The end of the year is a hectic time. Mission three is proving difficult and there aren't enough artworks to post on this website. Coding is really difficult but sometimes I can make it sort of work. The trick to it is writing out the code given in the lessons and then frankensteining it into a different project. Like I said, it doesn't always work but it certainly gets the job done most of the time. I'd say this probably isn't how you're supposed to do it, but from what I see of actual coders this is a pretty common occurrence. I think I'll be able to exempt myself from the final exam, I just need to finish up this portfolio and complete mission three, which will definitely be difficult, but at least there's only one coding exercise to take care of. I realize it's been a while since I've talked about the gaming industry, so I think it's worth mentioning that game production seems to have recovered fully. The few games that came out during the pandemic really skyrocketed a few indie developers reputation. Games that were really subpar in retrospect were very popular since there was almost nothing else to play. At least things are back to normal.
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Needless to say, the first project we were given in Game Design was a disaster for me. Mr. B said to make a post after every major project, but what is there to say? I'm incredibly disappointed in myself. I want to be a game designer more than anything, but I do these quizzes and projects pretty poorly apparently, even to the point where he says "you? game designer?" Is it really that bad? Am I really that disillusioned? I just can't do anything right. I even take time out of my extracurricular schedule to study game design and process, but I guess I'm "learning" nothing from it. Is there something wrong with me? Does information just go in one ear and out the other? I don't understand, why can't I ever do well in this class?
It feels good knowing that I won't have to update this stupid portfolio for a while. The last couple units for DDA have been pretty easy, just messing around with light and camera settings (thank goodness we didn't have to do animations). Still, I feel like I never really got the hang of it. For some reason every time I take a test relating to camera angles I inevitably fail. I don't even know what I'm doing wrong, it's just like canvas hates me. Then there was the PBM. Talk about a train wreck. Just one thing going wrong after another. I did the best I can, but due to some comically bad timing on technical errors I might be completely screwed. I wonder if my Youtube account will ever be fixed. Anyways, here's hoping I manage to graduate high school after this complete mess of a year. At this point I don't think I'll ever have a good school year.
I no longer know whats happening anymore, but now I only have one late project in this class. Hopefully with its completion I can keep up with everything else that's going on from this point forward. I can't seem to get a hold of bitmapping. I know I'm doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is. The model always comes out looking wrong. In the meantime, Fromsoftware has announced a new game with some interesting shake ups to their standard difficult combat genre. They're proposing that their new game will be fully open world. This is quite the interesting development, as many see this as a bold risk that could payoff in spades or result in a horrible monstrosity that won't make back it's budget. Personally, I've always thought their Souls games were somewhat open world, so I believe they can absolutely pull it off. Their talented game designers to boot, which gives them a high chance of success in my opinion. A startling amount of people are making a big deal out of the Super Mario 3D World port DLC, of all things. Why Nintendo would choose to put in such a high quality product into a port of 3D world is completely beyond me, but I'm definitely intrigued enough to get it. Despite having a Wii U, I never got the original 3D world because I wasn't as big on platformers back then. Anyways, that's all I've got for now.
What are these grades I keep missing related to my portfolio? Did I miss where these were introduced? The heck? Please tell me what is going on. Anyways, I'm really wondering how the Gamestop stock could affect video game purchase. It probably won't, but it's always interesting to see. The RE8 demo is out. I've chosen because I do not want to be spoiled. I tend to shy away from demos. Hitman 3 has come out and it's amazing. The fact that IOI has obtained a 007 game is quite interesting to me. I'm not sure it quite matches the feel of Hitman, but I do think they could pull it off. The real question is; will it in any way be related to Goldeneye? Because, of course, Goldeneye was one of the most successful games of its time, and it makes me wonder if they are attempting a remake. Then again, a remake was already and it sucked. Can you even remake a game twice? It has yet to be seen. On to the main topic of schoolwork. I greatly appreciate this semi break. Lord knows I hate 3D modeling. The only problem is that it requires artistic individuality, which I lack. I really hope my art conveys the feelings I was going for and doesn't come off as boring stereotypical nonsense (which sadly it is). The amount of personal problems just keep piling up over here. This is getting ridiculous.
