INFR 3110U: Framework vs Crammed Game Engine

What would you like to have as your game engine?

Through the years, I've seen many different types of game engines made. Whether it be wrapping the different graphics and physics libraries and more into your engine, or just cramming everything into your game.

However, the most efficient method I've found, is making a framework.

For example, in my artificial intelligence class, we had to make a game with intricate A.I . Whilst programming, we realized that as we made more functionality within more classes, we were making many clean and efficient tools that could easily be ported to other engines for other functions.

Before long, we realized we were making a framework.

Different mentalities bring different expectations and wants for a game engine. But why isn't your first idea to make a game engine?

If you could make a tool, or other structures that enabled many features in an engine...why wouldn't you?

For instance, if you made a manipulate-able camera path controller that could create cinematics just like in God of War...wouldn't you want that thing anywhere? You could create different options within it, and use it for other purposes.

Yes having a working engine is ideal, but why have it working, when it'll take you just as much time to remake it?

Think. If you made a text-based framework, then randomly get an adventure game to work on , but you need text interaction..
Boom. Time to integrate things from the text-based framework that you made.

What if you created a model viewer framework?
Again, if you get sent to create an adventure game and have no character view/item view screen?

Frameworks help with supplying solutions to your engine/game development and design needs.

I don't know about you, but since I've seen many close friends of mine make frameworks for engines, I start realizing how much I rather would use a framework than a random working game engine.

We make tools so we can be lazy..
Why have things integrated into your game if you can't take it back out and use it?

Some food for thought.
Just a rant about something that hit my mind.
Thanks guys! Nice chatting. Leave comments about what you do or think below!

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out !!

INFR 3110U: Engine Tools

What are tools for a game?
They are what you hear they are.
Tools.

Tools in games aid the pipeline by making production easier.
They can go from visual tools, to inserting text, or even debugging tools.
In the game engines class, a honework question was given to make camera paths, morph cobtrollers and ogre log parsing tools..
Little did I know each of them were tools for a game..I don't know about you...but I must have been tired...
I had programmedthe ogre log tool, but recently just found out I could use it as a tool..but for what you say? Debugging.

As we program our game, ogre may give us some issues however, if while we program, if we were to have a log parser open in a side console, showing only errors or warnings, we would be able to see what we need to fix easier, than if we were to look through multiple lines of code. (M.LOC...haha)

Camera path controllers aid the pipeline by being able to place them, load them in by fbx with locators, and lerp between their points, seeing how the world looks. Through this, a designer could easily edit the camera paths to be taken in game to show the fullness of the game and how to capture the players attention.

These are just some tools that I've seen and thought a little about in our class!

What's your favourite tool?


Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!!

INFR 3110U: Post MIGS

When at MIGS, many different things were talked about, from programming and implementing artificial intelligences, to animation.

For the panels where A.I. was talked about, they showed how A.I. reacts differently in first person shooters.
Where when behind a box, the A.I. would show reaction as when to shoot, if the player was to come in sight, or go back to hiding. This creates a more realistic effect which would then make the player believe that the A.I. is interacting with them. The more precise the movement, the more realistic the feel of interaction. With this, they also talked about the different states that the A.I. goes through during this process. (reminded me of FSM's and etc. ahaha)

With animation talks, I had an interaction with Richard Aroyo, who works along with David Lam (also one of whom I had spoken to) in iAnimate. These men are brilliant with the way that they carry out their work. Colin Graham, with his animation skills, and Samanatha Youssef with her understanding of human body mechanics are also brilliant minds.

The things learned this year are priceless, and for everyone who didn't attend MIGS 2013, should definitely go to 2014.

INFR 3110U: Camera Angles

One may think...

Yea camera angles are cool...but what do they do completely to a game?

Cameras make or break a game.

 If a game is very physical and have no dynamic cameras for certain hits...kinda boring right?

Even in the new pokemon, when a pokemon does a move, the camera is moved to either show what os happening, or the dynamics of the scene.

In this infamous 2 clip, look how the camera acts or behaves.

Its like every time a hit is made, the camera moves forward toward the player. The initial camera is attached to the player, but during whichever action, the camera angle and distance is affected.
When the player is travelling,  the distance is far, but when in a fight,  its close. When enemies come into the screen,  the camera slightly gives them a view, but it is still mainly centered behind the main player.

What's your favourite camera view? Post a video in the comment section,  and give a description of what the camera does! Love to see animations of characters and camera actions.

