Evaluation

At the start of this project, we had to do some researching and find out some information about video games and the secret that is within them and how they came into the game, once we did that Owain then shown us and helped us by doing step by step drawings of different sort of faces. These were the ones that I drew -


Some of these are normal faces, but we also learnt how to draw robot faces and different sorts of noses, eyes, mouths and other facial features. To start with we had to draw an oval for the face and then draw some 'guild lines' there's were lines where the eyes, nose and mouth would all sit.

The next task was to research 5 apps for example some popular websites and explain what they are used for, this helped us a lot as it made us all understand the reasons why websites and online games are invented. I researched about Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Candy crush and Netflix all of these are really recent and popular. This helped us get some ideas for when we go on to making our own game.

 Once we did this, we had to go on Illustrator and also Moodle and follow a tutorial on how to create 'snowflakes'. We had to make 5 different types of snowflakes. To start of with, we just had to put loads of shapes together, Once we made 5 different patterns, we then had to select them and then click onto the shapes at the top of the page and click new brush. This then brought another box up giving you different opinions. By clicking on the bottom one called 'Pattern brush' then okay. Another box appeared, That is what made your snowflake. After deciding which one you preferred you then click 'Ok'. Once you did that you then placed a Polygon onto the page using the shape button again and then back onto where you click the shapes at the top and you click the one that is shown on the page this will bring up a snowflake!
Here is one of the snowflakes I made using Illustrator -

The next task once we had completed this was another tutorial on moodle on how to create a business card, this was using Photoshop. To begin with we had to open Photoshop and select a 'clipboard' or a International paper' and use the exact measurements '85mm width and 55mm height' this makes the exact size for a business card. Afterwards, we had to select a rectangle using the shape tool, then select the drop down menu in the option bar and then click 'fixed height' and fix the height of the rectangle too - '85mm width and 55mm height'. we then had to colour it, using fill. ( I had  to use Grey as my computer played up) We then go onto 'Layers' - 'Smart object' - 'Convert to smart object'. You then double click on your new smart object layer to bring up layer style menu. Then select 'Gradient overlay' once you have done that go onto 'Adjustments'  and add 'posterize' and adjust the level. Once that was done, you then added text boxes and added information such as, where you are based, how to contact you, phone number, email, facebook page and then also a picture.
Here is the business card I made -

The next task once this was completed was research for our assignment and answer some questions about platform games, we then had to research 3 different platform games and explain why they are popular and what goes on in the games.
The three games I researched were -

1. Sonic
2. Mario
3. Donkey kong

The sonic games are all popular because it's made for all ages, it's a fun game to play and there are multiple of levels to complete. Sonic is really different to Mario as Sonic introduced mild violence to the 2D and 3D platform game. It was something different compared to fantasy world. Sonic is a more realistic game.

Mario games such as Super Mario Bros, Super Mario and Super Mario maker are popular because it has a variety of things going on in the game at once. Mario games are good for all the family to enjoy together, it's a game for the whole family where everybody can join in and have fun. This is another reason why Mario is such a popular game.

Finally, Donkey Kong was produced before Mario was produced so this would of been really popular before hand, this game includes jumping over obstacles and dodging different sorts of stuff. Donkey Kong used to be really popular Nintendo game for all the children to enjoy. 

Our next task was how to make 'Cute Animation Characters' I really enjoyed doing this, was it was really unique and fun to do. We did this on illustrator following a tutorial of Moodle, All we really used for this was the shape tool as it was being made by shapes. Here are the two I made -

Afterwards, we got onto creating our platform for ourselves and drawing our own characters! We had a look at the options we got given - here they were.

the characters we could chose from where either-

• Robot
• Mammal
• Warrior Princess

the platforms we got to chose from where -

• A world covered in 90% water
• A world were trees can talk
• A world covered in ice-cream

and finally the missions -

• Save the prince/princess
• Dispose of the evil wizard
• Bring down the powerful corporation

After some thinking I decided to go for a Robot, and the platform were going to be 90% in water but also with trees that can talk and my mission was to dispose of the evil wizard. Firstly here were the characters that I drew - 

