University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Your presence is present enough: a thesis project postpartum

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Your presence is present enough: a thesis project postpartum

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Content Your Presence is Present Enough
A thesis project postpartum
By
Michael Ritchie Rodriguez
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 and Games Department
May 2020
ii
Table of Contents
List of Figures � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � iii
Abstract � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � v
Project Summary � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 1
Conceptualizing YPiPE � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 2
Seeds of Concept � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 2
Experience Goals � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 4
Design Goal � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 5
Understanding the Player � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 6
Inspiration � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 7
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 7
Futurama � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 7
Stardew Valley � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 7
Luigi’s Mansion 3 � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 8
Designing YPiPE � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 9
Narrative Design � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 9
Designing the Narrative System � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 11
Designing the Space � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 13
Designing Unique Mechanics � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 17
Body Swap � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 17
Room Swap � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 20
Creating the look of YPiPE � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 22
Visual Development � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 22
The Art of Juice � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 23
Navigating by Color � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 24
Assisting the Controls � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 25
Navigating by Illustration � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 26
Animation Innovation � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 27
Separating the Virtual World � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29
Making the User Interface Pop � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 30
Creating Alien Sounds � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 32
Music � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 32
Sound Design � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 32
What’s next? � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 33
Current Steps � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 33
Next Steps � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 33
Works Cited � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 34
iii
List of Figures
Fig� 1 Survey of game concepts used to gauge interest� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 3
Fig� 2 Results of game concept survey � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 4
Fig� 3 Swapping Body parts to match Non-playable Characters � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 5
Fig� 4 Example of dialog in spreadsheet form � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10
Fig� 5 Example of narrative outline � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 11
Fig� 6 Spreadsheet used to help keep track of the narrative � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 12
Fig� 7 Early sketch of the town layout � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 13
Fig� 8 Second version of town � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 14
Fig� 9 Third version of town � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 14
Fig� 10 Current version of Virtuatoid Town � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 15
Fig� 11 First version of Mayor’s house � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 16
Fig� 12 Second version of Mayor’s house � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 16
Fig� 13 Current version of Mayor’s house � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 17
Fig� 14 Paper prototype of body swap mechanic � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 18
Fig� 15 Rory blocking body swap wall � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 19
Fig� 16 Bad placement of body swap button � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 19
Fig� 17 Current version of body swap interface � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 20
Fig� 18 Current iteration of room swap � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 21
Fig� 19 Early character sketches � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 22
Fig� 20 Visual evolution from left to right � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 23
Fig� 21 Color usage to discern walkable areas � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 24
Fig� 22 Tap feedback � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 25
Fig� 23 Long pressing on screen displays movement arrows � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 26
Fig� 24 Illustrations help navigate player � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 27
