I sometimes feel that on this course I cant be as creative as I want to be in my projects. But if I do get a job in the creative industries how much creative freedom will I actually have?
Seeing as on this course our goal is to earn a career as a game artist; we've had a few people talk to us about what working as a game artist is like. When Ben Mathis gave a lecture he talked about his experience working as a game artist as well as his own personal projects. He commented on how the work he did as a game artist was very controlled and he had very little creative freedom when it came to designing assets for the games he would work on. All the design decisions are made by the art director so if an artist designs a character and the director believes it doent fit well in the game it will be scrapped or the artist will be asked to alter it. This constant critiquing from the art director could be tiring for a game artist, in fact Ben Mathis said he would often come home after work and redo something he had designed that day how he would have made it if it was his own game.
Ben Mathis said he though rather than having an art director it would be better to just have a team of artists working together to come up with ideas and making decisions as a group. This would allow the artists to be much more creative and would make their jobs a lot more satisfying, but would this benefit the game? Having an art director surely helps to maintain a certain level of quality and consistensy throughout the look of the game. An art director is able to look at the game as a whole and see how well certain bits fit in. The art director is responsible for all the art that goes into a game. Their job is to ensure that all art within the game matches the artistic style and quality standard that they have set, and they also help to organize the team and help make sure the project is completed on time.
Because of the constraints of time and money; creativity of the game artist is tightly controlled. But I imagine this is true of other parts of the game production process. How creative is the music composer allowed to be? I suppose it all depends on the game director and the type of game that is being made. The least creative type of game I can think of would be a game based on a film. All the character designs, landscapes, music, storyline is already there in the film so there is very little creativity needed in the design process and I suppose thats how developers manage to get those games out so quickly. And games that allow the most creativity are the the more ambitious games that usually come from bigger developers that have more time and money to spend on the design process.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Creativity - creative industries
Creativity; the use of inventivness, original ideas and resourcefulness is the most important factor in creating a high quality and enjoyable video game. It is as important in the games industry as it is in any other industry that incorporates art and design.
In the music industry creativity is highly important if an artist wants to be recognised. A unique original sound will be noticed by a record company. Creativity in writing would be expressed through original stories rather than a book documenting factual stuff. But a book about the events of the first world war for example could be told in different ways by different authors. One could approach it in a straight forward way while the other could approach it in a more creative original way. But each book would differ slightly depending on who it was written by.
Films are similar to games in that you see far less creative films than standard films. Studios will be more inclined to spend money on a safe film they know the audience will like rather than risk losing money on a more original creative film that people arent used to. The director will obviously determine how creative and original the film is and a more experienced and established director will likely have more creative freedom. And like games a film will require more creativity based on the genre, whether its a science fiction film or a documentary.
Another industry where creativity is important is advertising. A lot of adverts you see on television or on billboards are incredibly creative. This I expect is due to companies wanting their adverts to stand out and attract as much attention as possible. That and the massive amount of money that is spent on them means that adverts have a high level of creativity.
In the creative industries the extent to which creativity is used and how it is utilized may differ from one industry to another but its importance is undeniable.
In the music industry creativity is highly important if an artist wants to be recognised. A unique original sound will be noticed by a record company. Creativity in writing would be expressed through original stories rather than a book documenting factual stuff. But a book about the events of the first world war for example could be told in different ways by different authors. One could approach it in a straight forward way while the other could approach it in a more creative original way. But each book would differ slightly depending on who it was written by.
Films are similar to games in that you see far less creative films than standard films. Studios will be more inclined to spend money on a safe film they know the audience will like rather than risk losing money on a more original creative film that people arent used to. The director will obviously determine how creative and original the film is and a more experienced and established director will likely have more creative freedom. And like games a film will require more creativity based on the genre, whether its a science fiction film or a documentary.
Another industry where creativity is important is advertising. A lot of adverts you see on television or on billboards are incredibly creative. This I expect is due to companies wanting their adverts to stand out and attract as much attention as possible. That and the massive amount of money that is spent on them means that adverts have a high level of creativity.
In the creative industries the extent to which creativity is used and how it is utilized may differ from one industry to another but its importance is undeniable.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Creativity - teaching creativity
I think it is very difficult to teach creativity. Either someone has the ability to be creative or they don't. One can be encouraged to use their creativity to their full potential. When I was at school my art teachers never seemed to teach me to be creative as such, they helped me to develop my skills at drawing and painting etc. but never helped me to come up with ideas. The one thing I was taught to do the most was a lot of research. I was told to look at artists, movements and just about anything for inspiration. We always moaned about it at the time and wondered why why we had to spend so much time looking at other peoples work rather than concentrating on coming up with our own ideas. Looking at other artists work gives you an understanding of what has been done in the past and what has worked and what hasn't. You can look at a piece of art and see what makes it good and use it to push your ideas further. Whenever I came to a stop during a project I found that doing a bit of research helps to fill my mind with more ideas and progress further. You are not necessarily using other peoples ideas but getting inspiration from them.
Also compiling a lot of visual research like photographs, reference books, magazines is really useful for when you are designing something. Whether you are designing a character or an object, you can take inspiration from pretty much anywhere so the more research you have the better.
Someone cant necessarily be taught to be creative but should be encouraged to be resourceful and broad minded when approaching their work.
Also compiling a lot of visual research like photographs, reference books, magazines is really useful for when you are designing something. Whether you are designing a character or an object, you can take inspiration from pretty much anywhere so the more research you have the better.
