Tuesday 6 December 2016

third assignment

Unit 78 Digital Graphics for Computer Games

Games Development level 3

Jack Palmer

I did everything on time and have completed everything in time for the deadline date. The software I used to create my sprites was piskel the reason I used piskel to create my sprites because I wanted them to be pixel art and piskel is the best software to do that on. 
I also made a HUD this was made the way it was to show the health at the top, underneath that is the mana and then at the bottom left there is the super bar this shows how close to getting your super power you are and finally the bottom right is how much ammo your gun has. 

Task A understanding hardware technologies for game platforms


HCI (Human Computer Interface)

An HCI is basically what you use to control your console so controllers, joysticks, keyboard, mouse, wheel and pedals, motion sensing input device, motion controllers and voice controller. 

Controller

The controller is a device that is used for controlling a console usually a Playstation, Xbox and even a computer with the steam controller. Controllers have been around for many years and have adapted and changed since they were first made. Controllers now have adapted so they are comfortable and fit in your hand so it is easier and better to use. As you can see on the picture to the right it is adapted so the buttons you use most are in places that are easy to reach and use.

Joysticks


Joysticks are a fairly old form of HCI it is usually used in flight simulators or many different simulators they are also used to train people how to fly without using a real plane. The Joystick is made for flying so it is easy to use and helpful if you are playing a flight simulator. 







Keyboard and Mouse

The keyboard and mouse are most likely the most famous and popular HCI it has been around since the computer was made and is easy to use as you can just press keys to do certain things. There are some keyboards and mice that are called ergonomic this means that they have been adapted to make it feel comfy which helps. 


Motion Controllers 

Motion controllers are for Wii and recently new devices are coming out like the PlayStation Move and the Oculus Rift. The way these work is by moving the controller around or moving yourself around which will make your character move. The controller have four buttons and a motion detector so it can tell when you are moving to move your character.



Voice Controller

A voice controller is controlled by the voice examples of this is on the PlayStation when you speak through the headset or camera you can command the PlayStation and go onto things that you want to by speaking and not using the controller. 


Motion Sensing Input Device

Motion sensing input devices consist of the Xbox Kinect and the PlayStation Camera these are used for capturing motion and displaying it so you can move your character which will be you. 

Wheel & Pedals

Wheel and pedals are what they say they are they are a steering wheel and pedals you can use them on the PS2 to play various racing games including Need for Speed. 






Advancements


As you can see in the pictures the controller has advanced and changed a lot since the NES. The two pictures above shows a modern day PlayStation 3 controller and the old NES controller. As you can see in the picture above the NES controller is a lot wider than the modern day controller meaning it is less comfortable to hold. Another difference is there are less buttons on the NES as there were less features to do in the game whereas nowadays you have more features. Also the modern day controller is shaped so that it fits perfectly into your hand and make it comfortable. Another feature is that you can go to the main menu with the modern controller but with the older controller there is no menu button so to get to it you have to use the actual console. I think that the modern day game controller is a food dispenser, the controller will release a certain piece of food that is something from the game and you get to eat it to see what it tastes like and you feel immersed.

Monday 14 November 2016

Concept Art

The client brief that I was given was that I had to make a game based around the film Big Trouble In Little China. I am going to be making an RPG FPS game for my game it will have many different
characters and villains. The game will have many different aspects to it and it will be a 2D game. I have made some concept art for my game. 

Graphic Specifications

My target audience for this game is going to be in the range of teenagers so roughly 12-17 the reason I am basing my target audience around this age range because the game will have mild violence in it but it will not having any cursing or anything else that is age restricted in it. Another reason why it is this age range is because the RPG and FPS games apply more to teenagers than adults. My game will also be for both genders as it will have female characters and male characters so it will apply for both genders.  SoC is basically the democratic placement of people it is rated from A down to E. If you are in group A you are in a high paying job like a lawyer or a judge however, if you are in group E then you will most likely be unemployed or a student. You can use these in games and other businesses. My game is going to be in all of them as it is not based on any job or democratic status.

Legal and Ethical Considerations 

When making this game I will make different races and different genders so there is equal genders and qualities. I will also have to make sure that I don't use any copyrighted objects, art styles or characters so that I cannot get copyrighted or sued.

Composition 

Composition is how you put the image into a frame so an example of composition is using the rule of thirds which is where you put the image into a frame to make it look better.

Visual Style

The visual style for my game and concept art is pixel I am using this art style to make the game into visual style similar to cartoons.


This is the Vehicle I am going to be using in the game I am going to make a mini game where this will be used by the main character. This is also a thumbnail sketch this means it is not the final product yet and it is just an outline of what the vehicle itself will look like.





Tuesday 8 November 2016

Big Trouble in Little China

Analysis of Big Trouble In Little China



Big trouble in little China was first a film made in 1986 and later on after this had been released. Someone else made a book on it in 2014 by a guy called Eric Powell. There are many emotional themes in Big Trouble in Little China one of which being the theme of romance between Jack Burton and Grace Law it would also be shown as time as you are trying to get to Mao Li and eventually Gracie Law in time otherwise they will both die.
Wang's motivation in this film is to get his fiancee back so his motivation is very high as you he loves his fiancee and wants to get her back and will do whatever he has to do to get her back.
Jack Burton's motivation is that his truck has been stolen, he won't leave until he gets his truck back however, as the story progresses he gains a new motivation which is to save Gracie Law from David Lo Pan.
David Lo Pan's motivation is different to everyone else's motivation as he is the bad guy in this film this means his motivation is to get back his skin and flesh as it has been removed from him so he wants to get green eyed girls so he can get his flesh back.
Gracie Law just like David Lo Pan Gracie Law has a different motivation as her motivation is to get a news story and article so that she can become famous and start a successful career.


Introduction
Starts off with a guy being interviewed and talks about black magic then it shows Jack Burton driving a truck along the bridge. He gets into a town and it shows the town then to a group of people arguing. Wang threatens Jack after he won against him. They do a bet to smash the bottle and Wang loses and Jack asks for the money. They go into a truck and go to pick up a girl that Wang is going to marry. He speaks to the woman and a street gang comes in and bumps past them. Mao ling gets kidnapped as they attack Jack and Tara and the woman run away. The Chinese gang members kidnap Mao. Tour guide is giving a tour as Jack drives down the street and makes the tour almost crash. They come to the gang and go down an alleyway and people walk out with a funeral. Another gang comes and murders everyone and a big shootout happens. Then a Chinese standoff happens between the two gangs and a big fight happens. Jack and Wang watches the fight from the truck as everyone fights. Green fire appears and a guy appears then another guy flies down from the sky and one takes thunder. They shoot the men and the men throw knifes at them. Another person appears and a beam of light appears and blinds them then they run away and the other gang has found them. They hide in a house and then run into sewers when someone came in. Another guy comes in and tells Jack that the Lord of Deaths stole his truck. He goes to a place to get back Mao and he has to buy back the girl. He asks to buy a green eyed girl and then you find that she is tied down. A big green fire appears above the building and the roof that Mao is in gets shocked. The guy who controls electricity kidnaps her and then they disappear. 

Middle
They go to a trading centre which is one of the most dangerous places. They pretend to fix a camera to get in and the guards fall for it. They go into a storage and find a secret button and door. They get into an elevator and it closes and locks them in it. The elevator gets flooded and they get out and see bodies and look up and see an immortal. They beat him up and tie him to a chair. David Lo Pan comes in and starts to speak to Wang and Jack. David sees the visitors and gets annoyed so leaves Jack and Wang. Jack and Wang get taken to a dark room. Jack’s friends get gassed and Jack and Wang untied themselves but are stuck in the room. Wang tells him the legends and then a man walks in and Jack tries to escape but the guy is strong enough to stop him and he falls all the way down the stairs and almost into a pit. They grab the guard’s weapons and goes to escape. David turns into a ghost that can go through things. He goes to Mao then Jack and Wang gets attacked and they kill them. Gracie and his friends are trapped in cages. Wang starts to fight the guards while Jack shoots the locks and helps everyone out. Guards with machine guns appear and everyone runs away and jumps into the sewers to escape. The guards fire but don’t hit anyone. Jack comes back up and they kiss each other and hug. They get trapped but Jack shoots some and then they start to fight. Wang beats everyone up and they stealthy try to escape but the sculpture has a camera in it and grabs Gracie and kidnaps her. They get into the bus and get shot at but manage to escape. A creature takes Gracie to an underground bit where the guards get her. David comes in and is happy as he now as two green eyed girls. Mr Eggshen comes and gives Jack weapons and brings the gang with him as they go to break her out. Gracie is trapped in the room with Mao Ling and David Lo Pan comes in. A beam comes out of his mouth and Jack and Wang and Mr Eggshen comes into a place to get away from the rain and go into a sewer pipe.

Ending
 They trek through the sewers as one of the immortals attacks his way down an aisle and then the next does the same thing as the women are hypnotised. They grab the swords and rise up into the air. A monster appears and kills a man then Mr Eggshen throws something that makes a blue flame appear. Gracie isn’t actually hypnotised and tries to speak to Mao as the immortal guy comes in with lightning and makes his eyes roll back. Jack and Wang break into the place and they speak to a guardian and David tells them that he will marry them both. They all take the medicine and salut to it. They walk into them doing the marriage and he is about to kill the woman with the “needle of love” The guardian spots them and they start to fight as Jack shoots the ceiling and knocks himself out. David and Mr eggshen start to fight using magic and Eggshen loses. Lo Pan runs and Gracie and Jack chase after him. Jack and Gracie kiss in the elevator. They try and sneak around and they attack thunder and Lo Pan. Wang appears and fights thunder and Jack throws his knife and misses. Lo Pan throws the knife and Jack catches it and throws it and kills him by hitting him in the head. Thunder keeps inflating and then explodes. Then he appears in front of them as a lightning and tries to shock them. Mr Eggshen is up at the top and they go up a rope to get there as thunder comes up and attacks Wang but gets killed before he can. They escape and get into Jack’s truck and blast throw the doors and drive away. They celebrate in a restaurant and Mr Eggshen walks out and says he is going on a holiday. Jack leaves everyone and doesn’t kiss Gracie. The film then ends with one of the creatures surviving and coming out of the sewers and rubbish.
The relationship between characters. 
The relationship between Wang and Jack starts off in a pretty bad way you can tell they are friends but at the start Wang owes Jack money so you can tell that there relationship has a fair bit of tension between them but as Jack agrees to take Wang to his fiancee which shows they are still closes. When Wang's wife gets kidnapped Jack is reluctant to help but in the end they get close and celebrate together when they get to the end and save Mao Li and Gracie Law. It changes cause they get closer and Wang and Jack help each other and save each other making them get closer. 
Plot 
The plot of the story starts off with Jack visiting and delivering items to Wang his friend after that they visit his fiancee and she gets kidnapped and then they spend the rest of the film trying to rescue Mao Li. 

Main Characters:
Jack Burton: Jack Burton is the main character in this film, he is a truck driver and best friend to Wang. Even though Jack Burton is the main character he is not the hero as he doesn't really mind about what happens and doesn't fight many bad guys as Wang does. He thinks he is the hero though but really isn't. 
Wang: Wang is Jack Burton's best friend he becomes a main character as his fiancĂ© gets kidnapped and he searches to try and get it her back. Wang doesn't think he is the hero of this as he thinks Jack is but actually he is the hero of the film as his motivation to get back his fiance starts this adventure and also spurs him on to defeat most of the enemies. 

David Lo pan: David Lo Pan is the main villain in this film as he is trying to get green eyed girls so he can get his flesh and skin back. David's motivation is to make himself have skin again and become a human, he is the main villain in this film and he and his henchman try to beat the heroes. David's henchmen are more of a villain than him though even though he is the main villain. 

