Adventure games - Tomb Raider 2
Resident Evil
Soul Reaver
Across a generation
Sunday 28 February 2010
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Monday 22 February 2010
Intrerim crit - Sunken Temple
Our teams crit has been the first consolidation of initial ideas.
Mark has been taking care of concept art and visualizing his vision of the sunken temple. Inspired by Lovecraft, he as managed to transform our temple into something unique and heavily stylized.
Moodboard...... Mark
Concept art - Mark
Ken has been designing the characters and creatures of the temple. Using a drawing tablet and Photoshop, he has created 2 of the 'monsters' that will haunt the temple. Again highly stylized.
Ken - concepts
The initial ideas for sound have come from a basis of 30's cinema, sharp abrasive strings juxtaposed against ambient spectral drones. The drones ideally to emanate from the central part of the temple, and using Second life's '3d spatial sound' have the sound associated with the creatures come directionally.
Foundations in place, now we can begin exploring and experimenting in second life.
Mark has been taking care of concept art and visualizing his vision of the sunken temple. Inspired by Lovecraft, he as managed to transform our temple into something unique and heavily stylized.
Moodboard...... Mark
Concept art - Mark
Ken has been designing the characters and creatures of the temple. Using a drawing tablet and Photoshop, he has created 2 of the 'monsters' that will haunt the temple. Again highly stylized.
Ken - concepts
The initial ideas for sound have come from a basis of 30's cinema, sharp abrasive strings juxtaposed against ambient spectral drones. The drones ideally to emanate from the central part of the temple, and using Second life's '3d spatial sound' have the sound associated with the creatures come directionally.
Foundations in place, now we can begin exploring and experimenting in second life.
Second Life introduction
Second life is the platform being used to create our game art.
Building and creating with highly simplified polygons means it is easier to realize concepts and artistic vision using a program like Second Life than it ever would be in 3ds max or Maya.
Maya however will still be used as a tool if/as and when detailed elements that cannot be achieved using the Second Life engine.
Screen shots of my avatar and of the College of art island where our Sunken Temple will be constructed.
This style of internet gaming really does not appeal to me. After a few days i still fail to see any practical application. However for this exercise in simple game creation it feels like an ideal place to start.
Building and creating with highly simplified polygons means it is easier to realize concepts and artistic vision using a program like Second Life than it ever would be in 3ds max or Maya.
Maya however will still be used as a tool if/as and when detailed elements that cannot be achieved using the Second Life engine.
Screen shots of my avatar and of the College of art island where our Sunken Temple will be constructed.
This style of internet gaming really does not appeal to me. After a few days i still fail to see any practical application. However for this exercise in simple game creation it feels like an ideal place to start.
Sunday 21 February 2010
Know your Rights
As far as copyrighting goes there are many ways to go about it. The easiest way, i found was to create a Deviant Art account. It provides you with options as to exactly what degree of protection / control you have.
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization with a mission to expand private rights to create public goods, creative works set free for certain uses.
Offering your work under a Creative Commons license does not mean giving up your copyright. It means offering some of your rights to any member of the public but only on certain conditions.
All of Creative Commons licenses require that you give attribution in the manner specified by the author or licensee.
Attribution Attribution. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request.
The core licensing suite will also let you mix and match conditions from the list of options below. There are a total of six Creative Commons licenses to choose from the core licensing suite.
Noncommercial Noncommercial. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work — and derivative works based upon it — but for noncommercial purposes only
No Derivative Works No Derivative Works. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
Share Alike Share Alike. You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.
Note: A license cannot feature both the Share Alike and No Derivative Works options. The Share Alike requirement applies only to derivative works.
Taking a License
When you've made your choices, you'll get the appropriate license expressed in three ways:
1. Commons Deed. A simple, plain-language summary of the license, complete with the relevant icons.
2. Legal Code. The fine print that you need to be sure the license will stand up in court.
3. Digital Code. A machine-readable translation of the license that helps search engines and other applications identify your work by its terms of use.
If you chose a Creative Commons license, the small logo and license description will appear next to your deviation. It will link back to the Commons Deed, so that the world can be notified of the license terms. If you find that your license is being violated, you may have grounds to sue under copyright infringement. The machine-readable
Courtesy of Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization with a mission to expand private rights to create public goods, creative works set free for certain uses.
