I just thought I would spend this time and comment about how it is so easy to become so engrossed into a game. I suppose playing game in one respect can remove us from reality, honestly I don't the amount of times I've been playing a game and the day just went away, I suppose its all about completing objectives within a game or finishing a story line that makes people want to play games so much. I find it hard to believe that there was such huge interest in older games, but I suppose at the time pacman was like what any modern game is like to us, interest in something new is always the thing that drives people to want to play games and so that is why the industry has become what it is today.
As a game artist I suppose I shouldn't be as interested in gaming anymore, because my life now revolves around me creating games, playing them should really bore me and perhaps annoy me in certain ways, saying that though I really don't know. I've always been interested in games ever since my 7th birthday, but as to whether the novelty will wear off only time will tell. I think it will be more interesting creating the game playing it and saying yeah I made that but I have to make it to that point first!
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Constructive critism.... High praise Wk 24
So the final blog in the tasks is that of feedback.
Well what can I say, it has been a good year and i know for a fact that I have certainly improved in that of the 2d area and I have learnt new skills in 3d, truthfully I would ask for more feedback within the blogging area and that of the 3d arwa, its fair enough we get feedback from formative and peer assessment but I have noticed that there has been a lack of any major criticism. Yes i do put my work on facebook, but no ever ever really comment on it, perhaps that means there's nothing wrong with it, but I know for a fact that, that isn't true.
I don't really raise any concerns about the trips involved, maybe trips further afield could be good though, and I do mean trips organised by the teachers with them providing us with a way to get there, cost wouldn't be that much of an issue as long as it wasn't over £30-£40. Leicester is awesome and it does offer a multitude of different interesting places to draw at but I really wouldn't mind seeing other places of interest as it were.
Finally I would like to see and hear more feedback from the actual teachers, I haven't had one comment on my blog other than some random spanish madeline Mc Cann group not good feedback for my studies really. It just concerns me because I need feedback to improve my work.
That's it I hope I return next year Farewell for now :D
Well what can I say, it has been a good year and i know for a fact that I have certainly improved in that of the 2d area and I have learnt new skills in 3d, truthfully I would ask for more feedback within the blogging area and that of the 3d arwa, its fair enough we get feedback from formative and peer assessment but I have noticed that there has been a lack of any major criticism. Yes i do put my work on facebook, but no ever ever really comment on it, perhaps that means there's nothing wrong with it, but I know for a fact that, that isn't true.
I don't really raise any concerns about the trips involved, maybe trips further afield could be good though, and I do mean trips organised by the teachers with them providing us with a way to get there, cost wouldn't be that much of an issue as long as it wasn't over £30-£40. Leicester is awesome and it does offer a multitude of different interesting places to draw at but I really wouldn't mind seeing other places of interest as it were.
Finally I would like to see and hear more feedback from the actual teachers, I haven't had one comment on my blog other than some random spanish madeline Mc Cann group not good feedback for my studies really. It just concerns me because I need feedback to improve my work.
That's it I hope I return next year Farewell for now :D
Sunday, 21 March 2010
GDC errrrr Wk22
Well another topic I have limited knowledge on.... The GDC!!!!!! RAWR!! errr right
Well seeing as I didn't go to the GDC all I can really comment on is the what's on parts on the GDC homepage. A game that had a look in on the visual part of the GDC was "batman Arkham Asylum" The session covered the development of the game, and went through its realistic approach to the game. Having played the game I did find the game to be realistic in a sense that the way you roamed around as batman and traversed different heights and jumped to different objects seemed realistic. The thing that interested me more about the game was that of the darkness being batmans ally, so the lighting within the game appealed to me more, enemies couldn't see in the dark and that aspect of the game really took precedence.
I suppose Batman being taken from a comic book license it had to be stylised in some way, this of course perhaps presents a problem to the producers as they have to stick to a certain style that the comic was made in, and so any new game created would have to similar to this style, this is perhaps seen as a limitation.....
Thats all im going to write.... As I don't really know what went off because I didnt go to LA!!!! :-P
Well seeing as I didn't go to the GDC all I can really comment on is the what's on parts on the GDC homepage. A game that had a look in on the visual part of the GDC was "batman Arkham Asylum" The session covered the development of the game, and went through its realistic approach to the game. Having played the game I did find the game to be realistic in a sense that the way you roamed around as batman and traversed different heights and jumped to different objects seemed realistic. The thing that interested me more about the game was that of the darkness being batmans ally, so the lighting within the game appealed to me more, enemies couldn't see in the dark and that aspect of the game really took precedence.
I suppose Batman being taken from a comic book license it had to be stylised in some way, this of course perhaps presents a problem to the producers as they have to stick to a certain style that the comic was made in, and so any new game created would have to similar to this style, this is perhaps seen as a limitation.....
Thats all im going to write.... As I don't really know what went off because I didnt go to LA!!!! :-P
Where Am I going? How Do I Get There?!!! :O Wk 21
Well today i'll look at my possible future aims, I suppose this will be a very open door really.
Well like everyone else on this course I would imagine that I want to get a job in the gaming industry, it is perhaps my ultimate aim. I do tend to keep an open mind though, the more this course goes on the more complicated it seems to get, i'm not trying to say by any means that i can't hack this course but I do find things very challenging (3d especially) and again it is noticeable and true what a hallowed teachers say Keep up and manage your time!!! (words that break my lazy heart ha!)
