Looking for a Job; 4 Projects; NaNoWriMo

Up to Speed

It has been a while since I have done a blog post on here. Lately, I have been busy with a few projects and looking for a job as a software developer. There are four projects that I am currently working on at the moment which include two fictional writing projects and two game development projects. One of the writing projects involves a friend/colleague of mine by the name Jordan A. Card whom we teamed up to finally making one of our many comic book ideas into a reality. The other writing project is for a novel I am up with a few weeks ago in early October.

National Novel Writing Month

The book is about a little boy who journeys through the afterlife to see his departed mother. I decided to write the book during National Novel Writing Month in November. I already finished writing the first 1,700/50,000 words of the book. I am thoroughly excited to write the book, and I am encouraging my friends to pester me to make sure I am on top of writing it. I remember the day I came up with it was during the mist of writing some game design ideas for Sushil and my game we are working (Another section). I ran the idea through Sushil and he said I should go for it. Also, I have received numerous encouragement from other friends to write it.

A Game Project with Sushil

One day I get an e-mail from Sushil while I was at work about he had this game idea that sound similar to my idea. When Sushil ask me that both game ideas were too similar that if he should back off. Proceeding to giving him the go ahead to develop the game on the condition we both team up to develop the game. As of now my responsibilities are to find an artist to work on game assets and to do cut scenes. My other job is to program the menu and the world map of the game.

Well, readers that is it for now. I will come back soon for another update halfway through month of November. I will not leave you hanging because I am going to leave an excerpt from The Departing Tale of Christopher Lamont and the Hereafter.

Prologue

Where does this story begin: once upon a time, or a dark and stormy night? How about if this story ask the question: what would you do if you had one more chance to see a past loved one? Would you go through great lengths such as sleeping in the bathtub with a toaster; make a deal with the devil; conduct a seance; pray to God?

Well, there was one little boy who wanted to see his mother again, and went through one perilous journey to see her. The little boy was only ten years of age, and only knew very little of the world around. However, he would go through the spiritual world known as the Hereafter to his beloved mother. This little boy was not aware of the risk, but he would endure everything for just a few moments with her. The little boy I speak of is Christopher Lamont, and this is tale of journey through the Hereafter.

Attempt Failed

"I am without guess,

staging my life to be odd.

Around me are confused,

Attempting to understand

breathes Enigmatic Brain Mind"

Indie Game Developers are the New Garage Rock Bands

Let’s Start a Band!

Remember back in the older days when a group of teenagers who would meet during their music class and talk about starting a rock band. Then they would meet after school assign themselves the instruments of bass, guitar (lead/rhythm), and drums. After all positions were decided then they will begin to “jam,” come up with songs, and write lyrics. However, it seems times are changing and youngsters want to develop the next top selling game.

Resources Offered

The resource tools for game developed that once belonged to big name game companies are now available to the mainstream public. Frameworks such as SDL, OpenGL, DirectX, SDKs, XNA, Unity Game Engine, and Unreal Game Engine are now available for download on the internet. Along with the primary websites offering the development kits also feature tutorials on how to use them properly.

There even exists websites and blogs which are dedicated to teaching people how to program their own video games simply and quickly. Now a person who has the drive, someone to do art, and another programmer is able to build a simplistic game to test the waters of game development. The further they dive down into it games will become more elaborate and feature better graphics and unique game mechanics.

No Corporate Strings

                One of the beauties of indie game development does not exist the higher seat of power that will limit indie developers’ creativity. Therefore, games can feature some unique game play features and intuitive game mechanics. Deadlines do not exist unless the developers themselves want to them to be present.

                However, indie developers want ways to monetize on the games they release to the public, and need to find a place to that offers that service. For Flash video game developers there exist a site called Mochi Media which places ads within Flash based games as so the publisher of the game will receive money for each ad that is viewed. Another way is through the Xbox Live Indie Games where developers pay $100 to Microsoft to publish games on their Market Place to monetize on the games they sold.

                With all these ways to learn a new game development framework and researching ways to monetize on creator owned products is why indie game developers are similar to garage bands. A small band of creative minds assembling together to produce a product for people to enjoy.

http://www.examiner.com/game-design-in-orlando/indie-game-developers-are-the-new-garage-rock-bands">Check out the article on the Examiner

The Art of Video Games

When people think art the first thing that immediately comes to mind are the brush strokes of Van Gogh, Picasso, and others that are similar in the sense of the word. However, never the names such as Yoshitaka Amano, Akira Toriyama, or Joe Madureira come into mind. These are the artists’ work in video game industry, specifically in the character art sections of the video game development.

                Having the mindset when it comes to art, video games do not fall into that category because games such as Halo, Gears of War, and Modern Warfare 2 immediately come to mind. Honestly, anyone can look at those and say that is not anywhere near a type of art because they are mindless shooter games. From the perspective of someone that has met with developers, level designers, audio engineers, and artists within the game development industry I can tell you it is broader than what most people think.

