"Level grinding artist..."

"Treehouse - Guild Wars 2" (Horia Dociu)

2009-11-25T20:05:00.002Z

"Treehouse - Guild Wars 2"
Content credit Horia Dociu, copyrighted to ArenaNet

After spending a few hours looking through various artists' galleries I came past this really fine piece of art. I decided it would be a great challenge to recreate in 3D so emailed the creator, Horia Dociu, and received permission to be able to use it as my reference. Thrilled indeed!:D

Take a look at Horia's awesome art.

Now time for me to get cracking.

Will post WIP updates in next few days, so watch this space.

Cheers.

Sulcata Tortoise

2009-09-11T13:08:00.003+01:00

He's mean, he's not so green...

Goal: 3000 tri/1024x1024 tex

....back from the dead!

2009-09-11T12:53:00.005+01:00

Jesus, has it really been THAT long?! Well, the months have passed and I've been pretty busy.

Graduated from DMU in July and now searching for a career into the games industry.

*fingers crossed*

Been doing some odd pieces for my online portfolio and also entered the Comicon 2009 challenge set by GameArtisans and finished my model in time.
Turned out ok but I learnt a lot about various techniques and definitely will integrate that into future projects.

Here's the dude...he'll hunt you down:

I've also been setting myself some personal 3d projects to do which will eventually go into my portfolio.

Next up...the "Sulcata Tortoise"...

Lumonix - ShaderFX 3 (free edition!)

2009-01-29T18:04:00.003Z

Get it while it's hot!

Really great free real-time shader editor that you can utilise within max. Make your own HLSL FX shaders for max viewports and in external game engines with no previous programming experience.

A little daunting at first but check out the vid tuts at Lumonix as a starter. Also can produce "Half-lambertian" lighting technique which was first developed by Valve for TF2 and was one of the reasons why I had to check this app out.

Just enter your email address at the bottom of the screen, download, get confirmation to check your mailbox, download and install the application and voila, bob's your uncle!
Also, make sure to read the installation message carefully at first so you don't install it in the wrong place.

Lumonix shaderfx3 is here.

2008 - 2009

2009-01-05T02:51:00.004Z

The xmas holidays have been and gone pretty much, now I'm back in Leicester to do some needed hardcore work!

So the previous 2 weeks back home I've been busy doing not very much work, I know it's VERY bad, and been mostly playing games on me laptop.

I was given the new Prince of Persia, well I chose it beforehand, by my brother as a nice christmas pressie and tested it out on my pc and it runs very well - the gameplay is pretty free-flowing, you run, jump, climb, run along walls, along ceilings and it's just a really satisfying pure smooth path of gaming.
The only gripe is the fact that you can't actually die, yes you have a female sidekick with magical powers and who aids you in long distance jumping, combating plus always there to handily float you out onto safe ground from a mistakened death-defying leap into the abyss.
Apart from that it's a great game.

Gave PoP a break because my bro gave me crysis to play and I finished that in about a week.
Crysis positives/negatives:
- Uber awesome graphics, with directx10 it did look nice but my comp isn't quite capable for high-end settings that Crysis needs to be able to play smoothly; stuck with directx9 and medium settings giving me a respectable 20-25 fps, overall it still looked pretty decent and great effects on your HUD screen e.g. water droplets, bits of snow etc.
- Standard first-person really, but with some nice nano-tech abilities on-hand that allow you to have max. strength, speed, armor, or invisibility cloak (extremely handy to get out of fire-fights)
- Enjoyable gameplay albeit some slightly dodgy enemy and friendly AI sometimes which kinda suck mainly on your own team who don't really seem to help at all so you have to do all the goddamn work and then the enemy AI usually just stands there and not always go into cover
- The game can become really frenzied at times where you can get stuck right in the middle of a firefight, which is good if you're a hardcore shooter fan but for the tame player it can be quite bewildering and frustrating and you really need to keep your wits and tactics about you. Even on medium difficulty it's fairly difficult later on once you get to the "tank stages".
- Had a really weird glitch on the end boss where suddenly it would disappear completely but still shoot you and I'd have to run to certain sections to see it, that was the only major glitch of the game and typically right at the end! Thought the game didn't want me to complete it!

Score Rating: 8.5/10

And finally been playing Bioshock this past week and at last have completed this RPG/shooter! Just finished today and my god I thought I was nearing the end at one point but no many many hours later that would be true. Had this game since the summer I think and left it stewing for a while then came back to it deciding and wanting to finish it.

Bioshock positives/negatives:
- I really like the art style of the game. The period 60's settings art deco style is great, the colours, lighting and directx10 shader effects are really awesomely done as well. My laptop could easily handle this on highest settings and ran very smoothly throughout without any glitches or hiccups. The various locations in this largely underground "utopian city" vary from many aspects of hot, cold, light, green, and dark atmospheres. Overall the mood setting is quite eeri at times even with the bright vivid textures and environment. A* for massive effort on this part!
- I found the gameplay a little awkward at first. It's not like any FPS games as it is partly RPG as well, enabling the player to have special powers ("plasmids") to defeat their enemies ("splicers" and also the big diving suit guys "Big Daddies") ranging from electricity, fire, ice, cyclone, telekinesis etc. and these as you progress can be leveled up, plus you have other abilities which give you certain attributes that can help with certain things e.g. "hack" bots, safes, machines more easily or even turn your foes against each other!
The game isn't a standard RPG though where you have to spend hours grafting leveling up, basically you go round and collect money, or "ADAM" which is a type of energy/credit for powering up for more power slots or ability slots etc. and then you find different machines to purchase a wide array of things. The game is supposed to be like a "steampunked" version of "Systemshock 2" but I've never really properly played the game so wouldn't know. Anyways, this also is a thumbs-up!
- The storyline is pretty awesome.
You're basically this guy who's crashed landed from a plane into the sea and the only survivor. You see this shadowy lighthouse in the distant and swim towards it, little do you know what you get yourself into once you find a "bathysphere", a type of spherical transport leading you down into the city of "Rapture" which lies underwater. The main bad guy you find at this point is to be "Andrew Ryan" who constructed this grand city only for people who he deemed were the best in humanity e.g. politicians, scientists etc.
Years of genetic engineering allowed people to give themselves abilities using newly found stem cells called ADAM. Most of these people have eventually overdosed on ADAM and thus mutating them and these are the "splicers", the enemies you see in the game.
So basically, Ryan has been mind-controlling these splicers, you find this out when you enter for the first time and a man named "Atlas" tells you all about Rapture through a service radio in the bathysphere. Atlas tells Jack, your character, how Ryan has his family hostage so that's why he needs your help to get to Ryan. Ryan believes Jack is a government spy which is why he mind-controls these splicers to attack you.
And the story goes on from there.
The dialogue and voice acting is great, plus also you get to find many radio messages scattered around the whole game which are interesting but also usually important to progressing through the game. There are a whole bunch!
- The only major gripe I had with this game is the ending. I found throughout playing the game I was really enjoying it and the story was going well until the end where it all just kinda died down and seemed to lack any real depth to it. If you play it you will understand but it seemed like I went through a WHOLE lotta effort and time to get this suckish ending. There's 3 endings depending on you saving or "harvesting" the young girls throughout the game, called "Little Sisters", and they have been possessed by ADAM so it's up to you on what you do that will affect the ending. I decided being a goody-two shoes as usual and got the good ending.
They're all pretty short (seen the others on youtube), and all really seemed to be a little anticlimatic. Kinda "half-arsed" I guess would be the words. Also, the final boss is pretty damn easy, you don't even need your "Plasmids" (shock!). But apart from the ending the whole game was pretty sweet. Can't wait for Bioshock 2.

Score rating: 9/10

LBP - MGS pack

2008-12-19T14:40:00.003Z

This is when I really REALLY wished I had the PS3 and hope to god it will come down in price soon.

LittleBigPlanet has become a huge phenomenon with the potential of having a steady stream of content every so often. It's an amazing feat what Media Molecule the creators of LBP have achieved this year with many great previous titles under it's belt (Black & White, Fable, Dungeon Keeper, Burnout and more).

LBP will keep gamers busy and hopefully happy with the virtually limitless creations of levels and Sackboy characters.

And with the upcoming release of the MGS pack, I just want my own PS3 that even more!

MGS4 was a huge success and a great way to conclude the entire series.

Hopefully the PS3 will become even greater and have a reduction in the price from the amount of huge sales it will hopefully achieve!

"LBP:MGS" review at IGN

Ben Mathis - The Return of cylinders...

2008-12-16T00:00:00.003Z

...to DMU for this week!

In similar fashion last year Mathis has decided to give a week of his time and give an insight on his character modelling skills.

Well, it's not astronomically different to last year as he is "tutoring" the new 1st years as well so they can learn from this experience as well.
But, I personally have learnt a thing or two i.e. shortcut keys for Max and photoshop too plus also the process of how he models characters as well e.g. "instancing" and a little more neat touches which I should find useful.

The only troublesome problem I had today was the...yep you guessed it...the infernal 8th floor lab in which we have been given.
I've noticed particularly today the amazingly annoying aircon going off about every 10-15mins and it disrupts whatever Mathis or any speaker trying to get their voice across the room is trying to say. Plus, the comps are also pretty slow loading something up, my laptop runs faster for christ's sake!

Anyways, enough ranting.

So, the day was enjoyable even though I was pretty shattered sitting for many hours. It was great to see the workings of the "Death Knight" character Ben created from scratched using reference from the net pretty much and drawing from his own previous experiences of life drawing and 3D modelling. The character is part of the GA mini-comp going on.

And yes once again he said this...

"A human should not have square features, they have curves, so use cylinders...not square primitives."

Never a truer saying.

Bristol Fighter - damaged state version

2008-12-06T21:49:00.007Z

Completed the fighter plane in it's damaged state version today.

I've hardly added some bits to it that I could spend more time on making it look properly damaged but the brief doesn't state how damaged it should be anyways so this is what I've come up with.

Just pulling, deleting, welding, bending and crumpling areas to create this pretty unusable plane. Was very liberating to get away from texturing "clean stuff" and to get back into "dirtying up" models. Found it very enjoyable.

I used references from internet and also COD4 which I play a lot now just to let you know!

Anyways. That's 2 down and 1 more project to go.

I'll be back soon.

Hang in there...

Bristol Fighter - completed version!

2008-12-06T21:44:00.006Z

Bristol Fighter model completely textured and finished. It may look muddy in some places texture-wise but I've tried to cram as much as possible and giving necessary bigger space for the more obvious areas that need it.

Triangles: 8472
Textures: 2x 1024x1024 diffuse+ao, normal and spec

Bristol Fighter - WIP2

2008-12-04T23:36:00.004Z

Here's me fighter plane with fully textured diffuse and just whacked on a quick specular map. Obviously needs some tweaking in places plus I still need to make a normal map as well.

Realtime hardware display viewport:

Skylight render:

GA minicomp - "Judge" completed

2008-12-02T22:00:00.002Z

Here's the FF "judge" model that I had posted a WIP before and that was finished during the summer hols.

It's not the best texturing I've done admittedly and also rigging in max didn't really go too smoothly but it was still quite a fun, fresh piece to create.

Yeah sorry, may have quite a dark contrast.

oops.

Cybernetic Goat

2008-12-02T21:52:00.002Z

This was part of a GA mini-comp. You're given a base goat mesh, it's fully unwrapped and ready to be textured to your heart's desire.

Here's what I submitted and what I should have posted ages ago during the summer break.

WW1 Bristol Fighter - WIP

2008-12-02T17:34:00.005Z

My fighter plane for the "vehicle project"...in sweet checkerboard fashion!

I decided to select this vehicle out of the other bunch because most people chose on the VW van but I really wanted to try something different. Did a BT van 1st year so I'm moving on to try the plane.

During about a month ago my sony cybershot digital camera of 3 years decided to virtually die. I mean it still had some life left in it but attempting to focus would make it chug up and then automatically turn itself off so I was a bit pissed off as I knew I'd have to buy a brand new one.
However, after searching around came across a really nice one bought from "Jacobs" just round the corner of my current flat. Nikon coolpix with 8mp plus with half-price of 4gb sd card, all for around £120 couldn't really resist the offer!

SO with a nice shiny camera in hand I did quite a bit of travelling and spending money to go to london's science museum and also duxford museum to take photo references of the specific plane to model.
Been to science museum before and was ok.
Duxford museum though I found pretty interesting. Loads of cool planes of various shapes and sizes plus other machines, vehicles etc. from the war era. A nice day out.

Onto my plane model. Nightmarish to unwrap but finally done. Has 2 separate 1048x1048 pages to maximise texture efficiency for diffuse, normal and other maps that will follow suit.

Look out for the next update.

ciao!

Environment Project :O

2008-12-02T17:12:00.006Z

Well haven't updated blog with progress for time so here's my finished environment piece in all it's glory.

Finished it couple weeks ago but never got round to posting pics. SO for all you guys interested and possibly have been wondering if I've actually done any work then here's the proof!

I used the shader created from "RTshaders" for the scene which is pretty brilliant piece of stuff.

Skydome was created using Heather's excellent simple tutorial.

And also I've gotta say this but the tree(s) created for this scene was modelled, textured and finished in considerably less amount of time than when we, the game art cohort of year 1, were assigned the "tree project" which took 2 months and look absolute crap compared to my present tree shown here. It only took 2-3 days to knock out! Crazy eh?

Anyways to the images.

Triangles used overall: 32,682

Long time posting...

2008-11-20T00:06:00.004Z

I know. It's been an unbelievable amount of time since I actually managed to write something, about 4-5 months.

Crazy.

It's been a long summer doing GA comps and I totally neglected putting anything up on my blog. Pretty selfish of me eh?

We'll get round to that sooner or later I hope.

So back to uni and after settling in had almost 2 months from september trying to set up internet. Originally going for one of the main internet providers (I won't name names) but that didn't work out so eventually had to split between my flatmates and I to activate a BT landline which cost around £120. Doesn't seem that much but it's just a simple case of BT guy coming round, putting this system into it to establish a working connection and that's it.

So that's £30 for 5 minute job.

But anyways it took long enough because we had to wait for a set date for BT to come round and then a further 2 more weeks to get O2 internet.

And now we got internet baby!

A week of internet has been such a joy. It's amazing how I really can't seem to live without it, it's pretty much a part of my life which sounds sad but true as I need it to research, look up some stupid videos, gaming, news etc.

So having internet back is awesome again.

Another thing I found to be pretty awesome is what I stumbled along just today. It's an FXshader for max which was pretty necessary for me as max has been a right ol' bastard to me and not been able to view realtime dx display of alpha/opacity maps using standard max shader. I also tried using Ben Cloward's one but that didn't apply textures correctly and it all just looked like a big ol' fuddled mess.

Not nice at all.

This was my saving grace as I literally needed to see what my alphas would look like in real-time viewport and this shader really works for me.

Thanks to "RTshader", who wrote this shader for max and tested it on Ben Mathis' "Agusturinn" model. You can download at http://www.poopinmymouth.com/

He also made a shader specifically for AMD_ATI users so if this is you then download from his site:http://rtshaders.deviantart.com/art/Agusturinn-Demo-For-AMD-ATI-102076872

Anyways, I hope to shove some work on here soon and the projects I'm doing so far for uni.

Oh yea and here's a screenshot of RTshader's test for "agusturinn" model that was originally posted on GA.

Ciao.

Uniqlo Mixplay

2008-06-29T20:47:00.002+01:00

Here's a really cool vid from a unique japanese dance crew performing robotic-flowing-like moves - cheers to Del for this.

Sick!

UNIQLO MIXPLAY - try this awesome website of theirs.

Mega 64 - Shenmue

2008-06-29T19:36:00.001+01:00

LMAO! This made me laugh hard!

Ah the past times of Shenmue.

Kenichi Ebina

2008-06-27T22:51:00.001+01:00

Old vid I just happened to passby browsing through TED, but had to Youtube it as embedded video link didn't work with TED.

This guy can flex.

3D self portrait - WIP

2008-06-26T09:15:00.008+01:00

For those who wanted to see my current progress of my self-portrait, here it is:

Veeeery WIP. I stopped after doing the head texture and realised if I wanted to bake a high-poly scuplt into low-poly mesh I would need to have made the high-poly scuplt FIRST! So texturing is on a break at the mo.

Was messing round in Zbrush with practicing sculpting and finally got the hang of it. Had problems with weird "normal bump" mapping in max as I tested with baking but solved the issue.

It was just a simple matter of "copy & paste original low-poly mesh and export new mesh as an obj to new file".....

Here's the thread you can follow my progress on gameartisans forum.

