Death of Creativity.

Finally we have seen the young game industry grow up alike its relative the film industry. It's not exactly the golden age of gaming at the moment. Not to sound like I am angry at game developers or anything but I might be a little sick of their attempt to make me buy the same game year after year. Right now money is the main priority for these companies, which is understandable, they are a business after all. Now I don't want to say that I think the games are bad, they are very visually appealing and are designed without flaws. Unfortunately I'm not exactly satisfied with what should be considered updates to a game being considered sequels. The problem I have with companies like EA, Activision and Ubisoft is that their priority of money is destroying any sort of creativity. They want their games to appeal to as many people as they possibly can so the resort to rounding out any edges removing any sort of personality or connect with the player. This is especially upsetting to me because I have trouble being immersed into a game that was clearly made so everyone would like it.

Now with the incoming launch of new consoles I think this is the prime opportunity to make some changes. With all of the new-gen console games being new IPs I think that the time of call of duty and halo, and assassins creed is over. The age of new games will come. Possibly the games with be cycled out less frequently with sequels that last gen. Besides I want to believe that Indie games will grow to even bigger during this generation. With our connectivity to one and other it will be easier to share and snowball smaller games to make them powerhouses. Steam is probably going to shift to incorporate more indie games by the end of the year. With the approval rate of green-lit games getting bigger and bigger each day I would think we will see tons of games on the front page of steam's shop.

I guess the gaming industry and movie industry have very much in common. They both push out sequels like crazy. They bog everything down to simple story elements and indie always brings something to the table. Frankly, I might be exaggerating about how AAA games are uncreative but they are usually over-shadowed by the blockbusters. Some slip through the industry cracks but they are always harshly reviewed, under-rated and forgotten. And another thing that upsets me is that when the big corps run out of sequels to put out they have to go dig up some dead IP from their past and make it into something generic.  I bet EA would put out a new Populous since Simcity is dead. I'll go get the shovel.

Anyways, consoles are very much dead to me and I doubt that I will ever get one again. Steam is all I need. I guess I felt like ranting. It's been a slow news week. Let me know about your opinions in the comments.

-Nicholas

sources: Xbone GameOver

Money Invested in Flower-Shaped Satellite

A new concept for providing power and energy has seemed plausible enough that NASA has actually decided to fund it.  The idea, that was apparently inspired by nature, is to launch a satellite into orbit that would direct sunlight toward solar panels and power plants by using a collection of curved mirrors. This idea was realistic enough to capture the attention of NASA, who are now funding a "proof-of-concept study".

The plans actually came from a previous engineer from NASA named John Mankins.  The whole fancy name for this concept is the Solar Power Satellite via Arbitrarily Large PHased Array (or SPS-ALPHA if you're gonna have trouble remembering that).  All the movable parts would be brought up into space to be assembled in orbit.  This ensures that it would be cheaper than building a massive array on the surface and then launching the whole thing into space.  The satellite beams low-intensity microwaves to Earth where it is then changed into electricity, and then added to the power grid.  A pretty neat idea, now only time will tell if it is ever fully implemented.

- Robert

Information and Image from: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-04/nasa-wants-flower-inspired-satellite-array-beaming-solar-power-down-earth?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=8&con=nasa-invests-in-satellites-that-beam-power-down-to-earth

How To: Make Yourself Looks Like A Monster

It's Halloween soon so I'll teach you how to look evil!
1. Open your file

(this picture is taken from kantal0upe.tumblr.com)

2. First I'll make her eyes look red. click this buttonon the layer panel to create a new layer 




















3. select red for your foreground colour

4.Select a brush tool  (press b for shortcut) and adjust your brush size to the eyes

5. Paint the eyes red

6.Change the effect to color on the layer panel and also change to opacity

7. Next is to make her face texture look stoney. First find a picture of a stone I'm using this one. Then paste it to the photoshop (or press ctrl+v or command+v on mac for shortcut)

8. Click Edit> Transform to adjust picture and bring it to the face or press Ctrl+T for shortcut

8.Change the effect to multiply or anything that fits best

9. Use an eraser tool and adjust the brush size then erase the unwanted part outside the face/neck ( you can also adjust the brush size through this step) 

(the less hardness of the eraser tool the less harsh the line.
10. On the layer panel change the opacity of the stone texture

11. click  on the layer panel to make a new layer

12. select a foreground colour for your lips colour  

13. select a brush tool  then adjust the brush size then paint the lip

14. change the effect on the layer panel to color

15. change the opacity colour to make the lip looks pale

16. follow my tutorial before ( how to change hair colour ) to change the hair colour

17. Click Layer > Merge Visible to merge picture together ( Ctrl+Shift+E) 

18. Double click on the layer and unlock the layer so you can edit the picture 

19. We can make the colour looks more "Halloween-ish" by doing one or all of these to adjust the     

       colours of the image

   - Image > Adjustment > colour balance.. (ctrl+b) to balance colour 

   - Image > Adjustment > brightness and contrast.  to adjust brightness and contrast

   - Image > Adjustment > curve (ctrl+m) to adjust brightness

   - Image > Adjustment > Hue/saturation to adjust colours  (Ctrl+u

 Here is what I used

20. You can save now or Change the colour again by using 

- Image > Adjustment > Hue/saturation to adjust colours (ctrl+u) and have fun with it !

