Unity's Junior Programmer pathway is an interesting experience. It's a mix of pain and joy, suffering and accomplishment, frustration and satisfaction. Prior to the pathway, I had essentially no experience in programming. It definitely has advanced my knowledge, not only in C# but also in the general processes of programming. I can now write a few basic scripts and more or less understand C#. However, my knowledge isn't what it could be. Sticking to the tutorials means more copying and less creating. It's nice to have opportunities like the Counting Prototype and Debug the App in Simple Functionality to see what I've actually learned, but that independence is difficult.
I certainly have ran into some issues in the Junior Programmer pathway. From using the wrong version to accidentally skipping a step in a tutorial, I've had a wide array of problems. I like to look over my code if it's not working, making sure I've typed it out perfectly. Using Unity's and Microsoft Visual Studio's built-in error messages, I have solved some issues. Once, I even consulted Unity's tech support for help, which was a pleasant experience although they couldn't fix the specific thing. Using the comment section in some tutorial steps has helped me along as well. In order to accommodate for technical difficulties, I usually allot myself extra time to work in Unity so my schedule doesn't get messed up if there's a problem. Even through some terrible issues, I have persevered and am now on track to finish Junior Programmer within a week.
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I'd be surprised if anyone who spends a decent amount of time on the internet has never heard of the word 'gamer.' But is it just someone who likes games? Or is it something deeper?
Video games have basically taken over the world during quarantine. Twitch, a platform based on video game live streams, has seen extreme growth. In February 2020, the average viewers were 1.41 million. May 2021 averages 3.17 million people viewing a stream. As I'm typing this, over 2,800,000 people are watching a live stream on Twitch, most of which are probably watching someone else play a video game. That's more people than the entire nation of Lithuania. League of Legends, GTA, Fortnite, and Minecraft are some of the most popular games on Twitch - and in real life - right now. They've gained players during quarantine, and with that comes subcultures. Sometimes, though, these subcultures go a little too far. There have been doxxing incidents in gaming communities and "stans (super fans)" of certain creators, notably the uber-famous Minecraft YouTuber Dream, have cyberbullied and been extremely toxic on social media. However, on the other end of the spectrum, fans of Grian, a fellow Minecraft YouTuber, donated over $150,000 to SOS Africa, a South African charity, during a fundraiser livestream. Gamers don't have to be constantly watching gaming content, though. Just playing a quick game of Tetris or Temple Run fairly regularly is enough to be a gamer in my opinion. It doesn't matter whether you play Animal Crossing for 30 minutes every other day or take five hours to play Call of Duty daily. Being a gamer shouldn't come with the weight of having to cyberbully or give money to support your favorite creators. Just do what you enjoy - and try not to criticize Dream on Twitter. Summary
Bibliography “Twitch Statistics & Charts.” TwitchTracker, twitchtracker.com/statistics. We've seen computers go from massive, classroom-sized boxes to small watches in just a few decades. We've seen storage and processing power go up exponentially. We've sat by and watched as computers have evolved, led by the competition between Windows and Apple. Machines have lived and died so fast, with new phone models coming out annually and old devices becoming virtually useless in a matter of years. But what might the future hold for computers?