Won't be much doing at this time because i'm busy making my "mini-judge" character (see below post).

GA minicomp - "Judge"

2008-06-25T22:59:00.005+01:00

Basically minicomp at gameartisans and it's a really fun muck around challenge with making a judge either from the 5 selected in FFXII or to make your own up using whatever imagination or inspirations you might have.

Allowed specs:
-700 tris maximum

-512x512 Diffuse and Opacity maps (no bump or other maps)

Here's my WIP snapped up in 3-4hrs. Yeah could have done it a lot better and faster to be honest with better concept sketches but really hadn't much in mind at the time so just went for it in 3D using very vague sketches in the background as reference:

694 tris

Texturing will be the next fun part!

Payday! - onwards to 2.5D

2008-06-18T23:42:00.002+01:00

Well finally got paid for freelance work for short summer project for Alex Jev. Still needs tweaking with textures that I need to do for him but that's pretty much it all done and dusted!

:)

Now onto my current piece.

I've decided if I'm gonna wanna be a game character artist I really need to work on that. This is where the summer comes in and I'm gonna try my damn hardest to make some realistic models as well as more creative fantasy ones.
Currently modelling my self-portrait again because the 1st one was meh. Lots of texturing needed working, edge loops/flow needed to be better etc. But it was ok for my 1st model i guess comparatively speaking with my current level of expertise that is.

So I've learnt quite a bit these last few months especially from GameArtisans forum and also reading and learning from tutorials on the web; numerous tutorials to get what I want be it edge flow, deformations, shortcut keys (which I now use in Max and extremely useful), skin texturing, hair texturing, masking in photoshop etc.

My 1st model took me 2months to make which really does not do it justice, and this 2nd model took me 2-3 days to model it. It's not perfect in some areas but still!
Texturing is still WIP but getting there. I'll show screenshots later on.

I decided to take a break from that as really I should have made a high poly version beforehand because I really wanted to utilise the full power of normal mapping and the integration with high poly to low poly. My 1st model just had normal map slapped onto it as a low poly and wasn't really that effective. This time I want to make an improved version and more.

Began testing out Zbrush3 today using this very extensive tutorial/guide based on Zbrush2 (also have Zbrush3 guide but Zbrush2 guide is great for learning the ropes from basic level with more in-depth information).
Zbrush3 is great! Actually it's pretty awesome. I'm obviously still getting the hang of it and yes it's quite daunting at first glance but the tutorials really helped out and to be honest to me the learning curve is just a little more than learning to use Max. Well, give about a few days more.
Once I get used to the basics though, I am hoping to create a high poly version from my base low poly one.

Well I'm really enjoying using Zbrush as it gets my 2d and 3d creative juices flowing.

2.5D for the win!

Site 2a_2b - WIP

2008-05-19T17:21:00.010+01:00

Here's the building that I'm working on for the "Alex Jev Project".

Just needs few bits of assets placed here and there, then textures applied and "bob's your uncle!"

Summer Work Experience - woohoo!

2008-05-03T01:29:00.002+01:00

Well, I thought this summer would be pretty boring because of no set work/assignments etc.

But I was wrong.

It turns out that our old game art tutor, Alex Jevremovic, from the term just before christmas, showed up at our labs and presented us with the opportunity to work with him on his project of making 3D buildings for Coventry development business schemes and what have you throughout the summer holidays.

That's not all, apart from having a great experience with working with Max once again and in groups (well some of us have including me now as chosen by Alex), we also get the great bonus of getting paid work experience as well.

Awesome or what!?

But obviously our models have to be approved by Alex for him to use.

Crap or bad models are scrapped. No pay for that person, and failure for them! Well, for this optional summer project anyways.

But I intend to do exceptionally well on this just to show how much I've learnt since we all last saw Alex. And cash is a nice little incentive to get any person on a high, right?

Well, I hope I can prove myself and to Alex and everyone else of what I can achieve from this. It would make for a nice piece for my end of year portfolio and I'm sure the rest of us have the same picture in mind.

Just have to say thanks for this opportunity Alex.

The "Good", the "Bad" and the possibly "Ugly" of art

2008-04-21T02:36:00.002+01:00

Finally actually being able to come round to this subject as it is certainly an important aspect of the art world but also applies to everything else really. But we are going to just focus on art.

So what makes "good" art good and "bad" art bad? Well, it can be a mixture of things depending on how you look at it. You could easily look at a piece subjectively and also objectively.

Subjectively would usually involve you thinking if this is something that really impresses you or inspires you that you only judge a piece of work purely on the basis whether it appeals to you through experience maybe. I mean, you could be someone who hates western art, eastern art or whatever and you simply cannot even make a positive comment about the work, even if maybe it's technically accurate, has great composition, colours, lighting etc. Sometimes this can seem like a very biased-based opinion of someone, which could be deemed the wrong attitude.

Objectively looking at a subject matter is where you analyze a piece of work and make comments about what's right and wrong about it, shunning your own personal feelings towards it, and really just judging the artistic and technical abilities that define this work.

Of course, people have different perceptions of when looking at art from the experiences gathered since a small age up until the present day.

I personally always seem to prefer really amazing art, which are technically accurate and also generally looks aesthetically pleasing with a great mind for creativity. I don't mind however looking at good anime-looking pieces of art as long as they look nicely presented. If something looks plain "ugly" because of really badly drawn designs or really bad technical errors that you can quite easily see then that would be seen as "bad" art. It can be sometimes hard to judge art negatively but when you know it looks plain crap, dull and inaccurate then surely the majority of comments made on it would be "negative"?

Even so, the artist who created this piece of art may have just been lacking in learning the fundamentals of art and surely as the saying goes: "the more you do, the better you become", comes into play. This is true in art and anything else for that matter. Cooking, reading, playing sports, using a graphics tablet! These are just a few examples that we do and improve upon the more we do it.

The understanding of the fundamentals of art are indeed an intrinsic value to creating "good art".
The way I try to improve myself is to always compare my work with the art of several others that have the right style as my own created work, but also to look at the technical aspects of both pieces to see where I've gone right or wrong. Having a reference to look at whether, on the screen, book, magazine, or even a real world object to observe is a key to understanding what you are trying to create. Observing and analyzing real-world objects is the first important step to understand how things work.

I could say that some of my work look nicely presented but there are technical flaws which I need to work on. Identifying your own flaws and also your strengths is key to knowing yourself and what you could do to improve on that the next time you're placed in the same situation.

Art should not necessarily be "right or wrong", or "positive or negative", it should always be looked at in both ways.

With the exception of extremely "ugly" art.

----------------------------------------------
Interesting page I just found on "uncyclopedia - bad art".

"Bad Art is, according to the Museum of Bad Art in Dedham, Massachusetts, "art that is created with the best of intentions, but gone horribly wrong."

Also:

"There are no Bad Artists, only Bad Art".

The Queen's Project and the year- a rewarding end

2008-04-21T01:47:00.003+01:00

It began as a great concept theme, and ended as a great concept theme. What more can I say?

So for you who are not in the know, the game art year 2 cohort were split into 4 groups of 8 members and assigned 4 months (pretty much!) to use the Queen's Building interior as a template and design a whole new concept from that using our creative imaginations; based around "survival horror theme". Certainly, everyone may have been buzzing with being able to go crazy with great ideas to transform the building's interior and hopefully have a fully playable level. But, I'm sure some people were quite daunted at first with this team project.

I for one can say I was pretty anxious, but the only reason being was with who I would have to work together with and whether they really would put their full commitment to the whole team's effort. In the end, I was pretty happy with our team members. Sure, certainly I didn't know much about some of our members as I never really communicated with them before but I think we all did pretty well.

So our theme? Queen's Building set over 1000's of years and inside it's overgrown with foliage and vehicles that somehow have become entwined with this overgrowth.

That was our concept and we stuck with it all the way with no changes to the theme, no dilly-dallying with wasting time on this, which was really a great thing for us. We as a team had a strong, positive mindset and strived to achieve our intended visual creation by drawing concept designs, making assets between us all and then sticking them into unreal engine 3, which we've all admitted was a great pain in the ass many times over. Crashing numerous times in the game's labs' computers was puzzling but none of us stressed over this. We just overcame this issue calmly and continued on.

The only few minor issues we had were that and communication between each other at times especially during Easter break where some of us had no access to the internet due to certain circumstances, but we all knew that we were still working our asses off to make the assets we were assigned by our team leader, ready and waiting to be imported to unreal.

It was a final run this last week with all of us working 110% to get our assets done and polished up and I have to say, I was pretty impressed we made it to the end. We had the vision of our concept from the start in our minds, the "vista" we were talking about that would look great, the great roots, tree, foliage, big assets and small assets that would make this level come alive, and the atmosphere and weather effects that would show off our lovely assets and also make our level just that one step better. I certainly have to give a big round of applause for adam, our tech lead, for making this come true, and also a big round of applause for all the others that put their determination to make this project seem fulfilling and rewarding in the end.

I certainly was pretty damn impressed with myself over these months. I became more able to work faster and more efficiently with making 3d models as well as texturing them, which I found to be fun the more I improved everytime. Not only that, I also have gotten better by miles in Photoshop with digital artwork. I have a better understanding of the layout, tools, and shortcut keys are really helpful to reduce time wasting. It's strange because during the start of the year I didn't really work as hard as I should have with the "organic" and "mechanical" character projects and my sketchbooks seem pretty lifeless. Now I have more of a positive and also more creatively willing mind to bring life from my concepts. Yes, I guess I still need to improve on using traditional media, anatomy studying, perspective, composition and all the rest but I feel I have learnt a lot in these areas more than before.

So it has been a great end to the 2nd year and I just can't believe 3rd year is looming ever so closely. It will all be over soon. :(

Blogging posts need to be done soon after this. And after that I am finished!

Proud member of "ProjectBourbon" over and out.

Gender and video games

2008-04-18T21:47:00.002+01:00

I've been having a little thought about how video games have generally been gender-orientated more towards males and less females. This was brought to my attention during this week's small rant in the labs between some members of the game art cohort during battle sessions of "Dead or Alive 4" on Xbox 360.

The main issue being was the fact that female characters in video games are generally represented to be sexually attractive to appeal to male gamers or even general male society e.g. "big bouncy breasts" springs to mind with "DOA" especially, and this has sometimes lead to detract females' attentions towards these sorts of games; although they may still play these games if they choose to ignore these sort of factors portrayed in female characters. Hell, I don't even really mind if female characters are sexually appealing or not. What matters to me is if the character is enjoyable to interact with whether they are playable or are NPCs e.g. I enjoy playing as "Kasumi" on "DOA" because of her fighting style and not the way she looks, so if "Team Ninja" (developer of the game) ever decided to sex-change Kasumi to a man for some bizarre reason then I wouldn't care unless their fighting style suddenly changed to something more rugged and slow possibly.

I prefer fast and nimble characters in general rather than strong and hard-hitting ones. An example of this change (in fighting style!) can be seen in "Jin", comparing with him in "Tekken 3/Tag Tournament" and "Tekken 4"; basically his fighting style changed from originally "Mishima Style" (consisting of a blend of different karate style) to a more traditional karate style in "Tekken 4" which made him less able to chain combos more effectively. Well, I felt that to be honest. But, more to the point of this blog subject, there are some crap female characters usually seen thrown in games just for the hell of it, mainly to "impress" males and just potentially to not upset female gamers either. Seriously, again talking about "Tekken" series, why does "Anna, Nina" and whoever appears have to be such dire "fighting" characters (if you call them that). "Christie" however is good but she is basically the spitting image of "Eddie's" fighting style, "Capoeira", but she is female, so obviously Namco couldn't be arsed to vary her style just a little more to make her a more interesting character. It's identifiable that she was made just to appeal to both genders; she has Eddie's moves so hardcore Tekken gamers will know her and she is a great first-time character for anyone, plus she is portrayed as sexually-appealing as well.

The point is, should there ever be more female characters who don't have to be represented as a virtual sex icon, be average or hideously looking, but still be great and enjoyable to play just as much as male characters in games?

I'd say "there should".

But, characters should be focussed with the intention of being enjoyable to interact with and not always to do with their aesthetics. Video games in the future should generally have fairly equal portions of male and female characters with some having great qualities, abilities etc. and others with not so much. I feel this should be distributed fairly between both gender characters.
Obviously, this would not happen all the time, but I can see specific types of genre with these fitting aspects e.g. fighting, shooters, RPGs, action/adventure etc. You tend to see a lot of male protagonists mainly in games and not always the option to have a female one; a good specific example could be "GTA".

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

2008-04-06T16:08:00.000+01:00

Nuff said.

LOL! - MGS comedy photographer

2008-04-02T23:31:00.002+01:00

This is pure awesome!

Some of the things I seen here never knew you could do in the game, especially the last part of setting magazines on fire.

Oh yeah and are the soldiers looking at porn magazines supposed to be having one off?!

NES allstars

2008-04-02T23:22:00.001+01:00

o_0

Wtf??

Especially the gradius (spaceship), optimus prime and fighting guy in blue overalls one.

Top 10 Worse Nes Game Cartridge Art (apparently)

2008-04-02T23:04:00.002+01:00

Yea just thought I'd share this poorly done vid of the subject matter. It's not really that funny as you hear the guy having his little digs on these art, but it's kinda true when you think about what he actually says. And I have to say the "Win, lose or Draw" art...

"What the fuck?!"

Being Creative...in games

2008-03-30T19:18:00.002+01:00

Yes, I know I've neglected this whole blog tasks for a while so I have to ensure it gets done!

Whilst eating a flap-jack at my desk in Leicester I came to do some pondering...about myself being "creative" in playing games.

I've recently come to the decision that most of the time in specific game genres I play I always follow a certain set of path, especially in first-person shooters. COD4 is the most recent in FPS and I can say I've come a long way since my first go on multiplayer couple of months ago. Dieing over and over whether by snipers, claymores or whatnot was not fun. I eventually understood the reasons why these trials of continuing death had befallen me, simply the fact of the way I've always traditionally played on any FPS...plus the fact that learning the maps always helps too.

The point I'm trying to get across is that in any certain game and even in life you have to adapt to your environment in any given situation. You have to learn to be creative and if one solution doesn't work you need to find another to get past this. Life isn't black and white, and life isn't one linear path that you must follow. How you solve a problem comes back round to your experiences.
For example, how did I get round not dying as much now? Crouching a lot negates footstep sounds due to slow movements, knowing your environment and maneuvring around it as one might in real life to make cover for yourself or find a great vantage point is a necessity in order to be successful in COD4. Plus, claymores are great fun! Also, I try to be more creative in the way I move now, for example, usually I'd move around quietly and cautiously but at times I sometimes jump or move about to create noise to alert nearby players and lure them out.

A weird thing I do in any videogames is I tend to like jumping a lot in any as I have this subconscious feeling it makes you a harder target to hit because of this erratic way of moving, plus also I find it helps me to control the character much more precisely and being able to maneuvre faster to where I want to go e.g. in platform games such as Mario, Crash Bandicoot etc.

Another thing I like to do is sneak and be generally cautious especially in Oblivion. I tend to quicksave a lot (any FPS for that matter) and manual save for backup if something important's coming up or if I have a feeling of unease. If I see an enemy NPC in the distance I will always use a long range weapon that will be effective, in this case good ol' bow an' arrow, which is one of the best and deadliest tools ever created I think! Even if the alerted enemy started chasing after me I would still continue firing arrows at it and keep moving back, strafing wherever necessary as I can use the bow and arrow most effectively rather than a close-range melee weapon. I guess that's what years of gaming have done to me which seems pretty disturbing!

I wonder how I'd do in real life archery....probably no better than firing a spit's distance away. But, i'd definitely like to learn someday.

So, I think from being creative in games can also affect you in life, the way you think, move and interact. Games can influence you, it is a known fact. Unfortuantely this can mean violent or any disturbing actions may be renacted which can lead to unfortunate incidents in life. Luckily, I'm not like that, but in certain situations I'd think to act as I would in games e.g. fighting moves to aid me.

And yes, I did actually perform Ryu/Ken's (from Street Fighter) lay down throw move against someone in a fight a very long time ago which I found pretty damn awesome.

:)

PES 2008 - Wii is creative sports!

2008-03-30T18:34:00.005+01:00

Bought pes for wii today and it's kinda "love it/but hate it some" formula for me i think.
-------------------------------
Major gripe for me is the fact that to "shoot at goal" just uses a flick of the nunchuk to deliver a shot that will 9/10 automatically makes the player fire towards the goal which seems pretty damn simple and there's NO POWER BAR. To do a "lob" you have to simply flick the the remote upwards and the computer will gauge again how powerful it'll be depending on where you are and yes again auto-aim towards goal.

