To begin with everybody played a selection of existing board games. Notes would be taken and the game as a whole would be studied. The first game our group played was called "Pass the bomb" The way the game worked was very unique. It was interesting how it wasn't a regular board game. It relied heavily on the players creativity when it came to having to generate words with the letters they were given. This level of creativity also helped the game become social. If someone were to think of a somewhat rediculous word but it actually existed everyone would laugh etc.
An inspiration for our final project was heavily dependant on the intros round from never mind the buzzcocks. Having to sing a song but not use any words or state the title to the person havign to guess what the song was. At first i was somewhat worried because i thought it would be a good idea to try and replicate but would prove very difficult to turning into an actual board game involving playing pieces etc.
As a group we all did several sketches Of what the board could look like. We all decided that a cranium style board involving 4 card sections being in each corner and 4 different colour spots to land on being a card type was an excellent concept. Instead of having to do a certain activity like you would in cranium you would have to select a different genre of music. We all settled for modern, retro, themes (could be television,games etc) and lucky dip. The lucky dip could be a song from anything.
The final board was very successful with playtesting> a lot of people within the game art section tried it out. Our original goal was achieved in that it was never about who won it was about having fun whilst playing the game. A problem we did encounter however was that the lucky dip spaces were selected a lot more times than everything else and we eventually started looping over songs that had been guessed before. When making the final game we had to create at least double the amount of songs and cards per genre.
When setting jobs for everyone to do It was rather difficult. No job could really be done with more than one person, having given ourselves such a simple game besides the board,boax and cards there wasn't a lot for anybody to do. I made the dice graphics which would be aquired from the internet via google search. These icons would then be edited using adobe illustrator via live trace. Once these images have been traced they were then able to be coloured the right colour corresponding with the dice.
Unfortunately one of the members of our group chose to leave the course and brought the box and board back to us rather late. This has given us all a problem of fixing the box which had been somewhat worn due to the way it was originally stuck down and because he had the board art in his house it's also been difficult to find and cut some card base in time for assesment. This is still yet to be done and over the weekend we hope to have the card ready to stick the board design to.
Friday 26 November 2010
Thursday 14 October 2010
Chris Goodswen Lecture
I had a lecture from a man named chris goodswen last week. He was an ex nuca student who moved to dundee to do a masters degree in game design. He gave us all a talk on how he found everything and how he managed to stay on top of all his work.
The reason he joined the course in the first place was for a number of reasons. He had a boring office job which he disliked but he was always an artist and specialised in traditional art techniques such as sculpting and painting. He was a keen drawer and would often doodle everywhere. Eventually he was made redundant and decided to join the game art and design course due to him being hugely into gaming.
He enjoyed the course itself because he discovered the benefits of research but mainly because he found it to be a very good way to express himself as an artist. For the 3rd year he decided to specialise in 3D character art of which he enjoyed because it was a good chance for him to focus on one specific area of game development.
The game Chris designed was a horror game based on the 1980's fashion craze. this was influenced by pop culture and the fashion industry. He designed a character who was based on children stories of which he turned into a rather synester story of how the character used to eat children etc.
when the course was over chris still didn't feel confident enough in his own abilities so he just kept working on his 3d models and drawing. once his website and portfolio were all ready to exhibit. But once he graduated he was stuck as to what to do next, during this time the game industry was at a job crisis so fresh graduates were finding it extremely hard to recieve work from even small time companies.
Due to this chris decided to go into further education and study at The university in Dundee which is a centre of excellence when it comes to game design. The course there helped him grow technically and artistaclly. It was also a good chance for chris to work as part of a team due to all the units involving having to make a game from scratch. For example chris and a man named stuart had 10 weeks to design a whole game. eventually they created a game called quad which was a shooting game in full 3d with animations and voices. The game itself was powered by the unity engine.
Now chris works freelance and found that the masters degree from dundee has helped him find work everywhere. many people contact him via twitter asking him to do certain things for their advert or game etc.
My personal opinion on all of this is that i found the whole lecture extremely interesting. although it was definately intimidating to find out just how much of a constant battle the game industry is. The 3d work he displayed was excellent and to find out he tought himself the majority of it was a good morale boost for me mainly because if i want to become good at programs such as zbrush and mudbox i'll also need to do a large amount of personal research myself.
The reason he joined the course in the first place was for a number of reasons. He had a boring office job which he disliked but he was always an artist and specialised in traditional art techniques such as sculpting and painting. He was a keen drawer and would often doodle everywhere. Eventually he was made redundant and decided to join the game art and design course due to him being hugely into gaming.
He enjoyed the course itself because he discovered the benefits of research but mainly because he found it to be a very good way to express himself as an artist. For the 3rd year he decided to specialise in 3D character art of which he enjoyed because it was a good chance for him to focus on one specific area of game development.
The game Chris designed was a horror game based on the 1980's fashion craze. this was influenced by pop culture and the fashion industry. He designed a character who was based on children stories of which he turned into a rather synester story of how the character used to eat children etc.
when the course was over chris still didn't feel confident enough in his own abilities so he just kept working on his 3d models and drawing. once his website and portfolio were all ready to exhibit. But once he graduated he was stuck as to what to do next, during this time the game industry was at a job crisis so fresh graduates were finding it extremely hard to recieve work from even small time companies.
Due to this chris decided to go into further education and study at The university in Dundee which is a centre of excellence when it comes to game design. The course there helped him grow technically and artistaclly. It was also a good chance for chris to work as part of a team due to all the units involving having to make a game from scratch. For example chris and a man named stuart had 10 weeks to design a whole game. eventually they created a game called quad which was a shooting game in full 3d with animations and voices. The game itself was powered by the unity engine.
Now chris works freelance and found that the masters degree from dundee has helped him find work everywhere. many people contact him via twitter asking him to do certain things for their advert or game etc.
My personal opinion on all of this is that i found the whole lecture extremely interesting. although it was definately intimidating to find out just how much of a constant battle the game industry is. The 3d work he displayed was excellent and to find out he tought himself the majority of it was a good morale boost for me mainly because if i want to become good at programs such as zbrush and mudbox i'll also need to do a large amount of personal research myself.
A few discoveries
This is yet another university project. I'll keep a journal of things i discovered about the game industry that i didn't know untill i looked into books and websites.
It's only been recent that the video game industry has began to rival the film industry with sales and consumer spending. In the united states in 2002 sales reached $6.5 billion in sales. in 2003 this escalated to $7 billion so on and so fourth.
Many games are improved or redesigned based on consumer feedback. this has shown to increase the quality of most games after playtesting. Many bugs or problems that prevent the player from fully enjoying the game can be found out before release. However playtesting has not always been so simple. Many earlier games were changed due to consumer surveys and focus groups that would quiz on how regular audiences recieve games. This would cause problems in that only certain parts of the game could be focused on and there would still be issues in other areas of the production.
This information was gathered from http://www.gamestudies.org/
It's only been recent that the video game industry has began to rival the film industry with sales and consumer spending. In the united states in 2002 sales reached $6.5 billion in sales. in 2003 this escalated to $7 billion so on and so fourth.
Many games are improved or redesigned based on consumer feedback. this has shown to increase the quality of most games after playtesting. Many bugs or problems that prevent the player from fully enjoying the game can be found out before release. However playtesting has not always been so simple. Many earlier games were changed due to consumer surveys and focus groups that would quiz on how regular audiences recieve games. This would cause problems in that only certain parts of the game could be focused on and there would still be issues in other areas of the production.
This information was gathered from http://www.gamestudies.org/
My history with video games
Due to the fact that this post needs to be as formal as possible i'll try to simply list the ten games that influenced me and state reasons why. They will be in order of when i played them.
Mortal kombat 3 on Super nintendo: The very first game i had ever played back when i was 3 years old. Needless to say i wasn't very good at it and when the screen went black as the computer tried to finish me i'd shut the game down because i was scared from the gore. I think what stood out for me was the use of digitised actors being recorded and then pieced together via stop motion animation, it just looked so different from other games i would see later on and made the violence look much more realistic. Later i discovered that MK3 was also the first fighting game to utalise 3D graphics and environments which made the backgrounds look crisper and more defined than in previous games which they would digitally draw everything in. Even though the music was dubbed down from the arcade versions they still had the same somewhat apocalyptic feel to them.
