Game Over

Gang,

Since I was a child up to

my eyeballs in Dr. Pepper

and using my toddler-hood

mastering runs of SMB on

the NES, I've always

loved videogames.

It was a personal dream in

effect to see your visuals

come to life with videogames.

The show could not have been

possible without your hard work.

I thank you. Below are

images relevant to all.

1.) Group photo.

2.) Lower quality footage (now)

of the death of Optimus Prime

(at the hands of me and JC).

3.) Our signatures.

So nothing else left to say, but-

Game over.

-Ben

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Protocol (And Images)

C R I T I C A L  P L A Y | ART & COMPUTER GAMES  | Exhibition Protocol, Saturday, May 10
 
TWO PEOPLE to take various shifts monitoring two exit areas of Collective (per their request) on Saturday-
1.) 5:00 : Kailee               5:20 : Andrea    5:40 : Cassondra     6:00 (onward) : --- (on spot)
2.) 5:00 : Zach/Darius     5:20 : JC           5:40 : Sean              6:00 (onward) : --- (on spot)

THREE PEOPLE to help me get our valuable cargo from the lab to our moving van (10:30 AM AND 7:00 PM)-
1.) Elizabeth (AM)
2.) Jenie (AM) 
AM, we meet at lab, 10:30. We unload at the Collective. If need be, I can give a ride back to UNR/wherever in the van.
3.) Connor (PM)
4.) Zach (PM)
PM, we meet at the Collective, and unload back at the school/lab. Hopefully you can find transportation from there.

THREE PEOPLE to assist in hanging storyboards/labels/auxiliary works (1:30)-
1.) Erin Mc.
2.) Aaron
3.) Rhea
This will officially be occurring starting at 1:30 PM at the Collective. You'll be arranging the non-techie stuff in the space and will pretty much be responsible for its design.

TWO PEOPLE to do the job of arranging all our pot luck food prior (they have a counter)-
1.) Fantasia
2.) Erin F
A mass email will be sent out requesting specific food info.

ONE PERSON to be our official documentary videographer and photographer (SLR camera) for the evening-
1.) Stormy
(I will contact this person directly.)

** TWO PEOPLE to collaborate in designing ‘menu screens’ for combined stages (talk with me)-
1.) Libby
2.) Crystal
**A job not done on site. Throughout remaining days before Saturday. DUE Friday, 5PM, emailed to me.
(This can be given to me by the due date; Friday, 5PM, via email.)

Everyone should have a duty, between 18 existing members. 3 members will need to pull double duty.

ASK ANY QUESTIONS.

Where to place additional work besides those created in 381.

(Place your cardboard sculptures somewhere in the room

so we may get it Saturday morning.) 

The Ginyu Force posing by Optimus Prime.

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IF you wish to submit additional work to me besides what you listed on the label sheet in class, please submit info via email containing title/your name/year/materials(if applicable). Physical works : in the area specified in the photo by Friday, 5PM. Video works : via WeTransfer to my email, boding it is below 2GB (shouldn't be an issue).

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Food for Thought

Worth sharing! 

In a twist of fate, I did just about what you guys have been tasked with about this whole semester for a game jam at the GFC14 festival. For the jam, teams paired up and prototyped  (Storyboard) a modification (Breakout Mod) of the existing board game Monopoly into a more social issue (Serious Game). 

All groups were given just one hour and a bunch of neon color paper, pens, and frilly print outs to work with. Shown in images below. They weren't entirely concrete with their rules, so I ended up just pulling my laptop out and in an hour did a 3D model diagram (Overworld Model) of our 'Philanthropoly' addressing gentrification issues. I was kind of eavesdropping on what my group was planning, which did not entirely reach a conclusion until 50 minutes in. I mostly just worked as the art guy. For presentation, instead of from table, I hijacked their presentation TV for our purposes. We ended up ranking 1st with another group. Might have helped that I pulled the stunt because representatives from Autodesk were there.

If nothing else, a testament either to the power of deja vu/string theory, or that concepts in the art studio are not too distant from actual industry practices.

Images-

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Important Email

(Important enough to post here.)

Gang,

Important notices (especially since we will be away for 2 more weeks). Read these carefully since I am clearly not there to express in physical form.

-Ian Bogost is back on. He will visit us May 8.

-Speaking of turn-in, for convenience purposes here we are : Two folders will be available on the desktop: PROJ 3 and PROJ 4 respectively on the day of critique. You know the drill. Final GameMaker files from everyone (.gmk) in 3 folder and Maya files from everyone in 4 folder. We critique any updates and 3D works. I recommend arriving at least 10 minutes earlier this day to ensure all files are placed. Or sooner. This will not be a critique to be passive in whatsoever.

-Our final exhibition date, due to booking of the space, has been moved up to May 10. Saturday. 5-7 PM. At the Collective. All protocol for the whole original day remains in tact, but for Saturday. This is not the final meeting time for 381. Contact me if this is a scheduling issue for any reason. Make all effort to still participate.

ANY questions, email me.

Joe let me know who attended the Artcade! Special thanks to him. Best of luck. You might see me tomorrow in-between cities/tasks.

Ben.

Open Challenge

The Artcade. A single quarter playthrough.

Score may/may not be up by the time you arrive.