Fig� 25 Sprite sheet example � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 28
Fig� 26 Example of in game animation used � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29
List of Figures
iv
Fig� 27 Comparison between post processing (left) and regular (right) � � � � � � � � � � � � 30
Fig� 28 Evolution and look of the User Interface Design � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 31
Fig� 29 In game dialog � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 31
v
Abstract
This paper explores the design process used to create the thesis project Your
Presence is Present Enough (YPiPE)� Included within are the decisions which lead to
the games concept, explorations in audio and visuals, refinements to the gameplay
experience, and how decisions in these separate areas relate to one another�
1
Project Summary
Your Presences is Present Enough is a puzzle adventure game designed to be
played on a smart phone� Players control Rory, an alien secret service agent tasked
with visiting a new planet, gaining cultural familiarity by interacting with the native
species, and using this new found understanding of the species to select a present for
them�
2
Conceptualizing YPiPE
Seeds of Concept
After being accepted into the University of Southern California’s Graduate
Interactive Media and Game Design department, I began reaching out to connections
within the Los Angeles Unified School District. My goal to share my knowledge with
the next generation of game makers, while also learning about their needs as players�
I was fortunate to have a friend at the Girls Academic Leadership Academy, a public
all girls inner city school, who was able to connect me with the computer science
instructor Mr� John Landa� With this connection I began my volunteering at GALA,
which has continued throughout my time at USC� When it came time to choose a thesis topic I looked to the students to help
establish my concept� Based on the reactions I received when sharing my work with
the students at GALA in the past, I was able to establish several rough ideas� I created
a short Likert Scale survey to gauge students interest in each concept (see fig. 1).
3
Another Person’s Treasure
Set in a time when we’ve used up all our resources, you play as a scavenger that must explore the
world to find materials that can be recycled to make weapons, tools, decorations, and more.
Interested Sort of interested Not very interested Extemely interested Not interested at all
Histerasers
Set in a future where time travel has been invented, you must stop an evil group of time terrorists
known as the Histerasers from altering the past for their own nefarious benefits. You must travel
into the past to correct the errors made in some of history’s most memorable moments.
Interested Sort of interested Not very interested Extemely interested Not interested at all
Meta-Maker Coder
The power just went out and you’re coding homework is due tomorrow. You’ll need to solve the
problem by flipping switches, adjusting numbers to make sure conditions are met, and creating
power loops that end at the right place. Master all the levels so you can get your power restored
and finish you’re homework on time.
Interested Sort of interested Not very interested Extemely interested Not interested at all
Claes
Dr. Claes Oldenburg invented a growth laser to help make his pop art masterpieces. Unfortunately
when he tried to enlarge a mirror the effect backfired causing him to continuously increase in size.
In this arcade sized game you and a partner must each select a side of the body to control and
help Claes escape his ever shrinking world without causing too much damage.
Interested Sort of interested Not very interested Extemely interested Not interested at all
Your Presences is Present Enough
Aliens are invading, and we want to make sure we get the best presents possible for them. Your
job as the official alien present presenter is to infiltrate different species homeworlds and blend in
as best as possible. Get to know their culture, move like them, and pick up their bad habits; all to
learn what the perfect gift would be for their visiting ambassadors.
Interested Sort of interested Not very interested Extemely interested Not interested at all
Fig� 1 Survey of game concepts used to gauge interest�
4
The results of the survey were recorded in Google Sheets (see fig 2). To record
the data, the response were entered as a number from one to five, where one is not
interested, and five is extremely interested. The results were calculated to show both
the mean and median for each game concept� Although the sample size was small,
the data I was able to collect showed that three of the concepts were interesting
enough to pursuit. Based on this conclusion, I felt confident with moving forward with
the concept I felt most interested in, Your Presence is Present Enough� Fig� 2 Results of game concept survey
Experience Goals
The concept for Your Presence is Present Enough emerged from a desire to
encourage players to invest in culture they aren’t familiar with� The theory is that if a
player has an enjoyable time role-playing as a character building relationships in an
alien civilization, they will feel inspired to invest in new cultures which may feel alien
to them at first.
While it was important that my game provided social impact, I also wanted
to create something that players had fun interacting with� To create the fun in my
5
projects I rely heavily on my sense of absurdist humor, which is the perfect fit for an
