In the end i have really enjoyed the course and it has been very beneficial to me but i think when i get out i may look for vocational game scripting courses so even if i am on my own i will still be able to make games. I may ask my friend for his material that he used in the first year but most likely i will look online for a digital tutor.
I hope that i can work with some of the people in the course in the future but obviously it depends on if they are looking into doing something script or gaming related.
Friday, 23 May 2014
book
One of the extra projects that i will be working on during the next few years is a book. This book will follow a character in a jungle esque environment as he meets more characters as he progresses until he finds out that someone in the jungle is cloning the dead animals so they come back to life which brings back some of the most dangerous animals in the jungle. the story is in the early stage but i am still writing it and if it doesn't become a book i will most likely make a game out of it.
The story is influenced by jumanji but also is very different. I really am looking forward to making this but we will see about if it appears more like a book or a game as it progresses.
The story is influenced by jumanji but also is very different. I really am looking forward to making this but we will see about if it appears more like a book or a game as it progresses.
CV
When it came to my CV i had a hard time due to not having my qualifications and some of the information for some of the competitions. Due to me not actively searching for a job right now i haven't got the CV as full as i might have otherwise but it is a piece that when i search for a job will have more to it. altogether i don't feel that mine was good enough.
Collabs
Once i have finished working at uni i will most likely try to do stuff on my own for awhile but after awhile i think i will continue my collabs that i have got lined up. One of my friends has agreed to work together to create a story which with us both being something individual to the table i think will allow us to create an interesting story that i may convert into a script. The story hasn't been decided yet but that will be decided soon.
The Other Collab i have is modelling and animating some pieces for my friend who is a programmer i will be credited for the work but the main reason for helping him besides being his friend is also so i have a favour from him when i work and individual work.
The last one which may not happen is the creation of a game with the group i did my final major with. Although we worked well as a group i think it will just be timing and availability that will stop it though otherwise i will be looking forward to making a game with them.
The Other Collab i have is modelling and animating some pieces for my friend who is a programmer i will be credited for the work but the main reason for helping him besides being his friend is also so i have a favour from him when i work and individual work.
The last one which may not happen is the creation of a game with the group i did my final major with. Although we worked well as a group i think it will just be timing and availability that will stop it though otherwise i will be looking forward to making a game with them.
Blogger
Now this blog is just like the travel post were i just mention what i will be doing. Now with blogger i don't like my student one so what i am going to do is create a blogger connected to my work email which will be used as another form of showreel that will feature current works as well as finished articles so besides showing people just my showreel they can look more behind the work to see if they will want me to work for them.
This my seem a strange post but i thought that i would mention this as well as that my first self directed project will be the modelling of a smith and wesson 500 as well as other weapons to show that i can model assets and weapons which then will most likely move on to environment until potentially i can post a full scene up to show people my progression. Hell just another way to get me noticed.
This my seem a strange post but i thought that i would mention this as well as that my first self directed project will be the modelling of a smith and wesson 500 as well as other weapons to show that i can model assets and weapons which then will most likely move on to environment until potentially i can post a full scene up to show people my progression. Hell just another way to get me noticed.
The Big Break ScreenWriting Contest
This is a contest which is held every year and is a famous competition the prizes are cash and an NYFA Writing Fellowship which is worth $80,000. Now my first concern is if this was only an american contest but it is an international contest that will fly you to the awards event. Now if that wasn't cool enough it seems that original ideas are the preferred submission for either a screenplay or teleplay now though you need to pay a fee it is not break the bank expensive but due to the deadline being in july i think i will leave it a year and prepare so i know i'm not rushing an idea.
With this piece i think i may start preparing because if i don't enter i will still have a story?/script that i can use for future pieces though i see no reason not to go for it
With this piece i think i may start preparing because if i don't enter i will still have a story?/script that i can use for future pieces though i see no reason not to go for it
Author Solutions
Author Solutions is a group affiliated with Penguin Random House Company and is a company that offers an alternative to traditional publishing. Now why am i talking about a group that gives support when it comes to publishing. Well the main reason is that for a while i have been writing a narrative which is more fitting as a book and due to me trying to do other work i only spend a little while on it but i think when i get my story written i would use this group.
Now this group is not to be confused with a publisher, this is more like a customised guide which takes into account if you want the book just for family and friends or if you want it write because you love writing. I would love to try this out even if it is a bust since it may be a way to get my scripts out their and noticed if i play it right if not just for my stories.
Now this group is not to be confused with a publisher, this is more like a customised guide which takes into account if you want the book just for family and friends or if you want it write because you love writing. I would love to try this out even if it is a bust since it may be a way to get my scripts out their and noticed if i play it right if not just for my stories.
Modding
Now i may not get a job for awhile and possible won't do a collab with anyone to create a game for just as long so what i decided i will do during that time when i don't have work is practice my skills by modding. Due to the guides that are online i believe i would be able to create modded pieces for a game. for an example i will say Skyrim, i could create an armour or collection of weapons which due to them being 3d assets could also used in my showreel.
Now this seems like i am hoping not to get a job but the main idea is that this would allow me to keep my skills from getting rusty while not working and would probably keep being done while working depending on deadlines and workload.
GOG
GOG is a drm free game site which sells those drm games internationally. Now gog has alot of old games but they also seem to do a sort of greenlight system which i mainly decided to write about since it is an alternative to Greenlight if it does not get supported. The chances that it will sale on here when it wasn't supported on steam seems small but the main difference on gog is that it will get a form of marketing campaign which is done by gog themselves.
I hope that if i do start doing indie games with my friends that we will release the game on both greenlight and GOG because realistically putting it out there more would be better for us as a group and solo practitioners.
I hope that if i do start doing indie games with my friends that we will release the game on both greenlight and GOG because realistically putting it out there more would be better for us as a group and solo practitioners.
Showreel
When it comes to my show reel i do not feel that i have alot of work that i want to show so i will be changing my submitted version after the hand in and will most likely have more modelling based assists and some script assets located in it. The truth is i feel since we are still perfecting our final major which has more of the stuff that i would want in my showreel. So i feel that my showreel will not be how i want it to be until possibly july since after this module i still have work to do.
Looking back on my work i can see that since i have been working on script writing alot their are less physical elements which is something i will change as i have already mentioned.
Looking back on my work i can see that since i have been working on script writing alot their are less physical elements which is something i will change as i have already mentioned.
Game Republic
Game Republic is an industry led games business network that supports and promotes the yorkshire, north-west and north-east England games industry with members including Rockstar Leeds, Sumo Digital, Leeds Metropolitan University, The Blast Furnace, Just Add Water, Four Door Lemon, The University of Huddersfield and Team17. Now With Game Republic the group and I will be entering into the contests that are involved with our game level we created in maya during our final major project.
Why is that important well although i don't really care about winning i am more interested in the networking since this will most likely be my last chance to properly network in connection to the college as well as doing it as a student. I am looking forward to it but their are a few bits that need to be changed before then.
Why is that important well although i don't really care about winning i am more interested in the networking since this will most likely be my last chance to properly network in connection to the college as well as doing it as a student. I am looking forward to it but their are a few bits that need to be changed before then.
Thursday, 22 May 2014
Travel
Now this blog post is mainly about what i am going to do once i get out of uni which although a lot of the blogs post i have made talk about the same the thing, i wrote this one mainly to talk how i am going to get around. Let's get this out of the way i don't have a license which means i can't get around for jobs as much as i would like. I will travel for a job but as mentioned i have the problem of not having a licence but i also don't have a car. Though i am happy to move to someplace for a job I will be trying to get my licence once i get out of uni. I will not be getting a car though until i get a more steady job of some sort
QA Process
QA stands for quality assurance which is a process that is used for checking video games for bugs, glitches or errors which may cause the game to crash that can stop the shipping of the game or just be something that may cause very little problems. There are usually 3 ranks that bugs are used to estimate severity.
A bug are Critical bugs that can prevent the game being shipped such as causing crashes in the game.
B bugs are problems that need to be addressed the game can still be played but multiple b bugs can be the same as an A bug
C Bugs are small and obscure problems which are normally just recommendations rather than bugs
Certain games feel like they don't have any QA such as red dead redemption but due to the nature of being able to update games alot of companies feel a little lazy in the QA department.
Game Tester CA
Currently A Game Tester job is available in creative assembly job page. which although is not actually you creating parts in the game and is more about quality testing and is as mentioned to me by Annabeth is a very good way to get your foot in the door when it comes to getting contacts.
