Intel Workshop - Projection Mapping

Today was quality.

We got a basic run down on how projection mapping (projecting interactive / video content on the environment) works.

Here's one of the end results


This is an example of a Processing sketch being projected on to some (BSP!) boxes. The sketch makes it so that the visuals react to audio.

Intel Workshop - Programming for Artists

Got to attend the first part of the Programming for Artists workshop by Intel's Perceptual Computing Group (shut out to Chris Rojas, Seth Gibson, and Annie Harper!)

Using Processing (an open source programming language and environment for people who want to create images, animations, and interactions), we went over some basic ways to manipulate code to draw various types of circles (and boxes). Fun thing to note is that Processing works with Arduino (which I've been twiddling with this semester)

Result of the sketches under the cut:

Portfolio Update

Added more beauty shots and contact sheets for props and building kits to my portfolio.

Here's a few of them:

Some props and building sheets under the cut:

Tartarus Master - Revised Commercial

Changes:

• Animations added to text and chain scenes
• Sound cues added to chain scenes
• Lowered the amount of times the logo blurred at the end (it also fades out now instead of cutting to black)

Game Commercial + Portfolio Update

We had to make a commercial for our board game. This is what I turned in-- although it needs some adjustments (I took out the animation in the final edits wow good job, self!)

Also just finished setting up my portfolio site, which can be found here.

Need to fix up the images I'll be using for it, but here's a list of things to come:

• Contact Sheets
• Building Kit
• Prop Kit
• Map shots
• Board game images

Aztec Dino World WIP

Some beauty shots we had to submit to see our progress on set-dressing

Too much red. Wagon and bones are competing with each other. Need more set-dressing on the right.

Textures too busy. Too much red still.

Stretchy textures in back (terrain why). Again too busy-- kinda bright.

Print & Play - Tartarus Master

At long last...It is done...!

For the Print and Play version, just download and print this file. More images under the cut.

PnP - Class Test

Today our games were due! We got together at the lounge and played some games~ Here they are, all lined up and ready to rumble~

Here's mine, for the record:

Used a wooden monopoly box I've had since...middle school. It was actually a gift so I feel..kind of bad about using it but at the same time, it's getting used for a much greater purpose...! (I don't play monopoly much, oops)

My phone was being...rather uncooperative, but I did manage to save this image to capture what the day was like:

PnP - Box Art Cover Process

I decided to try something new for my cover...here are some shots with my progress:

Started with remotely thick strokes trying to shape up the overall composition. The bridge/structure thing was kind of...interesting at this point.

Changes?

I think I mentioned before that I was unsure as to the theme of my game-- mostly because the idea of trickster gods duking it out doesn't really have much to do with the game mechanics. I'm also in a big "Escape the room!" mode and I think I really need to get it out of my system.

So instead...the heads of major mythologies stick a bunch of "criminals" in a dungeon of sorts. Using the "prisoner's dilemma", they would have to cooperate or betray each other to get out.

Or maybe just take over

I FEEL LIKE I AM SHOOTING MYSELF IN THE FOOT but I need this here so I can remember what I thought of. Goodbye.

PnP - Theme

We're touching up on theme, motifs, and symbols--which is great because I'm a huge sucker for stories...and now I'm having a difficult time picking one as an example of a strong, unifying theme...

Let's go with

If you've never played 999, the easiest way to explain it is to say it's kind of a mix of the films Saw and Cube. This game's a visual novel using "choose your own adventure" styled mechanics with a point and click interface that has you solving puzzles and trying to unravel the plot.

PnP - Playtesting

Last class we got to playtest our PnP games.

Arduino - Blinking LED

This exercise started with turning an LED (Light Emitting Diode) on and off repeatedly to create a little blinking effect.

PnP - Theme???

I'm somewhat in between going for a hacker/virus theme instead of mythical generals battling it out...Time to compare some things...

