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Websites
looking through websites that i could use there was WIX, WordPress, Artstation or i could make my own using Dreamweaver which i have done in the past but not to a high quality level and there would be no point in trying to learn to do some trhings when you are able to go on a website and make one easily enough, Wix is a high quality and easy to use website creator that has near everything i am looking for, for my website this includes a place i can put my art and ways for people to contact me if they want any work doing, and i am able to easily navigate through it and put new images and stuff in easily compared to that of wordpress where it is a high quality website but it hasnt got a good fully editable site that you are able to put your identity into the work and show exactly what you are capable of with the direction of work you are going. Wix has hundreds of templates that are easily editable to put your own little twist on them.
All different designs for different catagories depending on what you are making the website for, thats something the others dont have as a website creator. Artstation with it being fully dedicated to peoples arent and showing it to others who share the same pation doesnt have much editable features as they dont want the website to show off the people who are on it they want there work there to do it for them. 
has an editable profile picture and a background but other then that nothing else, its always a good place to put your work up however as there are professionals who work at companies there and you will be able to get advice on your work and see if others think its good or what they would do to improve upon the designs, which on wix you owuldnt be able to do, so i will most likely use Wix as well as Art station in order to get comments on my work from people in the the buisness.
Research and Investigation
A big game related technology that is growing by the day is VR (Virtual Reality) and is being used in multiple different ways outside of gaming, it is being used to interact with animals that you would never be able to in zoo’s being used to make it feel like you are flying through space in theme parks and is making people experience the football in real time and make it feel like they are in another country watching it. All these are examples of how games technology is being used outside of games themselves. VR in zoo’s are growing so you will be able to interact with animals they don’t have or animals that at that time of the year may be hibernating these are two good ways they are using it, so people are able to see the animals despite them not actually been able to be seen for example animals like polar bears that hibernate during a certain part of the year people will be able to see them and see how big they actually are. This could be taken forward however as a game has just been released similar to that of Pokemon Go where you catch Dinosaurs instead and this could be taken to zoo’s so we don’t actually have something like Jurassic world happen we can see them but them be only visible by VR and this would help people understand dinosaurs more and people will get to see creatures that may be extinct that they never would of seen, it would be a great use for historical purposes.
Theme parks are using VR also as it allows people to enjoy the thrills of riding a roller coaster but also not having the fear of falling out and make them believe they are flying through space, VR will wipe away certain feelings towards rides as you feel scared before but when you put on the VR headset you will see space and nice colors other then the Galactica at Alton Towers when you are like facing the floor and always looking down it will be good for people who are there that will be scared of that as soon as they put the VR on they will just see the nice VR and where ever they have been taken and will forget the whole time that you are just facing the floor.
During the world Cup you are able to watch the game like you are pitch side in Russia with VR this is making it so you aren’t spending thousands of pounds to watch the games you want to watch and instead are able to see the game in person like you are there, if you aren’t able to get weeks off work to actually go up to Russia to watch it then this is a good way to watch the games and if this kicks off i can see this being used in all other sports around the world like UFC and Boxing where it would be a really good addition where they could charge a bit of money to watch but not as much as an actual ticket it will most likely have more people actually watching events and could be included in other events not just sports. royal weddings, historical events or natural events could be seen for all different reasons.
These different types of VR are all good for different reasons with that taking away fear or being used for historical value and for enjoyment but they all do come with flaws as you could miles away from the pitch when watching a game or you could pay a lot of money for a ticket and the connection could go and you could miss out on the fight, uses of VR that would make people have to use the internet will always have flaws as they are relying to much on the internet which could go at any time and could waste the money they have spent.
Galactica image: http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/feature/a789018/galactica-tested-alton-towers-new-vr-coaster-isnt-out-of-this-world/
Inspiring Character and Creature artists
Arnold Tsang- Overwatch Character artist
Renaud Galand – Overwatch Character artist
Miguel angel Martinez- Horizon zero dawn robot artist
Peter Rocque- Concept artist and Freelancer
These four Artists are inspirations to me and i would love to produce character and creatures to their level in the future.
Arnold Tsang is a concept artist for Overwatch and has been involved in a lot of the concept art for the Overwatch hero having concept art for 17 of the original 21 characters that were made before the games release and his portfolio on Artstation shows his work, which has got thousands of likes and thousands of followers due to his amazing work. Renaud Galand is also an Overwatch Character artist and has done different skins for the heroes in game. where Arnold Tsang is more the concept artist Renaud Galand does more of the actually creating the hero’s using different software and on his Artstation portfolio you are able to see it and it also shows of high poly models of the different skins for the heroes like Reapers Halloween skin.
