Procedurally animated art game? These little toys are sure to warm your heart. Simple and brilliant. Please take a moment to checkout some of the work on Vector Park.
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Anyone remember the voxel? Gamers used to remember voxels from the Voxel Space engine that was used in Comanche: Maximum Overkill and Delta Force. Or maybe there’s some gamers out there that played Outcast? (maybe?)
In any case, it looks like voxels are not dead… but taking a little vacation. It’s only a matter of time till someone exploits the hidden potential. Real destructible terrain w/ density! Hellooooo? Well, one person seems to have figured it out and disguised his tech demo as a game called Voxelstein 3D. I can’t tell you what hope this game gives me. Imagine not just blowing chunks off off buildings, in pre-cut peices… but actually being able to carve into terrain.
Seems like the medical field hasn’t let this technology unused. A few Siggraph’s back I was able to get a demo from one of the software engineers of this intuitive application, but on ATI hardware. He moved points around to adjust the density and appearance of those densities in order to zero in on the skull and (with a little tweaking) the brain.
Lucky for me, Houdini has voxels in it… voxel fluids.
Looks like there’s still some money to be made in software & hardware using voxel technology.
Still wondering “What are voxels“? Well Wiki seems to have the usual depth, including a list of games that used the technology, like Crysis & Worms 4 Mayhem… ? Ok, now we need an update to Scorched Earth, but with voxels. Mmmm MMmm good.
Love the use of music in that trailer.
With the recent release of Bionic Commando: Rearmed, I’ve been thinking about other classic favorites. As a child of divorced parents who had joint custody, I alternated between mom’s and dad’s houses, every two weeks. The time spent with my dad was away from my schoolmates, so video games and Autodesk Animator were there to keep me occupied.
Looking around, it seems like Bionic Commando isn’t the only childhood favorite coming back. For the last few months I’ve been hearing rumors of the return of X-Com & just today, Syndicate.
Despite, the great job that was done on the update of Bionic Commando (multiplayer 7 co-op), there’s always a concern that the updates will fail. The games were much simpler, which means that tinkering with the formula risks destroying the feeling of the game. Wouldn’t it be nice to just be able to play some of the classics, unaltered? Well, DOSBox is one of many emulators that allows you to do just that. A simple “download” google search will help you find Syndicate, X-Com, Wing Commander, Dune 2 or whatever you’re feining. There’s also plenty of sites that will help you get stuff configured and working properly. Did I mention that people even have DOSBox working on their PSP?
Another neat thing about DOSBox… video capture!!
Here’s some of my favs.
Wing Commander 2
Dune 2
+ Dune 2 in-game footage
Syndicate
+ Syndicate in-game
X-Com
+ X-Com in-game
Comanche: Maximum Overkill
Ultima Underworld II
I remember making it to the end of this game and being completely stuck. I went to the local Babbage’s and picked up a cheat guide, only to read that the guide didn’t have any information past the point which I had already reached. 15 years later and I can finally see the ending!
Today was quite a trip down memory lane. The game industry felt more innovative back then. Nowadays, all the RTS games seem like a prettier version of Dune 2. The FPS games are a dynamic version of DOOM. The turn based strategy games are… are… uuh…. OH! That reminds me, it looks like they’re coming out with a Jagged Alliance 3! W00t!! Anyhow, if you want innovation, I highly recommend checking out the indy gaming scene. Start with Game Tunnel and then checkout The Great Games Experiment. Best part of indy games is that they’re small games. Simple enough where you can figure out the mechanics in minutes. A revival of the casual gamer.
Nice work on the video editing. Fer sure.
Thanks to Vincent Chow for this one.
Looks like Introversion Software (publishers of Darwinia & Defcon) have something else up their sleeves and they’re calling it “Love”. I’m geeked.
Check out the video for a tech demo. It looks like they’re using voxels to pull off the dynamic terrain. By “dynamic”, I mean that the ground itself can be raised and lowered, kinda like the ol populous, except at a more granular level. If you don’t have patience, skip about 1 minute into the video for the real goods.
Btw, if you want to play something a little different, and you haven’t heard of any of Introversion’s games, I would check them out. Multiwinia just came out too.
Thanks to PlanetDamage for the 411.
*Update*
Completely wrong on this one! It’s not made by Introversion Software and if I had taken the extra time to checkout the source links, I would have read the informative article posted on RockPaperShotgun. Not only that, it’s not voxels!
I will be posting a better researched update soon.
I think it was Cirque du Soleil that introduced me to this acrobatic style, but this guy makes it… well… smooth.
