Unit 69: Drawing Concept art for Computer Games

Concept art is a very important piece of the game development process and is used to design everything from guns to characters. Concept art is mainly used in games but is also used in movies for effects and things like animated monsters for horror movies. Concept art can be done with mutiple different drawing tools but is mainly done with computers now. Concept art is used for making accurate models for characters and other objects for games and movies. You can even add the concept art into some of the programs to allow for you to make the models look as much like the concept art as you can.Character concept art is a massive part of a game as characters are one of the most important parts of a game. They need to be well designed or the whole game will suffer. Their design tells you what they are like as a person and gives you some idea of what they used to do in the case of Dragunov its easy to see he was a member of the special forces. Concept art is done in stages starting with a few quick sketches. Then adding detail to one of the sketches and finally making the final product from the chosen sketch.

Background concept art is also very important as it is needed to create environments and levels. The concept art is done in similar stages to that of the character concept art but the finished product is done with a very high amount of details. The background is then turned into a realistic image to use as a texture box for the game itself or to design the level itself using the drawings to reference lighting and other things. Background and level concepts are easily the most important part of a game without levels characters have no place to exists. This particular concept art is of a stage from the fighting game Tekken. The level feels like it was designed to be bright and fun but still keep the attention on the fighters using the circles.


Concept arts are so essential to the creation of a game that every game has a lot of people working on concept art before anyone starts work on the levels characters or cutscenes.

Applications of 3D modelling

3D models have a large amount of applications like films, games and even architecture. 3D models can be used to make a whole matter of things like characters and buildings.
               One of the first applications of 3D models was in the movie Toy Story which was the first fully 3D animated movie. Made by Disney it was very popular and was a massive a hit when it became available to the public in 1995. It is now considered to be a classic. The movie began to be worked on in 1991. Many of the 3D modelling software they used then where very poor compared to that of todays software but they still managed to create models better than that of Tekken 2 which also used 3D models. 3D models in movies have always been better than that of games as games probably have less time in production than movies do. Toy story used 3D models for everything including the trees and houses in the backgrounds and outside the windows..
                Games also use 3D models for alot of things like character models and certain objects most of which are used to add a sense of realism to the maps and most of the objects are things like book shelves and sofas. They may also make thing like tree as well.All of the objects and colour and realism to the world the developers are trying to create, The characters are the most important things made for games though as without the the game would be full of voices without bodies and large empty worlds with only you in them. The process of making a character can take a while but once done the worlds and sound effects you have created now all have meaning. 3D models in games have come a far way since some of there first uses and instead of having low polygon shape stuck together there are now complex shapes that are very close to looking like real people and continue evolving.
               3D models are also used for architecture. They use 3D modelling software to make maps of the buildings. This can be very helpful for the builders them selves as they have maps in both 2D and 3D and know exactly how the building is supposed to look. They now know where walls should go, where foundations should be laid and sizes of all the room just because of this model the project manger created. Autocad is the program most of them use it is owed by Autodesk and came out in 1982 and is used to create 3D models for many things like architects, project managers, engineers and graphical designers.
             To 3D model you also have to render and animated objects to do both of these there are mutiple techniques. The things rendering effects is things like lighting and realistic texture. Rendering also changes the shading of the objects as well and uses advanced techniques such as: scanline rendering, ray tracing, or radiosity  Animation is also something you have to consider when making 3D models. Animation can be very difficult but you can do quite a few things just using keyframes an moving certain pieces. But doing some movements can take some time and be quite difficult to get looking correctly. Animation works well with rendering as it can help make an animation far more realistic
             3D models can be very useful for many different things but are mainly used for making games characters and movie effects. Even though they are mainly games and movies they can also be very useful for lot of other jobs.