alien world� Placing players in strange situations, requiring them to solve problems
in unique ways, and providing them with unexpected feedback paints a lively picture
of an otherworldly society along with providing some laughs along the way� The best
example of where this goal exemplified is the body swap mechanic, which is required
to interact with a non-playable character to match their language (see fig. 3).
Fig� 3 Swapping Body parts to match Non-playable Characters
Design Goal
Your Presence is Present Enough was designed for exploration� Due to the
limited amount of time I’m able to dedicate to creating assets for the project, this
meant that I would need to encourage players to revisit areas of the game multiple
times to explore� To achieve this level of depth through replay, I decided to explore
unlocking mechanics� Games series such as Metroid, Castlevania, and Legend of
Zelda have a history of exploration through replay, providing hints to the player that
they would need to return to locations after obtaining specific abilities to proceed
forward or receive rewards� The long history of this genre, typically referred to as
Metroidvanias, provided a wealth of information to inspire the design of my game�
6
Understanding the Player
When designing a product of any type it’s important to understand the needs
and wants of the person you envision using it� While it may seem like a good idea to
design with “everyone” in mind, this tends to lead to contradiction between different
demographics, and can result in a product that is designed for nobody� Instead it’s
recommended that a designer work from an understanding of a more specific group
of users, and anyone outside of this group that happens to also enjoy the product is
considered “icing on the cake”� The audience for Your Presence is Present Enough was established before
conception of the game� My experience working as a volunteer game design
instructor at the Girls Academic Leadership Academy (GALA) encouraged me to
create a game with the students needs in mind� Before establishing my concept I had
over a year of experience talking with students about games, observing what sort of
games they played in their free time, and most importantly getting their feedback on
game projects I shared with them� This knowledge was invaluable when attempting
to design a game for a female audience that ranged from 12-16 years old, as a male
in his late 30s� I learned that the students like narrative exploration games, but prefer
to avoid combat, based on feedback from my role playing game Scorpion: A Star Trek
Story� I learned that most of the students play games on their smart phones, but are
reluctant to consider themselves gamers, since most do not own a dedicated gaming
console� I learned that the students enjoyed the absurd sense of humor in my games,
and often shared these interactive experiences with others� My audience has since expanded to include children ages 8-12 of all
genders, a group that shares a lot of similarities in the way they interact with games�
As I continue testing and developing my thesis project I continue look to the
understanding I built around my player base�
7
Inspiration
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is an action-adventure video game originally
released on the Super Nintendo in 1991. Players fight monsters, explore dungeons,
and obtain special tools which help them reach new areas of the game� Like Legend
of Zelda, Your Presence is Present Enough provides players with different abilities
which they must acquire to further explore the world� When used well, this mechanic
promotes exploration through discovery� Players see a roadblock in the game, later
they discover a tool which is used to surpass that roadblock, they can then return to
all instance of the roadblock they remember and utilize this ability to enter new areas�
This is also a great way to make a small area feel a bit larger, since the player will be
moving back and forth a lot to find new areas to use abilities.
Futurama
Futurama is an animated sci-fi comedy television show that centers around
a man from the 20th century getting frozen for a thousand years and waking up in
the 30th century� It’s an interesting version of the stranger in a strange land premise,
due largely to the fact that the main protagonist constantly rolls with the punches�
No matter how weird, dangerous, or alien things get, Philip J� Fry is always along for
the ride� A lot of the humor in the show centers around this contradiction between
the viewer’s distaste of a situation and Fry’s total acceptance of it� I try to play off
this humor with Rory in Your Presence is Present Enough, combining humor with
acceptance of the unusual� Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is a role-playing farm simulation originally released on Windows,
8
but later adapted for multiple platforms� The game centers around a character that
has moved from the city to a farm they inherited from their grandfather� Players have
the ability to plant crops, go fishing, explore procedurally generated caves, interact
with towns folk, and even build relationships� One way to strengthen the bonds
between your character and non-playable characters is by giving gifts� To choose the
best gift players must interact with townsfolk and follow up on hints�
When I originally proposed the concept of Your Presence is Present Enough,
several member of my cohort recommended playing Stardew Valley for inspiration
on how gift giving could work� After investing some time with the game I found this
feature, along with several other aspects of the game served as a wonderful source of