With a tool like this, maybe there wouldn’t be such a strong aversion towards using NURBS in the entertainment industry.
ILoveSketch from Seok-Hyung Bae on Vimeo.
Thanks to Drawn! for the link.
Because it’s been so long since I posted something new… here’s some stuff to tide you over. The new job has me playing a little catch up.
Amazing what one can do with a personal PC… er… wait… those were real puppets!? There’s also a Making of video to take a look at.
Thanks to Drawn! for this one.
Love character rigging and especially good rigging… and above that, I love to see how others achieve great results.
Chris Evans has dug up some info on the character work that has gone into Metal Gear Solid 4. I’m on the fence about which console to buy, but the tech put into this game is enough to end the debate.
Thanks again to “Stumbling Into Awesomeness” for these great posts.
* UPDATE * Oct 16, 2008
CGTalk just posted a production focus article for MGS4. Looks like there’s some great stuff in here that I’ll have to take the time to read later.
MGS4 WearWolf
From: “Jeremy Sabo”
To: “Support Team”
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2008 5:50:46 PM (GMT-0800) America/Los_Angeles
Subject: Goodbye Artists
To: “Support Team”
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2008 5:50:46 PM (GMT-0800) America/Los_Angeles
Subject: Goodbye Artists
Today is my last day
and although I’m feeling shy.
I couldn’t leave you all
without saying a quick goodbye.Our lives our short,
but this industry is quite small.
it’s only a matter of time
till again I see you all.
and although I’m feeling shy.
I couldn’t leave you all
without saying a quick goodbye.Our lives our short,
but this industry is quite small.
it’s only a matter of time
till again I see you all.
Remember to kick ass
in all that you do
otherwise you’ll get a blank stare
if asking to… refer you… ?
Anyways… I just wanted tell you all how honored I was to work with you all. Stay true to what you love and never let the other BS get in the way of your art. With so many artists and mentors with so many ideas, I see so much potential for this medium, one that can alter the course of this funked up world. I hope you all find the opportunity to explore your potential… well… I know you will, but I hope it’s sooner rather than later.
For those that don’t know me, you think I’m just being cheezy, but for those that do… you know to take me sincerely.
Love n Respect,
P.S. Please forward to others that would like to stay in touch. Also, below are some inspirational links I wanted to post in the trivial lists, but I didn’t want to overflow the already abundant content.
3DBuzz – Free, non-boring application training for 3D artists
http://www.3dbuzz.com
Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5700431505846055184
Time Management – Good tips to get your sh#t together
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5784740380335567758
Lorne Lanning’s take on the state and future of the game and film industries. Appropriately ending with him getting cut off while talking about tin foil hats.
http://insidermovies.ign.com/insider/audio/article/888/888726/TCAE_Ep13.mp3
Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat)
via Dan via Rudy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WApcUBcVMos
Call of Duty 4: Post Mortem – Games can be made withOUT mandatory overtime? Animators can enjoy mocap? Nawww…
http://www.edge-online.com/features/post-mortem-why-cod4-looks-so-hot?page=0,1
Brad Wardell: Developer at StarDock (Sins of a Solar Empire) opinions on piracy
http://draginol.joeuser.com/article/303512/Piracy_PC_Gaming
Indy Gaming – Yes, innovations in gaming do exist… and they realize that there are some of us are only casual gamers.
http://www.gametunnel.com
Believe it or not, she is not real. I recommend going to Youtube and clicking the “Watch in High Quality” link. Image Metrics Tech Demo is showing that we’re getting closer to “bridging the gap uncanny valley. For once it’s spooky because it’s so close to real, not spooky because it looks like animated plastic. Of course, you can still tell… after the second viewing. 😉
More info @ Creative Cows, Times Online & a video interview w/ Image Metrics on VideoSift.
“Simplicity is hard to build, easy to use, and hard to charge for. Complexity is easy to build, hard to use, and easy to charge for.”
– Chris Sacca
Thanks to Michael Rubin for that one.
Andrew Lowell Productions just released an ebook entitled, Simultaneous Music, Animation, and Sound with Houdini. At $29.95, I picked it up immediately! His goal is to share his discoveries in order spark more interest in this area, and the reasonable price reflects this goal. Big props to the author for a great price that will certainly help spread this wonderful info!
Skimming through the book, it’s packed with text and screenshots that contain paint-overs that should help to avoid any confusion. The package also includes a few hundred megabytes of example files to work from. I recommend checking out his quicktime demo where he gives some samples of the contents, broken down by chapter.
