Uni Progress

 University is an experience In itself, you would think its sole purpose is to give people an opportunity to have a better education and possibly a job. I don’t know statistics but I think the percentage of people that graduate and don’t end up doing a job that is related to their course is higher than people that do. Why is this? Do people come to uni because they have been pushed into it? Do they think it’s just the next step in higher education or do they just want the joys of learning something new and meeting new people and new experiences?

I look at university in a very black and white way, I want to learn and I want a job at the end. I’m here because I want a better job in an industry I want to be involved with and to do that I need this degree. I can’t just walk into an interview with nothing to show but a smile so I’m here to produce a decent portfolio that I can show to potential employers. I can already say that end of the second year I have learnt so much in a quick space of time, when I compare myself to last year I can really see the improvement which I think is important. If you can’t see it yourself then what is the point in being here. However I do think the rate of learning at uni in comparison to the rate of learning within a job in the industry is very different. I feel like working for a company there is a lot of help available as well as being a lot more motivated as you’re being paid and granted I don’t exactly do as many hours as I should be whilst at university.

 Ultimately I want a decent job after the 3 years at university, but that all depends on how much effort I put in. It worries me I haven’t found a specific route I want to pursue as in what kind of artists do I want to be? Environmental artists? A weapons artists? Hopefully this will come to me soon because we are starting to create portfolios for interviews and I think it’s important to have a bundle of work specific to what you want to do. This shows that you have something in mind you want to do and your good at it. I guess this will be the last time we have the freedom to do what projects we want and experiment with different styles as that freedom will be gone as soon as you work for a company, you will have to do exactly how they want it.

I hope to progress more and more and I can already see my improvements, hopefully this will continue and I can go on to make better work to make my portfolio stand out. I am ambitious I will be constantly trying to improve myself and learn from my own mistakes.

Initial Ideas/concepts (Queens Project)

 So far we have decided on a theme for the queen project 'An abandoned school' we wanted to give the horror interior a freaky vibe by including kids toys such as teddy bears and tricycles. I think we will use natural lighting as the building is abandoned so there will be no electricity, light from the windows and the huge opening in the wall (from helicopter/bus crash) will create more atmosphere withing the building. This is a paint-over of one of the classrooms in the Queens building i did....

  
  I wanted to create a eriee atmosphere with the tables being knocked over and the lighting, however i know i have painted a light in but this is only a initial concept. I thought about giving a hidden message on the blackboard for the player to look at, this could be a clue on how to progress withing the level, such as a map to the location of a key? 

 We have all now been assigned particular rooms from the Queens building, i have chosen the playground and a classroom. Based on this i have made myself an initial asset list to give me a few ideas of what to put into the final concepts. 

Playground (Indoor)	Classroom
Climbing Frame	Black Board
Ropes	Desks
Hoola Hoops	Lights
Trampoline	Paper
Crash Mat	Teddy Bear
Basket Ball Nets	Posters
Rings	Chairs
Ladders	Books
Climbing wall	Windows
Mats	Rubbish
Teddy Bears	Bin
Vault Horse	Draws

The next task is to design a final concept for one of my chosen rooms so i can show the rest of team and discuss weather the mood, atmosphere and design will fit in with our theme.

Intro To Game Industry

 Considered by some as a curiosity in the mid 1970’s the video game industry has grown from focused markets to mainstream and leading to the employment of millions.

 Articles from ‘Game Industry International’ as you can see here http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-02-13-australian-game-industry-sees-USD1-16-billion-in-sales-in-2012.... suggest the recent growth in the mobile gaming is phenomenal. Telsyt (An Australian technology analyst) expects consumers to spend over $730 million on mobile games in 2013, up 18% from the $620 million total in 2012.

 Although mobile gaming is rapidly increasing in popularity, will it take over mobile gaming? A recent blog from ‘Original Gamer’ disagrees and so do I. With tablet and smart phone sales increasing and ‘Angrybirds’ becoming one of the most downloaded games ever, it would seem that it is taking over! However I do not believe the hype. See the following link….http://www.original-gamer.com/article/4204-Mobile-gaming-taking-over-Dont-believe-the-hype it

‘Oringinal Gamer’ quotes:

                ‘What is happening is that MORE people are buying mobile devises and using them to play games for a few minutes when they’re bored, and there are a lot more of them than there are console gamers.’

TIGA a representative of the games industry states that the UK employs 9,000 highly skilled development staff, 85% of whom are employed outside of London. 80% of the work force in game studios such as Blitz, Climax, Exient and Jagex are all qualified to a degree level or higher. Reading the following link gives me the confidence that I’m on the right path to landing a job in the industry.

http://www.tiga.org/about-us-and-uk-games/uk-video-games-industry

 ‘’TIGA successfully campaigned for changes to the R&D tax credit system.  In 2012, TIGA successfully convinced the Coalition Government to introduce a tax break for games production. This is expected to come into effect in 2013 and is estimated by Games Investor Consulting to be worth £96 million for the games industry over five years.’’