Someone cant necessarily be taught to be creative but should be encouraged to be resourceful and broad minded when approaching their work.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Creativity - creative people
Creativity can be a way of expressing your personality through you work. If you are confident and extraverted then this can be reflected in your work. My artwork tends to be pretty safe and due to my reserved nature. My friend Caz who is a drama student has a very bubbly, confident personality. Give her a blank sheet of paper and she'll fill every inch of it with fantastic expressive doodles of stars, butterflies, flowers and words she likes. Her drawings may not be as informed as a true artists but they demonstrate how your own personality can affect you work.
Does your creativity reflect your personality or can your personality be affected by how creative you are? The latter has been something I've come to believe over the last couple of years. A friend from Leicester University commented on how how friendly students from DMU are compared to students at her uni. The reason that was suggested was that DMU courses tend to be on the more creative side - art and design, media, drama etc., and art students are generally more laid back and open minded. I first noticed this a couple of years ago when I was studying at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth. In my first week there I was struck immediately by how friendly everyone was. Bournemouth University is located just accross the road from the Arts Institute and I used to go there at lunchtimes to buy food from their shop. I always found the students there slightly different in the way they socialize and talk to eachother, and I felt a little intimidated by them at times. I'm not trying to suggest that more creative people are nicer than less creative people, but there definitely is a difference in their personality.
If creativity is something that comes naturally how easily can it be taught?
Does your creativity reflect your personality or can your personality be affected by how creative you are? The latter has been something I've come to believe over the last couple of years. A friend from Leicester University commented on how how friendly students from DMU are compared to students at her uni. The reason that was suggested was that DMU courses tend to be on the more creative side - art and design, media, drama etc., and art students are generally more laid back and open minded. I first noticed this a couple of years ago when I was studying at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth. In my first week there I was struck immediately by how friendly everyone was. Bournemouth University is located just accross the road from the Arts Institute and I used to go there at lunchtimes to buy food from their shop. I always found the students there slightly different in the way they socialize and talk to eachother, and I felt a little intimidated by them at times. I'm not trying to suggest that more creative people are nicer than less creative people, but there definitely is a difference in their personality.
If creativity is something that comes naturally how easily can it be taught?
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Creativity - what is creativity?
Creativity is the use of ones imagination, inventivness, and resourcefulness to create original ideas usually in the production of art. Creativity is not something that can be taught in schools or in higher education for that matter, it is entirely driven by one persons ideas and and their desire to create something unique and imaginitive.
But does something creative have to be an original idea? Something that no one else has thought of before you? Looking at my own designs and ideas I wonder if there is someone else in the world who has had exactly the same idea before me and been more successful with it. Does that mean my idea lacks purpose? I think my clock character design is really cool and I'm really pleased with it but I keep thinking its such a simple idea that there must be at least one person out there who has had exactly the same idea. And if thats the case does it mean i wasn't creative enough when i came to design it? My organic character design on the other hand is far more original and incorporates many different ideas from my own unique research, and therefore it is unlikely that someone else has already designed it. When looking at both designs though I think they are both equally good even though one could be argued is more creative than the other.
So how important is creativity if a good design can be made by basing it on other peoples ideas? If I was asked to design a mobile phone I would be basing my design on ideas already in existence. I suppose some art requires more creativity than others, but an exceptional piece of art that commands attention and recognition needs to be creative and highly original. But how does this apply to different areas of the creative industries? How important is creativity when designing art for video games?
But does something creative have to be an original idea? Something that no one else has thought of before you? Looking at my own designs and ideas I wonder if there is someone else in the world who has had exactly the same idea before me and been more successful with it. Does that mean my idea lacks purpose? I think my clock character design is really cool and I'm really pleased with it but I keep thinking its such a simple idea that there must be at least one person out there who has had exactly the same idea. And if thats the case does it mean i wasn't creative enough when i came to design it? My organic character design on the other hand is far more original and incorporates many different ideas from my own unique research, and therefore it is unlikely that someone else has already designed it. When looking at both designs though I think they are both equally good even though one could be argued is more creative than the other.
So how important is creativity if a good design can be made by basing it on other peoples ideas? If I was asked to design a mobile phone I would be basing my design on ideas already in existence. I suppose some art requires more creativity than others, but an exceptional piece of art that commands attention and recognition needs to be creative and highly original. But how does this apply to different areas of the creative industries? How important is creativity when designing art for video games?
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Year 2 - Term 1
So far the second year has been more enjoyable than the first year. My 3d modeling has had to improve pretty quickly because of the difficulty of making a character model. My character designs have also improved massively compared to the rubbish one I did last year.
For my organic character design I chose fruit as a starting point. I went down to somerfield and bought a load of different fruit then cut them all up, took photos then left them in a tub to go moldy. I brainstormed several different ideas based on all the different shapes and patterns on the fruit. My final design is a creature that has characteristics of fruit like peeling skin.
For my mechanical character design I chose clocks as a starting point and my research led me to look at clock towers and gothic architecture. My design ended up being a sort of walking clock tower.
As far as the self portrait is concerned I've done 4 versions. The first one I did in a day without any reference photos and turned out suprisingly well for a first attempt at a character model. The second one didn't amout to much. The third one I've spent a rediculously long amount of time on. Being a massive perfectionist I'll spend a whole day working on the nose and it'll end up looking only slightly better than it did before. I really do take a very very long time doing things sometimes. When Ben Mathis was demonstrating how to start a model I was doing another version of mine along with him. I had the legs torso done in like half an hour and it looked pretty good so that helped me speed up a bit.