Away from Overwatch now and looking more at animals and creatures and looking at Horizon zero dawn which is a game that I loved playing through and loved the characters and the creatures in game, especially the Creatures as they are all robots except a couple of different animals that survived the uprising of the machines, Horizon Zero dawns machine creatures look amazing and they have taken aspects of the creatures they are a copy of and put them into the design and the behavior of them in game. The Strider in game is a giant Horse that you are able to ride after obtain a certain item in game, but they have the same behavior as a horse like they will get spooked if you jump out of somewhere.
A freelancer as well that has caught my eye is Peter Rosque he creates all sorts to a really good quality but the characters and Creatures are what I’m looking at. He has done all sorts of different types of characters in different styles he has done some which are slightly cartoony but he has also done some that you could of seen in games like the Whitcher. He has also done some Photoshop work where he has done some characters from Black adder in Photoshop which do look great.
Arnold Tsang: https://www.artstation.com/arnistotle
Renaud Galand: https://www.artstation.com/renaudgaland
Miguel Angel Martinez: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/AKbEo
Peter Rocque: https://www.artstation.com/peterrocque
Lorenzetti research part 1
Pietro Lorenzetti was an Italian artist believed to be born in 1280 or 1290 and believed to die in 1345 due to the Black Death with his brother in Siena. Pietro Lorenzetti apparently started in 1304 to be an artist and tunred out to be one of the great minds of the time and made a panel painting of Christ between Saints Paul and Peter (c.1320). Pietro Lorenzetti’s panel painting of Christ and Saint Paul and Peter is believed to be part of a bigger work but may of gotten broken of over the time of it being done, However it is brilliant condition considering when it was made and how long it has been around, 698 years and it is still in brilliant condition showing that it has been well looked after as it is a Panel Painting.
There is never much confirmed facts about Lorenzetti other then his work as it was near seven centuries ago but people have said that his early work looked similar to that of Duccio, so they assume that he was a pupil of his before actually starting up his own work space.
The Birth Of the Virgin (1342) was Pietro Lorenzetti’s last big piece of work and it was an advanced perspective study at the time, “The arches and colonnettes of the triptych frame form the foreground of the painted picture space, and one of the figures is painted in such a way that it appears to be standing behind one of the colonnettes. This constitutes one of the most advanced perspective studies of its time.”
links: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pietro-Lorenzetti
Industry expectations (Blizzard Studios)
I have had a look at some gaming studios and what they are looking for in the line of gaming i want to go down in the future one of them is blizzard one of the biggest companies out there.
Requirements
- Minimum of 1 years’ experience in game development as an artist specializing in character / organic modeling using Autodesk Maya, 3DS Max
- Demonstrated proficiency in basic character modeling techniques
- An exceptional understanding of form, shape, structure, and silhouette
- Self-motivation, superior communication skills, and a great team-player attitude
- Demonstrated hand-painted texture skills
- Able to work creatively as part of a large or small group
- Proven problem-solving / prototyping ability
- Basic understanding of rigging/skinning
- Understanding of the visual style of Blizzard games and a passion to push it to the next level
- Passion for video games
- Able and willing to work on-site in Irvine, CA
Pluses
- Experience in creating visual designs that support gameplay oriented goals
- Have shipped an AAA PC or console title as a character artist
Submission / Portfolio requirement
- Portfolio and / or reel demonstrating relevant artistic skills required
- Only online artwork submissions will be accepted (e.g. website, blog or online album).Looking at the requirements needed to be a character artist for Blizzard on Overwatch or other main titles I will have to have at least a minimum of one year experience using 3ds max, and Maya. one thing already is that I have never used Maya so in the upcoming semester I will have a look at it and have a look at some tutorials out there to help me and then gradually start using that along side 3DS Max, also communicating in a small or large group I normally have a bit of trouble with but im sure over time I will get better at it and be able to do it as I want to start to work then in the future and its not just at Blizzard that this will be a big part of the requirements im sure in other studios like NaughtyDog or RockStar it is just as important. I will also have to start looking into 3d modelling characters and putting them in games so I can prototype them and see what they are like after doing everything for them. A plus is also that I have helped to launch a AAA game in th past so I believe that I should probably start in a nother company and try and move there later on in my career where im able to show that I have helped launch a game and I understand what is required from me and be able to get straight to it from day 1.