It is noticeable to me that I prefer the 2d sort of side to game art design and although I myself do not have amazing drawing skills but it is always something that I can hone in time, perhaps conceptual art is the way forward then but time will tell. I do need to spend a lot more time practising skills and understanding shapes and forms more, this will help with overall drawing skills because that's basically what everything is shapes and forms. Photoshop is also a continual learning curve, the more time i spend on it the better I seem to get (or so i've been told)
At the moment i'm not looking much farther than that of the final hurdle on the 30th of April, I do intend to work my ass off until then and I hope I can produce enough work for then. It has sort of dawned on me within the last month that proper time management is necessary to succeed within this course, deadlines are best kept stuck to. I think it is wrong to sometimes expect perfection within our artwork, but the quality of peoples artwork certainly reflects that of future competition for jobs inside of companies, we have to work hard to achieve our goals and to become the best we can be else perhaps we aren't worth being employed....
Well like everyone else on this course I would imagine that I want to get a job in the gaming industry, it is perhaps my ultimate aim. I do tend to keep an open mind though, the more this course goes on the more complicated it seems to get, i'm not trying to say by any means that i can't hack this course but I do find things very challenging (3d especially) and again it is noticeable and true what a hallowed teachers say Keep up and manage your time!!! (words that break my lazy heart ha!)
It is noticeable to me that I prefer the 2d sort of side to game art design and although I myself do not have amazing drawing skills but it is always something that I can hone in time, perhaps conceptual art is the way forward then but time will tell. I do need to spend a lot more time practising skills and understanding shapes and forms more, this will help with overall drawing skills because that's basically what everything is shapes and forms. Photoshop is also a continual learning curve, the more time i spend on it the better I seem to get (or so i've been told)
At the moment i'm not looking much farther than that of the final hurdle on the 30th of April, I do intend to work my ass off until then and I hope I can produce enough work for then. It has sort of dawned on me within the last month that proper time management is necessary to succeed within this course, deadlines are best kept stuck to. I think it is wrong to sometimes expect perfection within our artwork, but the quality of peoples artwork certainly reflects that of future competition for jobs inside of companies, we have to work hard to achieve our goals and to become the best we can be else perhaps we aren't worth being employed....
Creativity (again!) Wk20
Ok it's time for another grand talk on creativity!! So here we go!
How can you define creativity? Reflecting back on a wednesday morning lecture Mike went through multiple ways creativity can be defined, my personal favourite was the football player analogy, (merely because i'm mental on football) a football player can be classed as creative because of his overall skill, the vision he uses on the pitch, the way the ball is passed to his respective players.
Truly creative people have to have multiple skills within their own working environment, yes things can be seen as creative because we are using creative skills to make certain things happen or produce something we class as valued, but truly creative people usually have a hunger to rpoduce and create as many things as possible. Leanardo Da Vinci was one of these people, he always had a hunger to produce art which explained things, but it was noticable that he never really wanted to stop producing work and that he was hungry to move onto another piece of work after finishing a previous piece.
Creativity is a mixture of the mind and body, more so the mind is involved in creativity because creativity take more thought than movement to produce... (all depending on the type of creativity) musicians would take more time to compose a piece of music than they would actually playing it, same as dancers would spend more time rehearsing and learning steps more than they would actually dance the routine for in a production.
Another point that was raised in the lecture was that of children and their creativity being destroyed by the school system, creativity so it is said naturally flows out of children, I myself wouldn't call it creativity I would call it growth. Yes children seem to improve whilst they grow, that come naturally though, it isn't them being creative it's more like play than it is creativity.
So how can we define creativity within the games industry? I would say that there are many different methods of creativity within the industry; I suppose the main flow of creativity is the actual outcome of a completed game, every worker within the company has put lots of effort into the game through development to shipping.
Games manifest creativity in many different different ways thinking past the actual creation of the games and the development process, games show their creativeness because of all the different elements within the game. The culmination of sound and imagery used in games sometimes reflects that of its creative qualities, when you look at a visually stunning game and the see the thought behind it you have to think about the creative effort made in its production. It's like everything we look at in games today has to be top quality and of course this is expected because of the competitiveness in the market. So the need for creative thinker within the industry will always be necessary, as creative thinkers will be needed to programme games and creative artists willl have to make the components in game and dream up wild and amazing artwork to interest the buyer.
How can you define creativity? Reflecting back on a wednesday morning lecture Mike went through multiple ways creativity can be defined, my personal favourite was the football player analogy, (merely because i'm mental on football) a football player can be classed as creative because of his overall skill, the vision he uses on the pitch, the way the ball is passed to his respective players.
Truly creative people have to have multiple skills within their own working environment, yes things can be seen as creative because we are using creative skills to make certain things happen or produce something we class as valued, but truly creative people usually have a hunger to rpoduce and create as many things as possible. Leanardo Da Vinci was one of these people, he always had a hunger to produce art which explained things, but it was noticable that he never really wanted to stop producing work and that he was hungry to move onto another piece of work after finishing a previous piece.
Creativity is a mixture of the mind and body, more so the mind is involved in creativity because creativity take more thought than movement to produce... (all depending on the type of creativity) musicians would take more time to compose a piece of music than they would actually playing it, same as dancers would spend more time rehearsing and learning steps more than they would actually dance the routine for in a production.