Sub Characters:
Mao Li: Mao Li is Wang’s fiancĂ© and gets kidnapped early on in the film. Although Mao Li wasn't in the film for long, as she gets kidnapped she is the main drive of the characters as Eggshen, Wang, Uncle Chu and many of the gang members were motivated to try and free Mao Li. 

Tara: Tara was Gracie Laws assistant and was there trying to get a good journal report on it. 
Uncle Chu: Uncle Chu is Wang’s uncle.

Gracie law: Gracie Law is a reporter and goes with them to try and get a report. Gracie Law's motivation to start with was to save the girl and make a report on it but in the end she changes her motivation to surviving and trying to help the girl she is also a sidekick for Wang and Jack. 

The immortals: The immortals are the three gods that cannot die unless you use a special potion.
Mr Eggshen: He owns a bus touring company and is a magician who helps Jack beat Lo Pan. Mr Eggshen is also a sidekick for Wang and Jack and his motivation is to finally end the immortals who have been plagiarising gangs and killing many people. 

Monday 7 November 2016

Be able to generate concept art ideas for computer game graphics

What are Computer Game Graphics?

Print media graphics, In-game Graphics, Concept Art Graphics.

Please refer to previous P1.

Graphics Specification 

Client NeedsAudience
Thumbnail Sketches

Composition

The client brief is to make a game that has aspects and is based around the film "Big Trouble in Little China". 

The Audience for my game is going to be a younger age rather than an older game as the games graphics are cartoon based and its not photo realistic or graphic in anyway. The gender will not matter for the audience as the game will have female characters and male characters in it so both genders won't mind it. SoC is basically the democratic placement of people it is rated from A down to E. If you are in group A you are in a high paying job like a lawyer or a judge however, if you are in group E then you will most likely be unemployed or a student. You can use these in games and other businesses. 

Composition is how you put the image into a frame so an example of composition is using the rule of thirds which is where you put the image into a frame to make it look better. 
 

Monday 24 October 2016

HCI (Human Computer Interface)

Task A understanding hardware technologies for game platforms

HCI (Human Computer Interface)

An HCI is basically what you use to control your console so controllers, joysticks, keyboard, mouse, wheel and pedals, motion sensing input device, motion controllers and voice controller. 

Controller

The controller is a device that is used for controlling a console usually a Playstation, Xbox and even a computer with the steam controller. Controllers have been around for many years and have adapted and changed since they were first made. Controllers now have adapted so they are comfortable and fit in your hand so it is easier and better to use. As you can see on the picture to the right it is adapted so the buttons you use most are in places that are easy to reach and use.

Joysticks


Joysticks are a fairly old form of HCI it is usually used in flight simulators or many different simulators they are also used to train people how to fly without using a real plane. The Joystick is made for flying so it is easy to use and helpful if you are playing a flight simulator. 







Keyboard and Mouse

The keyboard and mouse are most likely the most famous and popular HCI it has been around since the computer was made and is easy to use as you can just press keys to do certain things. There are some keyboards and mice that are called ergonomic this means that they have been adapted to make it feel comfy which helps. 


Motion Controllers 

Motion controllers are for Wii and recently new devices are coming out like the PlayStation Move and the Oculus Rift. The way these work is by moving the controller around or moving yourself around which will make your character move. The controller have four buttons and a motion detector so it can tell when you are moving to move your character.



Voice Controller

A voice controller is controlled by the voice examples of this is on the PlayStation when you speak through the headset or camera you can command the PlayStation and go onto things that you want to by speaking and not using the controller. 


Motion Sensing Input Device

Motion sensing input devices consist of the Xbox Kinect and the PlayStation Camera these are used for capturing motion and displaying it so you can move your character which will be you. 

Wheel & Pedals

Wheel and pedals are what they say they are they are a steering wheel and pedals you can use them on the PS2 to play various racing games including Need for Speed. 






