Task 12: Personal review of the first year

When I first started the course my main worry was learning to use 3DS Max, I’m not bad with computers but I was a bit overwhelmed with the size of the programme. But I picked it up surprisingly quickly and I think it is now my strongest subject, because I enjoy it and I like building pretty much anything in this virtual 3D space.  I found the layout of the course strengthen my ability with this programme.

I was really interested in the critical studies lectures because I liked learning about the journey of the game industry. I wish we had more opportunity to do presentations because I liked presenting my interests in a more formal way.  

I also really enjoyed taking my visual design and combining it with the 3D. I particularly enjoyed the gun project because creating it visually and making it physically it made me look at my design process in a better, different way. In future 3D projects I want to make a small model because I think it will help make me look at how I’m designing and creating a piece.   

I really enjoyed making physical 3D models but I found it hard to effectively manipulate my materials, so I think I would benefit from tutorials on how to do this. I’ve been getting better throughout the year but I think I would benefit from some help.

I struggled with the amount of work set because I didn’t have the ability to juggle between projects and to keep momentum through projects I didn’t like. I found parts of visual design hard because I found it difficult to change my style of drawing. I found developing my rendering skills really hard because I didn’t have the ability to see shadows and show them in my drawing.  Although when I started the contour project it made me think about getting the visual information on the page quickly. I was concentrating more on speed than perfection so it made me look more at the object more which in turn made my drawings better because I wasn’t over thinking what I was doing.  

I would also say that I would benefit from some Photoshop workshops because I don’t have a great knowledge of digital painting. So I can’t take my traditional skills and apply them to Photoshop because I’m still using the same technique as before and I don’t feel that this element has improved very much. I feel like my digital paintings are behind because I’m not sure of the system. I’ve tried to learn by myself but I’ve found it quite difficult.

I really enjoyed life drawing! I would have liked to have started sooner because I enjoyed it so much and my drawing abilities improved dramatically because of these sessions. I would like to have the opportunity to do this more next year to further improve my drawings skills.

Overall I’ve really enjoyed this year, I’ve enjoyed what we’ve been doing, admittedly sometimes the amount over shadowed this, but I understand that without all my work I wouldn’t be at the stage I am now. I feel like I’m now ready to progress to the second year and I’m eager to develop the skills I’ve learnt from my 1^st. 

An insight into Game Development

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Call of Duty franchise, but I like how in this video they show the importance of gameplay, and you can get an idea of where the industry is heading and what it will be able to do in the future. The video gives you an idea of their heightened graphics which is supported by new hardware.

I’m interested in how a viewer can experience something they wouldn’t normally and in this video it shows how gameplay is important for the player to immerse themselves in the game.

It also shows an insight into the high-poly count models they’re making for the next generation of hardware. At first it daunts me to see these realistic models and it gives me something to strive towards because I want to be on par with that ability. 

Task 11: Elements of game design, part four: environment

To help you progress from one area to another to level up, level designers use environmental barriers to block your way so you have to move on to the next part of the objective. They use in game objects so you’ll try walking through a bush and it won’t let you because it’s away from the objective. They also use objects naturally found in the specific game environment. This kind of level constriction is found in mainly 1^st person shooter gameplays. I find that these barriers constrict the amount you can connect with what’s happening in the game because it feel a little maze-like. These barriers have been present throughout gaming history and it’s something I hope will die out eventually.

In Medal of honour game there’s a section when you storm the beach and if they’re not able to capture the essence of storming a beach it doesn't feel believable. If it’s not believable you can’t immerse yourself fully in the game.

Not only do you get drawn in with by an environment it can also create an atmosphere that fits the game. It can make you feel vulnerable, tense, uneasy, unsafe even though you’re sitting in the comfort of your own room if the game has a good environment it has the ability to make you feel unsafe. I found this with Bioshock one I was comfortable in my room playing and I felt very uneasy and I wouldn’t have been possible without the effects of the environment around my character.

I don’t think there has to be a balance between stylisation and realism, I found myself being equally immersed in realistic games such as Battlefield 3 which was designed to be as close as possible to the experience of being the heart of the action.

Compared to something like an MMO like world of Warcraft which is quite cartoony and has their own style I’ve been equally immersed. So I think it depends on the type of game you’re playing.

 To take it to extremes Minecraft is incredibly stylised and the furthest from reality you could get and you still get drawn in by the cubic environment. In its own way it’s still just as breath-taking because although it’s not realistic everything fits together and it overwhelms you. It shows off what it needs to and because of this you get immersed and you find yourself building a life in this little world. A good environment also needs to be unique to the game. Minecraft illustrates this really well because they created a unique, successful, stylised, environment and atmosphere when the gamer community was craving realism.

