The Air Chief

The end is near for my stay at my game school. Here are som major changes I have gone through during my time here.

Unity: I have excelled basically near the point of what this school-program can take me. I know how to work in the software and understand common functions so I can work with other developers without during the on hands stuff. I did not become I master in this software but to mention some knowledge I gained:

Learning to learn. How to reseach and find answers I need.

basic particle making

managing assets, prefabs and game objects

Transforming objects, size, rotation, scale, placement

Basic script managment

Basic animation control, slicing and setting nodes

Input controls in Unity

Managing scenes

Exporting games and making a build

Testing games, playmode ect

Uing the assetstore

Collaborationg on projects

Working around a project using only the arsenal of skills you have available

And of course how a midsize Danish company uses Unity.

Unity brings me to my next point:

Programming: I had an idea in prior to starting here that I could become some coding-wizzard in under a year. This did not happen. Also this learning environment is not fit for me to get deep in to this area, I am not saying it is a bad learning space, only that it is not me. Perhaps  am more oldschool. That being said I have a head start when I start at Universitet where programming will be part of the curriculum.

Visual graphic skills (Photoshop, Illustrator, Piskel).

I advanced well in using the Piskel (2d sprite animation software) to the point where I wanted a better tool to make my assets. I did not necessarily become a great artist though.

I feel like I have some basic knowledge now to start using  photoshop on my on without having to stop all the time to ask for help.

3D modeling.

I know a little about both Blender and 3dmax, but if I should need to use it again I would have to do a firm rebrush. What I did get was an understanding of some principles, a grasp of how to accomplish tasks and some motivation towards knowing how that modeling can be fun and that I to can do it.

Knowing my limites and my future: I set out a major goal before starting here: “find out if the gaming industry was anything for me” well the conclussion is indecisive: I know I probably do not want a common desk job at someone else’s company, perhabs a hire for consulting job would be ok, such as making a database, reseach, translocation, management, literate/communicative/rhetoric or some other acedemic input. But I don’t want to be another man’s working slave during task have don’t have the heart in. Which bringes me to the point that my formal edducation (mainly university) could be aiming more towards entrepreneur i.e. going indie or the consulting area. I prefer to have the freedom to manage my own projects. I don’t think mastering coding or visual art is standing right around the corner, but I am willing to give it a shot.

Slackers: I have verified my conpemt for slackers (the usual bounce) in the work space. If people don’t want to work it’s fine by me as longs as they don’t hinder my efforts.

The social structure of a learning space can change quite rapidly and navigating through this field is also a task to bear in mind if your main focus is growing in knowledge.

Playmates: I value having recived a pack of good friends with an interest in gaming  (/development), they also serve a good company to play games with.

I have been following some tutorial on Photoshop and I plan to learn more about PS and Illustrator in the summer holidays.

Codenames

ICE LEVEL Unity Trainning 

Only old ppl will unstand

Here are some photos from our last game jam.

I have to say something importent but I don’t know what.

Monday to Thursday, we had our last game jam this year. I spend most of the time making the main character, a Leprechaun which I animated in 7 frames, front side and backside, walking and idle position. We did a player 2 edition with switched hue.

Pixel art

My visit to Information Science and Cultural Communication

I went to Copenhagen University to visit the bachelor program “Information Science and Cultural Communication” [Informationsvidenskab og kulturformidling]

I was curious to find out what the study was all about, and it turns out it was something wastly different. In a single word: “Librarian School”  atcually that’s two words, in English at least..

So what caught my attention? two things

1) Well first course was information seach, my group were tasked to analyse 3 seach engines ability to find relavant information on a topic. Other groups did different topics. As I see it, it turn out Yahoo!, Bing and Google have different strengths. In the end we discussed how Google have a larger user base and therefor is better to implement clever seach AI that analyses user behaviour to show the most relevant results first. Therefor oftent it is better to use. However Google sometimes simplifies the results giving a better general result on a general topic, but on a very spesific topic. I can relate the AI, user-friendlyness and such with game development!

2) Secondly I followed a course on how people do reading. Standard books, books with loose pages that can be read in any order, books where the design of the typography has an artistic message, in other words Visual poetry. (could be a poem shaped like a bottle, 3d-books that have unfoldable content or things to touch and feel (closely related to children’s books), a piece that is shaped like a board game where you read the “book” in small boxes, and finally the teacher showed me: interactive books. I was drawn to this books: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore https://youtu.be/nmxuhGF1yj8?t=9s

watch the video, it is sort of like a game. for kids but also a book.

Octopi and squids