Task 24: Personal review of the second year: Where do you want to go, and how do you get there?

Education, It seems like you can’t really get anywhere these days without one. University’s provide the opportunity to gain a higher form of education from the one that is required of you by law.  The word university is derived from the latin ‘universitas magistrorum et scholarium’, which basically means ‘community of teachers and scholars’.

In Europe the first university is considered to have been 1088 in Bologna Italy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_universities_in_continuous_operation

So what did I want and expect from university?

Simply, the two things I think I expected from university was to learn new basic skills necessary for my future career and the formation of important skills and how to apply them to achieve the desired results of work. I had no experience in the ‘game art’ field before, had a passion for video games and art  so felt it was something I could get into and enjoy, without getting bored of it, because who wants a boring career?

What I wanted from university spread further than what I expected of the university. I wanted the obvious like a degree and a job but for me, coming to university wasn’t just academic, it was about proving that I can manage on my own in all areas of life beyond the lectures and workloads, building upon organisation, financial management and coping with a higher level of independents. A lot of these skills, including academic ones, have been learnt and improved by trial and error, exploring and researching into things off my own back. University never promised you anything, just allows you the opportunity to better yourself.  I am familiar with art related courses so I expected the level and quantity of work we have been set in the past two years.  I also expected it to be much more hands on all year round than just revising a little bit at the end of the year and handing in an essay.

I can definitely say that because of university I am more of a driven person now and less lazy. Through doing projects I am still learning organizational skills and time management, which I hope to have mastered before the third year FMP. I have worked outside of university aswell which has made me more self-disciplined and confident when interacting with people.

So fingers crossed, by the end of the three years at university, If I’ve put the effort in and taken on board the guidance and knowledge given to me by my lecturers then theres nothing to say I shouldn’t be worthy of a degree and hopefully a job in the games industry. 

Task 23: Life Changing or Career Building?

The game art course that I’m currently on has three main aspects to it, 3D, 2D and critical studies. I think the fact that it covers a wider range of skills than any other art related course, makes it harder to know what to teach and prioritise them effectively.  Like myself, I’m sure a lot of people didn’t or still don’t know what field they would like to go into within the game industry so that’s another thing that hinders what to specifically teach. Another problem is that the games industry is one in which is continuously developing when it comes to technology and ways of carrying out jobs. So knowing that something you could teach may not even be in use anymore by the time a student graduates must put added pressure on what to include in the curriculum. With things like the xbox one being revealed powered by new engines will the old ones including software being used today become obsolete and less used as someone like myself breaks into the industry?

A guest character modeller came into speak to us a little while ago, and he explained that they don’t even use the words low poly anymore because nothing is ‘low’ poly for current and next gen consoles. Everything from buttons to stitching on jeans is modelled now to ensure a high consistency throughout the game. A standard character he would work on would be between 25-50k triangles and that was an NPC.

There is only so much that can be taught, that’s why it is important as a student to take it upon yourself to teach yourself skills that range beyond the fundamentals. There’s been many of times I’ve gone onto YouTube to look up how to do something on UDK or 3Ds Max. This is also what the game art Facebook page is designed for, to crit and learn from your mistakes and build upon them.

From what I’ve seen, the companies like a majority of things in someone. Creativity, technical ability and I personally think whether you as a person would fit in. Your portfolio can only take you so far, If you like this is the ‘get you noticed’ aspect to getting a career. That’s why the interview process is also involved because they wouldn’t want to choose someone that would be a night mare to work with. This is a reason I think that the blog is as important as the other areas in this course because it gives the industry an insight into your personality without meeting you.    

Personally I think the key things that need to be taught are the basics, like fundamentals within 2D, techniques, colour theory, perspective and proportion. With 3D, basic modelling and unwrapping techniques, low poly character and vehicle making. The basics combined with a positive attitude and the ability to pick things up easily and I think you would be good competition to the thousands of others trying to make it in the games industry.  

Late second year and the third year I don’t really think that much can be taught because everyone is kind of breaking off into their own specific field, advice can be given though to be guided in the right direction.

Other than being taught, the course can give you opportunity to learn. When saying opportunity to learn I mean put you in situations where you learn things, for example the group project. Here you learn from others and by actively doing rather than looking at a tutorial on a projector.

