Here comes Santa Clause....

This week I actually started Christmas shopping and writing out Christmas cards! I was really proud I had finally started and my first priority was to send one Christmas card to New Zealand which I thought would take a week at most to get there but it seems I have missed the important send off date and now it won’t get there till after Christmas! It seems a recurring theme of my life to leave everything to last minute and I do keep saying I will be more organised.... next year.... trouble is I am in the third year now! Next term I will be more organised I am sure.

So aside from Christmas shopping and Christmas card writing I have also been working extremely hard. Remember in my last blog when I said I was lazing around? Well that now means I am a week behind! Oops... On the plus side I am steaming through the work as I actually feel recharged after my ‘week off’. One course I particularly enjoy is sound design as it really is teaching me how much sound in films and games really affects us. The course also has taught me that we, as humans, watch films and play games not because they are grounded in reality but because they take us out of reality. So film and game makers will over exaggerate most aspects to take us out of the real world. I know I am going into a massive educational lecture here but it is interesting! Just listen to some of the sounds made by objects in films and you will see how false the sounds truly are.

On another side note I have a few hints and tips about university for you all. When at university you will need to develop confidence as some people do really think they know everything and its important not to let them push you down when you know you are right. I have a group coursework that has come up recently and I got, in my opinion, a rather harsh email. In my eyes he had a few questions that needed to be answered and I felt he aimed those questions at me. It now seems that he was not firing questions but merely stating a few areas that need to be thought about a bit more. I have now asked we set up regular meetings to avoid this happening again. Ending on a positive however; in my games coursework I have now developed around 4 enemy characters!

 

Don’t let it snow, let it snow!

So I am now late with my blog and I have a perfectly good reason.... erm.... oh yeah I was writing my blog (slaving away) and then due to the arctic temperatures I endured, whilst writing, my fingers became frozen to the keyboard! Therefore my blog has to be sent late but hey can’t be helped :p

So this week saw the arrival of the snow and it snowed and it snowed. First of all I was happy because snow means cancelled lectures and fun times with friends but then the truth settled in. Snow is all fine until the transport grinds to a halt and it’s all fine till it turns to ice. In my home town of Chatham I had friends say that the snow was half way up their legs and some had snow halfway up their doors. I personally do not like being unable to go out because I get bored and when I am bored I get cabin fever/ go crazy. However I was lucky this time and just spent most of my days watching films and drinking coffee and just lazing about. I have to say it was a well needed break!

On another note I have discovered comedy gold! For those who have not seen it Miranda is a brilliant show on BBC and its broadcast every week on Monday. It’s also good because you can watch it via BBC iplayer for those who do not own a TV. I have to say it’s now one of my favourite shows just for the sheer stupidity of the main character; Miranda.

On one show she was sitting in a sushi restaurant and casually enjoying a meal with her friends. However Miranda can’t just be normal and something bad was bound to happen. The scene actually ended with Miranda’s necklace being caught in the conveyor belt and she was whisked around while trying to untangle herself! It’s definitely a good little bit of comedy and one I would highly recommend.

Panic Mode!

Hi all,

I am going to start this blog off with education! *yawn*. It dawned on me recently I have hippopotomonstrosesquippediliophobia; which ironically is the fear of long words. Lecturers at university are always telling us to use big words so that we sound more articulated and more intelligent. So this week I have been looking up big words and thought I would share my favourites with you all. Aside from the word above I also liked the word circumbilivagination which basically means to rotate. However my favourite long word I found had to be a Nipmuk (American Indian) lake named Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. The lake was named to convey an agreement between the Nipmuks and their neighbouring tribes. It translates to “You fish on the left side, I’ll fish on the right side, and no one fishes in the middle.”

Where I found these crazy words!!!

http://wordsyoudontknow.com/10-very-long-words-you-dont-know/all/1/

Ok that’s my top three long words and now onto what’s been happening this week in my life. This week was the dreaded project pitch week!

