Design 6400 2/14 Journal

From my discussion with my advisors this week, one major question emerges: why do computer animation if camera-recorded photos and videos seem to to do the same thing — to imitate sceneries that respond to the time of the day? During the discussion, professor Susan asked questions such as if the user would be able to add birds, clouds, or make grass sway to the wind while viewing my proposed sceneries.

The swaying of grass immediately reminded me of Flower by Thatgamecompany, which is best known for the game Journey. It can be argued that both games have the same idea of flow — the flowing of petals in Flower and the flowing of scarf and scarf-wearer in Journey. The more petals, the more pleasing the strand is. The longer the scarf, the further away the wearer can fly. Since both of them are collectibles that are added to the controllable game character and influence how the game is played, I think one of the essences of the two games is like that of the snake game — collect, grow, and control the new, grown self.

The star orbiting with trails scene I made in the first week is a very good candidate for such a “snake game.” Therefore, I decided to, instead of just a time-lapse scenery, make a playable element such as a star that goes to collect other stars.