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--- companions_in_games [2009-01-26 12:48] – davegriffiths
+++ companions_in_games [2009-01-26 15:37] – davegriffiths
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 ^ Game  ^ Game description ^ Attachment level ^
 | {{:pikmin.jpg?200}}[[wp>Pikmin]]|The player has to grow and use small creatures called pikmin to retrieve parts of a ship which has crashed, and rebuild it to escape the planet. There are types of pikmin which have different abilities. Up to 100 pikmin can be active at one time.|The focus of the game is to interact with your pikmin as they help you to solve problems and carry out tasks. The game works well due to the large quantity of individuals, which is a much more forgiving strategy than using a single companion. They are also designed to be obviously very alien (as they are part plant) so the player can accept any shortcomings as "natural" and more amusing than frustrating limitations in game technology|
+| {{http://www.pawfal.org/dave/images/work/thething1.jpg?200}} [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(video_game)|The Thing]]|The player is in charge of a small squad of soldiers, and has to use them to move through the game. Your squad is driven by a "trust and fear" mechanic, where your team mates can secretly turn against you.|The trust and fear system put the agent behaviour and emotions at the centre of the game. Characters can have their trust in you increased by giving them weapons, or can be forced to carry out your orders by force - at a cost of trust by characters who witness this happening. Characters who have been with you for a long time become very valuable, and you find yourself protecting them as you play the game.|
-Breath of Fire III
-The Thing
 ======Conclusions======
 Strategies used in increasing attachment to companions in games:
-  * The use of natural language is one of the quickest ways to annoy the user, and break any illusion of intelligence, so it's generally left out, or a language which you can't quite understand is used instead, but which still conveys basic levels of emotion.
+  * Having companions dependant on you in some form (e.g. need feeding or rescuing) is a good way to build up a relationship.
-  * User investment in the design or construction of the agent increases a feeling of ownership, and therefore attachment - "My robot is the only one like it".
+  * Graphical limitations don't affect attachment levels. In fact they probably help, in accordance with the uncanny valley.
-  * Collective intelligence is generally more robust, and likely to resolve in useful emergent behaviour than relying on a single agent.
+  * The use of natural language is one of the quickest ways to annoy the user, and break any illusion of intelligence, so it's generally left out, or a language which you can't quite understand is used instead, which still conveys basic levels of emotion.
-  * Migration of companions has been tried in games, and was generally seen as a successful experiment, although yet to be fully realised.
+  * User investment in the design or construction of the agent increases a feeling of ownership, and therefore attachment - "My robot is the only one like it".
+  * Collective intelligence is generally more robust, and likely to resolve in useful emergent behaviour than relying on a single agent.
+  * Migration of companions has been tried in games, and was generally seen as a successful experiment, the user accepting a large change in technology used to visualise the agent.