Friday, 30 April 2010
High hopes and low lives...
So another year goes by. It would be a lie to say that I worked hard this year. I am disappointed in myself for not meeting my personal goals, and for not meeting deadlines. I got into a working flow a couple of times only to find myself procrastinating a week later. I don’t know that I have done enough to pass the year but all I can say is that towards the end, I did try. When you find yourself with a heap of work hovering over your shoulders, and you’ve left it too late, you only have yourself to blame for it. The only thing I can do at this stage is apologise. It would be a shame if I did not make it this year, because I have only just found my love for the programs. I have started using Photoshop with great ease and speed. And as for max. The unwrapping and texturing aspects, I have finally got a hold of! So for what I’ve learnt this year; a great deal! Even though it may not have matched the standard of my work. The major area I have failed to meet is that of visual design. Even though my skills at Photoshop have improved allot this year. I haven’t completed enough of my projects. I will be completing the work I have missed now that I am in a working frame of mind, even though it will not boost my grade and even though now, it is too late. Even though I may have failed to meet your expectations this year, I promise that I will not fail myself. I will continue this pursuit of goals until it kills me. I cannot put across to you how determined I actually am! I will be staying in labs until June the 18th because, this blog is just a load of words, it is not actions or finished projects. So all I ask is that you let me prove myself to you and Chris and heather over the summer term. Let me show you how good I can actually be. Here is an example of my Photoshop work.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
You have been kicked from the Server by your Government...
The south-Korean government have introduced an online curfew to stop the younger generation in the country from playing online games (whatever next?). The country has an obsession with online games. Professional gamers are treated like rock stars over there. Girls are literally screaming with excitement and men are shouting their names when the gamers turn up for gaming events and such. The popularity behind the gaming culture and the country’s super-fast broadband connection has led to heightened concern about the amount of time players are spending on online games. New rules will come into affect that will see kids at school banned from gaming between 12pm and 8am. Young gamer’s internet connections could be slowed down if they spend too much time online.
I really can’t see this new rule working. It could have the same effect as prohibition did in America. We could see the emergence of pirate broadband companies earning money off providing broadband to kids. Gaming is a huge part of the country’s culture. There is going to be massive opposition to this. On the other hand I have heard horror stories of people spending ages online. There have been horrible cases where obsession has led to injury or death. As long as they keep the curfew to kids I think the country will grow to the concept and run with it. Though I can image funny scenes of swat teams rushing into cybercafés with guns shouting ‘’put the mouse on the ground and keep your hands were we can see them’’ and ‘’he’s reaching for his keyboard OPEN FIRE!!!’’
I really can’t see this new rule working. It could have the same effect as prohibition did in America. We could see the emergence of pirate broadband companies earning money off providing broadband to kids. Gaming is a huge part of the country’s culture. There is going to be massive opposition to this. On the other hand I have heard horror stories of people spending ages online. There have been horrible cases where obsession has led to injury or death. As long as they keep the curfew to kids I think the country will grow to the concept and run with it. Though I can image funny scenes of swat teams rushing into cybercafés with guns shouting ‘’put the mouse on the ground and keep your hands were we can see them’’ and ‘’he’s reaching for his keyboard OPEN FIRE!!!’’
Afghanistan; a Secure and Democratic State?
Over the Easter break I had a political discussion with my friend who was at the time on leave from the army. He’s been in the Army for 4 years now and will be trotting off to afghan in October. This fact sparked a discussion between me and him about Afghanistan (most of our discussions usually end up with the army, wars or politics). So as this debate of sorts became quite heated we decided to have a cup of tea, and it was lovely.
Whilst he told me about how ‘’our role over there is to bring peace and stability to the region, and to fight against terrorist threats’’ I said what a good idea it would be to jot down some notes about our discussion to formulate a meaningful and educated Blog. So I did. After my friend left my house I converted those notes into a brief and ‘to the point’ essay of sorts to best describe what our influence over there is all about. I thought it came out nicely. The information in there was from him, so I don’t know how accurate it is, but then again I do believe he knows what he’s talking about. So, here we go. Enjoy;
Firstly it is important to identify the two main components that exist within Afghanistan’s political system: the provisional Afghan government (headed by President Karzei) and the traditional Pashtun tribal Hierarchy.
Given that Afghanistan is an undeveloped state and most of the population have limited access to electricity, it is difficult for the Afghan government to have any affect beyond the limits of the capital: Karbul. The majority of Afghanistan’s population have a simpler and more traditional understanding of politics; centred on their ancient tribal Hierarchy. This tribal Hierarchy has its foundations in the ancient traditions of the pastun tribe: village and family elders provide a simple council system to resolve any inter-village or inter-family feuds, usually without hostilities. This system has proven affective for thousands of years, so the majority of Afghans have no interest in the national political system. This negative attitude towards a centralised government in Karbul makes NATO/ISAF’s job far more difficult: in Iraq NATO/ISAF where able to implement national change by manipulating a centralised political system in the capital, Baghdad. Afghanistan is far less developed as a country and there for far harder to affect at a national and political level! NATO/ISAF forces have implemented a ‘hearts and minds’ tactic in Afghanistan: win over the opinion of the people so they will accept our point of view and reject that of the insurgents, this may help the British Army and others in the short to medium term but it will not allow us to build a safe and secure country until they accept. Fin.
Get out of my EYESSSSSSSSSS!!!
This Year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas it’s all been about showing off the best in new 3-d hardware and software. 2009 was the big year for 3-d Cinema, with films like Final Destination and Avatar Taking full advantage of the power 3-D has to offer. Is 3-D the next big thing or is this just another teenage crush we all have on a fantastic new way of watching films?
Well, 3D’s been around for a while, but until recently it’s been kept in that dark cupboard under the stairs with other failed ideas like ‘smelly-vision’. That’s because it used to be dodgy old horror movies with a few monster awkwardly lumbering around somewhere just off the screen, or the odd dinosaur claw making a delayed, and frankly pathetic, swipe at the front row.
Not anymore! Since some of the big names in the business (like James Cameron) got involved, it’s a completely new beast; films like ‘Avatar’ and ‘Monster and Aliens’ redefined what we call 3D and banished those failed B movies to a well-forgotten memory.
Thanks to a combination of new cameras and the rapid advancements in green/blue screen technology, 3-D films really have become 3 dimensional.
Instead of a few random objects poking out the screen you become part of the action, you feel far more involved with the film. There is a realistic and truly believable depth of field affect in use. Now I’m a traditionalist, there’s something to be said for good old 2-D entertainment, and it’s stood the test of time.
With all the advancements to 2D viewing, with HD TV and Blu-Ray, is there really room for 3-D to muscle its way into our homes? I don’t think so, not yet anyway. I have no doubt that this 3-D revolution in the cinema will continue, I just can’t see myself sitting down with my mates or my family and all of us wearing clumsy glasses every time we ‘fire up the box’. Give it a few more years!
For now 2-D still reigns supreme!!
Now, what about the affect 3-D will have on the gaming world? Game’s including; Batman, Metro 2033, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Biohazard 5, Just Cause 2, and Resident Evil 5 have been released on PC with full NVidia 3-D support. A pair of glasses and a 3-D ready monitor will set you back about £500 pounds. But does 3-D bring a new dimension to game play. I can’t truly say for myself yet because I haven’t tried it. But from what I’ve heard it works really well. It’s one of those things that we have to leave to time until we can make a fair judgement.
Oh year food for thought. What about people who can only see out of one eye. The won’t be able to enjoy 3-d like the rest of us
Nuclear Detterent
Is £100Million per year worth our national security?
After watching the first televised political debate, and listening to the brief period where Cameron and Brown were forced to answer Nick Clegg’s persistent questioning about our country’s nuclear programme, it got me thinking on the subject. Brown and Cameron both believe that getting rid of our nuclear weapons is a bad idea, because it makes us defenceless against emerging and current nuclear powers in the world. Nick Clegg says that if we get rid of them, we will save £100Million per year. So, the Liberal democrats have suggested that we dismantle our trident missile programme as a money saving measure and as part of the solution to our national deficit. The financial problems our country faces appear in the media every day, and are a constant worry to the general public, so it may be relatively easy, to dismiss the trident missile system as something we can do without. However, just because we hear about this every day does not mean it is not providing vital security. The secret service exist and operate around us every day, ensuring our national security. We do not see them, but we would quickly notice the consequences if they were not there! The ‘Trident’ missile system provides us with our nuclear deterrent and there for provides a vital part of our national security.
The people that support the dismantling of a trident will tell you that warfare has changed. That the ‘Cold War’ has ended and that we no longer require a nuclear deterrent. They would say that we are fighting a war on terror, a war against small extremist cells of intelligent but technologically limited people. That may well be the case today, but we all know how rapidly the world we live in can change; while there are unstable and extremist country’s (like Iran and North Korea), who have the technological ability to develop WMD’s, we need a nuclear deterrent; we need the ability to dissuade these countries from attacking us!!!
