On Friday, we got to playtest two games. One was a beta of a video game and the other that was a prototype for a game. The video game was called Shady Sam and was about loans. Shady Sam was very fun and addicting. In the game, you are a loan shark trying to get the most money you can from your clients. At the end of the game, you would get a rank like Slimy or Callous, which made you want to play again to get different ranks. I think that in Shady Sam, the clients need to come with a variety of difficulty. You would get one client many times, where you just had to charge her, so that was a little too easy to get the money. The prototype was for a game about credit scores, which at first was very confusing with all the rules, but very fun to watch. But as we kept playing, it became clearer. In that game, you are trying to either get to a credit of around 830 or get your opponent to around 320. I feel that the credit game will be easier if it is online because then you can have the rules right in front of you and you don’t have to keep track of your own points and number of rounds. I feel that both of these playtesting experiences provided me with a sense of how much work actually goes into making successful games. When we made games and playtested them, we didn’t really utilize the info that we got to revise our games. I think that when you playtest both prototypes and betas, you get more helpful info that will help you determine what platform will be better and how the player will feel playing your game.
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Last week, I started working on my showreel which is a collection of some of my work from the past few years. One of the requirements was that we had to put in 3D work that wasn’t from a tutorial. I searched through past grades and found that most everything was from a tutorial except a couple models. Those models weren’t very good at all which made me realize that I really need to improve my 3D modeling skills. Especially if I take DDA II next year which is full of 3D modeling. To prepare me for next year and possible later this year, I researched how to improve my 3D modeling skills. I found an article on Structure3D Printing called 7 Tips for Beginner 3D Modelers. Even though I have had experience in 3Ds Max for a couple years, I still consider myself a beginner. I think the most important tip I learned from reading the article was the 2nd tip which was to not rush. I feel that I tried to rush and didn’t fully understand the time it takes to figure out how to make your model. Another thing they mentioned was to start small. People tell me that all the time, but it doesn’t really sink in. I don’t use tutorials that often and usually give up too soon. I like that the article pointed out that even the most experienced need help sometimes. I think I just need to remember that everyone needs help sometimes. I know that getting help is a good thing, but sometimes it is really hard. I found another article on Lifewire that I found informative. One thing I learned from that article is that you use should plan out your model on graph paper. I didn’t even think about planning my models. Since graph paper is similar to the plane in 3Ds Max, it would probably make figuring out placement and proportions easier. These articles were very helpful in terms of giving advice to improve my modeling skills. Things to Remember
Works Cited
“7 Tips for Beginner 3D Modelers.” Structur3D Printing | Go Beyond Plastic, www.structur3d.io/blog/2016/7/14/7-tips-for-beginner-3d-modelers. Slick, Justin. “5 Common Pitfalls of Beginning Modelers.” Lifewire, Lifewire, www.lifewire.com/common-pitfalls-of-beginning-modelers-2052. For the past few weeks, we have been doing video design in Premiere. I struggled a little on the game trailer assignment. We had to edit footage into a game trailer and then do the foley for the trailer. I’d never made a trailer before so I didn’t know what it should look like. I feel that making game trailers will come up in my future as a game design student, so I decided to better my game trailer making skills. Since the best way to find out information is to research, I looked for articles on how to improve game trailers. I found an article on GameAnalytics that had some do’s and don’ts to making game trailers. One of their do’s was to make sure that your trailer focuses on the actual gameplay. That seems very obvious, but is something that I would probably forget. I found it surprising that the article listed editing as you go along as a don’t. I thought that it was okay to edit what you had and add more as you went. Another thing I found interesting was that using animated text could make a trailer better. I thought that text would be distracting so I didn’t put in any extra. One thing that they suggested was to plan your trailer out beforehand. I think that if I had storyboarded mine that it wouldn’t have taken as long and then I would know exactly where to put the sounds. I found another article on Vanilla Forums Community Blog that had a few rules that I will definitely take into account next time I make a game trailer if it doesn’t have specific instructions. One of their rules was to keep it under 60 seconds. That makes a lot of sense because you wouldn’t want it to get boring for the viewer and you don’t want to show all the good stuff all at once and overwhelm them. I learned that a voice over is just used to hook the viewers into your game, not for just telling important information like rating and release date. I know that the beginning and end of a trailer is important, but didn’t know that the end is also important for marketing. Next time I make a game trailer, I will definitely use what I learned. Things to remember:
Works Cited
“The 9 Do's and Don'ts of Game Trailers.” GameAnalytics, GameAnalytics, 24 Sept. 2018, gameanalytics.com/blog/dos-and-donts-of-game-trailers.html. W., Amol. “Vanilla Forums Community Blog.” [Gaming] Managing Community Toxicity, blog.vanillaforums.com/gaming/make-kick-ass-game-trailer-5-easy-steps. So, for the past few weeks we have been doing audio and video editing in Adobe Audition and Premiere. I have learned a lot about audio and video editing techniques and programs. We have been using Adobe Premiere for video and Adobe Audition for audio. I had previous experience in Premiere from my digital media classes, but had never used Audition. Audition took some getting used to and I think I’ve started to get used to it.