On another note, it may not be needed, but a cinematic trailer could be made for our game. (GDW)  where the camera first starts behind the character, but when the character goes into a building, it could become first person to show the detail of the innards of the building. Just some food for thought..imagine that for a game. Its been done before but its really cool.


Anyways,

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!!

INFR 3110U: Freemium Games

Whenever I talk to certain people about games,  they don't know how to market what they make. Whether it be they put it on the steam store, apply for a company,  or try to go freemium.

But when I hear freemium, I then think..do they know what they're talking about? Many games go for the freemium approach but never really know how to approach it.

Games like candy crush saga use many strategies to keep their users playing and paying. For instance, a popular method they use for the game is a near-win strategy. What it implies is that when the player is about win, they tend to lose, but because they were so close to winning,  they play again. With this, they then also place items at low market prices that would help you past that section of the game.

Games like Clash of Clans give the player a certain amount of currency and make them spend it so they can see how it benefits them in the long run. For instance, in Clash of Clans, they show the player that the special currency could enable them more builders to increase their building options,  but then also show them that it can decrease the amount of time it takes for them to build or produce units and resources. (Its an interesting game. If you haven't tried it, you should)

During the summer I had to research freemium games during my internship as to how freemium games take off, or prosper. Its known that game developers research into the human psyche and figure out what content to put in their games, that woulf entice people to play them more. A common resource used for this is Maslows hierarchy of needs.

On the Apple AppStore, candy crush, and clash of clans are top games.

But what makes them so different?

Why do people pay for the content?

Yea they looked into the hierarchy of needs, and yea they have low priced items that aid the player...but what...?

The answer is  what type of needs they are using, and their portrayal of it.

In both Candy Crush and Clash of Clans, they target not only your psychological needs represented in Maslows hierarchy, but they also go after your animalistic instincts. Like a lion to their pray, and a jungle cat to their domain, Clash of Clans uses their gameplay to use your instincts.

An example is how in each game,  they allow the player to dominate another persons property for gain. In Clash of Clans, you dominate enemy orc territory, and in Candy Crush, you're travelling, helping NPCs which then enable you to conquer a certain portion of the game every few levels.
 When a lions territory is threatened, they attack. Just like in Clash of Clans, if the players territory is attacked, they are likely to either get a shield to protect themselves, or enhance their troops and attack their attacker.

Another aid for their success is the social capabilities. In both games,  their system allows people to beat you or your score, or for you to dominate. In both games,  they have a ranking system, that shows who's better in all, or a certain level.

Clash of Clans has a clan system which then adds you to a part of a "family" and Candy Crush gives the player the ability to help their friends who are in a pinch by giving them powerups. Both then play on many other characteristics of Maslows hierarchy of needs..



Going back and forth, the freemium model is a deep model which some enter and make it, or enter and fail...
My personal opinion, is that if you want to go freemium, you must do your research. Any lack may end up hurting you in the long run..

This may have just been a taste of what is capable of the freemium model...if you want more, just leave a comment asking for either more details or an extension! :)


Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!!

INFR 3110U: GDW

For our GDW first gate, groups had to prove a tool chain, mainly loading in models and have textures. However, sadly, although my group had the requirements(shown and proven to me before), they couldn't get I t running for the check, but then they quickly had it adjusted, and showed it so they had the requirements fulfilled. However, in terms of programming, we are to be farther ahead.
My issue in the next while is how to create the tool intended for the game,  and how it should be presented...what I figure I could do, is create a window that dispays the character and the stats for them..possibly going to be a bit of work, but should be able to do it..

NEXT FORM OF CONCERN..

MIGS is coming up!
MIGS stands for the Montreal International Game Summit. I plan to have a portfolio with a couple items ready to display to professionals..starting with a portfolio of all the games I've worked on and pictures, then leading to artwork I've done, in terms of just art, then models.
What I might also do is create a cutscene that would show my hard work and dedication, but with my GDW and capstone,  as well as game engine homework questions in the way, I may or may not have to stay up a couple of nights to finish it..we'll see...

Anyways..just finishing this off..

IS EVERYONE PLAYING POKEMON X or Y yet?! ...the game is so good..from the content between gyms, to how many pokemon there are. I already put in 36 hours by the 3rd day after it was released...LOL...mainly cuz all my time is needed for work, so if I beat it early, I could get back to work. ANYWAYS, yea. When I'm done making the character for my cutscene, I feel like making a model that I saw in the pokemon game! Possibly, my favourite team, or favourite few pokemon. We'll see how it goes!

