“Soft
Skills is a term often associated with a person's “EQ” (Emotional
Intelligence Quotient), the cluster of personality traits, social
graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and
optimism that characterize relationships with other people”.
OK,
so that's soft skills! Wait, what is it again? Oh, so it's based
around people's personalities in life and their mind set, in working?
So I guess this is pretty important in the gaming industry! Well, in
any industry.
So
in theory I feel for teachers, it's going to be pretty boring! Sorry!
I just feel that, teaching something you have been learning for so
many years can be pretty boring. It's like for your life you are
telling the same story over and over again. Some people may not even
remember what you taught them, so it's just a waste of time. Others
on the other hand, go forward with it. This is where I'm getting to.
With
soft skills, they're essential for every day tasks. They help people
in everyday life, such as getting up and being in the mind set of
getting a healthy breakfast so you can have a productive day. People
with good soft skills are ones who mostly look out for themselves and
try to have as many productive days as possible. This is quite vital
for the industry.
Within
industry, you always need to be at the top of your game. You need to
develop your skills even further and to be on your toes, ready to
change when the brief does. By this, it's if something you've been
working hard on for a month that is ready to be showed, and that idea
gets put in the bin, or you need to start again, you need to have the
mindset ready to do that. If you don’t have that, then you'll just
think “fuck it”.
Which
is basically my mind set. I like consistency within my life, always
have done, so if one thing is saying make this gun. I will make that
gun. If it changes half way through and messes me up most of the time
I say “fuck it”. This is where I then sit on my ass, eat comfort
food, cry and play games. But I do have motivation. If it is
something I enjoy, such as environments or weapons, I’d get
cracking with it. If something changes, then yeah fair enough. With
me, it varies depending on the project or the area that I’ve been
given to work on. A lot of the time, after having a long project I
would like a couple of days to relax and chill out, otherwise, I over
work myself. This is quite a lazy mindset. These soft skills, aren't
exactly great for the industry. This is why (going back to previous
blog) I want to specialise in the environment, because I enjoy this.
I have the mind set, and the motivation to learn more about it.
However I am very open to feedback, and this I take as a personal
attack (which is something I need to learn not to do). However that
is only with practise.
Hard
skills are good with tools that don't change, or when they do it's
very insignificant. Soft skills are excellent for everything. When
tools change, and they change a little or a lot, soft skills allow
you to work around it, allow you develop your understanding more, to
help you to get in the mindset of getting out there and learning them
all over again. However we do need to learn both. Hard skills are
great for getting where we are, we still need them in life. We still
need to be taught how to get going. It's something that is vital to
many students. I believe that this is what our course does. It gives
us those hard skills which show us how to get started, then we are
free to use what soft skills we have to develop our knowledge of what
we are working with and on. Those who fail are the ones who have no
motivation, no soft skills, and that is what is vital for this
course, for the gaming industry, and well for just about any job.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_skills
Saturday 26 April 2014
I did stuffs! I'm so creative!
Creativity.
What in the world does it truly mean. The word “creative” or
“talented” or “creativity” are words that can mean so much to
people, that it could crush them. What do I mean by that. When I was
younger, I struggled a lot in most areas of school. I originally
went to a pretty shit primary school, and finally got moved to a more
higher-class, better quality, better Ofsted reported school. I felt
like the dumb-ass out of everyone in the year and even the year
below. In the year below, kids would be able to do their
multiplication, they'd know their 6x tables and then there would be
me struggling with my 2x or 3x tables. For me they were “talented”
at multiplying. But that wasn't the case in the end. I never really
thought about it being at a young age but now, they just learnt it.
Yeah some of the kids had a knack for it, but all of them had to
learn, they had to recite, they had to repeat over and over again. It
came to tests, and it was one, where you had to learn a specific
multiplication table e.g. 7x table. Then you had to say it to the
teacher without fault and then backwards. I mean seriously.
Backwards. Why?! But I had to do this homework, and for once in my
life I wanted to be “talented” I wanted to be seen as a clever
kid in primary school, I was fed up of being the dumb one. I don't
really want to make this a sob story, I’m sorry. So I’ll get to
the point. Basically it was the 7x table week, and I learned those 7x
tables, forwards and backwards. I went up to the teacher, completely
bricking it, and said it forwards and backwards. This was without any
fault, mind you. I passed and got a gold star! YES! I walked away
happy and never really thought about it again, until now. So, what
was the moral of the story. Well no matter what, “creativity” or
“talent” isn't something that is just there, it isn't something
someone was born with, it isn't something you just know, a lot of it
is something you learn. Yes this learning, that we do for all our
lives. No one knows everything in the world, otherwise why are we
still searching for cures, or figuring out what Mars looks like. If
someone knew everything, we'd already be getting fuel from another
universe.
But some people do have a comfort zone with areas, lets say. Some people are really good at rigging, naturally, they get a sense or a feeling with it. Then there are some (like me), who need to learn rigging. I need to learn about where everything goes etc. and that is all through the process of learning. Even those who are naturally good, aren't perfect, they'll make mistakes and they need to learn, but they just have something for it. It's the same with every area, hence why there's the whole debate about being a generalist or a specialist. Those who have a knack, or a natural feel for characters or environments or vehicles etc. will generally specialise in those areas, because that's where they feel they belong, but that's where they need to learn other areas. Everyone is OK at everything, not everyone is excellent at the same thing.
Within the games industry, you aren't expected to be amazing at everything, but have some strong sense about the majority of things going on. When it comes to being an art director, you have to have a strong sense of everything and also be great at one particular thing, but that's from having years of personal experience, to have a strong sense at all aspects. Us newbies as graduates, won't. Once we graduate, we wont have a strong sense of everything, we would have only just got a waft of smell, a hint of spice. This is why becoming an art director takes years of experience. But this doesn't mean he's more “creative” than others in the industry. There may be programmers who are better than him at programming, but that doesn't mean they're more “creative” than the art-director. Everyone is “creative”. The word “creativity” doesn't belong to someone who can do this, that and the other. It's a general term for someone who has keen eye for what they love. You can be “creative” when it comes to medicine, it's not just an artsy-fartsy word that artists use. Imagine how modern medicine would be if no one was creative, imagine if no one suddenly thought about putting a nail in someone's broken bone to fix it, imagine if their colleague didn't say let's put a metal bar in to help it. That's creativity. Bouncing off of each other, to create something. So here we are now, with everyday modern medicine and loads of people with broken legs, arms, backs, necks, skulls, you name it, with metal crap shoved everywhere. OK it's not shoved, it's carefully placed. But you get the idea!
As an artist, to learn, you will need to learn skills in areas which you lack. You need to learn your tools. You need to learn how to use them, how to live with them, how to eat, sleep, drink, make love to your tools. Because they are vital. In an aspect of this world, the tools are vital. By using your tools, you learn the skills, by learning the skills, you practise with the skills, by practising you get better, by getting better you become more creative and so one and so forth. Oh look that word “creative”. It is everywhere, but it does not fit one person. It fits everyone. Not all multi-million games are made by one person being “creative”. Actually it isn't made by one “creative person, it's made by hundreds + of “creative” people. See where I’m getting at?
Even now those “creative” moments in the past, are something we admire, but we don't turn to use them. We say “Oh that particle was fantastic back then, but how can we make it better?”. That's being creative, that's being talented, that's not just one person, that's a group of people, that's a “talented” and “creative” team.
But some people do have a comfort zone with areas, lets say. Some people are really good at rigging, naturally, they get a sense or a feeling with it. Then there are some (like me), who need to learn rigging. I need to learn about where everything goes etc. and that is all through the process of learning. Even those who are naturally good, aren't perfect, they'll make mistakes and they need to learn, but they just have something for it. It's the same with every area, hence why there's the whole debate about being a generalist or a specialist. Those who have a knack, or a natural feel for characters or environments or vehicles etc. will generally specialise in those areas, because that's where they feel they belong, but that's where they need to learn other areas. Everyone is OK at everything, not everyone is excellent at the same thing.