But I invite you to try and top it. </nerd>

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Exhibition : We're On

C R I T I C A L  P L A Y

Art and Computer games

E X H I B I T I O N

Reno Collective

 I lobbied hard, and after

it seemed lost, an owner

of the place gave me the

thumbs up and has decided

to sponsor our event.

So congrats. You have

a downtown exhibition you

can put your hard work into

for friends, family, and the

town the discover for

a one-night exhibit.

MAIN PROTOCOL:

DATE : May 10, 5-7 PM, Saturday : Reception (Let me know clearly in advance about scheduling conflicts.)

TIME : All morning and afternoon of that day, however necessary, myself and a team of us will bring all vital materials for the exhibition and install it in the Collective. It will be organized carefully before transfer. Most of our work is digital, however a certain component of it is definitely 'physical' (read on). I will rent a truck if need be to transfer such larger items unless someone has that capability.

WHAT WE DO : Exhibit all facets of our labor and creative projects through the whole semester in the gallery! I will see to purchasing projection screens so we can project all game projects, game code manipulations, and 3D dioramas in. In addition, any work of individual course members' choosing they wish to add that does not have to be a part of 381. Digital or any other medium. Consider this exhibition as an opportunity to get yourself out there.

ADDITIONALS : For refreshments and snacks, I propose a pot luck. Additional prospects that might be neat is a small ensemble or band playing some music for us. Game music or otherwise. Or a small 'game tournament' to entice outsiders to join us for the evening.

-At least one work from each class member created in 381 is required to place in the show. This does not include the game project, where everyone must be included. I will curate a little, as I will want to include certain works either because of their visual achievement or relevancy to the overall exhibit.

-An external work made outside of 381 is optional, but heavily suggested. It can be created from any date in the last 2 years. If you want to include an external video piece you want to show, we can bring in a TV for a looping reel. Painting? Printmaking? We'll hang it. We want to encourage the interdisciplinary aspects of game art making by showing additional mediums.

Here is a task, now, that everyone

will be using class time with (and

sparingly outside class time put aside

for your existing projects)-

  C A R D B O A R D  

C L A S S I C

C A B I N E T

Tired of living in the digital? Want something 'tangible?' Here's your shot.

In a very loose parameter of teams (you can work alone or with a group of 3... MAX 4 per team), we will be using TONS of recycled cardboard and material of the likeness to build DIY arcade machines as a way of celebrating our opportunity in downtown Reno. And to pay homage and learn about such retro processes of creating a classic American arcade cabinet. You will even see the Artcade in Reno come next week.

Below are two poignant and relevant videos to our interest, which we will screen- Verge documentary on the fall of American arcades and the charming 'Caine's Arcade' featurette.


           

 -By May 9, all cardboard cabinets should be assembled. Working in teams and using class time which we should have left, this should be more or less a briefer task. I will heavily assist with construction as well post May 3 as my time will be a little more free then. This factors in to the newly fused Project 5-final exhibition grade. Please participate.

-The requirements for the size are very liberal, but do at least try to go above four feet tall.

-The look. Completely up to your imagination (like Caine's imagination). You can even invent a game out of your imagination and build a cabinet for that. Just know cardboard is fragile. They are more of objects to be observed and walked around.

-The process is very interpretive as well. Use your imagination for that, but a good tip would be to do basic engineering. Get a strong sense of the base before attempting to finish anything.

Again, congrats. The home stretch is upon us.

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Process of Super Maya Meat Boy

'In-process' pics of my example so there is visual overview.

 

What I am working towards.

 

 I start out with the basics. Pick a cube

to work from, and do a simple start

of moving a few verticies and extruding

some faces to establish where my

basic shape is going. 

 

Continue extruding faces, so

the shape of the level design

is becoming more clearer.

 

Eventually, it will get to the

point where I break from that

original cube, and just make

another to sculpt from. The

shape on the left was just a series

of extruding and subtly manipulating

the vertices along the way to

create an intentional jagged curve.

 

Next, I add in additional objects

to detail the scene accordingly.

I make a separate cylinder, extrude

every other face on the rim, and scale

the ends down to get a buzz-saw effect.

I copy and paste that 'one' saw accord-

ingly to fill the scene.

 

Once more, the little details make

the difference. Here I just

add the fence on the sides

of the level platforms.

 

 

I mind the fact that the model

is 3D now, as opposed to 2D

level design. I invent the way

the items are placed in the space

a little. Instead of just a flat

saw blade at each position,

I multiply it to fill the whole row.

 

 

More circumstantial details. Things

like molding a separate rock to

duplicate along the edges as well

as some pipes to look like the level.

 

 

Last thing I do : add Meat Boy

and Bandage Girl. I make the

scene first before characters,

to get the best sense of space.

 

 

Ironically, then, the characters

are the first thing I texture to create

the mood of the scene. I make

everything but Meat Boy's face

a shade of red. I go to component

mode (face) to add the one unique texture.

 

 

It is a series of Right Click->

Add New Material/Texture. Sometimes,

adding again a material that already

exists from a dropdown menu.

 

 

A crucial hint is that you do NOT

have to model every little detail

before texturing it. Sometimes,

texture and color itself suffices

as enough detail. As opposed

to modeling every little thing.

 

 

Think in tiles. Rather than wall-

papering the whole rock side

as a single wallpaper, I gave the

sides 'individual tiles of rock'

to look more retro, like a game,

and fill the space more creatively.

 

 

Make camera background

fit accordingly and render.

Done.

 

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