Introduction to the World of Warcraft - Open Mic in CTIN 542: Interactive Design & Production

Having played and tested World of Warcraft for about a year, I'm very honored to introduce this marvelous game to you all, what it is, why it rules and how it is made.
Download World of Warcraft.ppt

Multi-image performance works by Norman Magden

I did a bit research on the topic going on in Perry and Michael's class about stage projection. And I found this artist, NOrman Magden who is focusing on projection and performance. Have a look at what he's doing first......

"Cocoon"
Live performer with portable screens; multi-image projection environment - six 16mm movie projectors, three programmed ektagraphic slide projectors and stereo sound.
clip1.MOV

"Odori To Ki (Dancer with Wood)"
Live performer with slate screen costume; multi-image projection environment - three 16mm movie projectors, three programmed ektagraphic slide projectors and stereo sound.
clip2.MOV

Here's his Artist Statement

Norman Magden Artist Statement

"My works involve the creation of multi-image performances in which live performers/dancers move in an integrated environment of projected images. The live performers interact with the projected images by carrying portable screens as an extension of their performance persona or by wearing specially designed reflective costumes, allowing their own bodies to become screens. The portable screen surfaces include variously formed white shapes that can be extended away from the body or passed over the body in continuous motion causing the images to appear three-dimensional, as they seem to come forward or recede.

Because the performance takes place without any stage lighting, the projections provide the only illumination. The performers' actions only become visible when the portable screens or the white costumes interject the projection beams. In some works, the screens and the
costumes have a black side upon which the images will not appear, adding to illusions in which there are no precise divisions between the real and the projected performance. Live performers acting as screens become a metaphor for the polemical human struggle between the beauty and terror of technology and its ever increasing presence in contemporary society.

To push the dissolution of boundaries between realities even further, the images being projected on the performers often contain a reiteration of the performance actually taking place, creating an intriguing visual confusion in which it becomes almost impossible to separate the images of the performance from the live performance. These multi-image environments are not designed to be mere stage scenery, but created as extensions of the living energy in the movement and the sounds of the actual performance."

After I browsed his website at
http://web.utk.edu/~nemagden/default.html

My overall feeling about Norman and his stage performance is very stunning. But I still don't think it is anything revolutionary. Anything that can bring back the golden day of stage performance. I personally think the soul of the performance is the actor, not the content in the projection. There is a big difference between watching a recorded performance in the theater and sitting in front of the performer is different. And that is the part which stage art is really about and should be proud of. In Norman's piece, somehow I feel the distance between the audience and the actor. That's a invisible barrior between the camera tracking and the projection. It's not as vivid or as life as the actor itself and it also make it very dark to see the actor.

Projection can definitely produce a visual satisfaction, but stage performance is not just about visual. There's still a long way for people to figure out a revolution format for the stage performance.

Thesis Prep Update

I've had a pretty solid ideas about my thesis project so far.

Title: Dynamic Game-play Adjusting System

Brief Description:
This is a research about the relationship between different game-play settings and different players reaction. Explore how to give the different players the right amount of rewards in the right time; How to offer hard enough chanllenging for different players before they get bored; How to read the players' needs from their in game interactions.

Most of the current video games are very scripted. The design of the video game are fixed once it's released. Normally designers design their games to a stereotype from the target market like teenager hard core gamers or middle age female non-gamers. Good game that fits for everybody is really hard to find.

Each person is an individual, their desire and needs for the expereince is different. Like body building, a good trainer knows to how design a good plan for different people. To design a game, a designer should also consider to adjust the weight and times for his different trainees. Tetris is boring for the hardcore gamer but very addicting to the beginners. RTS is really attracting mature gamer, while the non-gamer can not easily understand what's going on in the games. There are player like chanllenging, there's also players prefer casual play. If a game can ask and adjust the play based on the player's needs, it will be a great step forward from today's game design.

Media:
I'll use multiple prototypes to focus on detailed areas like: difficulty
chanllenging
rewarding
time
stimulation

After that I'll try to combine all these prototypes into one. If the game makes different players feel exsiting and different, I think the grammar and vocabulary will be a great reference to the industry and acadimia.

Student Postmortem: 6mSoft's Romeo and Juliet

I saw this on Gamasutra.com, it's a very ambitious project. Their experience is worth for sharing.
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050204/gilman_01.shtml