Inside Gearbox - Borderlands

Not too long ago, I decided to like Gearbox software and Borderlands page's on facebook. I wanted to keep up with the latest news and threads from them. Be the first to know. I'm a big Borderlands fan, and always will. But when I saw that my story could be told to the people at the event PAX Australia, about how Borderlands has influence/changed your life, I couldn't resist. I felt like it was something that I could get off my chest. Something that was holding me down. No one would know me, they would have never heard my name before. But when something so much as a game can explain you life, I couldn't miss this chance. I've missed so many before, I wasn't going to let this one slide. I hope you enjoy. This means, a lot to me. 

Borderlands isn't just a game, it isn't square, x, triangle and circle. It isn't just something you play. To truly understand the game you have to know it, feel it, learn from it, believe in it.

My name is Olivia Davy. I'm from England and I'm 19 years old. I am hoping that somewhere in my life that I would live the dreams that I have always dreamt of. But I almost threw it all away. As a 19 year old female life is hard. There are many pressures around you. Peer-pressure, social-pressure, how big you are, how beautiful you look. It's everywhere and we can not escape it. But as of Christmas 2011, these pressures became too much. An unfortunate incident occurred to me, one that I can not fully repeat as it still haunts me to this day. It chills my blood, and goosebumps rise on my back like a scared cat. My life was sucked away, my soul was taken and my mind was shattered. This incident, this event caused a gasping vault of darkness that took over my life. It was like I was eaten by a Leviathan. It was a catalyst to many more empty vaults to open, that darkness shadowing me. It wasn't easy to find the sanctuary that I needed. It took everything I had, and more. What could I do? I couldn't give much more, I had used up all my resources, my pick ups were to advance for me to use. They were useless to me.

People around me were hurting. My cousin was attacked and injured. My father had becoming seriously ill with M.E. There never seemed to be enough feel good needles in those vending machines on this damn planet that could ease the pain. My step mum was in and out of hospital and no shield could protect her. This stress. This darkness. I fell into a deep dark void of severe depression, anxiety and insomnia. I lost my mind, lost who I was, that happiness. I was like a psycho in my own mind. I was put on anti-depressants and still am. I was seeing a psychiatrist to treat the monster inside my head it was crazed midget psycho running around in my head 24/7. It was a huge step to start these sessions, something me and my family had to walk through together. But despite all of that, the struggles to gain entry to the sanctuary that I needed at the end, seemed to be getting harder, longer and smaller. I felt like a suicide psycho. Just at any point I thought fine! Shoot me in the face. No where else, just in the face. Or jump off that cliff or building. Jump in front of the car. It felt like no one cared. Everyone ignored me, I was wandering this deadly plain, and that at any point something would set off the psycho in my head. I felt like the conductor of the poop train. A smelly, disgusting poop train. That if I saw something beautiful, I knew it would only disappear. That it would judge me, think I’m crazy and not see who I am inside. I fell into many of those suicide ruts, the self harm ditches, and the depressive psycho states. I ended up in hospital, just where I wanted to die. I gave my all to everyone, tried to put a smile on people's face, but no matter how much they knew I liked them as friends, they would always ditch me. I've still got the

spare pizza lying around.

I was so alone. I was heading off to Uni in 2012 to start anew. To get to know people like me. Maybe I could even have friends. But no, if they knew what happens behind closed doors, they rather not look at me. It's like I would barf on their face if I went near them. Like I’m a horrible Bonerfart. I just wanted to end it all. That bullet to the face seemed so damn good then.

But, how could I throw it all away when there is still so much more to explore. I haven't even traversed half of the earth. I still need to open my map and see what's still in the fog, explore everything! Show people who I really am. Find the light that I’ve been looking for. Defeat those who pose me. Take them down one by one, like looking through a scope, scouting which one first. As I became the person who I was, I found my family again. Something warm grew inside me. My blood started to thaw, my emotions starting to feel happy. I felt like that crazed midget psycho that had been running around in my head finally had the chance to blow himself up. It hurt a little, but nothing that I couldn't handle. I had to make sure my shields had regenerated and I was fully supplied. I knew I couldn't do it alone, but never had the chance to ask for help. No one wanted to be near me. But I found the road to my sanctuary. Every now and then it disappeared, like it had been phased out and teleported back at a different location. But I knew I’d get there. It was in my sights. Along the road, I met others. People like me. No, no. Not the crazed psychos. People who like the things I do, like shoot bad guys, get feel good needles, and try not to die out there.

With this there were 4 of us in the end. We were a team. We all helped, we all gathered, we all defended what we truly loved. I will never let these people go. I will no matter what always, help them wherever I can. They help me see the light in my own mind, and helped become who I was, releasing me from that dark empty vault I was so lost in.

There was a way for us to go and we went forward. Together. We found our Sanctuary.

So how has Borderlands changed my life? Well everything I have written is true. 100%. But why not tell it in a way that Borderlands and my life intersect. I felt like Claptrap at the beginning of Borderlands 2. Just ditched, alone out in the cold by myself, with no friends. No way to get home unless I get help from some Vault Hunters, to take down Captain Flynt and to take back my ship. I need to let others trust me before they let me into Sanctuary. I need to let them allow me into their shield. Where I could show them, that I would defend them to the death. Show them that they can trust me. I felt like the normal man inside Kreigs head, but could only shout nipple salad to everyone I see. That's when they'd start running. They would laugh at me, like they were laugh at a shotgun midget falling over. I wanted to die like Face McShooty, screaming “SHOOT ME IN THE FACE, JUST THE FACE”, nice quick easy way to go.

