3DS Max- Ice cubes

So this is a tutorial I found on another Blog ( Jazzs' blog to be exact). It is a really good tutorial on how to make a basic ice cube model and also shows you how to apply a material that looks like ice. This took a grand total of about 10 minutes but really helps you to learn the basics. It also helps my confidence in getting to know the program I am hoping to be using for the next two years =D

So remember Heavy Rain???

This is just for a little bit of fun. This guy is a games reviewer who says all the things that magazines and such aren't allowed to. It is a refreshingly new look at how to review games and one that always has me in stitches =)

BTW the size of the video is being annoying so to watch it fully just click on the vid and it will take you to his website where all the videos are, then just have a browse and a giggle...

3DS MAX - Did the Devil finally get into software creation?

Well this is just a quickie... just downloaded the trial for 3DS MAX so that I can get a head start on learning it over the Easter holidays, thus removing some of the pressure of learning it when we come back after.. and I have to say I have not seen a more complicated program on first view before, sooooo many buttons, all of which do scary things, even though I can't tell what they have actually done. It's going to take some learning but then hey, what am I here for right?

First movies, now games. Is 3D taking over?

http://gizmodo.com/5493828/screw-avatar-3d-gaming-is-what-will-get-you-to-buy-a-new-tv

This is a link to an article talking about the latest in 3D gaming. It talks about how it helps with the field of depth when exploring the game and how it helps with shooting and targeting. I for one like the idea of 3D gaming, being an avid gamer myself ( I am sure you all know this and am tired of me saying it all the time =p) Anything that helps to involve a player more is a bonus in my books, thus this kind of thing gets me excited. Read it at your leisure...

Context 1 lecture- exercise

Well this quite simply is what the title says it is, a task we were set in our lecture... so here goes...

From interviewing somebody using the questions I thought up I have come to the following conclusions:

1. People are developing their skills alongside the other projects we are doing. The person I interviewed is undecided between Web and Virtual Environments, and as such has been working on Web page projects for clients as well as giving 3DS MAX a go, and their conclusion is that they enjoy both but 3D is unnecessarily difficult!

2. I also found out that a lot of the knowledge we are gathering and the help we are getting is coming from other students, including first years. This is mainly due to our different interests and backgrounds. This collective of knowledge is certainly a bonus to us all.

3. We have also developed our skills since starting this course, moving into more complex areas of what we are interested in. We have also started analyzing what we do in a much more effective way, allowing us to get more from what we do.

Looking at music

Well looking at the music for our moving image has led me to look at music from the 60's/70's for our voice over scenes. This music will only be played in clips, as the scenes aren't overly long, but will hopefully help set the idea of this girl living in the past as it were, her thoughts always going back to that time. A good source for this music, in my opinion anyhow, is the OST from "The Boat That Rocked" as it has a good variety of music from the era we are looking at. In particular I have been listening to the slower, more "sad" songs as it were, as they help to set the idea of this girl being upset or sad, and also being apart from the rest of the world.

These are just a few songs I have been looking at. Feel free to search them:

. The End of the World - Skeeter Davis
. You Don't have to say you love me - Dusty Springfield
. Knights in White Satin- The Moody Blues
. Father & Son - Cat Stevens
. A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum
. Romeo & Juliet - Dire Straits

Another curious thing- lego moving into games?

http://kotaku.com/5490093/lego-universe-beta-ready-to-brick-your-computer

http://kotaku.com/5489855/prince-of-persia-lego-playsets-chesty-jake-wears-a-shirt

These are a couple of links just showing what appears to be Lego trying to appeal to the youth of today as it were by cashing in on the popularity of the games industry. The first link shows a sort of World of Warcraft style free roaming universe, except in Lego form, and the second shows Lego "Prince of Persia" sets, again cashing in on the Game and recently turned Film. Mega Blocks did something similar to this with the "Halo" games series, bringing out complete sets, vehicles and character figures.

New obsession + curious thing

Right I can now say I am getting obsessed with Gary's Mod, a sandbox tool that you can access through Steam. Quite simply you can use any object from Steam as a prop and create pretty much anything using them. This can range from a series of short films to just having a laugh by making a trebuchet out of a shipping container and some wooden posts and launching cars across the map. Whatever it is you like to do you can on this program. It even lets you get as detailed as changing facial expressions and fingers. I am currently playing about with it relating to the story board for our Moving Image project, just for a bit of fun, and will post screen shots when I can. Until then enjoy this little video from a master of the program.

Curious thing of the week- 3rd space vest

I know this might look odd but bear with me on this. What we have here is known as the 3rd Space vest. Basically it is a gaming accessory that has been developed and released recently. What it does is quite revolutionary, it registers hits you take in game and then translates that to a force in the vest (ranging from a small force for light hits up to 10lbs for heavy hits). It uses pressure pads to create this feeling of force, 8 in total, and is meant to help the player feel more immersed in the game they are playing.

This vest, in my opinion, goes hand in hand with trying to make games more lifelike and more like you are actually there. This is already being achieved with high spec graphics, and the vibration through the controller in your hands whenever you fire a weapon or interact with something. This is the next stage, allowing you to "feel" the game through your entire body.

In some ways this looks like it could be a lot of fun, taking hits and feeling them. In other ways I feel this is a bit of a fad item. After a while you might well get annoyed with feeling every hit you take and then stop using it (at £150 this is a bad thing!) I personally though would buy one if I had the money because I like the concept of being more immersed in my games, as games and everything about them are a big part of my life.

Moving image, Inspiration

We have taken inspiration from "Let The Right One In" in the form of the connection between two characters. Our script centres on this notion, the connection between a girl who is not used to people noticing or communicating with her, and a man who changes this.

We have also taken inspiration from the film "The Sixth Sense" Our film takes inspiration from this with our male characters ability to communicate with the girl (who is in fact dead and is now just a ghost) We are using the idea that our girl is a ghost as it helps to explain how she has become so good at reading people so quickly.