Concept art Article

Unit 67 - Functions of Game Engines

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is used in game engines as how the computer is to react. For instance a security guard would patrol a certain area and react to noise or movement. An example of this would be Splinter Cell and how when you make a noise the guard will begin to hunt you down and look for you. The idea of Artificial intelligence is guessing what the player will do and adapt on that. This may be by taking different paths and doing different reactions in battle In other games such as Skyrim, the AI system is huge. When it gets dark the people in the towns will begin to go home, also when going to a blacksmith or shop the character may not be there because in Skyrim, the AI Have their own lives and will be in different places at certain times. The AI behaviors are to make them more realistic and look and act like humans would. This is simply to make the game more enjoyable and for the realism effect. Things like walking, resting, standing idle and running are part of the AI intelligence under the category of AI behaviors.there is no programming in the robot of what a chair looks like, or what kind of surface the robot is moving on - all the information is gleaned from the input of the robot's sensors. The robot uses that information to react to the changes in its environment. In other words the AI system is very smart, it reacts according to the environment and moves if an object is in the way using a different path to the destination, For instance, sims allows players to click were the character is to go, however objects can be in the way and the sim will still move accordingly just differently each time.

World Navigation 

World navigation is based on allowing players to get to a place in the game when it is not clear, this can be done by the mini-map in which allows players to look across the map and locate objectives and points in which they need to be. Sadly it is possible for players to get lost and so the idea of world navigation is to help players not, waypoints are also a big part in world navigation, it allows players to see where there next objective is, this is normally a icon or arrow in which acts like a compass or a path in which helps players to continue progressing in the game. An example of world navigation in its finest would be the game Skyrim  it has a huge map in which can allow fast travel making players travel straight to a destination as well as a compass at the bottom of a screen in which shows which direction people are going, were enemies are coming from as well as towns and cities that are close. In conclusion, world navigation is a key part of games, Video games would most likely be a lot harder without this part.

Physics

Physics is also imported into an engine, Gravity is a good example of physics and how an item may fall to the floor. Physics engine to drive its physical simulation calculations. Phys X provides the ability to perform accurate collision detection. Another example would be explosions and how they are in the game as well as smoke and how it rises or falls. Car games use a lot of physics to make the game a better experience. When a car hits a barrier at a certain speed it will affect the outcome, for instance when a player hits it at a very high speed the car may bounce or flip in the air where as if it is a slow speed it won’t make as much of an action. Another example would be bullets and guns shooting and how they fire and also the way it affects the environment, (Bullet holes and explosions). Water is a very tricky thing to make, how it flows and moves can be unpredictable, however in game engines physics is already placed so the water can flow right and move.

Sound

Sound plays a huge part in game engines and in games generally, Games are not the same when there is no sound. Sound changes the atmosphere and mood. Sound is included in game engines because of this. In a game engine sound can be measured by distance and how loud it is may come into computer games. An example of this would be in Grand theft auto when a car stereo is on and you get closer to the car you are able to hear it. This is all part of the game engine as some have different ways to make the little things play a big part. The game engine does everything for you, when you put and audio file into it the game engine already knows the proximity of the sound and how much the user can hear it due to the range.

Animation

Animation is an illusion that is created by quickly cycling through a series of images, each slightly different from the last. This is using different frames to cycle and create a moving picture or asset. Animation is included into a game engine and can be used so people can create moving scenery, People and also aspects such as reloading a weapon. Animation is already involved in the game engine and so it saves developers a lot of time. A path based animation uses frames and a fixed background to create the illusion of movement. The main aspect of a path based animation is that the object travels along a set path, which is then calculated how long it takes the object to travel from one point to another and how many frames are need to get there. A path based animation uses frames and a fixed background to create the illusion of movement.

Graphic rendering

Graphic rendering is a huge part in a game engine, It allows people who create the game to export it from the engine, the graphic rendering depends on the engine used. It is the way the game will look. There are many different aspects of graphic rendering in which are all extremely important to make a game look the way it does.Anti aliasing in games is when the jagged edges in a game are made to look smooth. In games using this option lowers the performance and lowers the frame rate. This makes the game look a lot better and it all is part of the game engine. 

In graphic rendering shadowing is used a lot. This makes games look so much more detailed and realistic.In a game if a light source is on some part of the characters body a shadow will appear in the opposite direction, this is already in the game engine and so creators don't have to spend time creating them. The whole point of shadowing is to add a sense of realism to games and environments.

