University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Life On A String: an ink painting narrative game

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Life On A String: an ink painting narrative game

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Content
Life on a String
An Ink Painting Narrative Game
By
Jiadi Deng
Master of Fine Arts
Interactive Media & Games Division
School of Cinematic Arts
University of Southern California
May, 2018

Abstract 2
Introduction 3
Project Overview 6
Objective Experience 6
Why this project 6
Real-time Ink Painting 6
Project Scope 7
Ink Painting Rendering 8
Inspiration 8
Implementation 9
Mechanics Evaluation 11
Prototype I - Play to Object 11
Prototype II - Creation Game 13
Prototype III - Memory Game 14
Prototype IV - Puzzle 17
Conclusion 19
Work Cited 21

1
Abstract
Life on a String is a PC-based first-person perspective narrative game that tells a tragedy
on two blind musicians in ancient China. The player acts as a young musician, solving musical
puzzles interspersed throughout a narrative world. While there are many music games on the
market, Life on a String is unique in that its music-playing mechanics are a direct representation
of the main character’s emotional arc. Further, the game uses a particular Chinese ink-painted
aesthetic - an impressionistic rendering - that extends the emotional design goals. This project
implements and revises the ink painting rendering technique to make it more artist-friendly and
have higher diversity.

2
Introduction
Life on a String (LOAS) is a first-person perspective three-dimensional
Chinese-painting-style narrative game on PC platform. It tells a story about two poor blind
musicians in ancient China who devote themselves into the music to heal their eyes and believe
they can see the world one day. The story (Shi, 1991) is adapted from the novel with the same
name, which is written by a famous Chinese writer, Tiesheng Shi. Shi collected abundant
experience of China countryside during the “Movements of Chinese Educated Urban Youth
Going and Working in the Countryside”. The novel, Life on a String, vividly describes life in the
Chinese countryside with the use of a large amount of dialect dialog and environment
description.

The set-up and background of the story soon inspired me to make a game in ink painting
style. Several previous ink painting and watercolor rendering games can be found in the market.
Okami (Capcom, 2006, see Figure 1 (a)) is an early game using a three-dimension ink painting
technique. Our project was inspired by this game’s approach, to separating ink colors with
internal and external layers. Bloodstroke (2013, see Figure 1 (b)) is an ink-painting style mobile
game, which used special textures to imitate the ink painting rendering. Beyond Eye (Tiger &
Squid, 2015, see Figure 1 (c)) also implemented the 3-D watercolor rendering technique, telling
a story of a blind girl. Our project was inspired by this game’s color spread animation; in
particular, objects appear as a process of ink soaking.
3

(a) (b) (c)
Figure 1 (a) Okami (b) Bloodstroke (c) Beyond Eye

A number of ink-painting-related investigations can be found in the academic field of
computer graphics. Kunii and his team explained the mechanism of ink painting with a physical
model(Kunii 98-102). Computer scientists discussed a practical pipeline, involving “Base Color,
Fei Bai, Split End, Pressured End, Outline and Irregular Edge” to digitally implement this
Chinese painting art style(Chan, 3.). Inspired by this pipeline, we created a modified unlit shader
to implement the ink painting style. Muning Cao offered a detailed discussion of ink painting
real time rendering techniques prior to 2016. Our project implemented the “Interior Shading,
Stroke Structure and Watercolor Style” discussed in this paper (Cao, 36-43). Thomas Luft
proposed a screen-based blurred-depth test method to implement the watercolor painting effect
(Luft). Recently, Santiago Montesdeoca provided a more in-depth discussion of how lighting
was taken into consideration (Montesdeoca). Inspired by the watercolor rendering technique, we
added a blur-based image effect to enhance the material effect. A neural-network-based method
(Gatys, 3-4) has become popular for stylized rendering implementation. This method was not
applied in our project, but it can be a very useful tool for our future work.

4
In the story of Life on a String, the main character is a Three String musician (See Figure
2). Three String is a traditional Chinese three-stringed fretless plucked musical instrument. In
the game, music is one of the most important elements of the gameplay. The Three String has a
loud volume and a dry, percussive, low-pitch tone (Sanxian). It is widely used in the ensembles
of the local opera among southern part of ancient China.

Figure 2 Three String

The game provides a Three String music playing system for the players to perform. The
performance is the key to solve part of the puzzles that unlock the narrative. Also, the music is
important for the conveyance of the emotion. By playing the music sequence note to note,
players have the opportunities to deeply experience the musicians’ inner feeling.

