Skull Girls DLC

It's a shame that the developers of Skull Girls can't develop their game anymore. Skull Girls is a fighting game featuring a set of weirdly diverse characters. The game is 2D and features beautiful animations and it would be worth buying it just to see how good the the game looks onscreen. Lab Zero were wanting to make more characters, however ran out of money before releasing one. They have taken to Indie Gogo to fund a new set of characters.

Vlambeer

Vlambeer is an indie company known for its soul crushing game Super Crate Box. Vlambeer takes an open approach to making games. They develop a few prototypes and release them to the public. If one of them is received well or if Vlambeer like it it gets developed into a full game. However, two of their game ideas have been stolen and reworked into games found on the appstore. Since apple doesn't regulate it properly, people can post whatever games they want without worrying too much about copyright.
The approach Vlambeer takes is a double edged sword. On one hand, they continue to develop a community. People want to work with them as they are so open and friendly. These prototypes almost act as business cards. On the other hand, it is a free pass to all of your ideas. However I am glad that Vlambeer continue to do this as to back away and to close their doors is not the way to combat this problem.

Mother, Mine

A script writer called Susan Everett gave a talk about her work and creating interesting stories and characters. Her talk quite informative as she would concentrate on developing characters rather than the story. This approach would then inform and improve the story. This approach reminds me the t.v. show Mad Men. Mad Men's is full of compelling characters and it doesn't feel like it follows the conventional way to tell stories in television. It feels like you are watching a period in someone's life.

The short 'Mother, Mine' makes use of interesting characters to push the story. The story is quite confusing at first, however as events start to turn, everything falls into place.

Killer is Dead

Killer is Dead is Suda 51's latest game. The game is about a contract killer called Mondo who battles demons and weird creatures. There is something about the dark side of the moon and being a gigolo as well. What really caught my attention was the beautiful aesthetic. I can't wait to see the game in motion.

The PS4

The PS4 reveal was interesting and quite positive. The overall thing that Sony wanted to push was the games which is a good thing. Sony told us how they talked to developers about making everything easier for them and how they could improve it for the consumer. Although they didn't show a lot of innovative games, the approach they took was very good.
Sony's effort to include the indie community was also very good. Indie's will be able to self publish on the PS4 and Sony has been trying to reach out to the indie community.
The share button, although not really a feature I will use, looks to be a cool feature as well. People will be able to share moments of the game and even livestream. The feature also lets you play your games on the vita so you can play around the house. It isn't clear whether the share feature is optional as it could ruin a few game experiences if you someone sending you screenshots.
The console can also run offline which is great.
It isn't clear whether you will be able to play used games on it yet. I hope you will be able to as it would be counterintuitive for Sony to be all about the gamer and then not let them buy games the way they want to. Digital purchases from the PS3 won't carry on to the PS4, however I think this was a technical issue and not a business one.
Overall, the vibe from Sony was good and the way they are now looking at the developers, indies and gamers is refreshing in an age where we expect the worst from big companies.

Xbone

The Xbox one reveal conference was quite surreal. Words like 'kintecting' and 't.v.' were thrown around a lot while the the only mention of games came 25 minutes in and were only about sports and Call of Duty. Call of Duty now has innovative features like dogs. The Xbox is trying to sell itself as an 'all-in-one' machine that can do everything at once, however this approach only serves to limit the its consumers.
The services that it uses, like accessing t.v. or the internet, are already accessible through other means and people will favour those over the Xbox. These services are being pushed as innovative and are being used to sell the system rather than the games which people will buy the machine for. The whole conference felt like they were selling a sports machine that might also play games.

The other features that Microsoft are implementing are also quite worrying. The Xbox One won't be able to play used games and will have to be connected to the internet once a day. These features threaten the used games market, you won't even be able to lend a friend a game without Microsoft charging them to play it as all games you play will be tied to your account. It is also alienating anyone without a great internet connection.
Both the conference and the new Xbox have been rightly critised and hopefully Microsoft will listen and either come up with some amazing games at E3 or remove some of these horrible features.

Monkeys

Shave it from 3DAR on Vimeo.