Firstly, we can simply look at past data. It's rational to predict that storage and processing power will increase. However, size can't keep getting smaller forever and there may be a drastic slowing of storage and power innovation sometime. We can also take a glance at new technology. Artificial intelligence will certainly be integral in computers of the future. it would also be safe to say that face and voice ID will be increased in use, especially in Apple products, as they have already used face ID technology. Windows seems to me moving towards a detachable computer - a tablet and computer in one. Elon Musk is even developing a brain chip, but I don't think that'll take off, at least not in the next few decades. As cool as these new technologies sound, there are some setbacks. With the worsening of anthropogenic climate change and a decrease in available resources, production and transportation of computer products will need to be vastly changed to keep up the current rates. I'm very worried about the resources aspect, as it's exclusive to the industry and is extremely vital to it. I want you to sit down and think. Where do you want computers to go? Why? Is that realistic? Summary
The economy is always a divisive topic, but we can all agree that monopolies and ripoffs are both detrimental to companies. However, in the video game scene, the market is abundant with them. Let's begin with ripoff games. Games that are carbon copies of existing popular ones - except much worse. If you've watched a second of YouTube, you've probably seen ads trying to get you to click on images of Among Us and Minecraft, but redirect you to a ripoff site. The Among Us games are offline and obviously fake. The countless Minecraft frauds are terrible and ugly. These are objectively bad for both the consumer, who loses sanity, and the company, which loses customers. One obvious alternative to ripoffs is monopolies. It sounds great: no one is stealing a company's ideas and taking away their customers, who are happy with the product. But that becomes irrelevant when looking at real-life examples. NBA 2K holds a death grip on basketball video games, meaning they pack in as many in-game purchases as possible and barely improve the game each year because they know that anyone who wants a basketball video game has to buy their game. Without rivals, companies can price gauge and lower quality of their games without punishment. So, what's the solution? Competition. Pro Evolution Soccer has for years been a rival to FIFA, the more mainstream soccer video game. It wasn't good enough to take away all of FIFA's audience, but encouraged EA to improve their game. Nowadays, although all annual sports video games are pretty repetitive, FIFA is a game of decent quality. Crackdowns on ripoffs and new games made to be competitive with mainstream ones are direly needed to improve games for everyone. Hopefully these things will happen soon so that we all can enjoy video games. Summary
Right now, I'm beginning to work with Unity, a simple and popular game engine. However, it's not the only one. There are countless game engines right now. But which are the biggest and what do they mean?
For a long time, games were made from scratch. In the 1980s, the first game engines were being used, but it wasn't until the 90s that they'd become mainstream. Epic Games - the same company that made Fortnite - released Unreal Engine in 1998. That was a big moment for game development, as companies really turned to game engines. These days, virtually all games have been built in game engines. I've played games on the Frostbite engine like FIFA and Star Wars: Battlefront. Source is a PC engine that Half-Life 2 was made in. IW Engine was used to make Call of Duty. Ubisoft uses Anvil game engine. There are lots of other options too, and many are free and downloadable for anyone to make their own games in. Programs like Unity have made game design very accessible. Game engines are easier to get and more diverse than ever before. If you're passionate about games, you don't have to go to an elite university for eight years - just open up your computer and do a couple Google searches. There are so many different choices and so many different opportunities for anyone to make their very own video game thanks to game engines like Unity. So, the next time that you're angry at software, even something like Google Chrome, just remember: you're using revolutionary technology. Enjoy your unique opportunity, especially in a game engine. Because technology is fascinating and game engines are cool. Buttle, Paul. “The Power Behind Video Games: A Look at Game Engines.” Medium, We The Players, 29 Apr. 2020, medium.com/wetheplayers/the-power-behind-video-games-a-look-at-game-engines-2731315086e0. Summary
Early this week, I finished the Unity Essentials pathway, which gave me an introduction to Unity Game Engine. It was amazing to see the things possible in the software, but it's not a super complex program where any game can be made in. I really liked the Asset Store, where I can find prefabs, many of which are free, to use in projects. The 3d design interface is very similar to 3DS Max, which gave me an early head start, but it's refreshingly unique enough to feel adventurous. However, the 3d modeling aspect that I did was probably the easiest part of the Unity Essentials pathway. That being said, it's an introductory pathway, which may mean that it will become more complex later. The Essentials pathway definitely gave me a pretty good foundation in the Unity Game Engine.
On the other hand, my experiences with the Unity Game Engine haven't been perfect. The Inspector window is complex and hard to read. Locating Unity files on my computer is hard and there are always a few technical issues which take a while to deal with. Additionally, the Unity Essentials tutorials aren't great. Sometimes the directions are confusing. Other times they're outdated or don't work on a Mac (which I have). It seems like Unity doesn't care about its tutorials, but that doesn't mean it's a terrible program. It's free and works on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. Unity is a useful tool to create games that, although far from amazing, it's at least pretty good. When you think of a gamer, 'couch potato' usually comes up. Maybe you're picturing a 9 year old screaming at a television. Maybe you're imagining a famous gaming streamer saying something racist live on camera. However, a new vision of a gamer is emerging: someone focused on creating positive change in the world. Games are no longer just about having fun. Games have a massive impact on the world and the people who play them.