5
Project Overview
Objective Experience
Life on a String is a first person narrative game about a blind musician in ancient China.
In this painted world, players are invited to imagine the various details that would be directly
manifested in a more realistic rendering. By the end of the experience, the player will have
learned the blind musician’s story and can help the characters to choose their direction in life.
Why this project
In a digital games, it is common to see the player acting as a hero with super powers. But
there is very few games that represent the suffering of normal people, especially poor people.
The present narrative of the game, adapted from the novel, avoids the cliche of a hero with super
powers.
Real-time Ink Painting
The story of LOAS takes place in ancient southern China, making our decision to render
the visual design as this Chinese painting style straightforward and appropriate. Real-time ink
painting rendering has been widely discussed in academic contexts. However, only a few of
these techniques have been applied to industry. In this project, the ink painting rendering
technique is applied to most of the 3D scenes, characters and visual effects. This involved
developing pipelines for characters’ and objects’ modeling, material making, animation, scene
designing and visual effects.
Music
Since the main character is a musician, music is at the center of the experience. Music
has always been important to video games. And as discussed, there are a number of examples
6
that combine music with playable mechanics. Guitar Hero (Harmonix, 2005) is one of the most
famous music games that has many songs as puzzles in various difficulties for players to
experience. Patapon (Pyramid, 2007) combined the music rhythm matching game with battle
mechanics. Deemo (Rayark Games, 2013) made a successful try on combining narrative with
gameplay. But few games frame the music as played by the characters, and in particular, a
musician. The LOAS emphasises on the player’s creativity. Players can play the instrument with
a high degree of freedom and create note sequences in a relatively simple way. At the same time,
players need to use their imagination to solve puzzles with music sequences.
Project Scope
The overall narrative system of Life on a String is an open-world system that made up of
six different interactive scenes. However, because of the limited amount of time in the
development year, our team decided to make the narrative a linear one, and to complete three of
the six out scenes for thesis. The experience lasts fifteen to twenty minutes, including a five
minute tutorial.

7
Ink Painting Rendering
Inspiration
Life on a string’s visual aesthetic is inspired by a traditional Chinese painting style,
specifically, ink wash painting. Also referred to as literati painting, this type of ink wash
painting originated in ancient China before spreading to various regions of East Asia. It is a
brush painting style that uses black ink and water. The artist’s technique includes varying
tonality through changes in ink density. The goal of ink and wash painting is intended not only
as an imitation of what the objects look like, but also as a reflection of their spirit. For example
(see Figure 3), when painting a horse, the artist prioritizes the impression of the character than
rather than the details of the body structure. Or when rendering a flower, a realistic reproduction
of the petals, stems and colors is inappropriate, as the viewer should first and foremost
experience the open emotional vitality.

(a) (b) (c)
Figure 3 Examples of Chinese Painting (a) Xu’s horse (Xu) (b) Water Lily( Lloyd-Davies) (c)
Guide of painting flowers (Flowers in Chinese painting)
8
Implementation
Early in the process, the ink-wash painter collects reference images. These reference
images might be photos of the real objects, Chinese painting pictures, or perhaps a art work from
outside of China. The pictures below (see Figure 4) influenced our design. The image on the left
is a famous ancient Chinese painting (Shunso). The second image shows the final rendering
result of one of our level, which shares a similar layout as the original painting. The third image
is a photo of the Hongcun, known as ‘the most beautiful village in China’(Wiki Contributors). It
has a unique architecture style, with special shape of the wall and black-and-white color, which
is used as a reference for building modeling, as shown in the fourth picture.

Figure 4 Reference Images and the Scenes in our Game
Texturing is the most significant step for the ink painting style implementation. In our
project, a customized shader is used to realize this look.

The images below (see Figure 5) detail the pipeline involved in texturing. The first
picture on the left shows how the rock model looks with the default Unity standard shader. In the
second image, our shader is applied to the model with only the basic color layers. Detailed
9
texture information is then added to the rock surface material, as shown in the third picture. The
last picture shows the final result of the rendering including a fog effect.

Figure 5 Four Steps for Texturing

An additional post-image effect is also used in the game to smooth the edge of the
objects. Inspired by research of watercolor painting rendering , the blur-based post-image effect
effectively reduces the aliasing and highlights the edge of the objects (Montesdeoca). The first
image below (see Figure 6) , without the post-image effect, has aliasing and sharp edges around
the objects. Our technique is applied in the second picture, which shows the object edge
smoothed and highlighted.

