University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Milo and the Midnight Zone: an exploration of light, color, and sound

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Milo and the Midnight Zone: an exploration of light, color, and sound

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Content MILO AND THE MIDNIGHT ZONE
AN EXPLORATION OF LIGHT, COLOR, AND SOUND
By
Ryan Andersen
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
May 2020
Copyright 2020 Ryan Andersen
Acknowledgements
I would not have been able to bring this project to life without the support of my incredible
cohort and professors. I would like to thank Margaret Moser, Carl Schnurr, Siera Sinclair,
Richard Lemarchand, and Sam Roberts for guiding me through not only this project, but through
my entire time here in the Interactive Media MFA program. I must also thank my team members
Rudi Vanzin, Satrio Dewantono, and Iris Chen and my specialty consultants Caleb Bladh and
Karter Duff for their incredible contributions to this project and for keeping me inspired from
day one. I would also like to thank my amazing fiancé Ellie, my mother Denise, my father Steve,
and my sister Caitey for always believing in me and supporting me in all that I set out to
accomplish. I love you all and am so grateful to have your support over the course of the last
three years.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract
Preface
Thesis Question
Project Goals
Core Mechanics
Core Gameplay
Primary Features
Five Minute Experience
Audio
Platform and Technologies
Character Inspiration
Mood Board
Prior Art Review
Target Audience
User Testing
Conclusion
Bibliography
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Abstract
What is Milo and the Midnight Zone?
In an attempt to break things down into three bullets, Milo and the Midnight Zone is:
A. A mindful multi-sensory experience for teens and young adults (ages 13-35)
B. A game that encourages players to relax, fidget, and solve simple light-based puzzles
C. A game that gives players the opportunity to create music through collision events
Milo and the Midnight Zone is not a therapy game. However, it is heavily inspired by trending
practices (meditation, color therapy, music therapy, fidget device interaction, fine art) aimed at
helping young people manage their stress. A byproduct of playing this game should be relaxation
and decompression.
Genre
3D Top-Down | Third-Person | Adventure | Puzzle-Solving | Non-Violent
Style/Tone
Stylized/Cartoon | Light-Hearted | Fast-Paced | Vibrant | Relaxing
In an attempt to flesh out the overarching experience, Milo and the Midnight Zone is a
collision-based exploration game set in a magical water-based world where the use of light,
color, and sound ease the player into a calm flow state. The primary objective of this project is to
help young people tap into their own flow state when feeling stressed or unable to focus on
work-related tasks. The idea is that by taking 10-15 minute breaks periodically throughout the
day, players can focus on an interactive experience that is both aesthetically pleasing and
cognitively challenging. Although Milo and the Midnight Zone is not a “therapy game,” it is
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heavily inspired by trending practices aimed at helping young people manage their stress. A
byproduct of playing this game is relaxation and decompression.
In regards to approachability, Milo and the Midnight Zone caters to both gamers and non-
gamers. The controls are simple, and the way in which game mechanics are introduced to the
player should be clear. In many ways, this game is treated more like a toy rather than a puzzle.
By drawing inspiration from fidget devices (spinners and fidget cubes) and games like Bop-It!,
emphasis is placed on collision events and mastery of controls rather than difficult puzzle
solving.
Preface
In thinking about my thesis project and what I ultimately wanted to accomplish, I knew
that I wanted to focus on three primary areas: lighting, color, and sound. More specifically, I
wanted to focus on how these three things could be utilized in a more mindful way to better serve
young people struggling with anxiety. As someone who really struggled with focus and social
anxiety as a young person, I can say first hand just how hard it was to feel comfortable in the
classroom, focus on the work, and interact with other students. It was not until my experience at
Sojourner elementary school in Milwaukie, Oregon where that constant anxiety began to lift and
my creative outlook on life changed forever.
What made this public charter school so different was that it placed significant emphasis
on the concept of flow and actually implementing that into the curriculum to break up the week.
In positive psychology, flow is the mental state of participating in or performing an activity so
immersive that you lose all sense of space and time. In addition, you experience a heightened
level of focus, involvement, and enjoyment in the process of what you are doing. At Sojourner,
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this would sometimes take the form of unstructured play, music exploration, and/or fine art like
drawing and painting.
In summation of my elementary school experience, my ability to manage anxiety through
flow has guided me into adulthood especially in regards to music and design. It is what
ultimately led me to Berklee College of Music where I studied video game composition and
sound design as an undergrad. Fast-forwarding to May of 2019, I thought critically on what
questions I wanted to address for my thesis project as an Interactive Media MFA student. After
careful consideration, I settled on the question raised below.
Thesis Question
How can interactive designers approach game mechanics and aesthetics in a more
mindful way to better help young people manage stress? In addressing this question, my aim was
to focus on how light, color, and sound could be implemented with the concept of flow and stress
reduction in mind. As I have been designing and iterating with my team this semester, every
design decision made has been very intentional. The color pallet is blue and purple oriented, the
lighting is very soft, and the music is calming yet energetic enough to keep players immersed in
the experience. All of these decisions were made with the intention of helping players tap into
their flow state and disengage from what is stressing them out in the real world.
Project Goals
A. Immersion: The primary objective of this project is to help young people tap into their
flow state when feeling stressed or unable to focus on work-related tasks. The idea is that
by taking 5-10 minute breaks periodically throughout the day, players can focus on an
interactive experience that is both aesthetically pleasing and cognitively challenging.
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B. Approachability: The game should be designed in such a way where both gamers and
non-gamers feel inspired to play it. The controls should be simple, and the way in which
game mechanics are taught to the player need to be clear. The game should also be
experienced on a platform accessible to all whether it be on a laptop, desktop computer,
or mobile device.
C. Balanced Gameplay: The game should be treated like a toy that can be played with or
utilized specifically for puzzle solving. By successfully moving through each phase of the
game, a new mechanic gets introduced, thus helping to keep players engaged. By
spreading out these mechanics over time, the game can be better paced in terms of
difficulty.
Core Mechanics

