Well to summarize the last quarter or so, I like to use the simple anagram UVW- also known in my mind as "Unwavering Vigorous Work". It's exactly what it sounds like, and in my experience it's been tedious, cumbersome, even frustrating at times, and yet somehow completely worth it and invigoratingly fun. Despite 3Ds Max's chronic tenancy to crash on me given the slightest amount of complexity needed for a given project, most of the projects went rather smoothly, most of them that is. Meanwhile I'm still trying to figure out why my temple is such a mess that the lazy UVW program cannot unwrap it properly. nor can I understand why this seems to be the only project thus far that has't gone along without a hitch. It is bothersome, but I feel as if I'm only going to get into more trouble with our coming unit, as I have barely touched any of Unity's 3D programming capabilities and have solely been doing work in its 2D functions. All that aside however, I truly do appreciate working with shaders, materials, and textures, definitely more than I do UVWs that is. Out of the three listed, materials have to be my favorite, as working with physical materials is just so oddly satisfying, especially when everything comes together and looks all nice, clean, neat, and shiny. It's probably because I just have a thing for materials and lighting effects in general, but I digress, it feels nice when it all comes together and looks pretty, what else can I say? All in all, I did like this section a lot, more than the previous portions of topics/units where we actually modeled stuff probably because this solely focused on the visual aspects of 3D models, which if you know me, I've always been a 2D artist at heart.
An example of a textured cube
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Well I have just decided to venture into the world of animation, beyond that of which I have currently been doing, which has been short animatics and storyboards in Flipnote Studio 3D. Besides not being able to have the time to work on it in school, it's somewhat difficult to learn at home, or rather just tedious. I've always been a slow detailed oriented sketcher, and an even slower line artist, just in general my process does not tend to be the fastest. When working in programs like FireAlpaca, it seems almost impossible attempting to work at the 24fps industry standard. Just 5 sketched frames alone took me approximately two hours, and that was the sketch itself, no outline or anything more complicated than a simple sketch. (I'm not even going to detail the soreness of my wrist and hand.) While I'd love actually animating something of length, no amount of copying and pasting will help me reach my goal as quickly as I want to, especially considering the multitude of unfinished digital pieces I still currently have in development. I know lots about key framing, inbetweens, body movement, onion skinning, the whole nine yards, don't get me wrong! I just need to practice more on my delivery and output times, as I feel that's my true handicap, especially considering I only have about 4-6 hours of energy left after any given school day before I completely collapse in exhaustion. Unfortunately, it almost feels as If my progress is stagnating, and that before long I'll cease improvement all together. I just wish I had more time to develop my skills further than what I'm already doing. The good news is, I've already been following some extremely popular animators within the digital art community, and while it's no college course, watching animation development streams and given tutorials has already begun to help me immensely. I'm tempted to try my hand at keyframing animations, as it seems more and more online creators are shifting to automatic animation rather than frame by frame, but it's still pretty mixed as is and I should aim to learn both methods just so I can have some versatility at my disposal.
On Friday, me and the rest of my game design class partook in a playtesting activity where we critiqued two in development educational games based on economics and finance. The first, "Shady Sam's" which was a game where the main goal was to con people by various means to make them pay the greatest loans possible. The second game was a tabletop game prototype to be made digitally later based on credit scores and paying off debts. Both were legitimately enjoyable, and I walked away with what I presume to be a more economically aware perspective. It's important to playtest with your target audience because no matter what, a room of adults will never be able to see completely into the minds of teenagers, so getting their input is more than necessary. As for the games themselves, I honestly see little to no problems at all with Shady Sam's, if anything I wished it could last longer! (Though then again this is coming from a person who can regularly clock in 100+ hours into most RPGs, so don't exactly trust me on this one) As for the prototype however, I feel like if there was a better explanation at the start, that would have eased me into things a bit quicker, and having an actual counter for the number of turns left, rather than a painted die, would work out much better. As for the gameplay itself, there definitely needs to be a bit of balancing done, specifically if you get a bad start, there's not much you can do as long as your opponent plays it safe. After all, if they never take expensive risks, they're almost guaranteed to win, especially if most of the chance cards only affect the individual, not the whole board or just your opponent.
I first came across this game during Nintendo's seasonal sales advert. Usually I'm not too keen on browsing digital catalogs, but this time around I figured I have some spare cash, why not take a look? I'm about 5 pages down, looking through page after page of discounted games that all seemed to have the same premise, color pallet, or the same 3 anime characters posing in the same 4 stances each and every time. Then, I spotted this one, instantly drawn in by the psychedelic color schemes and the dazzling visuals, and the short demo videos provided clips of interesting gameplay and a unique visual style. Now let's dive into this review and see if it lives up to it's dazzling name. Gameplay and ControlsThe game starts off simple enough, giving the user a basic tutorial and instructing them to chose their preferred play style, i.e. would they rather play as a carnivore (tighter controls, faster base speed), a herbivore (slower less responsive play style, but faster eating) or an omnivore, a mix of both. As you play around and explore the levels in a fashion similar to Spore's cellular stage, you advance and level up by consuming materials of a certain type, red for carnivore, green for herbivore, and blue for omnivore. Simple enough right? The goal of each level is to simply devour all materials of a type and end up consuming more so than the CPU. The controls play very well, and do in fact feel like you're navigating a creature underwater in the sense that you're not steering the whole body, rather just the head and the rest of the creature follows. There's also an interesting little mechanic where you can delve beneath the different layers of the void/the waters, to explore new previously invisible scenery. There also is a nice touch where flashes of red green or blue will alert you to unclaimed collectible materials so that you're not just aimlessly wandering around the landscape. Overall the game is fairly simple, not too challenging, and makes for a great leisurely way to kill time without getting super invested in any extensive story or complex side quest. There's also a decent amount of levels packed in too, not too many but nothing to scoff at either, all in all making for at the very least a solid 5-6 hours of game play. It also provides you with a multitude of save states as well, allowing you to replay the game pretty much as many times as you'd like. Visual Style and AtmosphereThe visual style is extremely unique, the bright flashy colors against sometimes colorful and cheery other times dark and foreboding backgrounds feels like something I'd see in a dream about mathematical equations. It's strangely biological, yet oddly mechanical, and all so very captivating. I especially love the creature designs, and it's fun to see and point out which deep sea creatures inspired which designs, as someone who's always been a fan of deep sea marine biology that is. The player characters are also eye catching, almost hypnotic in the way they move, each suiting the feel for their respective game play styles. From the carnivore build, a sleek, sea serpent with sheering mandibles, the almost grasshopper or locust like fish design of the herbivore, and the geometric eel build of the omnivore. The music too is also very fitting for the game, soft piano overlaid upon a baseline of harmonious synths, creating almost a randomized, dreamlike yet calming melody that compliments the game play very well, definitely enriching the general atmosphere of the overall game. It creates a near seamless immersive experience that draws you in deeper without a doubt. The levels are also nicely designed and usually have a unique spin to each one, especially during the later stages. CriticismsNow while in my mind this is a good game, it is by no means a perfect game and there are most definitely a few hang ups and bang ups that in my mind keep it from being a great game. For starters, at the beginning, it felt like that great decision of finding your play style was something great and important that you could never change later, and I was disappointed to find that you can actually change you play style quite easily by simply collecting enough of a separate material, killing some potential replayability. A part of me in this way wishes that you could choose your base species, and by collecting different materials you could make it so that you could end up with different types of your base build (e.g. a more tanky carnivore vs a lightweight minmax one) instead of only switching between carnivore, herbivore, and omnivore throughout your entire journey. Another issue is that the omnivore and herbivore play styles are only marginally different, you're still defeating the same prey the same way just with different colors, which is fine I suppose but it's still a bit of a letdown that there wasn't anything more to it. There's also a few enemies that appear far too commonly or not often enough at all which isn't anything major but it would be nice to see some more variety. There are a few boss fight stages here and there that while visually impressive, didn't add much to the overall experience, usually consisting of "wait your turn then widdle away" style game play that without anything to spice it up just drags on and on. The CPU at times can be a little too easy to beat and despite being able to take damage, I'm not sure if you can game over from excessive damage so it seems a little pointless to include. There's also a few visual and audio issues, such as slightly jerky camera movement in a few levels, issues with being able to properly see color flashes depending on the background, and audio occasionally restarting but without a solid loop so the extension is very audible, however these are minimal concerns. Final thoughts: Is it worth it?Well, for a $2.50 pick I got off of the Nintendo E shop after some Christmas bliss, I'd say it's well worth it, however it will only really be a satisfying play if you're like me in the sense that you either love interesting creature design, have a thing for games with similar mechanics to spore, or have an eye for colorful almost psychedelic artwork. Otherwise, I'm not so sure you'd take to it, particularly if you're a fan of fast paced and more exiting game play, since this is a casual and leisurely game that basically works as a beautiful time killer. However, if fantastical art styles and slow building game play is something you particularly enjoy, then this might turn out to be one of your new favorites. Game play and mechanics: 3/5 Visuals and Atmosphere: 4.5/5 Replayability: 2.5/5 Overall Score: 3.5/5 Reflecting on my current hyperfixiation of the week, I've become obsessed with a film "Annihilation" and what makes it such a good example of turning an impossible narrative into a film. What I've come to find is that most video game to film adaptations fall short because they try to rely too heavily on the source material, creating a fixed story line of a game where no matter how linear the game play is, there is still player choice to be accounted for, and film takes that away which is arguably one of the most important aspects of video games as a whole; interactivity. Why mention Annihilation? Well simple, the director knew that it would be impossible to make a film revolving around characters whose names are never mentioned, and where 80% of any description takes place in the character's mind, or in a journal reflection. As such, instead of trying to keep the film loyal to the source, he instead tried to capture the feeling of the novel itself, by only reading it once, and writing the entire script based off of what he remembered and the emotions it brought forth. As such, the film feels very dreamlike, fitting for it's Lovecraftian and eldritch undertones. I feel like with the sudden surge of video game to film adaptations as of late, they can learn a thing or two from director Alex Garland, and instead of trying to capture the entirety of your source line by line, create a narrative that is unique yet stands for everything in your source material. That way, instead of providing a line by line retelling of a particular game, ergo locking our your audience by taking away the interactivity, instead try to play on the sense of nostalgia and the base feelings you recall your first time experiencing the subject. The only issue with this technique in my mind is the inevitable backlash you'll receive by diehard fans who are upset that you didn't follow the lore of the original to an exact T. (But being fair, any video game to movie adaptation will receive backlash, as is the unfortunate nature of them.)
While I do have a deep love for surface modeling, especially when it comes to making 3D models out of 2D splines, I am a little amused and bewildered by things such as working with particle effects and simulations, most notably things such as cloth modifiers and particle systems. While I also enjoyed working with mental ray lots, after the update to the 2019 version I am unfortunately unable to work with it anymore, knowing little to nothing about the Arnold renderer. Mass effects thus far has been a bit of a challenge, but nothing I can't handle, and I've been steadily coming along with it. Foliage has been nice already, and as you can probably already tell, knowing me, I jumped straight into the cherry blossom trees and the weeping willows. I am also a little exited as I have predicted that we might work with cameras more, or at the very least tap into some more environmental effects. This also might come as a shocker, but my more masochistic side is a bit disappointed that we haven't really gone into rigging yet. It seems rather odd, a student talking about wanting to go into rigging again after experiencing the horrors of it the last time they did so, but yes, I wish I could continue with it. Then again, while it is very improbable, it is still possible that we may tap into working with cameras more and rigging in the coming quarter, though that is mere speculation. I do not know for sure, however this would not be out of left field in the slightest, seeing that these have been worked on before in previous years. Either way I am very exited for what's to come. This is probably been my favorite modeling project thus far, aside from the chess set we did forever ago
I have been working with Audio and Video editing far before I took this class, so it's not necessarily a new subject for me, though I have been readily excited to learn more in class, and so far I feel quite at home with these subjects. Most of the work that I've done in class is made using Adobe Premiere Pro, (Or when we're working solely with audio, Adobe Audition) which is vastly different from my measly $40 software Wondershare Filmora. In sharp contrast, Premiere pro would have the capacity to do far more than whatever I would ever need from it, so I think I'll just stick with what I use currently. That isn't to say I haven't learned anything from it, I've actually learned quite a bit about flow and movement in film. Regardless, I am very confident that if I ever were to have a large scale video or audio editing project in my future classes, I am secure in my skills and I am certain that I would have the full capacity to complete such an assignment. In all honesty, my biggest problem with such assignments would probably be struggling with creating text and graphics, since Wondershare Filmora has a vastly different UI system. And I will say this, the more I work with any of these editing softwares, the better I get at producing any of my next big video projects accordingly. As of now I am not looking to go into any sort of career that would require being proficient in A/V editing, however it is nice having these skills under my belt so that I could do something else on the side that tapped into those sort of skills, and I'd actually find that to be rather enjoyable.