Just think for a moment here. We haven’t had any major attacks on our country since the Second World War. Sure we have had threats and there have been times when the world leaders had been sitting at their desks with their hand hovering over a big red button, but our Nation hasn’t been threatened directly and our wars abroad have not been challenged directly by other world superpowers. Up until this point we have had the ability to do great damage anywhere in the world; to completely obliterate any country with nuclear weapons. Imagine, that the ability to do this was taken away overnight. Other countries would be free to push us around and do what they want, without the fear of retaliation. Our Nation as a whole would seem weak. Don’t get me wrong, nuclear missile’s are terrible things and should never be used, but just ask yourself; have we reached the point where we can dismantle our Nuclear weapons and feel safe. My answer is no but others will have different opinions.
Friday, 8 January 2010
Time management
It has occurred to me that time management is my main problem when it comes to doing work. Up until now I have had little understanding of how to organise myself properly.
I can get a load of work done the day before an assessment or review. I suppose this is because, time comes into perspective. I can visualise the amount of Time I have, and that forces me to set goals. I adhere to those goals and get the work done! But that technique doesn’t always work!!! There is not enough time, in one day to finish off all of my work to a high standard. I need to start work as soon as it is set and not leave it until the last minute. I am always disorganised, and can never seem to find time to fit things in. I waste so much time without even realising.
I have researched allot on time management on the internet and found some interesting things. The topic is practically a science, with individuals devoting their whole lives to the subject. What I’ve found has helped me greatly.
Basically, we all want more time to get things done, but the fact is, that we have all the time we’ve got. Time is non-renewable, you cannot get it back. So what do you do? Simple; you make the best out of the time you have. The first thing to do is set priorities. Almost everyone sets priorities every day, the problem I have, is picking the right ones. I consider everything as top priority. What I need to start doing is to set apart my priorities into areas of importance. So, what would be my top priorities? Well sleep, bathroom breaks, food and drink (non-alcoholic) are obviously top on the list. What I need to insure, is that my top priority after that is uni work; my projects. If I can do that then everything should be fine. But it never works out like this. Little things keep popping up, that distract me, I procrastinate, or I get frustrated. I need to work out a method/schedule that I know I can be faithful to.
The ideal way of getting projects done would be to spend less time and less effort on them, but for them to be good quality. I need to stay focused and to the point, when I’m working. Allot of the time in the labs I get distracted or bored. There are times in max, when I rotate my model around for twenty minutes just looking at it, before realising I haven’t moved it forward at all. There are times when I think about how to do something for half an hour, and then it only takes me five minutes to put my thoughts into affect. How many times have I worked all day only at the end of it to think; wow, I barely moved anything forward. I do Max work better in the labs than I do at home, so I need to find out a method that works for me while I am in the labs! I found out a handy method online that I believe can help me with this. KRA means Key Result Area. For me my Key Result Area at the moment is the completion of all my projects. Very simple. I need to ask myself when I am about to do something, “is what I am about to do, going to contribute to my KRA?” If it doesn’t make a contribution, then maybe it’s a tangent. I need to keep my KRA in my mind at all times. A good way of reminding myself would be to keep a post-it note in front of me at all times, to remind me what I’m working towards. That way I will click on quickly when I’m about to do something non-toward my KRA.
Another method would be to look forward into the future and imagine the best for myself. Imagine myself as successful, working for a games company, owning a car and a house and whatever else I want in life. Then back track. What is it that I need to do to get myself to that point? What do I need to do to achieve this? Well First I need to get into a good job; get my foot in the door of the games industry. Well how would I go about that? Well I need to develop an outstanding portfolio of work and do well in my degree. How do I go about doing that? By working my balls off at uni and getting to the standard that the industry expects. Life is not an escalator that you can just ride to the finish; it’s a set of stairs that you have to walk up by yourself! You have to put effort in to achieve those goals. Right now I’m on those first few steps. I need to sort myself out and get my priorities right! Climb, man, Climb!!!!
One way allot of people deal with a large amount of work is to create a list of things to do. I’ve made lists before. They organise me but I always end up with not enough time to finish the last thing on the list. This is because I leave the hardest thing till last. This never works. A bloke called Mark Twain once said, ‘’having to do an unpleasant job is like having to kiss a frog’’. If you do have to kiss a frog don’t put it off! That frogs still going to be there at the end of the day and you’re still going to have to kiss it! The problem with putting the frog off till last is that your other work suffers as a result. Just kiss the frog straight away, get it of your chest, and then is out of your mind, you feel elated that it’s done and the rest of your work gets done to a higher standard!
Your working environment has to be organised and tidy. If you’re working in a shit heap, then it’s going to affect your attitude towards your work. I hate having to rummage around in piles of clothes or rubbish to find what I need. Since I do some of my work in my room, I’m going to keep it neat, tidy and organised from now on. I have invested in a new piece of furniture for my room. It is a white chest of draws. The draws are shallow but wide and so it’s perfect for storing work and art supplies. This has helped me organise my work and letters and stuff so I can locate what I’m looking for easily!
Fun time. Let’s face it. I’m going to need some breaks from work to stop my mind from frying over. But I need to fit this in cleverly around my work time, and that’s where time management comes into things. I’ve wasted allot of time so far on gaming consoles, but I’ve decided that I’m not going to play games any more. And my Xbox decided to break just before Christmas so that helps tooJ. Yes I’m not going to lie, I love playing first person shooters, but I’ve had my fill, and there is nothing else to play up until the release of Halo: Reach, which is months away. So the amount of time I used to spend on games consoles will now be spent on work.
Right so let’s round up. What am I going to do this term? Well I’m going to organise my time more efficiently. If I want to I can easily fit in 10 hours of work a day. Out of class time a rough calculation of the amount of time that I can work in one week would be 50 hours. That still gives me roughly 14 hours left in every day. If I sleep for 8 hours a day, that gives me 6 left over! That’s enough time to eat, take bathroom breaks and relax. It’s all easily possible if I want it, I just need to get my priorities right! I have fixed my sleeping pattern now and I’m going to keep it like that. I’m going to stop my late nights so that I can get up at 8 in the morning every day, shower and have breakfast, so that I can start working by the time its 9!from 9 I work all day till the labs close. I’ve quit smoking, so I don’t have that to distract me from my work either. A few short breaks throughout the day will keep me sane and fed. For my 2d work, I will start early on a Friday and Saturday, leaving Sunday open for either work or relaxing, or fun. Mon, Tue, wed, Thu = 3d. Fri, Sat, = 2d. Sun= whatever. I know that’s a full week of work, but I’m not going to dawdle any more, I know what I want now, and this is how I’m going to achieve it
These time management skills will help me, but I know where I’ve gone wrong this year so far. It is because I always put work off. This term I’m going to have a much more positive attitude to my work flow. I’m going to work on getting a project done from the day it is set, and put allot more time into the course. I haven’t had the right attitude towards the course up until now and that has to change, if I am to achieve what I want out of life.
‘’Improving your time management skills, is improving your life!’’
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
My thoughts on the course...
I’m going to start off giving a big THANKYOU to Mike Chris and Heather, for being brilliant teachers this year. You have all taught us so much.
I think it’s a great idea, doubling the amount of traditional art skills on the course. Knowing the core art skills gives you more to build upon. I like the idea of getting out more. I always end up being inspired when I leave the uni to work. I suggest you should organise more trips to other places. Trips should not just be limited to Leicester and the surrounding area. I’ve found some brilliant things around the country by just going places.
Another thing you should do is build upon the success of the facebook community! You should put up tutorials onto facebook and use the events utility more often. Set random events for drawing trips outside of lesson time and trips to bars ect. Try and make the course a more close knit community. If we see these events we will go. Every now and again you should set up a social gaming session after class (Once a month or whatever). I’m really emphasising on getting the people on the course interacting with everyone else because I believe that was the one thing that was missing from this year. The lessons were brilliant (although as you said more emphasis on traditional art would be good) everything was there, but I felt a bit distanced from everyone else on the course, I’ve only really just learnt everyone’s names, I’ve got to meet some interesting funny people more recently. I had a fun trip to Bradgate Park recently and got some work done as well. This was organised by Abby through the facebook community. If you teachers make your own events (even if you don’t go) I’m sure you’ll get lots more people going along and doing more work!
I think there is room to build upon the film sessions on Wednesdays. A discussion group after the film might be an idea, or get everyone to chat about films together in a forum or something similar.
Now I think about it there is one thing that was missing this year and that is digital painting tutorials. You should think about integrating Digital Painting into your lesson plan. I had to learn by myself from books, the internet and other class mates. A bit more help in this area wouldn’t go amiss. I don’t like to bitch, but I’ve said it now so there you go.
Once again thank you for this year, I’m looking forward to what is to come!!!
I think it’s a great idea, doubling the amount of traditional art skills on the course. Knowing the core art skills gives you more to build upon. I like the idea of getting out more. I always end up being inspired when I leave the uni to work. I suggest you should organise more trips to other places. Trips should not just be limited to Leicester and the surrounding area. I’ve found some brilliant things around the country by just going places.