The essential elements they want is:
A keen interest and experience with total war or strategy games
Excellent Communication and reporting Skills
A highly driven and flexible approach
A clear understanding of QA Process
Able to work to deadlines set by the QA management in a timely and precise manner
Experience using a range of pc office programs such as word, excel, e.t.c
I will be trying for this job after finishing all uni based work. Since i think i will need to re look over certain criteria before i try for the job.
The essential elements they want is:
A keen interest and experience with total war or strategy games
Excellent Communication and reporting Skills
A highly driven and flexible approach
A clear understanding of QA Process
Able to work to deadlines set by the QA management in a timely and precise manner
Experience using a range of pc office programs such as word, excel, e.t.c
I will be trying for this job after finishing all uni based work. Since i think i will need to re look over certain criteria before i try for the job.
Business Cards
A business card is nothing new to me due to me creating one after my graphic design course though my design at that time was a chimera which i really liked but i needed to design a new card. I decided since i am not a concept artist i should make a unique card which featured my favourite animal with what i want to do in the future which led to the paper baboon below. which used different colours to give the perception of depth.
The Laughing Baboon was a line i decided to use since when i did the paper thing with a dog it looked aggressive and so did the baboon so i though a tagline would be good. The reason Laughing Baboon is used is because it is very carefree but also could be jokingly seen as laughing buffoon. The though behind it all is that you remember the card and are interested in ringing the number and showing others the card.
BAF Game
Bradford animation festival: Game is a event that i have gone to for the three years of my course and although i have gone to it for three years this most recent time has been the most beneficial. During the event i met with a producer from sumo digital who i spoke with and gave me a insight into how sumo digital works and how the industry works.
Along with the producer the team and I got into a lengthy conversation about group dynamics and deadlines with lead concept artist. Altogether it has been a major insight into the industry which i think really will help once i leave uni.
Along with the producer the team and I got into a lengthy conversation about group dynamics and deadlines with lead concept artist. Altogether it has been a major insight into the industry which i think really will help once i leave uni.
Payday Competition
I went for a different type of competition compared to other ones i have entered. Overkill Software which is the company that created the payday games did a competition that many didn't suspect which was a poetry competition. The competition rewarded the winners with their poem being read by a popular character and appearing on the soundtrack while also allowing the winner to design one of the masks that the community will get.
Although this competition isn't really that serious when it comes to the industry the winner will be able to talk to workers in the overkill's concept department and from that i believe i could of got a contact in Overkill software.
Although this competition isn't really that serious when it comes to the industry the winner will be able to talk to workers in the overkill's concept department and from that i believe i could of got a contact in Overkill software.
Moving out early, 12 o’clock at the bank.
With my brothers three and one kitted like
a tank
Bain going on in my ear won’t he just piss
off
I’m counting 3 guards one with a bad cough
Looking at the vault it feels like a cop’s
lure
If that guard doesn’t shut up then I have a
mosconi cure
My shotty’s barrel is shining; I need to
get the drill first
As I approach the vault, bag drops, alarm
blares, I swear I am cursed
Hankering for a fight, get ready swats,
fbi, army and all of the rest
But watch me on overkill, cause at this
shit I am the best.
Although i didn't win it was good to try something new.
Indie Gaming
Indie gaming is not something i usually do but i have a few games that would be counted as indie.
Indie games are usually games that are created by small groups of people rather than companies and are released on Steam or other similar distributers. Some indie games are free such as the cry of fear which uses another game's engine.
This for me is the most likely way i will start my career if i don't get into a company straight away. Since i have a few friends that are doing programming i think that indie though it may not be what i want to strive for will have an impact on my first few years in game design.
Using someone else's IP
Recently i have wanted to work on my writing skills and one part i have wanted to focus on was creating stories using someone else's ip since most likely i will have to do this in the future when working in a company. The IP i decided to create a story in was the star wars series due to the knowledge i had already of the series as well as how accessible it is to creative writing.
Although i did something similar in my dissertation i had not done much writing since so i decided to do this. I based the writing around the animated series since it is the most recent media based on star wars. The story followed two bounty hunters during the clone wars. Though this was less industry based i wanted to keep my skills sharp.
Although i did something similar in my dissertation i had not done much writing since so i decided to do this. I based the writing around the animated series since it is the most recent media based on star wars. The story followed two bounty hunters during the clone wars. Though this was less industry based i wanted to keep my skills sharp.
Writer's guild for Great Britain
As a writer i have found that getting information on how to be a writer professionally is not easy to come across. The writer's Guild of Great Britain is a trade union representing writers in TV, radio, theatre, books, poetry, film, online and video games. The Guild is recognised for negotiating terms and practise agreements for writers.
Although i will need to pay £100 per year for a candidate membership it is like a union for writers. As a starting writer i think i will join this after i try to get into a company so i am not wasting money although i don't think it would ever be a waste.
Although i will need to pay £100 per year for a candidate membership it is like a union for writers. As a starting writer i think i will join this after i try to get into a company so i am not wasting money although i don't think it would ever be a waste.
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is a system that is not just game related but is set up so a person or group can raise the money to release what they are making or continue development, The example i am going to look into is a game in kickstarter called Kingdom Come: Deliverance and i will be explaining the system though using the game.
Now in terms of how kingdom come rewarded people who pledged money, the more money you gave the more they give something in return such as pledging £30 gets you early access and game soundtrack and making of video on dvd. Although this is a interesting system i think i prefer a system like greenlight but the difference between the two is that one is for getting funding while making the game and the other is more based around release. I hope i don't get to the point when i need to do a kickstarter but it is good to know their is an option to fall back on.
Now in terms of how kingdom come rewarded people who pledged money, the more money you gave the more they give something in return such as pledging £30 gets you early access and game soundtrack and making of video on dvd. Although this is a interesting system i think i prefer a system like greenlight but the difference between the two is that one is for getting funding while making the game and the other is more based around release. I hope i don't get to the point when i need to do a kickstarter but it is good to know their is an option to fall back on.
Alien isolation
Alien isolation is a game currently in development by creative assembly based on the alien movie series. The game will be released on the 7th of october and although there are alot of alien games and creative assembly have made alot of games this will be their first fps game. The development team mention in their development diaries that the main reason they wanted to create their game is because the alien games that have been released are not the sort of game they wanted to play. The idea that they picked up the project due to something like that is quite an interesting and is although risky it is also something i think game companies need to do more often. Now the deciding factor for this game is if it is a flop or not since if it is a flop then creative assembly i think will stay in their realm of expertise which is rts games rather than branching out.
The game being designed to be in the survival horror seems to have been a good decision since this has been a genre that is currently very popular and although so far the game has only shown that it looks nice in the trailer the survival horror aspects are only mentioned and not seen. Since creative assembly is one of my favourite companies i hope it goes well but as mentioned before in my ip blog post they will need to make sure that they give the feeling that the movies gave so they do not disappoint fans as well as ruin their reputation.
The game being designed to be in the survival horror seems to have been a good decision since this has been a genre that is currently very popular and although so far the game has only shown that it looks nice in the trailer the survival horror aspects are only mentioned and not seen. Since creative assembly is one of my favourite companies i hope it goes well but as mentioned before in my ip blog post they will need to make sure that they give the feeling that the movies gave so they do not disappoint fans as well as ruin their reputation.
Writer Job CA
I decided to look into a job at creative assembly to get a understanding of what i will need to do to get a job at creative assembly.
What i found was a job for a writer which at the time it was posted would of been around the time that alien would of been possible been when more advance writing was needed. The requirements were a degree or higher. Collectively they wanted 4 years experience in a company or 4 years of extensive writing which seemed to mean that you would need a collection of work that can be shown and have samples to send them. This is the sort of job i would love but the requirement of experience i feel is what makes it difficult to get into the industry for a student like myself. Though the job is no longer posted i am still looking into other jobs in creative assembly for the future and have started to get some writing experience so next time i can try for the job.
What i found was a job for a writer which at the time it was posted would of been around the time that alien would of been possible been when more advance writing was needed. The requirements were a degree or higher. Collectively they wanted 4 years experience in a company or 4 years of extensive writing which seemed to mean that you would need a collection of work that can be shown and have samples to send them. This is the sort of job i would love but the requirement of experience i feel is what makes it difficult to get into the industry for a student like myself. Though the job is no longer posted i am still looking into other jobs in creative assembly for the future and have started to get some writing experience so next time i can try for the job.
