Task 19: Elements of Game Technology, part two: sound for games

 ‘How is sound used in games? Who are some of the key composers working in games? What are your key sonic moments in your gaming history? And is it true that the Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards composition 'Good Times' is the most influential recording made in the 20th Century?.’

Sound is used in games much the same way as in other forms of visual media, to provoke an emotional response from the viewer. Sound in games is now a well established part of developing process and can be used to really set the game apart and create a globally recognisable appearance.

Franchises such as Halo, Mario and Sonic all have unique sounds/scores that people from all walks of life can associate to the games.

Different types of sounds are used in games relative to limitations such as production costs and they’re overall purposes. Adaptive sounds and music are used to indicate to the player that something is happening or about to happen, changes in tempo in stealth games can indicate that the player has been spotted, where as in a first person shooter the changes may signal that there is an approaching fight.

Some games use current musical influences to engage players where the game is not heavily story driven.

Wipeout 2097 is one of the first examples of in-game music that was composed by well-known artists. As a racing game, Wipeout has no story to tell, but the developers were still keen to build an immersive setting: the fictional branding created by The Designers Republic perfectly evoked a uniquely 90s vision of the future, and the tracks laid on by The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy and Orbital lifted this clubland aesthetic to new heights.

The composers behind some of the most iconic scores include: Jesper Kyd, with his notable scores including: Freedom Fighters, Hitman series and Assassin's Creed II. 

Koji Kondo has created some of the most well known scores for games, with his resume made up of:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Star Fox 64. 

Jeremy Soule is also up there will such titles as: Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, Knights of the Old Republic and Word of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.

Personally, drawing on my experiences with sounds and scores of games the few that have really made an impact, and the ones that I can recognise after a few bars are ones such as the Halo theme created by Martin O'Donnel , the Civilization 4 theme created by Christopher Tin, and being a 90’s child the Super Mario theme –created by the already mentioned Koji Kondo- has to make an appearance in there.

Finally I would say that Good Times is one of the most influential songs of  it’s period, with it claiming new heights of popularity and being sampled countless times, however  I don’t think it can be considered the most influential song made in the 20th century, musical popularity changes almost daily and to claim a song which supposedly denounces all others over such a long period of time is just not factual.

External References From:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://mentalfloss.com/article/26037/10-songs-sample-%E2%80%9Cgood-times%E2%80%9D

http://blindsightblog.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.gamesradar.com/10-great-video-game-composers/

http://www.amplifon.co.uk/resources/playing-with-your-mind/

Aftermath

Finally after working throughout the holidays so that I could resubmit work while trying to balance my 3D work on the mortal engines project It's finally over!

I can now safely breath a sigh of relief. Overall I was pleased with the work that I’ve redone and have a few new ideas and ways of approaching work for visual design after talking with my tutor, as with the 2D side of the course I can bend –to a certain degree- the projects to suit your own strengths and not basing them around my weaknesses like previously.

In the future I plan to base the project in something I find much more suited to my interests like technical drawing and de-constructive drawing, really working out how pieces fit together and move in unison.

The mortal engines project came out ok but the process of starting it very late on into the Christmas break because I focused on the work that needed to be redone was nothing but stress, I feel a huge weight lifted now that it’s over. On the lighter side though, I got the time to use some very impressive software like Zbrush, Marvellous Designer and Quixel’s Ddo and Ndo2. I really thoroughly enjoyed using Quixel and Pixologic’s programs, they are easy to pick up and learn and the tools that they bring to the table are very powerful indeed.

And finally, I will be taking a well deserved day or two off now because I have been given beta access to the Elder Scrolls Online for this weekend.

Because they really need people to thoroughly test the game. :D

Christmas Update.

The Christmas break is here and I’ve been reflecting on my formative feedback and the term just passed.

I had a rough start at the beginning of this term, with a few mini crisis's about what I wanted to do with my life.

The deviation from game art at the start was mainly due to the fact that 2 weeks prior to starting back I had my back two molars removed and was on the absolute limit of painkillers that I could take. The withdrawal from being on these for so long caused some adverse side-effects which hit me for a number of weeks into the new term and caused a big impact on my work for that time, it was sloppy and not acceptable and it has shown in my formative assessment.

Over the break I have been told to redo most of my Visual design work thumbnails, finals and such, and no surprise, but I’m actually happy with this, I started the other day and already see massive improvements and what’s more I’m enjoying the work.

In Game production I faired much better, because of the longer time scale projects the period at the start had much less of an impact in 3D. So my work reflected this.