We then had to draw the platform that we wanted to use, I drew a rough copy out to get an idea of what I wanted it to look like - here it is -

Once we did that, we had to think about one character that we wanted to take forward to use for our actual game and draw a bigger more neater version for everybody to be able to see which one I had chosen to take a cross. This is the one I picked -

Then we had to draw a neater copy of our platform with labels to explain where everything is and what was going to happen, because of my levels I drew 2 different ones, I drew a level 1 - this is the simple level and then I also drew a level 10 and labeled it to prove how harder it does get, Here are both of my levels -

 -Level 1.

-Level 10.

We then had to try and create these characters on Illustrator. this was hard as you could only really need shapes and some shapes that I used for my main character I couldn't make on Illustrator but here is my go at making my character -

 

We then had to do the same with our platform the only problem I had was making the water on there, therefore for now I just left it and carried on making my platform -

The target audience for my game is any age as there is no swearing, no violence it's just a fun game that some hard trails come on the way of trying to complete the level. If I could improve this I would like to try and get more adventurous next time and try and make it a bit more more adults next time as I feel that will be a really fun game to try and create. I really liked my character and the way I had set out  the game, I like some of  the hard trails on the way that catch people out. Making this the most thing I used was Illustrator and the shape tool. I have learnt quite a lot during this, I have learnt how to use Illustrator a bit more and how to create different characters and how to draw proper faces and robots. 

Characters and Platform

Today in the session with Faye, I made my platform for my game and my character on Illustrator by using different sort of shapes, this is what I did -

This is my character that I made that is going to be my main character for the whole game.

This is the platform for level 1, it gets harder through the level with achieving to get through each level with little slip up on the ways. 

Pre production sketches

Today in the first part of the lesson with Liam, we had to design some unique characters that we wanted to take forward to use on our platform game,
We got given some choices that we could chose from, the characters we could chose from where either-

• Robot
• Mammal
• Warrior Princess

the platforms we got to chose from where -

• A world covered in 90% water
• A world were trees can talk
• A world covered in ice-cream

and finally the missions -

• Save the prince/princess
• Dispose of the evil wizard
• Bring down the powerful corporation

I decided I was going to make a short of robot that was going to be based on getting pasted each level without falling into the water, my platform includes, talking trees. These trees are there to try and distract you by talking to you and giving you usefulness tips and advice. To pass the levels you have to try and get to the other side of the platform and get onto the small platform based on the end of the each level where it will contain a flag that you have to jump on top of that will transport you to your next level, the levels get harder as you keep going and things tend to happen, some of the tiles that you used to keep yourself up of the water, have a certain amount of time that you can stand on them and will break when they have been stood on for too long,this way it will make you move faster, things will start to jump out and try and kill you, therefore you have to move fast but think and use some of your techniques that you will be given. - some of these techniques will be, -shooting the objects so they disappear this will give you more points, freezing them, this will freeze them for no longer than 3 seconds so you can try and get by. You get 6 lives before then having to resume back to the very beginning.
These were the characters that I drew and a basic platform that I decided -

In the second session, we then had to but the characters and the platform together and come up with a  basic example of your game.

To start of with, I drew my main character in a larger form -

I then did a example of my game on it's first level which is basically the easiest level and labelled all the information on there to help you play the game, here is level one,

 On the first level, as you can see you are in the tree, on a small platform this is where you start, the aim of the game is to try and get to the other side where the flag is to move onto the next level, this may sound simple but some obstacles gets in your way when you move up levels, in the first few levels the only thing you need to watch, is some of the stepping stones are cracked therefore when stepping on them you can only be on them for a short period of time before they then break, this will make you move faster and think about where you are moving.

Moving onto a few more levels, I made an example of a harder level, level 10.

