Elements of game technology Game engines

Elements of Game Technology

Game Engines

For this blog I will be looking at and researching the different kinds of Game engines, their advantages and disadvantages, market penetration, usability, technology features and what games they support.

Game engine definition

A game engine is a software system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers. The core functionality typically provided by a game engine includes a rendering engine (“renderer”) for 2D or 3D graphics, a physics engine or collision detection (and collision response), sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, threading, localization support, and a scene graph. The process of game development is frequently economized by in large part reusing/adapting the same game engine to create different games.

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

Game engine advantages

One major advantage when using a game engine is the fact that the level design can be re-used when creating other games, which makes them cost effective and time effective. Also despite the specificity of the name, game engines are often used for other kinds of interactive applications with real-time graphical requirements such as marketing demos, architectural visualizations, training simulations, and modelling environments, which is also an advantage.

Advantages:

• Most if not all of the coding is done for you, so all you have to worry about is content, level layout, etc.


• Along those lines, memory management, asset loading, lighting (in complex engines), etc has all been designed and tested thoroughly (hopefully).


• As mentioned below, if the engine is cross platform you will have to do little to no work to port your game.

Disadvantages:

• If you are modifying anything, you now need to become familiar with a new codebase.


• If there is a bug in the engine, unless it is open source you can't fix it.


• The engine was not designed specifically for your game, so it may be less efficient than code you write specifically for your game.


• Game engines generally are not free.


• If a game is small, the overhead of using an engine may not be worth the time invested to write code yourself.


• If your game engine also has any editors or tools, you will have to build and test those as well before turning them over to artists or relying on them yourself.

http://efreedom.com/Question/4-859/Advantages-Disadvantages-Using-Game-Engine

Game engines are a really good tool to show you how good your meshes and textures are and if you need to make any alterations to them. We have recently been using the unreal engine in a group project at university and it has proved to be quite challenging. Trying to adjust to the different transform tool buttons has been especially hard, when I’m so used to a different set within 3dds max. I am still learning to use the unreal editor but I’m sure I will get to grips with it soon.

Review of the second year

Personal review of the second year

For the purpose of this blog I will be looking into my own account of the second year and how it’s progressed.

The year started well and I was full of beans and looking forward to my second year at uni after having not choosing the correct uni to start with. I had again set out my timetable and was following it well until I stated to have problems with my student finance AGAIN! I was really angry that they could do this to me again considering the fact that I have a family that I need to help support.

It probably took a good four months until my money was all sorted out, but by then I had started to fall behind. I really do think that the whole system needs a complete overhaul. The fact that my course is so intense and the fact that it is crammed into such a short space of time, makes it near on impossible to catch up once behind. I managed to make it to Christmas whilst still being slightly behind but had further problems that I do not wish to publish on the net.

At the time I felt like the whole world was against me and I just pray that I have done enough to warrant a place on the final year. For me, being 31, its not just about getting my degree but its about creating a better life for my family. I love my partner dearly and her three children that I love like my own. I only wish that one day we can provide a good enough and stable enough life to have one of our own.

I have worked in many dead end jobs and don’t wish to return there as those sorts of jobs can only provide you with enough money to live just above the bread line. I feel that I have enough life skills, experience of people and determination to pursue this career and I want my family to be proud. Within my martial arts I have learnt five tenets that are courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control and indomitable spirit. All of these qualities, for me are not just about my martial arts but about life in general, Taekwondo is a life choice and not just about the fight I’m in but about the fights and struggles of life its self.

I have learnt a great deal this year even with some absence from the course. I just hope to finish everything that I can to a respectable standard in time for my grading and then start to focus on my final year.

For my FMP I am hoping to put forward the idea of creating a kind of luxury day out at a race course, the sort of thing you might receive as a present for Xmas or a birthday gift. I have chosen a nearby race course called Mallory park, which I intend to visit during the summer to collect reference from and to sit and draw. I want to specialise in Vehicle art and will be gearing this FMP towards it. Therefore there will be several vehicles modelled, but also to make sure I don’t put all of my eggs into one basket I will be modelling part of the track and probably a character. This will give me a good rounded FMP with vehicle, environment and character art all in it, not to mention the 2D art that I will create for all of the assets, locations and vehicles that I intend on putting in it.

I hope that my lectures like this idea even if the design may need refining. Next year, my final year is by far the most important year of my life and nothing is going to stand in my way from completing this year and accomplishing my dreams. In retrospect I wish that between the first and second year that I had given myself a head start in order to soak up any problems encountered during this year but this knowledge will make my final year a much stronger year as I will work all summer to churn out at least half of the briefs for the final year.

My luck must change soon, and you know what they say third time lucky!!

Life changing or career building

Life changing or career building

For the purpose of this blog I will be looking into how Universities approach there role of helping students graduate with the necessary skills.

