Friday 11 November 2016

Unit 69 Assignment one- Drawing concept art for computer games


Why Concept Art Is Useful In Any Video Game

Concept art is used in games as a possible rough sketch for a model and /or a environment. They can be used to generate ideas or to create a certain mood in a area or object. Concept art is a idea you have in mind for video game (it's often written about or drawn roughly) and will be useful for when you develop your final product because you have an idea on what you're aiming for. Many artists will get inspiration on a creating concept art by reading the plot to gain a rough idea on what the mood of the environment and/or character should be like.

http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/community/conceptart/               page 9


The picture above shows the first stage of creating concept art (which is creating a rough drawing). The picture above is concept art for a elf race in the Warcraft games. The next step is usually passing it off to a illustrator to create a more detailed image in preparation to create a 3D model. This piece of concept art is quite early in creation but the general feelings i get from this is the feeling of them very in touch with nature and perhaps there home is in a woodland setting. The image above makes me feel slightly intimidated because the faces of the elves are so unusual and to me they almost look fierce.
This is a more detailed image of this particular elf race.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/0a/b1/63/0ab16357bcc9aa8354e6bdbbcf28b5f1.jpg

.
This step is very important for creating character models because it will give the people who designs them a much better idea on what and where details need to be added. As you can tell from the two images above  there have been many changes. Foremost amongst them is the change in facial features. The male does not have a set of antlers and both do not have leaves in there hair. There clothing and weapons do make them look primal which suits them well because in the game they mainly live in wooded areas. The uses of the colour green in the background amplify's this feeling additionally the male elf's long beard and there clothing adds to this.The main colours here seem to be brown, purple and green and to me these colours completely add to the feeling of them being primal and/or deeply connected to nature.


These are the male and female character models for this particular race.
http://www.scrollsoflore.com/gallery/albums/wow_renders/Night-Elf-Male-Warrior-2.jpg
http://oi61.tinypic.com/dvlilj.jpg

The picture above shows what the models look in game. I think the main differences in from the concept art and the models is that the male looks less muscular and much less primal. Since the game has many sets of weaponry and clothing which would allow you to modify what you look like.



The Feelings Generated By These Images
The main feelings generated by the first image was the feeling of them having a strong relation to nature, I feel this way because of the of the antlers on the males head and the leaves in the females hair. This feeling is amplified by the second image because of the color of the clothes mostly because I associate the color brown with trees and dirt.
A Elf city
http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/d50f2b06-6390-4370-8529-3c2245ac58c5/94d64e10-58d5-4875-87b0-d25355b29d95.jpg


This is the main elf city in world of warcraft. Because of the abundance of trees/shrubbery and water i feel that this greatly adds to feeling that they're heavily involved with nature. When i looked at these images one of the first things i noticed was the abundance of the colour purple (especially in the second and city image) and to me the colour purple symbolises mystery and magic.

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Tuesday 1 November 2016

Unit 6: Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products


Introduction:
Questionnaires are a fast and efficient way to gather general information on a subject. Obviously there are some disadvantages in using questionnaires such as the inability to gather detailed answers. But there was no reason to go into extensive detail for the answers I wanted. Additionally the questionnaire was online so I received some answers which were not serious answers so these will have a negative impact on the feed back I've received.

To get a more detailed idea on what I should aim to do in my game I created two questionnaires. One is about the killer clowns from outer space film and the purpose of my questions in this was to find out what people thought of the film and what they enjoy/didn't enjoy about it , I also asked what they would change in the film if they had the chance to. In my second questionnaire was aimed specifically at creating my game. The main questions revolved around what genre to make the game and suggestions on what they recommend me adding to the game.


The results I gathered
On my first questionnaire I learned that the majority of the people has neutral feelings towards the film but nobody thought the movie was good. When asked 60% of the people didn't have a good or a bad opinion of it, a further 30% thought it was very bad. 10% of the responses s were not serious answers. When asked what they enjoyed about the film the majority said that they enjoyed nothing however a few people enjoyed the humor in the and the "cheesy 80's vibes". When I asked them what they would add/change in the film the main answers were not to make it at all or no more Mike.

In regards to my game i'm making 50% of the people wanted a horror game, 30% wanted a survival game and 20% wanted a shooter game. When asked what features want they want to see in my game the majority of people wanted a stealth element in the game. Other things what I will consider is hanging bodies of cotton candy too link it a little better to the film and possible character progression. I wanted recommendation for the age rating i should make the game, I asked this so I could find out what content I should add into the game. The majority wanted at 18+ or a 15+ game. (80%). I asked what view point they'd like the game to played in. 20% wanted to play in 3rd person 80% wanted to play in 1st person. I think playing in first person will amplify the effects of any horror I would add.
The majority of people either did not like it or had no feelings for it 

The majority of people want a horror game






Final Decision For My Game
The game style for my game will most likely be a survival/horror game. I will accomplish this by having a small amount of weapons...each one you'd have to find however you'll start off with a melee weapon. The majority of the weapons in the game will be melee weapons however you may be able to find a rifle or a shotgun of some kind as well.


Title
The Evil Within
Genre
Survival, Horror
Selection of content
Dark, atmospheric,
Construction of content
Survival, Escape,
Narrative conventions
Witnessing what happened. Surviving and escaping. Elements of stealth.
Codes and conventions
3rd person game. No health bar. Bloody screen to show you’re injured. Hard to kill enemies and limited resources.
Target demographic
18+ both sexes

Title
Outlast
Genre
Survival horror.
Selection of Content
Dark, claustrophobic, atmospheric
Construction of content
Survival, escape, hide,
Narrative conventions
Escaping the area, hiding from enemies.
Codes and Conventions
1st person game, No health bar, bloody screen or character effects such as limping to show you’re injured. No way to kill enemies
Target Demographic
18+ both sexes


Title
My game
Genre
Survival horror, shooter
Selection of content
Dimly lit, exploration
Construction of content
Linear, objective based
Narrative convention
Objective based, elements of stealth, finding weapons. Difficult enemies
Codes and conventions
No health bar, limited and hard to find ammo, Traditional weapons, Mostly melee weapons,
Target demographic
Adult


Media Text
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q97yE2zkNvs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2qITQHud2I&t=20s

Outlast and The Evil Within are immediately recognized as horror games just by watching the trailer. The grotesque creatures also show it is a clear horror game. Both trailers show that they're set in a dark, foreboding and evil looking place which are full of dangerous and hard to kill/immortal enemies. Both show and gore in the trailer and as you can tell from the trailer, you will have to do a larger amount of running from the enemies instead of going in there to kill them all. In the posters below you can tell each one depicts a scene of horror. The Evil Within poster immediately draws your attention to the barbed wire wrapped around the person's face and you can tell that the person is screaming. To me this symbolizes that the game is not for the faint of heart and that this is certainly a adult game. The Outlast poster clearly shows that it is also a horror game but in a different way. Outlast brings your attention to a rather aggressive looking figure in the background. You can instantly tell this figure is evil by it's very sinister grin on it's face and the brightness in its eyes. In addition to making it look more scary, the color scheme (black and green) to be indicates the color of a dark place (almost like it's in a night vision camera) and it shows that the area is dimly lit.
Image result for the evil within poster
Poster for The Evil Within
http://8-themes.com/6328-poster-game-the-evil-within/

Image result for outlast
Poster for outlast
http://www.redbarrelsgames.com/games/outlast/




Genre
The genre of these games are all survival horror games. The evil within also has some elements of a shooter game. I think what makes a good survival horror game is the perhaps the feeling of isolation you can get from them. Most survival horror games are single player so that you can get the most out of the feeling the game is trying to convey, whether it is shock, fear or any other kind of emotion. In my opinion Outlast is the better survival horror game due to lack of weapons or any way to defend yourself. Once you in contact with a enemy your only choice is to run and hide. I was to take inspiration from this for my game except you will get a way to defend yourself but nevertheless the enemies will be very hard to kill and there will be one which will be impossible to kill.

