Unit 6 Critical approaches to gaming P3

Unit 6 Critical approaches to gaming P3

Upon researching the effects of violent video games in people younger people i believe that there are some positive effects and some negative effects with playing video games.

I created a survey where i asked a series of questions asking there views on the effect of video games and what effect they feel it has had on there life. The majority of the people believe that it has an effect however they feel that video games are not the sole cause of. Everybody who participated has played a violent video game at some point in there life. When asked what emotion they feel the most whilst playing video games most responded with happiness or some form of excitement.
The overall average time the people who i asked play video games there are a few which answered with 100+ hours a week which is obsessive however the average between everybody was 43 hours a week (this is still obsessive) bit not to the same extent. Spending that much time could be damaging to your physical and mental health. However not everybody who spends an obsessive amount of time on a video game will cause you to be bloodthirsty killer even if the only games you play are violent. For many playing video games is a way to social or distract you from your own personal problems in the real world. There are studies which also show it can improve your reaction time and your attention to detail which can be used to train surgeons and other people who requite precise and skilled movement in there hands.
There are mixed answers to whether people feel they have been desensitised by playing video games, 60% do feel they have been desensitised in some way but all of them do not believe that video games have made them violent or aggressive. They do feel that video games can desensitise people but do not cause violence, this can be backed up with the fact that ever since the rising popularity of video games, crime has also decreased. 

Unit 71: Object-Oriented Design for Computer Games

Concepts and Principles
When creating a game your blueprints what you input into your game have to easy to read and understand. For example if you were to create a blueprint for a spawn rate of an enemy, Simplified understanding means how easy it is the read and understand or how easy it is to identify what you were trying to achieve. If your blueprint is hard to understand then it can open many problems for the future if you some reason you had to go back and show your blueprint to someone else or you have to explain what you did, they may find fault if there are a much easier way of doing the blueprint of it it simply not understandable.
 Another important aspect is ensuring that your blueprint is easily reusable. This is useful in case something happens to your work and for some reason you have to remake or edit a existing blueprint. By being able to reuse it means you can recreate and adapt the current blueprint to suit your needs.
 Naturally if your blueprints are poorly maintained you will not be able to replicate or make necessary changes to them if it was needed because they may be damaged in such a way that you'll have to completely remake it. In addition to that it's always important to check your game and your blueprints for any issues because if some are found, you can fix them as soon as they are found. If you are able to maintain your game and remove any issues that appear you will be efficiently be able to deal with any future problems which appears, meaning you solve the problem which arises faster and with no hassle from any pre-existing problems.
In my game and in many other games you often create objects based on real structures or objects, for example creating a building. Many would find a reference image to give you a foundation on what you want to design it on. However when you create an object in a game it doesn't have to follow how you'd expect an object react in the real world which'll allow you to make all kind of weird and wonderful fun effects on the object in the end.
 When creating a game it is very important to make sure all of the aspects uphold a certain degree of quality inside of them.

Game objects
Sprites are 2D images of an object or character. When using Gamemaker you created the sprite to act as the shell for the object in which inside of this "shell" you would add all of the coding inside. When you were using Gamemaker you had to create multiple sprites of the same character or weapon if you wanted to animate your characters. Characters within your game are often yourself (and others if you're playing with a friend) and interactive NPC's such as bosses or helpful allies. Normal enemies are not usually considered characters. A weapon within a game should be designed in a unique way as a sprite and ideally it would have different effects or do something different to the other weapons in the game. Ideally you would apply the same logic to the scenery as well. Sometimes in a game youget power ups which will alter your character in a way to make a few tasks  within them easier, for example Mario where you collect the mushrooms and other things to give you a unique effect.

One of my characters

One of the many power ups from Mario

Object properties
Many games have a set amount of health you are given in a game, this can be increased with power up or with a certain event triggering. Some bosses will either speed or or slow down when you damage them enough. In most games the bosses are either faster than you and they rely on you dodging there attacks more however some bosses which are slower may deal more damage making you needing to dodge less but each dodge but it could be crucial that you succeed in dodging. On some games when the enemies take a certain amount of damage they start acting sluggish. I believe the aim of this is to make the enemies seem more of a challenge as you damage them further or vice versa.

A boss fight

Actions and Events

Mouse and keyboard events are usually how you move around and interact with objects inside the the game. Usually WASD are how you walk (W is forward, S is backward A is left and D is right). These are usually easy to code when using Gamemaker all you had to do was set the specific key to do a certain action (such as setting W to move forward) and then that was finished. The other keys such as E to pick up or interact with other objects or the Space bar to jump can also easily be implemented inside the game. An easy way to gen an object to destroy themselves is by adding a collision event in. For example when a bullet is fired it'd destroy itself and/or the wall when it hits it. A few enemies or levels have time you must beat them, if you fail there is a high chance you will fail or not get any kind if substantial reward.

A timed event in Diablo 3

Inheritance: 

Inheritance in an object means that when a certain event is triggered it can be reused by another object or character, i think a good example of this is that when you die in a shooter game you can usually pick up the enemy's weapon and use it yourself and so the cycle continues.

Unit 66, 67 – 3D Modelling & Animation

This is my first melee weapon for my game, a corroded axe with a curved blade for hooking onto flesh or possible dismemberment. I started by creating hilt. I used a cylinder polygon with 8 subdivisions along it's width and 8 along the depth. I used the extrude tool to add on the little nobly point the bottom of the hilt and i used the make hole tool to create a small hole at the bottom of the hilt as well. These are only for decoration purposes but they can be used to show where the player

 will grip the weapon. For the blade i used the extrude tool and elongated the selected edges and pulled them apart. I used to inset edge loop tool to all me to add a curve into it and I then used the smooth tool to give it more polished and sharp look. 

This is a shed i'm going to add into my game. It is going to be a spawn point for a weapon, most likely a melee weapon such as the axe from above. I intentionally made it look empty because the setting is in a abandoned forest/rural region and it's either everything has been looted or has been missing. I started by creating a 4x4 2d place. I extruded the edges upwards to create a box shape and sealed it off by extruding the edge again to drag and create a smooth roof. Inside i created two cube polygons and made them a very slight difference in size just to fill up the empty space. I used to insert edge loop tool and extruded the edge to create the shelves. The weapon will be placed on the shelves so you can pick it up once you see it.

The next model is a Rifle and i plan for it to be one of the few ranged weapons in the game, naturally the ammo is going to be in a limited supply as well. I used a M1 Garand Image plane to model this off of and the is constructed from a cube polygon, stretched out with 3 subdivisions in height, 4 in width and 2 in depth, there is also a cylinder which has be cut in two and a small pipe polygon for the barrel of the gun. For this object I used the extrude tool and edge loop tool to create the majority of the object, but for the other polygons i had to use the merge tool to combine them together. This may be found 

This is a memorial area for my game, I created it by two Cube polygons and giving them an extra 4 sides and then duplicated it to form two steps into it. The middle resembles a kind of coffin or perhaps a hidden entrance into somewhere. On the top of the coffin is something what resembles a trident or a set of three torches. The back of the memorial is sealed off by a wall and on the side is two sets of cupboards.


I could improve all of these by adding or changing a paint to them and few textures to flesh them out. But during this time i have learnt how to use Maya better and how to create more detailed models

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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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.

Poster for The Evil Within
http://8-themes.com/6328-poster-game-the-evil-within/

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.

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. 





Ray tracing (wikipedia)

                                               

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.