Power Up

Time for a change.

2009-05-21T08:49:00.002Z

I've decided to switch over to a new blog, for those of you that want to keep following me please go to http://obrien-art-blog.blogspot.com/ as I'll be posting all of my future updates there!

Bye-bye, university blog. May future employers never find you and find a reason not to employ me.

Website!

2009-05-20T15:17:00.002Z

I've pretty much got the shell of my website going. Ben's managed to create a really nice website using blogger, it seemed easier than learning dreamweaver so I gave it a go too!

My site!

2009-05-17T23:41:00.004Z

The hand in for the degree show boards is tomorrow so I've had to rush this Punk a little so that she's done in time.

Punk - 6,035 tris
Guitar - 494 tris

I had so many more things I wanted to give this model, and I may do so she looks her best for my portfolio, but we'll see.

In the end this was a learning exercise, I've learnt the basics of Zbrushing and i've been able to see if retopologizing a zbrush sculpt is a viable way of making a model. I've certainly enjoyed this way of working, and I've definately had more fun making this model than anything else I've made so far.

Time for something new!

2009-05-16T21:27:00.003Z

Just another update.

Thanks again for the input, Mike. Thanks to your comment I noticed that she was STILL too tall. I hope that was the only thing I'd missed.

2009-05-15T17:00:00.003Z

Since I last posted progress on my punk model I've baked my normals and AO maps out, and today I made a start on the texturing.

Here she is so far!

punk update

2009-05-09T12:41:00.005Z

Just an update on punky lady.

Here's her head, it's gone through Zbrush and has been retopologised around the sculpt, so not only does it look better but the normal map should work perfectly.

and here's the rest of her:

I've tweaked her proportions and edge flow since the last post. Hopefully she's looking ok to a fresh pair of eyes! ( my thanks to Mike, Carter, Joel and Ben for the crits!)

I must continue!

2009-05-07T19:21:00.007Z

I started a new project the other day, I'm hoping to have it ready for the degree show.

Here's the base mesh. I was orignally planing on making something quickly then chucking it into Zbrush and retopologising it, seems I got a little too attatched though so it's a lot more complete in max than I originally planned.

So far she's 4,543 tris inc. her guitar. i'm planning on hair(obviously) and various accesories and stuff.

Right, time to fire up Zbrush again.

EDIT: Shit, just noticed her joints need a good few more tris!

Crude sculptures of a madman

2009-05-05T00:20:00.006Z

only very recently have i actually tried Zbrush. I've finished the course and I've only just started to use it, CRAZY you say.

Anyway, here's something from my second attempt. I'm planning on retopolgising the high poly into the low poly mesh. I hope this method works because I'm really enjoying making models this way, It seems like so much more of an artist's tool than max.

So here's the base mesh (I'm aware it's the crappiest head in the world, but it shouldn't matter!!) and it's partly-done high poly sister.

Oh, and here's my first attempt at Zbrush... it's not very pretty but it's here to make my second attempt look better. =D

Also, if anyone has any awesome Zbrush tips or tutorials going spare I'd be most grateful!

2009-04-11T17:38:00.003Z

I'm pretty happy with this!

About 3.5 hours from reference.

Return to speed painting!

2009-04-02T14:07:00.001Z

A speedpaint!

Alchemy

2009-03-16T14:52:00.007Z

I discovered a program a little while ago called alchemy. I see it as an idea generating tool, you make a load of marks on the "page" and make something from what you see. Anyway, I re-discovered it today and actually gave it a go, It's really fun, I reccomend that everyone gives it a go.

Here's my experiments, they each took about 10mins.

I think I'll give it a proper workout later and see what I can do with a little more time!

Why I can't work today...

2009-02-25T18:00:00.004Z

Good news! My long lost brother has come to visit me. What's even more awesome is that he's a dolphin.
The downside is that refuses to get off my computer.

(my thanks to Ben and Joel for this =P)

group blog

2009-01-23T15:15:00.003Z

HERE, have this link to our group project.

Here's a concept to hopefully entice you in...

FMP concepts

2009-01-20T15:01:00.002Z

Some concepts from the re-vamped FMP Dave and I are working on!..

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T12:51:00.003Z

And to roll it in, here's something I found amusing from Fallout 3

He must have lost GALLONS of blood after all of the blunt force i applied to his head.

Anyway, yes. Dad won't be taking back, son.

2008-12-20T13:49:00.002Z

Just something random to pass some time.

Load up and roll out!

2008-12-12T13:53:00.002Z

Currently all of my work is speeding it's way to a pen drive, which in turn will be taken in a realtively post-haste fashion to the k drive in fletcher.

Here's a few final screens of my stuffs while I patiently wait...

Also...

2008-12-11T19:57:00.002Z

I broketed my van

2008-12-11T19:47:00.002Z

The vans are complete... Funny, it looks as though I'll be finishing the projects in the reverse order I started them in.

My environment is achingly close to completion, it just needs a few more textures and a skydome. The character is on it's way, the biggest thing will be rigging.

I hope max feels friendly tonight.

Texchores

2008-11-18T19:23:00.004Z

Another update for anyone that cares! (or is looking through blogs out of boredom)

Since the last update I've got the greenhouse and the majority of walls textured and bulked out the vegetation. Next i must make and deploy an army of plantpots!

Gurren-mon... or something witty

2008-11-17T13:11:00.001Z

haha, if only...

More progress

2008-11-17T11:48:00.002Z

Ok so, I went back and unwrapped everything... like I should have done from the start and now I'm modelling stuff again.

Here's a little update...

All the current textures are just placeholders until i get the real thing, all except for the leaves - they're the "under vegetation" to bulk up the mass of ivy that's eventually going to be there.

WIP - Environment

2008-11-09T14:25:00.004Z

Just a quick update of what I'm doing at the moment...

I became bored of my character, so to keep up the workflow I've switched projects for the time being. Here's my progress on my environment:

I realise that unwrapping as I go along is probably the best way to do this, so as of now that's my gameplan.

Idea for an environment

2008-10-27T13:29:00.004Z

I got some reference images for my environment yesterday and feel like posting a few of them up.

I've decided to do part of my back garden from home, it's pretty interesting while also being quite a confined space so I'm hoping to get a lot of small details in there.

Here's a few of them...

An Update Of Sorts

2008-10-22T22:16:00.005Z

'Twould seem that I haven't posted anything on here for a while!

SCREENSHOT! -

I've decided to do the WWI themed character, my idea is to model an officer on board a White Star Line ship (like the Titanic). Since the Titanic sunk in 1912 and WWI began in 1914 the uniforms were still the same. This means that getting reference is super easy with a copy of Titanic!

whilst battling the monster, the old wizard uses the wrong spell

2008-09-07T23:23:00.002Z

Tonight's speedpaint...

Deciding what we draw through sentences was much more interesting than just the single word... again, again!

Pirate Portrait Complete!

2008-08-23T16:39:00.004Z

Finished my entry for the GA mini comp today, but with competition as fierce as it is I don't fancy my chances for a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.

So here she is, all coloured and tweaked...

Although it's almost certain that I won't come in with a rank for this competition I'm happy that I took part, I feel that I've actually learnt a few tricks from this drawing!

Updated Pirate

2008-08-18T15:46:00.002Z

I'm done for now... my neck aches and my stomach is growling at me, it's a sign. Probably for the best, I'm liable to wreck my progress if I keep going.

Yarr... Or Something

2008-08-18T13:16:00.003Z

GameArtisans started up a new 2d mini comp the other day, and this one, win or lose, I'm definately going to finish.

The goal of the new mini comp is to paint a portrait of a pirate, lucky for me that I really enjoy drawing faces!

Here's what I have so far:

Hopefully I'll be updating this on here as I go along. I really want to finish one of these competitions!

Just To Keep The Flow Going...

2008-08-17T09:12:00.001Z

Here's another speed paint from the other day.

45 mins

The word was sorrow!

To The Internets I Have Returned

2008-08-15T16:09:00.002Z

Awesome! Finally got the internet in our new house so I guess I'm back.

I don't really have anything interesting to post so here's a speedpaint I did today. The word was hatchling. I took 55 mins to finish.

Dragon Keeper

2008-06-16T00:37:00.003Z

More open canvas madness!
Pigou and I did a collab tonight. He came up with the idea, layout and did the dragon while I did the background and the elf lady in the foreground.
I think we did a really good job, and it seems that working on a piece together can be awesome fun!

This one is a particulary good event file to watch!

Open Canvas

2008-06-13T14:30:00.007Z

For those of you that don't know about/have open canvas, you really should. It's an awesome digital painting program, a simpler version of photoshop and painter with an added twist that neither of these BEHEMOTHS of the computing world have.
Open canvas (the early, free version anyway) has the ability to network wth other people, this allows people to digitally draw with one another wherever they are!

Recently me and Joel Pigou have been doing a few Open Canvas sessions with much sucess! Though it seems that if three people join one session it can become a little unstable, and any more than that usaully crashes the program. Oh well, can't really argue with a free bit of software!

ANOTHER bonus of this program is that it can save your work as an event file which can be played back at your leasure. It's quite an interesting learning tool that allows you to see how a fellow artist works, I don't know about anyone else but this interests me quite a bit.

I thought I'd post up some of the finished sessions as jpgs, here's some of our most recent ones. If anyone is interested in seeing the event files that go with them just gimmie a shout over MSN or something.

Just so it doesn't look like I'm trying to claim someone else's work, Mr Pigou's Pictures are outlined in BLUE and my pictures are outlined in RED =P

I'm quite happy with my Morgan Freeman, and I bloody love Joel's bird! Bravo sir, bravo.

Lovin' Joel's dude in the top left, and my main pic on this one relates to my last post with the Wii Fit girl (in case anyone was wondering). =P

I think I might need to start drawing something else besides people...

Best Wii advert EVAAAAR!

2008-06-11T21:18:00.001Z

I could watch this all day O.O

Puppies

2008-04-22T07:19:00.003Z

It would seem that I can’t sleep. Curses. Could be a good time to do something.

I’m going to take a last ditch effort at this good and bad thing, I feel It’s been neglected like a puppy in the cold. An ugly puppy…that demands I write about it. Stupid puppy.

I had a few thoughts about what I could do for this post as I swaggered over to my desk and turned my big box of data on, mainly along the lines of finding some pictures on the interwebs and typing out what I think is good and bad…you know, the standard stuff.
Then as I reached my log in screen I thought that I could go through this process, but with a piece of my own work instead. It’s a little too late in the day to really make any alterations to my pictures, considering there’s now around three hours to go until the K drive locks its gates, tells us we’re all too drunk and sends us on our way.

Right, better get down to it…I hope I don’t get too carried away and point out things that Chris missed or something, the last thing I want to do here is lower my grade!

Ok, here’s something that we’ve been asked to do, rather than something from my stash of personal pictures. Here’s my bar, it’s not meant to be anything big and shiny, I thought I’d go down a different route and make something that looks dank and unkempt. Worn things are generally more interesting to draw for me.