'Shave it' has beautiful animation and art direction. The film uses contrasting colours in order to suggest the atmosphere of the various environments. The rain forest is full of wild colours while the city is grey and empty.

Code!

I have been learning Javascript in Unity. The process has been on and off due to other work so progress has been really slow. The book I used to learn was ... . The book explains to you in simple terms how to create simple code. I rather enjoyed it as the book tries to explain things rather than just tell you what to do.

Another useful program I used to learn programming is Gamemaker. Gamemaker also uses Javascript and another useful method. This method shows the code in various blocks and you can drag and drop these blocks to form code. The blocks have simple variables you can change allowing you to create code with very little knowledge about it. I learnt a lot about how code is structured and written from this method. I recommend trying it out if you are interested in coding as I found it to be a great way to introduce me to programming.

TiG Forums

The TiG forums is a great place for indie developers. People can show of their own games and use the forum as a way to record the development and let people see how it is going. You can also find work there as people are eager to make something and get to know others while developing their skills in the process.
The forum is also a good place to find out events about game jams and meet ups around the world. A lot of these events seem self organised as well so there is nothing stopping you from organising one yourself. I've learnt quite a lot about other interesting games on TiG that I would never have found otherwise.

Game City Nights

Game City Nights was an exploration of game culture. The goal of the event was to see change the way we perceive the value of games. We tend to view games from a money perspective, the worth versus the amount of content the game has. regardless of the value of content, we want more for our money. The personal value doesn't particularly matter.

Game City Nights tried to make us see games from the experience and what it would personally mean to you. After the presentation, we were asked to name one game that we personally think is great. The game could have been one of the worst games ever made, the only thing that actually matters is your own opinion.
The game I chose was Runescape. I first played runescape when I was 12 and I had never played anything like it. The game was massive and I could explore a whole world. It was also around the time we just moved to Australia so it was a good way to cope with all of the big changes.

Power to the Pixels

Power to the pixels was the first exhibition I have taken part in that has presented my own work. We had little time to prepare for the exhibition so I felt things were quite rushed. There was a lot of little mistakes in the presentation of our work that we had to sort out really quickly. I wasn't sure how we should present our work so we just had to wing it.
I was slightly worried about how the exhibition would turn out. There was also little time to advertise it properly and make the event known. However the exhibition turned out fine. I personally need to work on being more social at these kind of events. I found it so exhausting standing there and talking about my work that by the end I couldn't stand being there. Being more social is something I need to improve if I ever need to sell myself and my work.

Breaking Bad Season Five

Season five part one of Breaking Bad sees Walt with no more boundaries. With the freedom to pursue his criminal career, he continues to get what he wants pushing the limits with what he can get away with. The cost of this is truly shown in season five. His relationships with people on both sides of the law become stretched to the point of breaking. After taking out his biggest competitor, Walt now sees himself as invincible. Although it is really interesting seeing how everything takes place and the acting and plot is fantastic, Walt feels slightly one dimensional. However it can be argued that this was the only way to portray the evolution of his character.

Although the lack of a bigger power over Walt removes some of the tension that the previous series possessed, instead season five tries to focus on the effect and cost of having this power. I was slightly worried that, since this is the last season, there wouldn't be enough episodes to develop and finish everything nicely. For me, the slow pace of the show developed the tension to breaking point, so I was worried that the pacing would be slightly messy in order to fit everything in. However, this was far from the case. Although there are minor points where it feels messy, the show still excels in this aspect.


Part one succeeds in pushing the series forward to a definitive ending. Although there are small slip ups here and there, it definitely lives up to its potential.

Extremely Late Response to Anita Sarkessian

I wrote this because I wanted to try analyse something that's happening in gaming media right now. Since everybody and their mother has an opinion, I thought I would give it a go.

What was she expecting from analysing this particular trope? The damsel in distress is an age old method of storytelling that has been used countless times throughout history. In this modern age, there are now other methods of storytelling, some unique to video games. What she has stated can be applied to any other form of media and she said she would perform an analysis particular to video games. She has analysed the trope at face value without providing any in-depth critique on the issues video games in particular face.