This level is where it starts getting hard and more obstacles get in your way, as like the first level you begin in the tree, along the way to this level you gain special powers for example, double jump, shooting, invisibility.. these you only get to use a handful of times so you have to be careful where and when you are using them, but on certain levels, there is a chest at the end of the level - near the flag that gives you more powers, but you never know what they are going to be until you finish the level. On these harder levels, I have added an extra character to make it more tricky, this character tries and distracts you by throwing things at you that either make you smaller or makes your powers go away if you are using any at the time. The other thing that is harder is some of the stepping stone will be now moving from left to right, therefore this will make it harder to try and get onto the stepping stones and may kill you several times before completing the level.

Cute Animation Characters

In the lesson today we had to follow a tutorial on how to create a animation of moodle on illustrator, To start of with we had to create a star shape using the shape tool, once we did that we had to then go onto 'Effects - Stylize - Round corners. This makes the corners of the star more curvy so that they aren't sharp edges. Once we did this we then had to put a black circle shape on top of the start, then copy and paste it to create another black circle, there's are for the characters eyes. Next step is creating a circle shape again and then going on the 'direct selection tool' on the bottom of the circle and then click delete, this will allow you to delete half of the circle leaving you with half of it. Next you have to create two more circles using the shape tool the same shape as eachother and have them slightly overlapping, I couldn't find the 'intersect shape' so instead I used to rubber tool and rubbed around the shape to create something that looks like a tongue.  Once I have explained how I made my second character I will upload a picture of my two examples.

To start of with for my second character, I had to create 3 circles, one big, one normal and one small. The biggest one had to remain white whilst the normal one changed to yellow and the small one changed to black, once this has been completed you then put them all overlapping eachother. Once this had happened, the next step is two create 2 circles, both small but one smaller than the other afterwards on the left hand side, clicking the second box (small box) and this allows the circles to go completely white. Once we had done this, we had to create a circle again and a square the same width as eachother and overlap them and then press 'unite' and this should make a black border, this didn't work for me so I moved onto the next step which was to make another mouth and tongue like I explained on my last character, after you did that you then put them all together in the correct place and this looks like another cute character.

Here is an example of both of my character I made using this tutorial -

Platform games

In our second session, we had to do some research for our assignment brief and we had to answer a few questions.
What is a platform game?
A platform game is a type of game featuring 2D graphics where the player can control a character jumping or climbing between solid platforms at different positions on the screen. 
When did this first appear?
Platform games appeared in the early 1980's.

The platform games are one of the most popular game genres because they are appropriate for children to play as they contain no violence or bad language. Also the older generation can appreciate them more, as they themselves grew up playing them as children.
What is the age target audience?
The target audience for platform games can be any age but research shows that adults aged 25-34 play platform games the most. 3 popular platform games: -Sonic
-Mario -Donkey kong

The Sonic games are popular because it is for all ages, it is a very fun game to play and there are different levels to complete. The Sonic games are different to the Mario games because Sonic introduced mild violence to the 2D and 3D platform game world.It was something different compared to a fantasy world, more realistic in other words. Mario games such as Super Mario Bro's ,Super Mario and super Mario maker are popular because it has a variety of things going on in the game at once! Mario games are good for all the family to enjoy. It's a game for the whole family where everybody can join in and have fun. This is another reason why Mario is such a popular game! Donkey Kong games was produced before Mario was produced, this game includes jumping over obstacles and dodging different sorts of stuff. Donkey Kong used to be a really popular Nintendo game for all the children to enjoy!

Business cards

In our first session today with Liam, we got asked to download the 'business card' tutorial. To begin with we had to open photoshop and select a 'clipboard' or a International paper' and use the exact measurements '85mm width and 55mm height' this makes the exact size for a business card. Afterwards, we had to select a rectangle, then select the drop down menu in the option bar and then click 'fixed height' and fix the height of the rectangle too - '85mm width and 55mm height'. we then had to colour it, using fill. We then go onto 'Layers' - 'Smart object' - 'Convert to smart object'. You then double click on your new smart object layer to bring up layer style menu. Then select 'Gradient overlay' once you have done that go onto 'Adjustments'  and add 'posterize' and adjust the level. You then select the rectangle and select it with the 'eyedropper tool' then click below and paste another rectangle once you have done that, you can then add text onto both the rectangles.. on the front you put things like - the logo, the name and your personal name. and then on the back, you put information on like how to contact you. Facebook, phone number, location etc..

