The Final Assignment

This the final assignment for my Game Design class. The objective was to take everything we learned from the course and apply it to making our final matte painting and a pair of textures.

For my matte, I was going for a feel similar to the first teaser image of The Walking Dead. I wanted to show a city during those first few hours of a zombie outbreak. I wanted to accurately portray the state of chaos and disarray a metropolitan area would be in during such an event while at the same time keeping in mind this is really just the start of things. To help convey this feeling I purposely kept the fountain active and maintained a daylight setting. I painted in the sky and clouds over the sky that was naturally in the image because it had whited out after I color corrected the image. i used a lot of adjustment layers though only a few layer masks. The most prominent use of layer styles is in the flames that i painted onto the buildings. By using the inner and outer glow functions I was able to make the fire look realistic and luminous. I enjoyed working on the project though I think I should've replaced the sky with another image rather than paint the sky in by hand.

Tileable Textures

This is an assignment for my Game Design class. The objective of the assignment was to create tileable texture that could be used in a video game.

The first texture was of a concrete wall. I made an attempt to clean up the image and remove any sections that would break the texture once it was tiled. I tried to minimize potential seams but the left side of the image proved to be difficult. I used multiple layers and selection to cover up the glaring areas. Adjustment layers were used to boost the details in the image to look more defined. I also used the content aware tool to clean up sections of grime that would have tiled over and broken the texture's tiling effect.

For the second texture I used a metal container image. I used the same approach with this one that I took with the second one. I cropped and offset the image to make sure it was the same size and that it would tile correctly. After that used the content aware tool to try to make the bordered sections match more cleanly. After that I made adjustment layers to emphasis the details. I used levels and curves and created copies of the actual texture and applied blending modes to them. This assignemt wasn't very difficult but it took some time to make the textures into something that looked good and still able to put up as a titleable element in a game. I had more trouble with the first texture because i forgot to offset it at first. I tried to fix it as best i could without starting over but there is a clear seam in the image about halfway through. The second texture wasn't as bad mainly because I did the offset first.

Content Aware

This is an assignment for my Game Design class. The objective of the assignment was to remove all people in the picture using the Spot Healing Brush and its Content Aware property.

The assignment started out easy because the bottom half of all of the people all shared the same background. So with the spot healing brush i just cleaned out everyone to fit the background. To do that i used the lasso tool to make small selections and then from there used the spot healing brush to paint away the legs on a new layer. This process was repeated until the entire ground was clear. I used the proximity property to clean up any imperfection I couldn't fix with content aware. From that point on I repeated the process until I got to the heads an din some cases the segways. This is where things got more difficult thanks to the cars in the background. In some cases just working in smaller increments worked but patience gave way to tedium and for the sake of speed I worked with larger selections. in some cases this worked out to my benefit but more often than now I was given terrible results. The hardest sections were the heads of the group of young women and the two sections where the segway riders are right in front of cars. I tried to work the best I could with the tool but I think i bit off more than i could chew by using this image. In the end I'm still happy with my end result i just need to get a better grasp of using the tool.

Matte Painting Planet

This is the matte painting assignment for my Game Design class. The objective of the assignment was to replicate a matte painting assignment we had started in class..

For this assignment I used all of the tricks that we had gone over in class. The idea was to make a realistic space scene like the one we had done in class. I used a galaxy background as a reference for the colors and how the stars should look along with the background. This assignment required the use of filters. The Clouds filters were used to make t background look more cosmic. I used noise filters and levels to create the star background. And the radial blur was used in combination with a dissolved brush to make the lightburst effect. The brighter stars were also made using a brush in addition to a layer style to give them a brighter glow. 

Cliff Demo

This is the matte painting assignment for my Game Design class. The objective of the assignment was to take composite three photos together to make one unified image.

For this assignment I used all of the tricks that we learned in class. The first thing I did was use quick mask to make my selection to cut out the man and the cliff. After doing that I laid him on to the background scene. I laid the sky onto the image afterward and then started to color correct the images. I used multiple adjustment layers on each image and tweaked them to give the impression of a cloudy afternoon. I mainly focused on adjusting the brightness and contrast of the images to give the scene the right look. I used a lot of quick selections and adjustment layers to darken the background to make the cloudy sky seem more realistic. I also brightened up the left hand ridge as the sunlight would have affected the edge just a bit.

Color Correction 2

This is the second color correction assignment for my Game Design class. The objective of the assignment was to take a picture at home and color correct it.

