Emotional Divide

The Emotional Divide: 

The Emotional Divide Bridging the Chasm between Games and Other Media fmx/06 6 May 2006 There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion. - Carl Jung

Aristotle Gets Emotional: 

Aristotle Gets Emotional According to Book Two of Aristotle’s Rhetoric: Shame vs. Shamelessness Kindness vs. Unkindness Anger vs. Calmness Fear vs. Confidence Love vs. Enmity Indignation Envy Pity

85 Flavors of Emotion: 

Acceptance, Agitation, Alarm, Amusement, Anger, Angst, Anticipation, Apprehension, Apathy, Awe, Bitterness, Boredom, Calmness, Comfort, Contentment, Confidence, Confusion, Cool, Courage, Depression, Disappointment, Discontentment, Disgust, Desire, Delight, Dread, Elation or Euphoria, Embarrassment, Empathy, Ennui, Envy, Ecstasy, Fear, Friendship, Frustration, Gratitude, Grief, Guilt, Glee, Gladness, Hate, Happiness, Homesickness, Honor, Hope, Horror, Humility, Joy, Jealousy, Kindness, Loneliness, Love, Lust, Missing Someone, Modesty, Nervousness, Negativity, Nostalgia, Pain, Patience, Peace, Phobia, Pity, Pride, Rage, Remorse, Repentance, Rapture, Sadness, Schadenfreude, Self-pity, Shame, Shyness, Sorrow, Shock, Suffering, Surprise, Suspense, Terror, Trepidation, Unhappiness, Vulnerability, Wanderlust, Wonderment, Worry 85 Flavors of Emotion - Wikipedia

Types of Emotions in Games: 

Types of Emotions in Games Emotions non-player characters (NPCs) feel Mimic other media such as film Emotions players feel based on story Triggered by events the player character (PC) experiences Emotions players feel based on character Triggered by empathy with NPCs and sometimes the PC Emotions players feel based on gameplay Triggered directly by game mechanics

Emotion Generated by Film Technique: 

Emotion Generated by Film Technique Performance Camera angles Close-ups Editing Lighting Musical cues Production design Locations Sets Costumes Color Sex is emotion in motion. - Mae West

Emotion Generated by Story: 

Emotion Generated by Story Universal themes There is some good in everyone The past haunts the present Blood is thicker than water Adversity reveals true character Our children are our future War is hell Familiar story material Noble sacrifices Good triumphant over evil Love triumphant over hate Family relationships Innocence lost David vs. Goliath

Emotion Generated by Character: 

Emotion Generated by Character Characters we recognize (socialization) Characters we identify with (sense of self) Characters that touch our subconscious (instinct) Aliens physically or psychologically Wicked witches Cuddly animals Children

Slide8: 

EMOTIONS

Slide9: 

Gameplay Cut Scenes 85 flavors of emotion Drama All of humanity A player Player emotions Game Techniques unique to interactivity Techniques common to other media

Slide10: 

Gameplay and Storytelling as an Integrated Experience The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion.  - Albert Einstein

Slide11: 

The Emotional Gamer Emotions derived solely from gameplay

Slide12: 

© 2006 XEODesign, Inc. XEODesign’s Research on Emotion and the Fun of Games XEODesign Putting Emotion into Play ® ™ The 4 Fun Keys Nicole Lazzaro, President XEODesign

Emotion and Games: 

Emotion and Games 'It’s easy to tell what games my husband enjoys the most. If he screams ‘I hate it. I hate it. I hate it,’ then I know he will finish it and buy version two. If he doesn’t say this, he’ll put it down in an hour.' – Wife of a hardcore PC gamer from XEODesign’s research Putting Emotion into Play www.xeodesign.com © 2006 XEODesign, Inc. XEODesign

XEODesign’s 4 Fun Keys: 

XEODesign’s 4 Fun Keys XEODesign observed people playing their favorite games at home, school and work. Measured emotions in face, body language, verbalizations, and questionnaire The 4 Fun Keys model describes how the best loved aspects of gameplay create emotion. Because players switch between 3 of the 4 Fun Keys, best selling games support 3 of them. Putting Emotion into Play www.xeodesign.com © 2006 XEODesign, Inc. XEODesign

The 4 Fun Keys: 

The 4 Fun Keys achievement social experiment purpose Emotion from Interaction ﴀ ﴀ 15 Putting Emotion into Play ™ www.xeodesign.com © 2006 XEODesign, Inc. XEODesign

The Four Most Important Emotions From Gameplay: 

The Four Most Important Emotions From Gameplay 1. Fiero from Hard Fun: Emotions related to challenge, strategy and mastery 2. Curiosity from Easy Fun: Emotions related to novelty, ambiguity, detail and fantasy 3. Relaxation/Excitement from Serious Fun: Emotions for internal change, learning or real work 4. Amusement from People Fun: Emotions from competition, cooperation and social interaction Putting Emotion into Play www.xeodesign.com © 2006 XEODesign, Inc. XEODesign

Emotion from Player’s Role: 

