What is my Research?

Before I came to this school I was a drifting boy with big dreams of a place in the game industry somewhere. My passions are games and the inner workings of them, especially the graphics. Nowadays I still keep that dream alit, but I am more goal driven now. I no longer find myself asking if this is the correct way, I already know it. Someday I want to become a professional graphical artist and do my best in a team of designers and engineers that knows how to make a game fun and enjoyable. The main reason, though, of why I truly want this is the sheer fascination I have for graphics and the art of a nicely done craft. How post-processing effects should be done, do normals mapping. It's just a basic fire I have for the topic.


I do want to research into how you can narrate the story/game experience as much as possible with graphics and aesthetic choices as much as possible, because I would argue there's alot left undiscovered in that area. Movies had over a century of research and trial-and-error to come up with really creative and genius techniques and results. Books had and written literatur have many millenias in on their shoulders to deliver colorful and breathtaking stories and experiences. The vocal legends and stories predates all the above by a mile. Games in the other hand, just like the time chart for homo sapiens, have only like a brief second compared to the other form of media. This is my main reason to why there still is room for more research on this subject.
My window of opportunity is, what I believe, in the timing of where we stand today in this issue. Many ask and ponders the question of immersion, storytelling and consistent themes. Not only in graphics, but in all decisions in all parts of the game. Movies have cinematography , books have the flow of text and theatre have sets and actors. Games have the abstract term "gameplay". What is that? How does it communicate story? If I researched into this subject, I will probably help alot of people with my contributions to science.
The competitors are, of course, others who research into this subject. But the biggest ones, in my opinion, are companies like Bethesda Software, Bioware, Rockstar Games and Square Enix. They all makes story-heavy games, in their own unique ways, and the results are varied, interesting and creative. Even that is a good subject for more research: Are their games good storytelling and have the aesthetics needed to make a close-to-perfection themes that communicate said story.
If I fail, well than that happens. If I can't find a more effective way to communicate story through graphics and aesthetics, then I have at least alot of research in why it a "waste of time". I can still contribute to the community with my failure so others can learn some helpful advice into the subject. No research is bad research, in that sense.


Hopefully most of the mentioned companies above, and all others who invest their games in heavy story, would want to support my vision. It would help them to deeper understand this issue and perhaps I can even teach them some new and unique ways to avoid "mistakes" in their game designs without too much effort. Becuse this subject is very important not to screw up. It is fundamental for a good experience with the game for the public, it helps them to immerse themselves with the game as well as avoiding "plot-holes" that are all to often in games' stories, both today and yesterday. I know this, because I play alot of games, I talk to others about games and I look up articles about games. Written and spoken by amateurs and professionals alike. Narration, immersion and gameplay is always brought up and alot of discussion and arguments starts and ends with these topics. I know because I listen and read about these. It's not hard, yet many companies seems to either ignore those comments or are just simply ignorant of the issue.


By pursuing my research I can add an extra "edge", "flair" or "fire" (whatever you would call a bonus in knowledge) to my work as a modeler and 3D artist. It would make me more aware in how I can optimize the detailed normals map or make the polygon edge-loops a more effective way to tell their own story about a character and/or enviroment. Sadly, I think I am not alone in this line of thought among fellow artists/craftsmen. The market is probably filled with bright people who knows alot/even more than I do about the effectiveness and "perfections" of their arts/crafts.
Still, I wouldn't count the potential out yet. There still an advantage for me to exploit my work and give it an edge against the other artists who live in the "grey zone" of professional attention. I can probably get a job easier and faster with this kind of advantage.


The people who would benefit greatly from this potential are the lead artists and game designers of a group/comapny. Their games would become more memorable and have more respect with a greater consistency in theme and gameplay, with more intruiging narration and a more aware flow of the overarching game design. Games like Portal and S.T.A.L.K.E.R a good examples of how comapnies approach gameplay versus aesthetics. How immersion should be experienced and how narration comes through the player's experience with the game. S.T.A.L.K.E.R still has alot of dialogue and predictable "twists" in their stories, yet they let the player experience the world and enviromnent in their own unique ways. Alot of games will not tolerate such freedoms to their players, which is, in my opinion, BAD design.
If my research is shared, more recognition to the original researcher, right? I mostly would love to make a name from my "wisdom" and perhaps a few intellectual discussions could be really neat. A more solid gain from all of this could be to get comapnies to pay me, instead of internet commentors and fellow students and scientists.
I would argue that there are no "trade-offs" with this type of vision. It could perhaps clean out some old-fashioned ideas or perhaps blind people to neglect other aspects of game design. But these are more indirect trade-offs and wouldn't be something I can be jheld responsible for.
No. Not really, this vision would be achieved by my own.


Some possible outcomes from plans are these: That I will succeed, land a job and get pay. Just landing a job at the bottom of the food-chain/freelancing or that I will turn out to be unemployed and have to search for another solution/temporary grunt work.

The best-case scenario is to actually become reognized which lead to employement.


While I would want to think that the future will hold my best intentions I would still hold my hopes grounded in reality. Even though I can say that I will be emploed at the end of this year, there are still many things that needed some considerations. I am a person, not a machine. As an unemployed you male I face many temptations and lazy approaches sometimes and some things just get pushed back.