As you can see in the above image, the core mechanic of the game is very collision
oriented. In order to solve puzzles in the game, the player must accumulate light energy by
passing through arches and colliding with natural objects in the environment. Very similar to a
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percussion instrument, collision events also produce melodic tones that compliment the ambient
music/underscore playing throughout the game. By combining these two elements, the core
mechanic acts much like a physical toy would. A good example of this is the battery operated
toy/game Bop-it!

This collision mechanic is also heavily inspired by fidget devices like fidget cubes,
spinners, and stress balls. These are physical items used to help people who fidget to relieve
pent-up stress or assist those who have trouble maintaining focus.

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Core Gameplay
Primary Features
Priority 1 Features
A. Collision Mechanic
(As described under core mechanics and core gameplay loop)

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B. Light Trail
By passing through the magical arches in the game, Milo gains a light trail, which
allows him to interact with/manipulate special petroglyph rocks and obelisks in
the environment.
C. Light Radius (cut from game)
Originally, the game was going to have two distinct levels: one on the water’s
surface and one at the bottom of the ocean. After adjusting the scope of the
project, it was decided that having one very polished level would be more
beneficial to the project. With that, the light radius mechanic that would change
the illumination around Milo’s body got cut.
Priority 2 Features
A. Attraction/Magnet Mechanic
There are special keys hidden inside of obelisks and petroglyph rocks throughout
the game. By exposing these keys (small glowing pink cubes), they immediately
become attracted to Milo and stay within a certain radius of him. At this point,
Milo can guide them towards a locked gateway where they will then detach from
Milo and transfer to the gateway in order to open it.
B. Light Trail Lasso Mechanic
This mechanic adds another dimension to Milo’s beautiful light trail. By looping
around a blue obelisk three times, the obelisk itself dissolved, and three keys are
revealed.

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Priority 3 Features
A. Tempo locked sound design (cut from game)
I considered the possibility of incorporating rhythmic elements to the sound
design similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. By colliding with objects on the
downbeat of every measure of music, the player would be rewarded with a new
sound layered with new instruments. With that said, it was decided that it was not
ultimately needed.
Five Minute Experience
What does the user do?
The user is in control of a third-person, self-emissive water creature named Milo. The
camera angle is 3D top-down, and the user can see Milo at rest on the surface of the water. The
control system is very simple: Left, Right, Up, Down. Think minimum input for maximum
output. In this magical water environment, the user will learn how best to maneuver Milo in a
fairly constrained space.
Within the first five minutes of play, the player is introduced to the core gameplay loop in
the form of a simple puzzle. The player must find three floating keys in order to open up a
magical gateway. In order to access these keys, the player must pass through an energy arch, gain
a light trail, and then collide with two unique petroglyph rocks in the environment. Upon
collision, the petroglyph rocks dissolve, revealing a floating key(s) that can now be used to open
the gate.

