Task 24. Feedback

Ok I think the first issue I really wish to cover is the separation between the art and the tech students. Of course I completely understand that this is the first year that this has been done combining both art and tech. I think the worst one was the programming based blog that said ‘You may never do programming in your career’ and the review blog cover ‘Your first year as a game art student’ this personally made me feel that we were a minority and therefore insignificant, though I understand this was not intended at all but I think it is important in terms of motivation for the tech students. Even this blogs explanation saying we should do more sculpting and double traditional art, I don’t know whether this is just for this module or discussion for the entire course, but if it is just for this module this is stuff that we have very little, or in my case, no skill or interest in. Of course I understand that we need a base of this knowledge for our programming and we are doing things such as animation in our last year that I figure will require some of this knowledge but not at the depth that the game art students will do.

This wont be all negative I promise and this isn’t a direct attack at anybody I’m just putting what I feel down. I found some of the talks very interesting especially the visit from the guys that made the reservoir dogs game. But the idea that Scott had discussed with us about playing some of the games we discuss and looking at things more practically may prove to be both interesting and maybe more effective learning than pure lectures. Maybe separating this current group into 2 separate groups may prove more effective? Also an interesting idea I thought of was maybe splitting the module up into 50% blogs and 50% coursework. Where the coursework could be to make a game with the game art people (I know we do this in the last year but I think we would understand our roles in terms of the industry and the difficulties for the other half, programmers will realise that artist do more than just draw and its harder than we think and artists learn that programming is a lot more difficult than they think) This would make us have more respect for one another and help us to mix more as there is a certain divide I feel between tech and art. I think this break up from the blogs will also stop the feeling of monotony I felt with these last few blogs, which I feel directly effects my writing.

For my future I have found my entire course has shown me that I seem to have a knack for C programming and I actually quite enjoy it and I think this is a path that I shall investigate further for a possible future career. I found low level programming interesting and much closer towards my previous electronics education, however I find this quite difficult and not so rewarding after completing a task for coursework. Games architecture has been very fun with lectures containing both an overview of the gaming industry along with programming specific to gaming. I especially enjoyed the first coursework for this module as it allowed us to make a full game of our choice and really allowed us to get a very basic feel of what areas you need to consider when making a game. We also reviewed a game of our choice which again showed us how much depth is put into games and how much work is required to produce a really successful game, this is the only practical module that I felt was very game specific and didn’t just feel like knowledge that doesn’t yet have a link to gaming. I like how all of my modules except for digital electronics can be done at home. This allows me to be much more flexible in terms of when I do my work and thanks to blackboard I won’t miss too much if I am sick for a prolonged time.

Another area I feel could be improved is feedback. For the first 8 weeks I was getting a comment for my blogs but since then I’ve received no feedback on my blogs and this then makes me wonder if I’m doing well or poorly or even if my blogs are being read at all? (Which I doubt is the case!) Also as there is no specific piece of learning we will all be leaving this module with different bits of knowledge and the only collective knowledge base will be of the lectures. Also I know this would be a pain due to the changing lecture dates but changing the blog layout to fit with the guest lectures will make the blog and lecture feel more relevant rather than an audio talk while we have an art blog set.

However I did enjoy doing the blogs initially but I do feel a major area is to break up the monotony of it. I also believe that it is essential that we both have this knowledge base before we enter a job within the gaming industry. But I do believe that we can’t teach both an art based course and a tech based course the same way. I feel as a tech student that I learn things a lot more effectively if I’m doing it practically rather than pure listening and reading, but this might just be me.

Task 22. New Gaming Controllers

Controls in games began with the joystick and eventually moved to the control pad. The control pad has taken many forms but has generally stuck to the form that it will have a directional pad along with various amounts of buttons. Though with the Wii already out and the PS3 on the horizon the new movement controller is now becoming a new form of standard.

I believe that the Wii’s controller is far more dramatic in terms of changing from the typical control pad design. From what I have experienced so far it’s been successful in allowing a new form of input for gaming yet also not making it feel too alien taking me about an hour to adjust to the wiimote. It also makes the player feel more immersed into the game as they are moving and the character is reacting accordingly making you feel much more in control. Although the wiimote can be turned sideways and looks just like a normal NES pad. I think this was done as a safety method so if the movement based controls were completely rejected by the public then they can revert back to the typical control pad.

The PS3 has taken a much more reserved change to movement controls, which almost seems as a last minute inclusion in response to the wii. The design is that of the very popular PS2 pad but with the addition of 6 way tilt control. I’m not entirely sure how Sony will use the movement pad without just making it a replacement for the d pad and then making the d pad into additional buttons, but it shall be interesting to find out and depending on the frequency of its use I think you can also find out if Sony added it last minute or actually thought this could improve their games.

I think these movement controls are going to allow a lot more new games to be introduced and add a different level of immersion to gaming. But there are bound to be failures due to it being the first time its been introduced to consoles, but depending on how companies react to this then it will decide the fate of movement gaming.

Task 21. University Reflection

University to me is just a means of gaining the knowledge I need to create my career in computer games programming. By doing this course I have realised what areas, so far, I am capable of doing and enjoy doing and what areas I dislike. Personally I believe that the money spent on university is ridiculous, considering 90% of my course can be completely done at home thanks to blackboard. I’ve also found the feedback on work very minimal in comparison to college. But despite my complaints it’s all regardless as I have to go to university in order to get my degree which will then hopefully get my job and there’s no faster way I know of to get to the position I wish to work at.