Being a third year you have to undertake a big project that goes someway to highlighting how great you are at your course. Therefore we had to present/pitch our project idea to our lecturers to show that we know what we are talking about and that we have done enough research to put us in a good starting position. It also allows them to give us a push in the right direction if need be. Now, I hate public speaking and I feel very awkward even in social situations so this was my idea of a nightmare! I was given lots of tips to help my nerves and to stop myself from freezing up. These tips ranged from preparation to repeating rhymes in my head to drinking water every time I paused for a long time. Anyway I basically went into that room as a nervous wreck who already knew they were doomed to fail. It turns out at the end of the day if you are passionate enough about an area of interest it shows! It also is nice to know that nerves are a great help and not a burden. You see if you are nervous it keeps you on edge and ready to tackle those hard questions. To cut a long story short I was nervous but hey I am confident I passed! On a side note I really, really need to start Christmas shopping!!! Who else is with me?

So Tired....

This week my feeling has been consistently schleepy (Basically meaning I am halfway between sleepy and can’t be bothered to operate normally). An example of this would be the other day on the bus. I got on the bus paid with my oyster card (You should all get a student oyster card to get discounted fees!!!) and sat down. I then had my heavy bag with me and I moved it in front of my feet and was shocked to find it made a strange clunking noise like I had a glass bottle in there. I immediately got confused and then went about trying to find this bottle but I finally realised it doesn’t exist. It seems a lady in front of me also had a bag with a bottle of wine in and she moved her bag at the same time as mine! Blonde moment over....

In fairness the lack of sleep is my fault but it’s also a lack of energy as I seem to be in a never ending cycle right now. My life basically consists of wake up, eat, go to university, go home, eat, sleep and then start all over again. So my advice for all students would be to plan your weeks out in advance! I know it sounds silly but simple things such as a tick list really can help. I know when I get home I will write out a quick list of all the things I need to do for the next day or sometimes the whole week. By using lists I do have the occasional day off to play my computer games (all in the name of education, of course!) I also, as some may know, did not pass my second year so I really am putting everything I have into my third year!

Final part of my blog is an announcement: I have started Christmas shopping! I am not sure though if I have started early or just at a normal time.... I have been consistently told at university that I need to manage my time efficiently so I believe this is merely using that principle. I will also leave you with a little figure (which may annoy some people):

36 days till Christmas!!!

Student life is a riot...

As some of you may have seen on the news recently the protest against the rise in tuition fee costs did not go according to plan. It ended with some angry students climbing onto the roofs of the Tory headquarters and throwing down things such as fire extinguishers. They also decided to smash a number of windows and graffiti the establishment. I have to say that I am disappointed that this has happened as it seems to have taken away the message we was trying to get across. People seem to think that education is a privilege and in reality it is not; it is a basic human right! I have had a number of friends (who have never been to university) remarking that ‘students are stupid’ and ‘clearly the education is not paying off’ all because of the reckless action at the protests. They do not realise that people are going to be angry and i am sure if they were told their tax was due to double, if not triple, they would do more than vandalise property. I think at the end of the day students will still apply for university for the very fact that it is worth the cost. I know I have blogged before that student life is stressful and hard at times but if you don’t work hard for something then is it really worth it?

I actually did not go to the student protest as I was unsure at what they actually were trying to accomplish. I disagree that university funding is going to be cut and disagree that course fees will increase but i also acknowledge that cuts need to be made. I just do not see why they hit the students who are, after all, the investment of the future. It also goes back to students generally getting a hard time. I have often heard people say the students get an easy time and they have the good life etcetera. I do not believe this at all. I know students that work the hardest to get the most out of their course and they work a lot harder than they many people who have a full time job. Also many students, such as me, have part time jobs. I think what I am rambling on about is basically; university is tough but it’s worth the effort!

I also wanted to leave you with this quote which, to me, talks about broadening your mind and listening to all sides of an argument so that you can see the truth:

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.  ~George Bernard Shaw ~

Fable 3!!!

As I have blogged previously; my life has gotten rather hectic with all the university coursework I have to do so obviously I have been working extremely hard....

... Well I was going to but then I bought a brand new game. At first I was not sure about the game because I have heard some bad reviews about it. So during the last week, with every spare moment I have, I have been trying to complete Fable 3. To be honest it is a good game but it does lack in certain areas as when I finished the game I couldn’t help but think ‘did they rush this?’ I went through the game thinking how much effort and consideration they had taken but towards the end the game seemed more rushed as the storyline deteriorated in quality. The actual gameplay was brilliant and that was consistent throughout. The whole game revolves around an evil king who has thrown his land into a time of gloom and misery and it is up to you, the prince or princess, to end his reign of tyranny.