Despite all of that. Just wandering around the lands of Pandora, showed me something. No matter how many bad things there are. There are friends by your side. Like Mordecai and Bloodwing (R.I.P Bloodwing). Like Roland and Lilith and Brick as himself! Friendship is hard to come by. But true friends are always there. They will always stick by your side no matter what you say to them. It's what lies deep down. The haven that is Sanctuary is what you make it. It might not be much but it is a lot.

So thank you to my friends and family. My own person vault hunter friends. The rest of Pandora needs to be explored and I wouldn't want to do it without them. This is a quest with endless loot and fun. This is the dream I want, this is the dream I'll live, this who I am. This is how I tell my story, through the power of Borderlands, something close to the heart, and something so magical.

So here I am. Olivia Davy, 19 years old, Game Art Student. Living in the dream I never thought possible before Borderlands, and hoping in the near future that those people at Gearbox, who created this magically piece of Art, that maybe I'll be apart of. Thank you. Thank you.

Hey, maybe I'll make another dream come true and get a dog. Yeah. I'll call him Dukino.

Sleep for eternity.. That's the sign that it's the end of the first year!

So after a tough year at Uni doing many things that I was not prepared for, it has come to the time where I do nothing but reflect on what I have achieved throughout this monstrous year. So where shall I start. There are a lot of things I can talk about and I shall.

Where did I mostly improve? From my own opinion I felt I improved somewhat within Game Production. Why? Because as the projects became more involved I felt that creating the 3D mesh was easier and quicker to construct. I knew my way around Max more and new little hints and tips such as finding out where those sneaky engons had disappeared to. But not only that, that application that I took to put everything into UDK and applying all the knowledge from Max into UDK. Applying textures, creating unique names for, well just about everything (which is a baffling mind experience). But nevertheless it has been something I have enjoyed. The only bad that that I have learnt from Game Production is that after a year I still haven't fully learnt how to utilise the unwrap map. I do not know where to start of even how to tackle it. What could be good, is a tutorial on how to utilise space, plus good links to references. That would be beneficial to a lot of people around the first year and to future years.

Visual Production, is something that will always push me. It is a hard part of the course and something that won't come naturally to people. Some are better at perspective others are better at life drawing or character concepts. Some are even damn good at creating sculptures. However where I felt I have improved is in my final pieces. From look through fist terms work at the beginning of the course to what I have completed in the 3^rd term, gives me great satisfaction and I am please at what I have created. Not only that, but how it has all settled in, that it shows how I have progressed and how I have changed and gained more knowledge of what I am doing. The only downside of visual design is the sculpting. Which I found very tedious and very hard to tackle. It was just getting the starting point, the wire frame and even there where do I go? Plus the life drawing. I wish, oh how I wish there was a new model. Drawing the same model repeatedly every week became boring, and the poses were starting to look the same. The body shape doesn't change, the poses don't change, which means I don't change. I want to be able to have a different body where it could prove easier or harder, and maybe a man instead of a woman each week. It makes it more fun, keeps me more interested, and awake. Plus I know this is what others think too. Plus the two models that were there. Have. Exactly. The. Same. Body. Please, oh please change!

Critical studies. At the beginning of term the blogs became tedious and boring, and felt my life force draining away slowly. Sometimes I just wrote gibberish and hoped that it made some sort of sense, and other times, yeah it was interesting, but it made me just want to cry. When 2^nd term hit, that's where I wanted to die and cry. It was presentations, and I am no way good at standing up in front of people and talking. In the past when I’ve done presentations, my voice wobbles so much that I started to sound like I was crying. There were no tears but it sounded like I was crying. From then on, I never wanted to do another presentation again. This is where first presentation went wrong, and I knew it had. But I guess it was my first try and I knew more of where I wanted to take my next one. So next time the presentations where due I was going to be more precise, more accurate and more entertaining! Thus with this attitude I did. This was a great satisfaction and the feedback helped immensely in keeping myself cool about what I was doing. By the time it came to the 3^rd I was confident enough to stand up in front of my group and not sound like I was about to flood the room with my tears. However I still became shy and nervous, but hopefully no one noticed that! Phew! Hopefully this will carry on! Hopefully.

So all in all, I felt I have improved in certain areas of each section of the course. The only things that I want to change are the teaching of Game Production, and the models in Life Drawing. That is all. There is nothing to complain either than that, and I’ve felt overall that my confidence has grown, that I know my way around the software I use and the process to start a final piece have become more thorough. So after a first year I’m happy with what I’ve done. The only personal thing I could change is my time management. But that'll be sorted next year!

Promise!

Environment and levels

So where do you start? What do you do once you have an idea? How do you start each section? What should you do at certain points within the plan?

There are roughly 11 key steps in create a good construction for a level.