The good:

+ The perspective seems good, and I bloody hope it is; I spent forever on it.
+ A certain mood has been set with the lighting, one that portrays an after hoursy feel
+ Textures have been used to give the picture more substance and give the viewer a greater idea of the materials that make up the bar
+ The foreground, middle ground and background are all present and correct, adding depth to the scene.

The Bad

- Lines! Big black ones that surround everything; I think I’m starting to see what Chris is on about here…it kind of makes the scene look a little cartoon-y
- Wobbly lines. Maybe I should take Diazepam like a certain foxy (or should I say “wolfy”?) lady sniper… (I should be shot)
- The space could have been filled better
- People would have been a nice addition to show it as a working bar

I’ll leave my self-crit there, or else there’ll be nothing for Chris to do!

I know I’ve done this fairly loosely, and I’m sure with a bit more time (and coffee) I could pick up more things.
I’m well aware of how useful being critical of your own work can be, and I often point out my own flaws and problems but, I’ve just realized that I very rarely act on them, which is so very pointless. What’s the point of spotting something that’s wrong if you can’t act upon it and better yourself?! Good lord, a revelation.

Mental note: f***ing sort it out!!

I hope the puppy can be put to rest now, it just seems inhumane to keep it around any longer.

Well…The time has now reached 8am; I should probably wrap this up, get into the lab and carry out the final few checks on my stuff on the K drive. Perhaps then eat a celebratory muffin. Yes, that sounds most acceptable.

Jo-Lo-Mo

2008-04-13T18:54:00.004Z

Decided to do my digital masterpiece today. When thinking about what I wanted to do I thought I'd most like to draw a person...I went for the Mona Lisa first off, which I don't really like as a picture anyway, but it was the first thing that came to mind. I then went for the Marilyn Monroe picture by Andy Warhol, which I also quickly decided I don't like much.

By now I was getting a bit frustrated, especially since I don't know of many classic artists, and even fewer of them that I actually like. I was about to throw in the towel. That was until I remembered an artist that my mum's quite fond of, in fact, she has a good few of his pictures on her walls. The pictures are all so colourful and beautiful to look at - they certainly look like the artist had a lot of fun creating them.

The artist in question is called John Lowrie Morrison, or Jolomo. He's a Scottish painter who supposedly "will often complete up to four paintings in a rigidly timetabled day"

Anyway, here's my digital rendition of one of his paintings. I had alot more fun with it than I had trying to re-create the other two.

Yet MORE goings on!

2008-04-06T12:09:00.004Z

Ok, so I'm not bored this time, but the infectious power of the blog compells me to post something.

SPEEDPAINT!

I'm not sure if I should say this is a picture of a landscape or architecture...perhaps it's the two combined

MORE goings on...

2008-04-03T16:19:00.004Z

Bored again.

Here's a bed I made. Isn't it nice!

also, I was asked to design a front cover for a friend's final dissertation. T'was a fun 2 hours!

(and yes, I'm aware that the perspective is VERY off...and I'm also aware that his feet are too small, this was intentional!)

My going's on!

2008-04-02T15:17:00.004Z

Thought I'd post some stuff I've been doing. I'm bored, people do stuff like this when they're bored.

Here's where I'm at with the bar we're meant to be doing for chris...

I'm planning on adding people (and colours, lol), but this is a start anywho.

And here's the pikaball...it may need re-doing, but that's depending on how boggged down I get with other stuff (like the group project!).

Speaking of the group project, I may as well post a pic of something that I've done for it, especially since my blog page doesn't show any of my contributions to it!

Good and Bad

2008-03-09T19:32:00.002Z

Wowza, it's been a while since I last posted anything (AGAIN!).

I'm gonna relate this good and bad thing to the dom war that's raging on as I type.
First off, my original idea. It sucked. It was very generic and lacked anything of interest really.
Since, I've come up with a new character based around the same idea, but even now I still think it's a little boring. I'm not sure it has that "spark" or whatever it is that brings a character to life.
Work still needs to be done!

As for the rest of the entries, well, the quality certainly varies. There are the UBER ideas that have originality, a personality and that "spark" to them and then there's the rest, drab "I've been done before!" ideas and the simply not very well drawn ideas...hopefully they'll get better when translated to 3d.

Some of the uber artists are something special though (and probably earning £££ at some fancy air conditioned games company!). I'm now wondering how long it'll take to get as good as these guys are...and I'd better, or I doubt I'd stand much chance out there without the skills.

I'm hoping that I gain at least some of what makes an artist good before the end of the course. I certainly have a long way to go, as re-enforced last week when Chris pointed out a thousand and one flaws in a picture that I thought was fairly decent...*ahem* I was clearly mistaken.

I'm thinking what makes these character designs good is having a strong combination of a cool pose, original and creative design mixed in with a little life-giving character as well as good skills in anatomy. Oh, and rendering techniques too. That's a lot to master, I'm thinking I can get there, but only after a sh!t load of practice.

Dominance

2008-02-21T00:43:00.004Z

It's been a loooong time since I last posted, I shall try to post more in the coming weeks, especially seeing as I actually haven't even started to tackle the blog task yet. (blame the group task, it's working me too hard! =P)

Anyway, the DOMINANCE WAAAR! The theme this year is awesome, post-apocalyptic magic stuff. It's right down my alley!
Here's my idea thus faaar...

His story is that he can absorb and use magic through his bracers, but over the years the magic has slowly been corroding his body - hence the black scarring running up his arms, down from his head and around the hole in his chest!

Assessments

2008-01-15T13:30:00.000Z

The assessments are over! Brilliant!
last night I was able to regain control of my sleeping pattern and was actually able to sleep for as long as I wanted!...thank christ for that.

anyway, on to the assessments themselves. First off, great job to everyone that showed their presentaions yesterday, there was alot of good work on display that seems to show that competition will be firece when searching for a job in years to come!

Now my second point on the topic of assessments; I'm pretty impressed about how they were handled to be honest, unlike the last formative assessment we did in year one, I feel that this one was handled alot more fairly. Mainly because the only things that mike, chris and heather had to take into account was what was on the screen in front of them and being said by the owner of the work, not from a screaming horde of students all shouting out seperate grades and advice.

Another important aspect of the marking stage is that the three people responsible for handing out our grades were all sat at different points around the room, each making notes independantly with no confferring with one another, this meaning that three unique takes on the work will be given when the time comes for them to retire to hours of painstaking marking, a process I don't envy them for.

That's my two cents for now anyway. Time for little R&R I think, my bed seems to be calling back out to me...

Day Well Spent!

2008-01-12T22:10:00.000Z

Seems it's that time of year again. No, not the time where we all get presents and eat copiously, I mean the bit afterwards; the bit where we work our fingers to the bone so that we're ready for assessments.

Today I've spent somewhere in the region of nine hours tweaking, rigging, unwrapping and texturing a new self-portrait that I almost have ready for Monday.

As I'm bored now, I thought I'd post a comparison picture of my old and new work. the one on the left is the old and the one on the right is the new. There are of course a few other changes besides the face, but I felt that this is the biggest and most important one.

Now back to work...

Mmm...Stylish

2008-01-12T02:08:00.000Z

I've thrown a splash of colour (better colour, anyway) at my blog this evening.
I wanted to incorporate my "roots" picture into the title somehow becasue I love it so. Unfortunately it really doesn't go with the title "Power Up", but it doesn't have to...

Here's my speed painting for this evening; it was indeed to do with the inspiration that we draw on, but not just for art, for life in general.

My painting was done from reference of a town called Calvi, the capital of a small island off the south of france named Corsica.
As a child I went on holiday with my parents there a few times and it is strongly regarded as the "happy place" of my mind.

Roots

2008-01-11T01:52:00.000Z

Tonight's speed paint, chosen by Megan, revolved around the word "roots".
While we all worked away on pieces to do with roots of a watery-nourishment kind, she was busy trying to create a picture to do with the roots of her artistic career.

I thought this was a particualary interesting idea for a speed paint that would almost guarentee something insightful about the artist and radically different from the last.

There was talk of possibly having this meaning of the word the sbject of the paint tomorrow, which I would be very interested to take part in.

To finish off, my speed paint for the evening...

45 mins

Stress and Creativity

2008-01-10T17:53:00.001Z

Today I'd like to talk about stress. Gripping, I know.

Last night, while speed painting, I felt incredibly stressed. I'd essentially been working all day on my model, hunched over at my computer screen eating orio's. Come 10pm I was pretty tired and cranky wanting to relieve some stress, preferably by doing something productive.

Part way through my picture I found myself wanting to throw my pc out the window and follow it out for a quick, neck-breaking end. I'm pretty sure the cause of this frustration was the stress that I'd managed to accumulate over the course of the day. The stress completely dampened my creative ability and I ended up getting more and more upset as the session went on since I simply couldn't create anything that I wanted to! I had originally envisaged an exciting scene involving a secret agent and explosions. In reality I ended up finishing with a poor rendition of a female spy doing...well, nothing really!

I could simply have been having an "off-day", but I think that stress had a hand in this matter, no matter how big of an input it had.

I had a little look on the interwebs for information about stress stifiling creativity and found that tests have been carried out on the subject. Apparaently, stress is helpful for things like maths etc but for things that require a person to be creative, stress is generally a bad thing.

Simply put, stress kills creativity. Dead.

Speedpainting - Bone...and a little bit on creativity

2008-01-09T00:37:00.000Z

First of all, my speedpainting for this evening:

"Bone"
45 mins"

and now my little bit about creativity. It's not going to be much as it's currently 12:40am and tiredness has surrounded me, waiting for the signal to move in.

So as I said before nothing really special, more of a side note, but I noticed that I hadn't mentioned the diversity of other people's speedpaints in previous posts.
I know this isn't exactly an original take on creativity, ("oh! look how different people interpret things!") but I think it's definately worth mentioning.
If you were to look down the speedpainting blog at the word "immersion" for example, you'd see a baby in the womb, a woman drowning, a diver and a guitarist immersed in her music.

I just think it's pretty cool how people's minds work in their artwork. Past memories, experiences, skills, techniques and so many other things can influence a person to create something unique from another person working to the same "brief".

Beh, reading back on myself this is looking pretty sorry...But too tired to fix now...

Happy New Year!

2008-01-07T23:14:00.000Z

Since the Christmas/New Year period was so hectic I didn't really get much chance to blog. Good excuse? I think so.

Seems as though I've also been quite addicted to Guitar Hero III over the past 2 months or so too, which can't have really helped with the blogging either. But hey, I've reached expert, surely a life goal if I ever saw one.

So yeah, excuses aside I plan on returning to my normal blogging schedule from now! All corners of the earth rejoice!

To finish off, here's tonight's speed paint. Crikey, it's been about a month since I last did one of these too!

The word was 'Hat'
45 mins

Speedpainting - Frost

2007-12-10T01:18:00.001Z

45 mins

Creativity...The long post..

2007-12-09T14:17:00.000Z

Ok, so I've been a little lax on the whole creativity blogs thing and so I'm using today to catch up on them.
I think the scope is (I may have said this before....) very wide for this particular subject, that's why I think it's so hard to write about...So I'm just going to take a minute to figure out what the hell I'm going to actually write.

