Pure Hardcore? - wipEout HD and current game design

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 09:57:38 +0100

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Published in: Eludamos, Volume 3, No. 1. (2009)

This review highlights the changes made for the futuristic racing game Wipeout HD. Once deemed a hardcore game the Wipeout series has since broadened its appeal. The game's state of the art audio integration and the subtle changes to its gameplay are highlighted in the context of contemporary game design.

Playing Music: Design, Theory, and Practice of Music-based Games

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:36:09 +0100

Phd thesis at the Institute of Design and Assessment of Technology, Vienna University of Technology
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This thesis looks at music-based games as interactive applications at the crossroads of digital games, media art, and instruments. To describe these games, a series of design principles for the genre will be presented.

A qualitative study of representative examples of music-based games in combination with experimental prototyping on multiple platforms has been conducted in order to outline the technical foundations for interactive music and to observe the following design aspects: active scores, rhythm-based play, quantization, synaesthesia, kinaesthesia, play as performance, instrumental play, sound agents, and gestures. These terms are defined and linked to interactivity in music-based games. This is the foundation for an analysis of interactivity in music-based games. The differentiation between simulation and traditional gameplay leads to a model that illustrates game design decisions as concessions between playing games and playing music.

Playing Music, Playing Games - Simulation vs. Gameplay in Music-based Games

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:38:16 +0100

with Martin Pichlmair
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Presented at the the Future and Reality of Gaming (F.R.O.G.)
Vienna Games Conference, Vienna, Austria, 10/17/08-10/19/08.

In this text we present an overview on principles of design in music-based games. Earlier research in music-based games resulted in the description of two distinct classes of games: rhythm-action games and musical instrument games. Rhythm-action games have a strict game structure, while musical instrument games offer free-form play. They present strong simulations of the visual and tactile traits of performing and playing instruments. Yet their gameplay is strongly abstracted from playing a real instrument. Games that feature musical instrument play provide more freedom of expression. They achieve this through simulating dynamic systems that allow for lively experiences and emergent gameplay.

Yet most games defy this strict categorisation. Instead, gameplay shifts between playing music and playing games. Consequently, the act of designing music-based games can be seen as an act of balancing between allowing freedom of expression and constraining the game space to render a game accessible, playable and enjoyable. The best music-based games excel in both categories - they offer a believable simulation of any particular aspect of music while giving the player the freedom to explore her own capabilities.

Intentions, Expectations and the Player

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:26:57 +0200

with Martin Pichlmair
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Presented at The [Player] Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 08/26/08-08/28/08.

The emotional side of gaming has been researched extensively over the last years. This paper provides a perspective on how some basic emotions relate to players and gaming situations. The subject of discussion are the player’s emotions that arise as a consequence of the divergence between an action’s expected, intended and actual outcomes. Further, emotions are relative to each other and to the outcomes of other player’s actions. This paper argues that a dramaturgy of interactivity is necessary to embrace this relativity and presents a cornerstone for it.

Mobile Tangible Interfaces as Gestural Instruments

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:58:44 +0100

with Martin Pichlmair and Petr Kotik.
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Presented at the the 5th International Music Workshop 2008, Vienna, Austria, 05/13/08-05/16/08.

In this paper we describe gestures for the interaction with tangible mobile interfaces. These were derived from three prototype instruments we developed over the last year. They were implemented for the Nintendo DS platform and offer different approaches to gestural interaction with music. Our research resulted in a number of suitable gestures for musical expression with mobile tangible interfaces.

Two Halves of Play - Simulation versus Abstraction and Transformation in Sports Videogames Design

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:25:57 +0100

with Peter Purgathofer.
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Published in: Eludamos, Volume 2, No. 1. (2008)

Sports videogames need to model a complex reality to a gratifying game experience. This paper suggest a methodology and terminology to describe and explain deviations from pure simulation in sports videogames design. Using the terms of abstraction and transformation and by introducing a graphic representation for those qualities in respect to realism, selected games are qualitatively analysed regarding their respective implementations of reality.

Levels of Sound: On the Principles of Interactivity in Music Video Games

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:54:10 +0200

with Martin Pichlmair.
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Presented at the DiGRA 2007 conference “Situated Play” in Tokyo, Japan, 09/24/07-09/28/07

This paper gives an introduction into the principles of interactivity in music video games. Music video games are an old but small genre of games. The earliest direct ancestors emerged in the 1970ies. Some recent music video games were hugely successful. Until today, there are only a few different approaches to their design. The purpose of this article is to shed light on what these design principles are, and how the player is immersed. By analysing several games qualitatively, we extracted certain typical features of games of this genre: active scores, rhythm action, quantisation, synaesthesia, play as performance, free-form play, and sound agents. All these aspects of music video games are discussed in this paper with the aim of describing how they affect the interactivity of the games. The result is a grammar of the language of music video games. Linked to adequate metaphors, this grammar can build a veritable repository for rhythm based, melodically interactive games and digital electronic instruments.

Gestural Interaction in Music Video Games

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:58:24 +0200

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Presented at the “Digital Games: Theory and Design” conference at Brunel University, London, Great Britain, 09/14/07.

This article explains how gestures and the metaphors that lie beneath them are used in music video games. Gestural interaction is quite commonly used in new media art like electronic instruments or acoustic environments. Their tangible nature is significant for the aforementioned interfaces. The focus is put on the sense of touch that helps to interpret the visual cognition and gives the interface a graspable haptic quality.

Sonic~Image, audiovisual synchronisation at live performances.

Mon, 8 Mar 2004 15:56:47 +0100

Master thesis, Vienna University of Technology
presented at the Hyperkult 14 conference “AudioKult und Hypersound? Ästhetik und kulur digitaler Audiomedien” in Lüneburg, Germany, 06/14-06/16 2005.

Sonic~Image is a real-time sequencer software for audiovisual live performances. Using video- and audio loops it enables an artist to mix and perform tightly synchronized compositions. Many possibilities are included to attach the results of audio analysis to video effects. Vice versa live video can be used to trigger audio filters. To render a playful experience in performing, Sonic~Image is controlled by a wireless gamepad. Sonic~Image was implemented with Macromedia Director and Pure Data and runs on Windows XP and Mac OSX systems.