Sound and music in games

Better grab a seat, I could go on about music and sound forever! Oh and be prepared for videos.

  Sound and Music in games add a whole new level to your experience as a player. I for one have always been a huge fan of horror games such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Silent hill. Turn the music off and any suspense or horror really floats away, without sound you are constantly realized that the game you are playing is not real. No the monsters won't jump out of the screen or come smashing through your door. I am sure that big boss over there is friendly, not like there is any sound to tell me otherwise.

 In this blog I will be discussing music and sounds more personal to me and how they affect my own gaming experience. Everyone has their own opinions, their own idea of a good song or good sound, but the following ones are my personal favourites.

   Firstly lets talk about soundtracks. Now I may just be a typical emotional wreck of a girl but for me music in the right part of a game can make me feel tremendous joy, horrible sadness, longing, excitement and many more feelings which a story on its own couldn't create. There are many big names in the gaming industry for music, some such as Sam Hulik (Mass effect series) and Martin O'Donell (Halo 2.) It isn't just the composers who get interested. Many well known music artists, such as Florence and the Machine (dragon age 2) also enjoy creating music for video games.

For this example I shall take the game Bastion.

  Here is a game which revolves around sound and music, without it the game would make no sense (albeit it doesn't make much sense with the sound either.) You live on the Bastion after you wake up to find your world destroyed and all the people you knew are dead and gone. You meet an older fellow by the name of Rulf with a voice that could melt butter - I'd go as far to compare him to Morgan Freeman but that may be pushing it. You are then thrown into a world of music and narrative sided with fighting. There are two particular songs that when I head them, in one case I felt joy - it mean't another human. Then the other song made me heart ache for the poor boy. Yet at the end there was a song that mixed the two together, causing the game to end beautifully. That experience will be remembered for both its story and music much more than the gameplay itself. Heck half of the game I forgot I was even playing, as you just zone in and out of the action to hear the narrators voice and music in harmony.

  Another similar case would be Hotline Miami, although this is not one I can talk much about myself as I haven't played it... but I have friends and other people who love the game because the gameplay along with the music is quite psychedelic - leaving them in a state that would be hard to replicate by other means. Yet the game on its own would most likely not stand.

  Then there is sound in games. I ask you to watch this clip with sound:

  Now watch it again on mute. Ok, so you knew what was coming, but I would hope you noticed how different the video is without its sound. Sound creates atmosphere, which couldn't be more important for horror games. Even the small recognizable sounds of getting an item, or even just footsteps are so important within a game to make it seem realistic. If my horse made the same sound galloping on sand to it running on rocks I would know something went very wrong in the development - although I suppose some smaller companies could be forgiven.

   I'd like to talk a little more about Amnesia specifically. I have watched many horror movies - laughed at most, I have played many games, but no game has successfully made me hide under my covers in fear quite like Amnesia. I have played it far too many times, I know where the monsters are and all the needed items (I tend to enjoy messing with the monsters too) but it still terrifies me. Why? the insatiable noise of grinding teeth in the dark. The different grunt sounds that make you want to run in fear, the little sounds that mess with you as you wander down a dark corridor. The ambiance throughout the game is beautifully crafted with use of lighting, sounds and how it gets into your head, plays on your sub-conscience... This to me, is how powerful sounds can be in a game and how it can really stick a game in your memory.

  Now I leave you with the following videos of music in games that can bring a lot of emotion and feeling:

                                           Mass effect Leaving Earth - skip to about 1:30

                                                          Those Childhood memories

                                                              And who could forget?

Car engines? No, the gaming kind!

Without an engine, the worlds we create in our minds cannot be brought to life.

So, what is a game engine? I am sure if you are reading this you already know the answer to this, but for those of you who do not know: A game engine is the basic frame of a video game. It is the software you create your world in and it is the software you play a game in. For me it is what I use to stitch together my assets to create an environment.

 There are many different gaming Editors out there available for those who want to experiment. Currently I am working in Cryengine but know a fair amount of UDK as well. Within those editors you can create a map - a world if you like, which you can then populate with your assets or just use the basic items already found in engine.

So why are engines important?
 Well without one there would not be a game - so yeah, they're pretty important. Be it on your new Xbox one or your android phone, they all have engines but different companies use different ones. Some even use their own personal design. I intend to explore just a few of these engines today.

Cryengine 3 - Known for games such as Crysis and Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2.