I missed my earlier blog post. Dang it. And at a time when I could really use a grade boost too. Hopefully these quizzes will be enough to boost them though. Anyways, with 2020 behind us many journalists are reviewing the top games of 2020, and I am seeing some interesting results to be sure. Usually there's at least one overlapping game that every journalist puts somewhere on their list that I use as a sort of baseline. But this time, it seems that people just can't agree. The Last of Us 2 was incredibly controversial, either ending up in people's best or worst list but never the same. Hades, although largely successful and very popular, seems quite forgotten by most people. Spirit Farer, a game that had huge build up and was even at the top of one list, was almost completely ignored by the public. This year truly divided us all. Anyways, 3Ds Max work has been a pain with my corrupted copy and whatnot, but it's not necessarily hard. I could probably get through most of this stuff with relatively good grades (here's hoping). A lot of stuff is happening in my life, but this isn't really the place to talk about it. I thought modifiers would be the absolute worst to deal with, especially since I couldn't even access them for most of my time, but they're actually pretty easy. Takes me back when I used to make incredibly bad scratch games. Well, I pray 2021 will at least be tolerable. Two of my favorite games are getting sequels (Hitman and Darkest Dungeon). Please please please let them be good.
Well I won't say it's been easy, but at least nothing's been late. My work sort of took a decrease in quality for a second there but I think it's back to being acceptable. I can not say the same for my other classes, though. Everything was going fine until all of a sudden I get a huge influx in work from nowhere. But I turned most of it in, save for one history project I'm dreading. The game industry is on fire as of late. With the upcoming release of the Xbox series X and the PS5, there's a lot to be excited about. As per usual, Microsoft is majorly screwing everything up and the numbers show an incredibly low interest in the new Xbox. It's no wonder why: what are these exclusives? They're awful. Make fun of Bugsnax all you want, but at least they have the new Spiderman, the Demons Souls remake, The Pathless, and a new Ratchet and Clank. What does Xbox have? A bunch of sequels to decaying mainstream titles. That's it. Who's going to buy from a notoriously unfaithful company who can barely produce their own games anymore? They are going to become the new Sega. But it's still pretty hype to see all these new games coming out. Although not exactly the most popular, I always look forward to Arkane's titles. I'm ultra hyped for Darkest Dungeon 2, although I'm nowhere close to completing the original. Spelunky 2 has come out to mainstream success yet again (why they didn't do this earlier is beyond me). Resident Evil 8 is in production, and I'm certainly worried. When it comes to Capcom, they either smash it out of the park or make an unplayable mess. Having played Resident Evil 7 and it's DLC recently, I truly believe they can do an excellent job with the same team, it will just require a lot of resources.
I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually having fun in 3Ds Max. I think it comes down to the creative license we've been given. When I can make something that actually lets me do what I want instead of having to follow a template. I hate having to follow exact instructions in 3Ds Max because I can never get it to look exactly like the given product. And now that I can competently make some 3D models I can actually have fun. It also helps that I can actually use 3Ds Max now. It took forever to even get competent at these complete basics. I still can't imagine making a competent game with them though. Physics engines sound like a nightmare. This year is starting to look up. The gaming industry has gone quiet. Amazon's latest game sounds incredibly ambitious. An MMO as not only your first big project, but the project that's going to put you on the board? I'm highly skeptical, but if anyone has the money to do it, it's amazon. Cyberpunk is finally coming out, and my dad is explicitly against the project. He's very sheltered when it comes to gaming and, as usual, I think he's being too harsh. But I'm also a little doubtful. They promised a lot for this game, can they live up tot the expectations?
Now we're getting to the meat and potatoes of this class; 3D modeling. As you know, 3D modeling is not my forte, and my first project was not the best. The good news is that I've gotten 3Ds Max working again. The bad news is that is there's a definite feeling of dread I'm experiencing. I'm having a real problem with procrastination, which is weird because at school DDA is my most productive class. I need to just buckle down and get this stuff done in the first couple of days, just like the good old days. I can't believe I'm missing being in a classroom, and the class that was the easiest to port over no less. Although, to be fair, this blog has always been the one thing that I can't keep up with. I just always forget about it you know? And the dumbest part is that I know you're not reading this fully, Mr. B. I bet at most you just sorta skim these. Of course, I could be wrong, which would make the previous two sentences completely wrong. Whoops. At least I can write whatever I want as long as its related to the class. I'm getting sick and tired of some of these incompetent teachers, man. Another thing I can't believe: I hate ELA now. It used to be my favorite class, but this new guy sucks. He clogs up my announcements with useless information, his classes are boring, he's inflexible, he can't grade worth a dang, and to top it all off his canvas page is set up in a completely ridiculous and in-navigable way.
I think it's pretty obvious what this drawing is supposed to represent. I'm not invested at all in politics or anything like that. I can say however that people started acting stupid as soon as they could. I am absolutely sick (no pun intended) of people being stupid. Argument after argument, contamination, its an endless cycle of terrible ideas and dumb suggestions. All this panic over something that's probably going to be forgotten within the next ten years. It wasn't the deadliest outbreak or the scariest, it was just another blip in history where an outbreak happened.
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Cole ThomasInto video games and the likes. 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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