Monday, 30 September 2013
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Video Game and Personal Developments
If you've read my 'About' page then you know that I'm currently working my way through a video game development course (Diploma in Digital and Interactive Games to be precise). I did some research before starting this particular course and read about how to tell the good courses from the bad and what I should be looking for in the curriculum before signing up.
I'm happy to say that Evocca College has ticked all of the boxes so far with the only exception being the majority of my time so far has been spent in UDK and 3ds Max, whereas some other courses divvy their time among a wider range of 3D software and game engines. The principals are generally the same though and as students at Evocca College we have been given access to many alternatives to try out at our leisure as well. I strongly recommend giving Evocca College a shot if you're interested in trying it out (and make sure you tell them that Scott Beeby sent you), especially if you happen to be located near one of their campuses. If not then they also have an excellent distance education program.
I started the course way back at the start of this year and as this is the first year that this particular course has run it seems like my classmates and I are the guinea pigs. There have been a couple of bumps along the way but it has all been smoothed out now and I'm a better (future) game designer for it.
This has been a big year for me personally, one of huge development. I moved interstate on a whim late 2012 so this is my first full year living by myself. On top of that I started this course and more recently have decided to start jotting down my notes with this blog and making a few gameplay videos on YouTube. I don't plan on making this blog too personal but I feel it helps for the readers to know who I am and what I'm doing to put things into context.
This year alone I have started really digging deep and playing around with many programs including:
I'm happy to say that Evocca College has ticked all of the boxes so far with the only exception being the majority of my time so far has been spent in UDK and 3ds Max, whereas some other courses divvy their time among a wider range of 3D software and game engines. The principals are generally the same though and as students at Evocca College we have been given access to many alternatives to try out at our leisure as well. I strongly recommend giving Evocca College a shot if you're interested in trying it out (and make sure you tell them that Scott Beeby sent you), especially if you happen to be located near one of their campuses. If not then they also have an excellent distance education program.
I started the course way back at the start of this year and as this is the first year that this particular course has run it seems like my classmates and I are the guinea pigs. There have been a couple of bumps along the way but it has all been smoothed out now and I'm a better (future) game designer for it.
This has been a big year for me personally, one of huge development. I moved interstate on a whim late 2012 so this is my first full year living by myself. On top of that I started this course and more recently have decided to start jotting down my notes with this blog and making a few gameplay videos on YouTube. I don't plan on making this blog too personal but I feel it helps for the readers to know who I am and what I'm doing to put things into context.
This year alone I have started really digging deep and playing around with many programs including:
- Photoshop
- UDK
- 3ds Max
- Sketchup
- Premiere Pro
- Audacity
- Hauppauge Capture
- Mudbox
- Illustrator
As of this article I am also trying out pixel art for a possible future project. I'd like to think of myself as a very well rounded individual when all is said and done, but I'll have to try out Maya and Unity, as well as open source alternatives such as Blender, before I think I could really call myself that.
Now for the exciting stuff, what I'm working on. The course calls for creating an RPG from start to finish which includes all of the environments, textures, characters and more. As you can imagine coming at this with very little knowledge of the above listed programs was very daunting at first but luckily I've had a great tutor and the tutorials have served me well.
My game for the course has a working title of 'Perception Is Everything' with the tagline 'because who doesn't like P.I.E.?' A bit dorky I know but I think it's the contents itself that will do the talking for me. Everyone has a revolutionary idea but it's those who act on them that count and that's what I've started to do.
The game revolves around a modern day dystopian world where the population has dwindled down to only a few thousand spread across a handful of cities and towns. We've seen our fair share of Greek and Norse mythology before such as Thor and Zeus, but rarely do we see mentioned Roman mythology. In my world it's these mythological creatures from Roman times that stalk the land. I'm talking about Chimeras, Tara (mother nature), Hippocamps, Cerberus' and more. It's not as flashy or popular as the world of Hercules but there's still history there that I can draw from and a story to tell.
There's also three distinct settlements spread across the continent, each residing in a separate biome to make them easily identifiable. Tying into the whole Roman angle I decided early on to make these three populous' take on the three traits of the Dark Triad. Narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism (named after the Italian historical figure Niccolo Machiavelli). The combinations of these three personal traits spread across three different biomes while also throwing in the mix of these ancient creatures in modern times I believe can make for a great narrative, which is my number one priority. Some people prefer the best graphics or great music, and while those are important I much prefer to explore some great characters with some unique gameplay mechanics thrown into the mix.
