Portal – Interactive Digital Narratives

Factorio: Puzzling the Mind

Factorio may be considered a building game, but it is also a puzzle game. The goal is to learn how to survive and build machines that enable your success. This gets more and more complex as you progress through the game. You build assembly machines that only build one kind of object, but in … Continue reading “Factorio: Puzzling the Mind”

Factorio may be considered a building game, but it is also a puzzle game. The goal is to learn how to survive and build machines that enable your success. This gets more and more complex as you progress through the game. You build assembly machines that only build one kind of object, but in order to build the desired machine you need 3 others. Therefor you are at least building 4 assembly machines, assuming the machines don’t require other parts to build the items. Confusing right? In order to automate everything, which you have to do, you must manage space, resources and crafting materials or else you will run into blocks within the system that you cannot easily overcome. It is a puzzle, yet that is why it is fun. Puzzles require thought and harder puzzles cannot be completed using simple crafting formulas. You can only finish them through observation care and patience, the same goes for Factorio.

I found a study written on puzzle games and what they show about our brains and processes of problem solving. The study looked at games such as Portal and Braid in order to test our skills and development through practice. The study found that when a player is presented with an obstacle they recognize, they can easily overcome it, even if it has added difficulties. Yet when a player is given a task that they do not recognize or have not done before, they often take longer and show less “skill” at the game. In Factorio these results would most likely be the same. I could build machines in more complex ways as long as I knew the formula, but once I was presented a new task that I hadn’t dealt with I slowed down. I often had to rebuild because of a missed step.

The progress and failures are all part of the fun. I loved Factorio because it was a puzzle. It made me think about my factory and my usage of resources and space. I did not feel as though I was playing a children’s game. Road blocks were part of its complexity, and the complexity was all part of the fun. Puzzles are meant to enable thought and problem solving, and that is exactly what Factorio does just with different pieces.

Learning is fun, Learning is social

I’ve been in many classes that reference Second Life, an expansive 3D virtual world built for socializing. So I decided to try it out! This blog post is about the tutorial and my reflection of its educational value. In videogames, the tutorials are usually a solo-venture. In Second Life, after choosing a sim character, you are immediately […]

I’ve been in many classes that reference Second Life, an expansive 3D virtual world built for socializing. So I decided to try it out! This blog post is about the tutorial and my reflection of its educational value.

In videogames, the tutorials are usually a solo-venture. In Second Life, after choosing a sim character, you are immediately placed in a virtual world with other new players. Some of them look just like you, because there are about 10 model sims to choose from. This immediately gave me the sensation of community, knowing that other people were learning the basics and might fail a few times. This initial stage also set the tone that Second Life is a social experience, whether it’s an adventure towards self-exploration or interaction with other players.

As I continued through the tutorial, I learned that we were in “Learning Island.” After the lessons which teach you the basic mechanics, you are encouraged to explore before going to “Social island,” since there’s no way to return.

I initially got frustrated, thinking that the game implied that learning is an isolated event. After some reflection, I think this was intentional and fits well with the purpose of Second Life. This separation communicates that learning emerges from interaction with others (learn more about Social Pedagogy here). Although Social Island doesn’t provide many opportunities to socialize directly with other players, I was free to explore the virtual space and learn through challenges.

There were two moments where my suspended belief was broken. There were times when, ironically, I felt alone in Social Island. I tried to chat with other players, and found myself assuming that each sim accurately represented their real world identity. How hypocritical of me! I was playing as a pear-shaped redhead – characteristics that in no way embody my real life identity.

As I was exploring, I happened upon a tablet that outlined the rules for game play. It was made very clear that although Second Life is a virtual world, the same social rules from the real world apply. You aren’t allowed to harass anyone. You will be punished for being rude or performing non-consensual behavior among another person. Second Life developers acknowledge that many players may want to take advantage of the magic circle that videogames traditionally embody. These rules are made clear so that people understand that there is little difference between the magic circle of real life and the one in virtual life. It is made more clear that the game establishes a safe space for all, and tries to democratize the experience for every player.