Creative Assembly
Creative Assembly is a company located at Horsham in West Sussex and are the creators of the total war series. this is a company that i really want to work for. The company focuses mainly on the creation of real time strategy games but with their popularity as a company is increasing they are starting to create different genres of games. The company seems to have alot of benefits for employees which although i am already interested in the company the benefits seem good in the long run since i would most likely stay in the company for quite a few years.
Creative Assembly have a mocap studio which is 12 meters by 13 and sports 46 cameras which has been used for rome 2 as well as potentially any new projects. After i finish uni i will be sending my CV to them and will be keeping up with their vacancies in the years to come.
Creative Assembly have a mocap studio which is 12 meters by 13 and sports 46 cameras which has been used for rome 2 as well as potentially any new projects. After i finish uni i will be sending my CV to them and will be keeping up with their vacancies in the years to come.
GreenLight
Greenlight is a scheme made by Value for Steam. The idea of Greenlight is to have the gaming community help to pick some of the new games that will be released on steam. Developers are supposed to be post information, screenshot or video for their game. After getting enough support from the community the game starts to get distribution. There is a submission fee which stops joke submissions which is good to see since it keeps the space free for developers.
If i decide to create a game with some friends this will most likely be the way i would distribute it if i got the support from the steam community the main drawback i can see in this method is if you don't get the support you will be just sat their with your game or elements of the game and will have no way of getting it out to the public.
If i decide to create a game with some friends this will most likely be the way i would distribute it if i got the support from the steam community the main drawback i can see in this method is if you don't get the support you will be just sat their with your game or elements of the game and will have no way of getting it out to the public.
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Transmedia and Laptop
My Laptop broke down over the weekend which left me with no computer for two weeks this was a major set back in making what i had planned as well as causing difficulties for my other hand in. I wanted this know just so the problem was realised and was not hidden. The transmedia element has not been finished due some missing pages lack of artwork and the cover but these will all be changed for the end of year show. I will be publishing this book by lulu the publisher. these were problems which though could of been ignored i wanted to mention them.
Animating and unity
With animating i found that the rig locked in weird ways that made the animation a bit more difficult for movement but ithelped make me think in a more mechanical way when animating. I enjoyed working out the animations but i found that the updates for unity and maya caused difficulties with doing turntables and exporting into unity but besides these problems i found that i had no difficulty with animating except crashes during weight painting.
Friday, 25 April 2014
Star Wars Mytho's Mythos
This scene is from Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith when Anakin was assigned to protect the supreme chancellor Palpatine which led to this well written and acted scene. The reason for this having a good connection to what i am writing in my essay due the principle of mythopoeia and legendarium is making a story's world more realistic as well as an experience to the audience. The tale told by Palpatine is not told as if it was exposition which the series is known for and instead is more like a myth/legend and in the style of a fairytale in his way of speech. How they did the mythos for this section is the sort of idea needed for videogames and other such media which have large worlds that need to be shown without tiring the audience.
Jumanji adapting story
Jumanji, the children storybook written by Chris Van Allsburg in 1981 was an acclaimed story which though a picture storybook was still a great story that affected the imagination of kids everywhere. The remediation of Jumanji led to the creation of a movie staring Robin Williams.
The story for the book and film is a board game that as the dice are rolled supernatural events happen such as monsoons, spiders, mosquitos and lions. The movie starts with Alan (Robin Williams) getting trapped in the game at a young age and when the game was started again by Peter and Judy he was released but due to how the game is played everything that comes out of the board stays out until the game is won which leads to a memorable action movie that has a memorable characters like Von Pelt that caused in the heart of young children. The main reason i bought Jumanji is due to Jumanji also being remediated into an animated series. Due to the premise of Jumanji the idea of the magic entering the real world wouldn't work for the series if they wanted to make it a long running series so they had to change the mythos of the series which they did. They decided so they could add more to the world of jumanji they would set it so instead of things coming out of the game the players enter the game until they answered a riddle. This shows a way of using an existing IP and making it your own while also allowing alot more freedom for the creators of the show.
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Transmedia level
With the inclusion of the transmedia element the second level appeared to be a good fit into the story so with the decision of the group to do this we tried to find the connection between the two. The group decision in the end was that the ex nasti moon member called black dog has come to a museum which contain a mining equipment.
Due to him stopping here then moving on we decided that after the repercussions of the leeds attack mission the marauders split up which causes some to go one way while the others are coming to the museum. With the others coming to the museum the resistance decide to take them out. which leads to the second mission being in the museum after Black dog has long gone and the Nasti Moon are annoyed after missing him a fight begins.
The full connection between the two has not been made but the transmedia element will also be affected by the first level which has not been written yet but will be a element that affects the story. both will be tweaked as me and Tim write the pieces and will be adapted as well.
Due to him stopping here then moving on we decided that after the repercussions of the leeds attack mission the marauders split up which causes some to go one way while the others are coming to the museum. With the others coming to the museum the resistance decide to take them out. which leads to the second mission being in the museum after Black dog has long gone and the Nasti Moon are annoyed after missing him a fight begins.
The full connection between the two has not been made but the transmedia element will also be affected by the first level which has not been written yet but will be a element that affects the story. both will be tweaked as me and Tim write the pieces and will be adapted as well.
Ideas of Camera
Due to the problems with the camera i have looked into more real time strategy games to work out how to make the scale fit this has led me to believe that i will need to half the scale of the world so the scale is 1:2 or i increase the size of the mech which while testing seemed a better idea so the environment is viewable.
I will need to test this with an actual model due to the cube replacement may not be the best representation. the truth of the matter is that i think if the world doesn't shrink and the mech doesn't grow maybe the camera should zoom in and the assets shrink.
I will need to test this with an actual model due to the cube replacement may not be the best representation. the truth of the matter is that i think if the world doesn't shrink and the mech doesn't grow maybe the camera should zoom in and the assets shrink.
The camera
Though one of the key elements this is a section i unfortunately did not check sooner which is the camera which tracks the character during gameplay. Although attaching the camera is easy the main problem is the distance of the camera since due to trying keep the details on the mech the world becomes too big which causes the mech to look like a mouse in a Snes game.
Keeping the camera further away caused the same effect to the mech which made the world look fine but the mech look tiny. When looking over this i found that i will need to tweak the scale possibly by half to allow the character to be visible as well as keep the world at a good scale compared to the mech.
Keeping the camera further away caused the same effect to the mech which made the world look fine but the mech look tiny. When looking over this i found that i will need to tweak the scale possibly by half to allow the character to be visible as well as keep the world at a good scale compared to the mech.
Creating the game space
When it came to blocking out the level i had to use google maps due to the easy accessibility to the distance for the path that me and tim discussed. When blocking out a perimeter i tried to keep in mind the mechs needing more space round the canal as well as the size of buildings that potentially would have the mechs enter them.
The canal ended up looking good except for the size of the body of water which was far to big and caused the player to be too far away from the other shores which gave a scale problem for the player in the form of perspective as well as the distance of the camera and the level.
When i do my second block out i will address some of the issues that i found while laying it out which mainly was that the huge mech was just too small.
The canal ended up looking good except for the size of the body of water which was far to big and caused the player to be too far away from the other shores which gave a scale problem for the player in the form of perspective as well as the distance of the camera and the level.
When i do my second block out i will address some of the issues that i found while laying it out which mainly was that the huge mech was just too small.
Looking at scale
While think about the level design I needed to look into the scale used for the mechs compared to humans due to it affecting the rest of the measurements in the game. Andy measured out the average mech being 4 metres which i used as 4 units in unity which made the measurements easier.
Knowing that 1 unit is a metre i looked into existing factories for measurements and when measurements were not available i used the next best thing which was to use the google maps route planner to work out distances and length of such buildings and then used average measurements of houses for smaller buildings which ranged in length when needed.
This is for me a easy and quick way to get good measurements but i believe it may not help others in the same way since you still need to convert the measurements to meters.
Knowing that 1 unit is a metre i looked into existing factories for measurements and when measurements were not available i used the next best thing which was to use the google maps route planner to work out distances and length of such buildings and then used average measurements of houses for smaller buildings which ranged in length when needed.
This is for me a easy and quick way to get good measurements but i believe it may not help others in the same way since you still need to convert the measurements to meters.
