Well, I'm bored and decided that after almost 3 months away a blog post was due... in fact it is well overdue... and thus here I am yet agian typing about whatever I care to type about. There's no particular theme or topic I am writing about this time, just a general update on things that have happened in the world of Adam (and even then there's not exactly a lot).
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So first things first lets talk about why there has been such a massive gap between my blog posts, basically as stated in my last blog post (excluding my UDK tutorial which was done out of helpfulness rather than desire) I finished my blog assignment back at the beginning of May and then finished my 1st year on Uni entirely on May 20th. Literally the next day I had to return home due to certain circumstances, which was somewhat annoying as I didn't really get a chance to enjoy time just relaxing with people from Uni, and then since then I have been at home relaxing.
I had originally intended to get some work back at my old job but alas this was not the case for reasons beyond my control. So I thought, given that I've tried to get work but hadn't been able to, I would (for the first time in 2 years) enjoy a summer holiday like the old days of High School and earlier and do absolutely nothing except chill with friends. This was fun and enjoyable for a time, and still is somewhat now, but eventually I realised that doing nothing had its limits and so I have practiced various things for Uni (Flash, 3DS Max, etc) and tried to occupy myself as much as possible.
The thing I have realised from all of this though, is that doing nothing at all is a REALLY stupid thing to do as you get so used to it you lose motivation immensely, and thus this is why I haven't blogged at all until now.
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Next, I thought I'd talk about what I've been doing with regards to Uni work. Well, the main focus of my efforts has been working on my drawings and writings for the 5th entry of my Scarlet Nightmares series of games designs. Over the summer so far I have drawn and/or wrote 37 pages for it and am still going through it and should hopefully have it finished or mostly finished by the time I return to Uni. Below is a link to an album of photos containing all the pages I have done.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1862117758653.2102148.1412224436&l=7fe8ca3360&type=1
Other than this I have done some Flash work but only to keep me in practice as I still find it difficult and without people who know how to help me further it is hard. I have improved and am capable of making a lot of the code that I needed help with during my 1st year but still wouldn't say I am completely able to code a game (unless it is very simple). I have made a simple avoider game so far with a keyboard controlled player that rotates as you move around and has randomly spawning enemies zoom towards them and will blow up upon impact or fade away after enough time has passed - as of yet I have been unable to implement a lives systems which is the main blockade from making the simple game complete.
I have done very little 3D work I'm afraid to say but this is because it is the area of this course I struggle with the most and dislike the most - therefore the lack of work in this area isn't due to laziness but rather personal preferences. I have done a couple of little mini play abouts but nothing significant.
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After this I thought I'd talk a bit about games, music and the like as, to be fair, that is what has occupied a lot of my summer so far. I haven't actually got many new games over the summer, only 3 to be precise, and have been playing them as spaced out as possible to make them last (unlike when I normally fully complete a game in about 3 days :P) - so far I have completed 2 of them and am 3/4 of the way though the third so I think I'll be OK until the end of summer...
On the music front not much has changed either, started listening to a couple more bands since the last time I talked about music and only 1 of them was actually in Summer. The only 2 bands worth mentioning are Avenged Sevenfold and Black Veil Brides, the former was introduced by a friend not long before my last music blog post and the latter of has only been very recently listened to. They are both very good, particularly Avenged Sevenfold which have rapidly moved up my favourite bands list overtaking many of the bands I previously mentioned in my last blog post - the only really odd thing about me liking them is that they are heavy compared to the sort of music I normally listen to (I'll still always be much more of a rock fan than a metal fan) but it doesn't matter. Other than that all I've really done music-wise is get a few more tracks from bands that I already knew I liked.
Finally, while not related to games or music, something that has occupied my time for the past couple of weeks at least is exercise/ trying to be healthier. This is just something I've decided that I may as well do as, well, I have time to make use of and I'm not exactly the healthiest person in the world as it is. I have cut back massively on my snacking (I used to eat so much crap for no reason other than I was bored...), am eating healthier and am exercising more regularly - I'm taking my dog on much longer walks, am going out for walks with mates just for fun and am being more active in general by getting back into badminton and squash when able.
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And with that I have talked about all I wish to talk about - all other things that have occupied my time have been antics with my friends and even that has been a bit sparse for various circumstances (holidays and being busy, etc). All in all, I have enjoyed my summer with its various mixture of goings on but I think I'm done with it now - I'm glad I had this long period of time with ABSOLUTELY nothing going on as its made me realise that while everyone enjoys time relaxing and doing nothing from time to time that no one can do it forever. I miss doing some form of work (educational or job) and 12 weeks of doing nothing is enough for me... and I've still got 4 more to go before I return to Uni and a further week after that until I have my induction and a FURTHER week after that until I start again.
I am looking forward to going back, not just for the work and the ability to do something again but also for seeing people from Uni again, as I do genuinely miss them, and for just living on my own again. That's something else that I've come to realise, while I do love living at home not having to worry about food, washing, etc, I much prefer the atmosphere of living under your own rules and with friends - I can't wait until I go back and move into my flat with Matty, Weaver, Matt and Chris (plus random person who I don't know... :P)
Anyways, with the status update over and you now know everything that's happened to me (as boring and uninteresting as it is...) I think it's time to explain the meaning behind the 'goodbye' in this blog posts title. You see, over the summer me and Matty (who, as I've mentioned before is also on my course), whilst hanging out, have had various chats about stuff and decided that we should record these chats and upload them as sort of our own personal 'podcasts'. Most of the stuff we talk about is related to games, films, comics, TV, etc and is therefore linked to the course, and from this we decided that we want to write a joint blog with both of us as editors, mixed in with these 'podcasts'.