Bioshock Infinite: America – Land of the free, Home of the Christians

Bioshock Infinite is a game that seeks to expose its players to malicious and problematic American ideologies through the scope of its narrative. The game takes place in a pseudo-United States setting that is a floating city in the sky named, Columbia. Because Bioshock is a video game, the player unknowingly experiences American ideologies with no […]

Bioshock Infinite is a game that seeks to expose its players to malicious and problematic American ideologies through the scope of its narrative. The game takes place in a pseudo-United States setting that is a floating city in the sky named, Columbia. Because Bioshock is a video game, the player unknowingly experiences American ideologies with no subjective or biased reservations, because they are framed as Columbian ideologies and social norms. The player does not (immediately) realize they are exposed to a hyperbolic America. This allows for an initial open-minded and analytical approach to the game, as opposed to if the setting took place directly in the United States, which would cause an average American player to transport the ideals of patriotism, righteousness, and all the other problematic American ideals, into the game world.

Here I will focus on one major aspect of American ideology that Bioshock aims to criticize: Religion. The heavy saturation of religion is extant throughout the entirety of American history, let alone 1914 (the time setting of Bioshock Infinite). Entering the lighthouse at the beginning of the game, the song Old Time Religion plays over an old radio. This diegetic tune is a classic American southern gospel song has roots in black spiritual music and African-American work songs.[1] Christianity was a vital medicine for the ailment and maintenance of black oppression and slavery in the 19^th century. It provided a means of hope for slaves, in that their suffering on earth was merely temporary and would grant access to great salvation. At the same time, the bible granted justification, on the part of whites, for the oppression of blacks by using it as a weapon for oppression. Old Time Religion sings of a pining for Christianity and the belief that it will grant salvation and cleanse the soul. As Karl Marx states, religion is the opium of the masses. This gospel tune is the epitome of Marx’s statement. This tune asserts that the “Old time religion… Makes me love everybody… it has saved our fathers” and can “take us all to heaven”.[2] Old Time Religion asserts that a life saturated with religion and a steady faith in God will grant an individual true happiness.

Upon ascension to Columbia, a simple and direct adaption of Will the Circle Be Unbroken? plays. While it plays, Booker gazes in astonishment at the giant bronze female statue of the angel Columbia floating in front of him. This is an obvious reference to Ellis Island’s statue of liberty: Lady Liberty being the fist sight of American immigrants and symbolizing American ideals of freedom, equality, and the opportunity to obtain the American dream.

The Christian hymn of Will the Circle Be Unbroken? questions whether or not a heaven exists, further adding to the heavy saturation of religion we have gotten from Columbia thus far. As a line in the song questions, “Is there a better home awaiting, in the sky, O’ in the sky?”[3] This double entendre equates heaven with (pseudo-America) Columbia, the floating city in the sky. After rocketing into the city in the sky from the lighthouse, you land in what appears to be, a church with ankle-deep water flooding the ground. You approach a mass of individuals singing along to Will the Circle Be Unbroken? while a pastor gives a sermon in front of a bright tunnel. As you approach the tunnel, the pastor tells you that the only way to gain entrance to the city is through “the sweet waters of baptism”. After accepting this, which the player must do to advance, the pastor attempts to drown you. As you lose consciousness and float downstream out of the tunnel and towards the light, you are birthed into Columbia.

There is much symbolism in this ascension and rebirth scene alone. I believe the lighthouse is to be understood as a phallic object, especially with the protagonist in rocket pod being shot up and out into the heavens to Columbia. Upon reaching your destination, you set foot in this enormous, flooded, dark church, which I believe, is the womb of Columbia from which the player will be birthed out and into their New World. As an infant being birthed out of a mother’s vagina, you approach the pastor in front of a long, dark tunnel, with a light shining bright at the very end. This is a sight not too different from what an infant would see during birth. As you float downstream and draw closer to the light, you are being rebirthed, both through the waters of baptism as well as out of the darkness and into the light of Columbia.

[1] McCann, Hymns & History: An Annotated Survey of Sources (Abilene, TX: ACU Press, 1997)

[2] Ibid.