Might as well start with the engine I know more about. Using Cryengine has been a lot easier for me in comparison with UDK as I found its interface easier to deal with. All you had to do was put the right file in the right folder and your object was in, setting up a material for the asset could be done through 3DS Max or through Cryengine itself, but it was simple to set up and easy to remember. The nice thing about using CryEngine is that no coding is necessary. I am familiar with some basic HTML coding but not with other types of coding.
Being able to move my assets, place, scale and even create collisions directly in the engine is incredibly useful if your proportions seem slightly off.
As for functions Cryengine has the ability to port to new gen consoles, PS3/Xbox 360/PC and even Ios and Android, considering how powerful mobile phones are they're becoming a larger and larger part of the gaming industry world - this gives users of Cryengine a much larger market, rather than only porting to a single console.

Overall Cryengine 3 has a nice easy interface to understand and is capable of working with many platforms. Now lets look at a more specific engine.

GameMaker - developed by Yo-yo games and typically known for Hotline Miami.

This is an engine mainly used for mobile gaming platforms and PC/web hosted games. It is relatively cheap in comparison with some of the larger engines available. The nice thing about this particular editor is that is it easy to use, be it used by a novice or long time experienced game creator. It specializes in 2D style games rather than 3D but can be used to create games quickly. Larger companies could spend a year working on a game in an editor like Cryengine or UDK, whilst a nifty little engine like GameMaker can have a single person create their game in a matter of weeks. The editor also has real time physics available and Open Source Audio.

Of course there are disadvantages to go along side its advantages. The market is cut by a relatively large amount by not porting to Playstation or Xbox arcade, meaning many games created can only be placed via PC or Mobile- of course this is no problem if the game you are developing is for PC or Mobile.


There are many engines out there for people to try, you just have to find the one you work with best and hone your skills using it. There are plenty of tutorials to help people along the way.







Links and references:
http://www.develop-online.net/news/the-top-14-game-engines-the-list-in-full/0114330
http://www.deluge.co/?q=what-is-a-game-engine
https://www.yoyogames.com/
http://www.crydev.net/

Documentation.

Working towards a brief.

   The purpose of this blog is to practice preparing a project outline and brief similarly to the one I shall be following for my FMP in third year. I hope to use this as a chance to show a professional approach to this task. After researching several styles of project briefs (linked at the bottom) and looking at the briefs we have had to follow over the last two years I hope what I write will be appropriate.

 The planning of a project is possibly the most important stage of creating a level or character. The brief is there to prepare you of the work ahead. It is used as a guide to follow and to be checked often, remember to always go back to your roots.

                                                                     Brief

Project outlines

                  The aim of this project is to create a realistic 3D environment which is to include a lead character, NPC, Vehicle and any extra props needed. The final result must be as close to an "AAA" standard game as possible. The level must run efficiently on lab computers at a minimum rate of 30 FPS at 1080i support.

Aims:

  

•  The final models must be highly detailed with minimal smearing and seams, however they must run         smoothly in engine.
•   Additional maps must be used to give your models the most realistic and effective outcome 
•   Topology to be used correctly and a sensible polygon/triangle limit in place.
•   To follow the brief and tecnical specifications correctly.

Learning Objectives:

•  To be able to work efficiently alone and to a deadline. 
• To successfully work to a plan and show good time management.
• To ensure all models work efficiently within engine.
• To have working collisions on all assets.
• To use skills in Photoshop, 3DS Max and chosen engine proficiently.

 

Additional Information:

The audience must be considered and shown throughout the environment through assets and level design.

The Genre must be reflected throughout the level.

Technical Specifications:

Software:

•         Photoshop
•         3DS Max
•         Cryengine

  (Optional)

•          Mudbox
•          Zbrush
•          Crazybump

                     Lead Character:

                           

•                                25,000 Triangle limit
•                               Two 1024x1024 Colour Diffuse map + Additional Alpha
•                               Two 1024 x 1024 Normal/Specular and additional maps.
•                                Correctly rigged 

                    NPC:

•                              Varies from 10-25,000 Triangles dependant on players interaction time.            
•                               Two 1024x1024 Colour Diffuse map + Additional Alpha
•                               Two 1024 x 1024 Normal/Specular and additional maps.
•                               Correctly rigged

                    Vehicle:

•                              10,000 Triangle Limit
•                              Two 1024x1024 Colour Diffuse map + Additional Alpha
•                              Two 512x512 Normal/Specular and additional maps

                     Environment and additional Props:

•                             Up to 200,000 Triangle Limit depending on density of props needed.
•                             LODs to be created sensibly
•                             Must run at 1080p resolution
•                             Must run at minimal 30 FPS rate.

Level must run smoothly and be appropriate for its audience. A flythrough and screenshots must be included alongside a design document to document the process of creation.

Links and references:
http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/open-days/sample-briefs/
http://www.gamespy.com/game-specs.html
http://www.gamespot.com/forums/system-wars-314159282/tech-specs-of-killzone-sf-and-crysis-3-character-m-29419004/
Also research into our past project briefs and others we have received from industry.