Goals aren't stupidly easy to score as I make it sound to be, it's just the fact that it doesn't require any complexity.

O yea and pens require you to point with a cursor towards any part of the screen and you flick nunchuk to shoot and the player will accurately aim for that target. Hmm. Not sure if it's a good thing cos it's extremely accurate than standard controls or if it's bad cos it's EXTREMELY ACCURATE so you can score most of the time (against the comp of course but against a human player haven't experimented due to lack of 2nd nunchuk and also I've tried going online play against random opponent but no such luck yet...)

Also, you can't really do complex tricks as such i.e. step-overs, 360 turns, chipping the ball over the player etc.

The other major issue is the DEFENDING! It's more indirect and you're more like managing your players to attack the opposing team. To make them mark the player with the ball you have to point at them and press A and they will target that player and hope they will snatch the ball back or you can attempt to slide tackle to gain control of the ball.

This can be annoying and confusing though as at times things can be intense as players may be at such close quarters to each other.

On the plus side, crossing the ball or passing the ball is a great feeling. You simply point at the desired player you want to target or even anywhere on the field and like in previous versions you can press B (to pass along the ground) or press B twice (to perform a lofted ball).

Also, when on the offense and you play quick passes as well as eventually managing to make off-the-ball players move to where you want it's a great feeling when you get to the point of being able to score whether a normal powerful shot, header or volley (you need to time these right to hit the ball comfortably). Again, just the flick of the nunchuk to perform these actions which is a mixture of good and bad because of it's simplicity.

Basically, it's a pretty good game overall cos you have to keep one eye on the ball and the other searching for players around the pitch to pass to, make them run forwards or whatever. Once you get into the flow of the game it can be pretty nice and fluid. But at times it could lean towards being pretty irritating, intense and challenging because of the defending side of things.

I find it a great experience cos you have to think quickly to manage your team and you have that more direct control over each player to make this game a realistic, intuitive, and strategic football experience ever.

So think PES with a twist of Football Manager.
I think ESPECIALLY on the DEFENSE side where you have to manage your players effectively in order to gain control of the ball again.

So far?

8/10

PROS:

-Tactical play; directly controlling players off the ball

-Passing and crossing is fluid and fun

-30fps throughout

-Online play (have yet to get any opponents though)

-Easy to shoot at goal including freekicks and penalties?

-Decent graphics on players and stadiums

-Decent commentary standard of previous versions

CONS:

-Indirect defending

-BAD graphics in crowd (doesn't really matter to be honest)

-Reduced amount of tricks you can perform

-EASY TO SHOOT AT GOAL?

-Indirect goalkeeping as well when defending ( previous versions allow you to take control and move about but this time you have to time it right to have the keeper move in towards the opposing player with the ball and he'll go straight for them which can be good or bad as the player can easily get past the keeper)

If you love football and own a wii then try this game out. A very fun, innovative and creative way of playing PES!

Emotiv's "EPOC Neuroheadset" & OCZ's "Neural Impulse Actuator"

2008-03-26T19:49:00.006Z

Here's a little something to whet your appetites...hopefully.

These are 2 promising and possibly successful breakthroughs to the way we play games as standard. Long may the days of controlling your character, vehicle or whatever in a video game be gone as these 2 gadgets show an innovative way of playing via your brain.

Oooh.

Well the gyst of it is that they use sensors which detect electrical impulses triggered by the brain via the person's thoughts, feelings and expressions that they have at the time. This in affect can be applied in a game to control the actions. Essentially these brain waves can be translated to a computer or console and assigned a keystroke for each individual electrical signal the brain creates so "anger" which could have the user perform a menacing-looking face as well as maybe thinking of something he hates, such as spiders or Hitler for example, could make say a character in a FPS game fire his super badass ray gun.....or something.
This is just a basic overview of the potential features these devices could do.

Also, there's this:
------------------------------------------------
"The NIA was introduced into the market by OCZ Technology as a gaming device, but has been developed in conjunction with Dr Andrew Junker of BAT, who originated the technology for medical use . The main advantages are a dramatic reduction in reaction time from approximately 200 milliseconds for a standard mouse click to roughly 80-150 milliseconds using the eyelid reflex or similar facial reactions to trigger the computer click response."
------------------------------------------------

Does that or does that not sound amazing? Imagine someone is about to creep up to you and suddenly you turn around then just blink in that split second.

They would be dead.

Sounds good in theory but I'm a little skeptical still if this would work realistically and accurately as you would like it to.

Well it seems that at first you'd think OCZ's "NIA" would pick up your thoughts but in actual fact it really only detects the nerve impulses of the muscles in the face which means only certain actions on the face will trigger the appropriate command to the character player e.g. raise eyebrow for strafe, clench teeth for shoot. So pretty hard to master in that sense.
------------------------------------

"NIA in action"
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It seems there's still a fair bit to go in developing these and testing further as shown on this video from good ol' youtube of the EPOC headset.

Near the end the guy is attempting to lift this temple-like building and even though he does it slowly once he get's his arms to the top he restarts from the neutral position i.e. back down again, and then performs the same actions. It seems like there are boundaries to when the temple stops rising and also a point where you have to begin to continue the "lift" as it were.

It's a nice start though to be honest and I'm sure these little hitches will be looked over once fully developed and ready.

3D Concept Plant - 1 day project

2008-02-14T00:33:00.005Z

Wow, actually finished the one day project fully textured! Pretty much..........

Meh.

Ok, so technically I didn't finish it on the day set which was monday just gone, but because one of the labs comp kept fucking up and being all glitchy I decided to finish it at home. Didn't do anything to it until today and felt like I really wanted to just complete it cos it was pretty fun once I got to the texturing stage!

And here it is. The "mean" or rather "innocent-looking/mean" pitcher plant concept modelled in max. Total hours would be about 7hours I'd say. I'd say that's fairly slowish for me cos I always spend more time on fleshing it out rather than getting the overall shapes quickly.

Oh yeah and creds to "CGtextures" for ground texture.

Procrastinating............bad thing??

2008-01-26T14:13:00.000Z

I decided to post something mainly because my blog is looking dusty and needs some va-va-voom...whatever the hell that is. Or just thinking about it after reading someone's blog about "creativity" made me want to write something even though I should be doing something else entirely such as "eating" because I'm seriously getting too "into the zone" with work (or rather trying to make something work in 3d max and wasting time perfecting it even if it's a small thing).

Yeah, so my excuse of not eating is because I just tend to get too wound up in work just sitting there on the 'puter clicking this, tweaking that, getting pissed off because a certain "cloth" material isn't reacting to a certain statue correctly! I get too frustrated at times that I usually go off and do something else delaying it further till later and come back to it and think, "this is good enough, no need to play around further dave, it's not a final model". I tend to always do something different when working, various common things are: look on deviantart for inspiration and tutorials, look around internet images for references and tutorials, read blogs, view projectbourbon blog to see if anyone's posted anything, check emails, youtube anything, look on game sites such as ign for new games and reviews and all the whilst listening to music in the background.
Music and computer can usually be a bad combination sometimes as I become just glued to my chair and should really be moving about. I get too immersed sometimes it's just not always a good thing. I guess in work it can be beneficial because if I want something done I will always try to push myself to get it right; usually successful cases or just pure frustration in which case I leave till another time.

After reading blogs I decided to finally pull my finger out and do some notewriting/art in my diary which I bought before the new year as a means to put my thoughts down specifically for uni but also what I've been up to as such. Possibly also used to help improve my drawings? But I've missed so many days, about 2 weeks, that they're blank so I'm gonna try attempt filling out EVERYDAY from now on with whatever crap.

So after ranting about my "procrastinating tasks" I'm gonna make me some food and play a bit of pes6 or something like that.

If I sound kinda frustrated then you'd be right. More or less I'm knackered and need energy but lots of things in my head are just nagging the hell outta me.

Until next time, and hope to be a bit more uplifting and less "brusque" I guess.

Ciao

Storm - self-development

2008-01-03T17:26:00.000Z

Decided to improve on previous "Storm" scene but also spend a bit more time unfortunately so there's obviously going to be more time and effort put into this scene.

But what the hey!

"Calm Before the Storm"

Collection - Speed Paintings

2008-01-03T14:38:00.000Z

Ruin - 25mins

Cataclysm - 30mins

Storm - 25mins

Glutinous - 20mins

Anti-Hero - 30mins

Creativity - Self-development

2007-12-18T16:15:00.000Z

Well, this is pretty much going to be a conclusion as to what I've learned this semester of the last 3 months.

Let's see.

To start off with I'll talk about my slight frustrations and rewarding achievements I've made from 3Ds Max and then onto the 2D art side of things.

So, right from the start of a new year, a new term, comes once again the exciting game art course and I was ready to challenge anything. In this case "words speak louder than actions" for me at this time and to be honest I really started to get into the swing of 3D modelling again after 2 weeks and more. It was pretty expected that we'd be designing our self-portrait models in Max and to be honest I should have practiced loads on character modelling if I want to pursue into that career path. After 4 weeks I began getting used to Max again and finding and using the right tools more efficiently. To be honest, I still model fairly slow because I always seem to spend a lot of time on one area and adding more polys to define the shape better which is really time-consuming. But, eventually once I got down into it I got to the UV mapping stage (which was a bastard!).
So much time on pelt mapping, modifying uv map and texturing really did make me go a little nuts! I spent time outside uni doing this stage of the process and mostly through late nights so was pretty tired for the last few weeks! But I did manage to achieve making my self model in time, and rigged, and also slapped on a model of a "guitar hero" guitar made with 500 tris and textured which i'm pretty pleased about. Still, wondering how to make it so that my hands won't go through the guitar itself if I was to move the arms about. But that can come later.

So, the 3D art side I'm pretty pleased about, albeit the rigging needs to be tweaked in some places to prevent some stretching. But I've learnt quite a bit on Max now and understanding it more. Especially the last week, when a special guest freelance artist, Ben Mathis, came to DMU to teach us for the week on Max and setting us a "mini-project" for "smash bros comp" (see blog below about it). There were some tools and shortcuts he showed us which really helped a lot and also the way he 3D models was amazing to see on display on the projector screen. Learning about how lines should conform to the human body or character was interesting and inspiring to take in, and also the way he textures using many layers in photoshop and using techniques to "mask" layers was a little confusing but made sense when he showed us. Although, i'm still trying to remember how he did some parts.

For the 2D, I can say I've definitely had a major improvement in digital painting specifically because spending quality time practising really helped me understand using techniques and tools more efficiently. Plus, spending some time doing "Speedpaintings" of 30mins aided my developing skills further more so a big bonus that was. The main problems for me last year were handling the ease of use of my Wacom graphics tablet, actually using photoshop layers effectively and constructively and also merging colours effectively to produce a gradual tone rather than from a dark colour straight to a lighter colour.
I had some help from a fellow classmate who is pretty awesome at digital painting so he was a major element in my process of development, so thanks. But, I have to thank others as well as I've learnt from them too.

From the traditional art side, I've gained more confidence in drawing line and form more quickly but also understanding light and shadows helped develop my own style of drawing creatively. I still however need to use different media and more colour to give an impression on my artwork! And also, need to understand the anatomical nature of the human body further to develop my knowledge, so that I can apply that to future concept characters!

So conclusively, I've improved in the areas that I really wanted to develop on, but also I still need to do the same for other areas too.

Got a lot of developing to catch up on!

Fingers crossed.

"Itsa me! Mario!" - back in action to grab those infernal stars around space!

2007-12-16T18:57:00.000Z

Just purchased this little "star" (excuse the pun) game yesterday from the local GAME store in the high street in leicester.

"So why the fuck didn't you buy this on the first day of release??" - fans of the italian moustachioed fella might cry out.

Well, the fact is I initially planned to get it on the release date but I had to be smart and not try mix uni work and games together. Especially one of such high accolade as this. I knew that if I had this in possession couple weeks ago I wouldn't be able to take my hands of the damn wii nunchuk and remote!

Well, until the rechargeable batteries die out and i'd have to charge them for several hours.

However, I can't really excuse this behaviour when I bought Guitar Hero 3 as I couldn't stop playing until I eventually got to a hard song that I couldn't complete because I'm still amateurish compared to other guitar hero experts out there.

Anyways. So Mario Galaxy?

FAG. Or "Fucking awesome game!"

Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't use that as an acronym.

But I literally played it for 3 hours yesterday and then another 3 this morning. So thats around 40 stars under my belt...The point is is that it's so goddamn addictive! It definitely gave me deja vu for the 1st time I played Super Mario 64 on the 64. So new, so creative and collecting stars couldn't ever be as rewarding as these games.
Galaxy has many retro moments that makes me break a little smile and possibly a chuckle such as music, enemy characters (not just the obvious ones like the "goombas" and "koopas" but also the "duck" like creatures from Sunshine), and scenery.

It may not be a totally new platforming game experience but it feels fantastic how the wii remote and nunchuk work so well in tangent with each other to make mario move as well as having able to collect "star bits" (you'll know what this is if you play the game) with great ease. Very intuitive gameplay design.

Gotta say, big hand to you Nintendo once again!

Also, for gamers who usually complain about the camera, it is well designed in Galaxy as it has a clever way of near-almost following behind Mario or at least an angle to give a better view for the player. Very rarely will you see it get "stuck" when Mario is behind a wall, in which case Mario becomes a silhouette shape so you can see his outline which is helpful for such tricky situations!

Oh yeah, and the level designs so far have been all very creative and different to one another so you really won't see the same thing twice.
The stylised graphics and animations are pretty top notch and probably the best I've seen on a Wii game so far.

(Metroid Prime 3's second - and I've yet to finish it.)

So yeah, that's really the tip of the iceberg for Mario Galaxy and how I and I'm pretty sure most gamers see it.

If you haven't got this game. Buy it now!

If you haven't got a Wii...buy a Wii and this game now!

A great christmas cheer it would be.

Take care peeps.

Ben Mathis - Creative Conversations Lecture

2007-12-12T22:23:00.000Z

I'd just like to point out that I and I'm sure everyone else on the game art team are very privileged to be in the presence of Ben Mathis for a week at DMU (thanks for your free time!).

Ben is a very talented freelance artist specializing in 3D assets for computer games, working primarily remotely ("outsourcing") but also works in studios if need be. All this is detailed on his resume which can be found here.
There are some great tutorials here for inexperienced and experienced artists and of course his personal work showcased here, so have a gander.

Now!

So having contributed to 10 titles under his sleeves he has obtained very good experience in the games industry; these games include titles as "Gun", "Tony Hawks", "Oblivion" and more.

So onto the lecture held in the Queens Building.

The first thing you noticed is that he didn't come along with a planned presentation but simply just talked naturally about his work background and then getting questions fired at him which he answered with knowledge and experiences about the games industry.

What we learned from the lecture was about his perspective of "creativity", essentially for adding to our blogs, which i'm doing, but also to give us an insight for us to take in.

He showed us one particular model which he entered for an art competition, specifically named "Dominance War", and obviously C&C (comments & critique) is the way for other people to look and analyze your work to see if they can advise you for any improvements or general opinions. But, he told us that some members didn't approve of his work, however didn't really give valid reasons. He explained that how he sees it is that more often than not some people have been brought up in the industry or just generally to like "standard" concept designs like for example as he says,

"muscular men with chain guns attached to his arm or holding a sword, or even this perfect curvy female with angel wings"

However he wants to be different. Not to be different "just to be different from the norm" but because he enjoys making these creative characters. And if he starts off with a character he likes he will try to stick with it even if it is indeed "different". This is the mindset that I myself have tried to use in my own art but usually I either have this giant subconscious block which gets in the way of my creativity or just end up with something looking crap.

Music tends to be a good cure!

Anyways, here's the character he was talking about:

I personally like this character piece inspired from "Battle Angel Alita" character (manga and also released as an anime which i've seen but surprised it was seemingly quite short). It's technically very well done but also just looks different and something I haven't seen before, yet it works.

Some people.

In the games industry it can be frustrating between a 3D modeller and the concept artist. To enable good communication and understanding there needs to be a level of "camaraderie" which means good working relationships; this is true in every job and in life too.
For example, the concept artist is the one that churns out the concepts, the designs at fast rates and whatever they say usually goes but only in certain respects. The artist has to make sure it looks correct and that it works in 3D, so it has to be right. Not saying that the designs have to be eye-explodingly, amazing pieces of artwork but just saying that the 3D artists needs to understand what the concept artist is trying to convey so they need to discuss about it. The thing is, a 3D artist cannot just simply decide to radically change the design to just because it looks "awesome", they are really expected to stick with the original, but if something does look out of place or just plain crap then of course it doesn't really hurt to say "look, it's got potential but this section just seems to be strangely out of place and couldn't work in a game, but maybe refine this part of the design?"
Something like that. Very vague, i know, but all it takes is good working relationships and respecting each other's abilities and knowledge.