[3] Habershon, Ada R., and Gabriel, Charles H. (1907) [2nd. Pub. 1910]. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”. In Alexander, Charles M. comp. Alexander’s Gospel Songs No. 2. Fleming H. Revell Company, New York

Quantum Moves: Real World Effects

Quantum Moves is a very unique video game because it is more of a science experiment. Typically, the actions taken by a player in a video game are limited to the confines of the game world. However, Quantum Moves is a video game that has real world repurcussions. The game was developed by a Danish university, University of Aarhaus. Their goal is […]

Quantum Moves is a very unique video game because it is more of a science experiment. Typically, the actions taken by a player in a video game are limited to the confines of the game world. However, Quantum Moves is a video game that has real world repurcussions. The game was developed by a Danish university, University of Aarhaus. Their goal is to create a quantum computer. Every computer on this earth communicates data using binary, a string of 1’s and 0’s. These values are carried through electrons which have a particular energy value associated with them. However, scientists are on the frontier of utilizing quantum mechanics to revolutionize this system. Quantum mechanics dictates that these particles, carrying 1 or 0 values, can exist in a superposition of states where their energy is in continuous flux. This makes it so that the particle is both 1 and 0 at the same time. This is what makes quantum computing so powerful. Whereas even the world’s most powerful and complex ecomputers can take months to complete certain calculations for scientific purposes, a quantum computer can do the same calculations in a fraction of the time and requires significantly less energy. The issue is figuring out how to harness and manipulate these particles and their energy (alongside the fact that quantum mechanics is yet to be fully understood by any person on the planet). One of the steps to achieving this goal is figuring out how these superposition particles move and interact with their environment. Quantum Moves aims to get a better grasp of this concept.

The gameplay consists of the player moving their mouse to contain a seemingly fluid substance within a well. The goal is to get as much of this fluid as possible to the designated zone, trying to prevent any spillage of the fluid from the well. There is no real technique behind the game so much as just “feeling it out”. When moving the mouse around, the player gets a feel of how the fluid reacts accordingly. Thus, the player takes this into account and picks a path and speed at which to move this fluid. Though this is a seemingly simple game on the surface it results in a very useful outcome for scientists. The fluid is actually representative of a wave function for a quantum particle. To sum up a lengthy bit of quantum mechanics, these wave functions are real life data about how a quantum particle moves in a confined space. The actual location of the particle cannot be determined at any point, but rather a probability of its location is able to be determined; represented by a waveform. When the energy well containing this particle moves, the waveform sloshes around and moves as well, changing the location probability of the particle. The fluid well simulations in Quantum Moves are simulations of real waveforms of quantum particles and how they react to movement. A step to creating these quantum computers is moving these particles to a desired location without them slipping out of the well containing them. Thus, Quantum Moves gathers players’ data and uses it to approximate the best path and motion with which to move these quantum particles in order to not lose them along the way.

The gameplay and data produced by Quantum Moves has real world implications which is unique to see in a video game. Since quantum mechanics is unpredictable and difficult to understand, scientists had the brilliant idea of just “feeling out” the way it works rather than trying to solve it on paper. And there is no better way to engage people in doing such a task than to make a game out of it!

The Implied of Portal

While playing Portal, I kept harkening back to the narratological concept of implied author and implied reader. This idea, developed by Wayne Booth, addresses who the author, or game designer, thinks of while creating his or her work and who the reader, or game player, imagines the creator of that work to be. In terms of … Continue reading “The Implied of Portal”

While playing Portal, I kept harkening back to the narratological concept of implied author and implied reader. This idea, developed by Wayne Booth, addresses who the author, or game designer, thinks of while creating his or her work and who the reader, or game player, imagines the creator of that work to be.

In terms of implied author, Portal gets messy quickly. As we play Portal, GLaDOS is our narrator, the voice structured and created by the auteur of said game. Yet, in some ways, she can be the implied author as well. The implied author is “the author-image evoked by a work,” allowing for subjectivity when determining this implied author; this figure can be different for different players. If Portal truly convinces a player of its world, its rules, its design, GLaDOS becomes the implied author. The narrator seamlessly melds with the image the player has of the game designer. This melding is the sign of a truly immersive, intense narrative experience.

