I'm doing some independent research and I invite you to contribute your experiences either here or privately via email (ratboy@secretlair.com). The purpose of this research is personal and professional enlightenment. If the subject proves meaty enough I may write an article or paper about it.
Non-verbal/non-text communication in games
Have you played a multiplayer game that involved some level of communication other than verbal/text? I'm interested in hearing about body languge, facial expressions, or any other non-literal method of conveying information or emotion. If you'd like to discuss text emotes, that's fine too. I'm familar with the emote animations in Neverwinter Nights and Second Life-- are there any games you've played where it's possible to communicate without actually "talking?" How would you describe the experience? How would you compare it to literal in-game communication?
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Researching non-verbal communication in games- input? |
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Zero Grace
Homunculus
Join date: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 237
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05-27-2004 05:41
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Zero Grace, agent of Tony Walsh
Read Tony's Second Life weblog entries at Clickable Culture |
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Cienna Rand
Inside Joke
Join date: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 489
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05-27-2004 08:30
The only game I've played with this sort of thing was Phantasy Star Online, which had a system that allowed you to make icon-based "statements". Since the game was simplistic, so too was communication with icons. You could, in theory, get by on them for basic things like "Heal Me", "Help", or "Follow me". The reason they had these is because the game was marketed both to the US and Japan, and the icon system in combination with a world-selector was in place to ease communication issues.
However the actual usage of the icon system was for the 12 year old kids to make dirty pictures and spam them in the game lobbies. _____________________
You can't spell have traffic without FIC.
Primcrafters (Mocha 180,90) : Fine eyewear for all avatars SLOPCO (Barcola 180, 180) : Second Life Oil & Petroleum Company Landmarker : Social landmarking software Conversation : Coming soon! |
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Zero Grace
Homunculus
Join date: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 237
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05-27-2004 08:41
Thanks for the info, Cienna
 I hadn't thought too much about non-verbal communication as a means to break down language barriers. I suppose there will almost always be cultural differences in non-verbal communication. (for example, the significance of certain gestures can be wildly different depending on what country you're from). Can you give an example of how the Phantasy Star Online icon system was subverted to make dirty pictures? As a related side note, I once designed an icon-based chat system for a kids web site, and we tried really hard to think of possible "dirty" combinations. The more freedom in communication, the easier to subvert. _____________________
Zero Grace, agent of Tony Walsh
Read Tony's Second Life weblog entries at Clickable Culture |
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Cienna Rand
Inside Joke
Join date: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 489
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05-27-2004 11:29
I'll dig around in all my old screenshots at home, see if I can find any. The system gave you various shapes, squiggles, and other things to mess with. The usual things were making icons like breasts, bongs, guns.. all the sort of stuff that the younguns think will be offensive. Oh, and swastikas, that was another favorite.
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You can't spell have traffic without FIC.
Primcrafters (Mocha 180,90) : Fine eyewear for all avatars SLOPCO (Barcola 180, 180) : Second Life Oil & Petroleum Company Landmarker : Social landmarking software Conversation : Coming soon! |
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Garoad Kuroda
Prophet of Muppetry
Join date: 5 Sep 2003
Posts: 2,989
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Re: Researching non-verbal communication in games- input?
05-29-2004 20:09
Originally posted by Zero Grace I'm familar with the emote animations in Neverwinter Nights First thing that came to mind... Okay, I admit it, I have nothing to contribute!  _____________________
BTW
WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS! |
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Devlin Gallant
Thought Police
Join date: 18 Jun 2003
Posts: 5,948
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05-29-2004 20:55
I will get back to you as soon as I have my 'mooning' animation.
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I LIKE children, I've just never been able to finish a whole one.
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Zero Grace
Homunculus
Join date: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 237
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05-30-2004 07:51
I am considering deaf and hard of hearing gamers as it pertains to this topic-- I'm curious whether the increasing use and detail of body language and facial expressions in multiplayer games is particularly significant to a deaf audience. From the little I've read about deaf gamers, it seems that they often feel left out by the emphasis of audio in games. Perhaps they might appreciate animated/communicative gestures more than hearing persons.