inspiration for my own work�
Luigi’s Mansion 3
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is an action-adventure game released on the Nintendo
Switch� Players control Luigi, a character widely recognized from the Super Mario
Bros. franchise, who has the ability to suck up ghost using a vacuum strapped to
his back� As players progress through the game you unlock upgrades to the ghost
vacuum along with other abilities that allow them to reach new areas, and require new
ways of solving puzzles� Your Presence is Present Enough had already begun production when Luigi’s
Mansion 3 was released, October 2019, so the game served as inspiration for solving
specific issues. An example would be the way I displayed my user interface buttons,
which pop up when the player gets close to specific objects.
9
Designing YPiPE
Narrative Design
While the narrative of the story has undergone several revisions since
preproduction, the overall concept has stayed consistent� Participants play as a
government agent who is tasked with visiting an alien planet, learning about its
civilization, and selecting a present based on what they’ve discovered� The goal of
this concept was to establish a task, choosing a present, that encouraged the player
to invest in a culture they are unfamiliar with� The decision to have players select
a present is rooted in my own personal experiences� Since moving away from my
hometown of Richmond Virginia, I have found it increasingly difficult to find presents
for family and friends when returning home for the holidays, due to an erosion of
understanding of people I was once very close to� I saw this point of frustration in my
own life as an opportunity to develop an interactive feature which persuades players
to build a connection to the virtual characters I create� Originally I intended to make YPiPE an episodic game, and if I continue to
build upon the concept after finishing my education I intend to return to this goal.
Rory would be able to travel to a series of different planets, learning about the
inhabitants, and take a little something from each visit to their new destination� This
option would have greatly increased the scope of the project, which would have
made it much more difficult to bring the game to the appropriate level of polish.
Instead I chose to focus on one specific planet for Rory to visit, which would allow
for more time to be spent on the details of the world� The planet that was chosen for
the thesis was Virtuatoid, a world which exists completely virtually� Virtuatoid was an
interesting choice, it felt alien yet believable, and it offered opportunities for unique
interactive options as well as humorous pop culture references� The Virtuatoid story went through several revisions� During the pre-
10
production stage of the project I established that the world would need to feel both
technologically advanced and inferior to our own� The juxtaposition of high and low
tech was meant to imply a necessity for the inhabitants to digitize themselves before
they were properly prepared to do so� The town started with around 15 inhabitants,
but after meeting with Professor Tracy Fullerton I was encouraged to scope down to a
smaller version of the town� I pared down to 6 non-playable inhabitants of Virtuatoid,
and later added 1 extra character to serve as a trainer for the mechanics of the game�
To help make each of the Virtuatoids unique, I created character sheets using a
template of a previous thesis I worked as lead designer on, Ascension� Once I had the
world and characters established, I was ready to write the dialog� While I wasn’t completely new to creating interactive dialog, my games Daddy
I’m Dying and Scorpion: A Star Trek Story were very dialog heavy, I had not done
narrative design for a game of this scope before� I referred to the producer of YPiPE,
Aaron Phillips who worked as Lead Narrative Designer on Ascension, for suggestions
on how best to build the narrative system of the game� He suggested using
spreadsheets to organize the dialog (see fig. 4 below).
Fig� 4 Example of dialog in spreadsheet form
11
This method made it easier for me to lay out the narrative, and helped Aaron
proofread without needing to go into the Unity engine or play through the game� To
help make the information within the spreadsheet easier to parse, color coding and
indentation was utilized� Rory’s dialog is tinted in green, NPCs’ in red, purple was used
for conditionals, and blue was used to represent menu items (choice based text)� Designing the Narrative System
When working with a narrative heavy game, it’s easy to underestimate the
amount of system design necessary to create a convincing immersive experience�
To design these systems I utilized a combination of careful planning, as well as
trial and error, but I attempted to stick to the former as much as I could� During
the break between my final two semesters, I created an overall outline that laid out
what happens at each section of the project, what sort of dialog options would be
necessary for each character and how they would be triggered, and all the available
gifts the player can earn and how to unlock them (shown in fig. 5).
Fig� 5 Example of narrative outline
This outline made it possible to create a revised asset list, and establish a
hierarchy based on asset priority� I began implementing the narrative in engine, but
12
ran into issues with keeping NPC dialog options properly aligned, so that when the
player makes progress each available character will provide dialog options related