21. and you're done!

The trials of Indie game publishing. (Indie Ana Jones)

Indie Game publishing is rather scary. Indie game development can be fun and creative but getting people to play it can be hell. The problem is that the gaming industry is like open water and big publishers and developers are big sharks. Indie developers are like small fish in a sea of small fish. From what I understand there are two methods of getting a game out to gamers.

1. You could go through a third party. To get your game on a console such as PS3 or Xbox 360 you have to go through the experience of working with Microsoft and Sony. Usually those companies see indie games as a quick buck and they understand how desperate Indie devs are so they try to get as much as they can. Microsoft often makes outrageous demands like exclusive content, half of the profit, and the rights.

If you don't want to go through that joyous experience of working with bloodsucking industry-giants then there is always the option of turning to Steam. With an emphasis on simplicity, Valve understands that you need to be compassionate with Indie Developers. They are entrusting their work to someone who will give it the chance it needs to grow. They walk you through every step of the way so that you are clear about pricing, marketing and integration with Steam-Works. They give you full creative control. First, there needs to be demand so they allow Steam users to vote on games to be "green-lit" on Steam. The games are then published quickly on the store's front page. It is quick and painless. It is highly recommend by indie vets. I guess Good old Games is a upcoming alternative to indie games but they don't offer the same security and audience as Steam. SONY  says that it will be easier to publish games on the PS4 but I think its all for the sake of getting them exclusive to their system. Indie games thrive on the internet because they can snowball into mega-popularity.

2. You could try to manage everything yourself which would be extremely difficult. Many first time indie game developers don't understand how hard this is. It isn't just the creation of the game, that is half the work. There is publishing, marketing, copyright, PR, and a whole bunch of things that are not too fun. Honestly it's safer to go through valve but you can make more money self publishing. Frankly, marketing for games is a popularity contest. I suppose you could make a flash version of your game for Newgrounds or something and then expand into a bigger game to gain an audience. Just having your game on Steam is good publicity even if it's not green-lit. One can try to gain attention by participating in an indie jam or other events. You could then start a website and sell your game. I can think of a couple games that pulled this off, most notably Minecraft.

The best thing to get a game out to an audience is to make the game creative and fun. It will get the attention it deserves if it is worthy at some point. "Be persistent and unique:" Edmund Mcmillen.
To see more about this topic watch "Indie Game: The Movie". Recently Gamespot rated their game of the year as Journey, an indie game. Maybe gamers appreciate new and creative things after all.

PS-The indie game movie is now on Netflix.

-Nicholas

source: Indie Game the movie
Ana Todor

The Mountain Shack

Have you ever wanted to live on a mountain?  Are you too lazy to actually set up camp?  If you answered any of these questions with yes, this tech is perfect for you!  Malgorzata Blachnicka and Michal Holcer have created a new way to live in the wilderness (more specifically, on top of a mountain).  This shack is named "Huba", and it is entirely self-sufficient.

This concept allows the high-tech shack to be directly air dropped on top of a mountain.  The main reason this shack actually needs to be at least 1,000m above sea level is because of a wind turbine attached to the chimney.  This turbine would collect winds that could reach 30m/s, which would be sufficient to power up the heat and light.  The unique roof tiles could collect rainfall, where it will be dispersed in a tank and then filtered.  This concept is very unique, and it has no apparent right-angles in the design.  While it probably won't be affordable to the common man, the rich sure do have a neat mountain shack!

- Robert

Information and images from: http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/you-can-airdrop-mountain-high-tech-shack?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=8&con=you-can-airdrop-onto-a-mountain-in-this-hightech-shack

How to : Change Hair Colour

1. Open a file

(picture was taken from kantal0upe.tumblr.com/tagged/perf)

2. Click on the quick masque mode (or press Q on your keyboard)

 This button   and when you click it, it will turn in to this 

3. Select the brush toolor press B on your keyboard
4. Select the brush size as you want ( you can change it while you're painting it too) and paint the hair
   area. The selection area will be red

5. Then use an eraser tool (or press e on your keyboard) set up the eraser size and then  to         erase the unwanted part

 

6. Click the quick masque mode again () and then it will make a selection

7. Click Select > Inverse or  ctrl+shift+i (or command+shift+i on mac) to inverse the selection

8. Click this button  on the layer panel to create new layer 

9. select the hair colour you want on the foreground colour

10. Click Edit>Fill and choose foreground colour and press ok (or alt+delete for quick way)

11. Press ctrl+d (or command+d on mac) to deselect the selection

12. on the layer panel choose the effect to be hue or color

13. In this case, I choose color. you can also change the Opacity 

*tip* if you want to change the hair colour and don't want to redo everything click Image>Adjustment> Hue/Saturation or press ctrl+u on your keyboard and change things around!

14.you're done!

you can use this technique to experiment on hair colours before you actually dye your hair!