Week 2 - Creativity: 1st February 2021
After a long day of planning out my idea for this weeks challenge activity I have finally settled on an idea to use. The random idea generator that I talked about in my planning journal entry gave me the words Cyberpunk, Hover Car and Shopping. The existing artefact I used for this activity was a game called "Two Stars" by Matt Reeves which can be found in the link below https://mattreeves.itch.io/two-stars This week I had to modify the artefact chosen in some way using the techniques I selected. The aim is to remediate it into another form of the artefact.
Matt had initially made a narrative walking sim in which you crash land on the moon and must find your wife. Originally there was also meant to be a monster on the moon chasing you but due to issues with gravity in the game the monster kept floating off into space. Matt had always struggled to get it working so I decided to try and fix this issue for him on top of completing this weeks challenge.
During this challenge I also used the brainstorming method to see how that could help me. For this I found a programme online called Blank Board by Lucid which essentially is a digital canvas for all of my brainstorming needs.
Here is an example of what I used during the Global Game Jam. I repeated this process for this weeks activity.
Cyberpunk Space Market
The techniques I used to help me complete this weeks activity was Mind Mapping the random word generator mentioned earlier, this is relative to the David Bowie cut up method mentioned by the BBC.
I used the same website as previous as this was really fun to work with and I like how visual it is. I got the idea for working with mind maps using the material provided in this weeks activity also. Specifically I used Luenendonk, M. (2019) ‘Techniques for Idea Generation: Mind Maps’ [online], Cleverism, 20 September. Available at: https://www.cleverism.com/techniques-idea-generation-mind-maps/ (Links to an external site.) [accessed 1st February 2021]
This gave great insight into creative problem solving and made me dive deeper into the subject. Whilst reading this weeks material I also stumbled across "What is creative problem solving?" Which covered off a whole host of great methods and even broke down specifically what creative problem solving is.
Cleverism. 2021. Idea Generation: What is Creative Problem Solving?. [online] Available at: <https://www.cleverism.com/what-is-creative-problem-solving/> [Accessed 3 February 2021].
1. Linear
In the linear model, each of the six stages of the Creative Problem Solving process is represented by a diamond shape. This shape signifies first, generating or diverging options, followed by a selection of a refreshed focus and then, moving on. Thinking was in straight lines, moving just one step at a time for the sake of maintaining order, channelling freedom. This model came out in the 1970s.
2. Bubble
In the 1990s, the diamond shapes changed into connected bubbles representing attitude shifts towards directed and meaningful connectedness. Channelled freedom gets wider birth. There are three unique stages in the bubble model. Visually, this indicates authorization to enter not solely at the first stage (as was the case in the 1970s model), but at any stage of the process. The linear model has diamond shapes with smoother edges, and there are arrows to give directions. The three bubbles in the bubble model let you know exactly what you should do.
3. Systemic
The thinking skills module is a system with many entry points determined by the task at hand (centre hub) or situation. The construction in this model is in agreement with our current web-like interrelated view of the world. It depicts the distinctive core of each stage by renaming. While the bubble and accordion (diamond) CPS models offer rational, logical approaches to CPS, providing an overt course of action, this model tells you what happens. It outlines the three key phases and charts the thinking processes utilized for each. You can see the diamonds remain, the three key focus points join in fluid colours with the beginning point varying with the situational requirement.
Overall I found this weeks challenge activity rather enjoyable as it made me think about different ways to accomplish things without having to use the same methods over and over. This opens up a whole new perspective for me and really gets the creative juices flowing. Regarding the random word generator I used as well, this is a great way of making something that could completely out of your comfort zone and would force you to then use more than one or two ways to bring your project to life.
There have been a lot of different methods covered in the first two sprints with a heavy focus being on the scrum method. My understanding is that the scrum method is the most widely used method in the industry, so It has been quite rewarding to look into this and develop a new sense of practice when creating games for work and also for my studies when completing activities.
I would say my go to method at this point has been mind mapping. I have been using a great website to help me plan out my university studies and also my personal games I work on. The website can be found here.
https://lucid.app/
I have also been quite fond of blue sky thinking because not everything has to make sense. There are no limits, no consequences and is a great way to show off how creative you can be. Blue sky thinking is a form of brainstorming and can be very similar to mind mapping hence why I also like this method. I have started linking up my ides in mind maps as well, as this lets me keep a close eye on what I am thinking. Some of the ideas may be related to each other and so I link them together.
Not only have I been using these during my studies I have also been using these methods for my personal projects also. I have recently used opposite thinking in a project I made alongside a colleague called Timore Solumn (see image below).
Specifically speaking about opposite thinking, the issue of creating textures arose so instead we decided to use no textures and opted to use geometry only. Everything you see here is built using cubes, cylinders, spheres and pyramids with the basically inbuilt colours dropped on. The end result looked super effective and really looked different compared to some of the other work we had done previously. When it comes to other games made, I submitted the game EVP (Echo Victor Papa) to the Scream FM Game Jam using the cut up method used by David Bowie. This was extremely useful as the theme was loosely based on sounds from a strange radio signal. Using the cut up method I was given World War 2, Forest, and ghosts. When combining these together I came up with a group of World War 2 soldiers trapped in a haunted house in the forest hiding from opposing forces. Whilst they are in there, their radio equipment breaks down and they start to hear strange noises coming from it. You then get given clues to explore the house and witness how the people died. It is very visual and unnerving and you witness the player break down in several places throughout the game. The game won 1st place for design and 3rd place for audio which really made me happy because without this course, without the learnings of different methods, I wouldn't have come up with this sort of idea naturally. The game was received well on itch.io and I gained a lot of new supporters this way.
This week we have been asked to think about times when you have needed to channel your own creativity. What did you do to foster this and did it change the way you see things?
University, F., 2021. Log in to canvas. [online] Flex.falmouth.ac.uk. Available at: <https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/911/discussion_topics/19888?module_item_id=49142> [Accessed 1 February 2021].
For this activity I talked about my personal experiences when trying to channel my inner creativity, what styles and methodologies I use and how I overcome barriers I feel are stopping me from progressing.
I started by looking into the reading that the brief had suggested and started with the cut up method. I watched the video of David Bowie and how he used this method to put dissociative ideas together to create awkward relationships, thus bringing out the unconscious intelligence in him for creating lyrics for his albums.
BBC News (2016) How David Bowie used 'cut ups' to create lyrics - BBC News [online video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nlW4EbxTD8 (Links to an external site.) [accessed 1st February 2021]
Whilst this method may not apply to videogames much there was a section in the video where he spoke about his friend who put together an application that would randomise words for him that he put into a computer. This got me thinking about the many tools available online to be able to use this for game ideas. I could use this for future references when doing rapid ideation in case I am struggling to find my inner creativity.
Ideagenerator.creativitygames.net. 2021. Creative Idea Generator - Random Word Generator. [online] Available at: <https://ideagenerator.creativitygames.net/> [Accessed 3 February 2021].
Group Brainstorming Vs Individual Brainstorming:
For the brainstorming method I used the above to read into best practices for brainstorming. Since I am working alone for this activity it was best to first understand the differences between the two.
Individual Brainstorming: While group brainstorming is often more effective at generating ideas than normal group problem solving, several studies have shown that individual brainstorming produces more – and often better – ideas than group brainstorming.
This can occur because groups aren't always strict in following the rules of brainstorming, and bad behaviours creep in. Mostly, though, this happens because people pay so much attention to other people that they don't generate ideas of their own – or they forget these ideas while they wait for their turn to speak. This is called "blocking." Group Brainstorming: Here, you can take advantage of the full experience and creativity of all team members. When one member gets stuck with an idea, another member's creativity and experience can take the idea to the next stage. You can develop ideas in greater depth with group brainstorming than you can with individual brainstorming.
Another advantage of group brainstorming is that it helps everyone feel that they've contributed to the solution, and it reminds people that others have creative ideas to offer. It's also fun, so it can be great for team building!
Brainstorming: Generating Many Radical, Creative Ideas (2020). Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html (Links to an external site.) [accessed 1st February 2021]
3rd February 2021
Today I completed my challenge activity which was taking an already existing artefact and turning into something else.
For this challenge I took the source code from my friends game Two Stars by Matt Reeves.
