Virtual World Concept Presentation

This is my power point presentation for my virtual world concept:

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~karechan/hammerdownonline.ppsx

The Tech Virtual

Here is the exact location and a few images of my virtual world concept display at the Tech Virtual in Second Life.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Tech%202/127/184/32/

Research for Virtual World Concept

I found some other virtual worlds that are similar to my concept. Here are several helpful links that review each virtual world. Although the last one isn't a true virtual world, it has many elements similar to my concept and researching it might help.

Trackmania

http://www.trackmania.com/tm/index.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrackMania

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/trackmania/review.html

http://pc.ign.com/articles/528/528114p1.html

Upshift Strike Racer

http://strikeracer.gpotato.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UpShift_StrikeRacer

http://pc.ign.com/articles/800/800122p1.html

http://www.mpogd.com/news/?ID=3046

Mario Kart Wii

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Kart_Wii#Nintendo_Wi-Fi_Connection

http://www.gamespot.com/wii/driving/mariokart/review.html

Final Project Experiment Plan

This is the updated and finalized experiment plan:

1. Experiment Title – Virtual World Racing

2. Scenario – While operating a vehicle, avatars will interact with other avatars by racing around the tracks in a competition or disrupting the competition.

3. Mechanics – Some of the avatars will be in slower vehicles while other avatars will be in faster ones that are more upgraded. Some of the avatars will play as the rule-abiding players and just race around the track like normal while other avatars will be the trouble makers and try to do anything in their power to disrupt the racing competition. The players will also need to learn how to control their vehicle properly. The winner of the race will receive $250 Linden Dollars.

4. Second Life Location – The first location is a sandbox for everyone to get the required assets for the experiment. Buy the vehicle you are assigned to.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Meridian/37/213/23/

After purchasing the vehicle, go to the racetrack where the rest of the experiment will be held.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spike/26/198/621/

5. Roles – Here is a list of several roles the class will take part in:

• Screen Shot Documenter – Take random screen shots during the entire event.
• Video Documenter – Take various video segments during different parts of the event.
• Observer Documenter – Run around or sit on the side of the race track and observe what racers are doing and take brief notes on their interaction.
• Bagel Driver – Take the bagel vehicle to simulate a newbie of the virtual world and race throughout the event for five laps.
• Apple Driver – Take an apple vehicle to simulate a casual player of the virtual world and race throughout the event for five laps.
• Hot Dog Driver – Take the hot dog vehicle to simulate a hardcore player of the virtual world and race throughout the event for five laps.
• Bagel Griefer – Take the bagel vehicle to simulate a newbie that disturbs other players during the event.
• Apple Griefer – Take an apple vehicle to simulate a casual player that disturbs other players during the event.
• Hot Dog Griefer – Take thehot dog vehicle to simulate a hardcore player that disturbs other players during the event.
  

6. Role Assignments – Here are the random role assignments:

• Screen Shot Documenter – Karen, Zachary, Grant
  
• Video Documenter – Zoe
  
• Observer Documenter – Joshua, Martha, Stephen
  
• Bagel Driver – Alisa, Kimberly, I Wuen
  
• Apple Driver – Micah, Tara, Zhen
  
• Hot Dog Driver – Ed, Chris, Brandon
  
• Bagel Griefer – Jane, Laura, Colleen
  
• Apple Griefer – Jade, Delonzo, Danny
  
• Hot Dog Griefer – James, Jose, Steve
  

7. Assets Provided – Here is a list of assets provided:

• Bagel Vehicle – The avatars will choose one of three speed vehicles according to what they are assigned.
• Apple Vehicle – The avatars will choose one of three speed vehicles according to what they are assigned.
• Hot Dog Vehicle – The avatars will choose one of three speed vehicles according to what they are assigned.

8. Participant Preparation – Besides knowing their roles and getting the vehicles, no other preparation is required.

9. Production Plan – I found many different kinds of racetracks and vehicles available in Second Life for this experiment. Perhaps I will need to make some addition assets for the experiment such as the vehicle sculpties and scripties.

Second Life Scripting Exercise

For my first scripted object, I chose to make a simple ball and attached a sound effect to it. I made the ball look techy and added a computer buzzing noise to it upon touch. Originally, the sound was something else, but I changed it to my own sound. At first, it would not work until I researched some more and found out that I needed to drag the sound to the script area.

As for my second script, I wanted to get more advanced so I looked into a script that made an object follow an avatar. After getting it to work, I decided that my object, a UFO, was following too closely so I changed it to be flying in the air above my avatar. I also added a UFO sound effect when the object was only close to my avatar.

