Global Game Jam!

So I'm competing in Global Game Jam this quarter.  I am certainly very excited and nervous.  For me, this will be my first experience in creating a digital game.  I've done some concept work on my own and such but this is going to be an experience to put down in the memory books.  That said, I will be trying to post regularly on a separate blog I've set up to write about GGJ.

I will be working on Jake Sawyer's team (Jack Bushnell, Brock, and myself) to create this game.  The whole team is very talented and I am looking forward to this weekend.

Wish us luck!

http://mallen-ggj.blogspot.com/

A Welcome Return

This break has been both one of the longest yet shortest break I have ever experienced.  Hard to believe that such a duality is possible yet I am going through it this very moment.  Each day feels like it drags on forever while I can't believe that it's already late December.  I can NOT wait to be back at school.  I can say that having friends and classmates to bounce ideas off of is priceless.  It's so much easier to be creative when I have others to challenge my concepts and ideas.

This coming quarter I will be starting some classes in my minor, that should be interesting.  I can only pray that the workload allows me a little bit of time to sleep and relax.  I'm beyond excited though; while I may gripe about being challenge at the time of the matter, I love nothing more than seeing the improvement my work after fighting it out in friendly competition.  There's plenty of that to be sure.  Never have I seen more talented individuals than my classmates.  Granted I'm sure other schools turn out equally good professionals, but I'd certainly like to think that the ones I work with are the best.

School...  Tell kids that they'll enjoy college and they won't believe you until they get there.  I really should thank my family for preparing me as well as they did, without them I don't think I would have been able to reach the point I'm at now.  The friends I've made along the way have helped immeasurably as well.  So to all of you who share this world with me, I thank you.  I hope that you all continue to bring me new ideas and challenge me to make better work.

Here's to a happy return and a new beginning!

The daily grind? Not so much.

So, you know those jobs where you think you're done but then you either realize you forgot stuff or your boss wants stuff changed?  That's been my week!  I can't complain though, I love my job.  At least, for where I am currently.  I get to be creative here and there while working locally.  Yes, I have a drive a lot, but hey it's better than being stuck behind a cash register right?

My only regret with my work is that I have had no time to work on personal projects.  This is particularly depressing because to be really good in my field, I have to live and breathe it.  When I first started telling people that I would be going to a fine arts school to learn game design and development I got a lot of mixed responses, some thought it would be cool, others a joke, but pretty much everyone seemed to think (in an undertone anyway) that it involved more play than actual work.  I find this thoroughly amusing as to finish one asset model can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

For me though, the idea that "you never work a day in your life if you love what you do" basically holds true.  Granted, I know the game industry has it's crunch times and those are gunna be hell, but it will be a hell in which I am smiling at the end of it.  In my sleep.  Probably....

Returning to personal projects, I'm currently working on concept art for an assault buggy I'm basing off the Harasser  buggy from PlanetSide (google it! :D).  I'm trying to stick with the same feel while updating the model into something I imagine would fit into PlanetSide 2 (http://planetside2.com).  Once I'm done with sketching, I'll do a mock-painting then get into modeling.  Hopefully I'll find time to paint some textures for it as well, but the concept art and initial model are my first priority.  I will be adding a development blog on that project within a week or so.  The second project I need to jump on is creating some concept art for Blizzard's student art contest.  I have an idea of what I'd like to do but ultimately it will depend on what the in-game screenshots I take yield.  This will also be showing up as a design blog once it gets started.

To top all of that off, I spent a weekend Beta Testing Star Wars; The Old Republic (SWTOR) and now that the non-disclosure has been lifted I can get my Testing Blog going as well!  So expect to see those three links showing up in the next month.

Until next time!

Home, Sweet Home...

It's certainly odd having two homes...  School and Home itself.  That alone makes holidays confusing.  The question for me then becomes, which is really home?  Some would say home is where the heart is,and if that is the case then my home is everywhere.  Other say it's the people you know who make up your home, again, that gives me a pretty wide-spread house.  So for now I well settle with my home is where I happen to be in the moments where I feel like I am surrounded by people who I not only care for, but care for me as well.