And as far as the blogs are concerned I've so far done none. I sort of been putting them off because ive been worrying more on the 3d modeling and character design. I thought i could do them once I got my other work out the way but it hasn't really been ideal. I'll definitely try and get going with them more frequently next term.
For my organic character design I chose fruit as a starting point. I went down to somerfield and bought a load of different fruit then cut them all up, took photos then left them in a tub to go moldy. I brainstormed several different ideas based on all the different shapes and patterns on the fruit. My final design is a creature that has characteristics of fruit like peeling skin.
For my mechanical character design I chose clocks as a starting point and my research led me to look at clock towers and gothic architecture. My design ended up being a sort of walking clock tower.
As far as the self portrait is concerned I've done 4 versions. The first one I did in a day without any reference photos and turned out suprisingly well for a first attempt at a character model. The second one didn't amout to much. The third one I've spent a rediculously long amount of time on. Being a massive perfectionist I'll spend a whole day working on the nose and it'll end up looking only slightly better than it did before. I really do take a very very long time doing things sometimes. When Ben Mathis was demonstrating how to start a model I was doing another version of mine along with him. I had the legs torso done in like half an hour and it looked pretty good so that helped me speed up a bit.
And as far as the blogs are concerned I've so far done none. I sort of been putting them off because ive been worrying more on the 3d modeling and character design. I thought i could do them once I got my other work out the way but it hasn't really been ideal. I'll definitely try and get going with them more frequently next term.
Monday, May 21, 2007
LittleBigPlanet
My god this game looks awesome. I am now 100% getting a PS3. In a couple of years or so... once the price has dropped a little...
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Pokemon
I am dying for the new Pokemon games! I still don't have a decent RPG for my DS and I'm getting very impatient. Catching and collecting pokemon is in my opinion the most satisfying experience in any video game ever.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Week 24: constructive feedback
The fact that there have only been two formal teaching sessions a week made me feel a little disconected from the course as a whole, and although I have been going into the lab most days to work on my projects it's not as effective as having tutors there to help. The hardest part of the course for me has been working with 3D studio max. Having never used this software before I was really thrown into the deep end when we were asked to create all these high spec models without any clue how the software worked at all. And the size of our class meant that one to one time with the tutor was limited to the odd five minutes here and there, and figuring out how to do things was a case of trial by error. I would like more in depth tutorials on how to use max next term and more formal taught sessions during the week.
I really struggled with getting the blogs done every week, I think they're a really good idea because I dont think I could handle doing essay's, but it's been easy to push them aside because there's no direct or imediate feedback you get after completing them. I think we should get feedback for them perhaps a couple of times every term to make sure we're getting them done and that they're being done to the required standard.
Having guest lecturers who actually worked on games was really cool and gave an indication of what we sould expect if we ever get into the industry, but understandably they were a little thin on the ground. I dont mind lectures because its just a case of sitting back and absorbing information without having to do any hands on work, so I would have liked more even if they were just based on aspects of video game culture or case studys of successful art direction in games.
The drawing classes on the other hand have been the most effective part of the course for me. I started off thinking they were just going to be a repeat of what I had already learnt on my art foundation course and so didnt take them too seriously, but Chris has really pushed us and encouraged us to work in a more advanced way. The amount of critiques and informal assessments were a little daunting for me but I understant thet they are beneficial in the long run. I'm looking forward to doing more 3D work next term, and more work outside the studio. Some sessions using Photoshop would be really helpful for me as well, also an extra drawing class every week would be fine by me.
I really struggled with getting the blogs done every week, I think they're a really good idea because I dont think I could handle doing essay's, but it's been easy to push them aside because there's no direct or imediate feedback you get after completing them. I think we should get feedback for them perhaps a couple of times every term to make sure we're getting them done and that they're being done to the required standard.
Having guest lecturers who actually worked on games was really cool and gave an indication of what we sould expect if we ever get into the industry, but understandably they were a little thin on the ground. I dont mind lectures because its just a case of sitting back and absorbing information without having to do any hands on work, so I would have liked more even if they were just based on aspects of video game culture or case studys of successful art direction in games.
The drawing classes on the other hand have been the most effective part of the course for me. I started off thinking they were just going to be a repeat of what I had already learnt on my art foundation course and so didnt take them too seriously, but Chris has really pushed us and encouraged us to work in a more advanced way. The amount of critiques and informal assessments were a little daunting for me but I understant thet they are beneficial in the long run. I'm looking forward to doing more 3D work next term, and more work outside the studio. Some sessions using Photoshop would be really helpful for me as well, also an extra drawing class every week would be fine by me.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wii in your face
Oops! There have been a couple of minor Wii remote accidents in my flat so far, but nothing too serious though. Bowling seems to be the main cause of accidents- smacking your hand against things whilst swinging is normal in such a confined space. Well, a few nights ago myself and a few friends were in my room after a night out at the SU. I was stood in front of my TV doing my Wii fitness test while everyone else was sat on my bed. I'll admit I am notoriously exaggereted with my bowling swings (FYI you have to use big swings if you want it to get a strike), tonight was no exception. As I was swinging my arm back Garry, who was sat right behind me, decided to lean forward and as a result, got the back of my Wii remote right in his face, pretty hard... and there was blood, lots and lots of blood. Luckily Garry being Garry was absolutey twatted and felt very little pain, and this didnt actually affect my fitness test score too badly, in fact i still scored a 27- two years younger than the previous day...