The reason I started thinking about this is that I'm currently contracting with a company that's created a TV show and Web site for deaf kids which heavily feature American Sign Language and captioning. I hope query the deaf advisors and focus group kids about the topic and see what they have to say. I'll post here if I find out anything interesting. _____________________
Zero Grace, agent of Tony Walsh
Read Tony's Second Life weblog entries at Clickable Culture |
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Azelda Garcia
Azelda Garcia
Join date: 3 Nov 2003
Posts: 819
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05-31-2004 07:00
You could have a browse through the following book, especially the earlier chapters, which could provide some leads:
/120/71/13712/1.html It's related to what you are wanting to do because it discusses techniques for animating people, bringing them to life, communicating emotions and feelings through 3d avatars. The book is a case-study of creating a 3-minute video based on a video-game not so very different from SL. Azelda |
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Zero Grace
Homunculus
Join date: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 237
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05-31-2004 16:04
Thanks for the headsup. Here's a link with more info on the book details--
http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/cgi-bin/pbg/0072228938.html?id=YkFCsXaD Sounds very interesting. The book would cost me about $60CDN, so I'm a little hesitant to pick it up, but I might see if I can get a hold of the author for some commentary. _____________________
Zero Grace, agent of Tony Walsh
Read Tony's Second Life weblog entries at Clickable Culture |
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Nergal Fallingbridge
meep.
Join date: 26 Jun 2003
Posts: 677
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06-01-2004 19:05
Originally posted by Zero Grace I am considering deaf and hard of hearing gamers as it pertains to this topic-- I'm curious whether the increasing use and detail of body language and facial expressions in multiplayer games is particularly significant to a deaf audience. From the little I've read about deaf gamers, it seems that they often feel left out by the emphasis of audio in games. Perhaps they might appreciate animated/communicative gestures more than hearing persons. The reason I started thinking about this is that I'm currently contracting with a company that's created a TV show and Web site for deaf kids which heavily feature American Sign Language and captioning. I hope query the deaf advisors and focus group kids about the topic and see what they have to say. I'll post here if I find out anything interesting. Have you dropped by deafgamers.com? It's a review site for a bunch of different platforms, and has the usual reviews, with the additional criteria of how accessible a game is to the deaf gamer audience. I've used it sometimes to find games I want to buy. _____________________
powered by caffeine since 1998!
"In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty." -- Phil Ochs |
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Zero Grace
Homunculus
Join date: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 237
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06-01-2004 19:26
Originally posted by Nergal Fallingbridge Have you dropped by deafgamers.com? It's a review site for a bunch of different platforms, and has the usual reviews, with the additional criteria of how accessible a game is to the deaf gamer audience. I've used it sometimes to find games I want to buy. )._____________________
Zero Grace, agent of Tony Walsh
Read Tony's Second Life weblog entries at Clickable Culture |
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Zero Grace
Homunculus
Join date: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 237
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06-12-2004 14:26
I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet
Affect & Nonverbal Communication In Virtual Worlds (December 05, 2003) http://www.saketinidesign.com/MFABlogfolio/archives/000017.html Not only has the author of the above article beaten me to the punch, she's used Second Life as an example in the article and covered a number of the topics I was planning to. My bad for not doing better Web searches before "coming up with" this idea. Now I have to figure out how to cover this topic differently. Luckily the author's coverage is fairly broad, and I do have some ideas I don't think she's mentioned. _____________________
Zero Grace, agent of Tony Walsh
Read Tony's Second Life weblog entries at Clickable Culture |
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Kyrah Abattoir
cruelty delight
Join date: 4 Jun 2004
Posts: 2,786
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06-15-2004 01:09
i remember when i was playing to "there" there is some facial anims when yout alk to other ppl that are very subtle but really give life to the avies, like the head who turn to look at the person who is talking near you, the mount who animate, each yes word who is underlined by a nod from the head,
i just find the "typing" animation a little weird... |
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Zero Grace
Homunculus
Join date: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 237
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06-15-2004 05:22
Originally posted by Kyrah Abattoir i just find the "typing" animation a little weird... _____________________
Zero Grace, agent of Tony Walsh
Read Tony's Second Life weblog entries at Clickable Culture |
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Loki Pico
Registered User
Join date: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 1,938
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06-15-2004 05:34
I like the typing animation. It is a visual cue that someone is trying to communicate with you.
