Initial Video Pitch

Flip Festival Workshop

Just signed up for a workshop at Flip. It's a game design workshop, it should be highly informative and helpful, I'll let you know how it goes.

"This one day workshop, run in conjunction with Wolverhampton University’s Institute of Gaming and Animation, is a great opportunity to get introduced to the X-Box XNA game platform which allows users to begin developing their own games with the free downloadable tools from Microsoft."

First draft of aims for specialist study module.

Specialist Study

My project is to create an Iphone application aimed at parents of young children;

the App will be made up of a series of games, activities and stories which aim to aid children's learning.

The game will allow parents to keep a selection of activities and games in one place making it convenient for long journeys and keeping children occupied.

The reason I have chosen an Iphone App is that it sways the course towards the field of work which I want to go into; the games industry.

Another reason fro wanting to create and App is that the App store is the fasted expanding entertainment market in the world; last year there were 2 billion downloads from the App store creating $3.5 Billion dollars.

I feel that if I could develop an App it would not only provide me with an invaluable insight into an aspect of the industry I wish to get into but also show I have a contemporary knowledge of the gamers industry to potential future employers.

• The app will have a main character that children will be able to relate to.
• Predominantly it will use primary colours and make it visually appealing.
• I will attempt to make as aesthetically tactile as possible using organic materials, textures and shapes. This is so that the game doesn’t appear flat.
• The App will be episodic as to allow for different themes in order to keep the game fresh and appealing. I will concentrate on one episode with the aim to expand on I.P at a later date.
• A large proportion of my efforts will be concentrated on organisation and planning; this is due to that fact that I would like to become a game designer and ultimately a producer.

Re-write as Re-drafted document for blog and moodle how? and then list and then why? and then list.

What visuals are you going to produce?

Mood boards, storyboards, colours and textures

Axel and pixel

Start test

Finish aims

Textures

Draw up a schedule

What are the principle rewards

Use education City as a case study. Analyise and dissect.

What is the aim for the kids?

What will they learn and how?

Difficulty levels.

Use textures and patterns

Revisit little man - why didn’t he work?

Flow chart of game

How long will the levels be.

Linear / non-linear

Start basic character design

Western Most Point

ust a very quick post. These are a few photo's I took at the western most point in europe. The sun setting at true west was spectacular to say the least. I just wanted to share them with you.

Camera Obscura

Now I am aware that this isn't exactly a new concept but it is pretty bloody cool. Observe the undeniable cool that is a direct result of lights and mirrors. Its like a Arthur C Clarke cover.

The Piggies

Over the summer I designed a series of e-cards based on a number of seasonal holidays. They where designed to be as visually appealing as possible. The colour palette was based on Watchmen. This was also the first time I had used cross hatch shading. I chose to use this after reading the Killing Joke, the illustrated use of cross hatch shading was extremely effective and as a result i attempted to emulate that. Here are the final designs, plus a few concepts, for each holiday. Accompanying each holiday is an idea for an animation to go with each set.

Portugal and Dolphins

This summer i also went to Portugal. While I was there were a number of truly inspiring occasions. First up was simply the architecture. From tiles to doors there was textures,patterns, shapes inspiration every where. Here are just a few examples:

But most of all. One of the most incredible things I have ever had the privilege of seeing. Whilst on a boat trip sailing along the Algarve coast (Hahaha I sound like I'm in a 60's romantic novel ^_^). A school of dolphins came swimming along side the boat. It was awe inspiring and one of the most majestic and beautiful things I've ever seen.

Meeting Peter Moore

Whilst in the glorious city of Edinburgh I stayed in the Glasshouse hotel, which ironically is directly next door to Rockstar North (the studio that made GTA IV). During my stay, the night before the conference, me and my girlfriend decided to go out for dinner. We were waiting for the lift and I was talking (for a change) about how excited I was about Edinburgh Interactive and how I hoped I'd get the chance to meet Peter Moore (President of EA Sports). Peter Moore as I mentioned in my previous post is some what of a hero of mine, for many reasons, but mainly for his Halo 2 announcement speech when he was at Microsoft(for those of you who can't recall the speech or simply aren't as much of a geek as me click here to watch it). Just as I was saying all this, as if scripted by some soap opera writer, right on cue he walks round the corner to get in the lift. Before I have time to even speech he offers a hand and simply says "Hi I'm Peter".

There was no grand introduction just a polite sincere shake of the hand. He then proceeded to talk to me outside the hotel for a good ten minutes, asking what I was doing at university, where I saw myself going and offering me advice on how to get there. It's safe to say he is genuinely one of the nicest people I've met, He even asked my girlfriend how she was enjoying Edinburgh.

I then saw him the next day at the conference and said hello. He remembered me and asked as to wether I was enjoying the conference. I thanked him for advice and he said "well you never know when we'll meet again. I know they say never meet your hero's, but in this case all I can see is it was a real pleasure.

Thank you Peter.