Emotion from Player’s Role In games the player becomes the central hero to accomplish the extraordinary. The buddy rescued or the enemy vanquished in Battlefield is no more real than in film, but the player’s role in the achievement is. Good game design creates choices that sharply enhance a player’s emotional response. Movies, by comparison, invite the audience to share in the joys and sorrows of characters on screen. Movies can never hand the audience a jet ski for the thrill of stopping global thermonuclear war. As part of their unique value proposition, games have to. -Nicole Lazzaro Putting Emotion into Play ™ www.xeodesign.com © 2006 XEODesign, Inc. XEODesign

Games Tell New Kinds of Stories: 

Games Tell New Kinds of Stories Many aspects of the storytelling language of cinema apply to games and still move players. However, emotions from the player’s goals and the things she/he cares about will likely prove to be stronger. In games the mechanic is the moral of the story. - Nicole Lazzaro Putting Emotion into Play ™ www.xeodesign.com © 2006 XEODesign, Inc. XEODesign

Cut Scenes Will Fade Away: 

Cut Scenes Will Fade Away Viewing a pre-rendered video between game levels is less compelling than the emotions from player's actions. Eventually the emotional props from these cut scenes will fade from games just as title cards disappeared from old silent pictures once technology allows the actors and the action to speak for themselves. - Nicole Lazzaro Putting Emotion into Play ™ www.xeodesign.com © 2006 XEODesign, Inc. XEODesign

Slide20: 

The most dangerous thing in the world is to try to leap a chasm in two jumps. - David Lloyd George We should not discard one tool for generating emotion in favor of any other. Gameplay adds to tools learned in other media. It does not replace them.

Slide21: 

This slide has absolutely nothing to do with this talk Extreme Multi-tasking Ok, actually it does… it should make us feel several emotions…

Uncharted Territory: 

Uncharted Territory Finding a bridge between emotions generated by character, story and film language and emotions generated by gameplay. A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art. - Paul Cezanne

Building the Bridge: 

Building the Bridge If we simply copy the tools of film, we are segregating emotion in cut scenes.

It sometimes helps to look at things from a different angle.: 

It sometimes helps to look at things from a different angle. Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary.  - Mark Twain

Adapting Character and Story to a New Medium: 

The audience is now a participant called the player NPCs interact with other NPCs as in other media, but now the player interacts with NPCs Game structure is most natural when it is non-linear Story structure can also be non-linear Emotion can be created in ways that are not simply story or gameplay, but a synergy of both Adapting Character and Story to a New Medium

Embrace Emotion Generated by Film Technique!: 

Embrace Emotion Generated by Film Technique! Performance Camera angles Close-ups Editing Lighting Musical cues Production design Locations Sets Costumes Music is the shorthand of emotion. - Leo Tolstoy ALL of these can be used in the midst of gameplay. They do not need to be imprisoned in cut scenes!

Player-NPC Relationship Modifier: 

Player-NPC Relationship Modifier

Calculating Player to NPC Relationship Value: 

Calculating Player to NPC Relationship Value

Generalized NPC to Player Relationship Value: 

Generalized NPC to Player Relationship Value

Find Systemic Approaches that Evoke Emotion!: 

Find Systemic Approaches that Evoke Emotion! Program it once and it repeats as needed Behavior consistent with the reality of the game world Evokes emotional responses the player recognizes from other media Interactive Affects gameplay Is affected by gameplay Is not at home in a cut scene!

Modular Storytelling 1: 

Modular Storytelling 1 P = Permanent Feature D = Dynamic Feature

Modular Storytelling 2: 

Modular Storytelling 2 P = Permanent Feature D = Dynamic Feature

Different Game, Same Emotional Content: 

Different Game, Same Emotional Content

Match the Story Structure to the Gameplay!: 

Match the Story Structure to the Gameplay! (Gameplay story structure does not work in a cut scene!) When I repress my emotion my stomach keeps score. - J. Enoch Powell

Your Day at the Office: 

Your Day at the Office Paper cut Laughter at your expense Slight disagreement Lost the trivia game Minor inkstain on shirt pocket Minor reprimand Idea ignored Better parking space Laughter at a joke you told Gratitude for a kindness Won the football pool Found the favorite pen you lost Casual compliment Idea accepted Emotional Synergy

Techniques of Game Design,As Well As Other Media: 

Techniques of Game Design, As Well As Other Media Film language Systemic approaches to relationships that create emotion Story structure that matches gameplay structure instead of fighting it Emotional synergy Cut scenes? Cut scenes? We don’t need no stinkin’ cutscenes! …and there are many many more techniques. Some have been identified. Others are waiting for you to find them.

Slide37: 

Emotion in the World of a Game Fiero Excitement Curiosity Gameplay Character andamp; Storytelling Modesty Empathy Lust How much has to be explored and discarded before reaching the naked flesh of feeling.  - Claude Debussy

Slide38: 

Storytelling Gameplay Emotion A single integrated experience.

Contacts & Resources: 

Contacts andamp; Resources Lee Sheldon: www.anti-linearlogic.com Sheldon, Lee. Character Development and Storytelling for Games. Thomson/Course Technology Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper andamp; Row Nicole Lazzaro: XEODesign, Inc. Free emotion and game whitepapers: www.xeodesign.com/whyweplaygames.html I question what emotion Manilow touches. People are entertained by him. But are they emotionally moved? I don't believe anything that Barry Manilow sings. – Paul Simon