Procedurality & Process Intensity

LCC 2700: Intro to Computational MediaIan Bogost

4 properties of the digital medium

• Procedural• Participatory• Spatial• Encyclopedic

4 properties of the digital medium

• Procedural• Participatory• Spatial• Encyclopedic

Procedurality

• Representation with processes• “Process” - the method or logic by which

something gets done• Computer code has its own logic• Computer code represents the logic of

other things (things in the world)

Procedurality and Simulation

• Computation as an attempt to replace or completely subsume real life

• Science fiction fantasy• A perversion of the

original goals of AI (more on this next week)

• The goal of some simulations: to fully represent an aspect of the material world

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Procedurality as Representation

• Rather than think of procedurality as a replacement for lived experience …

• Consider procedurality a representational practice– akin to writing, or moving images, or

photochemical effects, or other inscriptive practices

• Media perspective on procedurality

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Code as expression

• When we write procedural artifacts, we are:– Choosing what aspects of the world we want

to model, and which we want to omit– Choosing how to represent our perspective

on how those aspects of the world work– Engaging in an inherently subjective practice

of creative expression

Code as Expression

• When we “read” procedural artifacts, we are:– Comparing aspects of the model to our

impressions of them in the world– Interpreting the author’s perspective on how

those aspects of the world work– Engaging in an inherently subjective practice

of creative experience

Procedurality is…

• The principle representational mode of computation

• An inherently subjective practice of human production, not the cold touch of a dead machine

• The basis for every other representational capacity of the computer…

4 properties of the digital medium

• Procedural• Participatory• Spatial• Encyclopedic

4 properties of the digital medium

• Procedural– (Do things with code)

• Participatory– INFORM, VXML - create interaction with code

• Spatial– INFORM - create spaces with code

• Encyclopedic– Switchboard, VXML - consume, parse, and

present data with code

The Confusion of the Networked Computer

• Computers as networked devices• Computers as social devices

• Impression that computation is subordinate to the social nature of computers connected over the internet

• A common sociological perspective that omits the unique representational properties of the computer

Effective computational expression

• How do we learn to create effective procedural artifacts?

• What are the values and aesthetics of procedurality?

• “Process Intensity”

Process Intensity

• Chris Crawford, game designer, interactive story developer, and (now) pundit

• 1987 article in Journal of Computer Game Development

Process Intensity

• In computational media, there is code and there is data

• Process intensity is the degree to which a program emphasizes processes instead of data

• The “crunch per bit ratio” of a computer program is its process intensity

• In other words, how much of the representation comes from the procedural representation of processes, and how much comes from the dumping of data through input/output

Example - Word Processor

• The typewriter allows some corrections, but requires considerable retyping for larger corrections

• The word processor allows us to reprocess data we have already created– Reprocessing: calculating new positions for

words, sentences– Offering spelling/grammar suggestions– Reformatting text for layout or print

Instantial Assets

• Crawford gives the name instantial assets to the smallest unit of data a program performs processes upon

• Typewriter: the page• Word processor: the letter

Low Process Intensity Videogames

• Dragon’s Lair, 1983• LaserDisc game• Very high visual

fidelity• Focus on instantial

assets: an entire scene of cartoon footage

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High Process Intensity Videogames

• Balance of Power, 1985 (by Crawford)

• About the politics of the Cold War

• Very low visual fidelity

• Focus on processes: diplomatic and military actions and their consequences

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Contemporary Videogames

• Generally focus on instantial assets

• 3D models• Static animation• A few behaviors• Focus on visual

fidelity and designed experiences

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But!

• Computer graphics are inherently procedural

• 3D engines process polygon data to draw sccenes

• Visual techniques like particle effects are driven by code

• However, engines often abstract these high process-intensity aspects of games

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Trend toward process intensity

• Driven partly by development costs and team sizes

• Driven partly by increased expressive capacity of process intensive techniques

• Rougher procedural experiences may be more meaningful than highly designed instantial ones

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Updating Crawford’s argument

• Computers used to have a much closer proportion of storage capabilities to processing capabilities– Atari 2600: 1mhz 6502, 128bytes RAM, 2k

ROM• Now computers have massive storage capacity

and comparatively less processing power– Especially specialized computers like

videogame consoles• It’s possible to do a lot of work “offline” as

instantial assets• This partly contributes to the state of some

contemporary games

Process Intensity as Aesthetic

• However, procedural techniques may provide more desirable aesthetic experiences

• Greg Costikyan– more interaction– wider possibility space– more satisfying experiences

• In games, most are “poly pushers” • Obsession with visual verisimilitude and film

envy

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But…

• Will Wright still has more people and larger budgets than you do

• How to compete?

• An approach to computational authorship• A technique for creating expressive artifacts