Dreaming of Games Development

Grades and Projects

2009-03-03T21:32:00.002Z

The envrionments, game desgin and game engines project has been handed back. I got a Distinction, which is good as it now means that I have enough points to get an overall DDD for the course, even if I only get Merits for the next several projects. Which is unlikely as I like to strive to do my best, however the hellish video editing unit is now in and I'm not confident on that one, I never am with video.

Which makes it strange that I have taken on a new personal project tied in with my Final Major Project. I have a capture card currently on very kind loan from a course mate, and with a small £5 cable I can convert VHS to DVD. I may have an issue with the lack of space on my hard-drive due to partitions and it being an old hard-drive and well, the leap in space on HDD since I last upgraded. :)

I plan to get the last of the Dreamstone onto DVD, it won't be the best quality, and my tapes are getting old, and I am slightly concerned that they may not work anymore, which means that I will now be testing them tonight. As not only would I like to use them as reference, it might also give me a small bargining chip with the creator of the show, to give me permission to bring his idea to a new generation through Little Big Planet.

One a small last note, it's amazing what you can achieve if you know some code and some smooth animations: http://www.mirrorsedge2d.com/ Better get practicing. :D

Production Shedule Update

2009-01-20T09:30:00.002Z

For Units 62 + 04

Project Schedule - Stage 1
Idea Development: 09/01/09
Idea Resolution: 12/01/09
Completion of Research: 20/01/09
Organisation of Resources: 21/01/09
Prep Work: 23/01/09

I am currently around four days behind shedule with the write of of research and storyboard of intital ideas. This is due to making preperations for an event in May, and also lack of organisation to complete research work without going off onto tangents.

This will need to be resolved before end of day on Wednesday or I will seriously affect the time I have to animating the scenes required as I am unalbe to find the right locations, and actors needed for a live action shoot.

Live Action Vs Animation

2009-01-19T21:59:00.002Z

The new unit we are doing now is a video composting unit, which is very similar to one we have already done, and I kinda wish that the course was a tad more organised and combined a few more units than they have done and say included one of the programing or Flash units from the BTEC list....oh well...here goes.

So for my video I have to use the film 'Hackers' (1995) as inspiration for my two minute short. I was originally going to do a live action remake of the original trailer. However actors, locations, costumes and props were proving awkward and expensive. So I have had to compromise and attempt to animate an idea instead. Looking at the competition winners though from this brief I do wonder exactly to what standard these shorts are expected to be.

So far I'm looking at Rez, Jet Set Radio, Megatokyo, Tron and Hackers for inspiration/footage to create a short about teenager hackers.....I'm not sure I'll do the trailer as it's very 80's and very cheesy and my original premise was to re-create it using a modern take.

I'm gonna have to write some sypnosis and draw some story boards out. I also have to try and get capture cards to work on my PC, which is in great need of some TLC, to get some game footage from the PS2 and maybe the Xbox, if it will work. (Why is is Microsoft products need so much attention and still brake down all the time?)

Anyway am now going to catch up on gaming and sci-fi news as I'm a little out of the loop at the moment then get an early night, tomorrow is planning stage as the weeks are dissapearing and the deadline is approaching far too fast this time around.

Gaming Achievements

2009-01-18T23:23:00.002Z

I have just been watching 'Batteries Not Included' on Dave and they have a small gaming section. In this ep they have John Cleese of Monty Python fame playing Pong with a headset that tracks your eye movements and head muscle movements. This was pretty interesting, unfortunately it didn't quite work very well.

The next gadget was a first person shooter accessory that cost £150. It was a vest in the style of a military bullet proof style vest that was equipped with air pockets and vibrating parts that were designed to pick up your avatar being shot in the game and then replicate it, so it feels like you are being shot.

Again this didn't quite work as it just seemed to tickle Mr. Cleese in ways that I don't particularly want to think about....

However he informed us of a vest that has apparently been developed from this gaming accessory that the army is looking into/already using. A vest that has sensors all over it to so that when a soilder is shot, the info can be sent to the nearest med unit about where, how deep and severity of woud to help them triarge and preapre for his arrival. Therefore in some cases saving the soilders life as the med team will know what's wrong and be able to fix it as soon as the injured soilder arrives.

Now that it certainly somthing that is good for gaming press surley. But of course things like that and the Wii Fit helping stroke victims and other injuries that impair movement recover will not make it to the front of the Daily Star or the such like. Which is a shame as it's things like these that will help the game industry grow up and be taken seriously.

Although hopefully not too seriously, as it gaming is supposed to be a fun enjoyable activity after all.

The Juggling Act Begins

2009-01-08T22:34:00.003Z

So we are nearly at the end of the first week back at term, and yet again I have neglected the blog over the holidays and at the end of a project.

The last project that we were working on has been handed in and everything got done on time, however I think I may have pushed myself too much and I unfortunately made myself ill in the last week of term. Yet there are no marks yet as not all of the class has handed in their projects, some have legitimate excuses, others are just lazy, if I can get it all done with all my commitments and stresses so can the ones without jobs.

Anyway moving swiftly on as that is a sore subject at the moment, we have now started a new project and is not one that I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into. As this is partly a media course (the college would not get funding for a purely games course) we have to do several units from a selection of core media subjects. Which means video editing has reared it's ugly head again and I'm nervous. The last video project we were set resulted in my only Merit grade, admittedly I was in New Zealand for two weeks of the project, but we didn't exactly get taught much on video editing, at least not at a speed in which most could keep up with, and this time it will revolve around a set subject matter.

We have to choose three films from the United Artists at 90 list and present the ideas for a two minute short or trailer to the class, then by majority vote start work on the most popular idea. This in itself is a terrifying idea as practically being the only girl in the class I find myself leaning towards more 'girly' ideas to stand out from all the testosterone floating about.

The film list was not that inspiring either, and I have realised that most of these 'classics' I have not seen, which did not make the choice any easier. I have a varied taste in films, as long as it is not horror, and a great apprecaiation for the old 'classics' yet that term 'classic film' certinaly means something different to everyone. As most films I concider classic such as Brining Up Baby starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant are often cast aside for other films, such as Breakfast at Tiffinays staring Audry Hepburn who has become an iconic figure. (Much to my personal dismay as Katherine Hepburn had more to offer in my eyes.) Anyway I digress my chosen three films from the list are:

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Some Like it Hot

Hackers

A varied mix if I do say so myself, which represents my film tastes really, a bit of everything, as long as there is little to no horror or violence. (The occasionally girly tendencies slipping in there.)