Within the games industry, you aren't expected to be amazing at everything, but have some strong sense about the majority of things going on. When it comes to being an art director, you have to have a strong sense of everything and also be great at one particular thing, but that's from having years of personal experience, to have a strong sense at all aspects. Us newbies as graduates, won't. Once we graduate, we wont have a strong sense of everything, we would have only just got a waft of smell, a hint of spice. This is why becoming an art director takes years of experience. But this doesn't mean he's more “creative” than others in the industry. There may be programmers who are better than him at programming, but that doesn't mean they're more “creative” than the art-director. Everyone is “creative”. The word “creativity” doesn't belong to someone who can do this, that and the other. It's a general term for someone who has keen eye for what they love. You can be “creative” when it comes to medicine, it's not just an artsy-fartsy word that artists use. Imagine how modern medicine would be if no one was creative, imagine if no one suddenly thought about putting a nail in someone's broken bone to fix it, imagine if their colleague didn't say let's put a metal bar in to help it. That's creativity. Bouncing off of each other, to create something. So here we are now, with everyday modern medicine and loads of people with broken legs, arms, backs, necks, skulls, you name it, with metal crap shoved everywhere. OK it's not shoved, it's carefully placed. But you get the idea!
As an artist, to learn, you will need to learn skills in areas which you lack. You need to learn your tools. You need to learn how to use them, how to live with them, how to eat, sleep, drink, make love to your tools. Because they are vital. In an aspect of this world, the tools are vital. By using your tools, you learn the skills, by learning the skills, you practise with the skills, by practising you get better, by getting better you become more creative and so one and so forth. Oh look that word “creative”. It is everywhere, but it does not fit one person. It fits everyone. Not all multi-million games are made by one person being “creative”. Actually it isn't made by one “creative person, it's made by hundreds + of “creative” people. See where I’m getting at?
Even now those “creative” moments in the past, are something we admire, but we don't turn to use them. We say “Oh that particle was fantastic back then, but how can we make it better?”. That's being creative, that's being talented, that's not just one person, that's a group of people, that's a “talented” and “creative” team.
 |
| Yeah! You go Einstein |
Generalist to Specialist
The
gaming industry has become a real competition now. As it's grown the
bigger companies out there like Ubisoft are just making a heck of a
lot of money, and all the spaces for jobs are gone. With bigger
companies, they are going to keep those already taught in the ways of
us newbies can't even handle. For them it's a waste of time and
money. For us it's a job gone. It makes me sad in a way that there
are so many game artists out there who are just lingering waiting to
be taken in. I just feel like I'm going to be joining them soon!
But what about specializing? Well that could be something. Us students are generalists. We know the basics of just about everything. But we don't know specific things in great detail. This is where we need to start thinking about where we want to lead our lives. What we want to do with them, and how we are going to get there. As a background we all need to learn the general of everything. You will more than likely need to learn about anatomy even though you want to specialize in environments. Because when going for jobs in the gaming industry, you just want to get your foot in the door, or just about every body part there is. Smaller companies such as mobile companies, are probably looking for someone who can take on everything, such as characters, environment, vehicles, that they at least know the basics, but do have some sort of an expertise area. This is where you can grow, where you can lead you portfolio, your work. When it gets to bigger companies, they want specialists. Ones who only work on trees, ones who only work on buildings, ones who only work on engine etc. and the list goes on forever. This is why big companies are so fricking huge! They have a team for one area which specialize in that area. It's just one step at a time when it gets to specializing in areas we want to pursue. We are going to have to go through the nitty gritty, fuck this leg, fuck this wheel to get to the yeah fields, yeah trees!
It used to be one guy could do everything. Now as technology had advanced, how technology has become more in depth, people are needed to become specialized within that particular area. Even though that means more jobs, it also means people with a lot more experience, and they're going to be number one to employ. But as technology advances there may not be any need for people, this is the same with any job out there now anyway. We may be taken over by robots.
But on a serious note, having a team of specialists you are more likely going to have a better output of work in a short amount of time, instead of having a team of “I’m OK at most things” and having a meh output in a light year amount of time. It's this that is vital and this is needed. This is what employers in the gaming industry are looking for, and thus us who are OK at everything are being shoved to the side, and there is more and more of us each year.
But it is difficult at being excellent in every area when it comes to the games industry, and thus specialization is extremely important, not only for the person, for you, but for the company you want to work for, or working for. So by specializing in one area, but being pretty good in others, you can help those who are closely related to you such as being a specialist in environments, you can help those with building, but wont be much help with someone who is doing coding or shaders. But you have some knowledge all around.
But what about specializing? Well that could be something. Us students are generalists. We know the basics of just about everything. But we don't know specific things in great detail. This is where we need to start thinking about where we want to lead our lives. What we want to do with them, and how we are going to get there. As a background we all need to learn the general of everything. You will more than likely need to learn about anatomy even though you want to specialize in environments. Because when going for jobs in the gaming industry, you just want to get your foot in the door, or just about every body part there is. Smaller companies such as mobile companies, are probably looking for someone who can take on everything, such as characters, environment, vehicles, that they at least know the basics, but do have some sort of an expertise area. This is where you can grow, where you can lead you portfolio, your work. When it gets to bigger companies, they want specialists. Ones who only work on trees, ones who only work on buildings, ones who only work on engine etc. and the list goes on forever. This is why big companies are so fricking huge! They have a team for one area which specialize in that area. It's just one step at a time when it gets to specializing in areas we want to pursue. We are going to have to go through the nitty gritty, fuck this leg, fuck this wheel to get to the yeah fields, yeah trees!
It used to be one guy could do everything. Now as technology had advanced, how technology has become more in depth, people are needed to become specialized within that particular area. Even though that means more jobs, it also means people with a lot more experience, and they're going to be number one to employ. But as technology advances there may not be any need for people, this is the same with any job out there now anyway. We may be taken over by robots.
But on a serious note, having a team of specialists you are more likely going to have a better output of work in a short amount of time, instead of having a team of “I’m OK at most things” and having a meh output in a light year amount of time. It's this that is vital and this is needed. This is what employers in the gaming industry are looking for, and thus us who are OK at everything are being shoved to the side, and there is more and more of us each year.
But it is difficult at being excellent in every area when it comes to the games industry, and thus specialization is extremely important, not only for the person, for you, but for the company you want to work for, or working for. So by specializing in one area, but being pretty good in others, you can help those who are closely related to you such as being a specialist in environments, you can help those with building, but wont be much help with someone who is doing coding or shaders. But you have some knowledge all around.
Interaction! I hate messy menus!
When
gaming was around it was very much, does it work? Yes! Does it look
OK? Yes! Does it do the job? Yes! Right that's it! Launch it!
But not anymore! User interface is something that is very looked at when it comes to gaming. So I'll start by talking about the consoles themselves. They were very much square. Box in shape, and that was it. Not much else to it. The materials they were made out of were simple grey plastic majority of the time, maybe slightly different shades of grey but were still grey. They may have red buttons or something along those lines, but yeah, grey. Back then it was great, it was modern to them. But now we see old consoles and we instinctively know that it's an old console. Along with the controllers too. A lot of the old controllers were grey, unless they were specially made ones. But now you look at consoles and they're sleek, the have curved edges and they are not so pointy and painful. It's the same with the controllers, the controllers are more user friendly, they have better looking ergonomics and just overall look nicer. Now the materials are black, it's more sleek, more modern. Some go for white but majority it's black. Over the years there have been fails in the way consoles and the controllers look, but they've come so far and done such an exceptional job! Just look at the comparison through the PlayStation years!
Interaction design can also be transcribed into user interface as well. This is also quite demanding in game. For a game to work, for a game to look and feel good to the player the user interface needs to be friendly. It's need to caress the user, make them love the interface. For me personally I really really really REALLY dislike “Dragon Age: Origins” user interface. The inventory is the the most confusing things of all time and this is one of the reasons why I just can not play the damn game. However when playing Skyrim (which is sort of based around the same idea, magic, adventurer etc.) Skyrim takes the bait. “Skyrims” interface is easy and friendly. I could make love to it, because it is just so nice. For me personally I find where everything is, spells, armour, weapons. Then the quick menu of select weapons and spells. It's just quick and efficient. I just find Dragon Age too much!