The style of environment that the Halo series uses is one I particularly like designed by 343 industries, because their able to strike a balance between realism and futuristic Sci-Fi which make it believable. Certain parts of the levels have the ability to make you feel intimidated by the scale but you also feel amazed by it. You don’t look at the game as a gaming environment you treat it as a real life environment that you could step into even though its set 220 year in the future on planets you’ll never visit but you can through these incredible landscape scenes and mysterious atmospheres. 

Task 10: Elements of game design, part three: character

My favourite characters have been Kylar from Beyond the shadows a book by Brent Weeks. I connected with this character because through the progression of the story you’re able to see the character grow from childhood to manhood. You build up a connection and you feel you really know him. He is quite similar to me but he also has aspects I would like to adopt. Kylar is similar to me in the way that when you first meet him he didn’t want to be afraid anymore, he wasn’t happy with where he was in that moment in his life and he wanted to become something better. To do that he had to do things he wasn’t happy with and when reading it for the first time I was put in the same situation and when I did what was forced, just like the character it worked out for the better. He wanted someone in his life that he could love and I wanted to find the same thing.

Another of my favourites is Reynik from Imperial Assassin by Mark Robson. Again now he is a similar age to me but when first reading the book the character was a lot older then I was. The character became someone to look up to and even now when I’m older than he is I still look up to him. He has very boyish looks like myself and he always tries to complete his tasks to the best of his abilities. He always strives for improvement especially when taken out of his comfort zones. He is pretending to be an assassin and is forced to become the one thing he hates and I couldn’t personally do that. We’re similar but I could never do what he is forced to.

I feel such a strong connection with these characters because the author makes you become part of the story and you feel involved in their life story. You seem to step into their shoes and you can’t help but connect with them and almost love them in a way.

I think the way the books are written has something to do with the bond that grows between reader and character but the main reason I became immersed in their life was because we had so many similarities. The language the author uses allows you to dive into the rich story that is the character’s life. I read to escape my surroundings and because there was such strong similarities between each character and myself it created a strong connection between us.  

I’m drawn to mainly fantasy novels which is kind of a surprise because it’s very contradictory to the kind of games I prefer. I prefer sci-fi in games but I like fantasy in books, sorcery, dragons, assassins with a character driven story. Involving action, adventure and a chance to connect with characters by becoming involved in their life story not just reading about their life off a piece of paper. 

Hand Modelling

At first I found modelling the hand difficult but after I changed the reference image I was using I created some really awesome and realistic looking hands which were in proportion and didn't look like a deformed washing up glove.

Post apocolypse Weapon

The project was completed within the given timescale; however I think that I got ahead of myself at the beginning of the project.

Parts that went well:

• Completed modelling quickly which left more time for texturing.

• Modelling skills in 3Ds Max. The experience gained from past projects allowed me to create an effective mesh for my weapon.

• Unwrapping skills in 3Ds Max. Quick and effective.

• Creating the model with my hands for the visual design part.

•  Looks believable and can be seen in a post-apocalyptic game environment.

• Because its low poly and simple I can see it in MMO game where game models have to be low poly.

Parts that didn’t go so well:

• My texturing ability and skill at using the Photoshop to create texture hindered the finished model and didn’t live up to the finished idea I had in my idea.

•  Dived into the project too quickly and wasted time creating a model which didn’t fit the project brief. However I guess anytime spent modelling in 3ds max is time well spent that improves my modelling skills. 

Gladiator

Parts that went well:

·       Setting up a schedule.
·       Modelling skills in 3Ds Max. the experience gain from past project allowed my to create effective mesh for my character that is in the triangle count.
·       Unwrapping skills in 3Ds Max. I have become confident in unwrapping my models which makes the task of unwrapping my models take up less time than in previous projects.
·       Following the tutorials provided on blackboard allowed me to create a realistic looking model in short period of time (expect the head).

Parts that didn’t go so well:

·       Modelling the head. Modelling the head proved to be one the hardest parts of the project. I found it really hard to create a head which looked realistic. I believe that I spent way too much time on modelling and re modelling the head of my character and lost precious time which should have spent texturing.
·       Texturing the model, texture was very rushed as I was behind on my time schedule due to spending too much time on my head. Furthermore I need to become more experienced at painting my textures and not relying on photo textures for my models.
·       Time management. Due to my lack of ability at time management I believe I really ruined the end result of this project. In future projects I need to stick to my schedule and not concentrate on one part of a model.