I have a solid idea for the first choice, a long winded one for the second choice and a feasible on for the third choice. I'm not sure what the class would choose, but I'm hoping the tutor still like my first choice as it's one I would really like to have a go at if I had to do any at all.

Anyway tomorrow is the presentation or pitch as it were so we shall have to see how it goes. In the mean time I really need to get my personal statement done for my university application, I keep forgetting and putting it off as I am terrified of going to Uni. It's the constant change I'm getting tired of, and now whatever I choose to study and Uni will pretty much be my career, I feel that it is getting too late to stay indecisive otherwise I just won't get the chance to do what I want to do in life.

Game Maker

2008-12-15T22:23:00.003Z

I'm actually enjoying using Game Maker. It can be quite useful if irritating and limiting at the same time.

I am also coming up with many ideas for a final major project.....one that possible needs copyright permission which I may have a shot at getting. Quite a long story that one, will have to explain if I actually get it.

Otherwise all work is handed in, am just finishing off the 2D stuff and then no more college, am both happy and sad about that as it means Game full time over Christmas which is hell and I don't get a holiday I get one day off (Christmas Day) but I get paid triple on Boxing Day so it has it's perks. :)

At last a breakthrough!

2008-11-11T23:11:00.002Z

Okay so I have been a little behind on all areas of the current brief. I have also been concentrating on the 3D Environments, by modelling a lot in 3DS. I do however have a lot of planning work...it's just in note form and my sketch book currently makes very little sense as there's a fair amount stuck in, just not annotated yet.

However on the digital side of things I now have the hang of box modelling! Something went click the other day as I was struggling with it all, and can now seem to get some semi-decent stuff made, I still have so far to go but at least I can now model what I have planned for my environment.

Also the lesson that planning is key has been learnt, I knew that I needed to plan out my level in Unreal before making it and I had been leaving it all on the back burner. I haven't really used the program at all apart from going through some of the tutorials at the beginning of term. Struggling with my level idea and finding that some of the stuff I had planned just would not be possible in the version of Unreal that we are using it was back to the drawing board many a time.

After some flashes of inspiration, one of which came while watching a friend play a game, I started drawing away. One Sunday evening later and I have my level all planned out on paper. One Monday and six hours of lesson time later and I have my level all drawn in Unreal, I just need to get the switch working with my static mesh, as at the moment the two events don't want to talk to each other. I think it has something to do with the key of the static mesh, the switch doesn't know it's what it's switching on and off. I think I need to rebuild both parts and re-do all the steps again as I think I'm missing something. I also need to sort out some possible animation or movers, not sure how yet to make the platform section more challenging.

I then have my maze to sort out, I need to find a way to help player navigate through it as in 2D it works fine but it quite misleading in 3D and can become frustrating for younger players. At the moment I am thinking something along the lines of a coloured lights system and maps to help work out where you are in relation to where you want to go. It's gonna take a lot of work, and then there's the 2D element on top of that, I have been very ambitious with this one and I do realise I am losing sight of the brief ever so slightly.

My sketch book is a little jumbled now that I feel a little odd putting stuff in that prob should have come before the concept work. Oh well I suppose it's a good reflection on how my brain works.

Right now I'm off to bed as my eyes hurt after a very long day argueing with Illistrator and cashing up machines at work. :)

Lots and lots of work...

2008-10-20T16:24:00.002+01:00

We have now hit just over half way through the time allowed for this project...sorry projects...there is a lot of work required for all of this and it's ever so slightly getting on top of me. Today Paul pointed out that I have not done a Project Production Shedule, you would have thought that I would have learned to do one all the time since the video project. Alas no I appear not to have learned from that particular experience. I have done an action plan, ala Game, of all the stuff I have left to do, which seems to be all of it, as I have been working in a haphazard way and not really done things as linear as they should be done.

I am getting a little stressed over everything to be honest and ontop of all the other things I'm trying to do and have to do I think I may have burned myself out a little already, this time of year being filled with birthday's doesn't help and a lot of people still not quite understanding that I don't have and free time, the free time I do have is spent relaxing and trying not to think too much as my brain feels overworked with all this trying to remember stuff for 3DS.

Right so after a small rant I need to get on with things, and after someone has just shouted out across the class about the Personal Statement for Uni, it has just reminded me that I need to get all that sorted out too. Oh dear not enough hours in the day as usual....right this post prob doesn't make that much sense as I have been moddelling since 10am and am now very very tired, the trials of flatmates in room till late playing Magic and waking up very very early due to boyfriend going to work for 6am. I'm litterally falling asleep at my desk so this post may not be staying up....

The workload...

2008-10-09T11:19:00.000+01:00

We are now several weeks into the new term and already, as you would expect, there is a large workload and the usual hiccups. I feel like I am in a school environment trying to do degree work. Which is not the most conductive I have to admit as it's very hard to concentrate when there is nothing but noise in the class room.

However I have got a fair amount of work done so far, just not quite in the right format. I have a lot of supporting material that needs writing up into the sketchbook, a lot of resource images for the concept art side of things, and a few drawing to use as guides for modelling stuff in 3DS. Yet I still have a long way to go, not including the reports that are needed, the presentations and the actual planning of the game levels, and all the computer side of the work. I look around the class and see that many people have jumped straight in with creating their levels in Unreal, and I feel as though I am far behind in comparison, yet I want to make sure everything is planned out first before jumping straight in and sketching in 3D as it were. I may just be procrastinating as I am unsure of how to use the program and fear that I may be more ambitious than my current skills are capable of. Yet after looking back over the first year work for the Open Evening it seems that I haven't really pushed myself as much as I could have in the first year. So we shall see what happens...

On another note things are getting hectic with life outside of college which leaves little time to work and I open myself up to burning out too easily by trying to do everything. Work have asked me to be a key-holder again, which means I can get extra money for doing the shifts I already do anyway...which would be good, but it would help if I wasn't working five days a week, as it is not ideal to say the least. But it's what you have to do to get an education these days as it's not like the government will help all that much. :)

Which reminds me I wonder with this latest bail out of the British banks that meant over £50billion went to the banks from the taxpayer means that each person now owns a share in the banks and as such should be entitled to returns and a say in how they are run. For a start stopping the millions of pounds paid in bonuses to the bosses, as they shouldn't really get a bonus for letting the economy getting into this state in the first place, although the same could be equally applied to the MP's and the journalists that have hindered rather than helped over the years.