I'll probably write more about Ben Mathis and his analysis and thoughts about people, creativity and the games industry at a later date.

To conclude, Ben Mathis' hobby is enjoying taking pictures, which is what he'd like to do if he had spare time and favourite creative game is "Psychonauts", released for PS2, Xbox and PC. A platform game made from the same designer who made fantastic games such as "Grim Fandango" (which I need to find and play because that had a potentially awesome storyline) and also the first two "Monkey Island" games. Designer's name is "Tim Schafer".

Lastly, to conclude the conclusion, I have to say that I was very surprised that Ben Mathis was actually coming to DMU to see us and I looked at his website for tutorials and artwork about 2-3 years ago!

Amazing.

Anyways it's always great to see experienced game artists come down to DMU.

More I say!

Wii Challenge - Concept Character

2007-12-12T13:40:00.000Z

Gameartisans - super smash bros character challenge

Here's my entry of a concept character design (WIP for HighPoly 3D model):

I'm gonna retouch on my original concept and also add other features and accessories.

Self Creativity

2007-11-23T21:19:00.000Z

Thought I'd post a little something about how my own personal creative juices have developed in my life within a year and some since uni.

I've very much at this point realised that I've been trying to expand my horizons in anything and everything. I mean for example, I used to only listen to mostly just Indie and alternative rock music back in the days of college years but after having met so many people in uni my tastes have broadened more so. It's not like I didn't admire other genre of music such as RnB, Hip-hop etc, it's just purely the fact that i didn't especially appreciate the beats and flow of those types as well as I never really spent that much a time to mates who have those musical interests.
But now, I find that many different genre of music is great to listen to thanks to my flatmates I guess!

However, not only has my musical tastes developed and broadened but also my personality, drawing abilities, cooking habits and many more.
Uni and freedom (especially!) has been a real turning point in my life so far and I just have to say it's...killer awesome!

Also, pretty damn glad about the people i'm close to in my life because they helped to bring out my "inner self".

Cheese?

No. I hate cheese by itself frankly.

Anyways, random post which is half-related to the subject of creativity and my life.

Continuation of Creativity - 2nd time round - an in-depth look

2007-11-14T15:50:00.000Z

So once again we must look at the subject of "creativity" because to be honest it is an important part of not just our game art course but also for anyone, everyone and everything!

Creativity manifests us. It is literally everywhere but also it is a part of us and how we use it or see it is usually based on what the individual has come across. They may have seen things from real-life that they may have attempted to recreate or even to experiment with. Or even been taught from such a young age, as little as a baby as well, on how to do certain things and even on how to think creatively.
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"Creativity (or creativeness) is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts." - from wikipedia

"Creativity, it has been said, consists largely of re-arranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know." George Kneller

I decided to look a little further into the "creative process" and researched this on Artlex.com

"The stages of the creative process:

1. Finding or formulating a problem. George Kneller (American psychologist) called this stage "first insight."
2. Researching and drawing from life experiences (memory), networking, etc. This stage is variously called "discovery" and "saturation."
3. Mulling over the problem in a sort of chaos of ideas and knowledge, letting go of certainties (forgetting). Jacob Getzel (American psychologist) called this stage "incubation" -- engaging the intuitive, non-sequential, or global thinking at the core of creativity.
4. One or more ideas surface. This is also called "immersion" and "illumination."
5. The idea is tested as a potential solution to the problem. Getzel called this "verification." This final stage often involves revision — conscious structuring and editing of created material."

Creativity can be both subconscious and conscious. Experimentation, theories and practice individualize each and everyone of us from the way we have been brought up throughout our entire life. In many cases it can be good, but it can do bad in other circumstances. It could be used for war or crime e.g. the making of weapons and the processes in training to use such things for good and even for bad. Creativity is an endless cycle that will have a result or consequence.

I guess without "creativity" we'd all be brainless zombies and just do bugger all!

Halo VS Metroid Prime - Master Chief VS Samus Aran

2007-11-08T13:04:00.000Z

Who's better?

I vote Samus Aran.

AniBOOM - Stick Fight

2007-11-08T13:00:00.000Z

AniBOOM - "How to Grow a Moustache"

2007-11-08T12:56:00.000Z

"Where's my money man?!!"

2007-11-08T12:35:00.000Z

Lol.

Awesome "Family Guy" sketch.

Zucchero - "World Buffet"

2007-11-08T11:59:00.000Z

As you can see from the obvious heading i purposely put quotes because i felt pretty disappointed with this potentially exciting buffet restaurant with a range of cuisines all round the world; at first glance that is.

Until i actually experienced it i felt i lost a fair bit of money.

£12 - essentially for the buffet
£2 - essentially for drinks

Ok, there was a nice selection of food such as chinese, thai, italian, indian, mexican etc. but under each sub-category there was a lack of range of food, i mean what the hell happened to good old chinese noodles!? Chow mein anyone??

Yep, i was fairly infuriated about that.

For dessert a selection of cakes, self-dispensing ice cream machine and also a huge, well fairly large pancake maker waas on offer. Not bad i guess in that sense.

What also was a bit of a letdown was that service in the restaurant was quite poor. First they never actually asked us for any "drinks refill" and also once we all had finished we sat there for a good 20mins just conversing until Alex had the sense of asking if any of the staff would come over to ask us if we "wanted the bill".
So the customer in this sense would be expected to go up to the counter and ask for the bill themselves!

Dunno about you, but surely this in my opinion was bad service? I mean our table was clearly done of anymore chomping of food.

Maybe i'm being too harsh a critic. I guess the value was good overall and the environment was pleasant.

Result?

7/10

"Out of the Frying Pan and into the Oven"

2007-10-20T18:11:00.000+01:00

So. The game art crew including myself now back into the fray of the 2nd year of the course. After 3 weeks, i can summarise that essentially the course has been upped a notch and further more for obvious reasons.

As any uni students i can guarantee 99.9% will say that the 1st year is basically there to ease you into the course steadily and obviously for you to enjoy and get pissed every now and then. Or is that just me?
I'm pretty sure that everyone on the game art course is pretty damn glad that they know the essentials of 3Ds Max because this year is gonna be pretty intense i can assure you.

We've started modelling our self-portraits, and some of us with several iterations (several attempts/models). Its pretty much plunged some of us into the deep end because realistic 3D character designing is always going to be pretty much a bastard for amateurs such as us. But i've always said i have dreamed of making 3D characters as a games career and i'm thoroughly enjoying modelling myself!
I'm gonna need to be spending shit-loads of time practicing after practicing to perfect my own style of modelling low poly and high poly characters too. This is where the competition starts for my own personal goal.

I'm also enjoying the more time spent with Chris, but I preferably would have wanted 2 full days cos it seems like Mondays goes faster than you can say "Robots in disguise" and i enjoy the life drawing sessions and also the time spent viewing documentaries, tutorial vids etc.

Well, at least i know that i'm actually trying to be more creative in my sketchbook work. I also know that i'm am beginning to experiment and develop my own style of drawing techniques, i can thank Chris for that to be honest.

"People don't have black outlines around them, there is a light source somewhere and there is negative space surrounding us"

Basically i combined what he said into one sentence and it's very true. Obviously that's my own preference of drawing this way from now on as i feel it brings my drawings more to life and doesn't look flat and bland.

Anyways.

Fun times.

Transfomers 2007 Movie - "3D animated movie magic"

2007-08-12T13:41:00.000+01:00

My opinion of it when the film ended was "hmm, could have had a better ending" to which my brother replies, "WTF?? That was brilliant!"

I stand corrected.

It was to be honest one of the best examples in cinema/film history of best 3D animated/action-oriented/retrospected movies i have ever seen. Then again, it does help the fact that I am a childhood fan of the Transformers cartoon series, so that does kinda rock the "biased-boat" quite a lot. But, some film critics who have never seen the cartoon series will have said that the film wasn't as enjoyable or is more towards "retro-fans" of the series so therefore they are more likely to praise it.

I feel this seems to be a negative response as from a film POV i can see the overall time and effort put into the production of the film was quite astounding. Yes there may be influences from the films, "The Rock" and "Armaggedon", reflecting music and overall action-sequences etc. But it's great because it seems to appeal to a wide audience. I mean, who wouldn't want to see vehicles transforming into giant-robots ripping the shreds out of each other??!

"TEH FILM ROXXORS!!"

So if you haven't seen such a film mastery then go watch it.

NOW!

O yes and "The Simpsons Movie" was mediocre. I just found it to be an overly run Simpsons episode. Nevertheless, it was still pretty funny.

So glad i didn't spend a tenner on "The Simpsons"!

Yes went to london to watch "Transformers" so money well spent.

God Of War and Ico Completed!

2007-04-23T16:20:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd let you know that I completed God Of War in a day! That took 10 hours to finish and it was so addictive that I couldnt put my controller down! It was kinda a joint effort with my flatmate who also loved it too but I put most of the hardwork in doing the fighting and climbing etc. and he helped with some of the puzzles. Awesome game! Will hopefully get God Of War 2 next.

Also, finished ICO today which took over 2 days to complete as I only played few hours yesterday and had a break. Took me about 5-6 hours to complete and that was a pretty unique game too. Very cool puzzles as well. The only thing that pretty much bugged me throughout was the camera movement but I still prevailed! :D

Anyways, both great games and quite an achievement for me to finish 2 games in a matter of 3 days in total. Never been done before.

Well, thats all I have to ramble about.

Over and out.

Spore 2007

2007-04-21T19:59:00.000+01:00

"From the very tiniest forms of life to the intergalactic level of existence, you are in control of life itself in this simulation game by Will Wright. Beginning in the primordial ooze, players create a character from DNA that will grow, survive, and mate as it evolves from a single-celled organism to a fully-formed member of an establishing species. As more and more creatures inhabit the world, and as evolution forms the future, your species will join herds, clans, even civilizations. The more advanced the creatures of the planet grow, the more complex the strife of survival becomes. And while the player can continue gameplay in Spore at any level -- playing as a cell, as a wild creature, or as a civilized and organized society – players can also step even further out and play the game from the planetary or interstellar level, while also going online to connect worlds with other gamers." - IGN

Had to post this in my blog as I thought this game looked pretty awesome and seemed like another very creative game that allows user to "create their own world and creatures" to put it bluntly. A similar genre seen in PS3's "Little Big Planet".

Here's an article from GameSpot about the challenges of making "Spore":
"D.I.C.E. 07: Spore is not all Wright
Will Wright brings his team of designers to talk about the challenges of making a complex game simple, letting users feel smart, and Care Bears fighting Klingons.

By Tim Surette, GameSpot"

And a 35min demonstration clip. Yes 35min demo footage of the game from the "GDCe"! Courtesy of youtube:

Week 22 - GDC

2007-04-21T19:11:00.000+01:00

"Applied Physics: MotorStorm
Scott Kirkland, Technical Director, Evolution Studios

In this session, Evolution Studios focuses on the physical simulation in their PS3 title, MotorStorm. Topics to include A) Building for Destruction; We'll reveal how vehicles and objects are constructed to produce unrivalled carnage! B) Digging in the Dirt; Persistent, interactive, deformable terrain. C) Character Reference; Combining Havok's key-frame animation, IK and ragdoll behaviours.

MotorStorm: A Crash Course in Applied Physics
Speaker: Scott Kirkland (Technical Director, Evolution Studios)
Date/Time: Friday (March 9, 2007) 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Location (room): Room 3001, West Hall
Track: Programming
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
In this presentation, Evolution Studios focuses on physical simulation in their PlayStation3 title MotorStorm. Spectacular destruction of vehicles and environmental objects, persistent deformable terrain, and the game's use of key-frame animation, IK and ragdoll behaviours to create compelling characters are all discussed. The session also provides insight into how all of this interaction is maintained in MotorStorm's hugely entertaining online mode."

This would have been an interesting lecture to attend if I was at GDC at the time. Although it involves animation and programming as the main focus I'd like to know how the PS3 enables such great ragdoll physics and also the way the environment is "deformable" from vehicles driving over it sounds intriguing. Games are becoming more realistic by the second and there's no reason why future games can't do the same thing with titles such as "Motorstorm".

PS3's Little Big Planet - "creativity" (side issue)

2007-04-21T18:56:00.000+01:00

"The LittleBigPlanet experience starts with players learning about their character's powers to interact physically with the environment. There are obstacles to explore, bits and pieces to collect and puzzles to solve – requiring a combination of brains and collaborative teamwork. As players begin to explore, their creative skills will grow and they will be ready to start creating and modifying their surroundings – the first step to sharing them with the whole community..."

"Little Big Planet meets Jackass!"

Week 21 - Where do you want to go, and how do you get there?

2007-04-21T18:20:00.000+01:00

The "million pound question" or "questions" for that matter.

Well, by the time I finish the Game Art course I hope to have achieved the fundamental skills and knowledge to enable me to become a fully-fledged 3D character artist as that is the specific area that I will hope to enjoy be of inspiration. Plus, it is probably one or possibly the most challenging of any 3D artists to come across as it does require basic knowledge such as the anatomical structure for many things, and to be able to create a concept design one must know the basic understanding from which the design was inspired from. This is the field in which I would like to focus on in the future.

Apart from that, I would definitely like to become more proficient in concept art as well as traditional art which of course would be the core factor in order to develop one's work further to become more creative. Light, anatomy, colour, composition are the key parts of art. I hope by the end of 3 years my traditional art and computer art will have improved greatly which i believe will.

My 3D design skills have definitely improved since my college days. Although, I used a different design software (Cinema4D), that helped to give me a good starting point ready for University and helped me understand 3Ds Max and it's software tools. From the first term, after having completed the "Wheelie Bin of Doom" I didn't feel too impressed with the end result, but from the time modelling it I felt more engaged with the project and didn't give up. Although it looked crap, now looking back at it, I can say my work has developed greatly throughout the passing year and that's thanks to joel, my tutor, and my course mates who helped me out in time of need. I am definitely enjoying my time so far.

What I would like is for the Uni to allow more teaching time with us so we can learn more about the industry and of course drawing skills and design skills instead of having us needing to spend quite a lot of time experimenting with this and that. Most of us do struggle and some may be slower than others, I'll admit that sometimes I don't know what to draw sometimes and I get distracted but later on I'll come back to it and just draw! But, so far it has been an awesome time on my course. :)

Week 20 - Creativity

2007-04-16T12:36:00.000+01:00

What is "creativity"?

The term "creativity" is so diverse it can be a hard subject to get your head round it but generally it can be described as this:

"the most widespread conception of creativity in the scholarly literature is that creativity is manifested in the production of a creative work (for example, a new work of art or a scientific hypothesis) that is both novel and useful. Colloquial definitions of creativity are typically descriptive of activity that results in producing or bringing about something partly or wholly new; in investing an existing object with new properties or characteristics; in imagining new possibilities that were not conceived of before; and in seeing or performing something in a manner different from what was thought possible or normal previously" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

So to put it bluntly "creativity" needs imagination or inventiveness from existing material. Because, let's face it you can't create a totally new concept creature, object, building, writing material or anything for that matter without having to think and look back at things that you have seen with your own eyes. Unless of course you close your eyes and "attempt" to produce something and the resulting piece is a garbled mess, but then again on closer inspection you may find something that you have created and it "looks" like something that you have seen before. Thus, creativity is manifested from existing "objects".

However, a creative piece may or may not be viewed differently; this is dependant on what the viewer has seen and experienced in their life and therefore each person may or may not have a different image in their minds on what the intended piece is actually supposed to be. Say for example an artist has painted an illustration of a dragon, and thats what they have intended it to be, well from a young person's POV they may perceive the image as some kind of giant bird or maybe a giant historical dinosaur with giant wings (maybe even a "fat" version of a pterodactyl!). But it depends on what images they have seen throughout their time in life. As they become more experienced, educated and knowledgeable they may perceive the creature as a dragon.

Hope that example kinda clears my wording and grammar.

"Is creativity hindered or enhanced by technical constraints?"
I think generally as a rule "creativity" is what you make it out to be. You don't really need fancy technical equipment just to create something astounding or just to create anything for that matter, it just needs the human mind to improvise on lack of equipment due to money. There is always going to be resources around you that you can use to create. However, to create something in mass production or to a large scale, such as a large building, will require time and money so therefore "creativity" can be hindered by these constraints.

