Essay Emotions in Video Games

ESSAY

Ahamed Malik Amanul Moin | DE4101

Creating 3D Assets to Express Emotions in Video Games

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part 1: Literature Review

Part 2: Contextual Review

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

When developing the concept for an asset, the artist should ask how this would affect the player in the game, what type of emotion it will trigger, and why the player should interact with this determinate object. The imagination of a concept artist is brought to life with the creation of 3D model, improving how we observe, interact, approach, or manipulate assets in a virtual world. The team must understand the principal aim for these assets, how they will belong in the fictional world and how they will interact with the player; They must also provide fun and enjoyable gameplay and have a positive and meaningful impact on the player’s experience. This essay aims to explore many ways in which 3D assets can be used to express emotions and various techniques used to narrate the story with the use of these assets between the boundaries of their fictional world. We should analyze first the theme used by these assets, the type of emotion established by them, and how these assets are placed in relation to the environment; to analyze this I will provide contextual examples exploring how emotions can be established throughout gameplay, and how it is reinforcing the structure of the fictional world and providing the player with the necessary means to understand the game world and what awaits the player. This essay will discuss the strategic designer’s choice of placement for the assets as potential means for storytelling and how they provide strong emotions for the player’s experience.

Part 1: Literature Review

The challenge of future video games is to design games that go beyond simple entertainment. When the artist develops or presents a series of ideas or descriptions to create a world, characters, and stories these must work together to represent the theme of the fictional environment and set rules for the world. The artist should also think about how a mechanical feature supports the philosophy of the game is not only an immersive experience but also a strong g philosophical idea.

Bernard Perron and Aki Jarvinen (in the videogame theory reader 2, 2003) express how attraction emotions seem to relate to game elements and their implementation, the quote “so-called eliciting conditions for emotions are embodied in game designs” (Ch 5, Pg 85) this highlights how emotions associated to the play are established in the gameplay, Jarvinen also wrote “objects, agents and events in games potentially trigger emotions that are significant and meaningful”, this is important specially for the design of characters and game spaces, and how the information is distributed to the players. A good concept artist can create new assets that seamlessly fit into the environment and incorporate them into a scene that draws the player’s attention. Developing the history of a particular asset in-game is essential, for instance, a particular sword that has been mentioned through the game story can establish a strong sense of importance in the player’s mind and push them into pursuing it, as well as support the primary narrativize.

The emotion theorist Keith Oastley’s has stated that: “emotions depend on evaluations of what has happened in relation to the person’s goal and beliefs” (Oatley 19). It is also believed that emotions induce a mental state “usually caused by an event of importance to the subject”. The idea of creating a solid experience is to ensure that the player is willing to care enough about the goals of a particular videogame, games will set up conditions for eliciting emotions in the player experience trough the interaction with the various assets within boundaries of the fictional world. Videogames can present ideas to the players unlike any other form of entertainment, by actively engaging the player. However, when eliciting emotions during the gameplay, the design team must keep in mind how the player would feel and react to determinate interaction with game world. 

A strong virtual established game asset, in this case a sword, will have an important value to the player, established trough the game, the importance can be derivate from the story of this determinate item or the difficulty of obtaining it. A playable object is a system of rules that is formalized for someone, and that, a video game is an idea that is actively shaped in the mind of the player, the object in question becomes desirable. Desire is a state of mind that express the idea of wanting a particular thing, this is incentivized with narrative element connected to the world around the object. Another important factor are the emotions associated with certain in game events that will have a strong impact on the player’s perspective towards a determined object, with the means to experience narrative regardless of the presence of a well-established story. The object will evoke attraction in sense of degree of appeal or familiarity depending on the context. 