A lot of game companies ask for experience when advertising for jobs, while others ask for creative individuals. I feel that there is always going to be the need for both, depending on the job description. I would really like to concentrate on my chosen career path however I do feel that the way in which my university has taught me so far will help my progression into becoming a really good game artist. The saying goes ‘jack of all trades master of none’ and to a certain degree that is true but the fundamental skills necessary to become a good quality artist need to be nurtured before this can happen.

There is no point being a great modeller if you don’t understand colour theory or light. The same can be said of a concept artist, if they don’t understand the anatomical structure, then there drawings will look poor.

In my opinion the governments views on such problems are rarely correct and the can never see the woods for the trees!

If it was up to me then I think that what I would aim to do would be to engineer the briefs so that they could be tailored more towards a more specialised field whilst retaining the diversity enough to teach the student the necessary skills in order to help them become a competent game artist.

In theory the three years spent at university are kind of a fifty fifty split between what the curriculum says you need and a year of specialising, with the first year being a kind of tryout year.

When approaching projects on our course it is paramount to follow it to the letter, which is good training to enable you to do exactly that when working in the industry. There is no point completing a brief to then realise that you are well over the specification limits, to have to start all over again. Generally what we do at De-Montford is prepare for life as a game artist in the industry, we follow proper briefs and we try to use the design process to approach them. These are the fundamental skills that are necessary, along with a good appreciation for colour theory, light and so on.

I think that we at De-Montford University are being drilled the best way possible and that we will be turned out as good game artists by the end of the course. The fact that the final year is specialised, for me, is a real plus as I have had not had a lot of time to increase my skills as a vehicle artist and, as that is what I want to specialise in, must do so if I’m ever going to get my dream job.

Creativity, the talent myth and craft

Creativity, the talent myth and craft

For the purpose of this blog I will be looking into creativity.

I believe that everyone has talent and everyone is creative. Children often look into the sky and make the clouds into everyday things such as sheep and dogs. This suggests that children are born creative but somehow sometimes that is lost somewhere along the way. I feel this must be down to our current education system and that it is hampering our countries ability to roll out more artists than it does. The education system almost frowns upon the arts, music dance drama art, and instead puts maths English and science above these. It’s a shame that we live in this society as I as a student, even though I am aware of this, struggle to believe that I am good enough or my work is better than student x’s. It’s become a constant battle for me and there is nothing like feeling good about your work or feeling confident about the things that you’re creating.

I recently found this interesting website.

Everyone is born creative

I’m reading a new book about creativity called Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod. Hugh MacLeod is a cartoonist who began doodling on the back of business cards in 1997. Many doodles later, he published Ignore Everybody and continues to publish a great blog called gaping void.

So far my favourite chapter so far is chapter 6

Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

So true! Too often I hear people say “I’m not creative,” but is that really true? Everyone is born creative. However sometime between kindergarten and today, perhaps during the tumultuous time called adolescence, doubt creeps in and we may think we aren’t creative. Fear kicks in. Our comparative brain decides that what we created wasn’t as good as what Johnny created. Creativity stops. I find myself doing this – stopping the creative process because I think that I’m not good at something. To combat this thought, I’ve been reading about creativity, writing a blog and dabbling in photography.

We didn’t fear crayons in kindergarten, so why fear them now?

http://becheap.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/everyone-is-born-creative/

I think this summarises a lot of people’s feelings towards whether we are born with or gain creativity.

Further to this I do believe that some people are more suited towards a job with a more artistic title and that they are indeed very apt in whatever field it is that they choose to pursue but generally this is again down to the fact they can see that they are good at something therefore they practice and practice whatever it may be and become better at it. I think the bottom line is that practice makes perfect, failing to prepare is preparing to fail! We all need to try to apply ourselves to whatever path in life we choose to take.

Introduction to the Video Games Industry

An introduction to the Game Industry

From Generalist to Specialist

For the purpose of this blog I will be looking into the Game Industry as a whole and further more looking into the specialised areas that are within it.

Game Industry Definition

The video game industry (often referred to as interactive entertainment) is the economic sector involved with the development, marketing and sale of video games. It encompasses dozens of job disciplines and employs thousands of people worldwide.

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

Some of the Game Industry Specialism’s

The game industry employs those experienced in other traditional businesses, but some have experience tailored to the game industry. For example, many recruiters target just game industry professionals. [Citation needed] Some of the disciplines specific to the game industry include: game programmer, game designer, level designer, game producer, game artist and game tester. Most of these professionals are employed by video game developers or video game publishers. However, many hobbyists also produce computer games and sell them commercially.[citation needed] Recently[when?] game developers have begun to employ those with extensive or long-term experience within the modding communities.

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

How are Video Games made?