(a) (b)
Figure 6 With (a) and Without (b) the Post-image Effect
10
Mechanics Evaluation
The musical play mechanics of the game are inspired by the experience of playing a
traditional instrument known as the Three String. The player simulates playing the instrument
by pressing the buttons on a keyboard or game controller. If the appropriate sequence is
completed, a piece of music will be generated as a reward. This piece of music can be utilized as
a tool to solve puzzles. During our development, this musical play mechanics went through four
iterations, discussed below.

Prototype I - Play to Object
In the first version we tested, a lot of the objects in the scene were interactable. The
objects can be stable, such as grass and flowers, or unstable, like chickens, butterflies and other
non-player characters (NPCs). In addition to navigating through the scene on foot, the player
plays music to interact with objects. As a result of this interaction, the object provides feedback,
such as creating a new object or transforming into another form. The player can also use music to
communicate with other objects in the world.

Additionally, interactivity includes the player staring at and getting close to a creature.
For example, when getting close to a chicken, the player presses the interaction button to activate
a puzzle (see Figure 7 (a)). This activated puzzle displays the notes to be played. At this point,
the player is required to play the displayed notes according to a provided rhythm (see Figure 7
(b)). After the puzzle is solved, player witnesses an explosion - magic has happened (see Figure
7 (c)). In the end, the chicken transforms into a bird (see Figure 7 (d)).
11

We quickly learned through playtesting that this combination of mechanics frustrated
players. We identified two issues. Firstly, the UI was hard to control while as it follows the
creatures, which means it is moving and rotating all the time so long as the target keeps moving.
Secondly, this mechanic was not properly tutorialized or explained. In hindsight, we should
have provided an introduction connecting the music playing to magic creation.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Figure 7 (a) An Interactable Chicken (b) The Puzzle Shows Up (c) Visual Feedback of Solving
the Puzzle (d) Logic Feedback, The Chicken Becomes a Flying Bird

12
Prototype II - Creation Game
In the second version of the prototype, the interaction was significantly simplified. The
interaction UI was changed from world-based to screen-based; this way the interaction panel was
independent of the target. In addition, tips were added to each note to illustrate the correct button
to press.
Our ongoing goal was to engage the player by giving them the ability to create music.
Therefore, in this version, the puzzle provided feedback incrementally, with each action, rather
than at the completion of the puzzle. In this case, the feedback was manifested as flying lines in
the air (see Figure 8). The color of the flying lines were based on sequence that the player has
played. That is to say, if the player played the music in a freestyle, the system provided a
color-based real-time visual feedback.

Figure 8 Feedback For Player

13
We learned that playtesters were pleased by the visual effect. They understood that the
color of the feedback was under their control. However, they did not understand the meaning of
each color or how to change the color under this system. From this iteration, we learned the
importance of showing a strong connection between player input and system output.
Prototype III - Memory Game
In the third prototype, the interaction was further simplified. The puzzle itself was
updated from time-based to note-based. Now players needed only to press the note buttons in
the proper order to solve the puzzle. Matching the rhythm was no longer required.

(a) (b)
Figure 9 Interaction with the character

Figure 10 A Wrong Combination (No Feedback)
14

Figure 11 A Correct Combination (Notes Become Orange)

Figure 12 World-Based Reward Particle

Here, the player can interact with the character by pressing the interaction key, as shown
in the image above (see Figure 9 (a)). There are four music buttons for the player to press. When
pressing the button, a corresponding note UI shows up (see Figure 9 (b)). Pressing any four
buttons will complete the interaction (Figure 10). However, this would not necessarily solve the
puzzle. In order to do so, the player must play the correct notes. If the sequence is incorrectly
played (Figure 11), the player must start again. But after playing it correctly, a world-based
reward particle will show up (Figure 12).

15
The player is always welcome to play any sequence they like. But only the right tune
completes the puzzle. This pre-designed script system makes the designer’s work a lot easier.
However, this design shifted the experience from ‘create music’ to ‘memorize music’.

16
Prototype IV - Puzzle
In this iteration, the interaction button is removed. This means that players can play the
music wherever and whenever they want because their musical instrument is always active.
Players of this iteration of the game can thus experiment with creating original music sequences,
learn and practice sequences, and play learned sequences to solve the puzzles.

Figure 13 Mentor Character to Guide Player

Figure 14 ‘Wind’ Sequence Feedback

Figure 15 ‘Dream’ Sequence Feedback
17

In Figure 13, the character tells the player how to play the sequence. In the Figure 14, the
‘wind’ sequence tells the player where to find the character. In the Figure 15, the ‘dream’
sequence generates butterflies to lead the players to find the next interactable location.