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Week 22: GDC
After trawling thorough the endless list of sessions at GDC I finally found one that had a title that I at least vaguely undersand...
"Know Your Players: An In-Depth Look at Player Behaviour and Consumer Demographics"
This session looks at who buys what and why? What is the difference between a casual gamers choice in games and a hardcore gamers? What social patterns define what games people tend buy? How does age, sex etc. determine what consumers will buy?
I'm not too keen on going into specifics on market analysis, typology ang biometry, mostly because I have no idea what that stuff means, so I'm just going to talk a bit about my experiences with different gamer demographics: what games different people tend to buy and why. So here's my not so in-depth look at player behavior and consumer demographics...
I'll start off with casual gamers. I reckon I have a good idea of what a casual gamer is and what games they buy based on friends who aren't as "hardcore" as myself. The casual gamer will tend to buy games that are of interest to them and will not base their purchases on positive reviews in respected video game magazines or their knowledge of publishers and developers. A casual male gamer of a similar age to me will buy games on impulse and often stick to buying three types of games: sports games, war games and of course GTA games.
Hardcore gamers buy games based on their knowledge of good games and have a clear understanding of which games will appeal to them but will also be unafraid to take risks and buy a game if it has sparked wide interest throughout the industry. They aren't intimidated by MMORPG's and the prospect of playing online.
Young children are the worst when it comes to buying video games, anything with the latest disney film on it or one they've seen advertised on the telly during CITV will be enough to justify a purchase. As we all know kids games are by far the worst but seeing as its usually mum (who are often just as ignorant as their child) who pays for it they arent too bothered if its only going to last a couple of days.
And finally I come to the girls. I'm going to concentrate on casual girl gamers with this. From my experience girls are not quite as tolerant of video games as boys, if a game can hold their attention its fine but as soon as they get the slightest bit frustrated or bored they'll be out of there in no time. Simple, pick-up-and-play games like Wii sports, Mario Kart or puzzle games will go down a treat but try to get them into the latest zelda game and they will loose interest pretty quick, after all they have better things to do with their time. Girls arent interested in longevity, they will buy games that they think will be a laugh and ones that they can play with friends.
Well that was my very basic personal insight into the buying habits of video game consumers, I'm sure if I were to attend this conference I would become a little more informed about the whole process of consumer buying trends. But for now I think I have just about summarised the basics.
"Know Your Players: An In-Depth Look at Player Behaviour and Consumer Demographics"
This session looks at who buys what and why? What is the difference between a casual gamers choice in games and a hardcore gamers? What social patterns define what games people tend buy? How does age, sex etc. determine what consumers will buy?
I'm not too keen on going into specifics on market analysis, typology ang biometry, mostly because I have no idea what that stuff means, so I'm just going to talk a bit about my experiences with different gamer demographics: what games different people tend to buy and why. So here's my not so in-depth look at player behavior and consumer demographics...
I'll start off with casual gamers. I reckon I have a good idea of what a casual gamer is and what games they buy based on friends who aren't as "hardcore" as myself. The casual gamer will tend to buy games that are of interest to them and will not base their purchases on positive reviews in respected video game magazines or their knowledge of publishers and developers. A casual male gamer of a similar age to me will buy games on impulse and often stick to buying three types of games: sports games, war games and of course GTA games.
Hardcore gamers buy games based on their knowledge of good games and have a clear understanding of which games will appeal to them but will also be unafraid to take risks and buy a game if it has sparked wide interest throughout the industry. They aren't intimidated by MMORPG's and the prospect of playing online.
Young children are the worst when it comes to buying video games, anything with the latest disney film on it or one they've seen advertised on the telly during CITV will be enough to justify a purchase. As we all know kids games are by far the worst but seeing as its usually mum (who are often just as ignorant as their child) who pays for it they arent too bothered if its only going to last a couple of days.
And finally I come to the girls. I'm going to concentrate on casual girl gamers with this. From my experience girls are not quite as tolerant of video games as boys, if a game can hold their attention its fine but as soon as they get the slightest bit frustrated or bored they'll be out of there in no time. Simple, pick-up-and-play games like Wii sports, Mario Kart or puzzle games will go down a treat but try to get them into the latest zelda game and they will loose interest pretty quick, after all they have better things to do with their time. Girls arent interested in longevity, they will buy games that they think will be a laugh and ones that they can play with friends.
Well that was my very basic personal insight into the buying habits of video game consumers, I'm sure if I were to attend this conference I would become a little more informed about the whole process of consumer buying trends. But for now I think I have just about summarised the basics.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Week 21: Uni and beyond
There are many skills that can be learnt in higher education some help you to progress into a career but there are also life skills that can be learnt. University gives you more confidence and gives you the freedom to grow as a person. While I have been at uni I have met people and had experiences that I may never have had if I had gone straight to work. The diversity of the people you meet encourages you to open your mind to new cultures and ways of thinking. I have made friends at university that have genuinely changed the way I live my life and allowed me to become who I want to be.
When I chose to do game art at DMU I didn't choose it because I wanted to become a game artist, I chose it because I wanted to do a course that I knew I would enjoy. Seeing as art has always been my strength I had always intended to do a creative course, but I thought that if I chose a course that combined art and design with something I'm really interested in it would help to motivate me and actually enjoy the work that I'm doing.