*2 minutes pass*

Right then, I'm going to start this blog by writing about what I've been doing creatively in these past few weeks. Yeah, that sounds like a good way to start. *pats self on back*
Recently, as a class, we've been forced to use our creativity and initiative more than ever in game art.
On the art side of things we're being sent out to create things on paper from what we see around us. This alone is a lot different from drawing the same woman over and over again in a variety of different poses.
Our outings have allowed us to actually create things from our imaginations instead of what's just there in front of us, though I think we could actually produce two different ideas in the time we're given, easily. Perhaps one word for the morning and another for the afternoon would get those creative juices flowing faster? Either way, our creativity is probably getting stronger from this exercise.
Our character project is also getting us to access our creativity by having to come up with our own characters. I just realized how different this year has been in comparison to last year, drawing the canal and such and how much more I prefer using my mind to come up with something interesting.

So that's art. 3d modeling, while maybe not as much as art, has been coupled in to our creativity also. Just looking around the labs I can see streams of the stuff flowing into images on the screen, each with its own different style and identity. Even something as technical as "I made my model using edge loops" or "I box modeled mine!" is showing that the minds around me are using creative flair to decide on their preferred method of creation.
Then, of course, there are the props and variations of their self-portraits that are emerging too, the majority of them completely different from one another's. Jesus' model is, in my mind, clearly the most creative. Making yourself into a Goron is the strangest idea I've heard on this project, yet it's a damn creative one.
Another chunk of creativity used in the self-portrait project was thrown at trying to make the model actually LOOK interesting, as touched upon by Joylon Webb in his lecture. With a little critiscm from Mike I decided to re-do my model in order to make it look more interesting, which I did by giving it more shape and (slight!) definition of the muscles and removing my hoodie altogether.

Outside of uni I've tried to keep the creativity running hot by taking part in the 45 minute speed paint sessions with fellow 3ds max sufferers. Speed painting is an amazing idea that really forces your mind into a creative state quickly. I'd done speed painting before, but with lack of company to drive me onwards, I quickly found myself becoming lazy and not doing it at all. But with my course friends becoming involved too, I feel much more compelled to do them, and with far more passion than I had for speed painting before!
I've been very happy with some of the work I've produced and know that in the long run this will be very beneficial to us all. I think it'd be awesome if Chris could be persuaded to get us to do 30 -45 min speed paints in lessons...

My most recent speed paint. The word was "bed"

One other thing I've been doing at home besides the endless flow of work, speed painting and guitar hero, is reading again. I haven't read books since the end of last term, and with the release of "The Golden Compass" (or northern lights as it SHOULD be called...stupid Americans...) closing in, I decided to re-read his dark material's trilogy.
It had been years since I last read these marvelous books. I must have been fourteen or so the first time I picked up Northern Lights and I still enjoy them just as much as I did all those years ago. I don't think I've read anything that's really had me grin with excitement or frown with sadness at what's happening on the page.
These books have really made me realize how much that literature can be used as fuel for our own work.

I was planning on writing about other people’s views on creativity, mainly from the all knowing wikipedia, but I’m sure everyone else has already done that.
Reading through the article on creativity just shows that the term can be applied in many different senses, such as creativity is the same as intelligence, having a good imagination, being artistic or a good engineer.
I realize that creativity is a very important part of our selected field and that becoming increasingly more creative is very significant to us. The best way for it to grow is by feeding it. Feeding creativity is easy enough, books, pictures, experiences, opinions and pretty much anything else will slip down its throat and be a satisfying meal.
But no matter how much it feeds, it will still be hungry for more.

Speedpainting - Alien

2007-12-07T01:53:00.001Z

He's so nice!

Speedpainting - Immersion

2007-12-05T00:09:00.000Z

I'm quite happy with my effort for this speedy painting, I did take 55 mins instead of the 45 min limit to finish though.

Speedpainting - Fire

2007-12-02T23:07:00.001Z

Great word Megan, I had alot of fun doing this one and am pretty happy with it!

Speedpainting - Treasure

2007-12-01T23:39:00.000Z

This was a fun one, a well suggested word from Sophia!

45 mins
Photoshop CS3

The Guitar Hero!

2007-11-30T18:29:00.000Z

So, I finished my props today and myself yesterdayday. I was shocked at how quick I've gotten since I started this project, I got all the way from modelling to rigging, unwrapping and texturing in a day's work! (quick for me atleast...)

2224 tris for the body and 295 tris for my props...I'm gonna have to add some more to both it seems...

I thought I may as well post my speed paint from last night while I'm at it...however vulgar and possibly offensive it may be, I'm kinda happy with it for 20 mins of work

Word: Augmentation
20 mins

Speedpainting - Impact

2007-11-28T22:55:00.000Z

45mins
Photoshop CS3

Speedpainting - Omnipresent

2007-11-28T00:13:00.000Z

Seems a few of us are speedpainting now...and it's fun and exciting!
The one that we did tonight was under the word "Omnipresent" and I had loads of fun with it!

45mins

It's Hiro from Heroes!
For some reason (and quite bizzarely) this image appeared in my mind instantly...

I Have Skin Now!

2007-11-15T00:19:00.000Z

Today I did pretty much nothing...Except for finish unwrapping and texturing my model. It's not all cleaned up, but it'll do until I get back from home on Saturday

so far, I'm pretty happy with it! (minus all the little things that need fixing...)

Creativity...Again

2007-11-07T18:19:00.000Z

I've been trying to put this particular blog post off for as long as I can, but after spotting other posts on creativity sprouting out of other blogs I feel it's about time I do something.

I think the main reason for not getting to work is how difficult pinning down the exact meaning of creativity is. I could write down lines upon lines of definitions of the term but that's not particularly ‘creative’ now is it?

After racking my brains on how to talk about creativity I entered into a conversation with Martin, in which he said he talked about his a-level art course in his blog. This reminded me of a previous conversation with Slaney when I talked about what my foundation art teachers told us all about a-levels.
The course leader told us that anyone who had previously done an a-level in art should forget all that they have learned there. He explained that a-level art saps out the creativity of artists as they're kind of 'guided' whereas a foundation course gives the student a free-reign over what they want to do.
Admittedly, with a lack of direction I often found myself drifting off my work or doing something else entirely...but I blame that I hadn't really been allowed to do whatever I wanted to do in education before this point, it was kind of...fun.

The only point in which I was REALLY allowed to do what I liked creatively (in education anyway) before my foundation course was much earlier on, back in the day when teachers actually just gave kids a pieces of paper, some crayons and an hour in which they could do whatever they liked with their 'canvas'

I’m basically saying that I agree with Ken, at a certain point education has a way of trying to focus on the ‘important’ stuff like maths and science while smothering the more creative subjects. It’s a real shame because I think that I was actually MORE creative as a child. Maybe it was a natural loss of creativity (omg, creativity loss!!!) or maybe education really did knock it out of me, who knows.

WoW!

2007-11-04T23:35:00.000Z

Here's a world of warcraft post that might actually interest people...

Today while looking for example texture pages on the net, I found a program that allows for someone to view the models in WoW up close and personal like. I downloaded it hoping to find the texture pages that Blizzard used and actually ended up managing to export the models into max.
So not only did I get to have a look at some really nicely done texture pages but I also got to have a good look at how good low-poly models are made!

Some of the screens that I took of said models:

Most of these models are about 1,200 tris with the exception of 2 of them (one has 700 tris worth of hair!)

...I think I'm dead...?

THIS is how the pros do it.

"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

2007-11-02T00:06:00.000Z

Thought I'd post some pictures from my most favoritistest day at game city!

A Little Bit Wrong?...

2007-10-24T00:01:00.000Z

Urm...

Mesh and Game City

2007-10-23T02:29:00.000Z

MESH! (hopefully finished...)

ENTRY FOR GAME CITY! (hopefully gets in...)

Ok, that's done. Great. Time for sleeeep...

BIOSHOCK(ing-ly good!)

2007-09-05T23:46:00.000Z

The other week I went out and bought Bioshock. Even before I'd actually opened the beautifully crafted tin that the DVD was nestled in, I knew I'd purchased something special. When I'd gotten through the lengthy install process I was proven to be right. the gameplay, graphics and story were all spot on. I don't think I've ever played a fps with as much depth, beauty and creativity as this game.

Beautifully creepy...

The story, for those of you that don't know, revolves around the progagonist, Jack. At the beginning of the game a plane, in which Jack is a passanger on, crash lands into the atlantic ocean near a lighthouse which so happens to be the entrance to Rapture, an underwater city that's fallen into chaos.
The city is under the control of it's creator, Andrew Ryan, a man that wanted to make a city free of government and god. Rapture is also swarming with mad, genetically modified people called splicers whom have become this way because of a substance called ADAM, a scientific discovery made in the 1950's, a few years before the game is set.
Though the story is a good one, it'd take so long to type it out that I'm not going to bother, but at the very least everyone should check out a review or something!

I finished bioshock today, which, like a good book, has made me a little sad that I'm done and yet happy that I know how the story ends.
I really can't be sure, but I think it took me a good 15 or so hours to complete. I'm positive that I could have reached my final goal quicker, but there's just so many things to sidetrack the player and deepen the story of Rapture.
This is one of my favorite things about the game, it tries really hard to get a good story across. An example of one of the "sidetracks" is fairly near to the start of the game. If you decide to hack into a certain locked room you'll find a dead man and woman lying next to each other in bed. Nearby, the player can find an audio diary which houses the last words of the couple detailing, through their sobs, how they've decided to end their lives together rather than keep living in the decaying and dangerous city around them.
It's a fantastic game that I would reccomend to any gamer.

A little bit of fan art I couldn't resist doing once I'd finished!

Daaancin', yeah!

2007-07-17T11:08:00.000Z

Here's a fun video I found on gametrailers showing where the different dances in WoW come from. See for yourself! (gotta love the Napoleon Dynamite (Blood Elf) and MC Hammer (Orc) dances!)

Yes....I'm bored

Women Drivers...

2007-07-13T17:03:00.000Z

The other day I was almost hit by a woman driver speeding through a red light, and a few days before that I was almost hit again by some other absent-minded female.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all women are bad drivers...just most of the ones that I almost have run-ins with seem to be.
Anyway, I went on to youtube and found some really funny women driver videos that had me laughing for about an hour!
Here are some examples:

very well chosen music for this one!

and last, but certainly not least

Drive safely, y'all!

Damn Gas Man...

2007-07-09T07:49:00.000Z

Well, it's 8:50 in the morning and twenty minutes ago I was rudely awoken by the gas/electric man and I can't get back to sleep...great.

Anyway, enough about the man that obviously doesn't understand a student's sleeping pattern because I thought that this could be a good oppertunity to post something new that I've been doing recently. As of the past few days I've been doing two speed paints from reference a day. This is not only to improve my speed, but my art in general as it teaches me what I need to pick out quickly in order to make a picture good.
I only allow myself 1 hour for each picture and so far I've come along nicely! Here are some of my speed paintings:

4.0!!

2007-07-08T23:31:00.001Z

Just got back from watching Die Hard 4.0 and I gotta say, it fulfilled everything that a good action film should: violence, women, explosions and, of course, cocky one liners. Oddly enough, John McLane wasn't sporting his usual blood and sweat stained vest. It seems that with age, comes sleeves.
Right now I'm trying to figure out weather I like it more than the other three...come back to me when my excitement wears off and I might have an answer.

