3D models

unit 66 Charles Hardy

Brief

The brief that was given to us was: to create ideas and draw them but they inspired from big trouble in little China, there really isn't much of a constraint when it comes to what we create here but in our own brief we wanted to create stuff that directly links to our game. For example there would be no point in me drawing swords because this is set in the future and swords are olden. I wanted to stick to the brief as close as possible so I only drew things I knew for a fact would be in the game. We did have to keep BTILC in mind which is why the game is set in China town.

Legal, ethical considerations

We had to take many different Legal and ethical problems into consideration. A game can be offensive and a game can have stereotypes etc. A game however can be serious offensive, if a game actually supported something like genocide based off of a real event then obviously that would be extremely unethical and not be allowed to be made. It's not just in game however, outside of the games there are other legal things to take into consideration, for example age rating. You can not have a game like battle field be a 3+ because you do not want young kids playing violent games. You also need to be careful about loot-boxes because it could be considered gambling and if the game is only a 12+ that would mean young kids are gambling which is underage gambling which is illegal. We have an original idea however it is obviously inspired by other games (I.E Mass Effect, BTILC). In our game we do not have loot boxes so we do not have to worry about that, we then also had to take stereotypes into consideration. We stayed very clear from stereotypes and made the game mixed with both genders and different races. There is no one race or one gender, we made sure to make it diverse. We don't speak about religion or any specific believe. We also obviously have no discrimination against anyone, which is also why our game is a 16.

Other specifications

There are many other different specifications that need to be discussed, the first off which is target audience. Target audience, for this we deiced for 16+ because we do not want a game that is too violent but we still need violence. The game doesn't contain anything to over the top which is why we think the game is a 16+ and not higher. Our key visual themes are the city which is a main point of interest and the characters themselves which brings a possible problem, storage and constraints. Constraints in storage and size of models is a problem because if you had a load of giant detailed models then you will have massive constraints saving and building lighting etc. Polygon count is a problem because if I make very realistic looking building it will be more polygons than if l made a less detailed model, which means the object will be bigger which is not want we necessarily want. It could take hours just to render one building which is a problem because we are on a time constraint, the way around this is to sacrifice some quality (but not too much) and this also helps us build things faster. This links back to the brief because we only have a certain amount of time to complete this game in. Creating a very realistic texture would cause a problem because it would be a larger file size which is a problem because again, you don't want to create a game so massive that it takes hours to render etc.

What I have made

I have drawn a few different variants of robot arms, in the game it is a sign of wealth and power. I drew a few different arms and I have chosen one of them to be used, while the others may be used but are worse in my opinion. Another reason the ones that are chosen were the ones chosen is because of the piratical use of the chosen drawing.


The first set of drawings are just prototypes of prototypes while I tired to get the shape of the arms so they are not counted in the actual game. The designs for the arms is improved and I came up with three different possible designs

The first design is a claw like arm with electric components in the centre, it also has a bar/support on the side of it, this is meant to act as a way for the pressure in the arm to be released.

The second design is a normal hand with a normal arm, this one has wires running through it. This would help power the arm, causing it to work. This arm is my most preferred out of all the arms.

The third design is almost the same as the second arm except the wires are hidden inside of the arm with a "tattoo" like pattern on the outside. The actual drawing does not show us the tattoo as I would not be able to draw anything that resembled a tattoo so I just used a basic pattern.











The "Bargain Bucks" (yes bargain is spelt wrong, I am aware) is a possible shop that we want to have around in the word, it is essentially pound land for our game, the stuff is cheap. I wanted it to be recognisable and I wanted the board to be obnoxiously large to add to the overall design.



The first and second designs are very similar, the difference being the side of the sale sign and the roof with the second one being thinner. They are both rough drafts, the second one is slightly worse because I believe that it has less detail which is the opposite of what I want.

