Right, Creativity again. Personally my views on it haven’t changed a great deal, but recently I’ve been thinking about a video we were shown in a lecture. It is a speech from Ken Robinson, you can watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
On part that really caught my attention was when he mentions that everybody is born with creativity, its just people loose it when going through education. Think about it, you are forced to do subjects such as Maths, Science and English, no matter how good you are at it. It is only until your 4th year at secondary school where you get to choose 3 subjects to do, along with English, Science and Maths. Also, creativity can come in a variety of forms such as dance and music, not just art. During education, children who are talented in dance for example, are taken away from the creativity due to being forced to study maths and science, therefore their talent is not put to use.
The other things are mistakes. Nowadays, mistakes are generally the worst things you can do in you're average job. This also applies to education for example, maths you are either right or wrong. This is the complete opposite to any form of art, in art you can never be wrong, it is just a different style or approach to a subject. This is what hurts children’s creativity early one, they begin to think that if their work is not exactly the same as an example then it will be wrong, and therefore think that they aren’t good enough and stick to the usual subjects like maths. A lot of talent and creativity is lost and not put to use because of this thought process.
This pretty much my thoughts on this subject, for now...
Life Changing or Career Building?
Getting into the industry is always going to be hard from the start, especially from a graduate’s point of view. The main reason is simply due to the lack of experience you will have when you leave uni.
When game companies are looking for a new artist, they usually spilt into two categories. The first being the people who are only interested in hiring experienced artists, people who have been working in the industry for several years. This means that they can pretty much guarantee that the person will be productive and creative enough to produce decent outcomes for the games the company is working on.
On the other hand we have companies who tend to prefer artists with a liberal arts background. This gives the chance for the inexperienced to give it a shot at the games industry, enhancing their abilities and gaining valuable experience. If you are an exceptionally talented graduate, some companies spot this, and offer students a job as soon as the finish the course. You often get people in from the industry to visit universities and have a look at some of the work produced. This gives the chance for students to receive valuable feedback from experienced artists who do the sort of stuff for a living.
Now, game art courses offer a lot to help students on their way to being a game artist, but they can't do everything for you. The courses are generally there to guide you and it is up to you to become unique to other artists. Game companies like to see a variation of styles in a portfolio; this means that the employee will be able to produce artwork for any genre. Of course, you will be taught rather a lot, the drawing techniques to produce convincing sketches, digital painting and 3d modelling such as 3ds max. However, as I said earlier, it is up to the student themselves to make that final jump, to stand out from the others and get that position as game artist.
When game companies are looking for a new artist, they usually spilt into two categories. The first being the people who are only interested in hiring experienced artists, people who have been working in the industry for several years. This means that they can pretty much guarantee that the person will be productive and creative enough to produce decent outcomes for the games the company is working on.
On the other hand we have companies who tend to prefer artists with a liberal arts background. This gives the chance for the inexperienced to give it a shot at the games industry, enhancing their abilities and gaining valuable experience. If you are an exceptionally talented graduate, some companies spot this, and offer students a job as soon as the finish the course. You often get people in from the industry to visit universities and have a look at some of the work produced. This gives the chance for students to receive valuable feedback from experienced artists who do the sort of stuff for a living.
Now, game art courses offer a lot to help students on their way to being a game artist, but they can't do everything for you. The courses are generally there to guide you and it is up to you to become unique to other artists. Game companies like to see a variation of styles in a portfolio; this means that the employee will be able to produce artwork for any genre. Of course, you will be taught rather a lot, the drawing techniques to produce convincing sketches, digital painting and 3d modelling such as 3ds max. However, as I said earlier, it is up to the student themselves to make that final jump, to stand out from the others and get that position as game artist.
Sound in Games
Sound in games has to be one of the most important areas when designing a game. Sound can dramatically enhance the gamers experience. The type of genre that comes to mind is horror/thriller. Games such as Doom, Resident Evil and Left4Dead all use the soundtrack to create suspence. For example, in resident evil, you will be walking through an abandoned building which is dead silent, appart from some creaks. All of a sudden you may hear objects being knocked onto the floor and growling. Then some fast paced music starts to play, but nothings happening, you hear moar growling, the music gets faster, you start to run then BAM, evil mutated zombie dog jumps on your face. The game wouldn't be the same if you had Alice in Wonderland playing in the background. Now game engines are becoming more safisticated sounds can easily be triggered at certain events, rather than constantly being played.
As for my own sound history, i remember loving the songs on the Crash Bandicoot games. They made if so much more enjoyable to play compared to if it was played in silence. My favourite soundtrack has to be the Worms 2 theme. Sometimes I would just sit there listening to it and not actually playing the game. The music of Worms has always been good up until it turned 3D. The music on the main menu was HORRIBLE, in my opinion, just so cheezy, just didnt fit the game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZGBDYG5aTY&feature=related
Now compare that to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpV28Jcmdfk&feature=related
I know which one i prefer.
Whilst on the topic of worms, who could forget this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mqrkvc6wS4&feature=related
Anyway, for some games I tend to turn off the music completely. For example, on Dawn of War 2 i have it switched off so i can hear whats actually going on, aswell as hearing my mate speak over Vent which is always a useful thing.
As for my own sound history, i remember loving the songs on the Crash Bandicoot games. They made if so much more enjoyable to play compared to if it was played in silence. My favourite soundtrack has to be the Worms 2 theme. Sometimes I would just sit there listening to it and not actually playing the game. The music of Worms has always been good up until it turned 3D. The music on the main menu was HORRIBLE, in my opinion, just so cheezy, just didnt fit the game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZGBDYG5aTY&feature=related
Now compare that to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpV28Jcmdfk&feature=related
I know which one i prefer.
Whilst on the topic of worms, who could forget this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mqrkvc6wS4&feature=related
Anyway, for some games I tend to turn off the music completely. For example, on Dawn of War 2 i have it switched off so i can hear whats actually going on, aswell as hearing my mate speak over Vent which is always a useful thing.
Game Engines
The game engine is the software that actually makes a game work. Without it, you would just have a load of random data not doing much at all. Game engines are designed to work on a variety of platforms. For example, Valve's Source engine works on the PC, Playstation 3 and xbox 360, even though it is about 50 years old :P Still, Team Fortress turned out nicely, except for crappy hit detection and many many bugs.
Anyway, a game engine consists of several smaller engines. These include a rendering engine, physics/collision engine, sound, animation, AI and more. The actual term 'game engine' was used when the release of Doom and Quake appeared. From these, many developers brought licenses to use these engines and then simply design their own visual style, clearly saving them time and money.
Subtractive and additive are terms used for difference level creation processes. The additive process is where the designer must create the level in a void which is endless and empty. If this process is used a skybox is required to seal off the map. A map must have no leaks, otherwise this can cause lighting issues and textures becoming distorted and blurred. If you think about a fish tank, if there is a hole then the water will leak out, the same applies for a level, but it needs a roof of course. Subtractive on the other hand is where there is no void, just an infinite solid which must be carved into. This method means that there is no chance of leaks but it isn’t as easy to manipulate as the additive process. Maps such as Counterstrike and Team Fortress 2 are created with the additive process, in a program called hammer. It is a free program to download off Steam, in the Source Developer Kit.
As for next generation engines, they must have a long life span and to be adaptable for many games. This will help reduce costs, as developing a game can cost millions. Only the highly popular games will easily provide a profitable income.
Anyway, a game engine consists of several smaller engines. These include a rendering engine, physics/collision engine, sound, animation, AI and more. The actual term 'game engine' was used when the release of Doom and Quake appeared. From these, many developers brought licenses to use these engines and then simply design their own visual style, clearly saving them time and money.
Subtractive and additive are terms used for difference level creation processes. The additive process is where the designer must create the level in a void which is endless and empty. If this process is used a skybox is required to seal off the map. A map must have no leaks, otherwise this can cause lighting issues and textures becoming distorted and blurred. If you think about a fish tank, if there is a hole then the water will leak out, the same applies for a level, but it needs a roof of course. Subtractive on the other hand is where there is no void, just an infinite solid which must be carved into. This method means that there is no chance of leaks but it isn’t as easy to manipulate as the additive process. Maps such as Counterstrike and Team Fortress 2 are created with the additive process, in a program called hammer. It is a free program to download off Steam, in the Source Developer Kit.
As for next generation engines, they must have a long life span and to be adaptable for many games. This will help reduce costs, as developing a game can cost millions. Only the highly popular games will easily provide a profitable income.
Gaming Culture
The gaming culture is growing and growing nowadays, what with more and more people having access to broadband and therefore the Internet. I remember playing games a bit around the age of 10, until the day I got a broadband connection at home. Ever since then I have been part of the online gaming community, which tends to occupy a fair chunk of my life. Now that I think about it, I didn’t really play many games online until I was introduced to Steam. This is an online community just for games, it has its own store where you can purchase and download games, as well as friend and chat system. When online, it tells you what games your friends are playing and what server they are on. I have a Playstation 3 at home and Steam is far better for keeping track of friends and joining them. In my opinion I think it is better the Microsoft Live, plus its free :P
Anyway, gone off at a tangent as always. A friend at college said I should buy counterstrike, so I did, and unlike most people I really didn’t like it. Now I’m a big fps fan but it was just so dull, slow and good at killing your morale. Run round a corner, headshot, wait 5 minutes to respawn and same again. Another friend showed me Team Fortress 2 and what a game. I’ve been playing it since it was released up to this day and I still love it. Not just the gameplay, the art direction they took, the humour...crap I’m doing it again. Right, back to steam community. If I look at my friends list, only 5 of them I know in real life, out of 50 odd. Since playing TF2 I have joined a clan where I have got to know a lot of decent chaps, some i know really well now, even though I’ve never seen them in my life.
The clan I am in compete against hundreds of other clans all over Europe; some cups even offer prize money to the winners. There are huge gaming festivals where thousands of gamers go to compete in tournaments.
Some people say that games take always peoples social life, stop them from exploring the outside world and people. On the other hand, you get to meet many new people and talk to them, not just typing, which makes things far better, you really get to know people well, and have a great laugh in game. I’m glad to be part of an thriving community and will be for many years to come, hopefully.
Anyway, gone off at a tangent as always. A friend at college said I should buy counterstrike, so I did, and unlike most people I really didn’t like it. Now I’m a big fps fan but it was just so dull, slow and good at killing your morale. Run round a corner, headshot, wait 5 minutes to respawn and same again. Another friend showed me Team Fortress 2 and what a game. I’ve been playing it since it was released up to this day and I still love it. Not just the gameplay, the art direction they took, the humour...crap I’m doing it again. Right, back to steam community. If I look at my friends list, only 5 of them I know in real life, out of 50 odd. Since playing TF2 I have joined a clan where I have got to know a lot of decent chaps, some i know really well now, even though I’ve never seen them in my life.
The clan I am in compete against hundreds of other clans all over Europe; some cups even offer prize money to the winners. There are huge gaming festivals where thousands of gamers go to compete in tournaments.
Some people say that games take always peoples social life, stop them from exploring the outside world and people. On the other hand, you get to meet many new people and talk to them, not just typing, which makes things far better, you really get to know people well, and have a great laugh in game. I’m glad to be part of an thriving community and will be for many years to come, hopefully.
The Game Industry
At the moment the games industry is in a bit of a mess. Due to the credit crunch, companies have been going bust, resulting in thousands of people loosing their jobs. Just think, if one company has 3 or 5 studios, that's a lot of people who are going to be job hunting, as well as the several thousand graduates from university courses around the world. Midway are currently in debt by $75 million, which has to be paid back before February 12th.
Despite all of this, the actual sales of games and consoles are thriving. For example, Sony have witnessed a 115% increase of sales on the Playstation 3 over the past year. As well as this, 3.25 million units of Nintendo Wii's were sold in December alone. This shows that the demand for consoles and new games are still high, and so hopefully companies will always have something to produce and profit from in the near future.
Anyway, back onto employment. Another thing that is going to make life tough for graduates is due to work being outsourced. This meaning that talent is found in country's outside the US/EU, where the labour rates are lower. Of course, this is good for the companies as it saves them money, the contract is usually only for one part of a game, rather than employing someone full time.
Hopefully by the time I graduate, if if graduate, the credit crunch will have cleared up and more studios will have opened. Ideally i'd like to get into the industry straight away, rather than spending a decade working in Tescos searching.
