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Psychic - an interactive TV pilot: development of a game project for native TV platforms

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Psychic - an interactive TV pilot: development of a game project for native TV platforms

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Content Psychic - An Interactive TV Pilot
Development of a game project for native TV platforms
By
Ascot Smith
Master of Fine Arts
Interactive Media & Games Division
School of Cinematic Arts
University of Southern California
August 2016

Psychic - An Interactive TV Pilot Page 2 of 10
Abstract
The emergence of native TV platforms such as Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV provides an
opportunity to revisit and redefine the concept of Interactive Television. This paper provides an
overview of the development and production of the graduate thesis project Psychic, a proof-of-
concept for an animated interactive TV show. The goal of Psychic is to understand the
constraints of developing interactive narrative content specifically for native TV platforms as
well as provide a playable example that defines an Interactive Television episode.

Psychic - An Interactive TV Pilot Page 3 of 10
Acknowledgments
This project is a production project and this paper will reflect the insights gathered through the
process as wells as document the challenges of development. The development of Psychic would
not be possible without the support of my support of my advisory committee, the Interactive
Media and Games Division faculty and staff, and my peers that I recognized that this production
was a viable option as a capstone project for the Interactive Media MFA degree. I want to give
thanks to multiple teammates that made this project possible including the Art Director Natalie
Gravier and her talented art team, the Lead Writer Devin Presbury, and the Lead Designer Steve
Cha and his design team. This project could not have been possible without their dedication,
insight, and leadership skills.

Psychic - An Interactive TV Pilot Page 4 of 10

Table of Contents

Abstract............................................................................................................................................2

Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................3

Introduction .....................................................................................................................................5

Initial Concept and Goals ................................................................................................................7

Conclusions .....................................................................................................................................9

References .....................................................................................................................................10

Psychic - An Interactive TV Pilot Page 5 of 10

Ascot Smith

CTIN-594B: Master’s Thesis

August 2016

1. Introduction

Native TV platforms are simple-to-use networked devices for streaming video to televisions.
These devices also provide hardware robust enough to support a limited game library. These
platforms’ default input devices resemble remotes that also include a directional pad and extra
buttons. The Psychic development team selected Amazon Fire TV as the target platform;
creating executable files for the Amazon Fire TV is easy, since that platform is essentially an
Android device. Apple TV was not available at start of our development in august 2015.

Figure 1 - Amazon Fire TV and Remote (Selecting a direction on the remote selects a choice in Psychic).

Psychic - An Interactive TV Pilot Page 6 of 10

The story of Psychic follows a telepathic duo - John Hollis and his cat partner Devo - that solves
crimes together. Working as registered telepaths, the two are often assigned humorous and
offbeat cases. Within the first case, Hollis and Devo must find a missing reality star whose
SnapChat account is sending a mind virus to her follower. Psychic is a branching narrative,
similar to TellTale Games’ The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead, with a mind reading
feature. Psychic’s mind reading feature allows the player to read the minds of other characters
and communicate with Devo to unlock alternate story branches.

Figure 2 - John Hollis and Devo wait at Mystic Cat Pizza in between cases.

Psychic - An Interactive TV Pilot Page 7 of 10

Figure 3 - Hollis interrogates a suspect. The suspect's thoughts are represented by thoughts balloons, which contain
images that change during the conversation.

2. Initial Concept and Goals
The development of Psychic sought to create interactive content for audiences who enjoy
narrative rich experiences but lack game literacy and find most forms of gameplay too
challenging. Psychic is a causal narrative game in which there is a very low barrier-of-entry to
play.
The following are a series of design principles that reinforce this concept:

1) The emergent TV Platform - Native TV platforms provide specific constraints such
as a limited graphics hardware and a simple controller input. These constraints meant the
project would by necessity be a causal game. In addition, the platform’s interface allows
the user to navigate between streaming videos to a game library as simple as a single
button press of the remote control. This meant we could easily emphasize the episodic

Psychic - An Interactive TV Pilot Page 8 of 10
nature of Psychic and present the project as an interactive television episode that fit
between the categories of TV and Games. Native TV’s app-oriented home screen layout
provides an opportunity to influence the user’s perception of what television content can
be.
2) Genre with a twist - Native TV’s primary feature is the ability to stream a nearly
endless library of film and TV content. Psychic is designed to create an interactive
experience that feels like watching a TV show. Psychic’s narrative and visual storytelling
mimics a procedural detective television episode borrowing from the conventions and
tropes of the genre.

Figure 4 -Psychic replaces loading screens with commercial breaks.

By emulating the experience of watching a TV show, Psychic provides the user an
accessible entry into gameplay elements. The comedic cartoon emphasizes the lean-
back, casual nature of the experience while putting a unique twist on a standard genre
story.

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3) Branching narrative gameplay - The input devices for Native TV platforms limit the
styles of gameplay and complexity of interactions. However these controllers do
comfortably fit branching narrative style of gameplay. Throughout Psychic, the user is
prompted to select a choice by using the d-pad on the remote and pressing select. The
gameplay doesn’t challenge skill, it challenge the player to make a tough choice. Playing
as a telepathic detective in Psychic intensifies the dilemma by challenging players to
make decisions based secretly gleaned information.

3. Conclusions
Using Native TV platforms and limited game literacy as design constraints, we can identify a
clear path for creating Interactive TV content for these platforms. Psychic blurs the definition of
a game and a television show not only because we believe this will draw in a new audience, but
because we believe this is the future of television. As televisions become more like computers,
the entertainment on the device we used to call “television” will become more interactive.
Psychic was created to define this emerging format.

Psychic - An Interactive TV Pilot Page 10 of 10
4. References
The Wolf Among Us. TellTale Games. 2013. Video game.
The Walking Dead. TellTale Games. 2012. Video game.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The emergence of native TV platforms such as Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV provides an opportunity to revisit and redefine the concept of Interactive Television. This paper provides an overview of the development and production of the graduate thesis project Psychic, a proof-of-concept for an animated interactive TV show. The goal of Psychic is to understand the constraints of developing interactive narrative content specifically for native TV platforms as well as provide a playable example that defines an Interactive Television episode.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Smith, Ascot J. (author)

Core Title Psychic - an interactive TV pilot: development of a game project for native TV platforms

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Publication Date 08/24/2016

Defense Date 04/10/2016

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

Tag Amazon Fire TV,Apple TV,branching narrative,Cats,interactive cinema and television,interactive narratives in digital games,native TV,OAI-PMH Harvest,procedural detective TV shows,smart TV

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Brinson, Peter (committee chair), Long, Geoffrey (committee member), Stewart, Sean (committee member)

Creator Email ascotsmi@gmail.com,ascotsmi@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-302442

Unique identifier UC11281239

Identifier etd-SmithAscot-4778.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-302442 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-SmithAscot-4778.pdf

Dmrecord 302442

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Smith, Ascot J.

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

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