University also gives you time to to identify goals that you want to achieve after leaving university that may not have been as easy to identify while under the pressure of school life. Looking to the future I've always imagined that I would work in a creative industry. I am not necessarily looking to become a game artist or even work in the games industry, but the skills I will learn on this course should hopefully allow me to become employable in many different areas of the creative industry.
When I chose to do game art at DMU I didn't choose it because I wanted to become a game artist, I chose it because I wanted to do a course that I knew I would enjoy. Seeing as art has always been my strength I had always intended to do a creative course, but I thought that if I chose a course that combined art and design with something I'm really interested in it would help to motivate me and actually enjoy the work that I'm doing.
University also gives you time to to identify goals that you want to achieve after leaving university that may not have been as easy to identify while under the pressure of school life. Looking to the future I've always imagined that I would work in a creative industry. I am not necessarily looking to become a game artist or even work in the games industry, but the skills I will learn on this course should hopefully allow me to become employable in many different areas of the creative industry.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Week 20: Creativity
It is important to know that creativity; the use of inventivness, original ideas and resourcefulness is the most important factor in creating a high quality and enojoyable video game. It is as important in the games industry as it is in any other industry that incorporates art and design.
Creativity is not something that can be taught in schools or in higher education for that matter, it is entirely driven by one persons ideas and and their desire to create something unique and imaginitive. Creativity is important not just in the art industries but in aspects of many other careers such as media, advertising, or journalism . Without creativity and imagination we cannot achieve our goals to our greatest abilities.
When looking at video games it's an easy mistake to judge a game based on the visual quality, people also need take into consideration the creativity that is needed in other aspects of the game and their equal importance. Even 20 years ago when games were in their early stages the process of creativity has proven that no matter how weak a console is, good creativity in sound design, stories and as well as graphics can create a good quality game.
As a game artist creativity in the past may have been hindered by technical constraints, but as consoles have become more powerful there are many ways to achieve new and original ways of presenting games from a visual standpoint. We can not only create vastly realistic looking games but also create unique visual designs- cell shading allows artists to create games that can be presented like comics or cartoons.
err.. creativity is really important not only in the creative industries but in every industry that involves creative thinking.
Creativity is not something that can be taught in schools or in higher education for that matter, it is entirely driven by one persons ideas and and their desire to create something unique and imaginitive. Creativity is important not just in the art industries but in aspects of many other careers such as media, advertising, or journalism . Without creativity and imagination we cannot achieve our goals to our greatest abilities.
When looking at video games it's an easy mistake to judge a game based on the visual quality, people also need take into consideration the creativity that is needed in other aspects of the game and their equal importance. Even 20 years ago when games were in their early stages the process of creativity has proven that no matter how weak a console is, good creativity in sound design, stories and as well as graphics can create a good quality game.
As a game artist creativity in the past may have been hindered by technical constraints, but as consoles have become more powerful there are many ways to achieve new and original ways of presenting games from a visual standpoint. We can not only create vastly realistic looking games but also create unique visual designs- cell shading allows artists to create games that can be presented like comics or cartoons.
err.. creativity is really important not only in the creative industries but in every industry that involves creative thinking.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Week 19: Game Education
While I can understand why companies would prefer game artists to be deeply competant in all aspects of art and design in order to be as creative as possible when designing assets for games, I feel that by learning how to use software such as 3d studio max and having a good knowledge of how to create 3d models as well as designing them at such an early stage should be hugely beneficial when starting a career in the games industry. When starting a job as a games artist surely having a wide understanding of how games are made and how the industry works will help us to decide whether a career in the industry is right for us as well as helping us to progress faster within the industry.
Having done art and design at both GCSE and A-Level, and completing an art foundation course, I feel I am already fairly advaned in most aspects of art and design, doing a game art course is helping to build upon the skills that I have already learnt as well as giving me a good understanding of how I might use these skills if I dedcide to persue a career in the video game industry. I am now learning how to use the techniques that I have aleady learnt to aid in the design of video game environments and characters and I am learning how to manage my time while working on projects.
The game art course at DMU combines all the relevant aspects of game design needed for a career in the industry and I am confident that if I were to apply for a job as a game artist after completing the course I would have all the necessary skills that would be required.
Having done art and design at both GCSE and A-Level, and completing an art foundation course, I feel I am already fairly advaned in most aspects of art and design, doing a game art course is helping to build upon the skills that I have already learnt as well as giving me a good understanding of how I might use these skills if I dedcide to persue a career in the video game industry. I am now learning how to use the techniques that I have aleady learnt to aid in the design of video game environments and characters and I am learning how to manage my time while working on projects.
The game art course at DMU combines all the relevant aspects of game design needed for a career in the industry and I am confident that if I were to apply for a job as a game artist after completing the course I would have all the necessary skills that would be required.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Week 18: Sound For Games
The sound you find in modern video games is used in the same way as in films, it helps to create an ambience so that the player can identify with the place and also helps stimulate emotions such as fear, tension or suspense. Sound effects like gunshots and footsteps prompted by event triggers need to be believable if a player is to become imersed in a game. Like films sound plays a huge role in the quality of the game, nowadays expert composers and musicians are asked to work on games as well as film and tv so that the developers can ensure a high quality soundtrack that can help the game stand out.