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 2 is a third person shooter that reached critical acclaim due to it's violence and scale of missions ranging from in a giant worm and a mountain trail in a tank-ish jeep. the game itself uses what feels like very large spaces but due to good design the realism of it is that the space loops back on itself which gives the perspective of really long levels as well as the clever use of switching levels after cut scenes or checkpoints. When it comes to the design of the environment it is always fitting the scenario of the mission such as the mission to enter a science facility it keeps large ceilings for rooms such as where the experiments are being done and low and long corridors between the sections which along side giving a certain feeling when walking round it also tells it's own narrative.
My favourite chapter to look into is the mission to go though Jacinto since some buildings are still upright while some are destroyed or on their side. The roads are in one piece but covered in wrecks while some sections have giant holes. In the end of the day the scenery and level design can tell as much of a narrative as the story.
My favourite chapter to look into is the mission to go though Jacinto since some buildings are still upright while some are destroyed or on their side. The roads are in one piece but covered in wrecks while some sections have giant holes. In the end of the day the scenery and level design can tell as much of a narrative as the story.
Dawn of War 2
With Dawn of war 2's level design it is set to follow a certain format due to the game being an real time strategy. The setting of a rts limits aspects of the design which can be a positive. Due to the game keeping the same camera distance the measurements and scale are set even if you zoom in to a unit which means all levels can be measured to be the same scale and tweaked after.
The style of certain factions in the game also effects the scale in the level due to most factions having set building styles and buildings which normally follow conventions in the world for scale and size. The game tries to keep open spaces for combat when possible and normally use buildings in either strategic locations for combat or just for aesthetic means.
Dawn of War 2 proves when i was researching that you could have a large open space and can still fight but you get more immersed and enjoy the level more when there are changes such as a drop, a building or a ruined vehicle or just a nice looking level aesthetically.
The style of certain factions in the game also effects the scale in the level due to most factions having set building styles and buildings which normally follow conventions in the world for scale and size. The game tries to keep open spaces for combat when possible and normally use buildings in either strategic locations for combat or just for aesthetic means.
Dawn of War 2 proves when i was researching that you could have a large open space and can still fight but you get more immersed and enjoy the level more when there are changes such as a drop, a building or a ruined vehicle or just a nice looking level aesthetically.
Game Layouts
With one of my jobs being game level design i needed to do research into how to lay a level out. Fortunately due to my gamer background i have alot of experience into how to lay a level out depending on it's needs such as:
Lost Planet 2
The idea of all the stages is that due to the enemies being so large in size and the use of mechs the levels are large in scale but still keep the more interesting stuff in the center to keep the player on the assigned path.
Batman Arkham asylum
The space used in Arkham asylum are large due to the island and the use of the island but it also has enclosed and smaller areas in logical areas such as prisoner check in and security check points. The idea of multiple sized levels is the best setting when designing a game since it is closer in setting to real life since though there is a conformity in design size still fits function.
Lost Planet 2
The idea of all the stages is that due to the enemies being so large in size and the use of mechs the levels are large in scale but still keep the more interesting stuff in the center to keep the player on the assigned path.
Batman Arkham asylum
The space used in Arkham asylum are large due to the island and the use of the island but it also has enclosed and smaller areas in logical areas such as prisoner check in and security check points. The idea of multiple sized levels is the best setting when designing a game since it is closer in setting to real life since though there is a conformity in design size still fits function.
Animation test
Due to me looking into the animation for the project i started to do tests for how i should make the mech move.
Alot of the concept art are dog leg based which if looking online at mechs you can find alot of examples but what i wanted to do is try to get a feel for the weight of the mech as they move. While testing i found that the dog leg mechs though quite common and basic in most series they worked well to deliver the movement across to the viewer.
I also tried a hydraulics type mech which led to the problem of making the thing walk using a rig mainly due to the moving parts. though i think after a long period of time i would be able to make it fluid and look appealing i need to also thing of what is time efficient and also less stressful since alot of pieces still need to be done.
Alot of the concept art are dog leg based which if looking online at mechs you can find alot of examples but what i wanted to do is try to get a feel for the weight of the mech as they move. While testing i found that the dog leg mechs though quite common and basic in most series they worked well to deliver the movement across to the viewer.
I also tried a hydraulics type mech which led to the problem of making the thing walk using a rig mainly due to the moving parts. though i think after a long period of time i would be able to make it fluid and look appealing i need to also thing of what is time efficient and also less stressful since alot of pieces still need to be done.
Development of story
With the characters being designed i continued on the story. Due to me not designing the history by myself i need the history designed by Tim to progress in creating the story but with some of the info i have started writing key moments in the story listed below:
Rugby
The start of the story due to sarah just finding a note book and writing in it while camping out near the road. This is when she starts to talk about the groups origins mainly her own.
Leicester
The group needs to refuel by nicking some fuel for the mech and the truck which leads to running into a family of criminals.
Derby
Runs into group of nasti moons and are taken alongside ricky until Black Dog saves them. ricky's backstory is revealed.
Sheffield
My trail is damaged and needs to be repaired so they go to a mining museum and repairs the mech while Black dog's backstory is revealed and the setup of the second stage begins.
Due to these just being key scenes i will need to work on the story to make a good fluid connection between the them and also allow the setup for the second stage not lacking in the build up that it deserves.
Rugby
The start of the story due to sarah just finding a note book and writing in it while camping out near the road. This is when she starts to talk about the groups origins mainly her own.
Leicester
The group needs to refuel by nicking some fuel for the mech and the truck which leads to running into a family of criminals.
Derby
Runs into group of nasti moons and are taken alongside ricky until Black Dog saves them. ricky's backstory is revealed.
Sheffield
My trail is damaged and needs to be repaired so they go to a mining museum and repairs the mech while Black dog's backstory is revealed and the setup of the second stage begins.
Due to these just being key scenes i will need to work on the story to make a good fluid connection between the them and also allow the setup for the second stage not lacking in the build up that it deserves.
companions
Name: Ricky 'RickJaw'
Physical Description:
Appearance: Ricky is 5ft 3, 14 year old boy with a ectomorph body type. He has a black fauxhawk and brown eyes. On the right side of his face he has a scar above his eyebrow and under his lip from shrapnel.
Character Traits: Due to his scar he has problems eating and also issues due to the scar being so easily seen.
Clothing: long sleeved tan shirt with rolled up sleeves and a black waist coat, Dusty brown suit trousers with black shoes and a worn blue jacket. all pieces of clothing are hand me downs that are to big for him.
Background:
Family Background: Ricky was born and raised in Northampton with a family of two brothers and his mom and dad until he came to the age of ten. At the age of ten Ricky's family were all killed during a marauders raid which also left him with a scar across his face and while slowly dying in a ditch he met Black Dog who took him in and became a big brother or father figure to him.
Education:
He has been learning base mechanics due to black dog's influence as well as learning how to drive both Dog's truck and different types of mech. While learning mechanics he didn't know how to read and write so he is now learning how to do both.
Personality:
Personality traits: Narcissistic, Depressed, Fast Learner, Defensive, Grouchy, Good sense of humour, Childish, Broken, Talkative, Self reliant, Prudent, Hesitant, Loving, Curious.
Habits/Vices: lip biting, excessive throat clearing, cracking knuckles, interrupting, procrastinating, lying,
Mannerisms: Fidgeting due to scar,running finger over lower scar when defensive, clicking when impatient. Chewing bottom lip
Likes: Pork, guitar, Mechs, Harold's flatbed, Beef, Smell of Burning Rubber, Spiders, Sarah's Drawings, his compact knife.laying down under the sky.
Dislikes: Millipedes, Marauders, snobbery, enclosed spaces, Fire, smell of tabacco smoke, vain people. Doctors
Motivation:
What is their goal?: The eventual downfall of the marauders and protecting
How do they go about achieving this?: working together with his "brother" Harold to get to a safe location and giving resistance information as they move about the marauders.
Name: Sarah Hagen
Physical Description:
Appearance:Sarah is a 7 year old girl with a mesomorph body type. she has Blond Fishtail hair with blue eyes.
Character Traits: She cut her shin which causes her to put more weight on her left leg.
Clothing: Sarah wears a dark orange dress with a brown belt and a green fleece over the top. wears brown shoes with brown socks. all clothes are a bit dirtier due to travelling.
