What are creativity and talent? Good question, personally I think there easier to demonstrate than explain but here’s the internet’s take on the two:
Creativity
Noun- The use of imagination or original ideas in the production of something.
Talent
Noun- Natural aptitude or skill
In today’s society, the state of being creative is simply having the power to create something, I know for a fact that is something everyone has the ability to do.
And Talent is simply the aptitude of something.
Personally I think each stands for something different to the individual. For me creativity is a form of expression so that I can express my unique perception and how I see things into a way that is understandable or perceivable to others, manifesting ideas into reality from inspiration to execution.
Majority of aspects that I engage in within my game art course show levels of creativity. For example the designing of a character from research to sketches, silhouettes, design developments and finished designs shows me envisioning what isn’t and translating it through a media that everyone understands, in this case art.
Talent on the other hand, some we seem born with, others we have the capability and strengthen, support and improve them overtime through repetition until they are what they are today. In some cases we may be naturally talented ‘born with it’
Talents, through practice can be learned though because from experience I have found talent stems from having a really strong skill and skills are improved from repetition. My drawing in particular is a prime example of this because I never used to be able to draw particularly well until I taught myself and practised. I would now say my ability to draw is strong but not a talent as of yet because I’m still making mistakes and developing.
The creativity we possess to an extent has been diluted by the experiences we have had up until now. As a child your creativity was greater because you had very little awareness to the limitations of life. A fear that has developed over the years stopping you from pushing yourself. Pushing the boundaries, thinking outside the box is what can turn a good idea into an outstanding idea in the game industry.
In the games industry I can see creativity through all sorts of angles for example combat mechanics, environments and characters. Creativity within industry I can see being limited by the consumer due to what they like sells, making the risks developers take less creative and unique. For example call of duty is hugely popular, meaning the generic shoot em up war game being churned out over and over again. There’s no creativity in this because it’s all been seen before.
When it comes to skill and talent and how you achieve talent through skill , I think all boils down to what type of person you are. There are people who work hard at something to become the best, people that pick things up quickly or naturally gifted individuals. The guy that gives up easily or ‘can’t be bothered’ is never skilled or talented at anything.
As an artist, I show my creativity through digital and traditional methods of working, from 3D modelling to sketching and digital painting. The creativity is demonstrated in the journey I take for works I produce from a fluffy idea to a final piece. My ideal acknowledgment of my creativity would be the person looking at my work to see how I saw it in my head and to make that connection through my artwork, also just a simple appreciation of my style which I think also demonstrates creativity.
Monday 11 March 2013
An introduction to the Game Industry
Making a game is an extremely complex process. These days’ games seem to be becoming produced even quicker than usual, with the likes of Ubi soft churning out the assassin’s creed franchise every year to meet fans demand. In order to successfully create games and next-generation game play ideas like Ubi soft, a wide range of skilful and creative individuals are needed.
Games Designers decide what a game consists of and how it plays, and they are often the people who come up with the idea in the first place. Game design is a complex activity requiring a combination of skills – design, management, scheduling, research etc. – and Designers need an understanding of all aspects of a game. They also need to be able to document their vision and communicate it to other members of the project team. Games are usually large projects, so the design process is often shared between a number of different people who each take responsibility for a section of the game, or 'level'. Level Design includes the mapping, detailed layout and building of the environment in which the level is played, as well as interactive placement of objects and assets within that environment. For very large projects, there may be more than one Game Designer on the team, each one taking responsibility for a group of levels and collaborating on the overall design of the game. In such situations, a Lead Designer or Creative Director takes overall responsibility.
Game Artists create the image to the game – all the objects, buildings, landscapes and characters. Animators define and create their movement. Game Artists work at many different levels in a games development. Job roles include concept artists, environment modellers, object and vehicle modellers, character modellers, animators, and texture artists. A Lead Artist or Art Director takes overall responsibility.
The programming team is responsible for creating the code which makes the game actually work. There are numerous sub–disciplines within the programming department, including artificial intelligence or AI; physics; graphics rendering engine development; character control; gameplay programming; and middleware tools development. All these are usually overseen by a Lead Programmer who is also responsible for the technical specification of the game and for strategically managing the code development process
Sound design and audio engineering are increasingly important areas within the games development process. Depending on the size of the company, the audio department might consist of one or two people who are responsible for creating and producing music, sound effects, recording dialogue, and often supervising voice performance. In some cases, bands or DJs are used to create the tracks to the game.