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What is working against the player?
Time. Once the player passes through an energy arch, they have roughly six seconds to
collide with a petroglyph rock before their light trail runs out. Fortunately, this is not too
punishing in that the player can always return to the arch to regain the light trail.
How does the player know what to do?
With such a minimalist control scheme, it is expected that the player will figure out how
to maneuver the player with a joystick and/or WASD keys. Based on our playtesting data, players
have had no issues figuring out the controls.
Why does the player come back for more?
Immersion and the simple challenge of solving light-based puzzles. This is an interactive
experience that should be both aesthetically pleasing and cognitively challenging as stated in the
goals section of this design document.
Audio
Given the nature of the project, I focused my attention on creating a sonic landscape rich
with atmospheric qualities. I composed an ambient bed heavily inspired by meditation music and
kept the melodic content to a minimum. The reason for this is when the player collides with
objects in the environment, he/she produces melodic tones (marimba, strings, synthesizer
sounds) that work in tandem with the ambient bed. The player has full control over how these
tones get triggered since it is purely based on their movement throughout the environment.

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In addition to the instrumentation elements listed above, I layered in different types of
nature ambience (forest, pond, river) and combined those elements with actual recordings of wild
life (frogs, birds, crickets). This is all in an effort to create a more immersive and tranquil
experience.

Platform and Technologies
Milo and the Midnight Zone utilizes both the Unity game engine and Wwise audio
middleware. It is currently optimized for PC but will eventually be ported to Mac and mobile
devices.
Character Inspiration
In terms of character design, I wanted to keep it very simple. Since I am not an animator,
it made a lot of sense going in a more minimalistic direction. With that in mind, I decided to
focus on three different characters/creatures to help define the look of Milo. The first character
that came to mind was Ori from Ori and the Blind Forest. What I focused on with Ori
specifically is his self-emissive properties or personal glow.
Player Generated Tones
(Layer 2)
Ambient Music
Bed (Layer 1)
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The second character that came to mind was Kirby. In terms of Milo’s general shape, he
is basically an oval with two spheres for arms/fins. After examining Kirby’s general design, I
found it amazing how they were able to make such a simple character so expressive. In terms of
Milo’s body, this is really what I went for - simple and expressive.
The third creature I chose as inspiration for Milo was an angler fish. I am more interested
in the functionality of it rather than its physical appearance. More specifically, I think it is really
cool how an angler fish attracts other fish with a single glow extended just in front of its body.
Mood Board
Below are six images that make up the mood board for the project. I feel as though these
images best represent the desired lighting and color scheme as well as portray the type of
magical environment I chose to create. As Withrow stated in her article published in 2004, “In
general, color comprised of longer wavelengths, like red, are more stimulating to the nervous
system than colors of shorter wavelengths, like green and blue” (Withrow 36). I chose to go with
a blue oriented color scheme, which ultimately led me to focus on creating a water based
environment. I did utilize longer wavelength colors as well but did so sparingly in order to
provide some tonal contrast.
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I have also included an image of the game Flower, which is a major influence for the
project. I went for a look that is aesthetically pleasing and fluid in terms of art style. It is very
stylized and low poly rather than hyperrealistic. In the top left hand corner is an image of the
game Fracter. As you can see in the image, the environment is lit with individual point lights
rather than directional light.
Prior Art Review
Flower (Fluidity and Minimalism)
I am very inspired by Flower’s art style and fluidity of gameplay. The camera work is
extremely smooth and shows-off what makes the game so captivating - the use of wind as a
playable character. One could argue that Flower is both a video game and a meditative
experience. By tying strong musical/orchestral elements to various natural objects in the game,
the environment is your instrument.
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Pinball (Collision and Glow FX)
Heavily inspired by the core mechanics of pinball, Milo and the Midnight zone is very
collision oriented. With a simple input system of left, right, up, and down, all interaction happens
through a series of collision events where bouncing between/through objects allows the player to
progress. Certain in-game objects glow upon collision much like the way physical components
light up when racking up points in pinball.
Abzu (Lighting and Ambience)
I am heavily inspired by the lighting work done in the game Abzu. More specifically, I
focused on how blue tones and general light reflections were added to make the water
environment soothing and vibrant. As Minguillon, et al., stated in their article published in 2017,
“blue lighting accelerates the relaxation process after stress” (Minguillon, et al. 1).
Target Audience
Milo and the Midnight Zone is a game catered toward young adults who find games like
Pinball and That Game Company’s Flower enjoyable. It is specifically for those looking for
relaxation through interactive media, simple puzzle solving, beautiful imagery, and sound. This
experience is designed to help players who are looking to decompress and zone out at the end of
a long day.
These people struggle with social media addiction, and acknowledge that they could be
making better use of their screen time during the day/at night before going to sleep. They are not
necessarily gamers, but they do enjoy playing PC games that are easy to pick up. Sometimes a
five minute break from work is all they need to feel rejuvenated in order to continue working.