The Dutch psychologist Nico Frijda (1986, The Emotions) has proposed that emotions can be seen as a set of phases, he also suggests that emotions are phasic in the following way: first, there is an appraisal, that is, the recognition of an event as significant. In this case, obtaining the desired sword in the game. “To establish, maintain, or disrupt a relationship with the environment” (Frijda 71). The gameplay then evolves and moves to the next phase where the player now possesses the desired item; there is a recognition of something significant in the game in this current state, followed by the player’s appraisal of the situation and what to do next. This is followed by a so-called context evaluation, that is, thoughts or plans as to how to cope with the event that caused the emotions. The player will express a strong sense of accomplishment that leads to action readiness: one’s willingness to respond with another action, in this case, the player in possession of the sword will now venture into the fictional world looking for new challenges. Finally, there is physiological change, such as expression and action, and the player will feel the necessity to use the newly acquired sword. An important concept related to action is action tendency, which conceptualizes the tendencies of individuals, as a result of experiencing an emotion. The designer must keep in mind why and how would the player feel about obtaining the object of interest.

The Psychologist Micheal Kubovy (On Pleasure of the Mind, 1999) has explored the concept of “pleasure of mind”, these are emotions that are more extended in time; whereas emotions are experienced involuntarily, the pleasure of the mind is “voluntarily sought out” in the form of entertainment, in this case, video games (Kubovy 137), the design team use this knowledge to create an object of interest that captivates the player’s attention. with these sets of concepts, we can analyze how the game’s design builds up moments of interactions between the player and the game, thanks to the aids of scripted events and narrative related to a particular asset, the player behaviour evolves in a sense of accomplishment by obtaining the object of desire, thus rewarding and motivating the player, via a playful behavior, thanks to the interactive nature of the gameplay. 

An interesting take would be the Master Sword from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the wild (Nintendo, 2017), this unique weapon has a strong established narrative element well established and a unique and mysterious feel surrounding its presence in the moment of discovery, this choice of design captivates the player attention and incentivize the player in searching for a method to wield the sword. Thus, affecting how the player will perform in the game and changing the way the player will perceive the item in the game, this symbiotic connection will create a sense of power for the player who controls that character once he manages to obtain the item in question.

Part 2: Contextual Review

Bloodborne (FromSoftware, 2015) provides a strong example intensity of a particular type of emotion. To create a visual established environment, the design team must know what type of emotions would be associated with that event in the gameplay. The strength of a video game lies in the effectiveness of the gameplay and the placement of the various 3D assets and how they would then interact with the Player. The gameplay can be made more attractive with the inclusion of interesting, well-designed assets, in this case, the detailed crafted Victorian 3D architecture used to build the metropolis to create psychological space and make the player feels in a constant situation of danger, triggering various emotions such as the feeling of failure or success, regarding one’s performance in the game. Intensively suggesting the player must fight for survivability in this harsh environment, this all related to a particular emotion, in this scenario the sense of fear bestowed to the player from the design of the 3D environment, then to the sense of suspense, which Ortony (in The Cognitive Structure of Emotions, 1990) places in the category of prospect-based emotions that relate to events, furthermore, define suspense as a compound emotion of fear, hope, and uncertainty.

The Sense of reality established within the world of Bloodborne has to do with how much ones believe the emotion-inducing situation is real. The variable can be established in the player with the aid of visual guidance. When developing a 3D model, the artist must keep in mind the functionality and how it can belong to the fictional world intended. The artist can also create and manipulate the assets present in the game to add more complexity to the gameplay, some can be placed strategically to lure the player, in this scenario, FromSoftware designed special lanterns, that can interact with the player’s character, they act as a checkpoint and offers safety and immunity. This variable relates to information on the current game situation, during which the player will react surprised and comforted by the presence of a lantern, in contrast with the hostile world surrounding it.

Emotions are a psychological state that are changed by stimuli, and these are dependent on the context of once state of mind. This means that emotions are dependent on how something is perceived by the player engaging in the gameplay, this allows the designer to create a particular intended emotional response. 

A sense of reality is created and made tangible throughout the gameplay, thanks to the use of a specific variable that has to do with how much one believes the emotion-inducing situation is real. Each distinct asset is represented differently, and the player will assign determinate importance to them, generic trees and environments assets would have lesser importance than a piece of equipment; “in terms of the weights that are assigned to different components or manifestations of the emotions.” (Ortony, 15-16). This is relevant when it comes for fiction and entertainment. In Alice Madness Returns (Spicy Horse, 2011) there is a subtle line of gameplay where the player is actively “immersed” or “engaged” in the game world.

