Feedback in Games - First Person

Call of Duty: Ghosts - First Person Game

The main menu for Ghosts is similar to the ones which are used in The Last of Us as the colour scheme are near the same as they both use black and white. The menu system is easy for players to use as there are only four options in which the player chooses from, underneath each option there is a small description which briefly explains what it is about. The person to the right is important as well as the mask he wears is the main attraction for Ghosts, as it is seen on most posters advertising the game. The menu as I said before if easy to navigate through as there is only four options, this is good as a player you don’t want a menu system which is overly complicated to navigate through.  When you compare this to an in-game menu, it again is fairly easy for players to use as the user can only use three or so buttons, one for selecting options, one for going back to the previous page and finally the directional buttons which help the player navigate through the menus.

The input methods as I spoke about above, there are really only three buttons which the player can use, one for selecting, one for going back to previous pages and the direction pad for navigating. The menu systems are all very smooth when using them, the best thing about the menu system in this game is that the player can swap to either game modes such as switching from the campaign to multi-player very quickly unlike the previous installments of Call of Duty where it took a little while for the game to load each game mode up.

In the game there are certain actions that the player can perform such as sliding and the obvious one of jumping, the controls in the game enable the player to slide and almost instantly ready their weapon by aiming down the sights, this is a very unique feature as it really benefits the player’s who like quick or fast paced games. This blend also allows players to jump and aim at the same time, this also can be beneficial to player’s when playing his game  as you wouldn’t want to have to wait till your jump has finished before you can then aim, in most situations the player’s character would have been shot.

Some of the methods that this game gives feedback could be when the player is on the main menu screen and is choosing one of the options available, the way the game gives feedback for this could be the button next to it pulsates which is better that it just doing nothing, this way it has its own animation. Another way for feedback to be given to the player could be when actually playing it, an example could be when playing through the campaign, when finding an objective other computer controlled characters would show the player the direction in which they are supposed to be going to.

In the game there are a few ways it can trigger a psychological response, one of those being when you unlock camouflages for your weapons, the highest ranking one would be the gold camouflage, players see this as the best you can get, it is seen as a prestigious status if a player has this camouflage, other players seeing this might make them determined to get this for themselves. Other ways could include the HUD (Heads up Display) this gives the player feedback on their ammo count, score count, the time remaining, match leader- board and a mini map. All of those aid the users playing the game and is good feedback for the player’s along with how it shows the player has been shot or injured by covering some of the screen with blood splatters as it has done throughout the whole Call of Duty franchise.

Feedback in Games - Third Person

The Last of Us - Third Person Game

The menu system for The Last of Us is very clean an very smart, the font it uses is easily readable for players to read through, it also helps that the background for the menu system is a darker colour thus the text being used in a bright white colour which works very well for reading.  The in-game menus are also very good as once again there is hardly any clutter; everything is evenly spaced out so the player can view it all without being bombarded with information. 

In this game all the necessary information that the player would need is all there right in front of them, from the main menu the player can view their current progress in the game, restart a new game, look through the chapter of the game and scroll through the options menu, there isn’t any kind of delay when choosing one of these options as the game takes the player straight there. When looking at the in-game menus they are equally impressive as it lets the player look through the options menu as does the main menu, have a look through some of the tutorials the game offers and the chance to restart any encounter the players makes in the game. The other in game menu is specifically designed for game-play purposes such as crafting weapons; this menu also follows the colour pattern like the others in being black or darkish background behind white text. Some of the information in the game can be complex at time, but the game does its best in order to condense this information, a good way of this is the sliders which are located at the options menu, these provide the player to alter the music, sound effects and the speech to whatever the player then find most comfortable with.

The input methods for the menu screens for The Last of Us are very simple as it only requires the player to use three buttons which aid them through the menus within the game such as the pause screen menu that only needs the use of the circle button (Back), the pause button on the centre of the controller which enables the player to resume the game and finally the enter button which is in the shape of an X which selects options o the menus for the player.

The menu screens for The Last of Us are quite effective because they are very simple to use and navigate through; only having the player to sue a maximum of three buttons for some of the menu screens makes it very simple for the user to use.

When using the menu systems in The Last of Us there isn’t any real delay when pressing the buttons required to navigate through them, the only real delay in very, very short, the only real place where the game menus become slow is when the player decides to pause the game, obviously that would come with delay as it is saving the players current progress. Other than that, the controls used are very smooth to use. The controls used for the menu systems are all on the controller you are provided with your console, all the buttons are easy to use and not out of the players reach when using them.

