DMUGA Week 17 - 'Boot Camp': Game Production

Okay, so let's get this straight. I made a very silly mistake and went to the wrong workshop... Great way to start the week! I was supposed to have Visual design/Life drawing this week, but instead I went to the game production one. Anyway, here's how the week panned out:

Day 1 - Basics + Street Project, Road surface & pavement Texturing

The fundamentals surprisingly enough were almost everything I knew already (Which is a good sign!), although there was a few tricks I picked up on. For example, I knew about the swift loop tool, but had no idea you could hold down 'shift' and create an extra loop but averaged outwards away from the object. It's funny that this was exactly what I needed the night before when working on my van project. Another neat trick involved resolving the 'target welding' problem, in which the normals are flipped the opposite ways on the 2 polys, so you couldn't weld the vertexes together.

UVW Map for the road & pavement - 1024x2048

We then began to work on the road surface by producing a very basic model of one side of the road & pavement, then going on to texture them. I started doing what I have been taught to do which is to have all the textures on different sheets, then apply the materials to the appropriate faces using a multi-sub object and materials ID's. However, I saw that Steve (our tutor), was using a 1024x2048 texture instead of the usual square ones that I learnt about. There are pros and cons of both ways, but because I'd never used this before, I wanted to try it out. The good thing about this method is that you get more control of blender between the textures, but less control over the size of them. Nevertheless, I did it anyway just to have the experience of using it in this way.
In addition, I played about in Photoshop a bit more and found out about the HDR toning adjustment which personally, I think can really make the textures 'pop'. I also tried a few different techniques on cleaning up the textures using the 'patch tool' & 'clone stamp' etc.

Day 2 - Making assets

I worked some more on my road textures because it just didn't look right. Here's an example of the first one:

Road Texture Example

As you can see, from this point of view it generally looks alright, but once I'd copied the road over for the other side, the pavement looked way too small.

Render of my 'trash scene'

This meant that I had to scale the pavement up, which of course made the bricks look too big and completely out of proportion. I went to change the size of them in Photoshop, but it meant that they looked even more tiled than they did before hand. This lead to the problem of: A) Spend hours playing about with the bricks to try and make them look more random, or B) get to work on other assets so that my scene didn't look so empty. I therefore opted for B and got to work on my bin bag, crisp packet & cardboard box. The bin bag had it's own issue when it came to unwrapping & texturing, but it turned out alright. However, If I did it again, I'd want to try texturing it a bit better than I did in terms of the specular maps, and the diffuse itself. The crisp packet was obviously rather easy to do, but the box gave me a slight headache as I had to try and match up the 'amazon' words from plane-to-plane; not a big deal though.

Day 3 - Building more assets

Place sign

Street warning sign - Please excuse the sky!

By this point, I'd already stayed up late trying to get each little project finished for each day and it was clear that I'd be doing that all week. Having said that, at this point I was feeling rather good/proud of myself that within a couple of days of pure 3D modelling & texturing, I'd made so much progress.

Day 3 was the making of my streets signs. There was the place sign itself, plus a warning sign. these two object were rather plain and easy to make, and unwrapping them wasn't exactly too hard considering they were simple. Although, the place sign unwrapping was a bit harder than expected and I'm not sure why. Everything was box-like and so could be unwrapped into a clean net, but when it came to relaxing it, 3ds max just wasn't having any of it. Nevertheless, I completed both of them and started on making the bollard for the scene too.

I had a lot of fun creating these, and I was especially proud that my warning sign looks photo-realistic! I reckon if placed in a real-life scene, you'd have to look pretty hard to see that it is just a model.
 I also got to work on my bollard. This wasn't too bad to make, a small issue with connected a few verteces up but nothing too problematic. The real issue came when it was time to texture it, but didn't start this properly until Thursday.

Day 4 - Getting as much done as possible

Finished Bollard

Diffuse texture for the bollard

At this point, I'd stayed up every night in order to make things look good and making sure I've got enough for my scene. I still didn't have a phonebox, a ticket machine, or a postbox. In the first half of the day I set my goal on finishing the bollard for the afternoon and I did. Now, as you can see from the texture, I found that by unwrapping it in this way, it wasn't so hard, but it did mean that in order to get it looking good, I had to spend a long time in Photoshop building it from the bottom to top in segments, whilst trying to keep it looking in perspective as it bent round. The other way of doing this is to make it into a sqaure shape uv, which I did for a different asset the next day. The dome at the top was quite a challenge to texture, I should have done the same thing and built of the base to the top, but instead to save time I used the patch tool and tried to merge it all together.

