Light & Colour

Introduction

Lighting is a key component when trying to create a mood, an atmosphere or tension within an environment, whether this be in a film or video game. Light is not only used to ensure the player is able to visually see but when used along with colour, intermittent use i.e. flicker, shadow and contrast, all help to create atmosphere and tension and add to the final game’s aesthetics. According to Brophy (2009), “lighting can set the mood in a dungeon, help a player notice a hidden power-up, make a character look menacing, and more.” I will discuss the general theme of light and colour in video games from the information gathered from the collected articles rather than focus upon each article separately but will provide references throughout. I have chosen light initially due to the versatility of this concept, for example, when used along with colour it may provide warning, light may also provide guidance, act as a deterrent, create a mood and atmosphere or maybe used to suggest past or present action or scene.

Mise-en-scène

Traditional media elements include a plot, characters, sound and music, lighting and mise-en-scène. Mise-en-scène is from the French term which translates, ‘put in the scene’, it was also defined by Robert Kolker (1999) as, “the use of space within the frame: the placement of actors and props, the relationship of the camera to the space in front of it, camera movement, the use of colour or black and white, lighting and the size of the screen frame.” Within the film industry the director has total control over all these elements therefore a particular mood, atmosphere, tension and conflict within a film ‘space’ is produced which cannot be accomplished by any other means (Logas and Muller, 2005). These skills are being used within the game industry by the design team to produce games which re-create the mood, atmosphere, tension and conflict found within films.

In the Logas and Muller (2005) paper the film The Shining is discussed at length as to better understand how mise-en-scène would be a useful tool for level designers. I found it interesting that they discussed the film to be ‘game like’ in the fact that the action is almost completely limited to the building of the Overlook Hotel and the outside space of the topiary maze.

Use of light to produce mood, atmosphere, tension and conflict in The Shining

Of interest to me is the use of light within the film to produce various effects. One example is the use of featureless light in one scene when the character is looking out of the window rather than seeing an expected landscape thus giving the feeling of enclosure within the building and being trapped within. Another example is the use of diffused light at the start of the film on the main character producing softened peach coloured features however as the character enters an alternate state the use of white light from below from the bar counter produces distorted facial features with shadows. Finally, the scene in the ballroom is lit with a dull hazy light within a smoky atmosphere giving visual clues that the scene is in the past with a ghostly atmosphere. All these techniques can be used within games design to create certain moods, atmospheres, tension and conflict within the game.

Lighting

A level designer who not only has knowledge of how spaces within the game should be lit but also understands the effects that light may have on the player designs with mood in mind. For example, if the space is a prison cell the light could be a beam of light from the ceiling. This would highlight the texture of the stone walls, and the use of a blue/grey colour could promote the mood of loneliness. The position of the light itself shining directly on top of the person could also indicate they are being oppressed or watched. Byrne (2005) concluded that “light itself can be a powerful feature when it comes to a game environment.” The introduction of 3D technology enabled the creation of extremely realistic lighting effects within the game environment. Early examples of the introduction of this is seen within Doom and Duke Nukem 3D where lighting effects that simulated real world effects such as flickering lights used as guidance and also traps which then plunged the room into darkness were created. Seif El-Nasr et al (2007) conclude that light is understood, manipulated, and simulated through its most basic characteristics which are, brightness or luminance, colour, hard or soft shadow quality, direction and variation over time.

Lighting and Colour

The colour of light used within games can create the mood, atmosphere, tension and conflict. Colours can be described as being either a ‘warm’ colour or a ‘cool’ colour and associated with natural environments. Colours considered to be ‘warm’ are often associated with daylight or sunset on the other hand ‘cool’ colours are often related to a dull or overcast day. Examples of ‘warm’ colours would be hues red through yellow and browns and tans included and ‘cool’ colours are hues from blue/green through blue/violet, most greys included (Wikipedia, 2009). This may be reflected within the game environment by the designer for example an underground cavern may be lit by ‘yellow’ sunlight through the ceiling or as the player explores deeper before turning a corner the walls may be lit by glowing red light to indicate a heat source such as lava. I found it interesting to research the actual meaning of certain colours and I will give a brief overview of individual colours and their meanings generally found to be accurate by researchers and the relevance of these colours to games (Johnson, 2007 and Glasgow, 2006).

Black is a colour often associated with authority and power and also can be associated with evil, villains, death and black magic. An example of characters within film and game that wear this colour is that of Darth Vader and Dracula.

White often represents purity, innocence and peace and often worn by brides. Interestingly doctors and nurses wear white uniforms which may also represent them as healers. White is difficult to keep clean and can also represent something pure and new or a new beginning.

Grey is a combination of black and white and can be associated with sadness and mourning but also grey hair is often given to a character that is considered to be older and wiser. Is often considered also however to be bland and none descript.

Red is the most emotionally intense colour and can stimulate a fast heart beat and breathing, in games usually red indicates the character’s health. This colour is often associated with passion and love, anger, danger, violence and blood, energy, fire and heat. Of interest in one study pink is considered to be romantic and tranquillising and represent love and is associated with Valentines Day.

Blue is thought to be the opposite of red due to the opposing forces of fire and ice/water and associated with sky and ocean. It can have both a calming effect and also a cold effect and depressing depending upon the variant of hue used. It may represent loyalty or wisdom and within games may represent manna and magic.

Green is often associated with nature, foliage, trees and has a calming influence and also can be described as a refreshing colour and associated with growth and springtime. Also of interest green can be associated with wealth and often known as the colour of money.

Yellow is associated with sunshine and warmth and is often used to provide warning and information such as written signs. It is also associated with being a coward and studies have also shown it enhances concentration.

Orange is often thought to be a warm colour associated with fire and also with warnings. Of interest is the recent association with communication due to the orange telecommunication network.