The above statement from TIGA shows the game industry should have a lot more to spend in 2013, which hopefully means game companies will be willing to employ more staff in the coming years such as 3D artists, Concept artists, VFX artists and environmental artists. I am currently working towards being an environmental artist as this is my preferred field.

Researching jobs in the UK, I realise how important my portfolio/show reel is. This is ultimately my CV. I haven’t started putting a CV together yet but I think this is the time I should be making a decent presentation of my work. Although its still early I can still put the best work I have done so far together and hopefully I will be getting better as the year progresses so I can always replace work with future work.  I think landing a job in the industry depends on 70% portfolio and 30% interview, also talking to a lot of third years made me believe a lot of companies will employ you on a like-ability factor, how you talk about your work and how well they think you will fit into their work force. 

Interaction Design

‘Shaping our everyday life through digital artefacts for work for play and for entertainment’

  This is a quote from Gullian Crampton Smith the author of Designing Interactions. The book talks about Bill Moggridge (founder of the first laptop computer) and his stories from an industry insider’s viewpoint, tracing the evolution of ideas from inspiration to outcome. Interviewees discuss why personal computers have windows desktop, what turns a game into a hobby and why Google is the search engine of choice. This book proves and explains how the needs and desires of people can inspire innovative designs.

 See more at http://www.designinginteractions.com/interviews/GillianCramptonSmith

 

I also found Gullian Crampton Smith introduced the 5 dimensions of Interaction Design in the introduction of her book.

 

·         1D – Words – words are the interaction that users use to interact with.

·         2D – Visual Representation – things that the user will interact with on the interface in the following video Alan Blackwell gives a brief introduction on Visual Representation and how it links with the modern technology we use today.

·         3D – Objects or Space – the space in which the user interacts is the third dimension of interaction design. It defines the space or objects.

·         4D – Time – the time with which the user interacts with the interface.

·         5D – This defines the user’s actions or reactions to the interface and how they respond to it.

 
  These 5 points made me think about how specific consoles are designed with the user in mind, the visual interface and where or when will the advancement stop? A good example to show the technological and design advancements would be pc/console controllers. For example the Nintendo NES controller released in 1986 is similar looking to a brick sliced in half with four buttons in comparison to the curvy X-Box 360 controller released in 2005 supporting 15 buttons!

  The overall concept and purpose of the controllers is the same, they want the user to interact as much as possible with the game however improvements in technology has allowed this interaction to become easier for example over 20 years consoles have become a household item, they’re affordable, visual content has become more realistic and a bigger variety of games are available along with free downloads.

  This interesting review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xqPbDPiqzE
from Classic Game Room talks about both consoles and their advantages but doesn’t really cover the disadvantages. Personally I think they are both great consoles in their own era. Just the fact the Nintendo NES still works perfectly 20 years from its release proves it was a solid and successful build but can the same be said about the x-box?

Recent forums on Yahoo show that the common ‘Ring of Death’ otherwise known as the red ring surrounding the ON button says otherwise, leaving many customers with an unfixable console.

 See this at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100316204717AAokxlc

 

  I have yet to face a problem with my X-box 360 and see the hardware as a successful entertainment system however I was surprised at how good the graphics had improved in comparison to my previous PS3. I’m sure I will once again be shocked at how the future console will compare to my present one.

Sound for Games

 Video game music refers to the soundtrack or background music in games. This type of sound has adopted the same complexity associated with TV and film soundtracks. Video game music has grown a lot in recent years and now even includes full orchestra pieces for example London Philharmonic Orchestra did pieces for Halo and Battlefield. Another well-known Italian composer named Michael Giacchino composed music for both Film and Video games such as The Incredibles, Cloverfield, UP, Medal of Honour and Call of Duty.

 

 Video games generate sound or alter their soundtrack in accordance with what the player’s current action or situation is for example an intense action scene would incorporate loud up-beat and dramatic sounds, compared to a stealthy creeping scene would use low tones with a small rpm. This technique hasn't changed entirely in the past 15 years but the music and soundtracks used definitely have. Originally limited to simple melodies and synthesiser technology the industry now use licensed musicians and orchestras.

 Some of the key composers currently working in games include Christopher Lennertz. Much like Michael Giacchino he started composing for films such as Meet the Spartans, Dr. Dolittle, Horrible Bosses and decided to compose for games as well. He successfully won several awards for his soundtrack on Medal of Honour series and also worked on Mass Effect 2&3, The Godfather 2 and Quantum on Solace. A very influential German composer and music producer named Hans Zimmer, famous for his pieces in The Lion King, Inception, and The Dark Knight has also recently been working on video games like Call of Duty and collaborated with Borislav Slavov to create the score for Crysis 2.