Another point that was raised in the lecture was that of children and their creativity being destroyed by the school system, creativity so it is said naturally flows out of children, I myself wouldn't call it creativity I would call it growth. Yes children seem to improve whilst they grow, that come naturally though, it isn't them being creative it's more like play than it is creativity.
So how can we define creativity within the games industry? I would say that there are many different methods of creativity within the industry; I suppose the main flow of creativity is the actual outcome of a completed game, every worker within the company has put lots of effort into the game through development to shipping.
Games manifest creativity in many different different ways thinking past the actual creation of the games and the development process, games show their creativeness because of all the different elements within the game. The culmination of sound and imagery used in games sometimes reflects that of its creative qualities, when you look at a visually stunning game and the see the thought behind it you have to think about the creative effort made in its production. It's like everything we look at in games today has to be top quality and of course this is expected because of the competitiveness in the market. So the need for creative thinker within the industry will always be necessary, as creative thinkers will be needed to programme games and creative artists willl have to make the components in game and dream up wild and amazing artwork to interest the buyer.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Life Changing or Career Building Wk19
Well I have to say I find what Warren Spector said to be very contradictory.... unless he plans on living forever!! I could understand his perspective for a few years perhaps, but it is necessary to develop young, up and coming talent. Without developing young talent there would be no future for the business. The talent that exists within a company could well be amazing at the time and the company itself could be the most prosperous company, but it would still
need younger artists and workers to fill in the gaps when other workers move on or retire.....
Another speculation connected to this, lack of a need for younger not as experienced artists would be that university courses that specialise in training and educating the students would become obsolete, i'm sure that would cause an upset at some universities!!!
It isn't really sensible to presume that the industry would be good without an influx of new artists... In fact that probably makes it more volatile, how can different styles be made without new artists to bring new ideas? Industries to possibly become boring or even predictable because the same artists are used, new artists would bring at least a new amount of spice or variety, as of course.... variety is the spice of life!
There is a specific need to have normal artists and university taught students, I doubt many artists know how to programme games but I suppose there is a possibility that their knowledge in different subjects like programming could be extensive all depending in how much they wanted to immerse themselves into their work, having someone teach you specific things means that you should understand the subject matter more clearly and therefore learn it to a better standard.
All I can say is studying at university to do game art design is career building, and we as students are learning the necessary skills to become good game artists and workers in industry.
need younger artists and workers to fill in the gaps when other workers move on or retire.....
Another speculation connected to this, lack of a need for younger not as experienced artists would be that university courses that specialise in training and educating the students would become obsolete, i'm sure that would cause an upset at some universities!!!
It isn't really sensible to presume that the industry would be good without an influx of new artists... In fact that probably makes it more volatile, how can different styles be made without new artists to bring new ideas? Industries to possibly become boring or even predictable because the same artists are used, new artists would bring at least a new amount of spice or variety, as of course.... variety is the spice of life!
There is a specific need to have normal artists and university taught students, I doubt many artists know how to programme games but I suppose there is a possibility that their knowledge in different subjects like programming could be extensive all depending in how much they wanted to immerse themselves into their work, having someone teach you specific things means that you should understand the subject matter more clearly and therefore learn it to a better standard.
All I can say is studying at university to do game art design is career building, and we as students are learning the necessary skills to become good game artists and workers in industry.
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Sounds For Games Wk18
Sound in games is all but similar to that of genres in storyline, games have to sound like how they feel, if that makes sense. For instance if you look at games like "The Legend Of Zelda" game the soundtrack itself is mainly based around quest, it feels uplifting as you traverse through fields and different areas. There are subtle changes within the sounds of the game as you go through it, perhaps with the change of scenery or going into different situations. The game itself provides moments of tense situations and so the music itself changes to suit the situation suspense can be well created by the change in musical components.
The two games that for me changed the way I looked at music was the resident evil series and AVP2 on the pc. I loved the diverse subtlety from moments u were just walking around to general musical background and then out of no-where something tense would happen! The horror genre for me seems to utilize music and the used of sound in the best way, whilst playing normal sort of games heightened musical pitches does produce moments of anxiety but there not as effective as what games with horror involved can be.
Game Engines Wk 17
Game engines..... Well I will be a 100% straight I actually don't have any clue about them!!!
SO from the mysteries of general knowledge here is what I can decipher!!! Game engines are basically the physics and everything the game does... Its how the game works the way it moves breathes and works.
Thats it basically, this is my general knowledge.... Lets consult other websites shall we???
So game engines is the software in which games are developed, most game engines have a specific amount of compatibility with other platforms once the game is made for a specific platform. Basically the once the game is made through a game engine it can be played on different platforms because of the engines it was made from, for instance multi-platform games for xbox 360 and ps3. Game engines put 3d objects into 3d environments also render the entire scene by utilizing in game graphics.
I suppose there are certain limitations with proprietary technology, the technology might not do what you want it to when you make things within the game engine, there may be issues with the way materials render within the engine, it might not feel right because of the way object are made or even the way the are lit or set out. Many advantages to using the technology available is that a whole 3d environment can be developed very quickly, objects can be inserted into the game engine simply enough. Further advantages are that you don't actually have to make the game engine yourself, everything is in place for you already meaning you don't have to worry about things like physics or even pre-set objects.
This needs more thought.... another time....
Monday, 15 February 2010
Gaming Cultures Wk16
I suppose games culture has taken on many different forms within the last ten years.