The third design is my personal favourite, it has the most life to it and the sign is so massive that you can't miss it. The overall place looks better, though the only problem is I don't want to have a normal door and normal windows, I would much rather have automatic doors and the building to be made of glass. So that would be slightly changed, here is a final design of what I believe I want. It looks much better and has updated glass walls with a automatic door. This is the final design.

How our ideas fit into our game

How do our ideas fit into our game? Well the robot arms are a sign of wealth and money. Only people of a higher social standard will be able to afford these robotic limbs, they could also be used as a replacement if you where so happen to lose a limb in an accident etc. "The Bargain Bucks" fits into our game because you will need to go into these stores to buy things that you will need. They are also a location in the game that will spawn, this is directly link to the game. The reason I choose the Bargain bucks was because I wanted something catchy and because the area you are in is poor, you want cheap and cheerful items rather than luxury items, this fits into our game because the rebels who you are with are poor. The robot arms are there because some of the characters are/were rich so they have robot limbs. The building is small with a big sign because the company wants to have people buy their things and the reason for the sale signs is because the people are desperate to sell you things. They are poor and need to ship as much stock as possible, they also have auto opening doors because while only more rich stores have them now, the word is far more developed than it is today so auto opening doors and led lights to light up your huge sign would be considered "poor".

3D understanding newer

unit 66/67/68
Charles Hardy

3D Modelling

There are many different types of modelling and techniques used to create the world you see around you in games. I will be explaining some of these techniques and how they work below:

Working to the brief and ideas generation

If you are tasked with making a game like assassins creed origins, you would be told to make models like old Egyptian weapons etc. You can't then make a m4 machine gun because that would not be correct to the game you are making. You have to work to the brief given but you can make your own ideas. Your own ideas can consist of different weapons and items to maybe altering the landscape slightly to make it look more stunning etc.    

Box Modelling

Box modelling is a type of modelling that is used where the model starts as a basic shape and then using the sculpt tool you can create different shapes and then finally creating the image you want. An example of this being used would be in you wanted to have a head shape you could slowly cut off corners until you get a shape that looks like the latter heads in the image to the right. It is a useful method to create a basic rough outline and it could almost be considered a sketch.                             

Extrusion Modelling

Extrusion modelling is a type of modelling where you take an image an essentially draw with 3D modelling around it. It is like sketching with 3D modelling, it is an efficient method but requires a photo or drawing. This image shows someone modelling a face using the method.

Other types of modelling

You can also just use the basic shapes to create something, for example you could just use cubes and rectangles to create a house etc. The whole point of these simple shapes is to allow someone to have an easier time to create a more simple model or have a better place to start. You can also cut shapes and make then more easier to work with what ever shape you need. For example you would use a cone if you wanted to make a traffic cone etc. There are many different types of basic shape that you can use, they are all useful for something. 

Constraints

Constraints are an important thing to be aware of because if not taken into consideration then you may be left with a lot of difficulties later on down the line in development. File size is one of the most important constraints that any game developer will have to overcome, if your game is so massive that you would need 100's of GB to download it. No one is going to download it, mainly because some gamers would not have a hard drive that big to store the game and those who do would not want to have a game of that size on their hard drives. Another problem with this is it would take a lot longer for textures etc. to compile. This is extremely bad because of the long time wait that takes place when compiling just a few GBS but if the textures etc. were 10 or 15 GB then it would take many hours which would be wasted doing nothing as compiling takes up a lot of PC power, saves would also take a long time and if there is an auto save every 5 minuets then the pc would lag a lot of the time. An example of this is a game called "rainbow six siege" where the developers had to pull maps out of the game because they where running out of storage. This is one of the backlashes that not handling your storage to an adequate degree. Rendering time is important in the game as you do not want your player looking around and seeing the world rendering in as it would look unrealistic and very sloppy which you don't want people to associate your game with. It's important that you find a good balance between good graphics and fast smooth rendering, with of course causes games like the last of us to look and render so well because naughty dog found a good balance. 

