University of California Santa Cruz A Place to Be A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS In DIGITAL ARTS AND NEW MEDIA By Katherine Ann Green June 2017 This Thesis of Katherine Green is approved by: ________________________________ Professor Robin Hunicke, Chair _________________________________ Professor Susana Ruiz __________________________________ Professor Katherine Isbiter ___________________________ Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Students Copyright © by Katherine Green Table of Contents List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………iii Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………iv Dedication ……………………………………………………………………………v Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………………vi What and why: A Place to Be ……………….………………………………………1 Introduction ……………….………………………………………………….1 Shapeshifting and Simulation………………….……………………………………7 Games about non-humanoid characters……………….…………………….7 Character as tool, character as place ……………….………………………12 Tearing down the “Tree of Life” ……………….…………………………..15 The Posthuman above the Tree…………….………………………………20 Power in Being……………….…………………………………………….27 The Challenges of Becoming………………………………………………30 Where am I when I play a digital game? ……………….…………………………..34 Where am I? ……………….………………………………………………..34 Camera and character……………….………………………………………38 Camera perspective in A Place to Be……………….………………………42 The Art of A Place to Be……………….…………………………………………..45 Iconic Characters……………….…………………………………………..45 Distant Mountains……………….…………………………………………53 Death and the Cycles of Life……………….………………………………………58 iii Death in the digital world……………….………………………………….58 Tragic Games……………….……………………………………………....63 Death in Cutscenes……………….………………………………………....66 Making morbid games to cope……………….…………………………..…68 Previous Projects as Scaffolding……………………………………………………71 Conclusion……………….……………………………………………………….…80 Works Cited……………….………………………………………………….……..83 iv List of Figures Figure 1……………….……………………………………………….……………2 Figure 2……………….……………………………………………….……………2 Figure 3……………….……………………………………………….……………2 Figure 4……………….……………………………………………….……………8 Figure 5……………….……………………………………………….……………11 Figure 6……………….……………………………………………….……………13 Figure 7……………….……………………………………………….……………17 Figure 8……………….……………………………………………….……………17 Figure 9……………….……………………………………………….……………18 Figure 10……………….……………………………………………….…………..19 Figure 11……………….……………………………………………….……………33 Figure 12……………….……………………………………………….……………37 Figure 13……………….……………………………………………….……………37 Figure 14……………….……………………………………………….……………40 Figure 15……………….……………………………………………….……………40 Figure 16……………….……………………………………………….……………47 Figure 17……………….……………………………………………….……………47 Figure 18……………….……………………………………………….……………48 Figure 19……………….……………………………………………….……………48 Figure 20……………….……………………………………………….……………50 Figure 21……………….……………………………………………….……………54 Figure 22……………….……………………………………………….……………55 Figure 23……………….……………………………………………….……………55 Figure 24……………….……………………………………………….……………55 Figure 25……………….……………………………………………….……………56 Figure 26……………….……………………………………………….……………57 Figure 27……………….……………………………………………….……………59 Figure 28……………….……………………………………………….……………61 Figure 29……………….……………………………………………….……………61 Figure 30……………….……………………………………………….……………62 Figure 31……………….……………………………………………….……………68 Figure 32……………….……………………………………………….……………68 Figure 33……………….……………………………………………….……………72 Figure 34……………….……………………………………………….……………72 Figure 35 ……………….……………………………………………….…………...72 Figure 36……………….……………………………………………….……………73 Figure 37……………….……………………………………………….……………73 Figure 38……………….……………………………………………….……………79 Figure 39……………….……………………………………………….……………79 Figure 40……………….……………………………………………….……………79 Figure 41……………….……………………………………………….……………82 Figure 42……………….……………………………………………….……………82 v Abstract “A Place to Be” Katherine Green This thesis explores the development of the digital game A Place to Be. The project itself is approached as an experiment in exploring two major concepts as applied to the artistic medium of a digital game: non-humanoid player characters and death. A Place to Be is described as a game that tries to build an empathetic connection between players and their non-humanoid character, and capture a sense of the “sublime” qualities of life and death. The project converses with other, similar games along with media and game theorists, testing and challenging notions proposed by both professional game developers and thinkers. Where is a player when they play a digital game? How can you use games to offer new perspectives? Can games talk about death in complex ways? These are the types of questions asked and answered here in this thesis. Finally, the results of this experiment, both as successes, failures, and discoveries are studied throughout, in the hopes of contributing to the success of related future projects. Key words: game