Yet that is a small tangent and I digress, right now I need to concentrate on getting this course done and passing with flying colours and getting on with applying for Uni, as I may not know what I want to do with my life yet but I know it's not retail management....:)

The Muse has returned....

2008-09-30T09:34:00.004+01:00

So I after my last post my muse has come back from holiday and seems to have pushed the nice weather away at the same time as it's pouring today which seems to have sapped the energy of nearly everyone....

Anyway I now have a game idea that will span across all the units at the moment so I'm not trying to do too many things at once as I find that trying to work on too many ideas at once something doesn't quite get all my attention and therefore suffers because of it. I have bitten a lot more off than I can chew I think, but I'd like to see if I can pull it off. I also have a little more research to do now as well, seeing as I'm theoretically looking into doing a game that is cross platform, possibly mobile and PC, so I need to ensure that I talk about the budget and planning for that kind of thing and also ensure that it works on all the formats too. Nice large learning curve for me here I think, but if this can go towards my final project I think I maybe onto something. :)

The IDEA:

Basically I am looking at all the things that have inspired me over the years and things that I have liked to play and liked to watch. I also have a personal reason for doing this as I want to do something for my little brother. He's technically a New Zealand citizen so I am creating this game around that country and its wildlife as homage to him.

The Story:
Kenton the Kiwi finds himself trapped in Auckland Zoo, he was having a nice walk around the Domain gardens where he lives in secret when someone found him and took him to the zoo believing that he was a lost bird. Slightly annoyed about this he is now planning his escape and gets into the underground tunnels and storage rooms where he needs to find his way out.
(3D Level Design Aspect - created in Unreal Editor for the PC)

Once out of the zoo there is the large maze that is the streets of Auckland to contend with to find his way home, of course these streets are also quite dangerous, being riddled with Possum's the Kiwi's main competitor and enemy. He then has to navigate his way through this maze to get back home.
(2D Aspect - created in Flash for mobiles)

His home is a cute little tree house that looks like something from a story book, with everything that the little Kiwi could ask for deep in the large park that overlooks all of Auckland city from the top of a dormant volcano.
(3D Environment Aspect - a detailed fly through created in 3DS Max.)

So with this lose outline ready I can now get on with all the planning stage the treatment etc and concpet art, I just need to make sure that the needed research doesn't get left to the last minute as I know my reports and things are never quite up to scratch when I do that. :)

Where's my muse?

2008-09-23T20:35:00.002+01:00

Okay spent the afternoon trying to get some work done, yet my muse and motivation appear to be on holiday together. I just can't seem to form any solid ideas at the moment nor get anything down in a coherent manner. Guess I'm not feeling the pressure yet, or I'm just thinking about things too much and am trying to jump ahead a little too far and go straight into modelling without proper planning. It's sitting next to Bod it is....with his Viper model....Grr...which is looking awesome.

Anyway I guess I'm also a little unclear at what I'm supposed to be doing and how and I am also very confused by the second brief we got the other day, and due to all the technical issues am still behind in Unreal Editor learning and even when I try to do some things on the fly and try to use the editor it appears that half the tutorials haven't sunk in. So I think a different approach is needed, perhaps I need to plain out a level first then make it using what I know then look up how to do stuff I don't know.

That of course would require me to actually have an idea in the first place, wherever my Muse and Motivation have gone on holiday as much as I would like to join them I need them back here too much at the moment, I don't want to be leaving everything to the last minute again, can't afford it this year.

Unreal Editor

2008-09-19T11:36:00.002+01:00

So today the computer at college has decided to behave itself and for one the Unreal Editor actually did as it was told. I however am feeling quite rough still and there is only so long you can stare at a dark screen adding things to a very basic level along with the tutorial voiced by a rather bored sounding Irish guy before not only do your eyeballs want to leave your head but your ears are starting to cry in sympathy too. :-) At least I have actually managed to do some things today and even get screen grabs and notes down so I can re-do things later when I attempt to create a level of my own. However I have already realised that this is going to take some planning. I still fear that I am a little behind in everything still as my environment is coming along very slowly as I’m having to roof and every house individually pretty much and things are looking at little wonky in my Monopoly town. :-)

So with lots to do and a foggy brain I now have to pack up go home to eat, then head out to work then head over to the much neglected boyfriend. Who is not going to be happy with me as our first weekend off together in a month is no longer free as I have to work for the whole day on each day. The usual problems of a manager being off so I have to cover his hours and then they tricked me into the Sunday shift by giving me a weekend off in Oct for my little brothers birthday, then showing me the rota, as they had just given me some time off when they could do with people and they asked nicely I couldn’t really say no. Plus I could do with the money as I owe said boyfriend still for help with flat deposits too. :-) Ah they way of the world you never have enough time and money at the same time...always one or the other.

But I digress I am beginning to rant, which I am informed us girls are good at doing, so I shall sign off for now with a promise of screen shots of both my town and very rudimentary level in my next update.

The Perils of the Digital World

2008-09-18T11:15:00.004+01:00

Not in the most positive of moods at the momemt, am at college using the nice new computers, however we have horrible glitchy software on them. My copy of the Unreal Editor on this machine has decided that it will no longer save anything no matter what you do, it insists that the file name has a space in it when it doesn't. So as it crashes at any given moment it has become impossible to follow the tutorials that will only work on the college computers and not at home.

Also to top it off the work I got done during my hazy ill induced brain yesterday was okay, but I did not save them to my USB stick like I thought I was doing everytime I actioned the 'Ctrl S' habit. So my old copies of the Enviroment are on the USB stick and the huge ammount of work I did on it yesterday is still at home, it's the equivalent of forgetting your homework, which is quite embaressing really.