Other experiences like publicly discussing your work within your course, as much as we all dislike doing it, helps to prepare you for similar situations you’ll face in the industry.

Education and specifically this game art course doesn’t just teach, it prepares and moulds you into strong competitors for a career in the games industry. 

Creativity, the talent myth and craft

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.

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

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.

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/leaked-xbox-720-presentation-shows-detailed-plans-for-console-and-kinect-2-1085480

 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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wXXlvx59jE

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.

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

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

Elements of game design, part six: documentation

Game overview

‘The Good the Bad and the Zombie’ is a third person horror/action/hack and slash/strategy zombie apocalypse game where the player assumes the role as one of two redneck brothers, armed to the teeth with found and homemade weapons trying to flee their trailer park in search of salvation. 

The game will take place in three locations, the trailer park, woodland area and local town. The player will need to use their instincts as they utilise their surroundings to take out hordes of the un-dead. They can lure the un-dead into areas that have been booby trapped with gas canisters and petrol as well as distract them from attacking your partner with the scent of your own blood.  You and your partner must work together to prevent being surrounded and ultimately reach safety.

Specification

This brief is a project outline for a lead character, Non playable character, vehicle, single environment and props.

The Platform the game will be available on is Xbox 360 and PS3.

Technology and software to be used: 3ds max, Photoshop, Zbrush, crazy bump, NVidia tool plug-in, Unreal Development Kit.

The characters will be loosely based around the AMC’s The Walking Dead characters Daryl and Merle. The environment imagery is purely for style reference. 

Lead Character: Young, hot headed, Cross-bow toting redneck

Texture sizes: two 2048x2047 texture sheets     

File type: BMP

8,000 triangle budget

NPC: Lead characters older brother and Ex-soldier amputee

Texture sizes: two 2048x2047 texture sheets     

File type: BMP

8,000 triangle budget 

Vehicle: 1989 Ford F-series pickup truck

Texture sizes: one 2048x2048 texture sheet for body and one 512x512 for headlights     

File type: BMP

5,000 triangle budget

Environment:  Gas station in South Georgia (USA) interior and exterior

Triangle budget: 20,000

Texture Budget: a mixture of 8-12 texture sheets to the power of 2 i.e. 256x256, 512x512 etc.

File type: BMP 

Props: Eclipse XT Cross bow, M9 handgun, smith and western revolver, M9 army knife,  propane tank, petrol cans

Triangle budget: 3,000 for: Eclipse XT Cross bow, M9 handgun, smith and western revolver

1,000 or less for: M9 army knife, propane tank, petrol cans

Texture budget: six 512x512 texture sheets

File type: BMP 

Elements of Game Technology, part one: game engines

After reaching the first project where I have used a game engine, which was UDK, (http://www.unrealengine.com/en/features/) it got me thinking about other types of engine that are available to me in industry. As games are becoming more advanced so are the engines behind them.

A game that stands out in my collection is ‘Rage.’ Rage uses id software’s id Tech 5 engine which is currently still in development and only supports Rage and the up and coming doom 4. The initial engine had 20 GB of texture data which is a more advanced texture approach called virtual texturing (VT). VT supports textures with resolutions up to 128,000x128,000 pixels. This allows automatic streaming of textures as they are needed meaning that the developer doesn't need to worry about texture constraints and limits. Other advantages of this are that it simplifies the creation of content meaning that adaptations for other platforms aren't necessary.

Unfortunately, at the minute id Tech 5 is only being used for first person shooter games, yet id software have stated that they are not ruling out the transition to other genres yet.  Although it will be available as open source, it isn't as of yet and the software wasn't  going to be available for external licensing until id announced in 2010 the first external developer to work with id tech5 would be machine games.

Another impressive engine that I used recently when playing the latest installment of the Hitman franchise, absolution, was the Glacier 2 engine. This engine can display up to 1200 characters at any given time whilst still working a 30 fps (frames per second). This was a requirement of the developers IO interactive because they wanted to created dense crowds that you could interact with. Here’s a screen shot of the game achieving this. 