The first video game that I owned was the original Tetris for Game Boy, and 15 years later I can still recall the main theme tune. Perfect Dark on the N64 also had had a brilliant soundtrack, I remember the carrington intitute music well and and the voice of elvis the alien was brilliant too. More recently the first Metroid Prime game on Gamecube had an amazing, eerie soundtrack that really added to the lonely, mysterious feel of the game, and the music in the opening titles are probably my favourite in any game.
The Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time, however, was probably the first game I played where the music really stood out and became a major factor towards my enjoyment of the game. The fully orchestrated soundtrack adds to the scale of the game and creates an epic and cinematic feel. Every dungeon, temple, village and town has its own theme tune and each one is memorable and catchy. The sound even extends towards the gameplay when you learn how to play songs to progress in the game. The only area of the game where the sound is lacking is the speech, but that really didn't bother me. All Zelda games since ocarina of time have also excelled in the sound area, though none have quite managed to surpass OOT's musical quality. The latest Zelda, Twilight Princess, did not have a live orchestra; but the digital orchestration did allow the music to flow more smoothly between battle sequences, and I still got all tingly when the hyrule field music kicked in.
The first video game that I owned was the original Tetris for Game Boy, and 15 years later I can still recall the main theme tune. Perfect Dark on the N64 also had had a brilliant soundtrack, I remember the carrington intitute music well and and the voice of elvis the alien was brilliant too. More recently the first Metroid Prime game on Gamecube had an amazing, eerie soundtrack that really added to the lonely, mysterious feel of the game, and the music in the opening titles are probably my favourite in any game.
The Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time, however, was probably the first game I played where the music really stood out and became a major factor towards my enjoyment of the game. The fully orchestrated soundtrack adds to the scale of the game and creates an epic and cinematic feel. Every dungeon, temple, village and town has its own theme tune and each one is memorable and catchy. The sound even extends towards the gameplay when you learn how to play songs to progress in the game. The only area of the game where the sound is lacking is the speech, but that really didn't bother me. All Zelda games since ocarina of time have also excelled in the sound area, though none have quite managed to surpass OOT's musical quality. The latest Zelda, Twilight Princess, did not have a live orchestra; but the digital orchestration did allow the music to flow more smoothly between battle sequences, and I still got all tingly when the hyrule field music kicked in.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Week 17: Game Engines
What is a game engine? Well I'm not entirely sure seeing as I'm just a game art student. I usually try not to think too much about whats actually going on inside the games I'm playing from a technical standpoint. But anyway I suppose it is necessary for me to at least have some kind of understanding of how these things work if I'm going to be using them in my future job as a game artist.
As I understand the game engine allows programmers to construct the game world and everthing in it by entering code. The game engine is the core software component that provides all of the underlying technologies necessary for creating a video game and therefore simplifies the process of game development. The game engine has the ability to render 2d and 3d objects and also gives functionality for collision detection, sound, artificial intellgence, animation, scripting, physics, networking and a scene graph.
There are different types of game engines, each having their own strenghts and weaknesses. The Unreal Engine 3 seems to be an effective engine to use when developing games for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It has a number of advanced tools used for realistic lighting and impressive character models demonstrated recently in Gears Of War, which in my opinion looked ridiculously good, so good that the graphics were actually kind of distracting. It also has support from major publishers such as Sony, Electronic Arts and Square Enix.
Usually developers will use an existing game engine, but it is up to the developer to decide what type of game engine would work best for the game that they are developing. However they may decide to build their own game engine in-house, this could be because there may not be an existing engine that meets the technical requirements of the game they are developing. This is an expensve option though and many developers will decide to use existing 'proprietary' game engines because of time and money constraints.
As I understand the game engine allows programmers to construct the game world and everthing in it by entering code. The game engine is the core software component that provides all of the underlying technologies necessary for creating a video game and therefore simplifies the process of game development. The game engine has the ability to render 2d and 3d objects and also gives functionality for collision detection, sound, artificial intellgence, animation, scripting, physics, networking and a scene graph.
There are different types of game engines, each having their own strenghts and weaknesses. The Unreal Engine 3 seems to be an effective engine to use when developing games for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It has a number of advanced tools used for realistic lighting and impressive character models demonstrated recently in Gears Of War, which in my opinion looked ridiculously good, so good that the graphics were actually kind of distracting. It also has support from major publishers such as Sony, Electronic Arts and Square Enix.
Usually developers will use an existing game engine, but it is up to the developer to decide what type of game engine would work best for the game that they are developing. However they may decide to build their own game engine in-house, this could be because there may not be an existing engine that meets the technical requirements of the game they are developing. This is an expensve option though and many developers will decide to use existing 'proprietary' game engines because of time and money constraints.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Shadow Of The Colossus
Can't think of anything else to post about so I thought I might write a little bit about what was probably my favouite game of last year, Shadow Of The Colossus.
One of my main reasons for playing games is that they allow you to forget about the outside world and take you to to a place where anything is possible and you do things and go places that you could only dream about doing in the real world, this game does exactly that. It is probably the most beautiful game I have ever played.
Confronting a colossus is an amazing experience. I dont think any other form of media can let you experience anything quite like this. The size of the colossi is obviously their most noteable characteristic, they are massive... but we've seen huge bosses in games before. It's the design that makes them so striking, they are absolutely beautiful to look at. If I could choose a game where my name would appear in the closing credits this would be it. Working as an artist on this game would be perfect for me.