to their current task� Originally most of the progress was triggered through global
booleans, true and false statements that could be carried from scene to scene� Once
the project started scaling up this became too cumbersome to reliably keep track of� I
decided to take a step back and find a more concise way to store progress. I chose to
use one main global integer to track where the player was at any given time� Any less
linear tracking that needed to be employed between the main narrative track could
be handled by separate global integers� To help keep track of this progress I created
several spreadsheets which cross reference the integer, what sort of narrative each
NPC would provide, and what triggered the move to the next integer (see fig. 6).
Fig� 6 Spreadsheet used to help keep track of the narrative
Taking the extra time to plan this system out made it much simpler to keep
track of where I was at any given time, and made it easier to track down issues� While
the necessity of this tracking may have escaped me at first, it is something I will take
with me when I move forward with my career as a designer�
13
Designing the Space
The initial design for the virtual town focused on collecting the more heavily
visited locations in the center� However the paths that were created were very narrow,
and the space didn’t feel like there was enough variety to it� Unfortunately I did not
think to take a screen shot of this first design, however I did keep a copy of the sketch
I used to inspire the initial layout (see fig. 7 below).
Fig� 7 Early sketch of the town layout
After playtesting with my thesis advisor, Martzi Campos, it was recommended
that I study prior art, such as Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past and Stardew Valley,
for inspiration� I varied the width on the pathways a bit more so that more frequently
trafficked areas would be wider, while less used areas remained narrow. This made it a
little more interesting to navigate the empty town, but overall the exploration was still
a bit underwhelming (see fig. 8).
14
Fig� 8 Second version of town
The town was widened for the third version to better accommodate the
landscape layout of the devices it would be played on� New assets were added,
including decorations for the Mayor’s house, hedges as an alternative to fences in
certain areas, and artwork left over from the preproduction stages of the game� These
new details made it easier for players to orient themselves in the world (see fig. 9).
Fig� 9 Third version of town
15
After completing a large portion of the art, the town was once again revised
to its current version� Four houses were updated to the current visuals style, and
their yards were filled with decorations. Along with visual updates, the layout of the
town was reorganized to better suit the flow of the story. Homes that are sequentially
connected to the main story are now no more than two yards apart, cutting down on
monotonous movement while navigating the town (see fig. 10).
Fig� 10 Current version of Virtuatoid Town
After deciding on a wider layout for the town, I knew I wanted to do the same
for the interior spaces as well� For the Mayor’s house, I started with a design that
expanded as you went forward� A long hallway was used to hide the party guests,
who were really just clones of the Mayor (see fig. 11).
The second version of the Mayor’s house retained its basic shape, but added
a lot more variety to the interior� Long tables were used to make the player zig zag
through the space, a rug was used to break up the monotony of the floor, and several
items were added to interact with (see fig. 12).
16
Fig� 11 First version of Mayor’s house
Fig� 12 Second version of Mayor’s house
The layout changed a lot in the third version, which required a more
rectangular look due to the limitations of a sliding puzzle mechanic that allows you to
rearrange the larger section of the room� The space is much more condensed overall,
and the optimal path was designed based on players’ inclinations to travel right and
up, over down and left (see fig. 13).
17
Fig� 13 Current version of Mayor’s house
Designing Unique Mechanics
Aside from being able to walk, talk, and interact with specific objects in the
world, I want the player to obtain unique abilities throughout the game, similar
to mechanics in Metroidvania genre games� These abilities should create unique
challenges for the player, encourage revisiting locations in the game, tie into the
story, and most importantly feel fun� Several different ideas were conceptualized, but
only two were kept for the current iteration of the game. The first is a body swapping
mechanic, which allows the player to swap the position of Rory’s limbs, head, and
body to create a strange mixed up version of the character� The second mechanic
allows the player to swap sections of interior spaces around to create a unique layout�
Both mechanics are currently functioning and slowly being implemented as the
content is built out� Body Swap
Designing the body swap ability was a unique challenge, one that feels
18
especially rewarding to watch player’s reactions when discovering for the first time.
Before creating anything in engine, a paper prototype was created to test player’s
comprehension of the mechanic (see fig. 14).
Fig� 14 Paper prototype of body swap mechanic
Testing the prototype with both students from USC and GALA, who
represented the primary target audience, taught me which areas of the design
were communicating properly and which areas were still confusing� Around 3/4 of
