Acheiving Mastery

One thing I’d like to do in the distant future is to achieve mastery in the art of game design.  I pretty much consider it a requirement.  Now before you can even do that you have to realize a number of things I imagine.  Things such as where you are at now and where you need to be to continue towards the next step on the path toward mastery.

For one thing you need to have the required knowledge to become a master of anything.  So the first part of my goal requires learning, lots and lots of learning.  Its tricky with game design as I find myself disagreeing with individuals that have an insane amount of experience in making games.  And I think that is completely normal because games are supposed to be fun and you are supposed to be creating this fun.  Simply put its hard to label something as fun because what is fun for you might be boring or even agonizing to me.  A perfect example is Trivia games and games that require you to be loud and possibly take part in embarrassing scenarios. I hate them.  Well maybe hate is a strong word, I refuse to play them because I dislike them so much.  They don’t interest me, they make me angry and I don’t want to embarrass myself.  Its not fun for me to play those games but that is not to say that those style of games are not fun.

However, It is important to note that knowledge can never be enough to achieve mastery over a form of art.  Experience is a requirement and probably the second thing you need to seek after knowledge.  You need to actually put your knowledge to the test but that isn’t to say experience is more valuable than knowledge.  This can be traced back to the individual and how they process information and gain knowledge and experience.  While one person can think extensively in theories others have to actually just do it.  Personally I love to create theories and play them out in my brain or with notepad or pen/pencil.  I know others prefer to just start making stuff but it really is rooted in the way your brain absorbs this information.  Either way the truth is you need experience and you need to make games.  It is important to every game designer though I prefer to think creating your own theories will play an irreplaceable part in learning the art of game design.

As you gain knowledge and experience you are also struggling to achieve efficiency.  This is one thing that pisses me off to no extent.  I know that if I had just a bit more knowledge and just a bit more experience I would be able to shave hours off each project and use that extra time to contribute in other areas.  I absolutely despise re-doing work and I can’t stand the fact that after I do something I found another method that would have saved me time.  Though I know these experiences ultimately make me more efficient I just wish there was an easier way to achieve this than screwing up.  Wasted time sucks not only for you but for teammates.  To achieve mastery you have to be efficient in every sense of the word.

After you gain these things I would imagine that you could possibly master the art of game design but really when is that?  Will there ever be a time where you know you’ve mastered something?  And really is there more to mastery than knowledge, experience and efficiency?  There has to be.  Creativity has to mean something and of course natural talent also will be meaningful.

Kind of strange, I have only started my career as a game designer and I am trying to figure out how I can master the art.  It is almost like starting a new game.  You’re the newb and you’re trying to find the best way to become a high level character.  I imagine it might have a similar progression line as it would leveling up in a game.  You gain a bunch of levels at fist then later you start leveling up much more slowly and you also have to work much harder at it.  I really don’t know, this is all speculation.

NOTICE - WEBSITE IS DOWN

If you’re reading this blog and wondering why my website is unavailable it is because the company I formerly used for domain registration and hosting is holding it hostage for a while.  I’m just waiting to move my domain to a new company with a better domain registration hosting package. I’m also hoping they won’t spam me as much as the previous company did.  Unfortunately, even after asking, I am uncertain for how long this domain hostage situation will last so I apologize to anyone that wanted to see my website that badly needed an update.  I’m sure you’ll be happy when I finally get it registered again and update it a little bit.  So for now this is my website.

GTA IV

I’m curious as to how long these assholes that are completely ignorant about GTA will continue to complain about the game and its supposed negative effects on society. I knew this GTA insanity was going to happen upon its release but I now wonder for how long it will last. I was thinking about writing a response to everything that has been said about GTA IV thus far but it just was adding up to be a task of monumental proportions. I just don’t seem to have the time. Here is one quote that pissed me off quite a bit.

“We are training our kids to be killers and we are training our sons to treat women like whores.” - Glenn Beck

I’m pretty sure I can speak for almost everyone with a simple response to Mr. Glenn Beck. “You’re an ignorant douche and your show sucks.”