3D programs   

There are many different 3D programs that you can use to create your 3D image. Maya and Blender are personally the ones I have used the most which means I will mainly be focusing on them and the differences between each of the programs. First off Blender is much more complex when you first look at it which makes Maya much more user friendly. Maya and Blender also use different file types but also the same. Blender uses a lot more file types but both use OBJ. files as their main files. An OBJ file is simply a "object" file which (if you are 3D modelling reefers to the object you created) but blender also has other file types such as "STL" or "X3D". Blender definitely focuses more on the actual making of the models rather than other things while Maya you can animate. You can also animate in Blender but personally I have found that Maya is a better choice. Plug ins are also a part of every development program and can be used very well and easily. A plug in is simply a add on to the program that does not come with the original product. For example add block is a plug in for Google chrome, in blender asset sketcher is a plug in that you can use to sketch images (extrusion modelling) or for Maya you can use Maya carbon scatter to make environments easier to make. 

Applications of 3D

3D modelling is not just used in games design and it is actually quite important for many different other jobs. You can use it in the following jobs: product design, animations, TV, film, web, education, architectural walk-through. In TV shows and film it is used very similar to how you would use it in games design as cut scenes are almost like a mini animated movie but product design etc are very different. Product design is different because you do not want to design your product the same way you would design a cut scene. You want to design it in a way so that people see your product. 3D modelling is also used in architectural design, for example if you wanted to model a house you can model it in a 3D modelling program and then once you built it in the software you will have a better understanding how something needs to be made. Finally we have education which is partly what we are using it as right now, we are using it to learn how to model things for games design. 

Geometric theory

Geometric theory (aka polygonal modelling) is basically a much more complex version of "connect the dots" you draw things by using corners and polygons. A polygon is made up from using small triangles which are made up from vertices, edges and faces. The triangles are made from 3 vertices (green) 3 edges (black) and one face (red), this is obvious but geometric theory is not just triangles (it can be other shapes i.e squares) but triangles are the most simple and easiest to use. The way rendering works is if something is covered up by something it will not render. An example is the following image, the mountain (while obviously existing) it not rendering for the player, it simply is not there. This is the way it is because computers will need to save memory as the game is very large and needs to save as much memory as possible so that the game is "well optimized" and so lower end PCs can run the game.

Comparing music 2/20/17

Charles Hardy, Unit 73, 06/02/2017 task one and two

Sound design

The music in games matters a lot because it adds emotion and realistic affects that make the game feel more alive. These following games are fantastic examples of great music and I will be comparing the music in these games. 

Last of us main theme:

Dead heat (little big planet):

Both pieces of music tell different emotions and on different types of themes. There are different categories that you can judge and compare games. These are the category's to compare each of the games:

Theory of sound: 

The audio for little big planet sounds like it could be made in garage band, the beat is simple and the whole thing sounds easy to make with only a few instruments in the whole song. The last of us has is very realistic and in a interview with Gustavo Santaolalla(source 5) you can see that he used very advanced recording equipment and had a very large studio and it paid off. The sounds are very realistic and they really add to the other all experience to the game.

The wavelength for different games depends on how loud and how high pitch the sounds in the songs are:

Dead heat has a large amounts of waves and has a high frequency.

   

       
The last of us has less loud sounds and a lower frequency because of the different instruments used.

Psychology of sound:

The last of us makes the player feel alone, with an feel of dread that you don't get in most pieces of music. The background make you feel like there really is nothing left and the music really does make you think about the world and what has happened. It makes you also feel quite despondent which really helps the game set the mood for the story ahead.

Little big planet has makes the player feel happier as the music is cheerful yet it makes you feel like you are also in an intense boss battle that you need to be careful as the boss is attacking you. It has a weird mix to it as you want feel like you are in a boss battle but it is a fun family friendly game that is a cheerful experience.      

