When someone asks you "what makes a good video game?", most would think explosions, guns and amazing graphics. Why is it then that Minecraft has earned millions and is one of the most well known games to arise these past few years?
Minecraft allows the character to make whatever they want, to build, mine, blow up, farm and create. You are given your own world that you can shape however the player wishes, all the while collecting food from plants and animals in order to survive.
What makes Minecraft such an amazing game for me is that the graphics are nothing short of some 3D 8bit hybrid, no jaw dropping visuals, just simplicity. I also love playing games that have a very laid back approach and that dont expect you to rush around doing missions all the time. In fact their are none. In Minecraft you can choose to be whatever you want and do however you please, the sheer fact alone that there is no storyline hooks me into playing the game as my character can be whoever he wants to be, If i chose to i could make him live in barren deserts or tundras of ice and snow. He could live in a mansion or a forest hut. The scale of which your imagination can run into this game is unreal which is why I think its one of the best games to have been developed and brought out within the past few years and it also shows that just because a game doesn't have amazing graphics doesn't make it a bad game. Sometimes it can in fact make it better and I hope in the future more creative and simple designed games start being born.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Video Game Industry - Creating A Strong Portfolio
Because my interest lays with concept art and 3D modelling in the video games industry I've been doing research into what makes a good portfolio and what will make my work stand out above the rest when a job opportunity arises.
It was then that I found an article on creating the perfect portfolio for the games industry and it proved very useful to me.
The article taught me that I need to look carefully through my art and only use the best that I have and to try and make it memorable for the company.
It also helped ease my mind about lack of experience working in the field as with most games companies, if the person can create solid artwork then experience comes second in priority.
I will continue to develop my art and challenge myself more into creating longer art projects that have a more professional standard about them, I am going to try and get involved with more extra curricular activities such as entering competitions and putting my work up for public crits to see how i can make it better.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/165645/Creating_a_Winning_Game_Industry_Art_Portfolio.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraFeatureArticles+%28Gamasutra+Feature+Articles%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
It was then that I found an article on creating the perfect portfolio for the games industry and it proved very useful to me.
The article taught me that I need to look carefully through my art and only use the best that I have and to try and make it memorable for the company.
It also helped ease my mind about lack of experience working in the field as with most games companies, if the person can create solid artwork then experience comes second in priority.
I will continue to develop my art and challenge myself more into creating longer art projects that have a more professional standard about them, I am going to try and get involved with more extra curricular activities such as entering competitions and putting my work up for public crits to see how i can make it better.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/165645/Creating_a_Winning_Game_Industry_Art_Portfolio.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraFeatureArticles+%28Gamasutra+Feature+Articles%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Sherlock Holmes - Downey & Cumberbatch
For years different adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles, "Sherlock Holmes" have been twisted and created into some truly stunning films and television series's. Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch are both perfect examples of how the character of Sherlock Holmes have been molded to effect the way we feel about them in entirely different ways.
Robert Downey Jr's version of Sherlock Holmes follows the characters more eccentric side of his personality. This is backed up by various instances of him drinking fluids that would otherwise be dangerous or unheard of for a human to drink ie: Eye drops and embalming fluid. His version of portraying Holmes is also more inventive than the Holmes that Benedict Cumberbatch portrays as in the second film, A Game of Shadows, he creates his own "Urban camouflage" in which he can blend easily into bookshelves and chairs.
Benedict Cumberbatch however, portrays Holmes in an entirely different way and makes the audience believe him to be more of an arrogant, robotic and heartless genius with no real care for the members of the public, only solving the case. This is backed up repeatedly throughout both series of the show when he says things such as "you're grandad hasn't gone to heaven, theirs no such thing, he was taken to a special room and burned" along with stealing an ash tray from Buckingham palace.
The reasons why these two version of Sherlock Holmes are portrayed so differently I feel has to do with not only the director behind the film/series, but also the time in which it is set. Downey's version of Sherlock is set between 1880 and 1914, making the types of crimes alot different to that of Cumberbatches Sherlock which is set in present day London.
In some ways both portrayals are similar to one another, both bordering on the insane and eratic which can cause problems and emotional strain with other characters such as John Watson but both also have a genius comedy about them in which the audience cannot help but adore both adaptations to an extent where they are emotionally tied to the characters and thus feel loss or stress when one appears to die ie: Reichenbach Fall when both Sherlock and Moriarty fall to their doom (Robert Downey Jr) or when Sherlock commits suicide to save his friends after Moriarty takes his own life (Benedict Cumberbatch).
In both instances Its safe to say that all portrayals of Sherlock Holmes have had a strong fan base in the past and the legacy of Doyle's work is still as strong now as it was when the book was first published.
Robert Downey Jr's version of Sherlock Holmes follows the characters more eccentric side of his personality. This is backed up by various instances of him drinking fluids that would otherwise be dangerous or unheard of for a human to drink ie: Eye drops and embalming fluid. His version of portraying Holmes is also more inventive than the Holmes that Benedict Cumberbatch portrays as in the second film, A Game of Shadows, he creates his own "Urban camouflage" in which he can blend easily into bookshelves and chairs.
Benedict Cumberbatch however, portrays Holmes in an entirely different way and makes the audience believe him to be more of an arrogant, robotic and heartless genius with no real care for the members of the public, only solving the case. This is backed up repeatedly throughout both series of the show when he says things such as "you're grandad hasn't gone to heaven, theirs no such thing, he was taken to a special room and burned" along with stealing an ash tray from Buckingham palace.
The reasons why these two version of Sherlock Holmes are portrayed so differently I feel has to do with not only the director behind the film/series, but also the time in which it is set. Downey's version of Sherlock is set between 1880 and 1914, making the types of crimes alot different to that of Cumberbatches Sherlock which is set in present day London.
In some ways both portrayals are similar to one another, both bordering on the insane and eratic which can cause problems and emotional strain with other characters such as John Watson but both also have a genius comedy about them in which the audience cannot help but adore both adaptations to an extent where they are emotionally tied to the characters and thus feel loss or stress when one appears to die ie: Reichenbach Fall when both Sherlock and Moriarty fall to their doom (Robert Downey Jr) or when Sherlock commits suicide to save his friends after Moriarty takes his own life (Benedict Cumberbatch).
In both instances Its safe to say that all portrayals of Sherlock Holmes have had a strong fan base in the past and the legacy of Doyle's work is still as strong now as it was when the book was first published.
Morality In Games
As games have developed throughout the years new aspects have been brought into the gaming community to enhance how its audience play the games they have, morality in games is becoming a more popular area to be added into games and gives the audience new options to choose from.
Morality in games can dictate how the game progresses, from minor tweaks in the environment to full blown consequences depending on the players moral standing. This factor is also used in both real and surreal ways depending on the genre of the game and its content.