Selection of Content
When you play both of these games the first thing you will notice is they are both set indoors and and are both set during the evening. Each of the environment's they're set in is usually dark or dimly lit, however when some kind of lighting is used it is usually used to illuminate a important location.The enemies usually are deformed or possess some form of disfigurement. Some have burn scars, some are missing limbs, some have parts of there flest exposed but almost all of them look like they're malnourished which i believe add s to the horror because if the rotting and possible missing limbs are not obvious enough that should make it obvious. The enemies weapons are also varied but they are often things like jagged knives, machete's or butcher cleavers.

Construction of Content
Both games are set in a indoor environment. In many ways having a indoor environment can limit your exploration of the game however for these kind of games it it perfect. The enclosed spaces and the imminent threat of a enemy gives the feeling of claustrophobia because there are less ways you can run and if you get cornered you are guaranteed to die. The layout of the levels is almost maze like and it is easy to get lost.

Codes and Conventions
Outlast is a first person survival horror and The evil within is and 3rd person survival horror game. The HUD allows you to see the events unfold right in front of you within interference from a health bar or any thing else like that. You will get messages appear on your telling your next objectives occasionally. Your health usually determined by any blood what appears on your screen or something what happens to your character such as limping. Both games are photo realistic and the characters each seem normal to me. The player character looks like a ordinary person on the enemies in both games and all of your enemies do look like something what you'd expect. The scenes in the levels are often blood and gore filled and the lighting is something you need to get right in a horror game because i believe it is one of the most important things to get right, if it is done right the lighting alone can instantly tell you that this place is very dangerous.

Target Demographic
I believe that these kind of games are tailored towards both sexes equally because many people enjoy horror games and movies. Unlike the shooter genre i believe that the horror genre is suited to both sexes. These games are created for adults only and I wouldn't want a child to play these kind of games especially since they are very gory games and have scary scenes. I suspect these games are mostly brought by people living in urban environments because that is where the majority of the game stores are.

Tuesday 27 September 2016

Unit 66, 67 and 68 part one

Unit 66, 67 and 68 part one





Applications of 3D:

3D modelling has been in almost everything you see on a screen. Whether it watching a TV program or playing a video game. A very good example of uses of 3d modelling in a film would be the recreation of a younger Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Terminator Genisys film. It took them 12 months to create the scenes (approx 30 mins of screen time) with modelled Arnold Schwarzenegger. However in games many of them use programs like Maya or 3D studio max to create their models and environments.  One of most useful things with programs like maya is that you can use it to plan the construction of a building or even completely remake it. In addition to creating static images you can also create animations for them which is useful for for making educational videos more interesting.
                                                     old vs young arnold is terminator genisys (google)
                                                                   



                                                Modelling






                    I have taken a few screenshots from World of Warcraft as a example of modelling in a game



These screenshots show one of my characters and is one of the of the many examples of modelling inside of a game. Normally on a game such as World of Warcraft each piece of Armour is individually modeled and then resized to fit your character's race. This would be because if you got a piece of armor on a smaller race such as a dwarf it'll have to be resized to fit a human. Aside from character models each building would of had to modeled as well.
This is a very large structure in world of Warcraft. (google)

Another example of modelling in a game would be making building whether it is as large structure like the one above or a small abandoned house. The building whether accessible or not would have a purpose, whether it is for scenery or if you have to interact with it in some way.  You'll have to model certain buildings to fit a specific zone. The building above is set in a very icy/ snowy area and the spikes along the walls and building are supposed to look intimidating and the purpose of them i believe is to warm you that the area is very dangerous (which it is). However below is a 2 images which equally fit the area they are in.