Another thing you should do is build upon the success of the facebook community! You should put up tutorials onto facebook and use the events utility more often. Set random events for drawing trips outside of lesson time and trips to bars ect. Try and make the course a more close knit community. If we see these events we will go. Every now and again you should set up a social gaming session after class (Once a month or whatever). I’m really emphasising on getting the people on the course interacting with everyone else because I believe that was the one thing that was missing from this year. The lessons were brilliant (although as you said more emphasis on traditional art would be good) everything was there, but I felt a bit distanced from everyone else on the course, I’ve only really just learnt everyone’s names, I’ve got to meet some interesting funny people more recently. I had a fun trip to Bradgate Park recently and got some work done as well. This was organised by Abby through the facebook community. If you teachers make your own events (even if you don’t go) I’m sure you’ll get lots more people going along and doing more work!
I think there is room to build upon the film sessions on Wednesdays. A discussion group after the film might be an idea, or get everyone to chat about films together in a forum or something similar.
Now I think about it there is one thing that was missing this year and that is digital painting tutorials. You should think about integrating Digital Painting into your lesson plan. I had to learn by myself from books, the internet and other class mates. A bit more help in this area wouldn’t go amiss. I don’t like to bitch, but I’ve said it now so there you go.
Once again thank you for this year, I’m looking forward to what is to come!!!
Monday, 30 March 2009
Where do I see myself in 5 years time...
Before I came here my views on the industry were very different to my views now. I used to think I was good at making maps for counter-strike, but now I’ve found out that if you make a map using other peoples texture and objects, it’s not your map, it’s more their map.
While on the course I’ve learnt allot about drawing and Photoshop, I’ve learnt the complicated processes that go into creating an object in max. These are things that I didn’t understand before but now, getting to grips with them has opened my eyes to many avenues. I think I still want to keep my options open. I definitely want to go into the games industry, but I haven’t decided whether I should be a 3-D modeller or a Concept Artist. I think it’s too early to decide on this, but what I do know, is that I love to draw. I have had so much fun drawing around Leicester and taking trips elsewhere to draw. I get inspired by the craziest of things. I think I want to focus on becoming a concept artist. I love designing and inventing but I don’t want my skills in max to fall behind. Maybe I have this view about becoming a concept artist, because I’m still getting to grips with Max. I won’t lie to you, I have struggled with the basics of max, but I am getting there. I am beginning to make efficient meshes, I just get caught up in the intricacies of uvw unwrapping and texturing. Maybe I might change my mind when I get good at Max. I just need to keep working at it until I can do it. Maybe When I start to use max proficiently and confidently I might have more fun while making things and my views on where I want to go might change.
At the moment I’m still unsure. My mind is swimming with ideas but I don’t know which of them to act upon. I need to keep up the learning curve so I am able to make a confident choice in the future.
My ultimate goal in life is to work for a top games company such as Bungie, Ensemble, Rockstar or Valve for example. I want to make good games; I want to be part of the driving force behind them.
While on the course I’ve learnt allot about drawing and Photoshop, I’ve learnt the complicated processes that go into creating an object in max. These are things that I didn’t understand before but now, getting to grips with them has opened my eyes to many avenues. I think I still want to keep my options open. I definitely want to go into the games industry, but I haven’t decided whether I should be a 3-D modeller or a Concept Artist. I think it’s too early to decide on this, but what I do know, is that I love to draw. I have had so much fun drawing around Leicester and taking trips elsewhere to draw. I get inspired by the craziest of things. I think I want to focus on becoming a concept artist. I love designing and inventing but I don’t want my skills in max to fall behind. Maybe I have this view about becoming a concept artist, because I’m still getting to grips with Max. I won’t lie to you, I have struggled with the basics of max, but I am getting there. I am beginning to make efficient meshes, I just get caught up in the intricacies of uvw unwrapping and texturing. Maybe I might change my mind when I get good at Max. I just need to keep working at it until I can do it. Maybe When I start to use max proficiently and confidently I might have more fun while making things and my views on where I want to go might change.
At the moment I’m still unsure. My mind is swimming with ideas but I don’t know which of them to act upon. I need to keep up the learning curve so I am able to make a confident choice in the future.
My ultimate goal in life is to work for a top games company such as Bungie, Ensemble, Rockstar or Valve for example. I want to make good games; I want to be part of the driving force behind them.
Creativity Part 2
So we all watched that video about how education destroys creativity. It’s true it does. But it is needed. It’s a good idea allowing kids to follow their own paths but it isn’t practical. Creativity needs to be hampered it needs to be destroyed or else we would all be screwed.
When a baby is born into the world its brain is firing off neurons left right and centre. Over the next few years and through early school life its brain will disable certain neurons and choose which ones to keep. I watched a program recently about talented and creative young people. They were crafted through early life by their parents to be excellent mathematicians, excellent musicians ECT. Kids starved of early life stimuli do badly at school, because their brain has not developed properly.
It would be excellent if we taught different kids different things, encourage them to follow their own paths but if we did that the world would be a complete mess. How are we meant to know which kids excel at which subjects before they are old enough to show off their flares? We have to teach them everything, a wide range of subjects, so later in life they can follow the path they choose. What if we give children a limited education and let them go their own way. They would all want to do what they considered fun, they’re kids. Destroying creativity is an essential part of life. We have to do it so that society can work we have no choice in the matter! If kids don’t know everything how are they meant to choose between things in later life.
When a baby is born into the world its brain is firing off neurons left right and centre. Over the next few years and through early school life its brain will disable certain neurons and choose which ones to keep. I watched a program recently about talented and creative young people. They were crafted through early life by their parents to be excellent mathematicians, excellent musicians ECT. Kids starved of early life stimuli do badly at school, because their brain has not developed properly.
It would be excellent if we taught different kids different things, encourage them to follow their own paths but if we did that the world would be a complete mess. How are we meant to know which kids excel at which subjects before they are old enough to show off their flares? We have to teach them everything, a wide range of subjects, so later in life they can follow the path they choose. What if we give children a limited education and let them go their own way. They would all want to do what they considered fun, they’re kids. Destroying creativity is an essential part of life. We have to do it so that society can work we have no choice in the matter! If kids don’t know everything how are they meant to choose between things in later life.
How to train the best of the best
Here is a job description for a being a concept artist at Bungie Studios.
Concept Artist
Bungie Studios is looking for an exceptional concept artist who will work closely with the Art Director and Art Leads to establish a style and feel for the environments, characters and objects for exciting new Bungie titles. You will also work closely with the production art team to help them envision what the finished results can be for the in-game content they are creating. As the ideal candidate, you should amaze us with creative designs and artwork and have the capability to inspire greatness in those around you.
Essential Functions
· Collaborate closely with the Art Director and other concept artists to produce quality. designs that define and expand the look of the game.
· Create concept art for primary and secondary characters, objects and environments.
· Create thumbnails, sketches, model sheets and production paintings within deadline.
· Ensure that Concept art is consistent with defined visual style for the game.
· Contribute original visual design ideas throughout pre-production and production.
· Create additional illustrated concepts for marketing and PR needs.
Desired Qualifications
· Strong understanding of character proportion and costume design.
· Ability to quickly iterate concepts given input from the art director.
· Professional attitude and an ability to take constructive criticism.
· An exceptional understanding of mood, lighting and architecture with a keen eye towards form, shape, structure, and silhouette in regards to illustration and design.
· Superior eye for light, value, composition, color, staging and detail in environmental design. · Strong foundation in the traditional arts, including, but not limited to, figure drawing, landscape painting, and illustration.
· The ability to carry an idea from the conceptual phase to the finished illustration and an understanding of translating these ideas to real-time game content.
· Self-driven, good communicator and a great team-player.
· A passion for games.
· Experience with Photoshop, Painter. 3D software knowledge not an absolute requirement.
· AA/BFA preferred, or at least demonstrates through portfolio an industry standard level of art.
This is a top games company, so understandably, they can have high standards. How do you ready someone to be able to get a job like this over three years of teaching them? Here is a job description for Rockstar North, based in Scotland:
Environment Artists
We'd like to hear from the industry's most talented environment artists.You will be designing, building and texturing the world, have the technical knowledge to achieve great looking results and the skill to get the most from next-gen consoles.Advanced skills in one or more of the standard industry 3D packages essential. Knowledge of 3DS Max an advantage.
Both of these job descriptions stress the need for technical experience. The Bungie job description says that 3D software knowledge is not an absolute requirement. So if you’re an outstanding artist and can digitally paint you can get a job with them. This is the same for some other companies too. So why then, on this course are we being taught 3d software skills. I think I can answer that. The purpose of this course is to get you the skills needed to get into the industry. In the current climate, you have to be a fucking good artist to land yourself a job as a concept artist at a top end company. Giving students the ability to do everything makes them a valuable asset. Games companies are chucking people out or breaking up all over the place at the moment. So having fewer employees that can do everything is better than having more employees that are limited to certain fields. Putting together a course that will produce industry standard applicants is hard work. I think what is essential on any course, is to give the students the basic knowledge of everything. Then when they have that knowledge they know where to go from there, and then it’s really up to them how hard they work to build on those skills. Giving students a good understanding of liberal arts puts them at an advantage when they come to learning how to make thinks in the software. Giving students tonnes of experience in Photoshop and max means that yes, they will make things that work. But will they make things that are good without the strong base in understanding life drawing or landscape painting or they ability to understand shape and form for example. I see how it would be hard to put together a course that produces talented people, but it is my opinion that emphasis should be focused on training students in traditional and basic art skills. Students should be taught and shown how how to do technical things, yes, but only enough for them to be able to develop those ‘’technical’’ skills in their own time. Putting it even more simply, chuck a whole load of knowledge at them, give them the resources to utilise and see where they go but focus on the traditional side when teaching.