I found some aspects of audio and video editing to be easier than others. I feel that audio editing has been more difficult than video, but I believe that is probably because I am more comfortable with video. It has been difficult to get some of the audio to sound exactly how I’ve envisioned it. I didn’t know how to speed up or loop a track in Audition and I found an article on it which didn’t help greatly, because it was outdated, but did lead me in the right direction. Even with the article, I still had a little trouble speeding up my sounds, but I found a tool which allowed me to speed up the track. I haven’t really had any trouble in Premiere. It has been easy to edit video and get the intended looks for my videos. I didn’t encounter this problem, but in the past, syncing up audio and video has been really hard for me. I think these skills will help me greatly in the future as a GAD concentrator student. I will be better equipped to make better products. I might be able to make music or sounds for a game. Or maybe make a really good trailer to advertise a game. Audio and Video Editing
This week, we started video design in Adobe Premiere. I have been using Premiere for a few years now and would say that I think I am proficient in it. However, I am still learning how to make videos better. I need to increase my video skills because you can't make a living in the film industry if you make bad films. To further my learning in video production, I looked for articles. I found an article called 10 Simple Tips To Make Home Videos Look Professional. Most of the tips are mainly about shooting video on a mobile phone; however, they apply to most other recording devices. I'm not going to bore you with listing all ten of the tips; instead, I'm going to talk about what I learned. I learned that when you are filming, you should avoid watching what you're filming. You should be looking at the camera or phone, depending on what your filming on. That makes sense because if you're looking at the scene, you wouldn't be paying attention to what is actually being recorded. Making sure that your video is in focus is very important. No one wants to watch a blurry video. Another thing that they suggest, is to use a grid. Using a grid can help to make sure the video is at the correct angle. I was surprised to learn that you should avoid zooming on phones. According to the article, you should physically move closer to the subject then move away. I found another article called How to Create a Good Video: 11 Steps (with Pictures). According to the article, you should always do a shot test before you record. That is something that I admit have never really done. I've always just gone out and started filming. Angles are very important because they can help set the scene. I learned something very interesting; you should use simple transitions. I usually either use a crossfade, but didn't know that the ones like spinning and melting don't make your video cool. One thing that really sticks is step five, to be alive. According to the article, you should use limited hand gestures. That is definitely a problem for me because I use hand gestures when talking in front of people and explaining information. The next time I make a video, I will make sure to utilize these steps and tips. Things to remember when shooting a video:
Works Cited
Coelho, Sherwin. “10 Simple Tips To Make Home Videos Look Professional.” MakeUseOf, 18 Jan. 2017, www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-simple-tips-to-record-great-looking-home-videos/. wikiHow. “How to Create a Good Video.” WikiHow, WikiHow, 5 Aug. 2018, www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Good-Video. Last week we finished up working on designing audio in Adobe Audition. I had trouble finishing everything on time; however, I was able to finish everything by the time we started the new unit. One thing that I noticed in reviewing my work was that my audio was not very good quality. Audio is a big part of the film industry, therefore, I need to learn how to improve my audio quality in my work. To accomplish improving my skills, I searched for some articles on tips on how to improve audio quality. I found two articles on enhancing audio quality: 10 Easy Tips for Professional Audio Quality and Top 7 Tips for Better Audio Recording. The first top seven tip is to use a high-quality microphone. According to the article, the mics in cameras are not very good quality. Using an external mic makes dialogue more clear. Tip two is monitor the sound, which can be accomplished with headphones. You get more authentic sounds if the headphones are higher quality. The third tip is to limit background noises, which I did not do very well in my audio novel. I feel that in my audio novel, the background noises were very distracting. Tip four is to turn off the music. This one was surprising to me. I didn't know that it is better to add your music later on and not record with the video. The fourth tip is to record background sound. The background sounds they mention are not the same as background noises; these are sounds specific to video. The example they use is if you're at a carnival, use the music of a ride or the sound of popping popcorn. When you use background sounds, it makes it so the watcher feels like they are there too. Tip six is to watch out for wind. If your shooting outside, the wind creates noises that can be distracting. I just learned that you can use a fuzzy sock to minimize the sound of the wind. Tip seven is to add it later, which is pretty straightforward. The other article is more about how to improve the quality through editing. A tip that really stuck with me was to loosen up before recording. I guess if you're loose, then your recording won't be boring and stiff. Another tip that they had was to use a mic stand, which I didn't even know was a thing. I will definitely use some of these tips the next time I record audio. Tips to remember:
Works Cited
Lyles, Toby LylesToby, et al. “10 Easy Tips for Professional Audio Quality.” Copyblogger, 4 July 2017, www.copyblogger.com/professional-audio/. Siegchrist, Gretchen. “Ways to Make Your Audio Recordings Better.” Lifewire, Lifewire, www.lifewire.com/better-audio-recording-tips-1082310.
