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…and listening to lukid

• enum {
  mHappyLife      =0,
  mHappyWeek   =1,
  mHappyDay      =2,
  mHappyNow      =3,

  mPhysical=4,
  mEnergy=5,
  mComfort=6,
  mHunger=7,
  mHygiene=8,
  mBladder=9,

  mMental=10,
  mAlertness=11,
  mStress=12,
  mEnvironment=13,
  mSocial=14,
  mEntertainment=15,
  };

I post this code because it gives a good impression about my further design approach. These lines are used as variables to describe the behavioural patterns of the Sims. Besides the semantic and syntactic meanings of the code you are able to recognize that some basic game mechanics usually represented by graphical feedback are also representable with simple notations such as numbers.
Here you can see another way numbers are used to describe complex game events:

The conclusion is to simulate the game events and game  mechanics used in the presented high end games like TheSims or SimCity etc. with numbers or with simple graphical feedback.


MDA Framework


Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek developed a framework called MDA: “MDA is a formal approach to understanding games - one which attempts to bridge the gap between game design and development, game criticism, and technical game research.”
Link

In this paper three game design components are shown by the author:

• 1. Mechanics - the Rules
  2. Dynamics - the System
  3. Aesthetics - Fun

The aesthetics are “(…) the resulting experience form the players engageing with the system”.
These component is important for my prototyping.
By interacting with the physical world the resulting experience is so high that you actually don’t need complex graphical feedback. The player achive a high level of fun through the use of a mobile device in the physical world.

As you can see mobile devices can be used to access map application software, to play games, etc.
This presentation gives a good overview about the technical approaches implemeted in  today’s smartphones.

The use of Mobile Phones as game controlling devices is based on the idea of the Macromanagement in games.
Wikipedia says:
“In computer games, especially strategy games, macromanagement refers to the general economy aspect of the game. This includes constructing buildings, conducting research, and producing units, among other things involving the intake and expending of resources. This is in contrast with micromanagement, which involves small-scale management of individual units.”
You control a greater number of tasks by developing a more general game strategy.
Data generated by a mobile phone could be used to initiate macromanagment commands in games.

So here are some first ideas to connect the data produced by a mobile phone with some game scenarios:
Location Awareness

• use meta-information transmitted through your geographical position via GPS.

simcity mashup

This is a picture of the Met’s Crime Mapping Website.

This site run by the Metropolitan Police shows “where crime is occurring at a local neighbourhood level” in the city of London. The Crime Mapping Website is a Mashup which combines Google Map data with crime statistics.
Combined with your current geo-position you are able to read the crime rate of your neighborhood.

Crime Rate is a game mechanism used in simulation games such as Sim City.

The player in the role of a city mayor has to develop strategies for dealing with with crime, pollution and traffic levels.

In my idea the crime Rate of your Current Position is used to modifiy the crime rate of the mobile phone game Sim City

This is an example of connecting london’s crime statistics and the crime statistics of the mobile phone game Sim City:

computervision

:

• use your mobile phone camera for game control.

Through the use of Computer Vision it is possible to detect several objects and shapes. You can even use CV to detect smiling faces. These objects / faces analyzed by the CV apps could be used as a representation for several game tasks.

Here you can see  an example of the OpenCv Library for Processing a project by Atelier Hypermedia (Stephane Cousot and Douglas Edric Stanley).

• Which Game Events could be combined with the idea behind CV?

the sims / face recognition

This is a screenshot of “The Sims 2″.

The Need Bar is a statistic menu which displays the six basic needs of a “Sim”

Socializing in The Sims:
“One of the most amusing elements of game play is the whimsical process of socializing and making friends with other Sims. Initially the player sees the person they are talking to in a ? view shot; as they increase their relationship score the image becomes a close up. Relationship scores are saved from day to day, generating Daily and Life scores from the average of the two. Sims’ relationship scores and personality affect how well any given social interaction will go.”
“Fulfill Wants & Needs: Your Sim desires certain things to stay happy. Give them what they want… or don’t. It’s all in your hands.” by EAmobile

The idea is to satisfy the social need of your Sim by taking pictures of other individuals’ faces.
The User is forced to interact with or simply to find physical individuals to perfom the game task

• Are there other connections between the “Need Bar” and everyday objects or situations?

Color Detection/Strategy Game?:
Through Image Processing you are able to read the specific color values within an image. So you can use this technique to assign different colors to specific game events. For example if you play a strategy game and you need to attack an opponent you have to capture an image with high red values. If you want to make peace with your opponent you have to get an image with high green or blue color values.
The use of color values as representations is an old concept. Colors are used to represent feeelings and specific sounds. This image is an historical overview of the combination between color and sound:

via rhythmiclight

• What games/game events could be used in this context?

shape detection / tetris.

Blob detection by v3ga
Blob detection lets you find specific forms in an image. In combination with the puzzle game Tetris the user has to find the right geometry.

This could be everything from small objects to architecture:

bluetooth/mobile network

The Sims:
Meet The Locals: Sims are social creatures. Getting to know other Sims in the neighborhood can lead to employment, friendship and even romance.
This is equivalent to find other players in your current location. So your Sim is able to connect and socialize with another Sim

• Are there other networks accessible through a mobile phone?

The Apple iPhone has a couple of build in hardware sensors which can be divided into two possible categories: sensors which can be used to perform active game control and sensors for a more passive game control based on your environment:

active:

• ambient light sensor (physical action -> see wii)

• proximity sensor (physical action -> see wii)

• 3-axis accelerometer (physical action -> see wii)

passive, environmental:

• 2.0 megapixel camera (computer vision)

• A GPS module (movement, geotags)

Behind the actual device you are produncing data through the usage of your mobile phone network:

• address book of your phone (contacts)

• connection data (long distance / short distance calls, phone bills etc)

Are there any other informations produced by the usage of a mobile phone?

This is the box of Spore’s Creature Editor. With this application you can design your own creature for the game spore (see previous posts).

My idea was to modify and to edit the creatures not via traditional interfaces like keyboard or mouse but with plants. Through connecting plants with characters or in this case creatures you are able to combine the digital world of the game with the physical world of everyday life.

Like the creatures of Spore all plants have individual characteristics based on thier familiar etc.

• problem: Plants have usually their own time-scale which is not in “realtime”
• plants are used to control the game in a passive way.

Below you can see a timeline of a creature edited in Spore’s Creature Editor. It shows the history of the design process within Spore.

This is an example with shows the missmanagement of a “Creature”. As an owner of a plant you have to make sure that you fulfil the needs of the creature. Furthermore this image is a good example of getting feedback from the game.

View from my room. Can you use this setting as a gameboard for an ad hoc game or play?! Are there any game mechanics or rules which came to your mind if you see this setting or can you treat this as an experimental playground?

Wargames is a science fiction film dealing with the idea of blurring the boundaries between real life and game scenarios. It’s pure 80’s trash, I know.

“Is this a game or is it real?”
“What’s the difference?”