Concept Artist
Bungie Studios is looking for an exceptional concept artist who will work closely with the Art Director and Art Leads to establish a style and feel for the environments, characters and objects for exciting new Bungie titles. You will also work closely with the production art team to help them envision what the finished results can be for the in-game content they are creating. As the ideal candidate, you should amaze us with creative designs and artwork and have the capability to inspire greatness in those around you.
Essential Functions
· Collaborate closely with the Art Director and other concept artists to produce quality. designs that define and expand the look of the game.
· Create concept art for primary and secondary characters, objects and environments.
· Create thumbnails, sketches, model sheets and production paintings within deadline.
· Ensure that Concept art is consistent with defined visual style for the game.
· Contribute original visual design ideas throughout pre-production and production.
· Create additional illustrated concepts for marketing and PR needs.
Desired Qualifications
· Strong understanding of character proportion and costume design.
· Ability to quickly iterate concepts given input from the art director.
· Professional attitude and an ability to take constructive criticism.
· An exceptional understanding of mood, lighting and architecture with a keen eye towards form, shape, structure, and silhouette in regards to illustration and design.
· Superior eye for light, value, composition, color, staging and detail in environmental design. · Strong foundation in the traditional arts, including, but not limited to, figure drawing, landscape painting, and illustration.
· The ability to carry an idea from the conceptual phase to the finished illustration and an understanding of translating these ideas to real-time game content.
· Self-driven, good communicator and a great team-player.
· A passion for games.
· Experience with Photoshop, Painter. 3D software knowledge not an absolute requirement.
· AA/BFA preferred, or at least demonstrates through portfolio an industry standard level of art.
This is a top games company, so understandably, they can have high standards. How do you ready someone to be able to get a job like this over three years of teaching them? Here is a job description for Rockstar North, based in Scotland:
Environment Artists
We'd like to hear from the industry's most talented environment artists.You will be designing, building and texturing the world, have the technical knowledge to achieve great looking results and the skill to get the most from next-gen consoles.Advanced skills in one or more of the standard industry 3D packages essential. Knowledge of 3DS Max an advantage.
Both of these job descriptions stress the need for technical experience. The Bungie job description says that 3D software knowledge is not an absolute requirement. So if you’re an outstanding artist and can digitally paint you can get a job with them. This is the same for some other companies too. So why then, on this course are we being taught 3d software skills. I think I can answer that. The purpose of this course is to get you the skills needed to get into the industry. In the current climate, you have to be a fucking good artist to land yourself a job as a concept artist at a top end company. Giving students the ability to do everything makes them a valuable asset. Games companies are chucking people out or breaking up all over the place at the moment. So having fewer employees that can do everything is better than having more employees that are limited to certain fields. Putting together a course that will produce industry standard applicants is hard work. I think what is essential on any course, is to give the students the basic knowledge of everything. Then when they have that knowledge they know where to go from there, and then it’s really up to them how hard they work to build on those skills. Giving students a good understanding of liberal arts puts them at an advantage when they come to learning how to make thinks in the software. Giving students tonnes of experience in Photoshop and max means that yes, they will make things that work. But will they make things that are good without the strong base in understanding life drawing or landscape painting or they ability to understand shape and form for example. I see how it would be hard to put together a course that produces talented people, but it is my opinion that emphasis should be focused on training students in traditional and basic art skills. Students should be taught and shown how how to do technical things, yes, but only enough for them to be able to develop those ‘’technical’’ skills in their own time. Putting it even more simply, chuck a whole load of knowledge at them, give them the resources to utilise and see where they go but focus on the traditional side when teaching.
Steam Train Pics
I realised I didnt have any of the pics that I took to go with my blog about steam trains so here you go...
This Last picture has to be my favorite. It shows off the three ages of rail. The steam and deisel in the forground, and the Electric main line train carrying passengers in the background. I think it holds some significance. It's almost like the Tornado is showing off to the others, saying ''Steams not dead''.
Museum Pics:
Grant... working hard
Grant... working hardTornado Pic's
This Last picture has to be my favorite. It shows off the three ages of rail. The steam and deisel in the forground, and the Electric main line train carrying passengers in the background. I think it holds some significance. It's almost like the Tornado is showing off to the others, saying ''Steams not dead''.
Ka-BOOOOOOOOOOM...
Sound is vital in games. Sounds provide key information to the person playing the game. Sound also adds atmosphere, tension and excitement. Without sound, games would be dull and boring.
Imagine you’re playing a game without the sound on. Your coming up to a corner but before you reach it a tank comes round the corner and kills you. Now imagine you’re playin
g with the sound on. You come up to the corner, the ambience suggests you’re in hostile territory. Music starts, ominous music, you know something’s going to happen. Then you hear a faint rumbling sound, and the creak of metal. It’s getting louder in the right speaker by your screen. All this information goes together and informs you that a tank is approaching fast from the right and by the music and ambience is telling you that you don’t stand a chance if you stay where you are. So you move back behind a rock and hide. The tank rolls past without seeing you. This is just an example of the importance of sound in a game, but it plays many other roles too. I will always play through games with the sound the game’s makers intend you to hear. I always find that listening to your own music while playing through a game will ruin the overall experience. This however is not true for multiplayer. I personally love playing fps’s whilst listening to fast paced music, like rock music or drum and bass.
I find that it takes away the fear of death. I run in guns blazing, like a mad man high on adrenaline. It intensifies the gaming experience. This brings me to my favourite sonic moment.
g with the sound on. You come up to the corner, the ambience suggests you’re in hostile territory. Music starts, ominous music, you know something’s going to happen. Then you hear a faint rumbling sound, and the creak of metal. It’s getting louder in the right speaker by your screen. All this information goes together and informs you that a tank is approaching fast from the right and by the music and ambience is telling you that you don’t stand a chance if you stay where you are. So you move back behind a rock and hide. The tank rolls past without seeing you. This is just an example of the importance of sound in a game, but it plays many other roles too. I will always play through games with the sound the game’s makers intend you to hear. I always find that listening to your own music while playing through a game will ruin the overall experience. This however is not true for multiplayer. I personally love playing fps’s whilst listening to fast paced music, like rock music or drum and bass. I find that it takes away the fear of death. I run in guns blazing, like a mad man high on adrenaline. It intensifies the gaming experience. This brings me to my favourite sonic moment.One of my favourite all time games has to be Burnout Revenge because of the way the sound track and the sound effe
cts couple with the visual game play so perfectly. The game comes with about 40 music tracks from modern rock/metal/dance ECT. artists. I start up the game for the first time and play the first level. I’m driving through a track called Motor City, the music blaring and the sound of a 12 cylinder Ford engine coming is coming from my car. I hit a ramp accompanied by the sound of metal scraping on tarmac, fly though the air past the horns of lorries as I whip between two of them in the opposite direction. All the while the sound of the air is whooshing past me, like some western film. Then after my sonic flight of glory, I crash down on top of another car and the game goes into slow motion. Suddenly the volume of the music is drastically decreased to a barely audible level, the camera angle changes to an overv
iew of the crash. There is the sound of screeching tires and crushing metal and glass. The victim car career’s off to the left and hits an oil tanker, making it explode. The accompanying sound sounds like a tiger growling. Flames lick round the side of my car and the force of the explosion propels me further forward though the air. Words pop up onto the screen displaying ‘vertical take down’ with a sharp metallic sound effect. I notice my boost bar is full! Suddenly allot of things happen at once. The game comes out of slow motion and the camera angle goes back to the normal behind the car view, my car lands back on the road, tires screeching, sparks fly and crackle,
I press the A button on the controller, activating my boost, which sounds like a harrier jet taking off. The games sound track is restored to its normal volume, just as the chorus kicks in, resulting In a masterful crescendo of visual effects and sound, that leaves me sitting there, mouth agape and my heart racing like I’d just ran a Marathon. The game doesn’t let up for the rest of the race. It hits me again and again with a wide range of amazing sonic and visual events. Have you ever put down a controller after playing a game and your hands are actually shaking!!!
