Dan Pinchbeck

Dear Esther: An Interactive Ghost Story Built Using the Source Engine

This paper reflects on the design and production of an multimodal, environmental storytelling experiment constructed in the first-person game engine Source. Rather than being based around the resolution of conflicts and acheiving goals, Dear Esther presents a sparse environment with no embedded agents, relying purely on the players engagement with and interpretation of a narrative delivered through semi-randomised audio fragments. Dear Esther was released for free download via a number of modding sites in June and this paper reflects on the experience of building and the response by gamers.

A theatre of ethics and interaction? bertolt brecht and learning to behave in first-person shooter environments

This paper explores the nature of player behaviour in game environments in relation to the methodology of the dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Firstly, a conceptualisation of how manipulation of both a players actions, and their affective state is achieved by contemporary first-person games will be described. It will be questioned whether such game experiences can be reconfigured as spaces for complex and ethical learning experiences or whether their formal characteristics preclude this. Brechts theatre, in particular the Lehrstucke (learning plays); Verfremdung (the alienation effect); and his exposure of the mechanics of the theatre experience will be introduced as a means of further exploring ways of delivering FPS experiences.

Story and recall in first-person shooters

Story has traditionally been seen as something separate to gameplay--frequently relegated to an afterthought or epiphenomenon. Nevertheless, in the FPS genre there has been something of a renaissance in the notion of the story-driven title. Partially, this is due to advances in technology enabling a greater capacity for distributed storytelling and a better integration of story and gameplay. However, what has been underrecognised is the dynamic, epistemological, and psychological impact of story and story elements upon player behaviour. It is argued here that there is evidence that story may have a direct influence upon cognitive operations. Specifically, evidence is presented that it appears to demonstrate that games with highly visible, detailed stories may assist players in recalling and ordering their experiences. If story does, indeed, have a more direct influence, then it is clearly a more powerful and immediate tool in game design than either simply reward system or golden thread.

Conscientious Objector: Pacifism, Politics and Abusing the Player in Doom 3

This paper describes Conscientious Objector, a research mod built using the idTech4 engine and assets from the commercial game Doom 3. It was designed to explore the potential for non-lethal force in FPS gaming, and player response to a radically different avatar-NPC relationship.