The Fable series has always weighed heavily on moral choices and its up to the player to decide how they want their character to behave in the world. As a general rule of thumb, games (including Fable) have three general morality modes in which your character will be placed and can shift into throughout the play through. For Fable these modes are:
Hero: The hero character is for the player who has made his or her character make moral choices based only for the good of other people. This can be tough when emotionally involved with the game as it can mean the player will sometimes have to give up or sacrifice objects or sometimes people precious to them in order to help others. In return for the sacrifices you make to help people the other characters in the game will cheer when you walk by and will revere you as their idol, sometimes even asking for autographs. This moral choice effects the character physically, giving the Hero a pure snowy skin tone, blue eyes and a halo, in Fable 2 when you have a dog companion, the dogs coat is golden yellow.
Neutral: The neutral character in Fable sits on the fence of the games morality system and will generally make decisions based on whatever is in their best interest whilst still keeping the public safety in mind, however the neutral character may also steal, cheat and lie in order to get what he needs by the easiest means but will almost always repent whatever evil he or she has committed with a good deed. Other characters in the game will go about their own business around the player and not have any opinion of the player. The neutral character stays as the stock design that the game begins with unless he or she decides to change their appearance aesthetically EG: Hair cuts, tattoos ect.
Evil: The evil character in Fable takes on the biggest change physically and effects the world around him opposite to that of how the Hero does. The evil character will slaughter, cheat, lie and steal for their own amusement and the price they pay physically is heavy. Where there hero character has pure healthy skin, blue eyes and a halo, the evil character sprouts twisted horns from his/her head, their skin becomes dark and scarred and their eyes become a toxic green. The effect this moral choice has on the game causes other characters in the world to run and scream in fear, this can cause problems as when doing missions that require the player to talk to another character, the latter will run away, making it hard to carry out the mission.
Other moral based games such as Bioshock have no real adverse effect on the gaming world they play in but instead effect what outcome the ending has EG: saving all little sisters will reward you with a calm and peaceful end scene, the narration is soft and thankful for your efforts. Harvesting all little sisters causes the ending to become more sinister with the narrator talking more harshly with tones of loss.
I believe that the reason audiences are so compelled to play morality based games is that they are given a choice to make their character carry out any action the player wants them to, be it crimes or heroic deeds, because their are no real life consequences such as their are from committing crimes in reality which I believe gives games more of an air of freedom about them rather than having a character that the player cannot mold to how they see fit.
Morality in games can dictate how the game progresses, from minor tweaks in the environment to full blown consequences depending on the players moral standing. This factor is also used in both real and surreal ways depending on the genre of the game and its content.
The Fable series has always weighed heavily on moral choices and its up to the player to decide how they want their character to behave in the world. As a general rule of thumb, games (including Fable) have three general morality modes in which your character will be placed and can shift into throughout the play through. For Fable these modes are:
Hero: The hero character is for the player who has made his or her character make moral choices based only for the good of other people. This can be tough when emotionally involved with the game as it can mean the player will sometimes have to give up or sacrifice objects or sometimes people precious to them in order to help others. In return for the sacrifices you make to help people the other characters in the game will cheer when you walk by and will revere you as their idol, sometimes even asking for autographs. This moral choice effects the character physically, giving the Hero a pure snowy skin tone, blue eyes and a halo, in Fable 2 when you have a dog companion, the dogs coat is golden yellow.
Neutral: The neutral character in Fable sits on the fence of the games morality system and will generally make decisions based on whatever is in their best interest whilst still keeping the public safety in mind, however the neutral character may also steal, cheat and lie in order to get what he needs by the easiest means but will almost always repent whatever evil he or she has committed with a good deed. Other characters in the game will go about their own business around the player and not have any opinion of the player. The neutral character stays as the stock design that the game begins with unless he or she decides to change their appearance aesthetically EG: Hair cuts, tattoos ect.
Evil: The evil character in Fable takes on the biggest change physically and effects the world around him opposite to that of how the Hero does. The evil character will slaughter, cheat, lie and steal for their own amusement and the price they pay physically is heavy. Where there hero character has pure healthy skin, blue eyes and a halo, the evil character sprouts twisted horns from his/her head, their skin becomes dark and scarred and their eyes become a toxic green. The effect this moral choice has on the game causes other characters in the world to run and scream in fear, this can cause problems as when doing missions that require the player to talk to another character, the latter will run away, making it hard to carry out the mission.
Other moral based games such as Bioshock have no real adverse effect on the gaming world they play in but instead effect what outcome the ending has EG: saving all little sisters will reward you with a calm and peaceful end scene, the narration is soft and thankful for your efforts. Harvesting all little sisters causes the ending to become more sinister with the narrator talking more harshly with tones of loss.
I believe that the reason audiences are so compelled to play morality based games is that they are given a choice to make their character carry out any action the player wants them to, be it crimes or heroic deeds, because their are no real life consequences such as their are from committing crimes in reality which I believe gives games more of an air of freedom about them rather than having a character that the player cannot mold to how they see fit.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Stanza Stones Trip
As part of the previous film module we were asked to attend the opening of the Stanza Stones at the literature festival. After getting the taxi to the village hall we were greeted by the people who planned the festival as well as writer and poet, Simon Armitage.
Soon after we got a coach ride up to the moors and all settled down in a hollow where we listened to Simons poems about different forms of water, ideal as just off from the moors was a large resevoire. Other groups then read out poems and a dance group interpreted each word as they read.
The event itself was quite interesting but it could have been carried out more professionally, we had to wait around for an hour past the starting time of the event and then when we went up on the moors we spent nearly all of our time powering bikes hooked up to generators to power the microphone amplifiers so that Simon and the other people could speak. I also felt a bit disheartened when we got back to the village hall and people began leaving when were showing our films.
All in all I did enjoy the time out at the festival but not so much for the being invited to go there and more the time I got to spend with my friends in a new place.
Soon after we got a coach ride up to the moors and all settled down in a hollow where we listened to Simons poems about different forms of water, ideal as just off from the moors was a large resevoire. Other groups then read out poems and a dance group interpreted each word as they read.
The event itself was quite interesting but it could have been carried out more professionally, we had to wait around for an hour past the starting time of the event and then when we went up on the moors we spent nearly all of our time powering bikes hooked up to generators to power the microphone amplifiers so that Simon and the other people could speak. I also felt a bit disheartened when we got back to the village hall and people began leaving when were showing our films.
All in all I did enjoy the time out at the festival but not so much for the being invited to go there and more the time I got to spend with my friends in a new place.
Sectors And Services
These lecture notes are on what industry sectors are and what they do.