However, this means we need to find a blogging site that lets us do all this, so the 'goodbye' part refers to the fact that this blog may become redundant and will resume in a different place under our joint banner. However, if this does happen then it will be made clear on here so everyone knows.
Anyways, with all that finally said, I guess all that's left to say is until next time - that's all folks!
Friday, 12 August 2011
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
UDK Mutator Tutorial - For us UCS first years who can't use Chris' tutorial
Hey guys, it's me again with a random blog post, this time this is purely for my classmates at Uni to use to help them create UDK Mutators. Hope this helps guys ;)
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Adam’s Mutator Tutorial that is miles better than Chris’
Step 1: Finding the Development folder
The first thing that you have to do is go to ‘My Computer’ and then ‘Local Disc (C:)’ in this there should be a folder called ‘UDK’. In this folder go into ‘UDK <Latest date>’ (Note: It won’t say latest date, it will most likely be 2011-01-03) and finally in this folder there is one called Development – this is the first folder we need to be in.
Step 2: Create your folders
Easy enough, in this Development folder make a new folder and name it after yourself (for example, I would make a folder called ‘Adam’). Once you have made this folder, open it and then make a folder inside it called ‘Classes’ – it is in this folder that we will make our Mutator files later on.
Step 3: Changing existing file number 1
Now that the folders are set up, go back to the folder that is called ‘UDK<latest date>’ and in this folder go into the folder called ‘UDKGame’ and then finally in this folder go into the one called ‘Config’. In this folder open the file that is called ‘DefaultEditorUDK.ini’ – it should open in notepad. A few lines down the text pad you should see a block of text with the following 3 lines of text:-
[ModPackages]
ModPackagesInPath=..\..\UDKGame\Src
ModOutputDir=..\..\UDKGame\Unpublished\CookedPC\Script
Chance the second line of text so that it says ‘ModPackagesInPath=..\..\Development\Src’ and then, under the whole block of text add a line of text which says ‘ModPackages=<YourName>’ and then change the <YourName> part so that it is the same as the folder you made with your name (for example, in my case it would be ModPackages=Adam). You should now have a block of text that looks like so:-
[ModPackages]
ModPackagesInPath=..\..\Development\Src
ModOutputDir=..\..\UDKGame\Unpublished\CookedPC\Script
ModPackages=<YourName>
After this save and close the file.
Step 4: Changing existing file number 2
In the same folder we are already in, find a file called ‘DefaultEngine.ini’ and open that as you did the previous file. Find a block of text a few lines down that looks as follows:-
[UnrealEd.EditorEngine]
Other lines that start with ‘+EditPackages’
No lines of this need to be changed but you need to add a line to the bottom of this block of text which says ‘ModEditPackages=<YourName>’, changing the <YourName> part to the folder you created with your name (in my case it would be ‘ModEditPackages=Adam’). You should now have a block of text that looks like so:-
[UnrealEd.EditorEngine]
Other lines that start with ‘+EditPackages’
ModEditPackages=<YourName>
After this, save and close this file.
Step 5: Adding your Mutator file and information
Right-click in the folder and go to New and create a new text document. Make the name of this file ‘UDK<YourName>.ini’ changing <YourName> to the folder you created with your name (so mine would be ‘UDKAdam.ini’). A message come up about changing the file extension, click on yes when this comes up. Open this file and type in the following line of text, replacing where it says your name with… you get the idea by now:-
[UTMutator_SuperRegen UTUIDataProvider_Mutator]
ClassName=<YourName>.UTMutator_SuperRegen
FriendlyName=Health Mutator
Description=This is my Health Mutator (<YourName>)
After this save and close the file.
Step 6: Writing the Script for the Pawn (player)
In this step I will literally copy and paste the script to make the Mutator, if you want an explanation of what each line does just look at Chris’ tutorial as the explanations are correct. Anyways, go back to the folder you made with your name and go to the classes folder inside it (this should be back 2 folders and then in Development, then Src). Inside the classes folder, right-click and make a new Text Document and call it ‘UTPawn_SuperRegen.uc’ selecting yes when the file extension message pops up.
Open this new file; you will most likely have to choose to open it with notepad when doing this for the first time. Then copy the following lines of script in the EXACT format it appears below:-
class UTPawn_SuperRegen extends UTPawn;
var int RegenPerSecond;
simulated function PostBeginPlay()
{
// call the parents version of this function
Super.PostBeginPlay();
SetTimer(1.0, true);
}
function Timer()
{
if ( Controller.IsA(‘PlayerController’) && !IsInPain() && Health < SuperHealthMax)
{
Health = Min(Health+RegenPerSecond, SuperHealthMax);
}
}
defaultproperties
{
RegenPerSecond = 10
}
After this save and close the file.
Note: If you are copying and pasting this code, delete and re-type the apostrophes (‘) around PlayerController as UDK is fussy about them.
Step 7: Writing the Script that implements your Mutator into the game itself
Same as before, if you want to understand the code look at Chris’ tutorial. Make another text document, this time call it ‘UTMutator_SuperRegen.uc’. Open it and type the following lines of text:-
class UTMutator_SuperRegen extends UTMutator;
simulated function PostBeginPlay()
{
// call the parents version of this function
Super.PostBeginPlay();
WorldInfo.Game.DefaultPawnClass = class’<YourName>.UTPawn_SuperRegen’;
}
defaultproperties
{
GroupNames[0] = “PLAYERMOD”
}
As usual, replace <YourName> with the name of the folder you made with your name, after this save and close the file.
