Year's 2 and 3 Games Art and Design Blog: February 2012

Sunday, 26 February 2012

Bibliography (Ba5: Platform and Distribution)

Good, O (2008) Surgeons 50 Percent Better After Wiimote Sim. Available from:http://kotaku.com/5032474/surgeons-50-percent-better-after-wiimote-sim>

Martin, M (2012) Sony expects full year losses to reach 220 Billion yen. Available from: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-02-02-sony-expects-full-year-losses-to-reach-220-billion

Nathan, J (1999) Sony: The Private Life.

PlayStation Museum (2011) The Complete History of the Sony PlayStation, Available from: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryi1QBA6XyI

TED (2008) Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks. Available from: < http://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.htm >

Zollner, M. Huber, S.(2011) Navi – Navigational Aids for the Visually Impaired. Available from: <http://hci.uni-konstanz.de/blog/2011/03/15/navi/?lang=en

Kish, H. Schertenleib, S (2009) ACGi Sony Computer Entertainment Research and Development Presentation.

Controller family tree. Available from:

http://www.axess.com/twilight/console/

History of Controllers (2011) Available from:

http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/art-controller.htm#Early

History of the PlayStation 2. Available from: http://www.gameconsolesedu.info/PS2.php

‘stuffmagazine’ (2010) PlayStation Move technology demo. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8k6Irz00L4

Press Release - PlayStation Move. Available from:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/15/sony-playstation-move-launch-details-get-official/

Sony expects full year losses to reach 220 billion. Available from:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-02-02-sony-expects-full-year-losses-to-reach-220-billion

Sony Losses over the Sony Ericsson. Available from:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-01-20-247-million-loss-for-sony-ericsson

Editorial on Sony new CEO Kaz Hirai (formerly CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment)
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-02-03-hirai-ascendant?page=2

Sony Rebranding Sony Playstation Network as Sony Entertainment Accounts
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-02-06-psn-to-be-rebranded-as-sony-entertainment-network

Is the PlayStation Vita worth £230? Available from:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-01-20-is-the-playstation-vita-worth-230 Accessed 07/02/12

In theory. The challenge of a ten year cycle. Available from: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/digitalfoundry-in-theory-challenge-of-the-ten-year-lifecycle
Accessed 07/02/12

http://www.flickr.com/photos/redbeardmathpirate/5586189028/ (Bally Astrocade Controller)

http://www.axess.com/twilight/console/ (Controller family tree)

http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/art-controller.htm#Early (The History of the Controller)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-pad (Directional Pad)

Atari 2600 Joystick image. Sourced from:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31D4l4Ut4LL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Bally Astrocade controller image. Sourced from:
http://videogamecritic.net/images/systems/astrocont.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Matel Intellivision Controller. Sourced from:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyUP7fHk2jEbhZZbO5OWRct8azemSMBeOQHWiRkXJVpXi0UMevD-6e7zfj6ddw7WU8wKSdW6d2BXdaQWz19Sjp2REbEUjksxXj7r7pylTcThMU3bwYV2bBsfPUGNZwm8k6KhJEuHBiVc/s1600/IntellivisionController.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Atari 5200 controller image. Sourced from:
http://www.atariage.com/5200/images/controllers/con_Atari5200.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Sega Saturn controllers. Sourced from:
http://videogamecritic.net/images/systems/satcontth.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

N64 Controller. Sourced from:
http://cdn-static.cnet.co.uk/i/c/blg/cat/gamesgear/controllers/n64.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Playstation DualShock controller. Sourced from:
http://images.wikia.com/egamia/images/2/28/Playstation_dual_shock_controller.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Playstation Dual-Analogue controller. Sourced from:
http://www.axess.com/twilight/console/detail/psx_a.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

PlayStation controller. Sourced from:
http://www.geekosystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/playstation-controller.jpeg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Super Famicon (SNES) Controller. Sourced from:
http://www.supernintendoclassics.com/wp-content/uploads/SFCpad.jpg
Last accessed 07/02/2012

Playstation DualShock 2 controller. Sourced from:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/PS2_Dualshock2_Controller.jpg
Last Accessed: 07/02/2012