participants instinctively knew they would need to move Rory’s parts around to match
the design, but the other 1/4 thought the character in the background would need
to be interacted with� Luckily this confusion could be solved through the use of visual
hierarchy and context within the game� After implementing the mechanic into the game I retested and found that
players were more confused by the final design than the prototype I created. This
was due to having a large amount of control over the framing of the prototype, the
framing in the game being completely out of my control� Since players needed to
stand in front of walls to activate the ability, Rory would often block the pattern that
19
they needed to match (seen in fig. 15). There was also confusion around how the
ability would be triggered� Most of the game players interact by clicking on a button
that appears over Rory’s head when they get close to an interaction, however the
body swap button was placed in a menu that could be accessed anywhere leading to
confusion (see fig. 16).
Fig� 15 Rory blocking body swap wall
Fig� 16 Bad placement of body swap button
20
To solve the framing issues Rory turns invisible and the camera moves so the
user interface elements frame the puzzle that needs to be solved� To solve the button
confusion both a context based button, which appears when Rory is close to an object
that requires the body swap ability, and a menu button are provided� If Rory interacts
with a character that requires body swap, it automatically initiates within the dialog�
Finally a reset button was added to allow players to instantly return Rory to their
original orientation quickly (see the updates in fig. 17).
Fig� 17 Current version of body swap interface
Room Swap
The room swap ability design had the benefit of learning from the mistakes
made during the body swap ability’s design� I want players to build friendship
between Rory and Virtuatoid citizens before swapping their homes around� This
constraint made it so the room swap can only be initiated after an interaction has
already begun, which meant the player would never press a dedicated button to
begin the ability� Once room swap is initiated, the camera moves to a wide view
which shows the entire interactable area and two buttons, reset and done� From here
21
players are free to swap tiles by sliding from one adjacent tile to another, similar to
how swapping in match 3 puzzle games work� Pressing done returns the camera to
the default view and allows the player to continue exploring� Tests of the mechanic
showed that players were quickly able to intuit, but if they tried to swap the tiles
too fast the system breaks. The reset button does fix the broken tiles, but a future
adjustment to the code is necessary� (The current version of the room swap ability can
be seen in fig. 18).
Fig� 18 Current iteration of room swap
22
Creating the look of YPiPE
Visual Development
While the visual direction of the project has greatly changed over the course of
development, a lot of the concepts have remained since the initial visual explorations�
The main character, Rory, started out as a human female, who was heavily inspired by
Tessa Thompson and her Men In Black International look� This design did not make
it past the sketch phase, and was replaced with a character design inspired by an
axolotl, which wasn’t confined to representing one race or gender (see fig. 19).
Fig� 19 Early character sketches
Unfortunately Rory’s design was read as masculine, and took several revisions,
and some help from Professor Marzi Campos, to bring out their feminine side a bit
more� Now Rory gets a mix of different pronouns, aligning with the goal to make the
characters gender determined by the player’s perception of them� The original illustrations (on the left of fig. 20) were created for an animatic
project early on in preproduction� With no clear visual goals established yet, I focused
23
on creating charmingly weird graphics with a vivid color scheme� The second iteration
of the graphics (center of fig. 20) were heavily inspired by the look of the Nintendo
Gameboy� This look was chosen to give a dated computer generated feel, and was
meant to only exist within one world of the project� When the scope of the project
was reduced to a single world, it quickly became apparent that the game would look
very drab with this as its only world� There was also some concern that the reference
would be too old for a younger audience, who would be the primary target for the
game� To solve the issue of wanting richer colors, and to establish a reference to
dated computer graphics that a younger audience would understand, the solution of
creating a faked low-poly look was chosen (right of fig. 20). This decision has paid off,
as the game frequently receives praise for its look from players� Fig� 20 Visual evolution from left to right
The Art of Juice
While establishing an appealing visual design is important, the art also needs
24
to assist in communicating to the player� Several visual design decisions were made
to help foster this communication�
Navigating by Color
A strange color scheme and disorienting views can make it difficult for
players to know how to navigate the world� Color rules were established to help
communicate where a player can walk versus where they cannot� Purple is used as
for all areas where the player is able to walk on, and blue is used to signify a wall or
blocker� While this may not be immediately noticeable to players, it was my hope that
the color along with context of the illustrations keep player confusion to a minimum