The key to this games brilliance is also in its simplicity; there are no items to collect, no skills to learn, all you have to worry about is finding the colossi and defeating them, and thats all you want to do. The only problem I had with this game was the final colossus encounter. It was horrible; the collossus looked evil rather than beautiful, it was just ugly, the arena was dark, it was raining, all in all it was a pretty miserable (and bloody frustrating) experience.
I personally think the developers should have gone in the opposite direction to this for the final colossus encounter. Throughout the game you have been destroying these magnificent creatures for the sake of one girl, and at the end of the game it would have been far more interesting if you were confronted by somehting so beatiful, and so passive that you feel guilty for destroying it just to save the life of a girl who you as a player have no emotional connection with at all. I wouls have liked a long treck up a mountain to get to it, and once you get to the peak you see a beatiful valley below where the snow has melted and there is grass and trees. The colossus itself would be huge of course, and look a bit like a mammoth perhaps, all furry and white with a big trunk and it would run as soon as you came near it.
One of my main reasons for playing games is that they allow you to forget about the outside world and take you to to a place where anything is possible and you do things and go places that you could only dream about doing in the real world, this game does exactly that. It is probably the most beautiful game I have ever played.
Confronting a colossus is an amazing experience. I dont think any other form of media can let you experience anything quite like this. The size of the colossi is obviously their most noteable characteristic, they are massive... but we've seen huge bosses in games before. It's the design that makes them so striking, they are absolutely beautiful to look at. If I could choose a game where my name would appear in the closing credits this would be it. Working as an artist on this game would be perfect for me.
The key to this games brilliance is also in its simplicity; there are no items to collect, no skills to learn, all you have to worry about is finding the colossi and defeating them, and thats all you want to do. The only problem I had with this game was the final colossus encounter. It was horrible; the collossus looked evil rather than beautiful, it was just ugly, the arena was dark, it was raining, all in all it was a pretty miserable (and bloody frustrating) experience.
I personally think the developers should have gone in the opposite direction to this for the final colossus encounter. Throughout the game you have been destroying these magnificent creatures for the sake of one girl, and at the end of the game it would have been far more interesting if you were confronted by somehting so beatiful, and so passive that you feel guilty for destroying it just to save the life of a girl who you as a player have no emotional connection with at all. I wouls have liked a long treck up a mountain to get to it, and once you get to the peak you see a beatiful valley below where the snow has melted and there is grass and trees. The colossus itself would be huge of course, and look a bit like a mammoth perhaps, all furry and white with a big trunk and it would run as soon as you came near it.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Week 16: Gaming Cultures
From a personal standpoint my experience with video game culture never used to extend far beyond actually playing the games themselves, I read the odd games magazine, visit games websites, but I've never been to an exhibition or launch party, or even playing online.
I don't think games occupy as much of my life as they used to. As I'm getting older I feel I'mm playing games less, perhaps due to having more work to do and socialising more. When I was 13 I spent hours everyday playing with friends and trading games, and saving my pocket money ready for when the next game on my list came out. At the moment I just have one games console in my flat that I play only a few times a week; usually when my friends comes round. I am increasingly buying games through impulse rather than buying games the day they are released, nowadays I find my self spending more time reading about games and the industry than I do actually playing them.
Video game culture is growing and merging with other cultures such as the film industry. Personally I don't see how there can ever be a film based on a game that is any good because you are only taking the story which isn't the strongest part of most games. It is hard for a film to capture the emotional side of playing a video game that comes from actually interacting with. The Resident Evil films, for example, took all of the emotions like fear, suspense lonliness away the only part of the game that remained in the film was the very base of the storyline, it was essentially just a low buget action film with the Resident Evil name put on it to get people to watch it.
Although it is a bad idea for films and games to merge in this way, it seems their cultures are becoming increasingly similar. As games become more like films because of the amount of time and money spent on them, the more seriously they appear to be taken, and now there are an increasing number of games festivals, exhibitions, conferences, not to mention award ceremonys. Award ceremonys are a brilliant idea because they are a good way for developers to get the recognition they deserve for making quality games, and could also motivate other developers to follow suit. However the way some of these ceremonies are presented are laughable to anyone with a knowledge of video games (the VGA's) and are often just embarassing to watch. They really don't help video games to be taken more seriously at all, and a performance by my favourite band at last years VGA's was just uncomfortable to watch with the guitarist shaking his head disappointedly when the audience of gamers failed to move an inch when they reached the most powerful part of the song. Video games and alternative music clearly don't mix well. Video games should be classed as a separate and unique form of media rather than mix in with hollywood films and pop music.
I don't think games occupy as much of my life as they used to. As I'm getting older I feel I'mm playing games less, perhaps due to having more work to do and socialising more. When I was 13 I spent hours everyday playing with friends and trading games, and saving my pocket money ready for when the next game on my list came out. At the moment I just have one games console in my flat that I play only a few times a week; usually when my friends comes round. I am increasingly buying games through impulse rather than buying games the day they are released, nowadays I find my self spending more time reading about games and the industry than I do actually playing them.
Video game culture is growing and merging with other cultures such as the film industry. Personally I don't see how there can ever be a film based on a game that is any good because you are only taking the story which isn't the strongest part of most games. It is hard for a film to capture the emotional side of playing a video game that comes from actually interacting with. The Resident Evil films, for example, took all of the emotions like fear, suspense lonliness away the only part of the game that remained in the film was the very base of the storyline, it was essentially just a low buget action film with the Resident Evil name put on it to get people to watch it.