cts couple with the visual game play so perfectly. The game comes with about 40 music tracks from modern rock/metal/dance ECT. artists. I start up the game for the first time and play the first level. I’m driving through a track called Motor City, the music blaring and the sound of a 12 cylinder Ford engine coming is coming from my car. I hit a ramp accompanied by the sound of metal scraping on tarmac, fly though the air past the horns of lorries as I whip between two of them in the opposite direction. All the while the sound of the air is whooshing past me, like some western film. Then after my sonic flight of glory, I crash down on top of another car and the game goes into slow motion. Suddenly the volume of the music is drastically decreased to a barely audible level, the camera angle changes to an overv
iew of the crash. There is the sound of screeching tires and crushing metal and glass. The victim car career’s off to the left and hits an oil tanker, making it explode. The accompanying sound sounds like a tiger growling. Flames lick round the side of my car and the force of the explosion propels me further forward though the air. Words pop up onto the screen displaying ‘vertical take down’ with a sharp metallic sound effect. I notice my boost bar is full! Suddenly allot of things happen at once. The game comes out of slow motion and the camera angle goes back to the normal behind the car view, my car lands back on the road, tires screeching, sparks fly and crackle,
I press the A button on the controller, activating my boost, which sounds like a harrier jet taking off. The games sound track is restored to its normal volume, just as the chorus kicks in, resulting In a masterful crescendo of visual effects and sound, that leaves me sitting there, mouth agape and my heart racing like I’d just ran a Marathon. The game doesn’t let up for the rest of the race. It hits me again and again with a wide range of amazing sonic and visual events. Have you ever put down a controller after playing a game and your hands are actually shaking!!!An example of somone else doing smthing very similar in Burnout revenge. (30 second clip). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuU6eT2VFJw&feature=related
My favourite composers for a game’s score have to be Marty O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori. They are responsible for the Halo sound track. I love the music from a
ll three halo games. Sound track albums were released for both halo 2 and halo 3. Almost every part of the halo games are accompanied by variations on the games sound track. The music tells the story just as the game does. The games score is one of the reasons why the Halo trilogy stood out from all other games. One of my favourite tracks from the halo 2 sound track is a track called ‘Peril'.
ll three halo games. Sound track albums were released for both halo 2 and halo 3. Almost every part of the halo games are accompanied by variations on the games sound track. The music tells the story just as the game does. The games score is one of the reasons why the Halo trilogy stood out from all other games. One of my favourite tracks from the halo 2 sound track is a track called ‘Peril'.About a year ago I was watching Top Gear live on BBC 2. I noticed that this music was playing in the back ground while Jeremy was driving through a scenic mountain range that looked very similar to the level that the music accompanied in Halo 2. I don’t think anyone apart from hardcore halo fans would have noticed this but I did :)
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Game Engines
Game engines play a vital role in every game. They hold everything together and make everything work using complex code. All the assets made for a game don’t just work when you put them together. They need the game engine to understand each other.
Game engines perform complex tasks such as, physics, lighting, rendering and A.I. Havok is a famous game engine first utilised in the game Half-Life 2. It makes realistic physics, such as Rag-Doll physics. Objects react with each other considering factors such as weight, distribution, density, buoyancy and hardness. Valve incorporated it in their main game engine ‘source’, which has been used for games such as Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2. Proving its success many other companies have used the Havok engine in their games, such as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which takes full advantage of Rag-Doll physics. It is much more cost effective than making and coding your own physics engine. If you want to see what the Havok engine can really do, play a game called Garry’s Mod. It is a game that allows you to mess around with the core principles of the ‘Havok’ and ‘Source’ engines.
Another famous, more recent game engine is ‘cryengine’. This engine was developed by a European team called Crytech mainly for other companies to use. It is the most advanced game engine yet made. Crytech made a game called Crysis, which utilised ‘Cryengine’. The game was more of a showcase, as most computers at the time where unable to run it. Crysis showed off new advanced technologies such as advanced dynamic lighting. Each asset in the game even individual leaves react to light caused by the sun, the moon, explosions, even muzzle flares. The cryengine set a new standard for games developers everywhere, just as the source engine did.
Subtractive and additive editing are terms referring to the construction of in game assets using a game engine. The Unreal Editor uses subtractive editing. This means that you carve out the scenery from a solid block. An easier way to put it would be; you subtract from what’s already there.
An example of additive editing would be the Hammer editor, a program that allows you to make games using the Source engine. I have prolific knowledge of how to use this engine as I have made plenty of maps/levels for the mod Counter-Strike: Source. Instead of subtracting from what is already there, you add objects to an empty void, much like 3d Studio Max. One of the main advantages of using subtractive over additive is the lack of leaks in the game work. If you were to create a map using an additive editor you would have to seam the edges of the game world, so that the engine knows the limitations of what it has to work with. One advantage of additive is that it is easier to create large complex outdoor scenery. Subtractive is more suited to confined, or indoor scenery.
I would say that the key issues facing Game engines in the future, are creating physics based sound (all the sound’s in games are pre recorded), creating more realistic, spontaneous A.I programs and creating a proper physics engine for water. Water had always sucked in games, for one reason or another. I reckon in the future we will see some amazing new technologies emerge that will blow our minds.
Lets Get Together
Gaming culture is vast and wonderful. I’ve been part of gaming cultures all of my life. I consider myself as a ‘’gamer’’. It’s a state of mind, a lifestyle. I’m going to tell you about some of the gaming cultures I’ve been in throughout my life, in no particular order.
I was once a regular member at a cybercafé. There were always the regulars there. It was perhaps the geekiest part of my life, ever. We called each other by our gamer tags. We used to play Warcraft 3, Counter-Strike, Battlefield 2 and many other games. It was very competitive, but still, very fun. Every now and again we used to hold competitions at the cybercafé. At one point I was part of a clan for CS:S. There were about 7 of us in the clan and we used to enter online tournaments all the time. We even paid money, each month to have our own server running. When I used to make levels for CS:S, the clan would beta test them for me on the server. It helped me to refine the maps so that they played better. I remember those days, I used to have a lot of fun, and I felt part of a close community.
More recently I have gone over into the realm of the online gaming community. MMORPG’s never really tickled my fancy; I was more of a first person shooter player. Xbox live created an online community, and the invention of ‘’the friend’s list’’ brought about a new meaning to the words: gaming culture. Instead of going to a cybercafé to meet up with my friends I would simply log online and play with them. I made some close friends that I never saw in person. I created a persona for each of them in my head. The use of the Xbox-live head set made things much more fun. Let’s put it this way; I learned all the possible swearword and cuss combinations in the English language, and some in other languages to. It was a hive of filthy people playing games with each other; what more could you ask. But of course there were always the few individuals out to ruin the fun for everyone else. You would get the occasional berk being racist, excessively swearing, and team-killing everyone. We hated these people and most of the time kicked them out of the game, chucked them off of our friends list, or ganged up on them until they left the server. It is people like this that can ruin the image of some gaming cultures.
More recently, me and my friends at university have been going to the Demon Gamers (The De’Montfort Gaming Society), were we play all sorts of games. It is kind of reminiscent of the times I used to spend at the cybercafé when I was younger. Sometimes we even have parties where we link up 4 TV’s and 4 Xbox’s at our flats. I’ve now become part of a new gaming culture here at DMU.
Writing this brings back memories I had put out of my mind long ago. It is very euphoric!
I was once a regular member at a cybercafé. There were always the regulars there. It was perhaps the geekiest part of my life, ever. We called each other by our gamer tags. We used to play Warcraft 3, Counter-Strike, Battlefield 2 and many other games. It was very competitive, but still, very fun. Every now and again we used to hold competitions at the cybercafé. At one point I was part of a clan for CS:S. There were about 7 of us in the clan and we used to enter online tournaments all the time. We even paid money, each month to have our own server running. When I used to make levels for CS:S, the clan would beta test them for me on the server. It helped me to refine the maps so that they played better. I remember those days, I used to have a lot of fun, and I felt part of a close community.
More recently I have gone over into the realm of the online gaming community. MMORPG’s never really tickled my fancy; I was more of a first person shooter player. Xbox live created an online community, and the invention of ‘’the friend’s list’’ brought about a new meaning to the words: gaming culture. Instead of going to a cybercafé to meet up with my friends I would simply log online and play with them. I made some close friends that I never saw in person. I created a persona for each of them in my head. The use of the Xbox-live head set made things much more fun. Let’s put it this way; I learned all the possible swearword and cuss combinations in the English language, and some in other languages to. It was a hive of filthy people playing games with each other; what more could you ask. But of course there were always the few individuals out to ruin the fun for everyone else. You would get the occasional berk being racist, excessively swearing, and team-killing everyone. We hated these people and most of the time kicked them out of the game, chucked them off of our friends list, or ganged up on them until they left the server. It is people like this that can ruin the image of some gaming cultures.
More recently, me and my friends at university have been going to the Demon Gamers (The De’Montfort Gaming Society), were we play all sorts of games. It is kind of reminiscent of the times I used to spend at the cybercafé when I was younger. Sometimes we even have parties where we link up 4 TV’s and 4 Xbox’s at our flats. I’ve now become part of a new gaming culture here at DMU.
Writing this brings back memories I had put out of my mind long ago. It is very euphoric!
Choo Chooooooooooo, Cough......
