Sound in games in one of the unsung heroes, on the surface it seems that the only important aspect is the ambient music that you hear, but what many dont realise that everything that you hear in games, from weapon fire, rain falling, footsteps, voices and a huge number of different things are part of what the sound guys use to help create a visceral experience.
And with people like Martin O’Donnel, Yoko Shinomura, Jeremy Soule and Koji Kondo working on creating audio for games, means that we can be assured that games will continue to have excellent audio work, and with each of these composers having games which I consider to be excellent in the area of audio.
And as for my own key moments when it came to audio in games, I would have to say that a number of recent games have certainly caught my ear whilst playing, but Halo ODST is the most recent one for me to take interest. The feeling of solitude is evoked when travelling the empty city of New Mombasa thanks to the music and this sensibility continues on even in the action scenes of the games.
And whether the Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards ‘Good Times’ being one of the most influential recordings in the 20th century, well I have no clue, due to a recent interest in music with most of it being very modern or that which I play, means that very little of the influence that may have occurred to exist. I did take the time to listen to the song and search for information, but couldn’t see why it was influence. I’m sure that it was influential to people, Duran Duran have said to been influenced by the song, but apart from that I found very little influence.
But then so long as people continue to make great music, then all is not lost.
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Game Engines
Just what is a Game engine? Well a game engine is what the game is built on, it handles the physics, the rendering of the game world, sounds, animation, networking and a bunch of other things, each one being an important part of the engine.
But that doesn’t mean that it comes up all roses, game engines have to be continually updated to be compatible with todays technology, for example multi-core processors (in essence its 2 processors in one), its pretty common to have a dual core processor, but few games make an effort to take advantage of dual core, or even the recent quad core processors. Which is what the current developers are trying to do, this is because you could get different cores to do different jobs, and work together when more processing power is needed.
And since according to Moore’s law, computing technology doubles in power each year, 10 core processors are looking to be a possibility next year, so when you think about all that processing power that could be on tap, its not surprising that Game Developers are trying to make technology to take advantage of that.
And there are 2 types of game engines, subtractive and additive, subtractive is where you carve out your game world from a pre existing block, whilst additive is where you add to a seemingly infinite space. For example Valves source engine is an additive game engine, whilst the Dark engine, used by Thief and System shock 2 is subtractive. But you dont have to make a game engine, you can buy one!
And there are many advantages to buying someone elses technology, for one you dont have to spend time making it and there is usually already tutorials and a free version so that you can get to grips with it easily. But of course there are also disadvantages, in that your already spending money on something before you even get round the making it, and depending on how you purchase the technology you may even have to pay royalties on your product.
But that doesn’t mean that it comes up all roses, game engines have to be continually updated to be compatible with todays technology, for example multi-core processors (in essence its 2 processors in one), its pretty common to have a dual core processor, but few games make an effort to take advantage of dual core, or even the recent quad core processors. Which is what the current developers are trying to do, this is because you could get different cores to do different jobs, and work together when more processing power is needed.
And since according to Moore’s law, computing technology doubles in power each year, 10 core processors are looking to be a possibility next year, so when you think about all that processing power that could be on tap, its not surprising that Game Developers are trying to make technology to take advantage of that.
And there are 2 types of game engines, subtractive and additive, subtractive is where you carve out your game world from a pre existing block, whilst additive is where you add to a seemingly infinite space. For example Valves source engine is an additive game engine, whilst the Dark engine, used by Thief and System shock 2 is subtractive. But you dont have to make a game engine, you can buy one!
And there are many advantages to buying someone elses technology, for one you dont have to spend time making it and there is usually already tutorials and a free version so that you can get to grips with it easily. But of course there are also disadvantages, in that your already spending money on something before you even get round the making it, and depending on how you purchase the technology you may even have to pay royalties on your product.
Gaming Culture
Throw away your misconceptions of what a gamer is, far are they from the loner in a dark room, for nowadays just about everyone has been influenced by video games in society, your kids, your parents, even your grandparents are a part of the global phenomenon and I do mean global!