LP - Dungeon Dice Monsters

Today I decided to revisit DDM (the GBA version in this case) and take notes on certain rules in game:

Turn Order

• Roll dice
• Summon / Make paths
• Movement
• Combat
• End turn

Summoning

• You need to roll at least 2 summon dice of the same level to summon a monster

Attack / Level 1 Summon / Level 1 Summon

Paths

• MUST be on an adjacent square to another path that you own
• The first one must always be next to the Dice Master
• Can be placed in whatever direction you like
• Cannot be placed over other paths-- not even your own. They must fit perfectly on the grid

Dice Master starting point

Incorrect monster placement

Correct monster/path placement

Monster after being placed on the board

Actions

• Defined by number of dice rolled with that given command, or "crests"
• Monsters can activate their special abilities so long as you have enough magic crests
• Any monster can kill the Dice Master
• Every attack takes away one heart
• Dice Masters have 3 life points

Brainstorming - PnP

PnP - Deconstruction

Labyrintus: is a 2-4 player game designed by Victoria Lamb. It's relatively fast-paced, with a playtime averaging in between 30-60 minutes depending on the number of players available.

GOAL:
The object of the game is to get your team, consisting of 4 figures, across the labyrinth first. Each player is assigned an entry point and an exit point (located across the entry point).

Print and Play

As an introduction to our new project, we've begun to look into Print and Play games...

Maze(?):

It consists of multiple pieces that make up the board, with some blocks that are "locked" and some that are "sliding blocks". It's a 4 player game that allows for variety of strategic choices based on which of the 9 characters you choose, as well as all the available actions and differing terrain.

Setting up took a while; the rules were rather wordy but basically each player gets 2 Action Points (AP per turn. They don't carry over. Most actions (moving, picking up treasure, sliding blocks, etc) cost one AP, but each character has a "free" action, giving you a total of 3 possible moves per turn. The only thing that costs 2 AP points is using a Spell.

The game was started out slow in terms of fun...a whole game can be played without the modify the map. In actuality, however, sliding the blocks around is what makes the game really interesting. Everyone can also control the Dragon piece to sabotage other players and even steal their treasures. The game ends one all treasure is picked up.

RoboDerby: Express

A simplified version of RoboRally. A 2-4 player game in which you play as a supercomputer programming robots out of boredom. We roll die in order to control the robots and get them through a maze made up of 4 board tiles.

Each player begins at a different marker and they have to race from an outside edge all around the board, with the requirement to touch each game tile in order. The direction in which this plays depends on your setup. Relatively easy to setup, since it deals with the board pieces and stickers. However, each player needs 6 die to play.

Alternatively, each player plays with 2 die, (one to represent the robot and one for actions) and you roll your action die for every row. We left markers on top of the "sticker" cards to keep track of our options (as though we were playing bingo). This was important in regards to the strategic part of the game due to the different "priority" of each action!

At any rate, each player has a programming card with various options:

Again due to our lack of die, we moved away our markers until we only had 4 moves and assigned the R values to a row. It was fun because it was a game of somewhat balanced luck and chaos due to your own strategy on robot movement-- plus sabotage from other players.

Some of the more interesting commands were the different Hacking methods (Comment "//" and Invert "!"), those can really mess people up at times. The Comment Hack cancels out an opponent's moves while the Invert Hack inverts another player's command (i.e. move back 3 spaces instead of forward)

Thoughts:

Both games were based on modular game tile set, which definitely added customization and variety to gameplay that I really enjoyed. The art for RoboDerby was really clean and stands out in comparison to Maze-- especially if you use the Tron-themed board tiles...

RoboDerby's 6 die per player requirement made it a little more difficult to play in terms of resources, but it made the game a lot of fun. I definitely liked the various options that these games had to offer in terms of available player actions and playing fields.

AlterNine

For our real world alteration, we did a small ARG of sorts. We planted some posters with clues around the school that would lead to different locations on campus and had players run around in search for them. 

Mechanical Donkey Kong

Martin Raynsford has created a mechanical (ie physical) version of the classic Donkey-Kong game. Jumpman can move left and right, and jump over the “barrels” thanks to the power of Arduino! Said arduino is patched on to the back of an NES PAD connector-- making it so that it's still fully functional product.