• Idea: Everything starts with an idea. A lot of ideas come out randomly at any point in the day. Sometimes they can be deliberate from books and researching possible ideas from other references. But a main good idea is to write it down as soon as you have thought about it. A good way of starting on your new environment is by looking back through the ideas that you have written down and consider the following points: Does it interest me and am I inspired to take it further as a game design. If your not excited by it, this will show in the final design of the level and the detail that it lacks.
• Purpose and Features: You need purpose to pursue what you want to create. If there is no purpose then it isn't worth it. Because a huge amount of time needs to be used there is not point in creating something that has no purpose and will serve no purpose as a environment/level. You then have to think about the game and what it is about. Is it derelict, is it clean and crisp, is it futuristic, is it out in space. If you say it has to be futuristic but has implications that it is clean with secrets in the backstreet’s then you make buildings that are new, clean, crisp, futuristic, and back alleys grungy, dirty, old, smelly. You want to portray an atmosphere you have to plan your environment and decorate it to what you want. This will serve the level purpose to portray a certain effect. But it could also be a challenge. Something you want to try out, a new tool or a way of creating the level. This is can also serve a learning purpose. But only you can finally figure out what that is.
• Location and Environment Setting: So where is the level going to be set. 1800S? 2068? This is what you have to take into account. As well as urban and rural. Old/new. Derelict/Busy. Is there an area that you've been to before that is influential and you want to make it look like that area you have visited, or is it something that has been morphed together from multiple places. You have to be specific in where you are setting it because this allows the empty space to be filled with relevant features.
• Photo Reference: You need to gather photo reference because this will allow you to make your level more realistic rather than creating something random from your brain which could make the level look amateurish and non-professional. Own photos are good as well as influence from other artists and photographers.
• Story: There needs to be a story. Why is the environment like it is, and how the character is in that environment, why he is there, what needs to be done in that specific environment. Without a story the level will be boring. It'd be useless to you. But with good textures and attention to detail this will help with the story of the level.
• Objectives and Obstacles: What are the objectives that need to be complete and what obstacles are in the way. An idea is you have to rescue a hostage within 5 minutes, but face multiple NPC enemies and that you have to construct a way to reach the hostage. If you do not construct it in a certain amount of time or defuse the bomb in one go its game over. So you have to think strategically where you find the most vital parts ensure you stay safe and take cover, to take out enemies one at a time, before getting cornered, and ensuring that there is enough time left to defuse that bomb slowly without making a mistake. But there could be side obstacles. Such as finding some items, that you have to trade a piece of silver with a merchant but the merchant also wants you to do a mission for him to, which means you'll then gather the material you originally needed as well as extras. But may cause harm somewhere else. But all end up in 1 outcome somewhere along the line.
• Top Down Layer: The top down layer is the birds eye view of the map that you want to create. This could mean there is a town square in the middle of the map with shops around in the close vicinity and then further out are houses and the further you walk away from the centre it becomes more run down and old. But it can show secret passages and alternate ways around the town, which could help with some missions. Creating multiple maps after refinement is a good idea because you could merge a possible two together to create the perfect one.
• Focal Points: where is the focal point? The church tower? Fountain? How does it make the surrounding area look, how does it add to the atmosphere, is it realistic to the world around the character.
• Visual Development: normally through concept artists, but this can produce a in-game effect that could become real. It allows the level to be made from, including the colours and makes it easier to change and manipulate repeatedly until there is the perfect one.
• Making Lists: Creating lists of what you need to do, what you need to create, what you need to collect, how long it's going take, how refined you are going to make each section afterwards. Are there props you can use within the map to test how realistic it is.
• Preproduction blueprint: This is taking everything and putting into one document or one blueprint in which if it is passed onto someone else to create a certain area they know what is trying to be achieved and follow the specifications in the documentation.

There is a very fine line between realism and stylisation. For me if the environment and level is realistic to the type of game, to the genre of game, to the action of game, to the mission that I am on then I can believe it is real. If it based out in space it has to be futuristic and new, something that hasn't been thought of before, but if it makes you imagine and makes you believe that there is a possibility that it could be out there somewhere then to me it is real. But if something is so far-fetched that it doesn't work, or doesn't look real, or does not fit into the environment or genre of game then it's just messy and poor. Its awful to play and will put off many people.

The Island

A typical environment that I enjoy is from the game Crysis. The first Crysis game is based on an island. Just a normal island with some scientists American and Korean. As well as some enemies. Having a high spec nano suit that can make you stronger, that can make you invisible temporary is quite far-fetched. You'd think it would be based in the future. But playing the game more it reveals something non-human, the aliens that are within the island. But playing the game, it's very FPS on an island, trying to figure out what's going on. There are normal guns, tanks, cars, boats, NPCs, etc. But because it's so different and new it works. When entering the alien base it becomes much more futuristic like the nano suit is. It all fits in. Aliens on earth is always a conspiracy and high tech suits are probably being made or planned. It could all be possible and the level, environment, desolate, warm and even peaceful, but with intense shooting, and that there is no where to go but forward all makes it worth while to play.

Aliens... YEAH!

http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/how-to-plan-level-designs-game-environments-workflow.php

Characters: True Blood

“To create a truly immersive game experience with a compelling fantasy world, you have to populate that world with real characters. Not just characters that behave realistically on the screen, but characters that ARE real to you, the game’s creator. The more you know your own characters, the more real they will become, and the more they will help draw the player into your game’s imaginary word. It’s not enough for your characters to have distinctive speech patterns and tics. They need actual histories, motives, dreams, and secrets. Then they will have real depth with which pull the player in, and your fantasy world will be come a real place that the player loves to visit, and can't wait to get back to when they leave.” - Tim Schafer

There are many characters out in the world that I have watched and read through books, TV and films even games. But expanding the feel of characters outside of games there are some very influential characters that I have watch on TV. There is one show in particular called “True Blood”. The HBO series is based on the series of books written by Charlaine Harris. Charlaine Harris started writing the True Blood series a while back, and I remember reading one of the books but then put it down to never pick it back up, until one holiday. I wanted a book to read and remembered that I wanted to start reading the books again. I started reading and was instantly hooked. It's a sexy, dark, magical book with mythical creatures and endless amount of dilemmas, twists and turns. It a roller-coaster of a book that always keeps you on edge. It's all based around the main character Sookie Stackhouse who lives in Bon Temps Louisiana. She is just a normal waitress in the local bar in a small town, however she has a gift. She is telepathic. She can hear peoples thoughts. She has to continuously block other peoples thoughts out to not invade privacy. Recently Vampires had come out into the open after many centuries of being hidden. Vampires wanted to mingle with humans, and the Japanese had created synthetic blood to quench the vampires thirst for blood. This is called “True Blood”. One night in the bar a vampire walks into Merlottes where Sookie works. She realises she isn't normal because she can not read a vampires mind. This meant peace and quiet for her. Thus she becomes thoroughly attached to this vampire called Bill Compton. He has many secrets that Sookie does not know, and will slowly begin to find out as their relationship progresses. Within America, the vampire community have sheriffs for areas of America. In Louisiana there is one vampire in particular that I adore. He is area 5 sheriff of Louisiana called Eric Northman. He is a Swedish vampire who was turned centuries ago and is over 1,000 years old.

Eric Northman who is played by Alexander Skasgard is a Swedish actor. He plays a very good role as a vampire. He has a strong physique, blonde and quite pale naturally plus very tall. As a strong vampire this is what you would see and this is what you get. He is a gentleman at times but very aggressive and possessive all at the same time, and takes a liking to Sookie very quickly. This becomes an obsession with Eric as he wants Sookie, or in terms of vampire he wants her to be his. His property. But the way he acts, the scripture of how he talks, how he sounds and looks so emotionless adds emphasis on how powerful and old he is. He is a reliable vampire and keeps what he says. He may not go about doing good deeds in the right way but has a heart. Every now and then some of his lines are sexual and deviant, as well as funny and humerus.

In one part of the series he loses his memory and becomes very lost and childlike. When you see him in that state you start to feel sorry for him despite the bad things he has done in the past. He also becomes a very good lover and emotionally attached to Sookie. That side of Eric is very warming and over time I have grown more and more to this wonder of a vampire. Plus, he is very good looking.

Carefree Eric

To make Eric who he is a lot is dependent on the script. His anger, the way he talks, how he reacts to things, how he plans, how he feels towards others. His acting as well. He has to stand tall, has to muscular and strong, he has to look like a leader and someone to be afraid of. This is all very realistic and warming to the heart and you can really connect with him through the TV screen. This is the case for me and I’ve warmed to Eric more than I have with a lot of the other characters.

Stories that I find irresistible are ones with suspense and magical hints, such as vampires and telepathy. It makes me think of the world much more differently, wondering if there could be such things as vampires or even werewolves or fairies. Anything. It could be out there, the vampires in True Blood took centuries to come out into the open. Who knows. Some history may be lost. A missing piece of the puzzle. It gets my mind going, all the thoughts and the possibilities are endless! It's just exciting, the suspense, the action, the love and intimacy. The True Blood book series and TV series are AMAZING!

Oh Eric!

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10216

Being an art director

So what is an art director? What does he do? Is he even important?

Within the game industry the art director is the main man, the leader or captain of the group. They’re generally responsible for setting the visual tone, quality, and style for the game. They are pretty much indirectly responsible for every object, texture, level, character, and effect that often appears in games, This responsibility is extremely hard and requires a lot of strength. A good director must consider all variables for even just one object and apply that to the many objects within the game. Everything you see within a game is strategically placed and is there for a reason and not just randomly added. The art director would go through and look at all of these cracks, plants, trees, blocks of wood, metal bars etc and place them in the appropriate place to add to the effect and given feel of the game.

After looking for an art director application there is a website in which applicants place their CV on their website and they are in relationship with many companies such as “Activision” and even “Crytek”. There is one application for an art director. The specifications that they are looking for in a person so be an art director involves:

• You should have:
  • Experience of working on published titles on current-gen consoles
  • A proven track record in the creation of high performance, high quality assets for AAA titles
  • Knowledge of a range of graphical techniques
  • Experience in creating and maintaining an Art Bible
  • The ability to confidently present best practices to art teams, critiquing problematic assets and work flows
  • The ability to communicate and propagate the artistic vision throughout the studio
  • The ability to collaborate with the Technical Director and Lead Engineers in agreeing technical strategy
  • A passion for games and game visuals

(Taken from the website)

Looking through game companies websites I came across a ubisoft Art director application. This is what they’re looking for:

Ubisoft Singapore opened its doors in July 2008 and is the 18th Ubisoft internal development studio. Located in the Fusionopolis (Solaris @ One-North), a state-of-the-art Infocomm Technology and Media hub, the studio comprises a core team of Ubisoft veterans as well as a fast growing development team - ranging from recent graduates to industry professionals.

In the short span of two years, the full-fledged development studio has already been involved in the production of some major titles such as Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed 2, Prince of Persia : the Forgotten Sands and created independently Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.