But that leads me onto one of the best interfaces I have personally experienced. Once again that is from “The Last Of Us”. I'm not just using the game because I am just playing it now, but because I genuinely think that this interface is one of the best. When playing the game, you see none of the interface apart from the bottom right corner, where you see your health and the weapon currently equipped, but apart from that it's just you and your surroundings. This minimalistic interface puts you more into the game. Then there is the weapons in game menu. It's easy to use and simple. You have a limited number of holsters which only you can upgrade further into the game, but when you have too many guns they do go into your backpack, just like any normal item to carry, however to equip this you have to hold down a button and this will prompt Joel (the main protagonist), to get down, open his backpack and equip this item. I just like how he does that. Also throughout the game you'll get little collectables and the in-game menu for that is really simple. It also doesn't pause the game, the game carries on in the background, so you either wait till a safe place or you better be quick, in case infected come along! But everything about it is so simple, it tells you what it is, what it does, what it costs, how much the next upgrade will cost etc. I like the simplicity and this is what makes it effective. In a way “Skyrim” is the same, it isn't filled too much with crap (which is what I got from “Dragon Age”).
But
it's not just that, there is also the new revolutionary equipment
now, such as the Xbox Kinect, the Wii, project Morpheus from
PlayStation and the Oculus Rift. So it all started with the Wii,
let's be honest. The Wii was a very much user based console, that the
person had to physically get off their ass and move about to make it
work. Obviously you could have used the D-Pad but why not wave your
arms about. Yes you had to hold the remote, but it was a one handed
remote that did, well everything. They also brought out the
“Nunchuck”, which attached to the original remote, but that gave
you more of an immersion with the game, like shaking a enemy off you,
or shaking the remote to activate something. But then out popped
Kinect. Now I do feel this came from the PlayStations EyeToy, which
in fact I thoroughly enjoyed when I had it. It was a bit of a pain to
use but the principles were there and with the generation of gaming
at that time, it did what it was meant to do. But Kinect made it more
involving. There were no remotes, just your body, and it also was
able to register multiple people in the same scene. It was great and
fun, bit dodgy sometimes, but what isn't. But now out comes the
Oculus Rift. Jesus does that look fun! You look a bit stupid with a
massive piece of machinery over your eyes, but it really brings you
into the game. You use your head to look around the scene. That is
new. I knew it was always something that was to be mentioned, but now
its real. It is something you can use. I can't wait for games to
actually be more linked with the Oculus. I feel it's truly the next
step in gaming, that you will actually be there. I know you have to
use a controller still to move etc. but looking around is just one
step. But recently I have just found out about project Morpheus. I
recently bought the PlayStation Official Magazine, mainly because I
say “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel” being advertised, but as I was
reading through I did come across the article about project Morpheus.
Here is a snippet from what I read.
“Sony's other piece of software, Castle, is a lot more hands-on. It drops us in the courtyard of a medieval-style stronghold. An armoured mannequin is standing directly in front of us. The game tracks our hands this time, too, courtesy of the two Move controllers. We grip by pulling L2 and R2 and start grabbing and ripping away at the poor blighter's robes and limbs. Picking up a nearby sword, we then start slashing away at our stationary target with bloodthirsty swipes. We then snatched a crossbow to shoot some more targets – only to have a giant stone dragon appear and eat us whole. But easily the most astonishing part of the demo comes when the Sony man tells us we can physically walk around the mannequin with our feet. And we do.”
Wait? What?! We can actually walk around, with our own two feet. What the two feet we stand on. What? From reading that article that is what stood out the most for me. That was something I could not believe, until I read it for the 10th time. This is where gaming is going. I really hope it keeps going that way!
References:
Playstation Offical Magazine – Issue 096 May 2014
But not anymore! User interface is something that is very looked at when it comes to gaming. So I'll start by talking about the consoles themselves. They were very much square. Box in shape, and that was it. Not much else to it. The materials they were made out of were simple grey plastic majority of the time, maybe slightly different shades of grey but were still grey. They may have red buttons or something along those lines, but yeah, grey. Back then it was great, it was modern to them. But now we see old consoles and we instinctively know that it's an old console. Along with the controllers too. A lot of the old controllers were grey, unless they were specially made ones. But now you look at consoles and they're sleek, the have curved edges and they are not so pointy and painful. It's the same with the controllers, the controllers are more user friendly, they have better looking ergonomics and just overall look nicer. Now the materials are black, it's more sleek, more modern. Some go for white but majority it's black. Over the years there have been fails in the way consoles and the controllers look, but they've come so far and done such an exceptional job! Just look at the comparison through the PlayStation years!
 |
| PS1 |
 |
| Comparison between the PS2 and PS2 Slim |
 |
| From bottom to top, is the comparison between the original PS3, PS3 Slim, PS3 Extra Slim. |
Interaction design can also be transcribed into user interface as well. This is also quite demanding in game. For a game to work, for a game to look and feel good to the player the user interface needs to be friendly. It's need to caress the user, make them love the interface. For me personally I really really really REALLY dislike “Dragon Age: Origins” user interface. The inventory is the the most confusing things of all time and this is one of the reasons why I just can not play the damn game. However when playing Skyrim (which is sort of based around the same idea, magic, adventurer etc.) Skyrim takes the bait. “Skyrims” interface is easy and friendly. I could make love to it, because it is just so nice. For me personally I find where everything is, spells, armour, weapons. Then the quick menu of select weapons and spells. It's just quick and efficient. I just find Dragon Age too much!
 |
| Skyrim Menus - good very good! |
 |
| Dragon Age Menus - bad very bad! |
But that leads me onto one of the best interfaces I have personally experienced. Once again that is from “The Last Of Us”. I'm not just using the game because I am just playing it now, but because I genuinely think that this interface is one of the best. When playing the game, you see none of the interface apart from the bottom right corner, where you see your health and the weapon currently equipped, but apart from that it's just you and your surroundings. This minimalistic interface puts you more into the game. Then there is the weapons in game menu. It's easy to use and simple. You have a limited number of holsters which only you can upgrade further into the game, but when you have too many guns they do go into your backpack, just like any normal item to carry, however to equip this you have to hold down a button and this will prompt Joel (the main protagonist), to get down, open his backpack and equip this item. I just like how he does that. Also throughout the game you'll get little collectables and the in-game menu for that is really simple. It also doesn't pause the game, the game carries on in the background, so you either wait till a safe place or you better be quick, in case infected come along! But everything about it is so simple, it tells you what it is, what it does, what it costs, how much the next upgrade will cost etc. I like the simplicity and this is what makes it effective. In a way “Skyrim” is the same, it isn't filled too much with crap (which is what I got from “Dragon Age”).
 |
| The minimalism, when in game. |
 |
| In game weapon menu |
 |
| Crafting Menu from backpack |
 |
| Upgrade bench menu |
 |
| Wii Remote and Nunchuck |
“Sony's other piece of software, Castle, is a lot more hands-on. It drops us in the courtyard of a medieval-style stronghold. An armoured mannequin is standing directly in front of us. The game tracks our hands this time, too, courtesy of the two Move controllers. We grip by pulling L2 and R2 and start grabbing and ripping away at the poor blighter's robes and limbs. Picking up a nearby sword, we then start slashing away at our stationary target with bloodthirsty swipes. We then snatched a crossbow to shoot some more targets – only to have a giant stone dragon appear and eat us whole. But easily the most astonishing part of the demo comes when the Sony man tells us we can physically walk around the mannequin with our feet. And we do.”
 |
| PlayStations Project Morpheus |
Wait? What?! We can actually walk around, with our own two feet. What the two feet we stand on. What? From reading that article that is what stood out the most for me. That was something I could not believe, until I read it for the 10th time. This is where gaming is going. I really hope it keeps going that way!
References:
Playstation Offical Magazine – Issue 096 May 2014
Beep, boop, shoo wop da wop. Sound for games!
Music in games is extremely
influential especially at a young age. A lot of the music around in
games is become more noticed amongst gamers, old and new. The new
generation will always learn the classics such as “Mario” or
“Pokemon”. They are one of the most well known soundtracks from
gaming history.
As a gamer, I remember from a young age the “Mario” theme and the “Pokemon” theme. Not from playing myself, but because my family members had played these game. Not only did I start playing these games had I realised how important it was. It is one of those things that you think to yourself “Bloody hell I remember this. Now where the heck did I remember that from”, then you start playing the game, or you go research it on YouTube and nostalgia kicks in. Even if you never played the game, majority of people would have known where it came from. For me the “Pokemon” theme is a big nostalgia kick back. But even now, I listen to the theme songs from games such as “Croc”, but don't really remember playing the actual game, or what happened in it. But I know it brings back good memories and memories like that mean something. I also remember playing “Pandemonium!”. This was a game I never really understood as a young child, but I would listen to the theme and I would just remember. Even now when typing this I’m playing the theme on YouTube and smiling ear to ear, because it brings back such good memories.
