Altered States Part 2 - Game Research

Before starting any design work, even with my mood sheets complete, I wanted to make sure I looked at some games that I have played to help me with my design choices.

I chose two games to look at in depth- one being 'Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA MegaMix' so that I could look at a large range of animated videos in order to study the colour choices, the other being 'Professor Layton and the Lost Future' so that I could study the way they tackled my other two themes, time and reality.

These are the notes I made for each game.

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA MegaMix

Hastune Miku: Project DIVA MegaMix is one game from the Project DIVA series of rhythm games developed by Sega and Crypton Future Media.

The video below is a compilation of music video clips from the game that I recorded and edited. Below the video are the notes I made for each song.

Warning: The following videos may have flashing lights and be triggering for some viewers

Note: I use the word 'module' a lot within my notes- this means the particular look the singer is set to wear in the video.

Ashes to Ashes

-The module has a striking primary colour palette

-Majority of background has a red overtone that does not apply to the module, making it stand out more

-Gears in background give a steampunk vibe

Black Gold

-The swirling gold patterns remind me of the projection workshops in Altered States Part 1

-The swirls change the lighting dramatically

Break it, break it!

-I get a dystopian vibe from the first backdrop due to the rusty looking fan, the flames and the sparks flying around

-I am reminded a lot of the alternative image making workshops from Altered States Part 1

Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku

-The background and module give me more Victorian era vibes – maybe not entirely accurate clothing and such, especially given the module’s ears, but it certainly doesn’t feel modern or futuristic

Ghost Rule

There is a lot to note in this video so while I have added a short clip from the video in the main compilation, I have also linked the full video below this and will be referencing that too-

-Striking typography for the song title that the video shows through

-Glitch effect – like the glitch I applied to some of my work

-Ghostly images of the module appearing around the main module – this reminds me of the pictures taken with the camera set to BULB

-The module disappearing and revealing a white rose in different stages of it’s life – twice in bloom, and once withered. According to this website ( https://www.goldflorist.com/pages/White-Rose-Meaning.html ), a white rose often means purity, innocence and reverence in Floriography, also known as the Language of Flowers. The different states of the rose depict the loss of these things within the song, and it ties in nicely with altered states

-The sudden changes in background also tie in with altered states quite well, given that even though the stages may look entirely different, they have a similar structure – the circle shaped floor, the stairs behind her, the sections of bars/seating booths have the same shape, the throne/the chair

-The second background gradually falling apart revealing the first one – the way that I interpret this is an altered state of mind

ROKI

-The main colour palette is greyscale + purple and yellow/orange, and the only accent colour seems to be light blue to break it up

-Soft backlighting – I could use this as lighting reference

-Mostly dark environment so the lighting has more impact

-Main colour in modules is yellow/orange, purple background is complimentary

-Font is bold, clear and prominent

Secret Police

-The only colour on the module is green – this colour doesn’t appear anywhere else prominent in the background, so it helps to direct your attention around the screen. (The little exit sign is green, so maybe you could infer that the singer is the only one who gets to leave?)

shake it!

-So bright! Even with all of those bright lights, the modules have so much colour packed into a tight space that they stand out

-Of course they stand out more against a dark background, it’s not as visually busy

Suna no wakusei

-The main background of the video is made up of very dull and muted colours, including the crowd, meaning the protagonist of the video stands out and catches the eye

-Major dystopian vibes from this video, reminded vaguely of 'The Scorch Trials'

Weekender Girl

-The colours on the module aren’t as saturated as the bright ones in the background, therefore it still stands out

World’s End Dancehall

-Very limited use of colour in these sections of the video – apart from the skin tones, the only two colours in this video are also complementary to each other, helping the two modules stand out from one another

-The flashes of muted colour or black and white in these sections of the video link very well to altered states

1925

-Even though there is a much wider range of hues within this video in comparison to some of the others, not many of them are very saturated, meaning that they all feel a lot more unified

-The whole video has a vintage feel to it, probably because of the greens and brownish reds

Note: The video below links back to the section about Ghost Rule. This version of the video is not from MegaMix, so the animation style does look different, but all of my notes apply to both games' version of the video.

Professor Layton and the Lost Future

Professor Layton and the Lost Future (Known as Professor Layton and the Unwound Future in the American release) is the third instalment in the Professor Layton puzzle game series by Level-5. I have loved this game series ever since I was a young girl. I found the stories entertaining, the puzzles fun and challenging, and more recently I have found a love for the charming art style. While it may look very simplistic, I think it really suits the tone of the games.

When I was trying to think of any games that I may have played in the past with a steampunk like element, this game came to mind. It doesn’t have a strong focus on steampunk, but some of the items and locations within the game do fit the aesthetic. As well as this, it also fits with my theme of altered states of time, as the game deals with a mystery surrounding time travel.

Within the first section of the game, the two protagonists receive a letter claiming to be from the boy, Luke’s, future self. In the letter, he requests their help in solving a mystery 10 years in the future, and he asks that they travel to a small clock shop in order to learn more about it. When they arrive at the shop, they are shocked by the realisation that the largest clock on the wall appears to be a time machine, and that they have been sent 10 years into the future. They come to this conclusion because everything around them suddenly looks so different.

I recorded and put together a short video walking you through that first section of the game, with a primary focus on the differences between present and future. In other words, the altered state of the setting through time.

Below: Video I made to showcase elements of Professor Layton and the Lost Future