With this final quarter wrapping up the school year, you would expect it to feel that way; it doesn't. This year online has been an odd and difficult one (for me anyway) and with so much less time in class both teachers and students are left to work until the very last minute. Even still, the work I managed to get done this year for game design is incredibly important, especially the information learned in the Junior Programmer Pathway which we are just wrapping up. In a year that mostly felt like a blur, I feel I learned a lot after this class after picking up Unity and C#, and since next year we will be utilizing these newly learned tools, I regret all those sleepless nights just a slight bit less. I look forward to being able to take AGAD next year, because as we will be going into the hopefully normal school year being familiar with Unity we will have a lot more time and capabilities to get things done, and do them well. This year we didn't have the time to get our own games going, or touch on the post-production process like we did the pre and production processes, but that's just another reason to look ahead to next year, and maybe even work on my own projects on my own time during the summer.
In Summary:
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After learning the basics of Unity, we started working on our next course in Unity Learn: Junior Programmer. This course will teach us the basics of programming in Unity, which is key for game development in general, and especially in Unity. While previously having experience and doing work in the 3d space, this will open up new doors, as the code is really the bread and butter of any game. It started off with us learning C# scripts, we were able to customize the speed and direction of a vehicle in Unity. Something important we learned was how to make the camera follow the player using scripts. Obviously camera movement is fundamental when it comes to gameplay, so this was a key takeaway. We also learned how to take user input and apply it to the scene/assets. Aspects of game like these are why it is key to learn about coding and scripts if you want to develop games.
In Summary:
We've now begun moving out of the preproduction phase of game design; the brainstorming, storyboarding, prototyping, and sketching is now going to be put to use in the production phase. The game engine we will be learning in the GAD course is Unity, where we will grow familiar with the interface along with learning and using the programming language C# to create games of our own. Getting accustomed to the workspace/layout of Unity is one of the first steps in creating your first game in the engine, and learning the tools and where to find them quickly and efficiently can take time but will save you time in the long run. The image below shows some of the different components that make up the engine. Knowing about the various assets that make a game is also important, and methods like whiteboxing can aid in the process of creating your game. Mesh objects are incredibly important as the different types can either contain the bones that facilitate an animation, act as props (interactive and non-interactive), and manage collisions. Simple mesh objects called volumes determine a game area that differs from the other areas. Volumes can be used to define world boundaries, trigger an occurrence, change world physics in the specified area, or apply different render and lighting settings to certain areas in the game. Things like animations should be imported as the capacity of game engines like Unity to create animation is incomparable to other software like Blender or 3ds Max. This is only scratching the surface of the Unity engine, but getting started on complex software takes time, and with time we can learn about the specifics of the engine.
In Summary:
Most people reading this have probably heard of the game Osu!, as it is widely recognized and popular in the rhythm game genre. To new players having just downloaded the game, you are given a tutorial and the game comes with beatmaps you can start with before downloading or making your own. There are variations of gameplay that nearly anybody could find enjoyable; classic osu!, osu! mania, osu! taiko, and osu! catch. Most people, including myself, would typically play classic, but the variation available allows the game to catch the attention of a wider audience, and gives the player the opportunity for a more unique experience. Compeition is another key aspect; what makes the player strive to improve their scores, and their ability to complete increasingly difficult maps. For the average player, this can come from the leaderboards - the want to constantly improve personal best's to reach higher on the leaderboards. These leaderboards are made even more competitive with the introduction of the mods which can either increase or decrease your score multiplier. Mods can be not only an important tool for increasing your score and placement on leaderboards, but also can be a learning tool to make the maps easier on newer players. Another aspect of competition would be the multiplayer aspect. Being able to play maps in real time against other players can drive players to do better, continue playing and practicing in order to get a higher score than others. I played multiplayer with my friend, Madison, and it was even more fun than playing on my own as we could also share maps that we enjoyed and talk with one another, along with friendly competition. This also brings in an aspect of community which is key to a lot of successful games. Through the game chat you can meet new people with shared interests, but also since beatmaps are produced by the community you can play maps that relate to your own interests. Osu! has reached such popularity, in my opinion, because it is so accessible. The game is free to download and so are the wide range of maps available for download. In Summary:
Moving ahead we are going to be working on level design and creation, and the steps, process, and details that make a level fun and playable. One of the most important aspects of level design goes back to flow, a concept discussed earlier in the year. Your design should always keep in mind difficulty vs. fun, so as to be difficult enough to make for an interesting challenge, but not enough to the point where the game is no longer enjoyable, or even unplayable. Issues with difficulty vs. fun can be mediated by things such as spawn points; another good example would be the Osu! mods I went over in my last game review. Setting up diagrams is a key part of the process when designing levels. This is how you can set up your puzzles/challenges/obstacles and solely focus on those aspects to be used later in the process when actually creating the level. This will allow you to set up your obstacles, challenges, opponents, etc. without having to include aesthetics or art, so it's purely a reference for the level setup. The art behind level design is still important too, though. Making sure you have a consistent theme in your art and environment will help make the game more immersive and enjoyable for the player, jarring changes in aesthetic or art style can take the player out of the immersion.