Here's to the happiness of home and the warmth of friends and family!

This Quarter's Projects

So the quarter is officially over for me.  It is certainly a relief to have project deadlines lifted from my shoulders (at least until I get home and start working...).  I learned a lot this quarter; how to map UV's in Maya, new modeling techniques, how to keep poly-count down, proper ways to render in high quality, and so on.  Down to it, this quarter alone has sent my skill set far ahead of where I thought it would be and hopefully because of that I will make a better employee when I finally land a job in the Game Industry.  Below is a sample of the stuff I've worked on this quarter in Maya alone.  On top of these images, I've helped make a prototype card game, researched the First-Person Shooter, and written a game design document.

Crystal Group Diffuse Map

Mailbox Diffuse Map

Second Crystal Group Diffuse Map

Final Mailbox Project Render

Midterm Asset Project Render

Asset Diffuse Map

Asset Normal Map

Asset Occlusion Map

Final Short Animation Still Render

I think my favorite project this quarter was the Short Animation for my Modeling class (the image directly above) because it was a good experience with a production team.  My job was specifically the environment modeling, texturing, and lighting.  When the project was said and done I was proud of my contribution to the project.  There are a few things I'd like to change eventually but overall for my first serious environmental design work I couldn't have hoped for better.  My team (Blaine, Patrick, Monica, and myself) had one of the better rendered animations out of what was presented even if our effects and sound could use a little work.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150386545617321

As I've said, another quarter is done.  Time to see what the future holds.

Finals Week

So it's finals week at SCAD, in fact at the moment I am writing this I am taking a break from completing my last bit of work.  While I am excited to be going home soon, I must say I will miss this place while I am gone. This school is by far one of the biggest and most dynamic melting pots of creative energy I have ever seen, especially during finals week.  I would be lying if I said that the end of the quarter wasn't stressful, but it's also the time people start pushing boundaries to get the work done, it's the time when individual talent shines.  That said, it's also when we crash, hard.  Nothing compares to being almost done with all of your work to have something go horribly wrong and screw you over.

Luckily for me, this quarter I've had my roommate, Blaine Dollar, in two of my classes.  In both, we have worked together on multiple projects and continually out-done the rest of our class.  At least, that's how we see things.  Currently we are finishing a short animation (in which I modeled and textured the environment and set up the outdoor lighting) and a game design document (based off Blaine's character concept taken as far as we could run in the weeks we had to work on it).

Overall, I am very proud of what I've accomplished this quarter and I look forward to returning after break.  For now though, I will continue to improve what I can and reach out to learn new skills.

Until next time!

My Favorite Game, PlanetSide.

Alright, so I am a long time player of the original PlanetSide (http://planetside.station.sony.com/) and am beyond excited for PlanetSide 2!!!  (http://planetside2.com/)  As a New Conglomerate soldier, I was originally frustrated with the extent of Terran Republic propaganda coming out of SOE's front door.  I have to say though, now that NC have gotten their foot out and made themselves known I can say I am proud to be one.  Originally I was attracted to idea of a Freedom Fighter, I still am.  However NC has it's dark side like most organizations.  There are a lot of businessmen (and women) backing the NC that are more interested in money and separation of Government and Business than in individual freedoms (which they are interested in because their workers want it).  Guerrilla Warfare is my preferred tactical approach to combat in games, so I naturally feel like part of the NC.

New Conglomerate night assault.

NC forces advancing.

Vanguard tanks taking down a Vanu Sovereignty Magrider.








Freedom.  A privileged we take all to lightly.  NC for life!

The original PlanetSide is a big part of my interest in the game industry.  Having played for nearly eight years, it is by a long shot the game I have invested most of my gaming career in.  I lead an outfit called Darkfire Company and they are the best bunch of players I have ever met.  Many of them have become life-long friends and we are more like a family than I thought was possible through games.  The bond between us all is part of why I can't wait to be a part of developing games like PlanetSide!