For months I’ve been meaning to dig around in Houdini’s CHOPS (Channel Operators) for this exact thing. Knowing that I now have a guide to lead me through the beginning hurdles, well… I’m more eager than ever to begin my personal project. This really did come at just the right time.
Taking it a little further than the text. Make sure and crank up the volume before getting this one rolling.
“New spine? No problem. Late payments? Problem.”
A bloody opera from the creator of SAW II? Starring Paris Hilton & Paul Sorvino? Uh Mah Gawd. Truely a morbid curiosity.
A new way to enjoy your vast collection of MP3 music. The game will let you select an mp3 and then it will proceed to analyze the track and create you an F-Zero style track to bounce around on as you collect and match blocks that appear in time with the music.
Musical innovative goodness, and at $9.95 for a full version of the game, how can you go wrong?
Download the demo or watch the YouTube clip w/ Mr. Blue Sky.
For some reason, I move away from the devices that I know will assist me. At the moment I’m speaking of the fact that I keep avoiding the creation of this blog.
The above, is an example of a useful random thought that is customized for me. It carries just the right words, and my brain interprets the connotations in just the way right way. Every once in awhile, I’m able to discover one of these “personalized power phrases” (or whatever you want to call them). It usually involves me ending a mental loop. A reliance that I plan to break, as I just need 15 minutes of complete focus and silence to prevent myself from running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I need some time outside of my environment.
Blog: This is my psychological evaluation. No doctor will be able to find the true secrets in your mind as it’s difficult enough for us to do it, ourselves. A doctor would require 100% cooperation of the patient in order to be successful and there are so very few of us are able to comply 100%.
So now starts the blogging. I’m currently using my underused tool of speech recognition*. A tool which I plan to soon purchase. I am seated comfortably at home, alone. Nothing to distract me. No one to distract.
I should first line out my plan, my “dream schedule”.
6 a.m. The CD alarm clock starts. Luckily, I am already awake and am able to turn it off before it wakes up somebody else.
6:15 a.m. I’m finishing my morning warm-up and putting oatmeal into water which is already boiling.
6:30 a.m. I’m out of the shower and eating my oatmeal with flaxseed, cinnamon, raisins & molasses (or brown sugar).
7:00 a.m. I am on my way to the bus stop with a magazine for the bus ride.
8 a.m. At the studio, I check and respond to e-mails. Based on all this information I quickly to plan my day, which is recorded (somewhere consistent).
10:00 a.m. 15 minute break. I must get away from the desk by either doodling by a window, going to the gym or going outside to play.
12:30 p.m. Cook/reheat meal after walk outside.
4:20 p.m. DS time or semi-supine/nap.
6:30 p.m. Waiting at the bus stop waiting to head home
This would be the schedule I would like to have for four out of the five days. On the fifth day of my “five-day workweek”I will be available remotely via a VPN e-mail and/or telephone. If an employer is unable to do that schedule form he I must insist that I give me a reason that makes sense, because for me to schedule makes sense and has been proven to work.
7 p.m. I should already be thinking about what I’m going to be making for dinner, and lunch the next day. Dinner can be simple, light and quick. Just stirfry vegetables which are lightly spiced.
7:45 p.m. After working out I’m getting rolling on dinner.
At least three days a week I need to stay away from the computer in the evenings, so says doctor Me.
11:00 p.m. I better be making my way towards the bedroom, after cleaning up my desk, picking up my miscellaneous shit & then brushing my teeth.
11:15 p.m. Collect thoughts at the end of the day. Spend quiet time with my journal and my mind.
11:30 p.m. falling asleep
*Dragon naturally speaking is an incredible speech recognition program. This entire blog entry was created using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and about 25 keystrokes.
I find this funny… yet insightful… but mostly funny. A benefit of working with animators, who couldn’t help but find this amusing, and thus shared it with me immediately.
Davario on Livejournal created a post where hundreds of artists are now drawing portraits of themselves, past and present. It first started as a simple “draw yourself as a teen” post and then BOOM it exploded into a meme. There’s a huge list of sketches that have been submitted, with a wide range of skill levels. I’ve only gone through a dozen or so myself, but I plan on spending more time later, here and there, checking out the rest.
Take a look at this impressive list of portraits.
Guinness gives us a little history of life with “noitulovE” (that’s “Evolution” backwards, if you haven’t noticed). The question of “Daddy, where did we come from?” can be answered in less than 1 minute! I know this commercial is old news, but needed to post it anyways.
Get a better quality Quicktime version here.
Also, Guiness.com has posted a short making-of documentary w/ Danny Kleinman going over some of the FX shots.
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