Here is the sequence in which Video Games are generally made within the industry today.

1. Core Team

A group of people whom come up with the general concept of the game. Numerous meetings will occur in which the group brainstorms about the game; figuring out not only how it will look, but also how it will work. The core team is in charge of the production schedule as well, which describes the tasks each person is assigned and when they most do them.

2. Game Breakdown

Every detail, task, job, and deadline about the video game is broken down into components and then added to a bulletin board. This board acts as the nerve centre throughout the games production.

3. Artistic Concept

Artist’s sketch out the games characters & backgrounds with a very basic level of detail. These sketches are what the graphics artists use to create the characters and backgrounds in 3D on the computer.

4. Development Team

This team uses the latest in computer animation technology to bring life to all of the game's elements; adding colours, textures, shading, and even movement. This team uses the 3d characters and backgrounds created by the graphics team.

5. Programming & Engineering

This is the bread & butter of the game development stage; because without this part, there would be no game. Suffice it to say, the programmers & engineers make the game work. Their coding is what holds the game together and allows the player to actually play the game.

6. Testing

This is the final and most crucial part of the development process. This phase is to see if everything is working properly and as it should be. Testers will check for bugs and glitches and try to find potential problems.

The game testers won't merely be playing the game and seeing if problems will find them -- it's the other way around, as THEY will be the ones searching for the problems. The testers will do everything and anything possible in the game to ensure there is no abnormal situations or circumstances; walking through walls, disappearing, enemy AI problems, cinematic errors, you name it. If the testers miss ANYTHING, it could mean disastrous consequences -- in the form of profit loss -- for the company releasing the game.

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Are-Video-Games-Made---The-Process-From-Start-to-Finish&id=1490898

Games companies are all trying to increase their sales via the online market nowadays and it’s becoming the norm to design games to be one player only, as in order to then play with friends you must tap into the online community. There are also a lot of game expansions that are primarily only available to buy and download online. Not only this but there is a convergence of media available now on the ‘big three’s’ consoles as the industry looks to expand into all areas of the media market. Films and TV shows are available to download online not to mention the ability to hire them and watch TV through your own system. As the industry grows it seems to want to take a percentage of the profits from the music and film industries respectively. This must mean that the industry will continue to grow and go from strength to strength.

Statistics

According to consulting firm Hudson Square Research (HSR), the video game industry’s recent surge has finally allowed it to catch up to the movie business on a global basis. Whereas the games industry surpassed this movie industry back in 2005 in America alone, as well as gaming surpassing the music industry in 2007

Analyst Daniel Ernst reports that in the past year, from March 2007 to March 2008, global video game (software) revenues grew 38%. Global software sales reached $26.5 billion, only slightly behind the film industry’s $26.7 billion. The rest of the year he anticipates global software revenues to climb another 31% to $34.6 billion. Hardware revenue, on the other hand, will see a 5% decline to $18.9 billion.

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2008/04/09/global-videogame-sales-surpass-movie-industry-in-2008.htm

Elements of Game Technology Interactive Design

Elements of Game Technology

Interactive design

For the purpose of this blog I will be looking into the interactive design and ergonomics of the different forms and ways of playing games.

The design of video game playing equipment during the 80’s has vastly changed by today’s standards, long gone are the booths and sit down stations that used to litter the arcade halls of the past. During the decline of the of the arcade games industry there was an effort to improve the variety of the machines that were available to play on, systems such as the penalty shoot out system which had a football at the end of an elastic cord which the player had to strike at the screen and try to score goals, which was quite inventive. The old school ‘after burner’ game from the 80’s was also updated into a system where the player could completely rotate 360 degrees. There were plenty of other advances such as the multi link ‘Daytona’ and ‘Sega Rally Championship’, which were both successful.

Newer more modern advances saw the introduction of games such as ‘Time Crisis’ and the ‘House of the Dead’, which had a much better gun than earlier systems such as ‘Operation Wolf’ and ‘Rambo’. Also popular games such as ‘Guitar Hero’ and Dance Revolution’ have more recently helped the failing arcades of today. Interactive design over the past ten years has seen a dramatic change in the way that current consoles have approached the market. There has been an explosion in the use of wireless technology and even consoles themselves have become smaller and more compact. This sudden increase in technology is mainly down to the advances made by Nintendo and there ‘Wii’ console, it is currently the most successful and highest selling of the ‘big three’ and it’s not surprising why. The ‘Wii’ has reached every inch of the market, where others have failed, from children, boys and girls to teenagers and young adults. I even know of nursing homes that have the console there too!

Its interactive design where by the player has a more hands on, or off in some cases, role that is the main reason behind this. The wireless motion controller has been so successful that the ‘Wii’s’ rivals are now marketing similar versions of it, with Sony’s ‘Playstation Move’ and Microsoft’s ‘Xbox Kinect’.

The ‘Wii’s’ motion controllers has already had an effect on new game design with games being specifically design around the use of this and I’m sure it will continue on. The versatility of the motion controller has already seen it being used as a bat, a sword, a tennis racket and many more diverse items.

Technology has also seen a rise in ‘3D’, a design last popular during the mid to late 80’s, mostly on the big screen. Although it wasn’t a massive success and faded out in the early 90’s, it has made a more recent resurgence with TV’s coming 3D ready, sports games being shown in 3D and the latest films also being shown in 3D also. I personally don’t think it has made much progress, other than the new glasses that are now available. However I do think that it could have a place in the games industry, maybe it will be a stepping stone to fully immersing the gamer into the 3d game but with a 3d projection.

I would like to see some sort of technological advance in virtual reality as I think this will be the next big move for the games industry. You could argue that we already have virtual reality but developers have left behind the head sets of the past and now we just have virtual worlds to play in. it would be outstanding to be able to purchase equipment capable of fully immersing the player within it, especially with today’s graphics and sound. I believe that this would be a great tool not only for games but also for job training. Simulators are still used today in some professions such as pilots and astronauts but with the realism of today’s graphics and sound Virtual reality could become a much widely used tool.

Elements of Game Technology sound for games

Elements of Game Technology

Sound For Games

For this blog I will be exploring the use of sound within games.

The use of sound within games is very similar to that of the use within films and T.V. it is a fundamental part of the users experience and it enhances the gaming experience as a whole. I think that the sound design can make or break a game.

Things such as the effects used to resemble the reloading sounds of a gun or the recoil noise made by its firing, the noise made by a certain type of car engine and the sounds made by inanimate objects being interacted with are all diegetic sounds and are part of the basic build up of the types of sounds needed to create a good sound design and a realistic feel.

Another type of the sound design makeup is non-diegetic. This is the type of sound which covers a narrative commentary, the sound of god’s voice, mood music and sounds which are added in for a dramatic effect. Things like the sound of two people fighting or the sound of a sword as it is draw from its sheaf are usually enhanced to emphasise the action being made.

This is also true of sounds that are specific to the genre, such as horror games. In horror games, and indeed the whole horror genre, there is a heavy use of sound design to create a mood or feeling. Things such as emphasised footsteps or high pitched strings to create tension are particularly common within this genre. Also subjective ambience is used to add to the spooky or scary feeling that is trying to be created.

I feel that as technology has progressed so has my appreciation for the quality of the sound within them. Therefore my key memories of sound design within games leans more towards the next-gen games as opposed to the older retro games. Having said this you’ve got to love the sound design of most of the arcade games of the late eighties early nineties, with its pings, pongs and cheesy sound effects. I suppose it was like marmite, while you were winning it was great and added to the experience, but when you were losing the repetition of the sounds became sooo irritating that you wanted to smash it! Love it or hate it.

I particularly like the sound of the cars in the need for speed series as every time you are able to buy a new vehicle and get to drive it for the first time, one of the key things is the sound of the engine when it’s fired up or the noise of it when you reach the vehicles top end!

I also like quite a few survival horror games sound design, for obvious reasons, like the game ‘Condemned’. In this game the moments of silence are very scary, as are the moments of sudden violence as someone jumps out on you. The environmental sounds in this game are also quite good, from the sounds of the subway, with its dripping water and trains in the distance, to the sounds of the streets with cars passing by and voices up ahead and the stillness of certain buildings, with its creaky floors and doors. Also in this game you can collect crows for a bonus. This is quite scary as you can be in a room looking out for people ready to jump out when you hear the noise from a wounded crow on the floor! It really makes you jump.

Some of the key sound designers

One man who has just crossed over into the world of sound for video games is a German composer called ‘Hans Zimmer, Hans recently wrote the score for the hit game ‘Call of duty: Modern warfare 2. Hans has won many awards within the film industry and has written many great pieces of music for some top films such as ‘Gladiator’, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ series and the ‘Dark Knight’ to name just a few. I hope that he writes more scores for video games in the future.

I feel that I have to mention a couple of people from the ‘DreamWorks’ team as they have produced some stunningly realistic recordings. Sound supervisor ‘Erik Kraber’ did some great work on the medal of honour series, even going to WWII battle re-enactments for more realism within his work and also the composer for the series ‘Michael Giacchino’ who wrote and recorded the musical score for the games, beautifully captured in a large church in a college, Seattle, Washington.

It’s quite surprising at how many, usually; film or T.V orientated sound designers are now moving over to work within the video games industry. I think as the technology progresses and allow more freedom to create even more realistic sounds for video games; there will be more of an attraction for people who usually work in T.V or film to pursue a career in video games sound designing. It can only be a good thing for us gamers!