Task 24: Year One - Complete

2007-05-22T19:48:00.000Z

So, the first year is done and we've been set free for a few months. Normally I'd think of this as a chance to relax, do nothing and try to find some excuse for being a useless sack of meat. Not this time though. Oooh no!

This summer I plan to work on my 1337 3d skillz. The first reason for this is because of Dave's blog (damn you, Dave!) as he rightly pointed out that next year's bright eyed first years will be the best of the best and I don't want to look foolish damnit.
The second reason is simply because I want to best myself and really strive to be a great game artist in preparation for the third year. cliche I know.

This year gone by has been a fantastic one. It's good to know that I'm actually enjoying my university degree, I still find it strange to hear other people on other courses telling me that they haven't turned up to serveral of their lectures due to them being boring.

Thanks to fellow students and staff (especially Tim. Where would we be without lotr or steam?!) for a great first year!

Ah Yes, This Thing...

2007-05-18T00:20:00.000Z

It's been two months since my last blog entry...I intended to write something sooner but for some reason or another I keep forgetting.

Even though my intention is to write something, I don't really have much to say, but I probably should now I'm here or I'll more than likely forget again.

I think the only thing worth mentioning is a 3d model I made on Sunday. I've shown it around to a few people and the responses are good!.. though I can't bring myself to do any more to it. I guess it's because I'm happy with how it's come out so far and don't want to mess it up??

Naaah, I'm just gonna use the usual excuse; Procrastination.

here's the model anyway, I'm very happy with it so far since it's my first attempt at a person in 3d!

Task 22: GDC

2007-03-11T17:44:00.000Z

GDC; the games designer's conference. To be quite frank, I knew very little about it before now. The only major games event that I really knew anything about was E3, but then, everyone knew about that epic annual event.

While looking through various sources on GDC I discovered that the most interesting thing to me wasn't any of the actual confrences, talks, demonstrations or announcements, it was infact the "I am 8-bit" contest.

This contest, to those who haven't read anything on it, is for artists of varying types (from digital to sculpter) to put forward pieces of artwork related to 80's gaming. From what I've seen, entries have been crazily creative, ranging from an old grenade cut and painted to look like Pacman all the way to a comic-book-esque picture of a super-buff Mario battling a very different looking Bowser (or king koopa as he once was...)

Last year's winners
A few more entries

Awesome

Task 21: Aspirations and goals

2007-03-04T17:46:00.000Z

University; It’s a wonder how I’ve made it here in the first place! I spent most of my childhood hoping to become a comic-book artist of some kind and then when I hit high school I realised how absurd and difficult that would be. So realising that I didn’t stand a hope in hell of that particular fantasy I decided that I should be a writer…heh, heh, continue reading this or any other of my other blogs to see how unthinkably wrong to humanity that would be.

Anyway, I hit back upon art again after getting through my first year of college and realising that I was no good at anything else. So after college, my friends packed up for uni and I did my foundation thinking that I was going to be an illustrator of some sort. How glad I am that I changed my mind before it was too late!

Thus far this first year has lifted a ton of boulders from my mind. Why? Because now, for the first time in my existence I know exactly what I want to be “when I grow up”.
Although I know that I have a lot to learn, I definitely feel safe in the capable hands of Joel, Chris and Jack, knowing that if we need to learn something art or 3d related it’s only a question away. Of course, the never-ending torrent of guest lecturers that Mike drags in for us, teaching us more and more about the industry we plan to enter someday, is more or less priceless on it's own.

In my short five or so months here at De Montfort I feel that I’ve learnt things that would have taken me far longer to learn on my own and the added comfort of meeting so many like-minded people is very refreshing and inspirational.

I think what I want out of these three years of university is probably the same as most, if not everyone else on the course; all the skills and know-how needed for us to survive in the games industry and some great memories and friends made alongside it all.
Beyond everything else I want my art to become the best it can be, especially since I’ve spent a good many years trying to improve my artwork more than anything else. My skills on the 3d side of things are still in their infancy and they will no doubt improve in time, doubtlessly even quicker when I get 3ds Max at home.

Since the beginning of the course I’ve definitely developed from both personal and artistic standpoints, the course has taught me a good deal about modelling in 3d already. I keep looking back to the wheelie bin and thinking “if I were to redo that dammed bin, not only would it take me an eighth of the time but it’d look a whole lot better too!”

More than anything right now, I’m glad that I finally know which road I want my life to go down and that I’m taking the steps up into the bus that’s going to take me there.

Task 20: Creativity

2007-03-04T15:45:00.000Z

Creativity, A difficult word to define if nothing else, but this word also happens to be a very important part of today’s society and also of the evolution of man. Without creativity would humans have discovered the wheel? Maybe by a complete fluke perhaps, but would we then have been able to have come up with all the unique ways in which it has been used since? In some ways it seems that creativity is a problem solving tool of sorts, hm?

I could quite easily go ahead and say that creativity is the process of creating something, (well, duh) but I’m pretty sure it’s a little deeper than that. I think for something to be creative it needs to have at least been thought about, even for the smallest amount of time, otherwise it isn’t creativity, it’s just a good (or sometimes bad) accident.

I think that sometimes technical methods can actually smother the creative process. For example, a good few years back after watching the first episode of Pokemon, I decided I really wanted to draw in a manga style (like, it seems, so many others did). For years I learnt the technicalities of this style and could draw little else. At the beginning of my foundation art course I realised that this style was playing a part in hindering my creative ability that I used to and could potentially have. Since then I’ve been trying to break the style into something that I could call my own.

Games, like most other things, incorporate a lot of creativity into themselves. Look at the vast range of different stories, characters, settings, musical scores, graphical styles, user interfaces, etc! Each area is (usually) unique in its own right, with even a few alterations here and there sometimes making a huge difference in a game’s style, feel or atmosphere.

I think there are few companies that really show creative talent above all others, with games that are far more original in certain ways.
Sony’s Shadow of the Colossus’ unique take on the usual layout of play is certainly very unique, as was ICO, the forerunner to colossus. ICO brought visuals that had never been seen on a PS2 before and showed what the console was capable of while also allowing the gamer to solve puzzles on a large scale. Colossus brought around the concept of games filled solely with bosses, something that I don’t think had been done before, not on this scale at least.
Other companies that stand out creatively to me are those like Lionhead, Maxis and Nintendo as each one continually strives to deliver something new and interesting to their consumers. Take Maxis’ Spore, a game in which you help an entire race grow from a simple, single-celled organism to an entire culture; even going as far as taking them into space to colonise or destroy, all along the way customising the way they look and walk etc.

As a game artist our creativity will generally have to be shown as a 3d model or as drawings/sketches. In the industry unique and interesting ideas will most likely be valued the most for obvious reasons. This will require an open mind, filled with a wide variety of content while some technical knowledge will obviously be vital, such as knowing how to draw the human figure accurately and having a competent knowledge of how to use 3d programs.

Another Step In Realism

2007-02-15T13:08:00.000Z

While browing Gametrailers.com I came across a demo for a new Star Wars game from Lucasarts demonstrating some really cool new game engine content.
First off it shows some AI that does a better job at staying alive than the AI we're used to and it also shows some awesome looking physics effects on different materials.
Check it!

TASK 19: Education & Games...

2007-02-12T20:14:00.000Z

The blog question this time round kinda confused me to begin with (like a lot of things) but, after reading over it MANY times, I think I finally understand.

Universities are expected to teach game art students how to use programs such as Max and also try to teach them how to draw. Yeah, yeah, we all know this bit. The part that's confusing me is; "Some [employers] claim they really prefer creative individuals with a good Liberal Arts background."...well sure, creativity is most likely a must for a game artist, but shouldn't an artist be creative anyway?...Artists CREATE things and generally have to use their creativity to do so. As an added note, I've never tried teaching creativity but wouldn't it be a little difficult to do so?...Hmm?

Anyway, a university being able to teach the student creativity AND all the technical aspects of the programs he or she is expected to use would definitely fall under the subject of "challenging". Especially when some developers are searching for very specific things that may or may not be covered on a university course.
I was just looking through available jobs for artists at www.gamesindustry.biz and it seems as though jobs range from a general concept artist all the way to lighting artists and level designers. A range of programs that might of not been covered on a course might also be in use, AND (to be contradicting to the question at hand) It also seems as though most are looking for people with technical experience over a liberal artist's background...At least that I can see.

I can see the bonuses in having a good technical understanding of programs that need to be used as well as a good, liberal arts background, but it'd be arduous for lecturers to teach students (especially in classes the size of ours) all of the skills that each and every games company wants. I think the only way around this problem is to teach students a wide variety of skills that allow the student to be versatile enough to work in as many positions as possible. Surely the most fulfilling experience for a student is getting a job out of the three extra years of education? If you think about it, once the student is out into the industry he or she is bound to learn all of those extra skills that the remaining developers want anyway.

Wii-J

2007-02-04T20:29:00.000Z

Wow, I've been busy today...Two blogs and this. Shows just how bored a student can get.

Anyway, time for yet ANOTHER Wii related post (so many interesting things happening in that corner of the ring). While browsing various games sites I came across WiiJing (pronounced Wee-Jay)...Which is essentially DJing but fully wireless by using Wii Remotes! It's a pretty awesome idea, it means that the DJ is no longer cemented to his little booth, he could actually be on the floor with everyone or whatever. I'm not into this whole DJ thing at all but it's amazing how people are utilising this technology only a few months in.

I also heard that there's a DDR game heading for the Wii too that forces the player to not only use the lower body with the dance mat, but also upper body movements with Wii Remotes. I'm not sure how that's going to work but it sounds promising.

Check out WiiJing!: http://djwiij.com/home.html

TASK 18: Sounds Like Success...

2007-02-04T18:11:00.000Z

Ahh, this week's task is much more agreeable, game engines were a strain on me brain.

So anyway, the task at hand; discussing the music in video games. Without this important cog in the computer game machine, the game wouldn't work as effectively as it does. It'd be like a car with only 2 gears; it would work, but not to it's potential.
To translate this into sound within games, think about the Resident Evil series, without sound this series would not fill it's own boots at all. In fact, it's socks might not fit anymore either.

Survival horrors are top of my list in this blog, so forgive me if I go on a bit. Although I actually haven't played a survival horror through before (I know, shoot me now), I do know that they require a good use of sound, or lack of, in everything they do.
When silently peering down a dark passage, armed with nothing but a slowly dying torch and a pistol with no more than 3 bullets you do not want the soundtrack to be blaring out some jazzy little number. No, something chilling...perhaps no music at all, maybe just the sound of a cold, blustery wind battering the windows somewhere or the faint sound of footsteps in a distant part of the house. These games are all about suspense so it's particularly difficult to get the atmosphere across.

Imagine this lot doing the music for Resident Evil =/

Other games such as the Final Fantasy series or Halo work in a different way to survival horrors. These sorts of games tend to have powerful orchestral scores to back them up, giving the games a more epic feel to them. Many games based off movie counter-parts are also known to have strong orchestral soundtracks, generally taken directly from the film itself.

