tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post594000154027779312..comments2023-09-28T07:23:51.376-07:00Comments on ProjectPerko: Constructing Artificial Emotion: Me Being an AssCraig Perkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13173752470581218239noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-18606559003935851692007-10-27T08:40:00.000-07:002007-10-27T08:40:00.000-07:00I don't have any other color glass to see it throu...I don't have any other color glass to see it through...<BR/><BR/>Besides, you're really trying to simulate a writer/director.<BR/><BR/>If you're going to have multiplayer games that evoke emotion, the important part is the emotion between the players, not storing up images for later. People have a strong response to other people.<BR/><BR/>LARPs are a great example of this. If you've ever played or watched a good LARP, you watch everyone's emotions ricochet off one another. They go out of their way to enter a given mindset (feel a given emotion) despite the fact that, in normal life, they would feel nothing of the sort even faced with the same situations.<BR/><BR/>Sympathy is a dramatically more important element, ESPECIALLY for multiplayer games.<BR/><BR/>I used to have a whole section of counter arguments, which I deleted because it went on for a page. Here are a few:<BR/><BR/>I don't feel sorry for hungry children because they're hungry. They don't look hungry. They look dead.<BR/><BR/>I get emotional about space launches. How is that covered?<BR/><BR/>Music changes my mood, and it has nothing to with what I was feeling when I first heard similar music. That's also not covered.<BR/><BR/>I feel differently about the same situations now than ten years ago. For example, a lot of associations have turned to nostalgia.<BR/><BR/>Also, someone's existing mood produces enough interference that the emotion you try to introduce will be down to chance anyway.<BR/><BR/>All of these things CAN be dealt with by expanding the theory. I expanded it in my own way, as I linked. But the core theory is at best incomplete, and more likely not a useful algorithm.Craig Perkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13173752470581218239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11758224.post-45711233467599835812007-10-27T00:01:00.000-07:002007-10-27T00:01:00.000-07:00Nice! That is more of what I was hoping for. Firs...Nice! That is more of what I was hoping for. <BR/><BR/>First, where did I talk about simulating intelligence? That sounds my essay seen through Perko colored glasses. :-) <BR/><BR/>Second, I did find it interesting that as the thought exercise unfolded, single player games never entered the equation. I doubt they are all that great at evoking emotions unless you ended up relying on narrative tricks. <BR/><BR/>Honestly, I was leaning more towards games like the Bachelor...where copious tears that come about through putting humans together in situations that encourage drama. <BR/><BR/>Thirdly, narrative, that light and empty syrup slathered on so many unfortunate games, was discussed in the essay out of necessity. It is hard to write about emotion in games without putting the predominant method of evoking emotions into context. <BR/><BR/>Still, I don't find your counter arguments very convincing. Have you been hungry? Then you can sympathize. Perhaps someone who had a personal experience with starvation would exhibit a more extreme response. Yes, narrative is complicated. Yes, we have basic error checking in place so that we don't start hallucinating about oranges when we see an orange tunic. But the basic concept that we bring our experience to the art at hand seems like such a stunningly obvious comment that it isn't worth refuting. <BR/><BR/>And lastly, I agree about the psychologically damaging part. Once you start generating real emotional experiences, there is the danger that they will overwhelm the player. Here's a thought experiment. <BR/>- Ask a young child if he wants to play a game call "Getting picked first". He may say yes. <BR/>- Take the child to a far off summer camp. Wake him up early so that he doesn't get enough sleep. <BR/>- Don't feed him breakfast. <BR/>- Tell him that the person who gets picked last in kickball is a failure. Have several people mention this. <BR/>- Tell him that being part of the kickball team means you'll have friends. <BR/>- Secretly tell the team captains to pick him last. For impact, have them sneer when they look at him. <BR/>- Observe. <BR/><BR/>Is that a morally acceptable game? I doubt it. Quite likely you'll end up with at least one or two screwed up children in a population of a thousand people who play this little game. <BR/><BR/>Games that focus on emotional experiences wield real power. And that can be damaging. <BR/><BR/>Appreciate that you took the time to post on the essay, <BR/>Danc.Daniel Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10437870541630835660noreply@blogger.com