#robin arnott

[hardcoregamer]

Talking About the Gaming Side of SoundSelf with Robin Arnott

We were able to talk to SoundSelf‘s creator, Robin Arnott, about his game, its creation and influences, plus his history as a game designer.  It was an interesting conversation wandering through a good number of tangents, so here it is in full.

Check it out!

https://hardcoregamer.com/2020/04/07/talking-about-the-gaming-side-of-soundself-with-robin-arnott/369977/

[indiecade]

#ThrowbackThursday!

Robin Arnott secures the sensory deprivation mask for his game Deep Sea at IndieCade's Showcase at E3 2011.

[freeindiegame]

im null by Zak Ayles, Devin Horsman & Robin Arnott

Apparently this game can only support 20 users at once. If you are greeted with the message "Not connected. Check console output." then the game is presumably not working as intended.

[overthinkingvideogames]

One of the fascinating things about the Oculus Rift headset is the way it forces players and developers to consider the body in relation to a game. A lot of the talk is about how to represent your avatar’s body. There are questions like whether it’s a problem when you look down and see “your” body but in the wrong clothes, and fascinating art projects designed around you being in someone else’s skin. But another avenue of exploration when it comes to incorporating bodies in gaming is biofeedback.

Brainwaves, breathing patterns, heart rate, blood pressure and so on can all be used to affect and to personalise the experience of gaming. Developer Robin Arnott has been using biofeedback in his work since Deep Sea, a game which monitored player breathing to control the scuba regulator sounds they would hear in-game. His current work is SoundSelf. It’s a meditative experience which is controlled through microphone input. Ostensibly that’s a voluntary process but it incorporates elements of biofeedback because breathing rate is tied to the user’s vocal input.

“I first seriously learned about biofeedback at a GDC talk from Valve’s in-house brain-scientist,” says Arnott. “They were giving heartbeat data from an EKG [a measurement of electric potential on the skin that correlates to heart beat] to an AI Director to dynamically tailor the game’s difficulty. This was years ago, and in my mind it has since seemed inevitable that gaming controllers would eventually include EKG and galvanic skin resistance detectors. They’re cheap, and they provide a treasure-trove of personalised data to feed into any game.”

If you’ve been keeping an eye on such developments you might know Erin Reynolds’ game Nevermind. It uses similar ideas in that if the game detects increased heart rate via a heart monitor strap the difficulty will increase. The idea with Reynolds’ work is that to progress efficiently you’ll need to find ways to remain calm while playing.

On biofeedback in games.

[themadrobo]

A clear lack of professionalism, mockery of a game (Papers, Please) that lost to Depression Quest (her game) at Indiecade, whose panel of judges was chaired by Robin Arnott, a man she would eventually sleep with in the Five Guys scandal. Begging for Patreon money with a rather lackluster output and work history and gloating over bringing down websites. Stay classy.

[diarrheaworldstarhiphop]

Indie developer comes forward in light of recent allegations against Zoe Quinn with accusation of sexual harassment. Phil Fish and other Indie developers immediately harass the apparent victim, favourited by one of the indie devs Zoe Quinn cheated with, Robin Arnott.

https://twitter.com/Ouren/status/501145487261433856

This is beginning to unravel some wierd indie dev social web and I CANT HELP BUT PAY ATTENTION

[kaelri]

“The final colossus, Malus, left me with shivers. When I finally climbed to its arm, I gripped onto the fur knowing it, like the 15 colossi before it, would try to shake me free to protect itself. But that’s not what happened.

“Malus bent the arm and held me in front of its face. Those glowing eyes just looked at me. With no threat, no effort to protect itself. It just watched. Moments away from its death, there was no final effort to shake me free. Just a look. Maybe curiosity. Maybe acceptance.

“That gaze left me feeling like a cockroach. Like a nothing. A murderer of something beautiful—more ancient and perfect than I. There's no glory in Shadow of the Colossus—just desperation and the murder of god after god, a trail of sadness in your wake.

“It’s not exactly a non-violent moment, but it's a moment that put all the violence of the game into dark, dark perspective. A particularly sad reflection on human nature.”

—Robin Arnott, creator of Antichamber, in ”The Best Non-Violent Moments In Video Games“ (Kotaku)

[geniusoftheday]

Robin Arnott , Genius