In a game engine the level of detail means how the game looks and how well the graphics are. In a game like Far cry 3 the game looks extremely beautiful. When something is really detailed in a game the game will naturally perform lower that is why graphical rendering is applied. This makes it so the object is not fully detailed when the player is far away from it, but as they get closer the object renders additional detail until the player is close enough to see all of the detail in the object.

Lighting is something a game engine has a few different types of in order to provide light to a scene in a video game, examples of these lights are: Point light, spot light, directional light and ambient light.Lights in video games are incredibly important as they let the player see what’s going on, they can also be used for way points and markers to stand out or to create mood (normally put to use in horror games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent)The examples are Amnesia with its lighting to set mood and Left 4 Dead with its lighting to direct the player through the world. Lighting, is a huge part in gaming, even when players are shot or have took damage lighting may be effected, from turning your screen black and white if you are loosing health, to Turning the screen bright red to resemble blood. Lighting for me is what makes a good game, it also can reflect the genre in which you play. For instance, Splinter Cell is a game in which stealth is used and the idea of sticking to the shadows so AI are unable to see you, this would encourage the games lighting to be very dark with small lights.

Ray tracing is a way of generating an image through tracing the path of light through pixels in an image plane and simulating its effects with encounters with virtual objects. This technique is capable of creating very high realism in game which really tries to reflect the real world in game. 

Depth testing is a process used by the game engine to tell what objects are visible to the player and which are not because they're behind other objects. Games today render a lot more at once and as a result Depth-testing has had to become more advanced. An example of this would be how when you compare Silent Hill for the Playstation to the Playstation 3. You can see the difference to how much is behind what.

Fog in games is much like fog in real life. It hides an object the further away it is from someone. But unlike in real life, fog in games has a purpose. In games fog hides objects the further it is from the player character. In game engines, fogging is already added into the engine and so developers do not need to keep making fog. This is to lessen the stress on the processor so it doesn't have to render unnecessary information as if there was no fogging you could see all the objects at the same time. Some PC games have a view distance slider. This is to help people with not as up to date hardware optimize the game so their computer can play it. The higher the view distance in a game the further you can see in the game world.

Particles within games are basically to make the game look more realistic, the idea of it is adding aspects from real life reactions such as, Water splashes, Sparks, falling leaves, clouds, fog, snow, dust and also spells like in Skyrim it makes a bright light from your hands in which is able to fire sparks out, this uses particles in which are part of this system. Particles in games are simply created using sprite sheets using framed graphics. This is to create a good movement in which gives the illusion of movement. In game engines, programmers are able to create spawns for particles to come from. For instance a water fall would be the birth place in which particles would move accordingly using gravity and physics also in game engines. Phys X is a part of physics in which is an add on to it. This allows better particles in games in which is part of graphic rendering as well.

 Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG29MX1DKhY 
This video is the cryengine tech demo, which it highlights the 
Networking

Networking is simple, It allows people to share information, and resources from one computer system to another. The whole point of network now a days on gaming is the Multiplayer aspect in which people are able to play with each other and compete online. For instance on the call of duty series, Matchmaking as well as allowing leaderboards and private matches to communicate with each other. Places like Facebook and social networking sites are linked into games now a days, allowing people to share records or pictures onto there profiles through networking.The Network simply allows people to be social on games, able to play games with others, talk to others and be with other people across the globe. Networking is a key in games due to high demand of Multiplayer in this generation.

World Navigation 

World navigation is based on allowing players to get to a place in the game when it is not clear, this can be done by the mini-map in which allows players to look across the map and locate objectives and points in which they need to be. Sadly it is possible for players to get lost and so the idea of world navigation is to help players not, waypoints are also a big part in world navigation, it allows players to see where there next objective is, this is normally a icon or arrow in which acts like a compass or a path in which helps players to continue progressing in the game. An example of world navigation in its finest would be the game Skyrim  it has a huge map in which can allow fast travel making players travel straight to a destination as well as a compass at the bottom of a screen in which shows which direction people are going, were enemies are coming from as well as towns and cities that are close. In conclusion, world navigation is a key part of games, Video games would most likely be a lot harder without this part.

In its most general sense, Middleware is computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system.In other words allows developers to use a different software and then able to add it to the game engines. Middleware can be described as in a way software glue.

Controversial games

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior
Was a game created by Palace software in which involved allowing players to have two handed swords to run around killing and fighting like a warrior, Now if it was in this time that it was created, there would not be able controversy about it. However created in 1987, this sparked a bit more that we would expect.

The biggest aspect in which people worried about was the front cover, now instead of using digital art created from the game, the developers decided to use real artwork for the cover. This was a bold idea as the game cover consisted of a topless man and a half naked model lying down. This was the same model who had recently done topless pictures for the page 3 section of the sun. People cared more about the cover than the actual game violence that it had. The US especially were outraged by the sexual aspect of it, this however did no good as it made barbarian into a ultimate commercial and selling success.

Barbarian was banned in Germany due to the violence, it also made most of the world make it an 18 game rating and made sure no one bought it under the age. And so they created the censored version of the game to help sales to go up in different countries.

What really struck me however, was simply how the gaming community and also the world has changed when looking at the controversy behind it. Considering people were simply shocked by the cover was something now a days would be seen as laughable as Sexual aspects in games now are huge. It had an effect on the game industry simply by stopping places across the world from buying it and also people were blaming the game industry for a simple sexual picture on a cover. It also effected players as they were given censored versions in Germany and so the game was changed due to a naked picture.  In conclusion this game was a big controversy and it shows just how much society and the gaming world has changed.

Concept Art

Character Bio - KROTON

In the year 3010, humans wanted to create a robot in which would be able to do all the handy work and build buildings and simply help with human life. KROTON was created to not only help the humans but to do what humans couldn't do, to be able to carry things in which no one could, to be a example in robotic engineering and to show off his capabilities. KROTON was created out of the finest Sheets of metal and wiring there was, with the ability to do what others could not. He was created with the icon smile in which would be the head of the branding of the company he worked for. After a while, Humans created better robots and the KROTON Project was abandoned, and so Kroton was thrown into the warehouse in which retired or unsuccessful robots would go. Whilst staying in this dump of a place, he met robots in which he believed could be manipulated to do what he commanded. The once beautiful robotic creation had become a power addict, wanting more and more, Putting fear in the robots hearts and making them his army. After two years of living in this warehouse, he felt it was his time to rise from the darkness and rain havoc onto the puny humans in whom cast him out. And so he crashed through the walls setting a light the company he worked for. Killing the innocent had become a hobby for Kroton as of his corrupt mind due to his past. On that day, he created KROTON industries, allowing unsuccessful robots work, only if they would join him. So as he sits there in his chair watching and waiting for the right time to strike down on the human race, Will anyone stop him?

Character bio.

name : KROTON

alias :  The Dark one, Smile 

height : 4ft 2

weight : 130lb

sex : Male

Eye color : black

hair color : None 

glasses or contact lenses :

shape of face : square

Distinguishing features 

Mannerisms : Folding his arms, Shrugging, Laughing at sad moments.

health :has good health, doesn't really have much problems, with programming however he sometimes is unable to control his hands and arms, for a couple of seconds due to locking. 

habits - Likes to underestimate people, Has a habit of never stopping an continuously looking around.

hobbies - Likes to create devices and robotic parts using his old gadgets.

favorite sayings  - "What is trust, Is it putting your life in another robots hands? Well your trusting me now"  "If I told you I was sorry for your death, I would be lying"

voice - High pitch, assertive voice.

walking style - Robotic, mechanical. 

disabilities - Will burn from water, Has a smile which he cannot take off.

characters greatest flaw : KROTON is very big headed and because of this he sometimes takes things to far with his abilities and plans. He also has Morales in which he does not want to break, he never really wanted to be bad, but a past in which seeks revenge for.

characters best quality - He is very Intelligent and so he carefully picks his plans. Also he creates robots and gadgets in which can fix body parts back to life. His intelligence is his weapon however because of his new engineering he is also very strong, being able to adapt to the environment well.

Social characteristics 

hometown - Earth

Current residents - 10 Billion

occupation : Destroying the world. Leader of his own Army and base, Kroton Industries.

talents skills - Talented craftsmen and robotic engineer. He is also able to detect lies or threats to him.

family status - None.

character as a child - Intelligent and hardworking.

character as an adult - Evil, intelligent, Saddened and wants to prove his creators wrong.

Attributes and Attitude 

educational background - Was created and given the knowledge of some of the smartest men that have lived. also databases have been imported into his system.

intelligence level - beyond thinking. However he lets it down sometimes due to his cockiness, arrogance and general bad behavior.

characters goals - To prove to his creators that he isn't worthless and that in fact is the best robot ever created. Also to seek revenge on the humans for out casting him.

self esteem - Believes he is the greatest thing created however sometimes he stays up all night thinking about why his creators thrown him in the warehouse.

confidence - He is very confident however this really lets him down sometimes.

emotional state - Deeply saddened and troubled, yet hides it by his actions.

Emotional characteristics 

motivation - To prove creators wrong.

happiness - He isn't happy even though he has so many things.

relationships - He does not believe in love however he does care for one human as during the time of him being head of science she was always considerate and caring. However he is not attracted to her, but instead admires her. That even though he is a robot she would try to befriend him. 

fear - Darkness. As ironic as it sounds he is terrified of small spaces. He is also scared of failure and also his nemesis.

Characters involvement in this story 

archetype : THE SHADOW

Archetypes

The Hero

Sam Fisher
Sam Fisher is a former agent for the agency 3rd Echelon. Fisher is a master in the art of stealth and he was the first person to be recruited as a field agent of the "Splinter Cell" program.

Sam Fisher has a confused mind in which has unanswered questions which haunt him. His Daughter was killed by a hit and run driver and he retired after that, however he wants to find the answers to the questions about her death.

Characteristics
Angry - He has a lot of compressed anger about his daughters death, this comes out in the later games.
Bold - He is extremely brave and has no fear when it comes to his job. He not only saves the world, but he does it time and time again.
He is without doubt a different type of hero, one in which
does his actions to save others but also to get answers for
himself.


Nathan Drake
Many reviewers have called Drake a likable and believable character in which can be related to, he seems to act like a
normal everyday person. Throughout the game, Drake
says whats in his head without second thought, in which
can get him into a lot of trouble.
Drake has been described as a "Die hard kind of guy that gets in there and just takes care of the situation."

Characteristics
Cocky - Drake can sometimes can come across as over confident, however this sometimes helps and hinders him.
His cockiness to me is part of his charm.
Brave
Naive
Courage - Drake is extremely Brave, some one who stands
for what he believes and fights when the odds are against him,
This is just like a hero.

The Shadow

The Joker

The Joker is a master criminal with a clown-like appearance. Initially portrayed as a violent sociopath who murders people for his own amusement. The shadow is the opposite of the hero, the one in who creates the story and must be stopped. 

Characteristics
High intelligence - The Joker is an extremely smart and intelligent man, and in some case the Joker can be like the trickster as a very deceiving  sly and merciless character.
Lack of remorse or guilt - It seems as if the Joker does not care about his victims or his actions. He is a very evil man as well as inconsiderate.

Dr. Robotnik

Doctor Robotnik, also known as Doctor Eggman is mad scientist with an IQ of 300, who plans to conquer the world in order to build his Eggman Empire, and is the archenemy of SonicTheHedgehog. 

Characteristics
Genius -  Doctor Eggman is extremely smart and classed as a genius without the certificate. He always comes up with clever plans to conquer the world and defeat sonic.
Childish - Eggman seems to be quite childish for instance if sonic defeats and ruins his plan it seems as though he throws strops and tantrums because he can't get his own way.
Evil - Of course the main characteristic would be that he is evil and wants to take over the world so he can build an Eggman empire!


Anima/Animus

Grim

Anna "Grim" Grímsdóttir was the communications expert at Third Echelon. Her job was to provide Sam Fisher with technical support while he is in the field, addressing any high-technology issues that he and other Splinter Cell operatives encounter during operations.

Characteristics
Computer skilled - Grim is extremely skilled on the computer and technology  She is a great hacker and provides Sam Fisher with intellegence needed.
Loyal - Grim is all who Sam Fisher trusts at the moment and she has been loyal to him to the start. Trustworthy and great to him.

Dom (Gears of War)

Dominic Santiago was known for his out right loyalty to his friend and some fear in the COG high command that his loyalty conflicts with loyalty to the COG he made a promise to himself that he would make sure that he never loses his loved ones. After the death of his wife, Dom was brought to the breaking point  leading to him to becoming a physically and psychologically changed man

Characteristics
Loving - Dom is an caring and considerate man who lost a lot of his family. He sticks by his team and Marcus and ends up sacrificing himself for them.
Brave - Dom is one of the bravest characters I have seen, he fights well to the end and stays close to his team when the locust arrive. He is smart and courageous.

The Trickster

The Riddler
Known for his purple domino mask and green question mark-covered costume, either as a skintight cat suit or a business suit and bowler hat and his special question mark shaped cane, the Riddler is obsessed with riddles, puzzles, and word games. He delights in forewarning police and Batman of his capers by sending them complex clues.

Characteristics
Untrustworthy - He was abused as a child and that compelled him not to tell the truth. He lies and lies, to everyone to get what he wants, also for amusement.
Psychopath - The Riddler has had a hard past and is mentally damaged. He is crazy yet intelligent for making up hard riddles.
Deceiving - He may say things are true or may point you in the right direction, however he only wants whats best for him and to annoy you.

Nigel West Dickens

West Dickens is an old swindler who poses as a traveling salesman when he is really a con man and is purported to have unique miracle cures for many medical and psychological problems, which he calls Nigel west dickens Elixir.

Characteristics
Scam artist - Nigel W. Dickens Lies about everything when it comes to selling. However people believe him and it benefits him 
profit wise.
Liar - He not only lies about his produce but also about his life stories and other 
memories.

The Mentor

Achilles Davenport was a Master Assassin and a Mentor for a span of time during the American Revolutionary war , Most notably, Achilles was the mentor to the Native american assassin - Connor.

Characteristics
Old - Achilles is quite an old man and has not a lot of life left in him. He is a match for the stereotypical "mentor" in games.

Wise - He is very smart and has had a lot of life experience as being an assassin. He is clever and teaches Connor well.

Irving Lambert
Sam Fisher's Operations Coordinator and mentor when it comes to advice and operations. He is also his boss but they are like father and son in my opinion. He was also one of Sam's closest friends.

Characteristics
Wise -  Lambert is quite old and has a lot of experience. He is clever and shares his thoughts with Sam in which changes his points.

Assertive - He is the boss, and what he says goes. He doesn't want people to get hurt and he is to blame if things go wrong.

Research Week - Task 2

In this Project, we are to start looking at the theme of Recycling and then we are to find away of making a character with that theme. In task 2 we were asked to reference a film, literature, illustration, designer, a game or animation which has the theme of recycling in it.

Artist 

Andrew Chase is a artist who creates sculptures of animals out of scrap metal. He creates Epic dinosaurs out of recycled parts in which have been thrown in the junkyard. I really think Andrew has a huge talent in which he makes his art look like it is alive, this is something in which I may look at when creating my character and this is a big inspiration. 

Heather Jansch Is utterly Brilliant, I searched artists who used recycling and thank god I did, Her art is outstanding and shocking. Heather is an artist who uses Drift wood to create brilliant Statues of Horses in which look so real.

Erika Iris Simmons looks at old media like cassettes to create absolutely unique and memorable works that feature famous people or team like Kurt Cobain, Beatles and Michael Jackson. To me this is something I have never seen and most people would be the same, It is unique and without doubt brilliant!

Films

The Film Wall-e is an obvious choice when looking at recycling, The film is basically about the earth in the future. The character is a small junk collecting robot, which ironically is made from scrap parts.

The film really got me focused on which could be classed as recyclable and also I think the character design is going to be something in which I will be looking at.

Animation

When looking for animations in recycling I could not find many.

However I stumbled over a youTube video in which is a stop motion animation comprising of plastic models, human hands and Flash frame-by-frame animation. The theme is recycling. It simply shows a mans hands in which transforms recyclable items into different objects. I thought It was clever and so added it here. The link is : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV3-2pC5hU8

Recycling in Games

One game in which I have looked at before this,

is the game samorost. This game uses Photography

to create an environment, however it uses recyclable materials

in the game and It looks very unique and different.

tbc

Illustrations

Here is a a piece of art in which I found on deviantart. It uses the theme of recycling to create a boat/ship. I really like this piece however I wish I was able to find the artists name.

Other

One very interesting aspect in which was not on the list was recycling in fashion and normal life. I looked at The fact people use recycled materials as clothing and also for tools or jewelry. I think that I could use Recycled clothes such as Newspapers and Scrap metals to create or act as

a fabric.