Second Life Building Exercise

I used Wings3D for my first sculpty prim and decided to make a hat for my avatar. After uploading it to Second Life, I had some problems because the hat would attach to the head so my avatar would lose her hair. I decided to link the hair prims and my hat prim together for it to attach to my avatar and it worked perfectly after a few tries. It is a large looking hat, though. I decided to add a blue gingham texture to it.


For my in-world multiple linked prim object, I built a simple apple. I first built the root, the red part of the apple. Then I built the stem and the leaf. I linked all of them together after I put them in the right place, making sure I clicked on the red part last so it would be the root of the object. I added textures to make it seem more realistic.


For my last object, I decided to try out flexi path in-world. I picked a simple object, a flag, to test all the controls in the flexi path. It took a lot of trial and error to test what each control did, but I finally got the flag to wave normally in the wind like it would in the real world. I also added a shiny pole and some texture to make the flag look more interesting.

Second Life Cool Features

The first cool feature I found is a way to resurrect objects by typing a command. I saw this feature while exploring race tracks in Second Life and found myself in a Mario Kart Rainbow Road world. To try resurrecting an object, or more specifically the various karts in this place, go to the following location in Second Life.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Twilight%20Town/42/196/4015/

When you arrive, head to your left and touch the green pipe to get teleported underground to Rainbow Road. On your left, there should be a sign like the one seen on the screenshot below.


The instructions are all on the screen although it does not show up in the screenshot. Simply type rez and any number from 1 to 16 to get a kart of a certain color. The object will automatically appear before you. Now you can control the kart and race around the rainbow tracks. I thought this feature was cool because it is something I can possibly use in my experiment. This feature makes it simple for avatars to get objects without having to place them on the ground. It can be a space saver for land owners who want to offer features to visitors but don't want their land looking cluttered.


Another cool feature I found in Second Life was to own pets. To get your own pet, you can go to the following location.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/We%20Love%20Pets/134/219/25/

Once you get there, browse around to purchase a pet of your choice. I chose a Cocker Pup, which has many free items included with it and lots of controls. There is a note card that comes with every pet which contains a long list of commands you can do with the pet. I only purchased one pet, but it appears that every pet has a different set of commands that comes with it. I thought this feature was interesting because I never once saw a pet in Second Life until I searched for pets. I enjoy having pets so being able to own some pets in Second Life is a good idea.


The last cool feature I found was using textures to make objects transparent. To do this, you can simply edit an object you are building, go to the texture tab, and then click on the square image box above texture. Another window opens up and you should type in the search field "transparent." There will be two transparent textures: one of them is completely transparent and the other is white but still semi-transparent. This feature is useful because I can perhaps use it as glass material for my future experiment if I need to have something transparent.

Second Life Cool Places

The first place I went to is a world called KJ Racing Club where you can get into many different vehicles and race. I rode on bumper cars and I got into a car where you get a bird's eye view of the entire raceway and race with other players in that fashion. Unfortunately, no one else was there at the time so I could not really race but I went around the track. I like this place because it contains elements that are related to my racing virtual world concept and maybe I could use this place as an experiement if I chose to use that concept.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Barkley/178/49/617/


The second place I went to is a world that is built to imitate the World of Warcraft called the World of Witchcraft. It is meant to be a role playing world where people look like characters from the World of Warcraft and the buildings are modeled after them as well. I thought this was interesting because it shows that players can certainly build their own dungeons in a virtual world when given enough time.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Heliotrope%20Island/98/89/296/


The last place I discovered is a world modeled after the science fiction Dune book series. I liked this world because not only does it give you free objects to easily roleplay as a character or group from the book, but you can ride an air vehicile called the ornithopter that comes from the book. It comes with a HUD to attach to your screen as well. The buildings are very detailed and each time you step across a landmark, a short narration pops up in the chat.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Splintered%20Rock/95/93/79/

Final Project Challenges

I'm still not sure which concept I should pick for my final project yet but I think each one shares a challenge in that I'm not sure how to do my research on them using Second Life. Also, even if I were to do an experiement on Second Life, I'm not sure how I should go about doing it yet.

Some of the challenges for my first concept is that it would be difficult to provide all the assets and rules in building a dungeon. Also, Second Life does not allow for combat against other players or NPCs.

For my second proposal, the most difficult part is probably scripting in the vehicle to move it the way it should with the right key commands. It seems like there is a lot of programming involved. Another challenge would be to simulate a race and having everyone start at the same time.