Also on the topic of homework there was a small research thing for Fri lesson set on Monday to look at Game engines, my brain was just mush after all the talking (quite demoralising talk at that) and it looks like I have researched the wrong thing, I was looking at the Havok engine as it was used in Heavenly Sword which I have been playing for the first time recently and have been enjoying quite a bit. However it is technically and middleware engine that controls the physics within the game everything from the way the cloth acts in a breeze to event driven behaviour on NCP's. This doesn't count, which is a little annoying as I was trying to find something that not everyone would do such as the Source, Quake or Unreal engine, I think I may look at the Freeware ones instead as I don't think too many people are going to give those much of a look in as they don't really create the big top game titles that everyone plays. However they are probably more interesting as the indie game dev has a bit mroe imagination than what's currently being pushed through the charts. Or I'm just being a bit cynical and have been watching too much Yahtzee recently. :)

The Second Week

2008-09-17T21:37:00.003+01:00

So college has been going for over a week now. We're now in our proper room with the nice new computers but in good old fashion there are always technical problems. Some of the computers this week weren't working, one already has a problem with its graphics card and in good old IT department style the guy came it to fix it by literally turning everything off and on again. Ya see he pulled the fuse out of the socket thinking that it was the problem for the computers on the one side of the room, however the fuse he pulled was from the side we were all using. Seeing all the computers turned off all in one go and hearing many people stifle some very rude words was quite amusing. I'm just glad that my hands are in such a habit of 'Ctrl S' every five mins. :)

In more brighter news the new units are getting quite exciting, however the first one fees a little vague at the moment, although I am enjoying creating a small town scape in 3DS its only going to be a small simple one, but it feels complicated to me. :) I'm currently stuck on the task of attaching roofs to houses.

The other unit we started is all about level creation and game engines, they're all mixing into one really I'm still not quite sure how they want the sketch books and the work separated out to be honest. However we had a visit from one of the guys on the Games Testing course that NC Soft is involved in, and his level he made in the UT editor was quite impressive. However it will be really tough going to see if I or any of us can do the same none of us have an entire week to spend every waking hour on creating something like that.

Alas the rent needs paying so jobs need to be attended, a job that as fun as it is, is bringing it's usual Xmas worries of far too much overtime coming my way, but with an personal inflation cost of 6% this year I may have to sacrifice college time in favour of earning the little money I can.

Yet hearing him talk about the games industry was a little refreshing and worrying, the stigma that geeks have no social life is still in full force and I still think its a sign of bad management and poor treatment of staff to expect them to stay behind all the time and then not give them work during their work hours. But then what would you prefer to do, stay late at a job you don't like getting paid for it or staying at a job that you do like?

The whole QA scene is a little tedious though I have a close contact with the QA department of another Brighton based 'games' company and it's quite an all over the place world, one where there is not much stable employment. NCSoft has shown this recently with a wave of redundancies in its development department recently as well as rumours that they might be closing their Brighton offices all together. Which is a little concerning to say the least, but from the people I know there it seems that this is a pre-emptive move to avoid over spending with the whole "Credit Crunch" at the moment. Game did the same thing a while back and it just meant people had to get other jobs or second ones and wait it out. There are many games companies in the UK however it's still more cost effective to be in Canada and other places as this country is getting very expensive.

Anyway I currently have a horrible cold so this prob doesn't make much sense, as I've taken the day off of work and am trying to catch up on a bit of work, its not quite gone to plan but I've gotten some research done, got stuck in 3DS, learned a fair bit that I didn't know, and filled in more of the gaming log, I played more games over the summer than I realised, which now means a lot of review writing for me. :)

Time to get some sleep now and to college early tomorrow, hopefully no longer sneezing. :)

First Day Back

2008-09-08T20:47:00.003+01:00

So today was the first day back at college and we got all our results and timetables and stuff. It was a bit all over the place as our shiny new room isn't finished yet. :(

The new timetable works out better for my work rota as well as it may mean that I can go onto a smaller contract and lose one of my 5 days at work as the timetable I have the moment is slowly going to kill me, I don't have any time left over to do college work, or even see the people important to me. And as much as I keep thinking about it Game is kinda the best place to be while I am at college, and there I shall stay till the end, as long as I can go down to four days instead of five that is. :)

I also finally, at last got the grades from last year. This was what I had expected, I am running on all Distinctions bar one Unit now. That was the video editing unit, which I was fully expecting a Merit in as I knew I had not done enough work for that. I am mildly annoyed as it loses my winning streak, and it seems it was expected of me to continue the high standards I had set myself. Yet I knew at the time of doing the project that it was not up to my usual standard and I knew this as I was letting it slide to ensure that all the other units were up to standard and the whole unit was my weakest area to begin with anyway. So no surprises really which was nice.

The rest of the day was spent playing about with shiny Mac's (which aren't ours) and I do prefer using one of those I think, and it wasn't as awkward as I thought it was going to be, from having used a PC since I was very young I thought I wouldn't get to grips with a Mac as the operate very differently. However it was nice and simple and very tempting to switch over, if for the space saving on your desk more than anything else. :)

We also played this bizzare game called 'Aisle' which was bizzare and slightly eye opening, I now am curious as to how it was programmed in the first place. I have a basic understanding of it along the lines of a database of all the responses and the right 'if statements' to produce the right response from the user input and also a default 'unknown' response when the user typed in a command that did not relate to the database. At least that's as far as I know.

Anyway after what felt like a very long day I am now at home all fed and washing up left to do. I am also supposed to be meeting people out today but I already feel that I need to step back, the workload is going to be upon us soon and I need to be a lot more disciplined this year to keep on top of everything. So I am writing up some gaming logs and trying out 'Colours' on the DS a Homebrew digital sketchbook that has only been created due to the modding community that exists on the internet, which Nintendo are now trying to inadvertently shut down.

Back to School....

2008-09-02T11:52:00.003+01:00

The summer holidays are ending now. Yet I am at work so much at the moment that I barley seem to have time to do anything. Why are there never hours at work when I'm not doing anything but then as soon as I become busy and have to give college my priority they start asking me to come in more? I believe it is called Murphy's Law, at least that's the polite term I believe. :)

I enrolled at the college yesterday as well, it was the most disorganised chaos I have ever seen. But then it's what I have come to expect from this college, at least they now owe me £716 rather than the other way around as the course fee's I paid last year were not actually mine to pay. My enrolment took a lot longer than others as neither of the people at the enrolment centre knew how to process anything, nor were many of them very professional, but they were all temps and did the best they could. However they did point out that I didn't need to pay the course fees as this was the first Level 3 qualification and therefore is paid for my the government. Now it's the task to actually get that refund...which I shall need to clear the credit card as that is where last years fees are currently sitting...