This lack of depth is due to the subject she has chosen to analyse, the trope, and the examples she has used to back up her argument. She has chosen a lot of older games from the 1980’s which has done little for her analysis. Older games should not have been analysed as, back then, video games had yet to fall within their own distinctive medium. Games should only be analysed when they have found their own place, when they have developed unique storytelling methods and when they have started to become more mainstream.

Back then video games were only starting to develop a basic narrative structure. Older games took a lot from classic storytelling to provide the conflict in the game. The damsel in distress is a proven technique to provide simple conflict. Games were more about developing fun mechanics and would skimp out on the story to make a fun game.

She commented on examples that date back to this period like Mario and the Legend of Zelda. Shigeru Miyamoto even stated that he thinks games should just be fun and he would try to minimise the amount of storytelling in his games. 

These older games were catering towards the male audience. These games were proven to sell quite well to this audience and, from a business perspective, it would seem right to continue this trend. Since games were only being developed for a specific audience, it would be quite difficult to market and sell a product to any other.

She talks a lot about the Mario and Zelda franchises and how their sequels reinforce the objectification of women. These games and their sequels are similar because they would still need to stay within a similar vein in terms of narrative/world to feel like a Mario or Zelda game. I didn’t like it when she said there should be fewer games that follow this trope. Instead of fewer games following the trope, there should be more games that don’t follow it. By saying that there should be fewer games without the trope, she is taking away the value of what made games like Mario and Zelda the way they are.

All of these examples do little to help her, if anything; they show how lazy and safe the video game industry is. Rather that develop new IP’s, Nintendo churns out new sequels because they know it will sell. Big triple A games market themselves towards a male audience because they need to make a profit.

GTA V - Characters and Context

Grand Theft Auto V now features three playable characters.

From left to right, Trevor is a hillbilly meth dealer born to cause havoc. Franklin steals cars but now wants to get out of this lifestyle. Michael is a rich and retired bank robber trying to relive his former criminal life.

Each character has a different reason for pursuing their criminal career and they all seem really interesting and unique from each other. I'm looking forward to seeing how their lives will intertwine. These new changes could allow for a variety of play styles and strategy. Having control of three characters on a battlefield is going to make for some interesting gameplay.

Rockstar seems to have sorted out the dissonance that was frequently present in GTA 4 where Niko Bellic tried to be a good person but the player made him cause havoc wherever he goes.

Rockstar has tried to contextualise the actions of the player with the narrative and motivations of each character. Both Michael and Trevor actively seek chaos and revel in it. Franklin is fine working on both sides of the law. Chaos within context has been present in previous GTA's where the protagonists are criminals and were known for it.

They seem to have taken this aspect into account in everything. For example, each character will only wear clothes that would suit their character. The player wouldn't be able to make Micheal wear clothes that Franklin would wear. This might be why Trevor is the crazy meth dealer he is. Trevor is completely crazy allowing players to do anything with him. It would feel normal within the game world as it is would be normal to the character.

On a side note, I'm curious as to how currency will work with these new changes. Michael is rich yet Franklin is poor so will there be a collective money source that all characters will have or will money be separate. I hope it is separate as again it wouldn't make sense if Franklin is poor but he has access to a lot of money at any point. I heard that there will be safe houses where things will be collective and you would go to these areas to get anything you needed regardless of character which I hope is the case.

SPACE

Here is some work I found while looking at aesthetic. The fan made trailer for 'Drive' by tom haugomat and bruno mangyoku makes use of interesting colours and shapes that really capture how stylish the film is.



While looking into these guys, I came across other similar artists that made work I really like. The short film 'Countdown' on Florent Remize's blog is really stylish. It helped me decide on some of the colours in my work.


Countdown - HD from Desrumaux Celine on Vimeo.

Learning how to program in Gamemaker

I like adventure games so my game is now an adventure game. The puzzle I have designed is a simple puzzle that requires the player to open a door. I have tried to contextualise the puzzle with the chapter I have set my game level in. In the book, Harker has to open a door and only encounters two items while exploring the castle. A lamp and a Hammer or crowbar. Although he uses the crowbar to beat Dracula in the face, in this instance, he uses it to open the door. I’m gonna explain how the puzzle works so I will have to explain how to solve it. If you want to work it out then read this after solving it.