Note: If you are copying and pasting this code, delete and re-type the apostrophes (‘) around <YourName>.UTPawn_SuperRegen as UDK is fussy about them as well as deleteing and re-typing the speech marks (“) around PLAYERMOD.
Step 8: Compiling the Script
Close all your folders. Click on Start, and then go to ‘All Programs’, ‘Unreal Development Kit’, <Most recent date folder> (probably 2011-01-03), ‘Tools’ and then load ‘Unreal Frontend’. When this is open, make sure that you have clicked on UDK DM-Deck on the 3 choice below where the start button is (it’s the only one that doesn’t have MobileGame in its description) and then click on the drop-down arrow under Start in the top-right hand corner and click on ‘Start:Rebuild Script’.
After this you should (fingers crossed) have no errors and your script will be rebuilt with your Mutator added. This is the most temperamental part of the whole process so if you get errors make sure everything is as setup as detailed above and failing that, summon Chris to check it all…
After this UDK should automatically load up.
Step 9: Checking the Mutator works
Once UDK has loaded up, choose ‘Instant Action’ and then under ‘Mutators’ you should see your Mutator called ‘Health Mutator’. Enable it and then start a game. If its worked you should be getting +10 Health every second and you are done… unless you wish to make your own personal Mutator or whatever. If it hasn’t worked then check the 2 files of code are both EXACTLY correct and then failing that call Chris again…
You are now done but carry on reading if you want to know little changes you can make, such as changing the name and description of your Mutator and a link to a page with some variable you may wish to add to your Mutator to change them.
Step 10: Little Extras
- To change the name and description of your Mutator open up the UDK<YourName>.ini file you made in ‘UDKGame’ and then ‘Config’. The ‘FriendlyName’ line is the one that determines the name of your Mutator and the ‘Description’ one changes the description.
- Visit http://wiki.beyondunreal.com/UE3:Pawn_internal_variables_%28UDK%29 for a list of variable that you can put into your script and change if you wish. The file you need to put them in is the ‘UTPawn_SuperRegen.uc’ file that is located in the folder with your name. This is mostly trial and error work getting it to work so its down to you.
Step 11: Submiting the work
When handing in the work all you need to put onto a USB or CD to submit it are the following 4 files:-
When handing in the work all you need to put onto a USB or CD to submit it are the following 4 files:-
- The file called UTMutator_SuperRegen.uc located in the folder with your name.
- The file called UTPawn_SuperRegen.uc located in the folder with your name.
- The file called UDK<YourName>.ini located in the UDKGame Config folder.
- The file called <YourName>.u located in the following folder Local Disc (C:) -> UDK -> UDK<LatestDate> -> UDKGame -> Script.
And that is everything – it’s in your hands now. Any help needed ask me if I’m about or over Facebook or whatever if I'm online or ask Chris if he’s there.
BigAd
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So yea, 'til next time - that's all folks!
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Actually, it's not quite the end yet - there's one last blog post... just for me...
Contrary to the previous blog posts title, this is actually my last blog... just a quick note to say bye...
As mentioned this my last blog post of this year of Uni... I have actually enjoyed writing this blog, I don't know exactly why but compared to most people on my course I have never had a trouble getting the motivation to do it - no disrespect to them, I can understand why they haven't and its not for everyone to write down stuff for others to read. I hope that anyone who has cared to look at my blog over this year has found it interesting, fun, insightful or, in some cases, helpful.
With this, as it is my last Uni blog for the year, I would like to say thanks those that have made this first year on Games Design an enjoyable one:- Jackjak, Tom, Matty, Scott, Joe, Luke, Mike, Steve, Phil, Alex, Nic, Kayleigh and Rob... Thanks guys, looking forward to the next 2 years of Games Design with you all :D
Anyways, this time it truly is me signing off for the year... 'til next time - that's all folks!
As mentioned this my last blog post of this year of Uni... I have actually enjoyed writing this blog, I don't know exactly why but compared to most people on my course I have never had a trouble getting the motivation to do it - no disrespect to them, I can understand why they haven't and its not for everyone to write down stuff for others to read. I hope that anyone who has cared to look at my blog over this year has found it interesting, fun, insightful or, in some cases, helpful.
With this, as it is my last Uni blog for the year, I would like to say thanks those that have made this first year on Games Design an enjoyable one:- Jackjak, Tom, Matty, Scott, Joe, Luke, Mike, Steve, Phil, Alex, Nic, Kayleigh and Rob... Thanks guys, looking forward to the next 2 years of Games Design with you all :D
Anyways, this time it truly is me signing off for the year... 'til next time - that's all folks!
And so the blogs of my first year of Uni come to an end... onto films!
Tomorrow is the day that the work on my blog is taken away and marked for academic purposes and as a result this is going to be my last blog post from my first year of Uni... it's hard to think that in just over 2 weeks my entire university course first year will be over... it's been such a fun time and have met some awesome people though doing so...
Anyways, as my year one farewell has pretty much been said, onto my final blog post which is one that based on films... I am doing this as I thought I had done one on films but it turns out I haven't - I've done music and TV (Monty Python in particular) and so onto films we go. In a similar manner to my friend Matthew who is on my course too I thought I would do a series of top 10 or top 5 films of various types. I will explain at the end of each type why I like the number 1 film of that category the most... just because I can... so without further delay lets go on.