Background:
Family Background: Sarah lost her family due to famine and was taken in by a member of the marauders until that member got attacked by the sons of iron which left her alone again. Black Dog found her after which led to him taking her in alongside Ricky.
Education: She has an average knowledge in maths and literacy and is starting to be taught more advanced knowledge by Harold.
Personality:
Personality traits: Nervous, childish, impatient, excited, trusting, confident, observant, happy, good natured, good listener, Mischievous, Nervous, Lucky, Lovable, Loving, Inventive, Helpful, Honest.
Habits/Vices: badly lies when nervous, clicks tongue, pulls at threads on her bear.
Mannerisms: chews fingernails, speech pattern, Shifts around in seat when nervous, Licking lips, Twirling hair in fingers, clicks heels when sat down.
Likes: Her teddy bear, sweets, raw carrots, colour red, playing cards, spending time with adopted family, Drawing.
Dislikes: Bugs, loud bangs, fireworks, dogs, biscuits, smeel of alcohol, hats.
Motivation:
What is their goal?: to have a happy family.
How do they go about achieving this?: With meeting up with Ricky and Black Dog she will try to bring all of them together to create an adopted family that she can find happiness with.
With the two kids i tried to take influence from doctor who and how he interacts with his companions but i also didn't want to have the idea of a crazy guy travelling with a lass and the occasional lad as well and connecting the war feel in the story. The reason that i used kids is due to the concept of the London blitz were alot of kids lost family when they went into the countryside so i wanted Harold to become a father and allow ricky to show rebellion to his marauder past and the trauma that sarah had when the last marauder father figure died.
Physical Description:
Appearance: Ricky is 5ft 3, 14 year old boy with a ectomorph body type. He has a black fauxhawk and brown eyes. On the right side of his face he has a scar above his eyebrow and under his lip from shrapnel.
Character Traits: Due to his scar he has problems eating and also issues due to the scar being so easily seen.
Clothing: long sleeved tan shirt with rolled up sleeves and a black waist coat, Dusty brown suit trousers with black shoes and a worn blue jacket. all pieces of clothing are hand me downs that are to big for him.
Background:
Family Background: Ricky was born and raised in Northampton with a family of two brothers and his mom and dad until he came to the age of ten. At the age of ten Ricky's family were all killed during a marauders raid which also left him with a scar across his face and while slowly dying in a ditch he met Black Dog who took him in and became a big brother or father figure to him.
Education:
He has been learning base mechanics due to black dog's influence as well as learning how to drive both Dog's truck and different types of mech. While learning mechanics he didn't know how to read and write so he is now learning how to do both.
Personality:
Personality traits: Narcissistic, Depressed, Fast Learner, Defensive, Grouchy, Good sense of humour, Childish, Broken, Talkative, Self reliant, Prudent, Hesitant, Loving, Curious.
Habits/Vices: lip biting, excessive throat clearing, cracking knuckles, interrupting, procrastinating, lying,
Mannerisms: Fidgeting due to scar,running finger over lower scar when defensive, clicking when impatient. Chewing bottom lip
Likes: Pork, guitar, Mechs, Harold's flatbed, Beef, Smell of Burning Rubber, Spiders, Sarah's Drawings, his compact knife.laying down under the sky.
Dislikes: Millipedes, Marauders, snobbery, enclosed spaces, Fire, smell of tabacco smoke, vain people. Doctors
Motivation:
What is their goal?: The eventual downfall of the marauders and protecting
How do they go about achieving this?: working together with his "brother" Harold to get to a safe location and giving resistance information as they move about the marauders.
Name: Sarah Hagen
Physical Description:
Appearance:Sarah is a 7 year old girl with a mesomorph body type. she has Blond Fishtail hair with blue eyes.
Character Traits: She cut her shin which causes her to put more weight on her left leg.
Clothing: Sarah wears a dark orange dress with a brown belt and a green fleece over the top. wears brown shoes with brown socks. all clothes are a bit dirtier due to travelling.
Background:
Family Background: Sarah lost her family due to famine and was taken in by a member of the marauders until that member got attacked by the sons of iron which left her alone again. Black Dog found her after which led to him taking her in alongside Ricky.
Education: She has an average knowledge in maths and literacy and is starting to be taught more advanced knowledge by Harold.
Personality:
Personality traits: Nervous, childish, impatient, excited, trusting, confident, observant, happy, good natured, good listener, Mischievous, Nervous, Lucky, Lovable, Loving, Inventive, Helpful, Honest.
Habits/Vices: badly lies when nervous, clicks tongue, pulls at threads on her bear.
Mannerisms: chews fingernails, speech pattern, Shifts around in seat when nervous, Licking lips, Twirling hair in fingers, clicks heels when sat down.
Likes: Her teddy bear, sweets, raw carrots, colour red, playing cards, spending time with adopted family, Drawing.
Dislikes: Bugs, loud bangs, fireworks, dogs, biscuits, smeel of alcohol, hats.
Motivation:
What is their goal?: to have a happy family.
How do they go about achieving this?: With meeting up with Ricky and Black Dog she will try to bring all of them together to create an adopted family that she can find happiness with.
With the two kids i tried to take influence from doctor who and how he interacts with his companions but i also didn't want to have the idea of a crazy guy travelling with a lass and the occasional lad as well and connecting the war feel in the story. The reason that i used kids is due to the concept of the London blitz were alot of kids lost family when they went into the countryside so i wanted Harold to become a father and allow ricky to show rebellion to his marauder past and the trauma that sarah had when the last marauder father figure died.
Lead
Name:
Harold 'Black Dog' Reidy
Mech Name:
My Trail
Physical Description:
Appearance: Harold is a 5ft10 32 year old man with an mesomorph body type muscular build.He has dark brown high and tight hair with anchor facial hair, hazel eyes.
Character Traits: An injury on his left shoulder causes him to stretch his left arm constantly.cut on the back of left hand causes pain in the cold so gloves are needed.
Clothing: Sleeveless, Black, worn suit jacket with metal plates around shoulders and orange stripes on sides. dark red short sleeve shirt with a black string vest above.studded red belt, with orange stripped pouches. worn black combats. black combat boots with yellow laces, fingerless dark yellow gloves with metal armband attached to it.
Background:
Family Background:
Harold was raised only by his mother in Milton Keynes which caused hardships for him growing
up, although he didn't have a father he found a father figure in a soldier located in the local barracks which after his mum died when he was six took him in until he joined the military.
Education:
With his "father" being in the army he started learning the skills to be able to join when he grew older. When he was old enough to join he put all other recruits to shame due to his skills in engineering, survival tactics, markmanship and maintenance of weapons and mechs. his skills have led to him now being able to travel the UK with his own personal mech on the back of his flatbed truck.
Personality:
Personality traits: Aggressive, Analytical, Brave, Clever, Charitable, Compassionate, Reliable, Trusting, imaginative, fatherly, Caring, Dependable, Motivated, Present- Oriented, Realistic, Resourceful, Self Reliant.
Habits/Vices: Smoking, Swearing, Being Critical, Drinking scotch, stock checking
Mannerisms: rubbing thumb and inner finger while thinking, bites knuckle when nervous, crossed arms when defensive, legs crossed when sitting
Likes: Newport Pagnell brand scotch, handheld pipe pickaxe, tobacco, gammon, Beer, 1914 enfield rifle, smell of burning wood, his flatbed truck.
Dislikes: Rum, turnips, canal boats, smell of burning rubber, heights, civil war, foolish pride, Anita Tearwinter
Motivation:
What is their goal?: To find a safe place for the kids to live without the constant threat of the war and his marauder allies and to start a new life.
How do they go about achieving this?: By living a separated life from his old marauder allies and by travelling with the kids to different locations around the UK. he will do anything to get his goal for them and himself.
Harold 'Black Dog' Reidy
Mech Name:
My Trail
Physical Description:
Appearance: Harold is a 5ft10 32 year old man with an mesomorph body type muscular build.He has dark brown high and tight hair with anchor facial hair, hazel eyes.
Character Traits: An injury on his left shoulder causes him to stretch his left arm constantly.cut on the back of left hand causes pain in the cold so gloves are needed.
Clothing: Sleeveless, Black, worn suit jacket with metal plates around shoulders and orange stripes on sides. dark red short sleeve shirt with a black string vest above.studded red belt, with orange stripped pouches. worn black combats. black combat boots with yellow laces, fingerless dark yellow gloves with metal armband attached to it.