Blaster Master on NES: Although when it comes to old style games for my generation many people are quick to say super mario bros the two games that arrived with my NES were Super Mario and Blaster Master of which i played Blaster Master first. The graphics were thing to catch my attention. considering it was on an 8 Bit console they were still so detailed and i was amazed at what sunsoft had produced from mere pixel art. Another thing to remember was always the music. again on an 8 bit console the amount of layers the music had was astounding considering most games on the same platform had about one simple tune that would repeat over a minute or so, blaster master had 8 different stages with their own music and would loop over around 6 minutes. I was even more suprised to find out that it was all composed by one man.
Killer instinct on Super Nintendo: Personally my all time favourite game of all time. Another fighting game simaler to mortal kombat but with a whole new feel to it. The very first of what is now known as a "flash fighter" which means a fighting game that involves very large combos fast paced gameplay and arcade sounding sound effects such as impact noises or character grunts. But what really stood out to me was the graphics, the game cartridge had to be a special black cartridge which means the chip inside the cartridge required more space to fit more on it. this however meant the game had to be sold for a higher price but we didn't notice this as we bought it second hand. the graphics were purely 3D including animation but were then saved as 2D images. This made the graphics mindblowing for the time as most games were still using traditional drawn sprites. The main reason this is my favourite game however was purley for fun, i've never had more fun with a single game and i can still pick it up today and have just as much fun with it as i did 13 years ago.
The legend of zelda the ocarina of time on N64: Not a favourite of mine but i would class it as the greatest game ever made purely because it is an adventure of epic proportions in every sense of the word. The whole game had a somewhat mystical theme to it not to mention it's the longest game i'd played. spending severeal hours as a child only to realise i had a whole new set of areas to explore as an adult. The music again was excellently composed and was all apropriate to what area you were in. from boss battles to just being underwater there was a soundtrack to suit everything. The combat system was all new to me being able to fully control where i was jumping and running was completely new. it made for some interesting combat sequences that again many modern games seem to have lost.
Turok 2 seeds of evil on N64: When it comes to shooting games i had started on goldeneye like many other people But when i played Turok 2 it felt like goldeneye set the standard but Turok perfected the shooting game genre. The whole game just felt so sophisticated with it's use of sound effects level design and weaponry. The weapons themselves helped define the turok games in that there were very little games out there that were as outrageous as turok was. Plus the non linear maze style levels would take a lot longer to beat than other games due to you having to find keyes throughout a stage which would unlock further stages. The music was one of the first games to actually use a full orchestra composition for the stage soundtracks.
Banjo Kazooie on N64: A very large platformer that reminded me that i was still a child. unbelievably child friendly but still with a somewhat adult sense of humour using many sexual inuendos in the jokes and scenery. However the game itself was like mario 64 but more. the environments and sheer scale adventure will always remind me of what i enjoyed about the platform genre. there was lots to do and lots of space to do it in. the stages varied in themes which still felt new and refreshing. Also the music was excellently composed mainly due to Rareware. Rareware always had a good reputation in the older days of gaming as having excellent music in all of their games.
Jet Force Gemini on N64: Still catergorised as a shooter but made as a 3rd person game involving the full character with a camer behind the shoulder jet force gemini was another excellent game from Rareware. Out of all the games from the N64 the music was absolutely breathtaking and used a full orchestra simaler to turok 2 although all of the music was composed by a man named robin beanland. The game itself was a humans vs aliens style adventure but had a somewhat starship troopers feel to it in that there was a lot of violence but didn't distract you from the actual game due to most of the blood being green.
Unholy war on playstation: A very overlooked game made by Eidos in the early late 90's it was a mix of arena combat and chess style strategy. the vast amount of character variety really stood out to me in the terms of character design, some characters were completely unique i'd never seen anything like them. And that still stands today there are still many games with the same looking characters and unholy war pushed the envelope with how rediculous character designs can be.