Offering your work under a Creative Commons license does not mean giving up your copyright. It means offering some of your rights to any member of the public but only on certain conditions.
All of Creative Commons licenses require that you give attribution in the manner specified by the author or licensee.
Attribution Attribution. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request.
The core licensing suite will also let you mix and match conditions from the list of options below. There are a total of six Creative Commons licenses to choose from the core licensing suite.
Noncommercial Noncommercial. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work — and derivative works based upon it — but for noncommercial purposes only
No Derivative Works No Derivative Works. You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
Share Alike Share Alike. You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.
Note: A license cannot feature both the Share Alike and No Derivative Works options. The Share Alike requirement applies only to derivative works.
Taking a License
When you've made your choices, you'll get the appropriate license expressed in three ways:
1. Commons Deed. A simple, plain-language summary of the license, complete with the relevant icons.
2. Legal Code. The fine print that you need to be sure the license will stand up in court.
3. Digital Code. A machine-readable translation of the license that helps search engines and other applications identify your work by its terms of use.
If you chose a Creative Commons license, the small logo and license description will appear next to your deviation. It will link back to the Commons Deed, so that the world can be notified of the license terms. If you find that your license is being violated, you may have grounds to sue under copyright infringement. The machine-readable
Courtesy of Creative Commons
Research and context
Soundtracks and Imagery of 30s horror.
The major advance of the 1930’s was the introduction of synchronous sound and dialogue in the late 1930’s. First invented and shown in the 1920’s, it became the standard by the early 1930’s, partly due to the invention of a device based on the radio that could effectively amplify sound in the theater. Initially there were two available systems with which to record sound. The first was similar to a phonograph, and recorded the sound to a separate disc. The second, more popular, system recorded the sound directly onto the celluloid strip. Initially sound hindered the filmmaking process, since the cameras had to be encased to muffle the noise of their motors and actors could not stray far from the stationary microphones. However, technological advances soon made up for this and the sound became an integral part of filmmaking.
The tight string sounds and abstract noises are a perfect base to start experimenting with recreating and incorporating some of the 30's feel into the game. Over exaduration and melodrama juxtaposed with abrasive sharp tones.
Modern horror tends to rely on harsh tones juxtaposed with softer, quieter, more open passages of sound, aiding the illusion of jumpy, immediate 'jump' tactics.
....... Spectral drones of ominous ambiance / sharp strings and high noises to complement the characters and movement within the temple.
The major advance of the 1930’s was the introduction of synchronous sound and dialogue in the late 1930’s. First invented and shown in the 1920’s, it became the standard by the early 1930’s, partly due to the invention of a device based on the radio that could effectively amplify sound in the theater. Initially there were two available systems with which to record sound. The first was similar to a phonograph, and recorded the sound to a separate disc. The second, more popular, system recorded the sound directly onto the celluloid strip. Initially sound hindered the filmmaking process, since the cameras had to be encased to muffle the noise of their motors and actors could not stray far from the stationary microphones. However, technological advances soon made up for this and the sound became an integral part of filmmaking.
The tight string sounds and abstract noises are a perfect base to start experimenting with recreating and incorporating some of the 30's feel into the game. Over exaduration and melodrama juxtaposed with abrasive sharp tones.
Modern horror tends to rely on harsh tones juxtaposed with softer, quieter, more open passages of sound, aiding the illusion of jumpy, immediate 'jump' tactics.
....... Spectral drones of ominous ambiance / sharp strings and high noises to complement the characters and movement within the temple.
Sunken Temple - Research and Context
1930's - Horror
Horror was reborn in the 1930s. The advent of sound, as well as changing the whole nature of cinema forever, had a huge impact on the horror genre. The dreamlike imagery of the 1920s, the films peopled by ghostly wraiths floating silently through the terror of mortals, their grotesque death masks a visual representation of 'horror', were replaced by monsters that grunted and groaned and howled. Sound adds an extra dimension to terror, whether it be music used to build suspense or signal the presence of a threat, or magnified footsteps echoing down a corridor. Horror, with its strong elements of the fantastic and the supernatural, provided an effective escape to audiences tiring of their Great Depression reality, and, despite the money spent on painstaking special effects, often provided a good return for their studio. This was also despite the struggle that many of the major players - such as director Tod Browning - had to adapt to the new medium. Making talking pictures was a very different process to producing silent movies and, watching today, some of the early efforts seem very awkward indeed.