Background:
Family Background:
Harold was raised only by his mother in Milton Keynes which caused hardships for him growing
up, although he didn't have a father he found a father figure in a soldier located in the local barracks which after his mum died when he was six took him in until he joined the military.
Education:
With his "father" being in the army he started learning the skills to be able to join when he grew older. When he was old enough to join he put all other recruits to shame due to his skills in engineering, survival tactics, markmanship and maintenance of weapons and mechs. his skills have led to him now being able to travel the UK with his own personal mech on the back of his flatbed truck.
Personality:
Personality traits: Aggressive, Analytical, Brave, Clever, Charitable, Compassionate, Reliable, Trusting, imaginative, fatherly, Caring, Dependable, Motivated, Present- Oriented, Realistic, Resourceful, Self Reliant.
Habits/Vices: Smoking, Swearing, Being Critical, Drinking scotch, stock checking
Mannerisms: rubbing thumb and inner finger while thinking, bites knuckle when nervous, crossed arms when defensive, legs crossed when sitting
Likes: Newport Pagnell brand scotch, handheld pipe pickaxe, tobacco, gammon, Beer, 1914 enfield rifle, smell of burning wood, his flatbed truck.
Dislikes: Rum, turnips, canal boats, smell of burning rubber, heights, civil war, foolish pride, Anita Tearwinter
Motivation:
What is their goal?: To find a safe place for the kids to live without the constant threat of the war and his marauder allies and to start a new life.
How do they go about achieving this?: By living a separated life from his old marauder allies and by travelling with the kids to different locations around the UK. he will do anything to get his goal for them and himself.
Above is the lead characters sheet which follows the same one used for the game characters so i am answering the same questions. the idea behind the character was to get across that Harold was raised in the war and fought for what he now feels is worthless. after finding the kids he changed his mind and although he already left the marauders i wanted to connect that as he travels with the kids he becomes like a father and starts to react badly to the marauders due to a new protective instinct that he has and while the story progresses he becomes more loving but also more terrifying.
Star Wars trans
Much like halo star wars has become a popular series that has been expanding due to the fans and creators alike be it in the form of animated shows, books, comics or video games and although some of the stories are forgettable most are designed to have a place in the world such as the example of Jango Fett.
Jango Fett appears in the second movie out of the blue and at first all that is known is that he is a bounty hunter, the father of boba fett and the template of the clone army. at first this character means nothing really to the viewer but after the movie a game came out called star wars bounty hunter which led to explaining that:
he is a mandolorian
he doesn't have a family
count dooku hires him for the emperor for a test/bounty
the reward for the test is to be the template for the clone army
he was rivals with zam wessel
he wanted the first clone(boba) unaltered for himself
the armour is standard issue for mandalorians.
Now this may seem like i am throwing info at you but the idea that you haven't looked into the expanded universe and then play this game you will learn alot of things that you didn't even know was connected in the story such as that the target komari vosa was dooku apprentice and wielded the light sabers that asaji ventress would own in the animated series. The reason i researched star wars and halo is just so i could get in the mindset as well as look at examples that have done it successfully to the point that it is the staple of the series. The other reason is that both these transmedia elements were not written by the creator of the series, so they are all created using an existing guideline which is the practice that i am trying to do for the written element to the game.
Jango Fett appears in the second movie out of the blue and at first all that is known is that he is a bounty hunter, the father of boba fett and the template of the clone army. at first this character means nothing really to the viewer but after the movie a game came out called star wars bounty hunter which led to explaining that:
he is a mandolorian
he doesn't have a family
count dooku hires him for the emperor for a test/bounty
the reward for the test is to be the template for the clone army
he was rivals with zam wessel
he wanted the first clone(boba) unaltered for himself
the armour is standard issue for mandalorians.
Now this may seem like i am throwing info at you but the idea that you haven't looked into the expanded universe and then play this game you will learn alot of things that you didn't even know was connected in the story such as that the target komari vosa was dooku apprentice and wielded the light sabers that asaji ventress would own in the animated series. The reason i researched star wars and halo is just so i could get in the mindset as well as look at examples that have done it successfully to the point that it is the staple of the series. The other reason is that both these transmedia elements were not written by the creator of the series, so they are all created using an existing guideline which is the practice that i am trying to do for the written element to the game.
Halo Trans
Now the second element i have to create is a transmedia story connecting to the world we are creating and although we are still working on the game i am working on the transmedia piece. Transmedia is a term that is also known as multi platform narrative which is the telling of a story connected to or influencing the main story that comes in a different format to the game and the example i will be talking about is halo.
The Halo series has become a huge franchise that has expanded it's world with the use of complimenting pieces to the games such as the books. Here are some examples:
there's ''first strike'' covering the period between halo 1 and 2, it focuses on how the chief and johnson managed to escape the destroyed halo, rescue the surviving spartan 2's and halsey from a partially glassed reach, blow up a covenant super base/several thousand docked ships that were heading to earth (leaving the prophet with only the handful he arrived there with in halo 2) and then the surviving members headed to earth for the start of halo 2 - knowing the covenant were on approach. Now this section in the book affects the games in the sense that if it wasn't for destroying the base the threat in the story of the second game would of been increased and would also affect the gameplay and while the player reads this book he is expanding on his universe and knowledge of the created world.
Forerunner trilogy basically follows a forerunner of the builder class who shames his family by being a bit of a free-spirited, independent thinker. not wanting to follow in his family's footsteps and instead sets out to explore some old ruins on a planet inhabited by weird human-like creatures, while on the planet he uncovers a tomb of sorts His presence causes it to open, from which emerges the didact (imprisoned for unspeakable war crimes against humanity during the human-forerunner war) the didact, this forerunner and 2 humans then travel to various places, discovering a precursor, a being that came before the forerunners
(and the species from whom it is heavily implied created the flood in order to get revenge on the forerunners for overthrowing them). At some point the forerunner undergoes some weird ritual and becomes a form of the didact (memories and appearance included) the main didact eventually ends up being imprisoned in the tomb thing you find him in in halo 4, the clone-didact meets the librarian on the ark (From halo 3) and is the one who is ultimately responsible for the activation of the halo array. These are all element that affected the story of the universe and also connects events in the universe together which is an element of good story writing.
The halo series have shown time and time again how to create interconnecting stories in the form of books, animated shows, live action shows and also creating a game set from a different angle of an event that you witness in the second game which is the glassing of new mombassa.
The Halo series has become a huge franchise that has expanded it's world with the use of complimenting pieces to the games such as the books. Here are some examples:
there's ''first strike'' covering the period between halo 1 and 2, it focuses on how the chief and johnson managed to escape the destroyed halo, rescue the surviving spartan 2's and halsey from a partially glassed reach, blow up a covenant super base/several thousand docked ships that were heading to earth (leaving the prophet with only the handful he arrived there with in halo 2) and then the surviving members headed to earth for the start of halo 2 - knowing the covenant were on approach. Now this section in the book affects the games in the sense that if it wasn't for destroying the base the threat in the story of the second game would of been increased and would also affect the gameplay and while the player reads this book he is expanding on his universe and knowledge of the created world.
Forerunner trilogy basically follows a forerunner of the builder class who shames his family by being a bit of a free-spirited, independent thinker. not wanting to follow in his family's footsteps and instead sets out to explore some old ruins on a planet inhabited by weird human-like creatures, while on the planet he uncovers a tomb of sorts His presence causes it to open, from which emerges the didact (imprisoned for unspeakable war crimes against humanity during the human-forerunner war) the didact, this forerunner and 2 humans then travel to various places, discovering a precursor, a being that came before the forerunners
(and the species from whom it is heavily implied created the flood in order to get revenge on the forerunners for overthrowing them). At some point the forerunner undergoes some weird ritual and becomes a form of the didact (memories and appearance included) the main didact eventually ends up being imprisoned in the tomb thing you find him in in halo 4, the clone-didact meets the librarian on the ark (From halo 3) and is the one who is ultimately responsible for the activation of the halo array. These are all element that affected the story of the universe and also connects events in the universe together which is an element of good story writing.
The halo series have shown time and time again how to create interconnecting stories in the form of books, animated shows, live action shows and also creating a game set from a different angle of an event that you witness in the second game which is the glassing of new mombassa.
HAWKEN
HAWKEN is a game that has recently come out as a mech first person shooter that has the main game play being multiplayer. now The first thing noticed about this game is that it is only multiplayer and although some games need this sort of set up such as payday and left for dead the game leaves a lot to be desired for someone like me.