I thought Glenn Beck’s show wasn’t quite as bad as other programs because he actually gave Ron Paul a fair amount of air time during the Republican Primary Election but perhaps he was only doing it to boost his ratings, which is probably why he did the segment on GTA IV. Glenn Beck is just another worthless puppet with a dumb ass TV show that supposedly brings its viewers real news. Well it doesn’t, actually no news on TV is real news. The only purpose for televised news programs is to get a quick, intense, and superficial interest in whatever topic currently in discussion and also for entertainment. This is why some of them consider Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” to be competition. I’m not saying it is bad to listen to the news but you really must listen to their statements and dissect them to get anything that resembles truth.

Regardless of the validity of television news productions or their opinions on video games, GTA IV is a marvelous game. I don’t have a X-Box 360 or PS3 but I’ve played it quite a bit on a good friend’s 360. I love it and I’d like to add that I don’t think that it is a very realistic game at all. It is absolutely beautiful, but doesn’t resemble actual life.

Well maybe it does… because of course we all know when we have a head on collision and fly through the windshield of your vehicle, taking a 50 ft fall off the freeway into a park you only have to make your way to your favorite hot dog stand to purchase a few delicious hot dogs to heal your almost fatal wounds. It is also common knowledge that being shot in the face by a police officer’s shotgun will only result in a short hospital stay and you will never be given any legal trouble for driving at high speeds in the wrong lane while failing to obey any traffic laws. On top of all that, every gun enthusiast will confirm the fact that real guns have two triggers. One trigger automatically aims the gun and the other one fires it. If you ever misplace a gun don’t worry because all guns glow red when not being held by a person. (Sarcasm in case you didn’t catch it)

GTA IV is a game, not a simulator, created for adults. Now if someone says they murdered or harmed an individual because of GTA they are either insane, dishonest or both. I think it is fun to go on a mindless killing spree in GTA but I don’t really desire to do so in real life. At this point I should add that the GTA series has a lot more to offer than simple killing sprees and for whatever reason that is not the message that is being presented by anti-game advocates.  I’ve played every game of the GTA series and probably stole tens of thousands of cars in game but I have yet to steal or even break into a car in reality. Same can be said with killing avatars. I’ve killed countless characters in video games but I haven’t killed anyone in reality. If any of these theories that violent media causes people to be violent in reality were true I’d either be in prison, or dead(probably by lethal injection). The only legal trouble I’ve ever had was for driving my vehicle too fast. Now I do have a morbid sense of humor and I tend to laugh quite a bit during horror movies but that is only because I think blood and gore in entertainment productions is hilarious(See GWAR for examples).

It can safely be said that these theories that GTA inspires real life violence and criminal activity is just as legitimate as the past theories which claimed Jazz music was evil and turns the listeners into savage beasts. Mindless fear mongering is all it is and all it will ever be. Luckily fear mongering never works for very long, so these foolish individuals that wish to spread these lies about video games and their effects on society will fail and everyone will move on to enjoy video games without having to hear much about how evil they are. Video games are digital interactive entertainment products, sometimes they are even digital online communities and to me every single video game is a work of art.

I’ll end this post with one more quote, this time from a games industry icon who recently wrote an excellent article related to the struggles the video game industry and censorship. It is probably my favorite article on game censorship.

“Gamers vote. Gamers buy newspapers. They won’t vote for you, or buy your newspapers, if you trash their entertainment with your ignorant ravings. Call them social inadequates if you like, but when they have more friends in World of Warcraft than you have in your entire sad little booze-oriented culture of a real life, the most you’ll get from them is pity…

…So we’ve won: accept it. Huff and puff if you must, but your audience grows smaller by the day. Your views are mortally wounded, and soon they will be dead. Games are mainstream. Drown, or learn to swim.” - Richard Bartle(creator of the MUD).

I strongly recommend you read the entire article if you haven’t already. It puts a smile on my face every time I read it… sometimes I even laugh a little bit. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/28/games.censorship

Classic Video Game Music - Super Mario Brothers

The Super Mario Brothers Theme is possibly one of the most powerful and familiar of all video game music. I’m sure everyone has heard it in numerous ways but I recently found this extremely creative recreation of the Super Mario Brothers Overworld Theme. Guitars and computers are well and good but using Tesla Coils is insane in my opinion. Steve Ward and Jeff Larson made unique recreation of the music but it wouldn’t have been possible if it was not for Nikola Tesla and Koji Kondo.

Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov wrote a poem that inspired the creation of the Russian Folk Song ‘Korobeiniki’ which is probably most popularly known as the Tetris Theme song. There is a Geek Group chapter in Austin, TX that made their Tesla Coils play Korobeiniki.