Sound and music are used in a very particular way in games. Even some of the most recognized pieces are either from little sound effects or small clips from the game. A good example of this is from “The Legend of Zelda” series. I'll take “Ocarina Of Time” for example. The melodies from when Link plays the Ocarina are well recognized. Some people may not know where it's from, but they've heard it. Personally this was the situation for me. I had not played any of the Zelda series, but had heard some of the tunes, such as “Zelda's Lullaby”. I never knew where I had heard it before, but it was such a recognizable tune. But this can also be in a sense of what happened in “FarCry 3”. I never listened to the sounds that “FarCry 3” had because it never really stood out. Apart from one mission (excuse the spoilers, if you haven't played it), where you have to burn the weed field and that's when the song by “Skrillex ft Damian “Jr. Gong” - Make It Bun Dem”, came on. Now a lot of gamers out there will instantly relate this song to “FarCry 3” (if they've played it obviously). Majority of the comments on this songs official music video all say “FarCry 3 <3”. No joke. It's something like this that stands out, but the rest of the music from the game was a complete dud. The fact that this song is the only way for people to recognize the game, is a bit of a failure within their part, that they have to use someone else's song to make it.
But then there are theme's and songs that create the game. I'll take “The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time” again as an example. One of the best songs for me personally is the “Shop Theme” from this game. It's one that makes me sway side to side with happiness and one that I will always remember. Right now I am doing exactly that. Plus after playing the game, it really takes me back when I was playing, and how I would just stand in the shop for a good 5 minutes just swaying side to side happy. The fact that anyone in the house who heard it, would come in and do exactly the same. It's amazing. So the composer for “The Legend Of Zelda” series is Koji Kondo, who also created the “Super Mario Bros” theme. He would colab with Shigeru Miyamoto, in creating these pieces of work. Kondo had complete freedom to create the theme, and that Miyamoto would put his input on what Kondo had made for the game but would never tell him what he wanted. Kondo commented at the Games Developers Conference 2007, saying that the theme reflects the action-orientated game-play of the series. He demonstrated this by showing how the characters movements and player's button presses, sync with the beat of the music. This is what he was aiming for, and that he found the catchiest tune ever made. Many magazine writers who have ever written about music in games have all said that the “Super Mario Bros” theme beats everything else for the best sound/music in history. Not only has the theme been used in the games but also in an anime film.
However with music and composing music, you need it to fit the game. You can't have a horror game and happy music. That would sound weird. Take “Mass Effect” for example. “Mass Effect” is a well known game and amongst avid “Mass Effect” players they all get a connection to the music. With this game, it's not a happy one. It's dark and involves a lot of death and loss. The one song that I really hate from the game is the death song “Saren”, every time you die it always plays and you can tell what's happened when you hear that. The one that strikes me the most out of the series is from “Mass Effect 3 – Leaving Earth”. It's so powerful, so dark. The calm piano but low in key, and the sudden rumble of reaper noise, distorting it, putting you on the edge. But it's so powerful you're moved by it in a deep sense. This song fits so well with the game. I find as well that within the game any battles that are about to occur, a song starts playing, almost a battling song. It's sort of predictable but also makes you on edge as if you are there. Not that if you were actually in a battle you'd go around making some cool sounds, but the principle is still there.
The songs that stand out for me a
lot are ones that create the most impact. These are games I’ve
already mentioned such as “Pandemonium!”, “Mario”, Croc”,
“Pokemon” (especially), “Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time”.
But others that stand out to me is the main theme from the
“Uncharted” series. The orchestra, the deep thump of the drums in
the main chorus of the song, is powerful and emerges you into an
adventure. Then it softens, becomes quieter, as if you're traversing
through rural landscape, taking in the scenery, smelling the air. But
it comes back to more of a beat with the drums, the orchestra becomes
one, it's now as if you are on top of the ruins looking over the land
you've accomplished, over what you have travelled. I have so many
mixed emotions with this theme, that 1,000,000% recommend listening
to it! Another that I recommend you listen to is the “Skyrim”
theme as well. That is truly a great theme, so powerful and magical.
The deep roar of the voices, and the whole song, it truly makes you a
wandering adventurer. But this isn't like “Uncharted”, you can
tell by the song, the tone, that this is more magical, that “Skyrim”
is based under different adventuring terms. “Skyrim” is based
around magic, dragons, different races, not just Black, White and
Asian, but Elfs,Khajits and much more. With “Uncharted” you can
tell by the theme that it's modern day and this is all done by music.
This split makes it memorable and that's why I love it so much. There
are many, many songs and themes that I could talk about, but instead
I will link them, for you to interpret how you want and the feelings
you get from them.
Now thanks to this blog and YouTube, I want to go play all the games! But I can't. I will soon though! But I am going to go listen to all the music from games now! Best blog ever!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpPa46VOyPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxty0lOIbT4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgcq_ZtqbO0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atM3ZhF8MVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAMzIihPjAg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGHA9oO1Ybg&list=PLA10D6BE808DD1BBF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhscMsBhNhw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOoRrl8dFZg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y97u-U0nvJM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbpvcU0eMYE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._theme
 |
| Mario! Yeah! |
As a gamer, I remember from a young age the “Mario” theme and the “Pokemon” theme. Not from playing myself, but because my family members had played these game. Not only did I start playing these games had I realised how important it was. It is one of those things that you think to yourself “Bloody hell I remember this. Now where the heck did I remember that from”, then you start playing the game, or you go research it on YouTube and nostalgia kicks in. Even if you never played the game, majority of people would have known where it came from. For me the “Pokemon” theme is a big nostalgia kick back. But even now, I listen to the theme songs from games such as “Croc”, but don't really remember playing the actual game, or what happened in it. But I know it brings back good memories and memories like that mean something. I also remember playing “Pandemonium!”. This was a game I never really understood as a young child, but I would listen to the theme and I would just remember. Even now when typing this I’m playing the theme on YouTube and smiling ear to ear, because it brings back such good memories.
 |
| Best game ever! |
 |
| Oh the memories! |
Sound and music are used in a very particular way in games. Even some of the most recognized pieces are either from little sound effects or small clips from the game. A good example of this is from “The Legend of Zelda” series. I'll take “Ocarina Of Time” for example. The melodies from when Link plays the Ocarina are well recognized. Some people may not know where it's from, but they've heard it. Personally this was the situation for me. I had not played any of the Zelda series, but had heard some of the tunes, such as “Zelda's Lullaby”. I never knew where I had heard it before, but it was such a recognizable tune. But this can also be in a sense of what happened in “FarCry 3”. I never listened to the sounds that “FarCry 3” had because it never really stood out. Apart from one mission (excuse the spoilers, if you haven't played it), where you have to burn the weed field and that's when the song by “Skrillex ft Damian “Jr. Gong” - Make It Bun Dem”, came on. Now a lot of gamers out there will instantly relate this song to “FarCry 3” (if they've played it obviously). Majority of the comments on this songs official music video all say “FarCry 3 <3”. No joke. It's something like this that stands out, but the rest of the music from the game was a complete dud. The fact that this song is the only way for people to recognize the game, is a bit of a failure within their part, that they have to use someone else's song to make it.
 |
| "Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact... same fucking thing... over and over again expecting... shit to change..." - Vaas |
But then there are theme's and songs that create the game. I'll take “The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time” again as an example. One of the best songs for me personally is the “Shop Theme” from this game. It's one that makes me sway side to side with happiness and one that I will always remember. Right now I am doing exactly that. Plus after playing the game, it really takes me back when I was playing, and how I would just stand in the shop for a good 5 minutes just swaying side to side happy. The fact that anyone in the house who heard it, would come in and do exactly the same. It's amazing. So the composer for “The Legend Of Zelda” series is Koji Kondo, who also created the “Super Mario Bros” theme. He would colab with Shigeru Miyamoto, in creating these pieces of work. Kondo had complete freedom to create the theme, and that Miyamoto would put his input on what Kondo had made for the game but would never tell him what he wanted. Kondo commented at the Games Developers Conference 2007, saying that the theme reflects the action-orientated game-play of the series. He demonstrated this by showing how the characters movements and player's button presses, sync with the beat of the music. This is what he was aiming for, and that he found the catchiest tune ever made. Many magazine writers who have ever written about music in games have all said that the “Super Mario Bros” theme beats everything else for the best sound/music in history. Not only has the theme been used in the games but also in an anime film.