The Anvil engine that has been used for the Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia franchise was also able to densely populate itself with smart AI, supposedly with up to 2000 characters. In the latest Assassins Creed (3), AnvilNext has been used which is an updated version of Anvil. This supports a highly detailed weather cycle system. This version all supports a dynamic game world that will change itself on its own accord in the course of time. This means, that for example, settlements that were previously in a certain area, may have moved or completely disappeared relating to the events of the game. 

The Frost Bite engine, which debuted in 2008, has been used on numerous battlefield titles, including battlefield 3 and others like medal of honour and need for speed: the run.  Version 1.0 featured a HDR audio which adjusted different type of sound volume according to importance for example as the gun fired the background music would lower and the gun shot would get louder. This was an advantage because even though there were other sounds going on you could distinctly identify the ones that affected you as the player. Destruction 1.0 was also a feature allowing entire walls to be destroyed in game.  The destruction feature improved in version 1.5 and 2 allowing entire buildings to be destructible.

The CryEngine3 that’s the power behind the Crysis franchise for PS3 and Xbox 360 and also other games like home front and D.R.I.V.E.  is in my opinion, through experience playing the games, the most visually pleasing engine. Others feel strongly that it’s the best engine that you can use 

http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/15/crytek-cryengine-3-the-best-engine-and-going-everywhere/

http://www.moddb.com/engines/cryengine-3/reviews

The features that the Cryengine 3 has would be exhausting to list, therefore I have included a couple of links to visually stunning videos to show you what the engine is capable of, from visual effects to developer controls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7JV-5a0Mdw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWvgETOo5ek

Elements of game design, part seven: level design

All video games, whether you are playing the latest call of duty or the classic Pac man have had some form of level design to look and interact how they do. Although these examples give a completely different experience, the fundamentals of level design are visibly present in both. So how do you get the ball rolling, Ideas? Like every process it all starts with an idea. These ideas can be triggered from anywhere at any time, like reading a book visiting the shop and so on. All these ideas can be tailored to a design document if one has been set. It is useful to make note of your ideas to refer to as you go along. With all these amazing ideas you’ve come up with how do you chose the right one? Personally I think it depends on the person, what motivates you and how exciting you find that idea. If I’m not passionate about the idea I go with it reflects in my work and the final outcome is poor, that’s if I haven’t scrapped it half way through. Also, make sure the idea is manageable; don’t start something that you know you’re not going to finish. From this stage I would treat designing a level like any other visual design task, set some specifications, collect reference and concept some ideas. With levels, because they are playable a lot of other considerations have to be made. To get an insight into the process I had a look at how others went about designing a level. On world of level design, (http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/how-to-plan-level-designs-game-environments-workflow.php) a level designer describes how objectives and obstacles are considered early in development. He or she looks at how objectives influence the path you would take through an environment and what obstacles they would need to overcome to progress through the level. This also influences focal points for example a well-designed and textured assets in the environment would want to be shown off therefore you could make this an obstacle or position this asset on route to an objective. A good example of this is the assassin’s creed franchise. The highly detailed architecture is used as a synchronization point so that you can view more of the map. 

An aspect of this level designers approach I thought would be useful is the use of a mind map decision tree. He or she briefly outlines objectives and obstacles and the knock on effect it has if the player choses to take this path. This seems an efficient and quick way of generating design ideas and asset placement. 

Another early consideration to make is the location and setting. This will often be defined by a brief. You would need to think about the time it’s set, past, present or future? The season or seasons it takes place in, maybe a specific time period like Edwardian times. This will help when it comes to collecting reference and stylizing concepts Another aspect that needs to be considered within design is the interactivity of playable areas. Defining what you can interact with makes a game like call of duty miles apart from a game like Pac man. All the fundamentals are still there in both, like style, map, objective, obstacles but being able to shoot a chain and a pile of well-placed rubble fall on an enemy is what gives a level depth and makes it more immersive. Hitman Absolution demonstrates an impressive level of interactivity in its levels because there are endless ways in which you can eliminate an enemy using the environment.

To get a feel for what you have designed so far, you could quickly prototype the level using standard primitives in a modelling program. Set up your designs to see whether you like the layout as it was planned. You can then make alterations if you feel aspects don’t work. 

 When all these considerations are planned and executed in visual development (the concept art), you have a strong base for modelling. A good example of a well-designed game is Assassins creed 3. 