On a brighter note I am very much looking forward to going back and get a hold on our nice new computers. (Ones that glow blue and have see-through cases apparently!) :)

It will also be nice to have a bit of focus again, as I am getting slowly dragged back into the world of Game now and it's not nice. It is also quite painful...I was working in Worthing till gone 11pm last night to try and help sort the store out. (It was supposed to be most of the managers but they all pulled out for one reason or another....) I had a bay head fall on me and scrap the skin of the bridge of my nose, which is now bright red...and I am unable to move my eyebrows without it hurting. Between glass cabinets falling on me, swing doors giving my concussions, blood blisters on fingers from closing draws and the corner of filing cabinets being opened and hitting my spine...I surprised that I am still here after working there five years. :)

Anyway I shall be updating over the next few days with all the game reviews that I've got lying around from actually being able to play some games over the summer. :) For now I have to go to work and decide do I cover a manager shift (as his wife had a baby recently) or do I see my best friend of 20 years before she moves away from Brighton?

Times are Changing

2008-08-21T08:13:00.003+01:00

Things of Change:

1. Moved house (yet again) now live an hour away from college rather than 10 minutes, and no longer have a room with damp in and have a room with enough shelves to have all my books and games out.

2. Job yet again maybe changing as it does not pay enough, the hours do not fit with college, I can no longer get a decent amount of paid overtime and I am doing far too much unpaid overtime. CV and applications are being sent around tomorrow. :)

3. College is still not sorted, last I heard people have still not handed in their work from last year which is causing a delay for everyone else on the course. Those kids had better get their act together or be thrown off for being immature and selfish. (This is causing great concern with myself and I am less than polite about the matter at the moment, and no-one wants to know what I want to do to the people who are screwing this all up for the rest of the hard-working class.)

4. The weather....I have been enjoying the odd sunny day here and there, but there is something wrong with wearing a thick jumper in the middle of August due to the wind and rain. :)

5. University, this is the biggest change of all and I really need to get a move on with all the work that needs to be done to get the application in on time. The house move and attempting to work extra to afford to move has eaten into my 'summer' holidays somewhat and the pressure is now on to get everything sorted.

6. Game industry contacts, you lose some you gain some. I have unfortunately lost contact with people in two companies this summer from people I know leaving and moving on, yet have gained others. One of which is based in San Francisco and is now opening offices in Brighton. Now not technically a game, but something interesting nonetheless and a set of software that is used by many people around the world. A virtual world that has managed to create viable currency and 'in-world' millionaires. :)

I think that's enough of an update for now, am still trying to fit in some creative work in the busy lives that I lead, have been doing some commission work recently that has taken up time that I probably should have been using to keep going with 3DS. :) Anyway no use stressing, I'm now off to hand over the keys to the old house and then am off to work....

Will the wait be over soon?

2008-08-05T00:07:00.002+01:00

So I admit I have now broken and I want...no need to know what mark I got this year at college. Everything else is sorted, I have a job (even if it does suck), I have a new (small) flat, I have a nice active social life right now, I have lots to do (packing - not quite there yet, creative work - yeah I'll get back to you.) However there is still no e-mail from the college I am still unable to log into Moodle. So I have e-mailed Paul (the tutor) in the hope of getting some answers to some questions. Such as; "What grades did we get?" and "Do we have any more work to do during the summer?". :)

I await answers in not much patience as I lose internet connection in two weeks for the moving from ones side of the city to the other. :)

The Waitng Game

2008-07-24T23:49:00.002+01:00

Okay so I have been not doing much of anything productive for the holiday so far. Been mostly just chilling out, working as much as I can then spending as much as I can on nights out, and basically enjoying not having any responsibility. Alas this cannot last forever and I now have to start buckling down at getting on with some work. I have articles to write that are due in next week and my 3DS project I want to get started on....

Aside from that though I feel like I am in a big waiting game at the moment as there are three main areas in my life that I currently don't have much control over;

Work: We are getting the new contracts in soon, and unfortunately they are semi-based on our current availability, which means last years timetable, and may mean a reduction in hours. Yet we won't find out what is happening for another two weeks at the moment and the waiting is starting to get to me slightly as if my contract drops below 22 hours a week then I need a new job, pref I need 25 hours on £6ph to survive in this expensive world, but that ain't ever gonna happen at Game. I really don't want to have to work on my CV but I fear that I may have too soon.

House: On a much more positive note I have a new flat now! It's a fair way from my current place and a fair way from town let alone the college, so I am going to have to get up earlier and be generally more organized. It's lovely though and we sign the contracts next week and can start moving in from the 1st of Aug. Its a bit of a change though as we lose our living room, the lovely couple I live with have agreed at the small single room will become the gaming/TV room and I can have what would have been the living room as my room as it is the same size as their room. Yay for student living! The landlord likes us though and after a short interview with him it looks like we'll have this for a long term let. Now I just gotta get used to the 40min walk to college rather than the 10min that I have now! :)

Results: Now this is the big waiting game at the moment! I want my results for the first year, all the Uni students have graduated today and I still don't know what grade I have. Many people must have handed in work very late for things to still be being marked now, which is the only reason I can assume that we haven't had any marks back yet. :( Also Moodle doesn't seem to be working so I can check anything there either. I also have to wait to hear back from the college about next year's fees and if they are going to pay them or not. After flat deposit and stuff I can't afford the fee's and my poor old credit card is already crying for fear of the abuse it will receive if the second year fees have to be paid with it. :)

Ah well, it is what it is...as my manager at work would say. Can't complain at the end of the day and as much as just retail work is driving me crazy I'm not sure if I'm ready yet to go back to the crazy world of college and the deadline pressure again...not just yet. Am having too much fun catching up with friends, moving house....oh and playing the odd game here and there....which would be so much easier if I had a PS3 of my own...:)

Crunch Time

2008-06-19T01:23:00.002+01:00

Like in the real world there is always a crunch time at the end of the year or a large project. It is said that in the game industry developers are slumped over their desks working away while surviving on take out and not seeing their beds in many nights. Weekends are also spent at work and social lives are left to the wayside just so that they can get all their work done. One company says that this is not a good way to work, as it demoralizes the staff and is counter productive to actually getting quality work done. So instead they work on a strict policy of getting work done during work time, which has resulted in a happy workforce as they aren't doing as much overtime as their peers and don't suffer from the stressful crunch time.

