Spatial structuring, cinematic mediation, and evocative narrative elements in the design of an RT 3D VE: The Common Tales Project

Espen Aarseth has famously referred to 2001 as ‘year one of Computer Game Studies as an emerging, viable, international, academic field’ (Aarseth 2001). While Real Time 3-Dimensional Virtual Environments (RT 3D VE) have become a significant phenomenon as a digital media form (game sales figures are predicted to reach $ 35.8 billion by 2007 (PriceWaterhouseCoopers 2003), academic research on them is still in its infancy. Even though research in digital media and narrative structures can be traced back to 1985 (Buckles 1985) few definite findings have emerged, because the field of research remains in a state of constant flux. The practice-based research project described below, carried out in collaboration with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (Cambridge), prepared further research undertaken as part of a PhD thesis at Cambridge University Department of Architecture 2001 – 2003. It constitutes one attempt to fill the wide gap between the furious progress driven by commercial developers in the entertainment industry, and the state of academic research in spatial digital media, of which 3D computer games form a significant part. The PhD posits three focal pointsthat 1. Spatial Structure is a fundamental part of narrativity in RT 3D VE 2. Cinematic Mediation is an intrinsic quality of onscreen RT 3D VE, which must be taken into consideration in any analysis or synthesis of narrative in this context 3. Evoking a narrative to unfold from a user’s experience within a RT 3D VE assists Abstract