In the past the lone gamer stereotype was created due to the games themselves, being for a single player only, thus forcing players to find escape on their lonesome. But these days gamers are connected to thousands of like minded people, allowing them to form communities around their favourite past time. For example, World of Warcraft (WoW) has thousands of players from around the globe, which has formed a community that is rooted in the game world and the game itself. The only problem with this, like all communities is that you need to spend time in it. I personally have been a part of the WoW community, but never really became an active participant, as I only played every now and again and only by myself or with friends.
But a gaming community doesnt just play games, there are entire communities devoted to creating content for said games, or creating entirely new ones. The Modding community is just as big as the other gaming communities, due to the fact that many games these days are released with SDK’s (Self Developer Kits), so that just about anyone, including myself are able to get in on the action.
But there is one thing that sets these communities apart from real life examples, in that many people that form these merry bands, might not have met in real life and only know each other through the Internet. I myself have had friends that I only knew online, but fell out of contact with them in the end, as while talking to someone across the world is all well and good, but face to face communication has its merits.
In the past the lone gamer stereotype was created due to the games themselves, being for a single player only, thus forcing players to find escape on their lonesome. But these days gamers are connected to thousands of like minded people, allowing them to form communities around their favourite past time. For example, World of Warcraft (WoW) has thousands of players from around the globe, which has formed a community that is rooted in the game world and the game itself. The only problem with this, like all communities is that you need to spend time in it. I personally have been a part of the WoW community, but never really became an active participant, as I only played every now and again and only by myself or with friends.
But a gaming community doesnt just play games, there are entire communities devoted to creating content for said games, or creating entirely new ones. The Modding community is just as big as the other gaming communities, due to the fact that many games these days are released with SDK’s (Self Developer Kits), so that just about anyone, including myself are able to get in on the action.
But there is one thing that sets these communities apart from real life examples, in that many people that form these merry bands, might not have met in real life and only know each other through the Internet. I myself have had friends that I only knew online, but fell out of contact with them in the end, as while talking to someone across the world is all well and good, but face to face communication has its merits.
Game industry - Is it going up, or is it going down?
The Game industry is massive and fairly lucrative industry with people spending a millions on digital entertainment, makes you think that the industry is fairly healthy, but you would be both right and wrong.
The industry as a whole is fairly healthy, but individual companies are at risk of becoming bankrupt, thanks to our current economy, the average Joe is far more interested in keeping his wad of cash in the wallet, than spending it, which thanks to the sheer number of video games out there, means that a lot of developers either have to make something that dwarfs the 2nd coming of Jesus, or go under the wing of a fellow games developer and have them help. Video Game Piracy is certainly far more prevalent than before as well, since if you can get a game for free, why bother spending money on them!
And so developers like Bioware are forced to team up with other companies (EA) just to ensure that the company itself doesnt go under and to have them shoulder some of the costs. And how do the employees feel about this? For most it seems to be a case of “Don’t complain and hope you don’t get sacked!” For it seems that while they might be getting more money into their pockets, the people who develop games are finding that there are less jobs to go around than before.
And because of all of this developers are less likely to develop new ips, (and if they are new ips, they are likely going to be clones of successful games) due to the high risk of not turning a profit and so more sequels are being churned out. And in an attempt to combat piracy, games are being sold with Downloadable Content (DLC), which you can only aquire through buying the product, this forces people to buy the game if they want the content.
So is it going up, or is it going down?
The industry as a whole is fairly healthy, but individual companies are at risk of becoming bankrupt, thanks to our current economy, the average Joe is far more interested in keeping his wad of cash in the wallet, than spending it, which thanks to the sheer number of video games out there, means that a lot of developers either have to make something that dwarfs the 2nd coming of Jesus, or go under the wing of a fellow games developer and have them help. Video Game Piracy is certainly far more prevalent than before as well, since if you can get a game for free, why bother spending money on them!