Thursday 11 February 2010
RSS Feeds. . Good or Bad?
RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites like Slashdot, and personal weblogs. But it's not just for news. Pretty much anything that can be broken down into discrete items can be syndicated via RSS: the "recent changes" page of a wiki, a changelog of CVS check-ins, even the revision history of a book. Once information about each item is in RSS format, an RSS-aware program can check the feed for changes and react to the changes in an appropriate way.
RSS-aware programs called news aggregators are popular in the web logging community. Many weblogs make content available in RSS. A news aggregator can help you keep up with all your favourite weblogs by checking their RSS feeds and displaying new items from each of them.
Rss Feeds are a relatively new thing to me. It’s only in the last few months where I have recognised I have a need for a greater flow of information from a wider veriety of sources that they have become a useful tool. In practicing being creative, my mind is constantly searching for new inspiration and references, visual or otherwise, even if its news or cultural information to aid contextualisation of work. Using Rss feeds allows for a free flow of updated information available if and when you need it.
Obviously there is a lot of spurious information that is not required, but this does not detract away from an Rss feeds usefulness. Information pops up as concise bulletins allowing the user to pick what precise information they need. Unlike using email, where the interface is user defined, Rss feeds create a safer and easier way of receiving information by eradicating the need to use personal information or having inbox’s clogged with junk and spam. For people that don’t have the time to browse or for people who are just plain lazy, Rss feeds play a huge part in the free flow of information and complement the needs of people who use the web.
Web feeds have some advantages compared to receiving frequently published content via an email:
• Users do not disclose their email address when subscribing to a feed and so are not increasing their exposure to threats associated with email: spam, viruses and identity theft.
• Users do not have to send an unsubscribe request to stop receiving news. They simply remove the feed from their aggregator.
• The feed items are automatically sorted in that each feed URL has its own sets of entries (unlike an email box where messages must be sorted by user-defined rules and pattern matching).
As far as I can see, the capacity for processing information is increasing, as are the tools created to fulfil the information’s needs. Rss feeds are just a beautiful reaction to a need for more efficient means of information transfer and I feel further substantiates network philosophy.
RSS-aware programs called news aggregators are popular in the web logging community. Many weblogs make content available in RSS. A news aggregator can help you keep up with all your favourite weblogs by checking their RSS feeds and displaying new items from each of them.
Rss Feeds are a relatively new thing to me. It’s only in the last few months where I have recognised I have a need for a greater flow of information from a wider veriety of sources that they have become a useful tool. In practicing being creative, my mind is constantly searching for new inspiration and references, visual or otherwise, even if its news or cultural information to aid contextualisation of work. Using Rss feeds allows for a free flow of updated information available if and when you need it.
Obviously there is a lot of spurious information that is not required, but this does not detract away from an Rss feeds usefulness. Information pops up as concise bulletins allowing the user to pick what precise information they need. Unlike using email, where the interface is user defined, Rss feeds create a safer and easier way of receiving information by eradicating the need to use personal information or having inbox’s clogged with junk and spam. For people that don’t have the time to browse or for people who are just plain lazy, Rss feeds play a huge part in the free flow of information and complement the needs of people who use the web.
Web feeds have some advantages compared to receiving frequently published content via an email:
• Users do not disclose their email address when subscribing to a feed and so are not increasing their exposure to threats associated with email: spam, viruses and identity theft.
• Users do not have to send an unsubscribe request to stop receiving news. They simply remove the feed from their aggregator.
• The feed items are automatically sorted in that each feed URL has its own sets of entries (unlike an email box where messages must be sorted by user-defined rules and pattern matching).
As far as I can see, the capacity for processing information is increasing, as are the tools created to fulfil the information’s needs. Rss feeds are just a beautiful reaction to a need for more efficient means of information transfer and I feel further substantiates network philosophy.
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