Audio environment:

The last of us has surround sound that allows the players to hear the sounds all around them. The player can also get a better feel for the game as the sounds sound more realistic which is what the game is going for in the first place. Surround sound also helps the game feel more alive as the game needs plays on it's intense atmosphere. This type of sound is also very important because you need it to listen to the hunters/clickers that could be around any corner in a game.

Little big planet does not need such surround sound because it is a chill outed game that does not require surround sound as the game is a simple game that does not need you listen to in game sounds. The stereo-sound is all the game needs because of the simple game with easy objectives.   

Sources:

Sources of sound:

The definition of "the sources of sound" is what was used to make the sounds, so here is a list of all the interments used in each of the songs:

The last of us:

a Ronroco was used (a type of guitar)

dead heat:

trumpets

drums

these interments play a large role in the song.

Games music:

The last of us has fantastic music design that really adds to the overall experience to the game, the last of us has music that sounds very wild western, like a desert waste land that has nothing left, very similar to the city's that have nothing left in them. The music in the game is so well made to the emotions in the game that in each cut scene when the music starts playing you real do feel for the characters and the music does a great job making you feel emotions. The man theme also has a "nothing left" feel, as if there is nothing or no one left out in what was once lavished city's filled with people and living things. The last of us also has a idiosyncratic feel as it has a western vibe and he comp it with only a single instrument.

Little big planets piece of music has a more upbeat, happy tone to it that really helps convey emotions that you are fighting a boss battle, as the song "dead heat" really makes it feel like you are fighting a mario boss or something of the sort. The music also has a retro feel, very similar to (source 3), with gives it a stealthy, sombre feel that makes the game more interesting. It also has repeats over and over which helps the game run it for longer if you are finding the fight hard. The song track is more light-hearted and this really collides well with the game.         

Legal issues:

General problems that come along with sound design are things like copyright and trademark etc. If you are careful and not reckless with how you create your music then things like copyright should not be a problem. However, they can happen if you do some of the following:

Using the same track that someone else made without their permission.

Making a track almost the same as another track that already exists. 

Using the same name as another track, i.e calling a track "jaws main theme"

If you create your own track that has no obvious copyright infringement behind it then you should be fine with using it in your game but it best to be careful about it and not be reckless as it could land you in court.  

You can use royalty free music as anyone can use it because it's free and there is no penalty to using it, however the music is almost always lower quality

Both pieces of music used here do not break any laws as they are composed from scratch and they are original pieces of musics with original titles.         

Task 2

 Sound design methodology

Sound design is one the overall design of music and how it is made, in this process you would decide what equipment to use and what you are going to store all of your music on, what you are going to call the songs etc. This is like a massive brief it is open for changes if one of the other apartments fails to deliver or if something happens that changes the process. This is a key part in the creation of the games sounds and music and how you go about making it depends massively on the budget and other factors that could affect the game life. The following is a list of different things that the producers would have to keep in mind when they are creating their music

File formats

Knowing the file formats that they used for the music is very difficult to find out however there are many different file types that could have been used:

These are some of the most popular ones, so I have chosen to use them:

mp3, mp4, wav, AU, AIFF etc. 

Audio limitations

The last of us really did not have any limitations because the budget would have been a lot higher as the game was a triple A title made by one of the biggest game companies in the world. Little big planet has a lot more limitations because the game was made by a smaller company which means that it has less of a budget, these are some of the problems that could come up: (6)

Sound cards - weaker sound cards can not produce more advanced sounds than more expensive sound cards.

Processing power - if there is not enough power then you will not be able to create as many songs, limiting the full creative input of the artist.

Storage devices - if you are using floppy disks to store your music then you will not be able to store much as floppy disks as blu-ray disks and because blu-ray costs more then you might have to downgrade somewhere.

Speakers and headphones - this can affect the producing of music because if you have 20£ headphones then the sound that you produce will not be heard to it's full affect causing a problem as the music quality will be worsened.