This is another dangerous area set in a desert (google)
 
This is another dangerous area set in a swamp the fog amplifies the feeling of  dirtiness it is what you's expect in a swamp                                                                                                         (google)




The areas in all games will have to vary otherwise players will lose interest in the game. In addition to this you have to chose where you place areas correctly. What i mean by this is that i would not be wise to have a snowy area right next to a desert area however having a tropical forest or a rocky area would suit being next to a desert like area. a good example of good placement of environments are the two images below us. Both of which are zones right next to each other.

A Tropical area which is located in the middle of 2 large desert zones. (like an oasis could be) (google)






One of the large desert areas which surround the tropical area. (google)








Animation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9EsvzcVZv4
This is a short video showing some very basic animations on world of warcraft such as movement (running and walking) swimming, basic combat and falling. (Each race in world of warcraft has unique animations i'm only showing one race)



The animations in a game brings out the life of a character or event and without them your character wouldn't look like it was moving. it'd just be a moving mesh.  Animations are also used for many other things such as in a environment. You could display a sandstorm or moving fog along with a vast array other options.

You can create in game cut scenes through animations using in game graphics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmRJ-HD5x4
The uses of in game cinematic's could be used to create drama, fear, apprehension and sadness. 


Polygons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pz4DFnXS-4
This us a short video of me showing the polygons and messing around a little. (no sound)

The polygons in Maya are a Cube, Sphere, Ring, a flat square, square based pyramid, a tube (hollow) and a tube which isn't hollow.
There are two common ways to model. These are Box modelling and extrusion modelling.
Box modelling is using a basic polygon to create a rough copy of your final design.
Extrusion modelling is where you create a 2D shape which is the basic outline of your 3D object
When using software like Maya you'll be able to edit a existing shape to create almost anything and if you add more polygons to the existing shape you could turn something as simple as a cube into almost anything


Geometric theory
When creating something on Maya you need to have at least some knowledge on 3D shapes such as knowledge on vertices(a angled point on a shape) edges and faces(the part of the shape which is normally separated by a edge) ETC. In a program like Maya you would use primitive polygons. the ones in Maya are Cube, Sphere, Ring, a flat square, square based pyramid, a tube (hollow) and a tube which isn't hollow. There different meshes which could help you when modelling a object.


Constraints
Obviously the more complex structures you create and the larger they are the file size needed to store them is increased significantly increased. With the file size increased the time to render and when you add it to a game you may need a higher spec PC to use it properly. If you're using 3d studio max you're file will be stored as a 3ds file. whereas if you're using Maya they'll be saved as a mb file.
.
Displaying 3D Animation
Here is a example video of animating a object in Maya (this is not my own video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8fj52htMek

The API's are used for communicating with the graphics card and software the game you're playing uses. The two most well known API's are Directx and OpenGL. The differences between these would be that Directx is Microsoft developed which means it'd only be used on PC's with windows installed on it and the Xbox consoles. OpenGL may have uses on other games consoles and PC's which don't use Windows.
When the API communicates to the graphics card everything you see on screen is because of this.


This is the graphics pipeline which shows the process of  communication to the graphics card and bringing it onto your screen(microsoft website)


There are also many rendering engines (which are used to bring the images to your screen) and each one is better suited to some situations better than others. The v-ray render engine is better for high resolution images, backgrounds and environments whereas the Redshift engine (a very new engine) looks like it could potentially be used for gaming.
The two main rendering techniques are radiosity and ray tracing and each way is suited to different tasks. Radiosity involves a lot of work with lighting and reflections. Ray tracing is where you trace a line of light and then it simulates the shadows/ reflections with the object. 



Image result

Ray tracing (wikipedia)



















                                               

Tuesday 20 September 2016

new killer klown game

Names
Amor Mortis (love of death)
The laughing dead
(more later)



I focused on using padlet to some up some of my major ideas
https://padlet.com/sindragosa1998/e7bcuwokffsd


Genre
Survival
Shooter
arena
horror Environments
A open field (possible farm or slaughter house)or a urban environment
A town
(possibly more)
plot
You believe that you are the last human on the planet you have to fight the clowns and clear out areas full of clowns. upon defeating the clowns more clowns will for you until you have beaten then. It will then be up to you to find any (secrets) or progress to the next stage
Gameplay
I would like to build a game where your objective is too get to a important location. There will be several locations for you to discover. Whilst you fight a range of different clowns which will do different attacks. I want to also create a slow moving but extremely deadly clown modelled off of Dani filth (see below).
Dani filth, somebody i could potentially model into a enemy.