Top Gear overdrive on N64: Although i would have a lot of fun with mario kart the racing game i always preferred was top gear overdrive. The fast driving and realistic looking cars made the whole game fun all round. If you had an expansion pack a band called grindstone would be featured and you would have their music to race to. having such clear audio on a nintendo 64 was rather strange but it all blended together nicely. The split screen was what made it my favourite racing game because many racing games on the nintendo 64 were only 2 player. being able to race against 3 other friends was always what id see as a neccessity but has sadly been dropped from next to all modern games.
Resident Evil on PS1/Gamecube: The one game that made survival horror my favourite genre and i feel like although there are many horror games out there resident evil is the only game that ever genuinely scared me. The ps1 original i played when i was little and scared me due to overall atmosphere. The music combined with the fixed camera angles and dimly lit hallways would always make me feel uncomfortable. Although the remake on gamecube was truly a horror game in every aspect. It still followed the formula of fixed camera angles and puzzles but the amazing pre rendered environments with well composed music and sound effects took full advantage of capturing the horror of what you don't see rather than what you do see. Even today i feel like no horror game has ever recaptured what resident evil did which should focus on leaving a lot of it up to the players imagination instead of splattering violence and gore everywhere.
Resident evil 4 on Gamecube: Before release i had anticipated this game for a very long time due to how much i loved the remake of the original. the over the shoulder view and lack of zombies would certainly prove to be an interesting change. what i found worked the most about resident evil 4 was right at the start. It's still scary but it's in the daytime. the crazed villagers reminded me of an old horror movie like the texas chainsaw massacre. there were certain horror moments when again capcom had made the most out of what you didnt see only this time the horrors would often be behind you as you couldnt see that way. unlike previous resident evil titles you would often be outnumbered by a great amount and would sometimes be forced to run away on harder difficulties. again this all added to the horror aspect of feeling alone and vulnerable.
Mortal kombat 3 on Super nintendo: The very first game i had ever played back when i was 3 years old. Needless to say i wasn't very good at it and when the screen went black as the computer tried to finish me i'd shut the game down because i was scared from the gore. I think what stood out for me was the use of digitised actors being recorded and then pieced together via stop motion animation, it just looked so different from other games i would see later on and made the violence look much more realistic. Later i discovered that MK3 was also the first fighting game to utalise 3D graphics and environments which made the backgrounds look crisper and more defined than in previous games which they would digitally draw everything in. Even though the music was dubbed down from the arcade versions they still had the same somewhat apocalyptic feel to them.
Blaster Master on NES: Although when it comes to old style games for my generation many people are quick to say super mario bros the two games that arrived with my NES were Super Mario and Blaster Master of which i played Blaster Master first. The graphics were thing to catch my attention. considering it was on an 8 Bit console they were still so detailed and i was amazed at what sunsoft had produced from mere pixel art. Another thing to remember was always the music. again on an 8 bit console the amount of layers the music had was astounding considering most games on the same platform had about one simple tune that would repeat over a minute or so, blaster master had 8 different stages with their own music and would loop over around 6 minutes. I was even more suprised to find out that it was all composed by one man.
Killer instinct on Super Nintendo: Personally my all time favourite game of all time. Another fighting game simaler to mortal kombat but with a whole new feel to it. The very first of what is now known as a "flash fighter" which means a fighting game that involves very large combos fast paced gameplay and arcade sounding sound effects such as impact noises or character grunts. But what really stood out to me was the graphics, the game cartridge had to be a special black cartridge which means the chip inside the cartridge required more space to fit more on it. this however meant the game had to be sold for a higher price but we didn't notice this as we bought it second hand. the graphics were purely 3D including animation but were then saved as 2D images. This made the graphics mindblowing for the time as most games were still using traditional drawn sprites. The main reason this is my favourite game however was purley for fun, i've never had more fun with a single game and i can still pick it up today and have just as much fun with it as i did 13 years ago.
