Minimalist Environments | A2

A2 | Design Problem Response

Week 4 (Session 1 - 25/07/22)

Lately I've been trying to take a Zen approach to my life, situations where I'd usually react no longer fuel my emotions, and even if I did feel those emotions internally, I wouldn't necessarily act on them and show them externally. What I have been trying to do instead is, feel those emotions, let them pass, voice them out and rationalize why I feel those emotions in journal form, or even venting to a friend and just get them to listen to whatever I have to vent about.

As I try to enter this nonchalant phase of my life, and as I read through texts and lectures on Wabi-Sabi, I can see the parallels taking place. One of the fundamentals of Wabi-Sabi is the idea that there is an impermanence to all aspects of life, that everything that is comes from nothing and eventually returns to nothing. Another key aspect of Wabi-Sabi that resonates with me is the importance of contemplation. In addition to contemplation, the act of introspection has been a key tool in order for me to process the reactions I have to certain events or situations that occur in my life.

Getting a grasp on reality in your mid 20s is extremely tough. I've been trying to pinpoint key traumas, core memories and the pivotal moments in my life to reverse engineer why I feel the way I feel things. It's one thing to understand why you feel things, it gives you a sense of closure and deeper self understanding, but to change the way you react to things, to let things flow and to accept that everything is in a constant state of change is another thing. To unlearn reason is to unlearn certain behaviors and habits. Who knows, maybe embracing aspects of Zen and Wabi-Sabi, with a tinge of existential nihilism and a healthy dose of delusional optimism is the way to go.

Scope of works

Essentials:

2D environment/map layout
Textures
Character controller with WASD

Potential themes -

- Zen Garden-esque

- Natural elements like rocks, waves, soft colours and make sure to include peaceful sounds.

Week 5

This idea came to me as I was sitting down in a food court, I was enjoying a nice succulent meal and had noticed the people that were crossing this pedestrian intersection. And it reminded me of the term, Sonder which describes the feeling of realizing that everyone around you has a life as complex and vivid as your own.

(Right) These were my thoughts as I was eating my sushi.

Process - Zen Garden

1. Had to figure out what type of game I wanted make. To represent a person's journey I decided to keep it simple and make the person a sphere that was controllable. That would act as the basis of the interaction. Top down, isometric style camera felt right.

2. Decide what type of environment best suited the journey. The obstacles came about first, as illustrated in my concept sketches above. This allowed for a streamlined design process.

3. Model up the environment, which I had then decided on a Zen garden to best represent a person's life journey.

4. Final details, refining and sounds.

- Added in a calm, soothing wind sound.

- Took away some elements like the grass that felt awkward.

Process - Crosswalk

1. Already had an environment planned out and was simple to implement and model as detailed in the design process sketch above.

2. Kept the same movement system only to change the camera to be static.

3. Just had to add in pedestrian sounds, found a free sound that was in Tokyo itself which was perfect.

References

KATAMARI GAMEPLAY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVVW41iAu5A&ab_channel=PCSX2

MOVE OBJECTS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJCOC0gcU4k&list=LL&index=2

TOPDOWN 2D CAMERA FOLLOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOQV688wbU0&list=LL&index=3&ab_channel=HundredFiresGames

ISOMETRIC CHARACTER CONTROLLER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZxVBCvJDWk&list=LL&index=4&ab_channel=Tarodev

IMPERMANENCE POETRY - UTSU

https://poetrysociety.org.nz/affiliates/haiku-nz/haiku-poems-articles/archived-articles/haiku-and-zen/

SOUNDS

WIND BLOWING IN THE BUSH

https://www.soundsnap.com/search/audio?query=wind

PEDESTRIAN CROSSING IN TOKYO

https://www.soundsnap.com/search/audio?query=pedestrian+crossing

These ideas originated from my own insight on how I've approached life thus far, I think a lot of what I've learnt comes from the closest people around me, the texts that I read, who happen to derive their ideas from teachings such as Zen Buddhism & Theravada Buddhism.

A number of aspects in these fields obviously overlap, with each of them having an emphasis on their own type of meditation. Of course universally meditation involves deep introspection and through that, practicing the art of letting go of thoughts that do not serve you well.

In the same vein, the concept of Wabi-Sabi is closely interconnected with the teachings and habits of the religions mentioned above. With the idea that there is an impermanence to all of life, everything is everchanging, nothing persists and will eventually fade away. With people, nature, objects and ideas.

This one came about very randomly, but I had thought about this word for a while, especially moments of when I'd zone out in a crowded place. Films that have also inspired this notion include Chungking Express. Where the lives of each character aren't explicitly related, but are somehow in a way interconnected - with the only connection to each other is just by bumping into them on the street. Wong Kar-Wai explores each of these characters' lives and stories without actually having to know each other.