As you progress through the game you are constantly made to choose between good and evil by way of the decisions you make. At first I thought this was a good concept but at times the decision made little difference on the outcome and the options were too simplistic. For example it would be like ‘Do you want to kill someone or let them live?’ erm lets think I am good therefore I think I will let them live?! It would have been more true to life if the decisions were less obvious in my opinion. Other parts of the game were really clever such as the game as a whole element. The game does involve you, the main character, leading a revolution and becoming the hero of the people but it also plays on the common thought of ‘What happens to the hero in everyday life?’ Fable has played on this by providing the hero character the ability to settle down and have children or possibly adopt. The hero can also purchase a business or rent out houses etc. To me this showed a lot of wit and also a lot of effort to make the game a fun piece.

Overall though I would recommend the game as it has helped me keep sane over the past week or so! Also I would just to like to add that yes I have spent ages playing a computer game when I should, most probably, have been working extremely hard on my course but I assure you i was merely ‘studying’ the game on a professional level ;-). After all I am studying Games and Multimedia Technologies!

Image Obtained from:

IGN: Fable 3 Artwork

Society and Societies

I thought for my newest blog I would talk about my thoughts rather than what is happening in my life. Two things are on my mind recently; the society I am president of and the society we live in. I am not sure if everyone knows about this but recently Sonia Burgess, 63, was pushed in front of an oncoming tube train during rush hour and no one, as of yet, can say why. She was a human rights lawyer and also a Trans women (born male but chose her gender as female). This happens just weeks after a spout of American gay teenagers commit suicide. It just makes me wonder what is wrong with the society we live in....

On a lighter note I am trying to build up the reputation of our university’s LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans) society and promote equality within our union and across the university. I do realise that while our university is great on equalities and providing equal chances many students are ill educated and intolerant of LGBT students. It’s why I am going to be launching a series of posters and advertising campaigns to tackle this. I think in this day and age it’s important for people to be true to themselves and be respected for that!

So this blog has been more of a reflection which I seem to be doing more and more lately. I think it’s because when I realised I am in the third year I stopped and thought “I got to grow up!” Yes I am immature but as Chili Davis once said “Growing old is mandatory ~ Growing up is optional!”

___________________________________________________________________________

Daniel Lernihan

Game on!

Well this week we are finally getting moving with our game for games development. By the end of my third year me, and my team, aim to have a full working game! I am in a team with 4 other people and each of us have been given a role. There are two designers and two programmers and as I have a knowledge of the programming language we are using (C#) I am an inbetweener. So I will do a bit of designing and a bit of programming if need be. We are doing a side scroller game so this is a game where the camera only can see the action from the side of the game and generally the character will move from the left side of the screen to the right.

We also will have a number of obstacles for our character to overcome throughout the game such as blocks to climb and enemies to defeat which will depend on which level you are in. For example one level we will build is a desert level and one of the enemies I had to create was a scorpion (see the image below). As you most probably can tell we are not aiming for realism but we aim to create a game for kids and as such we have went for a more cartoon feel to the actual game. My next step is to get all the characters modelled and I can move onto weapons. We have decided as a team that our main character will be a rabbit that fires rabbit pellets with his catapult! I have to say this is one part of my course which I am finding the work comes quite easy other tasks such as research essays take me forever but hey you got to do your research before making any games otherwise they will just have no substance. Anywho check back on my blog for more updates on my game soon!

Sick Day

As per usual I am keeping you all up to date with what is happening in my life and I bring you exciting news! Well actually I don’t instead I am sad to report I am ill with potentially a deadly strain of man flu! For those that don’t know; women get a cold whereas when a man gets a cold he is dying and therefore has man flu! I still am attending university however as I have a ton of work to be getting on with and half the time I need to get it done. I think the worst thing about being ill is there is no quick cure and when I say I am ill I do realise I am being over dramatic. It probably is just a cold or it could be the infamous fresher’s flu.

