Ant Ward

i hadnt heard of ant ward to day but his presentation was really good and made me think about what i had to do to be successful in the industry and what i have to do now to get me to that kind of standard. current im waiting on the two books that ant ward has written about maya and modelling so i can improve my skills during the summer. 

Answering the 10 arguments against games

while looking for something for my cop2 essay i found this article about video games. though its not very indepth it gets the 10 points across quiet effectively and after reading it i seemed to want to question the british rating system on games and how they effect other people around the world.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/189450/Answering_the_10_arguments_against_games.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29

Videogame developers share stories of bullying

a interesting insight into some of the game developers that are on the scene at the moment and seeing how they are have got to where they are now.

http://www.destructoid.com/videogame-developers-share-stories-of-bullying-242627.phtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Destructoid+%28Destructoid%29

game violence

this article talks about how video game violence is a good thing within certain genres and how to use it effectively. the writer talks about how violence even though it isn't always needed within games if used a small bit of violence can help the development a character/characters or change the game so it could have multiple endings. A player should know what violence can do to the game and how it effects everything. a good example of this is dishonoured if the player kills alot of guards and the bodies are found in the later levels more guards will be patroling and there will be more rats about making it harder to sneak around. but if the player just knocks out the guards nothing really happens because they arent getting noticed so there isnt a need for extra guards patroling.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/185004/Five_approaches_to_good_violence_in_games.php#.UP6raqH7HRc

How is player immersion affected by breaking the fourth wall?

i would recommend this article to anyone that wants to go into video games. it talks about the forth wall and how to effectly use it to help drive story and make the player get attached the main characters. it also talks about how to use immersion to your advantage.


http://gamasutra.com/blogs/BarryConway/20130315/188600/How_is_player_immersion_affected_by_breaking_the_fourth_wall.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Achievements

an article that talks a lot about achievements  within video games and how helpful/annoying they are. there are some good points about some achievements are a small amount of gamer score which you get because your just playing the game like 'kill 5 enemies' kind of thing. i think those kind of achievements have just been added because the game developers were like we need achievements so add some easy ones. recently ive been playing guild wars 2 which has an achievement system where it has some easy ones but they have tier system when getting max tier in that achievement you might earn a title but mostly the player only gains some extra experience and a small amount of money. i think this is a good way of using a achievement system and shows that they have actually thought about what they were/are going to use achievements for.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/185436/an_alternative_to_achievements.php

how can i make my games more inclusive

a good article that about how to make your game/games more original and more unique in a growing/expanding gaming industry where everything is changing.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/DanielCook/20130513/192170/How_can_I_make_my_games_more_inclusive.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29

where the heart is

an article that talks about where your character classes as a home or a start location. the article talks about camps and other locations where the player can go talk to all of his/her allies and get more of the story. i find these are good to have within games it gives the player more interaction with the world and might make it so they are more attached to the character they are playing.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MarkFilipowich/20130317/188652/Where_the_Heart_Is_The_Use_of_Home_in_Video_Games.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Gamecitynights

Gamecitynights are like little teaser nights for the bigger festival game city which is later in the year. during it you get to see multiple different indie developers and learn some things about video game culture. at the leeds  one there were some decent games like go to hell, Dave and dream. most of the games where made by one person or a group of up to 3 people. most of them were made within a  six month period or have been developed slightly longer. all the games were different and had their own quirky little parts to them. during the talks that were held thoughtout the night you were told about a video game canon that got created in 2007 that was made to show 10 games that define what gaming is if the world stopped on that day. below are the games that were put into the canon.

1. Spacewar
2. Star Raiders
3. Zork
4. Tetris
5. SimCity
6. Super Mario Bros. 3
7. Civilization I/II
8. Doom
9. Warcraft series
10. Sensible World of Soccer

the night was also sponsored by edge and simcity which I thought must be good because it must be decent because of the decent backing it is getting from other companies.it was a good night and i would definitely go to another one and the main festival later on in the year. below are the links to the website and to a video to show what it was like during the night. 

In terms of my own work I thought it was interesting when we were told that collaborating is a good thing. Other designers have different skill sets to you so it would be easier, more efficient and a better use of time to get others to say come up with a concept, you model it and you get someone else to animate it.

However, there was another group of people there who were new to designing games and they were learning all the skills individually. Even though they were learning individually they were working in a group and could eventually pool their skills.

