Final Post

Through out the 1^st year on this course I find I have been constantly struggling to find out how I can specifically improve on different areas. Although I know we feedback sheets, which are barely readable, but they do provide us with information to help with our development, however I would love to suggest an increase in the amount of time we actually get with a lecturer. I feel that even though I have been here a year I haven’t spoke to any of the teachers for longer than a minute, obviously I understand that there are 60 students which all cry attention or maybe I’m being stupid and I’m used to the usual college teachers that nag on at you to get on with work. 

 Looking at the current state of the industry and game development I can only agree with the structure of the course no matter how intense it is I think its only preparing you for what’s actually expected at industry standard. The drawing, writing and 3d work is only increasing your chances of landing a job at the end. In a way I wish I could just learn the beast of 3ds max and solely find a job in doing so but I believe everything is just as important, developing drawing skills will make your models look realistic and believable. I do love working on 3ds Max and sometimes annoying as it is, when I can see the finish line I find it quite therapeutic.

  Looking at my own feedback sheets I am struggling with visual design, I have not passed one formative assessment yet and I am worried that what I have done won’t be enough. Practice is the only thing that helps in this course but you should always be able to see yourself improving, which I think I can.

A very important issue, which I know a lot of people, feel the same about is the labs not being open later. At the beginning of year this was a real issue for me as my unfortunately my laptop wasn’t powerful enough to run a lot of the programmes we needed to use. Now this would mean I could only use the lab computers but there not open on weekends so realistically I only have 2 days to use them. I know everyone would much appreciate the labs being open later especially 3^rd years. 

 Not sure if this will be a useful suggestion but I have wanted to look at a very successful piece of 3^rd years work in detail. I would like to see how they actually got to this idea and the process they went through to develop the work into a decent project. I think more of this would give 1^st years a better insight of how to approach their work and develop their own ideas. I know there is pictures of work posted up around but none of the initial ideas are, just a thought.  

Environments!

‘There is nothing more amateurish than arbitrary architecture’. This statement highlights the necessity for systematic and life-inspired environments within a game, which provoke a sense of realism and belief in the mind of the player. Game designers therefore have a high level of duty in determining how successful a game is through its setting and ambiance. In this way, the atmosphere of a game is essential. For example, in order to create a scary and intense atmosphere, the environment should be bleak and dark. Not only this, but the smaller details of the game e.g. features of a room or building should assist in dictating the overall ‘feeling’ of the game. Furthermore, the accessibility of a game is also dictated by the environment. Sandbox games provide this accessibility by allowing players to utilise all props and features within the game and also allow players to go anywhere they like without boundaries. In order to achieve this sense of openness, the environment must provide exciting new experiences, so that the player indulges in the exploration of ‘never-ending’ space.

 Cevat Yerli, the CEO of Crytek, admires the ‘choreographed sandbox’ style of game, which combines the freedom of sandbox games with intermediate choreographed sequences, which create the cinematic experience within the game that is so successful with audiences. Collapsing buildings and falling skyscrapers are powerful images that unfluence the atmosphere of a game. The balance between realism and stylisation is important to control, as with all aspects of the game, it is vital to maintain a realistic environment. Falling skyscrapers etc are ‘acceptable’ cinematic additions, that although are relatively fictional, help to enhance the intensity of the game.

 This is a screen shot of a game produced by Techland called Dead Island, the reason I picked this image I recently went to travel around Bali and looking back through my pictures I found that most of them look like the game environment! I love the holiday feel to the place, the colours are very vibrant and reminds me of places I have been in the past, which would make me want to play the game. I believe the concept for the game is situated in 5star hotel called The Royal Palms resort which i believe is also a hotel in Miami. This blends in with the natural beauty of Banoi just off the coast of Papa New Guinea. The game is an action packed FPS which concentrates on the close-up melee attacks, there are a vast array of weapons and combo's however this can prove to very repetitive. Although the games has negative reviews i find the environment interesting with believable architecture and a flawless tropical beaches which i think the audience can easily relate to.  

Level designers are responsible for designing and decorating a level in a way that prompts a player to navigate in a certain way. A back story is essential to achieving a play pathway. A realistic storyline, which can be realised on screen, enables all departments to express it through art, animation and sound.

Characters

 The expression ‘you always want, what you can’t have ‘is very fitting when talking about characters in books, games, TV and films. I think the audience creates an emotional attachment to that character in different ways for example, women fall in love with Edward Cullen from the twilight series because he is seen to be the perfect man where as men like him because they want to be him.   Personally I love characters that possess individual qualities/special powers that I could never have, for example Dante from Devil May Cry is a demon mercenary that uses super human abilities to make his way through objectives. I don’t like him just because he can jump around using multiple combo attacks on people, that’s a bonus, the storyline, his personality, looks, movements, style, flair and voice all contribute into a very likeable character which you want to interact with. Every quality is as important as the next and I think if you get all these correct your character will be a success in any category. I believe game company’s know that they have to tick all the right boxes when developing a game but originality is the difficult part, finding something that’s new and exciting but will interest core gamers to keep playing and wanting more. I find characters at the moment are always quite eccentric, they stand out in a way that captures your attention, and this is just one of the many techniques developers must use to create a successful character. Attention to detail especially in game characters is so important as this is what the gamer will be looking at for the majority of the game, in most cases the character you play with will be very easy on the eye, so facially good looking and attire instantly make you like the person. 

 The script is very important as I think trying to make the connection between story-line, character, drama and environment is  very hard, if this is wrong the game would end up uninteresting and boring, a failure. You will know how important acting is from films, bad actor means bad film it’s the same principle with all media except games are not as realistic. First impressions mean a lot in games so the appearance of a character can determine the same of that game, personally if I pick up a game and see how cool the character looks and I like the concept I’ll most likely buy it. I have a very bland view on what’s right and wrong with stories and almost all of the time its good vs. evil and then good win. I suppose it’s all about what happens within that story and weather gamers will be interested in it or not however I don’t really have a favourite plot/storyline I could pick out.