when it comes to exploration (see fig. 21).
Fig� 21 Color usage to discern walkable areas
25
Assisting the Controls
Coming up with a control scheme on a mobile device can be difficult, to
solve this dilemma I looked toward the mobile market for inspiration� I built my
controls based on the mobile game Another Eden, which involves an invisible virtual
controller� The player needs to swipe and hold to move the character in a direction�
Initial tests showed several players attempting to tap on the screen to get Rory to
move to a location, who were left confused when the character would either stand
still or only move a very small amount� Originally I thought the only solution to this
problem would be to switch to a tap to move control scheme, which I feel would
have impacted the immersion of the experience as those controls tend to feel very
detached� Fortunately Professor Richard Lemarchand recommended providing visual
feedback as an alternative� To accommodate, I created a particle effect and sound that
plays each time the player taps on the screen, this informed the player that they were
making an impact within the world each time they tapped on the screen (see fig. 22).
Fig� 22 Tap feedback
26
Building on this concept, I created a looping animation which displays moving
arrows in four directions when the player holds on a location for an extended time
(see fig. 23). Doing so encourages the player to move their finger after holding for an
extended period of time� Fig� 23 Long pressing on screen displays movement arrows
Navigating by Illustration
It can be difficult to balance screen real estate in a mobile exploration game.
It’s important to keep the avatar easily visible, but it is also important to leave enough
space to help orient the player within the environment� One way this problem is
solved in Your Presence is Present Enough is by adjusting the zoom depending on
if the player is exploring or interacting with the environment� Another suggestion,
provided by Professor Martzi Campos, was to create decorations that are specific to
each home so that the player can more easily identify each lot as soon as it entered
their screen (seen in fig. 24). This method also has the benefit of making the world
feel more unique, but also comes with the drawback of a larger list of assets to create�
27
Fig� 24 Illustrations help navigate player
Animation Innovation
In the original version of the game all the animations were created using
Adobe Animate, exported as sprite sheets, then imported and sequenced in Unity
(sprite sheet example in fig. 25). Sprite sheets are a series of illustrations contained
in a single image which has dimensions in multiples of 1024� This is a common
method for 2D games to use for both their animations and their art� However, several
problems arose from using this method�
Due to the way Adobe Animate creates the sprite sheets, several exported
at an incredibly large files. Another issue that arose was the need to have the main
character swap their body parts around as a puzzle solving mechanic� This could not
be achieved with sprite sheets, as there was no easy way to separate out the different
body parts. If I wanted this feature I would need to find a new method for creating the
animations�
28
Fig� 25 Sprite sheet example
I decided the best option would be to do the animation in Unity� I explored several
different options for this, including using a new bone tool� Ultimately, I decided to
create a nested structure of body parts and rotate the body parts at the joints, similar
to how a 3D animations work (see fig. 26). It took several revisions to the nesting
structure to get the animations to work with the ability to swap around body parts, but
the response that players give when they are able to perform the mechanic made the
investment worth it�
29
Fig� 26 Example of in game animation used
Separating the Virtual World
Within the game the main character, Rory, visits a planet that exists solely within
virtual reality� To help convey this to the player, I utilized a post processing plugin for
Unity called Retro Look Pro. This was my first attempt at using post processing within
a game engine, however my experience in creating post effects for both video and
animation made the transition much more smooth� Applying the effect to an entire
scene felt very familiar, however I struggled a little when I wanted to have the effect
transition in when moving into the virtual world� Eventually I was able to work out
a way to have the post processing effect transition on command by placing a post
processing volume into the scene which animates toward the camera�
While it took some time figuring out the nuances, and cost a little bit of money,
I’m glad that I experimented with creating post-processing effects in Unity
(see fig 27 for a comparison).
30
Fig� 27 Comparison between post processing (left) and regular (right)
Making the User Interface Pop
Designing a user interface that would stand out in such a brightly colored world
is challenging� With so much saturation and contrast within the game world already,
it becomes quite difficult to find a way to make buttons and dialog boxes standout. In
my experience I found that neutral tones (white, grey, black) help separate brighter
colors by creating a resting point for the eye between them� Utilizing this knowledge, I
established a palette of three colors for my user interface design
(seen below in fig. 28).
All the interface elements have a white outline around them to help separate