Online gaming opens up the whole gaming experience merely because you can talk to people in a different country, and although all people ever do online is shout and curse at you there is still a sublime difference from the days of old... All you did back in the day was sit nicely in your arm chair scaling the heights of different computer games and having that nice little sense of achievement, but now your sense of achievement comes from kicking down that whiney 12 year old American kid playing call of duty :D
Previously I have seen that games are integrating themselves into television and cinema.... I watched an episode of the Big bang Theory (which I know is geeky) and they used a sort of virtual world in which they played a game similar to that of WOW, the not soo geeky character (the woman) became immersed into the game. I suppose this can reflect that of actual life as some people do become obsessed by game worlds. Another television programme that used gaming in their show was CSI, Second life was used in an assassination plot. CSI is fictional , but the gaming cultures used in this way can show how easy getting to know someone online could be, gaming culture is sometimes perhaps too social and maybe even dangerous within that thin line of reality and fiction. The new addition of 3D within the cinema could possibly be linked to that of gaming, the viewer wants a more immersive and realistic experience from watching films and even football, just makes me wonder if gaming actually influenced any of the advancements made in the gaming sector.
I know for a fact that gaming perhaps makes more people trusting online, take for instance youself playing on a game and you get talking to some nice american chap, (one of the ones that doesn't annoy you!!) the game ends and you accept their friend request merely because you had a laugh with them and all though you don't know them you would still talk to them because you had a good time with them online, It's sort of naive but you do it anyway because its social and you won't really loose anything from doing it.
Online gaming opens up the whole gaming experience merely because you can talk to people in a different country, and although all people ever do online is shout and curse at you there is still a sublime difference from the days of old... All you did back in the day was sit nicely in your arm chair scaling the heights of different computer games and having that nice little sense of achievement, but now your sense of achievement comes from kicking down that whiney 12 year old American kid playing call of duty :D
Previously I have seen that games are integrating themselves into television and cinema.... I watched an episode of the Big bang Theory (which I know is geeky) and they used a sort of virtual world in which they played a game similar to that of WOW, the not soo geeky character (the woman) became immersed into the game. I suppose this can reflect that of actual life as some people do become obsessed by game worlds. Another television programme that used gaming in their show was CSI, Second life was used in an assassination plot. CSI is fictional , but the gaming cultures used in this way can show how easy getting to know someone online could be, gaming culture is sometimes perhaps too social and maybe even dangerous within that thin line of reality and fiction. The new addition of 3D within the cinema could possibly be linked to that of gaming, the viewer wants a more immersive and realistic experience from watching films and even football, just makes me wonder if gaming actually influenced any of the advancements made in the gaming sector.
I know for a fact that gaming perhaps makes more people trusting online, take for instance youself playing on a game and you get talking to some nice american chap, (one of the ones that doesn't annoy you!!) the game ends and you accept their friend request merely because you had a laugh with them and all though you don't know them you would still talk to them because you had a good time with them online, It's sort of naive but you do it anyway because its social and you won't really loose anything from doing it.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
The games Industry Wk 15
So how is the industry doing?? Whats going on in the world of games creation? Well I would imagine a lot and not so much at the exact same time.
Review the current economical climate especially in England, and well ask almost anyone in business and there not going to say that its going all that well, yes England is now something ridiculous like 0.1% in the black out of recession but that really doesn't mean that industry has the same stability as what it used to, in fact I would probably think that not much has changed and that it will still be a while before anything amazingly drastic does change within most industries.
All though my own knowledge of the gaming industry isn't by any means extensive, and so I know it is something that I will have to look into in more detail. From my own general knowledge there a number of different areas within a gaming company, the licensing area, so the area in which the company can get a certain title or the confirmation of getting the rights to produce a title. The second area which is the creative area, where artists and designers dream up the ideas within games. The third area is sort of the game programmers and engineers, making the game components compatible in game. The fourth and final area is the publishing area, advertising, and marketing which control the distribution of the game worldwide.
Problems within the market that may affect its future is the economic state, yes I said this earlier, but it is a big problem at the moment, closures in this country happen all the time or so i keep hearing, but then what if all of England big hitters go down? Seriously that could lead to major repercussions within the English market we'll all have to move to America just to become employed, sounds good!! The thing is there will always be a need for the skills we are honing and in this industry, and well that in theory could make us employable in any area of the games industry anywhere...
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
The Snow and The Cold!!!
I thought I would take the time to explain about the difficulties and advantages of working in the snow.
Well first off its bloody freezing so it makes it incredibly hard to keep warm, and as a result you can't really draw as well as you could within warmer conditions. Obvious I know, but I can't really rave on how much this is a hindrance on presenting work, I really struggled at bradgate to produce anything and significance merely because of the weather.
Advantages within the limitations of the cold weather are that different scenes can be created, and colder colours can give a colder scene, emphasis can also be seen in warmer areas of the piece, with the use of warm colours. Claude Monet used hot and cold colours to emphasise shade and scene in his paintings, some of this can be seen in his paintings in the snow, but he was also good at painting normal hot and cold scenes.
Well first off its bloody freezing so it makes it incredibly hard to keep warm, and as a result you can't really draw as well as you could within warmer conditions. Obvious I know, but I can't really rave on how much this is a hindrance on presenting work, I really struggled at bradgate to produce anything and significance merely because of the weather.