The aesthetic nature that the player experiences, whether it involves performing or just appreciating the design and composition of game characters and environments, or just being fascinated with the simulated mind of the game's main character, in this case, Alice. This is another way in which a game artist can make the player emotionally engage by recreating or reinventing something that the player is familiar with. The player in this case will feel engaged in the exploration of a world that most like feel "familiar”, thus creating a sense of immersion into the game through constant requirement of the player action, through intricate simulation of a fantastic world and the characters inhabiting it.

 As consequence, the player will actively feel engaged in a dynamic visual puzzle that emphasizes cognitive abilities and judgment of the visual perception and reaction speeds of the in-game assets and world-building. The narrative of this fictional world is tied to the player's freedom of choice and understanding of the world surrounding it. Yet there are “goals” that tend to guide the player towards a certain point in the game to proceed through the story, Oatley (25) stated that “emotions emerge at significant junctures in plans”, this highlights the importance of completing the goals, these will elicit prospect-based emotions. For example, the goal of defeating a certain enemy, that embody the prospect disrupt the player’s journey, thus setting up a challenge, even though the action of defeating that opponent is designed with that purpose in mind, to ensure the player is engaged with that goal a tool is required, in this case, the Vorpal Blade, a weapon that embodies the solution to the challenge presented in game. 

The narrative element of this fictional blade establishes a sense of reassurance for the player, that now possesses a tool to defeat any opposing enemy. It is also important to remember that these variables often work in combination, affecting the sense of reality perceived by the player. A player who now has the means and tools necessary to defeat his opponent will most likely engage in more fights. When designing a weapon for a narrative the artist must make sure that the player has a reason to obtain this item, this variates with the gameplay, it can be story related or to face an upcoming challenge. The Kubovy concept of ”pleasure of mind” plays a key aspect when designing weapons, these must provide a positive impact to the player, this variable depends on the gameplay, by making sure the player is allowed to obtain and use a certain weapon that ”works” and make the player feel powerful yet not too strong, the designer can keep the player actively engaged thanks to the introduction of unexpected information in the form of new obstacles that the game reveals in the form of opponents, goals or a change of the game environment.

Conclusion

In summary, this essay has explored how assets are portrayed in fictional settings, and the type of emotion they establish for the player through the game. I discussed how a game designer can create a specific 3D asset that can be used to incentivize the player to pursue a personal journey to obtain a particular desired item, I made an example of a sword, and how by highlighting the importance of the weapon in question, throughout narrative elements the player would have a positive response, feel actively engaged and satisfied when obtaining it. These assets can also be used to manipulate or guide a player toward a certain checkpoint in the game, the artists should also understand how to make these assets belong to the fictional world in question, and how to make the player engage in, it can present obstacles to make the player feel pressured and the necessity to obtain a weapon to defeat those opponents and proceed throughout the game. Ultimately how assets can be used to narrate stories and establish a strong emotion trough out their visual representation and the way they are portrayed in the game. I would like to conclude by saying how important of creating interesting 3D assets are a must for the player experience, interesting design choice will catch the attention, and narrative aspect will increase the curiosity of the player though out the gameplay.

Bibliography

Written Sources

Bernard Perron, Mark J. P. Wolf, Aki Jarvinen (2003) - The Videogame Theory Reader 2.

Keith Oatley (1992) Best Laid Schemes: The Psychology of Emotions - Cambridge University Press. 355; hereafter cited as Oatley.

Bernard Perron (2005) “A Cognitive Psychological Approach to Gameplay Emotions”, in changing views: Worlds in Play. - Proceedings of DiGRA, Conference, Vancouver.

Nico H. Frijda (1986) The Emotions - Cambridge University Press; hereafter cited as Frijda.

Michael Kubovy (1999) “On Pleasure of the Mind”, in Well-Being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology – New York: Russel Sage Foundation, 134-135; hereafter cited as Kubovy.

Andrew Ortony, Gerald L Clore, and Alan Collins (1990) - The Cognitive Structure of Emotions – Cambridge University Press; hereafter cited as Ortony

Video Games

Bloodborne (2015) PlayStation 4 [game] Sony Interactive Entertainment - FromSoftware Inc, Hidetaka Miyazaki.

Alice Madness Returns (2011) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC [game] Electronics Arts - Spicy Horse, American McGee.