Top 5 Action Films
Top 5 Comedy Films
Top 5 Comic Book/Superhero Films
Top 3 'Epic' Films
Top 5 James Bond Films
Top 5 'Other' Films
Top 5 Horror/Gore Films
Top 5 Game Films/Game Adaptations
Top 10 Films of all Time
Anyways, as my year one farewell has pretty much been said, onto my final blog post which is one that based on films... I am doing this as I thought I had done one on films but it turns out I haven't - I've done music and TV (Monty Python in particular) and so onto films we go. In a similar manner to my friend Matthew who is on my course too I thought I would do a series of top 10 or top 5 films of various types. I will explain at the end of each type why I like the number 1 film of that category the most... just because I can... so without further delay lets go on.
Top 5 Action Films
- Underworld
- Sin City
- Equilibrium
- The Matrix Reloaded
- Face/Off
Top 5 Comedy Films
- Hot Fuzz
- Dodgeball
- Anchorman
- The Mask
- Dogma
Top 5 Comic Book/Superhero Films
- Kick-Ass
- Blade
- X-Men: The Last Stand
- Spider-Man
- Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Top 3 'Epic' Films
- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- Avatar
- Gladiator
Top 5 James Bond Films
- Goldeneye
- License to Kill
- Live and Let Die
- Moonraker
- The World is not Enough
Top 5 'Other' Films
- Pulp Fiction
- Fight Club
- Reservoir Dogs
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Top 5 Horror/Gore Films
- Halloween (Original Version)
- 28 Days Later
- Saw
- Wrong Turn
- The Ring (Japanese Version)
Top 5 Game Films/Game Adaptations
- Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
- Resident Evil
- Doom
- Tomb Raider
- Pokemon: The First Movie
Top 10 Films of all Time
- Underworld
- Kick-Ass
- Sin City
- Goldeneye
- Avatar
- The Matrix Reloaded
- Pulp Fiction
- Blade
- Hot Fuzz
- Lord of the Ring: Return of the King
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Essay Number 2 - Complete FINAL version
This is the last version of my essay that I'm going to put here, I submitted my essay today so this is purely up here in-case anybody fancies a read of the finished article.
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'Til next time - that's all folks!
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In the making of games, many design issues need to be thought out and considered throughout the games entire production to ensure that the end result is a game that appeals to the right audience. This is true and even more so in the development of educational games, such as the Key Stage 1 game that I am developing as a part of my group project along with others, where the games have to captivate the audience for a purpose other than enjoyment and truly benefit them. This essay will discuss the major design issues that were faced in the making of our game, Circuitry Absurdity, which helps Key Stage 1 children learn about electrical circuits and components within them.
The most important issue that I believe was faced is one that is encountered at the very beginning of the design process which is the game concept itself. When thinking of a game that needs to be educational and fun at the same time you need to make sure that the idea that you come up with is one that can do this, thus the concept becomes a key design issue. Our game of Circuitry Absurdity is a puzzle game that gets children to make circuits as quick as possible by connecting batteries to various components by placing wire pieces around obstacles. This concept is one that allows the game to be educational as it teaches them how circuits work with batteries supplying power to components and can only work when the circuit is complete and it also allows it to be fun by adding elements of puzzle-solving and competitiveness with time-based awards.
The issue of Concept in our game as a design issue was thought out carefully governing all other aspects of our game, it determined the story behind our game that would make it appeal to the audience and the gameplay that would follow. Concept is what makes a game from the ground up with other elements being incorporated based around it. If we hadn’t made our game how we did, it could have resulted in a game that appealed to the wrong audience, no-one at all, or not have any educational merit behind it.
To understand concept is similar to understanding what makes up a game. In the article ‘I have no words I must design: towards a critical vocabulary for games’ by Greg Costikyan (1994) Costikyan establishes the key aspects that make a game summarising it as “An interactive structure of endogenous meaning that requires players to struggle toward a goal.” The concepts for games are based around this premise and try to match up to and/or meet this definition if what a game is. Our concept is one that should do this and also have the added benefit of being educational.
The next major design issue that was faced follows on from the concept of the game which is the aesthetics of the game. How the game looks is a very vital part of making the game appeal and it is something that came up greatly in the making of our Key Stage 1 game. If a game is supposed to be aimed at older audiences a more mature, realistic, gritty art style is more appropriate whereas if the game is aimed at children the art style needs to be cartoony, bright and colourful. In our game we decided to use the cartoon style of Jimmy Neutron as an influence and this decision helped us establish the artistic direction of our game, thereby helped overcome a key design issue.
Once we had an idea of how we wanted our game to look, we had to develop our own style based on this and as one of the artists in the game this design issue was placed heavily in my care. As our game is based on the fixing of toy circuits and showing how electrical power flows from batteries into components, these also influenced the look of the game as circuits and electricity feature heavily. It can therefore be said that the art style of our game is an issue that was overcome due to the drive of our audience and the concept of our game but was also thought out carefully to help as make a good, captivating game.
Our choice to use an already existing artistic style can also be attributed to remediation, something we were taught about as a part of our course. While this knowledge was taught to us after we made the decision, it is a good example of it nonetheless and an example of how it can be very effective. The term of remediation comes from the works of Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin and their article ‘Remediation: Understanding New Media’ (2000). Its uses are many and beneficial as with our game where it helped us realise our art style. Once the art style of our game was established we had to make sure that the look and feel of the game was one that appeals to boys and girls.