Recently I took three trips up to York to see steam trains at the national railway museum. I have recently grown fond of steam trains and so I was very excited. When I got there on the first day that I went, I was dumfounded by the size of some of the locomotives on show. I find them much more interesting than cars or planes or modern trains. Everything about them screams power. You can see how forward motion is created and can literally feel the transition of energy throughout the locomotive. I saw famous trains like the Mallard and the Flying Scotsman while I was there. The museum holds a wealth of history and information.
O.k. so the main reason I went was so that I could draw complicated drawings of the locomotives and such, but I found myself just wandering around staring at things for the first two hours I was there. I got some nice photos and drawings done while I was up there. I don’t know why but I really like drawing them. It’s sometimes hard to get everything to look right but trains have taught me how to draw allot better in perspective views.
The second time that I went up I was extremely lucky. I found out that I had arrived on the day that the Tornado was being launched on its maiden voyage from York up to Newcastle. I spent about an hour and a half on York station taking photographs of it arriving and leaving the platform. This was a very special moment for me as it was the first time that I had seen a steam train in action since I was very young.
A diesel train pulled in the carriages and left so that the steam train could pull in. The main thing is... I was not ready for was how loud a steam train is. Seeing one in action was like seeing industry and steel and smoke come together as one living being, shouting at you like a lion. When you’re stood up next to one you feel like you’re listening to the train breathe. Because the engine was stationary and still producing steam it had to vent a little steam every now and again so that the boiler didn’t explode! When this happens you momentarily lose your hearing. Bear in mind that I was standing about a metre away from the front of the train when this happened. Thing of how your ears feel after coming out of a loud concert. That’s the feeling you get after five seconds of standing next to the locomotive when it expels it’s built up steam. I got some amazing pictures. I don’t know how I managed to get them, but it was like there was a small void directly in front of the engine, where people were afraid to stand.
I went up a third time with Grant to get some more industrial drawings completed, and we were lucky enough to see two steam trains in action that day. I highly recommend taking at least one day out of your life to see the NRM, whoever you are. It’s a chance to get good reference pictures and metal textures as well as drawings.
Oh and you know who you are, those of you who think I’m a train fanatic, yes it’s very funny I’m sure, but I’m having fun, so I don’t care. Oh and I counted 75 green/brown anorak’s, while I was up there one of the days, I can’t remember who asked me to do that, but there you go.
P.S
O.k. so the main reason I went was so that I could draw complicated drawings of the locomotives and such, but I found myself just wandering around staring at things for the first two hours I was there. I got some nice photos and drawings done while I was up there. I don’t know why but I really like drawing them. It’s sometimes hard to get everything to look right but trains have taught me how to draw allot better in perspective views.
The second time that I went up I was extremely lucky. I found out that I had arrived on the day that the Tornado was being launched on its maiden voyage from York up to Newcastle. I spent about an hour and a half on York station taking photographs of it arriving and leaving the platform. This was a very special moment for me as it was the first time that I had seen a steam train in action since I was very young.
A diesel train pulled in the carriages and left so that the steam train could pull in. The main thing is... I was not ready for was how loud a steam train is. Seeing one in action was like seeing industry and steel and smoke come together as one living being, shouting at you like a lion. When you’re stood up next to one you feel like you’re listening to the train breathe. Because the engine was stationary and still producing steam it had to vent a little steam every now and again so that the boiler didn’t explode! When this happens you momentarily lose your hearing. Bear in mind that I was standing about a metre away from the front of the train when this happened. Thing of how your ears feel after coming out of a loud concert. That’s the feeling you get after five seconds of standing next to the locomotive when it expels it’s built up steam. I got some amazing pictures. I don’t know how I managed to get them, but it was like there was a small void directly in front of the engine, where people were afraid to stand.
I went up a third time with Grant to get some more industrial drawings completed, and we were lucky enough to see two steam trains in action that day. I highly recommend taking at least one day out of your life to see the NRM, whoever you are. It’s a chance to get good reference pictures and metal textures as well as drawings.
Oh and you know who you are, those of you who think I’m a train fanatic, yes it’s very funny I’m sure, but I’m having fun, so I don’t care. Oh and I counted 75 green/brown anorak’s, while I was up there one of the days, I can’t remember who asked me to do that, but there you go.
P.S
Hard Times
A global economic recession is currently in effect, causing all lines of work in the U.K to suffer. But how is this recession affecting the games industry. Many games developers are shutting their doors to new employees and are giving current employees the sack! Some companies are going bust, while others are merging. The big companies are still healthy though. I see the industry heading towards a situation where only large scale developers can survive. People are still buying the best games. The problem is people cannot afford to buy as many games as before the recession. This leaves the more popular games selling high and the less popular games losing the customers they so desperately need. Look at ‘Killzone 2’, a game only recently released, but the third highest selling ps3 game within the first weekend of sale!
Competition is increasing between game companies, so arguably this could only lead to better games. I think that the games industry can survive the recession. Looking at recent innovations in the way games are played and the ways in which games have been viewed over the last three years only points to a promising future for games!
The drop of the U.K pound has seen the over-sea sales for games go on the rise. This is good for Europe and other parts of the world, and good for the games industry. I think that companies and retailers need to take a strong approach on the pricing of games in the future. Maybe this will increase sales and profit in the U.K. We will make it through; we just need to keep on making good games!
Competition is increasing between game companies, so arguably this could only lead to better games. I think that the games industry can survive the recession. Looking at recent innovations in the way games are played and the ways in which games have been viewed over the last three years only points to a promising future for games!
The drop of the U.K pound has seen the over-sea sales for games go on the rise. This is good for Europe and other parts of the world, and good for the games industry. I think that companies and retailers need to take a strong approach on the pricing of games in the future. Maybe this will increase sales and profit in the U.K. We will make it through; we just need to keep on making good games!
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Creativity
Creativity, Is essential to the survival of life. All species on our planet have varying levels of creativity that plays an important part in day to day life. I’m not just talking about humans, because I believe that creativity is not just limited to complex feats of imagination that humans achieve. Primates, pigs, dolphins, whales, and many other species have creative thought processes (and this has been proven)! Even the way that a pride of lions hunt and work together in the Serengeti, shows impressive feats of creativity.
I’m taking quite a wide approach to creativity because creativity is a wide and complex topic. If we limited creativity to the arts, the world would be screwed! A single person uses creativity hundreds if not thousands of times every day. Everything we do fundamentally comes down to a creative thought process happening in our brain. I can’t look at a single thing outside my window that has not had some form of creative process go into its construction or purpose.
The human race is famous for two creative wonders; Art and war. While they are completely different in their goal, they are arguably the same in their creative construction. War in its many forms is terrible don’t get me wrong, but the many advances in tactics and technology have been down to great creative minds. Dr. Richard J. Gatling was responsible for the creation of the famous Gatling gun first used in the American civil war, Which went on to spawn many other multiple and single barrelled versions throughout history. The use of tanks in the First World War completely changed the modern day battlefield. In the American war of independence the rebel troops used guerrilla style warfare against the English troops. Small raids from bushes on arms convoys, and the use of flanking tactics, completely changed the way that war was fought. Before that, horizontal lines of troops would battle it out on an open field, with help from cavalry and cannons. Modern day terrorism, and the way enemy troops fight in Iraq and Afghanistan can be linked back to these advances. All this brings me back to my earlier point: creativity is vital for survival. As long as there are creative geniuses around to bring us new ways of killing each other, I see little hope in a peaceful future. Now that I think about it Creativity is not only responsible for our survival, but it is and it will be responsible for our downfall.
Art is wonderful! Art in its many forms is the way of humans expressing their creativity. Without it the world would be a dull place indeed!! Art has come a long way since cave paintings. These days everything in our lives is art. Art is the clothes we wear, the buildings we make, the cars we drive, through to the images we paint. I believe England was at a creative height in the Victorian times! I think we’ve lost a little something since then in our creativity, but I can’t put a finger on it. England and the rest of the world is losing culture, and art has a strong link to culture. This isn’t such a bad thing though. While we are losing a unified culture, all the new sub-cultures popping up all over the place are providing rich pickings for art. Humans will always make art. It is who we are.
Creativity in computer games is vast. Everything that goes into the process of making a game through to the playing of a game is creative. All games are creative, but some more so than others. Games however are becoming less creative as time goes on. I think we are becoming too focused on the target audience and what games have been successful in the past. We are basing new games on the successes of old games. It’s working for now, but soon the audience is going to turn around and say, ‘’hey I want something new’’. This is not the case for every game, but generally I believe this is what is happening. Maybe the initial idea of a game needs more creative thinking before it is put into production. The gaming community needs to stop wondering along like zombies. We need a burst of originality and creativity to be injected into the industry!
This all brings me to my final point:
Creativity in its many forms is what makes this world so brilliant. Creativity needs to be encouraged and set free, but in some cases it needs to be monitored and controlled.
I’m taking quite a wide approach to creativity because creativity is a wide and complex topic. If we limited creativity to the arts, the world would be screwed! A single person uses creativity hundreds if not thousands of times every day. Everything we do fundamentally comes down to a creative thought process happening in our brain. I can’t look at a single thing outside my window that has not had some form of creative process go into its construction or purpose.