An industry sector is an area of the economy with related products or services, these are split into four sections.
1. The primary sector - Extraction and harvesting of natural resources.
2. The secondary sector - Processing, manufacturing and construction.
3. The tertiary sector - Knowledge and services.
There are also the following:
1st Sector, Public Sector - publically owned or state owned; local govt. NHS ect.
2nd Sector, Private Sector - privately owned and usually run for profit.
3rd Sector - voluntary, charity, community owned business not for profit distribution. Eg: RSPCA, NSPCC ect.
Third Sector:
-TSOs
- Includes voluntary and community organisations.
- Professional associations.
- Self help groups and community groups.
- Social Enterprises.
- Mutuals and co operatives.
TSOs
-Three qualities.
1. Independent of government.
2. Value driven.
3. Reinvest any surpluses.
Sectors
- Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing.
- Construction.
- Production Industries.
- Service Industries.
Service Industries
- Creative industries.
- Education, health and social work.
- Financial and business services.
- Hotels and restaurants.
- Public administration and defence.
- Real estate and renting.
- Tourism.
- Transport.
- Transport, storage and communication.
- Other social and personal services.
The Creative Industries
- Advertising.
- Architechture.
- Arts and antique markets.
- Crafts.
- Desgin.
- Designer fashion.
- Film video and photography.
- Software, computer games and electronic publishing.
- Music and the visual performing arts.
- Publishing.
- Television.
- Radio.
An industry sector is an area of the economy with related products or services, these are split into four sections.
1. The primary sector - Extraction and harvesting of natural resources.
2. The secondary sector - Processing, manufacturing and construction.
3. The tertiary sector - Knowledge and services.
There are also the following:
1st Sector, Public Sector - publically owned or state owned; local govt. NHS ect.
2nd Sector, Private Sector - privately owned and usually run for profit.
3rd Sector - voluntary, charity, community owned business not for profit distribution. Eg: RSPCA, NSPCC ect.
Third Sector:
-TSOs
- Includes voluntary and community organisations.
- Professional associations.
- Self help groups and community groups.
- Social Enterprises.
- Mutuals and co operatives.
TSOs
-Three qualities.
1. Independent of government.
2. Value driven.
3. Reinvest any surpluses.
Sectors
- Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing.
- Construction.
- Production Industries.
- Service Industries.
Service Industries
- Creative industries.
- Education, health and social work.
- Financial and business services.
- Hotels and restaurants.
- Public administration and defence.
- Real estate and renting.
- Tourism.
- Transport.
- Transport, storage and communication.
- Other social and personal services.
The Creative Industries
- Advertising.
- Architechture.
- Arts and antique markets.
- Crafts.
- Desgin.
- Designer fashion.
- Film video and photography.
- Software, computer games and electronic publishing.
- Music and the visual performing arts.
- Publishing.
- Television.
- Radio.
Perfect Presentations
In this lecture we were taught how to create good powerpoint presentations, 90% of presentations are bad because they need to be directed more towards the audience and less towards the person who made them. The key to a sucessful powerpoint is not to overdo it.
Keeping it simple with as little words as possible allows for information to sink in easier and not having walls of text to read.
Do not add shoddy pictures that are unfocused or clip art as this just looks like a complete lack of commitment to the presentation and appears as if it has been thrown together last minute.
Bullet points should also not be used very much as they can become very tedious to look at and also quite destracting. It is also a good idea to add videos for easier note taking.
I will definately be sure to use this in the future when I am required to make presentations for later modules. It may also help others to understand my points of view better.
Keeping it simple with as little words as possible allows for information to sink in easier and not having walls of text to read.
Do not add shoddy pictures that are unfocused or clip art as this just looks like a complete lack of commitment to the presentation and appears as if it has been thrown together last minute.
Bullet points should also not be used very much as they can become very tedious to look at and also quite destracting. It is also a good idea to add videos for easier note taking.
I will definately be sure to use this in the future when I am required to make presentations for later modules. It may also help others to understand my points of view better.
What Is An Evaluation?
We make choices almost constantly in our everyday lives, wether its what drink to have, what food to eat or what activity to do, but based on what premis?
These are all choices based on value judgements or appraisals and reviews on certain criteria.
We use reviews in everyday life in order to help us evaluate and decide which path we should take, eg: watch a certain film due to reviews or not, buy/not buy a certain video game or eat/dont at a certain restaurant.
As human beings we constantly weigh up the pros and cons of everything we do to determine if we will carry out something or not. This could be considered more evaluating rather than choosing.
What is an evaluation?
An evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, people, products and organizations to improve their performance or effectiveness.
But where to begin?
- Identify what you have been asked to evaluate. Is it about progress as a result of learning? Personal performance during modules? The ability to work in a team? Professionalism?
- Things not to write: I think I made good progress, I was pleased with my work, I worked hard in this module, I worked well in the team (better than the others anyway), my professionalism improved loads.
- Give an example, tell a story.
- Make comparisons.
- Talk about landmarks.
- Describe how you overcame hurdles.
- Measure yourself against the best.
- What was the impact?
Bloom's Taxonomy
- Knowledge
- Understanding
- Application
- Analysis
- Synthesis
- Evaluation
Compare with other past learning experiences. Past with presents. Recommend what you will do differently next time and what you would like to learn more about to improve your practice. Organise your thoughts from less complex to more complex and draw attention to different points.
Always stick to the subject of the heading you have written for each section.
Always explain why you have enjoyed something.
Always explain how your way of thinking was changed if something made a big impact on you.
Always qualify your achievements and explain why you're pleased or disappointed with your own work.
Never say you think you did well without giving evidence to support the statement.
Avoid the use of words such as: Nice, good, rubbish, special, amazing, awesome.
Dont leave your evaluation to the last minute.
These are all choices based on value judgements or appraisals and reviews on certain criteria.
We use reviews in everyday life in order to help us evaluate and decide which path we should take, eg: watch a certain film due to reviews or not, buy/not buy a certain video game or eat/dont at a certain restaurant.
As human beings we constantly weigh up the pros and cons of everything we do to determine if we will carry out something or not. This could be considered more evaluating rather than choosing.
What is an evaluation?
An evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, people, products and organizations to improve their performance or effectiveness.
But where to begin?
- Identify what you have been asked to evaluate. Is it about progress as a result of learning? Personal performance during modules? The ability to work in a team? Professionalism?
- Things not to write: I think I made good progress, I was pleased with my work, I worked hard in this module, I worked well in the team (better than the others anyway), my professionalism improved loads.
- Give an example, tell a story.
- Make comparisons.
- Talk about landmarks.
- Describe how you overcame hurdles.
- Measure yourself against the best.
- What was the impact?
