The uncanny future
by covert.c. on Dec.13, 2005, under computer graphics, games industry
If you close your eyes and peer into the possible future of gaming, you might glimpse an image such as this. Today this noble warrior was generated entirely in Maya3D, but its not difficult to guess that one day computer games will be peopled with characters of such depth and realism. Maybe not today, but one day.
Do graphics make the game? Hardly! Yet I would argue that characters are an equal contributor. Adding personae of such extreme levels will one day take games well beyond that of any Hollywood movie. Not just to watch, but to interact with, to fight against, to hate, to fear, to save, to love. If the gameplay is served by the story, then what a day when the story is served by characters like this! “Video game moments” of yesterday were as evocative for me as movies or novels (even when they werely merely games with text!), so its no surprise that I should greatly look forward to truly rich and interactive characters. It is one of the biggest challenges of this emerging artform. Storytelling without convincing characters is like a movie with bad actors.
This will be a critical aspect that brings the storytelling potential of videogames closer to the mainstream (and one day consume it). Maybe the publishers who relish rich graphics over gameplay have a point in this : they are attempting to expand the market with greater and greater eye-candy (while the rest of us real gamers get bored). Personally, knowing that I got excited in the days of text, I’m a shoe-in for great graphics done right. Give me a game that delivers on all levels of gameplay, narrative, interactivity and characters, and I will be happy. But we know this isn’t true for everyone. Gaming fans are a rarity in my generation (yet less so, I’ve noticed, in the next one).
However, as realistic as computer-generated characters become, there is a well-known problem referred to as “the Uncanny Valley“; the psychological consequence of increased photorealism actually decreases the believability of characters. The argument is that one should avoid (or minimize) the realism of graphics in order to heighten believability.
Personally, I would not shy from realism in this fashion. I see this barrier as part of the cost of having highly realistic characters in an interactive 3d environment. We may have a twinge of a “this is not real” creepiness, yet perhaps this will serve as the best reminder that we are, in fact, only playing a videogame. Is it not a fair trade-off from what we’re seeing these days? Compare the warrior above with the visage of a typical WoW character. I’d take the uncanny valley any day over that! Do non-human characters exhibit the same problem? Is it OK for them to move and appear realistic? Even if the valley rears itself, we’ll instinctively know that they are not real.
One day, that warrior will call out your name as he ambles towards you at the fireside. His footsteps will crunch across leaves as he nudgers closer, and emerges into the flickering light of the fire. Later, he will reveal himself as the King in disguise… and asks you to undertake a secret mission to save his daughter, the princess.
A little corny, but it sounds fun, right? For me, it is truly just as much fun to imagine.
And now a question for you! When will we see graphics at this level in computer games? 2 years? 5 years? 10? Never?
5 Comments for this entry
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December 13th, 2005 on 1:13 pm
5 years. Unreal 3 Engine is almost out and its graphics are almost as good. This situation is inevitable seeing where we were 10 years ago.
December 13th, 2005 on 4:20 pm
id say sooner than that even if you look at this experiment for the ps3 :
http://www.vetorzero.com.br/kaya/kaya1.html
December 13th, 2005 on 5:34 pm
Funny that you should mention the uncanny valley. I'm interested in how humans are controlled with emotion and how large a part of our lives emotions play. How media (games included) can jolt people into a perpetual fight or flight mode. Affecting modern humans through their primal coding... it's genius.
As important as graphics, sound design, maps, etc are (one could make the argument that they actually *replace* our senses) in bringing the game to life. When it's all assembled... when the streams of data converge into human thought, it feeds our intellect and more importantly, our emotions. Today most games are catered to adrenaline junkies and adventurers... We laugh and get upset with them... But what happens when game designers start to take lead from the more sinister "emotion engineers" like Television?
I mean look at the image of this guy you've posted... He's so real, I could almost start LIKING him! He looks like a nice guy! Who's to say tomorrow's games won't be designed to make us aroused if he gets laid? Laugh if he tells a good joke? Upset if he gets beaten up? Weep if he dies...?
December 14th, 2005 on 8:04 am
Graphics of this level will come sooner or later. What I'm more interested in is the overall quality of the aesthetic. One thing that turns me off of improved photorealism is the lack of attention paid to the overall style, and how that lack enhances the creepiness of the uncanny valley.
WoW had this is a cartoony way, but a better example is in the film industry, where extensive digital post-processing can give the entire movie a particular palette. Think of the washed look in Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers; or the starkness of Minority Report; or the scene-based color schemes of Hero. The unification of the overall feel is more important than photorealism, and it's the key to overcoming the uncanny valley--that subtle creepiness becomes less relevent when the character is part of a coherent environment, where the characters are not perfect in terms of naturalism, but are perfect in terms of a beautiful and richly detailed world.
December 14th, 2005 on 5:21 pm
Music as an artform that really exists to control (or "guide") emotional and tension responses in humans. Should we stop making music for fear of the evil, societal repurcussions? Shut off that rock and roll music, you kids!
And from the perspective of identifying with game characters, I'd argue that it'd be no different than identifying with a novel's character, or a movie's.
There's a link in my post :
...even when they werely merely games with text!
The passage that I linked is the death of "Floyd the Robot" in the text-based game, "Planetfall". I remember playing that game when I was twelve, and being very upset at the death of Floyd. We don't need great graphics to fall in love with characters. Its just one more dimension.
And entertainment arguably is emotional manipulation of the observer, just like music, art and poetry.
Great thoughts... thanks for the comments everyone.