Advancements


As you can see in the pictures the controller has advanced and changed a lot since the NES. The two pictures above shows a modern day PlayStation 3 controller and the old NES controller. As you can see in the picture above the NES controller is a lot wider than the modern day controller meaning it is less comfortable to hold. Another difference is there are less buttons on the NES as there were less features to do in the game whereas nowadays you have more features. Also the modern day controller is shaped so that it fits perfectly into your hand and make it comfortable. Another feature is that you can go to the main menu with the modern controller but with the older controller there is no menu button so to get to it you have to use the actual console. I think that the modern day game controller is a food dispenser, the controller will release a certain piece of food that is something from the game and you get to eat it to see what it tastes like and you feel immersed.  

Monday 10 October 2016

Level 3 Games Design

Unit 78: Digital Graphics for Computer Games

Jack Palmer

Understand theory and application used for (P1) computer game graphics

The games I am going to be using for understanding theory and application used for computer game graphics is The Last of Us and Tetris, there are many differences between Tetris and The Last of Us I am going to go over them.

The Last of Us is an post apocalyptic game based around the characters Joel and Ellie. It is a 64 Bit photo realistic game. Here is the trailer so you can get a better idea of what the game is. 

Tetris is a 2D game that is 8 bit and made using pixel art it is a classic game where you have to match the blocks so they disappear.




Artistic Styles

First of all the difference between the two games artistic styles is massive. Tetris is made using the artistic style of pixel art the reason it is made as pixel art so that the mood and atmosphere is just happy and just unrealistic on purpose so that it works. However, The Last of Us has a completely different purpose Tetris is to destroy the blocks but The Last of Us is a apocalyptic game meaning that the game is made using photo-realism so the mood and atmosphere is there and it feels like an actual zombie apocalypse has occurred. The image above shows that The Last of Us has used photo realism and shows how it makes the mood and atmosphere.


File Extensions  

Every single game has a file extension a file extension is basically the type of file that the game is on for example if you compress a game it is likely to be either TIF or PNG. Tetris was most likely made with the file extension being JPG as JPG is the smallest file extension and it also has the worst quality meaning it is similar to Tetris and its style. The Last of Us however, is a much bigger game meaning that the file extension will be a lot bigger and most likely higher quality. The Last of Us most likely used an camera raw image and file so that it had higher quality and so it would look like it does with high quality graphics.


Optimising/Compression

Optimising is when you increase the graphics or increase a certain item in a game to make it as efficient as possible. The opposite of optimising is compressing the way compressing works is to compress and reduce the resolution or quality of the game but instead it takes up less storage space making it better for games on phones or devices. The difference between the two games is that The Last of Us is optimised and Tetris is compressed, Tetris is compressed because it was made to work for the Gameboy which did not have enough space to optimise or not compress. The picture above is taken in The Last of Us and shows the graphics and game and how it has optimised the graphics.

Picture/Image Resolution 

Picture resolution is the quality of the picture and how much detail it holds in it. The better the quality, the higher the picture resolution and image resolution is the quality of image and how sharp and the depth it has in the image itself. Since Tetris has no photo realism in it the picture resolution can not exist however, the image resolution does exist and is a lot different to The Last of Us as it is not very high but The Last of Us has high image resolution and picture resolution.

Print Media

The print media for Tetris is very different to The Last of Us this is because of the times it was made. As you can see above the Tetris print media is just a picture of a few blocks and it is very different to The Last of Us as you can see in the picture above the print media is a lot more realistic compared to Tetris which is not realistic.

Image Capture

Image capture is taking an image using any software or device you can do this with a camera, screenshotting, screen recording software, scanning and just drawing it yourself. Tetris and The Last of Us have massive differences with image capture. The Last of Us captured its images using a camera as you can see in the picture above they took a picture of Ashley Johnson and then changed a few features. Tetris however, is created using an art software to draw each individual block. There are some similarities between the two image captures though as some parts in The Last of Us were drawn like Tetris.

Storage of Image Assets The storage of image assets is basically what file name the data is stored in so say for example you make a picture of something but someone else is doing the shading of the picture if you save it in a file with no name it will take them a lot longer than if you call the file "picture needing shading". One example of this is below in this picture, i saved the name as "The Last of Us Ellie" so that i know what it is and so do other people.