Creating Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering

Book Description

David Freeman brings you the inside scoop on how to apply the Emotioneering™ techniques he's so well known for. These powerful techniques create a breadth and depth of emotion in a game, and induce a player to identify with the role he or she is playing. Mr. Freeman's techniques are so highly sought after because they're the key to mass market success in today's competitive game market. The over 300 distinct Emotioneering techniques in this book include (to name but a few): ways to give emotional depth to an NPC (non-player character), even if the NPC has just one line of dialogue; techniques to bond a player to a game's NPCs; and techniques to transform a game into an intense emotional journey. In a warm and crystal-clear style, Mr. Freeman provides examples which demonstrate exactly how to apply the techniques. He also shows how some of these techniques were utilized in, and contributed greatly to the success of such games as "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City"; "Deus Ex"; and "Thief" I & II, among others. The book is packed with striking art by some of today's top concept artists and illustrators, including an eight-page color section and a four-color, fold-out cover. When you've finished this book, you'll be equipped to apply Mr. Freeman's powerful Emotioneering techniques to artfully create emotion in the games you design, build, or produce.

Customer Reviews:

A decent read.......2006-12-12

It does tell you a lot of techniques, but it doesn't tell proper practice. Its ok for game design since the (western) industry isn't very sentimental when it comes to games. Mostly the Japanese are coming out with RPGs with a lot of sentiment. I think its good that someone is trying to help with dry gaming. I do like games like unreal, tetris, street fighter, which have little to no plot, but I don't like to be a weapon of mass destruction without a cause.

The book can be comparable to a core paper-pencil rpg book for storytellers.

As far as "emotioneering," I think its a catch phrase. And many of the dimensions used for creating characters you could get out of a white-wolf book.

Overall, the book is good at telling you how to use techniques for characters and story/plot. Its cheaper than taking a scriptwriting class or a creative writing class.

Mostly Useless.......2006-10-07

I'm surprised by the reviews from people claiming to be game industry veterans who say they've found this book to be useful. Either they're not really in the game industry (possibly PR flaks?) or they haven't learned much in their time here.

General comment on content: Between the massive amounts of interior artwork, the big body type, the big (and frequent) headers, unusually wide margins, and lots of white space, there's probably only about 75 pages of actual information in this "500-page" book. Think of it as more of a booklet.

Mr. Freeman's credits are hard for me to verify. Web searches turn up some titles he's gotten credit for contributing to, but none of them were AAA titles. And there's no way to know for sure how much he actually contributed to them. Having been both a freelancer and internal writer/designer, I know outside writers who've been completely useless to games' development, so a claim of credit doesn't mean much, IMO. I have no clue what expertise he has with movies or other media, but I'm not too hopeful after reading his book on game writing.

One big problem I have with his book is the jargon he insists on excreting everywhere. This isn't game industry jargon, movie jargon, or any sensible jargon that I know of. It's jargon he seems to have made up to try to claim writing techniques and mechanics as his own. And he really, really likes to capitalize the (sometimes excruciatingly long) names of "his" techniques. A sense of impending doom approaches when you first see the word "Emotioneering" (capitalized, of course), looms high overhead when you see such phrases as "Plot Deepening Technique" and "Dialogue Interesting Technique," and crashes down with skull-crushing force upon reading the phrase "Player Toward NPC Relationship Deepening Technique." Ouch. Lack brilliance? Try BS!

How can anyone read a sentence such as "A Character Being Genuine is an NPC Rooting Interest Technique, but not a Character Deepening Technique" without laughing? (And, yes, the capitalization and comma fault are the author's.)

The bottom line is that this book doesn't seem (to me) to have much of value to offer anyone who's been in the industry for any length of time. If you're trying to break into the industry, however, you could be deluded into thinking that you're learning something useful here. FWIW, that's the opinion of someone who's actually been in the games industry since 1984. I keep trying to read this book, hoping to get something out of it, but can't get more than 20% into it before giving up.

If anyone knows emotioneering, it's Dave "Emo" Freeman.......2006-07-27

"Creating Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering" is clearly a guide every video game designer could read as long as they weren't dyslexic or something. And if they are dyslexic, maybe they could get someone to read it to them. Come to think of it, that would be a great pick-up line: "Excuse me... I know we've never met, but would you mind reading this book, 'Creating Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering' to me? I seem to be dyslexic." In the midst of an everchanging world, it's nice to see that, throughout the centuries, one thing rings true: Games still can be emotional as long they are emotioneered properly with appropriate use of craft and art and creation.

