At times, the goal is to represent artificial stupidity rather than intelligence.

Wow, so I have a huge apology to make, It really has been longer than a month since I last wrote! I'm appalled at my lack of commitment to my own blog, but I can honestly say it's been a roller-coaster of a ride this last month. So many things happening, so little time and I'm sure I'm not alone when I tell you how busy it does get over the Christmas period... But enough with my excuses, I'm back and I promise to work harder to keep my blog updated!

Some good news, the pitch/presentation went really well, we had Rob Yescombe, a developer from the local company 'Crytek' attend and even though I'd never met the guy and had no real previous knowledge of him or his colleague he brought with him, I honestly felt a little star struck. I admitedly started off a little shacky when beginning, but I managed to pull it back and the rest of it went very well. We hadn't been told previously but there was an award for the best sales pitch, and we won! So it was a much longed for pat-on-the-back if I'm honest and re-lit the fire again.

So I started back at college last Monday, and there was no time to talk about what we'd been up to because I'd gradually realised over the break how much work was actually left to do. It's obviously hard, other than taking an educated guess and applying some common-sense, to judge even approximately how long steps of the  development/production are going to take, so this is where ultimately, as the Project Lead, I start to worry a little, but I've managed to mitigate it slightly by being a little tougher on the team and setting some realistic timelines for getting certain things done. as much as I love the game design side of the project, it's time to put it to bed for a while and start creating some assets, creating the level and playing around with the Artificial Intelligence (AI). Luckily I have a very dedicated Artist/3D Model creator and I really do mean it when I say I'm lucky to have him. He will give us the necessary boost we need in order to stay on track as he's competent and knows what he's doing with using the software we're creating most of the assets in. Also, my confidence has been restored a little in the programming side of things given that the programmer has shown some real enthusiasm for this side of things, taking time out to research the necessary techniques and skills required to build the demo level.

Anyway, more to follow soon, will keep you updated on how the development of the project goes and any other bits that I think you guys might find useful :-)

Bye for know...

P.S the title for this note in the blog is taken directly from the UDK tutorials on implementing AI into the game  you (me, anyone) are trying to create. To paraphrase the example given - It's very easy to programme the AI to target the player and shoot and be very accurate. But this would not make for a very interesting game experience as the AI will always have the upper hand. So the key is to make the AI less like AI and more like a human player (e.g. will not always aim successfully and will miss every now and again.) Ergo, the goal is to create stupidity rather than intelligence. It's perhaps a rather blunt way of looking at it, but I quite liked it for its irony. This is effectively what makes AI challenging to create in video games.

You only see with your eyes, therefore you are easily fooled

Ok, I have a confession to make to you all... Yes, I know its been over a week since I've updated, but I have been 'grinding' away on Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and despite my earlier concerns and worries, it does not disappoint at all! When I first started playing, I was a little unnerved as the game kept throwing different gameplay elements at me, which is of course exciting, but you can over egg the pudding in order to try and hit a wider demographic, or just an attempt to keep the existing fans interested. But slowly I got used to it, and started to appreciate how much thought and detail had gone into the design. Impressive when you consider that they only realised AC II last November (09). But anyway this isn't a review blog, so I will stop going on about it, but it really is a well put-together game :-)

So what's new? The only thing I can really think of is that we've started using the Unreal Development Kit and Kismet. Now programming isn't really my thing, but as I'm sure I've mentioned before, it serves a greater purpose to learn these things now, so you can understand as a game designer the limitations and what's realistic and do-able taking into consideration the time-line too (milestones). I have to admit I'm quite enjoying it, although it all seems very much over my head, I can definitely see a nice silver shiny light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Things like turning on a light-bulb in the game requires an understanding of how to link a trigger with a toggle-able element (i.e. the light) via Kismet. Kismet is also based around a graphical interface as opposed to scripting so in theory its supposed to be easier, but I still think you need to learn how to use it, much like you to take the time to learn how to programme in C++ in order to use it.

I've got a nice sound assignment to hand in this week, we've had a few issues (the group) with the sound design lessons, problems with teachers and staff, so its had an impact on the level of education that we get, being of a lesser standard than it would normally be. I suppose I can't help thinking that somewhere inside of me there might be a person that really enjoys the sound design side of things. Obviously not so much that it would change my views on what career I would like to step into, but enough to motivate me to look into this area of development with greater enthusiasm. Ultimately, it's time. There are moments when I wish I could go through everything that I now understand needs to be understood in order to better myself to the best that I can. I just have to try as hard as I can with areas that I feel will best help me for my future.