Despite all of this, the actual sales of games and consoles are thriving. For example, Sony have witnessed a 115% increase of sales on the Playstation 3 over the past year. As well as this, 3.25 million units of Nintendo Wii's were sold in December alone. This shows that the demand for consoles and new games are still high, and so hopefully companies will always have something to produce and profit from in the near future.
Anyway, back onto employment. Another thing that is going to make life tough for graduates is due to work being outsourced. This meaning that talent is found in country's outside the US/EU, where the labour rates are lower. Of course, this is good for the companies as it saves them money, the contract is usually only for one part of a game, rather than employing someone full time.
Hopefully by the time I graduate, if if graduate, the credit crunch will have cleared up and more studios will have opened. Ideally i'd like to get into the industry straight away, rather than spending a decade working in Tescos searching.
Creativity
Creativity has to be one of the most important factors when producing a game and the work force. If there were to be a lack of creativity in the game industry then every game would look the same. If someone asked me to tell them what creativity was, just off the top of my head, i guess I'd say it is what enables us to produce new ideas, concepts and generations.
Scientists reckon that the frontal lobe of the brain is a key role for creativity. So if you think like that, then everyone should be creative right? Or not. Everyone is born with some sort of creative talent, but some more than others. These people tend to go down a creative route for their career, such as a games artist, architect or interior designer.
Nowadays, different games had different levels of creativity in each area. The Artistic side of games isn't the only creative side, programmers can also be creative in the way they program the AI, make them moving in their own way, creating their own special effects never seen before. Of course the obvious way of showing creativity is through art in games. There are a lot of different styled games out there now including survival horrors, rpgs and action. Each type requires some amount of creativity, some more demanding than others. For example, survival horrors generally take place in a dark, gritty world full of zombies of some sort. Usually these places will be based on somewhere in real life, which are then converted to look interesting and realistic. However, in some games you begin to notice the influences that the designers had from other games or films, sometimes simply copying them, which lowers the game's standards and is less interesting to look at, as you've seen it before.
On the other hand you have games such as Little Big Planet, one of the latest releases on the Playstation 3. The vibrant colours and unique levels really make it appealing to look at. Even then you can customise them and create your own, to test your creativity. Another game that pops into my head is Team Fortress 2. Your usual first person shooter from Valve. However, the art direction they took was inspired by old American styles from the early 20th century, unlike most fps' which are usually modern, grey and gritty.
It's not always how a game looks to tell how creative people can be, the gameplay is also another factor. The obvious game for me would be portal, which i believe is the first of its kind. It was just a test to see if the creators - Valve - could actually pull it off. They did with great results. They showed that anything could be possible, if you put your mind to it...
Scientists reckon that the frontal lobe of the brain is a key role for creativity. So if you think like that, then everyone should be creative right? Or not. Everyone is born with some sort of creative talent, but some more than others. These people tend to go down a creative route for their career, such as a games artist, architect or interior designer.
Nowadays, different games had different levels of creativity in each area. The Artistic side of games isn't the only creative side, programmers can also be creative in the way they program the AI, make them moving in their own way, creating their own special effects never seen before. Of course the obvious way of showing creativity is through art in games. There are a lot of different styled games out there now including survival horrors, rpgs and action. Each type requires some amount of creativity, some more demanding than others. For example, survival horrors generally take place in a dark, gritty world full of zombies of some sort. Usually these places will be based on somewhere in real life, which are then converted to look interesting and realistic. However, in some games you begin to notice the influences that the designers had from other games or films, sometimes simply copying them, which lowers the game's standards and is less interesting to look at, as you've seen it before.
On the other hand you have games such as Little Big Planet, one of the latest releases on the Playstation 3. The vibrant colours and unique levels really make it appealing to look at. Even then you can customise them and create your own, to test your creativity. Another game that pops into my head is Team Fortress 2. Your usual first person shooter from Valve. However, the art direction they took was inspired by old American styles from the early 20th century, unlike most fps' which are usually modern, grey and gritty.
It's not always how a game looks to tell how creative people can be, the gameplay is also another factor. The obvious game for me would be portal, which i believe is the first of its kind. It was just a test to see if the creators - Valve - could actually pull it off. They did with great results. They showed that anything could be possible, if you put your mind to it...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