To get past the door, Harker has to use the oil from the lamp to loosen the bolts and then use the crowbar to wedge it open. To get the crowbar, you need to use the lighter to light the lamp, which can be found in Dracula’s room. Then you go down to the basement. It won’t let you go into the basement without the light since it’s too dark. The crowbar can be found in one of the rooms.

The puzzle uses different objects with different properties. For example, the door itself is made up of three objects, the main door, the door when it is oiled, and the door when it is open. This method makes sure that the puzzle can only be done in a specific order; use the oil and then the crowbar. When the lamp object collides with the main door, main door changes into main door_oiled. Main door does not have the same properties as main door_oiled, so the crowbar object can’t be used on main door, it can only be used on main door_oiled. Main door_oiled can now be changed to main door_open with the crowbar.

I want to add an inventory as it is not clear if you should take these objects with you. I have been looking at tutorials to implement this feature however I can’t seem to get it to work. If I can’t add an inventory I might use narrative cues to make sure the player takes them. I was going to use narrative cues anyway, however it would be nice to have an inventory in place rather than have the player drag the specific item everywhere.

Getting the mouse to pick up objects was proving tricky. I couldn’t get the mouse to pick an object. I was trying to get the object to follow the mouse when the player clicked on it, however instead of following the mouse, the object would teleport to position of the mouse. I had to look this up online.

Hexels

Hexels is a new art program that allows you to create artwork within various grids. For example, there is a pixel grid that allows you to create pixel art. While I was experimenting with the program, I found the trixel grid which gave me ideas of what I wanted my environment to look like.
The trixel grid is made up of triangles and allowed me to create an isometric view of my environment really easily.
I didn't realise how easy it was to create my environment which possibly gives me some time to add more stuff.

Here is the environment I made.

I wanted to experiment with colour so I tried give several of room themes. Dracula's room is made up of various shades of red as he is known for those colours. The colours also suggest an otherworldly power emanating from the room. 

The corridors and the rooms connecting to it are normal shades of brown. These areas are supposed to feel somewhat friendly and normal to keep Harker from freaking out about Dracula. He would spend most of his time in these rooms so they would have to feel normal. These areas also contrast with the other rooms so those areas would seem stranger.

I liked the idea that the rooms that belong to his victims or the areas he had to feed where a blueish colour. These rooms would gradually become a darker blue as the victims start to get worse. Harker's room is a blueish colour as Dracula has already fed on him

To illustrate this idea better I would have shown this through the chapters where Lucy becomes a victim and she gradually degrades into a vampire.
During the early stages of her turning, she only feels strange and depressed so the room would be blueish that would suggest she was depressed. However as she turns more the blue would become more black and sickly. The colour would act as a mark of where Dracula has been. Anywhere he goes and everything he does is tainted. This is the reason why, after the 'normal' area in the environment, the rooms become a darker and sickly blue.

Game Jams

Since I have been learning Javascript, I have been trying to find some Game Jams to participate in. These game jams will hopefully improve both my creative and technical skills.

Here is a list of website I have found helpful that will hopefully help anyone else.

http://compohub.net/
http://www.gameconfs.com/
http://www.ludumdare.com/

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php

Game Jam development

7DRL is a game jam which challenges you to create a rougelike within seven days. I had asked Alex if we should work together and he thought it would be a good idea since we share similar disciplines and interests. I am personally interested in indie game development so a game jam is a great place to get some experience.

Alex had found a programmer, Andy, and we started  Facebook group to keep track of our ideas. I had brought up the idea of making a game based on creating potions and exploration. the player couldn't attack anything and there would be no enemies. Instead the player would traverse dangerous terrain in search for fauna which would be used to create potions. Potions could also be used to move around the world, e.g. a potion that would grow vines so the player can reach higher places.

The idea began to develop to include a narrative and other game mechanics. The main character is a wandering doctor who find a village in need of help so he explores to find a cure. The player would be an a time limit, the patients health, and would have to work within that time to save them. The player would also have to diagnose the patient based on his appearance, temperature, and would have to create a cure based on there symptoms. If the player got the cure wrong, something would happen to the patient based on what the player gave the patient.  Since its a roguelike and roguelikes and known for being challenging, the challenge would result from the player having to work out everything within the time limit.