This assignment was pretty easy since we had done something similar with the last project. I took a picture of my cat just lazing around in the basement. in the original photo at lot of the image was either desaturated or over exposed to the flash from the camera. So what I did was put the colors back into the images and toned down the contrast. The sofa was a pale green in stead of the deep green shown.  The blanket picked up most of the camera's flash so I added more color saturation and added more contrast. The sheets in the background were a bit dim too so i just brightened those up with the curves option. I made all of my selections with the quick mask and then copied and pasted the selected items about the base photo. From there i just applied individual adjustment layers to each item. I mainly made use of the Curves and Hue/Saturation adjustment layers.

Color Correction Assignment

This is the color correction assignment for my Game Design class. The objective of the assignment was to fix the issues plaguing the images below as best we could using the image adjustments options

This first image had high contrast issues and the color was over saturated. By using the levels, curves and exposure options I tinkered around till I lowered the saturation of the colors and adjusted the overall brightness of the image. Then I used the variations option to further desaturate the colors.

The second image had the opposite problem of the first. It was too dark and so i tried to brighten it up with the Curves and Exposures options. I wanted to try to keep the colors as accurate as possible while pushing up the brightness and contrast.

The final image looked faded and old. I started out using the levels option again and then switched to Curves. When i was manipulating the curve line I pulled in a section toward the histogram which saturated the colors and made them look more vibrant. After that I tinkered with the contrast to refined the shadows.

Photoshop Selection Tools

This is one of my assignments from my Game Design class. We were given the task of using the basic selection tools of Photsohop to cut out the following images. The objective was to get as clean a cut as possible with only the selection tools and Quick Mask.

Image 1

For this first image here I started out with the magic wand tool to get rid of the white background. I made multiple selections around the woman and from there i started using the quick mask tool to get into the major problem areas. It was a tedious process but I went in and masked out the majority of the white spaces in between the sections of hair. I made sure to use a brush with 0 hardness so as to prevent the cut from looking like a cardboard cut out. For the most part I used mainly used my tablet and my mouse to get the best results i could using Quick Mask.

 Image 2

This second image was much more difficult than the first one.  While there was less overall hair to deal with the outdoor background this image had made getting a precision cut more difficult. I tried to mix things up and use the Magnetic lasso but it required more patience than I was willing to give. I tried to used the marquee tools before I went back to the magic wand and Quick mask combination but my results weren't as good as with my first picture.

Scratch Fever!!

So here's an idea for a $1 game for Android, Iphone, Ipod and tablets. The name of the game is called Scratch Fever and if you haven’t guessed already it’s about a kitten. In this game you take control of a kitten named Blackie that has separation anxiety. When the owner leaves Blackie alone at home for the night Blackie’s anxiety kicks in and makes him crazy. The only way he can remedy this is by destroying the furniture throughout the home. Thus the object of the game is to destroy as much furniture in the house bas you can before Blackie’s anxiety overcomes him.

Gameplay is simple since it is touch based. The hud consists solely of flashing arrows on the edges of the screen. These arrows serve as the means for navigating through the house. To move from one place to another you tap an arrow and watch as Blackie moves in that direction until he enters another room. There is no set path to take through the house which means you may travel to different rooms of the house in any order you choose. The hud also has a meter at the top of the screen called the Anxiety Meter. The Anxiety meter gradually increases throughout the game whenever Blackie isn’t scratching up furniture in the house. If Blackie’s Anxiety Meter fills to capacity the game is over. As the game goes on the meter fills at a faster rate after every few rooms Blackie completely destroys.

There are only two ways to slow the anxiety meter’s progress or halt the meter altogether. The first method is by scratching. The player scratches an object by selecting a piece of furniture by tapping it once. Once the object is select Blackie will run to the object. After the object is selected the player must then place their finger on the screen and sweeping their finger back and forth (mimicking a scratching motion) until it is completely destroyed. Once the object is destroyed you may choose to select another target or move on to the next room. Destroying objects slowly yet temporarily lower the Anxiety Meter. Destroying objects in succession give the player a score multiplier per object.  Bonus points are also given to the player for clearing out an entire room in one sitting. In order to temporarily stop the anxiety meter the player can use a rare power up which is catnip. When the player uses the catnip power up the Anxiety meter is halted where it is for 10 seconds to give the player breathing room to navigate areas that have no available furniture to destroy. Another thing to note is that catnip spawns randomly in the rooms.

Ultimately the game boils down to destroy objects to get as many points as you can and avoid filling the Anxiety Meter. The game incorporates elements of strategy as you have to choose whether or not clearing entire rooms and building a strong score early outweighes playing it safe and leaving things behind for when the Anxiety Meter regenerates more aggressively. it has a simple control scheme that is meant to take advantage of the platform its played on.

What Game uses Flow best

The game that best uses flow is Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The game hits on all of the criteria for hitting flow but this doesn't really kick in until a quarter of the way into the game. The beginning of the game is mainly a tutorial for newbies and a refresher for vets and lets you play around with some of the new control concepts added to the game. It doesn't take too long to get everything down pact but once you do you are still trying to discover the extent of your abilities.

