I want to feel alive!

Well today I've been working on my environment again, patching things up and making more assets. I've been wanting to breathe a bit more life into it rather than just to keep adding objects.

Of course I'm still adding objects, but I'm starting to think more about what I want in my scene rather than just replicating the real thing. So far it's come to a couple of magazines, but using one texture for the two, making it a two sided object because you're not going to see both sides at once, just either Edge or Heat.

Then there's the drum with rubbish in it. With this I really tried to make it look dirty and gritty, and with the normal bump, it's doing just that. I'm not quite sure where abouts to place it yet, may have to do some moving about.

A couple more cables have also emerged in my bid to add life to the scene. This time they're hanging across the alley so they're more in view and a bit more of a focal point rather than just being up againtst a wall. What better to complement the cables than a pigeon!


I had this thought of adding more life to my scene, when I was playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2. There I was slowley creeping through and abandoned half built houseing estate with my team, and whilst the buildings were mostly wooden frames with some bricks, it still felt alive.

It was the little things. The plastic sheeting dancing in the wind, making sudden crashes when the wind caught it properly, and scaring the life out of me. Then there was the loose electrical cables swing back and forth.

Even though there wasn't much going on in the level, it was the little things that made it feel alive as I nervously crept through the town.

Micro-who?

Have Microsoft ever had an original fucking idea? Please I want to know!

It seems that everything I see of Microsoft's has already been done, and usually better. They do it with EVERYTHING, and that's not really an exaggeration.

Why do we succumb to this bully, it's really starting to annoy me.

Ok rant over, but please if anyone can let me know of an original idea of Microsoft's that's somehow worth having, please, let me know.

Melted cheese anyone?

I first started my research and development project with the starting point of 'modern architecture', ok I know it's quite a broad area but I've often found that projects that give you quite a wide area of subjects to study will improve you research and give you a better variety of ideas.

Anyway, I wanted to move into looking at the most cutting edge and 'omg' factor buildings. To do this I looked at the one and only Dubai...oh yes.

Now Dubai has become one of the richest Arab countries through, yep you guessed it, oil. It has been said that the oil reserves will only last till 2050 and so they have decided to concentrate on building up their tourism industry, which is great for my project!

I've sifted thought the many amazing designs proposed by a whole range of top architecture firms, and the main contributors seem to be a firm called Atkins.

Just looking at the concepts makes me dribble with anticipation of what marvels they could create, given enough money. When you look at what hotels already stand there ( for example the Burj al Arab hotel pictured below) it's very clear that all of what they propose is entirely possible, and immanent.

Another architect that stands out in this field is Zaha Hadid. The stunning Dubai Opera house concepts look unlike anything I've seen before, and really look like someone has put a model in for 20 minutes on gas mark 6 and out emerges this stretched, melted scene with beautiful curves and flowing lines. I have to say that I adore this style, and it is my perfect idea of modern/futuristic architecture.

Right I'm off to stick some playmobile in the cooker...

So it's over for another year...

Well the days of eating myself silly have once again passed for another year and I'm kinda glad, because I always feel bad for being lazy...doesn't stop me from being lazy mind.

Today I want to talk about a recent addiction... no not crack, but something that kept me staring at a television screen for over six hours. Now I know that's a long time, but when you have two mates playing, planning, and executing stratagies with and aginst you, it is just quite simply impossible to put down.

So what am I talking about, well it's a game downloaded from the playstation network called 'Age of Booty'. If any of you can an imaging a cross between the playstation one game 'Overboard' and capture the flag, you're nearly there. I works on a system of hexagons where you direct your ship to capture ports and recources, and battle enemey ships.


I was amazed at how simple it looked and worked, but also at how complex the planning and strategy could get. You achieve upgrades to help you along the way. The other thing that really appealed to me the graphics. They are filled with bright, highly saturated colours, which is a welcome change when you look at all of the latest dingey next-gen games (not that I don't think that some of them look breathtaking).

I think it's really great that people are still making these new games, because they have a fresh feeling to them, and of course is a big change from the norm. If you own a PS3 you must give it a try, and it's only £6.99, much cheaper than drugs.

The Thumb has Been Removed!

Ok so I know, I've been a naughty boy with the blogs, so I'm going to try and make an effort now to do at least two a week!

Well my assesments over, and I can honestly say it sucks being at the end of the alphabet! But i also took a few other things away with me.

I knew my self portrait was pants, there are a lot of things wrong with it. First of all the proportions are wrong, which does me no favours when looking at the entire model. Then there's the face, the cheeks are too big and the head is the wrong shape, I think the entire body is a bit square. The texture is also a bit dodgey. I think I basically need better reference pictures for the shape, dimensions and textures. Though I can honestly say I was quite pleased with the mesh of the arms and legs, they had a nice shape to them.



On the other hand Heather seemed to really like my war of the worlds project, which just goes to show that your best work is always the stuff you enjoy the most.




I've also got to mention Ben Mathis, because it has been awesome having him in this week. Just watching him work is a great experience, I think its the way he manages to get so much out of a small allowance and the ways in which he's so efficant. And on top of that he's a top bloke, always teaching, giving advice and guiding people.

Game Art Year 2: The Student Strikes Back

Hey im back! yeah i know it's been along time, but i'm here to show you a bit of work (shock horror).

Ok so with this project we were asked to make something interesting out of a piece of paper/card, using nothing more than scissors, PVA glue, and our imagination.