This is not what your looking for, exact opposite actually, but I found this game for blind players. I thought you might find it interesting. Terraformers About the game... Accessibility The game is a visual / audio hybrid playable by both sighted and sight disabled / blind. The interface features below was awarded with the "Innovation In Audio Award" at the Independent Games Festival 2003. Powersuit: the powersuit contains all the necessary technology to protect the avatar from hostile attacks, In addition, it provides all of the accessability feautures described below. A built-in voiced PDA is responsible for miscellaneous feedback from these features. Sound Compass: a 3D sound represents north, and a rough 8 direction spoken feedback is available by pressing a key on the numerical keyboard (north, northwest...). Sonar: a 3D sound gives the gamer a rough perception of the distance to objects in the direction the gamer is currently facing. By pressing a key the gamer can also check what type of object it is (door, wall, robot...). Enemies are automatically told by the PDA voice. GPS: a global positioning system is used to get the exact positions of objectsin an area as well as the position of the avatar. A voiced menu system provides an overview of nearby objects. Direct orientation: using the numeric keyboard the gamer can orient the avatar directly in 8 directions (north, northeast...). Backpack: objects are accessed using a voiced menu system with hierarchies. Sound effects can also be attached to voices dynamically. Game objects: all game objects have voiced feedback and 3D sound icons (and 3D graphics!) Environments: 3D graphics, ambients sounds, footstep sounds on different ground materials and voiced descriptions of visual as well as other sensory input contribute to environmental feedback. The game The game takes place in the future. Mankind has started colonisation of other planets and uses intelligent robots to create an atmosphere suitable to human life. But on the distant planet Tellus 2 something went wrong. Some of the robots evolved and became too intelligent and revolted against their creators. The revolting robots imprisoned professor van Lange in his lab. The professor is the only one with enough knowledge to regain control over the revolting robots. The robots also disassembled the main computer and scattered the parts in the area around the professor's lab. Your mission is to defeat the revolting robots, find the parts to the computer and free professor van Lange. To solve the quest you will use fire arms, ammunition, secret keys, audio puzzles, communication devices and other things. In order to stop you, the robots have locked doors, hidden the computer parts and will attack you on sight. Your Powersuit use power to protect you from the planet's hostile environment and other physical injury, and you need to find Power-up stations on a regular basis. |
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Loki Pico
Registered User
Join date: 20 Jun 2003
Posts: 1,938
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06-15-2004 05:49
This is reaching a bit maybe, but I have used a lot of visual cues to communicate in Counter-Strike. They have a rich communication system now, but we still use some visual cues while playing.
The type of weapon selected determines the role of my team mates. If I see someone with a sniper rifle, I usually know where they will perch. If I go and stand next to him, rather than find another position, he will know I plan to cover his back so he can focus on his targets. Running and walking slowly are big communication tips. Crouching down and motioning direction with my rifle is a clue I know an enemy is nearby. They are subtle tips, but I have been playing with the same guys for a long time and you get to where you can read what they plan to do by the body positions and actions. |
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Zero Grace
Homunculus
Join date: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 237
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06-15-2004 05:58
Loki, thanks for the observations. I come from an FPS background myself, and I agree that reading your teammates' visual cues is important. There are a few games where user-driven animations intended for other purposes are used for communication. You've mentioned CS, BF1942 comes to mind, also I remember there were some "cheering/victory" animations for the Myth series of games that players used to taunt opponents.
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Zero Grace, agent of Tony Walsh
Read Tony's Second Life weblog entries at Clickable Culture |