the 'wrong' number and discovered some pretty exciting results that enabled the field of view to extend beyond that of a human eye. This produces some pretty warped and twisted visuals that completely disorient the player - a fish-eye-like effect hat can be extended to impossible extremes.

Beyond the visual intrigue of this experiment, such technique opens up a unique dialogue in the discussion of virtual space. Bending the 'field of view' effects the virtual camera, adjusting the way which we as an audience experience a space. The significance of this is that despite appearances, the actual game space remains unchanged, objects occupying the same coordinates of Cartesian space despite the apparent ocular aberrations which may occur. 

It is not the space that is changing, only our perception of it.

This concept highlights the relativity of our own spacial experiences; we expect virtual worlds to behave a certain way based upon the understandings we have of our own and when they don't conform, these spaces become powerful mechanisms of affect.

Space perceived from a 'normal' field of view

The same space, viewed from a distorted perspective

Recursive Space

I've been reading a paper by Aylish Wood about what she terms 'Recursive Space'.

 

Recursive space is a concept discussing interactive space as a space which exists through the relationship between the coded world itself and the input of the player. Space is generated by the interactions of the user and reconfigured by these actions. It is the agency of virtual objects inside and outside of the frame and how they affect and are effected by the player that truly defines this space.

"Space is actively created when a gamer becomes entangled with the game world and the possibilities of the game's code" - Page 2

There are undobutedly representational qualities in all forms of virtual space it is however, important to consider that interactive spaces are not soley representational (perhaps aesthetically) but are much deeper in that they are generative. While players negotiate interactive spaces through the lens of social construction they are more than a passive entity but an active force constantly reconfiguring the space itself within the confines of the code from the perspective of the spatial frame.

One interesting stance which Wood suggests is that "The game does not exist in any active sense without the input of the gamer." I'd say that this is contestable, without a player perhaps the recursive space doesn't exist but game spaces can certainly be 'active' without the need of a human participant. 

Something interesting about this idea of recursive space is that you can apply it to any form of game or interactive media, it is a way of describing space which is not specific to certain genres or titles but an all encompassing concept which is what makes the idea useful in that I can apply it directly to my own work.

Recursive space is conceptual, I suppose all definitions of space are conceptual really but by this I mean that it is not physical, it is a relative space which exists only by the interaction between a person and a virtual interface. It is the result of the agencies of game space and player constantly affecting one another - a space of affective energy.

Non Euclidean Space

I found a few examples which explore the use of non Euclidean spaces in virtual environments - a refreshing dose of innovation in the way we have come to think about virtual spaces.

"Euclidean space - a space in which Euclid's axioms and definitions apply; a metric space that is linear and finite-dimensional"

So then, non Euclidean space is a space which is non linear, operating beyond the bounds of Cartesian geometry and polar coordinates. This space is not topographical but a manifold of space within space, illogical to the laws of the physicality of our own world.

Feign

Feign is a game created by Ian Snyder which explores non euclidean space in a fairly simple way of navigating a maze. What makes this interesting is that there are 'impossible', overlapping spaces in this world - endless corridors, rooms that change depending on the direction you are facing, entire areas compressed within what is seemingly a single tile. You can walk around in a circle and find yourself not back where you began, but an completely new space. It could be argued that these spaces aren't non Euclidean in the sense that they are experienced through the representation of a three dimensional world on the two dimensional plane of the screen but being that what we consider '3D' games don't actually have any physical depth, I think it is reasonable to accept these representations of non Euclidean geometry as being perfectly valid.

Thirteen Gates

Thirteen Gates takes the ideas expressed in Feign to an entirely new level because while the author's previous game was mind bending, the configurations of the virtual world were still rooted in an aesthetic resembling our own (walls, floors, characters). Thirteen Gates on the other hand is far more removed from the indexicallity of reality, it presents a space so foreign that it feels completely unnatural to navigate not in terms of the user interaction but in the sense of how the player understands the space and is meant to interpret it. In my view is an incredible achievement, after all, interactive space is virtual, constructed and illusionary so why must it always be representational? It is important to point out that it its not the aesthetics of this game which make it interesting or different, the surreality of the graphics undoubtedly enhance the immensity of it all but it is the mechanics of this world the very nature of this space which is so alien. The player basically navigates a maze of patterns with a distorted perspective and a non existent depth of field.

Some further examples of spacial manipulation:

Echo Chrome plays with expectations of space through perspective shifting:

Fez twists the conception of two and three dimensional space by having multiple two dimensional planes exisitng within the same world:

Thinking back to the prototype I made using multiple frames to fragment the on screen space makes me consider some of the possibilities of spacial manipulation within even a two dimensional realm. Although not non Euclidean in itself, separating the screen into multiple sections undoubtedly plays with some of the same ideas which this concept expresses. What if frames changed as new ones were entered? If 2D worlds can be made to overlap or intersect in some sense then a myriad of new potentials could unfold.