The next design issue that came up in the process of making our Key Stage 1 games is the issue of Gender, this links with the art issue as colour and style of the visuals differ between boys and girls. Gender is an important part of designing games as generally speaking boys and girls have different likes and interests and therefore the game needs to be designed in such a way that both of these types of like can be addressed. The main demographic of gaming in general is mostly male but at Key Stage 1 this isn’t the case as much, therefore when designing our game it must clearly suit both genders sufficiently rather than making a game that clearly appeals to males or females.
In our game, to make it appeal to both genders we initially decided to have a male and female option for player characters; however, as we decided to make our game have the child as in the in-game character rather than having an in-game representation we had to think way to make the game appeal to both genders. In the end we decided that the best way to avoid this issue was to make the toys that the child was fixing be a mixture of toys that either boys would like, girls would like or appeal to both. This decision was a quick and easy solution that can easily fix most games and in the case of our game it worked perfectly and saved us lots of work in the long run.
Looking forward to the next design issue that we came across which is mechanics, in regards to gender we came across the issue on which boys and girl learn to play games. In her book, ‘Gender Inclusive Games Design’ (2003) Sheri Graner-Ray states that boys learn to play games with a hands-on approach, jumping straight into the game and playing it whereas girls learn to by playing tutorials or reading through manuals. Therefore, we had to think of a way of teaching children to play our game in an optional manner – so that the boys could skip and just play if they so wished. To do this we included an optional tutorial that would take them through the game, this is how we overcame this design issue and also shows how gender links into the mechanics of gameplay.
As stated, the next design issue that occurs in our game is related to the mechanics of the game and certain gameplay features. In games for younger audiences you must make sure that the game is not too complicated for them compared to an 18+ game where it is safe to assume that all the players of game should be able to get their head around all aspects of the game, albeit with maybe a couple of tutorials outlining the basics. Mechanics is a very large part of making many games and as such I will break it down into 2 sections; menus and interactivity and the core gameplay.
Our game is driven by many different menus and contains text-based narratives detailing wrong moves and how to play the game. As our game is for Key Stage 1 children however, we had to bear in mind that the child may not be able to understand certain words or blocks of text – ultimately the simpler the text, the easier it will be. This issue arose at one key point in the making of our game, particularly the tutorial. Initially we made the tutorial very text based which was easy to follow for us and other people of our age but it turned out in practice that Key Stage 1 children found it difficult to read and it was too long-winded. Thus we had to change our tutorial to one which had more pictures detailing various gameplay aspects and ultimately also included an interactive tutorial where they were taken through the processes of the game. This proved to be more successful and we were able to use this as a building point for the rest of our game, making the game more picture-based than text and as a result making it easier for children to play.
The core gameplay mechanics were easier to work out as we knew the children would have to build a circuit with different tile pieces, however, we needed to make sure that they were able to this and had to be careful with the complexities of the circuits. We also needed to make sure that the time limits on the circuits were suitable, for example, people of our age were able to complete the first level’s circuit in less than 20 seconds but this doesn’t mean Key Stage 1 children will be able to. This proved to be the case as upon doing a play test the times taken were greater, not too long that it seemed they were severely struggling but enough that we knew it needed to be changed.
Mechanics of a game as a whole ultimately lead to fun that is achieved in the end. By this I mean that it is the mechanics of a game that drives the player forward, they see the game through its aesthetics and ultimately they should get fun out of it. This idea of understanding how a consumer gets the most out of games is discussed in the article ‘MDA: A formal approach to games design and games research’ by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc and Robert Zubek (2004) where it is established that Mechanics lead to the Dynamics of gameplay that is then seen through the visual Aesthetics. In our game we can see that we tried to cover this by setting up a visually appealing game but focused on the mechanics of the game to make sure that the game was fun and enjoyable.
In conclusion, as with any game, we came across numerous design issues and had to overcome them to make our game work. An interesting point to note with these issues is that the aesthetical issues were thought out with reference to other children’s interests and the mechanical issues were overcome by getting the game play tested by the audience. These two ways of getting past design issues are slightly different, but, ultimately both look at what appeals to and works with the audience outside of video games and then applying that knowledge to the development of games.
Design issues cannot simply be overcome with a simple fix and must be thought out carefully with each aspect of the game getting looked at and improved as a separate entity which, together, comes to make a game as good as it can be. These design issues are ones that aren’t specific to our Key Stage 1 game and can be applied to any game and even other mediums, so exploring the design issues faced in this essay can ultimately be greatly beneficial in the future.
Word Count: 1998
References
- Bolter, J., Grusin, R., (2000), Remediation: Understanding New Media MIT Press.
- Costikyan, G., (1994), I Have No Words & I Must Design: Toward a Critical Vocabulary for Games, Interactive Fantasy, Issue 2, pp 25.
- Graner-Ray, S., (2003), Gender Inclusive Games Design, Charles River Media.
- Hunicke, R., LeBlanc, M., Zubek, R., (2004), MDA: A formal approach to games design and games research, Discovery, Vol. 83, Issue 3.
'Til next time - that's all folks!
Saturday, 30 April 2011
The down-side of brilliant technology
This blog post comes from a cross of sheer randomness and boredom. Basically, this blog post is going to talk about technology and how, despite it being brilliant, wonderful and almost necessary in the world today is in-fact full of many things that make it worse... At the same time though you have to remember that despite this I don't hate technology, I love it, its just certain aspects annoy me.