Purple is closely related to royalty, luxury and wealth. It is also classed as a sophisticated colour and romantic. It is not considered to be natural colour as it rarely occurs naturally. It is often worn by priest, kings and emperors and in games can be associated with a higher level of existence such as an advanced alien race.

Brown is an earth colour and related to soil, earth and nature and other natural products such as leather and wood. In games brown can be used to show age for example photographs and documents.

Metallic colours of gold and silver again connected with wealth, royalty, kings and queens and also the colour of money. Also of interest is the association with 1st, 2nd and 3rd places and the hierarchy of medals given. Silver is associated with the moon and the world of dreams.

Game Mechanics & Paranoia

Resident Evil

Fixed Camera

There is a fixed camera in every room, which could be described as a CTV camera. This limits the Players view and means that you would usually hear an enemy before you saw them; also this means that the Player could potentially walk straight into a new area and be faced with an enemy right before them.

Music Queue

In Resident Evil 3: Nemesis the Player is chased throughout the game by an 8ft tall Super Soldier, before every encounter some being set and others random a music track would play to warn the Player of his nearby presence. The Player could knock Nemesis to the floor but he would eventually get up to continue the pursuit.

Aiming & Shooting

Whilst doing so the Player would remain stationary whilst the enemies move towards them. The Player may be concerned of an enemy approaching from behind as turning around is quite slow.

Variations in Speed

Depending on the Characters health this would affect the speed at which they can move. For example, if severely injured the Character would appear to limp whilst holding their side and therefore move slowly. This may change the way the Player plays the game, for example they may take extra care whilst moving about or may panic knowing that one more hit could kill them.

Silent Hill

Mist

Severely limits the Players view making it hard to see approaching enemies, again the Player is most likely to hear the enemy before they see them.

Radio Static

The Character’s phone or radio picks up static whilst nearby to enemies. However, in some parts of the game the static did sound but no enemies were present or nearby, therefore the Player would be prepared to encounter one.

Siren

Torch

The Player uses a torch to navigate around the map as the game is set predominately at night; this again limits the Players view.

The Enemy Perspective

Sections of the game include a possessed police officer searching for the Character in-order to kill them. The Player is able at times to choose as to whether to see the Enemy perspective or at other times have no choice but to see it. The Player is able to hear the Enemy’s voice whilst they are searching and their hands as they push open the doors in their search, this Enemy appears to be invincible.

Condemned

Torch

The Player uses a torch to navigate around the levels as the game is set predominately in the dark; this again limits the Players view.

Flash Backs

Throughout the game certain rooms as the Player enters will play a flash back in the form of a cinematic, this usually give glues to the Player as to what has previously happened in the room for example, a murder or concealment of an item. The Player may be concerned that the figure within the room previously may return or be in the next.

Physics Objects

Throughout the levels in the game there are a number of objects that the Player may walk over or knock over, for example bottles, cans and general rubbish. This may not exactly be a game mechanic but the noise produced may startle the Player making them believe that there is someone or something there that isn’t at that time.

Combat System

The Player can only hold one weapon at any one time making the Player choose between make shift weapons and the occasional gun. To advance further in some levels the Player would have to find a specific item to precede, for example, a fire axe would be needed to chop through a heavy wooden door or a shovel would be needed to knock off a key code panel to open a steel mesh door. These weapons are extremely slow to swing however are able to do heavy damage, the Player may feel vulnerable if encountering multiple enemies.

Health

Usually health is found in mounted red cabinets on walls and also scattered throughout the levels and also hidden in lockers along with other useful items. Due to the amount of health packs found in cabinets the Player may conclude intense combat may be ahead. Also due to the lockers containing useful items the Player doesn’t expect danger, however on a one occasion an enemy was found.

Alien vs. Predator

Motion Sensor & Night Vision

During play the Player has a motion tracker which will detect enemies within a certain radius and represented by a frequency of beeps, however the levels are generally dark, the Player also has access to night vision but the Player is only able to use one at a time and the Player may be constantly swapping between these two apparatus and therefore may feel vulnerable when the other is not in use.

Condemned: Criminal Origins

Introduction

As part of the research for our project I decided to buy and play a Survival horror / Psychological horror “Condemned: Criminal Origins” on the Xbox 360. I decided to do this as I had very little experience of playing this game genre. Whilst playing I wanted to see if any aspects of the game itself made me feel at all paranoid.

Limited light source

The light itself made me focus on one particular area of the room and the rest lay in darkness, this made me feel uncomfortable as enemies could potentially be wherever your touch wasn’t pointing. I found myself constantly turning round just check if anything had creped up on me.

Audio

This potentially made me feel the most uncomfortable as the sound seemed to over take the visuals on occasions as you could see so little, anything from the grunts and groans from the lurkers in the dark, to something as simple as accidentally walking over a can or bottle which would then make the appropriate noise as it tumbled across the floor. I remember freezing on one occasion and had to spin around erratically trying to fine the source of the sound.

Level layout

The majority of the levels I have played were predominately dark with minimal light sources, areas varied from narrow maze like corridors to wide open halls. When I could I would shut any doors behind me, but whilst in the large open areas I kept spinning round to keep checking my surroundings for any enemies lucking in the shadows.

Movement speed and Animations

The speed, at which your character walked, ran and also looked around the environment felt rather slow; I found this to be very effective as it definitely built up suspense and fear. I always had the feeling that I wouldn’t be able to run away from trouble and instead forced to face my fears.

Animations were also slow, whether this is climbing a ladder, stepping over an obstacle or jumping down to a lower level; this again was effective and made me want to urge the character to move faster because of the possibility that there could be someone behind him. Even checking your ammo had an animation as this was not displayed on the players head up display, when I did posses a gun I was always aware of this and tried to saver it.