Showreel and Website

T have rendered my show-reel now and added to my mockup website, www.rixhillart.co.uk.
The website design is inspired by the professional websites that feature the minimum amount of distraction from the subject matter. I have also maintained that every link is only 2 clicks away from each other, enabling for easy navigation. I have installed on the front page, links to both my personal  blog and my DeviantArt account. These are both updated frequently. The show reel is uploaded to the first page, but unfortunately  the software I used to compile the website is unable to imbed a video onto a page and must open it separately (this is without publishing to the internet).
   The show-reel itself came together at the last minute, but I am not entirely happy with the outcome after going through it several times, there still remain some minor transitional errors between slides that I missed and the exported video (in h.264 format) blur slightly. This I expected, but am unable to compensate for even when rendering a second video. The total length of the show-reel is just over a minute,  at 69 seconds.
   The soundtrack I used for the show-reel is Aztec Ambition by Arbiter, available from newgrounds.com.available here:
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/352803

The software I used to compile the website limits me to 5 pages and is called Serif WebPlus Starter Edition. It is a limited program but free up until a point.

Final concepts 14-15

   These are the final 2 images are the last 2 making a total of 15. The left one is designed to look more menacing with the skull visor. The right one is a developed version of the robed concept generated earlier. I deliberately made use of the triangle theory that states that a triangular shape in design is more attractive to the human eye than other shapes. Its for this reason that the armour is broken into tri-shaded areas. The boots highlighted metal, the chest piece and leg ware, and the shapes of some of the other ones.

Finals 11-13

The next 3 of my final selected concepts. The one on the far left evolved from the masked thumbnail image that I wanted to develop further. This image was inspired by the concept art of Charlie Wen who worked on designing the armour for the Thor film.
The second image was an unexpected but interesting development from the original design. The lighter weight model I feel looks like a sniper, but would not seem out of place as a standard infantryman. The quad shaped armour on the chest piece and the way the backpack loops through the pauldrons give a segmented look to the soldier, a theme that could be explored in other areas of the Roscillian army. The final image, (far right) was developed from the concept of the flying suit idea that the soldiers would drop into battle from altitude and fight at ground level. The helmet has been redesigned to appear more streamlined and the overall materials have been tinkered with to include a more resistant armour.

Contextual Studies 4

During my search for more information on the social aspects of gaming, I focused once again on Dr. Bartle and discovered that he had created a test to deduce a gamer's type of play. These ranged from explorer, socializer, killer or achiever. This means someone who enjoys escapism, someone who uses games a purely a format to be social with others, someone who enjoys competition and the rush of besting someone at a game, or a completion focused mind that enjoys knowing they have done better on a game than their peers. Of course, like all tests the answers are never 100% accurate and there is some cross over between answers. After taking the test I was classed an achiever killer/achiever socialiser and I passed it onto other players. The results were not what I had hoped but still informative, there was no clear 'common' amongst types and I was unable to get results back off of enough participants. 
   I ran into a story online however stating that a person's gamer type can change over time as they experience new things, new mechanics etc. Whether this renders the Bartle test pointless or not is unknown, I am not sure it does as there is a possibility that there is a correlation between the age of a gamer and the reasons for play. When younger, I would have likely categorized myself as an explorer, trying to visit everywhere and involve myself utterly in the storyline, but I find my current description as a achiever to be an accurate reflection of my play style.

Bartle Test Link:
GamerDNA (06/05/2012), The Bartle Test,  http://www.gamerdna.com/quizzes/, last accessed 11/05/12

 Information on test:
Jawapet, (October 2 08) http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/jawapet/102008/2712_Bartle-Test-why-players-need-to-take-it , last accessed 16/05/12

Contextual Studies 03

In searching for effects that MMORPGs like World of Warcraft have on people, I have come across many stories of incidents of extreme MMO addiction, where the player had become so immersed in this virtual world that they have neglected their own, and even others, health. These articles are heavily conveyed in the media as incidents citing why MMO games are bad and should be banned or restricted but few of these stories have good outcomes. But as once said, 'There is no news like bad news'. So after continuing searching I began to look for stories that we've all heard about but needed examples of, stories where lasting relationships have come out of online games. This is how I found a website devoted entirely to couples who had met online through the play medium and developed strong lasting relationships that grew from teamwork and co operative play.

Author Unknown, (2009), MMO couples, http://mmocouples.wordpress.com/, last accessed: 03/05/12

  It would be remiss of me however to ignore the media frenzy invoking stories of neglect caused by online games, so I took a recent example of child neglect linked to gaming as an extreme example of the negative affect of such immersive and expansive games.

Thompson, Paul (June 2011), Daily Mail, available from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1394903/, last accessed 04/05/12

Author Unknown, Video Game Addiction: When Video Games are more than just Games…, (http://www.video-game-addiction.org/what-makes-games-addictive.html, last accessed 04/05/12

 I also need to go into more detail about how the games early fps were the first to pioneer multiplayer as a social experience and I need to look more into the psychology of games, why we enjoy them so much.

Contextual Studies 2

"It [game] proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes the formation of social groupings that tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress the difference from the common world by disguise or other means" -Johan Huizinga,

Huizinga, Johan (1992), Homo Ludens, Beacon Press.

This quote narrates quite fittingly how games can be used as a social medium and will be incorporated into my introduction to give some needed direction to the essay.

I have also come across this interview with Donald Bitzer, in it he discusses the repercussions of what he terms, 'virtual trade', the exchange of in game items. I have used an interesting extract from this interview in my essay to illustrate how games can exist beyond a social for of recreation.

Interview with Bitzer, Donald L., (1988), Interviewed by Sheldon Hochheiser, on 19^th February 1988.

 In support of the quote I use from the video interview in the last post I made,  "What we see now is people playing games, literally on every layer of society, ranging from the Farmville super-world to what we do…we are expanding the imagination of players of the time.” –Richard Hilleman, chief creative officer of EA,

  I will examine the game farmville to show how not all games are for the hardcore solo player and how multi-player can be made more accessible to a wider audience. This has lead me to Zynga's homwpage, where I was surprised to learn that Cityville outshines Farmville by more than double its registered users.