The life of Technology
There are many forms of technology in the world, some for practical uses and some for entertainment purposes - phones, iPods, computers, games consoles, TVs, etc - all of them have been developed over the course of recent history and have their specific roles in our lives. Its hard to imagine in a lot of cases just how humanity survived without the technology... I know that they did but I couldn't imagine living without it... Despite this however, for me personally and I'm sure for almost everyone else, technology has been the cause of so many problems in my life... And it is these problems that make technology a burden to us as well as a blessing, and whats worse some of these problems are trivial things but they annoy us anyway - and without the technology a lot of these problems couldn't even arise in the first place.
The ever dwindling battery
Battery life is a common problem brought about by technology and one which causes the most problems and most annoyance. Any form of device that is portable requires batteries to work and it is inevitable that the power of these batteries will eventually run out... and yet when it happens it normally seems to be at the worst time... like just when we find we are going on a long journey, for example. As well as this, batteries provide annoyance through forced spending for more of these portable sources of power... This annoyance has since been removed with rechargeable batteries or in-built rechargeable batteries but portable technology causes this problem in the first place.
From this though we are led onto the problem that is simply... batteries can't cope with technology. Batteries powering older devices from the early 1990s for example seem to last forever however, as you get to batteries in modern cameras of Nintendo 3DSes they have a battery life of just a few hours... and this again leads to the aforementioned battery dying problem, only now it happens more regularly... and you get angry thinking 'Why is this happening? Surely they could get more powerful batteries!?' and this is true... With the increase in power of technology it is obvious that the drain on battery life will be greater so why don't they include more powerful batteries?
Why won't you work!?
Yet another common problem with technology is the fact that... it simply cannot work at times. Your TV could lose signal, same with your phone, your game could crash or a program on a laptop decides not to work as planned. Technology isn't perfect it will have flaws, yet we get so angry if we miss something or lose something because technology decides to fail on us... Think about it if something non-digital doesn't go right, you get annoyed but carry on because you made a mistake, but if technology goes wrong we have a tantrum and rant and rave at anyone and anything about it. I mean, if your phone doesn't have signal so you can't send a text or ring someone for whatever purpose, even if its really important... its annoying but inevitable due to the way the technology works but we still hate it. And yet, only a couple of decades ago we didn't have this technology so we couldn't even text someone anyways...Technology is brilliant, up until the moment it fails us...
The flow of information
Due to the internet and TV we can find almost any piece of information we wish and can do it at almost any time... this is a wondrous thing and is great benefit to us all. At the same time the cost of being able to access this information has a price, many prices in fact. Due the abundance of information we believe almost anything we see or hear about online and because anyone can see this information it spreads... everywhere... It is generally the case that you hear something bad on the news and the information that we get influences us greatly... and ultimately nothing comes of it. One example of this is the spread of knowledge regarding illnesses... we are told all of this information about some form of deadly virus or whatever which is helpful but because we become overloaded with this information and believe anything about it no matter how distorted we panic too much... And then ultiamtey, not much happens and it suddenly dies away leading us all panicing over nothing.
At the other end of the spectrum, the rise of technology allowing us to get information leads to people getting their hopes up and then ultimately have them shattered or not live up to their over-hyped expectations. Games and films are one example of this, in the past I wouldn't know about a new game or film coming out until i read it in a magazine or glanced upon it in a shop and this led to no pre-expectations, I would just go and get a game or see a film because it looked good. Nowadays though, I hear about any and all games and film YEARS before they come out and see endless trailers showing me promises of pure epicness... and then the game or film is realsed and more than half the time I am left disappointed - I may still love the game or film to bits but due to the over-hype it never lives up to what I expected ending in disappointment.
The end result
So there we have it a few of the downsides to the benefits of technology... Technology is brilliant and most of the time it helps us - end of - and without it life would be harder. But it has inevitably caused more problems to arise that wouldn't otherwise exist... and because technology is a core part of our lives these problems occur all too often.
This is my final word on my blog, for a while... the blog assessment itself is due in this Friday and inbetween then and now I have other deadlines that I have to work on... So, for the foreseeable future, 'til next time - that's all folks!
The life of Technology
There are many forms of technology in the world, some for practical uses and some for entertainment purposes - phones, iPods, computers, games consoles, TVs, etc - all of them have been developed over the course of recent history and have their specific roles in our lives. Its hard to imagine in a lot of cases just how humanity survived without the technology... I know that they did but I couldn't imagine living without it... Despite this however, for me personally and I'm sure for almost everyone else, technology has been the cause of so many problems in my life... And it is these problems that make technology a burden to us as well as a blessing, and whats worse some of these problems are trivial things but they annoy us anyway - and without the technology a lot of these problems couldn't even arise in the first place.
The ever dwindling battery
Battery life is a common problem brought about by technology and one which causes the most problems and most annoyance. Any form of device that is portable requires batteries to work and it is inevitable that the power of these batteries will eventually run out... and yet when it happens it normally seems to be at the worst time... like just when we find we are going on a long journey, for example. As well as this, batteries provide annoyance through forced spending for more of these portable sources of power... This annoyance has since been removed with rechargeable batteries or in-built rechargeable batteries but portable technology causes this problem in the first place.
From this though we are led onto the problem that is simply... batteries can't cope with technology. Batteries powering older devices from the early 1990s for example seem to last forever however, as you get to batteries in modern cameras of Nintendo 3DSes they have a battery life of just a few hours... and this again leads to the aforementioned battery dying problem, only now it happens more regularly... and you get angry thinking 'Why is this happening? Surely they could get more powerful batteries!?' and this is true... With the increase in power of technology it is obvious that the drain on battery life will be greater so why don't they include more powerful batteries?
