The Everyday Yammerings Of Stratus Hunter

Task 24. Feedback

2007-03-16T13:50:00.000Z

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

2007-03-02T12:26:00.000Z

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

2007-02-22T11:28:00.000Z

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

2007-02-16T15:38:00.001Z

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:

need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation
need to communicate ideas and values
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

2007-02-09T12:09:00.001Z

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

2007-02-02T13:50:00.000Z

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

2007-01-26T14:44:00.000Z

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.

Task 16. The Culture of Backstabbers

2007-01-18T13:53:00.000Z

I think that I am mainly a part of the MMORPG gaming culture. This can take a lot of your time, to a point where I have met people that only stop for 5 hours sleep then log back in again, to just casual play where you pop online for an hour once every so often. However the level of depth to the gaming world I believe is directly affected to the amount of time you play, the longer you play the more real it feels. I also to a lesser extent play FPS online these are more my casual area of gaming where ill pop on shoot about and then log off.

I think the problem with the gaming culture is that for a new player it can be a very scary experience. You will usually start off by meeting someone who thinks they know it all and will use all the slang to throw you off plus along with having a very short temper you begin to think, why am I subjecting myself to this when all I want to do is have a laugh. That’s where the problem lies, people are too obsessed with ranking and stats that they forget they are just meant to be playing a game and unless you commit your life 24/7 to a game you will never attain high enough stats to reach that hallowed leader board thus making it all futile anyway.

However despite my grim outlook you can get lucky if you search hard enough. I’ve met a lot of people on MMORPGs some just normal guys that live in different countries who just wanna play a game and have a laugh. Then there were others who were playing 24/7 and slowly becoming paranoid and some that were just plain idiots. Thing is with the gaming culture its much like real life in terms of variety of people, its just that high score offer that tips some over to becoming cheaters, backstabbers and general annoyances and due to no consequences they’ll always pick that easy route. That’s where games have got to change and have bigger punishments for cheating and not even allow cheats or exploits in the first place, and it can be done Guild Wars started off with lots of bots and trading exploits but it soon tracked down all the bot users and shut off their accounts, readjusted the economy so that the bot users didn’t effect item prices and then used weekly updates to fix any new exploits in the game, most of which to do with skill combinations that made users next to invulnerable. I think this is the answer to the backstab gaming culture, constant adjustment and improvement as you can always rely on humans to find a bug that can be exploited in some way.

Task 15. The Industry

2007-01-13T16:55:00.000Z

The computer games industry first started off as an almost no lose situation. A single programmer could produce a game in a few months on a low budget and sell hundreds or thousands of copies meaning more royalties could be given. Now it’s a much greater risk to create a computer game due to the large budgets that can reach millions of pounds, the development time is also much larger ranging between 1 and 3 years, also the large staff base and complex programming and graphics creation.

The games industry tree starts with the games developer, which is the company that produces the game. Underneath that is the games producer who is the project leader, they will be in charge of sorting out licenses and contracts, making sure both the budget and schedule is kept to, sorting out all forms of testing and localization and to communicate with development staff and upper stakeholders. Then below him are all the different workers that work under each discipline.

These include:

Level designer
Game producer
Game artist
Game programmer
Game designer
Game tester

The problems facing today’s industry include money issues in England. They say that for the industry to remain healthy then government help will be needed. Due to a lack of funds a lot of the creativity and talent has been taken overseas due to better offers over there. Also with the beginning of the next generation more money must be spent on expertise required.

Another problem highlighted by Nintendo is the simplistic view that if graphics and processing power can be increased, gamers will always continue playing. Nintendo however believe that this is not true and the industry really needs to revolutionize the way games are interacted with and turning gaming into a new experience.

Task 11. Oh so bored

2006-12-15T13:05:00.000Z

Gameplay to me would be the interactions and feelings that the player experiences as they play the game. Also I think gameplay covers the goals which must be met while playing the game. I think it’s important as it covers the main reasons for why a game is played and what interactions will take place between the game and the player. However gameplay can be broken down into game mechanics which I believe cover the more technical workings of the game and is a more technical and in depth view of gameplay and displays how the things described in the gameplay are done.

I think a description of gameplay can be formed into a game as the gameplay describes what the player has to do and how the game interacts back with the player. Of course some form of deeper investigation about how the gameplay will be made possible would have to be done but I think a description of gameplay is a good way to start a game idea before actual production takes place. I think gameplay is an important factor as it separates each game from one another and similarities in gameplay then set genres out between similar games.

Task 10. A real close shave

2006-12-06T16:23:00.000Z

Amanda fell over with a grater in her hand and my big toe got in the way……ow. Plus I bought guitar hero 2 and I’ve not played much Amanda, however, has played almost non stop. Ha I suppose I only have myself to blame by trying to share my interests. Plus its inspection next week so I suppose me and Steve will be the only ones cleaning the kitchen in a 4 man apartment. Also my neighbour is being noisy again but I seem to have cured it by punching and kicking the wall furiously.

Characters can become iconic figures of a particular genres e.g. Lara Croft for adventuring. They can also become idealist models to aspire to e.g. Robin Hood. So portrayal of characters in games is important if your game is story based only. However for games like first person shooters you begin to care very little for the main character as you feel that you are doing the particular tasks instead as it is in the first person perspective.

I think back story is very important to make a character more realistic, as if they have lived a life and you are just playing a particular part of this one person’s life. This past life must also show how experiences will then sway them to particular courses of action. This will however directly affect the gameplay as then the game must then be very linear in order to keep a detailed plot and the particular characters personality. This then usually directs the overall look of the character, like the typical tough guy character will usually have a scar. Some characters are designed to be cute or niche to draw interest in the game as it is something nice or new to look at.

I think acting is not that important as some games with classic characters have no voice acting. However actions from the character displaying emotion can really help to create a persona for a character. This inclusion of emotion also makes the character seem much more real as you can then see what emotions are expressed by these motions at certain times so you can then make judgements about the character. I think script is a very important part of making a character popular but also the look proves very important. I think flaws in the characters body are good as this again helps towards the realism. But it does require all these elements to be combined in order to produce a popular character but then again sometimes very simple characters like Mario without much back story also prove to be very popular.

Task 9. Almost time for a break, I certainly need one

2006-11-30T16:47:00.000Z

Can’t wait for Christmas holidays, mainly for the fact I get a break from working huzzah.

Computer games controllers have always been changing throughout the years. It does seem that Nintendo is changing the standard design for that time period and then making a new standard controller that all the other consoles follow. Also the comfort of the player has slowly become much more important as people won’t play games for long amounts of time if they cannot hold the controller comfortably. I’m currently very interested to see how successful the Wii mote will be as to me it looks quite awkward to use but Nintendo is trying to ensure us it is very comfortable and easy to use. Playstation seem to be following the ethic of ‘if its not broken don’t fix it’ as once the standard ps1 controller was released very little change has taken place. Microsoft seem to be also following suit as the Xbox 360 controller is just a sleeker version of the Xbox controller, after their initial fumble with the ridiculously sized original controller.

The actual console design has also changed. I think consoles are originally designed to look futuristic and it’s interesting to see all the different perceptions of the future at each year a console was released. Also the standard grey colour for consoles seems to have now changed to sleek black or clean white, very ‘modern’ colours by today’s standards. It also seems consoles are slowly starting to look much more streamline and aesthetically pleasing. Mimicry of the idea that computer games software is becoming an art style it seems so is its hardware. It seems that Playstation are trying to keep their consoles no bigger than a DVD or VHS player so that their console fits in as a standard TV peripheral. Nintendo seem to be taking the idea of making things much smaller, while Microsoft seem to be trying to make a much better attempt at making their console more aesthetically pleasing along with smaller in comparison to their first console.

I think in terms of user interface things have not gone much further since the beginning of the options menu. I believe that consoles themselves should try to make themselves no bigger than a DVD or VHS player as then it is possible to transport the console with relative ease. As for controllers, I think that Nintendo is taking the best philosophy in trying to change how controllers are designed and even how we interact with our games. I think it’s also very important to try and make controllers more and more ergonomic and comfortable to use. As then damage to hands after extended periods of gaming is reduced dramatically.

Task 8. Grr stupid windows

2006-11-24T15:11:00.000Z

Well I just did lab 4 of digital electronics and then saved over lab 3 in the process. Increasing my workload is not the idea I originally had for today. Anyway, to the task at hand eh.

Storytelling in games has become an industry standard and I believe that very few games nowadays doesn’t have any storyline. It seems that gamers like to see a purpose for their tasks set. This would then indicate that gaming has now become a new way in which to recite a story to the player. I think the Final Fantasy series is the best example of gaming with storytelling as the entire hook to the game is its gripping stories.

I think games with stories are popular as the interactive element allows the user to feel in control of these characters outcomes. Although many games have only the one ending there has been games such as shadow of memories where alternate endings are available depending on your actions during the game. A very important factor to games storytelling is that it must not be longer than necessary as I feel gamers tend to give up on games very easily if the gameplay becomes repeated or the storyline isn’t gripping them and spurring them on to continue. Also creating a game story that is totally original is slowly becoming harder and harder. I feel a good example of this is shadow of colossus which had a totally unique story and gameplay and it was thus commended for its originality.

But this does not mean that all games must have a story to be successful. Simulation games like football games and racing games manage to sell vast quantities of copies just due to the fact it allows the player to pretend they are playing for the world cup or racing at 100’s of miles per hour. Also puzzle games don’t necessarily need a storyline even though a lot of them do have some form of basic storyline just to keep the player going.

I think a storyline gives the player a reason to continue with each level and this replaced the older system of trying to beat the high score. I think storylines took over as they do not necessarily depend on the level of skill for the user so even beginners will want to continue playing a game, while with the wanting to get the top score method beginners may get bored and frustrated quickly and give up on the game meaning less sales. While the story method will bring more sales and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters to the company.

Task 7. Time spent wishing. Is time wasted.

2006-11-17T14:09:00.000Z

Well first I wanted to elaborate the fact I am not an artist. Therefore if I get some of the finer details in terms of understanding the workload of the typical artist you can understand why. Also I hope that even though the majority of the class are in games art us electronic games tech people get the chance to meet a lead programmer and do a blog on the programming side. Though I will admit the talk we had was pretty interesting, except for the never ending questions on things I didn’t have a clue about, it let me get a wider perspective of what art work goes into making a game and the process of producing this final art work. Anyway woke up to Amanda leaving which still feels like I dreamt it then again by a fire bell which lasted for a minute ……annoying.

The first two links described the responsibilities for an art director, being the leader of an art team setting out weekly and daily tasks along with the overall task. Communication seems really important for art directors as I see programmers being able to complete their task then put it with another person’s piece of code with little to no manipulation. While for artists there’s the importance of getting the same style of art and lighting on a piece before they can be put together and look authentic. It also seems that Photoshop is a industry standard therefore anyone looking for an art job should be sufficiently comfortable with using Photoshop, which now explains the ridiculous price tag.

I especially enjoyed reading “Day in the Life: Phillip Bossant, Executive Producer and Art Director” as I feel this gave a real insight in the day to day running of an art directors job. It also highlights all the additional work that an artist must go through in order to produce a realistic game as possible. Again I would imagine that most programmers wouldn’t need this extra research as programming is just a set of rules and standards though I wont deny its creative side as one problem can be completed in different ways depending on the programmer sometimes.

It also seems that getting promoted in the games industry seems to be quite difficult. It also seems that your overall job doesn’t change you just get harder sections of art and in the art directors case you lead a team of artists as well and then get a Entry-Level Artist, Junior Artist, Intermediate Artist, Senior / Lead Artist or Art Directors salary. It also seems that in the games industry it seems that jumping between companies and even freelance work seems to be the norm in order to fulfil your wants by working on games that will inspire you not just one genre.

The Art director is in control of a team of artists and sets tasks for the artists to complete weekly or daily. I personally feel the creativity of the role is fairly limited as you have to follow a set of guidelines set by the producers. I think the main qualities of an art director would be good communication, the ability to research what you are working on effectively, be willing to travel not only the world but also between different companies in order to obtain more job opportunities and I believe that producing a high quality portfolio is also a defining point when aiming for an art directors position.

Woohoo Guild Wars are running a weekend event so its time for doing my washing and playing copious amounts of Guild Wars in order to get my first rare green weapon.

Task 6. Finding yourself in a routine plot?

2006-11-08T14:28:00.001Z

I’m a bit tired and irritable today. Don’t know why I can’t get through even half a day without getting tired lately. Anyway hope it doesn’t affect my writing so here it goes. O and by the way Tenkaichi 2 is pretty darn good so if you’re thinking about getting it, it’s worth getting. Also been playing FEAR extraction point, it’s amazing, very scary and atmospheric it’s the only game series that makes me scared so I’m a little bias.

Gameplay appears to me as the actual mechanics of the game. The task that is set for the user to complete for example in FPS games the main task is to shoot and kill all enemy objects before they shoot and kill you. I think gameplay is the skellington of a game where only the task exists with variables being more in the area of X and Y than The human hero and evil aliens. Therefore the gameplay of two games could be exactly the same but it’s the actual design that separates them. Games design integrates the mechanics of the gameplay along with visual effects, programming, sounds and narrative.

My personal favourite games developer is Square Enix. They produce a mainly Japanese cultured game based more around an epic storyline and trying to take existing gameplay mechanics e.g. an experience levelling system. Then reinventing it to give their games of the same genre a fresh feel e.g. the sphere grid in final fantasy 10 rather than the pure experience system of final fantasy 7 or kingdom hearts.

The games design process is conducted before creation of the final game even starts. A games design is produced to a producer possibly along with some basic prototype programs to model their idea this design could be entirely created by one person or a large team of people. The producer will then give the green light to the project if they believe it is a good enough design. However the games design is always changing throughout production therefore when a games design is shown it tends to be incomplete.

I think different games genres require different principles as their mechanics are different. A game like FEAR needs game levels and sound to work in harmony to create as spooky an environment as possible while a turn based strategy game would be more dependant on the maths of all damage calculation and computer AI rather than relying on object skins to effect gameplay.

I think my personal preference of gaming is dependant on mainly storyline. Older games like final fantasy 7 easily contend with games of the same genre with much higher level of graphics purely because the story was so amazing. That doesn’t mean that gameplay is not a effector it just varies depending on the genre of the game. For beat em up games I will mainly judge it on the game mechanics rather than the actual storyline. As the beat em up genre doesn’t really go hand in hand with in depth storylines.

Gaming, Halloween and Family visits

2006-11-03T10:50:00.000Z

Well I haven’t done a personal blog for a while so today is a double posting extravaganza!

Well where to start last week saw my parents and sister down so I had a nice meal paid for by my dad which is always good and it also allowed my parents to meet Amanda which was good. They seemed to like her and both gave her a kiss goodbye so that can’t be bad!

Monday was interesting to say the least. Part of my usual routine walking to James’ I was invited in as he was just finishing a pro evo game. Which, I’m ashamed to admit, was pretty fun to watch. The downside was that we had a lecture in 5 mins when they finished so we entered student pacing and still got there early. I was dead impressed!

Tuesday was digital electronics day and due to the student strike thingy we didn’t have a full lecture. However me and James didn’t know this was happening until 5mins into our lecture time. So we went back to James’ and played metal gear online, which is really good, despite my obvious lack of skills in playing it. When we returned for our lab session after the lecture time we then found out he ran the lecture for the last hour than the normal 2 hours. But c’est la vie eh?

Wednesday , C programming. What can I say fun but annoying when it doesn’t work. Spent about an hour on one question and all I was missing was 2 quotation marks, very annoying. After all that programming I was hungry so me and James made a trip down to greggs for a fresh loaf and James got a sandwich at subway…..I was less than impressed and decided to trump his subway with 2 home made sandwiches with my newly acquired bread. I so won…

Friday bought the release of Guild Wars Nightfall and FEAR extraction point. Both of which I bought with a severe guilt feeling, but I justify myself by saying the games market has been really quiet recently and that its all helping me towards my course and discovering myself as a gamer. It also bought a mass Kingdom Hearts 2 playing as DBZ:Tenkaichi 2 is being released the next week so I need to complete it in order to use it as part exchange for the new game.

Tuesday and Halloween wasn’t really being celebrated as Amanda’s and her flatmates were going to throw a party the Wednesday. So I was just at Amanda’s sitting in her kitchen looking out onto the street and some random guy starts stripping at me, very weird, then 2 guys stumbled past and stole random bits of rubbish on the street and proceeded to take it home with them. Man I love watching the public from that kitchen.

Wednesday started pretty bad. I was shattered and I had C programming. So I went to get James and he was having a worse morning. With a major hangover and just literally being sick he ventured out with me into the world of C to only return 15mins later. So by myself taking on the world of C. It was a nightmare. I worked through the entire session (3 hours) and continued working for another 2 hours at home and still needed to get the answer off my lecturer. I also went to town to get my Dracula cape and teeth along with some apples and a tub for apple bobbing. Wednesday evening and the party was in full swing. Although at first it was a little slow it was nice to just sit around, chat and have a couple of drinks. It was much funnier later on with apple bobbing and blue jokes and innuendo to every event.

Amanda foolishly said she couldn’t cook despite wanting to be a chef when she was younger this then sent Abbey her flatmate and mother of the household to get Amanda to cook for me Thursday. Spaghetti Bolognese was the dish and although I just loved the thought of someone cooking for me the fact it tasted fan bloody tastic was just ace. I really like it at her flat its much more like a family home there than it is at my flat.

Today brings new promise as I’m now off to get changed to go into town and get Tenkaichi 2 I’ve been a bit hooked to the DBZ fighting games ever since Budokai 2 so I’m really hoping this lives up to standard that the others have made.

Laters Folks!

Task 5. Its early and I'm ready for some gaming

2006-11-03T10:49:00.000Z

Its early this Friday morn and I want to get out and get the new DBZ:Tenkaichi 2 which means I need to have a free afternoon to play it. (Thank god for part exchange I couldn’t get it otherwise) So its blog time folks.

