Review Assignment 2 - Introduction Computational Media | LCC 2700, Assignments of Communication

Download Review Assignment 2 - Introduction Computational Media | LCC 2700 and more Assignments Communication in PDF only on Docsity! Cameron Luck Writing Assignment 2 Both Zork and Book & Volume have to approach the use of space in a very creative and odd way. Zork and Book & Volume seem to approach the sense of space in a very different way. Zork tends to approach the sense of space as you are embodying a character in a physical space, while Book & Volume seems to approach the sense of space making you a character who is trapped by his own thoughts which are being manipulated by the objects placed around the Book & Volume world. Both approaches to the sense of space seem to work well with the idea and description of each respective game, creating an interesting contrast in the sense of space between the two games. Both games are similar in the way they use language to convey the sense of space, varying from popular modern day games. I personally prefer the method of space incorporated into the Book & Volume game more than the presentation of space in Zork. Book & Volume’s presentation of space seems to make the user think more, connecting the user with the game experience. With the use of the items as key points of space in Book & Volume, a psychological setting is placed inside the physical setting, creating a multi-leveled game experience. Zork’s sense of space is defined in its intensive description, while the lack of every small detail in Book & Volume adds to the sense of space it creates, the addition of detailed description in Zork adds to its respective environment. Zork is more of a physical-based game where the items don’t have personality as they do in Book & Volume. With the visceral setting Zork creates, you are completely immersed into the life of the main character, while in Book & Volume, you tend to be yourself, just going through a strange setting. Both Zork and Book & Volume create great senses of space in their respective storylines. With the limitations of the language the two games are programmed in, a sense of space is lost in the fact that everything cannot be described, or else the user will not respect the importance of all of the text. With the addition of a graphical element that modern day games have, a new form of immersion into the sense of space is introduced, making the user even more involved with the digital space they are Cameron Luck Writing Assignment 2 interacting with. In games such as the popular Grand Theft Auto 4, Fallout 3, and Saint’s Row, the sense of space is created by realism and textural graphics. The more realistic and convincing a setting appears to the user based on the plot of the game, the more immersed into the game the user becomes. With the story of Fallout 3 comes one of the most convincing senses of space ever created in a video game. Each item has a specific purpose and can be used for critical hits on certain types of enemies. Each location has a sense of a treasure chest that you want to explore. Each character in the game seems to have a particular story or quest that you can do in order to get something for yourself. By creating the sense that you are in the shoes of a scavenger, the Fallout world is incredibly enticing to the user, making he/she wanting to go out and find any way to benefit him/herself. By convincing the user that he/she is going out to search for his/her father and must survive until he is found, a purpose for scavenging for every town, character, and item is essential to contribution to the user’s goals. When the story shifts after your father is found, the sense of space shifts from survival to savior of the wasteland that you’ve been roaming for plenty of hours by then. The graphical presentation of Fallout’s environment entices the user with its lack of buildings, but utter detail in every city, character, and item in the game. Zork and Book & Volume, while not being able to graphically present items to the user, use a similar tactic to create a sense of space. The use of detailed description of each thing in both games is similar to the effect of exquisite detail in Fallout 3, forcing the user to interact with his/her surroundings to learn more about him/herself and the world around him/her. Compared to the everyday sense of space just living life, the lack of knowledge about your surroundings and yourself make you continue playing the game to learn more about the world you are in, while the everyday world is taken as a given most of the time since it seems to stay mostly static. The interaction between the user and items in each world seems to capture a sense of realism in both games due to the fact that some things, such as the pager in Book & Volume, take a bit of problem solving in order to properly operate and interact with