As for my final concept, the idea itself is really largescale and would need a lot of careful planning, knowledge of how societies work, and many other challenges that are probably not something I could study and know within a month or two.

Bartle Test - Persona

As my persona for the Bartle Test, I got Socializer, which I expected. Strange how this time there were no games listed for people like my persona. Are there no games for Socializers?

Bartle Test - Myself

I took the Bartle Test first as myself and got Achiever. The results seem to accurately represent me. One thing I don't agree with are the games they listed for people like me at the end since I'm definitely not a Call of Duty, Halo, or Left 4 Dead kind of person. At least World of Warcraft was first on the list.

Virtual World Concept III

A third idea for my virtual world will be a place where players can build their own society. The target market of this virtual world are gamers ages 10-30 who likes tactics. The player starts out with a small village establishment and work their way up from there, becoming a city, a country, a world, and eventually galaxies. Throughout these stages, the player can choose to befriend other players who are in the same development stage as they are or go to war against others in the same stage. Other societies include NPCs that players can also ally or go to war with. The goal of this world is to take over the universe, but this will be a difficult task as the game gets more complex with more control of the universe.

Virtual World Concept II

Another idea for a virtual world consists of a place where players can create and customize their own vehicle, specifically cars. The demographics for this world will be males around the ages of 10-28. Although players can customize their avatar, the world focuses on the player customizing and upgrading their virtual car like they would a real car. Players can mod their cars in many ways through the use of in-game money they earn from events such as racing, tournaments, and car shows.

Virtual World Concept I

My first concept for a virtual world is a place where users can create their own levels or zones. The target market will probably be gamers around the ages of 14 to 30 who like to be creative. In the world, the player will play as a customizable avatar of their own creation within the given limits at the beginning. There are places in the virtual world for people to explore made by the developers, where players find materials to build both their avatars and their new place. Players must purchase new land to build their new area that other players can explore after completion. These areas can be made in collaboration with other players as well. This may be ideal for players who would like to build levels without much scripting knowledge.

There Social Event

I kept my persona from Second Life for There except that I have a different avatar name so I could more easily compare and contrast my social events between the two. I felt it was difficult to find a social event where there were actually people. Most people gathered at common places such as the Cosmogirl Village instead of at planned social events. At Cosmogirl Village, some people were sitting around logs and having idle conversation while many people were spamming so it was hard to keep up.


When I finally was able to find some people having a karaoke event at Beach Mountain, most people did not talk there. Randomly, people took turns to go up on the stage and some others made clapping gestures. Occasionally there were a few comments saying "hi" or something very minimum. Compared to Second Life, people in There didn't seem as friendly and talkative. Also, their tone of voice and actions seem more immature than people in Second Life.

First Impression of There

After going through the orientation in-world for There, I noticed many similarities between it and Second Life. To me, There seems like a very simplified version of Second Life as I felt like I understood most of the controls within an hour of being in-world rather than the hours I spent in Second Life trying to figure things out and still not knowing how to do many tasks. The orientation was similar in that both had a short how-to session at the beginning, but in Second Life, you were on your own on orientation island while in There, most of the things that they taught you were from popups. The lessons were also much less wordy in There.


Also, the graphics were very simple as well unlike the complex and realistic graphics in Second Life. To change your avatar's body, you must go to a Spa. There are very limited choices about what you can change unlike in Second Life where you can change almost every physical feature. If you want to just change clothes, though, you can do that anywhere. Almost everything must be bought in the world with ThereBucks or you can rent them out for a few hours. I rented out all the hair and clothes for my avatar Fragollina in the screenshot.

Second Life Social Event

I attended the Blackhearts Cafe at Central Park for their '80s music dance event. There were about 15 people when I arrived and after saying hi to everyone, about two people responded back. They invited me to join them to dance as they were all lined up and danced together as a group. There were also couples there who prefered to dance together on their own. While dancing, a guy began to talk to me and asked how I was doing. The conversation was very basic and short simply about if I was having fun. He soon left after inquiring. I felt the avatars stayed in character as they only talked about the dance in this event.

Second Life Popular Places

For the Second Life popular places, I chose to go to the Inspire Space Park. One of the guys I met in the Orientation Island wanted to explore new places with me so I gave him a teleport to me in the park. We parted ways as he had to leave but eventually a women whispered to me about joining a game they all played called Tiny Empires. From what she described it as, it was a role playing type of game in Second Life. She noticed I was new and eventually she gave me lots of items including clothes to help me start out as she said she remembered it was really difficult to start out in Second Life for her. She eventually invited me to her house and gave me a tour of it. The women was very helpful and answered any questions I had regarding the world. She also shared some of her stories in Second Life with me.