 

 One of my personal favourite soundtracks belongs to Devil May Cry 3. The hash and slash beat’em up game has provided me with hours of entertainment with an amazing soundtrack produced by Tetsuya Shibata. He worked on the whole DMC series but number 3 is unforgettable because he decided to change electronic music with vocal sounds which meant various battle and ending scenes became more memorable and recognisable. He talk about his scores on DMC 3 and new innovations for DMC 4 in this interview : http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/tetsuyashibata.shtml
My favourite song would have to be ‘Out of Darkness’ sung by one of the main characters the power and vocals of the song fit so well into the core of the game and its story.

  The Chic, regarded themselves as a rock band for this disco movement, formed in 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and Bassist Benard Edwards. They were successfully known for their commercial disco songs such as Everybody Dance, Le Freak and Good Times. In 1979 the group released the album Risqué and the lead track ‘Good times’ in which I agree with publications such as the Guardian upon this being one of the most influential songs of that era. The song was sampled many times including being the basis for ‘Rappers Delight’ by The Sugarhill Gang, this helped initiate the Hip Hop music format we know today. I think the band revolutionised the late seventies disco music and without this there would be no Destiny’s Child.

Game Engine

 I am going to discuss what are the advantages and disadvantages of the most popular and current game engines used? I’m very keen to start using UDK (Unreal Development Kit) for the first time as I can finally see my assets in a playable level.

What is a game engine?

This is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. The purpose of a game engine is to provide a suit of visual development tools essential for progressing in completion of a level with such things as sound, scripting, animation and 3d graphics for example.

The most popular game engines currently used are UDK, developing games such as

·         Borderlands

·         Devil May cry

·         Bioshock

And Cryengine, which have been successful in releasing

·         Crysis

·         DRIVE

·         Enemy Front

Unfortunately I have not had a chance to use Cryengine, so from doing research from users I have found the following pros and cons..

Game Engines	Pros	Cons
UDK	Similar interface to 3ds Max Widely used for easy access Variety of rendering Physics engine Great interior detail	Limited lighting effects Exteriors seem to be less effective Outdoor scenes lack detail
Cryengine	Free to use Cheaper licence if making a game Fastest high end render Sandbox gives full control of creations Edit everything in time	Relies on custom export tools in 3ds and Maya   No custom shaders in material editor

 

UDK – Developed by Epic Games in 1998 this is the most used game engine in the current industry. Although primarily developed for first person shooters it has been successful in a variety of game genres including stealth and RPG’s.  UE3 (Unreal Engine 3) has also seen adoption from other non-

gaming projects for example the popular children’s TV show ‘Lazy Town’.  Personally I think UDK is user friendly with a comfortable interface to navigate around, moving assests is very simple as is assigning textures. I give a positive opinion but I must take into consideration I haven’t used any competing software, once I have successfully used both programs I can then review them again.

 

Cryengine – A game engine designed by Crytek in 2006, there is now Cryengine 1,2 and 3 successfully developing Far Cry and Crisis. Not as widely used as UDK but the rendering scenes I have seen from playing such games as Crysis seem super realistic in comparison. The Sandbox (level editor) has emphasis on large terrains which means that it uses an algorithmic form of painting textures and objects onto the landscape.

I will be using UDK a lot more this year essentially with the group projects so I will have a better understanding of the software however I definitely refuse to rule out even trying to use Cryengine. From the footage I have seen, especially within environments I must at least try developing something of my own using it. Once I have tried both I will make a personal decision on what engine I think would suit me best.

Documentation

Slums Environment

I aim to produce a realistic slums environment level set in Kenya on a PS3 platform.

 

 

Personal Aim – To become an environment artist and demonstrate my capability of designing weapons.

Objective – Design and create a successful playable FPS level and further my technical knowledge within the game engine (UDK).

Genre – FPS, SHMUP.

Audience – 15+

Software – I will use 3ds Max and UDK as the game engine.

Technical Specifications for:

·         Lead Character

Poly Budget – 7000 Tri’s demonstrating clean and solid topology.

Textures – 1xDiffuse, 1xNormal and 1xspecularity map with a budget of 1024x1024

Style – Mercenary with armour

·         An NPC

Poly Budget – 4000 Tri’s

Textures – 1xDiffuse, 1xNormal and 1xspecularity map with a budget of 1024x1024

Style – Kenyan rebel

·         A Vehicle

Poly Budget – 3000 Tri’s  

Textures – 1xDiffuse, 1xNormal and 1xspecularity map with a budget of 1024x1024

One abandoned vehicle used for parts and on bricks

·         The Environment

Poly Budget – 20,000 Tri’s

Textures – 10xDiffuse, 10xNormal and 10xspecularity map with a budget of 1024x1024 on each

I will use a mixture of unique texturing and tillable texturing for the slums as well as reference images.

·         Weapons

Poly Budget – 2,500 Tri’s per weapon (14 weapons) 

Textures – 1xDiffuse, 1xNormal and 1xspecularity map with a budget of 1024x1024

Realistic weapons will be hidden in one shack ready for the lead character to collect for example this Scar-L assault rifle.