In Summary:
We are currently working through the preproduction process of creating a game, specifically the conceptualization, concept art, and storyboarding aspects. After this though, we are going to be learning more about level design, and can even create our own game prototypes. This unit has been interesting because it is almost entirely built off of each of our individual game ideas, and we get to follow through on it with concept art and a prototype. In this class previously, we have built off of our previous work, but not in a way that entirely follows through on one concept like this. I am excited because of this, but also because we finally get to take a deeper look at level design. I've been wanting to learn more about level design for a while now; about what it takes to create a good level, the thought process from start to finish, and how to create the physical depiction of a design. I think it will be challenging to create a good level design, especially as it would be my first fully thought out level layout, but no one really expects game design to be easy.
In Summary:
In our next upcoming project, we are to create the concept artwork for our very own game idea! In order to do this we learned about the various processes that go into creating this artwork. This would include creating a mood board, making simple thumbnails, and refining those ideas into actual sketches, and eventually completely refined concept art. I found the idea of creating a mood board interesting and the most new out of these processes because when I draw I don't typically have to think out my concept that thoroughly as I am simply drawing for the sake of drawing. When it comes to concept art, however, it's clear that your ideas must be much more well thought out and thorough, as you want a design that gives a clear message, and one that is fully understand by the rest of the development team. The process for refining your art all the way from a thumbnail to the finished product is interesting to see because our simple silhouette thumbnail ideas can be the very basic foundation for a much more complex character design. This process isn't easy, and the amount of work put in by concept artists can often be overlooked as not many people think about these processes and all the genuine work put in behind the scenes. Being able to put myself in the shoes of a concept artist and execute my own designs helps me appreciate game artists even more!
In Summary:
So far this year we have delved into game mechanics and player-game interactions, and this upcoming unit I am looking forward to learning about conceptualization of games, storyboarding, and level layout. Learning about the preproduction processes of game development is an important inside look on what conscious decisions are made by developers. Lately we've been doing a lot of textbook learning, which is understandable for the content we've learned, but I'm looking forward to being able to apply information in a hands on way, which we will most likely be doing this upcoming unit. I am excited to be able to learn about level design and even be able to outline a level of my own if possible. Same goes for storyboarding as I enjoy drawing, and seeing how stories can be sketched out is very interesting. I'm interested to see how storyboarding works in the context of game design rather than just an animation, and if it differs at all. Completing these preproduction stages on my own would be a big accomplishment in and of itself, so I'm super excited to be able to learn about and work on my own game prototype. In Summary:
In this past unit we learned about the many careers in the game industry. When you think about how much goes into creating a game, it's no surprise that the industry has a very wide variety of jobs from sound designers to artists to programmers. For most people in this course, I think our end goal would obviously be game designer, but you have to work your way up. That is, unless you dive head first into game design as an indie creator, with your own small team. When working for big companies there are many different teams of people working together to create a game. Like a machine, each team is important. Sound designers and artists bring feeling to the game, programmers (obviously) make the game and make it run smoothly. Multi-tasking is also a possibility and can even be beneficial when working on a game as an independent developer. Being multi-faceted and having people on your team who are as well, can make communication easier by keeping the number of people on your team down, however it's also important to keep in mind that the less people working on your team the longer your game may take to produce. If you want to work in the game industry and are already artistically inclined, it's probably a good idea to broaden your horizons and while polishing up your artistic abilities perhaps take up coding on the side (programmers are extremely valuable for obvious reasons). Doing this will make you an important asset for your team, for example, if you are running behind on the coding for your game, but have the majority of your art assets ready to go, you can switch over to help out with the code. Along with this, it's important to work on your "soft skills" (teamwork and communication are key) and to make connections in the industry.
In Summary:
After going in-depth to camera settings and how they all work together to create a thought out picture, I feel I will be able to better understand how to incorporate this into 3D modeling. 3D simulated cameras include aperture, ISO, and shutter speed just as a camera irl. However, being able to test out these aspects in real time with a camera can be very useful in one's understanding of the concepts. Something interesting about these settings is how they all affect exposure, and can be used strategically to provide an image with the wanted exposure. Integrating these concepts with lighting which we previously covered, we can create more atmospheric, finished, and possibly realistic scenes. Going even further in-depth is Bokeh and FoV which are used to blur backgrounds (this is an oversimplification of Bokeh) and field of view can shift the focus, change the impact of certain objects, and change the tone. Utilizing these, we can create complex scenes, and when used correctly, more impactful scenes.
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About meI am a Senior at DSA and currently taking the Advanced Game Art and Design course. I enjoy playing video games and drawing in my free time. The opinions expressed within this blog are my own, and do not reflect that of Durham School of the Arts of Durham Public Schools Archives
May 2022
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