Dreamcast controller Image. Sourced from:
http://media.gdgt.com/img/product/23/i02/dreamcast-controller-1vcm-460.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Xbox controller Image. Sourced from:
http://www.blitterandtwisted.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/xbox-large-controller.jpg
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Gamecube Controller Image. Sourced from:
http://kyorune.com/modding/file.php?art=82&file=2
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

The Worlds largest Nesv Controller.Stuff Magazine. Available from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNZb2gyuBFg&feature=relmfu
Last Accessed 07/02/2012

Sources:

http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps3_sale_e.html

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

http://www.mobygames.com/company/sony-computer-entertainment-europe-ltd/history

(01/01/2012)

http://www.sony.co.uk/article/id/1060176719725

(06/01/2012)

http://www.webhostingreport.com/learn/sony.html

(06/01/2012)

http://www.gameconsolesedu.info/PS2.php

(19/01/2012)

http://news.sel.sony.com/en/corporate_information/sony_brand

(19/01/2012)

http://www.cyberiapc.com/vgg/sony_ps2.htm

(19/01/2012)

http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/february04/PS2timeline/index.shtml

(19/01/2012)

Project 2 self reflection (with bibliography)

This project, like the last presented me with new challenges such as how to make simple game mechanics work on software (and what restrictions/ complications arise from this) in addition to the idea of actually thinking about the playability of the game.

My initial idea was simple (or so I thought) to have a simple inventory of two items that would then be automatically combined to create a new world whereby the protagonist would have hooked down a key and been able to solve the true puzzle at the heart of the investigation. I had also wanted some kind of trust element where the player could speak to Aurora and gain her trust, eventually changing the outcome. Combinational explosion very quickly ruled out the trust elements and it was only until the last week whereby I realised that I had underestimated the time and effort required creating this scenario in iWeb. This ended up meaning that I was forced to cut out the ability to pick up the broom or pirate hook, and also meant that I had to remove the entire first puzzle due to time constraints. This irritated me to no end but demonstrated that while iWeb can function as a basic working point and click, it cannot achieve anything like what is required for my original Zork Concept to work.

Of course I cannot place the blame entirely down to iWeb, and perhaps if I had managed time better I would have had time to explore Stencyl like I had planned to in order to see if I could get it to work with the idea. Another route I could have taken would have been to start with stencil, but unlike iWeb, for which I had decided (foolishly) would easily and simply mock up the complete scenario early on, Stencyl was very much an unknown quality meaning I had no guarantees that there would be a successful final result. This was a risk that ultimately I wasn’t willing to take.

Nevertheless the experiences from this highlighted to me just how satisfying it is to create a game that works and has in some ways made me more determined to learn more sophisticated software like Stencyl, flash or, if I ever acquire a Mac, Journey maker and Game Salad. With two projects already lined up over the weeks ahead before the next unit I don’t know how much time I’ll get to work with these game engines in my spare time which is really unfortunate. Hopefully the next unit will involve them somehow (if not then I will have to find a way to incorporate them into my project).

From the view of art style and progression of my digital colouring, due to the little design/ colouring work that has to be done outside of asset creation – I didn’t really feel I progressed too much during this project in particular. However one thing I found interesting was generating the cutscene images – for which I got really enthusiastic about and coloured the first in a few hours at the end of a tiring day and the other in a few hours the next. Both of these images would have taken my a few days a couple of months back – so I think that this was the digital colouring from the interactive narrative segment carrying across into that work.

More work could have gone on the shadowing of the face - which I felt didn't match the quality of the rest of the image

I did think out of the cutscenes, the face of aurora in the final scene wasn’t quite as good as how I would have liked it to be. The lighting and face didn’t seem to make the quality of the rest of the painting. The same could be said about the hair, which did not have a natural flow to it. This might be because of the change of styles from realism to Japanese influence and it means that I still have some work before I can strike the perfect balance between the two that I am aiming for. Nevertheless I still feel I am growing as a digital artist so I will keep working to find that balance.

This project did not really have a strict bibliography although I referenced several inspiration games in my dialogue and design:

Ace Attorney Series (Capcom, 2001 - Present)

Hotel Dusk (Cing, 2005)

9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors (Aksys Games, 2009)

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Capcom, 2010)

In addition to this I formed the puzzle in my game using a puzzle sourced from here as a starting point:

Santa's Raindeer puzzle. Available from:

http://www.brainbashers.com/showpuzzles.asp?puzzle=ZKRG

Saturday, 25 February 2012

Influences and Self Reflection (Unit 1) - with Bibliography

Influences and Summary:

Benjamin's style is evident in even one simple glance

My interactive narrative had several large influences that shaped the graphical style and narrative flow:

Benjamin: Shown to me at the start of term via a lecture on sequential narrative, one of the artist’s works that was in the presentation was Benjamin, and immediately the artwork stood out to me. As an artist, Benjamin has this incredible style that mixes vibrancy, quick strokes and a sense of realism that I hadn’t ever seen before. In “Orange” he not only uses hot and cold colour dominance for effect but he also adds colour to a characters personality – the colour becomes a symbol of that character and this was absolutely staggering.

I didn’t try to emulate his work but seeing it definitely taught me to embrace roughness and colour and turn it into a style that was right for me.

Kasumi's Memory - the starting point of my idea

A mission from Bioware’s hit franchise “Mass Effect” acted as a large scenario influence. This mission was Kasumi’s memories, a downloadable mission from Mass Effect 2 where you have to infiltrate the party of an illegal weapons dealer and steal an important file. In the mission I enjoyed the idea of a grand futuristic party hall that was full of shady yet high class people – and that feeling in turn was the basis point for my entire narrative generation.

The way that the narrative ties up from both different viewpoints was a storytelling technique that I loved to see in games or narratives that have split choices and in turn influenced me– I think that every path should have meaning and should take into account the roles of each character in each alternate reality. For example a character that died in the ‘main narrative line’. In the split choice if they live, what would they have done if their life hadn’t been cut short? How would this affect the other characters? Would they interact? What would be the outcome? I wanted all of these questions to be explored even a little.

Self-Reflection: This project was really beneficial for me as an artist for so many different reasons. I explored a completely different style that I am used to. My comfort zone was Japanese comic influenced works that were had strict line art for which my colouring was confined to. By aiming for a more realistic style, I removed those lines and made my work incorporate my natural messy stroke style. From building up layer after layer of messy strokes I seemed to achieve a realism that was balanced within the style, which has now become my normal approach to colouring that feels natural and not forced.

Admittedly I do feel there is some panels that I could have improved, but by religiously doing one or two panels every day for around a month, I became much more fluent and confident with Paint Tool Sai, using colour for effect and I now have much more faith in my ability to colour digitally than at the start of the project.

If I had managed time better for my other project there was definitely room to add to the narrative’s interactivity – if only a little. I had planned to add small icons that could be clicked on to add a little bit of written information about characters, events, locations and objects of the world. My other thoughts on expanding the narrative outside of the project would have been to branch off onto two separate stories – one from the perspective of the assassin and the other from the perspective of Cain – with the assassins story about infiltration and assassinating her quarries (utilising dialogue choices, weapon selection/ activation in addition to map navigation) while his follows trying to survive in her absence while investigating (much more like the ‘prologue’ chapter of this project). Arrows could have been placed either side of the title screen to this project to ‘scroll’ between each chapter – acting as a hub to further expansions. Because I enjoyed the base concept of my idea and there is room for expansion, is no reason why I won’t continue it outside of the project – polishing the ‘prologue’ and adding the aforementioned additional features.

Unit Bibliography:

Orange, Benjamin (2009)
Remember, Benjamin
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare/EA, 2010)
Assassins Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft, 2011)

Image of "Orange" front cover. Available from:
http://cdn1.lostateminor.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/benjamin2.jpg
<Accessed 25/02/2012>

Mass Effect 2 Screenshot - Kasumi Memories. Available from:
http://www.chud.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/kasumi3.png
< Accessed 25/ 02/ 2012>

Assassins Creed Screenshot. Available from:
http://www.gamingunion.net/newsimg/assassins-creed-revelations-e3-teaser-revealed.jpg
<accessed 25/02/2012>

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Sony Report

Brief History

Sony, like any business has grown from humble beginnings, experiencing both successes and failures along the way but nevertheless being shaped by these to become the Sony Corporation that is known today.

Sony’s origin was as a small business formed by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita that would fix and upgrade radios from the telephone switchboard room of a war damaged department store, in the heart of Tokyo’s Business district. This company was known as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo and was officially formed in 1946. The road from Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo to the entertainment giant Sony was long and not without any roadblocks. In fact, the first product of the company was an automatic rice cooker that, after having ordered a truck load of wooden tub components, it was discovered that it was not reliable enough to make a viable commercial product:

“I remember sitting there on the third floor in Shirokiya day after day being fed rice that wasn’t fit to eat. We simply couldn’t make a product out of this and finally we gave up and now we are stuck with all these tubs” - Masaru Ibuka (Nathan, 1999. 13-14)

Nevertheless eventually with a solid basis of transistors, hand-rolled cassette recorders and radios generating a profit, the company branched out internationally. In the American market, Morita decided that Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was not a suitable name and eventually the company adopted the name Sony – a play on words that mixed the word Sonus (the Latin for sound) and Sonny boy, a term associated with a bright or creative child.

The growth of newly reborn ‘Sony’ did not halt at simply venturing into America – with Ibuka choosing to pursue the development of television sets in 1964 with the ill-fated Chromatron. These televisions almost sent the company into ruin. It took 4 years before the Trinitron; a hugely successful television had finally been developed – meaning that they could pay of the development loan of 650 million yen (roughly two million dollars) in three years.

Growth of Sony Computer Entertainment

Given the risks that Sony took to move into the home entertainment market from its solid foundation as an audio hardware provider, it shouldn’t have been surprising when Sony Computer Entertainment was formed and Sony officially moved into the video game industry. However it was -even within the company:

“For some people within Sony, PlayStation represented the future and was very exciting, but for other people it was a threat – something they didn’t fully understand” - Phil Harrison, Former Executive Vice President Sony Computer Entertainment (PlayStation Museum, 2011)

Sony had not been entirely un-invested in the Video game console market prior to this, having developed the Audio Stereo chip for the NES console but the company was content remaining out of the market that had largely been monopolised by Sega and Nintendo up to that point. However, when Nintendo dropped a collaborative development between the two companies on a CD drive for the SNES, this drove Sony’s CEO Norio Ohga to allow engineer Ken Kutaragi to develop the PlayStation console. The initial investment into the machine was 50 million dollars after an Executive committee heard Kutaragi and Teruo Tokunaka’s presentation. This led to the purchase of 1.3 million processor chips and the formation of Sony Computer Entertainment as a joint venture between Sony Corp and Sony Music Japan as a sign of commitment to this new expansion in November 1993.

The PlayStation console itself was superior to the Nintendo and Sega systems currently on the market at that time but it wasn’t until Sony established a solid third party developer base and a reasonable retail price ($299 – a full $100 less than the Sega Saturn) that the product became a more attractive proposition for the gamer to rival the more established Nintendo and Sega brands. Sony also spent a rumoured 4 million dollars on a stall at E3 to promote the console. The resulting interest, both in Japan and internationally, exceeded Sony’s expectations dramatically. In Japan the PlayStation sold 300,000 units in the first month – 3 times the number Sony had prepared for. In three months this figure had increased to being over one million units.

Because of the success of the PlayStation (today having sold over 90 million units worldwide), the development and subsequent release of the PlayStation 2 in 1999/ 2000 was not surprising. At the heart of the console was the Emotion Engine (developed by Sony and Toshiba), which added backwards compatibility to a list of unique selling points that included increased processing power/ graphics in addition to the ability to double up as a DVD player – at a point where DVD was beginning to draw the consumer away from VHS. The PlayStation 2 has since become one of the best-selling consoles of all time (selling over 120 million units worldwide) but has not been without problems, as the Class Action Lawsuit that was filed against Sony in July 2002 demonstrates. This was largely down to a ‘disk read error’ fault that would often plague the earlier models due to a misaligning laser disk lens.

Sony Computer Entertainment has since released a third home console, the PlayStation 3 in 2006, in addition to two handheld variations (PSP and VITA), no doubt to counterbalance Nintendo’s prior creation and subsequent domination of a handheld market with the Gameboy and DS brands. However one such emerging market, again largely uncovered by the Nintendo Wii’s success, is in using motion capturing technology to enhance the gaming experience.

The PlayStation Move and its Competitor’s

With the Nintendo first commercially releasing the Wii in 2006, both Sony and Microsoft realised the potential that motion technology had and began working on their own products. Sony released the PlayStation Move first out of the pair in 2010, working in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye (released in 2009). The Move controller looks similar to the Nintendo’s WiiMote in shape and functionality in that the player can wield one or two of these ‘remote like’ controllers, one in each hand. They are ergonomically designed with rounded and smooth surfaces, rather than flat/square and neither controller features any thumbstick. The largest difference between the Move controller and the WiiMote is the large LED orb that is positioned at the tip of the Move controller. The reason for this orb is that the PlayStation Eye peripherally tracks the movement of this orb in the X and Y axis – while the area of the sphere dictates its position on the Z axis.

While the two remotes undoubtedly share these similarities of both function and likeness, the process of controller evolution has seen competitor’s evolve using the other successful controllers on the market. One of the more relevant examples of this stems from the PlayStation, which was heavily influenced by the incredibly successful Super Famicon controller in terms of button layout, whilst adding handle-like grips. The N64 (which had also opted for grips for the players hands) added a small analogue stick in the centre of the controller which proved to be a revolution – and caused Sony and Sega to respond with updated models of each respective controller. This was the birth of the Sony ‘Dual Shock’ which has changed in subsequent console iterations very little since its conception.

Regardless, the Move has been outshone by its competitors since its release – with the Wii’s vast but established fan base taking a large slice of the motion control market, while Microsoft’s Kinect (released shortly after the Move) has gathered momentum commercially due to its unique selling points of mapping the entire player’s body (48 skeleton points) in addition to sophisticated voice recognition – playing to its marketing tagline “You are the Controller” in that the player does not need a remote like with Nintendo or Sony’s motion technology. This has likely factored into the release of Sony’s latest Move related software – the Move Me.

The Move Me

The Move Me is a simple piece of software that can allow the user to connect the Move to their computer and begin to program Applications and Games that make use of the Move technology – which in turn can be used with the PlayStation 3 console. However, in regards to the program and even the way it has been executed, it is hard to consider the Move Me a finished product.

This is because it doesn’t act as a conventional product should. The Move Me cannot simply be used with the console – nor can it be used with the PC should the user be unfamiliar with the process of coding. Immediately this has limited those who might want to use the content down to a niche group of academics or programmers with the necessary experience. However this does not have to be the case.

The Nintendo Wiimote and the Microsoft Kinect have been well documented as being ‘hacked’ by users to preform completely unexpected and sometimes inspirational tasks. The Wiimote for example has been transformed into a surgical training tool in Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix (Good, 2008) and has been used by researcher Johnny Chung Lee to create 3D head tracking and a cheap alternative interactive whiteboard (TED. 2008). Kinect on the other hand has been used to create a sophisticated method to help the blind using the room mapping feature of the camera known as the ‘Navi Project’ (Zollner, M. Huber, S. 2011).These examples demonstrate that there are also inventive and creative uses of the Move technology that, should the Move Me be successful, could easily place the software in the commercial spotlight.

To do this, the Move Me user base needs to grow into a community. Generating a creative community around the Move Me would not necessarily be difficult to accomplish – with Media Molecule’s Little Big Planet (a developer that is part of Sony Computer Entertainment) proving to be a perfect example of how it could look and operate. The Move Me could act as a hub in itself for accessing or even purchasing new applications for the player’s PlayStation 3. Or this function could be taken up by the already established PlayStation store. The PlayStation Network is available in 58 countries, with over 600 million items downloaded worldwide (Kish, H. Schertenleib, S. 2009) – credentials that more than highlight how distributing via this method would be more than viable.

Sony could even adopt the approach used by Apple and the App store, in allowing these small innovative games to be sold from the store, with the profits shared between the developer and Sony. This tactic, coupled with a low price for the Move Me could even spark a rise in the presence of indie companies that choose to work with Move technology given the current rise in small but critically acclaimed indie games that are finding success through distribution networks such as Steam and even Xbox Live.

When Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was formed, co- founder Masaru Ibuka created a 16 page document known as ‘The founding Prospectus’. This in itself may seem irrelevant to the current day Sony, as in the current market Sony could be seen as struggling, with reported full year losses forecasted at 2.9 billion dollars (Martin, 2012) – making a loss for the fourth straight year in a row. However with the Move Me at least, it feels like there might be something more than simple yet idealistic words to be found in that old document, from the times of Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo and badly cooked rice, that could be used to shape the Move Me into the product that it can be.

“My first and primary objective was establishing a stable workplace where engineers could work to their hearts’ content in full consciousness of their joy in technology and their social obligation.” Masaru Ibuka, Co-Founder of Sony/ Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, The Founding Prospectus, 1946 (Nathan,1999. 10)

Bibliography:

Good, O (2008) Surgeons 50 Percent Better After Wiimote Sim. Available from: ,http://kotaku.com/5032474/surgeons-50-percent-better-after-wiimote-sim>

Martin, M (2012) Sony expects full year losses to reach 220 Billion yen. Available from: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-02-02-sony-expects-full-year-losses-to-reach-220-billion

Nathan, J (1999) Sony: The Private Life.

PlayStation Museum (2011)The Complete History of the Sony PlayStation, Available from: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryi1QBA6XyI

TED (2008) Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks. Available from: < http://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.htm >

Zollner, M. Huber, S.(2011) Navi – Navigational Aids for the Visually Impaired. Available from: <http://hci.uni-konstanz.de/blog/2011/03/15/navi/?lang=en

Kish, H. Schertenleib, S (2009) ACGi Sony Computer Entertainment Research and Development Presentation.

Controller family tree. Available from:

http://www.axess.com/twilight/console/

History of Controllers (2011) Available from:

http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/art-controller.htm#Early

History of the PlayStation 2. Available from: http://www.gameconsolesedu.info/PS2.php

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Cutscenes

My demo has almost been finished now, and to add emphasis on two points of the story (in particular the character Aurora) I decided to make two standalone images that acted as a cutscene that would slowly pan upwards.

Original Sketch

Finished image

The first would be from when the player first meets her. For this image I focused on getting the effect of the light on her coat and body perfect. I also made sure to cut off the image at the face to carry the theme of lack of trust for the players character.

Original Sektch

Finished image

The second ‘cutscene’ would be the final part of the narrative and would come after Aurora acrobatically leaps across the room to let down the ladder. At this point, she’d turn around and reveal the information that she is an acrobat – acting as a sign that she trusts the player more. Also for the first time the player will see her eyes and face fully for a second before she closes her eyes. I exaggerated the below lighting from the hanging bulb quite heavily on the background more so for a stylistic charm more than an accurate representation.

Monday, 20 February 2012

Move technology demo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8k6Irz00L4

This was a short technical demo that had been released to demonstrate the possible innovative uses for the PlayStation Move in 2010. I found this demo rather interesting because it looks very similar to the basic package behind the Move Me (with the initial Sword/ Move controller animation looking suspiciously alike to the one that I had beta tested). Nevertheless despite this some of the motion ideas are really intriguing but it makes me curious as to why these ideas haven’t been implemented into any games in a dedicated way.

Still the video acts as another tool to show that if the Move Me is embraced by a large creative community then perhaps more creative applications can be applied.

Thursday, 16 February 2012

Move Me Beta Testing

Today, together with a small group I beta tested the Move Me...

What is it?

The Move Me is a tool for which coders and programmers can work with the Move controller and PlayStation Eye to create different applications using software on their PC’s and Macintosh computers.

What was my experience of the Move. Me?

Well given that none of those in our group could code and we could not find a suitable lead that would connect the console to the PC, our experience was very limited. At its base form, the Move Me application that was available to us simply summoned a simple low polygon sword that could be swung depending on the movement of the Move remote. Furthermore with the presence of a second Move Controller, a 3D model of a Move Controller takes its place.

The Positives:

The Move remote is very responsive – more so than the Wii/Wii motion plus remotes and likely more than the Kinects arm movements (although my own personal experience with the Kinect is limited so I cannot verify this). Because of this the speed that the Remote travels and its general coordinates within the space are very well mapped.

Having access to the Move could probably give birth to some very innovative games or ideas and it could easily be linked with other software, like Photoshop or even 3D sculpting tools to give the user a different experience. One such example of the room for innovation with the Move Me software lays in a code that Jess, a member of the group beta testing, had found online whereby someone had created a wire loop style game, something which I hadn’t even considered.

The Negatives:

The Move Me is a tool for programmers and because of this it can’t be considered a commercial product for a mass market – at least not at this point in time. Without Coding/ Programming Experience, the correct leads to connect the PlayStation to the PC (and a PC) the product has a very basic functionality that we found as not enjoyable.

If the user could connect the PlayStation to their PC unless there is a dedicated bank of other code available, it would take either prior knowledge or self-tutoring in order to even begin to create simple applications. This immediately alienates a vast majority of people who could use this software.

There isn’t another way to get code into the Move Me other than PC connection. We attempted using a memory stick to get the file in or tried to find some area within the software to input code with no luck.

The Move Me Sword application does not recognise where the users body is so if the player places the sword behind their back, it does not register this. Additionally the second Move remote model can move clean through the sword model and vice versa. Both of these make problems make the application itself seem unfinished and rushed.

The Move Me Sword application doesn’t have a very big appeal, with most of the Beta testing group not showing huge amounts of interest in what it has to offer.

The area for which the Move Me picks up the remote isn’t very far; at best 7- 8 feet from the camera. This could prove to be restrictive for some applications or if the software was being used in large venues.

Even though the Move could be connected with a drawing program or a sculpting program, there are two issues:

-It is hard to pinpoint exactly where you would be pressing due to the shape of the Move Remotes top LED ball

- Why would the user want to use the Move in place of the more functional Tablet option – or even touch screen tablets?

My thoughts on improvements that could be made/ solutions to above problems:

The ‘hacks’ and creative uses of the other motion software out from Nintendo and Kinect is distinct evidence that the Move Me has the potential to grow into something that breeds innovation. To do this though it needs to have a community of home developers that can have easy access to the software, and more support when it comes to actually making applications. This could be achieved in a number of ways:

- Free Access to Move. Me. To build a community is willing to develop applications it needs to be simple and easy to do. Given the amount of ‘hacking’ that has occurred to the motion remotes it is clear that people want to experiment with the software. By giving people a free way to do that, for which Sony can control the level for which the user can work with the Move remote, then both parties would benefit.

- A software development kit that makes developing easier for users who want to work with the Move Me, but don’t necessarily want to learn the coding or would prefer to be eased into it. Furthermore this could encourage an increased indie presence on the market.

- “Move Me Store” – given the strong foundation that the PlayStation Network has, the inclusion of a shop whereby the applications that people create can be purchased/ shared would be another incentive for people to use the Move Me, and on a commercial level should successful games be made as a split could be set up between the developer of said game/application and Sony. This model has worked with numerous other platforms such as the Apple Store. Furthermore really talented utilisation of the software would act almost as a way for Sony to scout out and acquire new talent and ideas.

Other smaller changes that could be made just relate back to the ease of uploading and changing the code within the Move Me – be it a way that it can be accessed and applied within the Move Me software, or transferred by a memory stick.

Saturday, 11 February 2012

Changes to Protagonist sprite (and Aurora Sprite construction)

Returning to my sprites made last term, I realised they didn’t necessarily integrate into the background as much as I would have liked so I had to make a few changes – mainly making the line art bolder and the colouring simpler. This is the difference between the two: