Unit 7- Game Engines - P1 & P2

Game Engine

Game Engines is the mainframe of the game. Graphical, Gameplay and code.

A game engine is a software development kit (SDK) that contains the source code and tooling necessary to get a basic video game up and running fast, letting the developer script in the gameplay, levels, and characters, without needing to touch a single line (or at least, much fewer lines) of code or know advanced programming.
This allows the game developer to focus more on the gameplay and the “fun factor”, spending less time on complex math trying to get everything set up.


Here are some examples of big games and their game engines.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 -

IW 4.0 - 2009

The IW engine is a game engine developed by Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games for the Call of Duty series. The engine was originally based on id Tech 3 as its core, since the engine itself is proprietary with inclusion of GtkRadiant by id Software. It has been used by Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Raven Software, and Sledgehammer Games.

Fallout: New Vegas -

Gamebryo - 2010

Gamebryo is a game engine. Gamebryo 3D and LightSpeed engines are owned by Gamebase Co., Ltd. and Gamebase USA and have been used by several video game developers including Atlus, Trion Worlds, 2K Games, Disney, Ubisoft, Bethesda Softworks, Firaxis Games, Tencent, Sony, Shanda, NCsoft, Rockstar Games and KingsIsle Entertainment for numerous cross-platform game titles.

FIFA Series (Currently FIFA 16) -

Ignite Engine - 2014

The Ignite game engine (styled as IGNITE) is a collection of video game technologies built by Electronic Arts and designed to make video game sports "alive". The technology was announced at Microsoft's Xbox One reveal event in May 2013 alongside four upcoming EA Sports franchise games for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 using the technology: FIFA 14, EA Sports UFC, Madden NFL 25, and NBA Live 14.

GTA V -

R.A.G.E Engine - 2013/2015

Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) is a game engine developed by the RAGE Technology Group at the video game developer Rockstar San Diego with contributions by other Rockstar studios. The engine has been used on several different platforms such as Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and the Xbox One. RAGE initially evolved from the Angel Game Engine originally developed by Angel Studios for use in the sixth generation console era versions of the Midnight Club series and other Rockstar San Diego games

Rockstar has integrated a few third party middleware components into RAGE like the proprietary Euphoria character animation engine and the open-source Bullet physics engine. Since the release of Max Payne 3, the engine supports DirectX 11 and stereoscopic 3D rendering on the PC platform.

Unit 67: 3D Animation

BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Games Design

Unit 67: 3D Animation

Model Video - https://youtu.be/wAmafA8VYqU

The Last of Us Gameplay - https://youtu.be/Vpg-N8xvno0

Concept

Evaluation:

L3 GD - Unit 66: 3D Modelling - Assignment 3

Zombie Model

Using Maya, I started with five cylinders and modified each of them to Right Arm, Torso, Neck,Right Leg and Pelvis.

Torso - I created one Cylinder 16x12 subdivisions and worked from there, Selecting a line of vertices at a time using the scale tool widened or slimmed down the stomach and chest till I was happy with the shape.  

Pelvis -  Using second cylinder I have used the same technique as the Torso, select the line of vertices and extrude and scale to fit underneath the body and connect it to the torso.

Aligning the Torso and the Pelvis.

I selected all the vertices and used the move tool to position them in line with the rest of the body. I then checked that every vertices was lined up properly.

I repeated this technique for the Legs too.

Head - Move and Scale tool was the most used out of everything, Using the Reduce tool to reduce the polygons when it got very complicated and helped smooth and simplify the model. This is a Weakened Zombie, this is he reasons for Damaged facial features and missing hand.

Head - Side Profile

Right Hand - Seven Cylinders is scaled and positioned to fit the shape of the hand. Two for the wrist and palm, and five for the fingers. The fingers were modeled and shaped using the move tool.

Back - I moved the vertices in to give the definition of a spine. The waist was also formed using the move tool equally on both sides.

Chest - To make the pecs and the six pack, I used the move tool and pulled out vertices in the right position. I also used the insert edge loop tool in order to create another ring of vertices which I could use to create a better 3D effect for the abs.

Full Body

Evaluation: I struggled learning Maya at the start didn't know the basic functions of the program but with lots of practice I'm starting to get the grasp of it. The model has been challenging but happy with my progress over the time.

Unit 20 - Assessment 1: Game platform types - Kingsley

Unit 20: Computer Game Platforms and Technologies

Assessment 1: Game platform types

Microsoft:
Xbox - 2002

Graphics capabilities - 233 MHz nVidia NV2A

Size (and portability)  - Dimensions: 320 × 100 × 260 mm (12.5 × 4 × 10.5 in)

Processor power - Custom 733 MHz Intel Pentium III "Coppermine-based" processor

Memory size - 64 MB of DDR SDRAM @ 200 MHz 

Xbox 360 - 2005 (white) 2013 (black)

Graphics capabilities - 500 MHz ATI Xenos 

Size (and portability) - 8 x 31 x 26 cm

Processor power - 3.2 GHz PowerPC Tri-CoreXenon

Memory size - 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM clocked at 700 MHz