 |
| Zelda playing the Ocarina |
However with music and composing music, you need it to fit the game. You can't have a horror game and happy music. That would sound weird. Take “Mass Effect” for example. “Mass Effect” is a well known game and amongst avid “Mass Effect” players they all get a connection to the music. With this game, it's not a happy one. It's dark and involves a lot of death and loss. The one song that I really hate from the game is the death song “Saren”, every time you die it always plays and you can tell what's happened when you hear that. The one that strikes me the most out of the series is from “Mass Effect 3 – Leaving Earth”. It's so powerful, so dark. The calm piano but low in key, and the sudden rumble of reaper noise, distorting it, putting you on the edge. But it's so powerful you're moved by it in a deep sense. This song fits so well with the game. I find as well that within the game any battles that are about to occur, a song starts playing, almost a battling song. It's sort of predictable but also makes you on edge as if you are there. Not that if you were actually in a battle you'd go around making some cool sounds, but the principle is still there.
 |
| Mass Effect 1,2 and 3 |
 |
| Can't go wrong with dragons! |
 |
| Now this is a game |
Now thanks to this blog and YouTube, I want to go play all the games! But I can't. I will soon though! But I am going to go listen to all the music from games now! Best blog ever!
 |
| Always be a Gentlemon! Classy! |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpPa46VOyPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxty0lOIbT4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgcq_ZtqbO0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atM3ZhF8MVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAMzIihPjAg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGHA9oO1Ybg&list=PLA10D6BE808DD1BBF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhscMsBhNhw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOoRrl8dFZg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y97u-U0nvJM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbpvcU0eMYE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._theme
Engines... not car ones, game ones!
Out
in the gaming world, there are so many different engines, all doing
what they need to do. Game Engines is what is needed to create the
game, to make it one. It allows you to create real-time renders, add
particle effects, are multiple animations, interactions and much
more. But what is so special about all these engines?
Well there are a lot of engines that are used by one company for their games only, as an example GIANTS Engine by GIANTS software (the one's who make all the simulators). This isn't a very sophisticated engine and isn't really as intense as what CryEngine or Unreal is. But it gets the job done for their games. But there are engines which are used by a variety of companies such as Unreal. Unreal engine has been used through many games from different companies such as “Mass Effect” which was EA, “Bioshock” which was 2K, “Borderlands” which was Gearbox etc.
The advantage of Unreal engine is that it can be modified, to the companies needs in a way to create what they want. With companies own built engines it's more difficult to do so as they make it for that particular game in mind. With the new Unreal engine 4, it allows the building of high quality games across all platforms. Its engine rendering architecture enables developers to achieve great visuals. Its new workflow features a deep toolset which allows developers to quickily iterate ideas and immediate results, including a complete C++ source code which brings a new experience. Big game engines like this are great for creating games and a wide scale, but can also have a disadvantage. One that's most common is that it might not be able to do what you want it to do. Such as it might not be able to create light in the sense that the game needs it, it might not be able to produce effects that are needed in a certain way, which another engine could give. One of the things the frostbite engine is great for is the real-time destruction, which is being seen more in games. I saw this personally when I was playing “Call Of Duty: Ghosts” online. I saw there being real time destruction, as in someone would blow something up and the whole building would just collapse in front of you. But in “Battlefield 4” with the new Frostbite engine, this is become more of a thing. It's great what engines can do, but they all have their disadvantages and advantages.
A lot of engines aren't great for first time users. Some require some understanding of the engine and what certain things mean, but a lot require just patience and lots of tutorials. From personal experience learning Unreal wasn't too bad, as there were tutorials to get set up. But to create more complex things, such as flames etc. It became a little more difficult. It was just through pushing and testing that I'd finally learnt the basics of Unreal.
https://www.unrealengine.com/products/unreal-engine-4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frostbite_(game_engine)
Well there are a lot of engines that are used by one company for their games only, as an example GIANTS Engine by GIANTS software (the one's who make all the simulators). This isn't a very sophisticated engine and isn't really as intense as what CryEngine or Unreal is. But it gets the job done for their games. But there are engines which are used by a variety of companies such as Unreal. Unreal engine has been used through many games from different companies such as “Mass Effect” which was EA, “Bioshock” which was 2K, “Borderlands” which was Gearbox etc.
The advantage of Unreal engine is that it can be modified, to the companies needs in a way to create what they want. With companies own built engines it's more difficult to do so as they make it for that particular game in mind. With the new Unreal engine 4, it allows the building of high quality games across all platforms. Its engine rendering architecture enables developers to achieve great visuals. Its new workflow features a deep toolset which allows developers to quickily iterate ideas and immediate results, including a complete C++ source code which brings a new experience. Big game engines like this are great for creating games and a wide scale, but can also have a disadvantage. One that's most common is that it might not be able to do what you want it to do. Such as it might not be able to create light in the sense that the game needs it, it might not be able to produce effects that are needed in a certain way, which another engine could give. One of the things the frostbite engine is great for is the real-time destruction, which is being seen more in games. I saw this personally when I was playing “Call Of Duty: Ghosts” online. I saw there being real time destruction, as in someone would blow something up and the whole building would just collapse in front of you. But in “Battlefield 4” with the new Frostbite engine, this is become more of a thing. It's great what engines can do, but they all have their disadvantages and advantages.
A lot of engines aren't great for first time users. Some require some understanding of the engine and what certain things mean, but a lot require just patience and lots of tutorials. From personal experience learning Unreal wasn't too bad, as there were tutorials to get set up. But to create more complex things, such as flames etc. It became a little more difficult. It was just through pushing and testing that I'd finally learnt the basics of Unreal.
https://www.unrealengine.com/products/unreal-engine-4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frostbite_(game_engine)
Mock Document
So
for many games out there, they all need some sort of documentation,
despite being an art course we do need words. This is what is needed
a lot, we always need a brief, something to work from. So for now I
will create my own little brief for you to see how it works! Enjoy!
Outline:
To create a survival horror game, based on a fungus infection 20 years after it wipes out the world. A main protagonists that is used throughout the game, various infected including special infected, other survivors good and evil. It is for console PS3 and Xbox 360. The genre is survival horror/thriller. Audience is 18+. Use software that is relevant to the brief.
Outcomes:
Realistic post-apocalyptic reality
Accurate models and rigging
Photo realistic textures
Good storyline and immersion
Clear divide between human and infected
Clear divide between good and evil human
Technical Specifications:
Lead Character:
Main protagonist character, which is Male. Body type is quite broad and strong, looks as if he can handle himself in a situation. Quite athletic, around mid 30s/early 40s. Been through hell, while the world goes to shit. Has a story about his past which is revealed through other characters around him, and the exploration of the story.
Character (including hair) Tri limit (excluding extras) – 30k
Character (including hair) Tri limit (including extras) – 35k/40k
Texture Sheets (diffuse, specular, normal) – Use common sense on how many are needed, 1024x1024 and below.
NPC:
General infected NPC. Still looking human, slightly distorted in facial features from infection. Strong sense, that the NPC has lost control in body language and form, looks strong but also weak.
Character (including hair/infection growth) Tri limit (excluding extras) – 15k/20k
Texture Sheets (diffuse, specular, normal) – Use common sense on how many are needed, 1024x1024 and below.
Vehicle:
Rusted broken car. Been there for a while, without overgrowth of vines and grass. Smashed windows, rotting fabric and weather body. All paint from the car has disintegrated. Parts have been stolen like a wheel.
Vehicle Tris – 10k
Texture Sheet (diffuse, specular, normal) – 1024x1024 and below
Environment:
Derelict hotel lobby. Majority of doors closed off and are inaccessible apart from main staff office which is filled with filing cabinets, desk and chair, computer, with some supplies (ammo, rags, alcohol). Some filing cabinets have fallen over blocking another access door. Dust, mold and overgrowth have taken over parts of the office. Back in main lobby there are bags and suitcases, scattered from the panic of the initial infection outbreak. Lift doors are broken. Pools of water around where water has come through the broken roof skylights. Glass and rubbish scattered around. Peeling wallpaper and overgrowth on floor.