Anyway everyone,

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!!

INFR 3110U: Homework Questions

Hello! Welcome back to my blog.

Recently, the class I am attending was finally updated with what we needed to complete the homework questions...or at least start them. Quickly,  I had realized there were a few maya related questions, however, in terms of programming,  I'd have to choose carefully, amd be sure to select the ones I know I will be able to upgrade properly.

Aside from that, in terms of programming questions, I had recently started the ogre log parsing question.
From the start, I know I need file I/O (obviously) but I'd need to store the information into different headings,  normal,  warning, and error.  (Its weird though since warnings are rare...)
I'll need to make it so I can call up the times, have the message stored, and then call them.
( I'll need to make a way to prove that the information was stored..and What type it is..)

This will take time, but it can be completed...but for the upgrade, we need to have a box we can drag and drop the file into...HOW?!...( that's my main issue haha)

We'll see how this goes I guess..

Apparently a couple of questions are extremely difficult ( as told by my year 4 classmates) so depending on what I decide to complete, there may be quite a bit of work..

Anyways,  thats it for my blog!

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!!

INFR 3110U: GDW Final Decisions

Hello, and welcome back to Kazekumaru's Lair.

Just today, my group and I had our weekly meeting  to determine what we need, and what needs to be done in order to reach our goals for the first few milestones.

Last week, our modelling professor Derek came to ask about the look and other things for our game (also assets). What was said, is that we have everything, but need more specifications on everything for our game, be it crates, or, swords, or other props. Everything for this was then documented. During this meeting, we saw more finalized sketches, and animations for characters, to how the arena is supposed to look, and what the view will officially be.

The arena is like a dome-ish look, but without a ceiling, so more like stands of a baseball stadium, but shorter. The floor looks tiled, but it isn't.

The characters are finally decided with their team, and we then figured out which way to best represent and show their teams and their power hierarchy in terms of weapons (i think..). 

Our final issue of assets, we also now have fully shown with animations and more! :D

Speaking about games...and animations....

Did you see the latest pokemon X and Y update/release *-*? Mega Charizard X....

....DO YOU SEE THIS?

Crazy.

I certainly want to see which ways they improve the game in terms of programming,and what new additions they have put in.

Anyways, next blog about my GDW will have updates with pictures of what we're doing! 

Thanks for reading!

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!!

Kaze

INFR 3110U: Game Engines - GDW

Welcome back to Kazekumaru's Lair.

Recently, we were finally put back into our groups for GDW, of course I got paired with my good friend Ahmed :D! We worked all summer together at a gaming company in Toronto called Little Guy Games. It was a quiet environment, but a very good experience for game developers such as ourselves to immerse us in the industry, to really feel the pressure, what its like, and to coordinate our work ethic, as well as help us grow.

Last Wednesday our group was formed FINALLY (it was done the Wednesday before, but there was a difficulty with one class), and we had a more solidified decision where we figured out what we wanted to do.

This year, our game's art is going to be based on the popular game Animal Crossing. With the popular cute characters, people would generally like it, even for just the art. However, we plan to integrate a nice playing/fighting style, such as the hammer bros style of super mario play.

Remember the games in mario party? The ones where you'd backstab your friends when trying to jump to a platform and you hit them with a hammer or jump on their head to squash them, so you could win? haha, yea, stuff like that is SLIGHTLY in our game! (or will be implemented into it)

Our concept is like "protect the king" where the other team doesn't know who the king is, but you have to somehow stay untouched and prevent the king on your team from being hit. Instead of jumping on their heads, you simply smack them with whatever weapon you are carrying at the time. There'll be a better mock-up of what the game is in later posts, but this is just a brief/tiny taste and example of what will be seen :)
Here are examples of what the characters and weapons MAY look like!

INFR 3110U: Game Engines Post 1 - My Return and New Objectives!

Hey all! Welcome back to my blog...after such a long time..

First day back into programming, and I found out that everyone had to make an individual tool for their game…

So what I had thought to make, would be a model viewer that the handler would be able to input the location of a texture map or normal map, and would be able to apply it to the model/mesh.

A cool feature that I thought would be a nice addition, would be, that once the character is loaded, it could be like a character screen from a game when making a new character...it lets you interact with the creation. However, this might be out of scope for this semester...so a simple model viewer, with the ability to apply a texture would be enough. For what I want to be done after this semester or at least by the end of the second semester is have Figure 1, or at least have a spin-off of it!