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Persona A
Emma is an 18 year old student attending community college with the intention of
transferring to a university after two years. She feels lost and unable to figure out what she wants
to ultimately study. It has been a rough transition going from high school to a less structured
environment, and the pressure from her parents adds a ton of stress to her situation. Emma has a
hard time focusing and gravitates toward her phone when she is anxious. Without it, she is quite
fidgety. She checks her social media accounts religiously throughout the day.
Before going to bed, Emma finds herself lost in an endless scroll of posts and has a hard
time cutting herself off. In some cases, it will be more than an hour of screen time before she
finally decides to call it a night. In the morning, she feels tired and unenthusiastic about the day.
She is well aware of her anxiety and knows that her social media addiction is not productive. In
an effort to decompress and make better use of her screen time at night, Emma tries finding a
relaxing casual game on her laptop but is not happy with the selection of available content. She is
looking for an interactive experience that will help her unwind and relax while still being
aesthetically pleasing to her eyes and ears.
Persona B
Kyle is a 14 year old freshman in high school who has grown up in a very strict
household. His parents expect him to do well academically so that he can attend an elite
university like they both did. On top of that, these elite schools are becoming more and more
difficult to get into. Extracurriculars are more necessary than ever before. He plays sports,
participates in band, volunteers at his church, and maintains a 3.8 honors GPA. But in recent
weeks, he has fallen behind. With all of his extracurricular activities and needing to study for the
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pre SATs, he has not spent much time on his class work. It is all starting to feel like it is too much
to handle, and the stress of trying to please his parents is not making him feel any better.
He desperately needs a mental break and remembers how much he used to enjoy playing
video games when he was younger. Unlike most of his friends, Kyle does not really enjoy shoot-
em-up type games. What he does enjoy playing are casual games that do not require a lot of
mental energy. He thinks of this as a new found opportunity to unwind and begins looking up
games on Steam. He is hoping that this will help break up his study sessions and allow him to let
off some steam in between assignments that he typically completes on his laptop.
User Testing
First Round
The early testing done on Milo was rather informal and involved having friends and
family play the game in the comfort of their own home or where they work. A substantial amount
of progress had been made on the game, so this was an excellent opportunity to see how things
like music, lighting, and art work resonated with the player. This was also a great opportunity to
see how users handled the controls and went about navigating the mechanics laid out in the
experience. Because most of the users we tested on were not at all gamers, this was incredibly
revealing for the following reasons.
A. The control scheme was incredibly problematic. We had originally drawn inspiration
from Mario Kart and mapped our controls in a similar way. The biggest issue with this
was that whenever Milo bounced off of a wall, his physical body would flip around 180
degrees, and thus the controls would invert. In other words, after a wall bounce, left
became right and right became left. This was never a problem in Mario Kart because of
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the way the camera was positioned behind the player and how each track was designed.
Because Milo is an open world experience with a distant leaping camera, this did not
translate. Ultimately, players were not able to make it out of the first section of the game
and became very frustrated. After regrouping as a team, we ultimately decided to map out
a “true” control scheme where whichever direction the joystick was pointed, that was the
direction Milo would move toward. This simple fix changed everything, and casual
testing sessions later on proved that this issue was resolved.
B. Testers regularly pointing out the inconsistency with marked petroglyph rocks. It was
confusing that some of the obelisk rocks you could interact with did not have any sort of
petroglyph markings. For the sake of consistency, unique petroglyphs have been added to
all of the obelisk rocks to help communicate their function.
C. The most important takeaway from this initial testing session was that players felt
very relaxed in the environment. This was a key piece of information in that it helped
address my thesis question: How can interactive designers approach game mechanics and
aesthetics in a more mindful way to better help young people manage stress? A majority
of testers pointed out the calming environment and how the lighting felt cozy. They
enjoyed the color palette and felt like the contrasting tones made them feel good.
In summation of the first testing session, it was clear that the visual and tonal elements of
the game were helping the player relax while the control scheme and general mechanics were in
some ways having the opposite effect.