The human race is famous for two creative wonders; Art and war. While they are completely different in their goal, they are arguably the same in their creative construction. War in its many forms is terrible don’t get me wrong, but the many advances in tactics and technology have been down to great creative minds. Dr. Richard J. Gatling was responsible for the creation of the famous Gatling gun first used in the American civil war, Which went on to spawn many other multiple and single barrelled versions throughout history. The use of tanks in the First World War completely changed the modern day battlefield. In the American war of independence the rebel troops used guerrilla style warfare against the English troops. Small raids from bushes on arms convoys, and the use of flanking tactics, completely changed the way that war was fought. Before that, horizontal lines of troops would battle it out on an open field, with help from cavalry and cannons. Modern day terrorism, and the way enemy troops fight in Iraq and Afghanistan can be linked back to these advances. All this brings me back to my earlier point: creativity is vital for survival. As long as there are creative geniuses around to bring us new ways of killing each other, I see little hope in a peaceful future. Now that I think about it Creativity is not only responsible for our survival, but it is and it will be responsible for our downfall.
Art is wonderful! Art in its many forms is the way of humans expressing their creativity. Without it the world would be a dull place indeed!! Art has come a long way since cave paintings. These days everything in our lives is art. Art is the clothes we wear, the buildings we make, the cars we drive, through to the images we paint. I believe England was at a creative height in the Victorian times! I think we’ve lost a little something since then in our creativity, but I can’t put a finger on it. England and the rest of the world is losing culture, and art has a strong link to culture. This isn’t such a bad thing though. While we are losing a unified culture, all the new sub-cultures popping up all over the place are providing rich pickings for art. Humans will always make art. It is who we are.
Creativity in computer games is vast. Everything that goes into the process of making a game through to the playing of a game is creative. All games are creative, but some more so than others. Games however are becoming less creative as time goes on. I think we are becoming too focused on the target audience and what games have been successful in the past. We are basing new games on the successes of old games. It’s working for now, but soon the audience is going to turn around and say, ‘’hey I want something new’’. This is not the case for every game, but generally I believe this is what is happening. Maybe the initial idea of a game needs more creative thinking before it is put into production. The gaming community needs to stop wondering along like zombies. We need a burst of originality and creativity to be injected into the industry!
This all brings me to my final point:
Creativity in its many forms is what makes this world so brilliant. Creativity needs to be encouraged and set free, but in some cases it needs to be monitored and controlled.
Friday, 9 January 2009
Halo 3: An Obsession
Chapter 1: The Start of a Legacy (lol)
By now you might have noticed the amount of times I’m referencing halo 3 in my blogs, so before I ruin any more future blogs, I’m going to get everything halo 3 related off my chest. I’m going to tell you how halo 3 affected my life, in both a positive and a sometimes negative way.
After bungie announced the release of halo 3 by showing a really cool trailer at e3, my mind went into worship mode. I clung to every tiny image, screenshot and article ever released on the web and in magazines. I was so excited; I even queued for crackdown for fuck sake, just so my place on the beta was guaranteed! The beta blew my mind; I remember how fun it was. I think the first couple of weeks of playing any game are the best weeks you will ever have, because everyone is shit and doesn’t know what’s going on half the time. Anything can happen; the game play takes a turn towards insanity. But then everyone learns the maps, weapons and tactics, and eventually every encounter end up playing out the virtually the same.
After the beta, my mind went back to scanning every information source, just to satisfy my lust for knowledge, my lust for halo 3 wisdom (god I sound so sad). Eventually the time arrived. The release was the next day and I was heading home to get some day sleep, so I would survive the night of queuing outside of the game store in Stevenage. On the way through my small home town of Hitchin I noticed that a small independent music/movie/game store was shutting its doors. I went up to the guy shutting it and asked him what time he was opening for the release the next day. He stopped what he was doing, paused and looked at me and said the magical words I will never forget ‘’do you want it now?’’. I was so shocked I just said ‘’O.K.’’ and my heart was beating all the way up to the counter. I fucking legged it home (yes that’s right, a 19 year old running through crowded streets. I looked like a right prat. But I was on a mission). Never had I been so excited in my entire life. You know when you get that feeling that anything can happen while you walking home. That gods just not going to let you be happy for once, like a chav is going to jump out of an alley and steal halo 3 from you. But that didn’t happen.
Over the next year I slowly got better and better and better. And so did my friends. The combination of split-screen gaming and online play was the perfect combination of training and fun.
Chapter 2: The Hunt for Perfection
I could never be satisfied. The time had come were I had stopped having fun, and had started to chase perfection. I knew how easy it was to get your level 50 in team doubles. But I wanted to stick it to the people by getting my level 50 in lone wolves. Only 5 % of Generals achieved their level 50 in lone wolves. I’ll tell you now; I still to this day haven’t managed it. I’ve reached level bloody 49. Yes that’s right. I just can’t seem to get that last level. It sucks big time!
My second target was to get a killionaire in lone wolves. It is the single hardest achievement in the entire game. It is impossible to achieve: no one’s done it before. People have achieved killionaires in team games and in social games, sure. But no-one’s managed it in ranked FFA lone wolves. The closest I ever got was a killamanjaro (7 kills) with the battle rifle! I was so proud of myself. The reason why it is so hard, well I’ll explain it to you. To get a killionaire you have to get ten kills in a row without dying. That’s easy you say. NO, it’s not. You also have to get each kill within 4 seconds of each other. Yes that’s right. If you get to 9 and it goes past 4 seconds before your 10th, it goes back to zero!
Queue drum roll... On the 25 of September 2008 I achieved a killionaire in lone wolves. I dropped the controller and shouted YES at the top of my voice. If I’m not mistaken, I was the first person in the world to do this. There was a bitter taste of irony that accompanied this achievement because I had achieved it on the exact anniversary of when I first played the game, in the exact same hour. Now that’s just fucking freaky.
Proof: http://www.bungie.net/Stats/GameStatsHalo3.aspx?gameid=757139553&player=XLAX%20360%20ELITE
Chapter 3: Rehab
Achieving the killionaire set me free. I can’t explain it, but I think I was finally satisfied. I didn’t need level 50 in lone wolves. I had a killionaire. I had finally completed halo 3.
Now I am like a recovered alcoholic. I play halo 3 occasionally, but just for fun! I don’t care about ranks or medals anymore; I am free to live my life!
Gamertags:
XLAX 360 ELITE - This is my secondary account and the one I achieved a killionaire with!
F1re 8lade - This is my main account
Add me and challenge me I dare you. Now that I have finally got this off of my chest I can forget about it forever. YAY:).
By now you might have noticed the amount of times I’m referencing halo 3 in my blogs, so before I ruin any more future blogs, I’m going to get everything halo 3 related off my chest. I’m going to tell you how halo 3 affected my life, in both a positive and a sometimes negative way.
After bungie announced the release of halo 3 by showing a really cool trailer at e3, my mind went into worship mode. I clung to every tiny image, screenshot and article ever released on the web and in magazines. I was so excited; I even queued for crackdown for fuck sake, just so my place on the beta was guaranteed! The beta blew my mind; I remember how fun it was. I think the first couple of weeks of playing any game are the best weeks you will ever have, because everyone is shit and doesn’t know what’s going on half the time. Anything can happen; the game play takes a turn towards insanity. But then everyone learns the maps, weapons and tactics, and eventually every encounter end up playing out the virtually the same.
After the beta, my mind went back to scanning every information source, just to satisfy my lust for knowledge, my lust for halo 3 wisdom (god I sound so sad). Eventually the time arrived. The release was the next day and I was heading home to get some day sleep, so I would survive the night of queuing outside of the game store in Stevenage. On the way through my small home town of Hitchin I noticed that a small independent music/movie/game store was shutting its doors. I went up to the guy shutting it and asked him what time he was opening for the release the next day. He stopped what he was doing, paused and looked at me and said the magical words I will never forget ‘’do you want it now?’’. I was so shocked I just said ‘’O.K.’’ and my heart was beating all the way up to the counter. I fucking legged it home (yes that’s right, a 19 year old running through crowded streets. I looked like a right prat. But I was on a mission). Never had I been so excited in my entire life. You know when you get that feeling that anything can happen while you walking home. That gods just not going to let you be happy for once, like a chav is going to jump out of an alley and steal halo 3 from you. But that didn’t happen.
Over the next year I slowly got better and better and better. And so did my friends. The combination of split-screen gaming and online play was the perfect combination of training and fun.
Chapter 2: The Hunt for Perfection
I could never be satisfied. The time had come were I had stopped having fun, and had started to chase perfection. I knew how easy it was to get your level 50 in team doubles. But I wanted to stick it to the people by getting my level 50 in lone wolves. Only 5 % of Generals achieved their level 50 in lone wolves. I’ll tell you now; I still to this day haven’t managed it. I’ve reached level bloody 49. Yes that’s right. I just can’t seem to get that last level. It sucks big time!