I've started trying to go into more depth with Flash as I found out the other day that you can do something called 'bone tweens' which is basically animating a body making it seem like the body has bones and is moving in the correct way to how a body would normally move (does that make sense??) I'm thinking this might be quite 'cool' when it comes to designing a portfolio to showcase some of my work. Not entirely sure what shape it will take, but I have a few ideas, and I won't spoil it just in case.

Till next time...

When you should grab something, grab it. When you should let it go, let it go

Did you know that no word in the the English dictionary rhymes with "MONTH"?

I feel like I haven't written anything for ages, but boy what a busy couple of days. I wish I could say most of it was orientated around something to do with the creative process of Game Design, or even playing them (that would be nice) but unfortunately it has just been work, work, work. Although, I did get to relax and enjoy the company of my house-mates at a party over the weekend and got to meet some very nice people! But I digress!

The presentation went fairly well last Friday, except I messed up a little... You know you see those things in the world, like moments in a film where you relax in the knowledge that, that would never happen to anyone in the real world. Or perhaps a TV show where you actually become aggravated with the sheer improbability of that particular thing happening in that particular way at that particular moment! Well my situation wasn't quite as bad as that but I found myself addressing the issue, appropriately 2 minutes before(!!!) I preped the computer, and then it just popped into my head... Whether the rest of the year (group) were going to like it(!!!). Sure, I think it's a great idea, has plenty of potential, accessible to a large audience/demographic, lots of time and work has gone into it, etc, etc... But... what if they don't like it? Everyone is different after all, everyone's entitled to their own opinion.

And that was it, I was gone. My own mind had managed to knock most of the confidence I had out of my system. And the result was that I gave a pretty poor and weak presentation. Thankfully, it wasn't just me that was talking and so the other guys did a really good job and sold it well. The problem of course is that as Project lead, that's my job to do...

The good thing about all of this though is that the point of the cold (draft) presentation was for the tutor to pick up on anything that can be looked at in preparation for the real pitch with the developers of local companies. The irony is, the rest of the guys watching loved the idea/pitch. So at least I know have that to embolden me... there are actually people out there that like our game concept!

I got AC: Brotherhood on Friday, the lovely limited edition codex box. Was a tiny bit disappointed with the box lid, as the underneath has fallen out / come unglued. Play.com told me they could give me a refund for it but there were no more boxes, so they couldn't exchange. Obviously I didn't want to send it back, so I made the point of telling the rotters that 'this was my first purchase from them, and I wouldn't be making a second'. I was saying that I had a busy last few days, so I've not been able to play this at all yet. But it occurred to me the other day that there is another reason for not playing it... I'm a bit nervous if I'm honest! I love the franchise and the second one just took it to the next level. My head is expecting the same again and I'm worried that I'm going to be disappointed with it. How bad is that? That I'm being apprehensive to engage in something because it may shatter the pedestal that I've put Ubisoft on, when surely the logical thing to do is to take everything as it comes and go with the flow (kind of thing). I'm sure it means some kind of character flaw in my personality! Haha.

Speak soon my amici

Stay frosty!

Hello again,

So I've just spent the day making final touches to the presentation that's due in this Friday. When I went back to look at it I realised I had made a text-book, school-boy error, I'd messed up the budget slightly. We're all (the class) going to get shown how to use the Unreal 3 Engine using the Unreal Development Kit (UDK) from Epic with Kismet, it uses object-orientated programming (OOP) which is supposed to make it easier to program but we shall see (I'm sure I saw a snippet of a YouTube video showing it laid out and it kind of looked like a very complicated flowchart!) Anyway, the UDK is 'free' to download and use for development but I completely forget to add to the budget the licensing costs if the game was to be produced, utilising the Unreal Engine. You know, it's 25% of revenue  that goes to Epic through royalties, I thought that was a little steep, but perhaps I'm just being naive.(?) So I've been sorting that and adding other bits and bobs to the final presentation, so all good fun.