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Second Round
Over the course of two days in late February, five users (three gamers and two non-
gamers) individually participated in an hour long testing session that involved a 10 minute
preliminary survey, a 30 minute playthrough session of the game, and a 10-20 minute follow up
interview. The main objective for testing was to see how approachable our game mechanics were
and what may need to change in regards to level flow and design. We were also curious about
how the game affected their overall mood and if it helped them tap into their own personal flow
state.
The preliminary survey consisted of a series of questions specific to age, whether or not
the users like to play games, what types of games they may like to play, and why they may play
games in the first place. There was also a question asking what adjective best described how they
were feeling that day prior to the playthrough. This question was asked in order to establish a
base line so we could compare it to how they were feeling at the end of the testing session.
During the playthrough portion of the game, we asked users to think out loud about what
they were experiencing. This could be anything from feeling comfortable with the difficulty level
to not understanding how to progress through a certain part of the game to simply enjoying the
music or general art style. The main objective was to get a sense of how they felt in the moment
and if anything stood out to them as out of place or frustrating.
Finally, the objective of the post playthrough survey was to get a sense of whether or not
the game helped players tap into their flow state and if they found the overall experience
relaxing. Here is a list of those specific questions:
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A. Overall, what did you think about the game? What did you like? What did you
dislike?
B. Can you describe to me what the goals of the game were?
C. Can you explain to me how light works in the game?
D. How would you describe the difficulty of the game for you?
E. How are you feeling after playing the game?
F. Is there anything else you would like the developer to know?
In summation of the five testing sessions we ran, we found the following to be true: Users
with a background in console gaming had little to no issues using the controls and were able to
progress throughout the game with ease. Little frustration was reported, and through observation,
it was apparent that users were engaged during the entire playthrough. These more experienced
users were also able to get through the entire experience in roughly 20 minutes. It is also worth
mentioning that they spent a balanced amount of time (roughly five minutes) in each section/
puzzle area of the game. Players reported feeling relaxed and at times accomplished for solving
the various puzzles. Determining whether or not players experienced a sense of flow was based
on how well they solved each puzzle. We also based this on how creatively they went about
solving each one. For example, the more playfully they approached each section, the more they
allowed themselves to not get fixated on the goal of progressing. In this case, the data was fairly
balanced and did not provide enough evidence to suggest that a flow state was accessed
consistently.
Users who did not have a strong background in console gaming struggled with the
controls and had a hard time making connections between 2D UI elements and what the player
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was suppose to do in 3D space. For example, when users passed through an arch, they did not
make a direct connection between their newly acquired light trail and the 2D light trail meter
located at the top of the screen. They also had a difficult time understanding that Milo’s light trail
gave him a special ability to collide with/dissolve rocks. In many ways this came down to screen
real estate and how 2D UI elements were displayed. This was also an indication that the overall
level design needed to be adjusted slightly to better serve inexperienced gamers.
Based on our observational data and survey data, many gameplay changes were made
including the following:
A. The light trail starting duration was changed from six seconds to eight seconds. This
was changed in order to help inexperienced gamers get through the initial stage of the
game faster and without frustration.
B. The light trail meter was moved from the top center portion of the screen to the left
center portion of the screen. Now instead of having the meter filling up and depleting
from left to right, the meter fills and depletes from bottom to top. Visually, this makes a
lot more sense and can be compared to how data is represented on a thermometer
(vertically rather than horizontally).
C. The particle system attached to each arch has been increased significantly in size. The
speed at which the particle system disappears has also been sped up making it easier for
the player to make a connection between the arch and acquiring a light trail.
D. The light transfer puzzle in the final portion of the game has been fixed. We noticed
that on several occasions, the light transfer mechanic was not working and in some cases
prevented the player from moving on to the next section of the game. We marked this as a
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priority bug and got it fixed as soon as possible. The color of the light transfer puzzle was
also changed from white to orange. This is mainly because white is already used so often
in the game.
Conclusion
As I reflect on this past year and the creative process that went into Milo and the