Figure 1

I had already looked into the homework questions, and started listing off the things I would need to learn in order to fully complete what was given, along with the upgrades...it seems like it will be a lot of work, but in all honesty...when the going gets tough…you just need to work harder and persevere. SO because of this, I plan to program at least an hour to three a day, and finish one homework question every couple days.

The most interesting question so far, would be the robotic arm. The way this could be done would be to:

1. Learn how to attach primitives to nodes

2. Create child's of the parent node and then lead them off until you create a robotic arm.

There's a lot to think about in terms of this one problem...time will only tell if I'm able to do this…

Anyways, see you next post!

Kazekumaru -- signing out!

INFR3330: Post GDW Stress! Game Dev Sushi!

Hey Everyone!

So, as of today, (hopefully) all years of #UOITGameDev have finished their game presentations. Along with the presentations brings our tired...sad....tired...sleepy...eyes. What to wake us up, but GAME DEV SUSHI DAY!?

As I got off my bus, I was heading to the game lab to finish some work, when my friend Michael Kunanec (@MutakKuna) said "Aaron! Turn around! We're going to sushi!" and there, I then found myself on the bus with a few of my friends from third year !

Having sushi together, was just one of our ways of de-stressing before the exam crunch period...but to be honest? Exam crunch? Is more of "relax"-crunch. This year especially was tough with the amount of stress that was put onto us with the requirements made from our classes...but with our hard work and efforts, we were able to best the pain, and finish everything that needed to be finished. 

In this picture, you can see everyone just having fun, Hahaha Kevin Gan (@Iceninja77) catching a snooze after eating his food...he was really tired...a well deserved rest!

I would be in the picture...but I was the one taking the picture, because everyone at the restaurant was busy, and I didnt feel like interrupting them..so...HERES A PICTURE I TOOK JUST NOW !

Although it seemed like a blog closing photo..I'm not done yet!

Everyone was eating sushi except for our favourite friend... Branden Schroeder! (@BrandenSchroede), and in this next picture, it shows us getting our deserts ! I ordered 3 red bean ice-creams for myself! ...no, I'm not fat... :)

Overall, it was a fun day!

When it comes to classes, Game design was always an interesting and fun one, though stressful at times, never regretted anyone or anything of that class!

Intermediate Modelling and Techniques? Always fun, but tedious!

Thats it for this post!

Hope to see you all again !

Thanks everyone 

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!!

INFR3330: Prototype 3: Awesome Possum + Relatable Requirements

Hello Everyone!

So, in this prototype, we had to make a game with different area specifics.
In this case, for this game, we need, a bounce area, a bottleneck area, and two sticky areas.

A bounce area, is an area in which makes you backtrack, to do actions you thought you could skip, but are actually vital to your progression.

For example of a bounce area, in pokemon, (gold, silver, heart gold, soul silver, and platinum version), there is an ice cave, and here, you have to push boulders down through holes in the floor to get to the next area. Here, when in game, some players feel that they could just head through without pushing down boulders, but the way that the area is constructed, is that if you do not push enough boulders properly to, or strategically in the hole indicated for the boulder, you will not be able to proceed.

Another requirement for this assignment, we had to implement a reciprocation at the start of the game, where the main player gains a very powerful item right from the start from the npc, and at the end of the level, the NPC asks for a favour in return...

Again, in pokemon, this is shown, when in the gold, silver, etc. versions, the professor at the time, (Professor Elm) had you to run an errand which takes you to his friend Mr Pokemon's house. For this errand, he gives you your main pokemon, either Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile. Once you are done the errand, you head back to his lab, and after a certain scene (finally the end of the "level") he asks a favour of you to go on an adventure to gain information and collect every pokemon. 

When first having to make this prototype, I never thought about how each game had a different version of these elements, and I stand surprised. 

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For our game, we had the requirements, but in different places. Near the beginning of the game, for our implementation of a reciprocation, we had an NPC give us a powerful sword.

The third requirement for this prototype, was an expression system. What is meant by this, is anything that would make the character unique. In our game, we made it so that the main characters cloak is able to have its colours changed to any colour at any time of the game.

We thought that these implementations were fun, and in honesty, I hope we come back to the game, and decide to remake/improve it. Great work to all of the group!

OH, and heres the boss model, that had to be made, rigged, and weighted...MAN it was tough..but fun! :)

What had disappointed me, was that after all of the work(mostly the weighting..rigging, and modelling was incredibly easy)... some issue arised, and although the  model and texture could be used, the animations made for it didn't end up being implemented given the time constraint. Still an amazing game nonetheless! 

Thats it for this blog!
Thanks!

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!!

INFR 3330: Audio in Games

Hello, and welcome again to my blog!

This week is about audio in gaming. This current week within our class, our professor wants us to create a game focused on sound. As it is focused on sound, it is not allowed to have any visuals, in the sense that, if it is an actual game, it cannot have any lights, or he should be able to play it blind-folded and still manage to achieve things or continue on in the game.

When hearing this, especially in the class where we had to make a mock version of a real life game where he was blindfolded, my question was.... what?

How would one only have sounds in the game, and it be fun? But the answer was clear.

What games have I played in the past, that without sound, it would be easy to beat? Very few.

I realized that a lot of games now incorporate sound so intricately. They have it where if you had your eyes closed, you still had enough aid to know what was happening or some ability of knowing what to do.

For example, in the game Skyrim, in many areas, sound helps and aids you. Especially when fighting. The sounds of footsteps or enemies running from only your right side indicates that one should dodge to the left. The small sound of wind from your left side, shows that if an arrow is shot towards the right, it'll go a tad faster than normal.

The sounds in games are just as important as the visual, because the sound creates an atmosphere, a feeling, using your senses to aid you in gameplay. 

_______________________________________________________________

Although this has been thought out as to what to do in our game, now, we must implement the ideas, and figure out what to place into it and how to make it fun in order to keep the player interested and to continue to want to play the game.

Once finished, I will upload pictures from the game, and other explanations.

But here's a question to answer... What do you feel sound does to games nowadays?

INFR3330: Game Dev Progress

Hey Everyone,

During this past GDW, I had finished all models for the characters and ideas/concepts for their individual character traits. For example, we have five different planets(levels) in our game. Fire, Ice, Tropical, Desert, and Ocean. So for each model, I designed them to take on certain traits of each planet.

For instance, the Ice planet model looks like a diamond, or icicle so if it was an inhabitant of that planet, it could thrive.

Enemy Model 5

Some problems that we're going through however, is that, with everything in gaming coming to a close, we would like to implement some interesting game design, but with the way that everything is going, we may only be able to implement certain AI (Artificial Intelligence), and have every other requirement for our classes. This is a problem.

Although AI are amazing to have in the game, a game needs unique level design. Once it has this, it can only make the game greater, and more "fun" for the player.

We will try and tackle this problem once other things are figured out..but for now..

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!

INFR 3330: Game Design Class

Hello! Welcome again to my blog!

As this class has continued, now in its second form --its gotten quite informing when it comes to understanding the concepts of games. For example, when with the group that I am in, they mainly just talked about what they wanted in the game, the type of art, the type of particles, programming, and what they want as their game...But truly? You have to think of so much more.

What do you want the player to think at certain times? How will you involve the player? How will you challenge them? How will you let them understand what they need to do?

Is it a mind-using kind of game? Like Portal?

Does it require precision? Like Call of Duty?

One needs to think of certain things while designing games.
________________________________________________

Often, or every few classes, our professor hands us either homework, or gives us in class assignments to make games. The in-class assignments are more to make concepts of games, to teach us what is truly important when it comes to the concept of games.

One day, we were asked to play a game where we flip tiles on top of each other to gain either points or achievements.. but the problem after that was, after te achievements were achieved...what else was there to do? The point of it was so that we realize that, and to begin making our own objectives, in which we did.
Later, he assigned homework comparing to that, and that, turned into our "Risk"-like board game.

What we had done is make a new rule-set, a new concept, and using the "Risk" board, we re-arranged the planet to make our new concept of a game.

We called it "History...what're you doing...History...STAHP!"

Later, we then had to make another game. 

However, This was different. 

This time, comparing it to a wedding game. 

The title?

"Will You Marry Me?"  -- NO. I'm not asking you to marry me. That's the actual name of the homework!

Our game's name, was the "Tunnel of Love"

For this game,  we were to instill nice memories, thoughts, feelings, leading up to the final question between two people, where the man asks the woman to marry him. This however, was a difficult thing to think about.

So, in the end, the idea, was to actually make ideas, thoughts about the past that the couple had, making the woman remember everything, leading up to that fateful day.

After quite a bit of modelling, and programming, the entire group was able to make a soft-hearted game, although, some things could have been increased for a more dramatic effect, I feel that it was touching.

Made me shed a tear. A manly tear....cuz I'm a man...

However, that wasn't the point of it. What I felt was the point of this game, was to make us think in certain ways, what exactly, would be efficient, in order to use, through gaming technology, which would allow us to propose? Although very confusing at first, the idea presented itself. 

For this, we used gaming elements used in class. For example, as I had stated before, how do you involve your player? We used interaction with the background to involve the player. We made a heart, or pieces of one, scattered, one piece in every room. To lead the character to it (how will the player know what to do?) We emitted music from it, giving a general idea that it would be an important item. After the player clicks on that piece of the heart, in the main corridor, it shows pieces of the heart on the end door (the proposal door).

Once continuing through the other rooms, after every two pieces of the heart, it is shown on the door what you have, and once you have all pieces, you click on the final door, and a wedding/proposal scene happens, where it shows her in a white dress, where you propose to her. 

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As I think more and more about games, I start to find design flaws, and slightly get irked as to how they can easily be fixed.

My question to everyone is, what is one game you like, although it may have a design flaw? What is the design flaw? Would you fix it? How would you fix it?

I like many games. one that irritates me was Vindictus. I liked the game quite a lot, and I used to play it quite a bit in the past, however, because of the non-changing fighting style, repetitiveness, and lack of upgrades, I got bored quite quickly..apparently it had changed recently, and I have not seen the upgrade. However, those few things got irritating quite quickly, because also, one would always want their personal character to look different than others, and to have different skills, however, earlier, when I played, there were limited characters, and everyone had the same armour.. My question..is why have different characters, if not fully customizable armour to distinct yourself from others? I like personally creating different characters with different armour, aspects, strengths, etc. Even if not in some games, they at least have other factors which differentiate them from the rest. I would not change Vindictus, because in a long time, Nexon had ruined some games with their cash shop, and what items could be purchased...I wanted to see what they would do with the main game I fully accepted...Vindictus. 

I will try out the new additions to the game, and see where it takes me! I will reply to this post with the answer to what I have found from the new Vindictus! 

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!

See You next time Guys, answer the questions, and let me know about what you think/feel about certain games!

INFR3330: Game Design Challenges

Hey Everyone,

Recently, I was thinking about some different things in game design. Theres obviously a long list of things that need to be taken into account when making a level, or even a game, like instructions, tutorials, play throughs, videos, set ups, obstacles, and even more. However, this past week, I recently had a small issue, obviously handled, but given how long it took, I decided to make a quick video talking about a few things that went through my mind at that time.

Attached is said video.

Thanks Everyone!

Youtube

INFR3330: GDW Progress

Hey Everyone,

So far in our game, we have a few things implemented, for example, AI.

We have Flocking, Seek, and Flee AI.

Later on in the semester, a video is supposed to be made in order to show our different models and enemies in which are to be made. When the video is made, the link will be displayed at the bottom of this blog post.

Below, are some models I made for the class:

Main Model

When thinking about the main model for our game, we generally wanted a organically focused main character, and enemies. For our main model, it is to be like a tadpole, however, with it being a ship, we decided on a gray-ish colour for the body, a sky blue for the visor, and for next semester, (a more finished model), a radiating blue glow/hue from the crease above the wings, which goes down the body, and throughout the tail.

Enemy Model 1

For this enemy model, what I had originally thought about, was Dragon Ball Z.

Remember when Goku was on Namek with Gohan, Krillin, and the rest, and Frieza came in his ship? 

Frieza's main ship, had purple windows, with yellow/gold borders. So for this model, I generally modelled it similar to it, but with modifications to it making it original with said aspects.

Friezas Ship

As time goes by, I will post more blogs. Hope to hear comments or anything else from everyone! See ya!

Game Design and Production Blog 12 - Final Project Details

This is the last of the blogs to be made for this Game Design Class! But to be honest, it won't be the very last, keep tuned for other Game Design Elements and other things later!

For this game design project, what we had to do, was to make a board game, a poster, a trailer, and a write up. With this, we saw difficulties because of the game we were making. We didn't have enough time to make everything, so what we did is that we split up the work, having multiple time checks to ensure that we would have everything done.

When assigning the work, we looked at each persons individual strengths, and availability for the task. I was assigned the poster. Through some modelling work in maya, and positioning of the camera, i was able to make this picture for our game, Ultimate Gladiator Colosseum: 80 AD

The written works were to be done by Kevin, Naeem and Branden. Tyler made an amazing trailer for the game.

Thanks for reading my blog post! sorry for the shortness, but more will be added later when it can!

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!!

Game Design and Production Blog 11 - Game Design Class and What goes on during it (INFR 2330)

Game Design Class and What goes on during it

This class to me at the beginning of the semester, seemed like a joke, seeing the professor almost as young as us, walking in with his bowtie, and his hilarity. But as time went on, I began to see the reason why everything was done within the class up to now.

The way that he teaches the classes, he throws a ball around to people wanting to answer. That is for interaction and the want to have your voice heard, and having your opinion and insight matter.  Although I've only gotten the ball once or twice within the entire semester, I had a lot of insight and understand the reason for it.

The classes are interesting. Once, our professor put a live twitter feed on a projector screen. What was funny, to me at least, was with anything he said that was funny, could be turned into a joke, or made no sense, I would copy it, tag it with "#NackeQuotes" and post it on twitter, thinking it was hilarious.

Although it was hilarious, it also kept me listening intently to what was being said within the class… though I was pretty sure that once he figured out it was me doing #NackeQuotes, he would hate me.

One big strain with this class are these blogs that we have to continuously make. Although it is fun joining up with friends to make a game, it is a hassle because of everything that we have to do for school. i.e. the game, and other assignments…..DANGIT I JUST LOST THE GAME T_T…( If you know what "the game" is, I'm sorry, else, don’t worry. Trust me." (you know I'm in gamedev when I use "else" instead of "otherwise"…))

But in all honesty, this class is fun, interactive, and we have a fun teacher ! (when we all stop trolling or being loud) He is interactive, and he gave us LoL banners for getting good grades in his class?! #ProfessorGoingToGDCFTW.

Blogs, what I think of, are a ways to express ourselves, and I believe that I am expressing myself freely here. I hope to see further instalments and fun within our future classes until school is over.

Thanks for reading my post!

  

Kazekumaru -- Peacing Out!

Game Design and Production Homework 7 - Hero Character

Character Interview

What is your name?

My name is Amahté. It means “To have power over”.

 Gender?

I am a male.

 Race?

I am Egyptian.

 Religion?

I believe in the great Deities.

 Age?

Currently, I am 19 years of age.

Where were you born?

I was born near the Nile River to my late mother. My mother and my father were hiding near the Nile river, because at the time, my mother was pregnant. The baby was to be born within a quiet town, until it was thrown over and destroyed by the pharaoh. From then, my parents had hid themselves, conceiving me, and for the next five years, protected me, hoping that they could escape peacefully. However, that state of peace was interrupted by the pharaoh.

 What about your parents—where are they, and are they alive?

My parents are no longer alive. They died when I was at the age of 5. When I was 5, my parents were taken into slavery, by the current pharaoh, but I did not know for when they died after that because they left me behind to stay safe, and fend for myself. However, when I was taken into slavery, I had asked the slaves around me about my parents, but they said they died as of two years ago for trying to escape.

 When you were growing up, did you struggle, and if so, in what way?

From when my parents died at the age of 5, I went on struggling to live, and not be captured for slavery. I was able to remain safe from slavery and toil until the age of 7 when I was captured.

What year is it now?

The year right now is 3172 BC. The current pharaoh has us being slaves and building more and more for him. We are to build another pyramid under his name.

How would someone stereotype you at a glance?

Someone would naturally stereotype me as a slave within hold of the current pharaoh. I am one of the darker slaves, because I am outside, usually in the sun, doing work, or trying to take resources for the escape and freedom of my people.

Do you have a romantic partner? If so, whom?

As of now, I currently have no romantic partner. I have no time for such a relationship, I must tend to my people. Romantic partners during this time of slavery would be painful, for my one concern is that if I was to love someone specifically, if they were caught, I would not be able to be happy until they are free and also with my people and comrades.

Who is your best friend and what is he/she/it like?

My best friends name is Ahmirad. He is very loyal, and wants to help me free my people. We have known each other for 10 years, and we are inseparable.

 How would your friend describe you?

Ahmirad would probably describe me as a silly individual, but brave and hardworking with a heart that goes to everyone.

What is your economic situation? What have you done for work?

The economic situation is terrible under the current pharaoh… I have no job. I am a slave to the pharaoh and am only able certain meals.

Would you steal?

If to help my people, then yes I would steal. So be it.

How do you feel about lying?

When it comes to lying, I will lie to anyone above me under the rule of the pharaoh or against me freeing the slaves, otherwise, I do not lie. I lie to my enemies. Not my comrades. I lie to protect, not to gain.

Can you be trusted by your friends?

I would hope that I am. I hope only for their well-being and not their downfall.

Do you have any other vices?

At the moment, I have no other vices, than freeing the slaves, and keeping everyone safe.

What makes you happy? What makes you sad?

What makes me happy is seeing my comrades in the notion of happiness. If my comrades and people are sad, I share their feelings in sadness.

What is the one secret that no one must know about you?

I have no secrets, for I must be true to all of my comrades.

Are you afraid to die?

I am scared to die, but if for my comrades or people, I will risk my life at any time.

Do you have any phobias?

I try to not be afraid of anything, I rather confront my fears and defeat them. The one thing in life that I cannot defeat is death. With this, I could say that my one phobia is death.

Are you quick tempered or patient?

I am patient as far as I may be knowledgeable about myself. Ahmirad may say otherwise.

Biography Description

Name:  Amahté

Birthplace: Nile River, Egypt

Current Location: Slavery Location near Pyramids

Age: 19

Religion: Great Deities

Race: Egyptian

Spoken Languages: English

Weight: 140 lbs.

Height: 5”8

Eye colour: Brown

Hair Color: Black

Overview

Amahté is an Egyptian man. He lives in a slavery camp near the pyramids in Egypt. Although he was never a bad person or even child, he was taken into slavery, and forced to work until he dies. At the age of 9, he met his best friend Ahmirad, which would eventually prove to be a person who is crucial to the plan that he is making in order to free all of his comrades and slaves to create a peaceful life. After the age of 10, he had started plotting an escape for all the slaves. Through sly tactics and help from his best friend Ahmirad, his collection of items for the escape has proceeded smoothly and safely. It has been 9 years, and Amahté feels that his chance to escape has finally arrived. Amahté could be the hero of the slaves and his people, if the plan succeeds so, then he will be, else he may die in the process.

Strengths

Amahté is an admirable person. He is very patient and is very willing to plan well when it comes to certain outcomes. He is silly with his friend Ahmirad and is able to be himself naturally around him. When it comes to his comrades and his people, he is very caring and would never betray anyone. These traits lead him to be able to make comrades and close friends very quickly and also enable people to believe in him.

Weakness

Although very patient and planning, he can be quite obvious with some movements, so with the help of Ahmirad, he is able to conceal movement, and make it more silent in order for the guards of the pharaoh, and the pharaoh himself. The obvious movement flaw is the only thing that may lead to his downfall. Because of this, it shows that he needs his friend Ahmirad in order to show his perfection to his plans and other efforts.

Personal History and Story Arc

Amahte was born near the Nile River in Egypt. His parents were escaping slavery and trying to hide around the time that he was born. The place in which the parents were escaping to and hiding, was a very poor town. Though saddening, they never lost hope in their child Amahte. At the age of five, the parents of Amahte were taken, and everything was in chaos, though Amahte was aware of his parents actions, even at such a young age. From his age of five, Amahte scavenged and survived for two years on his own, fending for himself, and overcoming his fears, up until the day he was captured and put into slavery.

Soon after becoming a slave, Amahte was distraught, but his feelings of freedom, love, and peace never escaped him. Two years passed, and he met his best friend Ahmirad. A year after this, he had planned to make an escape for the slaves. Such a valiant idea for such a young man, obviously the other slaves said he was a fool, but some believed in him and developed an admiration, for without it, some of their lives could not continue because of the strife.

As years pass, Amahte, with some help from Ahmirad continuously planned and made efforts to enable the escape of the slaves. Although very dangerous, they never lost hope. They continued making escape routes secretly, and taking weapons in order to defend themselves. These actions continued for 10 years..

Amahte is now 19, and plans to make the escape for all of the slaves. He is waiting for a few months for the escape...and his plan may be taken to fruition…

Defining Moment 1:

While carrying a plan out, one person could make a plan, but it takes a team to be able to accomplish it properly, or bring it to fruition. What Amahté did, is that he assembled a great force of strong willed, and loyal people into a group, made plans, and was able to get them all including himself to work, and make escape routes in which would make escaping easier. He then was able to free the slaves, in which did create a battle with the guards and the pharaoh. However, because of the people that he was able to assemble, he was able to free everyone properly and create peace, even under the current pharaoh.

Defining Moment 2:

Soon after being able to free the slaves, the people felt to elect Amahté to be the next pharaoh. With this, they all felt that the people would be safe from harm, considering his heart, resolve, and the want for freedom and peace that he had held onto all of his life. Ahmirad would be appointed to a high ranked guard of the pharaoh Amahté, and the other guards would be the people from the group that Amahté had initially made to help free all the slaves.