The main reason i bought this game up is due to with the mechs, now although the mechs are new tech mixed with old tech in appearance the visual style of the mechs is really nice since they thought of the idea of roles in the mechs and allowed them to influence the design such as a heavy hitter mech will have a lot of armour and most likely a big gun. the idea of class of mechs is something we have implemented with the enemy factions in our game which also has the appearance dependent on group and although this doesn't influence what we already had planned to much it's nice to see a working format.
Now besides the mechs and unlimited ammo i don't have much to say about the game due to lack of playing it but as research material in visual for mechs it helped with the appearance and animations.
The main reason i bought this game up is due to with the mechs, now although the mechs are new tech mixed with old tech in appearance the visual style of the mechs is really nice since they thought of the idea of roles in the mechs and allowed them to influence the design such as a heavy hitter mech will have a lot of armour and most likely a big gun. the idea of class of mechs is something we have implemented with the enemy factions in our game which also has the appearance dependent on group and although this doesn't influence what we already had planned to much it's nice to see a working format.
Now besides the mechs and unlimited ammo i don't have much to say about the game due to lack of playing it but as research material in visual for mechs it helped with the appearance and animations.
Company of heroes
Company of heroes is a real time strategy game created by the game company relic who also created the dawn of war game series. The game is set in world war two and with a sequel follows the Americans and the Russians against the Nazi menace.
The visuals of the game are beautiful and follow the feel that is associated with the war which immerses the player even if they have a rts ui in their face. The game keeps with making sure the world is set in the right time period ranging from the farms to the city and even to the weather which is an influence that i will be using for our game especially for the war torn visual style that is connected with a recently occupied space.
The Animations range from soldiers to tanks and anti tank guns, the tanks and anti tank guns are a particular section that i found helpful for working out kick back due to the damage the weapons must do to their target and how the amount of force, kick back depends on what you are shooting so a anti tank gun has a lot of kick back due to the amount of damage to the tank it does while a apc has little kick back.the destruction animations is something that really helped working out our own due to how they don't just blow up.
The modelling of the tanks look good from up close as well as far away which is something that we should strive for even if the camera is at a distance from the player. The designs of the tanks definetly affected my input for the mechs in the sense of simple element that i thought needed tweaking such as mud guards or armour.
the game itself is fun and enjoyable but also was a good example of how to get the sort of game we want.
The visuals of the game are beautiful and follow the feel that is associated with the war which immerses the player even if they have a rts ui in their face. The game keeps with making sure the world is set in the right time period ranging from the farms to the city and even to the weather which is an influence that i will be using for our game especially for the war torn visual style that is connected with a recently occupied space.
The Animations range from soldiers to tanks and anti tank guns, the tanks and anti tank guns are a particular section that i found helpful for working out kick back due to the damage the weapons must do to their target and how the amount of force, kick back depends on what you are shooting so a anti tank gun has a lot of kick back due to the amount of damage to the tank it does while a apc has little kick back.the destruction animations is something that really helped working out our own due to how they don't just blow up.
The modelling of the tanks look good from up close as well as far away which is something that we should strive for even if the camera is at a distance from the player. The designs of the tanks definetly affected my input for the mechs in the sense of simple element that i thought needed tweaking such as mud guards or armour.
the game itself is fun and enjoyable but also was a good example of how to get the sort of game we want.
Star Wars 1
Due to the star wars franchise being a big part of my childhood i decided to look more into the mech movements in the form of the droids and the empire. The first thing that needs to be mentioned in the comparison is that one uses Cgi and the other uses models and stop motion animation to create their machines.
The AT-AT is a good example of how i think the mechs should look in movement due to the idea that they are limited by physical restraints not by a computer and the rig, The vehicle is a lot different in size so our mechs will move quickly and not be as heavy footed but the base principle of how the machine should move is their. A better example is the AT-ST thought still large it is treated as a light vehicle in star wars standards. The AT-ST is similar in design to the sentinel in Dawn of War the only difference is the size and how the thing looks. one thing i found was that the at-st has a smaller cockpit which looks like the thing has no problem balancing while the sentinel has a larger cockpit and feels more like a balancing act which is another thing that will affect the walking for our mechs i believe.
The droids run too fluid for the style i thing we want but their is one droid i have decided to research which is the spider droid. Now the main reason i like this one is besides the multiple legs the mech actually uses a system where the legs move up when they walk like sliding a pencil though a hole and the pushing it back though which i think is a good idea such that it feels like it is hydraulics based which also feels like it can compensate for it's surroundings and becomes more sure footed. the spider droid is one i love but will need to be judged upon by the group.
The AT-AT is a good example of how i think the mechs should look in movement due to the idea that they are limited by physical restraints not by a computer and the rig, The vehicle is a lot different in size so our mechs will move quickly and not be as heavy footed but the base principle of how the machine should move is their. A better example is the AT-ST thought still large it is treated as a light vehicle in star wars standards. The AT-ST is similar in design to the sentinel in Dawn of War the only difference is the size and how the thing looks. one thing i found was that the at-st has a smaller cockpit which looks like the thing has no problem balancing while the sentinel has a larger cockpit and feels more like a balancing act which is another thing that will affect the walking for our mechs i believe.
The droids run too fluid for the style i thing we want but their is one droid i have decided to research which is the spider droid. Now the main reason i like this one is besides the multiple legs the mech actually uses a system where the legs move up when they walk like sliding a pencil though a hole and the pushing it back though which i think is a good idea such that it feels like it is hydraulics based which also feels like it can compensate for it's surroundings and becomes more sure footed. the spider droid is one i love but will need to be judged upon by the group.
professional Animation examples
Due to my job being animation i decided to look into the workings of animations in video games mainly the use of machinery. The use of machinery in video games vary such as looking into gears of war which had no walker type machinery until the third game but still had impressive vehicles. now the reason why i looked into vehicles as well as mechs which are the main focus is due to firing animation which was also analysed in heavy weapons. the main reason i was looking into these types of animations was due to the kickback that firearms give off.
A game i looked back into for the appearance of different types of kick back were killzone as well as payday 2. The reason for looking into killzone is that the weapons aren't real so you use real life examples to influence you the same way as payday 2. My main grip on killzone's animations is that the machine guns feel realistic in their kick back which immerses the player and allows them to have a form of problem solving in the form of realizing how to fire and aim the gun effectively. The rockets feel less like this due to the player firing them standing up and not really moving much in the way of kick back on the upper body which for me is going to need to be addressed if we have rockets on mechs.
Payday 2 does really good animations for the small arms as well but also shows how much kick back you would get from an RPK which was a weapon i took influence from when looking into guns for the marauders.now the research into the firing animations will just be aesthetic due to the angle of game play but i still find this important for immersion.
Looking into walkers the main influence were games like lost planet 2 which has a large range in size of mech that allowed me to thing of weight by comparison and how that would affect movement in the mechs. the mechs in lost planet are alot heavier in appearance and movement so althought the weight in the steps is a good guide i looked into dawn of war for the actual walking cycles for the characters due to their dog leg appearance when needed. Star wars influenced me at first due to how fluid the movements felt but after a while of research i found that due to the tech level of our world they would not be that fluid and would be best compared with the at st and at at from the original series. As i progress the weight will need to be tested.
A game i looked back into for the appearance of different types of kick back were killzone as well as payday 2. The reason for looking into killzone is that the weapons aren't real so you use real life examples to influence you the same way as payday 2. My main grip on killzone's animations is that the machine guns feel realistic in their kick back which immerses the player and allows them to have a form of problem solving in the form of realizing how to fire and aim the gun effectively. The rockets feel less like this due to the player firing them standing up and not really moving much in the way of kick back on the upper body which for me is going to need to be addressed if we have rockets on mechs.
Payday 2 does really good animations for the small arms as well but also shows how much kick back you would get from an RPK which was a weapon i took influence from when looking into guns for the marauders.now the research into the firing animations will just be aesthetic due to the angle of game play but i still find this important for immersion.
Looking into walkers the main influence were games like lost planet 2 which has a large range in size of mech that allowed me to thing of weight by comparison and how that would affect movement in the mechs. the mechs in lost planet are alot heavier in appearance and movement so althought the weight in the steps is a good guide i looked into dawn of war for the actual walking cycles for the characters due to their dog leg appearance when needed. Star wars influenced me at first due to how fluid the movements felt but after a while of research i found that due to the tech level of our world they would not be that fluid and would be best compared with the at st and at at from the original series. As i progress the weight will need to be tested.
