Research Question & Focus

Research & References:

Starting Point –

• How can artistic texture, across different materials and media, be implemented and experienced in digital games?
• Texture is a deep topic which can be explored in a multitude of ways. However, due to this being the pillar of my potential game idea I decided to have a look at what texture actually is and how this can be used inside of a game to create something new and unique. 
• I have previously studied texture during my A Level art final piece which allows me to look more at the application of texture in different media instead of having to learn the basics of texture. 

What is texture – 

• Texture is the feel and look of a surface. Everything has a texture but in art there are different categories to texture as not all art is seen physically. 
• The main two types of texture are physical & visual, with physical meaning its tactile or you can interact with it in person, whereas visual refers to a texture that has been implied or is simulated. 
• An example of physical texture being used would be a real rope that can be interacted with or at least seen in person, whereas, visual texture would be a rope that has been drawn on paper to simulate what a real rope looks like.

Texture in games – 

• Before progressing i realised that if i simply gamified texture it would end up affecting predominantly the games art style or world design. I want texture to be actually truly meaningful and impact that players experience, it needs to be the core game pillar rather than background detail.
• I looked into what games already use texture in some way or another and the games that I picked were Hyper Light Drifter, Inside, Gris, A Short Hike, Journey, and Hollow Knight as they all have used texture and utilised and portrayed it in different ways. 

• This has helped me identify the ways current games have used texture in game and how the player can “feel” and experience the texture. This has also highlighted how much of this “feel” is built up from visuals, sound, and haptics, which I want to experiment with further.

Decision to experiment with materials –

• Because each art medium has its own unique texture which helps to create a different sense of meaning and emotion, I want to compare these contrasting materials in more depth.
• I want to document these experiments and translate them digitally to determine what is lost and what is kept in digital format. (See in Page 2 – Experiments & Visual Exploration)