The gameplay is actually where the title of this game comes into it. "Perception is reality" is a quote from 80's politics in America and while I wholeheartedly couldn't care less about the world of politicians, bills and parliament, that quote for whatever reason has always stuck with me. In the game I aim to tell the story from one character's point of view and once the storyline has been completed you then begin chapter two which is played from the perspective of who the player perceived to be the bad guy the first time through. Suddenly things aren't so cut and dry and it gets the player thinking about their actions on the first playthrough and how that actually impacted on your character the second time around. Now it could be the initial character who was really the bad guy. On the plus side for me as the game designer, I now get to use the same assets and extend the game by 100%. Win-win in my books.
I'll be updating this blog whenever I post another video or add more details about my first game so be sure to bookmark my home page. Exciting things to come!
The Future of Gaming
While writing a recent article about my thoughts on GTA V, I found myself going on a bit of a tangent about where I think video games in general are going and why certain games are perceived the way that they currently are as compared to not so long ago.
My overall opinion of the latest Grand Theft Auto is that Rockstar have taken on a huge project which by and large they have carried out with a lot of success. It has all of the elements that make up a Grand Theft Auto game, even taking it up a notch in many areas, but I can't help but take from it a slight feeling of being underwhelmed.
I think it could be due to the fact that audiences are becoming more intelligent by the day and are generally starting to realise how plot points work. More and more I'm seeing people point out how certain tropes are frequently used and how stale they are in comparison to years gone by when they were being used in gaming for the first time. In a modern day world where attention spans are dwindling and information is always at hand, we thrive on being inspired through creativity as quickly as possible.
It's no surprise that cult hit games such as Halo, Minecraft and Trials all have one thing in common. Custom content creation. Once the planet has been saved, the dragon has been killed, and the quadruple backflip has been performed successfully, players can then move on to what has become arguably the larger portion of these games when looking at the big picture of a game's lifespan.
Making maps and the social interactivity that comes as a result feeds a player's need to stay in that universe while also adding their touch to the familiar surroundings. The feeling of accomplishment in completing one of these projects, from concept to creation, and the feedback from other gamers is what makes the experience so worthwhile.
It's for this reason that I believe creation-based games are going to become more and more common over the next decade. In fact you only have to look at Spark, a game that was revealed at this year's E3 event, to see that the lines are slowly blurring between video game and game engine. Where the entry point for using software such as UDK or Unity has seemed so daunting before, suddenly putting in place many of the same mechanics, making it more user friendly, and disguising it purely as a game, the premise becomes much more approachable to the general public. You thought it was surreal now that almost any kid of any age can pick up an iPad and navigate around it with ease? Just imagine when shortly we'll be seeing a 5 year old create a working and playable game level from scratch within a half hour or so.
My overall opinion of the latest Grand Theft Auto is that Rockstar have taken on a huge project which by and large they have carried out with a lot of success. It has all of the elements that make up a Grand Theft Auto game, even taking it up a notch in many areas, but I can't help but take from it a slight feeling of being underwhelmed.
I think it could be due to the fact that audiences are becoming more intelligent by the day and are generally starting to realise how plot points work. More and more I'm seeing people point out how certain tropes are frequently used and how stale they are in comparison to years gone by when they were being used in gaming for the first time. In a modern day world where attention spans are dwindling and information is always at hand, we thrive on being inspired through creativity as quickly as possible.
It's no surprise that cult hit games such as Halo, Minecraft and Trials all have one thing in common. Custom content creation. Once the planet has been saved, the dragon has been killed, and the quadruple backflip has been performed successfully, players can then move on to what has become arguably the larger portion of these games when looking at the big picture of a game's lifespan.
Making maps and the social interactivity that comes as a result feeds a player's need to stay in that universe while also adding their touch to the familiar surroundings. The feeling of accomplishment in completing one of these projects, from concept to creation, and the feedback from other gamers is what makes the experience so worthwhile.
It's for this reason that I believe creation-based games are going to become more and more common over the next decade. In fact you only have to look at Spark, a game that was revealed at this year's E3 event, to see that the lines are slowly blurring between video game and game engine. Where the entry point for using software such as UDK or Unity has seemed so daunting before, suddenly putting in place many of the same mechanics, making it more user friendly, and disguising it purely as a game, the premise becomes much more approachable to the general public. You thought it was surreal now that almost any kid of any age can pick up an iPad and navigate around it with ease? Just imagine when shortly we'll be seeing a 5 year old create a working and playable game level from scratch within a half hour or so.
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