Assignment 1: Unit 70 Game engines

Game engine 

A game engine is the software that allows people to create, code and run games. The game engine is supported by the computers operating system and the operating system by the computers hardware. there are multiple game engines all offering different mechanics and performs levels

Frostbite Engine

The Frostbite engine was created by Electronic Arts(EA) and is most notably used for the Battlefield games which where created by EA Digital Illusions CE also know as DICE. The newest version of the engine is Frostbite 3 and was first used for Battlefield 4. The engine runs on three primary components FrostEd, Runtime and Back end services. FrostEd is a desktop program that allows the developers to create games in realtime workflow and runtime allows then to code the games.They also cover animation, audio and cinematics. The Frostbite engine is only used by EA and was update to run real time strategy games along with racing games FPS games and even sports games. The best thing about the Frostbite engine is its ability to add more detail and even destructible environments. The physics engine in this engine is brilliant and has amazing rag doll physics to watch as you take a rocket to the face. The rag doll system can be kinda over the top at times but adds a lot to the games.


Unity

The Unity Engine is a cross platform game engine mainly used to create mobile apps as well as PC games. A lot of games have been made using the unity including Firewatch, Kerbal space program and Hatotful boyfriend. The latest version of the Unity engine 5 and it included many different objects available for you to use as well as its own physics engine and a new lighting system. The Unity engine can work on 21 platforms including Wii U and Xbox as well as mobiles unity is one of the biggest game engines used today. Unity also has a top of the line physics engine which allows for designers to add a physics engine without having to programme it in themselves allowing for more time to work on things like graphics. Unity also can be used to make mutiple types of games ranging from first person shooters to racing games.

Unreal

The latest Unreal engine is Unreal 4 and was developed by Epic games Unreal 4 contains better graphics and new objects. The Unreal engine has changed quite a bit since the original which was first used for a game called Unreal when it came out in 1998. Unreal 2 came out in 2002 and completely redesigned the engine as well as adding a brand new level editor into the engine. The first game to come out using this engine was America's Army which just so happens to be a game made by the american government. Unreal 4 is the latest version is far more advanced. It came out in 2012 after being expected of 2008. They took many steps to make it far easier to change things like health and bullet damage using tools allowing many new people to use Unreal easier. Unreal also runs its own script but it is only compatible with unreal and no other engines

CryEngine

The CryEngine is a game engine developed by the German game company Crytek. Some games to use CryEngine are Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 and SNOW. CryEngine has multiple different versions all with their own upgrades. In the first version of CryEngine was used to make Far cry. After they updated it for CryEngine 1.2 it was improved with better graphics and 1.3 add a lighting component. The next version of the CryEngine was 2 and was used in Crysis and later and updated version was used for a DLC in the game. CryEngine 3 had even better graphics and was used to make Crysis 2. The CryEngine have many features like high quailty 3D water, an AI editing system, a time of day system and lighting systems.Tools are also provided for animation and scripting as well as object creation and graphics rendering.

Comparison 

Each of the Game engines I have wrote about each have there own pros and cons but the one big thing I have noticed Is that the engines available to everyone can be used across more platforms than the engines that can only be used by certain companies as well as being able to make lots of different types of game like platformers and space shooters. The Frostbite engine has its own qualities like breakable objects and walls as well as being able to make the environments far more detailed than that of the unreal and unity engines. In my opinion The unreal engine is still better than that of the Frostbite engine as it can do far more than the frostbite engine and still with brilliant graphics. CryEngine is also a engine that can only be used by one company and although it has multiple features it is not as detailed as frostbite and cannot make as much types of game as unreal making it slightly worse than both.

Information was gained from :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_(game_engine)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_Engine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryEngine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frostbite_(game_engine)

https://padlet.com/wall/gs3jz3jjb300

https://padlet.com/wall/gs3jz3jjb300

Assignment 1 James

https://apps.quanticfoundry.com/gamerprofile/4e7f87c5ef0a46319017d4279145b3a6/

I feel that immersion is more important to me than the graph makes out but still agree that it is one of the most important things about a game. A game is like a intractable novel to me, I enjoy delving into the story of a game and find my self shocked by all of the plot twists it includes.Story is truly one of the best things about a game in my opinion if a game doesn't have a good story it should at least have a good multiplayer.

There is one other thing I didn't agree with to I really enjoy the creativity elements be it the art or being able to make my own things inside the game. I find myself looking around and exploring the map quite a bit as i feel it should be taking in by everyone that plays the game. I can be quite a competitive gamer especially when playing fighting games and first person shooters as I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when you beat then. This can make me quite a social gamer as a lot of the time i'm looking for challenge as well as just enjoy playing against other people. I also enjoy the fact that a lot of the other people I'm playing with are also enjoying playing the game. I also play games a lot with my friends be it online or in a local game. Teaming up with other people allows me to feel like I have a good team of people and that we are both enjoying the experience. 


According to the website gamers enjoy destruction more than excitement when playing games. Not only do they prefer destruction They also prefer strategy to a difficult game meaning it would be a good idea to make the players of my game think a lot instead of just fighting harder enemies. 

Many of the people in my class had high ratings for all of the given subjects. This tells me that games designers like almost everything about gaming in equal amounts be it the art or the action a lot of them enjoy the entire experience of gaming. 

10 questions

10 Questions

So what did you think of the assignments? Their where not enough game making assignments and the timings for all the assignments where really bad.

How would you rate the assignments in terms of difficulty? Most of the assignments where quite easy in sense of the subject but as we had to focus on other assignments as well things became far more difficult.

In the space shooter game, name one thing you learned during its development. I learnt how to make spawers so that enemies would attack in waves and the game would be more varied. I also learnt how to make sure your character only shots one bullet at a time.

In the maze game name one thing you learned during this assignment. Whilst making this game i learnt a lot of new code like an AI that followed you when you entered a certain area.


Right, here’s a slightly off the wall one:  did you learn any maths during this experience?  These assignments? No not really

Do you think you gained any maths when you did any puzzles for the maze game? no

How do you rate your maths?  Give us a scale, are you good? Im Ok about7.3
What GCSE grade have you got etc? C

How hard did you find the maths during these assignments?No

Do you think your opinion’s towards maths has changed? No

Unit 73: Sound Design for Computer Games

The Last of us: Main Theme Song

https://youtu.be/CEs8t-lZe4M?t=11m40s This track is a big part of the game as it is the music that builds up your opinion of the game before it as even begun. The music starts with a guitar being played, that slowly rises in volume. As well as this an other instrument begins to sound in the background at a higher pitch. the sound also comes along as very creepy. This leads me to believe that it is a multi-track song. The music rises in tempo as the song continues but even as the tempo rises the track still sounds very sad giving a hint to what the game may end up being like.  Also closer to the beginning of the track if you listen carefully you can hear footsteps on what sounds like rotting leaves. The song continues on with the guitar until the end but as the song nears the end a drum begins to sound coming in quite suddenly and ending on a final loud bang. The feelings the music makes you feel is continued all the way few the game with very few, The music has a very western feel to go with most of the game including horses and small towns in the woods. The main theme as the same sort of western vibe to the music shown though the Spanish sounds of the guitar. I also feel That the music would have been recorded as an uncompressed file to get a better quality sound as both the PS3 and PS4 could run the song. In general I think the tracks is a amazing track and suits the game really well .I think this song would sound best on a surround sound system as the track is of a high quality 

Halo 2: Main theme song

The music starts off with some singing which has almost a church like sound Which may be a hint toward the religious cult in the game. but very soon into the track a new sound is introduced. An awesome guitar solo which continues all the way though the song, this could be a showing of a new age.  I think that the main idea for the track was to motivate the player before the game had even started. The entire game follows the same sort of thing it is fast paced and action packed. I defiantly think that the sound would have been recorded compressed as it was a game made for the original Xbox which would not be able to process an uncompressed track. This track sounds really good and i think it accomplishes its goal of getting the player motivated for the levels to come. This sound would have mainly be listened to on a stereo system.

Survivor film review/plot

First of all the start of the film had no real connection to the main story at all. It had a few plot twists so that I didn’t expect and a few I did. Early on in the film you are introduced to the main character Kate Abbott. Who is later forced to kill to survive and stop a killer named the watch maker. The first time Kate meets the watch maker when he blows up a restaurant killing another one of the main characters bill who you later one discover has a son. Kate has just exited the building by this time and beings to run. The watch maker sees her and gives chase shooting at her but missing every time which I think is a small fault but never mind. Later on the watch maker kills more people going on with his murderous run. Kate also ends up becoming a killer getting really good at it all of a sudden. Near the end there is a huge fight seen between the watch maker and Kate as she tries to stop him from assassinating someone from the top of a roof. This later ends up with her killing him oh yeah ‘n’ Sam is not dead.