Character Art

                One of the basic ideas of art is the conception of character art. Looking at video games such as Dragon Quest Series, Final Fantasy Series, and Lost Odyssey there are a lot of emphasis on having characters that stand out from everything else in each game. This is because these games are known as Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) which are popular in both Japan and the US. These characters go from being conceptualize in sketch books, mock ups, criticize for editing, re-drawn, and to finally being put through another process of character modeling.

                Character modeling is another process where a 3D modeler uses a 3D modeling program (3D Studio Max, or Maya) to take a sketched character from a sheet of paper to add more depth to them. This process gives a character more life, and receives the features of animation. An in game character needs to be able to have several animation (running, walking, and attack), but 3D animators need to make sure that character emote expressions during cut scenes of a game’s main storyline.

Level Design

                I happen to be close to this topic because I have had a passion for level designing for two years now. In video games level designing is where environments are built using assets created by 3D Modelers/Artists and Audio Engineers. Level Designing gives a game more depth because levels within a game build a world unique to a video game’s theme.

For example the video game Resident Evil which was released back in 1996 was one the scariest games I have ever played because how the atmosphere was set up. As you are moving the character through this mansion out in the woods you can see the grandfather clock, hear it ticking, the rain hitting the windows, the silence of a deserted dining room and upon entering another room a zombie ambushes the character. The way the level designers set it up was to give the player a feeling of alone, dark, and marauding on the fear center of the brain.

Another example this sense of immersion can be seen in the game Beyond Good and Evil has a traveling mechanic of using a hover boat vehicle to get to different locations of the game. Traveling on the water of the game’s world would allow a player to catch the sight of creatures, cities, villages, and huts are seen inhabiting the game’s world. I can recall a time I was traveling to a mission location and saw the game world’s sun setting behind mountains as these whale-like creatures emerged from the water to dive back in. It was absolutely a breath taking sight and I was able to capture it on with a screenshot mechanic featured in the game.

Unique Art Styles

In the recent games Super Street Fighter IV and 3D Dot Game Heroes used very unique art styles to make their games stand out from the rest of the competition. In Super Street Fighter IV Capcom had their 3D artists use a technique called cel-shading (a 3D model mimicking a more hand drawn style). All the characters, level environments, etcetera were model using this technique. Super Street Fighter IV’s art style is heavily influenced by the Japanese art style known as sumi-e. The characters were given heavy brush stroke outlines on the outlines of their bodies.

Another game had a unique art style was 3D Dot Game Heroes for its use of a retro style graphics in a 3D world. All assets that were feature in the game’s world were built using this block looking system that made everything look like a pixelated 3D model. The game featured this unique style as a way to homage old games that were on Atari 2600 and the Nintendo Entertainment System also known as the 8-bit era of video games.

Where VGs Stand Now

                This is just from the perspective from someone who works in the industry and who has been playing video games for four-fifths of his life. Video Games for years now have featured some beautiful styles of art a character walking across a screen to environments of a game’s world. Video games are the living canvas that people can explore with just a controller, a console, a television, and of course a game to play. However, there is more to just 3D models, and hand drawn character concepts that makes video games an art. Just talking about the art is only scratching the surface that goes into game development.

More Arcade Games, Please

Over the recent years my collection for the next generation console games has not really grown. I have had my PlayStation 3 for about 2 years now, and I only own 7 games in total with the last games I purchased being Resonance of Fate, Super Street Fighter IV, 3D Dot Game Heroes, and Red Dead Redemption (which I just sold). However, within the several months my collection of arcade games from the PlayStation Network has grown exponentially. In other words most of my hard earned money is going to spending it on games that are not big titles, and I have to say I absolutely am ecstatic about the situation.

Which brings me to the point I am making for this entry; the games on PSN/XBLA are 5 times better than the big title games that are coming out. I believe more video game companies should put a little more effort into releasing a game on these markets. Allow me to make a few points on my proposal of why video game companies should saturate the PSN/XBLA markets.

2.5D versus 3D

The games I been playing have been falling in the realm of “2.5D Games.” Basically this dimension of games means it is a 2-Dimensional, but with the illusion of 3D. The games I have been playing are Bionic Commando Rearmed, Revenge of the Wounded Dragon, Rocket Knight, and Trine. Even though these games are one dimension less than most big titles coming out they are much more playable and enjoyable. I definitely have more fun when it comes to playing a game like Bionic Commando Rearmed rather than a game such as Red Dead Redemption.

Most of the games I am looking forward to play are all coming out on the PlayStation Network. Games such as Shank, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and Bionic Commando Rearmed 2; these are the games I am waiting to purchase and play. From looking at screenshots and game play videos on the internet I can tell that companies are making a consideration and an effort to develop these games.

Simple Yet Robust

Another reason I prefer these types of games over the other type is because they are inexpensive. Bionic Commando Rearmed cost me $9.99 as opposed to Red Dead Redemption costing me $63. I buy more of these games because I can afford them versus to saving my money to purchase a $60 game I will probably play one time. One thing I noticed about the PSN games is they feature quite a replay value to it. They are simplistic, but have a tendency to be robust with extra features. I can beat a game such as Revenge of the Wounded Dragon in less than a few days (less with a second player), but I can go back to play it again within that same week because it is there for to me play.