Yet, most likely as players, we know that GLaDOS is a construct of the game. While within the game, she is “the author-image,” we tend to understand that someone created her. Then, our implied author image begins to morph. When we turn on the developer commentary, it gets even messier. This commentary claims to be the true authors of the text, not some idea we have of the author. But, we, as players, can never truly know the author even if they present themselves openly and honestly within the gameplay. Their commentary slants our view of them; each commentary is “perceived and evaluated differently by each reader.” While they attempt to be objective commentators on the game they have given us, these comments themselves changeand alter our view of them as auteurs, thereby making them into implied authors rather than authors.

In relation to implied reader, it is unclear who the game developers had in mind when designing Portal. In thinking about our class of diverse, implied readers, considering we have a wide array of video-game backgrounds, it seems that Portal tries to access as many implied readers as possible. Perhaps, they did not consider who would be playing the game, but rather focused their time on the game itself, hoping that it would have something for a first-time player and an experienced player.

Now we’re Thinking with Portals

Portal, in some ways, is an answer to last week’s unit on simulation and narrative in videogames. Specifically, Portal’s narrative works because it’s set in a video game – an adaptation of Portal in any other medium would make the story significantly less affecting. The reason for that is that a large portion of Portal’s […]

The reason for that is that a large portion of Portal’s narrative is encoded in its environment. As I wrote in my last game lab, the player has to discover the story of the game by finding clues in the game’s levels. For example, while GLaDOS acts crazy for pretty much the whole game, I only realized that she had killed everyone else in the facility when I stumbled across a hidey-hole used by one of the survivors. The survivor had scrawled notes as to the true nature of GLaDOS’ experiments on the wall; this was the first time I figured out that GLaDOS was the game’s villain.

The moment of discovery I described above is unique to videogames – while film and novels could have replicated the moment of a character discovering GLaDOS’ insanity, it would have lacked the impact it did in Portal since I, not the character, “discovered” it. The moment of discovery, in short, requires an interactive environment and directly ties the narrative to the game space.

Portal, therefore, questions the conclusions we discussed in our study of narrative and simulation – specifically, the idea that videogames are games primarily, that play space and narrative space are separate, and thus it’s foolish to study videogames as narrative spaces. When the narrative of a game is tied so closely to the play space, as it is in Portal, I think a new paradigm is necessary to study it.

Portal Insanity

This is the excerpt for your very first post.

As I’ve played portal more and more, the level environment of the main facility in the game has begun to remind me more and more of a stylized futuristic insane asylum. The padding in the elevator walls and on some others in the facility, the flat lighting and Glados’ initially soothing voice being piped in from unseen speakers are all reminiscent of some sort of wild futuristic mental hospital complete with puzzles. The cameras placed around the facility to monitor Chell and the constant knowledge that Glados is watching you add to the sense that the player is trapped in an insane asylum. The back parts of the facility that Chell makes her way into later in the game are reminiscent of another different potential vision of a mental institution, with frantic-looking writing scrawled on the wall in various unknown substances. In fact, the entire facility that Portal is set in could be seen as a sort of asylum-gone-wrong scenario – but not for Chell, rather for Glados. By the end of the game it becomes fairly clear that Glados has gone crazy and had probably constructed many (if not all) of the levels as obstacles not to test the portal gun but as some sort of twisted test (or perhaps intended torture or killing) of Chell. Chell might not be crazy enough to be put in a mental institution but Glados is crazy enough to make an entire high-tech obstacle course just to mess with Chell for fun. It’s like a twisted version of the whole “mouse in a maze” experiment trope, with vats of acid and armed robots trying to stop Chell. In a sense, the entire facility is like a reverse madhouse, meant to protect the insane Glados from those who would try to reach the controller of the maze.

image source: https://brcondron.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/first-blog-post/

It’s all about the little things

Portal is heavily invested in the little things. Although the storyline is relatively simple, the attention to detail is unbelievable. The gameplay almost depends more on the details of the game design than on the actual storyline. Sure, the storyline drives it all forward, but what makes it all worthwhile are the little things. Let’s use the … Continue reading “It’s all about the little things”

Portal is heavily invested in the little things. Although the storyline is relatively simple, the attention to detail is unbelievable. The gameplay almost depends more on the details of the game design than on the actual storyline. Sure, the storyline drives it all forward, but what makes it all worthwhile are the little things. Let’s use the final level as an example.

