Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 A Burkean Analysis on the Relationship of the Image to Player Motivation in First- Person Shooter Games Toby McCall Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES A BURKEAN ANALYSIS ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE IMAGE TO PLAYER MOTIVATION IN FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER GAMES By TOBY MCCALL A Thesis submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Summer, 2008 Copyright © 2008 Toby McCall All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Toby McCall defended on March 26, 2008. _______________________________ Kathleen Yancey Professor Directing Thesis _______________________________ Phil Steinberg Outside Committee Member _______________________________ Kristie Fleckenstein Committee Member _______________________________ Michael Neal Committee Member Approved: _______________________________ Ralph Berry Chair, Department of English The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii I dedicate this work to my mother Joseyvette Jackson, who sacrificed much of her own life so that I might have opportunities she did not. Thanks Mom. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee for their feedback and encouragement during this process, especially Kathleen Blake-Yancey who kept me sane and on track despite her own busy schedule; Ian Bogost, Steffen P. Walz and Noah Wardrip-Fruin for their input and time; my brother for his unending support; and my friends Chris Findeisen (Knuckles Malloy), Brianna Noll (Icechest Jones) and Dustin Atkinson (KGB Fontenot) for reminding me to relax, have fun, and play Rock Band; to Kelly Powers for his friendship and guidance. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..........................................................................................................iv TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................. viii ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................................ix CHAPTER ONE.........................................................................................................................1 THE EMERGENCE OF COMPUTER GAMES .........................................................................1 Games versus Player ...................................................................................................................3 Rules versus Fiction....................................................................................................................5 Games versus Stories ..................................................................................................................5 Games versus the Broader Culture ..............................................................................................6 Game Ontology versus Game Aesthetics.....................................................................................7 Procedural Rhetoric and Computer Games..................................................................................8 Operational Logics and Visual Tropes.......................................................................................12 CHAPTER TWO......................................................................................................................16 FRAMEWORK AND DEFINITIONS ......................................................................................16 The First-Person Perspective.....................................................................................................16 First-Person Shooter Origins .....................................................................................................18 Burke’s Dramatism ...................................................................................................................21 Burkean Identification in the First-Person Shooter Game ..........................................................26 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................28 EXAMPLES OF VISUAL TROPES IN FPS GAMES..............................................................28 Scene in the First-Person Shooter Game....................................................................................28 Agent in the First-Person Shooter Game ...................................................................................30 The Construction of the Scene/Agent Ratio...............................................................................31 Doom....................................................................................................................................32 Half Life 2 ............................................................................................................................33 BioShock ..............................................................................................................................34 Act in the First-Person Shooter Game .......................................................................................37 Lighting as an Element of the Scene/Act Ratio..........................................................................38 Agency in the First-Person Shooter Game.................................................................................41 Weapons ...............................................................................................................................42 Health Items..........................................................................................................................42 The Mini-Game.....................................................................................................................45 The Merger of Scene/Act and Scene/Agency ............................................................................45 Hidden Spaces.......................................................................................................................46 Obstructed Pathways.............................................................................................................48 Final Thoughts..........................................................................................................................52 CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................53 The Relationship of the Visual to Player Motivation .................................................53 NOTES.....................................................................................................................................59 v BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................................60 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.....................................................................................................63 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. .............................................................17 Figure 2 Examples of FPS perspective ...........................................................................17 Figure 3 Hovertank 3D and Catacomb 3D by id software .........................................19 Figure 4 Wolfenstein 3D and Doom by id software .....................................................19 Figure 5 Doom Box Art and the Moon Base Corridors ..............................................33 Figure 6 Box Art and deserted cityscape background. ...............................................34 Figure 7 Box art and underwater city.............................................................................35 Figure 8 Lighting used to direct player act in Doom..................................................39 Figure 9 Lighting used to direct player act in Half Life 2. .......................................40 Figure 10 Lighting used to direct player act in BioShock. ........................................41 Figure 11 Health Packs and Armor in Doom ................................................................43 Figure 12 Health items in Half Life 2.............................................................................43 Figure 13 Health Stations in BioShock...........................................................................44 Figure 14 Health Items in BioShock and Half Life 2 ..................................................44 Figure 15 Hacking Mini-Game in BioShock..................................................................45 Figure 16 Hidden Spaces with Health Items in Doom ................................................47 Figure 17 Hidden Space with Health Items in Half Life 2 ........................................47 Figure 18 Hidden Space and Health Items in BioShock .............................................48 Figure 19 Obstructed Pathways in Doom .......................................................................49 Figure 20 Obstructed Pathways in Half Life 2 .............................................................50