Advantages within the limitations of the cold weather are that different scenes can be created, and colder colours can give a colder scene, emphasis can also be seen in warmer areas of the piece, with the use of warm colours. Claude Monet used hot and cold colours to emphasise shade and scene in his paintings, some of this can be seen in his paintings in the snow, but he was also good at painting normal hot and cold scenes.
colder tones are produced in blue and warmer colours are used in the wall and ground.
Friday, 8 January 2010
Creativity Wk12
OK lets talk creativity!!!
I suppose creativity has many different forms and shapes, creativity can be an idea that you have when your walking down the road to your local shop, creativity can be the local statue of a coal miner, it could even be that painting you've got on your wall that your grandad painted back in his hay-day. The main thing with creativity is how it is perceived, does the viewer see it as creative??
There have been many artists throughout the last century that have produced art that is controversial but it has been submitted and so someone out there must find it influential and perhaps creative.
As an artist I myself am influenced by the cubist period, I don't really know why i was drawn to the Cubist movement, I loved the use of shape and colour involved within the artwork but I also appreciated the geometry in the artwork as well perhaps I thought that the use of shape in the picture was creative but I had to think about what the picture had within it for me to appreciate it more.
I suppose creativity is all a state of mind, or more perhaps someones opinion within their state of mind, its also more of a masses sort of thing, if a group of people like something or something is liked by many people it will be seen as creative and it will also be liked.
I think creativity has many different faces within the gaming market, perhaps gaming or rather the production of a game reflects that of creativity, every area of game production from its start to it finish flows with creativity, conceptual art work screams creativeness, 3D work character and level design is also creative because 1 it is artistic and realistic at the same time, this to me is creative because of the amount of time and effort someone has spent creating this masterpiece it is almost like creating artwork, and waiting to see how many people like it eventually leading to a rating.
How do I as an artist be perceived as creative, well I suppose I need the fundamentals first, as Chris keeps saying, to be good in this industry you must be amazing at the basics, but I would imagine that this wouldn't do on its own, to truly become creative I would have to produce good pieces of work and impress my superiors. Saying all this though would I really have to do all that to be classed as creative? Is it a state of mind or people's opinion that define someones creativeness?
Understanding creativity and making something creative revolves around cleverness and interesting people in the area the you are working in, but its also the way someone presents their work and he style in which they produce their work, in my honest opinion i don't think creativity can be measured easily, but there are many forms of creativity out there and each is unique in its own way.
Gameplay Wk11
Gameplay the art of playing a game? Or just the motion of playing a game and getting through it?
Hmmmm
Well considering gaming and the general gameplay of a game, I would have to say that most games that anyone ever plays are very linear, in fact even some of the best games that have come out so far such as Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Batman Arkham Asylum are anything but free storylines... I don't think anyone can really say that they are bad games because they've pushed gaming quite far but it can be said that you can't choose what happens with the certain parameters within the gameplay. You don't choose the ending you just get to it, and to me that seems right, but I can't help but feel that I want more.
I suppose there is no such thing as unlimited gameplay, but the imagination can provide a huge scope as to how a game could be made. Do games developers stick to what they are doing and keep the gameplay the same? As in start middle end? Or do they try and mix it up a little and give it more freedom? Is it even possible to change the way gameplay is produced.
I suppose i'm being a bit one sided within this approach, there are certain games out there that can offer an almost unlimited gaming experience. Star wars The Knights of The Old Republic offered the player a long and immersive gaming experience but the best thing about it was that you could do whatever you wanted really, but this game like all others does have an ending and is still set to the basic plot line start-middle-end.
Gameplay is important and it does define how the game is played and how everything happens within a game, I think a game should be more of an experience than a short story, but it has to be gripping as well as long which would prove a large challenge to any games producer!!
Elements on the game Story and Character Wk10
It is interesting to finally come across the topic of characters in gaming, characters in most ways make the game and in some cases they can ruin the game, there are also many good examples of games where characters have greatly improved a game and it storyline, good examples of games that do this are, Zone of the Enders, Metal Gear Solid and Final fantasy.
Games have to have organised and well thought out story lines for them to be, so realistic characters have to be convincing to interest and keep the player involved with game and it plot line. Characters in games have to be realistic compared to the games storyline, you can't exactly have a cave man as a main character in a sci-fi epic!!! (though it may prove to be an epic game) another thing to realize is that swanky graphics and amazing cut scenes cannot make up for bad characters and poor story lines.
Some games like to unveil themselves as great stories which can be similar to that of books or movies, some games can pull it off, I got Assassins Creed 2 the book for christmas Ive only got half way through it, but it's one of those books that I can't put down. The story is interesting but the thing that makes the book is the main character "Ezio" it describes his troubles and how he has to quickly grow into a man to become the next "chosen" assassin. This sort of writing probably shines through in the game and will more than likely hook the player to play the game to see how the story unfolds, and also see how the character grows throughout the game.
Some games like to unveil themselves as great stories which can be similar to that of books or movies, some games can pull it off, I got Assassins Creed 2 the book for christmas Ive only got half way through it, but it's one of those books that I can't put down. The story is interesting but the thing that makes the book is the main character "Ezio" it describes his troubles and how he has to quickly grow into a man to become the next "chosen" assassin. This sort of writing probably shines through in the game and will more than likely hook the player to play the game to see how the story unfolds, and also see how the character grows throughout the game.
The best sort of stories are those that keep you hooked, like I said with the "Assassins Creed" book you don't want to put it down and so the same method should be implemented in games. The best storyline has to be one that you don't want to switch off one you can't leave because your so engrossed in it and that simply makes a good game!