What I really enjoy about these PSN games is such a throwback to the old school gaming. When I play I cannot help but be reminded of old NES games such as Contra, Castlevania, and Ninja Gaiden. The irony of course is that Bionic Commando Rearmed is a refurbish NES video game. Playing a game that is on 2D brings back that frustration and that motivation to keep on playing to complete the game.

Opportunities Galore

Before I end this entry I have one other thing I like to say: bigger name companies taking an interest in PSN/XBLA games can create more jobs/opportunities for people who want to work in the video game industry. Capcom had a company by the name of Grin to develop the game Bionic Commando Rearmed for the PSN/XBLA.

What makes this an interesting idea is that another company can employee an independent development company to make most of these games for the PSN/XBLA markets. It is a sort of a win/win situation as long as the games are marketed and sold in the same manner as a bigger title game.

Ending this blog entry with a “thanks for reading” and visiting this entry of my blog. If you have an Xbox360 or a PS3 I say go out right now and purchase the following games from their perspective markets:

· Bionic Commando Rearmed

· Trine

· Rocket Knight

· Revenge of the Wounded Dragon

· Shatter

· Switchball

· 1942 Joint Strike

· Novastrike

· Matt Hazard Bloodbath and Beyond

These are some of the games I have currently on my PS3 and they are amazing to play J

This: I am

You know I always tell myself I do not like being sucked in theological discussions or arguements. However, for some odd reason I cannot go a week without debating the existence of a creator. I have friends who straight up do not believe in the existence of one, they are on the fence about it, or they do believe in a creator.

There is this running joke that I change my religious beliefs as Lady Gaga changes outfits in a given hour. I go from Taoism, Agnosticism, Judaism, Catholicism, and Atheism in that same period of time. However, when I act out certain belief I tend to do it out of complete satire. When it all boils down I am a spiritual individual and I believe in a creator.

Everytime I say I believe in G-d around people who are of the Atheist or Nontheist persuasion tell me I am in some sort of wrong. I think the problem comes from the organize religions themselves. Let me lay it down for everyone: I do not follow G-d in the Biblical sense, I believe in a G-d in a more spiritual, and cosmic sense.

I have approach the existence of a creator in a logical and rational way that makes sense to me. Even before watching the episode of "Through the Wormwhole," I have pondered the topics they explored within that episode. The existence of a creator within the mind, the cosmos, being a mathematician, and a programmer.

As I said before it makes the most sense to me, and I feel that should be respected. I should not have to go through a week defending that belief. The irony of my way of thinking basically gets me ostracized by both Christians and Atheist. However, I am who what I am; I am Andrew Christopher Dieppa.

PS I am also known for keeping a very open mind to incorporate to my day to day life such as the Eastern Philosophies/Religions.

Senior Project: Done, DeVry University: Done

Another two months have rolled on by real quickly! After next week I will officially be done with DeVry University’s Game and Simulation Programming major and I will have my BS in Computer Science. At this moment I am developing a web page for my fellow senior project comrades to host the game we been working on for the last 4 months. Working on this project was quite a struggle and it has taken its toll on all of us. This was first time the GSP major was separated from the rest of the other majors in senior project. We were our own independent entity (we were indie), which allowed us to be open to anything we can work on.


In the senior project team which comprised of myself (Dieppa), Leo, Dex, Jevon, Nick, and Magda to work on this project called Chimera Sanctum. I worked as Team Lead and Lead Game Designer while I had Nick and Leo on Audio Programming, Dex as Lead Programmer, Jevon and I worked as Programmers, and Magda worked on Art and Programming. I came up with the name of our mock company which was known as 9.81 Game Studios (if you know your physics then you would get the pun). We worked together as a team kept cohesion, communication, and diligence to make this game happen.

This led to the final build of our game; it may not be perfect but we did it with the functionality we wanted. You can read all about the trials and tribulations of Chimera Sanctum’s development cycle on GamaSutra (A link will be provided at the bottom for those who want to read it). The presentation of the game will be held at DeVry University Orlando Campus at 5:00 PM EST (06/16/2010). As of now we are setting up a website to host Chimera Sanctum for public downloading to be played on the PC. Which brings me to my next exciting news: I have purchased the domain name Enigmaticbrainmind.net on GoDaddy.com. Now it is official Enigmatic Brain Mind will be a website soon hosting the projects I will be working on (me or with a team). As always I want to thank my readers for stopping by my Web Log  You guys help keep me going!

PS I would also like to thank David J. Sushil for being my mentor throughout my career at DeVry University. He was the first professor I had in my first class and he was the last professor in my last class at DeVry.

PPS I would like to thank Joseph Adams at Adam Jones Productions for allowing the opportunities and understanding as I went through all the stress of college J

PPPS As of June 14,2010 links are provided below, so you readers can now visit the website where the game is being hosted, as well as visit Sushil's website, and read the postmortem on GamaSutra J

Links:

Enigmatic Brain Mind

Visit David J. Sushil

The Postmortem