Research - GDO710 - Week 2
Updated: Jul 24, 2022
This week was a deep dive into creativity, something which is vital when it comes to developing games and is everything we do. The way that we perceive the world is creative, one person might look at an image and see something while another person might see something else. The way we engage and interpret is different and this is an exciting (but terrifying) prospect when it comes to making an artefact for the public.
This week was very interesting, the topic of computation creativity really appealed to me and I found myself researching and delving deeper into the topic.
Class notes: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Talk from Tanya Krzywinska
Redundancy
Defamilization
ICEDIP
Hooks
Stickiness
Tips and tricks to foster creativity:
Brainstorming
Mindmapping
Round Robin
Opposite thinking
Collage / cutup
Mashup
Crazy Eights
SCAMPER
Computational creativity with Dr Simon Colton
Software making software
Janika Technologies (Software making games) (Hoping I spelt that right)
Humanity gap
Challenge 2 (modify an initial artefact)
Research: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX
In the talk from Tanya Krzywinska, we covered the ICEDIP model. This model was developed by Geoff Petty and it outlines a six-phases for creativity.
Inspiration: Generate new ideas, take information from related sources and prototype.
Clarification: Streamline all the convoluted notes, understand your aims, goals, and review the risks.
Evaluation: Pros and cons! Which idea has the most potential and how can we improve our work?
Distillation: Refine and decide which idea you want to work on as you progress.
Incubation: Thinking about other things, letting the idea sit. That way when you re-approach the task, you come at it with a new mindset.
Perspiration: Where you sit down and sweat the work out. Working hard and making sure its done (every Tuesday so I can write my CRJ) (Petty, 2017)
I found that I do elements of the ICEDIP approach in my own practice. When it comes to events such as game jams, I completed almost all the steps in the same order (without realising that this was the approach!). This approach is extremely viable and I plan to teach the refined version of this model to my students.
We then covered different methods of idea creation, here I took to my journal to write my notes:
A lot of these idea creation techniques I have used before so it was really nice to have a refresh on these topics. I have used mind mapping a lot, this was something I did when I was a kid and it is very familiar to me. I'm sure you will see a lot of mind maps when we enter the rapid prototyping stage! The techniques "SCAMPER" and "Crazy eights" are foreign to me but it was interesting diving into them. I will certainly try to use these techniques as I progress through the degree.
Computational creativity was my favourite topic this week. I found the entire concept extremely fascinating, the idea that Software can be creative. There's this belief that only humans can be creative, however, people like Dr Simon Colton are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an artist. What it MEANS to be creative.
I did some more research into one of Colton’s projects: The painting fool. The Painting Fool is a computer program that and I quote;
“an aspiring painter” (The Painting Fool, 2022)
The aim of the project is for the AI’s work to be considered a painting by human standards. The program has created multiple different art pieces, some of which I have provided below.
From left to right:
Image 1: (The painting fool, 2011)
Image 2: (The painting fool, 2006)
Image 3: (The painting fool, 2011)
It is incredible that a program can create and interpret like this. What is very cool about this program is that it will put a small description and explain the processes behind making the painting. The entire thing is written in first-person which helps lend to the idea that the AI has an inner voice.
The video went on to mention software which can create a new, procedural video game with automatic playtests. You press the “Go” button and it will generate physic constraints which link to emergent behaviour and rules. Therefore creating a game!
This sounds amazing! Playtesting and iteration is the most important part of game development. You need to take something and throw it away until you find what makes the game “Fun”. However, “Fun” is a very… human thing. So how does a machine procedurally generate a game, playtest it and determine if the game is… Fun?
Would this system work on generating a narrative game, similar to the likes of “The Last of Us”? Perhaps. If the technology from Colton can draw paintings and create art based on emotions that it has never experienced. Then surely if we create a program which consumes countless books, stories, films and adventures. Then applying that to a machine which is creating the game shouldn't be too much of a stretch.
Exciting developments lie in the future!
References: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX
G. Petty (2017) Creativity, Improving yours, and others’ creativity. https://geoffpetty.com/creativity/ Accessed 7th June. 2022.
A. Tookey (2022) Notes on idea creation tools. [Image]
The Painting Fool (2022) The painting fool. http://www.thepaintingfool.com/index.html Accessed 7th June. 2022.
The Painting Fool (2011) Chair. http://www.thepaintingfool.com/commercial/chair.png Accessed 7th June. 2022.
The Painting Fool (2011) Slide 19. http://www.thepaintingfool.com/slide_show/slide19.png Accessed 7th June. 2022.