I didn’t notice all of the details that went into GladOs’ personality until Alec activated the subtitles. I recognised when her voice changed when I played the level before, but I didn’t realize that it was an intentional part of game design for her voice to sound a specific way at a particular moment. For example, when you destroy the (incredibly adorable) first orb GladOs’ voice becomes “seductive” since she is trying to lure you in and kill you. Her voice immediately changes after the incineration of the first orb, which she claims held together her sanity, from the normal robotic voice to a confident voice convinced your death is near. That was pretty freaky! The orbs themselves were each given distinct aspects of GladOs’ personality since they make up GladOs. I was somewhat amazed when the subtitles were activated and the blue orb was citing a cake recipe! Why do they promise cake? What’s Chell’s backstory? Who knows, but hey at least they commit to the cake theme. In fact, the line, “the cake is a lie,” most likely exploded on the internet due to the player constantly running across the line throughout the game. This recurring theme is one of the most memorable aspects of the game – yes, it has to do with the storyline, but honestly just seeing it written EVERYWHERE is enough to make the player remember it. The emphasis on building the narrative into the game rather than neatly handing it to the player as a storyline allows players to piece his or her own storyline together. We never receive a clear storyline or backstory for any character nor the facility, but that didn’t really matter in the end. What mattered was the fact that you recognised that the cake was a lie and escaped the Aperture Testing facility.

The little things – the writing on the walls, the easter egg rooms, the ending cut scene – these all add to the gaming experience. The storyline is present, but it’s the little things – the attention to details -that make Portal memorable.

Portal: Still Eyelive

Portal is a game that explores interesting concepts including space, dimensionality, and general physics. However, I believe the most interesting facet of the game is the concept of voyeurism and vision. Throughout the game, there is a running aesthetic of voyeurism that is achieved on multiple levels; from gameplay and mechanics to the mise en […]

Portal is a game that explores interesting concepts including space, dimensionality, and general physics. However, I believe the most interesting facet of the game is the concept of voyeurism and vision. Throughout the game, there is a running aesthetic of voyeurism that is achieved on multiple levels; from gameplay and mechanics to the mise en scene to the metaphysical experience of the gamer. The player, who controls/is the protagonist, Chell, awakens to the voice of GLaDOS, the A.I. operating the lab. GLaDOS appears to be observing you as she speaks about the environment around you and reacts to your actions. Upon inspection, the player can observe the chamber rooms and notice red-eye cameras tracking Chell as she moves around the room. Alongside this, the chambers are riddled with frosted glass windows several feet above the ground, which seem to peer out of an office or observation booth of some kind. These aesthetics emphasize the fact that Chell/the player is under constant surveillance, yet the surveyor is unbeknownst to her/him. This concept of surveillance of a subject without knowledge of the surveyor was pioneered with Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon, a type of institutional building where the inmates cannot tell who is watching them or whether they are being watched, thereby affecting the psychological and behavioral characteristics the inmates.