This is my first attempt of a business card - my photoshop was playing up reason for it being black and white. -

Snowflakes

Today in lesson we had to download a tutorial of moodle and follow it step by step using Illustrator, to start of using the shapes, we had to make 5 snowflakes so by putting loads of patterns together. Once we made 5 we then had to select them and then by clicking onto the shapes at the top of the page and click new brush this will then bring another box up giving you different opinions. By clicking on the bottom one called 'Pattern brush' then okay. Another box will appear, this will be what is making your snowflake, after deciding which one you are going for you then click 'Ok'. Once you have done that you then put a Polygon onto the page using the shape button again and then back onto where you click the shapes at the top and click the one that is shown on the page this will bring up a snowflake! This is one of the snowflakes I made -

Lesson 2 - Apps and Apps development

In today's lesson we got asked to research our favourite/most popular apps and write a description about each app.

These are the 5 I have chosen to speak about:

• Snapchat
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Candy Crush Saga
• Netflix

Snapchat is a good way to contact friends and family and have video or photo chats with them. Using this application, people can take photos, record videos, text and also send drawings to a controlled list of recipients. The photos and videos can only be seen for a certain amount of time before then going off and not be seen again (unless you re-watch it, which you can only do once). Snap chat is a good way to keep in touch with friends and family that live in different countries. There are new effects on snap chat that allows the app to become more fun and enjoyable!

Instagram is a good way to post images and videos for people around the world to see and share good comments, it is a good way to see what people do around the world and how differently people do things. People can like your photos and videos and also leave comments on them, they can also follow you which would mean that your posts will appear on their Instagram. You can also follow other people so that you can see what they are posting daily and can check out all there images and videos!

Facebook is an online social networking site which allows you to also upload images, videos and also personal statues for your friends to see, it also allows you to see to upload what they are doing and for friends to see, comment and maybe even share pictures and videos for different family and friends can see! The difference with Facebook is you have to 'add as a friend' to see their personal images, videos and status. Facebook also allows you to get into 'groups' with different people around the world and share information and your hobbies with other people that are not added as friends, this way it helps people gain information and knowledge.

Candy crush saga is a really popular game that you can download via phone (android and iPhone) and also connect it to Facebook for your friends to see how well you are doing and to help you get lives, gifts and different gadgets. Candy crush is basically a puzzle game where you have to match up three colours for them to disappear. There are thousands of levels for you to complete. It is great fun and you don't need internet to play this game, so you can play it any time, any where for free!

Netflix is basically an app that you can watch movies with friends and family! Although there is a small charge for using this app, you get thousands of films to sit back and enjoy! Netflix is really popular! You can get Netflix on your tv, laptops and also your phones for when you are out and about! This app saves you buying different dvds, you can just hop straight onto Netflix and watch any film that you fancy on the day without the stress of making sure you have the money to buy! 

Unique faces

In our second session with Owain we had to draw different sort of faces using a technique that Owain shown us, I have seen this technique before but I haven't used it until now. You draw a normal size face, you then draw a line virtually down the face and then horizontally across the face. you then go down about 2cm then draw another horizontal line and then one another down from there.

These lines help direct where to base all the main features on.

Here are my drawings that I took, the first 3 were normal drawings, the 4th was a robotic drawing, the other 4 were personalized ones that had to have different techniques on and different sort of head shapes.

Secrets in games or apps

3 secrets in Games or Apps -

1. Asking 'siri' what 0 divided by 0 is on an iPhone it comes up with a weird answer.
2. 'Halo cheat' - Black eye skull - shields don't recharge expect from melee attacking enemies.
3. On GTA4 there is a cheat called '1000 Bodies In The Water Glitch' Go to the river between the 1st and 2nd city find a lot of people and just kill and kill it may take upto an hour but keep killing and making the bodies go in the river after you've killed tons of people you will just be swimming in a boat of dead people