aww
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Queens Building Assets
Just a few of my best assets so far. The metal shutters are probably my favourite, its a shame they're no longer needed though.
I recently added a lighting map on the texture page for the alarm speaker and it looks a million times better now. That's something I only recently learnt how to do thanks to kitto's helpful tutorial on our team blog.
I recently added a lighting map on the texture page for the alarm speaker and it looks a million times better now. That's something I only recently learnt how to do thanks to kitto's helpful tutorial on our team blog.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Burnout Paradise
Yet another game thats pushing me closer to getting an XBox 360. Burnout is one of my favourite game series, and with the positive reviews this latest one is getting I will definitely need to own it. Unless a Wii version comes along I'm gonna have to get a 360. The amount of 360 games I want keeps growing and growing Bioshock, Halo 3, Orange Box, Mass Effect. Wii does have its perks though, I'm still persevering with Galaxy (only 13 stars to go) and I've got No More Heroes coming soon, and I'm a little curious about Zack and Wiki as well, worth a look I think.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Bioshock
Because of money issues I dont have an XBox 360 and I dont have a PS3, and nor do many other of my friends in Leicester. So when I go back to Guernsey in the holidays I do enjoy visiting my friend Craig who has been working full time since he left school and has a big flat near town with an HD TV, XBox 360, Wii, PS3 and a shit load of games. The highlight of my last trip was Bioshock. Craig had just bought Bioshock when I went to his flat so i watched him play through the first hour or so. It was pretty amazing to watch, probably one of the coolest openings to a game I've seen in a long time. The whole set up and scenario is just such a brilliantly original idea and so much more interesting than the average fps. I only played it for a short period of time and didn't progress that far into the game but that was enough to make me really want to buy an XBox. However, seeing as the last fps I'd been playing was Metroid Prime 3 on my Wii I did find using the 360 controller pretty awkward. I was wobbling about all over the place, controlling shooters with two analogue sticks is definitely not good.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Creativity - Super Mario Galaxy
How convenient that this game was released at a time when I'm supposed to be writing about creativity in video games. I cant think of a better example of creativity in a video game. The concept of the game allows for a huge amount of creativity compared to other games. There are at least 40 galaxies where your only mission is to get the star. The game designers were pretty much free to think of as many creative ways of collecting it as they could. Having the game set in space allows for a huge variety of different environments that wouldnt have been possible if it was set in the mushroom kingdom or in a Super Mario Sunshine style set up. There are hundreds of different planetoids varying from giant apples to floating pirate ships and even a giant wooden yoshi head covered in goombas. The music, the art direction and the gameplay are all highly creative, the main storyline is not so original but that is made up for by an unlockable storybook that tells the interesting and rather cute back story of Princess Rosalina and her traveling comet home thing. It really is an unbelievably creative and extremely fun game.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Creativity - The game artist
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.
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.
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.
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