Weapons (user and clown)
For yourself i would like to go with a few classic weapons. like a double barrelled shotgun or a single shot rifle. Due to the locations i might set it, most people in the countryside (i'd imagine) wouldn't have automatic weapons. As for a melee weapon (if i add them) a woodsman's axe or possible pitchfork.
The weapons for the clowns i plan on twisting the stereotypical clown image of fun into something almost sadistic in nature. Possible explosive pies or razor filled pies, Melee clowns using large hammers and suicidal clowns running into you with explosive pies. The one what you're supposed try and avoid will use some kind of special weapon like a long scythe or if i'm going to take inspiration for the weapon directly from the film it could have some kind of special gun.

I plan on having on having some adult content on the game such as some violent images but nothing to graphic. I want to make the game either 16+ or a 18+ depending on what the results from the questionnaire i get.






Tuesday 13 September 2016

Game questionnaire

Gamer questionnaire


Upon completing the questionnaire it recommended  mainly shooter games to me. I do not play many shooter games with the exception of occasionally playing battlefield 4. I am quite surprised (even a little disappointed) that there are so much. The most recommended game was mass effect and i do enjoy the look of the game due to it's rich story line which is important for me.


One of the main things I do not agree with is the placement of Call of Duty and Fifa being placed so high in the recommendations. Especially with Fifa because as far as I know there isn't a story within the game. Call of duty is not really a game for me because I do not like the idea of constantly joining online matches with one goal which would be to progress to the next rank. (for me it's to repetitive). However I may buy it for the story mode.

Aside from these i am pleased with the rest of the recommendations. My Favourite genre currently MMORPG and there are 2 which appears rather high up in the recommendations and these are World of Warcraft (which i already play) and star wars the old republic. In addition to these the elder scrolls series and the fallout series (both of which i play) appear on the list amongst may other games I play or desire to play.

This graph shows what qualities i hope to find in a game.




When playing a game i tend to be a competitive player because i always aim to get the best weapons but my main focus is usually enjoying the objectives and admiring the scenery. In any RPG game it is important having some kind voice acting or some kind of interaction with your character. It is harder to achieve in a MMORPG which is why i believe it is important to have a way for other players to interact with each other.


If i could sum up what kind of things i look for in games briefly it'd be...

A good and interesting story
Interactivity between players and/or NPC's
Some kind of achievement systen
Unique areas, weapons and enemies











Game Engines :Unit 70

Game Engines



The definition:

A game engine is what powers what you see inside a game. Whether it is a building you see or an enemy what you face. One of the major things a game engine will do is rendering. Rendering controls what you see on an image (such as a rock texture). The rendering engine also controls lighting and shading. Aside from these a game engine is in charge of sounds, physics and AI however these are split into different areas within the actual game engine itself.
                        A screen shot of Vampyr which is being released on the unreal engine 4





This is a video of a simulator called BeamNG it has one of the best physics engines out so far.







The difference between open and closed game engines
Many game engines are available to download and use to make your own games for example the unreal engine. However there are also many where they’re impossible to use unless you are an employee. A famous example for this would the Creation engine which is used to make Elder scrolls: Skyrim and fallout 4














The unreal engine 4 is a recently developed engine and it promises to bring some very nice visual effects into new games. This engine has a very large emphasis on lighting effects. The upcoming game “vampyr” shows this. As you can see in the image (first page) this looks to be a deeply atmospheric game and the lighting greatly adds to the effects. I believe that this specific game engine may be used for photorealistic games to greater effect than what could be achieved in an exaggerated or any other style. (This is my opinion). I feel this way because I believe that with a photorealistic game it tests the capabilities of the game engine more. A few games what will be released using this engine will be Dead Island 2, Gears of war 4. This game engine works well with Maya as you can import your models very easily into it.

