Danny Pan

How it differs: its drastically different. I threw out the piano idea and made a giant blender.
What I learned: i'll get back to you on that...

http://www.slackiller.com/tutorials/tutorials/mglass.htm

how to make breakable glass in Hammer for Half Life 2

I hope to create something like this in Half Life 2.

1. Concept

The main focus is to create a music instrument in half life that the user can play by walking around on it. Like the giant toy store piano in the movie Big. What interests me about this is that it allows the user to be the artist, along with the mod creator. I will abstract it by simply creating objects that will trigger a sound/voice when the user collides into it (like what we learned in class last week). It can be as simple as a dull room, with some rectangles on the floor that resemble a piano. My final product will be a video of various people's "experiments" with my giant piano, running over the keys, shooting rockets at it, pushing objects onto it, to trigger the sounds.

2. Technical

This will probably be based on Half Life 2 single player, though ideally, I would like it to be mutliplayer (how else can you play "Chopsticks" on a giant piano keyboard?) Techniques I will apply include: SoftImage (modelling the piano keys), Hammer (room building, triggers), Audacity (processing sound files). Technical problems I foresee are: slow PCs, as well as the occasional unforseen error message that pops up.

3. Schedule
Sad to say, I will be unavailable for most of the class on May 2nd (some other important business). But I will work my butt off during the rest of the week to finish this.

I've decided, I want to do a Machinima, rather than a game mod.
I'm going to try to create custom objects, models, and possibly levels, and use Garry's Mod as a platform for executing said machinima.

quality machinima starts with quality actors

Anticipating Problems: I know I will run into problems during the making of this machinima, so it will be good to think of possible problems I will bump into that will hinder, or slow down, my process.

1) Getting custom textures + models + levels to show up in Garry's Mod
2) Will "these" computers have the processing power to record scenes for the machninima?
3) I've had a bad history with getting custom models to work in game (the dynamite)
4) Finding actors, voice actors, as well as a personal assistant.

Identifying Options/Solutions: I've to get my character to show up in Garry's mod. Something was wrong with the texture and it showed up in game, totally invisible. WHAT DO I DO?!

1) Keep trying. The model worked fine, I just need to get the texture to show.
2) I could do a test run next class, with fraps.
3) This could be something my team mate could do. Anyone want to work on my machinima team?
4) Find classmates/friends/enemies willing to do voice acting or as a "puppet master."

Planning Ahead: How am I going to finish this on time? Or more importantly, how will I finish this and still keep my sanity?

I could make a schedule, but its not something I usually do. Honestly, I'm just going to work hard, but trying not to stress myself out too much.

Download Deathmatch Character

to use, simply download and extract to your hl2mp folder. It currently replaces the male_01.mdl (black guy) deathmatch character, but simply rename it to any other male (or female) to replace that character.

finally, I have the custom deathmatch model working! not a single bug or glitch this time.

Skeeter takes a wrong turn in Bluffington and stumbles into wartorn City 17!

skeet enjoys the comfort of a cold basement floor.

cool man!

An image from Operation Bayshield. An ambassador with an east asian accent briefs the team about anti-baywatch terrorists. He has a turban on!

Operation Bayshield is a machinima about an anti-terrorist unit who are sent out to stop a group of terrorists from detonating a bomb. But these terrorists aren't just any America-hating terrorists, they specifically hate Baywatch. Thus the name: "Operation Bayshield."

As machinimae go, this one was dull, though I imagine it was quite the spectacle when it came out years ago. The plot is trite (Americans kick terrorist ass, snore..) and the parody factor was not enough to save it. And maybe I'm just too thick skulled, but a lot of the supposed "jokes" (like the man with the austrian accent) flew over my head. Another factor that contributed to my lack of interest was the fact that the "actors" are very stiff. I'm used to seeing all the expressive acting in more modern machinima; this old stuff is just lacking the energy and life I'm used to seeing.

Clan Undead used the Quake (1) engine to produce this machinima. Along with using assets from the game, they created custom textures, as well as levels/settings for use in this machinima. They took advantage of dynamic camera angles, as well as cinematic techniques such as slow motion.

Despite its flaws, Operation Bayshield is quite a step up from some previous machinimae, like diary of a camper. Clan Undead was able to use prerecorded voice sounds; modded into the game and played by "activating them through QuakeC's sound command."