Audio recording systems

There are many different sound devices that you can use to record your music with and because of the budget you would use different quality microphones to capture the sound you want. The audio recording sounds are used to changed the pitch of something and overall improve the performance of the music. This helps the overall sound of the piece of music in turn helps make the music sound more polished. 

Audio Sampling

The audio in the last of us really does add to the games overall experience but the audio sampling is basic in contrast to other games, this is because the notes and frequencies of the sounds are very similar as it is only a single instrument doing the whole song. Little big planets "dead heat" however is very different because of the trumpets making the sampling rapidly change and the drums are constant meaning that because the sampling is always rapidly changing.

LINKS:

(3)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls3XsreXh_Q  
(4)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TLDowHsO-Y
(5)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJr7iinMZwY
(6)https://stephencarrgames.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/sound-music-audio-limitations-of-game-platforms/

top 10 games changed

1.Elder scrolls 3,4,5

Story: the story is rich in lore and has some of the deepest video game lore of any game series ever made. 

Art style(s): exaggeration

The amount of lore and story behind each and every single thing you do is immense and with three great games out to play with a massive community and lots do to. These games are open world with many main side quest such as:

Dark bothered hood in all three games     

A main story each game has a different 

Fighters guilds and many more

2.Garry's mod

Story: there is no story

Art style(s): exaggeration

Garry's mod has no story but that makes it a unique because you can make and think up your own story. This game is for everyone as you can download mods to add a story. Garry's mod is not a story game but it can have a story if the player can come up with one.

3.Super meat boy

Story: The story is loose but it does exist.

Art style(s): Cal shaded

Super meat boy is another game that really depends on the game play but the story does add a comedic touch to a very difficult game. The story is about a skinless boy made of meat who wants to save his girlfriend from the evil Dr fetus. The game play makes the game what it is the main point of the game.  

4.The walking dead season 1 and 2

Story: The walking dead game is the most story based you can get. Without the story there would be no game

Art style(s): Cell shaded

The game is about a man who survived a car crash and meets a little girl who needs help to survive. He will protect her at all costs and in a nut shell he try's to keep the survivors alive and together. Season 2 is when you take control of the Clementine and she does almost the same as lee. She try's survive and meet good people so she can live safely. The game does a phenomenal job at getting emotions across which makes it one of the best story games ever made.

5.Doom 2016

Story: simple and very easy to follow but this game does relies on game play over story

Art style(s): Photo realism

Doom is a fantastic original shooter with new concepts that other gamers can enjoy and understand. The game is very simple and can be enjoyed on all levels. The story is about "doom guy" who's only goal is to kill all demons, he meets 2 survivors of the mars disaster on the way in which one of them wants to help the demons the other wants to help doom guy kill the demons. The story quickly progresses and you learn about the characters back stories though small dialogues.

6.Binding of Isaac

Story: there is a weird story but it is loosely there but again it is about game play more than story  

Art style(s): Anime

There is not much of a story but there is some amazing game play and great fun. Very similar to "risk of rain" it relies on game play and not the story but there are different endings each unique and very entertaining.

7.Shadow of mordor

Story: heavy story with fans of the lord of the rings already knowing about the lore will like it more. The story is rich and important with some very immersive story line

Art style(s): Photo realism

Shadow of mordor is a game in which you have to save the land of mordor from the orcs as the black hand of Saraman is making the stronger. You play as a hero who is trying to save the land and also helping RATBAG!!! who is an orc but considered weak because he is physically small but witty and smart. This is not what an orc should be, there is more to the story but there is so much lore that it would take forever to explain.  

8.Risk of rain

Story: There is a lose story where you need to escape from a mysterious planet, there is not much to see

Art style(s): Pixel/exaggeration

Risk of rain does not have much in the way of story but there is a lose story which does matter to the game. Risk of rain is an indie game that is mainly about game play over anything else. There really is not much to say about it as you have to play it to get the feel of the game and how it works.  

9. Dishonoured

Story: Without the story this game would not be the same.

Art style(s): exaggeration

Dishonoured is one of the best stealth games ever made. The game is set in victora Britain and you play as corvo. It tells the story of a guard how was accused of murdering the empress and the player must escape a prison and save the city from the corrupt high overseer while also avoiding the plagued peasants or "weepers". The game is story rich and would not be the same without its story.    

10.Far Cry 3

Story: Very immersive story line

Art style(s): Photo realism

Far cry 3's story is very good which helps the game be really immersive and overall make the experience better. You play as Jason and you have to save your friends from the crazy and evil Vaas, on the way you meet other people and help islanders from attacks which coherently help the player.

Understand the methods and principles of sound design and production

Charles Hardy, unit 73, 30/01/2017

Understand the methods and principles of sound design and production

Different sound types (sound file formats):

uncompressed - A uncompressed file is still the original sound without it being modified and keeping it the same. This lowers how well the sound will play and how big the file is.

lossy compressed -  This type of compression reduces file size for web browsers and other online resources. The file types that fit under this are: mp3, ra, and vox.

How can resolution and bit-depth constrain file size?

A file can be constrained by resolution because if the file size is larger than computer that it is using then the picture the picture will have a worse quality. The bit depth can be limited by an old PC or old dvd player.

Different types of sound:

Sample rate - is a different sounds of different frequencies. It is normally a high pitched sound however. 
 
Mono - Mono sound is sound from a single channel. These channels can be replicated to by wearing a single headphone.
 
Stereo - Stereo is a pair of bog-standard headphones that use both ear phones. A normal pair of headphones can simulate these sounds.

Surround -  Surround sound is a type of sound where the sounds are projected all around you making it feel like there are people in the room etc.

Each of these different pc parts and software can limit the ability of the sound: 

DSP – Digital Signal Processor
RAM – Random Access Memory
File format (eg Mp3, Wav, Aiff)
Audio output (eg Mono, Stereo, Surround).
PCM – Pulse Code Modulation

Using different recording software can lead to different results as a professional will have much higher quality while a free program would give you less results and the paid stuff would be much higher quality. 

Selling games and understanding the games industry

TOP 10 BEST SELLING GAMES EVER MADE:

10. Diablo 3
Price on release: 40$
DEV FOR GAMES: pcSold: 30 Million Copies


9. New super Mario
Price on release: 20$
DEV FOR GAMES: Will
Sold: 30.79 Million Copies

8. Will sports resorts
Price on release: 40$
DEV FOR GAMES: Will
Sold: 32.80 Million Copies

7. Tetris on the game boy
Price on release: 90$
DEV FOR GAMES: Gameboy
Sold: 35 Million Copies

6. Mario kari will
Price on release: 42$
DEV FOR GAMES: Will
Sold: 36.38 Million Copies

5.super Mario bros
Price on release: 60$
DEV FOR GAMES: Will 
Sold: 40.24 Million Copies

4. GTAV
Price on release: 60$
DEV FOR GAMES: Xbox 360 and PS3 
Sold: 54 Million Copies

3. Minecraft
Price on release: 14$
DEV FOR GAMES: pc
Sold: 70 Million Copies

2. Will sports
Price on release: free with the will
DEV FOR GAMES: Will 
Sold: 82.69 Million Copies

1.Tetris
Price on release: free
DEV FOR GAMES: All
Sold: 100 Million Copies


I think that the games where successful are because they appeal to many different people and they are fun and well built. A large amount of the games could appeal to a mass audience, which could cause more sales! The reason that the sold so well is different. The games are well made and looked great.