I Remember The Rain Response

I released I Remember The Rain a couple of weeks back and since then it's gotten a fair amount of response from emails to twitter mentions as well as a few reposts! Small success I know but still, it's great to know that people are getting to play it and even better to know that they're actually liking it!  I was featured on IndieGames.com which is exciting because the site has a lot of readers which definitely brought some exposure. It's been neat coming across this kind of thing, the other big one was making the front page of Game Jolt! Feeling pretty inspired to start on a new project soon.

I've gotten some good feedback from a few forums which I will definitely keep in mind when starting the next project. Overall I think I need to refine the text system to make it more interesting and flow smoother with the dialogue as well as make the environments a lot more interactive. Perhaps certain decisions will have direct effects on how the story (or space) develops. A lot of people have commented on the short length of the game though I wonder if that's to do with expectations of the medium (most games are longer than 5-10 minutes). I kind of like how short it is, though I can see making a slightly longer work could allow connections with characters to be developed a lot further.

Someone did a video play through as well, it seems to be running slower than it should for some reason but it's cool that he liked it enough to make this, his commentary is also quite entertaining:

There are at least half a dozen other pages floating around but these are the ones which have gathered the most response:

I Remember The Rain - Game Maker Community
I Remember The Rain - The Independent Gaming Source
IndieGames.com - The Weblog Freeware Game Pick: I Remember The Rain (Jordan Browne)
I Remember The Rain - A Freeware Game | Game Jolt
Game Tunnel

Reception-wise, I've got to say the project has been extremely successful, from responses both online and from people who I've showed it seems the atmosphere and mood I was trying to capture was conveyed perfectly.

"an excellently told, stunningly illustrated and touchingly narrated story and I do believe most people will savour the experience it provides." - Indie Games The Weblog

"I must have played it 3 times in a row and each time I was blown away by how I Remember The Rain pulled at my emotional strings."  - Geekscape.net

It would be great to display the work in a public place as an installation - I've never seen anything like that locally but I guess there's always room for a first.

Space As A Keyword

I read David Harvey's essay, Space As A Keyword, a paper which (especially in the first half) covers a lot of content about definitions and representations of space. Below are some sections I picked out that I thought could be of particular use.

“If we regard space as absolute it becomes a “thing in itself” with an existence independent of matter. It then possesses a structure which we can use to pigeon-hole or individuate phenomena. The view of relative space proposes that it be understood as a relationship between objects which exists only because objects exist and relate to each other. There is another sense in which space can be viewed as relative and I choose to call this relational space - space regarded in the manner of Leibniz, as being contained in objects in the sense that an object can be said to exist only insofar as it contains and represents within itself relationships to other objects.” pg2

Absolute: Physical, Euclidean

Relative: Our own perception of space influenced by our own experience of time, distance and other factors such as social convention or emotion.

Relational: A subspace of relative space used to discuss the relationship between two objects or energies which interact with one another.

Harvey bases his ideas of those of Lefebvre but uses his own definitions of absolute, relative and relational space to discuss the concept. To me, the short comings of Harvey's ideas are that he makes no account for imagined space. This space is important in relation to interactive spaces as it is very much the imagination which 'fills in the blanks' of a constructed world. What could be useful is how these ideas could be applied to virtual space. His emphasis on the interconnectedness of time and space and the notion of processes creating their own spacial frames is in my mind, exactly what a virtual space entails as it is the relationship between the player and virtuality which creates an entirely new world in itself:

"The relational view of space holds there is no such thing as space outside of the processes that define it. Processes do not occur in space but define their own spatial frame." pg4

"it is impossible to disentangle space from time" pg4

We are not empirically defining space in its entirety, I believe such is beyond the bounds both what we as humans can imagine as well as what we are capable of expressing through language. What we are doing is conceptualising and compartmentalising aspects of space into different spheres, different sets of relationships so that we may better understand the role of space in relation to our own lives. Such descriptions are never exclusive, the energies of each are overlapping and multiple. In fact, what we call space is not really space at all, only our own ideas of what we believe it to be. Space is relational, it can never be filled just as it can never be empty, it is transformative, social and political - space is unfathomable.