design, game theory, game development, perspective, non- humanoid, characters, shapeshifting, survival simulation, death, cycles, visual design. vi Dedication To the family and friends whose support made all this possible. vii Acknowledgment This project was a team effort and team members will be credited properly. My project advisors, Robin Hunicke, Susana Ruiz, and Katherine Isbister, always offered support, inspiration, and expertise from many different areas of study. To the programmers who worked with me in the final stages of this project: Thank you, Johannes Spaulding, Jacob Le, Calvin Walanuts, Jason Yang and Andrew Cousins, without you A Place to Be couldn’t be what it is. Thanks also to Ryan Page, who turned a playlist and vague ideas into a unique sound for this project. Thanks to Aubrey Isaacman for helping create the remaining 3D models I didn’t have the time or energy to model myself. Thanks you to Kristen Gillette, Steve Gerlach, and Mark Shunny for making ultrashift happen. And finally, thank you to my entire DANM 2017 cohort- it’s been rad. This project was funded in part by the Florence French Fellowship. viii What and why: “A Place to Be” Introduction “How strange it is to be anything at all.” -Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane over the Sea A Place to Be is a digital game that explores the cycles of life, death, and empathy through the simulation of alternative perspectives. It considers these topics as they can be applied to video games, and ways in the medium is uniquely suited (or not) for exploring them. The creation of the game itself offers a narrative of lessons learned, struggles valiantly fought, with failures and successes alike. A Place to Be as an experiment that does not chase the status of “fun” or “art.” It seems seeks to offer some sort of compelling emotional experience; perhaps more but no less. A Place to Be is intended for a gallery setting and it takes about 10-15 minutes for players to experience the core loop. The game takes players through the life and death of three different non-humanoid 2D characters that live in a colorful 3D landscape with mountains, rivers, and deserts. The characters available are a flightless bird, a solitary wolf, and a flowering plant (see figures 1 – 3). The ultimate goal of the game is to explore “place as self,” and provide players a loop that invites considerations of self, other, and mortality. 1 Figure 1: Grass character in-game. Figure 2: Prey character in-game Figure 3: Predator character in-game. 2 Using framework designed by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek, I will now outline the MDA (mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics) of A Place to Be. This framework was used throughout the development of A Place to Be to explore the effects of altered mechanics on the dynamic and aesthetic goals, as well as backwards when the aesthetic goals shifted to require new mechanics and thus new dynamics as well. MDA supports a formal, iterative approach to design and tuning. It allows us to reason explicitly about particular design goals, and to anticipate how changes will impact each aspect of the framework and the resulting designs/implementations.1 The MDA at this not only stage serves as a reflection of what the game has become, but is an excellent starting point for describing the game from technical basics up to its emotional ideologies. MECHANICS: Using a mouse, players point and click on the screen featuring a 3D world and animated 2D character, with some 2D objects scattered about the landscape. The player character then uses a pathfinding algorithm to attempt to go to where the player clicked in the world (the player character will only move along the ground). Moving to different locations will change the camera's perspective, as well as change the audio. Time passes slowly on its own timer, but if players 1 Hunicke, et al. MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research. Northwestern University, McCormick School of Engineering, 2004. 3 move their character over the 2D objects, time will speed up after the object vanishes. Players can follow a path that leads to a cutscene, and after the cutscene control transitions to a new character. Narratively, this means that the player who finds the cutscenes will transition from a prey character (bird) a predator character (wolf) and a plant character (flower). The flower stage only responds to general mouse clicks and lacks the mobility of the other characters. Clicking and holding will cause the flower character to grow up out of the ground. The death of each respective character leads into the life of the next one, and gameplay can continue in an endless, repeated loop. DYNAMICS: The limited options for players (single mouse click input), clear apparent