There is evidence that I am competent as a graphical artist and I do have experience through school and outside projects that I am capable as a team member. I do always more training and experience but I can validate myself as a good employee.


The medium-term pproblems would be to get all the materials and the visualization done in time. I need to limit my intial question, my fundamental research, as much as possible. This will take some time and will bring alot of my focus to bear.
The Long-term problems will be to get the research as viable and validated, with all my arguments and results as founded in science and evidence, as possible. To clean the research up and make it consistent with my intital question. It's easy for me to lose focus and perhaps also change what the question while I'll try to research an asnwer.
The short term  would be to conceptualize my vision and begin writing it down on paper. To set my mind on the path towards scientific evaluation and valid arguments, so to speak. I see that the short-term problems would be to find both enough materials but also subjects that can strengthen my own question towards narration through aesthetics and graphics. To find any materials at all, it's a risk that I can begin with zero outside help.


The capacities, the skill sets, I already have are research I have already done on the subject in the year before this one. I have made some indirect progress by writing an article about immersion and narration. This make me, kind of, a competent factor in what I will face. I know already alot of the stuff that I do need to argue. Other skills are my easy-to-learn mindstate and my own focus when I read through alot of other's work and discuss the topic with other people.
Some good motivations would be my interest in the subject, my love for good games and my dislike of ignorant game decisions and publisher's that only think that they can weasel their way out with shallow gameplay and cheap graphics. I want to see the craftsmen doing their job effectively, not just cut corners unnecassarily.
Professional scientists/websites would be Gamasutra, Rock, Paper & Shotgun, Escapist, Wikipedia, Earnest Adams and my own friends. I usually get materials from as many sources as possible, filter them and then catalogue them in respective subject.


The resources on the human capacity are low, a few friends and perhaps some forum threads, to start discussions and get directed to helpful websites. That's mostly it. I don't lead a team, nor do I wish for that.
The logistical resources are bare and minimum, only the obligatory ones: Desk, lamp, computer, pen & paper. O have a bike as transportation but I walk most of the time. My work space is my own home. Still, I would go to libraries/school when needed more/varied info on my research.
Financial resources are my loans and allowances, which cover my living and activities nicely, yet barely.


So, influences. Well, here we go. I can name a virtually infinite pool of external influences for how I came up with my vision. Thankfully, I have some guidelines I can follow, instead. The cultural influences are the games made in each region (Europe, North America, Asia mainly) that influences key aspects on my research. Also, the cultural attitude of games, game design in each region is driving my vision. As an example: In Asia I notice the trend of bland exposition through text/dialogue and gameplay being very seperated from the narration, Europe tries more to experiment how to narrate the story through various "artistical" ways and North America goes with a more cinematic route of cutscenes and theatric atmospheres, tried and tested methods.
What I also notice is how the market is asking more and more for games with better strucutre, tighter designs and more effective aesthetics. My research here is what those questions mean and if they can be implemented into my own vision, or if my vision can be implemented with their questions and thus further motivate game publishers and companies to listen to their critiscism.
In Sweden, there's a LOT of indie groups and companies that tries and designs games with varuious different gameplay/graphics/coding than what the norm for games are today. Sweden seems to be one of the leading countries in the world that experiment with game design and how a game can be "fun", and I am very driven by those indie groups. Because of their courageous ways to topple the big AAA companies with inventive games, I feel it's a duty of sorts to support that way of thinking and contribute, in my own way, in what ways games can go.


So this is how I have structured my schedule for my research, generally.

Week 1 - 5: Getting materials from various sources. Reading alot of material and potential material from which I can use for my own article. I would also try to further limit my question and vision, so that I take on as little unnecessary work as possible.

Week 3 - 4: I will try to write down the thesis, the question and maybe a draft abstract. This stage I will focus and write down key-notes and getting some discussions from other people about the subject. If all else is done, I begin to finalize my question and start the article.

Week 4 - 10: Here's the big one, I write down all my research in the academic structure of an article. I get down as much of my arguments as possible and try my best to keep within the subject in the flow of writing. I usually don't reread anything in this stage, mostly some word correction from time to time. But in this stage, I will just keep writing and get more material when necessary, when I can't prove my arguments to have any scientific foundation.

Week 10+ : The finalization of my article, in all its meaning. I clean up the article as best as I can, I reread my materials and also go back to my question to see if I lost the "red thread" any time in my arguments and analysis. This is the slowest part and will take all time until deadline. Nothing is ever perfect, but I aim my work to be as close to it as possible.


If I would put myself into a team, with other members in it. THen I would be the leading researcher and compiler of all data gathered in the team. As others have the responsibility to get the data, make interviews and filter the data, I could have a greater focus in the writing of the report. Alas, I am not in a team.

The time needed for my responsibilities as a lead researcher would be almost full-time. I need to compile and strucutre the data and then use it to write a report upon. I may have some more flexible hours to help the others in my team with their own responsibilities, though I can't say how much. This is all theoretical anyway...

But how can I safely say that this can actually work out? These things I have mentioned are only assumptions and predictions, right? Well, the valid points to all my arguments are the experiences and feedback I have had over the three years in school, couple of weeks as an intern and with other professional co-workers and friends. My previous research was about immersion, I have had countless discussions with people about this subject already and I read alot about the "public opinion" and the market on this topic. There's alot of potential and gold mines to be scavenged still, I'll just need the right materials.