Looking up on Kotaku, there is a link to a new challenge for game developers/designers/whatever.
It may be something worth entering each weekn or even just give it a look in to see what people are coming up with.
This weeks is to come up with a new functional RPG character. I'm not sure if the contest requires any art but it's only the first week. We'll know soon enough.
Without further ado, here's the link http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/521/james_portnows_design_challenge.php
So we will see what happens with it and I'll see what happens and perhaps update the blog with winners and things like that
Sunday, 13 April 2008
Friday, 11 April 2008
Week 20 Addendum
Just felt like addinga bit more after being told the first one was pretty negative.
Of course there are so many different ways that creativity can be shown.
Damien Hurst managed to cut a cown and its calf in half and call it art. Nothing like that has ever been done before. Its really unusual that seeing the insides of a cow is acceptable in the form of art and can even become the competition winner. I personally don't see how it is arty but somewhere along the way someone decided to produce sculptures instead of paintings and after that all kinds of other things that have made art alot more than images.
Along the course of time so many things have come about and it is all through creativity. We wouldn't even have music if a person didnt believe making noise could have a purpose or produce something pleasant to the ears. Hell, we wouldnt have nearly anything we have today if nobody had used thought to adapt to surroundings or to better themselves.
Same applies to gaming. There are clever minds who want to up the power of consoles in order to produce games that look more realistic or even more surreal. Its a wonder that we even have consoles at all even more surprising we have games that have progressed up to almost realistic standards. As I mentioned before there will be a point when games aren't really games anymore. Besides, having realistic games sort of defeats the point of games in the first place, right? The only realistic game I own is Need for Speed: Underground 2 and that was bought for my sister. I play the games for the escapism. To experience something that somebody else has imagined. All those storylines have been a fragment of a humans mind.
Looking arround, someone has harnessed electricity so that we can view moving pictures on a piece of glass. A box in the corner is able to give me heat at the flick of a switch. I'm even writing this blog in a language you can understand because language has been developed and words were crafted and given purpose to define things and name things.
I suppose that in the more positive side of creativity, though a bit vague, nothing apart from the sky and the grass and soil and water has just happened. Anything you see is because someone created it, refined it and gave it to us. So as I said before, we can all be creative, as much as anyone weve heard before if we give ourselves the time to.
Of course there are so many different ways that creativity can be shown.
Damien Hurst managed to cut a cown and its calf in half and call it art. Nothing like that has ever been done before. Its really unusual that seeing the insides of a cow is acceptable in the form of art and can even become the competition winner. I personally don't see how it is arty but somewhere along the way someone decided to produce sculptures instead of paintings and after that all kinds of other things that have made art alot more than images.
Along the course of time so many things have come about and it is all through creativity. We wouldn't even have music if a person didnt believe making noise could have a purpose or produce something pleasant to the ears. Hell, we wouldnt have nearly anything we have today if nobody had used thought to adapt to surroundings or to better themselves.
Same applies to gaming. There are clever minds who want to up the power of consoles in order to produce games that look more realistic or even more surreal. Its a wonder that we even have consoles at all even more surprising we have games that have progressed up to almost realistic standards. As I mentioned before there will be a point when games aren't really games anymore. Besides, having realistic games sort of defeats the point of games in the first place, right? The only realistic game I own is Need for Speed: Underground 2 and that was bought for my sister. I play the games for the escapism. To experience something that somebody else has imagined. All those storylines have been a fragment of a humans mind.
Looking arround, someone has harnessed electricity so that we can view moving pictures on a piece of glass. A box in the corner is able to give me heat at the flick of a switch. I'm even writing this blog in a language you can understand because language has been developed and words were crafted and given purpose to define things and name things.
I suppose that in the more positive side of creativity, though a bit vague, nothing apart from the sky and the grass and soil and water has just happened. Anything you see is because someone created it, refined it and gave it to us. So as I said before, we can all be creative, as much as anyone weve heard before if we give ourselves the time to.
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Week 20: Creativity
Well it's the big subject and it is something that everybody is in possession of. Creativity is an anomally really. It is something that is hard to put into words or describe since it can come in many different forms. This can be from cooking a brand new meal to solving a maths problem to thinking up a new species of creature to put in a game.
I suppose the most prominent form of creativity is the Arts. All manner of things such as dance, music and art itself. Anyone can go to a theatre and see a brand new play that is the genius of the playwright. The story and characters can be completely new and different from anything else that exists and that makes him creative. This is just an example of an obvious form of creativity.
(I'm gonna be sick of this word by the end of the blog)
Not everybody is so outwardly creative. There are so many other ways of showing it. There is nobody on the planet who would not be able to think up of an idea for a story. These people may not have the tools or equipment to follow through their ideas but certainly it is better than having all the tools but no ideas. Sure this is contradictory to my other statement but many people do get blocked alot of the time. I personally want to create something new but more than likely, decide not to do it because its so cliche, would seem like copying someone else or just that it was a fleeting idea and didn't have enough flesh to it.
Thinking of games today, all of the big mainstream titles don't seem creative because there are just too many of the same things. Looking across the room at my DBZ game, I recall that all the games in the series are the same but with more characters. As far as I know this is the same as almost every sports game that is out there. Sport can only get more real therefore perhaps someone will be creative and think of the next step for sports games. Or games as a whole. Nintendo have broken the tried and tested 'use a controller to play' ethic with using a stylus to control the DS and a remote which has numerous attachments (1) to free the arms and give a sense of immersion. What did we have before that? Rumble. Right now its still really all we have with the odd bit of shaking the wii mote or six-axis to get the feeling that we're there.
We always say how we want to get new styles of playing games and it makes me wonder; do we not get new ways to play because developers know what works and it earns them money? Or could it be down to people not thinking outside the box? Some games nowadays do push the boundries. This could be in the art style like when cel-shading was first introduced. IT could be in the storyline engrossing the player into always wanting more. It could be how we actually play the games with peripherals like light guns and guitars coming out. Surely if we pushed the limits that we have now, we would have all sorts of brand new things that will change gaming forever.
How far can console gaming really go before it isn't home gaming anymore? Nintendo certainly can't go back to a standard controller after the Wii and I dont think microsoft or sony will think twice about doing something similar to get up there with Ninty. I ask for immersion but the most extreme immersion is a simulator which defeats the point of home gaming. I don't have room in my house for an F-Zero machine nor do I want to run on a treadmill everytime i want to go somewhere in my game. In response to the point, yes creativity is limited alot by availiable technology. Right now we don't have time machines or human teleporters. Hell, we don't even have the flying cars we were promised back in the 60s. Then again, are we really limited with what we have or are we limited by what we believe we can do with it. I'm pretty sure before cement was invented that you could build a house out of sand and water (and other stuff).
Maybe if we got everybody in the world together and sat down to work on a problem, or were given a solution to solve we'd get billions of ideas. Those billions of ideas can be joined together and developed to produce the solution we need. There are not two people who think alike so therefore we can get so many ideas there is bound to be one that works and can actually be done.
We don't need to leave these things to our modern day genius' or even those of the past. We all have the potential inside of our brains to come up with ideas. Using the ideas we can overcome problems. Once that set of problems has been overcome, you're evolving and new things are happening. Materials are being used differently, people have different views towards anything and everything. Seeing something, and being inspired to merely think of anything is creative.
I suppose the most prominent form of creativity is the Arts. All manner of things such as dance, music and art itself. Anyone can go to a theatre and see a brand new play that is the genius of the playwright. The story and characters can be completely new and different from anything else that exists and that makes him creative. This is just an example of an obvious form of creativity.