Weapons
For initial research i decided to look into weapons that were present during the time period that we are spanning. Although i kept in mind that this is our own world i tried to keep the weapons mainly between 1910 to the end of the second world war mainly due to the idea of the construction of the mechs.
One thing that was instantly established is that a lot of the guns that i researched are small arms if you called tanks big arms so the use of a Walter P.30 on a mech is just a silly idea but with the research as well as my own personal knowledge of weapons i was able to think of using certain segments of weapons since it is our designed world.
With the research i found that certain regions have certain appearances if you compare guns such as Russian fire arms and American fire arms you can see differences in the barrels which can be used in designing the guns on the mech.
With all this we decided to go to the royal armouries which led to me and Andy working out the design of an american minigun and how it was put together. The research we did here influenced one of the mechs to have a opening for the casings to fall out of due to the aesthetic as well as what would be the realistic threat of gun casings inside the mech.
I kept in the loop with concept art mainly due to the knowledge of guns which i could disperse.
One thing that was instantly established is that a lot of the guns that i researched are small arms if you called tanks big arms so the use of a Walter P.30 on a mech is just a silly idea but with the research as well as my own personal knowledge of weapons i was able to think of using certain segments of weapons since it is our designed world.
With the research i found that certain regions have certain appearances if you compare guns such as Russian fire arms and American fire arms you can see differences in the barrels which can be used in designing the guns on the mech.
With all this we decided to go to the royal armouries which led to me and Andy working out the design of an american minigun and how it was put together. The research we did here influenced one of the mechs to have a opening for the casings to fall out of due to the aesthetic as well as what would be the realistic threat of gun casings inside the mech.
I kept in the loop with concept art mainly due to the knowledge of guns which i could disperse.
The roles we play
The project that i am working on is a game project that is a isometric shooter which will be an original idea. The team for the project is me, Andy, Adam and Tim which though working together to create this piece is our main goal we all will have specific jobs that will need individual research as well as certain workloads during the project.
Although i am a writer i will not be doing writing for this project since that role is filled by Tim which alongside his producer role leads to him finalizing a lot of the final pieces of the story. the first stage of production is mainly concept based which due to my roles led me to be less involved with the making of the concept art and leaving my contribution to inputs on what i think of the piece.
My roles in the project will boil down to:
Animation
The main animations that i will be doing are the mechs ranging from walk cycles to movements while shooting. the possibility of animating the surroundings is there but a lesser importance when compared to the mechs.
Modelling
With modelling i will be doing mechs as well as assets for the world ranging from a beer barrel to a factory. the modelling although split between four is a main field that i will be working on during this project due to personal interest as well as the want to improve my skills.
Level Design
Level design is the one part of the game that i really wanted to do since it is something i have an interest with. the level design will lead to me doing research on scale and placement while research on the actual building will be shared between the group. I will be doing the mock ups as well and finalized mock ups which will lead to creating a good level as well as influencing modelling as well as how the game looks.
Although i am a writer i will not be doing writing for this project since that role is filled by Tim which alongside his producer role leads to him finalizing a lot of the final pieces of the story. the first stage of production is mainly concept based which due to my roles led me to be less involved with the making of the concept art and leaving my contribution to inputs on what i think of the piece.
My roles in the project will boil down to:
Animation
The main animations that i will be doing are the mechs ranging from walk cycles to movements while shooting. the possibility of animating the surroundings is there but a lesser importance when compared to the mechs.
Modelling
With modelling i will be doing mechs as well as assets for the world ranging from a beer barrel to a factory. the modelling although split between four is a main field that i will be working on during this project due to personal interest as well as the want to improve my skills.
Level Design
Level design is the one part of the game that i really wanted to do since it is something i have an interest with. the level design will lead to me doing research on scale and placement while research on the actual building will be shared between the group. I will be doing the mock ups as well and finalized mock ups which will lead to creating a good level as well as influencing modelling as well as how the game looks.
Friday, 17 January 2014
Thought of this module
One point i would like to make is that i do not enjoy blogging and due to the main bits of my research being in the form of the books that i have used for my essay there really was much of a need for blogging due to me not drawing and not creating anything such as an animation which has a more detailed process that can be listed here. The overall development of the piece is shown in the document and that is all due to it being a text based piece
GDD
One of the main topics of research that i did was to look into game design documents be they professional or amateur. One of the main GDDs that i used was the one created for grim fandango which was released in the 90's. The thing that must be known is that GDDs are like gold dust and are very difficult to get hold of and are an insight into the company that a lot of companies do not want to be shown.
When looking into the Grim Fandango GDD i found that though it was full of illustration it was more about puzzles, solutions and story elements than about information of gameplay which if i had more time i would explore myself and expand my GDD to encompass what a completed document is.
When looking into the Grim Fandango GDD i found that though it was full of illustration it was more about puzzles, solutions and story elements than about information of gameplay which if i had more time i would explore myself and expand my GDD to encompass what a completed document is.
The Rats Book
Before i started writing the story i looked into key scenes in the book that i will influence here are the scenes listed below:
>The first kill of a homeless man in a cemetery which is before the public know of the rats
>Child dies after getting bitten at the canal by a rat
>The death of a baby and a dog in a household raises peoples suspicions
>The massacre of a train in the tunnels leading to the biggest death toll and causes the government to take drastic action
>School massacred by the rats leads to the extermination of the rats by poison
These are all scenes i took influence from when designing my own scenes except for the baby due to it being a touchy subject to be shown as a game.
Bradford Animation Festival
The Main reason for this post is due to talking to members of sumo digital, Team 17 and also Warren Spector which gave me information into their though of game design documents which mostly led to them saying they are needed but sometimes far too much information is put into it when it is not needed and that though you should put time into it people will be playing the game not the document. I tried to keep that in mind while designing the document due to it being in part with the essay as well a there being a real game as the end result.
The Rats
When i was looking into if i should either do a piece in an existing universe or creating my own i decided to use an existing universe due to it's connection to the topic of mythopoeia that i am doing in the essay. I decided to look into books and the books i looked at were:
Darren Shan
The Rats
Star Wars
First Blood
In the end i decided on the rats due to the violence as well as how well written the books were as well as their close connection with the real world rather than a fantasy one. Though this will be set in a different location and an original story in the Rats mythos which well allow me to look more into the topics of my essay though the practical.
Darren Shan
The Rats
Star Wars
First Blood
In the end i decided on the rats due to the violence as well as how well written the books were as well as their close connection with the real world rather than a fantasy one. Though this will be set in a different location and an original story in the Rats mythos which well allow me to look more into the topics of my essay though the practical.
Primordia
One of the games i also used for reference into what i will do is Primordia.
The game is very stylised which gives a wonderful fall that brings you further into the story. the voice acting in the game is though basic also really well done. The main reason that this was a good reference is due to tell tale games having more resources in the form of script writers and money and primordia being a indie title which is closer to my own skill level and a more reasonable goal to strive for.
Genre Decision
First thing i should decide is what genre the game will be since that will impact the research and the processes of looking at gameplay.
Examples of genres:
First Person Shooter
Third Person Shooter
Platformer
Point and Click
Survival
Arcade
In the end i decided on using point and click due to me recently playing a few point and click games but also due to the being able to write a very text based game design document. The decision to make the game to be affected by your choices also affected the choice.
Telltale Games Walking Dead
While deciding what type of game and where to get my artistic influence which in the end led to me looking into the walking dead series by telltale Games.
The game is critically acclaimed and is popular due to it bringing back the point and click genre back to the general audience which would most likely not have played a point and click game. The art style is cell shaded and works with the style of the story which though it allows the gamer to connect with the story it will also take you away by the use of the art style.
With it's simple interface the game is easy enjoyable and easy to immerse yourself into. Above is the mood board that i collected while also playing the game to get a clear decision on how i want my Design Document to portray the game as.
The game is critically acclaimed and is popular due to it bringing back the point and click genre back to the general audience which would most likely not have played a point and click game. The art style is cell shaded and works with the style of the story which though it allows the gamer to connect with the story it will also take you away by the use of the art style.
With it's simple interface the game is easy enjoyable and easy to immerse yourself into. Above is the mood board that i collected while also playing the game to get a clear decision on how i want my Design Document to portray the game as.
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