The first link shows games journalism as a manic rush to produce the magazine in time therefore the content is somewhat lacking. It also highlights the area that due to the lack of time they don’t write about anything interesting and the underlying want to do their job (I guess) makes them want to write something decent about something interesting. However I think this is slightly over critical. Personally I like reading games reviews and some are very aware of more than just graphics and game play. But I do agree that reviewing in the past seemed much more in depth than what is shown in today’s magazines, which might explain why I haven’t bought a games magazine in a year. This shows how money is much more a driving factor to the industry than quality assurance and just getting the issue out on shelves is proving much more important than the actual content.

The second link I read was an amateur review about project gotham racing. Now I know this sounds a bit controversial but in true xbox style “make it look pretty and no one will notice that its rubbish” seems to have this guy hook line and sinker. He seems totally fixated on the visual effects and much less on the actual game play and features. But this is expected as people not in the business will obviously notice the graphics before the immersive story or intuitive game play as it’s the most obvious attribute to a game.

The ranking system of games I believe only gives us a partial insight in basic areas like sounds, graphics, game play and longevity. A game has a very personal reviewing system. Its like art not everyone will like the same thing in the same ways. Like me I’m very storyline orientated while someone else might play for the adrenaline rush or live action. So I think a subjective reviewing system can only be used as a guide for the masses. While this objective ranking system gives a much more personal view and it would allow like minded players to realise whether they would like the game much more accurately. But for this to appeal to all audiences you would need each type of gamer to review the same game, which is greatly impractical in a business sense.

New games journalism seems really interesting as this offers the objective reviewing rather than subjective and as my own writing seems to match this reviewing system it allows me to translate games reviews much more clearly. Also gaming is a very personal thing; lots of stories are made and linked to certain games. Like Final Fantasy 7 for me that turned one of my enemies into one of my best friends. So I think games for some people play a much higher role than just good or bad. It’s linked to experiences, good or bad, and similar to music it may invoke certain feelings when playing certain games experiencing those nostalgic stories when you played a game originally. So I think NGJ may insight us into a different reviewing system for gaming and I for one will embrace it.

Task 4. Oh dear im so hyper O___O

2006-10-25T14:16:00.000Z

Well it’s that time of the week again. I’m currently absolutely buzzing from an energy drink and the word teraflop has had me in fits of laughter for a good 15mins now. A perfect time to write my entry methinks!

The future of gaming looks very predictable. Memory will be increased by using blu ray discs and graphics will enhance in sync. But thank god for the light of hope that is Nintendo for trying something new. I believe that the Nintendo Wii with its remote style controller is going to be the guiding light for gamers in this time of bleak monotone evolution.

It also shows how I myself as a gamer is expected to get deeper and deeper pockets to afford this nasty gaming habit. With the price to develop games going through the 10’s of millions and almost the 100’s of millions of dollars it also means the price per unit is also going up with the standard £30 rrp turning more into £50 rrp for next generation consoles. But yet again Nintendo is our guiding light in this desperate hour with their console not even breaking the £200 barrier. Huzzah!

However this does not mean I am against new graphics and more memory but you also need new innovative ideas otherwise there is just nothing there. An exciting video I saw was of new portal technology, the test was using the half life 2 engine , this shows how even when the graphics that are considered normal to high that with a new idea can be far more interesting than a high graphics level remake.

But it’s become a great risk to be original as was reviewed in game development article. Remakes and movie makes that have already tested the market are becoming more popular for producers as they generally are more guaranteed to make money. But gaming cannot go this way! Without the new games we have locked ourselves into forever playing halo, metal gear, final fantasy and various football replicas.

But there is always this danger that the wii mote will become the wii pain in the arse for hardcore gamers who want their bog standard controller and don’t want to be swinging their arms around like a mad person in their living room. But we’ll just have to see, the DS stylus seemed to me like it would become annoying but I love it as it makes you feel much more a part of the action. But it does show the originality does have its deep breath moments right before release.

I also don’t like how the display companies have limited themselves to the ability of the human eye. Imagine what happens if we go beyond that?? (The occasional seizure and many lawsuits I hear you cry) We’re slipping back into typical human behaviour. Get in our nice comfy spot and progress only within those boundaries. It’s like what university students go through. If I didn’t come here I would still be in Clacton doing nothing productive, but feeling perfectly safe and happy. Here I might get scared or feel unsafe at times (Maybe in the future I’ve been fine so far) but look at all the amazing things I have done and all the brilliant people I have met and all the experiences I have gone through (This energy drink buzz being one). I say gaming should be a chance for us to experiment as it is an art form and I can’t say that anyone is going to get recognised for repainting Van Gough’s Sunflowers.

So what I say is follow the artists of the world and viva la revolution for computer games! I think this entire blog also discuss’ my view on my gaming history future I just want developers to not lose their originality and trying to revive a dead concept that’s been released far too many times.

Murderous taxi drivers and house raids

2006-10-20T12:31:00.000Z

Well another story time kiddies so gather round. Well this past week has been eventful much like any other week. It starts off with last Saturday when I met Amanda's parents, now that was a scary prospect. But it turned out they have the same jobs as my parents and it seems another poor soul had to go through all the castle and steam train visits like me! But they seemed to like me so it’s all gravy.

Then there was Monday where the nice mechanic at Liberty Park came and fixed my toilet and my heater, huzzah! He was a pretty cool guy so we sat around chatting about the substandard designs in Liberty Park and how the big bods are always after deposits.

Later that evening we were raided!!! Well, the two managers knocked on the door and pointed at the two freshly relocated dustbin bags I had left outside the door ready for moving to the dump downstairs, which I was promptly asked if they were going to be moved. They then let themselves in and began trying to knock down my other housemates doors while I received a barrage of questions 'Where are your housemates?' 'Have you seen them today?' 'When was the last time you saw them?' etc etc. Suddenly my door closes seems Amanda had woken up and decided the door needed to be shut. That started off the next level of questioning. 'Who’s that in there?' in which I replied no one, which in terms of about their enquiry is true. They continued to badger me about who was in my room so I walk up to the door and open it they then continued to try and summon my housemates even though they are not in. Finally during this slight calm I ask what this is about. They reply it’s for the council tax we know you have done yours. Then why give me the second degree! Geez. Anyway after that they went around pointing out various things we need to get fixed or our deposit will get taken and then vanished. After they had left I had to stand around for a bit to take in what had just happened.

Wednesday brought the killer taxi cab. We were off to Zanzibar’s traffic light night so we caught a cab. Once arrived Helen and Charu got out and me and Amanda sorted the money out to pay the guy. I get out. Amanda gets one leg out and he starts driving off knocking her to the floor, he promptly stops and gets out and just kinda stares in silence. Luckily Amanda was fine just a sprained wrist but I couldn’t believe it I was standing there gawking at the driver in disbelief. He said sorry and checked she was alright and promptly made a getaway when Helen asked for a refund. Very weird!

Task 3. Evolution is purely a matter of when

2006-10-20T12:27:00.000Z

The 1980’s were primarily the integration of computer games into the home. The creation of interactive fiction brought a form of computer game story something quite similar to the books with 'turn to page X if you want to run away' These were initially text based adventures but soon games like The Hobbit were made with some areas illustrated onto the screen.
The ZX spectrum was creating a new generation of home programmers and the commodore 64 supplied us with tape based gaming for a minimal price with high quality graphics and sound.
This decade also saw the advances in IBM PCs in both graphics and sound, making them an equal to their console cousins for game playing.
This decade also saw the creation of Mr Game and Watch handheld consoles bringing adaptations of arcade classics into the home and later on the release of the game boy in 89 again left Nintendo the head of the handheld market.

The 'Third Generation' era was dominated by the NES and the industry standard game pad was set in place. The roots of some vastly popular series even today were formed during this first era including: Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda.

The 90's brought demos, CD ROMs, 3D graphics and cheaper processors. There was also the creation of industry standards like the FPS (First Person Shooter) RTS (Real Time Strategy)
and also the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game)
Modding also appeared, the most popular being the half life mod, counter strike being made in 1999.

The 'Fourth Generation' was the cartridge battle between the Sega mega drive and the super NES and then showed the evolution of integrating CD drives on both consoles.

This then led to the 'Fifth Generation' which began with the Playstation and Sega Saturn clash and later saw the Nintendo’s N64 console making a splash boasting its 64-bit graphics in comparison to the other two consoles 32-bit technology. This generation saw some of the most famous and best games created ever in which I would even consider still today. 007 GoldenEye dominating the FPS category with its sumptuous graphics and addictive game play. Final Fantasy 7 taking the RPG slot giving gamers what I would consider is arguably the best game story ever created. Metal Gear Solid was considered a market innovator creating stealth category. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was bringing action and adventure along with mind boggling puzzles and finally Mario 64 setting a new standard for platform gaming. The creation of these historic titles and with the introduction of all these new categories for games it meant that gaming offered games to a much wider audience this began what I feel was a real buzz in the market making gaming much more popular.

The evolution of the games from the 80's through to the 90's was that of both a graphical perspective and a great advance with more complex gameplay and new ideas revolutionising the market. Hardware was firstly trying to get into homes and was then changing to accommodate larger storage mediums allowing more to be put into a game and with the lowering prices of processors and the creation of new graphics cards increasing the graphical potential.

This week’s personal history section I wish to focus on particular games that really affected my gaming life. First off would be Sonic the Hedgehog this is the mother of my entire gaming life. This is the one that got me hooked to gaming and kept me hooked to the series. Final Fantasy VII which I mentioned last week was very important to me. It made my gaming more complex with tactical thinking required when setting up your characters for a battle. It also showed me how games can also be used to tell very intricate story lines, this soon became a pinnacle point in which I rate games today. Metal Gear Solid for the Playstation introduced a more ‘live in the moment’ approach to gaming which I continued to enjoy when I began playing very intense two player races on Sonic Adventure 2 for the Dreamcast, with its amazing storyline and breakneck speed this contained the adrenaline pumping action along with the storyline I crave when playing my games. My Dreamcast also introduced me to internet gaming with Phantasy Star Online this was when I gained my now permanent online alter ego ‘Stratus Hunter’ (That explains the blog name). My Playstation 2 brought to me Devil May Cry, another adrenaline pumped storyline based game and following the same pattern brought me the Soul Reaver series. Finally when I moved onto PC gaming Guild Wars with its genius no monthly fee captured my attention in which Stratus made his second online gaming debut and the creation of ‘The Knight of the Ebon Sphere’ guild now dominated my gaming timetable. I feel Guild Wars had the biggest effect on my life as I have made loads of friends and in the good old days we were a very tightly knit guild, almost brothers in arms, having fun over team speak and even getting in the top 300 guilds in the world!

Battlefield 2142 and random goings on

2006-10-15T10:45:00.000Z

Well last night I managed to download the battlefield 2142 demo, its pretty good, has a couple of glitches like my ultimate ability to disable all the movement keys except from back which turns into forward, that was an odd one.

It’s the same kind of battlefield game just with a different skin if every gamer is honest with themselves. Some of the new vehicles are brilliant the ability to launch yourself in a pod to attack an enemy’s mother ship looks pretty cool. Haven’t managed to fly any planes or helijet type things as in typical battlefield style there are usually 10 people waiting for someone to die and the vehicle respawn, such an effective use of troops eh.

The ground troops are my only moan and considering until you find a vehicle your stuck as one makes it a fairly important moan. Firstly the speed they plod along pretty slow making you a nice big target for any walkers or flyers by. The second thing is that you are like an ant versus an elephant when coming up against vehicle opponents, which I think could be made more equal if the speed was increased so you could evade attacks more effectively.

But aside those points, which will probably be fixed by the time its released, its a pretty good game to sit and play and also the loading speed problem from battlefield 2 seems to be all gone now which is also fab!

Aside from my games playing and after the delightful mass meal of bread I consumed earlier in the week due to sell by date, I have just managed to soak myself fully clothed while in my bathroom seems I might have caught the shower handle device and pulled it outwards turning it on...........another proud day for me eh?

My roommate cleaned the kitchen! Dear god! Its a miracle he finally cleaned up his mess, I wonder how long it will last for...

I’ve also been listening to the new bleach opening which I think is amazing and slowly picking up the lyrics, singing in Japanese is hard ><;;;

Also my damn washing is still all soaked through seemed I might have put them into a novel writing machine cunningly disguised as a dryer cause it sure wasn't doing any drying. Along with my 'working' heater in my room, it turns itself off after 2mins and will only turn on at max temp, but according to the mechanic it was obviously fine because he certainly did nothing to it. I now need to visit town and get a heater of some variety, how vexing.

Another rant was my key! I was told that if the fob doesnt work on the electronic doors I should give it a whack so I've been doing that a lot, well it seems the cable tie holding my keys and fob together finally had enough. Standing outside the gate of liberty park after a night at soar point i whack my fob as it didn't work the first time. My fob then breaks off and launches into liberty park well out of arms reach, I was certainly getting some funny looks from the security. Luckily Amanda was with me and she had her key otherwise I think that would have been a real problem. *phew*

And my sister and parents are coming down to Leicester, my sister is coming down for a week on Friday...I think and she’s staying with me......I think. See how I'm kept in the loop, and I think my parents are coming for just the Sunday. My sister being a post grad at the dmu she’s insistent on taking me to all the 'great' bars, should be a laugh though, its all gravy!

Anyway just some random stories and review for you, enjoy!