(I'm gonna be sick of this word by the end of the blog)
Not everybody is so outwardly creative. There are so many other ways of showing it. There is nobody on the planet who would not be able to think up of an idea for a story. These people may not have the tools or equipment to follow through their ideas but certainly it is better than having all the tools but no ideas. Sure this is contradictory to my other statement but many people do get blocked alot of the time. I personally want to create something new but more than likely, decide not to do it because its so cliche, would seem like copying someone else or just that it was a fleeting idea and didn't have enough flesh to it.
Thinking of games today, all of the big mainstream titles don't seem creative because there are just too many of the same things. Looking across the room at my DBZ game, I recall that all the games in the series are the same but with more characters. As far as I know this is the same as almost every sports game that is out there. Sport can only get more real therefore perhaps someone will be creative and think of the next step for sports games. Or games as a whole. Nintendo have broken the tried and tested 'use a controller to play' ethic with using a stylus to control the DS and a remote which has numerous attachments (1) to free the arms and give a sense of immersion. What did we have before that? Rumble. Right now its still really all we have with the odd bit of shaking the wii mote or six-axis to get the feeling that we're there.
We always say how we want to get new styles of playing games and it makes me wonder; do we not get new ways to play because developers know what works and it earns them money? Or could it be down to people not thinking outside the box? Some games nowadays do push the boundries. This could be in the art style like when cel-shading was first introduced. IT could be in the storyline engrossing the player into always wanting more. It could be how we actually play the games with peripherals like light guns and guitars coming out. Surely if we pushed the limits that we have now, we would have all sorts of brand new things that will change gaming forever.
How far can console gaming really go before it isn't home gaming anymore? Nintendo certainly can't go back to a standard controller after the Wii and I dont think microsoft or sony will think twice about doing something similar to get up there with Ninty. I ask for immersion but the most extreme immersion is a simulator which defeats the point of home gaming. I don't have room in my house for an F-Zero machine nor do I want to run on a treadmill everytime i want to go somewhere in my game. In response to the point, yes creativity is limited alot by availiable technology. Right now we don't have time machines or human teleporters. Hell, we don't even have the flying cars we were promised back in the 60s. Then again, are we really limited with what we have or are we limited by what we believe we can do with it. I'm pretty sure before cement was invented that you could build a house out of sand and water (and other stuff).
Maybe if we got everybody in the world together and sat down to work on a problem, or were given a solution to solve we'd get billions of ideas. Those billions of ideas can be joined together and developed to produce the solution we need. There are not two people who think alike so therefore we can get so many ideas there is bound to be one that works and can actually be done.
We don't need to leave these things to our modern day genius' or even those of the past. We all have the potential inside of our brains to come up with ideas. Using the ideas we can overcome problems. Once that set of problems has been overcome, you're evolving and new things are happening. Materials are being used differently, people have different views towards anything and everything. Seeing something, and being inspired to merely think of anything is creative.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Week 19: Edumaction
Hmmm, this is a troubling subject and as a start I thought I'd go wandering around game sites and seeing what jobs they had avaliable. For Sega, all the jobs in the last 12 months ask for experienced applicants. Its a tough thing to ask for experience when those fresh out of college and uni aren't going to have any. They have the skills able to move out into their respective fields and yet can't for another 2 or 3 years because its hard to find a job unless they've worked before. Blizzard require those who have worked for a minimum of 3 years to work on WoW or a next gen MMO that they are in production with. Both LucasArts and Blizzard have added an additional requirement of having produced some games in the past. I guess it wouldn;t be too hard to meet the requirement for this in those 3 years you have worked though.
So to be honest, it is a tricky subject for educators to handle. I'm sure the smaller companies would enjoy having those individuals who are very creative to give employees some idea of what to model for the game in question. Inversely, other companies may want this creative person to imagine and create a full model of their idea.
Therefore it becomes essential for those tutors out there to consider what it is that helps students be creative and gear a course towards that. Somewhere along the way it does help to give a basic or strong knowledge in the standard software for the industry. (In ours it would be 3DSmax/Maya, Photoshop and something like Zbrush). An understanding of those programs is sure to give students an upper hand when it comes to finding a job even if it isnt something an employer looks for. It is merely a plus and shows that a person is alot more adaptable to any job or task they are given.
