Xander Kent

A bit behind schedule. I did the faceposer tutorial a while back, but didnt blog it. And now, Fraps wont record it, or take a proper screenshot of faceposer. So I took a screenshot of my trigger and npc in hammer.

Finally Done! After long nights in the computer lab and many, many head aches, I finally completed my little Machinima video, "Action Hero".

It's really choppy, but I tihnk I got my ideas through. I wanted to poke fun of the video game cliche's of being able to carry a horde of weapons at one time, eating food on the ground and scavenging corpses for money. I wish I had time to put more establishing shots of characters, more interaction between the characters and the environment, and play more with combat AI and fine-tune the map in hammer. Regardless, I really do feel I got my original thoughts across.

I had a lot of fun working with Faceposer, especially with the phenome generator. Adding facial expressions and gestures was something I have always wanted to be able to manipulate, and I am really happy with what I achieved, considering its the first time I have ever worked with these programs.

Ever since the first time I watched Rooster Teeth's "Red vs Blue" I have always wanted to create my own machinima piece. I came so close to making my first successful machinima in high school for a final in biology, using Halo 2 to illustrate the immune system. But the music levels were too high and ruined my voice over narration, and thus detracted from the visuals.It was a pretty crushing defeat. Since the start of this project, I have seen it as my chance to redeem myself in my own eyes. I had to overcome a LOT of technical walls and snags, but I knew there was always a way. I just had to find out to tweak the program to give me the visuals I wanted.

I'm very pleased with the results. But I couldnt have done it without my friends who willingly offered their voices and musical talents.

View image

View image

View image

I finally got all my custom voice acting done on tuesday. I had three of my friends help me with the character voices, and I think they came out pretty well. I made my way to the computer lab that evening with only an hour before it closed. But much to my dismay, I couldn't get Faceposer to load my custom sound files. I started looking around the 'net and email everyone I could find who I thought could help, but before I made any headway, I was asked to leave the closing computer lab. At least the map is done.

I returned Wednesday night with a few more hours at my disposal; mostly due to the fact that I skipped my last history class so I could have more time, but who's keeping track? I FINALLY ended my headaches when I discovered the correct path to my .wav files and was able to put my phenomed voice acting on the Choreography. After that, things became a blur. In those few, short hours, I managed to get more than half of all the voice acting and some facial gestures choreographed.

I plan to get the rest of the choreography (including body gestures) done tonight, and hopefully get the filming done too. I can edit the film at home.

EDIT: (Day 6. Later that night)

Finally got choreography done. I managed to convince the lab monitor to let me stay after she goes home at 9 pm. I got most of the recording with Fraps done, but I cant upload them to my Flash Drive, its too small. VirtualDub wont even load, and Adobe Premier's subscription has ended. I guess I can go to sleep instead of pulling an all-nighter. Oh well...

Hope I have time to edit the film tomarrow...

Friday, May 9th was a trying day.

I started hitting snags with Hammer. Since I downloaded "Zombie Panic" in hopes of using the custom zombie models for my film, I accidentally broke the path to most of the HL2 models and textures. So I had to switch PC's. I then had a lot of trouble getting props to stay still or even appear at all. Eventually I discovered that if I made the entity a "prop_ragdoll" they would appear stationary on a running map. Only problem is, these props would not hold any rotations I made in Hammer. Luckily, all the objects were stationary in the position i needed, so I'm not going to tweak them any more. I dont have the time.

Oh yeah...someone has changed Alyx's character model. Going to have to switch computers again...grr....

I am currently building the "set" to my little machinima. I'm hitting the expected snags: objects not generating on the map, glitchy skies, wierd lighting, crashes. But for the most part I am pushing right along. I downloaded "Zombie Panic" so I could have the zombie character models, but moving them into Hammer is going to be one hell of a chore. I also have most of my script done. I plan to get most, if not all the voice acting finished by next week's class.

Here's a tiny preview of what I've done so far:

More soon.

I plan to create a short machinima video between two to three characters talking about weaponry and the impossibilities that are possible with said weapons in the world of video games. Most video game heroes are able to hold an impossible amount of ordinance while we only really see just the one (or two) weapon(s) in their hands. Machine guns, shotgun, pistols, grenades, knives, rocket launchers, and all the ammo for each, not to mention key items such as stone idols, metal and plastic keys or key cards, medallions, etc are all impossibly on the character's body for most of the game. My machinima video will be poking fun at this concept.