My second target was to get a killionaire in lone wolves. It is the single hardest achievement in the entire game. It is impossible to achieve: no one’s done it before. People have achieved killionaires in team games and in social games, sure. But no-one’s managed it in ranked FFA lone wolves. The closest I ever got was a killamanjaro (7 kills) with the battle rifle! I was so proud of myself. The reason why it is so hard, well I’ll explain it to you. To get a killionaire you have to get ten kills in a row without dying. That’s easy you say. NO, it’s not. You also have to get each kill within 4 seconds of each other. Yes that’s right. If you get to 9 and it goes past 4 seconds before your 10th, it goes back to zero!
Queue drum roll... On the 25 of September 2008 I achieved a killionaire in lone wolves. I dropped the controller and shouted YES at the top of my voice. If I’m not mistaken, I was the first person in the world to do this. There was a bitter taste of irony that accompanied this achievement because I had achieved it on the exact anniversary of when I first played the game, in the exact same hour. Now that’s just fucking freaky.
Proof: http://www.bungie.net/Stats/GameStatsHalo3.aspx?gameid=757139553&player=XLAX%20360%20ELITE
Chapter 3: Rehab
Achieving the killionaire set me free. I can’t explain it, but I think I was finally satisfied. I didn’t need level 50 in lone wolves. I had a killionaire. I had finally completed halo 3.
Now I am like a recovered alcoholic. I play halo 3 occasionally, but just for fun! I don’t care about ranks or medals anymore; I am free to live my life!
Gamertags:
XLAX 360 ELITE - This is my secondary account and the one I achieved a killionaire with!
F1re 8lade - This is my main account
Add me and challenge me I dare you. Now that I have finally got this off of my chest I can forget about it forever. YAY:).
Press B to Reload
I think we are reading too far into the actual meaning of gameplay. We could waffle on all day about the complex meaning of gameplay and get nowhere. To me, gameplay simply means, to play a game. I’ve used the term ‘gameplay’ all my life. Let me give you an example of how I would use gameplay in a sentence; ‘’the graphics and storyline in Pac-Man are amazing, but what really sells the game to me is the gameplay’’. Gameplay means what it’s like to play the game.
Grrrrr... Confusion – how to define gameplay?
This is too difficult. I’ve had enough trying to define the meaning of the word, so I’m just going to go off on one. Right. Halo 3 has the best gameplay in the world. When the Beta was released, bungie released a statement saying that they were not aiming for the level of detail in gears of war, but that they were aiming for brilliant and seamless gameplay. Do you know how much science went into designing the multiplayer maps? It’s insane. I read in an issue of edge magazine that Bungie used detailed software that showed the main density and movement of player kills and deaths, with help from an army of testers. They then tweaked tiny things in the map to try and even out the spread of deaths/kills across the entire map and to make it even for both teams, even on asymmetric maps. But Halo was all about the multiplayer, so all this is understandable. Games like Oblivion, Farcry 2 and Fable 2 are all about single player story defining gameplay. It’s all about choice; evil or good, the high road or the low road, stealth or more bang for your buck.
Why don’t all the game developers join together in one massive team and make the biggest and best game the world has ever seen, mixing all the different gameplay styles in one big pot? Why? Because it would make no difference. Halo 3 is perfect gameplay in my eyes, but I get bored if it’s the only thing I play. I like to switch between games, trying out all the different gameplay styles. Mirrors Edge blew my mind, when I first started to play it I thought it was the best game I’d ever played in my life, but after a week I got bored of it because I realised I was just doing the same thing again and again and again. I think the main reason why halo 3 works as a game for me, the reason why I can always rely on it to entertain me is because the multiplayer gameplay allows for such vast variation. Every day I find a new way to outsmart my opponent. I feel there is always room for personal improvement.
If I try to go into gameplay anymore I’m going to have a seizure. So I’m going to stop now.
Grrrrr... Confusion – how to define gameplay?
This is too difficult. I’ve had enough trying to define the meaning of the word, so I’m just going to go off on one. Right. Halo 3 has the best gameplay in the world. When the Beta was released, bungie released a statement saying that they were not aiming for the level of detail in gears of war, but that they were aiming for brilliant and seamless gameplay. Do you know how much science went into designing the multiplayer maps? It’s insane. I read in an issue of edge magazine that Bungie used detailed software that showed the main density and movement of player kills and deaths, with help from an army of testers. They then tweaked tiny things in the map to try and even out the spread of deaths/kills across the entire map and to make it even for both teams, even on asymmetric maps. But Halo was all about the multiplayer, so all this is understandable. Games like Oblivion, Farcry 2 and Fable 2 are all about single player story defining gameplay. It’s all about choice; evil or good, the high road or the low road, stealth or more bang for your buck.
Why don’t all the game developers join together in one massive team and make the biggest and best game the world has ever seen, mixing all the different gameplay styles in one big pot? Why? Because it would make no difference. Halo 3 is perfect gameplay in my eyes, but I get bored if it’s the only thing I play. I like to switch between games, trying out all the different gameplay styles. Mirrors Edge blew my mind, when I first started to play it I thought it was the best game I’d ever played in my life, but after a week I got bored of it because I realised I was just doing the same thing again and again and again. I think the main reason why halo 3 works as a game for me, the reason why I can always rely on it to entertain me is because the multiplayer gameplay allows for such vast variation. Every day I find a new way to outsmart my opponent. I feel there is always room for personal improvement.
If I try to go into gameplay anymore I’m going to have a seizure. So I’m going to stop now.
''I am the voice of the covenant''. ''Then you must be silenced''.
Books are a portal to another world. They fill my head with so many wonderful things and portray story better than any film or game! My favourite book is Iain M Banks ‘Consider Phlebas’ with Paul Stuart’s and Chris Riddle’s ‘The Edge Chronicles’ being a close second.
http://www.iain-banks.net/science-fiction/consider-phlebas/
http://www.stewartandriddell.co.uk/edge/index.php
Consider Phlebas made my heart beat really fast, made me laugh and cry. The edge chronicles took me away to another world. The characters, landscapes in ‘The Edge Chronicles’ reek of detail and history. For a game to produce the same feelings and experiences is rare, if not non-existent!
For me there are 3 things that can make a good film;
1) Special affects/Set Design/Artistic Value
2) A strong moral message
3) A strong main character, well acted!!
I usually go for the first one, but my favourite film of all time is ‘There Will be Blood’. I have never seen such brilliant acting from one man before! The set design is awesome, and the story is well structured. ‘’Your nothing but a bastard from a basket in the middle of the desert’’, ‘’you see, I take my straw, and I go aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way across the room to your milkshake, I drink your milkshake. I drink it up!’’: those are two of my favourite quotes from the film.
Books and films like these are timeless masterpieces. In my opinion, it’s gonna be a long time before we see a game that has the same affect! Halo 3 nearly got it. It came close. In my opinion, Games use story to explain the game play. There are very few games that use game play to explain the story. But for me that’s o.k. I play games for intense game play and action. I read books and watch films to get my dose of decent storytelling!
p.s. There are 2 games I can think of that have achieved story that matches that of a brilliant book or film. I have played ‘Dark Messiah: Might and Magic’ (the pc version) 7 times and have never got bored of it. The story couples with the game play so perfectly it is nothing short of epic! The game ‘Medieval’ for the ps1 is similar, but more comic. They also have excellent game play! If games companies churned out more games like these I would never see daylight againL. I’m perplexed why dm:mam did not sell better.
http://www.iain-banks.net/science-fiction/consider-phlebas/
http://www.stewartandriddell.co.uk/edge/index.php
Consider Phlebas made my heart beat really fast, made me laugh and cry. The edge chronicles took me away to another world. The characters, landscapes in ‘The Edge Chronicles’ reek of detail and history. For a game to produce the same feelings and experiences is rare, if not non-existent!
For me there are 3 things that can make a good film;
1) Special affects/Set Design/Artistic Value
2) A strong moral message
3) A strong main character, well acted!!
I usually go for the first one, but my favourite film of all time is ‘There Will be Blood’. I have never seen such brilliant acting from one man before! The set design is awesome, and the story is well structured. ‘’Your nothing but a bastard from a basket in the middle of the desert’’, ‘’you see, I take my straw, and I go aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way across the room to your milkshake, I drink your milkshake. I drink it up!’’: those are two of my favourite quotes from the film.
Books and films like these are timeless masterpieces. In my opinion, it’s gonna be a long time before we see a game that has the same affect! Halo 3 nearly got it. It came close. In my opinion, Games use story to explain the game play. There are very few games that use game play to explain the story. But for me that’s o.k. I play games for intense game play and action. I read books and watch films to get my dose of decent storytelling!
p.s. There are 2 games I can think of that have achieved story that matches that of a brilliant book or film. I have played ‘Dark Messiah: Might and Magic’ (the pc version) 7 times and have never got bored of it. The story couples with the game play so perfectly it is nothing short of epic! The game ‘Medieval’ for the ps1 is similar, but more comic. They also have excellent game play! If games companies churned out more games like these I would never see daylight againL. I’m perplexed why dm:mam did not sell better.
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