Game engines today are more complex than games engines 5 years ago, i can easily say that. However today's game engines are excellent in the fact of modding etc etc. Since the dawn of the Half-Life engine the amount of mods and games made using this engine was incredible and the same goes today for the Unreal Engines, Half-Life 2 engine and the newest and most stunning, the Cry engine.
Game engines are of course what makes the game and gives it the WOW/OMG/WTFBBQBRINGTHEBEAR factor. Using the first Half-life engine as an example, looking back at it, its not very pretty, but the things that were made possible using the engine and modding it were fantastic. If it wasn't for the HL engine and Counter-Strike i wouldn't be writing this sh!t blog :D.
Also the availability of today's game engines gives game developers the choice of whether they want their game on a certain engine to look a certain way or not. They can try and test the engines before buying which makes their efforts extremely easily to get a foothold in the game industry. However some of the key issues for next-gen game engine developers is "when will it stop?". Most likely answer is never, how real are the games engines going to get before humankind is satisfied.
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Gaming Cultures (week Sixteen)
Since the dawn of games there has been some sort of gaming culture, since my discovery of online games when I was at school I was part of the Counter-Strike gaming culture. It was a very social culture depending on how involved you became. You could of been involved in the whole clan culture or not. Since my Counter-Strike days Ive been involved in many gaming cultures such as a Battlefield 2 tournament, I was heavily involved with this tournament and I enjoyed my days playing Battlefield 2 with friends I made online.
However two years ago I became involved with Eve-Online, now MMO cultures I find are very different and vast compared to, say the CS community culture. Using Eve-Online as an example of a vast culture. However you could argue that there are sub-cultures within Eves main culture, such as people from different countries integrating some of their own real life cultures into the game itself. Within Eve-Online the Galaxy's are split into Empire (npc controlled) and 0.0 or lawless space (controlled by real people). The lawless space is controlled by different alliances and all alliances are controlled again by real life people. Different alliances have different cultures and social structures. All alliances are made up by smaller groups of people, these are called Corporations (clans). These "corps" can have 10 to 500 people within them, generally they join alliances that have the same ideas, structure and culture as themselves.
I know of one corp within Eve that use Communism to run their corp and it works in a virtual environment which again is experimenting in a real time environment with different real life cultures and ideas.
Some online cultures can have alot of power and influence certain real life aspects, for an example the recent launch of the chocolate bar called Whisper. It was relaunched due to a group on Facebook that became very large in numbers of people asking the manufacturer to bring back the chocolate bar.
The biggest difference between real life cultures and Internet/online cultures is that the person doesn't have to be physically part of that culture, they can share views via the Internet and other media and everyday the Internet is getting bigger and bigger. Therefore Internet cultures and should not be underestimated.
However two years ago I became involved with Eve-Online, now MMO cultures I find are very different and vast compared to, say the CS community culture. Using Eve-Online as an example of a vast culture. However you could argue that there are sub-cultures within Eves main culture, such as people from different countries integrating some of their own real life cultures into the game itself. Within Eve-Online the Galaxy's are split into Empire (npc controlled) and 0.0 or lawless space (controlled by real people). The lawless space is controlled by different alliances and all alliances are controlled again by real life people. Different alliances have different cultures and social structures. All alliances are made up by smaller groups of people, these are called Corporations (clans). These "corps" can have 10 to 500 people within them, generally they join alliances that have the same ideas, structure and culture as themselves.
I know of one corp within Eve that use Communism to run their corp and it works in a virtual environment which again is experimenting in a real time environment with different real life cultures and ideas.
Some online cultures can have alot of power and influence certain real life aspects, for an example the recent launch of the chocolate bar called Whisper. It was relaunched due to a group on Facebook that became very large in numbers of people asking the manufacturer to bring back the chocolate bar.
The biggest difference between real life cultures and Internet/online cultures is that the person doesn't have to be physically part of that culture, they can share views via the Internet and other media and everyday the Internet is getting bigger and bigger. Therefore Internet cultures and should not be underestimated.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
The Game Industry (Week 15)
Back in the day, the Game industry was pretty tiny compared to the size it has grown today, before it was coders etc etc, nowadays its mainly specialist roles such as art directors, concept art, character modelers, environmental modelers etc. The Game Industry has come on leaps and bonds since the days of sweaty blokes stuck in their rooms writing code (well sorta still the same but instead of one bloke OR women its a team of them these days).
Today's Game Industry is all about the money (in someways). Budgets and Deadlines are a must for producing a game to be ready for the shelf in your local Game store. Different teams of people all work to the same goal but work on different aspects of creating a game (warning EA dig) unless its EA and they still seam to lack an quality control department but I wont get into that D:
Most people who start a new job in the games industry, start as a generalist employee. This means they work on some basic projects and help tie up loose ends, such as making 100 trees for environments, skinning buildings but these may depend on what role in the company the person has applied for. Generally it takes a certain amount of years before someone can specialise in a certain field in the games industry, unless they show outstanding knowledge and skill within a certain aspect of game design. An example of this is a Character modeler, they could start as a low poly modeler then specialise in high poly character modeling showing results that are near to pure realism.
Some companies within the game industry sub let some of their work to outside contractors, generally these contractors could be another games company working in the eastern European block or Asia where the wages are considerably lower. The reason for this is that the main games company may be working on a very tight budget and need to let some of the more basic work out to these type of contractors.
This new type of game design may have negative effects on the Game Industry in the Future, where games no longer are pieces of art but become mearly a means of wealth. The ability to churn out games at a fast rate may kill the games industry, but I may be talking like the Apocalypse is just around the corner.
