As many people noted at the DiGRA2009 conference, games researchers tend to write about and play the games they are interested in, and I think to some extent that’s true. I’m more of a 1st person/3rd person player, more than likely linked to a youth of growing up in a world of platform and puzzle games. Although the majority of my gaming in recent years has consisted of games that allow me to play a level, or complete a puzzle and then put it down for a few days/weeks/months until I have the hours in the day to pick it up again. I haven’t always had the time to be absorbed in games for days at a time, and although I’ve played a few ‘god games’ over the years, they’ve never been the focus of my game collection. My gaming preferences usually allow my avatar to be a part of the action, having the game path unfold in front of me, rather than have a screen filled with isometric views and mouse cursors.
This has changed recently and I’ve had a chance to pick up those games I’ve often discarded. I now have more time to sit down and explore, and this exploration started with playing The Sims 3. From previous experiences I understood the time needed to try and appreciate the game. I’d seen people sit at the screen for evenings on end after work, and although I wasn’t convinced I could give it that much dedication I was willing to give it a go (mainly driven by reading the story of ‘Alice and Kev’, a while back and a since lingering curiosity as to what may happen to my own Sims).
In starting the game, I was right in that I needed time for this. Even setting up the character was a fairly lengthy process. Is it going to be boy or a girl? How old did I want it to be? What would it wear on each occasion? Picking the clothes for one outfit was enough, so I rushed through the other processes, I just wanted to play. So there I was, decorating my new house, finding a job for my Sim so they could continue buying more items to make them happy, throw parties for their new circle of friends, and hire a cleaner in the hope they would stop complaining about living amongst dirty surroundings.
Truth be told, this was starting to become more like real life, except a lot more stressful. Showering, cleaning and preparing food are all extremely time consuming tasks. As Noah Wardrip-Fruin states, “…there never seems to be enough time. At the start of the game jobs must be found – and then it’s a challenge just to get the Sims fed, showered, and urinated before the carpool comes to pick them up”[1]. Keeping my Sim in the green happy state and out of the red meant less time exploring the city and meeting new people. I had to rely on phoning random Sims up, and making connections through online chatrooms in an attempt for it to throw parties and make friends. This was less time consuming than going out to the ‘real world’ park and meant my avatar would be back again in time to get some sleep so it would have a productive day at work. Maybe this is deliberately supposed to be linked with the change in times, of a world of social networking and supposed less ‘real’ interaction with people in the outside world. Whatever the purpose, the novelty started to wear off, as I tried to keep up with all the demands and I found myself using the fast forward button more and more in an attempt to speed through the mundane and find something more satisfying.
It was during this fast forward process that a glitch occurred. Now, glitches in games can be extremely satisfying. I have previously written about the ‘contributive aberrant player’, who may want to deliberately explore the glitches in games, to help others find shortcuts and new experiences within the gameworld.[2] James Newman also discusses ‘glitch-hunters’ within games, players seeking to gain recognition amongst their peers in finding and documenting glitches through online forums and cheat guides, as well as the use of glitches in ‘speed-running’ found to increase performance and completion of levels in the quickest time.[3]
This time, The Sims 3 presented a slightly more disturbing glitch, one that did not help gameplay but in many ways hindered it. Through fast-forwarding the game, one of my Sims characters had essentially become ‘stuck’ in time. Any interaction between myself and the avatar had become lost. I could no longer control the Sim’s actions, but at the same time, the software was continuing the Sims sequence of actions although they were no longer playing out on screen. The Sim became a static avatar, yet the underlying code was still playing out the motions expected of the Sim in its ‘free will’ mode. Although the Sim could no longer be controlled, the avatar’s user interface was sending back information that the Sim was hungry, it had missed its curfew, it wasn’t attending school, it was dirty and uncomfortable. Their meter remained in the red, with text reminders that I wasn’t adhering to the Sims needs, yet there was nothing I could do. The glitch meant I was no longer in control, I couldn’t cancel actions, I couldn’t move my Sim anywhere, and although it would recognise me trying to add new actions (such as taking a shower, and getting food), these actions were no longer added to the list at the top of the screen, and any previous ones still remaining in the list could not be cancelled.