Fresher’s flu basically is a cold you get when all the new people arrive at university. Why? Because when all the new people arrive at university they release their germs into the air which we breathe in and our body goes into attack mode, as it does not recognise these nice new germs, which leads to fresher’s flu. Yes I am aware it’s not truly scientific and it’s not nice but hey I want to give you a true account of my life at uni. Anywho apart from the whole being ill thing I have bought a new film called Robin Hood with Russell Crowe taking the lead role. I would recommend this film as it was full of action and is one of the first Robin Hood films that’s not cliché as it provides the story before the Robin Hood we all know and love. Well that’s all from me and in case you are all wondering why I have three blogs all going up at similar times it’s because I have been lazy and not keeping up to date with my blogs but I will promise to be up to date in the future!

Work, work and more work!

So another week and another blog to write....

Well an update on what is happening with my course can be summarised in one word; overloaded! I always knew third year was going to be hard work but I did not realise how much change there is to undergo. I remember day 1 of my third year and how my lecturer told me about the big project (that makes up a quarter of my final year) and how I need to make a game with half the number of people industry has, half the time and none of the resources. EEP! So first week back at university and I am in panic mode!

However a few weeks have passed since then and I am a lot calmer. It seems the big project is not so big when broken down; it’s just a lot of really hard work. That does not surprise me though as it’s meant to be the piece to show potential employees that you’re the right one for the job and you can deliver. The game also is going to be hard work but now I am in a team of 5 and we are pushing on together to get the game done. 

Another problem for me is money it always seems I have none and I have finally found out why! Someone called “Bill” keeps taking it all! As a result I am now working a few shifts at Avery Hill doing higher education fairs or helping out on the phones or something along those lines.

I think it’s at times like this (being swamped down with work) it’s good to know that there is always someone to help out. For example my games work has now been made easier as I have a small team to help me out and I also have help with my project as we all have been given a supervisor. Even first years and second years have help out there too. It’s just vital you know when to say enough is enough and ask for help!

 Anyway I am back off to work so that’s all from me this week...

First Week Back!

So it’s all been rather hectic in the past few weeks what with trying to ensure nothing goes wrong when I move onto the third year of my course. You see I had to resit my animation project which upset me but I was expecting that to happen as basically I did not try hard enough. This then meant that I could not register till the 27^th after my results had came back. It was finally on the 28^th that I could register so I went through all the stages and bam! I had a problem with the finance section which I had to resolve by submitting an online query. However 24 hours later I was all registered and ready to go! It just goes to show that if you persist you eventually get there!

I was recently in my sound design lecture and one of our tasks for the week is to sit back for 15 minutes a day (possibly while you’re on the bus…) and note down everything you can hear around you. I quickly became amazed at how much we tune out from our everyday life. What seems to happen is we get used to the sounds in our environment and over time it does not seem as important as when we first heard the noise. So my bit of advice this week is start to pay attention to what is around you; not just sounds but the people around you. It’s important to remember that while you are moving onto bigger and better things at university it’s also important you don’t leave behind everyone or everything else.  On a more important note, sleep is not optional! Don’t find out the hard way like I have:

My Experience of the Clearing Office

As a games student I am used to spending hours in front a screen staring at the endless goal I can’t seem to reach which came in handy when dealing with clearing. For the job we all had three days of intensive training finished off with our first mock calls (to be honest it put the fear of god in all of us!).

My first caller was Leona Lewis; it's nice to know that we were attracting such high profile people to the university. The enquiry was not too hard as I just had to look for keywords and that is where the answer would lie. Onto the next caller and I thought this was getting easy and started by taking all the details down.
“Can I take your surname?” to which I heard "err umm" so following training I repeated the question “sorry could I take you surname?” the mock caller then a little confused spelt out the name A-H-E-M; first lesson learnt always listen very carefully!

I am now gearing towards the end of clearing for this year and I have to say it has been a brilliant yet challenging experience. To describe it to someone else I would again have to refer to my program and say it is one big game with a lot more at stake.

Like a game, clearing is a series of obstacles that all be needed to be overcome to get to the final goal. It involved sifting through reams of information, receiving questions, pitching some to my supervisor and finally getting to the core and helping out the caller. And when the game is over its one game I will want to replay in the future.