Why won't you work!?
Yet another common problem with technology is the fact that... it simply cannot work at times. Your TV could lose signal, same with your phone, your game could crash or a program on a laptop decides not to work as planned. Technology isn't perfect it will have flaws, yet we get so angry if we miss something or lose something because technology decides to fail on us... Think about it if something non-digital doesn't go right, you get annoyed but carry on because you made a mistake, but if technology goes wrong we have a tantrum and rant and rave at anyone and anything about it. I mean, if your phone doesn't have signal so you can't send a text or ring someone for whatever purpose, even if its really important... its annoying but inevitable due to the way the technology works but we still hate it. And yet, only a couple of decades ago we didn't have this technology so we couldn't even text someone anyways...Technology is brilliant, up until the moment it fails us...
The flow of information
Due to the internet and TV we can find almost any piece of information we wish and can do it at almost any time... this is a wondrous thing and is great benefit to us all. At the same time the cost of being able to access this information has a price, many prices in fact. Due the abundance of information we believe almost anything we see or hear about online and because anyone can see this information it spreads... everywhere... It is generally the case that you hear something bad on the news and the information that we get influences us greatly... and ultimately nothing comes of it. One example of this is the spread of knowledge regarding illnesses... we are told all of this information about some form of deadly virus or whatever which is helpful but because we become overloaded with this information and believe anything about it no matter how distorted we panic too much... And then ultiamtey, not much happens and it suddenly dies away leading us all panicing over nothing.
At the other end of the spectrum, the rise of technology allowing us to get information leads to people getting their hopes up and then ultimately have them shattered or not live up to their over-hyped expectations. Games and films are one example of this, in the past I wouldn't know about a new game or film coming out until i read it in a magazine or glanced upon it in a shop and this led to no pre-expectations, I would just go and get a game or see a film because it looked good. Nowadays though, I hear about any and all games and film YEARS before they come out and see endless trailers showing me promises of pure epicness... and then the game or film is realsed and more than half the time I am left disappointed - I may still love the game or film to bits but due to the over-hype it never lives up to what I expected ending in disappointment.
The end result
So there we have it a few of the downsides to the benefits of technology... Technology is brilliant and most of the time it helps us - end of - and without it life would be harder. But it has inevitably caused more problems to arise that wouldn't otherwise exist... and because technology is a core part of our lives these problems occur all too often.
This is my final word on my blog, for a while... the blog assessment itself is due in this Friday and inbetween then and now I have other deadlines that I have to work on... So, for the foreseeable future, 'til next time - that's all folks!
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Remediation
Right, it turns out I was right, there is in fact another lecture based blog post; and here it is! This is just a short blog post as the last lecture topic is something that is simple to understand, therefore leading to a small blog post about it. That's not to say it's not important though... remediation is quite important in the development of new ideas.
So, let's begin! Now, what is remediation? Remediation (in terms of media and entertainment) is the use of one medium or idea that originated in one area in another, such as a medium or idea that started and was developed on radio being used on TV or films. Remediation itself isn't a difficult process but making the remediated idea work and stick is another thing - just because an idea works in one medium doesn't guarantee it will work, it could completely fail. However, in contrast, it could be the complete opposite and the idea could be improved and taken to new heights by moving it to a new medium, such as with Soap Operas that began on the radio but truly bloomed once they moved to TV.
That was essentially the gist of our last lecture, learning what remediation was - however, on from the above we also learnt different types of remediation which is linked to immediacy and hypermediacy (will talk about these in a moment) and then, more directly related to our course, the development of 'Techoludic films' which are a form of remediation between films and games.
Immediacy is where the media tries to make you forget that you are looking at something that isn't media at all... for example within the media of photography photo-realistic images emerged... pictures that were so real it made you feel like you were there, it makes you forget its just a picture. However, this practice can be remediated, for example, the artist Ralph Goings is a painter who paints photo-realistic paintings - they look so real you forget that you are looking at a painting. This is an example of remediation where the idea is directly copied in a different medium but the method of doing so is completely different; this is more prevalent with immediacy.
Hypermediacy is where the media the media makes it abundantly clear that the item in question isn't real. For example, the internet and the pages within it are obviously not real, they provide us with various information, entertainment, etc but it doesn't immerse you so you think you are in the internet with what you are seeing. The conventions of this are adopted elsewhere though, with examples such as rolling news streams that are displayed on news websites being displayed at the bottom of news reports that are shown on television. The idea is copied from one medium to the other almost directly with no changes at all to the core idea (another idea being video game HUDS which, while different, remain the same concept at the core and this HUD is adopted in other mediums) - this is more prevalent in hypermediacy.
Finally, on to Techoludic films... these, as stated above are films that take on the conventions of video games, a good example of remediation, a middle ground of immediacy and hypermediacy (most films do this, as they immerse you in the world and nature of the film and you do feel like you're there but, depending on the setting of the film, you are aware of the hypermediacy of the film because you know it could never happen) and also showing how remediation itself has different forms.
Technoludic comes from a combination of Technology and Ludus (latin for play) which is why they are linked often with video game remediations in films or vice-versa. One type of Technoludic film remediation is one where the film isn't like a game but makes subtle links to games and their technology, commenting on the escape of the real world and losing yourself in another reality... films such as The Matrix do this (look up the premise of the film if you haven't seen it). It doesn't mention games at all or seem relevant at first but you can see the concept when you look at it closely - these type of Techoludic films are ones as commentary; they show links between the 2 media without directly using the other.