But creativity can be enhanced by technical constraints as the person will know exactly what they can and can't work with.
I think one way or another "creativity" will always have some kind of hinderance and enhancement in life.

"Who does 'creativity' - the art director? the artists? programmers? or writers?"

In this case, everyone gets to be involved in "creativity". Each person will have different aspects of creativeness and they share their ideas together into one giant pool. The art director helps to guide the project along, planning out what the writers' ideas are and then they pass it down to the artists, and then to the programmers. However, I think there will always be some constraints that will have been established from the start for each person with their specific field of work, for example game artists may only be constricted to using under 10,000 polys for a particular model but more for another so their initial ideas of creating a more realistic model may be hindered because of these set "rules". But, of course they will need to work around this and the "cogs of creativity" in their minds will once again be "refuelled" and they will improvise on this using experience. This such thing will happen to any of the other roles so it is a must for everyone to work as a team in order to keep the "creative juices flowing".

"How do games manifest creativity?"
They do this by offering new character designs, environments, customisable options in-game to improve stats, create new weapons, armor, abilities, objects etc, using sounds for realistic objects, characters or concept characters etc. Things like that.

"Are there any companies or individuals who seem to you to be particularly creative?"
Well, I think this may be a little biased but I would most definitely go with Nintendo on this as I have stuck with them throughout my life. Shigeru Miyamoto is a genius! I've always loved his games and his imaginary game characters that we all know and admire too. I mean who woulda thought of a "short, chubby italian plumber with a moustache who is able to do triple jumps, shoot fireballs, spin a giant breathing lizard about with ease and also have a green companion dinosaur who wears boots!" And of course, i've always loved his zelda games since i first played "zelda:a link to the past". And of course, Nintendo's aims are to be creative in how user's interact with a game using new technology like the DS's touch screen and Wii's motion sensoring controls.

However, although i think Nintendo are the most creative in my opinion they probably would be set apart from other games companies. I also like Squaresoft for their Final Fantasy games as they do have such great storylines, gameplay and also interesting characters that are also very imaginative in personality and designs. Also, have always liked Capcom for numerous fighting games, resident evil series and other adventure games such as Okami, which i've yet to play but hopefully will buy soon enough. So I guess i'm not totally biased towards Nintendo after all!

Week 19 - Life Changing or Career Building?

2007-03-05T19:09:00.000Z

"Some game companies want highly trained graduate artists and programmers. Some claim they really prefer creative individuals with a good Liberal Arts background. They can't both be right can they?"

Well in my opinion, "no" would be the answer if a game company only preferred one or the other. That sounds ridiculous to have an individual who has been trained and educated to study one route to the highest degree but with no or lack of general knowledge of the fundamentals of art, and even vice versa it just doesn't seem coherent enough. Training up unexperienced individuals could easily take up lots of time and money so a good balance of the two would be definitely the best option for university courses to set out to make for students such as on our "Game Art" course.

The best outcome is for education to combine the technical side of art with the intrinsic understanding and knowledge of art. Graduates can then apply both to one another to deal with any issues that take on the technical form or implementing the artistic knowledge they have learnt to cover the technical side.

The "Game Art" course shows the fusion of the two issues. We learn a good deal of traditional artistic knowledge from Chris; covering life art, form, light, perspective and other aspects of art. And we learn the technical, digital know how of art from Joel; covering 3Ds Max (a 3D program to create 3D objects for use in games) and Photoshop (texturing and importing them into Max). There was one point that I found interesting from what Chris told us the other day, basically telling us how in such games as Call of Duty where there would be a snow-filled level set in the winter season but he noticed that the sky did not seem quite right and instead looked more like summer rather than it would in winter, plus shadows cast on trees would be incorrect too. He's had a very good background and understanding of art so I think he knows what he's talking about! Basically, the point he was making was that game artists sometimes get it wrong because either they do not have a good general knowledge of art and also possibly because they have not made the effort of looking closely at real-life and the environment that surrounds them.

So as the saying goes: "It's best to have 'and' than 'or'"

Hear, hear!

Various well-known game tunes

2007-02-26T17:16:00.000Z

Zelda Overworld
Zelda Wind Waker Overworld
Secret Of Mana - superb retro theme tune!
Final Fantasy VII Overworld theme
Final Fantasy VII Fighting
Final Fantasy VII Victory

Oh and here's a random vid i found from youtube of someone playing the Legend of Zelda theme tune on the "theremin"?? Never heard of such an instrument before but i have now!

Week 18 - Sound for Games

2007-02-26T15:25:00.000Z

Sound technology for games can sometimes be overlooked but I think it is a highly important aspect to sell a video game successfully.

Sound is used in many ways, be it the musical score as part of a scene, or used to create a tense dramatic atmosphere (e.g. resident evil or silent hill) and even used to help players sense where sounds are coming from so they are prepared for any oncoming attacks or where say certain objects are.

This is why "sound" is an art in itself. A sound designer carefully selects and creates sound to create certain moods in order to involve the gamer. If an unusual sound is heard by a player, that player should feel some sort of anxiety or feeling of strangeness, but depending on the player one may tread lightly or one may even be fearless and just head straight ahead. But the point is, sound is generally used to set a scene, to create a certain mood. You may be for example chased by some unknown and vicious looking creatures in a dark tower, and the only way to escape is through a small opening which could be at the very top. Imagine there was background music that gave out a fast and dramatic beat to it, you'd probably feel like it is your goal in order to get to the top as quick as possible and your heart may start beating more times than usual, and as soon as you are out in the open air of daylight, you feel a sense of relief knowing that these monsters cannot get to you outside and there may be a feeling of a sense of achievement upon you. Once outside in the calm environment, the music would change to a more serene direction.

Musical scores in games comducted by amazing game composers can be a very good selling point for a game's sales to boost up. A long running series of a game, such as the Final Fantasy series, may sell well because of significant music that players and fans of the game will have remembered because of possibly the emotions that they feel from the music.

Final Fantasy VII I believe had one of the most influential muscial scores in gaming history along with significant theme tunes for "Mario" and "Zelda". It was indeed a game that kept me going throughout till the end, but not just of the music of course, the game was pure brilliance simply because of an intricate storyline, numerous cast of characters of different personalities, the gameplay and the sounds and music all rolled into one to create an amazing overall experience.

Famous well-renowned composers include Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico.

Jack Wall:
"Having established himself over the past few years as one of the prime movers of the videogame music industry, Jack Wall has built a track record and an international reputation as an A-List composer and music producer in the interactive entertainment sector. He also brings an unmatched depth of experience, credibility and knowledge in the production of records, working with mainstream artists and major label artists. His work spans full-length albums, live concert recordings, videogame soundtracks, film soundtracks and other projects that demand an exacting ear and vast library of musical and technical knowledge and know-how." - excerpt from "Jack Wall - The Composer's Website"

And Tommy Tallarico:
"Tommy Tallarico has helped revolutionize the video game industry and has shown time and again his ability to create unique soundtracks that truly enhance the overall gaming experience. His music has been heard by hundreds of millions of people all over the world on mediums such as video games, television, motion pictures, radio, soundtracks and even on floats in the New Year's Day Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena." - extracted from "Gamasutra - Music And Sound Effects"

My favourite japanese composers, or possibly just fave composers because I don't really have any other favourite composers, would be Koji Kondo since he has been a major influence to produce brilliant musical themes and soundtracks for Nintendo, especially "Zelda" and "Mario" and his theme tunes have been well established amongst fans, and the other would be Nobuo Uematsu because he has worked on many famous games produced for Squaresoft and Square Enix including Final Fantasy series and Chrono Trigger, I just like his cinematic flair of style to his musical pieces, they are very emotional and of high quality I believe.

Music however isn't only the most well-recognised aspect of games, oh no. Sound effects such as from Mario's jump to Sonic's ring collecting is well known by the many ears of game fanatics.

Sound for next-gen has been vastly improving to create a dramatic and realistic experience for the gamer.

Game On!

2007-02-25T19:21:00.000Z

Recently received this book "Game On!" as a present for my 20th birthday which is today in fact. My generous flatmate and a mate bought this for me so I should say thanks a lot! Kinda been meaning to buy this before but never actually did, now i have it and i can look at the "50 greatest games of all time" according to this. Few games in there I would disagree as being the best, I mean for one "Mario Kart DS" shouldn't really be classed as one of the best games ever, "Super Mario Kart" for the SNES for me was I think much better than the DS version. True, the DS version may have better fancier graphics and technology but the SNES version was indeed a much tougher challenge and it was what started the "Mario Kart" series.

And yes Zelda:OOT is in there of course! Definitely my fave game of all time.

Anyways, I would recommend buying this book just for getting some background knowledge on the games selected in here and possibly judgemental purposes.

It's a good read.

Red Steel

2007-02-18T15:11:00.000Z

"Red"Steel?

Hardly.

So I decided to sell my GC few days ago after possessing the Wii and having no more use for the old purple lunchbox as the Wii allows playback of GC games anyway. After deciding upon which game to purchase for the Wii I thought it be best to buy something with action in it so I bought "Red Steel". It was that or Call of Duty 3 but I decided this because I was kinda persuaded by the katana fighting as well as the more familiar gun-blasting action in FPS game.

I guess you people out there would like a mini review from me, right?

Well here goes.

The positive points are that once you get familiar with the new system of controls utilising the nunchuk analogue stick to move your avatar around and the remote to make the character look around, to aim and shoot or when necessary use the katana to slice and dice, you should quite like the game more. It depends if you're an FPS person but its a good introductory FPS game for the Wii I'd say. But it is awkward the fact you have to actually physically move with the remote about halfway from the edge of the screen to the centre to turn left, right, look up or look down which is slightly annoying. Would it not be a better choice to use a more familiar style of just a basic centralised aiming system like in most FPS games?

The story is pretty mediocre and the dialogue could and should be better. There's no blood! *gasp* yup no blood! Should blood not be convenient for such a game titled "Red" Steel with an age rating of 16+?
Christ, even Goldeneye had some form of blood, even though it just looked like the enemies had just gotten sprayed with some paint! Still, no blood in Red Steel should not be excusable. However, that's just a minor thing so ignore me if you wish.

The other bad thing about the game is the basic swordplay with few swings that do not totally match your own arm movements. You can parry with the left nunchuk left or right, and with the remote on the right hand you use that to swing the katana blade upwards, downwards or left or right. Plus, theres a slight lagging with the sword fighting too but only like less than a second so you basically just need to time your slashes and parrying just about half a second before the opponent attacks you. It's not too bad though I think in my opinion the sword fighting seems to be a slight waste of time as opponents can be easily defeated and it just doesn't feel as realistic and challenging as it should be. But again, I feel Red Steel is a good starting point for future FPS games for the Wii.

Continuing with the positive points are the graphics which should quite sharp and there's some nice lighting effects, shadows, reflections etc. And also, most objects are destructible so if you ever need to stress out then let loose with an uzi! Gun fighting is great. You can zoom in by holding the A button and then thrust forward with the remote to shoot distant enemies, it's quite a good idea and works well enough. And also, the great thing you can do with most guns such as a handgun, uzi or machine guns you can twist the remote to the left or right and have a gangster style of shooting which just means shooting with the gun on its side just for descriptive sakes.

Haven't finished it yet but overall I'd say it's a good FPS with a new way system of moving and aiming etc. so far I'd rate it 7.5/10

Let's have a "wii" old time!

2007-02-13T18:58:00.000Z

Well. I can now say I am in the possession of a Wii console!! Woo-hoo! Received it this morning in the post which I retrieved from the main office straight after having a long day at Uni, before the office closes for the day which was lucky!

Got it from Ebay as I could not bother waiting for fricking more Wii stock to be supplied in retailers so I searched the site and found a good deal on the wii package. Got Wii sports with it and with everything else as supplied normally for a slightly higher but good enough price. Oh actually, I did also receive "Super Mario 64" with it as well as part of the "Virtual Console Games" so that was a plus, as well as having 1000 wii points to spend as well. However, I need to purchase either a wii lan adaptor or a wifi adaptor goddammit!

O well. It's all fun and games now. Will sell my GC (although will get jack-shit probably for it!) and then purchase a wii game but not sure what yet. Probably "Call of Duty 3", would get zelda but have it on Gamecube. May buy it one day once i finish the GC version.

So anyone who wishes to buy the wii, check ebay! But make absolute sure the seller has had an account for a while and whether their status is very positive with positive comments! Just a little advice.

Ciao people!

Off to sweat it out on the Wii!

Week 17 - Game Engines

2007-02-11T15:06:00.000Z

"What does a game engine do?"
Game engines are the integral part of making a game work or any other interactive application with real-time graphics, which relate to the "graphics", "physics", "sound", "networking", "scripting" etc etc. So basically a whole number of things that come together to run games. Also, they are highly important as they simplify the need for much development thus often enabling them to run on several platforms such as game consoles and desktop computers thus eliminating costs to create more engines than what is needed.

"What are the key engine technologies?"
Key engine technologies consist of software suites known as "middleware" and also "graphic engines/rendering engines or simply 3D engines".

Middleware
Middleware is widely used in companies as it provides developers useful tools in order to build a game.
"they provide a flexible and reusable software platform which provides all the core functionality needed, right out of the box, to develop a game application while reducing costs, complexities, and time-to-market—all critical factors in the highly competitive computer and video game industry."

Most of them provide several facilities that ease development such as graphics, sound, physics, and AI functions.

However, some may specialise in only doing one thing thus being more effective than general purpose engines.
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"SpeedTree was used to render the realistic trees and vegetation in the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Microsoft Windows RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion."
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Graphic engines
These are basically engines which provide real-time 3D rendering capabilities specifically. A few examples include RealmForge, Ogre, Power Render, Crystal Space and Genesis3D.
"Modern game or graphics engines generally provide a scene graph, which is an object-oriented representation of the 3D game world which often simplifies game design and can be used for more efficient rendering of vast virtual worlds."

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"RealmForge screenshot In-Game Editor"
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Well known game engines are 3D FPS (First-person shooter) game engines. They are known for their groundbreaking achievements in the visual qualities on human scale levels, unlike "flight", "driving" and "RTS" (Real-time strategy) games have engines that provide visual realism on a larger scale, i.e. environments and so forth.

The most widely known advanced game engine is the "UnrealEngine"; the basis for many FPS games such as "Unreal Tournament", "Rainbow Six series" and "Gears of War", but also it has been used for other genres that include "Splinter Cell series" and "Vanguard:Saga of Heroes" (an MMORPG).
Other examples of advanced game engines include the "Doom3 Engine", "CryEngine2", and "Source Engine" (which is developed by "Valve Corporations" of the "Half-Life" games).

"What is meant by subtractive and additive?"
"Subtractive" is where you have a chunk of an object, or in terms of gaming an already established empty game world, where one creates a shape or form to their desired needs, or again in terms of gaming where the level designer creates empty spaces as rooms in a game environment.
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"much like a sculptor whittles down a block of clay or marble to create a sculpture" - Gamasutra - Educational Feature: A History and Analysis of Level Design in 3D Computer Games (Part 2)
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"Additive" is where you have an empty space and adding to it using blocks and blocks to construct a level.

"What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying into proprietary technology?"
Advantages
Existing engines allow developers to utilise them without the hassle of testing whether the game will work well with the engine as developers will know that they have been used previously and successfully in games. This will cut the costs and time of needing to create new engine software.
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"Companies that are able to develop useful proprietary technologies in-house are rewarded with a valuable asset: they can either use it exclusively or profit from the sale of licensing of their technology to other parties." - Proprietary technology

Disadvantages
Proprietary technology can sometimes be very expensive to buy into due to copyright patents, ownerships, royalties, and time to manage all of it!

"What seem to be the key issues for 'next-gen' game engines?"
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"Code performance is vital to a successful game title, and poor performance can lead to shipping delays and cutting of content as well as a much more expensive game development process. Getting code generation right has to start from the beginning of a project, as the architecture of a game system determines the performance as much as anything else. A naïve approach to architecture design will spell disaster for a project." - read more in Gamasutra - Writing Efficient Game Code for
Next-Gen Console Architectures
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This as well as 3D rendering engines, without having the need to change the source code, and also "game middleware" architecture is important in allowing specific parts to be replaced or extended with more specialised components that help to improve things like the physics, sound etc.

Game engines are important in games as they are the core factors of making them work. That's why so much information and attention to detail in engines is required to make better and improved gaming.

Phew. That was certainly a long search!

Week 17 finito!

ROCK & ROLL BABY!!