Bloom's Taxonomy
- Knowledge
- Understanding
- Application
- Analysis
- Synthesis
- Evaluation
Compare with other past learning experiences. Past with presents. Recommend what you will do differently next time and what you would like to learn more about to improve your practice. Organise your thoughts from less complex to more complex and draw attention to different points.
Always stick to the subject of the heading you have written for each section.
Always explain why you have enjoyed something.
Always explain how your way of thinking was changed if something made a big impact on you.
Always qualify your achievements and explain why you're pleased or disappointed with your own work.
Never say you think you did well without giving evidence to support the statement.
Avoid the use of words such as: Nice, good, rubbish, special, amazing, awesome.
Dont leave your evaluation to the last minute.
Who Am I
In this lecture we made notes on how to balence both professional and casual life.
The following notes focus on how others perceive me and what language I can use to help people to understand me better.
- How does personal traits work positively or negatively.
- Do you make judgements around how people look or what they do.
- Does a persons skill set determine more about your personality.
- How does everyone else look at me.
LANGUAGE - Helps yourself to be understood by others more clearly, being able to seperate personal and professional ideals and to understand the needs of the people i am with, (audience.)
Carl Jung 1875 - 1961, created personality archetypes, this meant that anyone could fit into a predetermined category due to what that person is like. These categories are:
- The Self
- The Shadow
- The Anima or Animus
- The Persona
"Whatever the circumstances of your life, the understanding of type can make your preceptions clearer, your judgements sounder and your life closer to your hearts desire" - Isabel Briggs Myers
Introverts/Extroverts, this is the first criteria that helps to define a source and direction of expression for a person. Extroverts have a source and direction of energy mainly in the outside world, thus Introverts have sources of energy mainly in the internal world.
But what are Into/Extroverts?
Every person has two faces, one directed to the outer world, this includes excitement, people and physical things.
The other face directs itself to the inner world, this consists of thoughts, interests, ideas and imagination.
Most people veer towards a certain perference rather than both which in turn can make them Introvert or Extrovert, this can then determine which role takes dominance in their behaviour.
Extrovert Characteristics:
- Act first, think later.
- Deprevation when cut off from the outside world.
- Motivated by people and things in the outside world.
- Enjoy changes in people and relationships.
Intovert Characteristics:
- Think before acting.
- Need time to theirselves to relax, enjoy their own company.
- Motivated internally to the point of being closed to the outside world.
- Prefer one to one relationships or smaller groups.
How do we perceive or understand
The part of our being that senses notices sights, sounds and smells. It records and organises specifics of here and now, forever staying present. It is reality based.
The intuitive side forms overall patterns of data and stores these patterns and relationships. It forcasts the future and is imaginative and full of concept.
Sensing means the person believes mainly data they recieve directly from the external world. Intuition means a person believes mainly data they receieve from the internal or imaginative world.
Sensing Characteristics:
- Living in the now.
- Common sense and creating practical solutions is automatic.
- Memory recall is detailed in past events.
- Best improvise from past experience.
- Likes clear, solid information and not guessing.
Intuitive Characteristics:
- Living in the future and future possibilities.
- Creates new possibilities from the imagination.
- Memory recall emphasises contexts and connections.
- Best improvise from theoretical understanding.
- Comfortable with guessing the meaning or unclear data.
Thinking and feeling us the third criteria which defines how people process information. Thinking means a person makes a decision mainly through logic whereas feelings make decision based on emotion.
Thinking Characteristics:
- Search for facts and logic in a decision.
- Notices tasks and work to be accomplished.
- Easily able to provide an objective and crit analysis.
- Accept that conflict is natural in relationships with others.
Feeling Characteristics:
- Employ personal feelings and impact on people in decision situations.
- Naturally sesitive to peoples needs and reactions.
- Seek consensus and popular opinions.
- Unsettled by conflict, have almost a toxic reaction to disharmony.
Judging is the fourth criteria and defines how people implements information they have processed. Judging means that a person sorts his life events and acts strictly according to his plans. Percieving means they are inclined to improvise and seek alternatives.
Judging Charactersitics:
- Plan details in advance before acting on them.
- Focus on task related action.
- Work best and avoid stress when keeping ahead of deadlines.
- Naturally use targets, dates and standard routines to manage life.
Perceiving Characteristics:
- Comfortable moving into action without plan or plans on the go.
- Enjoy multi tasking and mixing work with play.
- Naturally tolerant of time pressure, work best closer to deadlines.
- Instinctively avoid commitments which interfere with flexibility, freedom and variety.
The following notes focus on how others perceive me and what language I can use to help people to understand me better.
- How does personal traits work positively or negatively.
- Do you make judgements around how people look or what they do.
- Does a persons skill set determine more about your personality.
- How does everyone else look at me.
LANGUAGE - Helps yourself to be understood by others more clearly, being able to seperate personal and professional ideals and to understand the needs of the people i am with, (audience.)
Carl Jung 1875 - 1961, created personality archetypes, this meant that anyone could fit into a predetermined category due to what that person is like. These categories are:
- The Self
- The Shadow
- The Anima or Animus
- The Persona
"Whatever the circumstances of your life, the understanding of type can make your preceptions clearer, your judgements sounder and your life closer to your hearts desire" - Isabel Briggs Myers
Introverts/Extroverts, this is the first criteria that helps to define a source and direction of expression for a person. Extroverts have a source and direction of energy mainly in the outside world, thus Introverts have sources of energy mainly in the internal world.
But what are Into/Extroverts?
Every person has two faces, one directed to the outer world, this includes excitement, people and physical things.
The other face directs itself to the inner world, this consists of thoughts, interests, ideas and imagination.
Most people veer towards a certain perference rather than both which in turn can make them Introvert or Extrovert, this can then determine which role takes dominance in their behaviour.
Extrovert Characteristics:
- Act first, think later.
- Deprevation when cut off from the outside world.
- Motivated by people and things in the outside world.
- Enjoy changes in people and relationships.
Intovert Characteristics:
- Think before acting.
- Need time to theirselves to relax, enjoy their own company.
- Motivated internally to the point of being closed to the outside world.
- Prefer one to one relationships or smaller groups.
How do we perceive or understand
The part of our being that senses notices sights, sounds and smells. It records and organises specifics of here and now, forever staying present. It is reality based.
The intuitive side forms overall patterns of data and stores these patterns and relationships. It forcasts the future and is imaginative and full of concept.
Sensing means the person believes mainly data they recieve directly from the external world. Intuition means a person believes mainly data they receieve from the internal or imaginative world.
Sensing Characteristics:
- Living in the now.
- Common sense and creating practical solutions is automatic.
- Memory recall is detailed in past events.
- Best improvise from past experience.
- Likes clear, solid information and not guessing.
Intuitive Characteristics:
- Living in the future and future possibilities.
- Creates new possibilities from the imagination.
- Memory recall emphasises contexts and connections.
- Best improvise from theoretical understanding.
- Comfortable with guessing the meaning or unclear data.
Thinking and feeling us the third criteria which defines how people process information. Thinking means a person makes a decision mainly through logic whereas feelings make decision based on emotion.
Thinking Characteristics:
- Search for facts and logic in a decision.
- Notices tasks and work to be accomplished.
- Easily able to provide an objective and crit analysis.
- Accept that conflict is natural in relationships with others.
Feeling Characteristics:
- Employ personal feelings and impact on people in decision situations.
- Naturally sesitive to peoples needs and reactions.
- Seek consensus and popular opinions.
- Unsettled by conflict, have almost a toxic reaction to disharmony.
Judging is the fourth criteria and defines how people implements information they have processed. Judging means that a person sorts his life events and acts strictly according to his plans. Percieving means they are inclined to improvise and seek alternatives.
Judging Charactersitics:
- Plan details in advance before acting on them.
- Focus on task related action.
- Work best and avoid stress when keeping ahead of deadlines.
- Naturally use targets, dates and standard routines to manage life.
Perceiving Characteristics:
- Comfortable moving into action without plan or plans on the go.
- Enjoy multi tasking and mixing work with play.
- Naturally tolerant of time pressure, work best closer to deadlines.
- Instinctively avoid commitments which interfere with flexibility, freedom and variety.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Evaluation
Evaluation
Throughout this module I have learned to successfully create
my own 3 dimensional game environment that coincided with our module criteria.
We had to choose from 3 subjects; Sci-Fi, this consisted of creating an
environment to do with UFO’s, aliens and other foreign bodies. The fantasy
concept consisted of making a game level based on myths or folk tales such as
Rapunzle, Snow White and Goldie Locks. The final subject was to recreate a
replica of Kirkstall Abbey using all correct measurements and detail.
I knew instantly that I wanted to do the Fairy tale
environment so set out mind mapping what kinds of things could be incorporated
into the game. Immediately I thought of
myths involving ancient dragons and shrines. I began making mood boards of
different valleys and caves to build the shrine that I had in my mind, I also
looked at dragons and statues in the hopes of modelling some stone dragons to
stand either side of the shrine.
After some planning and further thought into the environment
I decided against modelling dragon statues and made my own race of mythical
creatures that might be seen in games such as Skyrim which them in their own
right are set in fairy tale esc settings.
The creatures I designed were called the Vrana, Croatian for “crow”, in
the initial concepts of them they were fairly rounded wearing long black robes
and white wings. I modelled these
creatures easy enough and placed it into my environment but after we had the
BETA test crit I had realised that my environment didn’t have nearly enough
assets in it and the majority was created in Unity alone, only the bird models
and a cave were made through Maya and neither were particularly challenging.
Immediately after I decided to revamp my entire environment, changing the layout
and look entirely.
The first major change I did was to make my game level from
both interior to exterior to just interior. I made mood boards of various caves
and textures of moss, bark and rock to get the optimum look for my
environment. The next hurdle for me was
creating a more realistic looking crow statue, my previous model of the statue
was an assortment of standard polygons that lacked any real challenge to model,
I restarted by posing the human model in Mudbox and importing it into Maya, once
imported I had the task of making the robes for it to wear, this was one of the
most challenging things I have done in Maya as it was hard trying to fit each
shape to the body of the model without it looking too fat whilst keeping the
poly count as small as I could.
Along with the bird model and cave I also made the shrine
floor and bridges to link one end of the shrine to the other. Making the
bridges was fun as its not often I use deformers in Maya and it gave me good
practice on how to better myself at using them. Making more assets for my level
made me very proud of myself as I really felt that I had improved in my Maya
skills and overall 3D modelling abilities.
Although the creation of my redone environment was done in
what little time was left I think I worked to the best of my abilities. I have thoroughly enjoyed this module,
probably more than I have the other modules I have done so far this year, Unity
was simple to understand and fun to learn about, I also learned how to do some
minor programming which I used in my environment for when the character walks
through water. This tied into sound engineering also that I enjoyed as it
really gave my environment some extra life.
In the future I will definitely be trying to make some more
of my own environments to further myself in this area of game design and look
forward to the next opportunity to work with Unity and Maya as one.
Things to be improved:
- UV maping, I am still not completely comfortable with UV
mapping and tend to stick to tile texturing which I need to stop doing as much,
however I have been practicing at home and I am improving.
- Time management.
Environment - Complete
After working hard to make my new environment I have finally finished its final design. As stated previously I had decided to redo the environment concept completely. The screen shots below show that I have made more assets from Maya and imported them into unity rather than previously only having 2 assets modeled. I have also put more particle systems in, taught myself more about water settings to make the water more still and added more detail.
The bottom screen shot shows that I have thought carefully about light and sound placement to get the best desired effect for my game level when playing it.
The bottom screen shot shows that I have thought carefully about light and sound placement to get the best desired effect for my game level when playing it.
Texture Ideas - Moss
Because my environment has water inside it I think moss is an important part of creating a more realistic texture to the inside of the cave walls. This mood board shows different kinds of moss, from the more commonly seen fluffy mosses, thin rock crawling mosses and dying cavern mosses. At this point in time I think i will use a more vibrant green moss as the light sources will show some parts of the cave wall to make it appear more lighter and colourful.
Texture Ideas - Rock
Rock textures are one of my key elements of inspiration for my game level. Because my scene changed to interior design the environment itself consists of a cave. The cave itself needs to be dark and rugged, this mood board shows some ideas of different kinds of rock and the texture they present.
Texture Ideas - Wood
Wood textures are important for my environment as my game level involves bridges, I have yet to decide what wood would best suit my bridges as they need to look relatively old and worn so i have thrown together a mood board of some ideas.
Idea And Concept Development - Gathering Material
Along with looking at how particle systems and materials are used in games I also made mind maps and mood boards of the key elements of my environment I would be looking at, these included dragons (later altered to crows, lakes, waterfalls, caves and statues) I also did studies of some of the elements i will be using, mainly of the statues. Along with the elements I made mood boards of I also made other mood boards of different texture ideas that I could add to the environment to make it look more natural.
These textures included moss, rocks and different kinds of wood.
These textures included moss, rocks and different kinds of wood.
Idea And Concept Development - Design Inspirations
Throughout the process of making my environment I used my different interests to collect ideas. In the beginning I used my interest in mythology and magical creatures to create the layout for my first environment. However i didn't use my knowledge of mythology to inspire me alone, I looked at several different games that follow the fairy tale genre and gathered information from those.
The first game I knew I could get useful information from immediately was "Elder Scrolls, Skyrim". This game was perfect for the environment that I was designing as right from the start of the game you are attacked by dragons, trolls and a variety of other beasts. Whilst playing the game I took note of the scenery and how things were placed in valleys, caves and waterfalls and used the ideas that Skyrim had inspired me with to reflect on my own environment.
Another game I looked at was "NiGHTS, Journey of Dreams," compared to Skyrim this game is extremely cartoony and surreal but it was no less useful to my inspiration. Where Skyrim gave me ideas on the placement of objects and setting the scene, NiGHTS gave me inspiration to study the particle systems that the games uses more carefully. A good example of this is when the main character is flying, sparkles come from the players hands.
Through combining these games I was able to get a feel of how these different effects could be used in my environment to give it the best effect.
The first game I knew I could get useful information from immediately was "Elder Scrolls, Skyrim". This game was perfect for the environment that I was designing as right from the start of the game you are attacked by dragons, trolls and a variety of other beasts. Whilst playing the game I took note of the scenery and how things were placed in valleys, caves and waterfalls and used the ideas that Skyrim had inspired me with to reflect on my own environment.
Another game I looked at was "NiGHTS, Journey of Dreams," compared to Skyrim this game is extremely cartoony and surreal but it was no less useful to my inspiration. Where Skyrim gave me ideas on the placement of objects and setting the scene, NiGHTS gave me inspiration to study the particle systems that the games uses more carefully. A good example of this is when the main character is flying, sparkles come from the players hands.
Through combining these games I was able to get a feel of how these different effects could be used in my environment to give it the best effect.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Vrana - Concept to 3D
After I had finalized my concept for what my statues would look like it was time to take them into Maya and start modeling them. The first thing I did was to use the human model in Mudbox and pose it into the shape I desired, this in itself was a challenge as I hadnt really used Mudbox before and trying to figure out how the joint programs worked was quite difficult at first.
After I had posed the human model I imported it into Maya and began shaping the robes onto it. I found this extremely trickey as using Maya previously I had not tried to challenge myself with things such as deforming, extruding and moulding each edge and face individually, however, despite not challenging myself previously I was able to create the robes for my statue to wear, all the while deleting all of the polys of the body parts that wouldnt be shown in the environment. Below I have taking some screen grabs of how my model has turned out.
All in all im extremely proud of how my model turned out as i felt that I really challenged myself and worked very hard to make the statues look the best I could make them and I will be sure to make more models such as this one on a regular basis to try and challenge myself further.
After I had posed the human model I imported it into Maya and began shaping the robes onto it. I found this extremely trickey as using Maya previously I had not tried to challenge myself with things such as deforming, extruding and moulding each edge and face individually, however, despite not challenging myself previously I was able to create the robes for my statue to wear, all the while deleting all of the polys of the body parts that wouldnt be shown in the environment. Below I have taking some screen grabs of how my model has turned out.
All in all im extremely proud of how my model turned out as i felt that I really challenged myself and worked very hard to make the statues look the best I could make them and I will be sure to make more models such as this one on a regular basis to try and challenge myself further.
Vrana Concept - Finale Design
After overlooking all of the previous concepts I still didnt thing that my statues were life like enough so I set out to make them more human but with bird features. Below is the final design that I have decided to use to plan my statues for 3D modeling.
I prefered this concept over all of the others as it still had some of the original designs of the first concepts (the black robes and jewells) but made them look more like something you might actually find in a fairy tale shrine. The concept on the left is to show what bird features they would have ifthey didnt wear the robes, the concept on the right however, is the one that I will be using for reference when i start to build it in maya.
I prefered this concept over all of the others as it still had some of the original designs of the first concepts (the black robes and jewells) but made them look more like something you might actually find in a fairy tale shrine. The concept on the left is to show what bird features they would have ifthey didnt wear the robes, the concept on the right however, is the one that I will be using for reference when i start to build it in maya.
Vrana Concept Continued
After I planned what my new statues would look like I tried to make them appear more realistic, when I tried to model them in Maya i only really used groups of standard polygons rather than challenging myself to create something more life like so i set out to further the concept of the statues whilst still keeping some of its original ideas. In turn this also changed how I felt the environment would look.
This was the turn out, rather than them looking as rounded I gave the statues more drawn out faces and made them look more old and moss covered. Because I wanted them to look like they had been around for hundreds of years it gave me new ideas of what the environment should look like.
The top one took on a more magical setting, with a cherry blossom tree in the middle and the statues perched around the outside of it. This environment would make the character believe they were in a more magical setting. The concept below I used the Vrana statues to create more of an arena/colloseum look, but I dont think that it would connote the sense of being in a fairy tale as much as the concept art involving the tree and the pond.
This was the turn out, rather than them looking as rounded I gave the statues more drawn out faces and made them look more old and moss covered. Because I wanted them to look like they had been around for hundreds of years it gave me new ideas of what the environment should look like.
The top one took on a more magical setting, with a cherry blossom tree in the middle and the statues perched around the outside of it. This environment would make the character believe they were in a more magical setting. The concept below I used the Vrana statues to create more of an arena/colloseum look, but I dont think that it would connote the sense of being in a fairy tale as much as the concept art involving the tree and the pond.
Concept Art - Vrana
Because I restarted my environment I had to create more concept art for what I thought would improve my game level. This included some new concepts of what could replace the dragon statues too. In most fairy tale stories they usually involved dragons or some sort of well known mythical animal, it was then that I took it upon myself to create my own mythical creature which I call the Vrana.
Vrana (Croatian for "Crow") took on the form of winged bird people that wear long black robes encrusted with red jewells. The concept for these statues to live in became more like a sewer than a cave or valley, with small waterfalls running into one main waterway that flowed to the shrine of a Vrana statue. I also did some playing around with the face of the statue, making it look more like a plague mask that doctors used to wear rather than an actual birds face.
Vrana (Croatian for "Crow") took on the form of winged bird people that wear long black robes encrusted with red jewells. The concept for these statues to live in became more like a sewer than a cave or valley, with small waterfalls running into one main waterway that flowed to the shrine of a Vrana statue. I also did some playing around with the face of the statue, making it look more like a plague mask that doctors used to wear rather than an actual birds face.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Useful Sound Engineering Websites
www.incompetech.com - useful for if an environment is more soundtrack oriented than it is sound effect based.
www.freesound.org - pretty much the YouTube of sound effects, thousands of different effects to choose from for the environment, however freesound is more based around sound effects rather than soundtracks.
www.freesfx.co.uk - similar to freesound.org only split into more categories for easier paths to desired sound effects. FreeSFX seems to specialize in more action packed sound effects such as weapon fire, explosions and emergency vehicle sounds.
www.royaltyfreemusic.com - like incompetech, royaltyfreemusic.com allows you to search for soundtracks and scores for an environment without having to worry about the royalties of it. Not good for trying to find sound effects like footsteps/birds ect.
www.freesound.org - pretty much the YouTube of sound effects, thousands of different effects to choose from for the environment, however freesound is more based around sound effects rather than soundtracks.
www.freesfx.co.uk - similar to freesound.org only split into more categories for easier paths to desired sound effects. FreeSFX seems to specialize in more action packed sound effects such as weapon fire, explosions and emergency vehicle sounds.
www.royaltyfreemusic.com - like incompetech, royaltyfreemusic.com allows you to search for soundtracks and scores for an environment without having to worry about the royalties of it. Not good for trying to find sound effects like footsteps/birds ect.
Environment - Sound Design
While I've been planning how my new and improved environment will turn out, I've also been looking into sound engineering and what sounds would best suit my environment. Because my game level is based around fairy tales and the overall atmosphere is meant to represent peace, magic and serenity I need sounds that will reflect that too. The sounds that I know I will need to incorporate into my environment include:
Water, the water will be relatively still and will only make noise when the character walks through it, I'll be doing this by adding trigger programming into the water.
Wildlife, because the environment is set in the wild away from all human life, the sounds of wildlife will play an important role to show the isolation, however, I will most likely be using the sounds of insects such as crickets and locusts rather than birds as its not often you find birds in interior environments.
Other possible sounds include the sounds of a breeze running through the environment and perhaps the rustling of grasses and bushes.
Until I make the environment I will have to see what sounds will fit best. So for now I will literally have to play it by ear.
Water, the water will be relatively still and will only make noise when the character walks through it, I'll be doing this by adding trigger programming into the water.
Wildlife, because the environment is set in the wild away from all human life, the sounds of wildlife will play an important role to show the isolation, however, I will most likely be using the sounds of insects such as crickets and locusts rather than birds as its not often you find birds in interior environments.
Other possible sounds include the sounds of a breeze running through the environment and perhaps the rustling of grasses and bushes.
Until I make the environment I will have to see what sounds will fit best. So for now I will literally have to play it by ear.
Environment - Wipe The Slate Clean
After getting the majority if not all of my environment finished it was time for the BETA testing crit. The objective of this crit was to go around the class and play everyone else's games, commenting on what we enjoyed and what we thought could be improved. Looking at everyone else's games that they had made was an eye opener and being brutally honest with myself, although I had worked very hard to get my environment the way it was, there just wasn't enough in it for it to compare to other BETA games, the mainn problem with my environment was that I don't think I challenged myself enough. I had only made 2 assets in Maya to put into Unity, one being a Cave, the other being a Crow statue which in itself only consisted of a few polygons grouped together. Even though this crit meant the deadline was fast approaching I set myself a goal. To remake the entire game environment, new scenery, new particle systems and most importantly, MORE ASSETS.
In the blog posts to come will explain what new assets and concepts I have brought together and how i have bettered myself from it.
In the blog posts to come will explain what new assets and concepts I have brought together and how i have bettered myself from it.
Sceneography - Refine The Refined Brief
Whilst making me environment I noticed that the actual design I wanted to do didnt really fit the brief that I had previously refined. Before my fairytale scene was going to be both interior and exterior. This has now changed, as well as the backstory of the scene:
Project Brief: Fairytale
Project Title: Vrana Shrine (previously Dragon Shrine)
Broad Audience: Teen
Mood / Atmosphere: Quiet, peaceful, secluded, mysterious, magical.
Scene Description
Time of Day: 5:am
Interior / Exterior: Interior (previously both)
Explanation / Backstory of Scene: The Vrana (Croatian for "crow") were once a race of spiritual beings said to have fallen from the stars. The bodies of men and women, but the features of crows.
When they began to vanish, the last of the Vrana built shrines in dedication to their brothers and sisters, hiding away what little magic they had left. Now you've found one of their ancient shrines. As beautiful as the day it was made, if not a little more moss covered.
Project Brief: Fairytale
Project Title: Vrana Shrine (previously Dragon Shrine)
Broad Audience: Teen
Mood / Atmosphere: Quiet, peaceful, secluded, mysterious, magical.
Scene Description
Time of Day: 5:am
Interior / Exterior: Interior (previously both)
Explanation / Backstory of Scene: The Vrana (Croatian for "crow") were once a race of spiritual beings said to have fallen from the stars. The bodies of men and women, but the features of crows.
When they began to vanish, the last of the Vrana built shrines in dedication to their brothers and sisters, hiding away what little magic they had left. Now you've found one of their ancient shrines. As beautiful as the day it was made, if not a little more moss covered.
Monday, May 7, 2012
The Binding Of Isaac - Wrath of the Lamb
For a good couple of months now I've been waiting patiently for the expansion of Binding of Isaac, Wrath of the Lamb and not a lot has been released, the developers have been keeping their lips sealed but little by little I've managed to find out more about the music, monsters and alternative levels that will be released. More recently I got my hands on the trailer:
As odd as the trailer looks, its following the same theme as its previous trailer for the original game, only this time with no human Isaac counterpart. What I enjoyed about this trailer was that even though it looks so cartoony, its still incredibly creepy and those who play Binding of Isaac will understand its sick humour and style. From what this trailer suggests, this humour has evolved into something quite horrifically brilliant.
Its release is May 28th and for a measley 3 dollars you get an incredible amount for how little you spend. If you havnt played B-Isaac before then I couldnt suggest a game more highly, the music is beautiful and will have you singing along with it, monsters are disgustingly adorable and extremely creative and its nothing short of gut wrenching in the frustration department.
I eagerly await Wrath of the Lambs release, for those who have yet to play the game I suggest you get a hold of it before the expansion for the sheer fact of trying to master the skill before the game once again becomes even harder.
As odd as the trailer looks, its following the same theme as its previous trailer for the original game, only this time with no human Isaac counterpart. What I enjoyed about this trailer was that even though it looks so cartoony, its still incredibly creepy and those who play Binding of Isaac will understand its sick humour and style. From what this trailer suggests, this humour has evolved into something quite horrifically brilliant.
Its release is May 28th and for a measley 3 dollars you get an incredible amount for how little you spend. If you havnt played B-Isaac before then I couldnt suggest a game more highly, the music is beautiful and will have you singing along with it, monsters are disgustingly adorable and extremely creative and its nothing short of gut wrenching in the frustration department.
I eagerly await Wrath of the Lambs release, for those who have yet to play the game I suggest you get a hold of it before the expansion for the sheer fact of trying to master the skill before the game once again becomes even harder.
Dishonoured Trailer
Recently I found out that Bethesda & Arkane Studios are developing a new game that will hopefully be gracing us with its presence in the coming year or so. Dishonoured is set to be a first person stealth/action adventure which appears to be set in the victorian/steam punk era. Not much is known about the games content so far but the one thing the public do have to go on is the official trailer.
I always look forward to new trailer releases but this one truely knocked me off of my feet. I found the visuals of the trailer to be astonishing, its not often that you can almost count each hair on a characters head nor see each bead of sweat on their faces. Looking at the trailer it seems like it has a mish mash of a lot of different game elements thrown in, the first person parkour of Mirror's edge, the stealth of Assassin's Creed, the use of strange new powers like Bioshock, the same feel of the world of Half Life 2. All in all I honestly cannot wait to hear more about it and I shall keep my eye's and ears peeled.
I always look forward to new trailer releases but this one truely knocked me off of my feet. I found the visuals of the trailer to be astonishing, its not often that you can almost count each hair on a characters head nor see each bead of sweat on their faces. Looking at the trailer it seems like it has a mish mash of a lot of different game elements thrown in, the first person parkour of Mirror's edge, the stealth of Assassin's Creed, the use of strange new powers like Bioshock, the same feel of the world of Half Life 2. All in all I honestly cannot wait to hear more about it and I shall keep my eye's and ears peeled.
Rolltop - The Swiss Army Knife Of Computers
While on the hunt for a new laptop I came across something quite extraordinary, the Rolltop. This revolutionary laptop is still yet to be released and has quite a way to go in its development process before it will be complete but what the developers hope t o achieve really is outstanding.
Rolltop is a portable computer development concept for designers, artists and everyone who would like to have a gadget, which, from an aesthetic standpoint alone, certainly hits the mark. By virtue of the OLED-Display technology and a multitouchscreen the utility of a laptop computer with its weight of a mini-notebook and screen size of 13 inch easily transforms into the graphics tablet, which with its 17-inch flat screen can be also used as a primary monitor due to the support attached to the back of the screen.
As the name suggests, the Rolltop is a laptop that you can simply roll up and carry around once you are done using it. The actual model has 3 main modes (laptop mode, graphics tablet mode and monitor mode) that its user can exploit whenever they need to making it some what of a swiss army knife of computing tech.
But how does it all work? How will this upcoming gadget present itself to the best of its ability?
Well first off it uses "Flexible Technology," this simply means that because the Rolltop can literally roll up into a compact cylinder so too must the wires inside it that make it tick, upon more deeper thought when it comes to computers, tablets and monitors, although some parts may move independantly of themselves, most of these objects are still, at the end ofthe day, solid pieces of hardeware joined together. Rolltop doesnt conform to this and has been designed for upmost flexibility.
In Laptop Mode, the user has controll over a dual touch screen, (the screen and the keyboard) for optimum use when surfing the web. Its also handy to know that in laptop mode, as well as the other two modes, the docking station used to wrap the Rolltop around acts as its charger, making it all the more handy and useful.
Graphics Tablet Mode transforms the Rolltop into the equivilant of a top of the range Wacom, the keyboard and screen merge into one to create both tablet program and tablet itself.
The Rolltop comes with a hidden stylus on the side of itself so having to worry about going out to get graphics pens is no longer a worry, nor are the constant problems with having to update tablet drivers should they decide they are too old to work.
Last up is Monitor Mode, monitor mode uses the same ideas of the tablet mode in the sense that it merges both screens together to create one. The only difference being it is used for enjoying films rather than sketching out ideas. What is useful about monitor mode is that the Rolltop has a catch on the back of it that can be popped out to make it stand upright like a television, not only does this save you the effort of trying to balence it on your knee to watch films but it also makes it more safer for the Rolltop itself, I'm sure everyone in their lifetime of owning a laptop has had it slide off of their knees and drop to the merciless being that is the floor.
Although pretty much all of the laptops we see in stores today have most of these modes for us to use, I have never seen any do it quite so smoothly as the Rolltop hopes to and I as well as many others im sure, have extremely high hopes of success for this new little gadget. I know I'll be waiting in line to buy one thats for sure.
Rolltop is a portable computer development concept for designers, artists and everyone who would like to have a gadget, which, from an aesthetic standpoint alone, certainly hits the mark. By virtue of the OLED-Display technology and a multitouchscreen the utility of a laptop computer with its weight of a mini-notebook and screen size of 13 inch easily transforms into the graphics tablet, which with its 17-inch flat screen can be also used as a primary monitor due to the support attached to the back of the screen.
As the name suggests, the Rolltop is a laptop that you can simply roll up and carry around once you are done using it. The actual model has 3 main modes (laptop mode, graphics tablet mode and monitor mode) that its user can exploit whenever they need to making it some what of a swiss army knife of computing tech.
But how does it all work? How will this upcoming gadget present itself to the best of its ability?
Well first off it uses "Flexible Technology," this simply means that because the Rolltop can literally roll up into a compact cylinder so too must the wires inside it that make it tick, upon more deeper thought when it comes to computers, tablets and monitors, although some parts may move independantly of themselves, most of these objects are still, at the end ofthe day, solid pieces of hardeware joined together. Rolltop doesnt conform to this and has been designed for upmost flexibility.
In Laptop Mode, the user has controll over a dual touch screen, (the screen and the keyboard) for optimum use when surfing the web. Its also handy to know that in laptop mode, as well as the other two modes, the docking station used to wrap the Rolltop around acts as its charger, making it all the more handy and useful.
Graphics Tablet Mode transforms the Rolltop into the equivilant of a top of the range Wacom, the keyboard and screen merge into one to create both tablet program and tablet itself.
The Rolltop comes with a hidden stylus on the side of itself so having to worry about going out to get graphics pens is no longer a worry, nor are the constant problems with having to update tablet drivers should they decide they are too old to work.
Last up is Monitor Mode, monitor mode uses the same ideas of the tablet mode in the sense that it merges both screens together to create one. The only difference being it is used for enjoying films rather than sketching out ideas. What is useful about monitor mode is that the Rolltop has a catch on the back of it that can be popped out to make it stand upright like a television, not only does this save you the effort of trying to balence it on your knee to watch films but it also makes it more safer for the Rolltop itself, I'm sure everyone in their lifetime of owning a laptop has had it slide off of their knees and drop to the merciless being that is the floor.
Although pretty much all of the laptops we see in stores today have most of these modes for us to use, I have never seen any do it quite so smoothly as the Rolltop hopes to and I as well as many others im sure, have extremely high hopes of success for this new little gadget. I know I'll be waiting in line to buy one thats for sure.
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