On the other hand, the creative hand, it is something that is hard to teach. If you tell someone exactly what they are meant to be doing,
you haven't taught creativity in the slightest. You need to get the right balance of pushing someone in the right direction to get them
going and helping with ideas along the course of the process. "Who is this/ what do they do/ where do they come from" are questions that can begin the process and give the idea of research. In essence, it is research and seeing things that inspire creativity. Somebody could see a plant one day, be completely inspired by it and adapt it into a weapon, for example. Then when you can do this for any given objective that is when creativity is achieved. Alot like enlightenment, A grades and jobs.
I suppose, as the point of this task, it is pretty hard to give somebody the qualifications to apply for all the game-y jobs straight away, especially with the hierachy, but if you can give them fundamentals and then some, they are sure to have options open to them. Of course once these options are taken, it is then up to the company and individual to provide further technical education in the industry.
So to be honest, it is a tricky subject for educators to handle. I'm sure the smaller companies would enjoy having those individuals who are very creative to give employees some idea of what to model for the game in question. Inversely, other companies may want this creative person to imagine and create a full model of their idea.
Therefore it becomes essential for those tutors out there to consider what it is that helps students be creative and gear a course towards that. Somewhere along the way it does help to give a basic or strong knowledge in the standard software for the industry. (In ours it would be 3DSmax/Maya, Photoshop and something like Zbrush). An understanding of those programs is sure to give students an upper hand when it comes to finding a job even if it isnt something an employer looks for. It is merely a plus and shows that a person is alot more adaptable to any job or task they are given.
On the other hand, the creative hand, it is something that is hard to teach. If you tell someone exactly what they are meant to be doing,
you haven't taught creativity in the slightest. You need to get the right balance of pushing someone in the right direction to get them
going and helping with ideas along the course of the process. "Who is this/ what do they do/ where do they come from" are questions that can begin the process and give the idea of research. In essence, it is research and seeing things that inspire creativity. Somebody could see a plant one day, be completely inspired by it and adapt it into a weapon, for example. Then when you can do this for any given objective that is when creativity is achieved. Alot like enlightenment, A grades and jobs.
I suppose, as the point of this task, it is pretty hard to give somebody the qualifications to apply for all the game-y jobs straight away, especially with the hierachy, but if you can give them fundamentals and then some, they are sure to have options open to them. Of course once these options are taken, it is then up to the company and individual to provide further technical education in the industry.
Thursday, 28 February 2008
Week 18: Sound in Games
This weeks blog task asked about Sonic Landscapes. I didn't know what such a thing was beforehand but now I do. A Sonic Landscape is the layering of sound to produce the effect of a 3D space. I found a useful link on the Bethesda website which fully explained what it was and how it was produced using the example of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. To gather an idea of what he meant, I ran to youtube to find myself a video of what he was describing and fully understood what it was. Unfortunately, the video didnt have the footsteps which were described. I was hoping for something like Kingdom Hearts where its easy to hear every footstep, even with all characters wearing oversized clown shoes. I know most games nowadays do have footsteps but KH just had them cartoony sounding. It was nice.
Of course sound is used in many other contexts during games. We have gunshots, swords clashing, firing magic, opening doors and gates and all other manner of trees and winds howling. In an ideal game, a player will not notice the sounds that go on around him. MAking things as seamless is the job of everyone in the games industry. If something stands out, it probably is wrong. When sounds are like those in real life and seem entirely natural, we become integrated in the game and fully feel everything going on around you.