A lot of today's great video game music is composed by orchestras made from many people and i think it's this that has helped many realise that music in games is now a serious business. Some of the big composers in the industry include such people as Nobuo Uematsu, the guy behind the Final Fantasy music and Jasper Kyd, the mind behind the music in Splinter Cell and Hitman games.

Still on the topic of great musicians (I guess...), the next part of this week's task regarding Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards and a single of theirs, "Good Times". According to Wikipedia, "Good Times", one of the most important and influential songs of the era. The track formed the backbone of Grandmaster Flash's "Adventures on the Wheels of Steel" and the Sugarhill Gang's breakthrough hip-hop single, "Rapper's Delight", and has been endlessly sampled since by many dance and hip hop acts."
Before this I had never heard of them...and the pictures of them are frankly embarrassing and SO 80's, but I guess this song was quite the influential tune if it has been constantly sampled into a variety of songs.

To finish off this blog, I thought I'd mention a few of my all-time favorite musical moments within games. First off the title screen in Halo 2 sounds simply...well, beautiful I guess. I have it on my laptop and put it on loop when I want to relax. It's that sort of tune.
Another one of my faves is the theme from MGS2. It gives a great sense of the type of action-packed game that it's representing and even has those little noises that make you think of the military, patriotism and espionage. This a brilliant track to have playing in the background as you go in to fight with your army in a RTS or go to fight the final boss of a dungeon on WoW.
The final fave bit of game music isn't Zelda or even Sonic, it's back to my old childhood favorite, Little Big Adventure again. Probably the only reason that I love it's title music so much is because it takes me back to good memories from my childhood, it's not exactly spectacular to listen to but it still remains high in my charts.

TASK 17: Game Engines...

2007-02-04T16:39:00.000Z

Argh, this one's a toughie...Taken me a while to actually get around to it...

A lot like an engine in a car, game engines are vital to the whole, and without one games simply wouldn't work. Game engines determine everything and anything that can happen in the game world as well as user interfaces, controls and such.

Developers have the option of either creating an entirely new game engine for their games or re-using an already existing engine. The benefits of creating a new engine are that improved or new and never seen before content can be added, possibly giving the game more of an edge. However, this can be costly and time-consuming so a lot of the time, especially with the smaller developers, game engines from other games are re-used to reduce the cost and get their game on the market quicker. Examples of popular engines include the Unreal Engine, Source Engine and the Doom 3 Engine.

Developers that buy into proprietary technology have the advantages of not having to spend time developing a new engine but are restricted by copyright and so is closely guarded by the owner and certain aspects cannot be changed.

The terms subtractive and additive in games creation refers to the ways in which a world within a game is created. Subtractive means that something is "cut-out" of a solid world, while additive involves creating space in an empty world.

As games advance, their engines are getting more and more complex. As you'd expect, this results in a longer production time and even higher costs for developers.

TASK 16: Culture...

2007-01-21T22:59:00.001Z

Gaming culture is one of those things which I started to understand when I first started playing MMO games, probably the best example of this culture. World Of Warcraft (yes, it's made it into my blog yet again) sticks out more than than the others to me, especially when you consider that a few people have actually died because they became far too engrossed in the experience.
One of the people to have died from this game was playing it non-stop for 3 days and ended up expiring from exhaustion. In-Game his guild-mates held a funeral for their lost friend.

It's odd how friends and even full-blown relationships can be formed in these lands made from polygons. People even get married in-game and then continue to live normal, un-married lives in the real world to then return after work to their online "spouse". Personally, I've made a few friends purely from online games but generally they're they seem little more than acquaintances. However, I met one of my best friends on DeviantArt. We've never actually met as she lives in America so MSN and MySpace are the communication methods of choice. Obviously the online art culture is a different culture to gaming but the fact we met online makes it similar.

Going in a different direction a bit, I guess some game cultures can take up a lot of time. WoW used to take up a fair amount, but luckily I had friends that always insisted that I went out with them so I wasn't sat in front of a screen all day. (I'm telling the truth!)
A lot of gaming cultures also involve the creation of fan-fiction and art. I think the best for fiction that I know of would probably be from Eve online's fan base, the stories created for that are some of the best that I've read. Very strong stuff there.

I was honestly surprised at how vast gaming culture actually is on Wednesday, but it's a fun culture to be involved in and it seems as though I'm involved in more gaming culture than I originally realised!

Alcohol: The New HD...

2007-01-21T14:52:00.000Z

I just remembered something "startling" that I discovered last night; Beer goggles work on video games as well as women!

After a night of heavy drinking I returned home to find that I had conveniently left my Wii on so I could fight a Zelda boss that I didn't have time to fight earlier in the evening. So while Link fumbled around the screen, trying to fight a dragon and looking about as drunk as I felt, I noticed that the graphics somehow looked...Nicer.

I was so impressed that I'm tempted to go and buy a crate of beer to enhance my next Zelda playing session.

HD component cables? Bah! Booze is much more fun!

Wii-ly Quite Amazing!...

2007-01-20T12:13:00.000Z

Haha, couldn't resist a Wii pun. They're all so lame!
The reason for this post is to let those of you who don't know aware of this blog post:

http://wiinintendo.net/2007/01/15/wii-sports-experiment-results/

It's amazing to see the before and after pictures of this dude, who has been sticking to his not-that-rigorous daily exercise plan on Wii Sports for 6 weeks. The guy has already lost 9lbs from just playing this game!...Makes me wanna start playing DDR

TASK 15: Money, Money, Money!...

2007-01-15T14:48:00.000Z

Oh how the gaming industry has grown. From a tiny arcade machine-based pup in the early 70's to the mammoth core duo 2 hell-hound that it's matured into these days, it seems as though the games industry never ceased growing.

The games industry in the United States is averaging a gross of $8 Billion a year which in comparison to it's closest rival, the movie industry, easily outpaces the annual box office takings it generates. Not bad considering that video games have only been around a fraction of the time movies have.

I'd say that the industry as a whole is doing very well at present and it only seems to be getting stronger as technology and interest grows. However, while profit for this particular industry is currently on the rise, I think that the takings may drop if new, innovative games aren't produced. It seems to me that companies are afraid of taking risks in the fear that they may lose a small piece of the pie when potentially it could be a success and boost interest in games AND their profit margins.

Certain people actually employed in the industry have a tough time with the amount of hours that they are needed to work for. I came across an article on the internet reporting on an EA software developer who was fired for refusing to work 80 hours a week. It seems that many people are generally expected to work this many hours a week during "crunch time", which we all know is a normal part of being part of a game development team. However, I was amazed to find that these people are not being paid overtime for the excessive amount of hours that they're expected to work. Current and former employees actually sued EA over this issue.
An employee from Atari also e-mailed the writer of the article saying, "Once it starts, it doesn't let up until the game ships, which can be up to two years away. It starts with 50 hours, then 60, 70, 80...they don't want people to have lives or families."

I think the major problem facing the game industry is the need to develop games that are fun and interesting. Graphics have currently become impossibly close to real life visuals and now people need something more than just a visually impressive experience.
I think the remaining populous that doesn't play video games is also a source that the industry would like to tap, but they're not going to do so by distributing recycled content over and over again. Few are actually succeeding in breaking into the mainstream audience. As found in another article, of the top 20 selling games of last year, Wii Sports and Brain Age can be truly called mainstream and different.

I think if the games industry were to act on the problems and challenges that currently faces it then it could grow immensely. The main objective has always been to please as many people as possible in order to make a bigger profit, with more of the population under it's belt this task will become a lot more manageable.

TASK 11: Quite The Mysterious Force...

2007-01-06T16:19:00.000Z

Gameplay. I think we've all mentioned this within our blogs atleast once by now, and I'm not surprised. Without this factor, games would basically be CG films that we watch play themselves out. We'd just be spectators.

I think the term is quite a bit harder to explain than how Wikipedia puts it, "what the player does", but I don't think it's too far off. In my eyes, gameplay is a combination of everything put together in the game that is interactive to the player.
Aiming your clawshot at a distant target with your Wii remote in Twilight Princess would be classed as interactivity between the player and the game, as would pressing the self destruct button on Lemmings or deciding on the colour you'd prefer the walls to be in The Sims.

When you look at some of the best games of all time you see that alot of the greats were created years ago when top notch graphics couldn't be delivered. The best companies relied on great gameplay...and to be contradicting of myself, generally the best graphics that they could muster at the time.
Games like Final Fantasy VII, Ocarina Of Time, Baldur's Gate II, Sim City and Counter-Strike were all made years ago but are still widely known as good games, not because they were particulary nice to look at but because they were, and still are, a pleasure to play.

Obviously this mysterious force, "gameplay", is one of, if not the most important aspect developers have to think about when creating games. It's this that determines if the experience the player takes part in is fun or not, and that is the most important part of a good game.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T21:28:00.000Z

Ahh, 2007...sounds so much better than '06. The crossover between the two years went fairly smoothly for me this time around, and January was welcomed in Manchester with many cheery "Happy new year!"'s and a handful of songs on Singstar. Banisters were pulled off walls and some people lost some blood but that was their problem as by the time this had happened I was unconcious on the couch.
Many were cursing the fact they were alive this morning but never the less, Dec 31st 2006 was a legendary night that'll go down amongst the greats.

Besides having a brilliant new year I also spent a merry christmas in Warrington with my Wii. This console is awesome, I even convinced my grandparents to play and they loved it! Also, my mum was sad to see it leave from her house in Scotland and claimed she was suffering from Wii withdrawal. Crikey, this thing is good!...Dunno how things are gonna go down back in Leicester tho, there's not much space for arm swinging in my tiny room.

Anyway, in between gaming sessions I produced a tribute to Wii Sports for your eyes to devour. Enjoy!

An Old "Friend"

2006-12-20T00:33:00.000Z

Since Friday I've had little more than £13 in my bank account, an amount that was so small that Natwest refused to give me any of it. Turns out my overdraft isn't active or something. But anyway! I get home, my dad gives me some "emergency cash", and I promtly deposit some of it into nearest bank, allowing me to use my card to...*sigh*...sign up to another month of World Of Warcraft.

IT'S GOT ME AND IT WON'T LET GO!! ><

Besides feeling like I should be hiding in a dark room somewhere with nothing but a pc, a broadband connection and a copy of WoW, I feel quite happy to be back!
It welcomes your return like an old friend with a warm smile, two month's worth of new content, and a firm handshake.

I can't figure out why I keep re-entering the world that is Blizzard Entertainment's, and why once again I have upped their bank balance by another £8.99 for what is basically, giving me the "privilege" of doing the same stuff over and over...It could be that there's no ending to the game and that the gameplay, while simple, is very enjoyable...Even though I'm not REALLY addicted...*Shifty eyes*...I can't see what it is that makes this title so drug-like.

Whatever it is, I've just spent nearly £10 for a month's gameplay and I intend to use it.

The inspiration for this post. Do you like my rogue's old friend?

Max Madness!