Games that failed

ET was made for the atrai:

Budget: 5 million
Sales: 1.5 million

ET The game is one of the worst games ever made. ET failed because the game has some of the worst, WORST music of any game that has ever been released. It failed not only in poor game play, the sales flopped. The atrai's downfall was said to be because of ET the game. It was a complete fail, the game was so bad that it became rare after a large group of people buried copies of the game. It will go down in history for being one of "the biggest commercial failures in video gaming" $310. Loads of money was spent on getting the license for ET because it was so popular.

Grim fandango: Windows:

Budget: 3 million dollars
Sales: 500,000 copies sold

Grim fandango failed not like most games, the game was loved  by fans and has a very rare "overwhelming positive" on steam, this is very rare for games to achieve as it is up to the community who rates the games. The game however failed because it, like titan fall 2 was because the developers tried to release the game the same month as other huge titles such as Pokemon and zelda. The game was doomed to fail going up against colossal titans while it unfortunately was a rather unknown title.

Daikatana: Windows, gameboy colour and the Nintendo 64

Budget: 44 million
Sales: 200,000 copies sold

Daikatana is a game that was released in the year 2000, the game according to steam was a bug filled mess where the devs got the names of the characters wrong as the voice actor pronounced the game wrong. The devs all the ran out of money and where trying to get more money to pay for the release of the game. The game failed because of this and the devs money management must have gone horribly wrong. The game sold decent even but because of the devs shocking money management the game flopped.


apb reloaded: Windows and was planned for Xbox and ps3 but the game never came out on those

Budget: 100 million dollar
Sales:  130,000

apb reloaded failed because 6 weeks after the game was released, the company filed for bankruptcy and the severs where shut down shortly after. The game also spend 100 million dollars on the game already making it very difficult to make a large profit. The budget was to much and the game was not great and was free to play as well.

shenmue: dream-cast

Budget: 70 million dollar
Sales:  1.2 million

The game was given decent press overall, but the budget was far far FAR too much. The game was a fail because the sales where not even for a budget that was worth so much, the game was well made so much so that at least there will be another one made. The games budget was its ultimate fail.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_video_game_burial
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35560458
http://www.connectedly.com/10-best-selling-video-games-all-time#slide2

Understanding the games industry

Understanding the games industry, the games industry has lots of very simple fundamental basics in business. There are many different ways of things in the industry and here are just some of those:

Cost in creating a game is made up of different factors such as programming etc. A game that is a huge hit will use its budget well without over spending and only buy what is absolutely necessary. A game like the last of us spent its money well and made a high quality fantastic game that millions of people played and enjoyed. They spent there money well and it paid off, games like Daikatana went complete reckless abandon with their money and blew it on useless things such as a lovely expensive 1 million dollars a month suite. Games don't always fail because of the game being bad (although that is a very big factor) but because of the money mangers who fail at there jobs. 

Ways that companies afford this are though many different means, kick starters are very popular currently. A kick starter is when someone gives out money to help you and you hand out rewards when the game is complete. Big companies already have the funds but for a smaller developer this is a very good way to create your game. Self funded is a way because if you are creating the game with some friends they could help with the funding. Another way is bank loans though this is very risky as if things go very wrong it could cost people their houses etc. Indie developers really can't win when it comes to making games for cheap as they have to find very interesting ways of getting money. A big company will have plenty of money so they do not need any kind of funding.     

Small companies face many problems such as: money, time, man power. They do however have full control over their lives as they could work 12 hours a day for 4 days and have 3 days off while at a larger company you are stuck with set out hours. 

Indies do not have it all bad though, as they are growing in popularity very fast and people are making huge sums of money. The games development world is growing and still very popular. Out of all the popular ways of generating money I would personally chose kick starter because I would feel more motivated not to disappointing all the people who donated on my kick starter. 

(1) https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-budget-breakdown-of-AAA-games

(2)http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1596-5-things-we-learned-making-biggest-flop-in-game-history.html

Sound design

Charles Hardy Games development sound design unit 73

Sound design

The reason that sound is so important is to add to the mood and to really make the person playing the game feel like the game is real. The common saying is that having only sound and having nothing to look is better than vis vera.