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
My past inspirations
Ok so its all well and good us being here and conforming with the course but I think I should take the time to talk about my past inspirations toward the artistic area.
There are many different artists throughout my lifetime that have inspired me, lots of expressionistic and abstract paintings influenced my fine art throughout GCSE and A-levels.
Wassilly Kandinsky was a main inspiration, because of his colourful paintings, the use of geometrical shapes in his art work also provided me inspiration for quite a few of my past projects. Gustav Klimpt was the main influence for my final piece in my A-level submission, his use of colour and the way he applied paint to the canvas was good.
More centred toward the art work that influences me on this course is that of Ashley Wood, he worked on Metal Gear Solid and did work for the games and in the graphic novels. His loose painting style and the way he applys colour, he seems to have a very conceptual style and the way he approaches a painting is very "sketchy" but it in my opinion it is very effective.
Another artist that have appealed to me in the past are that of Monet, his paintings are blotchy and don't particularly look good close up, there more the sort of painting that you look at from far away and come into focus the closer up you get to them. He used alot of vibrant colours which made his work interesting and inspiring, he also worked relatively loose within his paintings which gave the pictures a stronger sense of depth and movement.
There are many different artists throughout my lifetime that have inspired me, lots of expressionistic and abstract paintings influenced my fine art throughout GCSE and A-levels.
Wassilly Kandinsky was a main inspiration, because of his colourful paintings, the use of geometrical shapes in his art work also provided me inspiration for quite a few of my past projects. Gustav Klimpt was the main influence for my final piece in my A-level submission, his use of colour and the way he applied paint to the canvas was good.
More centred toward the art work that influences me on this course is that of Ashley Wood, he worked on Metal Gear Solid and did work for the games and in the graphic novels. His loose painting style and the way he applys colour, he seems to have a very conceptual style and the way he approaches a painting is very "sketchy" but it in my opinion it is very effective.
Another artist that have appealed to me in the past are that of Monet, his paintings are blotchy and don't particularly look good close up, there more the sort of painting that you look at from far away and come into focus the closer up you get to them. He used alot of vibrant colours which made his work interesting and inspiring, he also worked relatively loose within his paintings which gave the pictures a stronger sense of depth and movement.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Game Technology wk9
The first thing I cast my mind on was the basic ergonomics of a Playstation or Xbox, does the actual shape of a games console go to far? I believe the answer to this is no... No matter how curvy the console is or becomes it will only ever be a console, a console changes its shape to fit in with modern trends and shapes, consoles may seem abit bizarre if they were shaped like arcade machines from the 70's!! Although perhaps if they were shaped like that it would a social norm because consoles haven't been made in any other way (we wouldn't know the difference)
For me the easiest console to use was probably the PS2, it did 3 things, play a game play a CD or DVD and change basic settings and to be honest isn't that all you need from a console? Its the gaming experience you should be most concerned about as that is what you pay your hard earned money for, flashy gizmos and online additions are great but are they 100% necessary? What's next a console that will cook you a full English in the morning when you wake up? (Would it be so obscene?!!!)
The best console overview has to be the Xbox 360, the Wii was horrendous although the point and click does probably interest people. Xbox offers a multitude of menus and sub menus to access the information that you want it looks good and is very concise in getting to what you want to use.
Just to emphasise the previous point about the relevance of actual content on consoles e.g. radio, twitter, facebook, movies. Does a console really need it? Its more of a convenience or luxury than it is a necessity to use such services... they don't improve your general gaming experience but some people would say its more a merging of PC and the general home entertainment system, perhaps one day all of these areas will be made into one, the culmination of technology's...
As to the loss of joysticks its noticeable that yes they are becoming less used within the gaming industry BUT you could say that the wii has used the joystick as a base and improved it in their technology (wiimote) to make the gaming experience more concise. So yes we may have lost joysticks in one sense but we have re-gained them in another.
For me the easiest console to use was probably the PS2, it did 3 things, play a game play a CD or DVD and change basic settings and to be honest isn't that all you need from a console? Its the gaming experience you should be most concerned about as that is what you pay your hard earned money for, flashy gizmos and online additions are great but are they 100% necessary? What's next a console that will cook you a full English in the morning when you wake up? (Would it be so obscene?!!!)
The best console overview has to be the Xbox 360, the Wii was horrendous although the point and click does probably interest people. Xbox offers a multitude of menus and sub menus to access the information that you want it looks good and is very concise in getting to what you want to use.
Just to emphasise the previous point about the relevance of actual content on consoles e.g. radio, twitter, facebook, movies. Does a console really need it? Its more of a convenience or luxury than it is a necessity to use such services... they don't improve your general gaming experience but some people would say its more a merging of PC and the general home entertainment system, perhaps one day all of these areas will be made into one, the culmination of technology's...
As to the loss of joysticks its noticeable that yes they are becoming less used within the gaming industry BUT you could say that the wii has used the joystick as a base and improved it in their technology (wiimote) to make the gaming experience more concise. So yes we may have lost joysticks in one sense but we have re-gained them in another.