This is a screenshot of the new unreal tournament game using the unreal engine 4











The Rage engine is a closed game engine only Rockstar employees can use this. It was used to make the grand theft auto games (from grand theft auto 4 onwards) and Red Dead Redemption. This engine has been used on the Xbox 360, Xbox one, PS3, PS4, Nintendo wii and PC.  This game engine is primarily used for photo realistic games. Rockstar use a separate engine for some other parts of their games. For example for their character animations they use the open source “bullet” engine


A screenshot of Grand theft auto 5 on the PC










Bioware has been in use since 1995 and has been used to create a multitude of games since then including the effect series (except mass effect Andromeda) and the dragon age series (additionally Star wars the old republic and the baldur’s gate series).  Since 2007 EA own this engine. This made Bioware a subsidiary company (a company owned by another company). Many of the games combine the art styles of photorealistic and exaggerated. Typically this game engine is used in RPG games

Dragon age inquisition screenshot





















CryEngine is a game engine created by Crytek and it has been used to create games such as Crysis, the first far cry game and a modified version of CryEngine has been used to create the game Star citizen. In 2015 Cryengine was licenced to amazon ad in February 2016 amazon released the Amazon lumberyard (it’s a reworked Cryengine). The cryengine has mainly been used to create photo realistic games. The first crisis game (released in 2007) was one of best looking games (in terms of graphics) out at that time and was still considered a good looking game at the end of the xbox 360, and pa3 generation of consoles.




A screenshot of the first crysis games






(gamemaker)














Gamemaker has been in use since 1999 and has been widely used to introduce people into creating games. Since this is mainly designed for novices, you don’t need any skill or experience with programming. In order to make more complex coding there are also many tutorials to guide you into using the coding effectively. Gamemaker is primarily used for making 2d pixelated games, however it is possible to make a 3d game.





This is a screenshot of a game made in Gamermaker



















Unity is an open source game engine. It has seen use on PC, consoles, Mobile and web games. One of the reasons Unity is so popular is because of its ability to be used on many gaming platforms. Unity has been used since 2006 and the majority of mobile games now use unity because of its availability which greatly adds to its popularity since at this current moment mobile games is the most popular gaming platform. Unity earns its money by having you have to buy some of the features but the majority of the features are free to use.


This is a screenshot of a game made in Unity






















This game engine was used for the creation of Witcher 2 and Witcher 3. This particular game engine was designed specifically for these games by the CD projekt red. The witcher games are photo realistic. When playing the games you would be able to tell that the objects in the game render at a further distance than most other games. One of the things I enjoy most with game engine is the hair animations and facial expressions in the witcher games.


A screenshot of witcher 3










Tuesday 26 April 2016

10 Questions

In the platform game, name one thing you learned during its development.  

I Learned how to use game maker since the platform game was my 1st i had made and this allowed me to get used to using it.


In the maze game name one thing you learned during this assignment


In the maze game it allowed me to experiment with some new ideas. Creating the game was not the challenge. I had to recreate the game to a semi working standard because i had lost all of the internal files inside the game but this taught me how to work under pressure and to a deadline (which i met)


Did you learn any maths during this experience?



I did not learn any new math skills however it did refresh my memory.


Do you think you gained any maths when you did any puzzles for the maze game? 



No i did not gain any new math skills because they were all things i came up with by myself so i had to know the answers and formula to them.



How do you rate your maths?


7/10 because at this moment maths is just becoming really easy for me and if i had the chance to redo my maths GCSE i could comfortably get a B.


How hard did you find the maths during these assignments


I found the mouths really easy because the majority of the problems i had faced mainly included decimals and coordinates. 


Do you think your opinion’s towards maths has changed


My opinion has not changed towards it because it is still the most dull subject in my opinion.