them from the game world� Interface elements that players are supposed to click
on use the same teal color as Rory’s skin for the fill, with bright pink text or icons to
communicate their intent. The early version of these buttons were very flat, however
this caused issues with players not recognizing them as buttons� To help encourage
players to click on the buttons a pink drop shadow (version 2) and transparent
highlight (current version) were added�
31
Fig� 28 Evolution and look of the User Interface Design
I wanted the dialog boxes to feel like a conversation, so I designed them
to look a little like comic book word bubbles� This worked extremely well with the
Fungus narrative engine, which provides easy access to large portraits that align with
the text boxes in Unity’s UI Canvas� This highly customizable setup made it easy to
visually simulate communication between characters (see in fig. 29 below).
Fig� 29 In game dialog
32
Creating Alien Sounds
Music
Music is the one area of production where I had almost no experience� This
meant my options were to rely heavily a recruited team member, use prerecorded
songs I could afford to license, or fumble through it on my own� Luckily I had
previously worked with an incredibly talented composer from the Thornton School
of Music, Ms� Kara Ford, who was interested in helping out with the game� Without
her the game would probably consist of a bunch of apple loops haphazardly mashed
together� I wanted something strange, yet with the appeal of a pop song for the game’s
music� For inspiration, I put together a small sample of artists to help convey my
mood to the game’s composer� The band The Books represented a pop version of the
musique concréte, a genre known for using sound effects as music� The Go! Team has
the feel of high school marching band, with a flare of Brit pop. The soundtrack for the
game Vib-Ribbon does a great job of leaning into a lo-fi sound and making it feel fun.
Finally the song M.I.N.D., by Superorgamism, had a very otherworldly and the perfect
pace for a casual exploration game� Together this collection provided the necessary
direction for a talented composer to run with� Sound Design
For the sound design of the game I needed the sounds to be recognizable,
but still feel a little off� I decided the best way to create this feel was to use musical
instruments to create all the sound effects� Using this constraint forced us to think
more abstractly about sounds� While there is still a lot of work to do with the sound
design of the game, including replacing some of the earlier experiments, the sounds
that do work have elicited a lot of joy from players�
33
What’s next?
Current Steps
Your Presence is Present Enough is now in the tail end of Beta phase of
production� Most of the necessary assets have been created and are currently being
implemented into the game engine� Once all the most necessary pieces have been
added, I will begin working on designing the interior spaces, with the intent to have
each work with the room swap ability� Originally I intended to begin more formalized testing of the game at this
point, both with students at USC and GALA� Unfortunately the world is facing an
unexpected pandemic which has required most of the population to quarantine
themselves to slow the spread of the disease� I hope to begin testing virtually over the
next few weeks, once I figure out the logistics of how best to achieve this. With unique
problems comes unique solutions� Next Steps
Moving forward after thesis, I plan to release the game on the iOS App store�
I’ve already begun testing via TestFlight, so the groundwork for publication should
be smooth� I would also like to revisit an important feature that had to be cut from the
current version of the game, a system which allows you to unlock iMessage stickers
within the game� This feature was important for several reasons, it helped bring a
social aspect to the game, it would have been a reward for further exploration, and it
would have helped the game advertise itself� A long term goal for the project would
be to build out new worlds for Rory to visit, and utilize the skills they’ve unlocked from
other planets they’ve completed�
34
Works Cited
Futurama� The Curiosity Company / 20th Century Fox Television, 1999-2013
Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past. Super Nintendo version, Nintendo, 1991
Luigi’s Mansion 3. Nintendo Switch, Next Level Games, 2019
Stardew Valley. Nintendo Switch version, Eric Barone / Chucklefish, 2016

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Asset Metadata

Creator Ritchie Rodriguez, Michael David (author)

Core Title Your presence is present enough: a thesis project postpartum

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Publication Date 04/27/2020

Defense Date 04/16/2020

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

Tag adventure,alien,art,culture,game,graduate,iOS,Metroidvania,Mobile,OAI-PMH Harvest,present,Rory,smart phone,Thesis,Unity,video game,Virtuatoid

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Wixon, Dennis (committee chair), Fullerton, Tracy (committee member), Lemarchand, Richard (committee member)

Creator Email michael@ritchiearts.com,ritchier@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-291536

Unique identifier UC11663550

Identifier etd-RitchieRod-8354.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-291536 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-RitchieRod-8354.pdf

Dmrecord 291536

Document Type Thesis

Rights Ritchie Rodriguez, Michael David

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