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Story Telling in Games wk8
Sometimes players play a game plays a game for a sheer laugh, although talking about a game and its story sometimes it can be said that a game doesn't really have a story. Take for instance yourself on holiday in the UK perhaps Skeggy (yes mike, you with shorts and a hat on away from your favourite ceiling!!) your walking around enjoying the sights and that 99 you just can't go without and you go to an arcade. Knowing today's arcades there's plenty of 2p machines ect, but of course were all interested in those arcade game, take for instance the Tekken series, yes there is a story there but its not particularly in depth, but you do enjoy playing it because of the sheer satisfaction of beating the crap out of a giant bear named Kuma! Moving on to another game Time Crisis, again it has a story but its not quite full on, its entertaining but not Bafta award winning, and so do you see what I'm getting at? Some games are made for different purposes like short entertainment. Games such as these are also made to keep the user playing so the game play and the story has to be interesting enough to keep the player paying his money.
Of course these examples are arcade games, but overall it is still a type of gaming. It is more noticeable that storylines are produced in console titles it is also noticeable that everyone is entitled to an opinion, defining a story is often overshadowed by the rating of the game becuase of it graphics or soundtrack for instance sometimes games should just be rated on storylines as well as aesthetics.
My favourite story has to be that of Resident Evil, it has tested itself against time, and has produced over 15 titles, the story itself has many twists and turns but the vast amount of games produced, all add to the overall amazing story without ruining it with too many titles. Twists and turns also improve he general story like Wesker being alive after being killed by the Tyrant :O everything in the game adds to its entertainment and replay value.
Of course these examples are arcade games, but overall it is still a type of gaming. It is more noticeable that storylines are produced in console titles it is also noticeable that everyone is entitled to an opinion, defining a story is often overshadowed by the rating of the game becuase of it graphics or soundtrack for instance sometimes games should just be rated on storylines as well as aesthetics.
My favourite story has to be that of Resident Evil, it has tested itself against time, and has produced over 15 titles, the story itself has many twists and turns but the vast amount of games produced, all add to the overall amazing story without ruining it with too many titles. Twists and turns also improve he general story like Wesker being alive after being killed by the Tyrant :O everything in the game adds to its entertainment and replay value.
An Introduction To Art Direction For Games wk7
Ahhh Art direction, so... the direction of art inside of a gaming company, sounds pretty simple, probably really hard!!
It was noticeable that the main link : http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/jobs/positions/art_director.html wasn't actually working, (wells it dead) so i scouted some other links.
Anyway back to the point, merely to be considered as an art director, someone must have a minimum of 5 years experience as a technical artist or some other form of artist from the gaming community, so obviously they have to be good at what they do, as a director they have to evaluate the work from their different specified teams so production can be moved on and dead ideas can be improved upon or removed from the production process. They have to make a lot of important decisions about the work involved in their company's creation pipeline and they also have to have an understanding of the open market as a whole to see what the customer likes and wants. They themselves need to be creative and produce good pieces of artwork to inspire their artistic community, but I believe there main responsibilities are to evaluate and guide fellow employees.
I imagine there are many differences between a game art director and a film art director, but I suppose there could be many similarities as well. Game art directors have to have a large understanding of graphics programmes, as well as an understanding of other computer programmes like photoshop (I'm sure film art directors also use programs like photoshop etc) it is likely that game art directors have to have an understanding of the market and the wants of the customer, knowing this they also probably have to have understanding of environments that the customer wants to see in a game. Film art directors have to have a deeper understanding of areas and environments, they also have to have an in depth understanding of camera angles and the use of filming technologies and equipment.
Lots of skills would have to be improved to become an art director, evaluation skills would need to be improved greatly, an art directors decisions can sometimes make or break a company the right decisions have to be made to make a good computer game. Drawing and perspective work would also probably need to be damn near perfect (no surprises there with what we have to do on this course!!)
It was noticeable that the main link : http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/jobs/positions/art_director.html wasn't actually working, (wells it dead) so i scouted some other links.
Anyway back to the point, merely to be considered as an art director, someone must have a minimum of 5 years experience as a technical artist or some other form of artist from the gaming community, so obviously they have to be good at what they do, as a director they have to evaluate the work from their different specified teams so production can be moved on and dead ideas can be improved upon or removed from the production process. They have to make a lot of important decisions about the work involved in their company's creation pipeline and they also have to have an understanding of the open market as a whole to see what the customer likes and wants. They themselves need to be creative and produce good pieces of artwork to inspire their artistic community, but I believe there main responsibilities are to evaluate and guide fellow employees.
I imagine there are many differences between a game art director and a film art director, but I suppose there could be many similarities as well. Game art directors have to have a large understanding of graphics programmes, as well as an understanding of other computer programmes like photoshop (I'm sure film art directors also use programs like photoshop etc) it is likely that game art directors have to have an understanding of the market and the wants of the customer, knowing this they also probably have to have understanding of environments that the customer wants to see in a game. Film art directors have to have a deeper understanding of areas and environments, they also have to have an in depth understanding of camera angles and the use of filming technologies and equipment.
Lots of skills would have to be improved to become an art director, evaluation skills would need to be improved greatly, an art directors decisions can sometimes make or break a company the right decisions have to be made to make a good computer game. Drawing and perspective work would also probably need to be damn near perfect (no surprises there with what we have to do on this course!!)
From Pong to Next Gen wk6
Well to begin with there are definite connections between that of Pacman and Fear but only in loose comparison, both games are similar in one particular way, as they both have an outcome or ending. Both games are also played in a competitive manner E.G. the player wants to gain satisfaction from playing and completing the game, or achieving certain goals. The main difference between the games are that one is produced now in the present and the other one was produced in the past, and so there is bound to be a difference in the quality of the outcome, obviously one game will have better graphics because of the time it was produced at.