Using Half Life 2, I plan to make a simple map in hammer for the characters' banter to occur in. I will also be using plenty of face poser to lip-synced and choreograph the custom voice acting I and my friends will deliver. I do expect to have difficulty with getting said custom .wav files into faceposer, but I hope they will be overcome quickly

Using Halo, Halo 2 and soon Halo 3, Rooster Teeth Productions has created an internet phenominon: Red vs Blue. This slap-stick comedy beautifully exploits the Halo engine to create hilarious episodes and a decent storyline. Check it out

Finally finished and loaded into HL2 Deathmatch. He's a little wonky, but, hey, its a start, right?

Here's a little Deathmatch map I cooked up. Slightly behind schedule, but it was fun to build.

I did my best, given my time lost and lack of help, to generate a character model. I got him looking mostly like how I wanted and his skeleton has been locked to the model. However, for some technical reason I can't compile the .qc file. I've pretty much hit a wall. I'm sorry for not finishing before the end of the term, but I did what I could. I will re-post once he is done.

A bit behind schedule, but here it is: Me in Half Life Deathmatch.

Original pics.

My freaky face-map

and me dead!

My mod idea revolves around the audio component of video games. More specifically, how it is tied into the actions of the player. I would like to devise a system where the player's actions directly influence the volume, tempo and/or mood of the ambient music. If the character is engaged in combat, the music will change from being more epic to more dire depending on how well the battle is going for the player. I think this will give a much richer feel and more depth to a game and the gamer's experience.

F***ing finally!

After many many headaches, I FINALLY have the bomb done. It took way longer than it should have, but I am just happy to see my bomb in Half-Life 2 blowing up Combine troops (you can tell its MY bomb b/c of the crappy wire).

All in all, I'm glad I went through this process. It has given me a better appreciation for video games and their developers. So whenever I hear that a game's release date is going to be pushed back I will give them my sympathy for having to deal with more techno problems and my confidence that when they fix said bugs the game will be all the more better for it

- 1) Choose a goal and a topic
Decide what kind of emotions and feelings your game will evoke. Develop a defined goal.
- 2) Research and preparation
Do the homework. Research your idea and be as true to yourself and your ideas as possible
- 3) Design Phase
Review ideas. Keep everything centralized and focused. Iron out the flaws.
- 4) Pre-Programing Phase
Focus on the player rather than the technical. Prep everything for programming.
- 5)Programing Phase
Turn your ideas digital. Programming should be easier if ideas are clear. Remember to play-test the game.
- 6) Post-Mortem
Take the fire from the critics. Make changes to your game accordingly.

Lamp:
Download file

Face:
Download file

Here's my (horrible) face attempt. I really want to get better with this program, and I think I can with time. Who knows? I might be able to create an whole cat that actually looks like a cat.

The Lamp is about 90% finished, and I hope to finish it before the end of the semester.

Video Games and art have had a difficult time squeezing into the same sentence. Fortunately, it has been getting easier as the years pass on and more sophisticated games are released. There are many different ways for these unsung pieces of artwork to express their overall messages and/or experiences.

Above is a screenshot of "The Godfather: The Game" released in 2006. 'The Godfather" (1972) film is already a monumental cultural icon with its own dedicated fan base and critical acclaim, earning it the label as a work of art. Its deep roots in the film society, as well as the immediate society we reside in, has given it an iconic status rarely achieved by films. The fact that a video game adaptation of this prostegious movie only furthers the point of its own legendary-ness. But it is not the film's title as art that is in question, rather it should be addressed whether or not "The Godfather: The Game" should be considered a work of art.
To give a new experience to an already widely loved piece of cinema (if done correctly) can add an entirely new perspective on the genre of both the game, the film and the film itself. Video games, running roughly 15-35 hours, add so much more detail and depth to a world that is only seen during the 2-hour window the movies give the viewers. Of course, "The Godfather" trilogy is commonly known to be notoriously long. But even with its cinematic length, the level of exploration a player can experience into the world of 1930's New York rife with mafia violence and ideologies is pleasently different with still being complementary to the film.

Video games are very much their own artistic medium. Fortunately, this notion is becoming more and more widely accepted. Half-Life 2's revolutionary gameplay, interactive environments and free-movement within its "cutscenes" have earned it a multitude of awards. Its dynamic story telling is a welcome change to to the traditional method of plot development, which usually has players merely watching characters converse, thus furthering the storyline. The inherent interactivity of video games is enough to separate it from other forms of storytelling (i.e.: books, movies, radio, etc.), but Half-Life 2's interactivity throughout the entirety of the game, especially while the plot line is being furthered, is a well presented and enjoyable style to do what video games are beginning to do better than most movies: tell a story.