You can clearly see the depth of planning and designing process the ubisoft team went to in order to make all aspects of the game true to the American civil war. As I feel many do, here’s some opinions that agree with my view on the games attention to detail. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/oct/31/assassins-creed-3-review and http://www.ign.com/blogs/blaze_fury/2012/11/12/assassins-creed-3-review

Elements of game design, part six: visual composition

Visual composition is an important aspect within visual design is composition. Good composition is always pre-determined and very rarely stumbled upon. Composition is simply how you arrange the elements in an image. It’s a form of organization. There are a range of techniques that you can utilize to successfully achieve an aesthetically appealing piece. The artist chose the main vocal point and organizes other elements around this. In doing this several principles are taken into consideration, these are known as the principles of organization. They consist of: 
• Shape and proportion 
• Positioning/Orientation/Balance 
• The area within the field of view used for the picture ("cropping") 
• The path or direction followed by the viewer's eye when they observe the image. 
• Negative space 
• Color 
• Contrast: the value, or degree of lightness and darkness, used within the picture. 
• Geometry: for example, use of the golden mean 
• Lines 
• Rhythm 
• Illumination or lighting 
• Repetition (Sometimes building into pattern; rhythm also comes into play, as does geometry) 
• Perspective A technique that I find beneficial is the effective use of viewpoint. This can determine the subject’s dominance, equality or vulnerability. For example if you were drawing a picture of a super hero, the piece would have much more of an impact if you positioned the viewpoint looking up at the character because it would suggest and emphasise this superior power that this character has. 

There are also specific compositional techniques that can be combined to improve the aesthetics of your work. The rule of thirds 
The rule of thirds is a simple guide. The aim is to stop the subject and areas of interest clashing in the piece, by placing them near one of the lines that would divide the image into three equal columns and rows, ideally near the intersection of those lines. 

The Golden Mean The golden mean is a ratio that has been used by visual artists for centuries as an aid to composition. When two things are in the proportion of 1:1.618 (approximately 3/8 to 5/8), they are said to be in the golden mean. 

Focus A technique that I find best works digitally, is limiting the focus of an image. This basically emphasises the focus of the piece and makes everything else vaguer. I achieve this in Photoshop using blur filters or in photography with a wider aperture. 
Rule of odds 
One of the simplest ways to make a composition more dynamic is to have an odd number of subjects in the composition. This is the rule of odds. An even number of subjects produces symmetries in the image, which can appear less natural. 

Intelligent organization of elements in any concept can really make the difference. This is why it is important to produce a wide range of thumbnails in preparation to a final piece. The thumbnails make a good elimination process into what works the best. You can also take small aspects from different thumbnails and combine them with the principles outlined above in mind. Having good knowledge and a solid grasp of composition will strengthen your technical skills, transitioning your work from sketches and doodles to industry standard final pieces.

Elements of game design, part five: planning and concepting

The process of planning and concepting, done right, is the difference between a disaster and an accurate, well presented, successful piece. The thought of planning is always daunting, for me anyway, mainly because I’m too eager to throw myself into the first idea I like the sound of. Planning is simple; it’s basically working out a method of how you’ll tackle things before you get to them. It helps to write a brief if you don’t already have one, just some simple but precise guidelines to prevent you from straying off the path to the finish line. For example, a 3D brief will outline a problem or aim: ‘For this exercise you will be required to model and texture a box of trash similar to the one seen outside shops based on the photo reference to a fixed set of technical requirements.’ This pretty much tells you all you need to know about what your expected to achieve, from here constraints are addressed like poly budget, texture sizes etc. The same can be done within 2D, for example a character design would have set styles and aesthetics in a brief that you would need to stick to in order to make the character fit to the game. (Specification for asset example: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3115/common_methodologies_for_lead_.php 

From the brief it’s time to get stuck into research. I can’t emphasise enough how crucial gathering reference is. Why try to magic masterpieces out of your mind when there are so many visual influences out there for you already. If you’re trying to get a certain pose for a character, don’t settle for something similar off the internet, grab a friend and ask them to pose for you. Using material you've sourced makes your work unique. You also can’t ever have enough reference. If you've found or created a scene you’re happy with, photograph it from multiple angles to build a better understanding of something’s form, lighting and composition. Constantly refer to your research as you progress, mood boards are very useful for this because all your reference is in one place and easy to glance at as your working. It’s equally a good idea to put reference up on the walls where you work. From the reference you can begin to pull ideas from aspects that fit the brief, you like and think will complement each other. In my opinion, and industries, the best way to concept is through quick and simple thumbnails. This is an effective way to try out different compositions. These can also be easily adapted into more detailed storyboards. Not everything translates perfectly on to paper first time, so repeatedly producing the same thumbnail or slightly tweaking it as you go along works as an elimination process to find the best result. Look at it as an interview process, you wouldn't chose the first applicant that came through the door would you. 