Another way in which a past game and a present game can be similar is that of their own particular genre, take for instance "golden Axe" and "Legend of Zelda" or "World of Warcraft" the premise is very similar, as the genre denotes the game to be an adventure, the story is also that of a warrior (compared with Legend Of Zelda) or the choice of different characters with different area of expertise such a wizardry for instance (compared with World of Warcraft). The way in which games like Golden Axe and other fantasy games are played are even more similar the main aim of the game is to defeat the enemy, story is perhaps of no consequence it just differs throughout time from past and present.
There always has to be a winnable side to attract players into games, this is somewhat different nowadays because of online play, older games were always pitted against an A.I. opponent, this does produce a winnable scenario but the player is only ever beating the computer. Different from A.I. is that of online play on the Xbox 360 for instance, one game that certainly sometime feels unbeatable is that of "Command and Conquer Tiberium Wars" when played against certain seasoned veterans, being beaten multiple times deters players from a game but is also a big difference from playing against an A.I.
I suppose the choice of the genre is all down to the design brief itself, the outcome of the game all falls down to the chosen direction in which the company wants to follow, further development comes from the artists and this influences the outcome of the game from the development of art shows how the game should look or feel. The outcome of the game is greatly influenced by the artwork produced in the preliminary stages but many areas of the production influence the final outcome, the production of a game should be emphasised as a team effort!!
Looking back at the past of gaming and then looking to present of gaming, there are obvious differences but then there are not so obvious simularity's, gaming may have come on leaps and bounds but looking at the development of an idea and the process of creating a game, the old is somewhat closer to the new than you might think.
Another way in which a past game and a present game can be similar is that of their own particular genre, take for instance "golden Axe" and "Legend of Zelda" or "World of Warcraft" the premise is very similar, as the genre denotes the game to be an adventure, the story is also that of a warrior (compared with Legend Of Zelda) or the choice of different characters with different area of expertise such a wizardry for instance (compared with World of Warcraft). The way in which games like Golden Axe and other fantasy games are played are even more similar the main aim of the game is to defeat the enemy, story is perhaps of no consequence it just differs throughout time from past and present.
There always has to be a winnable side to attract players into games, this is somewhat different nowadays because of online play, older games were always pitted against an A.I. opponent, this does produce a winnable scenario but the player is only ever beating the computer. Different from A.I. is that of online play on the Xbox 360 for instance, one game that certainly sometime feels unbeatable is that of "Command and Conquer Tiberium Wars" when played against certain seasoned veterans, being beaten multiple times deters players from a game but is also a big difference from playing against an A.I.
I suppose the choice of the genre is all down to the design brief itself, the outcome of the game all falls down to the chosen direction in which the company wants to follow, further development comes from the artists and this influences the outcome of the game from the development of art shows how the game should look or feel. The outcome of the game is greatly influenced by the artwork produced in the preliminary stages but many areas of the production influence the final outcome, the production of a game should be emphasised as a team effort!!
Looking back at the past of gaming and then looking to present of gaming, there are obvious differences but then there are not so obvious simularity's, gaming may have come on leaps and bounds but looking at the development of an idea and the process of creating a game, the old is somewhat closer to the new than you might think.
The games review
Sooo continuing with our radical studies we are asked to produce a games review. As a majority of people may well know I chose to do Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising. Voiding myself from repeating the information on the review I think I should groan on about the experience itself and my opinions.
So the general task seemed simple enough to me, write a games review and present it to the class, and so I went to the task of writing and editing my power point. I won't lie to you I thought that it was going to be a simple feat to produce and present a power point to the class, and I thought it would be a breeze, (well how wrong was I) the easiest part was making the slides and thinking about what to say, but actually getting up there and presenting my review to the class was well daunting... It was perhaps noticeable that I froze at one point in my review, which probably shot me down a lot...
So all I have to say is well done to those who produced good to the point presentations unlike me who whittled on abit with too many notes and not enough decisiveness. We are all human, and I suppose being on game art design the majority of us are well, for a better word sometimes "socially impaired" in some situations (notes Chris's comment about us staying inside avoiding the outside world as much as possible!!) . So when looking at the teachers and perhaps thinking wow they've got it easy teaching us fools, I shall probably look back and think actually presenting any form of presentation is actually quite hard and yes they may have had a lot of practise but one day maybe i'll be as good as them at giving people feedback on certain topics and information!!
So the general task seemed simple enough to me, write a games review and present it to the class, and so I went to the task of writing and editing my power point. I won't lie to you I thought that it was going to be a simple feat to produce and present a power point to the class, and I thought it would be a breeze, (well how wrong was I) the easiest part was making the slides and thinking about what to say, but actually getting up there and presenting my review to the class was well daunting... It was perhaps noticeable that I froze at one point in my review, which probably shot me down a lot...
So all I have to say is well done to those who produced good to the point presentations unlike me who whittled on abit with too many notes and not enough decisiveness. We are all human, and I suppose being on game art design the majority of us are well, for a better word sometimes "socially impaired" in some situations (notes Chris's comment about us staying inside avoiding the outside world as much as possible!!) . So when looking at the teachers and perhaps thinking wow they've got it easy teaching us fools, I shall probably look back and think actually presenting any form of presentation is actually quite hard and yes they may have had a lot of practise but one day maybe i'll be as good as them at giving people feedback on certain topics and information!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