Xbox One - 2013 - Latest

Graphics capabilities -  853 MHz AMD Radeon GCN architecture (inside of APU)

Size (and portability) - (LxWxH): 13.1 x 10.8 x 3.1 (33.3cm x 27.4cm x 7.9cm)

Processor power -  Custom 1.75 GHz AMD 8 coreAPU (2 Quad-Core Jaguar modules)

Memory size -  8 GB DDR3

Sony:

PS2 - 2000

Graphics capabilities - "Graphics Synthesizer" clocked at 147.456 MHz

Size (and portability) - Width 11.9 in
Depth 7 in, 7.2 in
Height 3.1 in

Processor power - "Emotion Engine" clocked at 294.912 MHz (launch), 299 MHz (newer models), with 128-bit SIMD capabilities

Memory size - 32 MB of Direct RAMBUS or RDRAM
4 MB eDRAM

PS3 (Slim) - 2010

Graphics capabilities - 550 MHz NVIDIA/SCEI RSX 'Reality Synthesizer'

Size (and portability) - 29 x 29 x 6.5 cm

Processor power - 3.2 GHz Cell Broadband Engine with 1 PPE & 7 SPEs

Memory size - 256 MB system and 256 MB video

PS4 -  2013 - Latest

Graphics capabilities - Semi-custom AMD GCN Radeon (integrated into APU)

Size (and portability) - 30.5 x 27.5 x 5.3 cm

Processor power - Semi-custom 8-core AMD x86-64 Jaguar CPU (integrated into APU)
Secondary low power processor (for background tasks)

Memory size - 8 GB GDDR5 (unified)
256 MB DDR3 RAM (for background tasks) 

Nintendo:

Wii - 2006

Graphics capabilities - ATI "Hollywood"

Size (and portability) - 38.4 x 25.2 x 11.2 cm

Processor power - IBM PowerPC "Broadway"

Memory size - RAM - 512 MB built-in NAND flash memory

DSi XL - 2010

Graphics capabilities - Screen resolution - 256 × 192 pixels

Size (and portability) - 16.1 x 9.1 x 2.1 cm

Processor power - ARM7(touch screen) ARM9 (upper screen) assumed

Memory size - Internal memory (16MB)

3DS - 2011

Graphics capabilities -  DMP PICA200 GPU

Size (and portability) - 23.5 x 16 x 10 cm

Processor power - Dual-Core ARM11 MPCore, single-core ARM9

Memory size - 128 MB FCRAM, 6 MB VRAM

Wii U - 2012 - Latest

Graphics capabilities - 550 MHz AMD Radeon "Latte"

Size (and portability) -  26.8 x 17.2 x 4.6 cm

Processor power - 1.24 GHz Tri-Core IBM PowerPC "Espresso"

Memory size - 2 GB DDR3

Apple:
iPhone 6 - 2014 - Latest

Graphics capabilities - PowerVR Series 6 GX6450 (quad-core)

Size (and portability) - 138.1 mm (5.44 in) H 67.0 mm (2.64 in) W 6.9 mm (0.27 in) D

Processor power -1 .4 GHz dual-core ARMv8-A Cyclone 2nd gen.

Memory size - 1 GB LPDDR3 RAM

Android:
Samsung S6 - 2015 - Latest

Graphics capabilities - GPU - Mali-T760 MP8

Size (and portability) -  143.4 mm (5.65 in) H
70.5 mm (2.78 in) W
6.8 mm (0.27 in) D

Processor power - Exynos 7420 Octa-core
(2.1 GHz Quad + 1.5 GHz Quad)

Memory size - 3GB LPDDR4

Series (is this platform the latest in a series and what where they are show them and describe them as well, if they are used) 

Give examples of each one and what if anything is unique about them. What limitation does this platform have? (limited games or audience size or pricing) 

Compare them to each other as well. As in rate them (in your view) and put them in order of least favourite to most favourite and why. 

All my assignments - Kingsley

Unit 22 A1 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_33FNwky_PKVVJUNzMyUlp0YU0/view?usp=sharing

Unit 22 A2 - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wQw0onCphqzZ01blZPrqIJmR10Y5mUT8v_0Ag5XVuTA/edit?usp=sharing

Unit 20 A1 - On working - http://brownfurgaming.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/unit-20-assessment-1-game-platform.html

Unit 20 A2 - Uploading

Unit 20 A3 - Blackjack - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_33FNwky_PKdTRjN0ZobGx5bXM/view?usp=sharing

Unit 74 A1 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_33FNwky_PKajhIUkpJdEhMdFE/view?usp=sharing

Unit 74 A2 Story - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZPQ8QDdVU3pk7-24rWYNqmW9cP-wHhIQpH1KrPRvHR8/edit?usp=sharing

Unit 74 A2 Slideshow - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ogZhAzDQec_aT-59GnwPXzZjyeZ9lk2K5LAiqUwkMoc/edit?usp=sharing

Unit 74 A2 Art Concept - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w-YqME_44hnqz7sH3MBMTYi0Wi_IV36g_JsyUy1-IDE/edit?usp=sharing

Email - SLCKingsley@gmail.com

Unit 20: Computer Game Platforms and Technologies - Assessment 3 : Blackjack Game on Mobiles

Blackjack App Concept

iPhone 6

App Store Game

BODY	Dimensions	138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm (5.44 x 2.64 x 0.27 in)
	Weight	129 g (4.55 oz)
	SIM	Nano-SIM
		- Fingerprint sensor (Touch ID) - Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified)

DISPLAY	Type	LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours
	Size	4.7 inches (~65.8% screen-to-body ratio)
	Resolution	750 x 1334 pixels (~326 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Ion-strengthened glass, oleophobic coating
		- Display Zoom

PLATFORM	OS	iOS 8, upgradable to iOS 8.3
	Chipset	Apple A8
	CPU	Dual-core 1.4 GHz Cyclone (ARM v8-based)
	GPU	PowerVR GX6450 (quad-core graphics)

To change the script so the game would scale to screen size of 5.5 Inches(750 × 1334) you would have to add Display_set_gui_size (4.1”, 2.3”) to script to change the resolution to scale down to the size of the iPhone 6 screen.

You will need to covert mouse clicks into virtual keys. Using an iPhone 6 it’s a touch screen phone and you will need to control the game with finger presses. Everyone has different size hands so the button area must be big enough to cooperate with all hands.

Adding to the script the virtual key codes and apply them to each button and size them correctly so the button presses are accurate and consistent.

virtual_key_add

virtual_key_show

virtual_key_hide

virtual_key_delete

Screen Resize

Sprite Resize

Google Chrome (HTML)

Chrome Web Store

The Chrome Web Store is an online marketplace where you can find a wide range of extensions, themes and apps designed for the Google Chrome browser.

Unit 74: Computer Game Story Development - Assessment 1

Unstoppable Game Story Elements

Who are the main characters?

Frank – Denzel Washington

Will – Chris Pine

Connie – Rosario Dawson

Galvin – Kevin Dunn

Dewey – Ethan Suplee

Gilleece – T.J. Miller

Who are the sub characters?

Inspector Werner – Kevin Corrigan

Bunny – Kevin Chapman

Ned – Lew Temple

Darcy – Jessy Schram

Judd Stewart – David Warshofsky

Janeway – Andy Umberger

Nicole – Elizabeth Mathis

Maya – Meagan Tandy

What is the emotional theme of the film?

Two of the main characters family problems, friendship and possible state disaster which could lead to many casualties.

What is the relationship between the main characters? How does it start / develop / end?

Frank is the veteran at the job, working on trains for 25 years and meets Will, the newbie, only days into the job

When does the intro/start of film end?

At the start of the film we are introduced to 2 characters, Dewey and Gilleece as they are told to move train 777 so another train can pass through the station. Gilleece warns Dewey about a broken break cable and that the track switch not turned the right direction. Dewey moves the freight train with Gilleece directing him. Instead of letting Gilleece change the switch, Dewey ignores Gilleece and gets out the train cabin to change the switch, leaving the train on the wrong switch, it speeds up and Dewey couldn't reach the switch in time after falling over which leaves the train gaining speed and without someone controlling the train. This is when the start of the film ends.

When does the middle/main part of film start?

The main part of the film is all the incidents which happen because of the train, figuring out how to stop it and tracking its where about, also opens up more plot holes and finding out more information about the main characters and all there different problems and reasons why they want the train stopped or derailed.

 The 777 Train has a near miss with another oncoming train full of school children on a trip, which thankfully is evaded and makes you nervous and realise how dangerous the situation is.

When is the conclusion/end of film start?

The Train is getting closer to a highly populated area and could do massive damage if not stopped. Ned drives his truck next to the 777 train in order to give Will the to job on the unmanned train. Will hanging on to the top of the truck manages to grab onto the train but is being pulled along at high speed, he manages to pull himself onto the train and slow it down. Huge adulation across the town occurs and everyone is together at the seen. Frank and Will are reunited with their respected families and given honour for protecting the town, for the bravery and courage.

What's the plot of the film?

Will Colson is starting a new job as a train conductor for the rail road. He is assigned to work with Frank Barnes a veteran train engineer. Initially there's some tension between them. Later a train that is carrying chemicals is running with no one controlling it. It is feared that if it stops or crashes into a populated area it could disastrous. Connie, an exec suggests derailing it but the man in charge refuses to do that on account of what it will cost. When attempts to stop it fail, there's fear of what they can do. But when Frank and Will have a close call with it, Frank decides to stop it themselves by coupling on to it. Will is not sure about it but sticks with Frank.

How could we gamify this film?

Make it a 3rd Person Action Adventure. Copy all the elements of the game, control the train, drive cars to catch train, pilot helicopters, control the 777 Train, quick time events, running, failure elements.

What genre world you choose and why?

3rd Person Action Adventure - This would give developers to really grasp the story, give a seemless feel to the game and feel like you are controlling the movie, you could could use different game play elements to tell the story from different situations. You could initially play as Dewey and Chase the train, then control the train with the school children on, less cut scenes and more action, an almost fully playable game which be an intense and immersive experience and really could get the best out of the plot and give use the all the characters in the game.