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
Thursday, 28 February 2008
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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