Today's Game Industry is all about the money (in someways). Budgets and Deadlines are a must for producing a game to be ready for the shelf in your local Game store. Different teams of people all work to the same goal but work on different aspects of creating a game (warning EA dig) unless its EA and they still seam to lack an quality control department but I wont get into that D:
Most people who start a new job in the games industry, start as a generalist employee. This means they work on some basic projects and help tie up loose ends, such as making 100 trees for environments, skinning buildings but these may depend on what role in the company the person has applied for. Generally it takes a certain amount of years before someone can specialise in a certain field in the games industry, unless they show outstanding knowledge and skill within a certain aspect of game design. An example of this is a Character modeler, they could start as a low poly modeler then specialise in high poly character modeling showing results that are near to pure realism.
Some companies within the game industry sub let some of their work to outside contractors, generally these contractors could be another games company working in the eastern European block or Asia where the wages are considerably lower. The reason for this is that the main games company may be working on a very tight budget and need to let some of the more basic work out to these type of contractors.
This new type of game design may have negative effects on the Game Industry in the Future, where games no longer are pieces of art but become mearly a means of wealth. The ability to churn out games at a fast rate may kill the games industry, but I may be talking like the Apocalypse is just around the corner.
Gameplay in.....Games would you believe! (week eleven)
Gameplay... One of the most important factors in a game, the game could have the most shiny and real life visuals and engine in the world but if the gameplay is piss poor then forget it. "Explain what Gameplay really is then!" I hear you shout from behind your monitors, Gameplay is... hmmm. Gameplay is what you find enjoyable in the game itself. It could range from Story, characters, shiney objects, physic engine (even though im slightly contradicting myself from my above statement), weapons, vehicles etc etc, Its anything you enjoy. Back in the day when I was a Counter-Strike Kiddie (thus nearly destroying my life at school and not doing homework). I was hooked with the gameplay within Counter-Strike, the hours I put into the damn game, because I felt it was enjoyable, improving my skills with certain weapons and playing clan matches was MY gameplay aspect I found enjoyable and worthwhile. It had no story line, no character development just pure owning the other player sat behind another computer in another country, also teabagging him was an extra enjoyment! But I wont get into that.
However during my vast time as a Counter-Strike Kid I can recall there being some sort of retail release of the game that had a story line and Bots to shoot, like an average crap FPS. There was uproar from the CS Community, "What crap!", "Don't touch it!" were the cry of every CS player at the time. The game was intended to introduce new players or milk the CS franchise at much as possible. This was an example of new introduced Gameplay that was not welcome, you see some games, when highly enjoyed by the community of players should not be touched and "remade" by the original developers. Even though they think they are somehow improving on it, it wont. It generally destroys original gameplay, thing that people found enjoyable and enjoy playing again and again.
So my conclusion is that Gameplay is simply fun...
However during my vast time as a Counter-Strike Kid I can recall there being some sort of retail release of the game that had a story line and Bots to shoot, like an average crap FPS. There was uproar from the CS Community, "What crap!", "Don't touch it!" were the cry of every CS player at the time. The game was intended to introduce new players or milk the CS franchise at much as possible. This was an example of new introduced Gameplay that was not welcome, you see some games, when highly enjoyed by the community of players should not be touched and "remade" by the original developers. Even though they think they are somehow improving on it, it wont. It generally destroys original gameplay, thing that people found enjoyable and enjoy playing again and again.
So my conclusion is that Gameplay is simply fun...
Story and Characters in Games (Week 10)
All Characters in games, movies and books have certain effects on people who interact with them or watch them. Characters are designed to express emotions and other behavioural properties we recognise in every day life. That is why people become attached and feel like they also experience the same emotional processes the character endures during a movie, game or book.
I personally believe the first games I grew up with I felt an emotional bond with during my childhood, some sort of respect as I believed some characters as real people and I loved to emurce myself into the game I was playing. Take for instants the first ever consol game I played. Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega MegaDrive (what a consol). I fell in love with that game and back then I could easily understand the story line and other asspects of the game because of the character I could relate to.
However during the big gap between my early childhood and teenage.....age. There were many games I played which superiorly lacked the character, player bond. Some of these games I hated, for an example Sim City, i know its a town full of people but I couldnt give a damn, I just enjoyed abusing my population, because thats all they were, a figure, a number which represented people. During the past 10 or so years Game developers have made character interaction and development a key process in selling their games. Another example of this is Half-Life, even though poor old Gorden Freeman was born without a voice box, you still felt compled to sit for hour upon hours at your PC and play through the game!
Again with HALO, I couldnt wait for the second installment and the third even though so many people bashed the shit out of it, I didnt care because im a sad fan boy.
I personally believe the first games I grew up with I felt an emotional bond with during my childhood, some sort of respect as I believed some characters as real people and I loved to emurce myself into the game I was playing. Take for instants the first ever consol game I played. Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega MegaDrive (what a consol). I fell in love with that game and back then I could easily understand the story line and other asspects of the game because of the character I could relate to.
However during the big gap between my early childhood and teenage.....age. There were many games I played which superiorly lacked the character, player bond. Some of these games I hated, for an example Sim City, i know its a town full of people but I couldnt give a damn, I just enjoyed abusing my population, because thats all they were, a figure, a number which represented people. During the past 10 or so years Game developers have made character interaction and development a key process in selling their games. Another example of this is Half-Life, even though poor old Gorden Freeman was born without a voice box, you still felt compled to sit for hour upon hours at your PC and play through the game!
Again with HALO, I couldnt wait for the second installment and the third even though so many people bashed the shit out of it, I didnt care because im a sad fan boy.
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