There are a number of ways this game gives the player feedback, through clever sounds to attract the player’s attention to something important, to icons the player can see when playing the game to show them items they can use. At the very start of the game through the prologue, it uses one of these, a little chime noise is heard and the camera moves ever so slightly in the direction it wants the player to face in order to show them something of importance. Throughout the game the player would see icons with pictures on them, some for weapon parts which they can craft into better weapons, others for supplies such as medical packs which restore the player’s health. Some of these hints can cause the player a psychological response, an example of this can be a psychological response such as when the player finds weapons parts then they would want to craft better weapons in order to have the best chance in the game. 

Feedback in Games - Touch Screen

Temple Run – Touch Screen Game

As the game is called Temple Run you would expect the game to have some reference to temples, ruins and other exotic lands. The main menu for this game uses this to its advantage by making the menu an entrance to a temple; you can tell this because of the decaying ruins and endless moss surrounding the entrance. The name Temple Run going across the top of the entrance is clever as it is arched across to doorway. The darkness of the entrance suggests mystery and tempts with an idol treasure by saying “Take the idol if you dare!” as if it were taunting you. The use of the text underneath is clever also as it is in line with the entrance to the temple. The main menus is quite easy to navigate through as it is laid out in a very simple way and all the user has to do is tap on to which ever tab you want to select such as to find what your objectives are and also the in-game store to purchase upgrades such as power-ups new characters and utilities. The use of font has been done so that it is easy and readable for the user playing.

Once the player has selected to play they are then leaded to another interface which you can see in the picture to the right side of the screen. This new interface three new features which are the score tally on the upper right corner of the screen, the multiplier which is located on the top left hand corner and then the option to pause the game on the bottom right hand side, all three keep the consistent theme which is old historic ruins. You also have the vines which droop and hand from the top of the screen.

The controls in this game are very instant, there are only four controls that this games uses which are swiping your finger up, down, left and right. Doing these tasks would then alter your characters positioning in the game. This game uses the use of touch as it being on devices such as the iPad and other tablet devices it seems appropriate it being this way, it also has the use of gyroscope, this being the player can tilt the device thus moving the character from one end of the bridge to the other (Left to Right). Some of the errors in this game can be down to the user playing it, errors such as possibly swiping the wrong direction and others, this can be caused by the quick nature of the game because of the fact the speed in the game picks up the further you are into the level. In this game there are certain actions that have priority over others, good example of this can be when then player sliding their finger upwards to perform a jump, but cannot swipe down to slide until the jump cycle has been completed.

There are certain points in this game where it give the player feedback, at the main menu there isn’t really any indication of player feedback other than one real noticeable thing which is the glowing animated idol which continuously pulsates on the centre of the screen. During the game-play there are distinct sounds that the player hears, such as when the character dies the player would hear a scream, another is when the character collects up the variety of coin in the game, the player hears a chime noise for every coin they collect.

At the re-spawn screen the player is presented with funny quotes and quirky images which present the player with a more humorous way of the character dying without actually showing anything to explicit. The player can also hold down the buttons on the bottom of the screen, the game shows this by seeing a more desaturated look to them. The store menu for the game is easily accessible for player to find. The players are able to see the item they have selected with it popping up on the screen. Finally the options menu is also very easy to access, this give the player to change or alter some of the features within the game, example could be the sensitivity and the sound/music volume, both which are only noticeable through actually playing the game. 

Web Animation and Interactivity

The New Golf

In the next few blog posts I will be writing about 5 different adverts which are clever in how they get their points across to the viewer, I will be explaining about the use of visuals and colour, how the interface is used, the feedback, the psychology behind it, how the advert grabs the viewers attention and the technology used in it.

For this advert there is only really one colour that is used, this colour is grey apart from the logo of the company which is blue. The use of grey for the roads is appropriate considering that most roads are that colour, it gives the sense of realism towards this. The use of fonts is also a interesting factor, the font used if simple and clear so it is easy to understand, if people know about Volkswagen before they might even recognise the font used as theirs.

This advert can be compared to some form of mini game, a pass timer. It encourages the viewer to play along as if they were playing a game, the objective is to form a route for the car to pass through in the allotted time given (30 seconds) upon failing this you would have to restart again until you did it correctly, obviously the viewer may lose interest if they fail 2 or more times, but the idea is fairly simple. From the start it includes an animated arrow at the top telling the viewer where to start and then another animated arrow at the bottom to where the viewer is supposed to end up.

For this advert it asks you to complete a simple task of forming a road for the car to pass through, each square has a different piece of road for you to use, the viewer must rotate these pieces in order to correctly link the road together, if however the user does not complete this in the 30 second allotted time limit then the advert pops up with the typical “Try again” solution which then the user would attempt to construct the road once more.