Gaming icons like MrBeast have helped plant of millions of trees, content creators have donated to reputable causes, and as the world has cried out, gamers have joined arms to improve the world. From Minecraft adding anti-racist splash texts to seeing my favorite gaming YouTubers spread the word about protests in India, support the Black Lives Matter Movement, and stand up in other vital moments, it's clear the positive difference gamers make to the world. But what about the negativity? What about violence? What about streamers saying racial slurs? These are legitimate problems in the gaming community, but most gamers aren't like that. It's important for platforms like Twitch to monitor and/or remove this behavior, but you can also make a difference. Be a part of positive gaming communities and don't encourage toxicity or hate. Games often put you in someone else's shoes, fostering empathy, and content creators being committed to making the world a better place while harboring wholesome communities are some of the ways that games make real change. It's up to us to choose whether we game to be toxic and violent or positive and peaceful. It's up to us to show the world that gamers are just like the rest of humanity - if not better - by doing the right thing and surfing the new wave of gaming activism. It's been a new year for about a month, but there haven't been any major releases just yet in terms of video games. However, that doesn't mean this year will be disappointing. There are lots of games slated to release in 2021.
A new Pokémon game is coming out in April. It's a photography-based remake of the 1999 game Pokémon Snap and features hundreds of Pokémon. However, I've never played much of those style of games and I don't have a switch, so I probably won't play it. May brings the new Resident Evil game, but, once again, I haven't played any prior games and therefore I'm not very excited. Supposedly, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is coming sometime in 2021, which I'd really like to play, as I enjoyed previous installments of Ratchet and Clank. However, the game was supposed to come out last year, so it might be delayed. The last two big games this year likewise have undisclosed dates and are sequels. Horizon Forbidden West is the much-anticipated follow up to Horizon Zero Dawn, which had stunning graphics and a compelling storyline. I can't wait to see what the game has to offer. God of War: Ragnarok is the sequel to God of War, which had great graphics and a good story but was a little too complex and sometimes the open world design made it easy to get lost. Hopefully the sequel fixes some of the issues with the original, but it's not a must buy game for me. Hopefully, 2021's gaming scene will be similar to 2020's: successful sequels and unexpected games popping out of nowhere. Now, all we have to do is wait. Summary
This fall, a new EA Star Wars video game was released. I enjoyed Star Wars Battlefront and its sequel, so I was excited for the new game. Star Wars Squadrons, the October 2020 game, is actually really good. However, this game review will be solely focused on the story mode, as I haven't played enough online multiplayer to have a good perspective on it.
Let's start with what makes the game unique. EA, the production company of Squadrons, is infamous for insane microtransactions and purchasing of in-game content. However, Squadrons doesn't have a big part of the game behind a paywall. It's not too expensive of a game either. Another interesting and special part of the game is the ability to play as two factions: the Empire and the New Republic. Lastly, the story has compelling twists. Some people might even argue that the story's plot is better than the Rise of Skywalker. But what about the gameplay? It's fantastic. There are absolutely stunning graphics, customizable ships, bite-sized missions, and a comfortable and not disorienting space flying experience. The levels are all unique and the creators weren't afraid to venture out of established Star Wars territory and tell a new story. Squadrons doesn't just have beautiful graphics and mechanics, though. The game has big levels with an open-world feel even though it's actually fairly linear and not truly a free will type game. Also, there is VR compatibility. Sometimes the game becomes pretty hard, but you can adjust the difficulty setting in-game, which is really nice. Overall, Squadrons is a beautiful game with great features and mechanics that make it one of the best releases of 2020. I've spent hours on this masterfully made game, and I'm excited for the future of Star Wars video games. Summary
I closed out 2020 with a terrible tradition. I watched what I consider to be one of the worst holiday films ever. No, it's not some cheesy, low-budget Christmas B-list movie. It's actually a New Year's Movie - Rudolph's Shiny New Year. Perhaps Rankin and Bass thought they'd be able to get a little quick cash and then have everyone forget about it. But, like the Star Wars Holiday Special, no movie is ever lost to history. Somehow, the 1976 train wreck of a film has a rating above a 5 according to IMBD, but it's much worse.
