Reviewing peers final projects

Today the class presented there final multimedia projects. We split into our groups and walked around the class looking at everyones projects. Every project was of a very high standard, they ranged from kids learning games, car racing games to open world and action games.

My favourite game that I seen was the animal farm interactive learning game. The game was filled with vivid colours and bright imagery, perfect for children. The game consisted of 6 levels, audio and a visually appealing loading screen. This game was of a very high quality and was fully functional. The farmer and animal animations were perfect for a children's game and were designed well with bright colours and symmetrical shapes. This was my favourite project that I viewed today because I liked the design and layout of the game. The audio and background music really added an element of fun to the game. I like the overall idea and concept of the game and think they have really achieved there goal.

Another game I really liked was a match the blocks monster game. The game was fully functional with a loading menu screen. The game had an element of fun and was visually appealing due to a variety of vivid colours. I liked the simplicity of this game and the appearance.

Another game that I really enjoyed playing was a fantasy action game. This game was designed beautifully, the playing terrain and characters were designed at a very high standard. The game was fully functional and the levels were fun and challenging. There were a variety of controls such as attack, move and jump. I liked how visually appealing this game was and I think it was completed at a professional standard. The sound effects really add to this game, making it more enjoyable when playing.

The next game I viewed and liked was a car racing game for android. The game was fully functional and easy to use. The use of background music added an element of fun to the game and it was very enjoyable to play.

Overall I enjoyed playing and seeing everyones games and projects. They were all done at a high standard and presented well.

Beginning the Magazine Layout

After our short presentation, showing the class our idea, Chloe and I began to do the final design for out interactive magazine.

As we are waiting for audio back from the people we interviewed we began to layout the structure of our pages. We chose the colour scheme for each artist and picked out a variety of images of the artist that suited.

In the previous blog I spoke about learning how to add audio and videos to Indesign. We are waiting to receive the interviews in audio form so for the meantime we have included the written interview in our magazine. The audio element in the magazine will be used for usability purposes, if someone had trouble reading small text of preferred listening to audio rather than reading text.

On one of our artists, Paul Jennings, we have included a video of him performing alongside a short interview in studio.

We are continuing to work on the layout of each page at the moment and when we receive the audio interviews we can simply add them to the interactive magazine.

We are happy with how the project is going and we look forward to presenting it!

Project updates

Hi welcome back to my blog!

Over the last week, Chloe and I have been very busy organising and constructing our creative industries interviews.

We constructed a list of questions that we think were suitable for our topic.

Questions:
1. Introduce yourself - Name, age, field of interest, education
2. What drew you to your career?
3. As a child what did you want to be when you grow up?
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
5. Do you feel that in Ireland today, there is a general standard that defines success in terms of job, money and security? Do you feel this standard is pressurised among the youth of Ireland?
6. Do you define yourself as successful? How do you define success?
7. How did you first find yourself gaining success?
8. Do you plan on leaving Ireland for good? Why/why not?
9. Are you of the opinion that there is an environment for creativity to blossom in Ireland today?10. Have you experienced this? If so, did you have to find alternative methods of support?
11. Could you elaborate on this, do you think this is a necessary practice? Why do you think this happens? 
12. What do you think could be done to invoke change in Dublin for young ‘creatives’?
13. Do you see many examples of creative initiative in Dublin today? Do you think more needs to happen? Is the government doing enough? 
14. What advice would you give to those new and fresh to the creative scene in Ireland?

Ireland as we all know is a very small community. It’s been discussed quite a lot that many young people believe that in order to succeed in creative industries, they must look elsewhere.
Do you agree with this view? 

Subset: “Partially. It depends on how hungry you are for success, whatever that means to you. We are constantly told we should move abroad where we our work will be well received 

but for us we would prefer to fail doing what we want rather than succeed doing what we don't. Ireland is an integral component of that. Arguably the most important.”

15. What do you think of this view? Please elaborate if possible

After me and Chloe constructed these questions, we than began to contact the various people we wanted to interview. We contacted alternative creatives from all aspects, from fashion ehnthusiastics  and graffiti artists to alt new upcoming musicians and DJ's. We used social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook to contact these artists, and luckily for us each artist was eager to take part! 

In terms of design layout, we have started the basic design of our e-magazine. With all the material collected from most of the creatives we have been in touch with, we are nearly ready to add the interview results to our magazine alongside various images, videos and audio.

To make our magazine a multimedia project its important that various mediums are included in our magazine, so I decided that adding audio and videos to the magazine would work perfectly, but I was unaware on how to do this in Indesign.

I watched a short Youtube Tutorial on how to add video clips and audio to an Indesign project, I tested this out myself in Indesign and it was a success!