 I found that using this diagram as a rough guide to designing helps to cover the main areas and if you can’t honestly say you've answered each area accurately, then do it again.

Reflection on year one, and ambition for year two

Reflecting over the summer, I think that I have developed a lot in the last year. I have learnt how to use computer software that I had no experience in, mainly 3ds Max, and improved in traditional drawing techniques and the range of medias I can use. Last year I found the designing projects using research the most engaging and productive for learning. I think this was due to the high level of creativity the tasks required. I hope to see plenty more design tasks like last years this year, but this time with more detailed specifications because I like to have strict guidelines when designing, too much freedom makes my mind wander. Now fundamental skills have been built up from the first year, I would like to move towards a more specific field within game art and develop a unique style to my work using a combination of traditional and digital techniques. I am kind of torn between two paths that I would like to do, either a concept artist or art director within game and or films. I’m particularly inspired by the likes of Ridley Scott and Sylvain Despretz story boarding in Black Hawk Down because I can see strengths of my own in their work due to both coming from a traditionally art taught back ground. 

From the course this year, I would like to see more encouragement in using digital methods because I feel confident with the traditional side to art now and would like to broaden the ways in which I work. I would especially like to use digital media when it comes to environmental aspects of game art. I am particularly inspired by digital matte painters like Dylan Cole (http://www.dylancolestudio.com/) Although I am keen to progress digitally, I think the constant reinforcement of using traditional methods is crucial to what makes this course stand out and improved my abilities so far so I wouldn't want that aspect to have any lesser role this year. 
I would also like to see tutorials on color theory so that I can get a better understanding of it and introduce color into my work after focusing mainly on black and white studies last year. When it comes to game production, whether it’s through tutorials or self-taught, I would like to experiment a little in Zbrush. I wouldn't want to over use it this year because I know from the first year it is important to be able to low poly model in 3ds, which I am still developing in. I think it would be good to learn in preparation for third year FMP’s just so that it’s an option I can use if I would like to. The aspect of modelling I struggled with the most last year was characters, so this year I would like to see a few character projects so that I can develop more on my organic form modelling.

End of Year Review

As a whole I'm generally pleased with my game art course. There's been a wide range of areas focused on throughout the first year like drawing fundamentals, 3D modelling basics, recording design and thought processes, life drawing, character design and environment design. To be honest, I've covered so much I apologise if I've missed anything. It's been quite tough dealing with the work load at times but I always knew I had a mountain to climb when signing up to the course.
The two main aspects I have enjoyed so far is the character and environment design. I'm a creative person so the research and designing suits me really well. Something I particularly struggled with in these tasks, oddly was the huge amount of freedom we had. I find it a lot more constructive to have set restrictions so that my mind doesn't wander too much during the design process. So for me I would like to see some more constraints put in place for future design projects on the course, similar to the way 3D projects have a range of constraints.
I would also like to see a bit more emphasis on environment designing. The project that covered this was the one I found the most engaging and interesting to cover. So much so that it has kind of swayed me to want to focus on this area as I break into the games industry.
I have found the design tips and examples of design really useful in my critical studies sessions. It brought my attention to the small details that designing something like a character needs to make it a success especially when it comes down to how they are posed, clothing that fit them to the game etc. These are aspects that I take on board now when I design, taking on a slight graphic design role, making my characters more interesting. I definitely focus on silhouettes a lot more as a result of this because I think it's a good tool that gives you a good idea on whether a character will be eye catching and interesting to look at. I often get my flat mates to crit my designs during the design process to help me get a better understanding of what players of games want in a character or environment. This idea came to me from the great social network account that the course encourages students to leave feedback and view others way of working on. I also like the way that projects we get set encourage us to try things that we aren't particularly good at or never even experienced before. For example I have never used sculpey but I gave it a go for a character project and to be honest it turned out to be a complete disaster but I learnt from it and doing things like this build up a habit of teaching yourself things rather than relying on others which I think is a good mentality to install into us early on.
My passion is drawing, so for me as much as the course gets me to draw and express ideas then it can't go wrong in my opinion. I have learnt a lot from the first year and I am looking forward to what we will cover in the years to come.