My Sim was now stuck in a parallel universe, one in which the character continued to ‘live’ and tell myself (the player) that it had certain needs fulfilling but I (playing as ‘god’, as controller of their actions) could no longer provide the tools needed to satisfy any of these living conditions. It highlighted the underlying programming of the gameworld. Not only was I experiencing the outcome of the games animated loops, the code itself started to be revealed through the glitch. The game’s ‘algorithm’[5] was being exposed through the glitch, as it same ‘need states’ of the avatar were being sought after, yet it was impossible for the player to ever achieve them for the avatar. The underlying game mechanics and the displayed screen were generating alternate pieces of information. Noah Wardip-Fruin discusses character intelligence in terms of the ‘finite state machines’ (FSMs), in that once a task has been completed, the character then goes on to achieve a new task, leading to a chain of events in a narrative. Wardrip-Fruin goes on to state how “In The Sims the problem comes from something other than the usual logic of the FSMs. Rather than animations driven by FSMs that are segregated according to character goals, The Sims’ action and their animations are compartmentalized via smart objects (e.g. a ‘shower object’ contains information about its impact on the Sim and how it is used, including a pointer to the animation involved)”[4]. Therefore each Sim responds to this chain of events determined by the player (or the computer program whilst in ‘free will’ mode). Each animated event can be cancelled a new one started, but in certain animations such as washing the dishes or feeding a baby, the animation has to come to an end before the next one can start. As the ‘free-will’ mode is essentially ‘looking’ for the next set of animated events to satisfy the ‘need conditions’ of the Sim when the player is controlling another character, I, as a player, do not have to attend to each Sim’s individual needs. It is through the use of a ‘finite state machine’ that this glitch has in many ways occurred. The underlying code within the game is trying to attend to every need of the Sim yet does not ‘understand’ that these actions are stuck and no longer playing out in the gameworld. Therefore my character remains trapped in a void, with no end in sight.
It has been weeks now since this glitch occurred. It has also happened to me twice, in two separate playings of the game, and both times it happened whilst fast forwarding the action, only to return to the ‘real-time’ of the game for the Sims avatar to be stuck in this ‘timeless’ state. The other characters within the game continue to function as normal. I still have full control over the other members in my Sim family. None of the Sims care that the other Sim is stuck in her own world, ‘existing’ in an uncomfortable life with no one to rescue her. Although ‘birthdays’ have been and gone for the glitched Sim, she continues to not age. If this was reality, her lack of food and water would have killed her by now, but I will never see the ghost of this Sim.
In fact, she now lives on as a ‘glitch ghost’ within the system. Although technically she is still ‘alive’ within the code of the game world, the avatar is no longer functioning in the real time displayed graphics for me to control. However, I’m still reminded of her presence, through the automatic reminders, her status bar, and the objects associated with her character within the gameworld. Unlike a dead character within the gamespace, I am reminded of her desperate need to seek food, go to school and party with her friends by the generic text prompts used in order to usually progress my way seamlessly through the game.
In contrast to other glitches I have explored, this one proved the most interesting. It is an actual bug in the system more than a useful glitch the player can use to their advantage. Rather then this bug crashing the system, it has only crashed one layer of action within the gameworld, and it makes me want to return to the game once a week or so, just to see if it still remains. I have a character that is due to die soon, so it will be interesting what happens then. I’m not sure if the frozen avatar will ever function again in the gameworld, but her continuing presence has definitely kept my interest for the time being anyway.
[1] Wardrip-Fruin, N., Expressive Processing, 2009, Massachusetts: MIT Press. 315.
[2] Gazzard, A. Grand Theft Algorithm: Purposeful Play, Appropriated Play and Aberrant Players. in Mindtrek2008. 2008. Finland.
[3] Newman, J., Playing with Videogames. 2008, London: Routledge. 134.
[4] Wardrip-Fruin, N., Expressive Processing, 2009, Massachusetts: MIT Press. 173.
[5] Manovich, L., The Language of New Media. 2001, Massachusetts: MIT Press. 231