Week 1: Shigeru Miyamoto presentation.
After reading the results of our presentation it's hard to pick out what I could improve on apart from having too much information for a presentation that was 2-3 minutes long. I personally think that I could do more relevant research on a subject and add all references that we used to make the presentation.
Week 2: EGX Whats on.
Honey, I Joined a Cult
Honey, I Joined a Cult is a management game where you are in control of a 1970s cult.
building and resource management seems to be a big part of the game. keeping people happy and making sure they believe in the "cult" so giving people a bed and a toilet will help for a short time it would seem.
The mechanics of the game seem to be similar prison architect by the description I've read.
The art style reminds me of a game called Game Corp. so I am looking forward to finding out what sole survivor games inspiration was when making this game and what plans they have for the future.
Valthirian Arc: Hero school story
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Valthirian Arc: hero school story is a management RPG game where you oversee the development of the hero school you will be able to upgrade facilities and build structures throughout the game.
you will be able to develop the mage warrior and ranger students to hone their abilities and unlock sub-classes.
the style of the games reminds me of the FF series.
Dev talk
12 pm: New game announcement – Animal Crossing meets Papers, Please Excalibur, the PC games specialist and publisher of Jalopy, reveal a brand new game live on stage. The mystery title is intriguingly pitched as Animal Crossing meets Papers, Please. Look out for an audience Q&A at the end of the session and the worldwide exclusive opportunity to play the game on the show floor once the session is complete.
Figure 2: Johnathan Blow in Indie Game:The Movie
Figure 1: Phil Fish in Indie Game:The movie
Stardew Valley a farming simulation RPG game developed by Eric Barone
The Binding Of Isaac, a rouge like dungeon crawl game developed by Ed Mcmillan after he left Team Meat
Super Meat Boy Forever a platform game in development by Team Meat
Indie games are games made by a person or a small group of people
usually ranging to a max of 25 people which typically don’t rely on a
publisher for the funds and promotion of the game being made, there
are a few exceptions to this. The person or team cover every aspect of
designing and marketing the game which entails; concept art,
animation, 3D modelling, promotions, marketing, coding etc.
Primarily indie games focus on innovative ideas and rely heavily on
digital sales rather than disc sales with a few exceptions, for example,
Stardew valley initially released of 26/02/2016 for digital purchase now
has a physical copy for PS4/Xbox 1 which was released 11/04/2014.
Indie games vary from AAA games on many different levels, AAA games
have hundreds/thousands of people working for the company with
multiple teams working on specific areas like 3D modelling, coding,
marketing etc. for example, the game GTA V went on sale on 17/09/2013 and over one thousand people were working on the game in tandem over multiple studios. Leslie Benzies, at the time of the interview the president of Rockstar North commented on this by saying “Now that it takes 1,000 people to make a game; that’s a requirement. But we don’t want 1,000 in one place.” AAA games also have a much larger budget than Indie games and they have publishers from the start that fund the game which “hype” up the game with publicity which will generate larger sales.
The main benefits that go into Indie games are that
the developers have an opportunity to produce
what they want and make it much more personal
to them, for example, Edmund Mcmillen after
creating Super Meat Boy left Team Meat to create:
The binding of Isaac which was as Ed described
as a “career killing” game if it went wrong. The game
consists of a little boy being stripped of clothes and
his possessions by his religious mother who was
“commanded” by God, who then proceeds to ask
for a sacrifice of Isaac to prove that she loves him
above all else which she agrees and grabs a kitchen
knife to kill Isaac and Isaac escapes into the
basement which starts you off in the game of a
naked child running around defeating monsters
by using tears to cry on them he can gather items
which can change his look, tears, abilities etc.
Another benefit for indie game developers is that the money that they get from sales is split between a much smaller number of people so if a game is popular then the money they get is shared between a much smaller number of people.
