Blogging in Globaloria

     Blogging is apparantly a major part of Globaloria, one of which I don't personally like. It's not that I don't like blogging in general, but more of the topics we are required to blog about. I don't agree with making us blog about our game design, or a specific topic in general. I believe that the topics should be more broad, and about our everyday lives, such as events in the news, disasters, our weekends, etc. I believe that if we had to do reflective and expressive blogs, everyone would enjoy them much more, and we would learn about similarities and differences in our classmates. Also, I believe that posting your updated game on the Wiki is a sound teller of how well you are doing in your game-making.

Our Presentation

     Our presentation will be a very well-constructed powerpoint, telling of our journey as we made our game, followed by us showing them the game. The first few slides will tell the viewer why we chose the topic we did, and tell about the topic. Next, we will talk about all of the parts we used to assemble our game. The last few slides will tell about what we hope to accomplish with our game. We will also be rehearsing some lines to say so we won't get confused, and we will show them the game itself.

It's a Crazy World...

     I don't understand why everything happens at the worst times and in short succession. Four major earthquakes have rocked the world in the past two months. Flooding has devastated countries, cities, and towns. And human disasters, like the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, kill the hearts of the families and friends of those who cared about them. It always seems like there is NO mercy for the hearts and souls of anybody.
     In my life, I've had my share of heartache. I've lost my father, two grandfathers, and many other loved ones. I've been to more funerals than anyone could bear to be at. Sometimes it seems like nothing is ever meant to get better, because as soon as one wound starts to heal, something cuts you up again. But things do get better, and you learn to cope with everything that happens around you, good or bad.

     The mining accident has especially been killing me lately. I didn't hang out with Cory Davis; I have never said that I did. But I love his family, and the few memories I have of him during baseball. His father, Tommy Davis, is one of the best men in the world. He picked me for all-stars twice during Junior League, and was the first outsider to ever believe in me. Cindy also helped coach, and I played with his brother, Seth. I really don't understand why these kind of things happen to the best of people, but my heart goes out to them, because I know exactly how losing someone close feels.

This Class So Far...

     This class hasn't been so bad thus far. I came into this class thinking that it would be really hard and unenjoyable, and although it is extremely challenging, it's not nearly as bad as I thought. In fact, I like it to a degree.

     This class is a mixture of independent work and working with your partner(s). Although you're only going to create one game, you must work together to reach the common goal of completing the game. The independent work comes into play because you'll find that you have strengths and weaknesses. By figuring these out, everyone can do their own work on the game, making the time necessary to complete it much shorter. Also, most of everything you learn to do is self-taught.

     I'd also like to say in this blog post how much it's killing me that the Davis' and other families must go through the loss of loved ones... Been there done that. The Davis family has been one of my favorite groups of people in the world. I played baseball with Seth, and we were coached by Tommy and Cory helped him. Tommy was the first coach I've had, other than my parents, that believed in me. He said I was one of the best kids he's ever coached. We've all been through too much in our lives, and I wish it would stop. I hope with everything in me that these 4 unfound miners are found safe and sound, and are able to return to their families.

Sound's Good to Me

Sound is a very vital component of any game. First, it adds realism to your game. Do guns shoot without making a noise? Do bombs detonate silently? The answers are both no. It also adds help to the game. Would you know if somebody was shooting at you on Call of Duty if there was no sound? Would you know that the enemy set off the tactical nuke? These are also no. Third, it adds functionality to the game. It makes the game seem more complete because even games made on the Atari had simple sounds and were used as alerts when a collision occurred.

Adding Animation is Awesome Opussum!

Adding animation is not so bad once you get the hang of it. The coolest part about this whole process is watching your creation come to life. Your people and objects actually move! It's so cool to actually have something you've done come alive. Also, it makes you feel like a game developer. I've played video games my whole life, and I think it's amazing what they do. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is especially mind-blowing in my opinion: here's some game footage and Infinity Ward's (the makers of the Modern Warfare games) website!

The BEST Game Devs on Earth!