Youtube tutorial

Now that we have gathered a lot of the material for our e-mag, we can start to build the layout in more detail and record our videos and audio for the magazine.

I look forward to the outcome of this project as I think it is a unique idea with a lot of potential!

Game Design Document

This week we created a short GDD presentation on our multimedia project.

 In my presentation I talk about all aspects of the e-magazine that Chloe and myself are creating.

We are creating an e-magazine based around young creatives living in Dublin. Our magazine will consist of a variety of mediums such as photography, audio and film.

All information is presented below,

Enjoy!

GDD - Presentation

Screen shot from presentation

Layout

Introduction

For my multimedia project I would like to create an interactive digital magazine. I would like to include digital audio, graphic design and videos in my magazine. This literature review takes a look on writing for the web and magazines, magazine editing and engaging with online interactive objects.

 Body

Writing for Multimedia and the Web - Timothy Garrand

This book is all about learning how to write for various multimedia areas such as websites, games and e-books. As I plan on creating an online magazine, it is important that I understand how to correctly write for the web so I get my information across effectively to my desired audience.

Writing feature stories: how to research and write newspaper and magazine articles - Ricketson, M

This book was a user-friendly approach to story writing for journalism beginners to learn to move beyond conventional news stories and embrace their creativity to create compelling features, generating fresh ideas and sifting through raw material and choosing the best angle to work at.

Shoogleit.com: Engaging Online with Interactive Objects - Stefano Padilla and Mike J. Chantler Texture Lab, School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK

In this article I read about Shoogleit, an online tool which aims to increase user engagement and make online pages more interactive. Shoogleit adds interactivity to any object using short video clips or a sequence of images.
Shoogleit tutorial - After watching the tutorial on how to use Shoogleit, I think it would be very simple and beneficial to use in an online magazine to add more interactivity with the reader.

Magazine editing - John Morrish, Paul Bradshaw

I found this book very beneficial to read as it covered every aspect of creating a magazine, online and print. This book covered how magazines work, editorial strategy, the right words, how to apply  pictures and design correctly and managing production.

Citation

1. Timothy Garrand(2006), Writing for Multimedia and the Web. https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780240808222/writing-for-multimedia-and-the-web

2.  Ricketson, M(2004), Writing feature stories: how to research and write newspaper and magazine articles. https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/view/rmit:4016

3. Stefano Padilla and Mike J. Chantler Texture Lab, School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK(2011), Shoogleit.com: Engaging Online with Interactive Objects. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241195201_Shoogleit_com_Engaging_Online_with_Interactive_Objects

4. John Morrish, Paul Bradshaw(2012), Magazine editing. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781136642074

Source

Annotated bibliography

Annotated biography's
Writing for Multimedia and the Web - Timothy Garrand

This book is all about learning how to write for various multimedia areas such as websites, games and e-books. As I plan on creating an online magazine, it is important that I understand how to correctly write for the web so I get my information across effectively to my desired audience.

Writing feature stories: how to research and write newspaper and magazine articles - Ricketson, M

This book was a user-friendly approach to story writing for journalism beginners to learn to move beyond conventional news stories and embrace their creativity to create compelling features, generating fresh ideas and sifting through raw material and choosing the best angle to work at.

Shoogleit.com: Engaging Online with Interactive Objects - Stefano Padilla and Mike J. Chantler Texture Lab, School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK

In this article I read about Shoogleit, an online tool which aims to increase user engagement and make online pages more interactive. Shoogleit adds interactivity to any object using short video clips or a sequence of images.
Shoogleit tutorial - After watching the tutorial on how to use Shoogleit, I think it would be very simple and beneficial to use in an online magazine to add more interactivity with the reader.

Magazine editing - John Morrish, Paul Bradshaw

I found this book very beneficial to read as it covered every aspect of creating a magazine, online and print. This book covered how magazines work, editorial strategy, the right words, how to apply  pictures and design correctly and managing production.

Multimedia Project Research

Hi and welcome back to my multimedia blog!

I really enjoyed this module in the first semester so i am looking forward to this semester.

My team consists of me and Chloe. We decided to work together for this project as we have similar interest and have worked successfully as a team in the past. Me and Chloe met up to discuss our options for this project. We listed what skills we could bring to our project before deciding on any final idea. My skills consist of graphic design, audio manipulation and filming and Chloe's skills consist of photography and coding.

After listing our skills we began brainstorming project ideas that fit in our range of skills.

Our possibilities for a project consisted of:
- A documentary on people interested in fashion and music in Dublin
- A documentary on sustainable fashion in Ireland, charity shopping guide etc
- An online magazine (on fashion, Dublin culture or music; including audio, videos and photographs)
- A physical magazine (")
- A podcast (on music, Dublin culture or fashion)

Music and fashion are two topics that me and Chloe are interested in and we would like to incorporate one of these topics into our project.