Some of these people were graphic designers. Some of these people said they were very much out of their comfort zone. They had maybe played games before but never thought about the construction and making. When they had to do this they realised the effort involved. They pointed out though that there were some similarities with web based graphic designs as they also need to polish and fine tune their projects and iron out any bugs- this applies to both website and games.  

http://nights.gamecity.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1YNkwcEFS8

Glitch Reading, Glitched Reading: Bethesda's "Broken" Worlds

a short article that talks about how glitches within some of the bethesda games effect the games even though some of them are annoying, some make the game funnier and more entertaining. the article trys to say that as long as it doesnt fully break the game and make you have to reset it and the glitches make you laugh its a good thing.


http://gamasutra.com/blogs/AndrewLavigne/20130325/189185/Glitch_Reading_Glitched_Reading_Bethesdas_quotBrokenquot_Worlds.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

sexism documentary

theres an documentary being made called GTFO which is about sexism and harassment that is experienced by woman gamers. the director talks to multiple woman that are just gamers and/or work in the industry to get a more broad in sight to how bad the subject matter is. hopefully this documentry will help make some stepping stones to a brighter future where woman wont be harassed.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/gaming-sexism-documentary-secures-kickstarter-funding/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Fjoystiq+%28Joystiq%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

game- depression

while looking for how games effect people, I found this video about depression. its a informative video about multiple peoples lives and how the use games to cope with depression. its a really heartfelt video and i would try and make it so when i make bigger games they would help people get over things like depression.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4kLdNHiSVjU

Riot Experimentally Investigates Online Toxicity

i've been playing league of legends since 2011 so i know how toxic some of the players are within the community. this article highlights alot of points that most players already know about the game and how the ban system works. one of the main problems with the banning system is that it takes alot of reports(reports are sent to riot about toxic players) and even then theres still a possability that you wont get banned anyway just a slap on the wrists. the tribunal system is a good idea but needs to be developed abit more so that it gives you some more information about the game because just the reports and the chat from that game doesnt always show how bad a player has been.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/JimCummings/20130331/189629/GDC_Riot_Experimentally_Investigates_Online_Toxicity.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Is Video Gaming GOOD for Kids?

a short blog about how video games help and how they effect kids. the main flaw i have about this is the writer uses their own experiences more over scientific studies and other things but saying that the blog talks about alot of different topics within a short length of time. i agree with some of the points in this blog but have to say that its the parents that need to get wise about video games before they let their kids roam around on them.
http://blog.familywize.org/2012/12/is-video-gaming-good-for-kids.html

Boat (interior)

the image on the left is of the boat it has two engines and multiple storage boxes that could be used to make a maze within the first level of the boat. the image on the right shows the basic idea of the room and in the bottom right shows what i want to have within it. i there to be multiple beams which the player would have to jump over or dive under to get the staircase.

 the image on the left shows the 2nd level of the boat and the baisc layout of it. this level has multiple cabins which would have beds and a table. the other image shows the same level but more maze like to make it harder for the player to get the staircase. also here is where i was thinking alot of jump scares could be added to add some kind of atmosphere.

this is the top deck, where the player will eventually get to and fade out to black. there will be multiple computers and buttons to interact with and see how the boat was sunk.

 this is what the character would like if you could see yourself but i was wanting to have it in first person so the player wouldnt actually be seeing him/herself

Personal Tutorial

after having a personal tutorial with one of my tutors. i had to change the boat that i was creating because it wasn't the same on both sides meaning that i would have to model both sides of the boat or after mirroring change the side i made to make the boat look correct. it took me a while to find to another boat but i found a american torpedo boat which was the same and it also had views from the front and back which should help me when im modelling it.


http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/ships/ships-us/45618/view/uss_pt_109__torpedo_boat_/

Unity-basics

I hadn't used unity in a while so i had to re-learn the basics that i was taught earlier on in the year. these short tutorials were very informative and helped me progress with my game level with ease.

http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/UnityBasics.html

unity-Water

i found how to make water on the unity forums. this was very helpful for my game level i would use the unity forums again if i needed help to make anything else because the posts seem to be very informative.

http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/HOWTO-Water.html

Moodboards

my idea is to have a sunken battleship which will be a playable enviroment. the play will start at a hole in the side of the ship which the player can only just see because of the dirt within the water. after entering the entrance is blocked so the only way is forward. the boat will have multiple levels like a cabin level where loads of beds will be and a level with lots of computers and electrical equipment. when the player gets to the top of the ship it slowly starts to get dark to end the level.

multiple diffferent types of battleships one of which i want to model for my game level

above shows a multiple sunken and rusted ships and one tank which i want to get a simular texture for my boat.

blue prints of ships that i will be using as reference when modeling my boat within maya

Bioshock

i decided to look at bioshock because it based underwater and has decent water physics that i want to emulate for my game. i want my game to be under water and be slightly rusty like the boat has only just started to rust. the game enviroment of bioshock its airtight so for apart which helped me work out that things would be in its place and things that were under water would be slightly floating. i would want to find how to make water to near what is within bioshock so it looks good and semi-realistic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wLt3IvNFww

Dead space

i was looking at the dead space series because for my game level i wanted to find out how to accurately add jump scares. i found when playing dead space it placed them nicely within the game and used music as an added scare depending what was/is going on during that section of the game. at the start of the game the music that is used within the intro the changed twinkle twinkle little star kind of tells you wants going to happen during the game and what a big thing the music is to the game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2pRAN_3oH8

Ark Royal

i chose the hms ark royal because of the history it has with the city of leeds being the place im from.  the city of leeds put alot of money into the aircraft carrier. it could hold up to 1,000 sailors and have multiple different type of aircraft and helicopters. the Hms ark royal was one of the largest aircraft carriers within the british fleet.

above is a moodboard of different angles of the hms ark royal to try and give me better reference when modeling

this is the blocking out stages of the hms ark royal i got to before having a personal tutorial. i was having abit of trouble adding detail to the model but that could of been because i was in the dark for some of it because i couldnt find just a side image of the ark royal.