Prop or scenery object:
Item pickups:
Tri limit for all between 200-500tris
Texture sheet (diffuse, specular, normal) – 256x256 below
NOTE: I decided to make up a brief that could be a DLC based on Tommy, Joel's brother from the Last Of Us.
Outline:
To create a survival horror game, based on a fungus infection 20 years after it wipes out the world. A main protagonists that is used throughout the game, various infected including special infected, other survivors good and evil. It is for console PS3 and Xbox 360. The genre is survival horror/thriller. Audience is 18+. Use software that is relevant to the brief.
Outcomes:
Realistic post-apocalyptic reality
Accurate models and rigging
Photo realistic textures
Good storyline and immersion
Clear divide between human and infected
Clear divide between good and evil human
Technical Specifications:
Lead Character:
Main protagonist character, which is Male. Body type is quite broad and strong, looks as if he can handle himself in a situation. Quite athletic, around mid 30s/early 40s. Been through hell, while the world goes to shit. Has a story about his past which is revealed through other characters around him, and the exploration of the story.
Character (including hair) Tri limit (excluding extras) – 30k
Character (including hair) Tri limit (including extras) – 35k/40k
Texture Sheets (diffuse, specular, normal) – Use common sense on how many are needed, 1024x1024 and below.
NPC:
General infected NPC. Still looking human, slightly distorted in facial features from infection. Strong sense, that the NPC has lost control in body language and form, looks strong but also weak.
Character (including hair/infection growth) Tri limit (excluding extras) – 15k/20k
Texture Sheets (diffuse, specular, normal) – Use common sense on how many are needed, 1024x1024 and below.
Vehicle:
Rusted broken car. Been there for a while, without overgrowth of vines and grass. Smashed windows, rotting fabric and weather body. All paint from the car has disintegrated. Parts have been stolen like a wheel.
Vehicle Tris – 10k
Texture Sheet (diffuse, specular, normal) – 1024x1024 and below
Environment:
Derelict hotel lobby. Majority of doors closed off and are inaccessible apart from main staff office which is filled with filing cabinets, desk and chair, computer, with some supplies (ammo, rags, alcohol). Some filing cabinets have fallen over blocking another access door. Dust, mold and overgrowth have taken over parts of the office. Back in main lobby there are bags and suitcases, scattered from the panic of the initial infection outbreak. Lift doors are broken. Pools of water around where water has come through the broken roof skylights. Glass and rubbish scattered around. Peeling wallpaper and overgrowth on floor.
Prop or scenery object:
Item pickups:
- Rags
- Alcohol
bottle
- Scissors
- Ammo
box
Tri limit for all between 200-500tris
Texture sheet (diffuse, specular, normal) – 256x256 below
NOTE: I decided to make up a brief that could be a DLC based on Tommy, Joel's brother from the Last Of Us.
Level design!
Level
Design is one of the most important aspects within making a level, or
even so a whole game. I'll stick to a level for now. Along with
composition it's good within a 2D space and can be conveyed onto a 3D
and 4D space, but that is a lot more difficult. This then moves into
the level design, and how you want the level to look. It's not just
making it look pretty, but also navigational, interesting, exciting.
You don't want to go through a long corridor and it gets you from A
to B in 5seconds. Maybe have a corridor with it's main path blocked
and you have to go into a room to go round to get to the other side.
But things like this do have to fit in with the game. If that was in
a game like Mario it wouldn't work.
I find a good example of a game that has very well thought out level design is “The Last Of Us” by Naughty Dog. This game is gorgeous on so many levels and I have yet got the experience it all (I still haven't completed the game, so I can only talk about what I’ve played thus far). But even now I still want to play through it again, because the level design is gorgeous. It works well with the surroundings such as fallen buildings, derelict cars and houses. With an area like this it is a never straight forward route. This makes it interesting. You need some variation, but it needs to be thought out. To be well placed in the playable area. There needs to be blockers on where you can and can't go. If there is a huge drop in the fallen road below from the bridge, you're not going to be able to jump down there (also common sense), but if there is a hole through some rubble then that's the only option you're going to have to take. It's through this that level design needs to be thought through. However you can have other branches leading off. For example this would be inside a office building and there are a variety of rooms you can walk in and scavenge for weapons and ammo etc, but the way you have to go as always there. You know you have to go through the building and it's only a matter of time before you've searched every room that you do end up progressing into the game, whether it's conscious or not. I find that with some games this does not happen. When I played the old Resident Evil games, I struggled to get along with it. Not because of the interaction or because it's an old game with horrible graphics for this gen's consoles, but because the navigation was simple horrible. It wasn't clear and I was running around shitting my pants because I was expecting pyramid head to suddenly appear. So I was panicking to the end of days, and found that I just gave up, because I was working myself up with anger, and that I felt I needed to go onto the internet and look up cats. It's the only way, to calm yourself down. Trust me, I’m a professional.
But to create an effective level you need to plan. So what's the best way? Here are few things that I would take into consideration when making a level.
So you grab your idea. Any idea that is. Zombies, robots, old country anything, whatever your idea is, grab it. But make sure you have others. You can never have too many ideas and the one you think doesn't seem that important, could be the next big hit. You never know. So the best way is to write it ALL down. Write everything down, where ever you are, out on a walk, in the shops, on the toilet make sure that when an idea pops into the mind, write it down. I can't stress that enough, because I need to do that same (shameful). The best thing to do is think about how excited I am to create the environment for the level and am I inspired? You need enthusiasm and excitement to get things rolling when creating a level, otherwise you'll just be dragging it out and wont do a very good job, and it will probably just turn out like shit. Sorry. If you are excited about you're idea, you are more than likely to want it to be seen going through all the stages, and into the final process where you can be proud of your work.
So what's next? Well what's the purpose of your idea. Why do you want to make this level? What are the reasons for this? Your purpose is your own, and it can be for anything. To create a portfolio piece, just for fun, to learn some new software, creating models efficiently and effectively etc. It could be anything. But make sure you know what the purpose is for you to pursue throughout the whole of making the game. You also need to think of things that make it unique, such as how will the environment stand out from the rest, what elements are you focusing on within the level, such as landmarks, housing, streets, cars, assets, characters, animals etc.
You then need to focus on the environment and setting. You can't put the empire state building in the middle of the ocean (well you can put a building in the middle of the ocean, like “BioShock” but there is a VERY good reason for that). You need to take into account whether its rural or urban? Interior or exterior? Past or present? And much much more. If it's within the city of London, then you need to find a good area to place it, or if it's in the middle of the countryside out in the backs of Wales, then you need to find a good replicate setting. You need to nail down the time, such as year is it in the early 1800s or is it in the year 3000 (no reference to Busted there). For example “The Last Of Us” was set in post-apocalyptic United States in the year 2033. From there they made a game that was based in a post-apocalyptic United States in the 2033.
Then best of all, you need to travel that big wide world and grab every fricking photo reference there is on this planet. Everything is a reliable resource. Whether it be cars, people, animals, door handles, doors, windows, metal bars, broken windows, broken doors, trees, plants, insects, rubbish, poo anything. It will all be valuable whether for this level or the next. But the main priority is to take photo references of things that are relevant, and anything interesting that strikes your eye in the mean time, take a snapshot of it. Because if you're on holiday and you find something that may fit perfectly, take it, because it may be gone forever.
Then you need a story. Of course you need a damn story, otherwise it's going to be so boring, it'll just be pointless. Even games with storys but they stories are so crap you just get bored. So stories are very important. There are a few aspects to look at when making a story. One of them is the story of the level, of the environment.
“So what happened here”,“They bombed the hell out of the surrounding areas to the quarantine zones, hoping to kill as much of the infected as possible”. (Quote from “Last Of Us” between Tess and Ellie).
The other story is how did the player get into that environment, did they travel there to a long lost cave in search of rare item, or where they already there hit by infection. But also what are they doing in that environment, what's their end goal. This will help create a sense of purpose to the player and as to why they are playing your game. There is nothing worse than someone turning round and asking why they are playing this lump of shit.
You need objectives and obstacles within the game. Either wise I’d just be extremely boring! Objectives such as find the key so you can get the heck out of this place. Obstacles like, where the fuck is the ladder for you to get up this stupidly high edge. There could be many objectives and obstacles that the player has to overcome to get to the end, by this makes things a little more interesting. A good idea would be to create a mind-flow of the things that the player will have to go through. Such as exit the building, follow the path, stop at broken path, find route round, traverse deadly cliff, enter safe building. But there could be a branch, so stop at broken path, jump down into dark underground area, face enemies, exit underground area, enter safe building. So at least you have the player some freedom to choose as he pleases.
Another would be a birds eye view of the map. This is great for navigational purposes when planning. You'll be able to block out areas effectively when looking at a birds eye view. You'll also be able to add things or take away things to create the layout more effectively and making it more interesting. It will allow you to work out different routes, scales of buildings and assets that may be vital to the player or may cause hindrance to the player. You can also use a key to give points of ammo supply, weapons, doors, windows etc. It's great for mapping out in detail where you would like everything to be positioned.
Unlike in any environment I’ve played there is always a focal point. A visual landmark even. In “Skyrim” there are plenty of visual landmarks, and I mean there are a truck load of them. It's great, you know you want to get over there, but the first way you go might no be correct so you go round the whole mountainside until you find the right path that leads you there. It's also good because if you lose this landmark within the environment it's just pointless, because you feel like there is no way to get up there or you can't find you're way round and the player is more than likely to just give up. However the landmark could be just to make it look pretty and you may not actually be able to reach it. But it also creates a area to explore. So you head round to that ruin or that land mark and you find some crypts around that area. So it wasn't all wasted in the end.
You
also need to define you style. Your artistic style. Is it a realistic
style like “Skyrim” or “The Last Of Us”. Is it cell-shading
like “Borderlands”, is it cartoon like “Pokemon”. Your style
is your own and that is where you are strongest. You may not be a
concept artist but you can find references through any means, other
games, films, traditional paintings/drawings.
A good idea to make next is lists. Lots and lots of lists. They able you to see what you need, what you need to complete, what you could have, and what you haven't done. You can see what textures you need, what models you need, what some of the production processes look will be, and what audio needs to be in-putted.
You can also use the idea of white-boxing. This is creating simple shapes that represent that object, such as simple box chair for dining rooms chairs etc. This can be placed easily around the scene, to see what combination suits more. It will allow you to see what the scene looks like populated and for you to choose what you do and don't want in the scene. This is a very popular method amongst level design, and can give an accurate visual time representation.
There are also other processes you can follow, but here is the basic outline of everything that is needed in level design.
http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/how-to-plan-level-designs-game-environments-workflow.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUZ3MKvUjx8
I find a good example of a game that has very well thought out level design is “The Last Of Us” by Naughty Dog. This game is gorgeous on so many levels and I have yet got the experience it all (I still haven't completed the game, so I can only talk about what I’ve played thus far). But even now I still want to play through it again, because the level design is gorgeous. It works well with the surroundings such as fallen buildings, derelict cars and houses. With an area like this it is a never straight forward route. This makes it interesting. You need some variation, but it needs to be thought out. To be well placed in the playable area. There needs to be blockers on where you can and can't go. If there is a huge drop in the fallen road below from the bridge, you're not going to be able to jump down there (also common sense), but if there is a hole through some rubble then that's the only option you're going to have to take. It's through this that level design needs to be thought through. However you can have other branches leading off. For example this would be inside a office building and there are a variety of rooms you can walk in and scavenge for weapons and ammo etc, but the way you have to go as always there. You know you have to go through the building and it's only a matter of time before you've searched every room that you do end up progressing into the game, whether it's conscious or not. I find that with some games this does not happen. When I played the old Resident Evil games, I struggled to get along with it. Not because of the interaction or because it's an old game with horrible graphics for this gen's consoles, but because the navigation was simple horrible. It wasn't clear and I was running around shitting my pants because I was expecting pyramid head to suddenly appear. So I was panicking to the end of days, and found that I just gave up, because I was working myself up with anger, and that I felt I needed to go onto the internet and look up cats. It's the only way, to calm yourself down. Trust me, I’m a professional.
But to create an effective level you need to plan. So what's the best way? Here are few things that I would take into consideration when making a level.
So you grab your idea. Any idea that is. Zombies, robots, old country anything, whatever your idea is, grab it. But make sure you have others. You can never have too many ideas and the one you think doesn't seem that important, could be the next big hit. You never know. So the best way is to write it ALL down. Write everything down, where ever you are, out on a walk, in the shops, on the toilet make sure that when an idea pops into the mind, write it down. I can't stress that enough, because I need to do that same (shameful). The best thing to do is think about how excited I am to create the environment for the level and am I inspired? You need enthusiasm and excitement to get things rolling when creating a level, otherwise you'll just be dragging it out and wont do a very good job, and it will probably just turn out like shit. Sorry. If you are excited about you're idea, you are more than likely to want it to be seen going through all the stages, and into the final process where you can be proud of your work.
So what's next? Well what's the purpose of your idea. Why do you want to make this level? What are the reasons for this? Your purpose is your own, and it can be for anything. To create a portfolio piece, just for fun, to learn some new software, creating models efficiently and effectively etc. It could be anything. But make sure you know what the purpose is for you to pursue throughout the whole of making the game. You also need to think of things that make it unique, such as how will the environment stand out from the rest, what elements are you focusing on within the level, such as landmarks, housing, streets, cars, assets, characters, animals etc.
You then need to focus on the environment and setting. You can't put the empire state building in the middle of the ocean (well you can put a building in the middle of the ocean, like “BioShock” but there is a VERY good reason for that). You need to take into account whether its rural or urban? Interior or exterior? Past or present? And much much more. If it's within the city of London, then you need to find a good area to place it, or if it's in the middle of the countryside out in the backs of Wales, then you need to find a good replicate setting. You need to nail down the time, such as year is it in the early 1800s or is it in the year 3000 (no reference to Busted there). For example “The Last Of Us” was set in post-apocalyptic United States in the year 2033. From there they made a game that was based in a post-apocalyptic United States in the 2033.
 |
| Yeah Bioshock |
Then best of all, you need to travel that big wide world and grab every fricking photo reference there is on this planet. Everything is a reliable resource. Whether it be cars, people, animals, door handles, doors, windows, metal bars, broken windows, broken doors, trees, plants, insects, rubbish, poo anything. It will all be valuable whether for this level or the next. But the main priority is to take photo references of things that are relevant, and anything interesting that strikes your eye in the mean time, take a snapshot of it. Because if you're on holiday and you find something that may fit perfectly, take it, because it may be gone forever.
Then you need a story. Of course you need a damn story, otherwise it's going to be so boring, it'll just be pointless. Even games with storys but they stories are so crap you just get bored. So stories are very important. There are a few aspects to look at when making a story. One of them is the story of the level, of the environment.
“So what happened here”,“They bombed the hell out of the surrounding areas to the quarantine zones, hoping to kill as much of the infected as possible”. (Quote from “Last Of Us” between Tess and Ellie).
 |
| Woah! |
The other story is how did the player get into that environment, did they travel there to a long lost cave in search of rare item, or where they already there hit by infection. But also what are they doing in that environment, what's their end goal. This will help create a sense of purpose to the player and as to why they are playing your game. There is nothing worse than someone turning round and asking why they are playing this lump of shit.
You need objectives and obstacles within the game. Either wise I’d just be extremely boring! Objectives such as find the key so you can get the heck out of this place. Obstacles like, where the fuck is the ladder for you to get up this stupidly high edge. There could be many objectives and obstacles that the player has to overcome to get to the end, by this makes things a little more interesting. A good idea would be to create a mind-flow of the things that the player will have to go through. Such as exit the building, follow the path, stop at broken path, find route round, traverse deadly cliff, enter safe building. But there could be a branch, so stop at broken path, jump down into dark underground area, face enemies, exit underground area, enter safe building. So at least you have the player some freedom to choose as he pleases.
Another would be a birds eye view of the map. This is great for navigational purposes when planning. You'll be able to block out areas effectively when looking at a birds eye view. You'll also be able to add things or take away things to create the layout more effectively and making it more interesting. It will allow you to work out different routes, scales of buildings and assets that may be vital to the player or may cause hindrance to the player. You can also use a key to give points of ammo supply, weapons, doors, windows etc. It's great for mapping out in detail where you would like everything to be positioned.
 |
| Counterstrike Map - Birds Eye View |
 |
| Plan of a level |
Unlike in any environment I’ve played there is always a focal point. A visual landmark even. In “Skyrim” there are plenty of visual landmarks, and I mean there are a truck load of them. It's great, you know you want to get over there, but the first way you go might no be correct so you go round the whole mountainside until you find the right path that leads you there. It's also good because if you lose this landmark within the environment it's just pointless, because you feel like there is no way to get up there or you can't find you're way round and the player is more than likely to just give up. However the landmark could be just to make it look pretty and you may not actually be able to reach it. But it also creates a area to explore. So you head round to that ruin or that land mark and you find some crypts around that area. So it wasn't all wasted in the end.
 |
| College of Winterhold |
 |
| Dagons Statue |
 |
| Statue of Azure |
A good idea to make next is lists. Lots and lots of lists. They able you to see what you need, what you need to complete, what you could have, and what you haven't done. You can see what textures you need, what models you need, what some of the production processes look will be, and what audio needs to be in-putted.
You can also use the idea of white-boxing. This is creating simple shapes that represent that object, such as simple box chair for dining rooms chairs etc. This can be placed easily around the scene, to see what combination suits more. It will allow you to see what the scene looks like populated and for you to choose what you do and don't want in the scene. This is a very popular method amongst level design, and can give an accurate visual time representation.
 |
| Idea of what white-boxing is |
There are also other processes you can follow, but here is the basic outline of everything that is needed in level design.
http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/how-to-plan-level-designs-game-environments-workflow.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUZ3MKvUjx8
Composition! Let's make it look pretty!
Composition
in any form of art is hard to work with. It is one of the single most
important aspects of art and almost decides whether the piece of work
is of pure greatness or is a complete flop. Throughout centuries of
art composition is something that is never looked over. It is one of
the most important areas of art which needs a lot of TLC. Masters
look very closely into the depths of composition and is almost the
very essence of their work and what makes their pieces of art work so
beautiful to admire.
“Composition - the act of putting together or making up by combining parts or ingredients” - Collins, English Dictionary.
With composition it isn't all about placing things here and there to create something that looks vaguely pleasing to look at. There are quite a few techniques out there that help significantly to create a very good compositional piece. Here are a few techniques in which many artists use within their work.
Rule Of Thirds:
Rule of thirds is one of the main rules used by many artists across the world. It stems from the theory that the human eye naturally gravitates to intersecting points that occur when an image is split into thirds. Within rule of thirds, (I’ll use photography as an example), a photo is split into thirds with two imaginary horizontal and vertically lines which creates 3 columns and rows with 9 sections of the image. Well placed composition using this rule is either placed on or near these imaginary lines and where they intersect each other.
A
good example of using rule of thirds with landscapes is this: we
naturally want to put the horizon line dead centre of our image. But
as you can see in the example it looks more pleasing with the horizon
motioned more towards the upper horizontal line. A good note to make
is that if your focal point is land then this should be sectioned
towards the upper horizontal line. If your focal point is something
such as the sunset or the sunrises then the image should be motioned
towards the lower horizontal line.
You can also use rule of thirds for portraits. In the image you can see the upper horizontal line is cutting through each eye and at both eyes the vertical lines are intersecting with the horizontal at each middle point of the eye.
Rule Of Odds:
Through visual arts, rule of thirds states that by framing the object of interest with an even number of surrounding objects it becomes more pleasing to the eyes. The rule of odds suggests that an odd number of subjects in an image appear more intriguing and exciting. It gives the image a bit of edge.
Based around photography the image should be captivating and exciting to the viewers. By using rule of odds it spices up the image and draws people to them. It is suggestive on that by using odds it puts the brain on edge because we are so used to even numbers e.g two eyes, two ears, two arms, two nostrils etc. To us this is relaxing and the brain almost ignores what is there as it is something we see everyday. By creating something odd it is something new and exciting. This can be applied to not just photography but also art traditional and digital.
There are also many other rules such as “Rule Of Space”, “Simplification” etc.
Although many talk about it in photography it is complete relevant to use it within traditional art. Many of the great artists do. Many artists use these “Rules” to do the dot, but many take bits and pieces from it. A lot of the time composition is also made up from things such as colour theory but that is not the main way to create composition. A lot of the time with a good artistic judgement, you can tell whether the image looks pleasing or not. Within creating a piece it is also worth spending concept time, not just to create something but to use your model or your focal point and play around with it on the page. This can be applied to many things, and I’ve noticed this a lot in websites. Or more specifically online portfolios. With online portfolios a lot of companies, can look at them and tell whether they like the person or not, just by looking at the composition of the page. If it's too cluttered or an image is too large, it just looks horrible and are less inclined to hire you. With good composition of your images and typography, it can be more please to the eye.
Composition isn't just based on paintings or taking photos. It's based around everyday life, and by having a good artistic judgement and understanding of rules, the work produced could look so much better. However it isn't something that just clicks when learning, it takes a long time to understand.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_(visual_arts)
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/composition?showCookiePolicy=true
http://learnprophotography.com/rule-of-thirds
http://indiandigitalartists.com/photography-course-online/composition-in-photography-other-rules/
“Composition - the act of putting together or making up by combining parts or ingredients” - Collins, English Dictionary.
With composition it isn't all about placing things here and there to create something that looks vaguely pleasing to look at. There are quite a few techniques out there that help significantly to create a very good compositional piece. Here are a few techniques in which many artists use within their work.
Rule Of Thirds:
Rule of thirds is one of the main rules used by many artists across the world. It stems from the theory that the human eye naturally gravitates to intersecting points that occur when an image is split into thirds. Within rule of thirds, (I’ll use photography as an example), a photo is split into thirds with two imaginary horizontal and vertically lines which creates 3 columns and rows with 9 sections of the image. Well placed composition using this rule is either placed on or near these imaginary lines and where they intersect each other.
 |
| Template for rule of thirds |
 |
| Rule of thirds for landscape |
You can also use rule of thirds for portraits. In the image you can see the upper horizontal line is cutting through each eye and at both eyes the vertical lines are intersecting with the horizontal at each middle point of the eye.
 |
| Rule of thirds for portaits |
Rule Of Odds:
Through visual arts, rule of thirds states that by framing the object of interest with an even number of surrounding objects it becomes more pleasing to the eyes. The rule of odds suggests that an odd number of subjects in an image appear more intriguing and exciting. It gives the image a bit of edge.
Based around photography the image should be captivating and exciting to the viewers. By using rule of odds it spices up the image and draws people to them. It is suggestive on that by using odds it puts the brain on edge because we are so used to even numbers e.g two eyes, two ears, two arms, two nostrils etc. To us this is relaxing and the brain almost ignores what is there as it is something we see everyday. By creating something odd it is something new and exciting. This can be applied to not just photography but also art traditional and digital.
There are also many other rules such as “Rule Of Space”, “Simplification” etc.
Although many talk about it in photography it is complete relevant to use it within traditional art. Many of the great artists do. Many artists use these “Rules” to do the dot, but many take bits and pieces from it. A lot of the time composition is also made up from things such as colour theory but that is not the main way to create composition. A lot of the time with a good artistic judgement, you can tell whether the image looks pleasing or not. Within creating a piece it is also worth spending concept time, not just to create something but to use your model or your focal point and play around with it on the page. This can be applied to many things, and I’ve noticed this a lot in websites. Or more specifically online portfolios. With online portfolios a lot of companies, can look at them and tell whether they like the person or not, just by looking at the composition of the page. If it's too cluttered or an image is too large, it just looks horrible and are less inclined to hire you. With good composition of your images and typography, it can be more please to the eye.
Composition isn't just based on paintings or taking photos. It's based around everyday life, and by having a good artistic judgement and understanding of rules, the work produced could look so much better. However it isn't something that just clicks when learning, it takes a long time to understand.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_(visual_arts)
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/composition?showCookiePolicy=true
http://learnprophotography.com/rule-of-thirds
http://indiandigitalartists.com/photography-course-online/composition-in-photography-other-rules/
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