After the initial chapter and the introduction of the next one you are still in the learning stage due to the new character you play as. The merging of action and awareness starts to take place as you get more items and weapons. The controls are pretty simple and once you get them you rarely have to think about it. From the get go the game has a clear goal and feedback. This is where the Metal Gear series excels at. The object of the game is to complete objectives without being noticed by your enemies. If you make too much noise or get too close to an enemy they question where the noise comes from or asks who that is in the distance. If you are caught enemies are put on alert and a search and destroy squad is sent after to you. If you hide then a breach and clear team is sent to clear the last place you were seen at which most of the time is where you are still hiding. This all helps to draw you into the world and makes you focus on the more expansive goals of the game be it bomb disposal or tracking down an informant. Once the game opens up after a boss fight with a harrier jet Flow starts to kick in which is perfect because at this point the story has really opened up and all the hooks are coming together.

The paradox of control kicks in as you get to explore more areas of the Big Shell and take in how massive the structure is and get a feel for all of the damage the structure has taken. Even though you have more freedom to explore you are being dragged along a path. It’s hidden from you because you have to backtrack through most places you see. On top of that every few rooms require a different level of security clearance that's unavailable until you defeat certain bosses or meet other important characters. At this point things get more difficult and your takes require more finesse or just smart thinking. The game does a great job of giving you the tools you need to take on a challenge and rewards you for any additional exploration with more weapons and equipment. It’s also during this point that you lose consciousness of yourself and hour of time because the character’s goals and motivations become your own. You get attached to the people you are tasked to save and in the end you just want to play solely to see whether or not you’ll really be able to stop a terrorist attack with the odds against you at almost every turn.

MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!

The first game I remember playing regularly is Mortal Kombat. Iwas a fan of Mortal Kombat ever since I was four playing MKII on the SNES and Sega Genesis. I didn't really start clocking in hours on top of hours with the game until about '97-8. A little while after I got my own Playstation I got Mortal Kombat Trilogy which was the culmination of all MK games up to that point. It had all the stages, characters, fatalities etc. If it was in any of the original three games; was in MK:T.  MK:T was the first time I actually tried to study and learn moves for a fighting game.

 I tested out every character and learned everyone's basic moves and then got into a groove with most of the ninja and cyborg characters. My main guys were Scorpion, Smoke, Sektor, Cyrax, Baraka and Cyber Smoke. Another thing that kept me playing was trying to learn everyone's fatality in the game plus trying to beat the arcade ladder. One day a friend of mine at school told me a code for one button fatalities that made my quest to learn all the fatalities null and void but I still used it it to show off at my family.


Eventually some of my friends and I started to make neighborhood competitions to see who was the best in the game and after I won they would make it a goal to be able to beat me. We usually played two on two matches which led to me discovering my dream team of Scorpion and Smoke. Evetually one of my friends was able to dethrone me from my place as "MK Champion" and he refused to play me again in fear of losing the "title". Even after that I kept playing the game until it was too scratched from play to even be read by the Playstation.

Worst Game Evers

The worst videogame I've ever played was Wet. The game had a lot of interesting ideas and concepts but executed everything horribly. The combat system was repetitive and got boring really fast. Its said because it had some great ideas like aiming in two directions, acrobatics and had a mix of gunplay and sword fighting. The major killer was that all of the acrobatic moves initiated a bullet time mode which was the only way to make use of aiming in two directions at once. Outside of that you can only shoot one gun. Another failing of the game is that its action heavy but it locks you out of the most intense action sequences and forces quick time events on you. This is especially the case for boss fights. Every bossfight is nothing more than a cutscene with maybe one or two button prompts. Its very disappointing and insulting to kill off the final boss with this same method and then roll the credits afterward.

The story was pretty lame and the main character Rubi was funny at first but got annoying real fast. The game also forced you to run through challenge maps to unlock weapons you'd need for the next section of the story instead of just giving it to you. The main issue with this was that it breaks up the pace and takes you out of the game to stop looking for people that double crossed you to run through an obstacle so  that you can get new machine guns to kill these people. After this happened for the third time I was really close to quitting but I had paid for it so i wanted to at least finish it once.

 What sucks the most is that I really wanted this game when it came out but I had to wait for it. When I saw it for $20 I jumped on it and now I hate I spent that much. I can't imagine spending $60 on this crappy game. Since I've completed the game I haven't bothered touching it again. it has no replay value and the first playthrough was borderline torture. I think a game studio has a lot to worry about if you find a way to make over the top violence, swords, guns and bullet time repetitive and boring after five minutes.