With the focus of creating and developing new high-profile AAA game titles, the expansion of the studio is expected to be rapid as it strives towards its goal of becoming 300-people strong in the years to come

Job Description:

The Art Director will oversee the quality and content of the game’s graphic design production and must ensure that the visual elements are credible and in line with the game’s vision. His/her main tasks and responsibilities are:

- Define the graphic style of the game based on the creative direction (film references, other games, design documents)

- Communicate the quality and content expectations for the atmospheres, settings, characters, etc. to team members using effective visual references and documents that describe the artistic direction

- Follow up on and validate the work of the graphic design team to ensure that the elements produced are in line with the game’s vision and that quality objectives are met

- Establish visual priorities and help in planning the work in collaboration with the graphic design project leader

- Develop the graphic design concepts and participate in map creation (framing, scales, compositions, and interactions) with the creative director and game designer

- Work closely with 3D programmers and the graphic design TD so that the graphic data is properly integrated into the engine

- Play the game to detect any incoherence

- Work closely with the graphic design project lead, the graphic design TD, and the lead 3D programmer to optimize the efforts to innovate and the quality of the graphics generated

Profile:

- Experience on AAA games

- 5 years’ experience as an Art Director or an assistant artistic director (graphic design) or equivalent

- Knowledge of 3ds max and Photoshop, Zbrush (an asset)

- Drawing skills

- Excellent artistic judgement

- Ability to revise the work done by others and suggest improvements if necessary

- Ability to present his/her ideas, communicate the artistic direction, and provide constructive criticism

- Ability to collaborate with members of the graphic design team and members of other project teams.

An art director is a creative visionary who is responsible for defining the visual aspects of the game to a extreme high precision and up hold the art direction of the game. He must take into account, the colours of the game, what level of detail each level should hold, what are buildings and environment meant to look like within the game that makes it believable and realistic to the appropriate story, how does the terrain look, whether there are many NPCs or whether its deserted, and even how red blood should be. Fresh bright red or old stained dark red. The art director must be able to present their ideas to those who are creating the game such as the game developers, programmers, concept artists, creative writers, and many others that are involved in games. The art director will then pair up with the lead director to go over the design document in advance before assembling the art teams. Within the document they then take all the art specifications and create an art design document which pinpoints specific art parts of the document. Such as characters and environment. Being an art director is a creative role because you have to be pinpoint accurate with the visual effects of the game that comes along with the art side of the game. Thus when looking over all the art work adjustments may be made and toning and lighting can play an important role. Knowing the basics of the colour wheel will help in creating tone and mood such as dark colours would be good for horror and bright primary colours will be good for children’s games or party games.

If I ever wanted to become and art director in the future, im going to have to be able to lead a group of multiple people, and even multiple groups at the same time. Being able to manage time efficiently, and ensure that all work is to a high standard. I will need a good to detail and attention to specific parts and items, textures, detail, colour, tone etc. need a passion for games and the visuals behind it, to create what I set out to do.

https://www.ubisoftgroup.com/en-US/careers/search_for_jobs.aspx

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/jobs/aardvark-swift/midlands/england/uk-and-europe/art-director-id60607

http://my.safaribooksonline.com/159200430X/ch11lev1sec2?portal=oreilly#X2ludGVybmFsX0h0bWxWaWV3P3htbGlkPTE1OTIwMDQzMFglMkZjaDExbGV2MXNlYzImcXVlcnk9

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131524/common_methodologies_for_lead_.php?page=1

Elements of Game Design!

Within the modern society of games gameplay and game design it has played a significant role within the industry. Many players will look for an interesting storyline, realistic game feel, detailed environment and character design, and some will be more interested in just the general enjoyment and what feelings the game brings.

Game design is the development process of games in which there is designing of the content, rules of a game. Design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters are made during the production stage. It requires artistic, technical and creative writing skills to successfully have a brilliant design document for the game. So how does it vary from the past to the now?

When games were appearing the games designers, the artists, were the lead programmers and were pretty much the only ones who could programme the game. As games advanced it lead to game designers having to take away their role of game programmer and give it to others. It then started to become clear that there needed to be teams which specialize in certain areas such as a team of programmers and a team of game designers. With larger companies, these teams would have sub leaders within them. Such as lead artist and junior artist who specify in certain areas or levels and sytems within the game area. It can even lead to multiple producers, lead designers, and general designers in a team.

So what is game desing overall? It starts with a simple idea, often something that can be modified from something already real or something completely new with only a few concepts and ideas. The game itself may vary between many genres or can be specifically one genre from the start. Most of the time mixing genres is something that happens to find the right balance that suits the game that is being created. After initial ideas, a design document must be made. This will propose the initial concept, gameplay, feature list, setting and story, target audience, requirements, schedule and the staff needed to create the game as well as budget estimates for the game production, making, staff payment etc. Some estiamtes and budgets may be unreasnable and unachievable, thus this will mean the design document needs to be changed. Sometimes it can be changed various times throughout the course of its discussion between many artists and programmers within the company. The designer needs to pinpoint the important aspects of which the game will need and limit those that it is not necessary. Whatever the designer concludes from the design document can produce a positive or negative impact on the game.

So what does this game designer do exactly for the game and the production of the game within the industry? A game designer within the industry/company is the one who designs the gameplay of the game, putting forward the idea and designing the rules and structure of the game itself. But a game designer is not just down to one person. There are others within the game designing department.