When it comes to the best Sonic moment in my history, I can't really pinpoint a moment as they never really stand out to me. Thinking back, the majority of games I've played don't tend to have these Sonic Landscapes for many different reasons. If I had a 360 or a PS3 I may notice but looking at the games on my shelf I really cannot see that many that have it. In recent years I would have to go with Zelda: Twilight Princess. Riding across Hyrule field on Epona is pretty awesome, hearing those Wyverns in the sky and the constant thundering of the footsteps really immerses you into the game. Or, as I prefer, Lake Hylia. The tranquil music that plays in the background which goes perfectly with the ambient water babbling away. If you swim around in the lake towards the waterfall, the sound begins softly and turns into a loud roar while sitting right underneath it. In the middle of the lake the cannon shop, crossed with the music hut also layers into casual water and plays over the top of the lakes BGM.
ANOTHER HONOURABLE MENTION: During bosses and mini-bosses in The Wind Waker play a chord everytime Link's sword connects with the enemy. I really loved that. An example of it is shown here
Of course sound is used in many other contexts during games. We have gunshots, swords clashing, firing magic, opening doors and gates and all other manner of trees and winds howling. In an ideal game, a player will not notice the sounds that go on around him. MAking things as seamless is the job of everyone in the games industry. If something stands out, it probably is wrong. When sounds are like those in real life and seem entirely natural, we become integrated in the game and fully feel everything going on around you.
When it comes to the best Sonic moment in my history, I can't really pinpoint a moment as they never really stand out to me. Thinking back, the majority of games I've played don't tend to have these Sonic Landscapes for many different reasons. If I had a 360 or a PS3 I may notice but looking at the games on my shelf I really cannot see that many that have it. In recent years I would have to go with Zelda: Twilight Princess. Riding across Hyrule field on Epona is pretty awesome, hearing those Wyverns in the sky and the constant thundering of the footsteps really immerses you into the game. Or, as I prefer, Lake Hylia. The tranquil music that plays in the background which goes perfectly with the ambient water babbling away. If you swim around in the lake towards the waterfall, the sound begins softly and turns into a loud roar while sitting right underneath it. In the middle of the lake the cannon shop, crossed with the music hut also layers into casual water and plays over the top of the lakes BGM.
ANOTHER HONOURABLE MENTION: During bosses and mini-bosses in The Wind Waker play a chord everytime Link's sword connects with the enemy. I really loved that. An example of it is shown here
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Week 17: Game Engines
Basically a game engine is an application or software that compiles multiple elements and physics to create the game. Much in the same way that you bring graphs and words into powerpoint to produce a presentation.
Many game engines are out there in the world today and it seems they are certainly getting a lot more realistic. Using the example of the Havok engine, Valve have produced games that allow characters to go flying in the right direction after being hit by rockets and becoming limp after losing life. Then again, there are many cases where the character will become a completely limp ragdoll leading to do wierd poses, and others when characters will bend over backwards into a wall when dead. At least you can shoot these ragdolls off buildings and crowbar some corpses so they jangle around. Perhaps the character deaths arent the excel of the Havok engine but it was definitely made to have suitable physics for general items laying around the area so that they could bounce around realistically. Tires and wooden boxes react as they would if they had been fired across a room with a gravity gun.
According to what I have found on the internet this subtractive and additive editing is about how you build things. Additive editing is when you start off with nothing and put things into it. Using the example of editing video, additive is when you begin with an empty timeline and then you fill it up with clips. Subtractive editing is once you have a 5 minute movie but need to cut it down to 3 minutes. At least that was my understanding of what id read up about it.
As with most things, buying an already existing game engine it saves you the effort of having to make anything yourself and this will cut down your production times by so much as you can put things in and itll be done. However you are kinda stuck with the physics of what has been programmed into it. If this doesn't fit the game you want to make then you are kinda stuck.
Of course the advantages to making your own are the opposite. You can make things and characters move the ways you want them to but you'll need to take the time out of your project to make this engine.
As a side note, the new Euphoria engine being used on the force unleashed could well be the future. Having the character do a different motion everytime depending on whats happening. HItting a wall and showing the impact the way you really would do from any angle rather than just one wall hit animation. Characters reacting to their environment is also a large bonus and reacting to one stimuli and also reacting to another at the same time. (Stormtroopers being force-lifted and then thrown into a wall and crushed by a rock). So when The Force Unleashed comes out, I'll be able to see how great having a real life simulation is in a game compared to multiple animations.