Fake Reviews?.......2005-10-10

Did you notice most of the glowing, 5-star reviews are all written by people who put their job title as their name? "Video Game Designer," "Film Producer," etc. Who does that legitimately? I can't help but think the author wrote most of the glowing reviews himself, but apparently couldn't "emotioneer" enough creativity to think that normal people don't use their job description as their name.

Good book for anyone in the craft.......2005-09-07

Basically, Creating Emotion in Games is a collection of techniques that you can use in your games to help make the player become emotionally attached to the characters in the game. These aren't necessarily shortcuts, but ways of looking at characters and plot that are common in the screenwriting world, but aren't common in the world of videogames. He goes into ways of making the player care about the main character, about the side characters, about the actions they choose, about the world, etc. Nearly all of the techniques are valuable depending upon the context, and can be applied readily to games that are currently under development. They also focus on the part of game development that, sadly, most developers are unfamiliar with.

Unfortunately, like many other game development authors, he has a self-aggrandizing tone that is difficult to get past. Occasionally he'll tell you the "greatest game idea ever" and all you can think is "Wow. That doesn't sound like fun at all." The example games he gives for his techniques are completely generic video-game ideas without a lot of originality.

Overall, though, this book succeeds in opening up avenues of exploration for game designers to improve their craft. It certainly added depth to the way that I think about the games I design, and did so in spades. I can't think of any more glowing endorsement.

Creating Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering

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Creating Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering
David Freeman
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MU6PW0

Book Description

The Ruthless Leader

What could a fifth-century b.c. Chinese general's treatise on military strategy and a fifteenth-century Florentine satirist/philosopher's essay on how to be an effective potentate have in common with advice from a former Treasurer and Deputy Chairman of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party? More to the point, what could these texts contain that would be of value to a businessperson trying to get ahead in today's volatile, globalized business world? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

The Prince, The Servant, and The Art of War are unrivaled sources for anyone who seeks to understand the elaborate, often brutal, rituals of strategic conduct in any day and age. Each was written by an undeniably perceptive observer of humanity, and each offers unvarnished truths about human nature, especially as it expresses itself in an organization-whether it be political, military, or corporate. In each classic, the author builds on his experiences to develop timeless principles for exploiting human foibles in order to promote one's own self-interest, while at the same time doing what is best for the organizational bottom line.

In the introduction to The Ruthless Leader, Alistair McAlpine weaves a thematic thread that connects the important themes common to all the texts in this trilogy. He mines them for their most powerful insights, compares them to one another historically and topically, and places them in a contemporary context that makes it easy for today's readers to understand how they apply to the day-to-day working of a modern business organization.

Call them ruthless or simply pragmatic, but these classics comprise an indispensable survival guide for anyone who wants to swim with the sharks without being eaten alive.

Alistair McAlpine was Treasurer and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party for fifteen years under Margaret Thatcher. Active in the worlds of commerce and the arts, he is a commentator in both fields. He was a regular columnist for the Spectator and Express on Sunday, and a frequent contributor to a number of national newspapers. He is the author of several books, including The New Machiavelli (Wiley) and The Servant. Lord McAlpine was, for many years, the director of his family's construction firm, Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons, Ltd.

Timeless Truths of Strategy...

Machiavelli's The Prince:

". . . if a prince who has not great judgment of his own consults with more than one, their counsels will never agree, nor he have ever the cunning to unite them. Every man will advise according to his own interest or caprice, and he not have the parts either to correct or discover it: and other counselors are not to be found, for men will always prove bad, unless by necessity they are compelled to be good. So then it is clear-That good counsels, from whomsoever they come, proceed rather from the wisdom of the prince than the prince's from the goodness of his counsels."
Alistair McAlpine's The Servant:

"It is important to understand that an accepted fact is more powerful than the truth. . . . The Servant is not a seeker after truth, but one who will take the view that best suits the Prince. The Servant will then promote that view until it becomes an established fact. As the argument moves away from the truth to the perceived truth, so the Servant has the evidence of his newly made 'facts' to base his argument on. Even though it may be far from the truth, the fact, once established, will be generally agreed by all."
Sun Tzu's The Art of War:

". . . to fight and conquer all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."
The Ruthless Leader

Customer Reviews:

Not what I had expected.......2002-08-20

As a person interested in political science, I have many works from the original authors. Reading the reviews (editorial and customer), I had expected that I would receive a book which would interpret these works in a manner that I had not previously seen, or somehow bring something "new" to the table. Instead, the books contains three moderately well done introductions, followed by the "same 'ol, same 'ol" strategy of consuming pages by placing what amounts to a photocopy of the books the author purports to analyze as the text of the entire book.

Bottom line: If you have none of the three texts of the book, and are new to political science, its not a bad book. However, for anyone who was some knowledge and owns some of these books, your best bet is to buy something else like "Machiavelli For Leaders" or even "The 48 Laws of Power".

highly interesting, moderately helpful.......2001-12-22

This three-in-one collection is indeed great value for money, and it provides many valuable points in regard to other human beings. It is quite interesting to read the works of all three theorists as they really open the eye to how much mankind has painted the false image of constant forward evolution - man has been and always will be of the same character. This is perhaps the most valuable lesson of the book. However, McAlpine as Editor has left no hint of how to apply these rules and methods that Sun Tzu, Machievelli and, to a lesser extent, the Editor himself, so delicately developed to modern life. The introduction and its lack of proper juxtapositioning of historical circumstances is the only real setback of the book(s). Otherwise, an interesting - though difficult - read.

The Vigilant Leader.......2001-09-13

Ruthless Leader is a compilation of three separate works `The Prince' by Niccolo Machiavelli, `The Servant' by Alistair McAlpine and `The Art of War' by Sun Tzu. All three works have indisputably immense knowledge of their surroundings and the ploys to gain advantage over an adversary.

`The Prince' teaches one the politics of holding on to power. For prince, politics is war and any deceit and chicanery is possible. According to this principle victory must be ruthlessly sought; in the end no matter how treacherous, justifies the means. As the following passage proves "How honorable is it for a prince to keep his word and act rather with integrity than collusion, I suppose everyone understands: nevertheless, experience has shown in our times that those princes who have not pinned themselves up to that punctuality and preciseness have done great things, and by their cunning and subtlety not only circumvented and darted the brains of those with whom they had to deal, but have overcome and been too hard for those who have been so superstitiously exact". In this belief a state must be retained by cunning, shrewdness, deception and continued preparation for war.

In `The Servant', the attendant has to believe in the idea - a philosophy developed by the prince as a leader by which the state is ruled. The servant on the back stage through diplomacy spreads the idea to gain consensus. The Servant needs to be self-motivated and serves the prince out of loyalty to the idea rather than loyalty to the prince himself.

In the `Art of War' the underlying tone is discipline. Discipline via fear is however useful only up to a point. There must be a motivating force for all people who aspire to succeed, whether in the field of business, politics, administration, government or warfare. Wars cannot be won by just mere strength but it is on a conglomeration of factors, which need to be accounted. Sun Tzu emphasizes the need to take the moral of oneself and its enemy, the environment and other barriers into consideration. The moral strength and intellectual faculty of men were decisive in war, and that if these were applied war could be waged with certain success. Never to be undertaken thoughtlessly or recklessly, war was to be preceded by measures designed to make it easy to win. The master conqueror frustrates his enemy plans and breaks his alliances; he creates cleavages between the sovereign and minister, superior and inferiors, commanders and subordinates. His spies and agents are active everywhere, gathering information, sowing dissention and nurturing subversion. The enemy needs to be isolated and demoralized and his will to resist broken, thus without battle his army is conquered his cities taken and his state overthrown.

In Ruthless Leader all three writers are very vigilant and keen observers on human psychology. A highly recommended book for all.

3 Classics in 1 Book, Great Value.......2000-07-31

Nicolo Machiavelli's The Prince is a fifteenth-century Florentine philosopher-satirist's essay on how to be an effective potentate. Alistair McAlpine's The Servant contains political advice from a Thatcherite politician whilst Sun Tzu's The Art of War is a fifth-century B.C. Chinese general's treatise on military strategy. The combination of these three works makes a devastating statement about human nature.