Roles:
Me: Graphic designer, editor
Chloe: Researcher, photographer

Inspirations:

http://districtmagazine.ie/ - Magazine inspiration

https://player.fm/series/it-galz - Podcast inspiration

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmTzlTIym99k0jjHG7Trhfw - Documentary inspiration

Unity Tutorial

For this weeks Unity tutorial I watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uOdm2wt43E, a tutorial on character movement.

I decided to watch this tutorial again as I was having difficulties when getting my character to move. The video was very beneficial and I was then able to get my penguin character to move. It still needs some work but my game is starting to come along now. I find the free Youtube Unity tutorials have really helped my progress as a developer and there is a Youtube tutorial for every challenge I face.

My game is not completed yet but I am feeling confident that it will be playable by the deadline!

Screen shot from link about.

Game Testing

For this weeks reading I read all about game testing. Without a doubt game testing is one of the most important parts of the game making process. You should test your game throughout the whole making process so you can change and improve parts of your game and to ensure your game is working fluently.

This is a variety of different kinds of game testing;

Bug Testing

Focus testing

Usability testing

Balance testing

Fun testing

It is important to constantly test your game in order to improve your game and so it suits the games target audience. It is good to get feedback from other game designers but receiving feedback from players is more beneficial as they know what needs they want the game to meet in order to enjoy the game. Feedback from other game designers can be beneficial when you are having trouble with your game technically but at the end of the day the players opinion is most important as they are the people who will be using and buying your game.

Asking peers for feedback and giving feedback can be very beneficial in the game  making process. Constructive criticism is very important in order to improve your game.



image link

Alpha

So this is my Alpha at the moment. I know its really behind and I have tones of coding to add to my game in order to make it work but I keep adding to my terrain to try and make it look a bit better. Im finding it hard to find everything I need in the free asset store, still searching for a free water asset that I could use for my game. Im beginning to worry as I've had no look finding this and its getting frustrating. I might have to improvise or change up my game slightly if I can't find something that could be used as water.

I still need to add a timer to my game and add additional coding. At the moment I feel slightly stuck and I'm not entirely sure what I should be doing but Im continuing to add to my game daily even if its just small things in the terrain for appearance.

Unity Tutorial

Welcome back to my blog!

This week I was given another chance to explore the online Unity tutorials. I really enjoy browsing through Youtube and looking at a variety of different tutorials from all different angels. The tutorial that I liked the most was by N3K EN and it was a tutorial on how to make a subway skater kind of game.

 Link to video

In this tutorial he uses a penguin running on a track against the clock. I wish I had seen this tutorial before I began my game because I think this style of game would of suited my game idea a lot better. The game he was creating seemed challenging but I think with some work I could achieve it.

After watching this tutorial Im on two minds either to start my game from scratch. I might test this style out and see if it would be manageable to create in the short amount of weeks I have left to create this project.

Online Penguin runner game

Game Stories

This weeks reading was all about game stories. I think for a game a strong story line really adds to the engagement of a game for the player. The mechanics and the minor technical details are all very important, but that the main story, or feeling you get when you play is what is really important for the player. 

First article I read - Best Games of the year

Second article I read - Q&A: New AAA studio from 2K Games all about players' stories

Third article I read - The Blue Shell and its Discontents

In each article I read, they all state how the content and the story of a game is very important. They talk about how a story in a game really catches the players attention and makes them feel immersed in the game. They talk about how stories can add to the overall feeling and impact you feel when playing a game, I think this is important as it makes game playing that bit more exciting and enjoyable!



Image link

First Playable

Prototype: After doing some rough sketches on what I wanted my game level to look like, I had a good idea how I was going to design my level on Unity.

I downloaded some snowy mountains off the asset store and I downloaded a snow texture for the base of my website. I then downloaded a penguin character off the asset store, unfortunately all the normal penguin characters were not free to download but I found a toy collection which was perfect for my game as it had a cartoon look.

So far I have come across some difficulties in my game. Setting up the terrain and adding texture was a breeze. I then added some rock textures and trees and a bright sky box to make my game look more realistic. I made a dip in the terrain, this is where I would add water to my game which is a very important part of the game I am making. I looked over the Jimmy Vegas tutorial where he went through adding water to a scene but I struggled to find the water asset that he used. I browsed the asset store and I had no look finding a free water texture that worked for me. Besides this small problem my game has been going to plan and I think its beginning to take some shape. I have to still add controls and a timer to the game. I must also create the ice caps in which George must jump across in order to return to safety. 

This is a screen shot of my game so far   

I have been meeting all my targets.