In this version, the agency of playing music is separated from the music game itself. The
game becomes a combination of puzzle game and music playing game. The puzzle game gives
the player freedom to choose the music to solve the puzzle. And the music mechanic tests the
players’ music playing ability.

18
Conclusion
The development process for Life on a String explored how the ink painting rendering
style could be implemented in an artist-friendly way. The pipeline discussed above, including
reference collection, material design and post-effect adjustment, proven to be a fruitful way to
handle the ink painting rendering. The game displays several successful ink-painting-based
design of scenes.

Life on a String also features a music game mechanic that balances the difficulty of the
level design and the agency of the players. Our design process produced four significant
iterations and numerous minor changes during the development. The final version, though much
simpler than most of the others, shows the advantage of separating the puzzle mechanics from
the music playing mechanics.

Our development goals beyond thesis include leveraging the neural-network-based image
effect rendering technique. It may help optimizing the details of the rendering result. Also, we
want to add mini-mechanics that compliment current music mechanics. For instance, a script
correction or listening game system is appropriate.

Going forward, we hope to apply the lessons learned from making this game in terms of
bringing together interactivity, music, and narrative to both the completion of this project and the
initiation of future projects. It is my hope that LOAS helps to communicate important concepts
19
about Chinese culture and music, while also serving as a touchstone for game designers looking
to work with alternate modes of perception and interaction.

20
Work Cited
Tiesheng Shi, Life on a String, Panda, 1991
Wikipedia contributors. "Sanxian." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia, 4 Dec. 2017. Web. 28 Mar. 2018.
Kunii, Tosiyasu L., Gleb V. Nosovskij, and Takafumi Hayashi. "A diffusion model for computer
animation of diffuse ink painting." Computer Animation'95., Proceedings.. IEEE, 1995
Chan, Ching, Ergun Akleman, and Jianer Chen. "Two methods for creating Chinese painting."
Computer Graphics and Applications, 2002. Proceedings. 10th Pacific Conference on.
IEEE, 2002.
Cao, Muning. "A study of how Chinese ink painting features can be applied to 3D scenes and
models in real-time rendering." (2016).
Luft, Thomas, and Oliver Deussen. "Real-time watercolor illustrations of plants using a blurred
depth test." Proceedings of the 4th international symposium on Non-photorealistic
animation and rendering. ACM, 2006
Montesdeoca, Santiago E., et al. "Art-directed watercolor stylization of 3D animations in
real-time." Computers & Graphics 65 (2017): 60-72.
Gatys, Leon A., Alexander S. Ecker, and Matthias Bethge. "A neural algorithm of artistic style."
arXiv preprint arXiv:1508.06576 (2015).
Wikipedia contributors. "Ink wash painting." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The
Free Encyclopedia, 18 Mar. 2018. Web. 28 Mar. 2018.
Beihong Xu, “Horse”, China Online Museum,
http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/painting-xu-beihong-horse-galloping.php
21
Virginia Lloyd-Davies, “Water Lily”, Joyful Brush,
http://www.joyfulbrush.com/bamboo-grapes--lotus-gallery.html
Flowers in Chinese painting, “Painting the four gentleman - An introduction to Chinese Brush
Painting”, Fri 12 Oct 2012, The Artist,
http://www.painters-online.co.uk/techniques-and-tips/view,painting-the-four-gentlemen-an
-introduction-to-chinese-brush-painting_5221.htm
Wikipedia contributors. "Hongcun." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia, 5 Feb. 2018. Web. 28 Mar. 2018.
Hishida Shunso, “ 高士訪友図”, 1909, Iidashi Bijutsu Museum,
www.iida-museum.org/user/art/shunso/koushihouyu.html, Accessed 28 March 2018
22

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Asset Metadata

Creator Deng, Jiadi (author)

Core Title Life On A String: an ink painting narrative game

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Publication Date 04/26/2018

Defense Date 04/12/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag ink painting rendering,music game,narrative game,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Wixon, Dennis (committee chair), Lemarchand, Richard (committee member), Watson, Jeff (committee member)

Creator Email jiadiden@usc.edu,jiadideng@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-495305

Unique identifier UC11266769

Identifier etd-DengJiadi-6278.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-495305 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-DengJiadi-6278.pdf

Dmrecord 495305

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Deng, Jiadi

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA