DMUGA Week 11 - Seeing some improvements!

This was the final week before the Christmas holidays and I have to say... I'm so excited! The first term at university studying Game Art Design has been a roller coaster; had a rocky start and am still not great, but 'gains' are being made. I can see that all aspects of my drawing have improved, from my use of tone, to better mark making. Mind you, like I said the drawing is still nowhere near the standard I'd like it to be, or what it needs to be, but I'm definitely better than I was at the start of the course. In addition, I'm still trying to get into the gist of things and what work needs to be done for when, but considering I was all over the place in just the first week of work, I think that's a small victory in a sense. So, things are looking up for the next term, as I'm apprehensive, yet optimistic about giving everything a go and getting even more into it.

Visual Design
The morning session consisted of using the Skeleton prop as our still life subject. I found it is similar to the Dinosaur bone drawings in the sense that little imperfections on the bones don't detract massively from the image due to their nature anyway, but for whatever reason I just could not draw the skull properly! This really frustrated me as I gave it few attempts and it just didn't want to look right. I'd want to give it a few more goes and just practice; I think that whenever it comes to a living organism, there seems to just be a mental barrier that makes me even worse.
In addition to this activity, we were informed of this week's project... Design & Illustrate an evil Christmas character! I think this is a pretty nice idea, and it should allow for some creativity to come through; it'll be interesting to see what everyone comes up with. I'd be even happier about this is it wasn't for the issue I just brought up. However, I see this as an opportunity to try and overcome some of my fears and just go for it. What I end up with my not be very realistic-looking, but hopefully it'll teach me a few things and techniques on the human form. Even if my character completely sucks, it doesn't matter, as what I'm hoping to get out of this project is... Improvement!

Proportion is something I have been trying to get better at from the start in life drawing, and I can definitely see a different in my mark-making and planning it out more instead of just drawing as I look; ending up with something being either wonky, or out of proportion. Therefore, I was very glad to see a lesson which focused solely on proportion. I tried using a technique which made me look more for the 'planes' and get a better sense of 3D with just the outline (The tone is what will make it better). So, I gave this a go and in my eyes they are definitely better than some I've done before, proportion-wise. I think this was overall a good lesson for me to try this out and I enjoyed doing it, now I just need to hammer it in and practice!

Game Production
One thing is certain, even low poly trees take a long time to do if you want a good result. The deadline for our 2 trees was today, and despite editing the normals using the "Normal_Thief" script for max numerous time over the past week, the shading just didn't want to play ball. I kept ending up with bits of the tree that really should be lit. I still don't know if it was just the type of lighting I used, or just a setting that was causing it. At first I was just using the basic omni-lights for the scene and the shadows were way out on the tree, so I then tried a skylight and the shading was much better on the tree, but no shadow appeared from the tree trunk on the floor so it looked 'wrong'. After submitting the trees I was still frustrated with the lighting and decided to try and find a better light source. After playing around with some, I found that the standard 'daylight' feature with default settings which seemed to fix most of the problem, although, it still had some issues as you can see.

1st Tree - Daylight

1st Tree - Omni Lights

2nd Tree - Omni Lights

2nd Tree - Daylight

Critical Studies:
The seminar this week was again both useful and engaging. It was really good to hear a little about the 2nd years and how they weren't exactly totally amazing at the start either, but things do get better and development is made. The main focus of it however was also to set ourselves goals for what we want to achieve in each of the modules, plus by the end of this year. In addition, write down our strengths, weaknesses, and causes for concern for them.
Here's a short bullet-pointed summary of the goals that I set myself to do:

Visual Design:

• Make proportions and mark-making/planning ahead a focus for life drawing, as until that is nailed, it will never look right.
• Try and use tone and contours to emphasise depth, this will hopefully make it look more 3D and 'pop-out' better. Also, using this, it should help with creating 'atmosphere'.
• Do quick studies with fluid strokes in order to speed up my drawing pace a bit.

Game Production:

• Use the texture space more efficiently - It is ok, but could be better.
• Clean up unnecessary tris/polys - Again, not too bad, but there are still some which are unneeded.
• Plan the model ahead in terms of where things will need to be place, and in terms of my time management (how long each task will take, as they can be very deceptive).

Critical Studies:

• I need to use more professional/reliable resources, I.e. from DMU's library database, Google Scholar etc.
• Post photos of my work as examples of what I am talking about.
• Improve in general on my writing style, and ensure everything is in order.

For 'causes for concern', in order to be completely honest... My time management wasn't that great at the start, but it is certainly getting better. Even before I came to uni, I organised my time between all of my subjects extremely well, which is why I think that actually I manage my time rather well. However, procrastination is something which I think affects a lot of people and I try to fight it so hard, but I am not 100% please with procrastinating even a little bit and it's really starting to bug me. Therefore, it is something that I am concerned about, alongside the 'subject concerns', but I promise that I am doing my best an will not give up on this.

Subject-wise, I am concerned about not getting good enough, fast enough. I am making progress, but looking at all the amazing work of 2nd years+, I am just hoping that it'll all click sometime. Other than not being good enough, I'm not too concerned about things, except maybe the time I spend on each subject. Although, thinking about it now, I have strengths and weaknesses, so surely it is healthy to prioritise some over another to focus on those weaknesses (At least until I am satisfied with where I'm at)?

Anyway, a good first term; I'm looking forward to starting the next term, despite the stress it all causes me! :)

I wish that you all have a lovely Christmas with your families & a Happy New Year!!!

DMUGA Assignment #3 - History of Video Games 2000-2013

Swiftly carrying on from the previous games history blog, I'd like to re-instate that the things I mention are what I think are the main chunks, and there is much more to talk about.

Sony's Playstation 2

Let's get stuck in with the Sony Playstation 2. On the 4th of March 2000, Sony released the brand new console to the Japanese market, hitting 1 million units in just 2 days; the demand was higher than expected, resulting in some customers not receiving the product they pre-ordered. Amazingly, this shortage also meant that the PS2 was a hot, but scarce product, some were being sold for outrageous prices on Ebay! In addition, some Playstation units were sold with defective memory cards, meaning that because the DVD drivers were on the cards, DVDs could not be played. Although, the US PS2's were built with the code, so it didn't need a card. - Ref 1.
The PS2 was amazing, it had backwards compatibility, could play DVDs & CDs, and the specs meant that the graphics of the new & upcoming game were a vast improvement on any previous consoles. The initial launch was patchy (as it usually is with new consoles), and Sony was also worried about the design of the "emotion chip" making it a difficult experience for developers to make games, and therefore opened help forums/assistance websites to help. - Ref 2

Nintendo 64 - Pikachu Edition

Moving from Sony to Nintendo, Nintendo announce the release date of the GameBoy Advance. Originally supposed to appear in the fall of 2000, is now changed to 2001. Plus, developers for Nintendo are frustrated when the development kits for the "Dolphin" (Later renamed to "Gamecube"), haven't been received. The console was scheduled for 2000, and it takes 4 months for Nintendo to say that the console would not be released that year. On the bright-side, Nintendo does end up releasing another console, or, modified one at least. The Pikachu N64! I owned one as a child and it still works to this day... These things are built to last.
Nintendo also get into a little lawsuit with "Songboy.com". This was because they felt that Songboy was infringing intellectual property laws, and therefore, Nintendo refused their application to become licensed with them, and instead, wanted to sue them. Although, they arrange a deal whereby Songboy changes their name to "Song-Pro", and everything will be fine. Song-pro go on to become a licensee, and continue to make their product which allowed Gameboy users to save & playback 1 hour of music from the games, plus download some through a USB cable, sourced from the internet. - Ref 1.

Sega's Dreamcast Logo

In other matters, the Xbox is officially announced - not as if no-one knew anyway, and in terms of the PC, "The Sims" becomes the best-selling computer game, reaching out to the female market. There were other simulation games before this back in 89 & 91, but this was by far the best. - Ref 3. Sega goes through more troubles with sales for the Dreamcast, and a new head named Isao Ohkawa takes over the company.
Many rumours about Sega's involvement with the games industry surface, and end up saying that that will support the competing consoles, but also focus on other electronics more than the Dreamcast. This becomes true, and discontinue production later in January 2001. - Ref 1.

The Xbox release day on Nov 14th - Time Square

Here's another 'biggy': In 2001, Microsoft shows off the 'Xbox' at the Consumer electronics show (CES), and that 12-20 games will be ready at launch. Some of these game are: "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater", "Oddworld" and "Malice". Games in development include: "Metal Gear Solid" and "Crash Bandicoot". - Ref 1. In my opinion, Crash Bandicoot was such an amazing franchise, and I especially loved 'The wrath of cortex', great gameplay, fun all the way through, and one my favourite games of my childhood - I would highly recommend playing it if you haven't already! In addition, a game considered by many to be the best game on the Xbox: "Halo: Combat Evolved", was released in November/at launch of the Xbox. It quickly becomes the best selling launch game. - Ref 1.
As previously mentioned, 2001 was the year that Sega discontinued the Dreamcast. Not long before this though, they released  the first online-compatible version of the RPG "Phantasy Star", which allowed thousands of players to play together from anywhere in the world. - Ref 1.

Still during 2001, Microsoft gets tied up in a lawsuit with "Xbox Technologies" for the rights to the name. Whilst the struggle between Sony and Connectix come to and end and agree to work together, with Sony getting all of the PS emulation technology. In addition, sales of the PS2 reach 10 million units sold, which is incredible considering the PS1 took 3 times longer to reach this figure, and that alone was something to behold. - Ref 1.

Nintendo's Gameboy Advance SP -
Released 2 years after the GBA

Nintendo keep plowing through with more releases of successful products. This one being the GameBoy Advance; to be released in March this year with a retail price of $99. The GBA was an improvement on the GBC graphically, and supposedly aesthetically too - but this is to personal preference. The layout changed from the square screen and buttons underneath, to a horizontal one (widescreen if you will), and the buttons placed more like a console's controller. - Ref 4. I think this was far more comfortable than the GBC, but still loved the idea of the original. Nintendo wasn't done with the improvements though, just 2 years later they released the GBA - SP. Both of these products were backwards compatible, but the SP included a backlight, was smaller, and the design was changed to a 'flip' style which protected the screen. - Personal Experience. All I can remember doing on these 3 handheld devices was playing Pokemon, all day, and a lot of evenings during primary school. They were so much fun, in fact I'd love to try and find my old games and play them asap!
As well as these products, Nintendo released the Nintendo 'Gamecube' on November the 18th. Technically, the Gamecube was more powerful than the PS2, but this wasn't really considered when in competition with the other 2 'big dogs'. It didn't use DVDs for its games, instead a proprietary optical disc was used which has smaller memory and was smaller in size. - Ref 6. The Gamecube was far from a failure, but it certainly didn't compete much with Sony or Microsoft's products.

Sadly, even though it isn't considered significant, Midway Games leaves the coin-operated arcade market for the console industry. Over the next decade/until the present day, arcades are still dotted around, but are slowly dying out, and nowadays a lot of people forget that the arcade industry was once the pinnacle of the gaming industry.
Now, you wouldn't have thought so, but the tragic events of September 11th in 2001 impacted on soon to-be-released games, and the type of content that other developers include in future projects. These examples include: Spider-Man 2 being delayed to remove a scene where he was standing on a building that appeared similar to the World Trade Centre, Command & Conquer Yuri's revenge packaging altered to remove images of US landmarks under attack, a mission which referenced terrorists in GTA 3, and Flight simulator 2000/02 were altered to remove the World Trade Centre. There are more implications however. - Ref 1 & Ref 5.

Steam's Logo

Transitioning into 2003, the now extremely popular "Steam" software was born into the marketplace. 'Valve' pushes forward into the PC gaming market by creating a "digital distribution platform" which lets anyone with a computer and and internet connection purchase games online and play them with all the latest patches & DLC. They are also well known these days for having huge discounted games on sale.
Also, on October 29th 03, the gaming franchise that has evolved and continued to impress/generate massive profits for many years was born: 'Call of Duty'. There is a big divide in today's market between COD, Halo, Battlefield, and neither. Obviously there are some that don't mind as long as they play something, but I know a lot of people are sick of hearing COD, so I won't go into details. - More information at ref 7. Although, since COD4, each title has sold more than 10 million copies, and it is still growing to date. I think the main reason is because people see it as the same game, just different places/graphics - I still appreciate the work that has gone into making them, and enjoy playing it occasionally (Sorry if this offends you).

Nintendo DS - Dual Screen

Come 2004, despite Nintendo lacking in the console department I.e. The Gamecube, they still remain 'top dog' in the handheld market. The 'Nintendo DS' was released to North America on Nov 21st, and it was a huge improvement for handheld gaming because it featured a touch screen for menus and miscellaneous game functions, another screen for the actual main game, 2 processors, and improvements graphically, allowing for 3D rendering - Not to forget the backwards compatibility! (Always a luxury to have). It was massively popular, especially with games such as: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, & Phantom Hourglass, Pokemon, Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing etc. - Ref 3, 8, & 9 (Also check out ref 10 for popular DS games if interested). Plus, see ref 13 for a very interesting insight into Hiroshi Yamauchi, former Nintendo president. Later in 2011, Nintendo also released the '3DS', incorporating the newly introduced 3D technology to the handheld device. Don't get me wrong it would be amazing, but there has been so many complaints that it hurts some people's eyes, and even though it has improved a bit more since 2011, it still isn't completely fantastic (Although it is still developing!) Another interesting point to note here is that the Nintendo DS & 3DS look like a cross between the width & button layout of the GBA, and the flip mechanism on the GBA SP.

Microsoft's 'Xbox 360'

2005 dawned Microsoft's next brand new console, the "Xbox 360". This amazing new piece of kit was smaller, had wireless controllers, far more powerful, could play DVDs/CDs, interchangeable external hard drives, and much more. The console launched in the US on Nov 16th, Europe on Dec 2nd, and Japan on Dec 10th. The initial retail price for the full system was $399, but you could purchase one without the hard drive & controllers for $299 (But what would be the point in that?!). In terms of the specs, it included a speedy 3.2 GHz processor, and 512 MB of RAM. For more info of this, please visit Ref 11. Over the next few years, the first versions/original 360's encountered many problems but the biggest one by far was the infamous "Red Ring of Death" - rrod. Although there are many reasons why this occurs, the main reason was overheating. Since it's release, Microsoft has made a lot of improvements/updates on the original console, fixing many issues including the 'rrod', and making aesthetic improvements, and hardware improvements I.e. bigger Hard drives; other versions include the Xbox 360 Slim, Arcade, Pro, and Elite.
Even though you could play online with the PS2, and original Xbox, it wasn't until the 360 and Playstation 3 came out that there was such a massive development in the online sector - In terms of games, and the online systems such as Xbox Live and the Playstation Network.

Sony's Playstation Portable/PSP

Sony also released a new device this year, the "Playstation Portable" (PSP). To check it out in detail see ref 12. It's considered a multi-media device, and it is actually really good for music, pictures, browsing the internet, and of course, playing games. It uses MiniCD as the choice for playing games on and actually has some rather fun games on. It by no means competes with the Nintendo DS in the long run, but despite both being handheld gaming devices, the PSP tried to do more things, but the DS focused on the game aspect. Part of the reason why the DS just beats the PSP in general is down to the titles released exclusively to the DS. Just like all new devices, the PSP has a few revisions including the PSP Slim, PSP Go, Vita.

2006 was a big year for the gaming industry. If you couldn't tell already, the main companies which are thriving in the games industry and diving through mounds of profit are: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Almost all other competition has been killed off, unable to compete with the fast growth and huge popularity of these companies. Steam is still going strong also, and it doesn't look as if it will pass, especially now in 2013, as it has become a 'must have' if you're a PC gamer. It's fast, easy, and straight forward to manage all of your games.

Sony's Playstation 3

Sony's Playstation 3 sprung into action in Japan & the US Nov 2006, but didn't hit the UK until March 2007! The PS3 had technically better specs than any other console on the market at the time (To see full info visit ref 14), as well as exclusive game titles released solely on the Playstation. From this point onwards to this day, people argue over which console is better; the PS, or the Xbox? Free online service & graphically better gaming, or a multimedia device with reasonable graphical capabilities but a paid service. There are of course other pros & cons for each console, but this has divided many gamers across the globe.

The Nintendo Wii

Approaching a different route from the general trend of consoles, "The Nintendo Wii bucked the trend for power and resolution by producing what was essentially a new way to play video games." - Ref 15, New electronics. (26th June 2012). From Pong to Wii: four decades of computing gaming. 4. By using a motion sensor and accelerometers in order to interact more physically with the game. The extremely popular 'Wii Sports' was a very basic but 'family fun' game which included simulation games of: Bowling, Tennis, Boxing, Golf & Baseball. Ref 15, page 4 of the article gives a very nice overview on these new consoles. For example, "Gaming has returned to its roots" - On the one side, you have a fun/novelty orientated console in which you can play 'TV tennis', appealing to many families & people in general, on the other you have consoles with much higher processing power and focusing on immersion.
Nintendo Later released the 'Wii U' in Novemeber 2012, and it combines what appears to look like a tablet/controller, with the motion sensors, accelerometers, and usual Wii controllers. It brings a revamped way of gaming interactively, and looks promising for the future.

Rock Band, or Guitar Hero?

2005 & 2007 was the dawn of a short-lived reign of 'Rhythmic Gaming', with Activision's Guitar Hero & Harmonix's Rock Band battling it out to be on top. Both games were different in their own ways, but essentially are the same thing; you pick up a plastic instrument calibrated with the system and play along to a song. What is specifically fascinating about this genre of games is that at one point, they were advertised everywhere, people couldn't stop talking about their high scores, and they sold millions of copies. Before you even realised it, they had pretty much dissipated and gone from the industry! Imagine that, a whole genre born and gone in just less than a decade. Incredible.

Popular mobile game 'Angry Birds'

Also in 2007, Apple's 'I-Phone' came out. With a clean design, multimedia capabilities, and pretty much a condensed version of a computer in your pocket; apps quickly became a new way to do a wide variety of things... Including games. Since then, the app market has continued to develop and grow into novelty games as well as more sophisticated games for the 'smartphone' market. Probably the obvious example of app-based games is 2009's 'Angry Birds'. Angry Birds was such a big success, it's become a whole new thing to buy & sell products with or relating to Angry Birds on them. The app market now is so big and it's the cheapest way to get an indie developer off the ground; granted you have a quality product and a bit of luck.

The famous 'Grass block'
 - An image representing Minecraft's concept

This brings me to the next huge game by an indie developer (Markus Persson) and released in 2010. - Ref 3. This massively popular game grew overnight and initially consisted of just a few different types of blocks in a world in which the player has to gather resources, explore, and survive the creatures. Another example of simplicity appealing to the masses. Exclusive to the PC only at first, by popular demand the game was converted and made available to download on the Xbox-Live marketplace. It's amazing to think it's usually the basic but 'creative' products make the most money as it appeals to such a large market.
In addition, PC gaming is stronger than ever and the vast variety of online games that are available to us just never seems to stop expanding. In 2008, the MMORPG 'World of Warcraft' saw more than 10 million subscribers join the fantasy world which everyone can connect to. - Ref 3.

Skyrim's Logo

Further emphasising  the pure power of 3D graphics for games in 2011: 'Elder scrolls V: Skyrim'. This visually stunning game is an absolute joy to play. From the game mechanics to the textures, you just don't want to stop playing. I've consistently found myself just climbing to heights and admiring the absolutely beautiful made world. There are of course other game of this time which were technically more visually realistic, but Skyrim was a big influence and at the time, one of the most talked about games on this decade. Unfortunately, the developers have announced in 2013 that they won't make any more downloadable content for users according to ref 16.

After a whole 7-8 years since Sony's Playstaion 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 was released, in Novemeber 2013, the next-gen consoles were released to the public. The Xbox One was the first to be released on Nov 22nd, followed by the Playstation 4 on Nov 29th. Recent news from Microsoft about the Xbox One say that in just 18 of the launch date, 2 million units have been sold. In comparison, Sony say they sold 1 million units on the launch date, and over 2.1 million to now. These kinds of sales are astonishing when you look at the launch price for both consoles at launch: Xbox One, £429.99 (Console only), PS4, £349.99 (Console only).

Microsoft's Xbox One

Sony's Playstation 4

VS.

I refuse to get into the whole 'console wars' debate, so I won't. Although, If you want to compare and see the specs/news up until this point, see ref 17 and 18.

Xbox One has differentiated itself from the PS4 by trying to be an "all-in-one" device (hence the name) so that you can essentially do a lot of things which a PC can do. Whereas, the PS4 focuses on gaming the most, and the other features similar to the Xbox e.g. Internet browsing, are add-ons, but they aren't necessarily a primary focus for the console.
Both consoles currently have a lot of amazing games yet to be released, to see a list of the exclusives + games available on both, see ref 19. A few examples: Dead Light, Forza 5, Dead Rising 3, The Elder Scrolls: Online, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. I say they are amazing, but that's based on the trailers, and even though they can be deceptive, the storylines, mechanics, and environments all look wonderful, so I reckon we are in for a treat!

Thank-you for following what I think are the main parts of video gaming history. We close 2013 with 2 'next-gen' consoles being released, big titles have been announced, and everything from here on out looks absolutely fantastic. The story lines sound thrilling, the art/environments appear visually stunning, and I really cannot wait to see how more history is made - we are currently at the peak of this gaming mountain, now let's sit back and be proud of how far we've gotten, and look to how far we can go!

References:
1-Leonard Herman, Jer Horwitz, Steve Kent, Skyler Miller. (2002). The history of video games.
2-http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg00-playstation_2.htm#page=reviews
3-http://www.icheg.org/icheg-game-history/timeline/
4-http://www.cyberiapc.com/vgg/nintendo_gameboysp.htm
5-http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/19981/grand-theft-auto-iii-your-questions-answered-part-two-911-the-gh.html
6-http://www.1up.com/news/nintendo-gamecube-ten-years-old
7-http://www.giantbomb.com/call-of-duty/3025-82/
8-http://www.howstuffworks.com/nintendo-ds.htm
9-http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2029221,00.html
10-http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/43417/best-ds-games/?page=2
11-http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg00-xbox_360.htm#page=reviews
12-http://psp.about.com/od/hardwarefirmware/a/Psp-Specifications-for-all-models.htm
13-http://www.usgamer.net/articles/hiroshi-yamauchi-the-iron-fist-in-the-velvet-glove
14-http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg00-ps3.htm#page=reviews
15-New electronics. (26th June 2012). From Pong to Wii: four decades of computing gaming. 4.
16-http://gamingdecoded.com/2013/04/15/no-more-skyrim-dlc-to-be-developed-by-bethesda/
17-http://www.knowyourmobile.com/microsoft/microsoft-xbox-one/21447/xbox-one-release-news-specs-and-features
18-http://www.knowyourmobile.com/games/sony-ps4/21476/ps4-release-date-launch-price-and-availability-best-console-yet
19-http://uk.ign.com/wikis/xbox-one/PS4_Games_vs_Xbox_One_Games

Image References:
-http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/images/2000s/00_Sony_PS2/ps2-dw-top.jpg
-http://files.doobybrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/nintendo-64-pikachu-version-.jpg
-http://seeklogo.com/images/S/Sega_Dreamcast-logo-AD899CD36E-seeklogo.com.gif
-http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/the-history-of-the-xbox/
-http://www.tophostgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/gameboy-advance-spgame-boy-advance-sp-on-tumblr-ajs627md.jpg
-http://www.rarecandies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Steam.jpg
-http://images.eurogamer.net/2013/usgamer/Yamauchi-3.jpg/EG11/resize/1260x-1/format/jpg
-http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/images/2000s/05_MS_Xb_360/Xbox_360_Complete_small1.jpg
-http://0.tqn.com/d/psp/1/G/2/3/-/-/blackpsp.jpg
-http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/images/2000s/06_Sony_PS3/PS3_console_close-up.jpg
-http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/images/2000s/06_Nintendo_Wii/Wii_Sys_Colors_LG.jpg
-http://www.gabitogrupos.com/MIDIS_Y_KARAOKES/images/guitar_hero-vs-rock_band2.jpg
-http://cdn.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/images/stories/2012/04/angry-birds-free-iphone-hero.jpg
-http://cdn2.planetminecraft.com/files/resource_media/screenshot/1333/minecraft_grass_cube_by_qemarar-d34vst3_6169445.jpg
-http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/05/XboxOne1.jpg
-http://wololo.net/wagic/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/PlayStation4-FeaturedImage.jpg

DMUGA Week 10 - Formative Assessment day & Targets for next term!

This was the week that we all had our first formative assessment in which they sat us down as talked about how well we were getting along on the course. Now, I knew before entering that my life drawing wasn't exactly up to par with the high standard, but I had improved a lot since week 1 in general; considering my subject background at A-level, my progress was good and I just need to keep getting better.

Visual Design
I'll start off with the morning as usual. The project this week was on the National Space Station, and after walking there, it was already half 10. I therefore decided to get a couple of sketches done and walk back so that I could prepare for what I thought was going to be an even bigger 'kick up the bum' than the previous kicks.
Here's where the majority of my day lies. After witnessing many very talented people coming out of the assessment rooms looking very distressed, the fear of failing sank in even deeper because I know that what I'm producing isn't exactly great. The only thing I could say that I'm giving it my all and progress is being made.

The first meeting for 3D - Game production:
I've never used 3ds max before this course, and have had a couple of breakdowns whilst doing the bin & architectural project, but I think what was produced wasn't that bad. Steve's comments on my texturing were that I've made a lot of progress, and the attention to detail makes the model more interesting. However, I need to make sure that all the uv islands are correctly orientated so that the details of the textures all face the right way. Hopefully, I will continue to get better in the texturing, and making sure that my modelling is 'cleaner', not excessively using triangles in unnecessary areas. Therefore, I'm going to make this my goal for future projects, on top of what I'm currently doing.

The second meeting for Visual design:
I found the feedback very constructive, I knew my life drawing is poor, and a lot of my other work for Jack's classes lacks 'depth' because of the tone and the harsh outlines that I'm using. This was basically confirming what I knew had to improve, but it was great to get some input as to how I need to do so. Over Christmas, I want to practice my life drawing more than anything. Don't get me wrong, it'd be great if I can redo some of my finals too, but life drawing is my holiday work focus, alongside the 'feet project' we've been set. I plan to do some contour drawings, and quick sketches using different techniques: maybe some biro, the soluble ink etc. One of the comments was to "develop a greater sense of form", and hopefully by doing some contours, I can do so; which'll make my images look less "flat" - 'feel' the form.
All through this first semester, I've been trying so hard to make some progress and want to continue doing so. However, I vowed that Christmas would be a time I could relax and spend time with my family, after all they're the ones who put me here and have supported me. Those important to you in life should never go unnoticed, and you should always appreciate the time you have with them. So, as much as I'd like to practice more, I'd also want to relax a little bit and enjoy time with my family and friends. I'm very grateful for the comments, and wish to act upon them - as always, giving it my all.

Summary of assessments:
Overall, I think it went ok. There are clear areas that need some focus, but I am making progress. More life drawing practice is needed, and my aim for my future drawings is to add some depth, instead of a flatter image which is usually created through the definitive lines I keep doing around things. 3D requires more efficient use of texture space, and cleaner modelling in general. In addition, I need to experiment with some different rendering techniques and media, allowing my drawing to flow better/appear more relaxed & enthusiastic. - Not to mention over Christmas: redo some things, practice life drawing, and do the 'feet' project.

Game Production
I continued to work on my trees, and it was a very long day of Photoshopping branches, and arranging leaves around the main structure in order to replicate the reference images. Steve offered some very useful advice so that I would end up using less triangles, but still end up with a more 'fuller-looking' tree. This involved using the branches I've already made, and creating a branch on it's own, then making multiple branches around the main branch; all within one texture. This therefore meant that on one plane, I could get around 4-6 more branches than I would have got with just the original texture. I am a long way off finishing both trees, but I've made a good start on the canopies.
Something I'm noticing over the past few weeks is that I am definitely improving in my Photoshop skills. This is partly due to doing more texturing with it, but I've also been watching many tutorials on retouching & photomanipulation. I'm by no means good at it, but I am still improving nonetheless.
Moving on, despite it being another long day at the labs, I still enjoy the process of doing it all, but it's knowing that I can't focus all my attention on it, as visual design is my weakest area, and therefore needs more time to practice at this stage in time.

To shortly conclude, I have much to improve upon, a lot of work to do, and like always... I won't stop trying to get better. One must take on board the advice and "Strive to become a stronger version of yourself" - Elliott Hulse.

Plan for the rest of the week

• Get my Space station drawings done, whilst using a couple of different mediums & techniques (experiment).
• Complete/Finalise the trees - Still have quite a lot of hours to put in until I'd be happy with them.
• Buy better sketchbooks & A1 paper - based on what the tutors said in the formative assessment.
• Do some drawings of feet - must use contour lines.

DMUGA Week 9 - Being more professional in my blogs

Wow, 9 weeks into the course! Feels like there's a never ending stream of work, wait, I said I wouldn't be negative... Never ending stream of productive exercises that'll help me improve! I would feel alright-ish as of now with the work we have left to do until the Christmas holidays, except, the blog about something we find interesting in video games history... I find everything fascinating and would like to pick a good area to do it on, and at the moment i've just done the factors that drive the technology. Putting this aside, here's the low down on how the week has gone:

Visual Design
On the way to the Abbey pumping station, the scenery was rather nice in Abbey park, everywhere I looked I saw a potential tree to model for the foliage project in game production (I've already picked & photographed the 2 trees I'm doing though). Nevertheless, it's a nice place to sit and draw. I thank the people working at the station to open it just for us. A side note not really important to the course, I've previously been to the National Space Centre 3 times in the past (during my school life) and never once looked at where it was on a map, and nostalgia hit me when we walked to the place I sat and ate lunch which was probably around 7 years ago now! Moving on, the lighting wasn't bright inside, but in some places, the light hit the metallic surfaces to creates a great contrast & highlights. I only got 3 sketches done and rushed the last one so it looked a little bit dodgy - alright overall though.
Heather's life drawing was a new one for me, using pens which bled with water... I thought it would be a disaster. Although, it turned out I was pleased with my last drawing. You could clearly see the first sketch left no time to wash, the second was kind of there but not really, and the third was much better. If I did some more, I would hope that it would improve further. I am starting to see myself improving, proportions can be a bit off in the 2min sketches, but things seem to come a tiny bit better now. So, 'a good day at the office'.

Game Production
Having done the building & gone through the texturing process multiple times now, it is certainly faster. I got the trees' base/structure done & textured before the lesson and I actually felt kind of good about what I'd done this time. I know it's only a low poly tree, but it's hopefully just another step that I've taken towards better work. Throughout the day I was thinking "these branches are going to take forever", which was because I knew that I hadn't got reference photos which were easy to cut out. I spent around 3 hours cutting out two of my branches, just to mask them out from the background. Although, when I saw the result in 3ds max wasn't too bad, I felt 75% happy with how it turned out. I still have to position all of the planes around the tree now, but I'm glad that I have got a big chunk done within just today.

Critical Studies
This time it was all about our blogs! I know I'm not exactly great at blogging, but I thought that what I was doing until this point was alright. However, it was an eye opener as to how much more professional we have to be using this media. A great point was raised in the seminar about how we represent our course here at De Montfort, therefore, I will try to be less casual but still maintain enthusiasm through the use of exclamation marks! Apologies if this is annoying to some, but it's a good way to emphasise a point, so that's what I'll do.

3 Points I need to improve on for future blogs:
-Include Images where reasonable
-Reference properly
-Gather more academic resources

These are obviously just things I'm going to try and do from now on, and will set out to continuously improve how I write, structure, and research correctly for these blogs. This day was very helpful, and hopefully anyone reading these will notice a change in how I go about my future posts.
A good week overall, which considering how I started (crises all over the place), is a better mentality to have!

DMUGA Assignment #4 - What factors drive the technology?

Hey all, today I'd like to talk about what powers the people to keep developing the technology that keeps us all so entertained & how it's come along over the past years to provide a better, more immersive experience for gamers. I have written a brief summary of this in a previous blog, but would like to expand on this. In addition, include a little about why some things succeeded and other things failed to live in the marketplace.

Necessity is the mother of invention

Necessity or Luxury? 

I'll begin with a quite I'd like to re-mention: "A true creator is necessity, which is the mother of our invention." - Ref 1 The republic, book II, 369c, Plato. This famous quote is usually associated with revolutionary inventions that affect the way we go about things... So, this is a perfect example to which these wise words apply. Before computer systems & electronics were developed, people lived their lives and they weren't essential for survival, so do we really need them? Are they a necessity?

Over the years that video games & computers in general were being made, more and more people were being exposed to this new technology. Despite being so simplistic in terms of what they could do, people & businesses had a genuine need for computers, to store data, complete calculations faster, and provide support with a lot of things. Once that one person decided to create something for a little bit of fun on one of these machines, the game was on. What has driven us from this early stage to now is the human nature to want more. It was by no means the first game, but as an example: Pong. Pong was 2 rectangles and a block going from side to side, but once we knew we could create such a game and make it so popular, we thought 'Lets make something even more exciting and creative'. To briefly bring it back to my point of games being a necessity now, as exposure to games increased, the feel for the need of this type of entertainment was created. Now, children in first world countries are being born into a world filled with computers & games, not knowing life without them, making it a 'need'. This mixed with the human nature of always wanting more, creates this loop of continuous development of previous inventions, I.e. games.

The grass in greener... Always wanting more

Mark I Computer

As previously explored (please read DMUGA Assignment #1 - History of video games 1950's-70's), the difference engine was the first ever mechanical computer. - More info here: Ref 2. Now, as fascinating as it is, if we look at the shear size of this thing, how hard it was to produce, and what it could actually do; it's nothing compared to what calculations modern age computer can do. However, it is a starting point. The improvement on this was Herman Hollerith's 'Tabulating Machine' computer which was built for a contest to create something which could count & record information faster. After starting a company from this, it got sold on and went to become what we know as IBM computers in 1912 (International business machines).
This was an improvement, but Howard Aiken in 1944 thought he could better by using some mechanical, some electronic components, in order to make a computer that can do various things, not just one. This 'Mark I' computer was 50ft long and 8ft high, with 500 miles of wires and 750,000 parts. - Ref 3. The Mark I was gigantic! This still wasn't fast enough however, so in 1946, the first all electronic computer 'ENIAC - Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer', was created by John Presper Eckert. This used vacuum tubes, not mechanical switches, and despite being twice as long and 2ft taller, it was 1000 times faster than the Mark I, and was a colossal improvement upon it. - Ref 3&4.
Using these 3 examples, starting with mechanical components which could do one job, to a fully electronic computer which can do many jobs, and far faster than previous creations, it is a point that be applied to gaming. From the very first games such as Space wars, Maze wars, Pong etc, (please see DMUGA Assignment #1), to now, we have felt the need to do better, driving us to improve upon the technology & games, faster processors, smaller components, more efficient calculations, more polygons, bigger memory and much more.

The technology drives the games; games develop as the technology develops

Sinclair's ZX-81

Things bring me to my next point, the physical technology and development of games goes hand in hand. As we get these things that I've just listed, the physical devices have had to change to accompany our need for more. So, what drives the technological advancement in games & the experience of them? The devices themselves, and not just literally. For example, going back to games that had to be stored on cassette tapes, the Sinclair ZX-81 and it only 1 kilobyte worth of memory/RAM. 1kb is absolutely tiny! - Ref 5. One little model in 3DS max would be far too large to even store on the tapes, but the people who made games on this still created a fun game to an extent. However, unless the physical technology didn't improve so that there was more memory, no-one could ever create a more graphical game. As technology in this sense advanced, so better processing power, better RAM, bigger storage for games, this gave game developers more freedom and more options to explore graphically, therefore, improving the immersive gaming experience.

Furthermore, as well as these things, the actual display has improved, TV screen & monitors have developed and gotten bigger and more pixels than ever before, allowing for the details in the games to really shine through and create a better experience for everyone.

Cartridges - Expensive, bulky, but nostalgic

From what I know generally, these games were originally stored on cassette tapes, then floppy disks, cartridges, and now CDs. Floppy disks had more space, and so allowed for more complicated games to be stored on them, after this, the beginning of the cartridge - a great example is Nintendo. They still even use cartridges today for the Nintendo DS. CDs are the main one, and a prime example was the jump between Nintendo's cartridge games up to the 90's, to Sony's Playstation CDs in 1994 (Not to mention the CDs were far cheaper to produce than the cartridges). - Ref 11.
Therefore, again linking it back to my point, as technology improves (faster, smaller, bigger capacity etc), the game will improve with it, as it means you can create more and faster.

Fight or Flight
Using the transition from cartridges to CDs to generate the next factor that contributes to the improvement in the technology; competition. Competition between company's is a big contributor to advancements. Imagine this: you've just released your new console to the world, it's a hit, but 1 month later someone else releases pretty much the same thing, but with a peripheral that makes it a tiny bit better. What'll you do? Create a new one with similar concepts, just better than the others so that you have the upper hand in the marketplace. Simple. The fight to be better than everyone else helps us to conceive of new ways we can go out things, e.g. gaming.

Sony's 'EyeToy' - What started the motion sensor gaming?

A relatively new example of this in my opinion was the Nintendo Wii, Playstation, & the X-box 360. I don't know, but from my view growing up, when the Wii came out and it had the motion sensor with the Nunchuks, there wasn't anything else that did the same thing with games at the time (Although the Playstation did create the 'Eye Toy', but it died out). After a while, it was revealed that Microsoft had been working on the 'Kinect', and Sony with the 'Playstation Move', and it was almost as if they both tried to eliminate the competition by bringing out new devices which were more technologically advanced than the Wii's motion sensor. In addition to being more advanced, hold the market for graphically advanced games, as well as the more family orientated & friendlier games. A few motion games were available before all this for the webcam on the computer, but once again died out.

At the moment, I don't know of any advancements in the Playstation Move, but despite the motion games still not being too popular, Microsoft are persisting with making the Kinect better with the Kinect 2.0. Once again, even this doesn't seem to be too great at times; don't get me wrong, the voice commands & sensors are a lot better than before, but it still has its issues.

Microsoft's 'Kinect 2.0'

I could even go on to explain in-depth about all the competition that went on for far older consoles, e.g. between Atari, Sega, Nintendo, Sony, Maganox & Coleco in the 1970's onwards. Although, if you read my games history blog, it's evident that these company's have been fighting for top place for quite a while, and many have been lost on the way, including the smaller ones that just didn't really make it that far. There were many reasons for these failings, but most of the time, they just couldn't deal with competitors and fled. Whereas other situations lead to a divide between people & their loyalty, and they prefer one console to another because it has an exclusive game on it. For example, Sonic the Hedgehog to the Sega Master System, and Super Mario to the Nintendo Entertainment system. "People were buying them not necessarily for the consoles, but for the game available on them. That's something that's very true to this day". - Ref 11 Pg 3.

"Hey, big spender!"
So, what does competition mean for businesses? Loss. The more products out there that do something similar to yours, the more potential customers are taken away and loss in what could have been profit. Computers & computer games started out for, excuse me here, the 'nerdy' type of guys, who enjoy programming and circuits etc. For whatever reason, a lot of women didn't really enjoy this type of thing, and never really took the computer industry into consideration for a job. Perhaps games generally didn't appeal to the female market? Therefore, only a certain type of person would want to buy & use a computer and play games. However, when the first console was made, it was made for the living room, a more family orientated place. Also, as home computers became more necessary to have, and women were becoming more independent & getting jobs that became heavily reliant on computers, they were exposed to games whether they liked it or not. By bringing the console and computer to family homes, games were starting to be developed for a wider market, with gender specific ones, as well as the all inclusive games.
The reason I mention this is because if you have a wider target market, you product & or business will most definitely be more commercially viable, and more likely to generate profit. Even though there is still a larger ratio of male to female gamers (55:45 - Ref 6), there's still a lot more females playing games nowadays than there was back in the 1960's/70's.

Gaming franchises - main characters

Going back to the big dogs of the gaming industry, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo & PC's Steam, profit in the games released on their systems by developers, drive the technology to become better and better. For example, the Grand Theft Auto series, Call of Duty, Halo, Forza Motorsport, Fifa, Madden, Tekken etc. The reason why these games get better (generally), whether it be graphically, through story line, game mechanics, game concepts etc, is because the developers get profit from the previous game, and re-invest into the next one in order to generate even more profit; growing as a business.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Logo

When it comes to a franchise, you can't release something that's worse than the previous product, otherwise you'll lose customers, customer loyalty, and again to put it straight, money. A perfect modern day example is the elephant in the room, GTA 5. The Grand Theft Auto series has improved in each game they've made. San Andreas was the most popular one for the majority of the time, then when #4 came out with better graphics, new missions, new mechanics & Ideas, and it generated huge profits, so the next thing to do was re-invest in GTA 5. Right now, GTA 5 had the most development cost of any game of £170 million. However, it has also had the most profit ever generated of over 1 billion pounds - Ref 8. Having sold so many copies and gotten such good reviews, Rockstar Games if they decide to re-invest in another GTA game, will HAVE to make it better than this game, thus, re-instating my point of profit driving the technology forward.

Change is good

Omni-directional Treadmill - Kickstarter Project 'Omni:
Move naturally in your favourite game

With these new games come change, changes to how they work, which brings me to my final point. The new concepts and the strive for something more interesting, more compelling than previous technology, results in improvements. This links to my original point of always wanting more, something better.

A wonderful example of this is presented on a TV program "The Gadget Show". We all have our controllers, what ones we prefer due to the ergonomics of them, the design etc, although at some point surely we'll get bored of these? They're certainly a good, efficient concept that requires minimal effort to play, but what about walking around yourself and 'feeling' the game, bringing all kinds of engagement. They demonstrate an omni-directional treadmill as well as a 180 degree display which moves as you move, tracked by using Microsoft's Kinect. You can see the references for videos (highly recommended) - Refs 10. Now, this type of experience is still clearly in development and far from being commercially viable, let alone logistically viable for the living room. However, a kick-starter project was successfully funded in July 2013 for an omni-treadmill for the living room. - Ref 9. I haven't heard any breaking news of it yet, but it could be the next controller, or at least, a new area for gamers to explore and have fun with. Therefore, the feeling of wanting something new and exciting ties into driving us to create new and innovative ideas, advancing in the technology department.

To Summarise
In a few short points, what keeps the technology going?:

• The need for better, faster, stronger tech to keep us interested & engaged.
• In terms of gaming/games improving, the technology helps it develop by allowing for more complex'simulations' & environments.
• Competition between companies to keep on top of the market drives themselves to become better with each release they do.
• In one word: Profit. If a business is profitable, it only makes sense to milk it as much as you can, but in order to do so, you must improve and not subtract.
• Getting bored with one thing, or just coming up with something new helps explore undiscovered roads which could lead to a better place - Exploring the unknown drives us to move forward.

This blog is a little lengthy, although I did keep it to 5 points. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed reading what I think about how we keep progressing.

References:
1-The republic, book II, 369c, Plato.
2-http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/d/diffengi.htm
3-http://www.crews.org/curriculum/ex/compsci/articles/history.htm
4-http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Brief-History-of-the-ENIAC-Computer-228879421.html
5-http://oldcomputers.net/zx81.html
6-http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.410369-ESA-Study-Finds-Women-Make-Up-Nearly-Half-of-Gamer-Population
7-http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/09/gta-5-budget-most-expensive_n_3892602.html
8-http://www.vg247.com/2013/10/29/gta-5-has-sold-29-million-copies/
9-http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1944625487/omni-move-naturally-in-your-favorite-game
10-http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/10/31/the-gadget-show-plays-bf3-better-than-you/ & http://gadgetshow.channel5.com/gadget-show/gadget-news/up-close-with-the-battlefield-3-simulator
11-New electronics. (26th June 2012). From Pong to Wii: four decades of computing gaming. 2-4.
Image References:
-http://suturi.com/?p=9495
-http://oldcomputers.net/pics/ZX81.jpg
-http://assets.motherboard.tv/post_images/assets/000/009/010/Rom_cartridges_original.jpg?1302589924
-http://images.lazygamer.net/2010/11/eyeytoy.jpg
-http://media.heavy.com/media/2013/11/Kinect2.jpg
-http://media.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/21032/Top_Games_PC_by_josepa.jpg
-http://www.cgmotionbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/logo-vintage.png
-https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/000/533/193/24385ea8eadf82ed168601ccdfe444d2_large.jpg?1366613213