These are still probably my best two examples of A/V editing
At a glance this seems like any other modifier I have made use of before. A few components here, some buttons with minor adjustments there, nothing too out of the norm, that is until I actually began work on this thing. It is clear to me now why a few of my classmates hold this in such utter disdain, and I don't blame them. While I wouldn't say it's mindbogglingly brain numbing to the point of despair, I would say it ranks pretty close. To put it simply; I could not figure out why my flag was looking so off and wouldn't wave in the simulated wind for the longest time. I tried using different presets for the flag material, changing the gravity, and even setting the wind to speeds that I thought for sure would break the thing. Turns out that for some ungodly reason it would only work if the wind was aimed at the flag with a slight angle. That's it. That's the only thing that was wrong with the flag itself. No trapped polygons or missed vertices. Just a very slight problem that I should not have missed for the life of me. I will say though, despite all the hang ups and bang ups, the headaches and the face palms, bringing everything to fruition has been, for lack of better words, oddly satisfying. Maybe it was just the immense relief to finally get everything together and working, or maybe it was just the fun of learning why my previous attempts at fixing the issue had all failed. I will say though while I am looking foreword to working more with this modifier, I am still rather intimidated as to what's yet to come. I've already read up on how one would manually make their own creases and wrinkles, which in itself seems rather complicated, and I am a little anxious to experiment more.
Controversial opinion, Surface Modeling is better than Parametric Modeling. You might be asking me why, and that is an easy question to answer, for me at least. For starters, Parametric Modeling can only be used after you complete surface modeling most of the time, otherwise the desired effects do not appear correctly, or worse, can't be removed without completely messing up your base model. This is an issue I have commonly faced with when it comes to collapsing stacks of modifiers. Not to mention, and while this is a heavily subjective and biased opinion, surface modeling is so much more satisfying and enjoyable. While it can be fun to play around and experiment with effects, it's pretty hit or miss when it comes to Parametric Modeling. Often times if you don't know exactly what you're doing beforehand, you're almost guaranteed to be left with a less than desirable effect. Not to mention, there are some modifiers that, weather it's because of their complexity or otherwise, I will just never get a grasp or feel for. Surface modeling on the other hand is something you're actually free to experiment with and play around with and still be left with something decent looking. Contrary to most commonly held opinions, working with extrusions, bevels, chamfers and bridges isn't boring or menial in the slightest. however, this is all just my humble two cents on the matter. I'm sure if I practiced more and got a better feel for surface modeling I could splurge even more on what I love most about it. Another time perhaps.
Passariello, Victoria. “Sharpen Your Hard-Surface Modelling in 3ds Max.” Creative Bloq, Creative Bloq ART AND DESIGN INSPIRATION, 4 Apr. 2018, www.creativebloq.com/how-to/sharpen-your-hard-surface-modelling. It seems like in recent times, remakes are becoming more and more prevalent, especially in the film, animation, and video game industry. For instance, Disney looks like it's aiming to remake all it's most popular classic films, with it's newest remake of The Lion King to be added to the list soon enough. Netflix adaptations and reboots of popular series are beginning to insert themselves in every possible nook and cranny. Even Nintendo and other similar gaming titans are falling to this trend, such as the Spyro Remastered series, the rerelease of the Crash Bandicoot trilogy, and remakes of Superstar Saga, Bowser's Inside Story, and with it's most current release of Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. It's speculated that even more remakes of fan favorite games, especially those which are not typically thought of as being "Main Series", currently have a remake scheduled or in development. But why the sudden increase? Well, the dreamer part of me wants to believe that it's an attempt to shed more light on beloved but currently obsolete classics, however, the cynicist in me knows that it's more than likely an attempt at a quick cash grab. As I stated in my previous post, it's much more difficult to use modern culture to your advantage, due to it's volatile nature, but an equally effective way to create interest in your consumers is to cater to their nostalgia. To a film director or a game developer, it's much easier to create a remake than a spiritual successor. You've already got the basic groundwork, the script, the story, the code, and the mechanics. Even creating art assets is easier since you've already got the previous assets that you can use as reference. Not to mention, it's way riskier to try something new, as you know for a fact that with remakes, you're almost guaranteed that you'll have a positive reception from longtime fans-granted that you don't try to stray too far from the original model. Though, as much as I hate to admit it, I do love the re envisioning remakes tend to offer, good or bad, and I am exited to see where the new creative perspective takes longtime favorites, however hesitant I am to come out about it.
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Creator InfoThis is a blog for a Game Art Design class. Future programmer and currently an artist and writer. Archives
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