However this is only one company out of many that has adopted this model of working so far, and even though it is a good idea and a few others are starting to cotton on to this fact, it is still widely accepted that crunch time will happen and at that time people will have to go above and beyond the their call of duty to fulfill their responsibilities. So this sense of crunch time I feel now with all the college work is, I suppose, good practice for the real world. Although I do believe anything will be easier than what I have done over the years, between holding down two different jobs, moving house every single year and now studying full time with a 25h a week job, crunch time without the stress of fitting in the needed tasks to pay the rent will feel like a walk in the park.

I am nearly done on all my projects and would not have been able to get any of this done without the extra week. However taking the odd evening off to see some neglected friends has set me back a little further than I would like, and I also misjudged what I had left to do. So now I have worked solid for the last 12 hours to try and get things done. Yet I feel that I need another 12 hours to fully finish, I have work from a few months ago that I should have completed but forgot about to concentrate on other units. Alas I shall not get that time I have about 8 hours instead due to college commitments and work over the next two days I have until 9am Friday to get everything done by, which is tricky as I am either at college or work tomorrow from 10am till 9pm.

I think I may just buy some more coffee on the way home as I feel that I have an all night cram session ahead of me again tomorrow night and I am going to need all the help I can get to get everything done. For now I am going to sleep for a few brief hours until I have to get up again and continue annotating sketch books. This is certainly a good lesson in time management and priorities, something that I still feel I lack as I am not getting work done to the standards I would like as I have not been giving it as high a priority as it deserves, instead I have became distracted by friends and work, but then as the old saying goes: "All work and no play make Homer go something something something." :)

Beyond Good and Evil Websites

2008-06-10T10:34:00.003+01:00

Having a look around for websites that exist for Beyond Good and Evil was a rather interesting expereince. As there are not that many major ones out there, and even fewer that are current. Here I have listed most of the ones I found that seem to be of some importance, and others that are unfortunate examples very basic sites that have been done by fans with little knowledge of website design, but still wanted to do their bit and show appreciation for the game.

Official Sites
~US Site~ ~UK Site~
These have enough to keep people interested for a while, and also have a unique feature of integrating with the game. Each time you saved in the game you would get a long alphanumeric code that you could enter onto the site which relates to how much of the game you have done and in what time. This would then be put into a rankings table so you could compare your progress with other players around the world.

Fan Sites
Hyllian Music
The most organized one appears to be on MySpace, mostly dedicated to the music, with links to other sites that have been set up to represent people and races within the game.
Revolution
This one has been mentioned on many forums and other small sites, however it once looked quite a compressive resource and place for fans to go, however it has not seen any activity for many years.
Beyond Good and Evil Union
This seems to be the main form of fan site out there for the game, people taking advantage of resources to create a place for fans without having to create something from scratch themselves. This is a good example of one of these created sites
BGE Club on deviantART
A collection of artwork, comics and a still active fandom full of people that have a great appreciation for the game.
BG&E Petition
One of the only petitions left that I could find easily, as most others were being held on paid/free web space that has since shut down.

Reviews
GameSpy
This site offerers a review for all the different versions and also gives the members of the site a chance to review and rate the game, so we get a comprehensive view of what the site staff think, the regular members and general site user score.
IGN
This site has been going for a long time and has an extensive reputation, it is also privy to exclusive industry news fairly often and is usually the site that everyone else gets their info from. The review also has many links to other interesting articles, and suggests games of a similar nature.
GameZone
This site is large and comprehensive site that is mainly for American gamers, with a shop, downloads, trading area and other various forms of interactivity it is a large resource. The site is more of a resource site for links to other reviews and commercial websites.

Stats Sites
VG Chartz
A site that has a very comprehensive, interactive dynamic database of games and console sales. Not all games are currently available in their database, but it is a useful resource to compare top selling titles and obtain sales data that is otherwise very hard to find.
Game Rankings
A site that links to all the other review sites for nearly every game. It also compiles the review scores for games from print magazine and internet sites. A good place to use to find out top games as considered by people in the industry rather than just their sales.

I also found that a lot of sites for 'Beyond' were in French, which didn't exactly help me when carrying out research into the game. It is also a puzzle that a lot of the fan sites out there are either dead or have not been updated for many years, most of the active BGE communities are existing on already established sites. Perhaps it was the commotion that people made on these sites that got noticed more as everyone in one place will have a larger voice than loads of fan sites dotted around the net.

A Beyond Good and Evil wesbite with a twist.

2008-06-10T09:37:00.006+01:00

Beyond Good and Evil was a hugely underrated video game released on all platforms in 2003. It never did well at retail, however it gained a large cult following which did get Ubisofts attention. Yet, I am a little stumped as to how this happened when looking at the websites available on the net. (Which I shall cover shortly.) There is a story of one website that became a little popular which I used to be part of, which did actually get the attention of the bosses at Ubisoft. This all happened back in 2004, so this is the story summarised as much as my memory will allow.

I was once part of a gaming review site (Official Video Games - OVG) set up by two avid gamers who had been through it all since the NES. The site never really took off as there are already many sites like that across the net, and despite some innovative ideas the site never got the traffic they were hoping, so the domain was used to various site of each others own design. One of those sites was a Beyond Good and Evil Petition, set up and coded by the designer, he had played the game and believed that the story should be continued, so he tried using the power of the internet to let that happen. It was to my knowledge one of the first petition sites up there for this game, and it got a lot of traffic having being submitted to Google as well. It got to the point where he was getting thousands of signatures a day, which was becoming hard for him to manage as he screened and posted each signature himself.

As I was working at GAME at the time, where the reps for each major company come in to promote their upcoming games, one of those reps was for Ubisoft, and I had been talking to him a lot about Beyond Good and Evil in the past, as he too thought it deserved a sequel. He also told me that it was unlikely as Ubisoft wanted to concentrate on more profitable projects, as at the time the company hadn't been making as much profit as it had hoped. Yet as we were both fans of the game I told him about my friends site and that he was getting so much traffic through it maybe it might help convince Ubisoft that a second game does actually have an audience. He took the details of the site and did pass them onto his bosses.