Each was written by an undeniably perceptive observer of humanity, and each offers unvarnished truths about human nature, especially as it expresses itself in an organisation-whether it be political, military, or corporate. Each classic portrays timeless principles for exploiting human foibles in order to promote one's own self-interest, while at the same time doing what is best for the organisational bottom line.

They are unrivalled sources for anyone who seeks to understand the elaborate, often brutal, rituals of strategic conduct in any day and age. As such, these texts contain valuable lessons to a businessman trying to get ahead in today's volatile, globalised business world. Call them ruthless or simply pragmatic, but these classics comprise an indispensable survival guide for anyone who wants to swim with the sharks without being eaten alive.

Generals, Princes, and Servants.......2000-05-13

My own opinion is that both Sun Tzu and Machiavelli devote little (if any) attention to ruthlessness per se. True, the decisions of a military leader may be described by others as "ruthless." However, throughout The Art of War, Sun Tzu stresses the importance of doing everything possible to avoid battle before engaging in it only as a last resort, of winning a battle before it is fought, of capturing the hearts of those defeated, etc. In The Prince, the emphasis is on political expediency to sustain control, not on ruthlessness. That is, doing whatever it takes. If the necessary behavior is viewed by others as "ruthless", so be it. I also question if The Servant qualifies as a "classic" of strategy and power. If he were not its author, would McAlpine still have included it?

What we have here is a well-written Introduction, followed by the texts of The Prince, The Servant, and The Art of War. (This sequence makes no apparent sense.) Sun Tzu suggests what must be done to achieve military victory. Machiavelli suggests what a leader must be and do to achieve and then maintain absolute control. McAlpine suggests how a servant can be most helpful, hence most valuable to whomever served. (For McAlpine, that would be Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.) McAlpine is not an expert on either Sun Tzu or Machiavelli, nor does he claim to be. For him, the power of the Servant is determined by the nature and extent of influence on those who rule. I wish he had devoted at least some attention to such servants in the courts of He Lu (Prince of Wu) and the Medicis.

McAlpine asserts that each of the three texts can be useful "to the one working his or her way through any organization and to the person who could perhaps become prince." Perhaps. But if that is true, it is the reader who must determine the nature and extent of that usefulness...and do so without much assistance from McAlpin. END

Book Description

Providing a comprehensive overview of the significance of the glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, this study reviews the theory behind climatological observations. It describes present modelling studies and predicted future changes in the mass balances of these key indicators of global climate change. The volume is an important reference for scientists working in climate change, environmental sciences and glaciology.

Mass Balance of the Cryosphere: Observations and Modelling of Contemporary and Future Changes

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Mass Balance of the Cryosphere: Observations and Modelling of Contemporary and Future Changes
Jonathan L. Bamber
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUZOEK

Book Description

Software modernisation or re-engineering as a concept lacks universal clarity. System Building with APL + Win seeks to clarify this problem by identifying the solution to the long term survival of the APL application as the elimination of APL specific considerations in the choice of a development tool. The author shows how to deploy mainstream industry standard system components within an APL + Win development environment, enabling the APL application to be just like any application on the Windows platform.

Demonstrates the power and agility of APL + Win in today’s approach to system building
Features a ‘code intensive’ approach, which overcomes the lack of APL+Win specific documentation of system components
Illustrates the potential for multi-language system building from an APL+Win environment
Explains how increasing the collaborative nature of APL will enable it to become an even more valuable tool for application development

System Building with APL + Win provides an excellent resource for system developers and training providers using the software, as well as MS Office users who wish to incorporate it into a bespoke application development. It will also be of interest to users of other APL interpreters.

RSP Series in Industrial Control, Computers and Communications

Book Description

CLARICE BEAN is back and SPELLS TROUBLE - in a paperback full-length chapter book!

CLARICE BEAN seems to be in nonstop TROUBLE, almost as much as Karl Wrenbury, who is the naughtiest boy at school. Mrs. Wilberton is planning a SPELLING BEE, and just thinking about it gives Clarice a STOMACHACHE. It's a GOOD thing there is also going to be a class performance of The Sound of Music, and Clarice is EXCEPTIONORDINARILY keen on landing a STARRING role. But when Karl Wrenbury has a family problem and gets into really big trouble, Clarice does something UTTERLY unexpected !

