Context of Practice Essay and Practical Module

Along with the lectures and seminars for our Context of Practice module we are also required to produce a 3000 word essay this year and a practical piece to go with it. Our essay can be about whatever we want to research so I decided to keep this within my area of interest and look into game environments, and specifically how environmental storytelling can be used in them. Obviously I needed more of a theme than this so I will also be comparing and contrasting the different between Indie games and AAA titles to see how they differ in terms of producing games that can tell perfect story's using there environments but then also ultimately decide which one can do it best.

Throughout the process of writing my essay I will be looking at a number of different books from my reading list that I created and will also be looking into several different games that will not only help in my research for the essay but also the practical as well. For the practical side of the module I will be keeping with the same theme of environmental storytelling but will create a small environment myself showing how I believe it should be done. This will probably include some kind of voice over and an environment that you can loose yourself in easily.

Below I have given a list of the books I will be looking over the essay, the ones that I have picked should all give influence over the subject that I am looking at and will also help me in my practical as some of the book are about creating levels, which will give me tips when creating the environment. I then looked a few different initial themes that I could talk about to begin with, obviously this list would expand, but as a starting point its good to have. This means that I can then get a very clear cut between the Indie and AAA games as they both are very different when it comes to there environments. Then lastly I have a list of games that I am going to be looking at for the module that will help me in both aspects. The list has a mixture of Indie Games and AAA titles which I think are worthy of being looked at as they all relate to environmental storytelling in some way and then there is a game at the top which I got my initial inspiration from.When looking at these game I have also ensured that I am looking at a wide range of genre to get the best out of my research, as a lot of themes have different ways of portraying environments.

At the moment I am very happy with how it is going, I have a good idea about some of the subjects I am going to be talking about and then have a good list of games that can be reviewed and then used as examples throughout the essay and practical. To begin this project I will start with my research into the games below and then start on my reading list as then I am able to get all my research and quotes before even beginning writing; making it a lot easier.

Context of Practice Reading List

- 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds
- The Environments of Architectures: Environmental Design in Context
- Character Development and Storytelling for Game
- Set the Action! Creating Background for Compelling Storytelling in Animation
- Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling
- Digital Storytelling: A Creators Guide to Interactive Entertainment
- Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Films
- First Person
- Level Design for Games
- Game Level Design

Context of Practice Possible Themes in Essay

- Time (e.g. length of game, does it get boring?)
- Level of interaction in environment
- The use of cut scenes (Does it distract from the storytelling of the environment?)
- Linear vs. non linear
- Breaking the 4th wall
- Are there tasks or is it pure exploration?

 Context of Practice Game List
- Zork 1979
- Half Life 2
- The Walking Dead
- Facade
- Thomas Was Alone
- To The Moon
- Outlast
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Heavy Rain
- Dear Esther
- Gone Home
- The Novelist
- The Stanley Parable
- L.A Noire
- Mass Effect 2
- Beyond Two Souls
- Brothers - A Tale Of Two Brothers