Note: this blog will most likely be edited once I have access to Microsoft word again, so for now the brief is here but not formatted how I would like it to be.

Level Design VS Environmental Design

To start us off, here is a similar article to the topic I shall be discussing:

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DanTaylor/20130929/196791/Ten_Principles_of_Good_Level_Design_Part_1.php

I hope to not repeat this article too much but I do agree with a lot of what it speaks about.

Last year I blogged about the purpose of Environmental Design and aesthetics of gaming, however people often misconceive Level Design as being the same thing, which is very far from the truth. Level design is the creation of a layout and how the environment will sit in engine, where objects will go. It is also how people will interact with objects in their surroundings and the different ways in which the game can be played.
I realize I will probably use these references a lot but lets take a look at Dishonored and Thief.

Dishonored :

Thief:

Here are two street maps for both games. Dishonored has a very linear map that is easy to read, Thief has a much more complex layout which is much harder to read (well, its fine when in game, but just from seeing it here its quite unclear.) The point I am making here is that although Dishonored's map is very linear, when playing there are many different ways to get from point A to point B, those paths are easy to follow and are interesting even though simple, there is always something going on no matter which part of town you are in. 

 In comparison, Thief has a large ground map but very little exploration outside of these paths and honestly? very little reason to explore outside of those paths. There aren't any surprises, interesting characters to meet... Maybe a few collectibles to find but overall its much easier to just run along the street rather than stop and explore.

This is down to level design and planning of the level. Complex is not always the solution, a simple map can be just as interesting by chucking in a few extra goodies that make you want to explore. 

 As a player you want to get the full experience out of your game. You want that opportunity to research the town, city or building you are in and by adding those intractable items outside of the main path is what I find to be exciting in a game. The art work doesn't even need to be there! simple place holders in the world won't make me lose that incentive to explore, just because its all white, un-textured or a simple white box in place.

It's the little extras that make the game so much more interesting, rather than just "go get the mission done" I want to see "Go get the mi.. or whats this over here? and this! Oh this looks interesting too.. Ok the mission can wait." In my eyes that would make it a much more enjoyable game to play.

When designing a level you have to take into account what NPCs will be in the scene and where, the layout of the map, how easy it is to navigate and other ideas such as how the player should feel when playing, what do you want the player to be thinking? This takes planning and research, but can also be achieved by releasing pre-alphas to get feedback on how the world feels, then it can be edited to fit  with the companies ideal outcome - so no, it has nothing to do with the art of the game, but more so on how the game will play and how a company wants the player to react and feel throughout.

Links:

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130428105816/dishonoredvideogame/images/7/75/Map_eminent_domain.jpg

http://guides.gamepressure.com/thief/guide.asp?ID=24017

Visual Composition

The composition created in a 3D level or character design are usually more complex than its 2D counterpart, yet the principals remain the same.
Within a painting you would usually find a key focal point or colour that your eye is drawn towards. This is not an accidental part of a painting, but a more complicated
thought that has been expressed through drawing or painting.
For example take the below painting:

Painted in oils by Dirck De Bray in the 17th century. The contrast between the bright flowers in the foreground and the much darker features behind means our eye is typically drawn to the more detailed flowers
in the foreground (for me specifically the pink tulip in the center.) It seemed this painting was created using the principal of the Fibonacci spiral (below.)

our eye is drawn towards the center of the spiral, which again in Brays painting would tell us how the pink tulip is the main focal point.

However pulling off this kind of effect in a 3D situation would be more complex. In a 2D picture the image will never change, it is just one single frame. Now imagine trying to get the same sort of effect throughout a game level
which typically runs at 40+ Frames Per Second. This can typically be achieved through lighting and "reveals."

The best example of this I can give is that of Halo 4. A lot of the game levels are grey, either indoor metal or outside rocky levels mostly played during dusk/night time. The below screenshot is an example:

The surroundings are a very dull grey/brown with blue highlights, quite difficult to extinguish from your HUD and gun, however the use of a single bright light makes the scene interesting whereas without that light there would'nt be much to see or be interested in.

That light can be considered the focal point as that is what your eye is drawn towards, then there in the composition of the rocks encompassing the light, telling you that is the way the player must go. (Would it be corny to reference the phrase "go towards the light?" as
it seems to be a basic principle most games use.

However its not just found within game levels, similar principles can be found within character design as well.
Typically it is human nature to be drawn towards a persons face when talking to someone or just looking around in general. You wouldn't concentrate on their legs or shoes (unless they were seriously fabulous) but on their faces, as humans recognize faces before anything else.
- Similarly to how people can walk around and see faces in objects, you'd must easily recognize it as a face than a torso or body part such as a hand.

Therefore designs typically base around a characters facial features, then clothing would come second. I imagine the face to be the most important part to a character therefore making it the "focal point" in the design.

A good example of this can be found within games that have their own character creation option. There is usually a large range of choices for facial features such as brow depth or jaw width, yet only a few options for the body design as it is seen as less important than the face.
Therefore the composition of a character would be based around the face.


To me this shows that you could create a highly detailed scene or character but without that focal point by either lighting, colour of other method the image may seem dull to the eye, to keep the player interested there must be something they wish to look at or be drawn towards, be it in 2D or 3D.


Links and references:

http://collection-lingenauber.org/still_life_paintimgs.html
http://babysoftmurderhands.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Halo-4-Campaign-Mode-Screenshots-5.jpeg
http://www.dragonage.com/

Planning and Concepts

Planning is important to any project be it back in school all the way up to the highest businesses.
There was planning even before your life began and that planning reflects on how you're brought up and the kind of person you will become in life.
Video Game Art Design is no exception, bad planning will lead to a bad final result.
It is important to plan for the appropriate amount of time to each task. For example if we were set four weeks to create a scene you'd need to plan out what is to be done each week, possibly each day for such a short amount of time,
one week would be set for concepting, setting up colour palettes and figuring out priorities of each task. Doing this successfully will lead to a successful project, however bad time planning and management will lead to a poor outcome.
Many people still think the planning is the least important part as its the work at the end which is important yet that work cannot be produced at a decent standard without good planning.
You can not create anything in 3d without a concept first, how can you make something when you don't know what it is suppose to look like, its time period or function?

I will be using the following examples to show my idea of good and bad planning.

The picture above shows a colour chart of the whole world of Journey, its shapes and colours and how those change as the player progresses,
this is a pretty basic picture for a 3d artist to follow, but it highlights everything said artist needed to know before building.
Landscape wise this picture shows the shape of the landscape and how it changes, along with the colour and mood of each "level." It is a relatively simple piece yet is full of useful information. It is important that everyone in the team follows the right colour palette to save on fixing
textures later down the line. Journeys concepts remained simple and the world relatively small which made it easier to create a concise, beautiful but short game which really pushed the idea of "Quality over Quantity."

Another example of planning that - in my opinion, left a worse outcome is that of "Thief" developed by Square Enix.
Although I fully enjoyed the game there were many frustrations throughout that could've been avoided with better planning.
It is considered a stealthy game yet you often have to run in the light along streets as you are unable to climb most buildings. This often leads to being spotted which is not ideal in a stealthy game. I feel
this could've been avoided with better level planning. You tend to spend a high amount of time desperately running around an area trying to find ANYTHING to climb to get out of harms way.
You will also spend a lot of time trying to find a way up to an open window with no obvious way to get up to said window (quite often you have to run
quite a long way from said window to climb onto a path that will then lead you back to the window.)
I feel there should've been more planning on these routes so there would be less frustration for the player when...well, playing the game.

I try to use my own experience in planning on previous projects to help me figure out how to plan - which is something I find most hard, for my next project. I feel my ability to manage my time and plan my projects
is improving the more I do it, however motivation and lack of can often get in my way. I have had a lot of issues due to bad planning
which will hopefully get ironed out as time goes on.


Image references:
http://gamingbolt.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Thief-city-hub-41.jpg
http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-23/jrn-world-color-flowchart.html

Year two, the beginning

It's only been a couple of months and you can really feel the pressure this year. I feel so much more motivated to get my work done with time to spare and to a professional level. One problem with this is that I have been concentrating so hard on my visual design and Games Production that my poor blog has been neglected and majorly lacking in content, so it is official. Sunday is Blog day. I suppose this may seem rich considering it's Monday today, but from this point onward expect at least one blog update every Sunday.

  I realize a good online presence is crucial which is why I shall be setting up my personal online portfolio later this year, most likely over the Christmas period. I hope this will give you the chance to get a feel for the work I do, especially now I have the equipment to work properly in Photoshop, something I was very in-continent and actually quite worried about using considering how advanced some people in our course are. But then if I spend all my time worrying over other peoples work then my own confidence will slip, something i do not want. I've spent the last year becoming more confident in my abilities and I am not about to throw this away.

 It's great to see how popular the course has become over the last few years, with all its publicity and amazing students. I feel privileged to still be here and to have the opportunity to work with some truly awesome people, I just hope I can keep up enough this year to do well in the end. I am sure it'll be fine, my imagination can be pretty crazy but I feel that is something I can use to my advantage here, even if i couldn't really express it during A levels.

But life is a ride you just have to go with, so lets see what happens, shall we?