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.

James assignment 1

Assignment 1:Pre-production Techniques for the Creative Media Industries                                     29/10/2015                                                                                                                    Kyle Preston                                                        

What is pre-production?

Pre-production is the point where you think about how you will create a game idea and take into consideration your vision and the goals of your project as well as things hiring staff you also create the standards you expect from your staff. Production is the stage in games design in which you create the game itself when doing this you need to finish the game as quickly as possible as the more time it takes you the more profits you lose.

Finance

When making a game you have to consider financial issues whilst in production first you have to consider the cost of hardware and software as well as how you’re going to fund the game. My game will be made on the game maker software the version I have costs £150 and cost nothing to publish games from but you need and android module. To create my game I am using a school computer which doesn’t cost me any money but does cost the college itself to buy them and as the game doesn’t require funding I do not have to think about it but funding is a vital point you need to consider when making games at home as you will spend money on things like internet and electricity cost. You can get funding from places like kick starter.  

Materials

Materials like internet and electricity which you need to run the computers and its software but there are also costs for things like concept arts, storyboards and audio which may lead to cost of voice actor or actors depending on how many characters you have in the game. All of these are things you need to think about when making a game as you do not what to spend too much money making the game and not make a profit from the game. You can also buy artists to make your concept arts and storyboards for you and although this may cost more money it can help a lot in the long run.

Time constraints

You really have to think about time when making a game the longer it takes you to create the more profit you will lose things like deadlines are good things to think about. To judge what your deadline should be you also must talk about availability of equipment making games uses equipment like computers which will all need the software you use on the computers and can add to the cost of the game a lot and the longer you have the equipment the more money you will spend. You also have to take into consideration the availability of your staff as they also cost you money every day they are working for you.it is best to set a deadline that the game can be finished in but will not destroy your profits. There are also time scales for the legal side of things like copyright laws and other things.

Personnel

Personnel is a really big thing when making a game as you need to know how many people it takes to create your game. Staff can cost you a lot of money and you have to find the middle ground between the time it takes you to make the game and the amount of staff you need as they both tie into each other the more staff you have the faster your game gets finished which could end up costing you too much but if you have to little staff the longer it will take to make the game and could end up again costing you too much money.

Equipment and facilities  

Equipment is an essential when making a game as you need it to get your software as well as needing it to make the game itself this also ties in with staff as they are each going to need a computer to work with to help finish your game. A computer can cost about £600 if you want one that is relatively powerful and can run games easier than a standard laptop. You also must think about a facility to work in as you need some space for your co-workers. Facilities also cost money and you also have to decide whether you need to buy a property or rent a place out which could end up costing more later on. Availability of these things is a big subject as you even know how easy it could be to get the need thing s and the lowering of availability may cost you even more money than you what it to.

Contributors

Some games require other things like pictures from people and guns. Call of duty uses guns to model the guns in their game so they look as realistic as possible again this cost you even more money but makes your game far better and could make profits higher. Also you could hire actors for character voices which could make your game profits even higher but this is a choice you would have to make yourself. You can also hire people to create things like concept arts and story boards as well as people to make audio sound effects but again each of these cost money.

Codes of practice

Code of practice is something you must really think about as if you don’t it may end up costing you quite a bit of money as you may get sued for things like copyright, health and safety and insurance without these you can get sued for a lot of money so you have to organize all of the legal things.

My game
For my game I have took into consideration many of the things I have wrote about. I am using the school to work on my game this means I already have the software I need and the facilities. For my game it will just be me working on it which may take longer but means if I published it I would get more of the profits from it.I have also decided to make the game available to ages above 12 as the game main contain some gore. As I am making the game by myself all the sound and concept art will be produced by me.