In some cases more than one company can be brought together for the development of a game. An example of this was the development of Aliens: Colonial Marines. The entire campaign was outsourced to TimeGate studios from Gearbox because they wanted to focus more on the multiplayer.
(http://uk.gamespot.com/news/aliens-colonial-marines-development-was-a-total-train-wreck-says-ex-dev-6403761)
The finalising aspect in game development is Quality Assurance. This field includes the role of Tester. Testing is a highly disciplined role as it involves identifying and describing bugs and faults in games and communicating these in a clear way. Testers need to love playing games for long periods of time, organisational skills, some programming experience or knowledge, and the ability to meet deadlines.
With the development of online technology, bugs can now be fixed after the game is released. Updates for particular games will be released via connection to the internet that addresses problems that have been brought to the developers attention by users after purchase.
http://www.polygon.com/2012/12/7/3739476/black-ops-2-patch-bug-fixes-balance-tweaks-out-now-ps3-this-weekend-360
Games Designers decide what a game consists of and how it plays, and they are often the people who come up with the idea in the first place. Game design is a complex activity requiring a combination of skills – design, management, scheduling, research etc. – and Designers need an understanding of all aspects of a game. They also need to be able to document their vision and communicate it to other members of the project team. Games are usually large projects, so the design process is often shared between a number of different people who each take responsibility for a section of the game, or 'level'. Level Design includes the mapping, detailed layout and building of the environment in which the level is played, as well as interactive placement of objects and assets within that environment. For very large projects, there may be more than one Game Designer on the team, each one taking responsibility for a group of levels and collaborating on the overall design of the game. In such situations, a Lead Designer or Creative Director takes overall responsibility.
Game Artists create the image to the game – all the objects, buildings, landscapes and characters. Animators define and create their movement. Game Artists work at many different levels in a games development. Job roles include concept artists, environment modellers, object and vehicle modellers, character modellers, animators, and texture artists. A Lead Artist or Art Director takes overall responsibility.
The programming team is responsible for creating the code which makes the game actually work. There are numerous sub–disciplines within the programming department, including artificial intelligence or AI; physics; graphics rendering engine development; character control; gameplay programming; and middleware tools development. All these are usually overseen by a Lead Programmer who is also responsible for the technical specification of the game and for strategically managing the code development process
Sound design and audio engineering are increasingly important areas within the games development process. Depending on the size of the company, the audio department might consist of one or two people who are responsible for creating and producing music, sound effects, recording dialogue, and often supervising voice performance. In some cases, bands or DJs are used to create the tracks to the game.
In some cases more than one company can be brought together for the development of a game. An example of this was the development of Aliens: Colonial Marines. The entire campaign was outsourced to TimeGate studios from Gearbox because they wanted to focus more on the multiplayer.
(http://uk.gamespot.com/news/aliens-colonial-marines-development-was-a-total-train-wreck-says-ex-dev-6403761)
The finalising aspect in game development is Quality Assurance. This field includes the role of Tester. Testing is a highly disciplined role as it involves identifying and describing bugs and faults in games and communicating these in a clear way. Testers need to love playing games for long periods of time, organisational skills, some programming experience or knowledge, and the ability to meet deadlines.
With the development of online technology, bugs can now be fixed after the game is released. Updates for particular games will be released via connection to the internet that addresses problems that have been brought to the developers attention by users after purchase.
http://www.polygon.com/2012/12/7/3739476/black-ops-2-patch-bug-fixes-balance-tweaks-out-now-ps3-this-weekend-360
Elements of game technology, part three: interaction design
With releases of the likes of the Wii, Wii U, Xbox Kinect and PlayStation move, video games have become more interactive than ever before. The Wii being the leading console in motion technology has got the other companies scrambling for ideas to knock Nintendo off the top spot.
The biggest success that the Wii has had compared to the other motion devices is there ‘casual’ approach to gaming, focusing less on the consoles capabilities and more on getting everyone interacting with the console and having fun.
There have been a few rumours circulating about the next generation of Microsoft and Sony console that I think will give Nintendo a run for their money. Firstly the new PlayStation is said to support quad HD which is the next step in high definition resolution. Alone this doesn’t sound so revolutionary but paired with the existing move technology and the ‘casual’ approach to gaming that Sony have announced they want to branch into this could leave the door open for innovation in game design.
The new Xbox is rumoured to have a built in connect, similar to like what Nintendo have done with the Wii U. The same rumour mentions the possibility that a set of Wi Fi enabled glasses will be compatible with the Kinect that displays information and even pieces of the game in the room. If that’s to be believed, the use of Kinect and the glasses will push the industry even further into the future.
Even though these rumours are yet to be confirmed, I personally believe technology will reach this at some stage, it is only a matter of when not if. With these three systems, game design students will have a lot to learn and experiment with. Whether independent or backed by a big studio, the possibilities are endless for gamers and future game developers.
There have been a few rumours circulating about the next generation of Microsoft and Sony console that I think will give Nintendo a run for their money. Firstly the new PlayStation is said to support quad HD which is the next step in high definition resolution. Alone this doesn’t sound so revolutionary but paired with the existing move technology and the ‘casual’ approach to gaming that Sony have announced they want to branch into this could leave the door open for innovation in game design.
The new Xbox is rumoured to have a built in connect, similar to like what Nintendo have done with the Wii U. The same rumour mentions the possibility that a set of Wi Fi enabled glasses will be compatible with the Kinect that displays information and even pieces of the game in the room. If that’s to be believed, the use of Kinect and the glasses will push the industry even further into the future.
Even though these rumours are yet to be confirmed, I personally believe technology will reach this at some stage, it is only a matter of when not if. With these three systems, game design students will have a lot to learn and experiment with. Whether independent or backed by a big studio, the possibilities are endless for gamers and future game developers.
Elements of Game Technology, part two: sound for games
I can’t say I've ever played a game without the sound, for me it’s a key element that makes
a game truly immersible. A lot of the
time you can overlook the importants of the sound in games but essentially they
are like the icing on top of a cake.
Upon
researching sound in games, I came across Sander
Huiberts and Richard Van Tol from GamaSutra.com and how they define what sound is used for in games
and they broke it down into four parts
Zone, Effect, Affect and Interface.
Zone Refers
to environmental sound, these sounds are diegetic and set the game ambience.
Effect refers
to diegetic sounds during gameplay that are produced: i.e. footsteps, gunshots,
explosions. These sounds can be on or off screen.
Affect refers
to non-diegetic sounds that set the mood of the game, these range from
orchestral music to moody low tones
Interface refers
to non-diegetic sounds these can be menu sounds or sounds related to the
HUD, the main use of these sounds is to convey information that
isn't setting the mood.
The sounds
that occur when the source of the sound isn’t in sight are a personal favourite
of mine. Sounds like thudding footsteps or shrieks in horror games get the players
adrenaline pumping to whatever it is that lies ahead.
F.E.A.R
utilizes effect and affect sounds well to create a horror atmosphere with
things like heartbeat, footsteps, and tonal background sounds. Here is a video
that illustrates this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGE6GYiNENA
Removing
elements like this from a game makes the game become less personal, as if
you’re an empty shell playing for the sake of filling time. Having sounds
heightens the senses making you pay attention and really get involved in
gameplay, improving the overall experience.
Even games
like Fifa that are possible to play without sound still feels unnatural when
you can’t hear the roaring crowd or commentator giving his opinions.
Another good example is GTA vice city. In the game
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the developers licensed a lot of music tracks for
the games in built radio stations. While this will have cost a lot for the
developers, it will add an entire new level of immersion to it. Memories that
players associate with the game, and most of the franchise, are centred on the
soundtrack. People will remember certain parts of the game where certain songs
were playing because they link in with it. And also, the music playing in the
background will set the feel. For example, Vice City is set in the 80’s, with
all the music on the radio’s being from the 80’s too. This all goes together to
add to the cultural feel of the game.
Lately I have been playing the reboot of Capcom’s devil may cry and I was impressed with the soundtracks that they had put with the hack and slash gameplay. Even though dub step is an abomination to society, the dub step style tracks used for boss fights fitted the moody, adolescent attitude of the main protagonist Dante, which I felt complimented the story and gameplay.Heavy metal soundtracks were also used which complimented the whole hellish, devil slaying aspect. All of the music was done by DJs Nosia and band Combichrist. Even though on their own the songs aren’t my cup of tea, when applied in the context of the game they spur you on to smash hordes of demons
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