Although it is a bad idea for films and games to merge in this way, it seems their cultures are becoming increasingly similar. As games become more like films because of the amount of time and money spent on them, the more seriously they appear to be taken, and now there are an increasing number of games festivals, exhibitions, conferences, not to mention award ceremonys. Award ceremonys are a brilliant idea because they are a good way for developers to get the recognition they deserve for making quality games, and could also motivate other developers to follow suit. However the way some of these ceremonies are presented are laughable to anyone with a knowledge of video games (the VGA's) and are often just embarassing to watch. They really don't help video games to be taken more seriously at all, and a performance by my favourite band at last years VGA's was just uncomfortable to watch with the guitarist shaking his head disappointedly when the audience of gamers failed to move an inch when they reached the most powerful part of the song. Video games and alternative music clearly don't mix well. Video games should be classed as a separate and unique form of media rather than mix in with hollywood films and pop music.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Wii Can Do Anything
Nintendo's goal of getting the whole family to play video games sounded a little over ambitious to me at first. I really couldn't imagine my mum, dad or sister ever taking video games seriously. However, over the christmas holiday I actually found myself playing Wii sports with all 3 of them - my mum, my dad and my 22 year old sister. The thing is I didn't have to persuade them to play, I didn't even ask them if they wanted a go on wii bowling, they asked ME! repeatedly!
This wasn't the only time either, on boxing day I was playing wii bowling with my auntie, my mum and my 9 year old cousin. Frustratingly my mum won after a string of strikes - I was mortified. Since then I've also been playing wii sports fairly regularly with friends from my halls, mainly girls.
I can't see any of them trawling through games like Zelda any time soon but as long as Nintendo can keep providing simple, easy to play family games I really think the Wii can help Nintendo reclaim their place as the industry leader.
Well done Nintendo, I'm sorry I doubted you, it won't happen again.
This wasn't the only time either, on boxing day I was playing wii bowling with my auntie, my mum and my 9 year old cousin. Frustratingly my mum won after a string of strikes - I was mortified. Since then I've also been playing wii sports fairly regularly with friends from my halls, mainly girls.
I can't see any of them trawling through games like Zelda any time soon but as long as Nintendo can keep providing simple, easy to play family games I really think the Wii can help Nintendo reclaim their place as the industry leader.
Well done Nintendo, I'm sorry I doubted you, it won't happen again.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Week 15: An Introducton To The Game Industry
At the moment the video games industry is in a state where modern games need to increase in size and quality in order to match what the system can achieve and to meet expectations by consumers. This means that games that would have costed around 1 million dollars to make in the last generation can now cost developers up to 4 million. The increase in game content means that more staff need to be hired and each given specific parts of the game to work on, and as a result developers end up paying more wages.
One way of overcoming this is to out source whereby qualified game designers from overseas can be hired to create certain assets within the game for a much lower wage than staff in the UK. So the increase in game content doesnt necessarily mean more jobs for game artists in the UK. This also means that artists that would once be creating and designing large areas within a game may now only be given the task of creating just one small set of objects like ammo boxes, trees, so their jobs become less satisfying. Also artists are now required to work much longer hours because of the increasing amount of work needed to be done before the deadline.
For someone like myself who hopes to become a game artist the prospect of working long hours making boring assets for a low wage is off-putting. But hopefully having enough experience can lead to more rewarding jobs further down the line such as art director. and anyway having a job in what i would describe as one of the most exciting industries would be rewarding enough for me, even if the job itself isnt quite as exciting.
One way of overcoming this is to out source whereby qualified game designers from overseas can be hired to create certain assets within the game for a much lower wage than staff in the UK. So the increase in game content doesnt necessarily mean more jobs for game artists in the UK. This also means that artists that would once be creating and designing large areas within a game may now only be given the task of creating just one small set of objects like ammo boxes, trees, so their jobs become less satisfying. Also artists are now required to work much longer hours because of the increasing amount of work needed to be done before the deadline.
For someone like myself who hopes to become a game artist the prospect of working long hours making boring assets for a low wage is off-putting. But hopefully having enough experience can lead to more rewarding jobs further down the line such as art director. and anyway having a job in what i would describe as one of the most exciting industries would be rewarding enough for me, even if the job itself isnt quite as exciting.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Twilight Princess
Probably the best Zelda game so far, well... based on the other four Zelda games I've played. It's not perfect though, there were perhaps a few too many dungeons and not enough side quests, I'd like to have spent more time doing missons around Hyrule rather than just going from dungeon to dungeon. But apart from that it was bloody brilliant, good storyline, very satisfying combat and the last hour of the game will probably be one of my most memorable video gaming experiences.
It also has one of my favoutite video game characters ever- Midna; an impudent little imp-like girl who accompanies you throughout the game. I spent the first part of the game convinced she was up to no good, but I still felt sad when I had to carry her debilitated body to princess Zelda after Zant messed her up after the third dungeon. A nice example of the significance of establishing emotional bonds with NPC's that I talked about in a previous post.
It also has one of my favoutite video game characters ever- Midna; an impudent little imp-like girl who accompanies you throughout the game. I spent the first part of the game convinced she was up to no good, but I still felt sad when I had to carry her debilitated body to princess Zelda after Zant messed her up after the third dungeon. A nice example of the significance of establishing emotional bonds with NPC's that I talked about in a previous post.
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