2007-02-10T11:43:00.001Z

Well, after playing a good 20 mins on one of the most favourable music/rhythm game of 2006, "Guitar Heroes 2", I can thoroughly say I thought it was AWESOME! TO THE MAX! Played it round good ol James' flat, whose pretty good, with Joel, Joey and Nikki who all love it. Definitely a highly-acclaimed game worth purchasing if you are into this type of genre.

Obviously I need or you would need to practise a considerable amount of time to get to expert stage like this kid on youtube who can play the game without even looking at the TV screen!

Could be a cheat though. But he does look pretty crazy on that guitar.

Anyways, this game should be bought if you own a PS2. It ROCKS!!

Oh and heres another from some guy. Watch it till the end and you'll see him break, yes BREAK the guitar!! That's old skool breakin' makin'!

Week 16 - "Gaming Cultures"

2007-02-03T19:30:00.000Z

Gaming cultures eh?

Well, I guess it's one of those broad old subjects that you never really tend to sit down and contemplate over, but while it's this weeks task then I guess I'll have to!

What it is as far as I can tell is that it involves the community of any such avid gamer usually conjuring up in a "forum-based environment". Basically, forums are web discussion centres where anyone can register to be part of a community and talk about any such subjects depending on rules. It's like a gateway to meeting a wide variety of people with different interests, backgrounds and cultures and maybe some will have similar interests to you.

I started joining game forums since I was about 12 years of age. Crappy game ones that really didn't take off and then lastly joined a pokemon forum widely known as serebii.net which was intriguing because the forums discussed other videogames as well and I was intrigued that there were other sections where you could show off your talents, whether being fan-based fiction, fan-art, regular fiction or regular art and I decided to post some of my art just to see what people would think. I also always like to see how people's style of art differs from mine and what I could learn from them so forums have been a great influence on me in that respect.

O and here's an amusing random pic I found from the web. No offense to "Otaku" people, just thought it was hilarious!

"Otaku" - is a Japanese pejorative term used to refer to a variety of geek/nerd, particularly one obsessed with computers, or anime and manga.

Week 15 - "From generalist to specialist"

2007-02-03T18:40:00.000Z

Long ago was a time where such games need no any kind of artistic touch to it and only "coders" were necessary for the job. They had their own ideas and they made their dreams come to life in the form of gaming and everybody enjoyed this new fad of video games.

That was aeons ago, though. Nowadays, we are at an immense level of the gaming industry that it has grown so maturely to satisfy the growing market of gamers. Many roles have been well established and very specialised that they consist of level artists, sound artists, character artists, marketing staff etc. It's unbelievable how such a concept as "video games" has taken off so enormously.

"Computer games have gone from the plaything of geeks to a mainstream product raking in billions of dollars" - article: "Game industry's secrets of its success"

Games companies have grown to titanic proportions allowing millions of pounds worth of budget to hire staff and carrying out development plans to create a successful game. It has become a serious business and it's not an easy thing to manage either. As the link to the article above says it is very demanding as there are long hours put it, hard pressures of time, demanding managers, and many other things which are hard to juggle in the daily life of a game employee.

Another article I skimmed through was this , and it is true that there are a good few hardcore gamers out there who can make increase or decrease a game's sales because they can be very opinionated and their passion is their games so they expect typically as a result a great game. These problems are what face the games industry and they are challenges that need to be met in order to stay consistent or even to rise through the ranks.

Adaptec Gamebridge 1400/1410

2007-01-21T16:31:00.000Z

What is this small device that you are confounded by? Well, simply an amazing little tool approximately the length and size of a credit card. What it basically does is allows the user to play video game consoles through to their laptops or PCs using A/V cables (it has an "S-video cable" as well). For it's low price of a measly £20+ from Ebay it is an essential purchase for people who are at uni without a TV in their rooms and whom want to play consoles on their computers.

Its definitely a good moneys worth for me! The display is supposed to be a little better than standard TVs. Well, its a little blurred around the edges of objects, character models etc. but its still very playable and no lag time at all (but you may have to download a sound codec for it and then problem solved). Also, the cool thing about it is that you can take "snapshots" of in-game scenes whenever and wherever you please and it saves your images to "My Pictures" so you can view it at anytime, plus you can record the game and play it back whenever you like too. It is indeed an awesome piece of goodness!

Heres some pics for you to view and analyse (mostly Zelda:TP):

I think you get the picture.

Or rather pictures.

Haha....what a crap joke.

Week 11 – The Elements of Game Design – Gameplay

2007-01-15T17:51:00.000Z

“Gameplay includes all player experiences during the interaction with game systems, especially formal games. Proper use is coupled with reference to "what the player does". Arising alongside the development of game designers in the 1980s, gameplay was used solely within the context of video or computer games, though now its popularity has begun to see use in the description of other, more traditional, game forms. Generally, the term "gameplay" in video game terminology is used to describe the overall experience of playing the game excluding the factors of graphics, sound, and the storyline. The term "Game mechanics" refers to sub-elements of the gameplay, but particularly the primary control and movement features of the game (thus excluding things like level design or AI).”

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And there's a general explanation of what the term “gameplay” is from wikipedia. Gameplay as a rule is used to describe of how one interacts with a game and how the game has been designed splitting into several different genres e.g. RPG, simulation, action etc. It is used very vaguely though as a general term. Anyone who has played a game can easily say “brilliant gameplay” or “gameplay is pretty shit, if only it had some more dynamic actions” or something between these lines.

Gameplay requires more in-depth knowledge of the game. It splits into several core sub-elements known as the “game mechanics”. It is a convergence of many factors covering user-interaction and immersion in the game, storyline, or even how fast you can complete the entire game, which then splits down into other sub-elements such as “shortcuts/different pathways”, “tactical awareness of conserving weapons and which weapons to use for different enemies” etc. So you can see it’s not an easy subject to delve into and describe with just a click of a finger.

“Click”

Gameplay could be used to describe the different “gameplay modes” within a game, this is known as “multi-level gameplay”. Basically, imagine a typical RPG world where you can navigate different areas with various towns, villages, and cities. This would be the “world map”, right? And if you choose to enter a particular area, the game is designed for you to explore the area in a limited region within the overall game world. This idea is easily identifiable and evident in war games…

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“In war games, this idea is usually implemented as a global mode, in which the player makes strategic decisions about an entire campaign, and a local mode, in which the player fights a battle in a limited region of the overall game world.” (http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060130/adams_01.shtml)---------------------------------------

So, gameplay is quite a broad subject and used as a term quite vaguely in many cases. Not an easy subject to deal with! Here’s another passage from a small article on “Attempting to define gameplay”:

“Gameplay is so difficult to define because there is no single entity that we can point to and say, "There! That's the gameplay." Gameplay is the result of a large number of contributing elements. The presence, or lack thereof, of gameplay can be deduced by examining a particular game for indications and contraindications of these elements. (These terms are borrowed from medical terminology: An indication is a positive sign that implies the existence of gameplay, and a contraindication is a negative sign that implies that gameplay does not exist.)"

So this supports my point that gameplay is not easily defined as it is not just one thing but incorporates many factors. I think on the last part of this passage it is basically saying that an “indication” means a certain element or elements of gameplay has been achieved in a game and can be seen whilst “contraindication” means theres a “risk” that a certain element or elements of gameplay has not been achieved and can be seen as a negative factor in the game.

Week 10 - The Elements of Games Design - Story and Character

2007-01-07T14:12:00.000Z

This is entirely my full opinion but I think games are far more interesting with characters that actually have a persona. I mean its great to see them at the beginning and as you progress through the game, you take in and understand their background story, what their purposes are in life and players want to see how their story folds out.

These types of characters are called "Actors". They have personalities that may appeal or not appeal to the gamer who controls them throughout because their personalities may be totally conflicting of the gamer or vice versa. But usually these type of characters have such a strong presence that gamers will look back and remember what an "evil bastard" this character was and how they have an evil soul that you wouldn't want to mess with e.g. "Ganon" or "Ganondorf" off from the Zelda series. Or on the other hand players may look onto the good characters as some kind of a role model and they may intend to be a hero throughout their life e.g. "Cloud" off FF7. "Actors" are powerful things and they may be dangerous to the human mind if taken too seriously.

Depending how you look at it.

The other types of characters are called "Avatars". They basically do not have any such personalities or feelings that will clash with the player's own persona. Its up to the player's own actions that create the "avatar's" own personality as they have full control of them. Think of "avatars" like lifeless dolls or toys and you are the one that controls them, how they sound, what sexual orientation they are (if necessary) and whether they want to be a hero, an evil darklord or just some minor street urchin if need be. It's up to the person's own decisions.

Now although I said that I prefer characters with a personality and have feelings, that doesnt discourage me with such characters as "Link" from the Zelda series. We know that he is a hero who time after time saves the world from the darklord and rescues the princess of the land but he hardly has much feelings and we don't really know what he thinks at times. But at least we know hes a good guy as we know he doesn't slaughter good-natured people. However, he is still an "avatar" and his actions will be dictated by the player's own personalities.

I think as long as the story of a game has a strong presence and influence on the player then the game will effectively be a success.

That's my view on such an issue.

2006 Xmas Holidays

2007-01-01T10:51:00.000Z

Yup. Been a while since i've actually posted anything really. I've been kept busy with Zelda:TP and I definitely can assure you its one of the greatest games that I've played ever at the moment! Haven't finished it yet, not by far. This is due to the fact that the christmas holidays has involved many occasions of visiting friends and family and new relatives. I am officially an Uncle! Sounds eccentric because of my young age but what can you do eh?

Anyhow. Back to spending xmas hols. It has also involved spending time with family watching plentifuls of DVDs and a marathon of season 5 of the brilliant award-winning series of "24". I've always wondered who would win between "Jack Bauer", "Solid Snake" and "Batman" if they were pitted against each other in an enclosed environment. They have similar traits and they're all American!
Xmas hols also has me playing games such as Pro Evo 6 on PS2 with my bro and it is easier than its predecessor. I can guarantee that. But that shouldn't put off PES fans. Doom 3, Half-Life2 (yes still have not completed yet!), SSBM and more have kept me on a leash.

I've also been practicing and experimenting with Photoshop tools, making planets, starfields as well as practicing with 3Ds Max making random objects and scenes from tutorials. Hopefully, I've learnt some from all this and I can apply the knowledge in my games course.

Anyways, hope everyone had a great christmas and I wish you a happy new year.

Zelda:TP is finally in my hands!!

2006-12-15T18:06:00.000Z

Woo! Finally got my grubby hands on Zelda:Twilight Princess for the GC today in Gamestation. Don't have the Wii yet but when I do will definitely buy the Wii version and compare the differences. Should be interesting!

Can't wait to get back home on monday and play the game on my GC. Grr. Gettin twitchy just sitting here. There's gonna be some long hard hours on my GC and pray to God that it won't blow up or summat!

Potential for 100 Hours?

Might as well be an RPG!

WACOM - "Plenty of possibilities at your fingertips!"

2006-12-03T15:20:00.000Z

"How personal!"
"How simple!"
"How ergonomic!"

These are all the true aspects of my new and shiny WACOM Volito2 A6 graphics tablet that I received the other day from good ol' Amazon. I only got it because of:

1)I've always wanted one cos it sounded pretty cool
2)It is very cool and definitely intuitive
3)Hopefully to utilise the power of Photoshop and achieve high-quality illustrations, drawings etc.
4)It's by WACOM
5)It's very portable
6)No batteries required! and...
7)It was pretty damn cheap for what it's worth! Approx £30 not including VAT and P&P which is definitely a bargain!

If anyone wants to become a budding computer artist then I would highly recommend you purchasing one especially the guys and gals on the course.

Go to Amazon.

Buy it.

Now!

Week 9 - An Introduction to Game Technology (Ergonomics of game controllers)

2006-12-03T14:10:00.000Z

“Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data, and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance (definition adopted by the International Ergonomics Association in 2000).”

In this day and age us consumers expect our products our products to be ergonomically effective no? It depends entirely on what the actual object is but the majority of the time I’ll bet you that “ergonomics” is one of the most fundamental issues that always seems to be said.

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It is most definitely in my eyes one of the key elements for video game controllers. In the past, designers did not pay too much that attention to “user ergonomics”, they would most likely go for the “aesthetics” and various design styles. However, nowadays designers look into careful consideration of such concerns, especially in the games industry as the population of gamers has increased to mass productions since home consoles were introduced and the flexibility of their prices accounted for a more wider audience.

The user interface of game controllers has definitely been improved since the “retro-brick days” of the 60s up to the 90s. The first ever home video console was invented by Ralph Baer, and it was named the “Brown Box”.

This was sold to an electronics company soon after called, “Magnavox”, and they renamed it to “Magnavox Odyssey” and was released to the public in 1972. The controller is very minimal in design and not at all specially-designed for long gaming hours as you cannot hold it in the palm of your hands whilst attempting to turn the dials comfortably.

Unless you were “Stretch Armstrong!”.

So you can see how much more modernised and more ergonomically effective the game controller has improved on nowadays. Some are designed for sleekness, some are designed for many available buttons, some are more weighty and some are light and others will incorporate advance technology for a more innovative and realistic game experience i.e. the Nintendo Wii. One is also shaped like a "boomerang" i.e. the PS3 controller.

As far as user interface is concerned, which one was the easiest to use?
From experience I’d definitely say the Play station’s “Dual Shock” controller. This is probably most definitely the revered choice amongst gamers as the user interface is very nice and comfortable for the hands. The number of available buttons are placed in good spots and they have not affected the size of the actual gamepad design, the longer and more tapered handles improve the design of the original Playstation pad putting your wrists and fingers at ease and also the introduction of dual analogue thumbsticks was definitely a plus as it allowed for better manoeuvrability for 3D games. The “Dual Shock” is very natural in not only the way the user interface for the buttons have been placed but also in the way that designers have taken careful consideration into where each finger and thumb would be placed in a more comfortable manner.

Good job Sony! (No disrespect to Nintendo)

Which platform looked the nicest?
Not sure if this question is asking about the controllers as well or just specifically for the actual console but I’ll answer on both accounts.

I’d say the nicest platform I’ve seen is the XBOX 360, purely because of it’s curved design and the colour scheme(s).

The nicest game controller would be the XBOX360 again, but only based on the looks!

How do you think users will interact with gaming consoles?
I think in the future, users will be able to interact by ways of motion sensor technology. At the moment the Wii remote and nunchuk will be the most innovative invention of our time and I can see how technology may improve in that department where actual physical arm movement is part of the design and game experience. Maybe, in the future they will have “virtual reality” devices and possibly more attachments for our other body parts such as the legs and torso.

(That film actually scares me because of the way it puts "VR" into perspective and the potential "dangers" of it).

Is the game pad/joystick a dying technology?
I don’t think they are to an extent. The joystick is slowly dying and is only used for the classic gamers for flight simulation games so I can see how that will remain for a few years. The game pad I think will last for a very long time as they are integral for many genres such as fighting games, especially 2D beat-em-ups. Game pads are more natural for such games and you can’t just simply take that away. It would be cr-a-zee!

Phew!

And that ends this week’s task of weapons of mass production…

I mean controllers! Game controllers……yes…

Week 8 - Storytelling in Games

2006-12-01T17:20:00.000Z

Ahh. Good old stories. These have been around for an extensive time, since the dawn of time where caveman drew stick characters and weird, wonderful colours and shapes within the dark walls of their caves. They depict the experiences of the caveman’s life showing the trials and tribulations that have occurred to them, and throughout the ages these stories of theirs can be “shared” to whomever wishes to know about their history.

Stories typically can be found in many different mediums - books, magazines, films, and of course video games. They can be either fictional or non-fictional but either way they can show how powerful they are just by being emotionally-driven. A totally fictional story containing a fantasy-created world can easily be just as emotional as let’s say a WWII story but not so much to an extent, it depends on the target audience and how greatly effected they are.

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Does a strong storyline make a better game?
I personally would say that a “strong storyline” will make a “better game”. Well, it would certainly be one of those games that many gamers will remember for a long time if indeed they are greatly affected by it. A “strong storyline” doesn’t always need to be integrated in a game however; it is dependant on the genre and whether a “complex story” is absolutely necessary. An RPG would always need to have a very strong storyline because it is a crucial element for players to understand about this imaginary world that they are immersed in. They are the ones that need to explore, and they are the ones that drive the story forward. They want to know “what happened to that once beautiful city that is now in ruins” and they’d want to know “what happened to that midget thief who stole their socks in the middle of the night”.

It’s just an example so don’t look too closely into it.