The motor's not really powerful enough to make him move much faster but this is still pretty neat. More about this on his blog.

Game Jam - Flip It

We decided to have a game jam session and this is one of our first successful games.

Flip It V1:

Setup:

• 2 decks
• one red
• one blue
• Arrange reds in a grid of n x n
• Add a ring around the red area with the blue cards
• Distribute remaining blue evenly across all players

Claiming Suits:

• Check your hand; pick the highest card of your desired suit
• At the same time, all players reveal their chosen cards to contest for the suit

Goal: 

• Cover red grounds with your suit

Player Can:

• Flip card
• Place card on a face up RED card
• Track blue cards (wether up or down)
• You can also flip cards that aren't locked (stacked)
• Flip red cards back down
• Maybe: You can flip blue cards back down

Game ends 1 round after all reds have been flipped up. 

The person whose suit covers the most ground wins.

Analysis - Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

Got a hold of an interesting post with some information and shots of WindWaker on polycount. Short, but sweet. This footage probably came from the Dolphin emulator, which is really great and runs better than the Wii itself (if you're computer's good enough). Reminds me I need to keep playing Skyward Sword and post my own findings.

At any rate, here's a sample of what you'll find in the article, which you can read here. :

Additionally, there's a thread in which they try to replicate a waterfall in UDK right here.

Hero

Sometime during the second semester, we worked on a movie still in order to get some practice in the way cloth folds. This one is from the Chinese film, "Hero".

I really like how the faces came out. I tend to struggle a lot when drawing faces, so I was really happy with these! Still rather satisfied, actually.

Nostalgia Drive

This was definitely one of my favorite projects for the second semester of freshmen year. The class? 3D Design for Game Art & Design. The assignment was to make a kitbash out of at least two different kits while incorporating at least one item that does not belong to any kits. The final product is meant to look much different from any of the two kits. A narrative in order to explain its function and purpose was also needed for this project.

I called mine: Nostalgia Drive

This vehicle is an experimental research device which grants the user the ability to physically travel through time. The current image shows the Nostalgia Drive with its back hatch open. In there reside two fuel tanks, generator, etc.

The machine allows for one to choose a time sector by selecting a point of divergence, however, due to the constant magnetic pull and push caused by Attractor fields, the point of arrival cannot yet be determined fully. In order to offset this problem, the Nostalgia Drive has been designed as a hybrid vehicle. This will lessen the risks of unexpected typological changes from one space boundary to the other in accordance with Geroch’s theorem.

Features:

• Sturdy metallic hull for durability, with thrice reinforced material for the cockpit that allows a one-way view from the inside to the outside of the machine.
• Three Vortex Diffusers mounted at the back of the vehicle, powered by liquid Mako.
• Two Gravity Distorters on larger wings for maximized stability and performance.
• Hydraulic-based top for easier access to fuel, generator, and extra supplies.
• Wind breaker functionality for front wings.
• Time Displacer and Regulator mounted on top of the machine to work in conjunction with a Gravity Distorter, employing an easier way of using Kerr type singularities to our advantage.

Fun Fact: The Fuel Tanks, Vortex Diffusers, and Gravity Distorters are all actually car air fresheners. 

Recap ver. 1.1

First year at Ringling was quite the change. I transferred from Florida International University to do learn about an area that has interested me more since my early days. 

But enough about that, here's some work:




First 2D Design project. We had to create a couple of abstract shapes-- both geometric and organic. We cut out various quantities and different sizes for those shapes out of black construction(?) paper and design the outer panels of this triptych as follows:

Left: Organic shapes.
Right: Geometric shapes.
Center: Connect both pieces sides using any combination of shapes that we had already used.

This was certainly not something I expected to do, but it was a fun project.

One New Thing - Arduino Fun

Got my Arduino kit in the mail and immediately started looking everything over!

Here's what the case looks like:

I had already tried out the first circuit with Eddy's kit, but I want to do it over and take notes on it, so I'll be writing about that in another One New Thing post...But I do have a video of a simple blinking LED:

Turning Motion Into Music

The V Motion Project, developed by Jeff Nusz and Paul Sanderson, uses the Kinect as an instrument by tracking a person's movements and turning it into music. This happens in real time, with amazing visuals to illustrate the idea of an instrument being played. 

You can read more about the process here.

Game Production Roles - Research

Game Writer 

Duties  Writers work closely with the game design staff, usually under the senior game writer, lead game designer, and creative director. A Story Writer is primarily responsible for pitching creative and engaging stories, writing out game dialogue, and working with visual artists to fine-tune the realization of characters, environment, and props. Geek Meter: Technical < - - - - - | - - > Art Main Skills: Mastery of language, Research, Narrative Practice, Strong Characterization Secondary Skills: Story analysis, Character analysis, Knowledgeable in various subjects Software: Word Processing and Presentation Programs Passions: Reading, Writing, Research, Story-telling, Character Development Responsibilities Cooperating with other game design staff in order to create an effective mix of narrative, design and mechanics Consulting with said team to pitch scene ideas and adjustments Creating outlines, story treatment goals, character descriptions, game dialogue, casting documents, and other support material Researching different cultures, traditions, mentalities, etc. in order to create truly believable characters, realistic interactions, and meaningful narrative experiences Writing interactive scripts to supplement character, story, and theme development while accounting for gameplay interactions and instructions. Constant editing and revising of work Often times required to assist with marketing or packaging drafts of the game Qualifications  Usually a Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent Professional Experience (preferably in Creative Writing / Screenwriting / Script Writing) Courses focusing on fiction, literature, storytelling, and narrative voices preferred  Usually at least two years of professional writing experience are required Being able to analyze games and their story components Being able to communicate ideas in a clear and concise manner Being able to use different tones and voices in writing Understanding of game design and mechanics and how they affect the narrative as a whole Portfolio  Writing Samples (at least 2) demonstrating mastery of: Various Narrative Structures (i.e. serious, comedic) Character Development and Interactions Dialogue (different tones) Information Sources Get In Media: Game Writer Get In Media: Technical Writer Konami: Writer/Scriptwriter TellTale Games: Game Writer Zynga: Content Writer

Alleyway Pitch

I had initially thought about using Hashima Island as the main setting for the ally pitch. 

It's an abandoned island shaped like a battleship, formerly used to mine coal. I first stumbled upon Hashima island probably around two years ago via this article on Vice. Some people hop on over and sneak on to the (at the time off-limits) island. The images stayed with me and popped back into my head at the time the project was brought up.

I continued to look into abandoned places and stumbled upon a book on the Ruins of Detroit. Inspired, I began mashing up different architectural forms from both Detroit and Hashima. I stumbled upon some Hong Kong alleys as well and well, this was the result:

The general concept for this is as follows: This alleyway is one populated by the mole people of urban legends: people who have taken shelter in underground, abandoned facilities and created their own little society of sorts. The culture that developed has taken to using the rail tracks provided in order to thrive in a different form of entertainment: mine cart racing.  

The whole mole people thing is pretty interesting since it's not set in any sort of post-apocalyptic world. They're just homeless people forced to move farther underground. Many of them have made tunnels, subways, etc. into their place of living before and during our current time period.

If given the chance, I'd like to give Jennifer Toth’s “The Mole People: Life in The Tunnels Beneath New York City” a try.

2D works

Alright-- I guess since my first semester is over at Ringling we have just finished our second week for the Spring 2012 semester....I should post stuff I did during the first semester?

First up-- here's some 2D Design work:

Contrast

This was the first project we did. We had to create a couple of abstract shapes-- both geometric and organic. We cut out various quantities and different sizes for those shapes and had to design the outer panels of this triptych. The left side with purely organic shapes and the right side with purely geometric shapes. For the middle panel, we had to connect both pieces by using any combination of shapes that we had already used.

Balance

For this project, we had to create silhouettes of people and things and use them to create a 16:9 scene. Then we had to take those same elements and make a different scent out of it. Bonus points if it went with the narrative. Mine being something vaguely resembling a zombie attack from different angles.