Final rating: C------------- would not watch again,

My totally random source mod idea:
"deafmatch."

A completely audio-free multiplayer experience. All sound is rendered as visual metaphor.
Footsteps, gunshots, explosions, etc.

Think: old Batman fight scenes, but more abstract.

Concept images will be posted later.

in all my polygonal glory

Game Design Sequence in Five Convenient Points

1) Choose a goal and a topic

Youtube Here.

"He often would dance, and the birds would look and clap..."

This is a HL2 machinima titled Dennis, a part of the machinima series Rusty Whispers. Dennis is a bittersweet short story about a man named Dennis who only has his birds, his music, and his dreams.

What I find interesting is how, technically, its not that elaborate, but its still able to tell a touching story. Just goes to show that you don't need to know all the ins and outs of a software package to make a good machinima film. Just bring your creativity.

Bonus:
this is just so silly and stupid I have to throw it in:
A Half Life 2 Story.

McLuhan writes that games are "social reactions to the main drive or action of any culture". Describe at least one "social reaction" that might be activated by video games. Include at least one game as an example.

I choose to talk about Carmageddon, 1) because its an interesting game to discuss, and 2) its continuing my theme of controversial video games.

The premise is simple, its a racing game. You can win by finishing your laps....or by running over pedestrians.

I'm actually kind of disgusted to think about what kind of social reaction this game may be activating in some sick individual out there. Granted there are individuals out there that take games like this too far and actually use games like this as a form of fantasy fulfillment, most of us who play super violent games like Carmaggedon are normal, sane, everyday people.

So what attracts us normies to violent video games? What kind of social reaction could possibly be activated by a game like this?

I think it has a lot to do with aggression, and our desire to "let off the steam" and alleviate the natural stress that builds when we are feeling aggressive. Aggression is our drive, it is the energy that drives us to accomplish our goals, it is (was?) the energy of our survival as human beings. Aggression is also very primitive; in the ancient days, we relied on aggression because we survived as a group by being aggressive, by claiming territory from others, and fighting others for food and materials. In these modern times, when we are expected to share, cooperate, and deal with each other in non-confrontational, non-violent ways, aggression is rarely ever "vented."

Violence/destruction is aggression at its most extreme. So being able to channel our aggression to its most extreme form, as violence, is one of the most effective ways to quickly relieve the built up aggression.

So, our need to play violent video games are not a result of our violent natures, but of our aggressive natures.

I'll add more later, maybe. sorry for submitting so late.

What is art? Art is the manifestation of our desire to create. Art is our ultimate freedom, it is expression without boundaries; it is our purposeful rebellion against boundaries.

I think videogames can be one of our highest forms of art as humans. It allows us to create our visions of ulimited perfection (or unlimited imperfection) and gives us the ability to share this with the world in a way beyond watching static images or even moving ones. Even better, it is art that we allow others to shape by playing (and modding).

The game I choose to talk about is JFK Reloaded (which, i believe, is not mentioned in the book)

I think that what makes this game art , like all good art, is that it is evocative and forces you to examine your notions of truth.

As the player, you assume the role of Lee Harvey Oswalt and his role as the assassin in the murder of President John F. Kennedy. The game has a higher message than, "kill the president, get some points." The goal of the game, as an art piece, is to get people thinking about the truth behind the event, because even though the game is set up perfectly to simulate every detail of the event, it is extremely difficult to pull off the supposed gun shots that Lee Harvey Oswalt took on that day.

Another question I ask myself about this game is whether or not I should feel bad about feeling entertained by this game. I've played other games where I've had to kill aliens, insects, Arabs, men, women, and more, yet this is the first time I have actually felt some remorse for enjoying the act of killing someone.

Download the cat
Download the lamp

animation and modeling was a familiar and frustrating experience with SoftImage. Familiar in that its very similar to the system in Maya, frustrating in that I keep hitting keys that I would hit in Maya. >:O

Half Life 2 (HL2), unlike a movie or a book, possesses a non-linear narrative. Movies or books (with the exception of those neat "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories), have linear narratives, that is, the story will play out in a specified way. The nature of HL2 is that of an interactive media; the game is capable of accepting my input, and allowing me to influence the narrative in a way that reflects my actions.