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I'm taking a psych course in creativity. It's been surprisingly interesting and fun. It's also a humanities course at a college in a liberal city. In other words, hippies n' shit.

The personal or group project consists of a substantial piece of work (e.g., if you write a paper, something between 5-7 pages) that demonstrates your increased knowledge about creativity after taking this course

So, for the project, I'm taking a look at the n mapping community in the context of the course. I'll probably attach a map I've made myself (that sort of thing is encouraged). In brief, we've covered:

-the origin of creativity in the mind
-the effects of social influence on creativity
-people's preferences with regards to creative works
-various specific aesthetic preferences (the only ones I can think of that apply to mapping are patterns and symmetry)
-practice vs. talent in developing creative skills
-do external influences aid or diminish creativity (for this I was probably going to look at contests)
-the usefulness of collaboration in creative pursuits
(more to be added if I remember anything more)

as well as a bunch of stuff that's probably not applicable (for instance, creative people tend to be depressed).

Actually, that parenthetical statement might be helpful. Are any of you depressed? Heh.
Since y'all are the subject of the paper, I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions as to what I should look at? Map aesthetics is probably going to be easy to tie-in to the visual arts-focused parts of the course, but I'm hoping to be able to look at playability as well.

scythe33 wrote:-the effects of social influence on creativity

KRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCH

Edit: Just read the last line you wrote. The interesting thing about N levels is that they're almost always playable. My 190-char level generator is a good example of that. Despite having zero sense of order in the maps it makes, the player can still find a way to play them.

LittleViking wrote:

scythe33 wrote:-the effects of social influence on creativity

KRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCHKRUSCH

Edit: Just read the last line you wrote. The interesting thing about N levels is that they're almost always playable. My 190-char level generator is a good example of that. Despite having zero sense of order in the maps it makes, the player can still find a way to play them.

Yeah, that's a good observation, though it's not all too helpful in writing about the creative process, heh.

..which reminds me of one thing I forgot to mention: what sort of environment do you usually make maps in? The question sounds cheesy (especially with things like ten-minute-maps, etc.), but it'd be good to include.

Maybe some of those useless polls that the forums have accrued over the years might amount to something in your project.

In the context of creativity, you could analyze how various genres of the N map have evolved to what they are now. The pioneers all made their innovations through exploitation of glitches and the game's physics. A good example might be the DDA, and subsequent iterations.

For map making inspirations, you'll often see people posting lyrics of any songs they were listening to; art, shapes, things they encounter in life. Mappers often centre their maps around certain themes, and so on.

This sounds like a really interesting paper. I suggest having a look at the various map-making guides that are lying around. Also, interviewing a few users in detail may not be a bad idea, as everyone's creative process is a little different, and having a few different but well-developed points of view would make your picture of the community a little more complete. You can use their responses to support your own arguments, too.

scythe33 wrote: ..which reminds me of one thing I forgot to mention: what sort of environment do you usually make maps in? The question sounds cheesy (especially with things like ten-minute-maps, etc.), but it'd be good to include.

With music on!

Anyway, definitely mention how the N community has taken a relatively simple, if well made, game and come up with many, many innovations. Talk about all the types of map: races, DDAs, puzzles especially, and stuff like door-eeries and different kinds of propulsion.
We're a creative bunch, after all.

PS: I wrote this very quickly, hope it makes some sense.

Pheidippides wrote:Also, interviewing a few users in detail may not be a bad idea, as everyone's creative process is a little different, and having a few different but well-developed points of view would make your picture of the community a little more complete. You can use their responses to support your own arguments, too.

That's a great idea.
Interviews will take place at some point tonight on IRC.

scythe33 wrote:..which reminds me of one thing I forgot to mention: what sort of environment do you usually make maps in? The question sounds cheesy (especially with things like ten-minute-maps, etc.), but it'd be good to include.

I'm not sure if this answers the question, but when I make maps my emotions usually go into the map. If I'm feeling calm, my maps usually have an artistic flow to them, often with a lot of space. If I'm feeling angry, then the maps are enclosed and sharp. This is the same as how I work; I usually make my 'angry' maps in the dark, and my calmer maps in a light, happy area.

scythe33 wrote:

Pheidippides wrote:Also, interviewing a few users in detail may not be a bad idea, as everyone's creative process is a little different, and having a few different but well-developed points of view would make your picture of the community a little more complete. You can use their responses to support your own arguments, too.

That's a great idea.
Interviews will take place at some point tonight on IRC.

I'll be happy to be interviewed if you want.

scythe33 wrote:

Pheidippides wrote:Also, interviewing a few users in detail may not be a bad idea, as everyone's creative process is a little different, and having a few different but well-developed points of view would make your picture of the community a little more complete. You can use their responses to support your own arguments, too.

That's a great idea.
Interviews will take place at some point tonight on IRC.

Hmm.

How 'bout you volley some questions through PM and I answer them. It's hard for me to do anything productive on IRC...

BionicCryonic wrote:

scythe33 wrote:

Pheidippides wrote:Also, interviewing a few users in detail may not be a bad idea, as everyone's creative process is a little different, and having a few different but well-developed points of view would make your picture of the community a little more complete. You can use their responses to support your own arguments, too.

That's a great idea.
Interviews will take place at some point tonight on IRC.

Hmm.

How 'bout you volley some questions through PM and I answer them. It's hard for me to do anything productive on IRC...

Well, that would be a good idea if I hadn't turned the paper in six days ago. Thanks for offering, though.

It turned out pretty well.

If you don't mind, and you still have a copy, I would be extremely interested to read this. PM me if you want to.

flagmyidol wrote:If you don't mind, and you still have a copy, I would be extremely interested to read this. PM me if you want to.

Attaching to this thread would be nice.

Izzy wrote:

flagmyidol wrote:If you don't mind, and you still have a copy, I would be extremely interested to read this. PM me if you want to.

Attaching to this thread would be nice.

Seconded. I'd love to read it.

scythe33 wrote:

BionicCryonic wrote:

scythe33 wrote:
That's a great idea.
Interviews will take place at some point tonight on IRC.

Hmm.

How 'bout you volley some questions through PM and I answer them. It's hard for me to do anything productive on IRC...

Well, that would be a good idea if I hadn't turned the paper in six days ago. Thanks for offering, though.

It turned out pretty well.

You could still interview me anyways! ^.^