The legend of zelda the ocarina of time on N64: Not a favourite of mine but i would class it as the greatest game ever made purely because it is an adventure of epic proportions in every sense of the word. The whole game had a somewhat mystical theme to it not to mention it's the longest game i'd played. spending severeal hours as a child only to realise i had a whole new set of areas to explore as an adult. The music again was excellently composed and was all apropriate to what area you were in. from boss battles to just being underwater there was a soundtrack to suit everything. The combat system was all new to me being able to fully control where i was jumping and running was completely new. it made for some interesting combat sequences that again many modern games seem to have lost.
Turok 2 seeds of evil on N64: When it comes to shooting games i had started on goldeneye like many other people But when i played Turok 2 it felt like goldeneye set the standard but Turok perfected the shooting game genre. The whole game just felt so sophisticated with it's use of sound effects level design and weaponry. The weapons themselves helped define the turok games in that there were very little games out there that were as outrageous as turok was. Plus the non linear maze style levels would take a lot longer to beat than other games due to you having to find keyes throughout a stage which would unlock further stages. The music was one of the first games to actually use a full orchestra composition for the stage soundtracks.
Banjo Kazooie on N64: A very large platformer that reminded me that i was still a child. unbelievably child friendly but still with a somewhat adult sense of humour using many sexual inuendos in the jokes and scenery. However the game itself was like mario 64 but more. the environments and sheer scale adventure will always remind me of what i enjoyed about the platform genre. there was lots to do and lots of space to do it in. the stages varied in themes which still felt new and refreshing. Also the music was excellently composed mainly due to Rareware. Rareware always had a good reputation in the older days of gaming as having excellent music in all of their games.
Jet Force Gemini on N64: Still catergorised as a shooter but made as a 3rd person game involving the full character with a camer behind the shoulder jet force gemini was another excellent game from Rareware. Out of all the games from the N64 the music was absolutely breathtaking and used a full orchestra simaler to turok 2 although all of the music was composed by a man named robin beanland. The game itself was a humans vs aliens style adventure but had a somewhat starship troopers feel to it in that there was a lot of violence but didn't distract you from the actual game due to most of the blood being green.
Unholy war on playstation: A very overlooked game made by Eidos in the early late 90's it was a mix of arena combat and chess style strategy. the vast amount of character variety really stood out to me in the terms of character design, some characters were completely unique i'd never seen anything like them. And that still stands today there are still many games with the same looking characters and unholy war pushed the envelope with how rediculous character designs can be.
Top Gear overdrive on N64: Although i would have a lot of fun with mario kart the racing game i always preferred was top gear overdrive. The fast driving and realistic looking cars made the whole game fun all round. If you had an expansion pack a band called grindstone would be featured and you would have their music to race to. having such clear audio on a nintendo 64 was rather strange but it all blended together nicely. The split screen was what made it my favourite racing game because many racing games on the nintendo 64 were only 2 player. being able to race against 3 other friends was always what id see as a neccessity but has sadly been dropped from next to all modern games.
Resident Evil on PS1/Gamecube: The one game that made survival horror my favourite genre and i feel like although there are many horror games out there resident evil is the only game that ever genuinely scared me. The ps1 original i played when i was little and scared me due to overall atmosphere. The music combined with the fixed camera angles and dimly lit hallways would always make me feel uncomfortable. Although the remake on gamecube was truly a horror game in every aspect. It still followed the formula of fixed camera angles and puzzles but the amazing pre rendered environments with well composed music and sound effects took full advantage of capturing the horror of what you don't see rather than what you do see. Even today i feel like no horror game has ever recaptured what resident evil did which should focus on leaving a lot of it up to the players imagination instead of splattering violence and gore everywhere.
Resident evil 4 on Gamecube: Before release i had anticipated this game for a very long time due to how much i loved the remake of the original. the over the shoulder view and lack of zombies would certainly prove to be an interesting change. what i found worked the most about resident evil 4 was right at the start. It's still scary but it's in the daytime. the crazed villagers reminded me of an old horror movie like the texas chainsaw massacre. there were certain horror moments when again capcom had made the most out of what you didnt see only this time the horrors would often be behind you as you couldnt see that way. unlike previous resident evil titles you would often be outnumbered by a great amount and would sometimes be forced to run away on harder difficulties. again this all added to the horror aspect of feeling alone and vulnerable.
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