Battleship

battleship is a film that got made in 2011, its a sci-fi/action film where the characters are apon a battleship then through certain events aliens appear and start attacking various places and the battleship with the main characters are on is one of the main targets as well as one of the only ships that will be able to take out the aliens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDMXkPfxjOc

Battleship documentry

i watched this documentary on the TV, which i found gave me a lot of information about battleships and how they have developed through out the years. though not knowing how useful the information actually is, and how it will help me develope my boat i thought it was a good idea to watch all the sections of the documentry and see if i could get a better feel of what it was like to be in the navy or to be boat maker during the decades.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otvrS-AYq80

Ships

while just searching for boat bluerpints i came across turbosquid which i looked at for a while to find out what kind of things other people had made and what i would be aiming for as a final product for my project. seeing the prices that some people were selling their models for and knowing my own modeling ability it put me down about knowing that i wouldnt be able to make a model as nice as some of them.

http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/3D-Models/battleship

Final Crit

during this crit i was a lot more critical with my feedback on other peoples work and tried to give them useful tips on how to improve their work for the submission date.

I didn't have a lot to show for the crit so it was hard for people to tell me what i needed to add or improve within my own work but the bit of work i did show seemed to give people a lot to talk about.

i showed the interior of one of my rooms which went down quiet well for saying it was within Maya  i got told that i should try to use a variety of different lighting effects within unity to give my room and the computers the right type of glow that they would in real life. if i was going to add any music to the room environment i should make sure that the player could hear a light humming of the computers within the room.

also i showed what i had of my boat which wasn't a lot because of the change but it was very lightly criticised on how much there was of it and how much time i had left to finish it. i got told to just keep at it and make sure that i keep using all the different views of the ship that i was using to make sure that i made the boat as close to realistic as i could

Crit Feedback

During the interm crit session we got split off into small groups than normal which was a nice change and made it so that everyone could comment on each others instead of being in a large group and being nervous about commenting.

During my presentation I showed my mood boards which I created of battleships, sunken ships and blueprints of some ships to help me describe and show the general idea for my project, with me adding extra information about the story, sound, and how it could be trans-media. The feedback I got back was good with most of the people in my group wanting to see a sunken ship level which doesn’t get done by mainstream game companies normally they seem to just opt for a underwater level that is very tedious. The main concerns that were brought up in the feedback was the timeframe I have to create everything, how to effectively show that the ship has sunk (how the water/gravity will effect items) and what kind of influence would the sound/interactive components add to the general mood of the level.

 I think if I can set dates for when to get things done a calendar the timeframe shouldn’t be that big of a problem. The main aspects of the project that will take up the most amount of time will be the texturing and doing things inside unity.

Showing gravity/water effects should be easy to do using particles and some other effects within unity. I could also look into ways that professional game developers show water and the tips and tricks they use to make it look realistic.

The background/ambiance sounds would just be of water swirling with noises of bubbles every so often or with a swishing noise of something floating past the player. Other sounds that would be used will be of footsteps, which could be edited to  more of a moon bouncing kind of motion instead of constant walking.

The interactive components will be mostly activated when the player walks through a doorway or presses a button. The ship being sunk for a couple of months/years there is still some power within it so sirens and alarms can still be activated- I’ll just have to dull the sound down a bit to show that its underwater.

I also think that I need to develop more on my trans-media idea or how it goes from game to film because I think that either I can descript it good enough or that it doesn’t have enough to it yet, for it to make sense to other people.

Ships

to help me find out how many polys i should be using or have for my boat i had a look around and found  3dcadbrowser. it had multiple different types of boats and ships that i could look at and was very helpful in the developement of my boat. helping me be finding out how many faces i would need to make a nice looking curve to my boat.

http://www.3dcadbrowser.com/download.aspx?3dmodel=6913

Modeling

in past modelling i had used mostly my ideas or my groups ideas and it was usually making something simple like walls and corridours. i found some guides on Lynda on how to model vehicles and hard shaped items which helped alot while i was making my model boat.


http://www.lynda.com/Maya-tutorials/Modeling-Vehicles-Maya/114004-2.html

How to make a boat

i know the following link is about making a real boat but i thought that finding out how to make a real boat would help me work out how to use  the blue prints of boats that i will be using to make my own boat within maya.

http://ozekehapan.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/small-boat-plans-how-to-build-a-small-boat-in-4-easy-steps/

Modelling

I hadn't modelled within Maya for a long time i thought it would be a good idea to have a look at some guides online how to do simple tasks. i started off re-learning how to do simple tasks like navigating through the different tabs to actually modelling. i found that the guides from digital tutors were very helpful and would recommend them to anyone else that hasnt used maya in a while or ever used maya before.

http://www.digitaltutors.com/tutorial/512-Beginners-Guide-to-Maya