As a player, does the story happen to you, or do you make the story happen?
I think it happens both ways. As you progress through the game, the story unfolds and you start to understand the twists and turns that occur to you, so in this way the story “happens to you” because you are basically playing the set-out storyline. But, you do also make the story happen because it is up to you what methods you decide to try to complete certain tasks. You are the one experiencing this “world” and how you experience it will depend on how you want to interact with the story.

What’s the story in Second Life?
The story in Second Life is how you want it to be. You get to create your own experiences in this “3D digital world” and you are able to explore wherever you want and do whatever you want. You are basically your own “God”.

I’ve never ever heard of or played this game before but from what I can tell it sounds intriguing. The way you are able to imagine and create your own world and explore it without limitations seems like a near infinite game that will never end. There’s no set story to it - you make the story up.

Is Call of Duty a war story?
Call of Duty (or CoD) is set in the period of WWII using scenes and weapons from that time. It is a war story but it is seen from the viewpoint of British, American and Soviet soldiers who are fictional characters so it is not entirely a true story from veterans of the war.

Stories are engaging,emotional and can be informative, and that's what their purpose is in life.

The End

Week 7 - An Introduction to Art Direction for Games

2006-11-27T19:30:00.000Z

What does an Art Director do?
The Art Director is the “keeper and champion of the vision of the game“. To put it bluntly they “direct” every aspect of the art in a game and help to balance everything out. Without them there would be disaster; objects would look out of place, scenery would not suit the genre of the game, visual artwork would look shoddy, etc etc.

Art directors make sure everything is running smoothly and efficiently.

Who are they responsible to? (or is it “for”?)
Well, they would be responsible for the visual arts needed in a game so they would discuss issues with the game artists, and they are responsible for making sure everyone is working to set goals and time. Making sure no one is lagging behind otherwise the game production cycle would need to be re-adjusted and this could induce some slight flaws in the game, maybe minor bugs and lack of detail etc.

Do you think it’s a creative role?
Absolutely. They wouldn’t have the word “Art” in their title otherwise! But seriously, Art Directors need to understand the visual elements of the game and need to understand how to direct their artists; what aspects of the art are they more specialised in and how best they can work on this, for example. They need to look at the big picture of a game and have a strong sense and understanding of how the game should look according to the established art style.

How is art direction in Games similar to or different from Film, for example?
I think art direction in both games and film are pretty much the same. They both involve a deep understanding of visual art and where each object or props need to be placed and what their intended impact will be among the audience. They also both involve the need to make sure everything is smooth sailing.

What qualities do you think you need to develop if you want to become an Art Director in the future?
I’d need to develop on my communication skills, deeper understanding and knowledge of 2D and 3D art, the overall visual elements of a scene, planning and preparation and also deeper knowledge of the games industry.

I’d hope to be able to develop all of these qualities by the end of my 3-year course to a very high standard.

And that’s week 7’s task complete! Getting through this thick and fast!

Week 6 - An Introduction to Game Design

2006-11-27T18:41:00.000Z

What is meant by Gameplay?
Gameplay can be simply generalised as the interaction between “player” and “game”. It is a pretty broad area of discussion which also involves the “core game mechanics” and “what the game comprises of”, thus splitting off into many directions of game graphics, storyline etc. Overall though, the better the game play the more likely the “re-playability” will be high.

Who are the leading lights in game design?
At the moment, the leading game designers would involve Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft Game Studios. These are the main 3 that are ranked at the top in their high and mighty castles. Their success has come from many consoles of advancing technology that consists of home consoles and handheld consoles too.

Microsoft is looking to increase their popularity with the XBOX 360 with its incredible graphics and ever-increasing XBOX Live (online play); Sony are in a similar boat to Microsoft and hope to gain more sales once they release the new Playstation 3 soon to be out in 2007, with it’s Blu-ray discs and technology as well as still producing games for their predecessors, the PSone and PS2; and Nintendo are always looking to produce innovative ways of playing games what with the Wii just floating along the horizon, the interaction between the player and the game will never be the same again with Nintendo’s new motion sensor controllers.
So each of these big developers have a different mission in order to reach worldwide popularity and 1st place.

Other developers also involve Konami, Capcom, and Electronic Arts.

Where does Game Design take place in the modern developer?
Game design is the fundamental aspect of any game that wishes to gain any kind of sale. It would take place in the initial phase of a game production’s life because of the fact that preparation is key to making the game worth playing. Game design documents are produced at this stage and would involve many things such as “target audience”, “genre”, “storyline”, “graphics” etc.

Is it a single person’s responsibility?
Absolutely not! It is definitely a “team effort” overall. If one person has a brilliant idea, they wouldn’t keep it to themselves and attempt to make the entire game themselves! That’s preposterous and would likely not happen ever! Each individual would discuss their ideas with one another and would review and evaluate any suggestions made. Then it would be up to the Art Director to decide upon what would be the best outcome.

Do different genres require different design principles?
Definitely. Each genre has their own specific features that differ from one another. Different design principles define what the game genre is. If each genre had the same design principle throughout then it’d make for an uninteresting game as gameplay would more than likely have a similar feel.

What’s important for you, when you play?
Gameplay, all the way! This is the most fundamental aspect that is required of me, otherwise I won’t enjoy the game experience at all and I will just straddle back to the shop and sell it back. As long as the gameplay is amazing the story and graphics I don’t mind too much. I do like to have an impressive story to my games at times, e.g. Zelda and Final Fantasy VII anybody?

But overall, gameplay is important. I like different elements in each game and how you interact with the game world. For example, Half-Life 2 focuses on the physics and interactivity of the various world objects that are usable. I also like the way how Half-Life is a fast-paced game, plus it consists of gorgeous graphics and architectural structures that have been implemented.

Gameplay and graphics would be the 2 best elements of a game in my opinion.

And that’s a wrap!

2 months Development - Game Art Design

2006-11-22T20:19:00.000Z

It's been 2 months of studying in Uni so far. There's been ups and downs so far but overall it has been pretty good. The first 6 weeks have been mind-numbling frustrating, what with designing a goddamn wheelie bin! I would have liked it if we had been eased gently into making simple objects first durin the introductory week and then moving onto the hellish life of making bins! We all got there in the end, although i'm still awaiting my marks on how well i've done. I basically had to figure out the majority of making my bin model using "this and that" tools, cleaning up the mesh, using alpha channels etc. I understand that our tutor Joel, has a group of approx. 30 of us at one time but we should all get respectable marks as he did seem to rush the job of teaching us.
Still a little pissed off, but i'm definitely getting used to 3Ds Max now and it's quirky interface.

At the moment we are expected to build the exterior of a 2-floor terraced house using our own references. It's a slight more easier than the "bin" because it requires mostly of extrusions and basic primitives and then finally "render to texturing". I've done the majority of the mesh; just need to modify bits and pieces. And all this done in 2 lessons! Well, i'm impressed of myself anyhow. So far, everything is looking nice and spice!

The only thing i'm lacking on is drawing. I'll admit i've been a little lazy and need to pull my weight in catching up many hours. I still enjoy drawing nevertheless, don't get me wrong. I believe since i've been here, i've improved in many drawing techniques such as "perspective", "scale and proportion", and "line and shading" in the matter of 2 months. If I put in more effort into filling up more pages of my sketchbook I believe that I will improve dramatically.

Now we move onto "Blogging". It's 2 sides of a coin. The highlights are the fact I like working at my own pace and getting the freedom to write in a more informal style, rather than writing essays. Also, it's great to know there's many sources of information provided by links to websites and if you need to look back on what you've written then you can always view your blog as well as other user's blogs.
The downsides are the fact that we don't really get to arrange a date and time to discuss issues of each week's task. We basically just look on the blackboard and get feeded tasks instead of being able to exchange information and attaining ideas that we can use to our knowledge, instead of having to go and do "set tasks".
Don't get me wrong, i don't particularly mind on how this course is structured, it's just a suggestion that I think we could and should utilise.

Overall, the course is definitely something up my street and I do thoroughly enjoy it.

Surely, this is the start of a fantastic course just waiting to really amaze us through and through.

As Borat would say: "I like!"

Task 5 - New Games Journalism: "It doesn't hurt to be creative"

2006-11-20T01:46:00.000Z

This is week 5‘s task. It should have been typed out a fortnight ago. I apologise sincerely for my dawdling mind and the time to actually write my blog up-to-date as possible.

---------------------------------

So “New Games Journalism” then? This is actually the first time I’ve heard of such a thing. I’m hardly a hardcore media viewer I’ll admit so spare me the details if I write or have been writing pretty standard posts.

Issues which face reviewers
I believe reviewers should have some respect and dignity (whether professional or not albeit not the ones that tend to write utter crap or biased opinions with no real source backup). They are the ones who take the time and need to produce reviews that reflect on the overall game from different perspectives (again disregarding the biased reviewers), and instead they usually get criticised pretty harshly. These kinds of criticism can easily break one’s morale and reviewers are already under the pressure of delivering reviews after reviews in the space of 19 working days to produce the current monthly magazine. A pretty tall order if you ask me! And if reviews are shoddy due to lack of time for researching then this can easily impact the games industry. Games journalist Kieron Gillen illustrates this point by saying

“the rush from issue to issue leaves little time for serious contemplation. The second a magazine is finished, then the next demands your attention. And it’s only got worse over the years, as publishers trim staff and budgets to fluff the bottom line a little”

Personally, reviews are always a good source of background information for games. I constantly like to know whether one title will appeal to me, thus could save the trouble of forking out an average of “£30” for a new title and finding out it is a big pile of crap and waste concealed beneath an interestingly-designed plot of land.

See what I did there?

Is objective ranking necessary for games sales? Is it feasible?
No, but without objective ranking it would mean a decrease in sales. It basically gives a general perspective of the reviewer’s opinion based around the benchmark set by modern games. This would mean that reviews would not be totally unbiased because of this, and therefore any signs of subjective ranking from the reviewer may be the difference between a sale or no sale.

Objective ranking helps to ensure people have a general idea of what they are looking to purchase beforehand without much unnecessary opinions. It is important that the main principles of a game are defined and illustrated - genre, story, gameplay mechanics, graphics, and the overall presentation.

New games journalism
Browsing through this style of reviewing for myself I can honestly say that NGJ could go far. The way that reviewers use anecdotes and some of their own creative touches can be pretty amusing and invigorating - it makes you reflect on the things that you may not have questioned yourself. I like the fact how reviewers take into account their game character and illustrates what they are thinking, doing and how they are feeling in the current situation, taking a more definite-subjective approach to a standard review. I also like the way how they use references from various sources - TV, films, literature, own personal experiences etc. Tim Roger's article on Metal Gear Solid 2 illustrates this in a paragraph

“Kojima intended Metal Gear Solid 2 to be as wacky as it was.

Here’s my evidence:

Haruki Murakami says that his novel The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, started with one idea: a guy in his kitchen, cooking spaghetti. Where it went in the following 607 pages, well, he didn’t know until he started writing. That’s freeform postmodernity, and it works, when you’re feeling wacky.

I’ve written stories like that, and they turn out just fine. One of them even won me a scholarship to a writer’s conference a while back....”

With the exception of NGJ there are other forms of writing which include:
Creative nonfiction
Gonzo Journalism
Reportage

Myself?
I like to try to use some form of subjectivity but not so much to a high level of degree at this moment in time. I think as I start to write more and more my writing style will change quite dramatically because of the many source materials that I will have acquired over the months to come - plus using a more subjective approach makes for a more intriguing reading.

I like to attempt to make use of jokes whether being sarcastic, witty or whatever. It’s just a little bit of harmless fun and it doesn’t hurt to be creative.

Does it?

Phoenix Lan Group - 2006 Promotional Video (Youtube)

2006-11-15T22:02:00.001Z

Interesting video of how the games industry has evolved over the past "30 years" as noted in the video. One thing I'm a bit disappointed about is the fact that the Wii technology wasn't even displayed at all! Maybe it was just a showcase on how the graphics has advanced so much.

Meh. Still, pretty nice to watch.

Mwahaha! That'll teach "Wheelie Bins" for messing with Game Artists!

2006-11-13T18:51:00.000Z

"Wheelie Bin on Fire" - YouTube

Task 4 - 2000s (The Future and Beyond!)

2006-11-13T18:42:00.000Z

Hello again fellow readers. I know I've been pretty lazy with the last 2-3 weeks tasks but I'm attempting to pull my belt up and keep up-to-date as best I can. This week has been quite hectic with the Game Artists of the course working hard to finish off our “Wheelie Bins”; however for some they have been idle and have yet to submit their work in the last time I checked.

I'll keep it on the hush though to not reveal their identities.

But this week I am proud and relieved to have completed my Bin model! Took some effort, concentration and good few hours of experimentation but lo and behold I managed to clean it up quite well (I think!) and do everything that needed to be done on it. Apart from the frigging “X-form” tool which I couldn't get to work.

Nevermind.

So, we have now covered most of the general significant points of the computer gaming history and we can follow onto the new millennium of next generation consoles and the amazing games that have been developed.

This is the millennium.

This is the future of gaming!

-------------------------------------------------------

It is the year 2000. The future looks bright and beautiful for every gamer out there. But is the games industry under so much pressure that demand for high-end games with more advanced technology is so high ? And the fact that consoles and games have increased in their price range exponentially over the past years. Is that so necessary?

Afraid it is so.

Games developers are expected to create better quality games now more than ever before, therefore the price of games and consoles have to reflect this. The cost of development for games in the US will be expected to cost from $40 million and is expected to increase rapidly during the next few years which is pretty startling.
Halo 2 cost Microsoft a total of $40 million to develop, but I can say it was well worth the money spent. It’s a superb sequel to Halo, improving the game depth in many aspects; the multiplayer mode, graphics, improved old maps as well as new and bigger maps taking on board many new vehicles that have been created. Halo has always been a competitive game within the multiplayer mode and it’s a satisfying experience to just aim down your sniper rifle to the opposition’s head and then….BAM! The sound of the fired gun meeting the player is just great.

As you should fully be aware now, some games like say on the XBOX 360 are pretty mediocre that you think “why the hell should that be £60? Who really cares about the graphics when gameplay is where developers should concentrate their efforts on!” Well, at least there are multiple consoles that have been produced for various types of gamers. And I’m still very much relieved that Nintendo have stuck to producing the more inexpensive games and consoles all the way! They don’t always make the greatest games but when they do you know that people will talk about them for years to come. Quality doesn’t always come at a price you know!

However, the technology in today’s generation is amazing to see how it has evolved so much. Looking at the HD (High Definition) visuals of the XBOX 360 on HDTVs is breathtaking compared to SDTVs (Standard-Definition Television). You can easily see the vibrancy and crisper detail on HDTVs thanks to a more advanced system allowing higher resolutions to be displayed on screen. Also, HDTV screens allow extra image space to be crammed in.

Graphics is all well and good but I’d like for games of the future to focus more on the storyline and actual gameplay elements. They should be more innovative and creative; massive development costs on one game shouldn’t really need to implement jaw-dropping graphics, and in turn will generate higher prices for consoles and games. Well, that’s my opinion. I’m more for different ways of playing games. However, in the future, it would be nice to see a more realistic way of games being able to capture human motion and movement. You should be able to feel like you’re inside the game, that you can feel the atmosphere, hear “realistic” sounds as if in the real world and touch things. But this “Virtual Reality” system shouldn’t be so life-like that you feel pain.

I’m sure this would distress the player and put them off for life!

At this moment in time, I would definitely like to see Nintendo offering more RPG games. They could use the Wii’s motion sensor capabilities for player’s to be able to attack, create magical spells, defend or run away in battle and also to manoeuvre around the world. Maybe Nintendo could take up a similar idea to Sony’s “Eyetoy” and use a device to capture the player’s arm motions, enabling a wide range of offensive and defensive moves. I don’t doubt that Nintendo can easily take advantage of this style of gameplay for such genres.

That would be impressive for RPG gamers to see. Especially me.

Well. That’s your lot! The future of gaming looks intriguingly astonishing. I only wish that this generation of games artist and designers will have fresh and creative ideas that will astound the world of games.

Hopefully, I will be a part of the family.

Peace out.

Everyone loves Lego!

2006-11-13T17:34:00.000Z

Thought I'd make a short post about this weird but strange "lego" animation, from some french guy, of new wave music artists Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence.

If you've never heard of Depeche Mode then why not have a gander of their music on myspace? If new wave/electronice/alternative music is ur thang.

Well, you should have a little look at this animation. I think its quite cool and quite smoothly done. Go on, have a butchers. At least look at it for the lego side of things!

Depeche Mode - Enjoy the silence
Uploaded by MickaelHouis

Task 3 - Continuation

2006-11-04T17:45:00.000Z

So we come back to the next significant console to have been born in the third generation of gaming history, the 8-bit console, the NES (or short for “Nintendo Entertainment System”).