Spectrum - My current game project.

The game I am currently working on is going to be called Spectrum. It is an experimental game in some respects but really it has kind of been done before. It was inspired greatly by Ikaruga. In the game Ikaruga you have to decide to choose between white or black bullets and which enemies you need to shoot with them. So it has a matching aspect to it. So I decided to steal this brilliant idea while I learn Actionscript 3.0 by making a game.

However, there are a few slight twists so it is not as if I am just remaking Ikaruga. Spectrum is best described as a Interstellar Color Theory Shooter. So instead of black/white you’ll be presented with a spectrum of colors. So I suppose you can claim Spectrum will be an educational game because as the player begins to progress through the game they will hopefully learn the primary and secondary colors as well as complementary colors.

In case you do not know the very basic fundamentals of color theory I’ll explain them briefly.

Primary Colors = Red, Yellow, Blue [Note - Mixing any two Primary Colors will produce a Secondary Color]

Secondary Colors = Green, Orange, Violet(Purple)

Complementary Colors = Colors that are opposite to each other on the color wheel. [Note - Mixing Complementary Colors will produce a brown)

Yellow <-> Violet(Purple)

Red <-> Green

Blue <-> Orange

So you may be asking yourself what my target audience is. Well guess what, I don’t have one. I suppose some art teachers that are desperate for new ways of teaching the basics of color theory could use this game as a hopefully efficient and more exciting way to teach students. That would be cool but maybe it could also appeal to anyone that wants to play a scrolling shooter.  I really just want to experiment with this project which is why I am kind of against the target audience idea.  For the class requirements I suppose that I will use the target audience I described above.

Speaking of scrolling I don’t want this to be purely a vertical or horizontal scrolling shooter. I still want to keep it top down but I think that it gets boring going in one direction or even just going in one pattern for that matter. I’d like to mix up the way the levels are designed to keep things more interesting. I am unsure if this will work but I’m willing to experiment with it and give it a shot.

The graphics will be made using Maya and Photoshop. I know, I know I said it was flash and flash doesn’t exactly have 3-D capabilities but you can always render in Maya and then bring those renders to Photoshop to produce the sprite sheets. It probably would be faster to just make everything in Illustrator and Flash but I really don’t want that look. I enjoy using Maya and I’m actually more efficient in it anyway so I think this could actually be fun.

Speaking of flash and its lack of strong 3-D capabilities I THINK I have a simple way of faking 3-D. I’d like to throw in a pseudo 3-D level inspired by Star Fox for the N64. I am thinking about just rendering a fly through of a scene in Maya and then trying to make a level of the game by setting up invisible collision shapes and adding enemies that kind of look like they are in perspective(as close as possible). Don’t think it will work? You may be right but again I want to experiment and if it doesn’t work then it will not make it into the final version of the game.

I’m probably biting off more than I can chew by myself as I want to get this game in a testable state in a few weeks time. Perhaps if I can motivate a few other game designers here to jump on the project with me I would increase my chances of getting something semi-playable. With everyone having their own projects to work on I don’t think I’ll be able to accomplish this. We shall see

The Hephaisteion Project

It has been a while since I’ve posted anything on this blog. I figured I’d do something I have yet to do, and probably should have done a while back. I spent about 3-3.5 hours last night modeling and rendering this reconstruction of the Hephaisteion. I am modeling the structure for an Art History report I am doing and also to be sure my modeling skills do not get too rusty.

Below you will find some simple models of the structure I have began to build. So far I have only completed the stereobate, stylobate, and collumnade. I just threw a simple material onto everything and made it look a bit like marble. The vast majority of the time was spent on modeling, and I probably made the material, lights and renders in less than an hour. It is only two spot lights, an ambient light and a simple blinn material. I just set up the raytracing options quickly as well. I didn’t want to spend too much time on the lighting and material because it isn’t close to being done so that is why it looks unfinished. I’m not sure when I’ll work on it next but I’ll be sure to post it as more progress is made. I’ll also keep track of the time spent on the project so I can see where my skills are at and where I am spending most of my time doing. I really enjoy modeling environments and architecture but that may because I haven’t really attempted many characters. I really enjoy making materials and shaders but obviously now is not the time to be messing around too much with those things. I’m not worried too much about the polycount because I don’t plan on using it in any games. But I suppose it could make it’s way into Haven’s Fall in some way. Who knows.