In this advert it says “The new Golf. A drive less ordinary.” This works well with the obstacle which is the advert where the user has to navigate through some form of maze, as just having a straight, normal road would be pointless to what the slogan says and that the fact that it says “A drive less ordinary.” As well as that fact you can literally make any road and doesn't have to follow the objective in connecting to the end is a good as it goes well with the slogan.

In this advert to grab the viewers attention it challenges you in a way to see if you can actually link the road together and complete it, as viewers our natural instinct it to accept this in a way to prove to ourselves that we can actually do this a complete it to prove to ourselves that it is simple enough.

This advert it very adaptable when using a PC, it fits onto the screen and works how it should work, when compared to loading it on a touch screen device the page loaded up but the advert didn't, this leaves me to believe that adverts which involve swiping or clicking will probably not work, it seems best to use a PC when adverts are involved using interactivity.  

Gatorade Push Toy

The visuals in this Gatorade advert is quite clever as the colours they have chosen to use is the colour orange as it is the colour that someone that would associate Gatorade with. The font they use as well is also good as it is clear and easy for people to read, the phrase it uses “Out of energy?” is used really clever as the sentence is flickering which is reference to maybe a light bulb which is low on power and would flicker when low, and the use of the word energy is clever also as energy refers back to what I previously said about power.

This advert is very simple with telling you what to do as there is only one real thing that the viewer can do which is to push the button, upon pushing the button the little bottle of Gatorade begins to fill up and at the same time the figure above that then begins to stand upright in the form of different sporting gestures such as a tennis serve or maybe a skateboarder, but once the user comes off the button then the bottle starts to condense and also the figurine then begins to collapse

In this advert there is another simple task, like in most interactive adverts. All the user has to do is push one button and then everything then works automatically and then if they user comes off the button the figurine then deflates in stature, this is then a continuous process and there isn’t anything that the user can change.

The message that this advert sends out is that if you’re feeling run down or haven’t got any energy left for whatever reasons the a bottle of Gatorade can be the cure for this and give you the energy that you might need, the sentence at the end help with this as it says “Go further.” Which in some cases means push yourself after you’ve drank a bottle of Gatorade. Someone that hasn’t had Gatorade before and viewing this for the first time might be enticed by this and may well go out and purchase a bottle in order for them to experience it. 

The main audience for this kind of advert for an energy drink might be targeted at sporty/athletic people who might need an energy drink, this advert would appeal to them as from the start it states in a sentence “Out of energy?” someone who does a lot of exercise might think to themselves “Yes I do.” And then purchase this drink based on what they saw in this advert as the figure seemed to have sprung into life after having a bottle of Gatorade.

Having looked at this advert on my computer it works fine, the interactions were smooth and easy to use., once you try and use a mobile phone which is touch screen based that when it starts to get difficult as the problems I had were the page would eventually load up but not the advert, and having looked through the internet I found comments from people saying adverts that involve clicking or swiping on touch screen devices never normally work. 

NHS Beer Goggles

This advert uses colour in a clever way as the advert is about teenagers going on holiday, drinking and generally having fun. The use of having the sun in the background as a warm colour gives the impression of a fun holiday in the sun and a warm place. The font used is also another simple one for the viewer to read, it explains the essential things that you would need when going on a holiday as a teenager which are your passport, tickets and condoms and then a brief phrase which says “Condom, essential wear.” This tells the viewer out of the three which might be most important in order to protect themselves.

There really is only one interactive part for this advert which is the sliders at the bottom of the advert which allow the viewer to see the changes when they slide the cursor from either side. It encourages both men and woman to use the sliders to see the outcomes. It appeals to a male audience so they can use the sliders until the woman becomes somewhat attractive and the same would be for a female audience, they would use the sliders until the man would seem attractive.

There are some good points to this advert, one of those could be the advert plays automatically regardless of the viewer clicking on the sliders, this would be a benefit for the viewer as at the start of the advert there are quite unattractive people during the start which aren’t that nice to look at, the advert playing automatically is some form of a positive, but still displays an important message to the viewer, which is to drink responsibly.  

The message that this advert is trying to portray is when one a holiday as a teenager or with friends then you remember to pack the essential equipment, such as passports, tickets and condoms. It proves the point that when people drink their judgement is clouded; the advert provides a perfect example of this that someone who you think isn’t attractive then after drinking heavily they then turn into someone attractive.

In this advert it uses sex appeal to try and entice its viewers, for a male audience it portrays an overweight woman turning into an attractive one once you use the sliders and vice versa for a female audience, it uses an overweight man who ends up being attractive upon using the sliders. It also gives the perception that if you drink then someone who is not that attractive may end up being attractive due to the amount of alcohol in your system.