Looking back there is only one thing I would really change to what I’ve done so far and that would be to try and get more motivation especially recently where work is beginning to feel very monotonous and none of my modules have really explained how this information is useful when I hopefully end up working as a programmer. I’m enjoying and am proud of the work I have done so far and I know it’s the best of my ability, the only downside is that most other students I have talked to all say that the first year is worth diddly squat towards the actual degree and is more of a knowledge base for you to begin your more ‘serious’ 2 years.

Task 20. Creativity

Creativity is the thinking behind an idea that is either completely or partially original in content. As a programmer I believe the creativity comes in when creating how certain features work within a game and the programming behind this can also be creative in the way that it is written to be more efficient while running. Therefore creative ideas like bullet time and generally adding a new concept the games mechanics would be the area that my creativity would be concerned with.

Creativity in games I feel would be judged by: the story, game mechanics, characters, sound and the immersion of the game for the player. I think a prime example for creativity in terms of story and characters would be the final fantasy series as the characters and story are so in depth and totally original each story feels fresh and drives you to continue playing. I think the creativity of the Warioware series in which it created a game that was made purely of second long mini games which I haven’t ever encountered before is an important creation as this brought a brand new range of games to the gaming community.

I strongly agree with Robert E. Franken who said:

The three reasons for why people are motivated to be creative are:

1. need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation
2. need to communicate ideas and values
3. need to solve problems

Creativity allows us to create a new world/idea unlike any on this planet and can also act as an escape from reality. I think creativity put to good use can be used to solve problems while the 1^st motivation is used more for keeping a persons mind active and trying to escape monotony.

I think creative stimulation can come from any source. The beauty in creativity is that its very different between every human being. Therefore while one mans creativity may be based outside this planet another’s may be based within this planet, allowing millions of different forms of creativity to be developed. However there must be some link between a person’s creativity that is good for things like inventions e.g. their creativity was sparked by a question that they wished to be answered in opposed to just day dreaming. Yet I think creativity for computer games can take any form whatsoever as computer games break the limitations that we have within life itself and allows us to be or do anything we wish.

Creativity is best shown in both inventions and computer games. The entire computer games industry is based on creativity as computer games are an art form and art without creativity is just repetition of a previous picture/design and no one will be willing to pay for the same game there must be some new form of content, whether it be a new character or game mechanic, for it to sell. Inventions also are very dependant on creativity as an invention must be original which directly requires creativity to take place.

Task 19. Specialised or General

Liberal arts are considered a general knowledge and intellectual skills form of teaching. Graduates will specifically train in a certain area and have specialized expertise in that particular area.

In terms of artists I can see why liberal arts may be preferred as it may bring a different form of creativity due to the different form of education they have had. But they will always need the graduates in order to utilise the software in modern games creation as it’s not simply a pick up and create a masterpiece process.

Programmers from a liberal arts background could again provide a different form of creativity in the way the program actually completes its task and may allow for a more proficient system to be produced. However liberal arts students may not know the capabilities and limitations of programming software and then ask for impossible programs to be created. Also for the actual input of the code graduate students would be needed in order to complete this task as it requires more specialised skills.

I think the employment of liberal student may create a new form of creative input but overall specialised students would eventually be needed to actually complete any of the tasks.

Task 18. Sound

Music on tapes and phonographs were impractical for use in the games industry in the 1970s though some arcade machines did use either of these two methods of sound production. A more acceptable means was to use a computer chip to change electronic pulses into sound.

In the 1980s new chips were produced and technology prices fell, this allowed for up to 8 channels to be used in producing the music. Sampling a real instrument then became used but due to the large cost per kilobyte it was not often used due to it taking up a large amount of memory for that time.

By the 1990s prices again dropped on technology and this allowed music to be even more detailed allowing vocals to be included within songs. Street fighter saw the beginning of using large amounts of voice samples along with lots of use of percussion and sound effects. By the time the SNES was released with its 16 bit sound chip this allowed for a greater range of acoustics to be used within games.

The release of the Playstation brought sound quality similar to that of a CD, which then led to music moving towards being streamed when the game was on a CD format.

Famous composers in the computer games world include:

Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda)

Koichi Sugiyama (Dragon Quest)

Rob Hubbard (Monty On the Run)

Hirokazu Tanaka (Metroid and Kid Icarus)

Martin Galway (Times of Lore)

Hiroshi Miyauchi (Out Run)

Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy)

Yuzo Koshiro (Ys)

I believe that my first favourite music experience in gaming must have been either playing sonic for the first time or playing final fantasy. Sonic had possibly the most advanced sound in a game that I had ever heard with different music on each level and even theme music for Dr Robonik battles. Final Fantasy had CD level music along with great composition and music that brought emotion and could even describe characters for each of their acoustic themes.

Task 17. Engines

Game engines are used by companies to create their games with reduced cost and complexity. The engine itself contains key features to make a game meaning the company does not need to create everything for scratch. It seems that first person shooters seem to be producing the most engines and the mods using these engines would be proof of that. Popular games engines include the half life and half life 2 engine along with the counter strike engine and the unreal engine.

Some companies will not just use an all in one engine and will take separate engines for different areas, like music and rendering, and combine the engines to create a custom engine. Games engines also allow cross platform creation allowing little to no changes to the code to be made but the game can be played on multiple platforms and operating systems.

The pictures below show an image with no filter then with additive alpha and then subtractive alpha.

Additive is the mixing of 2 colours while subtractive is to do with light passing through a colour.

With next gen arriving at our doorstep it means that games engines must now improve in order to handle the higher level of processing and detail that will be in these new games, also this means that it is much harder and much more expensive to create everything from scratch due to the complexity and higher detail these games will be capable of. This would then lead me to believe that all companies will have to use engines in order to produce their games otherwise it will be too expensive to do.