Rudolph's Shiny New Year revolves around the baby new year running away. As if that sentence made any sense, Father Time, the old year, sends Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with General Ticker - a toy soldier with a clock in his chest - to rescue the baby new year from the Archipelago of Last Years, which is a group of islands, one for every year in history. Chock-full of historical inaccuracies and featuring an especially cringe-worthy plot, this disastrously written movie is truly horrible. It's made using the stereotypical 1970s claymation found in the traditional Rankin Bass Christmas films, and has the same issues with showing emotion in characters. Combined with a greivous lack of good writing and some bad voice acting, I can confidently say that they created a juggernaut of disgust. You can easily find Rudolph's Shiny New Year on YouTube if you wish to lose your sanity. Quoting the film, you might want to go 'due north of the North Pole' to better enjoy your watching experience. May 2021 be a very non-shiny year with no movies as bad as this one ever produced again. Summary
Adobe Photoshop is probably the most well-known photo editing software. Since its beginning in 1988, Photoshop has made leaps and bounds in terms of quality and features. Photoshop 3.0, in 1994, added layers. This revolutionized photo editing and is perhaps the most useful tool in the program. The fifth edition added things like the lasso tool, editable text, and made more advanced creations possible. Photoshop 7.0 brought in vector text, the healing brush, and custom brushes. Under the Creative Suite editions, canvas size increased, automatic alignment, a new UI, and dozens of other features. However, the biggest changes in the past 5 years under Creative Cloud have been a collection of stock images and the pen tool being imported from Illustrator. Photoshop 2020, though, is not part of this series and this decade could be a big one for photo editors.
So, what will happen in the near future regarding Photoshop? Well, some things have already begun. In October, Photoshop 2021 rolled out. Turning photos into GIFs, adding new image filters, automatic colorization of black and white pictures, changing facial features, and combining photos are some of this year's features. These are great, but do they really make up for the past few years? Some useful features that could be added I'd like to see are lower costs, better tutorials for new users, and improvements to existing tools. New tools would be nice to see, but I don't expect any massive features will be added to Photoshop early this decade. In my dream world, we will receive a new UI, more customization, and cool new tools such as one that can blend brush strokes into surrounding pixels to match the color better. We can only hope that this decade is better than the last when it comes to Photoshop features, but at least the program still works. I will keep designing and hoping. Summary
Bibliography Rimmer, Kelsie. “Adobe Photoshop New Features 2021.” Envato, Envato, 20 Nov. 2020, envato.com/blog/adobe-photoshop-new-features/. Team, Editorial, and All Posts Written by Editorial Team. “The Interesting History of Adobe Photoshop.” 1stWebDesigner, 22 May 2018, 1stwebdesigner.com/history-of-adobe-photoshop/. 2020 has been an interesting year for everyone, even gamers. There have been lots of big video games this year, including The Last of Us 2, Among Us, and Valorant. But there have been some games that haven't done well.
First, let's discuss Fortnite. Yes, it came out in 2017 and peaked in 2018, but the bane of sanity still exists. Why has it declined? As the older readers of my blog know, I used to love Fortnite. I quit because it was impossible to win without investing insane amounts of time into it. Yes, that can help people become addicted, but a casual player like me was turned off by the uneven skill in the player base. Additionally, the player base became very young and annoying. Fortnite's social aspect was terrible. I grew tired of hearing young children curse at me. One last bad thing about Fortnite: listening to the loudest players too much. Implementing bad ideas and bringing back old locations on the map that most players didn't want. Why bring back old things when you could make something new and better? The other game I'm going to look into is Fall Guys. Fall Guys, a cartoony party game, blew up late this summer and looked like it was ready to take over the gaming world. However, it suddenly died. Fall Guys was not a game with great replay value. By beating some of the other players in one parkour-style minigame, a player moves into another level. The cycle repeats until there is one player left, who wins. However, players played the same minigames over and over again, and the developers failed to update the game enough to keep it interesting. Along with the skill differences found in Fortnite, there are lots of clips of streamers raging after dying in both games. One huge difference is that Fall Guys cost enough money to discourage people. Summary
Although 3D modeling isn't a main focus of this year's Game Art and Design class, I've been doing a fair amount of it lately. From being bored to having summer assignments, messing around in Maya has taught me some things about 3D modeling.
Adding materials to objects to texture them is a lot easier to do in Maya than in 3DS Max. Also, Maya has an immediate option of what type of shading method you want to use, while 3DS Max is not as intuitive and simple to add a shader. These options include Lambert and Blinn as well as many others, but for today I'm only going to focus on the two I specifically listed. Lambert. Lambert, Lambert, Lambert. It's fun to say and makes you hooray! I really like the versatility of this shader, as it isn't too reflective, is pretty customizable, and can be applied successfully to lots of different objects. I use Lambert a whole lot and I take advantage of the straightforwardness of the interface that Maya provides to make my textures the best it can be. Now let's talk about Blinn. It's kinda fun to say, but it's really just okay. Blinn is a pretty reflective shading choice and is useful for creating things like polished metal, but is nowhere near as versatile as its cousin Lambert. Blinn is extremely customizable, but it just isn't as good as Lambert. So there you have it. Lambert is a great choice for most objects, but Blinn isn't completely irrelevant. Hopefully, I'll get to learn and love Blinn a little more as I get more experience, but for right now, it's not my favorite shader. Summary
Games seem to be the pinnacle of modern technology these days. All the talk is around the next Minecraft update, new strategies for Among Us, new characters in Fortnite, and new sports games. If it wasn't for politics and COVID, games would be anything anyone talks about. But why? Why are games so popular?
The first ever game was probably wrestling. It makes sense, really: lots of animals wrestle, whether it's competing for mates or just for fun. Obviously, free time comes with ways to pass the time. But what about board games? Senet is considered the first ever board game. Unlike wrestling, there is chance as well as skill. Senet also had religious importance, but there isn't much known about it or its rules. Nowadays, wrestling isn't the most popular game and most people haven't even heard of Senet. However, chance, competition, and physical and mental skill still exist in today's games. It's fun to beat someone and brag about it. But games aren't just about winning. Stress can be addictive and exciting, convincing the player to return. On the other hand, too much stress is bad. The flow state of a mix of boredom and anxiety keeps players attentive and likely to return. Updates also keep games fresh and avoid boredom. Games, like books, help you see into another world. Wouldn't it be cool if you could live on a spaceship, build floating houses, and be a millionaire football player? Yet another enticing element of most games is social interaction. As we're all learning in quarantine, even introverts sometimes need to talk to people. There are notable exceptions in games such as Solitaire, but many games include some way of social interaction. Lastly, good games provide a sense of accomplishment. From beating a dragon to winning the World Cup, many games leave you feeling satisfied. Summary
Lately, Call of Duty has been on the news with a release of the trailer of Call of Duty: The Cold War. However, I'm going to focus solely on COD: WW2. As exciting as the new game looks, nobody's played it yet. This summer, PS Plus had Call of Duty: World War 2 for free.
The campaign mode. It has 12 compelling missions. You play as an American soldier from Texas, and endure well-known battles. I liked the story, as it wasn't just shooting people, but getting to know every character. The levels were well designed and the game was virtually glitchless. The campaign's only drawback is that there are certain places in a couple levels where you die over and over again. The campaign as whole is very well put together. The first mode I played in COD WW2 was the offline play mode. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of weapons, modes, and maps. The graphics are beautiful and the bugs are few. The offline multiplayer split-screen mode is great. Online multiplayer has a larger collection of maps (it includes some DLC maps) and modes. I wish that the online-exclusive modes were available offline, but that's the only major con. The only other option in COD WW2 is Nazi Zombies. I didn't like it. Maybe this is because I get jump scared easily, but it just wasn't for me. I was disappointed with the weapons available at the start and the lack of maps. In overall game design, the main flaw is the color scheme. All of the maps have a vintage-esque feel with a little too much saturation for my liking. However, there is a large amount of online players and the game is pretty addictive. It's very customizable and not pay to win. Here it is: Call of Duty WWII is a great game. Summary
Final Grade: 4/5 stars |
AuthorHI! I'm a 12th grader and on this page, I will blog about me and what I'm going through, both in Game Design class and in life. There are a mix of required blog posts and personal reflections, which you can sort, among other things, below the disclaimer and archives. DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools. Archives
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