And so developers like Bioware are forced to team up with other companies (EA) just to ensure that the company itself doesnt go under and to have them shoulder some of the costs. And how do the employees feel about this? For most it seems to be a case of “Don’t complain and hope you don’t get sacked!” For it seems that while they might be getting more money into their pockets, the people who develop games are finding that there are less jobs to go around than before.
And because of all of this developers are less likely to develop new ips, (and if they are new ips, they are likely going to be clones of successful games) due to the high risk of not turning a profit and so more sequels are being churned out. And in an attempt to combat piracy, games are being sold with Downloadable Content (DLC), which you can only aquire through buying the product, this forces people to buy the game if they want the content.
So is it going up, or is it going down?
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Gameplay – Really needed? Or can we leave it?
Gameplay is one of those tricky things, very hard to describe, but hopefully I can describe it for you.
To be exact gameplay is a set of rules that is enforced on a player, so that the players can have fun, why is this fact important? Since without the rules there is nothing for the players to push against for them to compete against one another.
Since I said they were rules I guess they must be definable yes? Well yes, but there’s so many rules that it would be impossible to list them all, and just because they are defined, doesn’t mean they cant change, the beauty of gameplay is that people can add and take away what they want, change existing rules slightly and so forth, all so that some variety can be added to a game and make it more fun.
But the question is do we design games, or do they just pop up in our heads, most likely the latter, so many things that we do are easily changed into games, just tells us that as animals human beings are much like otters, dolphins, apes and such. All intelligent creatures create games because they are stimulating. So as you can see its pretty important, or at least when we were walking on all limbs and went “Ug”. Nowadays, games are just for pleasure and unlikely to enhance our intellect like they did before.
So is gameplay really needed? Well it would be a boring world if it weren’t around.
To be exact gameplay is a set of rules that is enforced on a player, so that the players can have fun, why is this fact important? Since without the rules there is nothing for the players to push against for them to compete against one another.
Since I said they were rules I guess they must be definable yes? Well yes, but there’s so many rules that it would be impossible to list them all, and just because they are defined, doesn’t mean they cant change, the beauty of gameplay is that people can add and take away what they want, change existing rules slightly and so forth, all so that some variety can be added to a game and make it more fun.
But the question is do we design games, or do they just pop up in our heads, most likely the latter, so many things that we do are easily changed into games, just tells us that as animals human beings are much like otters, dolphins, apes and such. All intelligent creatures create games because they are stimulating. So as you can see its pretty important, or at least when we were walking on all limbs and went “Ug”. Nowadays, games are just for pleasure and unlikely to enhance our intellect like they did before.
So is gameplay really needed? Well it would be a boring world if it weren’t around.
Game Design – Story and Characters
Story and Characters, something which can be found in books, tv and films, they can move us to tears, feel joy, shock and fear. You can feel any kind of emotion towards a character thanks to the story and it’s acting, so long as both are of a good quality.
When its bad, you feel removed from what is being displayed in front of you, its just a list of pictures or words, none have any emotional content, While good storytelling and acting that allows you to relate to the characters, is good storytelling/acting, for it allows you to feel any emotion that the creators want, be it joy or sadness.
By why do we feel emotions towards what is essential fictional characters, by making them as human as possible, by giving them flaws, virtues, allowing them to make sacrifices or to steal due to greed. These are what people are made up of character traits and the more traits the character has, the more likely people will relate to them.
This of course is dependant on the script, something that a character encounters in a magical fantasy setting, or the far future of Sci-Fi is harder to relate to, we have nothing to draw from, but we can still take from similar situations seen in life to conjure up the right emotions. So long as the actors display the right emotions as to the mood of the situation, it is easy to draw upon the characters emotions and our own experiences to generate the feelings that the film/books creator desires.
Appearance to me means very little, books, are all writing and so long as the tv show/film isn’t a collection of children’s drawings then I am still capable of enjoying the piece of fiction that I desired to see.
But what stories do I find irresistible? Magical fantasy and Science Fiction are my 2 great loves of fiction, for they show me experiences that are impossible to have, for magic does not exist and the Science is usually so far away that I most likely wont see it in my lifetime. And so I feel richer for adding to the collection of experiences I have seen, whether they are my own personal ones, or they are ones I have seen as a viewer.