I had a slow start on the modeling. I didn’t really select faces and edges as efficiently as I should have, often selecting them one at a time. But after about an hour I realized things were getting done slowly and kicked myself in the ass. So I am pretty satisfied with the result though I wish I didn’t waste all that time in the beginning because I may have had time to begin developing the opisthodomos, cella and pronaos or the temple. I don’t think I could have gotten to the entablature in that time frame but I would have definitely been set up to be very close to starting on it. It will get done soon enough though so I’m not stressed about it. Feel free to critique it if you wish. It will probably help, especially because I’m still in the beginning steps.

I also should add that I probably won’t be using Photoshop very much for this project. I probably should If I can get some scans of the sculpture on the frieze and pediment but I don’t plan on putting all that effort into this building for a Art History report(it is not required that we build a structure so this is extra effort to begin with). I am confident and almost completely certain that I can use Maya for the color, bump, and specular maps, or any other maps I want to include. But if I want to develop it further later I can just convert to file texture and I’ll be set up nicely to bring already well developed textures into Photoshop to improve upon.

[UPDATE]  So I’ve spent a few more hours on this project and again, during this session I’ve wasted some more time. I need to practice more so I don’t have to waste so much time re-doing things. This time I had to redo the entire entablature because I decided to use the smooth tool after I used the bevel tool and trying to clean up that geometry was pointless and I knew it.  The reason I wanted to do the smooth tool was simply to add more divisions between each column because in a Doric Order there are tryglyphs centered on top of and between each column.  Rather than waste more time on it I just deleted it and started again.  This time I will plan with modularity in mind(What I should have done in the first place).  It isn’t done yet, much detail is needed but the general shape of the structure is becoming more developed.  I have a really good reference image but because of time constraints I am not going to complete all the details at this time.  It simply would take an absurd amount of time and while it would probably look impressive I don’t have all that time.  So after I basically add some details I’ll go about making a decent material and think about reducing the poly-count.  I can already see thousands of faces that I could most likely get rid of.  I’ll hold off on the poly-count reduction unless I discover it will be needed in-game somewhere.  I’m glad I am almost done, about one more three hour session and I should be prepared to do make some quick materials and add decent lighting and begin rendering. I’ll render shots that show the interior at a later time, I’m tired and don’t want to do any more lighting at this point.

Gamer Charity. Fun for our Troops!

A good way to reflect some kind of positive light upon gamers is to contribute to charity.  There are plenty out there, many of which you can find on websites such as GamePolitics and the ECA’s homepage but here is one that I appreciate.  I have a buddy in Iraq right now as I’m completely certain many others do as well.  We should show them how much we appreciate their sacrifices.

Fun for our Troops seems to be an excellent way to do that.  Check out their website 

Whats up with the Jack Thompson obsession?

I don’t think Jack Thompson should be given the time of day unless he is doing something newsworthy… He is not a threat to the industry because no one respects him. Judges don’t respect him, his fellow lawyers don’t respect him and most of all the Florida bar does not respect him. He is quite literally a joke to everyone he encounters.

So who is the threat since Jack Thompson quite obviously is not? The mainstream media that enables him. Concentrating on Jack Thompson is a terrible tactic as he is not the real problem. Ever wonder what Jack Thompson would do if he couldn’t effortlessly get a segment on Fox immediately following a school shooting? He would continue fighting his losing battles in court. He would continue going to court and being threatened with contempt of court because of his bizarre court behavior. I really am tired of people turning Jack Thompson into some kind of legitimate force to be reckoned with. It is the media! The people who give him the time of day and I am sad to say that even though many pro-game websites covers Jack Thompson in a more honest light than many other sources… they too are guilty of being obsessed with this fool. If Jack were not around there simply would be another anti-game activist that would be given the attention and the time on national TV to make false claims and bogus theories about video games.

Ignoring this man is the answer whether you like it or not. This idiotic claim that “oh it didn’t work in the past so it can’t work now” is victim of faulted logic and is actually considered to be an opinion with some kind of valid meaning. It isn’t and it never was. It is just a foolish tactic to dupe individuals that don’t understand the meaning of logical reasoning. Now if you want to hold a discussion with some kind of logical validity behind it and agree to drop this foolish “it didn’t work then so it can’t work now” faulty argument then I’ll be happy to contribute. But right now it seems like so many individuals are playing right into Jack Thompson’s game. Doing exactly what he wants them to do.

Fox loves Jack… does Fox even know of any pro-game sources? I’m sure you see the writing on the wall. Why continue fighting Jack in this manner? Fighting faulty logic with faulty logic? Not exactly a good idea….

Also… to the “Jack Thompson’s can’t be the only voice” crowd:

Many times this argument is also guilty of faulty logic. This argument is actually implying that you have to talk about Jack Thompson to have a voice against his message. This is simply not the case and is absolutely misleading. I know those who use this line really do mean well but lets take a closer look at the claim for a moment. Of course he can’t be the only one with the voice.

Please understand that it is possible to do a story that shows the other side of the situation without even mentioning the man’s name. You can divorce Jack Thompson’s name from the issue. That way it is not really just another story about Jack Thompson but another story about the issue. You might get more comments from a Jack Thompson blog article but the meaning of the article is distorted and it becomes more of a rant about Jack Thompson instead of a stand against a particular issue at hand. Quite honestly it is more important to provide people with persuasive and informative article about why a particular stance on an issue is correct rather than an article about why this individual is wrong for taking this particular stance. Concentrating in this obsessive manner over the man Jack Thompson simply distracts from the important issue and gives him far too much credit.

It is the issues and the resolutions to those issues which should be at the forefront of the the pro-gamer’s list of priorities… not some fool that holds a stance that is full of faulty logic. I completely realize that this article is mainly about Jack Thompson but I get really pissed when I try to read about game-related news and issues that the game industry faces and see this man’s name spread across important articles. Many do not even consider the media to be the problem and that is unfortunate because they are the ones enabling the man. Mainstream media needs to start looking at the other side of the issue. Why can’t that be the focus of the pro-gamer effort? Why focus on a washed up lawyer that spews faulty logic like verbal diarrhea onto all available ears and eyes? You must realize that joining his name with any of the issues he speaks of is what he wants and ultimately plays against all pro-game efforts.

What do I want to do this spring break?

I would really love to go to a really good show.  I’ve been to quite a few.  Nothing feels better than seeing a really good metal concert.

 Lamb of God moshpit during Black Label - AKA The Wall of Death

GWAR - GOLDEN SHOWER

I’ll try to find at least one show to go to.  Its not going to be any big name bands but I really enjoy local and regional bands as well.  Savannah doesn’t seem to have a large metal scene so I’ll be heading out of town.

Greatest accomplishment

In my speech class today half of the class had to do an impromptu speech on what you think your greatest accomplishment will be. I’m pretty certain I know what it is. It may sound like a standard accomplishment but it is something I’m actually quite proud of.  I wasn’t one of the selected speakers for today but this is probably something along the lines of what I would have talked about.

During the course of my elder teenage years and my now young adult years I have accomplished a feat which is to surround myself with genuine friends. I believe I have some of the most unique friends and thats because I do things a little bit differently. I really have no desire to be around disillusioned or shallow people. It is not impressive or welcoming to me. In fact, surrounding myself with just anyone would lead me to have a very frustrating life. So I tend to distance myself from anyone who either isn’t authentic or doesn’t agree with my tendency to distance myself from those who don’t appreciate my desire for genuine friends. It is fine if thats not your think but I have my own methods and I’m sure you do as well.

Now it is perfectly fine to have friends that agree with you on most topics, I’m not saying that is bad. But it is marvelous to hold a conversation with a friend you know doesn’t agree with you on most things. Or someone that simply has a alternative way at looking at things. Maybe they even think you are a bit crazy. Just be honest, don’t try to make me happy just to shut me up.

I’ll always be the third man in. I will always ruthlessly defend any of my friends or family members that I feel are being attacked for poor reason. If you don’t like that or don’t like my bold attitude… then do what I do, distance yourself from me. I have priorities that I wish follow. Staying on one’s good side in case I need you for a job recommendation or because you know more influential people isn’t anywhere close to being above keeping my honor and defending a friend. I simply see no reason not to be blunt and strait forward. Thats the way I am and thats the way I’ll always be.

So basically this might be perceived as a corny post but I haven’t been as pissed as I was this morning in a very long time. Think about what is important. And what is important is usually relative to your instincts. Well… at least thats how it works for me.