I also will have to start my Portfolio online by either making a website or having a separate blog for it all as only online submissions are accepted so they wont be able to see any done on paper so as soon as i was to finish a design its best to scan it through so i can then have it online as well as a physical copy on hand just in case.
Lorenzetti design presentation
The Part of the project that i started working on was creating some doors for the space, that included the front door as well as a door to no where and a door to enter the balcony. I researched some pictures of old doors and found a couple that I believe would be helpful to start making a couple of designs ready for 3ds max.
I then took these images and started to make some designs in 3ds max and see what the rest of the group would decide on for the game and which they believed would be best used in the game for the purpose of the game and the style. The designs can be seen later in Post.
Making a presentation for the clients.
For the Lorenzetti project we have taken our current work that we are personally working on and put them into some presentation documents to show to the clients, looking through most current presentation documents however they are normally showing off either a setting or a building that has been created for a piece of work where they can show it to the clients and the clients can look at them and see what they like and don’t like. Some examples are below.
However, since I was doing doors and not a full on setting or building I thought that something like this didnt suit the style I was going for and had to look and see if there was anyother types of design sheets that would suit having doors on. Then I came across design presentation sheets around weapons and props and this suits how I wanted to show of the doors I have created, Some examples below.
I decided to follow the design path of that and to came up with one design idea for it but I don’t think I will follow through with it I will look at other designs and then have one finished design. The link is my design idea but i will develop upon that and will talk to other people in my group over a design we can all go by.
The presentation piece was only a mock as to what i believed it would look like but with help from fellow students and some from our tutors we came up with a style that will be used and then put into our own presentation pieces 
This is the final piece for the presentation towards the clients that clearly shows what each door may be used for and highlighting my favourite parts that could be used in the space.
links: http://hennessyassoc.com/tag/measured-building-survey/
http://lucienvox.deviantart.com/art/Swords-81-100-293839724
http://shoomlah.deviantart.com/art/Full-House-Poker-prop-sheet-203776796
Richard Bartle Taxonomy of player types
Bartle theorised that players who played MUD (Co created by Bartle) that each player falls into 4 different types of players they are Killers, Achievers, socializers and Explorers. MUD is a text based adventure game on the computer that only uses text that had a unique attribute that allowed you to play with other players. when looking at his game he discovered that there are people who players the game who are there to just provoke other people and troll them online, Trolls, hackers and cheaters all fall into the categories of killer as they are killing the game and through being mean to other people and making people possibly stop playing, also killers can be people who play player vs player games such as COD (Call Of Duty) where the aim is to kill people online so basically any first person shooter games.
Achievers are people who when they see a challenge in a game will do anything to be able to say that they have done it despite it being easy or difficult, in fact the harder the game the more people will try to complete it. On PlayStation 4 you are able to collect trophies for doing achievements and there is a platinum trophy for getting every single other trophy in the game and some players thrive to try and collect them all, games like Dark souls and Bloodbourne are some of the hardest games out there and there are people who have collected every single trophy in the game which takes real skill and dedication to the game.
Explorers like to explore the world that the game is based in even if its a side scroller they may go through the game multiple times so they are able to see ever aspect of the game and know short cuts so they are able to complete the game in the fastest time, explorers are the type of people who are most likely to find glitches and tricks to get really strong weapons really early and get money in games by doing certain jobs that may take ages to get to on the map. When it comes to certain games I would say that I’m an explorer as in games like Assassins Creed and Tomb raider I’m always there trying to discover the whole map and find ever collectable to make my character as strong as possible as early on as possible.
Socializers are people who play games to most likely socialize with people and make new friends, they will normally be the players talking with mic’s or using game chats to communicate with the other players, games like World of Warcraft where there are people in charge of guilds and teams will be communicating with other people around the world so they can try and get everyone together to do missions or have a meet up if they are all close. There are even stories of people being in guilds in WOW and going to each others weddings around the world as they are that close.
| Game | Killers | Achievers | Socializers | Explorers |
| Call Of Duty | yes | yes | slightly | yes |
| Assassins creed | yes | yes | no | yes |
| Pokémon | no | yes | no | yes |
| World of Warcraft | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| GTA 5 | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Overwatch | yes | yes | yes | no |
| Candy Crush | no | yes | no | no |
Above is a table of some popular games across a couple of platforms and how they fall into the categories. showing you don’t have to have a game in all the categories to be able to have a popular game as most of them have three and two but candy crush being a mobile game only has the one and its one of the biggest game on mobile.