This voyeurism is also echoed in the artistic choices of the game. The complex in which Chell is being held is named “Aperture Laboratories,” a title and logo that the player encounters from the very start of the game and consistently throughout the test chambers (i.e. on cubes, GLaDOS dialogue, etc.). In optics, aperture is an opening through which light travels; most importantly, to the laymen, this commonly refers to the shutter of a camera. This compounds the emphasis of vision and voyeurism in Portal, being that the lab, in which Chell is trapped, references the notion of being watched or recorded in its own title. In company with the cameras encountered throughout the chambers, GLaDOS herself has the likeness of an eyeball attached to a larger machine base. GLaDOS is made up of multiple data cores which resemble eyeballs, and at the end of the game, the player discovers a whole storage facility full of these eyeball data cores. Along with this, the manner in which the shape of the portal and the way it functions enforces the voyeur concept. Not only is GLaDOS watching Chell like Big Brother, but by manipulating the portals, Chell can observe herself in a manner no human has ever done. The portals function as oblong pupils that dilate when shot at a surface. With the proper orientation and viewing angle, Chell can observe herself by breaking the rules of spacetime. She can see the light that bounces off her body, not by reflecting off some glass surface called a mirror and back into her eye, but as it propagates unperturbed through spacetime and enter her own eyes. Not only this, but the player can also achieve an ilinx effect, as described by Roger Caillois, by placing a portal directly above another. In this manner, Chell can jump through and fall at a continuously accelerating speed, watching herself fall for eternity: trying to catch herself like a dog chasing its tail. On top of all this, there is the ultimate metaphysical experience of the player, being quite similar to GLaDOS despite playing as Chell. This whole time, the player is observing the events occur with Chell on screen. Although he/she may control her, he/she acts as a voyeur in a peculiarly similar fashion to GLaDOS. Though we align our goals and actions with Chell, there is something to note about this juxtaposition, which I myself have trouble putting my finger on, though the sensation is quite palpable. Ultimately, I believe that although Portal is a game about puzzle solving, it is replete with aesthetics and philosophies of sight, vision, and voyeurism.

“The Gun Is a Lie” -MIsHOS

While playing Portal an interesting thought came to mind. I have a tool which allows me to bend space-time, yet I can’t make a whole THROUGH a wall. That’s a pretty useless space-time-manipulation-tool if I’ve ever used one. But then another, even more interesting thought came to mind. That’s the point! It’s a useless tool. A lie. Just like the cake. However there’s one difference, the cake is a much more overt lie. The player is hardly fooled by the cake as incentive, especially since it’s a virtual cake which has no means of actually rewarding the player. The gun on the other hand is the obscure lie, the one we’re not supposed to notice, the one that’s meant to fool the player. Why it’s hard to notice the gun’s shortcomings is because unlike the cake, the gun is rewarding to the player. The gun is able to induce all sorts of good Ilinx and Agon feelings and its successful use is addicting. The player is awed and distracted by the gun’s pleasurable aspects that its confining nature remains subverted. Its confining nature being that its a tool that behaves in an entirely linear manner, within a set of rules, dictated by the authority of your circumstances, GLaDOS. This in turn spawned another interesting thought.

What if that’s the reason behind Portal’s widespread appeal? Its relatability, and more importantly its optimism (more on optimism in finale). Our lives are very linear in a number of ways, and in many circumstances we feel impotent and incapable of controlling aspects of our society, and even our own lives. We have our own tools which many times seem to act within the confines of the choices of a higher authority. A simple example (out of many) would be the illusion of choice in voting. It makes sense that due to the constant limitations we feel in our daily lives, that literally being put in a linear confined testing center, we don’t really feel too far from home. But more interestingly, is the optimistic aspect of Portal, which is what makes the entire experience a pleasure.

Chell is about to be incinerated, and the player must use their wits to escape imminent doom. The only available tool is as described earlier, good at bending time-space, but not so good at bending rules. However, with the now obvious realization that GLaDOS has cheated, the player can break rules as well. Grabbing life by the reins, the player is now liberated from rules, and the gun becomes actually useful to the player’s endeavor. In fact, only at this point of realization does the tool actually become the player’s, up until then, it was a tool of the system. Relating this back to the parallel to our own lives, only once a person becomes aware of their social limitations, are they actually able to break free from them. This awareness of one’s own circumstance and life is a necessary step for progress, and it is perfectly simulated in Portal, where the player uses their meta-awareness to save Chell’s life. For this reason, Portal is clearly not just a puzzle game, but a relatable experience with a (somewhat) happy ending.