"space is neither absolute, relative or relational in itself, but it can become one or all simultaneously depending on the circumstances. The problem of the proper conceptualization of space is resolved through human practice with respect to it. In other words, there are no philosophical answers to philosophical questions that arise over the nature of space - the answers lie in human practice. The question “what is space?” is therefore replaced by the question “how is it that different human practices create and make use of different conceptualizations of space?” The property relationship, for example, creates absolute spaces within which monopoly control can operate. The movement of people, goods, services, and information takes place in a relative space because it takes money, time, energy, and the like to overcome the friction of distance. Parcels of land also capture benefits because they contain relationships with other parcels….in the form of rent relational space comes into its own as an important aspect of human social practice.”
pg5

In the context of a virtual space, worlds are constructed via representation. I can draw an image of a tree, it is in no way an actual tree but as an audience we can relate the pixelated shape to its real life representation. Harvey considers the ways in which spaces beyond the physical may be represented:

"We can reasonably assume that the elements, moments and events in that world are constituted out of a materiality of stable and finite qualities. How we represent this world is an entirely different matter, but here too we do not conceive of or represent space in arbitrary ways, but seek some appropriate if not accurate reflection of the material realities that surround us through abstract representations (words, graphs, maps, diagrams, pictures, etc.). But Lefebvre, like Benjamin, insists that we do not live as material atoms floating around in a materialist world; we also have imaginations, fears, emotions, psychologies, fantasies and dreams. These spaces of representation are part and parcel of the way we live in the world. We may also seek to represent the way this space is lived through emotions and the imagination. The spatiotemporality of a dream, a fantasy, a hidden longing, a lost memory or even a peculiar thrill as we walk down a street can be given representation through works of art." pg8

In an interactive space the audience has a direct influence on the space which they perceive and because of this extra dimension of experience I wonder how some of the personal spaces which Harvey considers (emotions, fantasy, fears, imagination) may be expressed to a greater level or simply a different level to what can/has been achieved in a linear virtual space. 

Harvey, D. Space As A Keyword, Marx and Philosophy Conference, 29 May 2004, London
http://frontdeskapparatus.com/files/harvey2004.pdf

I Remember The Rain

This is my latest project, enjoy:

Download

I Remember The Rain is an interactive story with mechanisms firmly rooted in video game convention and aesthetic. I wanted to use the landscape of this platform as a means to deliver  a narrative and a sense of character that would not normally be expected from the medium with the intention of making these elements all the more potent.

Although the interactions of IRTR are simple, the space of the project is deep. Only 3 buttons are used in the game, the arrow keys move the character left and right while the spacebar triggers interaction and events. These mechanics were intentional in their simplicity so that the interface of interaction would not become a barrier in the player's connection to the virtual world as well as allowing for greater accessibility to a wider audience. 

I decided quite early on that I wanted to have the characters in the game voiced, partly because I haven’t really seen this done in games of this type but most importantly as a way to humanise the characters. By giving the protagonist a voice, the audience can better relate to the character and becomes deeper immersed in the virtual world. Like spoken voices, audio as a whole was a focus of the work, juxtaposing the retro, minimalistic aesthetics with a deep and layered soundscape to bring to life the world: footsteps, the sound of birds, the wipers of the car – all subtle elements that draw the audience into the reality of the interactive space.

More on this later!

Journey

Journey is a Playstation 3 game developed by Thatgamecompany and although I haven't had the chance to play the game the whole way through, what I did experience was impacting enough for me to look further into it. A friend showed me an interview with Jenova Chen, the game's designer. His ideas of video games as art and the power and presentation of interactivity really resonate with what I myself have been thinking about.

Journey is minimalistic, both in its visual style and in its mechanics. There is no HUD (heads up display) indicating any information to the player about their status or which buttons to press. This relieves player of the omnipotent framework that video games tend to construct around themselves, allowing one to experience the work in a purer, more cinematic form.

"For the minimalist interface design we do in TGC games, we believe that the best interface and game design should be based on human instinct, rather than gaming knowledge.


If a child, a non-gamer, can interact with our game, a gamer should be able to as well. Just think about the whole process of an online console game – lobby, latency, hosting, kicking. None of these concepts are intuitive to a non-gamer."

By constructing mechanisms of interaction to be assessable, the work's mood, themes, atmosphere and narrative can be delivered with a greater potency as the reception of these forces is not restricted by a player's background and remains untainted by obtuse, constant reminders that the the world which is being experienced is in fact virtual. If even on some minor, conscious or subconscious level, an audience just for a moment forgets that they are interfacing with a virtual environment, then surely the affective nature of that environment becomes all the more effective.

Something which intrigued me about Journey is that during the game, players can encounter one another but the way in which interaction occurs is quite different from what we have come to expect from other online games. There is no chat window way to communicate through words and no indication of who might be behind the screen:

"For the lack of online ID, chat and voice, to create an emotional bond between the two online players, we have to create an atmosphere and mood so that when the two meet in the game, they are willing to do it.

We created a world where the rules and values are very different from reality. Your avatar doesn't have arms or mouth, so players should buy into the fiction that they can't speak human language or punch each other. If you see the player's online ID – for example, 'HairyKnuckle1991' – it instantly takes you out of the fiction"

Journey is a game by definition, though its own website prefers to term it as "an interactive parable". The word 'game' is so broad, we seem to define media under this umbrella by certain mechanics of interaction but it seems obvious to me that not everything which is interactive has to be a game. It is through this way of thinking that I believe the potential of such medium can be further explored and new possibilities of the way in which we present stories, ideas and experiences can be developed.