For the past couple weeks, we have been getting into designing audio in Adobe Audition. Audio is used in games to evoke emotions in the players. One of my favorite game soundtracks is the Mario Kart Wii soundtrack. The soundtrack’ catchy beats set the feel for the races. It matches gameplay very well. When you are in doing the Coconut Mall race the song is very happy and perky; however, when doing Bowser’s Castle, the music is more thematic. All the songs are different, which is similar to the races, in which all the races are different.
Depending on the level that the sound corresponds with, the emotions stirred up can be different. A player might get really mad when hearing a song from a race that they weren’t able to get first in. Another player might get really happy when hearing a song from a race that they always won first in. When someone hears the loading screen sound, they might get nostalgic and have mixed emotions thinking about earlier years. The music isn’t really used to guide the gameplay, instead, it's more to add to the game’s aesthetic. I don’t think that the soundtrack had a big effect on me while I played; however, I always liked the Coconut Mall song, because I always won that race. It always made me happy to hear it. And I hated the Rainbow road song because I always got in last place. Some songs I love and others I hate, because of the memories associated with them. I think the game brings back memories from early years when the Wii was the only popular console. For example, memories of more free time, less homework, and better weather. I have included the soundtrack, so that you can listen too. Mario Kart Wii Soundtrack
F4m1LyGuy10. “Full Mario Kart Wii Soundtrack.” YouTube, composed by Asuka Ota and Ryo Nagamatsu, F4m1LyGuy10, Aug 15, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVm8jPP_iQ4
For the past few weeks, we have been building a 2D game called Sepsis Survival. I was the production manager, writer, and audio technician. It was supposed to be due on Tuesday, but we got an extension due to unforeseen computer issues that affected the rest of the class. With the extension, we were able to completely finish our game. It has audio, dialogue, and art. Now that it’s done, its time to reflect on my strengths and struggles.
I think that my strengths in this project were keeping everyone on track. I made sure that we all knew the deadlines and updated the Trello board to match the deadlines. Another strength would be communication. I think I did a good job communicating with my team members about the management part of the project, such as deadlines and roles. I believe that I contributed to my group and gave ideas and suggestions instead of not participating in group discussions. I think I struggled at doing my part of the game. I was the audio tech/writer and had a hard time coming up with ideas for the script. I think I struggled a little being a leader because I'm not usually a leader in projects. I struggled at using all of my time to the fullest. I believe that I struggled in communicating my ideas in a clear way that made sense to everyone. I think that my time management issues could have been avoided, if I had prioritized the project over other school work. I felt good about being a part of a team because I know that three people can create more than one person by themselves. Sometimes I prefer being in a group over working independently and vice verse but it really depended on the assignment. Things to improve on:
This is the last week of the project and we have gotten a lot of work done. All the background are done. The art work is done and the script is almost done. Shannon has helped me a lot in editing the script. We are working on the last part which takes place at the hospital. I found sound effects and music from Youtube’s audio library. The ones I selected don’t have any licensing requirements, so we can just put them in the game. We didn’t encounter any problems this week which was very good. Chloe’s problem from last week has been solved. My plan for this week is very simple. The project is due on Tuesday at 11:59, so by Tuesday at the end of class, I plan to have the script and programming all caught up with each other. Hopefully, we get a good grade. Here is one of the backgrounds of the hospital that Shannon completed. In this project, I am the writer. I had Shannon critique and edit my writing and as it turns out, my writing was not very good. I am so used to writing history essays and am rusty in creative writing. I want to get better, so I researched how to become a better writer. I found an article on themuse called 10 Simple Ways to Become a Better Writer. According to the article, there are 10 tips. I’m going to talk about the top 5 that really stuck to me. The first one was actually the first tip, which was to get to the point. Before you start writing, you need to know why you are writing and what your goals are. Good writing has one clear purpose. The second tip is to strip it down. You have to remember that if you can’t understand, others probably won’t be able to either. You have to think about if it’s clear and interesting enough to keep the attention of a toddler. The next tip is to write from your happy place. According to the article, research has proven that when you are relaxed and happy, that you are more creative. You need to find what makes you happy and then once in that happy state, start writing. The fourth tip is to give yourself a time limit. You shouldn’t fuss and agonize over one piece of writing. You just need to let it go and move on. If you are happy and relaxed, your work should be good and won’t have to be redone over and over. The last tip is to say it out loud. Reading it out loud helps you determine if it sounds like a robot or a human. I really need to follow that one. 5 Tips:
Works Cited Franzen, Alexandra. “Up Your Writing Game in No Time.” Free Career Advice, The Muse, 11 Aug. 2014, www.themuse.com/advice/10-simple-ways-to-become-a-better-writer. |
AuthorI'm a student at Durham School of the Arts, and currently in the Game Art Design pathway. I like playing the Sims 4, playing with dogs, and riding horses. This blog will reflect my learning and discoveries. Archives
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