2006-12-15T14:37:00.000Z

I think going in to the lab to work on my house every day finally showed it's adverse effects the other night.
The eve before the submission of the house, I dreamt that people from the course were in my room and were all talking about 3ds Max...It was horrible...There were texture mapping pages and everything. I hadn't really realised until I rolled over and said out loud, "guys...could you please get outta my room...I'm tryin' to sleep here..." at that point my eyes shot open and I gave the wall a look of disgust and confusion while silently cursing Max.

At least it's over for a few weeks, I can use Max at my leisure now which means in EXTREME moderation...

Link, He Come To Town!...

2006-12-08T18:37:00.000Z

So, the Wii was released on the UK public today.
Mine is sitting back at home in the not-so-safe clutches of my dad, and most worryingly, my sister. At least, if Amazon UK have done their job it should be.
With news of Wii's selling out everywhere, I decided it'd be a great idea to go and snap up a copy of Zelda today. Especially since there are apparently less copies of the game than consoles...and we all know EVERYONE who buys a Wii is going to want it. I was going to document the purchase of my first Wii game with photos but I thought that would be incredibly sad, so my phone stayed in my pocket. Anyway, the packaging for the games is pretty sleek, I think Nintendo are heading down the same path as Apple in terms of style.
Check it out:

TASK 10: You're Quite A Character...

2006-12-07T14:05:00.000Z

heh heh, what a terrible title for the post. Anyway...
Characters within games are generally quite an important inclusion, without them there would be nothing to carry on, alter and end a story. Giving a character a back-story helps the player to connect with them and care about what happens to said character as he/she journeys through the game.

For example, Link in The Ocarina Of Time. Set in the land of Hyrule, we learn that he is an orphan as his parents were killed in a great war years before the game is set. His mother, before dying, entrusted her son to the Kokiri tree, a wise being that promises to keep him safe. So Link lives amongst the Kokiri, a race of "children" for most of his life (8 years up to this point) and is seen as "different" by the other children so is a little bit of an outcast. This all changes one day however, when he sets out on an epic quest to save the land of Hyrule and ultimately become the Hero Of Time.

Game developers these days are starting to make their characters just as deep, and even deeper than Link in a lot of games today, and I'm really glad that they are. When I have an understanding of where a character's come from and his reasoning behind what he is doing, it can really help make the game more rewarding and enjoyable.
Imagine how odd and detached Half-Life would feel if you had no idea who you were playing as and what the hell this guy that you're controlling was doing in a lab. Are you a scientist? A visitor perhaps...Or maybe a spy or a terrorist breaking in? Luckily, they explain the goings on at the beginning...I think. I dunno, it's been a while.

It's much more important for the characters in TV shows, books and films to have depth to them as the entertainment value from the reader/viewer is gained from simply watching/reading, there's no interaction like when playing a game. For example, you can't take control of Mr Darsey and have him use the shotgun in the shed to kill his annoying house-guests, and likewise, you can't control the nitro-injected street-racers in the various racing films around today.

I think the link that people make between themselves and a character on-screen is very important, especially in emotionally driven films/shows. When you think of a film like Forrest Gump, a movie that tells the life story of the main character, you gain a very strong tie to him as you witness his tale unfold.
You live through all of the struggles that this character has to withstand through his life, and you end up feeling sorry for him. Especially at one of the ending scenes where his life-long love interest dies after the two of them only having a few months together. (sorry to anyone planning on watching this)

With a film like Forrest Gump, the script, acting and appearance of the characters is vital to making the film a success. With some films it seems as though one or a few of these elements are absent. This can sometimes lead to a bad movie-going experience. Doom is a brilliant example of this. The characters are poorly thought up and the script is poor. I can say that the characters do look the part, but this is probably the one redeeming feature...Personally, I think that a staring competition would be infinitely more fun to watch.

F34r t3h d4nC1ng t3rR0r1st!!!11!!

2006-12-03T15:43:00.000Z

I was looking through my photobucket account and came across an amusing CS source screenshot I took about two years ago. Check it out:

How I love rag doll physics...It's so...realistic.

TASK 9: Ergonomics...

2006-11-30T14:51:00.000Z

Er•go•nom•ics
Plural noun [treated as sing.]
1. (used with a sing. verb) The applied science of equipment design, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort. Also called biotechnology, human engineering, human factors engineering.
2. (used with a pl. verb) Design factors, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by minimizing operator fatigue and discomfort: The ergonomics of the new office were felt to be optimal.

Right, to tell you the truth I had no idea what this word meant until I looked it up. yeah, yeah I'm clearly retarded but that doesn't matter. All I need is the F12 button on my trusty MacBook to check a massive database of words. In other words, a dictionary. Woo! Apple; helping idiots everywhere. Also a good example of ergonomics in everyday life. I could have taken a extra few seconds traversing the web to Dictionary.com or opening up word to uncover the meaning, but some clever person somewhere decided to make things easier. That's people for you.

Humans are constantly trying to make life easier and nicer to live through various inventions and designs. Look at the television. It was invented for communication and entertainment purposes and while it still serves this function today it's been through many stages in it's lifetime, all the way from black and white to high definition.

Video game consoles are exactly the same. The developers are constantly trying to find new ways to make a game easier and more fun to control, look at the difference between the PS and PS2 controllers and the original PS3 controller concept. The developers claimed, and gave examples, of why you'd essentially be using a boomerang to control games. It seemed that the shape is more natural for the human hand and required less strain to perform actions, so basically, "intended to maximize productivity by minimizing operator fatigue and discomfort". Good job, Sony! That's ergonomics down to a tee. So WHY buckle under the pressure of the public who have never used the thing and complain about how "weird" it looks? Not so impressive that they reverted back to the original PS2 design with just a few new features. I understand the if it 'aint broke, don't fix it idea but I think they were onto a good thing.

Banana or boomerang? You decide.

Still on the topic of controllers, it seems that wireless is here to stay. This is great! It means that you can sit back without fear of pulling your £180+ investment onto your bedroom floor. However, Sony seem to be the only ones that realize that batteries are annoying, since you can plug their wireless device into the console for some juice.
Nintendo's latest offering is the most interesting. Being able to pick up motion and transfer this into the game is the next big step in video games history. Nintendo tried a similar thing years ago but it failed miserably, but since then they've learned and now their latest contribution to the industry is here. The "wiimote" actually uses tiny 1-millimeter x 1-millimeter disks that move against each other and pick up even the tiniest movement and transfer it to the console via bluetooth. This technology is also used in missiles to direct them to their targets (Just run if the controller comes hurtling back towards you when you put it down).

The Wii goes against the whole "intended to maximize productivity by minimizing operator fatigue and discomfort" thing though, since many gamers and non-gamers alike have been reporting fatigue AND discomfort because of over-exertion. Despite this though, the control system makes for easier gameplay and allows someone that has never picked up a video game controller before to get straight into the action.
Put it this way, Nintendo have rarely been wrong with their controllers. In fact, most of features on modern controllers were designed by their designers so keep an eye on 'em, things are going to get good.

Since I haven't played the Wii or PS3 I can't really include their interfaces into my own personal experience, though I have heard great things about both.
The console with the easiest interface for me would be the N64. This is because there was no need for memory cards or sticks to mess around with and the saving was near-instantaneous. Start menus and such in consoles were non-existant back then so it was all as simple as slotting the cartridge in and turning on the power button. no fuss.

As to the nicest looking console I've played, I'd go for the gamecube. It's simple, small and pretty cool looking. The PS3 is definitely the nicest console ever, though.

Mmmm...

TASK 8: Once Upon A Time...

2006-11-28T01:14:00.000Z

Stories. They're awesome. Without them we'd all be pretty bland individuals...well, bland-er in some cases. Stories are told every day, and not just that one about that girl and those seven midgets. People tell others about how they were sooo drunk last night that they were sick all over their girlfriend while telling the barmaid that they should run off together and get married at a casino, Or a young child detailing his day at school to a semi-attentive parent.

So there are stories behind pretty much everything, it makes things a lot more interesting and explains a lot about what's going on. Games obviously fall into a storytelling category too, well, most do...Pong doesn't.
Donkey Kong. He's a big monkey, he's got a King Kong vibe about him. Well, you see, he has a bad day down at the plant one Monday and decides to kidnap someone. Now the big ol' monkey didn't just go for anyone, no no, he went for a princess. So some guy in a red cap and dungarees, supposedly the princess' "man" decides that this kind of behavior just isn't on. He decides to take action and save said princess while dodging barrels thrown by Mr. Monkey...Or something like that.
Without a story of somekind the game would still have playability, but you'd have no idea why the hell you're climbing up all of this scaffolding...well, maybe.

The Final Fantasy games are renowned for their story-lines, as is the Zelda series. Final Fantasy VII for example, is widely considered as the best game ever by a good number of gamers. I wouldn't agree but I can see where people are coming from. Now, if I had to play for fifty hours doing nothing more than wandering around and fighting random encounters with no story...I'd shoot myself. The combat system isn't that fun, it's just the same over and over again but the story MAKES it a very enjoyable and immersive experience.

A strong story isn't always necessary in a game though. A game such as Super Smash Bros for example, has next to no story... I mean come on! Nintendo statues come to life and start fighting each other. There's no reasoning for their actions, there's no REAL explanation as to why these statues are now alive but the game is REALLY fun all the same because everything else is just right.

Some games even allow the player to create the stories. The Sims invites you to get making virtual people to your liking, then you build a virtual house however you like and then you guide them through their own little virtual lives depending on how you think things should happen. Brilliant idea Will Wright! Open-endedness is a good factor in a game, especially when you're creating the story for it as you play.

In my opinion (and my response when I'm accused of playing games too much) playing games are like reading books; you're going through a story, but unlike when you read a book, you actually get to take direct control of the main character(s) and in some cases, change that happily ever after into something different.

TASK 7: Lights...camera...action?

2006-11-28T00:41:00.000Z

As the title may suggest, while not being QUITE the same as a movie director, art directors for games aren't that that different from one another. (well why else would I have titled the blog entry that?!)
Steven Spielberg has to explain to his actors EXACTLY how he's envisioned the scene and has to describe EXACTLY how he wants Tom Cruise to say that particular line. Sets have to be designed to spec and camera angles are set up in a way that Mr. Spielberg has decided is the best for that particular chase or conversation.

An art director for a game would have a similar job. The director would have a team of artists to do his bidding, the size of the group would depend on how much work the game would need and how much moolah the company has to spend. The director would have to share his vision for the game through an art style guide, and storyboards. This guide would detail polygon limits, the look of the objects and characters within the game and so on. This would basically mean that the entire group of say, thirty artists, would all be producing work that would have the same style. This prevents the varying styles of the artists clashing, preventing the game from looking mis-matched.

It would seem that a fair amount of problem solving would be needed to be an art director. You could have a large team of artists under you and if something, somewhere didn't look right, it'd be up to you to find what it is and sort it out.
Team skills would also be a definate must for this area too, mix this with some discipline/incentives then you're on to a winner.
I do feel that being an art director would be a very high-stress job due to the huge pressure that's placed on your shoulders by producers, deadlines and such...plus it doesn't seem as hands on and fun as being a game artist.
Personally, I don't think I'd have the patience or ability to lead a team, atleast not now. However, It would be cool to have a group of peons at my disposal Some day...