So here it is, i know it isnt that exciting, but i thought it would be cool to recreate one, and i think it looks a great deal like a real one. I want to make it look real so i used all the correct dimensions and measurements, which took about 2 hours!

Week 24 : A year in Game Art.....well, 7 months

I've got to say first of all that this is an ace course and wiped the floor with the others that I looked at before coming. But its not just the course that's great, It's the people too. Everyone is different, in a good way, and there's not an ounce of arrogance in sight, which is a rare thing when it comes to art college. I've been there, done that and hated the people who are up their own arses, so I've got to grant kudos to Mike for picking out not just the talented, but the unique and nice people. I think the people you work around are vital to your experiences and learning processes, and picking polite and helpful students must be a real talent.

I think that the structure is good, and provides and equal balance. I would certainly like to see more on digital painting, since I've come along way in them. The other day I compared one of my first paintings to one of my recent ones and I was shocked. In a good way of course.

Maybe looking more into marketing and franchises would boost our understanding of the industry as we know it, or looking at story telling and character building, but then maybe that's heading into game 'design' too much, I don't know. Maybe that's a good thing, broaden our horizons, but then again focusing might be a better idea.

I'm pretty much stumped for ideas of how else to improve the course, but if a light bulb does light up, I'll let it be known.

Week 22: GDC

OK, so I've had a look around at the sort of stuff that's going on at GDC, and I can safely say, Damn you Mike I want to go to! It looks like there's loads of interesting talks, but most of all because the weather doesn't suck to high hell over there.

Looking back on GDC 2006 I noticed that events took place in London, which is no more than a short train ride from where I'm stationed when not in Leicester. Looking closer on the events I saw there was an interesting title, 'Creating Emotion In Next-Gen Games' so I've decided to ramble on about that today. Don't worry, I won't get all soppy on you.

'An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings, thoughts, and behaviours.'


Now I'm not going to get all psychological on you (partly because I don't know enough about it, but also because it's not my particular brand of whisky), I'm just going to look at some of the key techniques used to 'move' you.

Generally people will connect with characters or NPCs, as people who play over the Internet are hardly Oscartm winners. They must make the player identify with the character, and in doing so induce the player into bonding with them.

Creating a history helps, telling you where they've come from and what they've been through. Any little detail that will breathe life into the NPC is vital, and will help them relate to the character, igniting players' emotions, making them hungry for more.

So a great deal of the emotion created is down to the script, storyline and characters, but how about graphics?

With graphics getting better by the day, developers are able to bring facial animations in that can give a heightened sense of realism, but then realism isn't always necessary. Final Fantasy VII stunned fans, and in some cases raised emotions, when Aeries died, and facial animations were non-existent in that game.


But when it comes down to it, there's nothing like a good plot twist, something unexpected that will move the player with the help of shock.

Week 21 : Where do I want to go, and how do I get there?

When I look back at this year, I think to myself 'wow I've come along way', not just in my work but in my lifestyle as well. Ive moved to a different part of the country, with different surroundings and a new subject. It feels like I'm gradually getting closer to that 'proper' job (since working in a pub isn't my idea of a career?

I think the thing that has changed the most in me is self directed study. All my life I've been at school working to timetables and restrictive curriculum's, where as now its about how much work I as an individual, put in myself.

Things that I've learnt over my six months (it feels longer) here, range from technical skills, such as using 3ds max, which has been a headache at times (and still is), to my artistic ability and observation skills. I feel that my self directed drawing work has really pushed me forward.

I have also discovered how much you can learn from working with other people. Everyday I will get a tip or a little trick from my class mates, and it's always a pleasure to return the favour. I'd say that a large amount of progression has been gained from working next to each other and simply observing work and techniques.

I find that looking back on my older work is always helpful and can be fun, just like going back and reading my previous blogs, it gives me an idea of what I was like and what I've learned.

So it's coming to the end of the year, and I'm really looking forward to the second year, not that the summer break doesn't go unwelcome. But the thing is I still want to do work over the summer, and I think that's the main thing that's changed, the fact that I want to get better and not just pass the course.

Week 19 - Life Changing or Career Building?

When I look around at a lot of games courses I tend to find that they're a bit detached from the art side of things. The other day I was browsing through a graduates online portfolio only to see a character that was badly drawn, poorly shaded and to be honest wasn't very original or exciting. In a paragraph explaining his he work he stated that his course didn't have much art-based work in it.

It concerned me because this guy probably wouldn't get a job with this portfolio. OK so maybe his 3D work was brilliant, but it's not like 2D and 3D work are completely detached.

Like Jolyon Webb said, it's easier to teach 3D programs than to teach how to draw. For this reason I think it's a good idea that for game art courses to be more 2D art based, and that's why I'm here.

I think it is essential that key skills in all areas are taught, but the point of an education is not just to qualify students for work, but to prepare them as well.

Another issue is one raised by David Braben at gamecity. He stated that most game courses are five years out of date and that they aren't teaching what they need at the moment.

"If a university can take over a year to introduce a new module to the degree, then how is it at all possible to keep up to date with an industry that has changed major technologies several times in the last 12 months and is only now just beginning to get to grips with the power of PS3 and X360?"

So how do you educate for an industry that is advancing so quickly? An Industry that has technology, which is constantly developing? Well unless we can download weekly updates from the companies directly into our brains, I'm clueless!