Environments

Where to next? It's always frustrating to go back and forth in a particular area of a game not knowing where you can progress further isn't it? When constructing and decorating an environment the designers can utilize different methods to help guide the player to where they have to go. A particular technique that's used often is lighting.

This is a really simple example but if you entered this room, scavenged for supplies and could see no other option out, this piercing light that illuminates the human size crack in the wall would trigger your mind to automatically relate that as an exit point in that room. Exit point lighting is just making the goal obvious to the player, in theory acting as a huge sign saying 'hello, there's something interesting over here.' A similar technique is path lighting. This method is just an extension of exit lighting, highlighting a direct route that the player should take to get to the goal. In most cases, this method highlights the only route that's available making the game play seem more restricted and less realistic.

A particular method that I have experienced that helps navigate you through stages of and environment was in the Assassins Creed franchise. When entering a checkpoint in secret caves, the camera would take your view in a short cut scene, stopping at areas that you should head to, that suggests there are obstacles there that will help you reach your goal. This style of navigation is a little less straight forward than the previous two but I think it gives the player more freedom because even though the route shown is the highlighted one it's not necessarily the only one or most interesting one.

Another method I've witnesses used a lot is hinting. This is exactly how it sounds, giving clues to the player on where they can find secrets along the way. The key isn't to make the hint to obvious though. You could use the lighting techniques above to highlight routes for the secrets or you could add hints during loading screens. A game that applies hints to loading screens very well in my opinion is 'Rage' published by Bethesda. A hint often displayed is to 'scavenge' for items as much as possible to sell. This is particularly useful because you explore the environment more than you would usually and with the idea of scavenging embedded into the way you play you find yourself navigating and finding things more independently.

'Rage' is a game that particularly springs to mind when thinking of environments because it achieves everything I look for. The graphic aspect, developed by id software is phenomenally good. I can only describe rage as crysis 2 graphically with fallout 3's game play. The amount of detail built into Rage is staggering. It's easy to be overwhelmed with awe at the sight of rocky canyon walls that never seem to repeat and the meticulously designed cities. The story depicts an asteroid impact that wipes

Using 'Rage' as another example, I think that the environment, without a doubt, influences the atmosphere of a game. The stunning visuals of rocky terrain and abandoned, decayed cities is a big factor of what makes the simple story to 'Rage' much more believable and immersive.

The general style of 'Rages' environment seems to emulate the Colorado river in the united states with the orange tinted rock faces that contrast with the dusty polluted atmosphere of what's left of the cities. 'Rage' is highly stylized because it is depicting what people and places would look like after a natural disaster. On top of that the story is set in 2029 therefore the game shows stylized technology. I don't think any of these aspects hinder the realism to the game because the story plays with our perceptions, convincing us something similar to this maybe possible in the future. The designers have got the fundamentals of realism correct like people, movement, interaction and overall look of the game which strikes an important balance giving them a degree of lenience when it comes to stylisation of technology and cities.

Environment Project

To kick off the project, I wanted to overload my thought process with imagery of environments and existing game genres that I could take and adapt to make my own. I always make the habit of changing my mind half way through the design process when I have hardly any time left because I don't plan as deeply as I should. (Note to self, fully weigh up all options before concepting begins.) I'm already a big fan of the zombie/apocalyptic/survival genre, especially films like mad max: beyond thunderdrome, with baron wastelands and barbaric hordes of rebels held up in self built fortresses. I think looking at something I'm a fan of is good area to start off in because I am stilling doing something that's needed of me but I can relate to it making the process of designing more engaging. Having said this I need to keep the player, audience and game community as a design priority because this final outcome isn't for me. So the first rule of design club is 'what will they get out of this?'.

To add a new dynamic to a genre that already exists, I have looked at a variety of real environments like third world shanty towns and picturesque Venice river fronts. I have also looked at traditional paintings like Claude Monet's house of parliament . I crammed all my imagery into a few A3 mood boards to refer to throughout designing.

To research a bit further into the apocalyptic genre, I looked at a TV documentary called 'Life After People' which shows what would happen to the world that we leave behind which relates to there being much fewer humans left on earth. The documentary gave me an incite into how cities decay when unmaintained, threat of pandemics, natural disasters and the animal kingdoms survival of the fittest. Here's a link to the documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbr6mnX95iE&feature=related skip to about 26 minutes in.

Whilst researching, I was devising more rules that would lead to effective design of the environment and characters. I split them into environment, character and final concept sub categories to get consistency throughout.

RULES

Environment- 1. More is less (don't over do things)

2. Maintain continuous derelict feel to surroundings

Character- 1. Characters must be simple with an exaggerated main character as vocal point

Final Concepts- 1. Composition, mood, how well does it engage the viewer

2. Leave audience to conclude the events that have come before

3. leave as much to interpret as possible

From the rules I began to concept the environment for my

chosen apocalyptic genre. I wanted to design the general state of the world after apocalyptic disaster and the area the majority of the game would take place. The story I decided to go with was a brake down in technology in the future that caused nuclear weapons to launch devastatingly wiping out the majority of the planets population. Survivors of the blasts that were caught by radiation were disfigured and in some cases transformed into mutated beings.

I wanted to take the player through a specific area where I thought there could be a high level of threat and a good place that could influence the style of enemies. I decided upon a mental asylum. I took a silhouette and played about with numerous to create a derelict building that had looked as if it had been inhabited by its once patients and sinister travellers.

Task 10: Characters

I could talk endlessly about characters that I have come across since I've watched TV and read books, but at the moment there are a specific group of characters that I would like to focus on. I always haven't been able to get enough of post apocalyptic movies like mad max and resident
evil but the American TV series 'The Walking Dead' brings a new dynamic to the genre. The series is based on a comic book by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard. The story starts when a county sheriff named Rick Grimes wakes from an enduring coma to find the world he used to know no longer exists and is now plagued with flesh craving 'walkers' or as we callthem zombies. From there on the series documents a husband and fathers journey to finding his family. From the outset the plot of the show makes you think about being in the main characters shoes and how you would cope not knowing whether your wife, son and family are still alive and dealing with what you perceive as reality being torn away from under you like that. Eventually Rick does find his family that are held up with a group of people and you imagine the relief and happiness that must over whelm you, providing a short escape from the new reality you face. On the other hand, without trying to sound heartless, would it be a burden that you have found the ones you love instead because now it's your duty to protect and reassure them with that doubt in the back of your mindthat you may fail in doing so. Would it be better if you only had yourself to
worry about?
As trust and bonds build, Rick becomes a kind of leader for the group, main protector in a way, saving lives, sheltering and feeding the group. I think this aspect to the character is easily related to men in general because we like to see ourselves being the alpha male and possessing the
ability to protect . Another emphasis on the character being there to protect is his title of 'sheriff' because we associate the police as being there to keep us safe and maintain order.
After a longer period of time the group are forced to live this dystopian lifestyle, where a planned and structured routine begins to form in order to stay alive which starts to build characteristics for other characters. States of depression, rebellion and friendships arise under the large amount of pressure there under up to the point where a dominant character Shane, sacrifices another person to survive a horde of walkers. In this situation what lengths would you go to in order to stay alive? In my opinion I don't know whether I would have it in me to do something like that or whether I would like the person something that extreme of a situation could bring out of
me.
A lot of emotion is portrayed well in this TV show which entices you to relate and produce these thoughts about the things that happen. The strain that is put on relationships in extreme circumstances and how its overcome is demonstrated continuously which I think is a good message put across by the actors and script. Another aspect I particularly like about the main character Rick is the burden he willingly takes on when it comes to being the constant, the rock of the group and reliability of decisions he makes. For example when a little girl in the group is chased into woodlands by a walker, without a thought he is the only person in the group to react and try to save her. Obviously all these characteristics are exaggerated in this type of genre but there all aspects of life that relate to us as the viewer trying to inspire the best in us.
The reason I think I become so engrossed in the post apocalyptic genre is because I have always wondered what it would be like to have something like that happen, how I would react, how it would change me as a person and how things would end up.

Task 9: Elements of game design, part two: art direction for games

In the art department of any game, There will be one
driving force that pushes the all important vehicle of art forward, this force
is in the form of an Art Director. An Art Directors general role is to set the
visual tone, quality and style to the game making it aesthetically pleasing to
the player.
An Art Director
that is confident in what he or she is doing will consider how all assets will
look, what moods they'll create and so on. Everything from main characters to
fine detail will be careful designed to create a continuous flow of design that
supports the story and setting of the game. Sometimes it's the small detail that gives a
game the appropriate illusion of realism and a good Art Director has a keen eye
for that detail. As gamers we all rely on a game looking good to make us feel
involved and apart of the realism it is attempting to convey, therefore being responsible of how people relate, react and
enjoy visuals within game is extremely in depth.
When it comes to creativity, I think a successful film or
game will come from a highly creative individual, so creativity is pretty much
what defines an art director in my opinion. For example two highly creative and
talented artists worked on the storyboarding and concepts for black hawk down,
Ridley Scott and Arthur Max. Arthur Max was the art director but both
contributed which basically made the entire look of the film from start to
finish. They produced endless amounts of storyboards and concepts, Which Max
explains in an interview I watched that the majority were scrapped. They
quickly got down visual information using simple pencil drawings picked up from
Ridleys traditionally influenced art education.
Some of the Storyboards were near enough exactly how the final shot looked in
the film. To visualise situations accurately using convincing lighting and
perspective is extremely difficult, taking a great deal of knowledge and
creativity. I should know as this is the main aspect I'm trying to master
within my game art course which I am nowhere near reaching.
To reach a similar level as the Art Directors I would in
theory be competing with if I was to become one, I would need to quicken up on
getting the visual information down on paper to generate that mass of visuals
that is needed. I'm not expecting this to come overnight because its going to
take trial and error to find out how I can through practice, and what art
materials suit my style of working most efficiently. I am quite confident when it comes to
accurately showing light and tone within my work but I do struggle with my
perspective which with practice I hope to overcome and so far it's getting a
lot better than when I first started the course.
Game and Film art direction is pretty similar in most
areas like gathering source material, storyboarding and concepting. I would say
that a difference would be the extent that they both need to concept. Some
films use characters that already exist like a US marine for example which
would only need storyboarding because we can already visualise what that
character would look like, act like etc, whereas in a game aspects like
characters are designed from scratch because their perceived identities don't
already exist, everything is new idea even if it's an alien, robot or human.
This is what I think appeals to me most, being able to harness my creativity to
form entirely new identities, in almost a 'God' like fashion.

Task 8 Elements of game design, part one: from Pong to next-gen…

I've reached the stage now where I've looked at the fundamentals of game art but now I need to read into the elements of game design and what it takes to design a successful game. First of all, what is game play? we all play these games and kind of over look what were actually doing. Game play is the action the person controlling the character for example is carrying out to achieve something, like advancing to the next level or an objective.

Development of the games we play today are undertaken by a games developer that can range from a single person to a large business. Mainstream games like Call of Duty for instance are funded by publishers and can take a considerably longer time to develop.

Games are usually developed in phases, initially with pitches, concepts, prototypes and design documents that convey all main aspects of what a developer wants to make. If the idea is approved and the developer gets funding then development gets under way. Development requires a large quantity of people working on it with different responsibilities. These responsibilities range from designers, artists, programmers and testers. The next stage is the development alpha and beta stages until they are ready to market and showcase to the public.

Like most industries out there, a minority have the final say about whether a game gets the go ahead or not, but I don't think the final say or responsibility is given to a single person with a games company because a lot of other people have influence on the game development. The standard and how well an idea for a game is portrayed is by the development team making it a responsibility as a group.

When it comes to the principles of how games of different genres are made, I no longer think that there is much difference between them. A comparison between Pac man and the fairly modern F.E.A.R 2 was brought to my attention and I saw that something as simple as Pac man is still similar to modern day games. Obviously the visual experience is completely different but they both have a story, designed characters, levels, incentive to progress for example enemies chasing you and aims to succeed within the game. In my opinion it's just the aesthetic exterior of a game that makes it different from others.