For the other part of the day I've been trying to finalise my research on the development of games engines, the purposes of the engine, then all the different components that make up the engine, explaining their purpose! I have got to be honest with you, I really thought the hard part would be creating the interactive program in flash, using action-script to display the research, but it's the other way round... Go figure.

Anyway, I've had an awesome couple of days, I spoke with a very helpful person over email yesterday, who's involved in the industry and based in Canada. It's fantastic to hear from people that are already involved in the video games industry because they really do tell it like it is. What you need to learn, what the industry is really looking for, the best ways to get in, etc. But just to top it off I was speaking with some guests  at where I work last night and it turns out they work for a local company that distributes digital jukeboxes and arcade machines. They have lots of external games on their machines but they also have an internal team that work on games development. So long story short the chap gave me the email address for the MD. Now, I know that the chances of anything happening from it are very slim given that I'm not qualified in anything yet, but as I've mentioned before in the blog, Networking is really important and just putting your name in their head, coupled with a positive, tenacious and passionate attitude won't damage your chances.

It may sound a bit silly or a bit obvious, but if you keep you're eyes open and feel as passionately as I do about the industry then you'll be surprised how easy it is to meet people and build up a network or friends/acquittance's as well as building a clearer picture about what needs to be done.

Wow, listen to me, preaching about the do's and don't's... I guess I wanted to write this down, because I didn't want people thinking it was just luck when I made those two contacts, but I suppose I'm also talking from experience in the sense that I've tried to make contacts before and shouting excitedly whilst jumping up and down in front of someone important, often has the undesired effect of making them runaway. (You think I'm joking!) So show your true colours, but as they say 'Stay Frosty'

One of my friends made this for me the other day, So cool!

Bye for now

Nulla è reale, tutto è lecito (Nothing is true, everything is permitted)

In true game geek fashion, I wanted to title at least ONE of my blogs with a quote from Assassin's Creed (more specifically the second one).

Speaking of 'geek', I heard an interesting bit of information the other day over the word 'Nerd'. You see it's supposed to come from 'Ner Do Well', which is old English, meaning 'Never do well'. Of course the irony in this has got be that it's almost always the Nerd that does do very well for himself. It's interesting how different bits of language get mixed around through time.

Well it was supposed to be the big day today, the day when me and my team gave our presentation on what we've been working on for the last 7 weeks or so. I have to be honest though, it well and truly hit me for six when I found out we'd be doing it to the tutors AND the rest of the group, so a good 40 people. But unfortunately (and I really mean that too) we ran out of time with there being no time limit for each pitch, other than the tutors steadily increasing tapping of her foot. So I've got another week to tighten things up even further. 

As the project lead I need to talk about who we are, what is the game, a brief synopsis about the game concept, a little about the back-story then its over to my team. I then make a comeback at the end with all the research, budget details and milestones I've set. I can't help but feel a little proud over how hard particular members of team have worked, and this shined through when I inevitably, in my mind, formed a contrast between our work and the other groups work they were showcasing. However, I'm not about to get complacent, so it's trying for that ultra professional look I can try give the pitch/presentation, so keep you're fingers crossed for me!

There was more today about the opportunity of doing an apprenticeship, I really really hope its a strong possibility! It's either that or try and meet the right kind of people (Games Company Staff) by networking.

Anyway, more soon. Don't forget, leave me comments if you have any feedback or just general comments :-)

Beta Testing and More....

Wow, what a great couple of days! Since I last blogged I had the opportunity to sit down with a couple of guys that are looking at creating some 'webisodes' for new games hitting the market. Its basically a review show, but there trying to make it fresh and new, plus they're aren't that many people doing that sort of thing in Nottingham.

Straight after that, I was invited to do some Beta testing on a new game coming out soon. For legal reasons (all sounds very official!!) I can't mention the name of the company or the game itself, but it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun and something that a lot of people will probably find accessible!

Yesterday was a really productive day - First lecture was a practical lesson on using Adobe flash and action script to design an interactive application that can be used to display information about all the research we've been working on in Game Engine Design. We also had another master class in using 3Ds Max (creating 3D models for those of you not familiar with the software). And finally discussions were made about how me and my team are going to put our presentation together for when we do our Pitch to some of the local games company staff for our final major project! So all in all, a very very good day.