In the second half of the day, I worked on my ticket machine, which again, was easy to model, but texturing it was harder than expected. Still, it wasn't something I could handle, and I think it turned out very good, especially the specular & bump maps on it. However, for some reason, the specular for the information block on the top of it just didn't want to work.

Finished ticket machine - slight problem with specular on top

In the evening I start of my postbox because in order to bring some vibrancy into my scene, I was in desperate need for something red. The postbox seemed like a manageable task to get finished for the next day and looking good. The model of done, it just needed texturing.






Day 5 - Finishing off & scene setting

The last day was a chance to learn more about rendering techniques and basic lighting. I still had the postbox matter to tend to and I finished that off first before trying to lay out my scene. As you can already see, I've imported models from previous projects into my scene I.e. the building, trees, and the wheelie bin. After finishing the assets I needed, it was almost hand-in time, so I had a couple of hours to get my scene set up, lighting fairly good, and all my renders done, before submitting it and linking all of the textures so that they'd work properly. Here's the rest of the render of my scene:

 Summary

To be completely honest, this week has been such a massive help in terms of getting to spend more time with 3ds max & Photoshop. I've learnt so much more about texturing properly, unwrapping in different ways, and in general producing better results than I was previously. The importance of getting good references was clearly highlighted and I love that I now have a better understanding of height, bump and specular maps. Baring in mind because it's the first time I tried creating my own height & specular maps, I kind of went a bit crazy with it, but I know that I need to tone it down a tiny bit, or at least have more control over it - not to mention only putting it where it's needed to bring the object some complexity. I now look forward to the visual design week, but have already seen the amazing work they've produced... Let's just say I don't feel up to scratch.

DMUGA Week 16 - Always giving it my all

Just a brief introduction to explain why I chose the title I have. From the very start of this course I can honestly say 100% that all I give is my best. There's been many times I've thought about whether or not I'm cut out for this, and this is yet another one of those times. I'm sure there are other people that feel they're not good enough as well, but the lingering thought of "What else can I possibly do?" is just sitting there in the back of my mind. I look at others so I can see what I'm striving to beat/compete with, but I don't know what more I can do to try and get to that level; if I can't even compete then they're the ones going to be getting the job. I could go more in-depth but will keep this short. So just to summarise, I NEVER give up on anything and will keep going full steam - if I don't meet the standards required by the end of year 1, I may have to re-evaluate.

Visual Design

Moving onto a brighter note, it's now clear what we need to do for this 2 week project. It's extremely frustrating that any value of time that Chris recommends each piece should take, I end up doing double (as said in my previous post) and it's a massive problem which I just can't seem to help! The thing is, because I'm not as experienced as many others, I have to take extra time & preparation on everything we draw. This means that I end up spending so much time on the visual design work, I don't leave a lot of time left for game production. Obviously weekends are out of the question, each day timetabled off is just another day where I do my work. Also, a lot of people have said that the amount we've been given to do is too much, and it wouldn't be if we did only spend 1 hour drawing each final + 5mins per sketch, however, if this is what I did spend... I'd probably get shown the door.

One of the finals I did using the Indian Ink (More time spent than I should have)

Over the past few pieces that I've done this week, I have really tried to spend literally 10mins on the smaller sketches, and keep it under 2 hours for the finals. This does mean that the quality of work has suffered (noticeable in my most recent one), but not too much hopefully. I've had a lot of time now to play about with different shading techniques used with the indian ink & fineliner, I'm still experimenting and making mistakes (I.e. Putting too much on, too much water, bleeding becomes problematic), but I think I'm honing in on a style that I like and is quick to do.

Game Production

Into the 2nd week of our van project and I had planned to have finished the exterior & interior by now. I am close to that as of this moment, but having said that, I still have a fair amount to do for the interior. Although, considering I have around 700 tris left, everything will be very low poly so it may not take too long. The thing that worries me however is that despite having 4 weeks, our head of 3D has said that she built-in the time with this project alongside the 2 weeks of intensive study. Which essentially means we don't really have 4 weeks. I am proud to say that my topology/polyflow for this is actually rather good for a first-time vehicle, I just need to make sure that my texturing is up to par in order to bring it to life. I am extremely looking forward to the gladiator project we have next, it'll be a challenge but hopefully one I'll enjoy very much.

Van_001 - Iso front view

 As you can see from the pictures, everything seems to be pretty good, the only thing that maybe slightly off is the bend at the bumper coming round the front. Although, this isn't a major cause for concern, plus, I tried to make it so that when it comes to texturing, I'd have 100% accurate lines where the bumper starts/finishes, to prevent the bumper appearing too large or too small.