This was a major event for the North American video game market as the year before the computer gaming market began to take over the console market as computers were designed more simply than home consoles. However, since then the NES or the “Famicom”, as known in Asia, revitalised the market and the console market grew strongly. The NES was packaged with the first title for the console of the infamous “Super Mario Bros.”, and from then on became a great success.
Other markets which had the “PC Engine” console in Japan, released later in North America market and known as the “TurboGrafx-16”, and the “Sega Master System” Europe, Australia, Brazil, and America were not quite as profound as the NES.

Super Mario Bros. has been esteemed as the “best-selling game of all time”, next to Tetris. It has sold a very respectable 40 million copies of the game worldwide, which still stands as a Guiness World Record.

Now that’s an achievement and a half!

I myself have loved the game, well since the game was re-released on the SNES later on as part of a compilation consisting of several Mario games with enhanced graphics. It was indeed a very bright, and cheerful side-scroller platformer that could be picked up and played hours upon end. Full of vast and expansive worlds, it was indeed the definitive game of the platforming genre in my eyes.

Nintendo marched on with other great games that followed, including the Dragon Quest , Final Fantasy, Legend Of Zelda (woo-hoo!) and Metal Gear series that have been a great success till the present day (Dragon Quest however has made a huger impact in Japan than elsewhere).
Metal Gear initiated the founding of “stealth-based” games and in 1989 Capcom released a game called Sweet Home on the NES which gave way to the birth of the “survival-horror” series.
Sweet Home involves a bunch of random Japanese people with some unique items and skills to fend or to help solve puzzles inside this haunted mansion.

One of the characters even has a vacuum cleaner, as she is a maid!

In 1989 came the good ol Game Boy, the first successful handheld console since the release of the “Microvision”. The Game Boy was packaged with the highly addictive and renowned puzzle game, “Tetris”.
Soon after, the battle waged on again, with the rivalry of the likes of Sega and Atari both releasing a handheld console of their own; the Game Gear and the Atari Lynx.
It was a short battle, and Nintendo were the true successors, with their handheld consoles still strong today.

Now comes the start of the 4th generation, with the likes of the Sega Genesis/Mega drive which was matched by the SNES produced by yours truly, Nintendo; released in 1989 and 1991 respectively.
These machines were the “dog’s bollocks” (that means “awesome” or “excellent” for any of you newbies and is not literal!) back in the days, well it depended by which console you would stand up for and believe me, there was serious rivalry between these two machines!

(SNES was obviously the far more superior 16-bit console, I joke you not!)

After all these long years of cartridges and controllers flying about the place in a rage came the homecoming of the consoles that would define the 3D games world till this day, apart from one. ‘94 to ‘95 were the years when the Sega Saturn and the debut of the Sony Playstation (PSX) came to the home scene. Both utilising 32-bit technology, 3D games could now run thanks to the more advance power of these machines.
Rhythm games such as PaRappa the Rapper, Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmania that were released on the PSX found fame in Japan and in their arcade machines.

Which is why the Japanese are so naturally damn good at music games!

In 1996 was the heavily delayed release of the 64-bit console, the N64 (Nintendo 64), which gave a superb introduction of their one of their launch titles, Super Mario 64. The N64 gave popularity to the analog stick (the basis of the analog stick came from the “Vectrex”), which allowed 8-way directional movement in games and it was a huge success with Mario 64. I loved this game for the sheer fact that it allowed Mario to grab hold of bosses, spin them round on one spot and then toss them a distance away. It’s hilarious when you get to grab Bowser’s tail and throw him into some bombs, making him fry his ass!! Haha!!

*cough*

Yes. Anyways, back to the task. So Super Mario 64 was the defining platformer and it was just pure awesomeness.
However, there’s one thing that has peeved me off a bit. The fact that Squaresoft decided they wanted to move on from the games cartridges era of Nintendo and move onto CDs, so they straddled along to the Playstation which would be the primary console that Squaresoft would focus the Final Fantasy series on.

If only Squaresoft weren’t so damn selfish then Nintendo would easily conquer the games market!
Don’t get me wrong, the PSX has many games that I have great admiration for such as Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Tekken series, so I don’t exactly hate them.

But still….

So ends the 80s and 90s era. How did games improve over time? We will see next time into the future of the video games history.

Interesting music animation

2006-10-29T01:45:00.000Z

Thought I'd make a short post about this weird but strange "lego" animation, from some french guy, of new wave music artists Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence.

If you've never heard of Depeche Mode then why not have a gander of their music on myspace? If new wave/electronice/alternative music is ur thang.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=122071461

Well, you should have a little look at this animation. I think its quite cool and quite smoothly done. Go on, have a butchers. At least look at it for the lego side of things!

http://www.dailymotion.com/featured/video/640x480/xjy8z_depeche-mode-enjoy-the-silence

Task 3 - Games in "Middle Ages" (1980s-90s)

2006-10-28T16:33:00.000+01:00

So we continue on with the amazing journey of the history of computer games into the “Middle Ages” from the 80s to the 90s.

Come into the Medieval times where Kings, Queens, and armour-cladded knights run amok….

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The 80s was a time of great success for arcade machines that seemed to spew out “technically innovative and genre-defining games”.

Such games included titles as “Defender” (1980) which was the establishment for the scrolling shooter genre. It consisted linear-based levels where the gamer would see their spacecraft, the level and enemies from a side-on perspective and also a handy radar map along the top screen which would pinpoint the locations of where each enemy were. Defender would evolve into such future games such as the R-Type or the Gradius series. I remember R-Type being a very radical game during the 90s, full of aliens, techno lights and very difficult!

But that’s in the past...

Other arcade games included “Battlezone”, using wireframe vector graphics to create a 3D world; “Pole Position”, using sprite-based, “pseudo-3D” graphics meaning 2D graphics to simulate three-dimensional graphics; and then the infamous game known as “Pac-Man”.

The game and the character was developed by the Namco company in Japan, in the year of 1979. As you should know, most crazy well-known characters originated from Japan such as the Mario characters, Sonic characters etc. The Japanese can be so creative in their designs that even something like pizza inspires them.

Who would think of something like that?

Well, this one employee of Namco, Toru Iwatani, was apparently inspired by a nice slice of pizza and he used that to create Pac-Man. But it wasn’t entirely true as it also was inspired by the Japanese character for mouth kuchi (口) and just simply smoothing it into a mouth.
The fact it was so popular was because it didn’t involve any sort of violence and it appealed to gamers of a wider market, both boys and girls. It involved a “pizza-inspired” character chomping down coins and being hunted down by some multi-coloured ghosts in an assortment of constructed mazes.

What is with the Japanese and “coins”?

Anyway, the gaming industry was generally struggling during this era. Some businesses lost out whilst others such as Electronic Arts (or EA) survived on the brink until this day, striving on successfully.
The primary gaming systems that were introduced in the early 80s were the Commodore 64, Apple II and the ZX Spectrum.

I’ve never owned any of these computers in my life but it is known that the Commodore 64 is the “best selling single personal computer of all time”. It could be plugged simply into a TV set to play games but also it could be used as an office computer system for the older market. It was also very affordable and targeted toy and department stores to attract a wider range of people.

So at this early period was the beginning of a great era of the home gaming industry.

The next part of this we will look into the great 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit consoles of the continuation of the 80s era up to the millennium.

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Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_and_video_games

Task 2 - The History of Computer Games (1950s-1970s)

2006-10-19T16:47:00.000+01:00

The world of gamers of the present day should all really thank and salut the first inventors of games since the late 40s era. These men are why games have become astronomically popular as they grew and improved in terms of graphics, actual storylines, sound and new innovative ways of game playing.

Makes me shed a tear to my eye. *sniff*

Anyways, this is how games were first introduced into our lives.

It began in the US of A, in 1947, where two men designed and patented a very simple game which represented a simulation of a missile being fired at a target, using a Cathode Ray Tube (or short for CRT) to display it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode_ray_tube pedia.org/wiki/Cathode_ray_tube)
Their names were known as Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and they would be the great inspirations for people to design the first ever video game ever in history.
We move on to 1952, the year where a Cambridge student in ye olde England was studying for a PhD degree in order to demonstrate his thesis on human-computer interaction. His name was A.S. Douglas, and he developed a game version of OXO, or as it is commonly called “Noughts And Crosses”. Again, a simple and basic game which was designed to be played on one of the first ancient computers known as EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator).
What a mouthful! The output display was again executed using a CRT of 35x16 dots, and although the source code was short it was indeed very inch perfect to being able to play a nice, relaxing game of “Noughts and Crosses”. The game however, was not very well-known as EDSAC was not easily portable (slight understatement there!) and was based only in Cambridge.

Skipping past the next few years to 1958, back to good old America, in the heart of Brookhaven National Laboratories.

Now, this is the time where the first ever created game was developed. Another genius of a man who be known in the name as, William Higinbotham, created a game called “Tennis for Two” on an analogue oscilloscope. He designed the game specifically for the bored visitors entering the nuclear power plant facility. “Tennis for Two” was the predecessor to the widely-known game of PONG, but instead of the bird’s-eye view perspective this was shown as a side-on view.

And so the games industry grew from here on.

This was indeed the amazing start of a beautiful gaming journey. It should be said that the four men mentioned be honoured and well-respected for their intelligent and creative minds.

As for me, I think the first game I started playing was “TETRIS” on the very ancient and
chunky Gameboy. Oh the bold, retro colour schemes of this magnificent portable gaming system! Well, at the time it was obviously an amazing piece of invention. My brother bought home the Gameboy and the TETRIS game and I started playing furiously on it. I think I was about 5 years old when I first was introduced into the gaming world. I completed the game in a few days because it was just THAT addictive!
From then on, my mind had suddenly been engrossed into the powerful market of the games industry and my games collection started to build up. My brother brought home the SNES, and then the N64 a good couple of years later, and then the Gamecube.
So I think you guys can see why my fave game in the entire world would be Zelda:OOT. It was Zelda:A Link To The Past but times moved on very rapidly. So I guess I’m a little biased on my views of Nintendo.

They are the greatest!

Sorry for the noobish statement.

So up to the point of the present day, where I am currently playing and alternating between Half-Life 2 (yes, you heard me right Mike!), Counter-Strike, Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (PC), and recently bought Mario and Luigi:Partners in Time which in my opinion is excellent at the moment.
Like I’ve probably noted before, I admire Nintendo for their great innovations. Their selling points are not based on the quantity of games, like the techniques the Playstation/SONY market has utilised, but instead it is more on “how to design new and unique consoles in which players will have a different and better gaming interaction e.g. the Nintendo DS with its touch-screen and dual screen capabilities, and then the next-gen console, the Wii, with it’s motion sensor controllers.
Yes, I know I am currently playing PC games mostly, but the reason is because I had to leave behind my precious Gamecube at home because of lack of storage in my luggage bags!
So, why do I continue playing games after all this time?
Well, think about it this way. They are like “drugs” in a non-illegal way that give you a sense of hype and ecstasy (without sounding erotic in some kind of sick way), and after you’ve finished playing, there’s no need to go climbing up a roof and pretend you can fly. The result? Not a pretty sight.

Games have and always will rapidly improve in every way whether it be graphics, sound quality, game playing etc. and that’s where it’s most successful. But, of course you should never neglect to go retro gaming as it is still hugely popular.

Games to me will never ever become a boredom.

I can guarantee it.

Locked from the outside

2006-10-15T11:08:00.000+01:00

Hello again. Thought I'd post this very amusing pic of one of my flatmates trying to get into his room because some shenanigans (excluding me) decided to sellotape the chain of an abandoned trolley to his door handle. 20 mins ago prior to this photo, there were several pieces of furniture and other inanimate objects piled just outside his room too. It was a work of art! I guess some can call it that but he didn't really see the funny side of it.

All this was a prank of course! We don't "not like him" (won't reveal his name cos he'd probably destroy my life or just think about destroying me). He is a great guy and he means to get revenge on us lot (i think excluding me in this part).
He eventually saw the funny side though as he has a sense of humour. That's why he is a great bloke.

Sorry Eman!

Oops!

A view of my humble abode

2006-10-12T17:34:00.000+01:00

Well, after recovering from a sickly headache from yesterday I can return back to doing some work. Huzzah! Or not....*cough*.

Thought I'd make a short post and show some photos of what my room is like. I haven't yet got any pics of my crazy flatmates and of the other "stuff" but that can wait a little longer, once I actually remember to take some more goddamn photos! Woe the lazy side of me.

Have a look and feel free to make any C & C.

My very plain and minimalistic room.

The art of "blogging"

2006-10-06T13:10:00.000+01:00

So this is my second created post on Blogger. This time instead of ranting on about my first week of the course and about myself I will cover this weeks task of questions about the powerful tool of Blogging! Mwahahaha!!

*cough*

So the first question is: "Who's writing, and how do you perceive them to be?"

Well, any old somebody (not literally "old") can respond to your post. Whether it is related or just a random form of monkey gibberish is entirely up to them to reply. In which case, those people who actually have some the time and intelligence to read your posts and discuss their opinions on the subject (whether biased or not) then, well done! I like people who actually give some sort of insight on their experiences and backgrounds as you can learn a whole lot from this.
The other side of the coin is where people just utter *spam* responses or very short comments such as "yeah, it's really awesome!" or even "f*** you, you c**k sucking w**ker!" etc. I really feel sorry for this kinds of people as they either don't have any kind of intelligence and can't be bothered to discuss tedious subjects or they just plain hate you because you have dissimilar tastes to them.

Oh the hilarity of such people. Yes it can be, I admit, LOL. But they could at least follow up their whinings with a thought out reason of why they are calling me a "w**ker".

Next question: "Does blogging strike you as objective or more personal?"

I think this depends on the question and also the person at the other end. I think the more controversial a topic, the more personal responses you'll receive.
But I think if say I wanted a more specific answer to a simple question then the responder will reply as straightforward as possible without any kind of emotions. It depends on what the responder is like as a person.
However, I think overall I'd say that Blogging will always strike me as being more on a personal level as virtually everything and anything will be perceived as different to each person who replies.

Thirdly: "How often do they write, what do they write about?"

Well, like I said in the first question (which I really shouldn't have covered in, but nevermind), some people cannot be arsed to write even a paragraph of a comment say around 50 words, whilst others actually give more thought to your issues and questions and give you a better insight of their opinions. They can write a load of crap that leads to *spam, spam, spam* and more, or they will try to relate to your topic and give their own views. They also may even write about absolutely anything themselves ranging from "who came first, the chicken or the egg?" or to political questions such as "Does George Bush give a damn on what we say? Discuss."

Fourth question: "How do you see yourself writing a blog?"

I quite like using blogs now! It's definitely a more informal approach to writing millions of essays and waiting a couple of days or weeks till you get responses from your tutors. But this way, they are able to give their own views of what they think on the subject. They may brandish you with criticism or they might even help you with useful sources to read up on and help you on the course......that's what I'm hoping anyways Mike Powell! You be nice and I'll be nice back. But of course the occasional constructive criticism never goes astray.
I think blog writing will be an integral part of my critical games studies and I usually write a lot on particular subjects!

Finally.....: "Do you feel comfortable writing for an invisible audience for example?"

I feel very comfortable no matter what. I won't want to reveal absolutely private matters as that is my business and it is confidential, but anything and everything then yeah, I do not mind. They may be "invisible" but at least they can give feedback!

The start of a new era! (how cliche...)

2006-10-04T18:40:00.000+01:00

Well then, what to say first? Hows about a nice little introduction about myself. First of all, I love playing video games and have been since I was a little bean. Over the years I have grown to love the one and only Nintendo games company because most probably my brother brought me up their way by purchasing the SNES, Gameboy, N64 and Gamecube so you could say I may be biased in a sense. Have always loved RPGs and adventure games that come under the categories of Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda series. They have incredible music soundtracks and themes which have been imbedded in the core of my video gaming brain, making me hum or whistle the odd tune.
Anyhow, enough of waffling BS.

This week has seemed to fly by with only attending 2 full days of the course whilst my flatmates have their weekly timetable schedule spreaded out! Theoretically they are the same but it means us Game Art people will have long weekends! How awesome is that?! Of course, it means thorough studying time, the odd gaming sessions and shortenings of clubbing and partying. But what the hell. I am looking so forward to learning invaluable experience of what Game Art Design is about and hope to raise my knowledge of the gaming industry to a greater level as I would love to become a 3D artist for a enormous and successful company in the future.....cmon Nintendo, you know you'll want to hire me in about 5-10 years time once I learn Japanese!

Feel free to say hi, don't be shy!