THE "best" game EVER

2006-11-22T22:14:00.000Z

I feel sorry for this poor guy having to review this game...But I really want to buy it to see how bad it really is!

TASK 6: Gameplay...

2006-11-14T21:08:00.000Z

Gameplay. In other words, the content within a game that either makes it fun or not.
There are a good few people that only seem to appreciate games with good graphics (my dad is one of them) and I think that's completely wrong. Sure, you can like the looks of a game from a far and say, "wow, that looks really nice. It's crazy how graphics in games have come on these days" (also pretty much what my dad would say) but if you're actually playing a bad game it's nothing more than £40 worth of a shell.

A game that's new and innovative can sometimes captivate an audience and the fresh idea can sometimes be enough to be "fun". Mr. What's-his face's brain game thing on the Nintendo DS is essentially maths on a hand held, however, people are still buying it. Mainly for the "brain training" that it's been advertised for but also because when you play it you realise that it's pretty fun, which is strange since you're basically doing sums.
ICO and Shadow of The Colossus on the PS2 were fantastic blends of awesome graphics and unique and interesting gameplay, in my opinion they're 2 of the best games on the platform and people who were open to a different sort of game were also rewarded with a great experience too.

In most recent news, the most relevant thing I can think of around gameplay is the upcoming console war. You have the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, all with their own strengths and weaknesses and all promising awesome gameplay and games.
The 360 has already been out a year and to be honest, hasn't really done much new on the games front so far. Most games that have come out have been sequels or games that have been ported from other consoles. Boring

The PS3 is standing taller than it's competitors with it's more powerful set up and therefore will be able to deliver much more graphically intensive games. Sony do have a good few titles under their belt which considered to have brilliant playability such as the Metal Gear Solid series, Gran Turismo and the like. Usually though, Sony just tend to stick to the tried and tested games, a lot like Microsoft...Which can also be boring.

Finally, the Wii. It's capability for graphics is not very impressive in comparison to it's rivals. In fact, it doesn't look that much better than the Gamecube. However, I really admire that instead of going head on with their rivals, trying to equal their console's graphical output, Nintendo took a completely different path and went for accessibility. Basically trying to get more non-gamers to join in with an easy to use and fun system.
Even with a game on all three consoles such as CoD3, Nintendo have made it a more involved experience by making the player hold the controllers like a gun. Certain movements, such as a forward jab will make the soldier you're controlling hit the enemy with the butt of the gun, or when you're in a car you can use the remote as if it were a steering wheel. These kind of things are likely to make the game more fun and get the player more involved.

Wii. The most fun console ever? Only time will tell...

The fact is, innovative, fun things do well! Look at the PSP Vs DS. The PSP is a machine able to deliver near-PS2 graphics as well as handle many multi-media capabilities while the DS can reach somewhere near to N64 graphics and has next to nothing in the multimedia area. That's one generation behind the PS2 in graphics and Nintendo beat their rival with a more interactive and ultimately, more fun system. The games show a lot too, if you look at the PSP's offerings, it's mainly stuff ported from it's bigger brother. Not very interesting.
Nintendo decided on games like Wario Ware and Trauma Surgeon. Both original and both huge successes in Japan, the US and Europe.

Different games would obviously need to be designed in different ways, it's not as if the same techniques can be applied to all games. For example, Halo was a well thought out and executed FPS and is still regarded as one of the best FPS of all time but applying the same formula to Lumines, a game that's about solving puzzles and enjoying a combination of nice looking colours and tuneful music would equal in a very interesting game indeed.

In the end though, it's not easy to design a game that's new and wholly unique. People will still want the next installment of Halo or Madden but when developers come up with something groundbreaking like ICO, The Sims or Super Smash Bros. It makes me feel optimistic that we still have some greats that are yet to come.

TASK 5: Game Journalism...

2006-11-12T16:54:00.000Z

Game journalists have a difficult job. Really.
It seems as though it's not all rainbows and sunshine up in those air-conditioned offices of theirs. Reviewers for magazines have a deadline to stick to and usually they have about 19 days per issue. That's not long, especially if you have say 5-10 games to probe deeply and come up with a fair score and writeup for. Of course, there's always the possibility that the score that you give a certain game will severely piss off whomever made it. Oooh good, irate game developers on your ass...

But to be fair, it'd be their own damn fault if someone gave them a bad review. It seems that some websites/magazines are "persuaded" by companies to change their score sometimes. Bah.
What's the point of a rating system if it's not accurate? If the game is bad then the respective developer should do something about it. end of.
Personally, I rely on scores fairly heavily. If I'm looking to buy a certain game I'll tend to look at it's score on gamespot, IGN etc to see how they feel first.
Occasionally if there's a game I've been looking forward to for a while I'd buy it despite a bad review. Unless all reviews were particulary bad, then I'd avoid it like ketchup on dogfood. The point is though, if I want to buy a game, I want to know exactly how good or bad it is before I shell out £30+.

After reading some of these new game journalism pieces, I can see how much more honest and personal they are. Also, they're also a hell of alot more interesting to read. I read the article about MGS2 first off and agreed with most of what the guy said. Although I've had many discussions with friends about how random the story is, I don't think I've read much of anything regarding it online...To be fair, I haven't looked that hard, but most reviews I read before buying the game didn't mention anything about the bizzare story. Not that I'm complaining, I loved the game, but an honest review with a structure different to others once in a while would be refreshing.

In regards to my own writing style, I feel that it's more subjective than objective. Usually when I feel strongly about something, or enjoy something, I'll tend to think about what I enjoyed and bypass the bad. I know it's good to think about the positive, which is what I usually do, but if I were to be a games reviewer I know that I'd need to have a much more neutral stand on things.

TASK 4: If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit.

2006-11-02T13:32:00.000Z

If anyone didn't pick up on the title, it's a quote from the doc in Back To The Future. "Oh yeah, that's right!". Duh.
Anyways, it has relevance since this part of the assignment involves us thinking about games of the present and beyond. Awesome!

Games currently have reached a much higher plateau than the games designers of the 1960's could have ever imagined. They would have called us witches (well, maybe not witches...maybe just geniuses...or aliens) if we were to show them an Xbox 360 loaded up with a copy of Oblivion, or a top spec PC carrying UT 2007 and F.E.A.R easily in it's 250gb hard drive and playing them flawlessly with it's Duel Core processor and RADEON graphics card. This would all sound so foreign to them.

While the old 1960's game designers would possibly explode from such a rush of excitement, curiosity and freaked-out-ness (this word is real.), the moment before they were set to cover their surroundings with their internal organs, they would have been proud to know that if it weren't for them, computer games may never have existed or perhaps not be as good as they are today.

I wonder if they'd believe us if were were to tell these people that one day gaming would own the biggest and sweetest piece of the entertainment pie. Even sweeter than the Hollywood's slice. Personally, I think they would if they got a chance to play what today has to offer. Without this though, I doubt they would.

The fact is though, that with the industry growing at such a rate as it is now, games are not going to stop being released, Not for a long time. The audience is going to continue to grow as the planet's population does, new and innotive ideas to attract more of the general public's interest, for example the Wii will grasp at a good few of the remaining popuation and the pie will get bigger as companies get hungrier. Soon many game companies will be the richest corporations out there and will have a whole lot more cash to throw at new games and concepts. Holy crap, I'm startig to think that industries such as Sony and Microsoft are going to take over the world with their revenues. (Argh, getting carried away...)

With new technology for gaming such as the motion sensor stuff, faster processors and new physics engines it won't be long until grpahics reach the stage of "Real Life Graphics" and then what?

I can't help thinking though, that if games had been as good as they are today back in the 60's...what the hell would they be like today?! Would they have become matrix-esque? Would the world have been destroyed by them? Would they be better than even sex? Perhaps sex INSIDE games? Am I going to stop before this gets sick? Yes. I think that's probably for the best. I can only guess what the computer games of the future will be like but they will be god damn sweet!...hopefully.

Working for a games company in the future will be a big deal. Really. Games are getting so big that billions of people already play them across the planet, so imagine how it'll be in 40 years when the next 2 generations are playing along with the current generations that we have now. They will be popular and so will people that have a part in making them. In the future it'll be even cooler to say "Me? Oh, I'm a game artist".

One day will we fly cars? Urm, maybe...I doubt it'll be as soon as 2015 ,Doc, but give civilisation another 100 years and possibly. But which sounds like it'd be most possible; flying cars or actually being in a virtual world? or atleast as close as "being inside" it as you can go, perhaps a dome or ball in which your movements control the game and the "world" around you inside the dome/ball (Think about the Wii...it could be the first step to something alot bigger).

I think FPS played this way would be brilliant and people could be alot more skillful if it were like real combat. Marines and such would then be sucked in as another part of the market, it'd be like a better version of laser quest or paintballing without the bruises. Flight simulators would be so much like the real thing, pilots would never have to fly a real plane UNTIL they got their licence and chat rooms may become like speaking face to face with someone but virtually. Who can tell!

All I know is that I'm hopefully going to be part of this industry someday and I am going to be proud to be there. Whatever the future of gaming holds, it should be a fantasic ride...

"Young Doc: No wonder this circuit failed. It says "Made in Japan".
Marty McFly: What do you mean, Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan.
Young Doc: Unbelievable."
(Such a good quote and very true!)

Now for the conclusion of my personal gaming history.
So I had just got a Gamecube and SSBM was treating me mighty fine (and still is about 5 years on) and my PC was starting to suck.
Well, around this time my mum and dad split up (I'm fairly sure it wasn't over the crappy PC) and my mum took the crap box of dust and old parts with her to Scotland. My dad was in a stage where he thought he needed to please me and my sister so bought us both PCs (daft, I know...), and though it seems as though my sister has broken hers now, mine is still running strong and still has specs to easily handle all of today's games with their settings to the max. God knows how, but it seems four or five years havn't affected the thing.

Anyway, with this fantastical box of tricks I could enduldge in good games again. Yay!
Strangely enough, the first game I tried was C&C Generals. I know, not VERY graphically advanced but it looked simply beautiful with settings turned up high anyway.

Oh, another game I completely forgot to mention on my old PC was Rollercoaster Tycoon. It's such an awesome game that I think it merits going back in my gaming history. Not only did the possibility of sending your guests plummiting to their deaths add some "fun" to the game (I still think the lack of sound after a crash is horrifying) but everything else about it was fun and well thought out. One of the greatest games of all time, surely. RCT3 sucked.

Eventually I got a job and with my first paycheck I bought an Xbox to complete my collection of current gen consoles. I gotta say Microsoft have done a great job with their first console. With it I bought Ninja Gaiden, DoA3 (soon after replaced with the recently released DoA Ultimate), Halo 2, Burnout 3 and Knights of the Old Republic. Some good games there, especially Burnout and Ninja Gaiden.

I think the last console I bought was a PSP. I received it about about 3 months before it was realeased here and for a fraction of the price thanks to eBay. To be honest though, since I got it I have barely played it as much as I thought I would. I think the last time it was actually booted up was the night before I came to DMU, and even then it was only to check that it was still working!