• There is a lead designer who coordinates other designers and are the main visionaires of the game. They ensure that there is communication, makes large decisions, and presents the design to outside the team. The lead designer is techincally and artistically very good. Keep a well designed and clean design document is also part of the role of the lead designer. He may be the founder of the game development company.
• There are also game mechanics or system designers who balance the rules in the game itself.
• Level designers or enviroment designer is a position which is becoming more demanding. These designers are realied on to create the levels, environment, and missions within the game.
• The writing designer is only employed part time. The specifically write the games narrative, commentary, journals, hint system and much more. This adds back story to the game and is probably one of the most vital where the get together with the primary designer to intertwin both the writing and game seamlessly.

“Don't ever take control away from the joypad/keyboard unless you really want to piss off the player.”

Dave Perry

Next Generation Magazine, January 1997

So what is gameplay exactly? Gameplay is the specific way in which the players interact with the game. It is the pattern in which is defined by the rules of the game, and the connection between the player and the game, the challenges, how to overcome those challenges, the plot/storyline and how the player emotionally attaches to it. The gamepl;ay can be greatly influenced by the audio and visual aspects of the game too. If the graphics are poor on what is meant to be a next gen game then the player will become frustrated and now be able to fully connect with the game. The story line/plot has to be significantly important to the player. If the game is meant to be have an intense backstory to it, then it has to be shown, it has to be told to the player. If it lacks and sways the player will become uninterested in the game and will find it boring to play. So how important is it for others to have a good gamplay within the game?

I asked a few of my peers within my course and year on how important they think it is for a game to have a good gameplay.

“It's pretty much everything for me about a game. Take brink as an example. I couldnt play it as the controls and general gameplay was too different. I couldnt get use to it and gave up.” - Charlotte Clarke, Game Art, Year 1

“I would say game-play is important but along with other components such as the visuals and storyline. I don't think game-play necessarily takes preference over those, I find that I can still enjoy a game which may not have smooth or easy game-play as long as the other two aspects are strong. E.g. Deus Ex: HR had a big learning curve which was difficult to adjust to for me, which I think is because of the choice of going down the stealth route or run-and-gun option. The visuals and storyline were amazing but near the ending the game-play (as well as the several bosses) seemed to become very difficult, almost to the point where I felt like I couldn't get past a certain part because I chose the stealth option. The first boss I came across I couldn't beat because I had no offensive weapons which I could use so I found I had to replay a big chunk of it to gather weapons to get past that part. Despite this, it is a game which I would play again because of the strong storyline and twists and the striking visual style as well as having the option of playing through the game in different ways (which could make it easier for me as well if I went through it a second time)” - Marietta Pickering, Game Art, Year 1

For me gameplay is important and in all honesty I think it is important for a lot of people who understand and become emotionally attached to games. I've played many games that I have struggled to keep playing. Mainly because the controls are too difficult, that graphics are awful and even the characters and storyline are poor. Take “Balders Gate” as an example. This game is fantastic. It's a classic PS2 game and I throughly enjoyed the whole experience of playing it. It was a bird's eye view RPG game with warriors, magicains, theifs and weird and wonderful creatures. It had awesome weapons and the storyline was absolutley fantastic. It is something I could play repeatedly and a game i'll keep no matter what. But there are other games such as “Condemned”. “Condemned” was an awful game. It seemed enjoyable at first, but it got worse and worse the more I played it. I found it harder to control and complete objectives and found it overall boring. It just seemed pointless to play because I wasn't getting any satisfaction out of it. A good game brings emotional attachments and that's what “Balders Gate” brought me. But “Condemned”, no.

However all games must provide some variances in gameplay where it makes the game itself interesing. However there are some games out there that require different actions to bring different gameplay sections. It allows the player to become more emersed in the game because it is playing to what the player want. Some games focus on character creation (Skyrim) or select teams and classes that bring advantages or disadvantages to the situation (Call of Duty). This can also relate to a quote that my peer was talking about. The game “Deus Ex”. The game was initally designed so that you completely a level/mission in a way that you want and there would be a specific outcome that is relevant to how you go about it. Some may become stealthy and take out enemies without a sound, others would possibly run into the middle of the fight all guns blazing, and the outcome would be relevant whether no one knows you are there, or whether you kill innocent lives. But there are some negatives to this such as if your stealthy the weapons and skills you obtain may not be enough to kill a boss, and some guns blazing skills that are obtained may not help when you have to be sneaky in a mission. It can become very frustrating. Varied games can bring a sense of freedom to the whol game, which some players become more emotionally attached because they feel it's them in the screen and not just hold a controller or mouse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_design

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gameplay

http://km.meme.hokudai.ac.jp/people/jantke/Lectures/TUD/Bjoerk_and_Holopainen_Patterns_of_Game_Design/collection/Alphabetical_Patterns/VariedGameplay.htm

Christmas Project

Christmas was drawing close and all deadlines have finished. I am snuggled up and thinking about the project that has recently just being given to us. “Evil Christmas character”. Now this is going to be fun! But where do I start. I don't particularly want to do a mainstream character such as a bad Santa stealing presents or a naughty reindeer. I want to go outside the box. So what better place than where did Christmas start. It was all based on the birth of Jesus on the 25^th December. So what could I do with that? Well there is baby Jesus, so let's try and use him and see where it takes us!?