We began to develop some concept art, trying to find a suitable and interesting aesthetic. However during the week of the game jam, the programmer had got the date wrong so we couldn't participate. Instead we decided to do the Unity game jam instead. The theme for Unity was 'Do No Harm' and our idea fit the brief so we decided to carry on developing it. The Unity game jam also had more development time so we could improve what we had. I enjoyed creating the environments so I began to make more concept art while Alex designed the character. I also designed some levels while Andy was preparing the engine. However due to time constraints we couldn't continue the project. I was slightly disappointed that we couldn't finish what we had started, but I found that the development and just the sharing of ideas to be more important than the finished product. I think we worked well together which made the process even more enjoyable.

I definitely want to try out more game jams in the future and keep on learning about game development.

Kentucky Route Zero

I really enjoyed Kentucky Route Zero. Although I was expecting more puzzle elements, the story and the atmosphere more than made up for it. What the game does exceptionally well is develop a tense and unique atmosphere. The narrative is made up of compelling characters with warm and enchanting personalities and backstories. However the story surrounding these characters is strange and somewhat menacing that it leaves you with an uncertainty that everything you see isn't right. Combined with a wonderfully dark aesthetic, Kentucky Route Zero is one of the best narratives in gaming this year.

The aesthetic has inspired my environment. The darkness in the game feels like it is completely surrounding and seeping into everything. It makes the overall experience so much more unique as the warm and compelling characters contrast with the dark aesthetic.

Another game I have drawn inspiration from is Teleglitch, a top-down roguelike. In this game, anything the player can't see or is in shadow is completely black. This darkness moves depending on where the player is creating some really interesting gameplay as enemies could be hiding in those areas.

The game also does this really weird effect when you are either hurt or moving into another area. The colours and objects become distorted. It becomes quite unnerving as this effect is related to sinister events of the game and that enemies can hit you hard enough to distort your view. It would be great to include something like this in my environment. Faint distortions of colour in the darkness or the rooms themselves distorting.

Environments

To keep the nice resolution of the environment I had to cut it up and put it back together in Gamermaker. This meant I could keep the file size down while keeping everything looking smooth.
The first layer of the environment is the ground layer. This layer is the walkable area and anything beneath the player according to the isometric view.

The second layer is the bounding box which restricts the players movement within the walkable area.

The third player is made of anything that would look like it would be above the player from the isometric view.

After I set up the environment, I set up the view box and center it on the player. This is the view in Gamemaker with all of the layers together. The bounding box would be invisible in game.

Gamemaker

Gamemaker is a powerful tool that has been used to make games like Spelunky and Hotline Miami. I have wanted to make something properly in Gamemaker for a while now. The module seems like a good way to work the program into my main work.

I like Gamemaker as it is relatively easy to create a basic prototype. Since I am just starting to learn how to program, the drag and drop method of coding allows me to bring in features easily that I wouldn't have been able to without a lot of coding. I think developers like Vlambeer use Gamemaker set up prototypes really quickly. This allows them to see if an idea works early on.

Other Adaptations of Dracula

Since it was first written, Dracula has become a popular cultural figure with many adaptations of the story. Stoker himself wrote the first adaptation for theatre and was performed before the book was even released. Dracula also gave a face to the legend of vampires and of Transylvania.
A lot of these adaptations only center on Dracula's character. Many other characters from the book haven't made it into most of these adaptations. With possibly the exception of Van Helsing, Dracula has outlived everyone in the book.
Dracula's popularity may be due to how flexible his character is. He thrives in the shadows and when he isn't directly in the scene. His presence can be felt everywhere allowing him to torment his victims. Rather than focus on the villain, the book focuses on the effects of Dracula on everyone else.

Dracula's popularity may also come from the iconic scenes of him that really put him on the spotlight. The creeping shadow in Nosferatu and Christopher Lee's portrayal of Dracula are all iconic moments that we all tend to associate with the character.

The character also translates well into games.