Midnight Zone, I would like to address the question raised at the beginning of this paper and the
goals I set out to reach.
Ultimately, the project was a great success. I made the game I set out to make from a
visual, auditory, and technical standpoint, and I could not have had a more supportive team to
help me achieve this along the way. As it exists right now in thesis form, Milo and the Midnight
Zone is a beautiful corner of what the fully developed game could potentially be. It is roughly a
20 minute experience laid out in a single open world level with a series of puzzles and fun
interactions. It is a game that encourages play and exploration while immersing the player in a
lush atmospheric environment.
So how can interactive designers approach game mechanics and aesthetics in a more
mindful way to better help young people manage stress? This was the question I chose to explore
and hopefully answer during production of my thesis project. From what I gathered during our
play test sessions, this depends entirely on the player and what their playing preferences are. In
reality, one size does not fit all when it comes to relaxation and stress management. What some
might find relaxing, others find stressful or technically challenging. There are those who play
combat games like League of legends and Call of Duty for the sake of decompressing at the end
of a long day while others prefer casual abstract mobile games to ease their tension.
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I chose to approach stress management through the use of simple gameplay mechanics,
the use of color in art therapy, and the use of mediative music inspired by self-help applications
like calm and Headspace. By combining these elements in a mindful way, game designers can
design experiences that help to significantly reduce stress and anxiety. However, it must be
clearly stated that playing “relaxing” games should not be the only form of treatment used for
those struggling with anxiety and depression. It can be a great supplement depending on the
person and what their personal needs are. Again, Milo and the Midnight Zone is not a therapy
game. It is heavily inspired by trending relaxation practices in meditation, color therapy, music
therapy, fidget device interaction, and fine art.
I set out to create an immersive experience well-balanced in exploration and simple
puzzle solving. In addition, the main objective was to create a game that could be played and
enjoyed by anyone who likes playing games. After reviewing our testing data and making
necessary changes to the overall design throughout production, I am confident that all three of
these goals were met. During initial testing sessions, playtesters stated that the game was
relaxing and atmospheric. Later testing sessions indicated that the newly designed control
scheme was much improved and easily controllable by gamers and non-gamers. Balanced
gameplay was measured by how long players spent on each phase of the game and how long the
overall experience took to complete. On average, players spent roughly five minutes in each
puzzle area and a total of 20 minutes playing the game to completion.
Of course with more iteration, there is always room for further improvement. I am
confident that the majority of people with any amount of gaming experience would be able to
play Milo and the Midnight Zone and enjoy the experience in a relaxing fashion. In reality, not
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everyone will enjoy it. Not everyone will find it relaxing. That in and of itself would be an
unrealistic goal. But I am confident that we created a game that caters to the intended target
audience.
In regards to what could have been done differently, the testing process itself is
something I would like to address. Not all of the participants selected fit the target audience
description. This was mainly due to time constraints and the availability of participants. In fact,
there were some participants who clearly had no gaming experience what so ever, and this
ultimately impacted the data in a negative way. With those participants in particular, we made a
point of not weighing their data as heavily as those that did fit our target demographic.

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Bibliography
Minguillon, J., Lopez-Gordo, M., Renedo-Criado, D., Sanchez-Carrion, M. and Pelayo, F.
(2017). “Blue lighting accelerates post-stress relaxation: Results of a preliminary study.”
PLOS ONE, 12(10), p.e0186399.
Withrow, R. (2004). “The Use of Color in Art Therapy.” The Journal of Humanistic Counseling,
Education and Development, 43(1), pp.33-40.
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Asset Metadata

Creator Andersen, Ryan James (author)

Core Title Milo and the Midnight Zone: an exploration of light, color, and sound

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Publication Date 05/04/2020

Defense Date 05/04/2020

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

Tag color,flow,indie games,Interactive Media,Light,Milo and the Midnight Zone,OAI-PMH Harvest,pinball,Relaxation,sound,Unity,USC games

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Moser, Margaret (committee chair)

Creator Email randerse@usc.edu,randersen89@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-297721

Unique identifier UC11664317

Identifier etd-AndersenRy-8424.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-297721 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-AndersenRy-8424.pdf

Dmrecord 297721

Document Type Thesis

Rights Andersen, Ryan James

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