Task 2. Ahh so THATS how it started

2006-10-11T10:51:00.000Z

Well here I am again. After consuming nearly and entire loaf of bread due to its sell by date and with the added mix of an energy drink keeping me alive, the fact I managed to sleep through two loud alarms still boggles my mind, I’ve decided to take my challenge on anyway!

Well the first creator of a computer game was A.S Douglas. He created his tic tac toe game as part of a human-computer interaction PHD. I believe that it wasn’t intended for the game to be a form of entertainment. It was more a testing device used to record and view human computer interaction. It just turned out that people began to enjoy the game and thus computer gaming was born through an interesting coincidence, or at least this is how I portray it in my mind.

I also believe that William Higinbotham's Tennis for Two was also not entirely a game I believe this was more of an experiment with physics, in this case gravity. I'm sure many people will disagree but something about it just doesn’t seem to scream computer game to me and it seems more like an experiment.

I think my opposition to the idea of the first computer game being tennis for two is due to my belief of computer games allowing humans to experience something they cannot currently experience in the particular day and age. That’s why I believe Spacewar! would be the first real computer game in my opinion. Of course these other two programs played a very valuable role but I believe they were of a stage that of a semi game or some sort of a cocoon state of what is now considered the meaning of a computer game.

However regardless of my own opinions all of these 'games' were produced by university students. I believe it is significant as university is a time where you receive much higher knowledge but you also get the opportunity to be creative and original. This varies from most jobs as you are either told exactly what to do or the creative side is split up into so many pieces that the level of creativity in itself is limited e.g. one person doing levels one person doing characters etc etc. This doesn’t allow a person’s entire plan to be fulfilled which could hinder progression as a species in the evolution of new technology and experiences that are just a little too out there to be taken seriously without being shown proof.

My own personal gaming history started off with my commodore 64 I cant remember what was my first game as I was too little to remember but using that console I know I played frogger and a ghostbusters game.

My gaming life really kicked off after getting a mega drive and playing sonic the hedgehog. I then moved onto the playstation where I played a game that changed my life. Final Fantasy VII not only bought what used to be one of my enemies into one of my best friends. It also hooked me to computer games for life. With its intriguing storyline, beautiful music, intense battles, decisive customisation and loveable characters Final Fantasy VII is a major pinnacle for not only my life but I have no doubt many others would agree.

I then dabbled in portable gaming with my gameboy colour and then gameboy advance, mainly playing unique games like pokemon and boktai I mainly used my portable gaming systems as an opportunity to experiment with new games ideas that were released with very mixed effects.

I now currently own a PS2 and Gamecube and I have also just begun to really get into my PC gaming. I also own a PSP and DS as it seems portable gaming is really beginning to evolve and I want front row tickets to this evolution. I'm currently playing Kingdom Hearts 2, Guild Wars and a various array of PSP games as I'm currently exploring its games available as I have only recently bought it.

I have noticed a dip in the market as new original games seem to be a bit thin on the ground, apart from Nintendo who seem to be firing out some new concept for its DS every 5 minutes. I think originality and storyline are the major factors that affect my choice in games and maybe some day in the future I will be able to make my own character and ideas into a real game and even develop my ideas more thoroughly while I'm here this is my reason for being here.

Task 1. Mission Accomplished?

2006-10-06T12:17:00.000Z

I was sitting around reading http://ohdearmybrainisleaking.blogspot.com/ and it would seem I have found a kindred spirit, are all game based students alike? I suppose it would make sense certain personalities picking certain courses.

I particularly love the guilt feeling portrayed after forking out easily £100 for a new console, not unlike my own feelings after buying a psp! The general thoughts mimic that of most students, or so I believe, neighbours and flatmates seem to play such a major role in our lives. For example my neighbour in the block next door believes that music is now the new way to demolish an entire building my window is currently shaking to the bass, which you have no idea how annoying it is when trying to right your first blog entry!

I paint the picture in my head of this mystery games art student like that of most other students you can see on campus fairly scruffy alternative clothing and the eagle eye vision for spotting bargains.

I believe that blogging is a very personal thing as your writing style will always subtly release hints about your personality, like my loathing of noisy neighbours, but it’s really a personal choice of what you wish to write, revealing the beauty of the internet as a whole ‘different strokes for different folks’ scenario.

My writer I have chosen to read about mainly discuss’ the everyday goings on within his life but most posts are mainly based on the obvious hobby of computer gaming. He writes every week, well from September at least, I’m guessing end of last year to the start of this year was his well deserved rest period.

The audience of the internet doesn’t seem to phase me or sway my style of writing in any way. Due to it being such a vast audience you know that you cannot agree with everyone and somewhere there will always be someone who disagrees with you. But on a more positive note it also allows you to find like minded people.