The week after the Petition site was starting to get really out of hand due to the amount of people posting, so an automated system was being created and put in place to cope. The Ubisoft rep then made a special visit to the store to talk to me about the site. He had passed it onto his bosses they had looked at it and found it to be rather impressive and were quite flattered. They sent my friend a goody bag with soundtrack, camera, poster and other such merchandise, and thanked him for his work and support of a game that they had not considered popular.

This may have contributed towards Ubisoft's decision of May this year to officially back the sequel that the original creator, Michel Ancel, has been working on in his spare time. Of course it could also be due to the continued sales of the game online, second hand and in some retail outlets such as Tesco and the amount of recognition that the game received from websites, magazines and awards. We shall never know if this site did help convince Ubisoft, but I think in some small way it certainly helped, the more people out there willing to show their appreciation for the game is only going to contribute towards Ubisoft's decision to give their blessing to a sequel.

Analysing Reviews for Critical Approaches to Media

2008-06-08T15:27:00.004+01:00

Here I am going to analyse two X-Box 360 reviews written at the time of launch. One has been written by committee after hands on use of the console, the other written by one person with a bias towards Microsoft.

Review One - "High-Powered Games Console" by "IT Revews" (06/12/2005)

Analysis of Review One

This review has been written for a professional looking website that claims to be an independent and unbiased source of information for consumers on computer software, hardware and games.

The language used throughout the review is still slightly informal to appeal to the audience for which it is intended. Small personal accounts of past experiences are also added to give credibility to the reviewers in the reader’s eyes. It also builds up a personal relationship with the reader, this increases the trust the reader will place in the review conclusion.

The amount of technical information is kept to a minimum and instead the review focuses on the information that the consumer will want to know such as cost, value for money and extra features.

The second half of the review is a written up account of several people’s usage of the console over a period of a few days, this includes the good and the bad points allowing the consumer to make an informed decision.

The informal language does lend itself to almost coming across in the wrong way in places, as the quotes taken out of context can be used to support different interpretations on the original meaning.

Ending on a positive note, despite pointing out the products flaws the review succeeds in being an unbiased account of using the new console. Overall there is enough factual information and personal accounts of the product that the review becomes an accessible to the general consumer.

The review has also been written after the launch date of the console in both the UK and the US, so it shows they have actually spent time with the console, and are not basing their opinions on just speculations and impressions gained from press releases demo software/hardware. This means they are more qualified to give an informed opinion on the product that the consumer will also be using.

Review Two – “Xbox 360 Review” by Paul Thurrott - "Winsupersite" (08-22/11/2005)

Analysis of Review Two

This comes across as a very bias review that is written by a fan for the fans of the company and not something that would be useful for the general consumer. It is written by one person and is his own opinion, he presents his personal history as credentials for being the best person to review ‘Microsoft’s’ new product as well as boasting about being the only person that will have the rights to do so.

It has been written before the launch of the console so does not actually contain any commentary on the use of the actual console itself, and if he has played it, it would be demo software and hardware which is very different to what the consumer actually receives.

He tends to over use emotive and expressive language that comes across as over dramatic, and verges on information that is not relevant to the consumer. There are also factual errors when he is describing the console using this language so it looks better than it actually is.

He also goes onto slander other video game websites available to the consumer, rather than focusing on the product he is supposed to be talking about. He states that there are no other websites written for adult gamers and that they always over use “pseudo-cool” language to get their point across, he states that he thinks he can do better than that. All this is still irrelevant to the actual product the title of this review suggests he was going to talk about.

He does try to reach out to the reader by setting up that personal relationship with them, but a very informal one. He goes onto state his intentions and what he will be covering, so he is at least keeping the reader informed as to what he will be talking about so that they can foresee if the information/opinion he will be giving is relevant to them.

Overall this ‘review’ reads like a personal Blog entry and is more about the reviewer’s personal thoughts and history rather than an informative piece on the console and his use of it. When he does talk about the product it’s mainly to do with features, which are yes part of the console, but most that would not be of interest to the general consumer, and are too broad or not factual enough to be of interest to the hardcore consumer that would be interested in the technical and extended features.

Advertising for the Genders

2008-06-07T18:28:00.007+01:00

Advertising is a powerful source, one which some people believe we are all controlled by, and in some sense we are as no matter who we are and what we think at some point or another we will all probably buy or do something as a direct or indirect result of an advert.

Advertising aimed at a particular gender is also one of heated debate, there are many things that have been advertised for men that most women would also buy, the prime example being Yorkie chocolate. Also the portrayal of the sexes within advertising is also something of debate, as a lot advertising relies on stereotypes or cliches to get the message across quickly this can come across as patronizing or insulting to both or either gender.

Here is a quick look at some conventional and not so conventional adverts aimed at men in particular:

Yorkie Chocolate Bar - "It's not for girls!"

Chocolate is often considered a feminine product and guys who like chocolate are often seen as slightly feminine for doing so. Nestle turned this around with their ad campaign for Yorkie aiming it men instead by giving it a very stereotypical masculine association's, and also by presenting it to the world as a man's chocolate that women were not allowed.

Gillette Fusion - "The best a man can get."

This ad campaign is one of the most over the top ones as far as most people are concerned, however it also ticks a lot of the boxes in making it incredibly manly. With the use of military and scientific imagery it is using the male dominated areas of society to sell the product to other men. Being clean shaven hasn't been the most stereotypical view of manliness over the years, but in todays world a man is seen as more of one by looking after his appearance. As this apparently will secure him a career, woman and recognition.

Lynx Pulse - "The Lynx Effect"

The original Lynx Effect advert that subtlety showed the effect that the deodorant can have on woman much to the surprise and advantage of the man. It uses sex to sell in a way that is not so in your face as the later ads became with the "Bom Chicka Wah Wah" tag line where the girl would literally throw themselves at the guy just because he was wearing the Lynx product. This appeals to the average guy, one who would probably not associate himself being surrounded with beautiful girls, so its also subconsciously selling the idea of a boosted self esteem to these guys if they use that product.

Black and Decker - "Ideas At Work"

A advert that is over twenty years old now, but a good example of the stereotypical advertising that is still found today in some places. It's showing the man as the wannabe handy man around the house, but is in actual fact an overweight buffoon with a bad memory. The ad has been set up to appeal to the everyday man who will need this product to make life easier for himself, it is a way for him to act the man of the house in an easy to use convenient way. Yet by todays standard is is a very negative view of the male gender, however ads are still produced along this theme today but in a much more tongue in cheek manner.