Second Life Help In-Game

As I was wandering around aimlessly in Orientation Island, I met another avatar who was as lost and confused as I was. Eventually this other guy came along to us while we were talking about how to do basic things in Second Life. Apparently the second guy made all the tutorial images in-game on the island and wanted to ask us for feedbad about how much the tutorial helped new users such as us. I thought this was interesting because this kind of event never happens in any other virtual world I've been in. Anyway, he helped us with very basic controls in Second Life and linked us to their website, showing us the schedule for some in-game Second Life classes such as with sculpties, scripting, and many more.

http://nci-sl.org/

If you look under the Education tab and view the schedule PDF, you'll see many in-game classes that can help you get started. Just thought I'd share this information.

Second Life Persona

My Second Life persona is Karrie Bloobury: she is a lively, energetic, bubbly girl who always seems to beam with happiness. Some of her hobbies include going out, socializing, and eating so much it's a wonder she still looks like a toothpick. At times, she can be somewhat naive about general knowledge but that doesn't stop her from talking in all her confidence. Karrie is a really great cook and loves cooking all the time for her friends. She really hates insects, especially large spiders with extremely long legs.

Toontown Research Part III

Comment on 3 aspects of Toontown that relate to the HOH-Agency chapter.

The chapter talked a lot about spatial navigation in vitual worlds. In Toontown, the world has many features which gives players satisfaction for exploring. The chapter said that exploring new places for the sake of just exploring can be fun. To me, it was both frustrating and somewhat exciting exploring the world in Toontown because I was lost yet at the same time it was somewhat fun as I liked building a mental map of the area.

The concept of the rhizome was explained in the HOH chapter: it is boundless and is not linear. Toontown began with a linear story as all players had to go through the initial tasks to have the freedom of going around the virtual world. Afterwards, players can see that nearly all of Toontown is connected. The player can go back and forth as they please (or if their avatars are strong enough.) There is also no ending in Toontown: players can continue to explore, gain experience, play games, fish, role play, or do whatever they wanted as long as it was within the limits of what the program allows.

One of the last aspects the chapter talks about is constructivism. Players are free to role play as their avatar of their choosing in Toontown. Players also are given their own house to build, modify, buy furniture for, and more to share with other players. They are able to create their own things within Toontown.

Toontown Research Part II

What features would you add to help yourself navigate better?

I remember during my first hour in Toontown, I found myself getting lost quite often because the entire world was so colorful that everything almost blended in together. The map you can open up in the menu did not offer much help because it lacked a lot of detail.


Eventually I became used to the area in the Central Playground, but I feel I will become frustrated with each new area. Perhaps it is Disney's intention for the player to explore, much like the HOH chapter said that players simply like to explore if it was not to complete a task.

I think exploration can be much more satisfying if there was a mini-map on the HUD that permanently showed your location in relation to other buildings on the map. Your avatar should be represented on the map as well, in the center, perhaps as a simple dot or an arrow.

Toontown Research Part I

Attempt some collaborative actions such as EZ Chat and teaming up to fight Cogs. Describe the basics of what you did and the results. What were the limitations you experienced?

Generally my fight with the Cogs went like this: I would either join up with other players who were already in combat or other players in the area would join me in the middle of a fight. Each player would choose their gag and then wait for everyone else to finish with their decision in a turn-based battle. After the players used their gags, the Cogs would either die or they would attack a player.

During the battle, sometimes players would use gags that healed other players' happiness. The healing only works on other players, not yourself, so this is an incentive for people to team up with others and not engage in battle yourself.


After the battle, each player involved in the battle would then get their gag experience points and/or complete their task(s). Usually the players would not talk to each other and just go their separate ways after the battle.

Perhaps it was because I only had weak gags, but I felt that having few gags was limiting in creating a strategy for fighting the Cogs. It makes me wonder if it is possible to later on solo harder Cogs if you are unable to heal yourself in battle. Also, players can only use the EZ Chat during battle and not type even if they enabled it. This makes it more difficult to talk to other players and come up with a plan if necessary. Choosing from the list of available phrases also takes a while unless you are familiar with the entire list.

And also, way too many people kill-steal by doing absolutely nothing while I use my hard-earned jellybeans for the gags.