Finally, the last game worth mentioning; World Of Warcraft *cue epic war drums*. This game is awesome. I played it since the beta back in 2004 and then started playing the actual thing in Feb of 2005. Even though I've been playing for this long I've only gotten one character to the top level and haven't even gotten any of the "epic" armour and such. I'm slooooow ^^.
The great thing is though, this doesn't matter! You can take your time or blast through it in a couple of weeks if YOU want to (leave your social life at the gates if you plan on doing this though). The storylines and backgrounds are thought out fantastically and pretty much every NPC has a backstory of somekind. The environments look awesome and add a lot of depth to the game. For example, you have the starting area for humans which is a beautiful castle town surrounded by a peaceful forest, while just across the river is Duskwood, an area tainted by evil and one of the best places in the game to be because of the atmosphere (music, fog, light levels, etc) and the slightly disturbing quests that surround the place.

Anyway, there's about a billion other things I could say about WoW but I don't think it's fair to Mike P so I'm gonna end it here.

Woo, that was fun. Next task please!/

Have a safe ride home y'all!

TASK 3: The..."Middle Ages"...

2006-10-30T12:25:00.000Z

Well, I've thrown caution to the wind and decided to do my blog! I know, it could be dangerous...

Anyway, the "middle ages". By the middle ages I am referring to the 1980's - 90's of course. during this decade there was alot of development of the computer game front, mainly in the home. During this time, arcades became decreasingly popular and home computers became as good as their console counterparts.

The 80's saw Britain throwing their contribution into the ring in the form of the ZX Spectrum, which was the commodore 64's closest rival. Both were two of the oldest home consoles and, like today's generation, the old ones plugged into TV sets too. Unlike today's offerings though, the consoles of yester-year offered processing power of around 3.5MHz which is child's play compaired to a Playstation 3 for example, which is expected to have an atom bomb of a processor, clocking in at about 3.2GHz. Explosive.

Anyway, the first ever home computer game to be in 3D was called 3D Monster Maze on the Sinclair ZX81, while the first ever FMV was in a game called Dragon's Lair which was the first game produced on a laserdisk. A laserdisk was like a goddamn dinner plate, it was more like a frisbee than something you put inside a machine. Reaching sizes of 30cm (12 inches) and allowing for 30 to 60 minutes of recording time per side. You can give me a DVD over one of these behemoths any day, thank you!

Among others, like Electronic Arts, Lucasarts produced some damn fine games over this time span such as Sam and Max and the Monkey Island series. Although having never played these games myself, I hear great responses from people that have. I stick with Electronic Arts with their masterstroke, (you all saw it coming) Little Big Adventure though. ooooo yeah. I'm jumping the gun here as it was released in the 1990's but I don't care. I'll be mentioning it in the third installment of this assignment too so get over it.

The truely major releases in this decade were the NES (Famicom in Japan), Game Boy, SNES (SUPER Famicom in Japan. Inventive!) and the Megadrive (Genesis in the US). Some absolute classics were released on these consoles such as The Legend Of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario Brothers and of course, Sonic The Hedgehog. Also, the first Final Fantasy was released in this decade as a last resort for Squaresoft as they were running out of ideas and money to produce them. Lucky, the game was a breakthrough success, allowing them to make more epic titles over the coming years.
The consoles at this stage began using gamepads instead of the usual joysticks, keyboards and paddles which made for a much better control system.
The Nintendo GameBoy has had unprecedented success even though it wasn't as technologically advanced as others on the market such as Sega's Game Gear. Nintendo has since released many more variations of the handheld following it's release in 1989 in smaller and also more advanced forms (Gameboy Pocket, colour, advance,SP, Micro)

Not QUITE as small as I remember it...

Continuing my personal gaming history we move on from Ocarina of Time to another old favorite; Super Smash Bros. This game was an absolute classic. Never before had anyone had the chance to really pit Nintendo characters against each other in a no holds barred (not to my knowledge anyway). Once again, this was another game that I recieved at christmas, though not as hard to obtain than Zelda but a brilliant title to play.

Around this time our family must have also gotten our second computer to replace the now extremely dated Wndows 3.1 system. That's right, kids, we had reached Windows 98! *Cue over-dramatic power ballad and baywatch-esque scene with a computer*
Anyway, with this new computer came a whole new world of gaming. I don't know if anyone can remember the original Midtown Madness but it was fantastic. I saw it in game and found it goddamn impressive! I even went the full mile and got a steering wheel and pedals with a "Force Feedback" function. it was awesome (until a big Canadian man tore it right off the desk, breaking the clamp mechanism as he went. I jest not. Bloody Canadians).
At this time I had a 56k connection (as did most people around then) which charged so many pence per min. I broke the bank with Midtown Madness and trying to download the occasional song (I think the bill one month reached over £300) so I got my parents to get broadband as £30 a month is alot cheaper...plus it was fast...really fast...for then...

With my new connection I was able to play games such as Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (such an awesome game), Unreal Tournament, and Midtown Madness 2 (Couldn't resist...I even made a crappy website about it) with no problems. It was brilliant.

Soon enough, however, it seemed as though my gate to top-draw gaming on my PC was closing as specs became ever higher and my friends were playing Unreal Tournament 2003 while my machine struggled with the smallest levels on minimum detail...

On the console front, the PS2 I had gotten for my birthday was treating me fine and the GameCube that I had won from Channel 4 (that's right kids, let me see the jelousy :P) was keeping me very happy with Super Smash Bros. Melee and rogue squadron. They didn't think to send me a memory card though...hard nosed bastards...

COMING SOON...

Will Tom complete his collection of current generation consoles? Will he manage to get a new pc? What happens when he tries to wipe a hard drive? Will Sheela get back with Trent? Tune in next time to find out the answers to these questions and much, much more!...

Home, sweet home...

2006-10-22T18:53:00.000Z

I've been here back home in not-so-sunny Warrington since Thursday for a friend's birthday party and it's been pretty great!
Although I'm missing the fun I've been having the past few weeks in Leicester, it's been nice to see my friends in Manchester again.

Another bonus of being back is that I can use my PC again rather than my MacBook, which to be fair, is absolutely pathetic for games! The only game it could play fairly well was WoW and even then I couldn't play it at uni (Three guesses as to what I've been playing since being home).

Also, since I have a good machine to work with again, I decided to download the BF 2142 demo and give it a go before I get to play the actual thing in the lab, and I gotta say that I'm quite impressed! I'm going to need alot of practice before a become any good at it but all the same, great looking game.
Well, I'm heading back to Leicester tomorrow afternoon and looking forward to getting back! (I will miss the food though)

I'm just holding that girly drink for someone...Honest...

TASK 2: Ancient History?

2006-10-17T21:57:00.000Z

Haha, I can honestly say that this is probably going to be the most fun "essay" that I have written so far. ^^
Anyway, The history of computer games. After reading through the links provided, (and a few of those leading from those pages) it would seem as though the question, "Who decided to use computers to have fun?" isn't quite as straight forward as I had originally thought.

Although from what I've read I've come to think that the first people to actually use the computer game for fun was a chap named Steve Russel and his fellow MIT students in 1961. The game that they conceived was called Spacewar!. In this two player game, each player controls a spaceship and must be the first to destroy the other person's ship to win. It seems as though he was the first to actually develop a game for fun and not just as an experiment or a demonstration such as William Higenbotham who, in 1958, created a game called Tennis for two.
This game wasn't played on a TV like today's games, oh no, no, no, it was played on something with a complicated name...*Looks back into the web pages* Oscilloscope...*ahem*...yeah, the screen on this thing was tiny, probably no bigger than the mouth of your average glass.
He had prepared this "game" as part of a demonstration that was meant to show locals visiting the nuclear power station in which he worked at that everything inside was safe etc etc. Apparently, it was particularly popular with children even though it was only invented to show the effect of gravity. Many believe that Higinbotham is the father of computer games but I'm personally not so sure.

Anywho, I'm drifting off a bit here =P. Steve Russel, as I mentioned before, was a student at MIT. A computer scientist to be a little more specific, with a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Engineer degrees in EECS.
Although Spacewar! was the program that Steve became famous for, he also created Lisp, a computer programming language.
I feel that his obvious prowess with computers is a bonus here and without this knowledge it would have been dang-near impossible to create a game.
Crikey, look at how games have changed since back then. I can only imagine how far they will advance in the next 20 - 30 years!

My own gaming history started maybe eleven or twelve years ago with the purchase of our family's very first PC ( a gateway 2000 with windows 3.1! woo!) on which, one of the first games my dad bought was T.F.X (http://members.aon.at/wunger/pics/TFX.JPG) and mario is missing. These were soon followed up with probably my all-time favourite game, Little Big Adventure. It's such a good game for a young child to grow up with!
A few years later I got a Game Gear for my birthday. That was great until I managed to melt it a few years on =P
In 1997, I bought an N64 with super mario 64 the day it came out. Man, the rush I got standing in that queue, waiting anxiously with a hundred or more people for my precious console was an awesome feeling and, although this will sound REALLY pathetic, (put yourself in the mindset of an 11yr old boy for a second) it was probably one of the most exciting moments in my life ^^
Over the following years, many chunky pieces of expensive plastic were slotted into that machine and most housed brilliant software such as Goldeneye, Mario Kart 64, Banjo Kazooie, F-Zero 64, and of course The Legend of Zelda; Ocarina of Time. I was almost as happy as I was getting that game as I was getting the console. I don't know how many remember the shortage of Zelda as it was released just before Christmas but I certainly do. I remember the shops that my dad and I went to trying to find this blasted game but with no luck. The final shop loomed, it was closing time on Dec 23rd and a tiny games shop was all that remained. We ventured inside, and being the last customers of the day I thought there was no hope in the world this little place would have the cartrage that we had seeked for. Inside the shop, my dad had come across the second to last copy of Zelda available and snapped it up. Damn, did I get a nice surprise on Christmas morning!
Right, I'm gonna leave my gaming history there for now as it seems as though it's meant to span over three weeks!

A screenshot of Little Big Adventure. Not too shabby for a game released in 1994, eh? =)

TASK 1: Down to work...

2006-10-09T15:53:00.001Z

Right then, the blog's created and I gotta get down to work on the assignment.

Who's writing, and how do you perceive them to be?
Why, it's Michael Powell himself! I picked this particular blog becuase of it's name, "shinyshinyshiny". Good job Michael (or Mike, if I may?) on a brilliant blog name! =D
I perceive Mike from his blog to be an entertaining character with alot of insight into his chosen area of expertise: gaming.

Does blogging strike you as objective or more personal?
Well that seems to vary but most of the posts have a very personal feel to them. Most blogs in general do have a very loose and personal style to them which I think is alot more desirable than an essay format.

How often do they write, what do they write about?
Mr. P seems to write quite often and on varying subjects from gaming and confrences to general daily goings on.

How do you see yourself using a blog?
I hope to see myself using it frequently to get my thoughts, comments and concerns down somewhere, almost like an online diary. I think blogs are a brilliant idea and also look forward to reading the thoughts of others.

Do you feel comfortable writing for an invisible audience for example?
To be honest, the thought doesn't bother me in the slightest and I'm looking forward to getting this blog going!