Van_001 - Iso back view

In addition, as I've just mentioned, we found out about what will be happening in the next 2 weeks. One week will be dedicated to visual design, one week to game production. They claim that it'll be a crash course for fundamentals that all of us should have learnt by now, but will go over to really let us absorb everything. I think this is a really good idea, but I will say that I'm pretty scared of the visual design - I'm just excited for 3D.

Critical Studies

The past 2 seminars have been rather interesting. They're trying to get us to see objects in the 3D poly mesh that we'd be modelling on 3ds Max. This is well us when it comes to creating them because if we think about how something is structured/how it's weighted, we add geometry to the areas where there needs to be structure (I.e. In an orderly fashion which logically would support the weight of that object). In the first week we were given a task to model a card manikin using the idea of very low poly. In our group, we met up and started to brainstorm a quick & easy net that we may use for the body and the head. However, we quickly realised that in order to make it accurately, it would take a lot of measuring out/getting angles right etc. So instead, we decided to do a very quick model in max, UV unwrap it and print out the net.

Modelling it in 3ds Max

The finished mankin

 I have to say that it worked out very well, a couple of problems cutting it out but otherwise, rather swift. The thing I liked about our model is that because of the net, we could get some sort of form to our limbs, whereas other models were very block-like and quite linear.

The think that I like about doing this is the sudden realisation that anything we model which is low poly like this, we can potentially print out the net and make it into a form we can touch without the use of a 3D printer. The next project we've been set is to texture it. We've been given little block-men to do for 'fun', but I'd really want to see if we can texture ours in Photoshop and print out the next again so we can apply it to the figure. I don't know if that'll happen, but it would be nice.

A good week despite the stress, and I am very much enjoying things. It's just the battle of keeping up to speed and not producing work which is unacceptable. The next 2 weeks may bring me to tears, or be extremely helpful and be just what I needed to keep me on the path to becoming a game artist.

DMUGA Week 15 - Term 2 Begins...

The holidays are over now, time to crack on with what needs to be done! As usual, I'm a bit nervous about starting, but hopefully things will be ok (thoughts before day #1).

Visual Design

The first week back has been a big hit in terms of workload. I have literally spent most of my waking hours trying to do work for visual design. Even though I know that the smaller sketches are only supposed to take 20-30 mins each, I take a lot longer. In fact thinking about it now, if someone suggests it'll take x amount of time, I'll be spending probably twice that amount doing it which means I end up being more stressed out because I can't see myself finishing the work in on time, this in-turn results in late nights to ensure it's done.
Going back to a previous blog post of "timetable my life", I have since then done exactly that. However, I'm always tired, my eating patterns are very weird to say the least, and I don't feel like my work is the best it can be even though I am most definitely giving 100% effort. Going off some advice from some friends, things I do may not be the best, but it's practice, and if it looks bad it's not the end of the world if you submit it - not everything will be great so accept it and move on to the next task.


Life drawing this week I felt was pretty good, as the first lesson back I decided to make my focus still on proportion and shading to some degree. I do admit that I can see improvement in my life drawings now from when we began, I.e. I've finally allowed myself to draw bigger by choosing a better composition & focusing on a certain area and enlarging it, as opposed to just drawing the whole scene. I know it's still not great, but once I've done some more like I did today, maybe I can go into correct shading for muscles instead of it looking a bit flat.

1 Page of the 'feet project' over Christmas

Laying pose #1

Game Production

The Transit van project was given to us and I was really looking forward to this one because I've seen speed modelling of vehicles on the internet and have always wondered how to do it. The technique we have to use is 'Strip modelling' and you build by extruding lines out for the majority of it. The design document we have to produce is good because it'll let me schedule what I need to have done by what time, plus any problems I came across along the way. Now, I'd love to be able to spend 5/6 hours straight just modelling this van, but because I'm so slow at drawing, I have to put most of my time into that and just work on the van when I can. This is a problem I've had to deal with since I've started, and I really hope it won't affect my model for this project too much.

Critical Studies

The lecture this week was a little 'booster' for the 3D aspect of this course. Michael spoke about seeing the world in primitives/basic shapes and incorporating volume in our visual work from using this concept. This is pretty much the level of expertise that I expected when I signed up, being able to look at ANYTHING in this world no matter how complicated, and model it in 3D and be able to say "I made this, it's not a photograph."
The seminar lead on from this and we had an activity to physically demonstrate the importance of low poly modelling which is accurate and a solid representation of the real thing. This also tried to show us how to think of objects as triangles and how we may be able to model it. The homework for this is to make a paper model of a person, which should get us to look at the form in a low poly mesh.

So, apart from the workload which is only going to increase, I'm excited to crack on with whatever they throw at us!

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!