My only qualm about 3D was the fact in the blitz building project I did not assess the proper technical requirements for the brief, namely the tri budget. The surrounding buildings were at an average of 10-15k tri’s where as mine fell short -with the building showing this- at 6-7k tri’s. I really need to be very careful with this as faults like this would be unacceptable in industry, every asset has limitations to it’s tri count for a reason, and it is paramount that artists stick to them.

In lue of work that i have yet to screenshot/take photos of i will leave you with this meme:

Task 18: Elements of Game Technology, part one: game engines

‘Research the different kinds of engine, their advantages and disadvantages, market penetration, usability, technology features and what games they support.’

There are many different game engines for different purposes, platforms, genre, gameplay style and you cannot asses pros and cons of any until you are decided on those things.

Once you are, however you can begin to narrow down the choices. The main deciding factor will ultimately be does the engine give you tools that you will need/ use, in the case of the Frostbite 2 engine, well yes it does, but for more a shooter biased stand point. The engine focuses more on achieving fluid animations and physics along side map destructibility and map scale.

Where as engines like Unreal engine 3 and CryENGINE 3 are geared more towards advanced tessellation, minute details and displacement mapping.

(These are very limited overviews, each engine has it’s own focus, tools and unique capabilities.)

A small list of more popular engines:

FrostBite

Unreal

Unity

CryENGINE

Source

Blender

RPG Maker

BigWorld

Now usability, I would say that bottles down to the big three engines that have been made available for free download: Unreal Engine; Cry Engine; Unity engine. Now I cannot speak from personal experience about all three however I can about UDK. The Unreal Engine 3 is a complete game development framework for next-generation consoles, providing a vast array of core technologies, content creation tools, and support infrastructure required by top game developers. From personal experience it is more or less like learning 3Ds max, time consuming, daunting at first, however quick to pick up and remarkably powerful tools when you know how to use them.

Unity is a multiplatform game development tool, designed from the start to ease creation. A fully integrated professional application, Unity just happens to contain the most powerful engine this side of a million dollars.

Unity supports a variety of platforms using a single editor. It supports advanced visual effects with shader material support.

Cry engine is Next-Gen ready with scalable computation and graphics technologies. CryENGINE 3 is the only game engine that provides multi-award winning graphics, state-of-the art lighting, physics and AI, out of the box.

Rather than me lengthily write the features I thought these videos would better explain:

Features of Unreal engine4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acR4n6lJEdQ

Features of CryENGINE3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWvgETOo5ek

Features of Unity4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpi4J11ZE1o

Finally I will list the most recognisable games made from these engines:

Unreal:

Batman Arkham City

BioShock Infinite

Dishonored

Borderlands 2

Gears of War Series

Cry Engine:

Sniper Ghost Warrior 2
Far Cry 3

Crysis series

Undead Labs - Class 3

Unity:

Kerbal Space Program

Call of Duty®: Strike Team

Deus Ex: The Fall

Guns of Icarus Online

External References From:

http://unity3d.com/

http://www.moddb.com/

http://www.unrealengine.com/

http://mycryengine.com/

http://haydizzle95.wordpress.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org

Task 16: Elements of game design, part eight: documentation

For this exercise, I’d like you to look at producing an outline and a technical

specification for a game.

Outline:

To create a third person, stylised fantasy action game with a linear storyline aimed towards a younger audience (7+).

The game will release across the console platforms of last gen (xbox 360 & PS3) and next gen (xbox one & PS4) hardware. It will feature 6 different ‘heroes’ or varying attributes and abilities that can be leveled along side 4 unlockable heroes through game progression. The main gameplay style will be one of a dungeon crawler in gameplay style, however inside a bright fantasy setting.

Software will include:

3ds max

Zbrush

ndo2

dDo.

Xnormal.

Aims:

Ability to produce, vibrant, stimulating environments for the younger audience.

To create an engaging, interesting story capable of being followed by the age group.

Use asset and environment budgets adequately and effectively for the best results, i.e.: mesh density, topology, clever use of maps for added detail, damage, wear and tare.

Make use of varying, interesting sound design throughout the game, varying area to area, don’t want the audience to tire of the level sound five minute in.

Imaginative upgrade/ perk system, no limits here, explosive radio controlled water bombs, fire auroras etc.

Technical specifications:

Heroes (main playable characters):

<12k Poly limit

LOD’s for 3rd person gameplay, battlegrounds and character/ upgrade selection.

<1024 main body diffuse, normal, specular, gloss (Max). (optional emissive map)

<256/ 512 added accessories.

Effective use of texture budget.

NPC:

<4k Poly limit

LOD’s for 3rd person gameplay and battlegrounds.

<1024 main body diffuse, normal, specular gloss (Max). (optional emissive map)

Effective use of texture budget.

Vehicles:

<10k Poly limit

LOD’s for 3rd person gameplay and battlegrounds.

<1024 main body diffuse, normal, specular, gloss (Max). (optional emissive map)

<256/ 512 added accessories/ decals.

Effective use of texture budget.

Environments:

<400k Poly Limit

LOD’s for displacement from player, 2 iterations.

<512 tillable textures, normal, specular, gloss. 1024 if absolutely necessary.

Decals and floating planes for breaking up textures.

Effective use of texture budget.

Props/ Scenery Objects:

<3k Poly limit

LOD’s for 3rd person gameplay and battlegrounds.

<512 main body diffuse, normal, specular gloss (Max). (optional emissive map)

Effective use of texture budget.

External References From:

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=43975

http://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/index.php/t-564463.html

http://www.gameartisans.org/forums/threads/23520-Historical-Poly-Counts

http://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/index.php/t-472919.html

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=122359&page=3

Task 16: Elements of game design, part seven: level design

In early days of video games, a single programmer would create the maps and layouts for a game, and a discipline or profession dedicated solely to level design did not exist. Early games often featured a level system of ascending difficulty as opposed to progression of story-line.

The first game genre that required significant amounts of time to design areas were text-based games, 1983's Lode Runner was one of the first titles to ship with a level editor, and its designer, Douglas Smith, reputedly paid neighbourhood children to design levels for the game.

Level design for each individual level in a modern game typically starts with concept art, sketches, renderings, and physical models. Once completed, these concepts transform into extensive documentation, environment modelling, and the placing of game specific entities.

But not only this, there are other factors like: What technology will be used for this project?, What kind of project will we be building with this technology? These are factors that need to be answered along side budgets and time scales. Taking a master deathmatch level designer and asking him to create sprawling landscapes for an Everquest style Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game would be a big mistake. Even if the designer were able to adapt and create great content then the time and overhead taken to train him in the new design and direction would not be worth the effort.

When designing a level, much like designing a concept, there must be an iterative process, the very first idea nine times out of ten will not be the best, changes must be made in the same way as altering clothing style, colour variances with level design, whiteboxing, concepting and overall ‘Gameflow’, the mystical "life force" that makes a good game fun and it is very much a reward-response system that challenges the gamer and then provides a "treat" for completing tasks.

Multiplayer gameflow varies quite a bit from Single Player gameflow; it is more about rationing risk and reward in a social environment. A Level Designer who is building for a Multiplayer-oriented title is much like a playground architect. He’s building the space where real people will be driving the game and experiencing the action firsthand, the gamers themselves largely dictate the gameflow. Designers also use placed elements like AI or using the story to prod the gamer along for similar results.

Another process in level design is to create a sense of freedom, to Let the player think he has a choice in where to go and what to do but gently guide him to his destination. However in reality it is controlled freedom and in level design this topic surrounded by much debate, if a player gets the freedom to go anywhere and do anything then they will rapidly get lost and frustrated. By utilizing the level design and creating a more linear experience it will give the illusion that there are multiple paths to choose which the player will then get the best of both worlds, the seemingly open world freedom he desires, however still feel like he made the decisions to get there.

One final part I want to mention on the topic would be sound.

Designers must work closely with sound technicians to assure a compelling and exciting audio experience. No matter how good the talent is, the monster that is in the gamer’s head is always scarier than what is seen onscreen. The sound for scenes can ultimately immerse the player within the generated world, great designers use this like a drug, using short sequences that match the moment, horror, war, peaceful etc. to really emphasize the scene and create a want to continue for the next ‘hit’.

All in all, level design is most certainly an iterative process of planning, construction and testing repeated over and over through each iteration until the end result is satisfactory.

External References From:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arts.rpi.edu%2Fpublic_html%2Fruiz%2FEGDSpring08%2Freadings%2FThe%2520Art%2520and%2520Science%2520of%2520Level%2520Design.doc&ei=bz-aUo3mNsrNhAfOlYDoAw&usg=AFQjCNGcNLppqnQfbC9vJnYoyY1Qc8v10A&sig2=ccXKC32qshQFSvTLrVLevg&bvm=bv.57155469,d.bGQ&cad=rja

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131462/wheres_the_design_in_level_.php?page=2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_design

http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2013/09/why-do-color-coded-clues-in-level-design-work/

http://www.peoplecanfly.com/blog/2011/03/life-of-a-level-designer-pt-1/