BT HomeHub - "The More Complete Board Band Package."

This ad campagin started off with the leading man unsure of where he manged to obtain a house full of not only his new stable girlfriend but also her two kids. It has set up the idea of the 'modern family' and the 'modern man'. Not directly aimed at men, but all the ads are seen from his point of view. Its a much more positive view of men at home and at work, it shows a balanced life between family and alone time. The ad itself probably appeals to men on the basis of the BT package being easy, complete and will make his life much easier in the long run.

While looking into advertising for different genders this article came up on a random 'Google' search: Magazine Advertising and Gender. It looks at the stereotypical roles and representations of the two genders within some of the largest magazine publications aimed at each gender. It is quite interesting to see how companies like to break everything down into these stereotypes to make it simpler for them to sell across the broad market.

Now we look at adverts aimed at women, and here there are more stereotypes than that of men:

Flake - "The crumbliest, flakiest chocolate."
OLD and NEW and Weird

The ad campaign is one of much debate as to who it is actually aimed at. Ideally I think Cadbury were trying to show that chocolate is a womans pleasure, something for her and her alone to enjoy in her own quiet sensual moment, as there was nothing more like being a woman than enjoying that chocolate. However the images that are portrayed in the ads verge on soft porn for teenage boys as during the 80's the ads did seem to push the boundaries as to what is acceptable. Todays version portrays women in a much better light, as like it or hate it the idea that a busy career driven woman still has time to enjoy a bit of chocolate is a bit more of a positive role to portray than the sensual versions. However the ad is almost lost as the product is not seen at all during the ad and is going into realms of obsucre (like a lot of Cadbury's ads now.) Also the last odd one linked to was not one that ran for a very long time, yet again taking advantage of a stereotype about a woman always being late and 'washing her hair' it verges into the surreal that a woman's happiness is a separate entity that is there for company and a reminder that she should put herself first and has to obey her need for happiness now and then.

Sheela's Wheels - "For bonzer car insurance deals, girls get onto Sheela's Wheels."

An company that is actually discriminatory, and insulting and yet complimenting to women at the same time. Women are seen as bad drivers by society however they are statistically less likely to claim on their insurance due to an accident. So companies such as this and 'Diamond' have arisen to take advantage of this market that will pay into insurance, but not require the need to claim on it as often. This ad takes everything overtly girly into one, the hair, the makeup, the car and the use of far too much pink makes this an overtly and very obvious feminine advert.

Think Bingo - "Have you played today?"

Yet more pink can be seen in this ad due to the yet again feminine association with the colour. At what may appear at first as a cheesy take on women, it actually appears to be trying to appeal to the average housewife/woman who likes to chat and the company are suggesting that their bingo site be the place that they should be on to do that. Not having particularly beautiful women in the ad just mucking about will ensure that the company appeals to the ordinary woman so they did not feel intimidated when using the site, that there will be people just like them on their as they are in the ad.

Gillette Venus - "Reveal the Goddess in you."

Gillette always being a company to take advertising their product to the extreme as seen with their male version have done it again when advertising their feminine care product. Portraying a much more positive view of the modern woman as being a strong, versatile and one of many sides to her they appeal to the vanity in every woman to look and feel good. Their product is the best way to go about that, as when a woman as freshly shaved legs she feels like a goddess, which is somewhat playing into the view that a truly beautiful woman is hairless and sleek like the Greek statues of beauty.

Tampax Fresh - "The flower power tampon."

Feminine products are obviously only aimed at women, it is however interesting to see the ways in which they are advertised. Tampax has always gone down the route to show how their product can make a very embarrassing, awkward, uncomfortable and painful time of the month a womans period can be, into something that is not as bad and will 'be a breeze' if they use this product. This advert also has a very 60's theme to it and plays on the liberation of women at that time to sell their product as something that can liberate you from an otherwise oppressive time in which you cannot escape what is happening to your body.

Vanish - "Trust Pink, Forget Stains."

There are many adverts for home care products that are either directly or indirectly aimed at women. Vanish has been one that has run for a long time, mainly as an aid to reducing the stains produced by children and busy lifestyles on clothing and other such fabric items. The use of pink again can bring about a negative image as men are less likely to use and buy the product for fear of appearing 'house trained' or 'feminine'. It does go to promote a way for a woman to do the chores that are usually designated for her in a more efficient way, therefore possibly allowing her more time to do other things, but that may be reading into it a little too much.

It has to be said there are a lot of adverts aimed directly or indirectly at women out there, as at the end of the day they are the ones who are more likely to shop and be affected by peer pressure when they are shopping. So the amount of adverts out there for or about women reflect that. Also the advertising company does rely heavily on gender types and cliches to sell products rather than getting to know their audience.

Where the games industry is concerned it is becoming a much different matter, as yes it is still a male dominated hobby, products like 'The Sims' and 'Brain Training' have a much larger female following than male. Also 'Nintendo' and 'Microsoft' have gone down the multi-age/gender/race/nationality route when advertising their new consoles to new and existing markets.

At the end of the day adverts will need some form of general identification that will either appeal or type cast each gender, as if it is something that will work in many countries it will save the company money in the long run so as not to have to make different ads for different cultures.

Animating People

2008-05-27T09:58:00.002+01:00

The next task was to animate people. There are several ways in which you can animate a biped in 3DS Max. You can create everything yourself and using the bones structure and the IK Solver you can create a character that will move without having to link it the same way that the cat was done. Instead the computer works it all out when you apply the IK solver to the bone structure.

This is the result of that:

However you do also need to ensure that the 'skin' of the leg is attached to 'bone', this is done using the envelope feature in the modify menu. Without checking all this the results are somewhat odd.

After more frustrating tweaking with animation techniques the biped feature was found to be a useful if buggy feature of the program. I did however manage to make two animations that I am quite proud of at the moment seeing as my knowledge of this technique is very limited.

Walking up the Stairs:

Swimming the the Pool:

Both animations have bugs in them and could do with a lot more tweaking to make sure they are slightly more realistic and work better. But given my understanding and the time involved in which I had to make them I think they are pretty good attempts. I certainly look forward to making more animations and objects in the future, if not only to refresh what I have learned and learn a few more things along the way. However I do not believe that I would want to go down the 3D Animation route for a career as I fear, like programming, that I do not have the patience or the right kind of mind for it.