When viewing this advert on a computer it runs smoothly, and is very easy to use. When you start to use this on a touch screen device such as a mobile phone it isn’t such that great, again the page does end up loading, but the advert doesn’t.

Malteser – Typo Crash

This advert uses a variety of different colours as it uses the logos and brands of different types of alcohol such as Jack Daniels and Bacardi. The use of different types of fonts used in this advert as well makes it quite unique and different from other adverts which portray the same, if not similar message to its viewers, the fonts are carefully take from different brands of alcohol and meshed together in order to create a message within them.

The advert uses a different way to get its audience to interact with it, it uses an animated drinks mixer which has a phrase next to it which reads “Mix Your Drink.” as from the start there isn't any real message within the advert, this is in an attempt to get the user to click it, thus appears another message which has been carefully designed from different types of brands of alcohol. There are around five or so messages until you reach the end of the advert.

For this advert it there are only really one correct input and one incorrect one, the correct one being that the viewer should click on the animated drinks mixer in order to progress onto the next hidden message until they eventually reach the last one the a final message is shown. The incorrect one would be the viewer not clicking on the drinks mixer and then not finding out what the message says. Although the advert doesn’t start until the drinks mixer is click there should be an alternative to starting it possible making it automatic after a certain time has passed.

The psychology behind this advert is very cleverly done as the viewer think from the start that all they are doing is mixing a few drinks and that there isn’t any real harm to that, but is there? Once the user has click the drinks mixer for the first time then a message appears using words taken from different alcohol brands and put together like some form of collage. The advert uses messages such as “Whiplash.” & “Skull Fracture.” Give off the impression that these aren’t ordinary messages, but warning of what the consequences are from excessive drinking and also mixing drinks which should be mixed. Finally after all the messages/warnings have been shown which reads “Don’t Drink and Drive.” This is then when the viewer discovers what this advert is about. Overall I think this advert does succeed in portraying this message as it tells the user the outcomes of drinking whilst driving.

This advert from the start makes the user believe that all they are doing is harmlessly mixing a few drinks until they start mixing, they then have similar messages appear, and the viewer then clicks on the drinks mixer again which showcases messages such as “Paraplegia.” and “Liver Rupture.” Which aren’t the kind of messages the viewer would want to find, until the end where it is revealed it is an advert for drink driving. 

When viewing this advert on a PC it works fine, the animations aren’t delayed and it runs smoothly, but once you compare it to a mobile device such as a touch screen phone then that’s where it is let down as the actual page does load up after a certain amount of time has passed, but the advert itself doesn’t then load up with the page.

Mercedes SLS AMG – Pedal

At the start of this advert is portrays the image that the setting is somewhere high in the mountain roads which contain long straight roads perfect for fast/sport cars. The first car we see is silver or grey colours Porsche driving along a long road, this could be viewed as possibly dull because of the colour choice. But once you get the car which is the main attraction for this advert we see it is the colour red, which in some terms red is the colour for something being fast. The use of text and different fonts in this advert is quite useful as well, the text in the box at the top of the advert is plain and simple which is easy for the user to read and the same can be said for the text at the end of the advert

From the start of the advert it tries to get the viewer to interact as at the start it asks the user to click on the pedal located on the bottom right on the advert which starts the process off, once the viewer has done this then the viewer sees the silver Porsche almost disappear into the background due to how fast the user is going. The advert is pretty simple in how the features work, all the viewer has to do is click on the accelerator and then the rest of the advert then follows like clockwork.

The two main inputs for this advert that I can see are one for correct and the other for being incorrect, the correct one being that the viewer would watch the advert and follow the instructions on screen such as clicking on the accelerator pedal which would then lead to the user being taken to another screen and presented with the new Mercedes. The incorrect one would be that the user views the advert but doesn’t actually click on the accelerator pedal, but the advert corrects this by taking the viewer to the same screen as if they were to click the accelerator pedal.

At the start of the advert it tells the viewer to “Experience the fastest sports car from Stuttgart.” So from the viewer’s perspective they would think that is the first car they would see, wrong. Once you progress through the advert you are then shown a second car, one which is considerably faster than the one you previously saw, so in that case the advert does succeed in portraying a message which is the Mercedes is the fastest sports car from Stuttgart.

This advert might be more inclined to be intended for a male audience as sporty/fast cars would appeal to a male audience rather to a female one, the advert tells the viewer they are about to witness the fastest sports car to come out of Stuttgart when as a matter of fact they are slightly mislead and eventually shown this fast sports car.

When watching this advert on a computer or a laptop it runs well, all the features work and there are no points in which the advert is delayed, when you compare this on other devices then that’s where it start to not work, an example of this could be when you test it out on a mobile touch screen device such as a phone is when it doesn’t necessarily work.