(Original post – Student Game Art)
‘Jeremy’ continues his concept art for a graphic adventure game…
Student Game Art #2
September 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Student Game Art
August 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Game art design is a vital part of game development and one that is often overlooked by students. Game art is the process of creating 2D & 3D art for use as character models, scenery, items or even user interfaces. Below is some concept art for a new game character that a talented student at Quantum Victoria developed in under 30 minutes. (On a Fujitzu Lifebook T Series Tablet)
It’s awesome.
‘Jeremy’ had never thought of using his skills in this way before.
Testing F1 Vehicles
August 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Our first run of testing F1 racing cars that were designed and manufactured at Quantum Victoria using CAD/CAM processes, on a 25m elevated track with timing gates. (Best run was 25m in 1.6sec – we need to be shaving at least 0.6 second – kudos to Joel Willis for beating me thoroughly by 0.2 seconds, even though I had the best reaction time – makes my design even worse!)
The actual design, once machined looks like this.
Perpetual Testing Initiative
May 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Perpetual Testing Initiative for Portal 2 was released as DLC on May 8th. Originally, in order to create custom levels or maps for Portal 2, the Hammer Engine needed to be used – now Valve has put level creation into the hands of all with it’s simple to use in-game editor. Below is a map that I put together in about 5 minutes – granted it’s never going to win a prize for aesthetics or level of difficulty – but what it allows is rapid prototyping of ideas and for students to be engaged in iterative design where they design, test, modify, test, modify, get their peers to test, modify and so on.
I have written before about how this game can be used as a vehicle for students to learn about physics concepts such as gravity, momentum, energy, conservation laws and even modern physics such as Einstein-Rosen bridges from the theory of general relativity. An example is the concept of ‘flinging.’
Essentially ‘flinging’ is using the properties of gravity, transferring energy from kinetic to potential and vice-versa, in order to build up enough momentum to traverse distances that would be normally impossible.
In order to make high-quality maps, Hammer will still need to be used to apply textures and lighting effects (by importing your maps created into the SDK) – as this functionality in the in-game editor is quite limited. Overall though, it is excellent – if you haven’t yet played Portal 2 go buy it now – it’s only $6.99 on Steam.
Design & Analysis of F1 Racing Vehicles
May 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
At Quantum Victoria students have the opportunity to design a Formula 1 racing vehicle using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software, engage in mathematical modeling, analyze computational fluid dynamics by using a virtual wind tunnel, and then construct their design using a manufacturing unit. They will then race their designs to see who truly has “The Need for Speed.”
This program is multi-faceted and multidisciplinary – it is true PBL. It inspires students to learn about engineering principles such as physics, aerodynamics, design, manufacturing, leadership, teamwork, media skills and project management, and then apply them in practical, creative and exciting ways. It raises awareness of careers and pathways related to Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM). Students use industry level, 3D CAD/CAM and simulation technologies to design, analyze, test, manufacture and race miniature CO2 powered balsa wood cars.
After this 5 day program, students and schools may well be inspired to compete in the F1 in Schools Challenge and work their way to a spot in the World Championships!
Using CATIA, this is an intial design based on design specifications that basically constrain the car to the size of the material being used – in this case balsa with dimensions 223x50x65.
Using the Generative Structural Analysis capabability of CATIA, this is a preliminary Finite Element Analysis to see how the design holds up under external forces.
Using this technique students engage in some sophisticated property analysis of materials including Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, Density, Yield strength’s and coefficients of thermal expansion and look to optimize their design in relation to the material being used.
As part of marketing their car and producing an exhibition display space, students have to produce photo-realistic images and put together an assembly so that their design actually looks like an F1 racing vehicle.
They then render their car assembly to make it appear as if the car is actually real – granted this attempt is miserable (Still learning about photorendering…)
Collaborations between industry partners and actual designers and engineer’s are encouraged, as students learn about computational fluid dynamics, virtual wind tunnels and CAM processes. Put this all together with designing team shirts, public speaking, project planning, development and management, resource procurement, graphic design and manufacturing engineering, resource management and team work, make this program one with incredible depth.
A photo of a half-machined car. (In the background is our MRC40 CNC Router)
Cloak of Darkness: Using IF for systems thinking
April 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Having first written about using Text-Based Adventures in education back in 2009, my interest in them as a tool for teaching programming concepts, game design, literacy and systems thinking has been renewed. Exploring Interactive Fiction (IF) design systems such as Inform7 and Adrift, I have found Quest to be probably the best for small projects ideally suited to K12 education. The desktop client is currently for PC only, but a beta Chrome Store Quest app is now available for use on any platform.
Following the tutorials available to familiarise with the tool, I decided to attempt to write my own small game based on Roger Firths “Cloak of Darkness” specification. This is the programming equivalent of ‘hello world’ in the IF space. Firths specification for this game are as follows:
There are just three rooms and three objects.
The Foyer of the Opera House is where the game begins. This empty room has doors to the south and west, also an unusable exit to the north. There is nobody else around.
The Bar lies south of the Foyer, and is initially unlit. Trying to do anything other than return northwards results in a warning message about disturbing things in the dark.
On the wall of the Cloakroom, to the west of the Foyer, is fixed a small brass hook.
Taking an inventory of possessions reveals that the player is wearing a black velvet cloak which, upon examination, is found to be light-absorbent. The player can drop the cloak on the floor of the Cloakroom or, better, put it on the hook.
Returning to the Bar without the cloak reveals that the room is now lit. A message is scratched in the sawdust on the floor.
The message reads either “You have won” or “You have lost”, depending on how much it was disturbed by the player while the room was dark.
The act of reading the message ends the game.
You can play my attempt at Cloak of Darkness online at http://www.textadventures.co.uk/review/468/
In the classroom, I would have students first play one of the Infocom Text Adventures and perhaps unpack verbs, nouns, game mechanics, space and narrative and maybe even get them to do a mapping exercise of the world in question. (A discussion could also be included about Choose Your Own Adventures and Fighting Fantasy.) This would be followed by an introduction to the Quest editor and a discussion about verbs, nouns, objects, rooms, dialogue, first, second and third person narrative perspectives, If->Then statements, attributes etc. and their first project would be to create their own version of the “Cloak of Darkness.”
This would be approached by having them map out the required rooms on A3 paper and then use brainstorming cards to map out their proposed game. Students would be routinely asked to go through the process of rapid prototyping and iterative design by having their peers playtest and provide feedback. By engaging in something like this, students are building their skills and confidence leading up to their final project, which would be a game of their own design. Assessment of their final project/game would include:
Competence – the game should handle the user interactions expected for a piece of interactive fiction.
Immersiveness – the degree to which a player loses him or herself in the game world.
Completeness – the world should have a reasonable number of room and objects.
World Design – non-linear story with several puzzles to solve.
Prose Quality – the room descriptions should draw the player into the game.
Interactivity – the player should have interesting objects and environments to manipulate.
Fun – the game should entertain the player and motivate him or her to play often.
A question that educators at all levels should ask themselves is “What would you do with a computer if their was no internet access?” Using Interactive Fiction enables students to engage with game design whilst not having to worry about skill in designing digital art – and it is a great literacy workout too.
IF resources:
Welcome to Interactive Fiction
Adrian Camm 