An anime adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo with the Count as a vampire.

New Ideas

I couldn't further any of my ideas for Monkey at all. I thought that the art block was going on for far too long so I decided to scrap Monkey and look for something new. I recently finished the book Dracula and since its still relatively fresh in my mind, I am going to give it a go.

Adaptations of Monkey

Monkey seems to be one of the most popular and versatile stories in media. A variety of media has taken up the tale including stage plays, films, T.V. series, games, comics and dance productions. I am not familiar with most of them but have heard of the old T.V. show from family.
The most familiar adaptation I have know about was Damon Albarn's album and opera.

I really like the modern aspects found in the music and the art. It looks really unique yet you can associate both easily with its creators.

Monkey

I have been watching a lot of pretty films lately. Stylish Films like 'Drive' and 'Hero' feature beautiful cinematography and aesthetic have made me interested in focusing on art direction for this project.

These movies are known for using diverse and creative colour palettes in interesting ways. For example, the director of 'Hero' uses colour as a way to tell stories. Colour becomes a theme that tells a lot of the story in the film. The colours white and red represent which parts of the story are true and false. and within other parts of the film colour becomes a set piece as well.

I really like the green fight in 'Hero' where Broken Sword fights the emperor in his palace. For me, there was a lot of imagery with the colour and with the two characters. Broken sword and the curtains are both green and feel swift and mobile. The emperor and the palace is a blackish brown standing firm and resolute. Like Broken Sword, the green curtains feel like they have invaded the palace. The emperor cuts them down in an attempt to regain control of the palace as well defeat Broken sword.

Since I've been looking at a lot of Chinese media, I have decided to try adapt the tale of Monkey. Journey to the West has a lot of really nice and interesting imagery which I would like to try and develop. For the environment, I have decided to focus on the cave behind the water curtain.

Here is an early asset from my environment. I really liked the how the brush strokes in Chinese art flow so I tried to emulate it.

Transmedia Module

I plan to create something based on an existing piece of media. It seems like a challenge to work within someone else’s work. There are restrictions to what I can do however there can be a lot of creativity within those limitations. It depends on how strict I want to be with the material I choose.

I want to create a small game environment and focus on the aesthetic. By limiting the size I can focus on the art style rather than worry about making a large amount of assets.

Practical

Initially, I was going to do a interactive presentation in unity about interaction. It would have made use of the game mechanics in unity to illustrate the points.
However, this turned out to be a failure. I didn't have time to implement the features that would made it interesting. it felt like a really slow and dull presentation.
Instead, as a last resort,I have decided to use powerpoint.

Creative Rhetoric

‘Different artists often have quite divergent conceptions of what they are doing’

                Harrison-Barbet, 1990

Renzo Rosso’s Creative Rhetoric

-          Practice-based beginning (school of Fashion)

-          Best idea – always next creativity, art is beyond definition and constantly changing

-          Be Stupid – use your heart not your head, expressionist theory, linked to romanticism idea that creativity  is a knowledge, obtaining activity opposition to rational sciences

-          Work in teams- be collaborative

Mimesis

-          Plato’s problem with creativity

-          Republic – ideal society (critique of democracy)

-          Metaphysics – forms

-          Physical world mimics the real

-          Art imitates an imitation

-          Art mimics the sensory world

-          Creativity merely a technical skill

-          Denied creativity’s knowledge – producing capability

-          Dichotomy physical not mental activity

Academics talk about creativity as

-          Complex and dynamic concept

-          Subjects of history of art and aesthetics

-          Nine rhetorics of creativity – theoretical framework of lecture

Nine rhetorics of creativity

1-      Creative genius

2-      Democratic and political creativity

3-      Ubiquitous creativity

4-      Creativity for social good

5-      Creativity as economic imperative

6-      Play and creativity

7-      Creativity and cognition

8-      The creative affordances of technology

9-      The creative classroom

Romanticism

-          Involves looking at how art and creativity are made

-          Redefined the role of the artist

-          Rejects Platonic theory, suggests art as the most important knowledge- generating discipline

-          Artist as a creator not as an imitator

-          Artists should break rules and define them, in turn expanding the discipline