Skyrim: The song of the Dragonborn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsnRQJxanVM&spfreload=5

The mood and atmosphere of this song is empowering and gives the player hope, the song is so well made with amazing vocals. The song fits the "you are the hero" that the game is going for. The music fits so well with the genre and the overall feel of the game. This soundtrack was used by the developers because it makes the player feel like they are the hero in the story.                                  

Doom 2016 OST: Mick Gordon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTms5jpsfP8

The mood and atmosphere of this whole soundtrack is fast paced and gives the player a feeling that they are complete badasses, the soundtrack though that whole game never changes to a calm or sad song because it is always fast paced and has it is one of the coolest sound tracks ever made. The reason that the game developers used this soundtrack is because of how absolutely chaotic the game is and the music fits the carnage that is happening in the game. The soundtrack fits the game very nicely.

Metro last light main theme: Alexey Omelchuk 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7H0QfU5J04

The mood and atmosphere is very sombre and gloomy with a fantastic creepy and eerie vibe. The sound is extremely well written and composed and it really gives of the wasteland feel. The music really fits the game and the game developers did a really good job choosing the piece of music to play as the main theme.  

Last of us main theme: Gustavo Santalalla

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfA5UqEU_80

The mood and atmosphere of this is sad and much slower paced than the other songs listed here. The song is meant to be slow paced because the game is an emotional experience rather than a fast paced shooter or a "hero saves the day" game  instead. The music choice is very good for the type of game that is presented here. 

Dead space 1: The cost of living is on the rise 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMGiEHx8qAg

The mood and atmosphere of this game is creepy and intense rather than eerie or scary. This makes it very nerve racking when playing that a monster is going to scare you or if you get attacked. The developers choose this sound track well because it is added to the intense gameplay and makes the player feel on edge constantly.

Wave length

The wavelengths of the different sounds are affected by the size of the wave lengths. The wider the wave length the deeper the sound and the taller the wave length the louder it is and the opposites apply here. There are wavelengths are in every single sound made which makes them very important when understanding how to make music and sound. Certain notes in music are used to represent a certain wave length, the images depict the wave lengths and how loud sounds are. The amplitude is how loud a sound is, i.e a sound of someone whispering would be (1) and someone shouting would be (2). The waves are measured in one millisecond so they are very short bursts of sound. Hertz is simply how long the sound goes on for. Headphones and speakers can give out sounds that make the sound like someone is right behind you. The development of sound is very interesting and how it went from static to sounds so real that it sounds like they are right behind you.          

What is Foley?

Foley is the making of everyday sound effects which are added to games and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. The reproduced sound could be someone getting punched in the face but in reality it would be a slab of meat getting whacked by a bowling pin. The person who came up with Foley is called Jack Foley and was born April 12^th 1891 and died November 9^th 1967.

What is Timbre?

Timbre is the quality of a sound and is distinct from its pitch, intensity and frequency in acoustics, phonetics and music.  In acoustics and phonetics the quality of sound is independent in pitch and loudness. In music timbre is the sound produced by a particular instrument or note.

Psychology of sound:

Speech: Speech in games is the most common type of sound other than music, characters speaking happens through out most games. Any story based game will have speech as a very basic asset. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjTy9pgsvyw

Metaphors: A metaphor is when something is told in a way which means something else. Examples of this are cryptic phrases and the phrase "life is like a box of lemons" because it compares life to a fruit.   

Symbolism: symbolism is something that foreshadows an event that is about to happen, for example thunder and lightning could symbolise that something bad is going to happen or birds singing in the morning shows that it is going to be a good day.

Iconic: Iconic things are things that are famous due to there unique way of being shown or there popularity. There are many examples of something iconic and here are just a few:

Jaws theme song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9QTSyLwd4w

Star wars theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjMNNpIksaI