Category: BCM215

Index- Ideation and Concept, Methodology, Background Research, Utility, Response Feedback, Trajectory, Success and Limitations

Ideation and Concept

My concept wasn’t originally Fall Guys, it was exploring the card game Gwent in the Witcher 3. My goal in the Witcher 3 was to understand the card game better. I abandoned the DA as it was tedious. At the time that I started the semester, I was really into Fall Guys and saw many people helping each other without using verbal communication. That was when my concept for the DA formed, I was curious as to how playing a game with no verbal communication while helping each other could inspire so much fondness for the characters.

Methodology

While playing this game, my methodology was to wait near the finish line to interact with characters and then use emotes and grabbing to interact with other players. I would try to get their attention by copying them and play around with them.

Background Research

My background research consisted of primarily two journal articles, that were very helpful at describing non-verbal communication. My first article was one by Kujanpaa & Mannien, titled ‘Supporting visual elements of non-verbal communication in computer game avatars’ and talked about useful concepts related to non-verbal communication, such as Kinesics, which is body movements. The other article was called ‘Enhancing the Believability of Character Behaviours Using Non-Verbal Cues’ by Desai & Szafron, which showed us how using physical and visual language alone can be distinctive.

Utility

The utility of this is to know how games can convey so much without communication. There are many visual elements that can make characters distinctive and iconic. The Beans had several factors to make them popular, which was all done with little speech. There are many recognisable and popular character designs that people love, such as Minions, Pikachu or Chewbacca, and they don’t speak. Knowing how to dissect what makes a character design so popular without utilising speech is a good skill.

Response to feedback via the pitch and beta

For my initial Witcher 3 Pitch, I didn’t receive any feedback. However, in the Discord Chat for our tutorials, Hayden had said that Gwent was his ‘favourite part’ of the Witcher 3 and that I should try it. For my Beta, I had more responses and changed direction. Some responses included looking at other gaming franchises for character interactions, such as Minecraft. However, I did not take up that idea since I didn’t own the games at that point and felt it would be a shallow analysis compared to Fall Guys. He also recommended a journal article that I ended up not using, since it compared collaborative physical communication with students, when I was primarily looking at the benefits and negatives of not communicating online.

Overall Trajectory

My trajectory with this topic was all over the place, and I’m still not sure I analysed enough for this final submission. It was like a slow wavy rollercoaster ride and I’m still not sure where I ended up.

Success and Limitations

A success of this project was me enjoying my time analysing Fall Guys and the countless posts of wholesome helping out I saw on Reddit. Finding out how Fall Guys ticked without implementing communication was a goal of mine, and I saw why and how it works up close with this Digital Artefact.

I was limited in scope, as other people suggested that I tackle other video games to analyze but didn’t do it. I also felt very limited in what to write for the DA, and as I result, I feel like I never progressed past the Beta presentation.

All References

Kujanpaa & Mannien Journal Article

Desai & Szafron Journal Article

Mediatonic Cute Battle Royale

Fall Guys Development

Breath of the Wild

I commented on Chelsea’s DA about Breath of the Wild. I have played Breath of the Wild and was able to relate to her post of artistic beauty and design significance. I asked Chelsea if she could check out another game called ‘Genshin Impact’, which has a similar art style of lush grass and cel-shaded characters. I drew on Nintendo being a very influential company headed by Miyamoto. In the Week 6 Lecture we hear about how Miyamoto influenced the switch from programming to game designers, who were typically more traditionally trained visual artists. Through all of Nintendo’s games we have seen clear visual influences, especially Breath of the Wild, which Chelsea notes in her DA, and are a staple of Nintendo. Mario, Pikachu and Zelda are all worldwide icons with recognisable designs.

I offered a link to an article comparing Genshin Impact’s design aesthetics to Breath of the Wild’s. I think it was a very useful article, as I have played both games and can definitely see the visual similarities of both games. I learned that even though both games can have a clear visual image, they can still be very different in terms of mechanics and progression. BoTW and Genshin have very different goals in the end.

Easter Eggs

I commented on Jono Low’s Beta about Easter Eggs and their history. I commented on how Easter Eggs made parts of the gaming community feel more like a shared space to communicate and become friends. I suggested an article that promoted this viewpoint and wanted him to consider the community around Easter Eggs. There are already several YouTube communities that thousands of people watch and enjoy. Easter Eggs are a part of ‘Participatory Media Culture’, where players actively seek out the details within the game and provides an engaging way to interact with the game through the lens of discovery. I learned that Easter Eggs are an important point of gaming culture.

I wanted to show Jono that some Easter Eggs wouldn’t have been found without a community dedicated to recording and finding them, just as he is doing.

Women in Video Games

Lorena’s DA is about Women in video games and how they are represented. I wrote the comment of being interested in the public responses that she got. I recommended that she check out a general media article about representation in video games. I learned that through her public polls, many people felt ambivalent to gender representation and were happy with what they got. She analysed figures such as Lara Croft and how her design was impractical and servicing male members of the audience. She also noted that Peach was a damsel in distress for her role in Mario. It was also interesting exploring the lack of gender in video games with Animal Crossing, where you don’t have to choose. I also learned that sometimes gender plays a bigger role than I think with stereotypes, like Peach. Some people might unconsciously associate it with women being lesser.

My DA has gone through a lot of a change. I started my Digital Artefact as a Witcher 3 Gwent exploration. I enjoyed exploring Gwent and battling people in game, but I had to discard it as it was taking too much time. Gwent was a side quest and the main questline took up too much time to open the area forced me to do main quests. I had also found a new and interesting game to play with in the form of Fall Guys. Each round of Fall Guys was quick and easy, and I was curious about how some aspects worked. Mainly the communication aspects as there was no voice or text chat, only emotes. I also didn’t receive any feedback for my DA Pitch so there is no direction for me to consider since I changed the concept entirely.

My only social media post was a Reddit Post with 4 likes, which you can see here. But there was one comment that said, “Mine too”, meaning that there are other fans of the game that like emoting and communicating with other beans.

 I analysed this Digital Artefact through the framework of communication, especially non-verbal. I was analysing the emotes as a human desire for communication, however limited. I used some journal articles to help me understand this. One article was ‘Supporting visual elements of non-verbal communication in computer game avatars’, by Kujanpaa & Manninen. In it they explored Non-verbal communication with online avatars, and Fall Guys is a perfect example of this. Fall Guys uses several non-verbal communication forms, such as Kinesics, which is body gestures and movements. Another article was called ‘Enhancing the Believability of Character Behaviours Using Non-Verbal Cues’ by Desai & Szafron, who explored background characters and how they can make them distinct by identifying them with non-verbal emotions. It means using physical and visual language to make them distinct. Each of the Fall Guys can have a distinct language based on costume or emote choices.