Original Work can be found here "STARS, T., 2021. TWO STARS by Matt Reeves. [online] itch.io. Available at: <https://mattreeves.itch.io/two-stars> [Accessed 3 February 2021]" The original game was a narrative walking sim about a crashed spaceship on the moon. Two stars represent the two people who are stranded and fighting for their life before eventually one of them dies & one of the stars in the sky dies along with them. It's an emotional story about love & loss, so I wanted to ensure I created something very different that could be considered my own work. I started by deleting most of the lighting & structures in the original games world & replacing the lighting to make it moodier. I decided to go with the idea of something still in the same universe as space and set upon creating a hover car. Something still linked to the sci-fi universe. With this idea cemented in stone, I opened blender & started working on the models for the car and a few assets. Once this was done I started coding in UE4 the mechanics of the car to make it hover. Once this was done I started thinking about mechanics & gameplay and what I could do that was juxtaposed to the original story. I started creating a funny quick mechanic about needing milk so you fly to the space market to buy some. There you could interact with products and walk around with a trolley & put things in your basket, pay & leave. With this came the idea for the name "Cyberpunk Space Market" I have attached the images for a comparison. To help further develop this idea I started to think about the use of SCAMPER. SCAMPER stands for the following.
Substitute
Combine
Adapt
Modify (Also Magnify and Minify)
Put to another use
Eliminate
Reverse
Dam, R., 2021. Learn How to Use the Best Ideation Methods: SCAMPER. [online] The Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: <https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/learn-how-to-use-the-best-ideation-methods-scamper> [Accessed 7 February 2021].
Best practice: How to use SCAMPER:
First, take an existing product or service. It could be an existing product, service or idea which you want to improve or which could be a great starting point for future development.
Then, simply go down the list and ask questions regarding each of the seven elements. Please see our step-by-step guide below.
Apply the questions to values, benefits, services, touch points, product attributes, pricing, markets and essentially any other related aspect you might be able to think of that has relevance to your ideation needs.
Look at the answers that you came up with. Do any of the answers stand out as viable solutions? Could you use any of them to create a new product, or develop an existing one?
Take the good ideas and explore them further.
I managed to look over the coursework briefly tonight and have a think about what I want to do for the activities. This week we have been asked to "modify the artefact in some way using the techniques you selected. The aim is to remediate it into another form of the artefact". I have decided I want to take the project files for a friends game he never managed to really finish and make it into something else. The link to the original piece of work is as follows.
https://mattreeves.itch.io/two-stars I am going to be using a mind map to create and flesh out my idea whilst also using the cut up method used by David Bowie.
BBC News (2016) How David Bowie used 'cut ups' to create lyrics - BBC News [online video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nlW4EbxTD8 (Links to an external site.) [accessed 3rd February 2021]
However alongside this I will be mainly focusing on the randomised word generator found here that will allow me to generate ideas based on words inputted into the system.
Update Week 2: 1st February 2021
After using the random word generator I have been given the words, Cyberpunk, Hover car & shopping.
I will start mind mapping potential mechanics today and Ideas for a story using the methods researched in the reading list for this week.
There is a bit of development for me to do with this weeks challenge. I have decided to tear down a friends code from their game Two Stars. Two stars is about a man and wife who have crashed on the moon and have been separated and you must find her. I have been asked to use a method from this weeks studies.
Update Week 2: February 8th 2021
For this weeks activity I had to recreate an artefact from an existing piece of work using two methods of rapid ideation. I chose Game development and White boxing.
This is the white boxing method I used where I was able to throw primitive objects together to give it the illusion of a city scape in the distance. The sky box also plays an important part in giving it some life such as the reflexions and clouds, which also give it height definition. Despite this being so simple it really looks realistic and brings life to the game.
On the left we have the creator's original design (unlit) and on the right, my recreation. I started by designing several models in blender of buildings. I specifically wanted to also create different shapes, sizes all whilst giving the buildings some life like debris, plant life growing on them as this is what the original lacked. You might be thinking that for rapid ideation this would be quite time consuming but the difference here is I di not have to manually place buildings as I used a plugin to randomly generate the placement and make sure they were correctly grounded. This reduced time on level design massively and also took into account the ground snapping meaning I didn't have to manually check each building. the plugin took around 8 seconds to generate the map of the buildings I had placed into the folder and I was instantly able to hit play and walk around in this new world.
As you can see, my map contains different sizes and shapes, roads, debris a more lifelike city as the one on the left is very similar in height across the board.
I wanted to also share this screenshot as I was also able to save on engine performance and game performance by reducing certain buildings to half height or raising them to just above the building in front. Due to the blocking volume in play, it meant the player would never see the base of the building behind, thus reducing the need for artefacts in the game.
In summery, I believe I have produced a much better looking and cost effective way using rapid ideation whilst still maintaining a believable world for the game to exist in.
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