From Beginning To...

  Now that I've started learning the basics in Unity 3D, I have to begin thinking about what kind of game I want to create. The first thing I did was think about my favourite genres of games to play. I decided on RPG's, Platformers, Dungeon Crawlers (this may fall under the RPG category, but I consider it a different experience entirely), and Stealth Action. Four genres, four game ideas to flesh out. Brainstorming works best on paper RPG's are my favourite video game genre as a whole. I love the player progression, customisation, the lore and the world building. There are usually many different ways to go about situations, and one can vary the way they play the game each playthrough to get a completely different experience. While I love to play these games, creating one may prove difficult with all of these factors in mind. However, it is still possible. - RPG   When necromancers kill your parents, you are left with nothing in the world except the desire for j...

Game Design is genuinely this dramatic. Image Source:  Know Your Meme   I have finally begun learning how to design a game.   With the help of Johnny Vegas and his fantastic, well paced Unity tutorials ,  I have made a start on my first game world. From simple controls such as panning and zooming, to adding programming scripts to objects, Vegas covers everything a beginner like me needs to know to get started.   After figuring out some basic controls, the first thing I placed in my world was terrain. This was a simple 100 X 100 plane with no outstanding features - yet. To give the terrain some detail, I attached a stone texture to it. The textures are quite customisable, and one is able to change the metallic qualities and smoothness for a variety of different looks. I also learned how to create a Normal Map for the textures. From what I can gather, a normal map is used to fake the lighting in bumps and crevices.   It was time to start creating ...

Pieces from a board game. Image Source:  PHere What is a game?   A game has many definitions. One such definition used by Ian Schreiber is "a play activity with rules that involves conflict." Each game has a set of fundamentals that make it a game. They have ends and means; objectives, outcomes and rules defining how to get there. Decisions are made by a player, who seek objectives within the space given.   Schreiber states that there are six properties in a game: It is "Free". Playing is optional. It is "Separate", here meaning fixed in space and time in advance. It has an uncertain outcome. It is "Unproductive". It does not create real life goods or wealth. It is governed by rules. It is make believe.   These properties lend structure to a game, and help to distinguish the border between the game world and the real world. It is not necessary to play a game, therefore it is optional; the first decision made by the player is to...

What a burst of energy - aaaaand it's gone! Image Source :  QuickMeme   I recently read some articles to do with Time Management . This is an aspect of workflow that can be taken for granted, even though it is something that can make or break a project - or even a person. Giving too little time to projects can be detrimental to completing the task by a set date. On the other end of the spectrum, spending too much time working without purposeful breaks and downtime can lead to burning out and fatigue. As well as planning your time effectively , you have to execute your time effectively. That means; Beating Procrastination . Caroline Webb - Author Image Source:  WikiMedia   ' How to Beat Procrastination ', by Caroline Webb is a fantastic article with great insights into beating the ever looming desire to put things off. She states that our brains are programmed to procrastinate. We find it hard to complete tasks that don't have an immediate reward, opting ...

The AKAT-1 computer created in 1959. Image Source:  WikiMedia   Technology is progressing at an alarming rate. In sixty years computers have gone from 100kg, $90,000 monsters with fifteen megabytes of memory, to sleek and speedy, artificial intelligence that can fit in your pocket. The fact that I am able to look at a list of technology that I will be using and think; "Yeah, I'll get the hang of that pretty quick", is a testament to how adaptable generations have become. We are changing and evolving right alongside the tech that we create.   If some guy in 1959 can build one of the first computers from scratch with barely anything else to use as a reference, I reckon I can figure out Google Docs. - Ultan

Each week, I will have a range of tasks to complete. These will include: Reading Unity 3D Blog Comments Project Project Feedback   Immediately I'm thinking that the ones I will tackle first will be the practical ones; Project and Unity 3D. This may coincide with some reading depending on what I am trying to accomplish. If I need to learn new skills to progress, I will research and read up on those skills. Otherwise I will follow up the practical work with some readings on various digital media, aiming to expand my knowledge. To finish I will engage with peers and colleagues, giving feedback on their project work, as well as their blog. As a whole, the workload seems very manageable, and I'm looking forward to challenging myself in this field. Raccoon is eager to learn too. Image Source:  MakeAMeme   Extra Credit tasks include: Tech Tasks Wikipedia Trails Growth Mindset  HEART (Health & Happiness, Empathy, Attention, Reading, Time) ...

Fixed Vs Growth Mindset Meme. Created on  Kapwing While watching a Sesame Street playlist on YouTube with my two year old son, I came across a song titled " The Power of Yet ". They sing about challenges they face such as not knowing the words of a song, not being able to get a maths sum right, baking a recipe and it not turning out right etc. It goes on to show that all of them achieved their goal by continuing to try hard . "You didn't do it right now, but you're trying; you'll learn how. You just didn't get it yet, but you'll get it soon I bet. That's the power of 'Yet'." I didn't fully get the value of this until I watched a Ted Talk by Carol Dweck . Carol S. Dweck- Psychologist, Researcher & University Teacher. Image Source:  Wikimedia Commons   Dweck explains that there are two mindsets: Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset. According to her, a Fixed Mindset is one that is afraid to try new challenges for f...

The photo for my business profile: Ultan O'Cinnéide Photography   As the blog would lead you to believe, my name is Ultan O'Cinnéide. I'm a 26 year old father, drama teacher, photographer, videographer, student, and musician trying to fit as much of the things that I love in to every day. These are all things that I have become so passionate about, with the list continuously growing. The best news that I have heard in my Creative Digital Media college course is that employers are now looking for candidates skilled in many different fields. While I expect to be proficient in certain areas, I want as vast a knowledge as possible about as many things in the creative media field. Employability is a fortunate and welcome bonus, but I'm so invested because I love it.   I left a job as a Production Supervisor in a factory to be a stay-at-home Dad, and had the best time with my first child. Having so much time with him was a blessing, and a time of my life and his th...

Confused The Office GIF from Confused GIFs "The Office (US)" via  Tenor GIFs In our Multimedia Development workshop, we were tasked with coming up with a solution to the following scene: A traffic sequence puzzle We simply had to create a sequence for the traffic lights, and lay it out step by step. Being a driver myself, I was sure I would have no problem with solving this.   Unfortunately, I was wrong. I couldn't even wrap my head around where to start. I knew what had to happen, but had no way of communicating how it should be carried out. The team I was working with were having similar problems. It wasn't that nobody could solve it, it was that nobody knew how to get the solution started.   Fortunately, other teams were able to overcome the challenge. The solution that seemed to be correct went as follows: The lights signalling the cars travelling East to West and West to East turn green. The lights signalling the cars travelling East to W...

Artwork of Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (North America). Known as Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimme r in all other regions. Image from  Flickr While there are many games that I could put forward as my favourite, playing Spyro 2 was the first time I ever experienced a game that I truly loved. Simple platforming mechanics combined with numerous diverse worlds make for a light hearted, enjoyable play through. Collecting Talismans from each world is the main objective for the first two thirds of the game. The player must make their way through each world facing various opponents and platforming challenges, while collecting as many gems (currency) and orbs (secondary collectibles) as they can. There are three hub worlds that you progress through after achieving certain milestones eg. collecting 10 Talismans. You can gain new abilities in these hub worlds that allow you to complete challenges in the worlds coming up, and in some worlds you've already played through. This gives a great sens...

Here we go; my first blog post! This will be the first post of many more to come. I am looking forward to documenting my experience of learning to code with Unity. - Ultan