Customer Reviews:

I just started, but like it so far!.......2007-04-29

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean I read that book at the start of the review and got it at my library. Lauren does brillant on the Charlie and Lola series, as well with Clarice Bean. She's like me (mostly) and I'm a boy! It's good so far!

Great Pick for Young Readers.......2006-12-07

It seems like all Clarice Bean can do lately is get into trouble. She doesn't mean to--it just happens. Of course, much of her trouble comes in the form of her teacher, Mrs. Wilberton. Every time Clarice spells a word wrong or lets her mind wander, Mrs. Wilberton is there to catch her.

A lot is happening at school. Clarice and her best friend, Betty Moody, are in the school play, and Clarice has been practicing for a spelling bee that is also coming up. Her other friend, Karl Wrenbury, is working on the play, too. This is the best side anyone has seen of him, as "he is the naughtiest boy in school."

When big trouble happens, Clarice will have to make a hard choice of whether to get herself out of trouble or to take a stand for a friend. Clarice's favorite junior detective, Ruby Redfort, would know what to do. But will Clarice?

Girls will identify with Clarice Bean and her antics. Lauren Child's engaging style entertains even as the story unfolds. Doodles and font-effects throughout will amuse young readers. In this story, Clarice has to make a big decision that will make readers think about the meaning of friendship and sacrifice.

This chapter book is a good pick for young girls (some boys may like it too), especially reluctant readers.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
12/06/2006

Want to get lost in your books?.......2006-10-05

Do you want to go on an adventure just right in your school well then read this book. It's called Clarice Bean Spells Trouble by Lauren Child. It's about a girl who hates her teacher and gets a new one. Well she can't have too much fun because she has so much going on like her good friend hates her and she has a spelling bee to win. It will make you feel like your in the book. If you like to get lost in your books then buy this book.By Kathryn

Great story, lovely language, highly appealing.......2006-06-05

Absolutley gorgeous, a continuation of the character of Clarice Bean from the picture books by Lauren child. Clarice Bean is a hugely appealing character, she is quite witty, always child-like, with the same child-like fascinations and complexities.

In this second book in the series Clarice Bean has a series of problems - there is a spelling Bee at school and Clarice Bean does not like spelling Bees, but in actual fact finds out that she enjoys finding out about words and the meanings. There is a lovely scene in the book where she speaks in Q words, and her mother and father do the same. It is great fun. There are serious things in the background which tend to fly over children's heads. Clarice Bean's friend Karl Wenbury has tracked down his missing father, but is clearly disappointed by the response. While we never actually see this happening Clarice Bean witnesses the aftermath of it all.

At the same time there is the school Play and clarice Bean desparately wants to play Leisl from the Sound of Music, only she is given the part of Nun 4, and then relegated to Nun 7.

Lauren does children and their reactions and idioms beautifully. what she also does nicely is natural justice, which is something very difficult to teach, But sometimes bad things happen to good people, and sometimes things which are true cannot be said and so on. Its a lovely reflection of life for which children 5-9 will find appealing.

Just like the picture books, Lauren Child books are appealing to adults, or this adult at least. In Clarice Bean, Child has created a well-rounded and interesting character, and a fun story - all based around the sortsof things which children do experience.

A Clever and Insightful Book .......2006-02-05

My daughter (8) and I appreciated the humor and thoughtfulness in the complexity of the problems Clarice Bean encountered, from not getting the part she wanted in the school play, to unfair treatment from an unreasonable teacher, to a friend struggling with an absentee father. Clarice approaches these difficulties with wit, compassion, and perserverance, attempting to approach each obstacle with the keen problem solving methods of her fictional hero, Ruby Redfort. With chapter titles like," It is Hard to be Happy for your Best Friend when you are Utterly Disappointed Yourself" and "Sometimes when you Need Things to Get Better They Just Get Worse" writer Lauren Child understands that children can face issues as morally complex as adults. Clarice is remarkably clever and the antics of her friends and family offer lots of comic relief. Clarice's commentary on her challenges in preparing for the spelling bee is a delightful bonus. Clarice must make a difficult choice at the end of the book, one that has stiff consequences for her. While some may disagree with her decision, I admired Clarice's attempt to make a choice that included both understanding and compassion.

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