Many game engines are out there in the world today and it seems they are certainly getting a lot more realistic. Using the example of the Havok engine, Valve have produced games that allow characters to go flying in the right direction after being hit by rockets and becoming limp after losing life. Then again, there are many cases where the character will become a completely limp ragdoll leading to do wierd poses, and others when characters will bend over backwards into a wall when dead. At least you can shoot these ragdolls off buildings and crowbar some corpses so they jangle around. Perhaps the character deaths arent the excel of the Havok engine but it was definitely made to have suitable physics for general items laying around the area so that they could bounce around realistically. Tires and wooden boxes react as they would if they had been fired across a room with a gravity gun.
According to what I have found on the internet this subtractive and additive editing is about how you build things. Additive editing is when you start off with nothing and put things into it. Using the example of editing video, additive is when you begin with an empty timeline and then you fill it up with clips. Subtractive editing is once you have a 5 minute movie but need to cut it down to 3 minutes. At least that was my understanding of what id read up about it.
As with most things, buying an already existing game engine it saves you the effort of having to make anything yourself and this will cut down your production times by so much as you can put things in and itll be done. However you are kinda stuck with the physics of what has been programmed into it. If this doesn't fit the game you want to make then you are kinda stuck.
Of course the advantages to making your own are the opposite. You can make things and characters move the ways you want them to but you'll need to take the time out of your project to make this engine.
As a side note, the new Euphoria engine being used on the force unleashed could well be the future. Having the character do a different motion everytime depending on whats happening. HItting a wall and showing the impact the way you really would do from any angle rather than just one wall hit animation. Characters reacting to their environment is also a large bonus and reacting to one stimuli and also reacting to another at the same time. (Stormtroopers being force-lifted and then thrown into a wall and crushed by a rock). So when The Force Unleashed comes out, I'll be able to see how great having a real life simulation is in a game compared to multiple animations.
Week 16: Gaming Cultures
I guess it is true to say that there are gaming cultures in the world today. The initial ones beginning with playing dungeons and dragons in a group on wednesday nights. Rolling the dice to see if you beat a monster or fell to your death from the top of a mountain. Following that there is Warhammer and other tabletop games. These can feature in large tournaments and its hidden depth being that you can choose any class and paint them however you want. (Well, according to some colour schemes).
In the spirit of tabletop games there is the faithful Trading Card Games but I will not get wrapped up in making friends during a childrens card game.
So, gaming, a very popular thing nowadays and you can't say otherwise. There are limitless groups for games, much like there are for films. People can be in cultures depending on the genre of games that they play. The majority of games today are First Person Shooters so you will have loads of people who look forward to their mute and faceless heroes trudging through all the corpses he made. Racing games which are going strength to strength visually but i don't see how you can really refresh the genre. And the Role Playing Game where unlikely hero/anti-hero goes on a daring quest to stop someone they know from ruining the world.
I personally don't play racing games apart from Mario Kart as the handling is far too realistic for my kart racing brain to handle and those neon lights. I try and avoid the FPS at the best of times but damn Valve for bringing out those awesome FPS's of theirs. I purchased the Orange Box and finished portal rather sharpish and only within the last 3 weeks have I played and finished all the current Half Life 2 games. BUT THERE IS ONE MORE: Team Fortress 2 completely changed the genre for me and got me into the FPS. Its just something to do with the graphics and playing as a team that makes it more bareable than other games. So for one, I belong to the TF2 culture. I try and remain on top of funny videos and machinima, pictures and comics and even the control point podcast (Whose group ive joined and need to play with more). I could even tell you that the Female Scout model has been released after being a WIP for so long and that it actually works fully in game. I've made some friends over the game that i play with sometimes and those who I know, namely my best friend Andy, and Phil from the class.
Finally, I am a large fan of the MMORPG. Anything that looks relatively cool and interesting will get a try or a look in from me. (as long as its free). The first MMO I played was Maple Story because it was the only thing my pc could run. I played it solo for a while before I started making friends and joined a guild who I became friends with. Mainly they lived in the US so i didn't play with them much and also that they were too high a level for me to party with. Good friends in the guild being Ann from Texas, Chris and Erica who shared an account and Meep who i've totally forgotten the name of. Finally Reese, who I've been talking to for almost a year now but never met. She only lives in birmingham too, so perhaps one day.
Next was Trickster but that became boring quickly due to it being in open beta and not many people from gamefaqs playing. It was a quiet guild and i didnt know many.
Then it was Lunia. Played that for a bit, stopped and playing it once again, in amognst all that TF2 action.
I guess thats it so in summary I belong to the RPG, MMORPG and ever so slightly, multiplayer FPS games.
Generally, as long as i don't have an overload of work to do, or I'm not entirely shattered or it's 3 in the morning I will try and play either Lunia or TF2. Lunia for long periods and TF2 if I'm in the lab or need a quick game. An addict? Perhaps but for 42 hours as a scout in 4 months, I really should have more than 15 points. T_T
In the spirit of tabletop games there is the faithful Trading Card Games but I will not get wrapped up in making friends during a childrens card game.
So, gaming, a very popular thing nowadays and you can't say otherwise. There are limitless groups for games, much like there are for films. People can be in cultures depending on the genre of games that they play. The majority of games today are First Person Shooters so you will have loads of people who look forward to their mute and faceless heroes trudging through all the corpses he made. Racing games which are going strength to strength visually but i don't see how you can really refresh the genre. And the Role Playing Game where unlikely hero/anti-hero goes on a daring quest to stop someone they know from ruining the world.
I personally don't play racing games apart from Mario Kart as the handling is far too realistic for my kart racing brain to handle and those neon lights. I try and avoid the FPS at the best of times but damn Valve for bringing out those awesome FPS's of theirs. I purchased the Orange Box and finished portal rather sharpish and only within the last 3 weeks have I played and finished all the current Half Life 2 games. BUT THERE IS ONE MORE: Team Fortress 2 completely changed the genre for me and got me into the FPS. Its just something to do with the graphics and playing as a team that makes it more bareable than other games. So for one, I belong to the TF2 culture. I try and remain on top of funny videos and machinima, pictures and comics and even the control point podcast (Whose group ive joined and need to play with more). I could even tell you that the Female Scout model has been released after being a WIP for so long and that it actually works fully in game. I've made some friends over the game that i play with sometimes and those who I know, namely my best friend Andy, and Phil from the class.
Finally, I am a large fan of the MMORPG. Anything that looks relatively cool and interesting will get a try or a look in from me. (as long as its free). The first MMO I played was Maple Story because it was the only thing my pc could run. I played it solo for a while before I started making friends and joined a guild who I became friends with. Mainly they lived in the US so i didn't play with them much and also that they were too high a level for me to party with. Good friends in the guild being Ann from Texas, Chris and Erica who shared an account and Meep who i've totally forgotten the name of. Finally Reese, who I've been talking to for almost a year now but never met. She only lives in birmingham too, so perhaps one day.
Next was Trickster but that became boring quickly due to it being in open beta and not many people from gamefaqs playing. It was a quiet guild and i didnt know many.
Then it was Lunia. Played that for a bit, stopped and playing it once again, in amognst all that TF2 action.
I guess thats it so in summary I belong to the RPG, MMORPG and ever so slightly, multiplayer FPS games.
Generally, as long as i don't have an overload of work to do, or I'm not entirely shattered or it's 3 in the morning I will try and play either Lunia or TF2. Lunia for long periods and TF2 if I'm in the lab or need a quick game. An addict? Perhaps but for 42 hours as a scout in 4 months, I really should have more than 15 points. T_T
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