The second type of Technoludic remediation is where the film is an ordinary film with games appearing for illustrative purposes, the film isn't about them at all but the story ideas and aesthetic look of the film is taken from video games, for example, Blade Runner. This type of film is one as a quotation, they incorporate ideas from the other without actually changing the core principle of the original media.
The third type can technically be broken down into 2 parts but they are both the same thing, in this case the type of film is Technoludic films as adaptations of games (or vice-versa); a core and very direct form of remediation. The two halves to this are films based on games, for example, the Resident Evil films series, Tomb Raider, Dead Or Alive, etc - these adaptations are apparent. The second half is more subtle but technically an adaptation - in this case the film has an entirely original premise and storyline but takes the ideas of games to make it, for example the film Run Lola Run. The film is entirely original, not based off a game, etc, but it contains many elements taken straight from a game, such as multiple storylines inter-linking, multiple lives, character selection... and it works too.
So, there you have it, my final lecture based blog post and its on Remediation... a very useful thing to have existed as it has produced many interesting works of media that wouldn't have existed if everything had to stay where it was created. This most likely won't be my last blog post as I may chrn out another random one or two before the deadline for this module on 6th May... after which I will most likely still blog anyways as its a good form of showing off my work and stuff. So, yea, anyways, 'til next time - that's all folks!
So, let's begin! Now, what is remediation? Remediation (in terms of media and entertainment) is the use of one medium or idea that originated in one area in another, such as a medium or idea that started and was developed on radio being used on TV or films. Remediation itself isn't a difficult process but making the remediated idea work and stick is another thing - just because an idea works in one medium doesn't guarantee it will work, it could completely fail. However, in contrast, it could be the complete opposite and the idea could be improved and taken to new heights by moving it to a new medium, such as with Soap Operas that began on the radio but truly bloomed once they moved to TV.
That was essentially the gist of our last lecture, learning what remediation was - however, on from the above we also learnt different types of remediation which is linked to immediacy and hypermediacy (will talk about these in a moment) and then, more directly related to our course, the development of 'Techoludic films' which are a form of remediation between films and games.
Immediacy is where the media tries to make you forget that you are looking at something that isn't media at all... for example within the media of photography photo-realistic images emerged... pictures that were so real it made you feel like you were there, it makes you forget its just a picture. However, this practice can be remediated, for example, the artist Ralph Goings is a painter who paints photo-realistic paintings - they look so real you forget that you are looking at a painting. This is an example of remediation where the idea is directly copied in a different medium but the method of doing so is completely different; this is more prevalent with immediacy.
Hypermediacy is where the media the media makes it abundantly clear that the item in question isn't real. For example, the internet and the pages within it are obviously not real, they provide us with various information, entertainment, etc but it doesn't immerse you so you think you are in the internet with what you are seeing. The conventions of this are adopted elsewhere though, with examples such as rolling news streams that are displayed on news websites being displayed at the bottom of news reports that are shown on television. The idea is copied from one medium to the other almost directly with no changes at all to the core idea (another idea being video game HUDS which, while different, remain the same concept at the core and this HUD is adopted in other mediums) - this is more prevalent in hypermediacy.
Finally, on to Techoludic films... these, as stated above are films that take on the conventions of video games, a good example of remediation, a middle ground of immediacy and hypermediacy (most films do this, as they immerse you in the world and nature of the film and you do feel like you're there but, depending on the setting of the film, you are aware of the hypermediacy of the film because you know it could never happen) and also showing how remediation itself has different forms.
Technoludic comes from a combination of Technology and Ludus (latin for play) which is why they are linked often with video game remediations in films or vice-versa. One type of Technoludic film remediation is one where the film isn't like a game but makes subtle links to games and their technology, commenting on the escape of the real world and losing yourself in another reality... films such as The Matrix do this (look up the premise of the film if you haven't seen it). It doesn't mention games at all or seem relevant at first but you can see the concept when you look at it closely - these type of Techoludic films are ones as commentary; they show links between the 2 media without directly using the other.
The second type of Technoludic remediation is where the film is an ordinary film with games appearing for illustrative purposes, the film isn't about them at all but the story ideas and aesthetic look of the film is taken from video games, for example, Blade Runner. This type of film is one as a quotation, they incorporate ideas from the other without actually changing the core principle of the original media.
The third type can technically be broken down into 2 parts but they are both the same thing, in this case the type of film is Technoludic films as adaptations of games (or vice-versa); a core and very direct form of remediation. The two halves to this are films based on games, for example, the Resident Evil films series, Tomb Raider, Dead Or Alive, etc - these adaptations are apparent. The second half is more subtle but technically an adaptation - in this case the film has an entirely original premise and storyline but takes the ideas of games to make it, for example the film Run Lola Run. The film is entirely original, not based off a game, etc, but it contains many elements taken straight from a game, such as multiple storylines inter-linking, multiple lives, character selection... and it works too.
So, there you have it, my final lecture based blog post and its on Remediation... a very useful thing to have existed as it has produced many interesting works of media that wouldn't have existed if everything had to stay where it was created. This most likely won't be my last blog post as I may chrn out another random one or two before the deadline for this module on 6th May... after which I will most likely still blog anyways as its a good form of showing off my work and stuff. So, yea, anyways, 'til next time - that's all folks!
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