When its bad, you feel removed from what is being displayed in front of you, its just a list of pictures or words, none have any emotional content, While good storytelling and acting that allows you to relate to the characters, is good storytelling/acting, for it allows you to feel any emotion that the creators want, be it joy or sadness.
By why do we feel emotions towards what is essential fictional characters, by making them as human as possible, by giving them flaws, virtues, allowing them to make sacrifices or to steal due to greed. These are what people are made up of character traits and the more traits the character has, the more likely people will relate to them.
This of course is dependant on the script, something that a character encounters in a magical fantasy setting, or the far future of Sci-Fi is harder to relate to, we have nothing to draw from, but we can still take from similar situations seen in life to conjure up the right emotions. So long as the actors display the right emotions as to the mood of the situation, it is easy to draw upon the characters emotions and our own experiences to generate the feelings that the film/books creator desires.
Appearance to me means very little, books, are all writing and so long as the tv show/film isn’t a collection of children’s drawings then I am still capable of enjoying the piece of fiction that I desired to see.
But what stories do I find irresistible? Magical fantasy and Science Fiction are my 2 great loves of fiction, for they show me experiences that are impossible to have, for magic does not exist and the Science is usually so far away that I most likely wont see it in my lifetime. And so I feel richer for adding to the collection of experiences I have seen, whether they are my own personal ones, or they are ones I have seen as a viewer.
Game Technology – Joysticks vs Enhanced Reality
Game technology is always advancing, some to make nicer looking games, but we always forget that the feel of the controllers and the control system that the games use are the most important part of gaming, so why in over 30 years they have only just started to change, well its time to look into it.
When most people think of games they will at some point think of the humble controller, these days the controllers are not much different than what was made in the beginning, a couple of joysticks and a bunch of buttons. The only change is that there are more buttons and joysticks and that the shape has changed to make it more comfortable to play with.
But these days we have controllers that are capable of sensing how we actually move the controller, allowing us to do real life movements to correspond with what’s on screen, plus video cameras, which allow us to use our body to play games, sans controllers. So why is it not the standard of today’s control systems? The reason is that its finicky to use at times, your movements doesn’t correspond too well with what’s happening on screen well and so the humble gamepad is still the best way to play.
Does it look like the coolest way to play? Nope, the idea that you can swing a controller and have that play out on screen, except instead of a controller your character has a sword is a lot better than pressing a button. Which is why the Wii is the future of game control systems, gamepads and joysticks are dying out and will eventually phase out of gaming, reserved for only old games or for simulator games, where having a joystick is more realistic than waving a controller around.
We will continue to move to motion control tech, till we eventually get to the point where are games are played out in cyberspace, with us jacking into the game directly through our minds, so we can be in a world which feels as real as the world outside the game, the virtual counterpart to our normal reality.
When most people think of games they will at some point think of the humble controller, these days the controllers are not much different than what was made in the beginning, a couple of joysticks and a bunch of buttons. The only change is that there are more buttons and joysticks and that the shape has changed to make it more comfortable to play with.
But these days we have controllers that are capable of sensing how we actually move the controller, allowing us to do real life movements to correspond with what’s on screen, plus video cameras, which allow us to use our body to play games, sans controllers. So why is it not the standard of today’s control systems? The reason is that its finicky to use at times, your movements doesn’t correspond too well with what’s happening on screen well and so the humble gamepad is still the best way to play.
Does it look like the coolest way to play? Nope, the idea that you can swing a controller and have that play out on screen, except instead of a controller your character has a sword is a lot better than pressing a button. Which is why the Wii is the future of game control systems, gamepads and joysticks are dying out and will eventually phase out of gaming, reserved for only old games or for simulator games, where having a joystick is more realistic than waving a controller around.
We will continue to move to motion control tech, till we eventually get to the point where are games are played out in cyberspace, with us jacking into the game directly through our minds, so we can be in a world which feels as real as the world outside the game, the virtual counterpart to our normal reality.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