But with the good comes the bad, whilst watching Indie Game: The Movie it covers a lot of darker subjects that affect the Indie games developers such as depression, anxiety, anger, threats etc, for example, Phil Fish the developer of FEZ threatens his ex-business partner Figure 1, Johnathan Blow became seriously depressed after the success of Braid Figure 2 and Tommy Refenes was depressed before Super Meat Boy came out and just before its release a different kind of depression hit Tommy. Tommy also got angry at Microsoft because they didn’t feature Super meat boy on XBLA (X Box Live Arcade) after being told that they would, which is completely understandable from the dev side, but even after this on the release day super meat boy still sold roughly 22,000 copies of the game on day one of sales, the game cost $15 or £11.50 which is roughly $330,000 or £250,000 which Edmund Said was “more than he made over 6 years combined”.
Another downside to being an indie game developer is the
amount of time it takes to make the game, Stardew Valley
took 4 years to make, Super Meat
The boy took 18 months, FEZ took 5 years,
while you see games like Call of duty
coming out every year over 3 different
companies working on the games continue
to bring them out every year, it basically
means Treyarch has essentially three years
to produce the next version of their take on
call of duty. Whilst indie developers are
stuck doing the same game for X amount
of years to produce a game that isn’t really
funded by anyone but themselves and if
they’re lucky like Phil Fish a grant from the
Canadian Government. I feel that indie
games are a vital part of gaming, without
them we would have games like The
binding of Isaac, Down Well, Stardew Valley,
Minecraft, Terraria, Slay the Spire etc.
Which personally have become a great
source of hundreds if not thousands of
hours of entertainment. Without Indie
games AAA games would become repetitive
with series like Fifa, Persona, GTA and even my
favourite series Final Fantasy. We as a consumer
would get bored without the choices, we have
available thanks to Indie games, even the art/design style of Indie games differ with every game added a refreshing feel to every single game played. Whereas AAA games are striving to make games that are as open and realistic as possible, Indie games on the other hand focus on individual art styles and can let the game tells a story even when there are no words in the game or it can be so intense that the player creates a story themselves whilst playing the game, I think that’s one of the best things about Indie games the personalisation in a game that makes us think.
So, in conclusion, I feel that Indie games are not only vital as a genre for new developers to build their portfolio and experience, I believe it is essential for the evolution of all games including AAA games and it is essential for the survival of video game because as a continuously adaptive and evolving species, we would eventually get bored of the same games with different title (GTA/Mafia, Fifa/NBA etc.) Indie games also give people who want to make games but don’t necessarily have the experience to experiment and expand their knowledge when creating their games as some of the AAA developers have which doesn't mean they are worse at the development of games. They just have their own style to use in the development process with a much smaller group of people.
References:
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Makuch, E. (2013). Rockstar: More than 1,000 people made GTAV. [online] Gamespot. Available at: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/rockstar-more-than-1000-people-made-gtav/1100-6415330/ [Accessed 30 Sep. 2018].
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Valley, S. (2016). Stardew Valley on Steam. [online] Store.steampowered.com. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/413150/Stardew_Valley/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
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Polygon. (2014). Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is over three times the size of the original. [online] Available at: https://www.polygon.com/2014/7/1/5860150/bind-of-isaac-rebirth-chapters-levels-edmund-mcmillen [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
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Engadget. (2018). A chat with 'Super Meat Boy Forever' creator Tommy Refenes. [online] Available at: https://guce.oath.com/collectConsent?brandType=eu&.done=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.engadget.com%2F2018%2F06%2F15%2Fsuper-meat-boy-forever-tommy-refenes-indie-interview-e3%2F%3Fguccounter%3D1&sessionId=3_cc-session_60e95a06-df1a-43f2-b860-9a626078f99b&lang=en-GB&inline=false [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
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Figure 1 and 2: Indie Game: The Movie. (2012). [film] Directed by J. Swirsky and L. Pajot. Canada: BlinkWorks media.
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“more than ive made over 6 years combined” Indie Game: The Movie. (2012). [film] Directed by J. Swirsky and L. Pajot. Canada: BlinkWorks media.
Week 3: Indie Gaming Sector article.
Week 4: EGX reflection and career pilot.
"there were so many great ideas coming from everyone that it took a while just to decide on what to go with"
Failbetter Games the developers of Sunless Skies a game which is set in a Victorian gothic time period, at the dawn of the 20th century where you as the Captain of your very own Steam Locomotive fly around fighting enemies; pirates, scorn-flukes and the cyst of faces to name a few. You start off in the dawn of the 20th century where the British empire has set course for the stars and as a captain of said locomotive you leave to find your way through the stars battling enemies and choosing sides to join the "Queen" or the "Rebels" every choice seems to affect your crew and gameplay ( a fearful crew can make a catastrophic error).
I got the chance to play this game at EGX and have to say even though it's not the usual type of Indie game I'd play I actually enjoyed it a lot there is a lot to be desired in Sunless Skies, I like how much thought went into the movement of the ship and how it is showed with a little gust of steam coming out of the opposite side of the arrow key being pushed.
I also love the art style and how well landmarks have been portrayed, it shows the great depth of time its taken to make them "pop". After playing the game I spoke to a couple of developers named Hayley and Olivia, I found out that this particular game has been in development for roughly three years due to the fact that when they were coming up with ideas, design and concepts. "there were so many great ideas coming from everyone that it took a while just to decide on what to go with" said Olivia and with so many ideas being brought forth multiple just couldn't make it into the final cut of the game. Failbetter games also developed a game called Sunless Seas the prequel to Sunless Skies and if the reviews of Sunless seas is anything to go by Sunless Skies is going to be a massive hit.
Haley and Oliva Wood Uyrus are the two developers I spoke to regarding sunless skies.
Olivia Wood
A perspicacious and whimsical entity
Narrative Editor, Writer and Content Manager
Haley Uyrus
An affable and ruminative lady
Marketing Manager
Sunless Skies
fresh out of university. He told me that the game is based over 2 world one which is the normal humans' rule world and "Eden" a world where plants are the dominant species and they have run out of resources: like food so they find a way to come to the normal world to get "food". The hero of the game somehow manages to get a sword that came from Eden and that allows the hero to go between the two worlds to progress through the game and to complete puzzles/challenges. Robert also said that they are planning to add a range of different weapons such as bow/crossbows, Mauls/pole-arms to 2H swords and 2H axes to add variety to the game.
Whilst at EGX i found a game called Eden's Grasp, which i was looking forward to playing when looking though the Rezzed section of the website when doing the prep work for EGX. But I couldn't find out anything about the game itself the link provided took me to the developers website but it didn't have any details about the game.
I spoke to Robert Simmons who designed levels and assets within the demo and the game itself. The game shows a lot of promise considering the developers are
Robert Simmons
Lead level designer, 3D modeller
Edens grasp
Unfortunately, there is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to movement, attacks and hitboxes because the movement felt sluggish and attacks were delayed by about 0.7 - 1 second which doesn't sound like a lot but it changes the feel of the game completely. The bosses (a giant Venus flytrap looking plant) hitbox was a bit weird with one particular attack a sort of jab attack didn't register a hit even though I was attacking the bosses head I tried attacking other areas to see if it was just a certain place but to no avail. I also found a game breaking bug whilst playing the game I was getting used to the game and to see if there was a way to jump over large objects and I got stuck in an "endless fall" which Robert said has never happened once since they started developing the game.
Eden's Grasp was in the Tranzfuser tournament, a tournament that lets the people decide what they would like to see being developed and the winning team/ game gets £25,000 to help develop the game.
Developer Talk: Nvidia RTX and the future of graphics.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find this talk at EGX so I have come home and looked into it myself using Twitch/Youtube to find the talk. I eventually found it on Youtube the talk was hosted by Richard Leadbetter from digital and John Linneman.
Richard explain that Nvidia has lifted the embargo on the RTX graphics technology which he said is a fascinating turn of events because essentially it is the end of our current era of video game graphics rendering, with the Xbox One and PS4 with their enhanced console editions the whole generation has matured and over the next couple of years things are going to wind down. so the question is what is next gen?. What is it? What are we going to see from the new wave of consoles that are going to come along?
My personal thoughts: The Nvidia RTX graphics cards would be ideal for consoles but with it being so late in the current gen consoles (which means the next gen consoles will be well in development) it seems unlikely. The RTX is described as Ray Tracing technology which has been used previously to provide non-real-time rendering which provides realistic lighting by simulating the behaviour of light which means: it calculates the colour of pixels by tracing the path that light would take in real life (IRL) or it traces the path that it would take if it was travelling from the players view through to the real world rendering in mind this is not in real time but with the RTX it has real-time rendering. I have been looking at Demos and cutscenes that have used the Nvidia RTX, one being a Star Wars Cut Scene and I can't tell the difference which is amazing but strange. obviously, this is mostly because of the armour if it was actual person say Ryan Renolds in his Deadpool makeup and we have a side by side view of RTX and a real photo I reckon it would be easier to tell them apart, but it is a massive step forward for Gaming.
Estrella, J. (2018). Epic Games Shows Us The Future of Gaming With Star Wars - Dual Pixels. [online] Dual Pixels. Available at: https://dualpixels.com/2018/03/21/epic-games-shows-us-future-gaming-star-wars-demo/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
Twitter.com. (2018). Twitter. [online] Available at: https://twitter.com/starwars/status/865964086626013184 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
With that being said do I really think this is going to be the next thing in gaming? Yes, I reckon it's going to be the next thing in PC gaming but unfortunately no when it comes to Console, at least for the first set of consoles the enhanced editions may add it in but with the price of £749.00, it seems unlikely that it will be introduced into the next-gen consoles.
All seven images about the RTX were scourced from the Nvidia Website.
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NVIDIA. (2018). NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition Graphics Card. [online] Available at: https://www.nvidia.com/en-gb/geforce/graphics-cards/rtx-2080/?url=https://www.nvidia.com/en-gb/geforce/graphics-cards/rtx-2080/&ncid=pa-pai-59129#cid=Paid_GF_UK_20180920_Google_Shopping_Turing [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
Career Pilot.
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A job I have never heard of: Guide of 18k-80k 35-40 hour week with a prediction of a 6% increase in jobs by 2022
Town planner: A person who uses surveying techniques, geographical information systems (GIS) and computer-aided design (CAD) to draw up plans and make recommendations for land use. You could work in a wide range of areas such as:
- Transport
- Urban design
- Conservation
even though it says you would be working 35-40 hours per week you may have to attend public meetings in the evenings. you will be working in a planning office but will also need to travel to the meeting and visit sites.
Day to day activities are as followed:
- Assessing the effect of new rail links or roads
- Planning for houses and renewable energy generation sites like wind farms
- Redesigning urban spaces and developing parks, woodlands and waterways in a sustainable way
- Conserving old buildings and archaeological sites
- Developing local or national planning policies for government
- Making decisions about planning applications
- Advising the public, businesses and land developers on planning policies, rules and regulations
- Making sure planning rules and regulations are carried out
- Organising meetings to hear feedback from local people
Progression: With experience, you could apply for chartered town planner status, and then become a planner or senior planner. With at least 10 years' experience, you could become a senior manager or planning consultant. You could work as a self-employed consultant.
You could also move into environmental management, urban regeneration, recreation management and property development.
A job that sounds interesting: Guide of 19k-70k 30-40 hour week with a prediction of a 4% increase in jobs by 2022.
Computer Games Developer: The whole reason why I'm doing this course is so I can go to university and get a job creating games.
You'll usually need an HND, foundation degree or a degree in computer games technology or design or a multimedia degree but that's not the only way you can get into this job if you don't/can't go to university then you could go in as a QA (Quality-Assurance) tester or an apprenticeship.
Starter salary - £19k to £25k
Experienced salary - £30k to £50k
Many companies also offer bonuses and share schemes for successfully completing projects.
Working hours in the computer games industry can vary. Many jobs you’ll work standard office hours, with some unsocial hours (such as evenings and weekends) and overtime to meet deadlines.
You could be based in an office or a studio, depending on your role. You’ll spend most of your time sitting at a computer.
Day to day activities list as followed:
- Deciding what games should look like and how they play
- Coming up with your own ideas or work from existing concepts
- Creating characters, objects, environments etc.
- Producing concept art, drawings, storyboards in the planning phases
- Bringing characters, objects, scenery to life with 3D modelling and animation
- Creating the code to make the game work
Progression: with experience, you could progress to Senior Developer, Producer or Technical director role.
A job that is boring but pays well: Guide of 55k-140k 40-45 hour week with a prediction of a 7% increase in jobs by 2022
Head of IT (IT Director): A person who manages IT systems for their company and its customers. A job I don't particularly like the sound of mostly just because I don't really work with the in depths of computers. I like computers because I can use them for the things I enjoy not because I get to plan policies or assess the risks/opportunities of a company.
You'll usually need several years of experience working in a senior management role in IT with technical expertise. A degree, postgraduate or a professional qualification in IT is usually required.
starter wage - 55k-80k
experienced wage - 85k-130k
during your 40-45 hour week, You’ll mostly work from an office but spend some of your time attending meetings and visiting clients and suppliers.
Day to day activities list as followed:
- Planning policies and procedures
- Assessing current and future business costs, risks and opportunities
- Negotiating business contracts and monitoring how these are delivered
- Making sure procedures meet legal requirements and technical standards
- Meeting regularly with the senior management team, partners and clients
- Keeping up to date with trends in IT
- Managing budgets
Progression: With experience, you may be able to become a chief executive or chair of an organisation.
You could also work as an IT consultant or start your own business.
Week 5: Flat organisational structure.
A flat organisational structure is....
is a type of organisation that has few to no levels of management between its employees. It supervises its employees less while it's promoting their involvement in the decision-making process of projects
The advantages of this structure are...
- it eliminates the layers of management which can encourage easier decision-making processes between the employees.
- You get to choose what you want to work on and how long you want to contribute your skills to develop the games, concept art etc.
- A yearly company holiday can raise moral which boosts productivity.
- Peer reviews can help people improve their talents and productivity.
- A flat land structured can help provide a unique structure of respect for everyone in a workplace having no managers or people in charge means there are no gaps in the hierarchy.
The disadvantages of this structure are..
- If there is a legal dispute it poses a lot of uncertainty of what can happen if there was a lawsuit or other legal dispute. With having no clear structure with managers, heads of departments and CEOs there is a greater risk of company layoffs or liquidation as there is no hierarchy of roles.
- Peer reviews can damage the confidence of people who haven't done well. It can also cause tension with the social circles.
- With so many projects to choose from it can be difficult deciding which one would benefit your skills more.
- Not having someone mentoring you in the sense of introducing people or areas to you when you first start can be quite disorientating and scary.
Week 6: contract types, employer responsibilities and working in the games industry
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Full-time and part-time contract
Full-time contracts are the most common type of contract that employers give, which usually offers a permanent position to the employee. Employers must give a written statement of employment or contract must be signed by both employer and employees. A payslip with all deductions such as National Insurance Contributions (NICs), the statutory minimum holiday pay, the statutory minimum length of rest breaks, statutory sick pay (SSP), maternity, paternal and adoption leave and pay. employers are also required to make sure their employees do not work more than the maximum allowed, provide a safe secure work environment, pay at least the minimum living wage, they must have employers liability insurance, consider flexible working requests, avoid discrimination in the workplace, they must register with Her Majesties Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to deal with payroll NICs and tax and make reasonable adjustments to the premises for any employees with a disability.
even though there are no minimum set hours to work for a full-time contract, most employers recognise a full-time contract as a minimum of 35 hours per week.
Part-time contracts provide the same stability as a full-time contract but with lower contracted hours. It is still a permanent position within the company but gives the employee more flexible hours for other commitments such as childcare, volunteer work etc.
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Fixed-term contract
Fixed-term contracts are set up in advance and last for a certain length of time. These contracts are completed when a specific task is completed or an event has taken place. employees are considered to be on a fixed-term contract if both specifications apply which are they have an employment contract with the organisation they work for and their contract ends on a particular date, or on completion of a specific task. employees may be under a fixed-term contract if they are seasonal or casual staff taken on for up to 6 months during peak periods, covering someone that is on maternity and a specialist employee working on a project. With all this information and can be quite confusing whether you are or are not in a fixed term contract but there are some ways of knowing the following do not fall under a fixed term contract these are if they have a contract with an agency rather than the company they’re working for, are a student or trainee on a work-experience placement, are working under a ‘contract of apprenticeships and if they are a member of the armed forces.
this is one of the most common types of contracts in the games industry.
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Agency staff
As an employer, you can hire temporary staff through agencies. This means that you pay the agency including the employees NICs and SSP. It is the agency's responsibility to ensure that the employees get their rights under working time regulations, the employer is responsible for the agency employees health and safety, after 12 weeks of continuous employment in the same role the agency employee gain the same benefits as permanent employees including pay, working time, rest periods, night work, breaks and annual leave, the employer must provide the agency with the relevant information about the terms and conditions in your business so that they can ensure the employee gets equal treatment after 12 weeks in the same job and the employer must allow agency workers to use any shared facilities such as the staff canteen or childcare, the employer must give them information about job vacancies from the first day they work there.
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Freelancers, consultants, contractors
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if you hire one of these types of employees it means that they're self-employed, they often take care of there own tax and NICs, they might not be entitled the same rights as other workers such as minimum wages. You as an employer are still responsible for their health and safety.
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Zero hour contracts
Zero hour contracts are also known as casual contracts, these types of contracts usually mean that you are called in for a piece of work or on call work such as interpreters. This means that they are on call when the employer needs them but it's their choice whether they want to work it or not and you as an employer do not have to give them work. Zero hour employees are entitled to statutory annual leave and national minimum wage the same as all other workers, as an employer you are still responsible for their health and safety.
You can’t do anything to stop a zero hours worker from getting work elsewhere. The law says they can ignore a clause in their contract if it bans them from looking for work, accepting work from another employer.
Week 7&9: Jobs and skills and Refined job roles.
3D modelling artist: Using concept art as reference, 3D modelling artists create the 3D objects, buildings and characters needed for a game. They can use a variety of software tools including Maya, Modo and Z-Brush. The technical constraints of the game must be kept in mind, for example, the poly count for each object and scene and the size of the textures for each 3D object.
Skills required:
Knowledge of 3D modelling and animation
Attention to detail and observational skills
Proficiency and understanding in 3D graphics software
Excellent presentational skills
Spatial awareness and the ability to visualise layouts
The ability to work independently work as a part of a team
Awareness of colour, modelling and texturing techniques
Ability to work to a style guide
Potential career routes:
Apprenticeship
Intern
Junior designer/animator
Designer/animator
Senior designer/animator
Lead designer/animator
Project manager: Project managers ensure that a game is completed on time, within budget, and using the right resources. Prior to production they analyse game design specification and work out milestones, schedules, equipment and teams. They control financial resources and negotiate all contracts with suppliers and contractors. They may also oversee ongoing maintenance issues after launch. This is an increasingly important role as production schedules lengthen and development costs increase. Project managers are employed by development studios and publisher’s in-house development teams.
Skills required:
Scheduling
leadership
Risk management
Communication
Conflict resolution
Negotiation
Contract management
Critical thinking
Quality/task management
Potential career routes:
Apprenticeship
Intern
Junior designer/animator
Designer/animator
Senior designer/animator
Lead designer/animator
Lead designer: Initially, the lead designer works with a small core team, defining the artistic approach for the game. The lead artist will supervise, if not undertake, the production of concept art which indicates the visual atmosphere and graphic design. They also research and test out different modelling, texturing, animation, rendering and lighting techniques and tools. The lead designer then manages the art and animation team (including outsourced staff), specifying what needs to be produced, ensuring deadlines and budgets and are met, and planning for any contingencies. Lead designers are employed by development studios, both independent and publisher-owned.
Skills required:
Knowledge of 3D modelling and animation
Attention to detail and observational skills
Proficiency and understanding in 3D graphics software
Excellent presentational skills
Spatial awareness and the ability to visualise layouts
The ability to work independently work as a part of a team
Awareness of colour, modelling and texturing techniques
Ability to work to a style guide
Good negotiation, conflict resolution and decision-making skills
Ability to anticipate the needs of the artists to streamline their productivity
good organisational and personal/technical problem solving
Potential career routes:
Apprenticeship
Intern
Junior designer
Designer
Senior designer
Lead designer
Concept artist: Concept artists help develop the visual style, setting and characters for a game from the outset and throughout production. They provide other artists with the starting points for their work. Producing concept art can involve traditional and digital artistic skills.
Skills required:
Knowledge of 2D/3D modelling and animation
Attention to detail and observational skills
Proficiency and understanding in 2D/3D graphics software
Excellent presentational skills
Spatial awareness and the ability to visualise layouts
The ability to work independently work as a part of a team
Awareness of colour, modelling and texturing techniques
Ability to work to a style guide
traditional and computer art and design skills
Potential career routes:
Freelance
Fixed term contract
Full time employment
Week 10: Market trends.
Week 11: UCW Reflection.
Whilst visiting University centre Weston (UCW) i got to know more about what the university is looking for in the terms of grades, I also got an idea of what hardware and software the uni uses for the games development course. the required grades for Games and Animation Production, FdSc is a minimum of CDD at A Level, or a BTEC Extended Diploma at MMP, or equivalent, preferably in a related area.
Applications from those with an Extended Diploma in Computer Animation for Games and Film at Merit will also be considered.
Applications from those studying two A Levels or alternative Level 3 qualifications will be considered on an individual basis.
Applicants are also required to submit a portfolio of creative work and attend an interview and the Games and Animation Production (Top-up), BSc requires a related Foundation Degree with an average grade profile of 50% or above, or a Higher National Diploma at Merit, or equivalent, in addition to Level 2 English and Maths at grade C (level 4 under the new GCSE grading system). Applicants are also required to submit a portfolio of creative work and attend an interview.
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at the open event there was 3 activities that i took part in which was animation, modelling and set dressing using unreal engine.
the first activity i done was animation using Autodesk Maya we used a model from the movie Hotel Transylvania the model was of the Zombie butler. the group was tasked to make an animation within a set time frame, unfortunately i wasn't able to complete the animation but i wanted to make the asset clasp he face like hes looking at something he shouldn't the move his fingers to peek sort of like this image overall i found working with animation harder than i expected but overall enjoyable.
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The next activity was to develop a level using basic assets in Unreal engine the person described it a set dressing basically he created a little scene that you could run around in and then tasked the group to add to it using the basic assets and functions in the programme i designed a little village with a little fishing hole surrounded by woodlands. I liked using the unreal engine programme it was a nice introduction to the programme and i am looking forward to using this software a lot more in the future.
The last activity the group did was designing a sculpt of young link from The legend of Zelda series using Zbrush.
it was really fun trying to design my own style for link, using the Z brush programme was really fun and i am hoping to purchase it for myself in the future to continue learning. unfortunately i was unable to finish my sculpt as i had to leave early but overall i enjoyed the day and found it useful to get an idea of what universities expect of the students either applying for the course or on the course.
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Tenor. (2018). No Peeking GIFs | Tenor. [online] Available at: https://tenor.com/search/no-peeking-gifs [Accessed 17 Dec. 2018].