Bartle also noticed that players aren’t just in one categories as players drift between a couple and may avoid certain ones, determined by there mood, situation and goal in the game, as in tomb raider if you want to 100% complete it you will need to collect all the collectables but you do not need to collect them to complete the story so most people don’t do it, and in tomb raider it starts as a explorer mainly with times of killing but you can complete the game with doing no exploring and just going through the story despite the character being an explorer, its all based on the player.
Bartle does say that his findings are by looking at his game MUD and might be incomplete for other types of games, to have a look at the video click the link below to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIzLbE-93nc
An easy way to remember the four categories is to compare them to playing cards
- Achievers are diamonds (they’re always seeking treasure).
- Explorers are spades (they dig around for information).
- Socialisers are hearts (they empathise with other players).
- Killers are clubs (they hit people with them).
this list was presented on this page : http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm
used websites ;
Game theory week two (board games)
Chess
During the game of chess between Harry and Sam you could tell they was in flow from the get go as they was thinking for ages before they made what they thought was the right move to get into a better position to win the match, even in the game between me and Sam i know i was in flow from the get go too as i wanted to win, in chess i believe that if you arent in flow from the start then you wont have a chance of winning as if your skill level is so low and not know how the pieces more there will be a bigger chance of you losing.
Chinese checkers
In Chinese checkers between me, Harry and Sam there was different skill levels to be shown as Harry was easily winning followed by Sam then me, As i have never played the game before i was at a disadvantage and was not in flow as the skill level of the other players where high and my skill level was low i wasn’t going to be in flow but Harry and Sam was definitely in flow.
industrfy expectations and personal development beyond the studio
I have taken a look at a big gaming company (Naughty Dog) to see what they require when entering the world of character design and below is a list taken of there site of what is required.
Character Artist
Responsibilities:
- This individual will be responsible for sculpting hi-res realistic characters, including organic and non-organic assets
- This individual will create deformable and efficient models with clean topology and optimized UV layouts
- Bring to life artistically rendered characters and assets with a high level of realism
- Additional responsibilities may be assigned as needed
Requirements & Skills:
- An advanced knowledge of sculpting human anatomy, shape, light and form
- A keen eye for color and texture painting
- Experience generating normal and ambient occlusion maps
- Candidates should be able to work with minimal input and be comfortable working in a team environment
- Basic knowledge of optimization – working with lower resolution textures and low-poly game meshes, as well as experience or a desire to work with more high resolution assets
- Candidates should expect to take an offsite test
- Candidates should be willing to work with and draw reference or base starting points from scan data
As a part of the Naughty Dog application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an art test.
As shown most of it is about drawing skills so I think personally I will have to keep practising and get better at creating characters and come up with some character designs for games that already exists and use them in a portfolio of my past designs.
Finding a client or a competition where you will be able to show of your skills is a good way to go to be noticed but finding a client or someone coming to you for a job will be the best way to keep being in the line of work as if you do a good job they will tell other people to go to you and could even come back to you for future characters. You could start out as a freelancer who would go to people who are looking for certain jobs to be done and show them what you are able to achieve.
A link to a example of a high concept document: https://lizlansdown.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/mmpp-high-concept.pdf
High concept documents are for targets and for you to come up with selling points and see what the competition to the game you are making you will also have to discuss the copyright issues within making the game or part of it as if you are using something taken form another game you will have to have the right to use it in your game, you will also show example art for the games and show a walk through of how to play the game within it as well as people wont be able to play the game as soon as they pick the game up.
In character design you might have to create a character based of someone so you may have to try and get them into a place where you are able to draw them and come up with characters that will suit them and will suit the game as they may be the main protagonist or just a NPC but they could want them in the game to attract people who like them as an actor or a presenter or model as there are loads of famous actors who have been used as inspiration and have also been put in games and you will have to have a contract with the people or there agents to be able to work with them for if they find out someone looks like them in a game you are working on you could get in a lot of trouble.
Shipping a game is when you get the game placed into stores. most game studious want games to be done by the time they set them which will be on a set date but sometimes games do get held back if something is buggy or something doesn’t meet there expectations this will mean the shipping of the game is held back which could put a lot of fans or new fans off buying the game as in that time another game might of come out and they could of bought that one instead if the game they was intetially saving up for.
MBritchford 