I sometimes worry that with all the studying in so many different areas, I might be stretching myself thin but then I also think in order to be the best I can as a Games Designer, its important to have at least a basic knowledge of what goes on in the rest of the company/industry.

There was also some talk yesterday with one of the tutors, going into a bit more detail with the possibility of, after completing the course (about 9 months away now) there being the option to go into an apprenticeship with a games company for 4 days a week and 1 day at Confetti! It's certainly a good way in and would open up the possibility of showing what I'm made of!

More soon guys,

Don't forget to leave me any feedback or comments, or even any questions you might have for me!

It's a new day, It's a new dawn...

Hello there!

So you're probably here because you yourself are in a similar position to me (trying to get on the industry ladder and become a game designer) or you might be here to look at all the fails and tactical face palms!!

I should have started this last year when my course started but what can I say, I was swept up in the bliss of taking that one step closer to becoming the all powerful 'GAMES DESIGNER'. And to be honest I can't believe how quickly the last year did go, it literally just shot by... So much to learn, so little time to do it. Script Writing, Programming, Graphic Design, Marketing and Research Techniques, Understanding the Industry, Pre-Production, Production and Distribution - and the list goes on!

But I'm getting ahead of myself a little here... My name's Pete and as I'm sure you've guessed its my ambition and dream to become a Games Designer, and not just any Games Designer, but a really really good one :-) I'm living in Nottingham, UK at the moment and Studying at Confetti Studios which is also in Nottingham. After I left school I bummed around for about 8 years, never knowing what I wanted to do other than I knew I was creative. Then I saw an exciting poster on a bus which explained about courses tailor-made for people wanting to get into the games industry, and the rest is history! So what have I learnt about the industry?... It really does seem like the hardest thing in the world to get into!

Being a mature student (26) studying a college course (BTEC ND) I always try and keep my eyes and ears open so I can try and work out the best way to go and get into things. There's a lot of people that keep mentioning Quality Assurance as a good starting point to work yourself up from, but this really is the bottom rung for me. I'm not at all a snob, just that I want to start making head-way as soon as I can, that 30 mark isn't looking too far away after all! So in an ideal, ideal world I'd love to start off as a junior game designer, a position where I would be quite happy to be the 'butt' of every other game designer in the department's jokes, have to always fetch the tea, stay late, start early, work the weekends - all so I could have at least a small contribution to the game concept.

I was at MCM expo last Saturday, a big festival for Animé, Video Games, Comics, Sci-fi, etc. It was actually the first one I've been too (fail, and here I call myself a wannabe games designer) but it was really really good. Once you got past all the guys with hairy beards walking around dressed as girls from a Japanese Animé and the signs saying 'free hugs' I got to immerse myself in a world of media that's just very exciting. I might as well get this off my chest now. I am a massive fan of the Assassins Creed Franchise, and am extremely excited about the new Brotherhood game coming soon. At the expo they were showcasing the multi-player mode of the game and had a few Q&A sessions with Mathieu Gagnon (Technical Director for Ubisoft). I am actually really pleased no one was around to see me literally salivating over the guy.

At the end of the Q&A, I went to speak to him and asked him the age old question of whether he had any tips on how to best get in the industry and the guy said 'Its just about working you're ass off, trying to become and expert in the area you want to go into and try and get out there and meet as many people as you can involved already in the industry'. Thanks Mathieu!

So, anyway, I'm working on my Final Major Project (FMP) this academic year which consists of producing a demo/vertical slice (VS) of a game. Pretty cool huh? It's not that I'm complaining but we have to do everything to the tee, so that means, doing primary and secondary research to justify the game and whether it's needed in the market, producing a game design document (GDD) with supporting pre-production materials (treatment, back-story, character profile, character art, environmental art, weapon design and art, etc). If I was working in industry then some of these steps I'd have to go through, so all in all, it's a great experience, but I can't help but remember that there are people out there making games with their programming know how who haven't done any of this, and still manage to get on that ladder!!

Anyway, in this blog, I'll be talking about my experiences in trying to get from where I am now through to the Industry. If you've got any feedback or comments, I'd love to hear from you.

So I'll write again soon

Cheers

Pete

P.S Can I please now apologise for all and any exclamation marks I put into my blogs, I just love using them! ;-)