General Mood Board

Refined Mood Board

I came up with many ideas to do with Jesus. Especially Jesus killing Mary and Joseph or killing the 3 wise men. But I realized that'd produce some debate and may cause some concern. But I only realised this when I was half way through digital painting baby Jesus. But because it is a baby I can change it into whatever I want. So how can I use a baby? I rammed my brain of ideas and none seemed to work and sometimes I just wanted to scratch it altogether.

In the end I started creating silhouettes of my baby holding a decapitated reindeer head. So it relates within Christmas since it has a reindeer head in its lap and it is based around Christmas Eve. I started detaching the antlers of the reindeer and putting it on the baby's head or just different positions of the reindeer head around the baby. I stuck to an idea that the antlers of the reindeer would be broken off and scattered. I then worked on the eyes of the baby. I wanted the baby to look like it was possessed. So I gave the eyes a cloudy effect to show it had been taken over but a sweet innocent baby on the outside.

Eye Experimentation

Reindeer Head Experimentation

But while I was working on my baby and reindeer I found it a struggle to adjust the reindeer head properly and in the end gave up. I decided that one side of the antlers I liked and used them. I used them in a way that they were behind the baby as if he hadn't done anything and acting all innocent, however he is covered in blood and there is bloody footprints around him and blood splatters everywhere. But I like how the reindeer antler is only a suggestion of what the baby could really do. As if it is only the start of something more. Now every time I look at this baby it creeps me out.

However I could improve. Maybe even work on the reindeer head more or make it even more christmassy be scrapping the idea altogether and starting from fresh. But with my very first major digital painting I am happy with the outcome. It at least put my tablet to good work!

Step 1

Step 2

Step3



Step 4

Review on my game

Games, games, games. I love them. I love games that are good, and I love games that are enjoyable. I've always played a range of games! Whether its RPS, FPS, Horror, 3^rd person, Action, children, anything! I've had many consoles too, the ones I remember having are Gameboys, Nintendos, Playstation, and even the Xbox. But what I am loyal to is the Playstation. Between the two consoles of Playstation and Xbox there are games that are only made for one type of console. Whether it be Blue Dragon for just Xbox or Uncharted on PS3. Some games never cross over. Which is quite a disappointment in all honesty. But that's life! But in this blog I am going to write about a game. I am going to review. Why? Because I want to rant on endlessly about a game that I have enjoyed playing!

EDI

“Shepard out”. I head towards out of the comms room and onto the bridge. I walk through seeing my soldiers working either side of the platform in their Normandy Alliance uniforms, proud to serve protecting the galaxy. As I enter through the door I see Jeff or known as Joker. What a man, a long term friend and a loyal one at that. He has never lost faith in me and that I respect. Next to him is EDI the intelligent AI. I was never a big fan of AI's but she grew on me. Thanks to the illusive man! But it was nice seeing Joker and EDI getting it on and although she was coming to terms with a new body she was looking pretty damn fine in it, and Joker thought that to. Having a loyal chat with Joker it was time to head down to the main battery, where none other than Garrus Vakarian was. Probably calculating some works with guns and re-adjusting a lot. Garrus a Turian and a very damn handsome one at that, and those scars on the side of his face was such a turn on for me. His voice is soothing with a little husk to it, and he was caring. So so caring and loyal. I wanted to be with him, wanted to be his girlfriend, who cares about inter-race love. I wanted him. I wanted him now. I remember facing the collectors, before we went through the Omega-4 Relay, he took my up to my room and we made love. He looked up some videos on how Humans romance which was at first a little weird, but hey. I enjoyed it. It was. Cute. He is getting better and thank god I found him on Palavans moon, Menae while looking Primarch Fedorian. Shame Fedorian was dead. But Victus is a good replacement and I'm sure he will do well as a Primarch.

Know what game I’m talking about yet?

The collectors were stopped but there was another threat on its way and no one is listening to me. The reapers are coming and it's only a matter of time!

What is going on? No one will listen to me, the council are useless and I am not working. When will this end.

What? What the hell was that? Why am I needed so urgently with the council. They need my help?

Shit, shit, shit. How can I be walking across the building with reaper ships landing, all I’ve got to do is follow Anderson. I need to get to the Normandy, I need to get out of here.

Know which one I'm talking about yet?

Mass Effect 3, a role-playing game developed by Bioware and published by EA for Windows, Xbox and PS3 (only the second and third Mass effect was released for PS3, but that has changed with the recent release with the trilogy on PS3 as a whole). It was realised on the 6^th March 2012 and marked the final chapter in the trilogy. It has the single player campaign and a multiplayer, with a 4 person co-op. From what you have played from the previous Mass Effects greatly influences your renegade and paragon scores as well as characters and influences upon the galaxy. It was a continuation from the previous Mass effect where you can import your character and still play as that. But if you wish you can start from anew.

A lot of the gameplay has changed from the two Mass Effects that I have played, so I am going to review Mass Effect 3 with a hint of 2. In both of the Mass Effects there were scores you can gain from conversations with people. These conversations can lead to having renegade or paragon scores and greatly alters the types of conversations you have with future dialogue. If you chose the path of the paragon, it means you are for the greater good. Paragon is what you could say, the way of light. It includes logical dialogue and affects other characters in a good way where they can become loyal to you. If you chose renegade you could call it the dark side. Renegade produces harsher more fierce interactions with others and is a darker side. This can affect your character by having less loyal characters and choosing different paths. Everything you chose within the dialogue affects what happens in the future with other species, councils and companions. This is the same for Mass Effect 2 and 3 but what I didn't like was in Mass Effect 3. When there are cut scenes in Mass Effect 3 you can choose whether to use a paragon or a renegade action. I like the idea of intervention to allow you to take control of how you want the conflict to end, but, to be honest, sometimes it had both options and I didn't know which one to go for. OK, that may be me being lazy to chose for myself, but shouldn't the actions relate into what your paragon/renegade scores should be, like in Mass Effect 2? Shouldn't it? But throughout the game I was a paragon. I did use some renegade but that was only in panic and sometimes I missed some paragon. Yes that annoyed me, and when I was distracted I also missed it.

The galaxy map. Where do I start? So I got confused with it! This time the galaxy map was set out into what seemed like to be sectors within the galaxy. Then within that where clusters and in that were planets and in that there where different areas of the clusters that you could travel across to AND of course you had to use the Mass Relays to get to each destination. But the scanning, oh thank god did they change the scanning! You needed to scan endless amount of planets to get elements to research and get new weapons and mods! What the hell Mass Effect 2?! But this time in Mass Effect 3 you only had to scan planets if there was a mission to gather some resources and assets to help you in the war effort. This came in handy! The only thing I didn't like was that every time you scanned a planet that was in reaper territory they suddenly came after you, and when that alertness bar was at max, the sheer noise coming from them made me panic! Yes I thought maybe if I wait they might board and I could fight them, no. “Critical Mission Failed” appeared. Bulls. Start again! It was nice having that sort of configuration within the map!

Interaction. Things. Doors. Pickups. It was okay. I mean I missed some vital assets to take back to the citadel and had to buy the from the spectre requisitions in the citadel embassies. So that's 1000 credits down the drain! That was only because things that you could interactive with didn't appear or light up enough unlike in Mass Effect 2. So things were pretty easy to miss! Things such as people too. Sometimes they didn't talk, but their lips kept moving, or the doors would take about 2 mins to open? I don't know if it was running slow, or it was my game, or it was having to think about things? It just seemed annoying.

So the weapons, ammunition and biotics! The biotics were good. It had a fairly simple upgrade system when you gathered points. For example if you wanted to upgrade your singularity biotic you clicked on it then used up the points wherever you wanted. After the 3^rd upgrade you get to chose between two options such as “increase damage to armour and health” or “decrease recharge time”. It was entirely your choice. You had a maximum of 8 upgrades per biotic which include in ammo, such as armour-piercing, incendiary ammo and cryo ammo (always go for incendiary, makes your life a hell of a lot easier!). The weapons were good, but there is one small point that I have to make! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS WEIGHT THING?! I understand guns weigh a lot, but your in a different galaxy and you have things called biotics! Why is it, that if you equip heavy guns your recharge time is increased or decreased! I had to chose 3 types of guns to keep my recharge speed as high as possible by putting on less weight. I know confusing. It confused me. It is ridiculous. Unlike in Mass Effect 2 you were allowed to equip about 6 different guns or whatever. But in 3, you had to be picky. Luckily with some weapons there were mods to allow you to give it ultra-light materials so it made it lighter for you to carry. It just annoyed me, but in the end the only gun I ever used was my Geth Pulse Rifle. It didn't have great damage but I trusted it!

My companions on missions, where do I start? I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS had Garrus as my companion. I never let him leave my side. I had to once or twice but that was it. The best combination was me, Garrus and Liara. All had different biotics and that's what came in handy! Was able to destroy shields with overload from Garrus and use Liaras warp and warp ammo with my smothering of gun fire, that takes them down easily! What I didn't like is that I had a limit number of companions on my ship to take with me. I used to have a massive squad and now I have 5 squad members to pick from. Maybe it is a good thing, I don't know, but I liked having a big squad and I like having all those people on my ship.

The graphics, are pretty good. I suppose. The textures worked well and there didn't seem to be much going wrong with it. Until I saw those eyelashes. What in gods name where my characters eyelashes doing?! Some times they stayed on the eyelid like they were supposed to and next thing I knew they had morphed into the eyelid and have disappeared! I'm sorry but that's poor and it happened in both Mass Effect 2 and 3! Sometimes the guns wrapped around the body, oh and one of my favourites was I started to float in the air and get stuck. I couldn't get out, I couldn't move forward or backwards, plus the more I tried, the more my buddies got stuck with me! In the end we were all floating in mid air in an invisible box with no where to go?! Oh and that kid in my weird crazy dreams, he ran like an idiot. I couldn't stop laugh and had to pause and walk away. It was ridiculous. The loading was pretty quick and didn't have to load at every new room I went into unless it was within the Normandy going to different levels.

So I want to summarise now. Those good and bad points about one of the most talked about games, and the one who has won a lot of rewards! I enjoyed the game a lot. I enjoyed the plot and the romancing and the side quests. It was scaring, entertaining, funny, serious and emotional. I won't spoil the ending. But if I had to play it again I would. Maybe I’ll work on my renegade scores and see what happens with that? Who knows. But everything you do affects the future and I want to take all avenues to gather a wider perspective on the game as the makers intended. Sure, there's more to be done. There's different people to romance, different people to kill and even to piss off. But that's all in due time. But those eyebrows, really? Just no.

“Shepard out”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLwZxUeJzK0 - here's a video of the kid in my dreams running!