Game review

In this blog post i will be reviewing 2 games, going into depth about the pros and cons of them and giving my own opinions. The first game today i shall be reviewing is call of duty: world war 2. For those unfamiliar with what this is, call of duty is a first person shooter developed by sledgehammer games. It is an action game with both single-player and multi-player experiences as well as being the fourteenth installment to the call of duty franchise.

Firstly, Sledgehammer games have done what i believe to be the best thing which is listen more to what the community are saying then whatever will get them a bigger paycheck. This is evident of the way they are handling their micro transactions as well as they supply drop system. In previous call of duty's players have had the option to buy supply drops in which they can get gear and weapon variants. This has been highly controversial within the community as many have argued that some variants have the possibility to change the game and all you'd need to do is pay extra for for a chance do do so which people would say is ruining the multiplayer experience. Instead of getting rid of them their solution was to make supply drops cosmetic only, therefore purchasing them gives you no advantage within the game. Whilst weapon variants are still included the only thing they do is provide a small piece more of experience points to players. In addition to this they have also listened by adding the fan favorite game mode of prop hunt to the game showing this time they are valuing the community's feedback even more.

In addition to this the game developers have been known to update the games frequently. While some may consider it to be a tedious burden as they have to wait for the game to update it is all done to make the game better. The developers have been quick this year to notice bugs and glitches to patch them. Furthermore they're also listening to feedback about weapon balance with them resulting in weakening or strengthen specific weapons to balance the game. Moreover they have done well to bring in seasonal events to strengthen their community with the promise of new in game content to intrigue newcomers of the series and keep older players along with them.

However, one thing noticed when playing the multiplayer is how boring it can get quickly. This is due to the lack of maps within the game as there are only 12 with 3 being specific to one game mode. In addition to this fans are not happy with the fact in order to get new maps you'll have to pay extra fro them. The same is also the case for the Nazi zombie game mode which only contains 1 map playable for free.

As well as this the single-player campaign has many split between down the line. whilst many are speaking of how it is the best compared to those of more recent years. Despite this though many have criticized it for how it is a very predictable story as well as being too short of a campaign story. Another thing it has received back lash over is the lack of diversity and how for the most part just dhows you the story of one american infantry soldier.

However the life expediencies for call of duty is very poor which is down to the basis of the release of call of duty games where 3 different companies take there turn to annually release a game. Because of this the games tend to last about a year because by the release of the newest one they are forgotten. I personally quarrel with this business strategy because it maximizes profit and taking less into account for the player community.

Overall i have found this game to be quite good. This is mainly down to the developers doing the best thing possible of listening to what the fans of the series have to say and valuing the community's feedback. However though whilst i like the game i worry for the future of it as adding a silly game mode like prop hunt in can lead to controversy as this game is based on a real war filled with horrific events and for me its the case of whether or not will they go over the line and do something stupid and deeply regret it because this was a real war where millions perished fighting for it.

The other video game i will be reviewing is 'Battlefield 1'. I chose this because it is a first person shooter based in a historical time period. The difference is battlefield is a fps based on the first world war. It is the fifteenth installment in the franchise which was developed by Electronic Arts.

Firstly i would like to talk about the single player campaign in battlefield. I personally believe it is far superior to the call of duty campaign. The biggest criticism i have for it is that it is too short and is about 6 hours long. Despite this battlefields campaign can be described as short yet sweet. This is because the campaign all focus on something different giving you six different playable experiences. This shows its superiority because of how diverse it is showing all aspects and stories of the war ranging from oil wars in Turkey to the skies of London. Also to top it off it is further enriched with spectacular cinematics to further the amazing experience.

Whilst Call of Duty introduced different classes for players it has always been signature within the franchise and continued to use them within battlefield 1. In addition to this they also introduced players to different game modes. The first of which is 'Operations' which is an all out war game mode where a defending team will have to fend off attackers within a certain time period with a finite amount of re spawns available. If the defending team fail they are pushed back to another sector of the map meaning by the end the attackers control the whole map. Another base game mode which came out is war pigeons which is similar to capture the flag where the objective is to capture pigeons and release them to signal artillery.

The lifespan for battlefield is far bigger than that of call of duty especially this one. This is because the development is different as only DICE develops the games therefore on average it takes longer to create them. In addition to this the game has had frequent updates sent out since its release with them being enough to satisfy consumers yet at the same time not enough to put them off over the size of them. Another way the game has been trying to expand its lifespan is by its own DLC. As of yet two map packs have been released with a third announced for early 2018. This is to stretch it out to late 2018 where it has been rumored for another installment to the franchise.

Overall Call of duty WII is a step in the right direction considering the previous installment but overall is just mediocre. That is why i believe Battlefield 1 to be the better out of the two as it shows a better perspective of war and really engages with its audience by telling a gripping story throughout the campaign as well as the multiplayer.

Child protection on the internet

When online children can be vulnerable to harassment and bullying. However there are many ways parents can protect their kids online.

Video games
PEGI is an organisation set to give video games appropriate age ratings. This is set to show specific criteria warning the buyer the type of content that is contained within the game. The purpose is to stop kids from playing the games that they shouldn't be due to adult themes.

 In addition to this most games come with a reporting option as well as the ability to block or mute other players. Even after this if your child is still managing to play adult games all consoles come with a restrictive set of parental controls to block sensitive material.

Internet
Despite the internet being a place filled with many adult themes and awful people preventing your child from interacting with them is easy. Most websites today contain parental controls that are safe and easy to access. Furthermore many apps and programs have child clones which focus on being family friendly like you tube kids.

Job roles

The two roles i am interested in is being a runner and a 3D modeler.

Runner

A runner is a person who works as general assistant to everyone. Their purpose is to run an array of various errands. Personally i am not on board with being a runner because i don't like the idea of  running petit tasks for people too lazy to do it themselves. However it seems to be the role where you can get a lot of experience and knowledge from other fields. 

The pay rates are £7.50 to £13.38 per hour

Skills required:
I believe I have many of the skills cited from the national careers service needed for being a runner. I believe I have great organisational and time management skills as I have always been a punctual and organized person regardless of what i'm doing. From previous work experience I know I can deal with long hours that are needed. Needing flexibility, adaptability and enthusiasm is something I have the basics for but if I am to go down this path a lot more will need to be done to develop these skills. The skills I lack the most would definitely be my communication and people skills which I know I lack in because of my lack of confidence.

Employment:
To become a runner the most advised way to do so is through work experience programmes companies set up  so you get a good taste of what it is like whilst they know more about you and may potentially want to hire you. Another advised thing is to give multiple companies your CV. The biggest problem with that is they'll receive many so you have to remain polite and persistent at the same time.

3D modeler

A 3D modeler is someone who is to create 3D models which are needed for CGI projects. For me this is a job i would like to have because i enjoy doing 3D modelling and would like to continue down that pathway. For getting a career in this industry you will have to develop a portfolio showcasing your skills on the subject.  

 The annual pay rate is approximately is £26,000 - £28,000

Skills required:
The skills required for a 3D modeler are far different and harder to be taught to your average person so for me taking a course where they're taught is a real help in acquiring and developing these skills. A understanding of composition and how it works is needed. If I was to become a character modeler I would need a greater understanding of anatomy and human structure. The last thing would be perspective as working in a 3D environment requires the ability to constantly shift perspectives.

Employment:
Many off the already established professionals believe the key is by building a strong portfolio and having experience. Additionally they also say acquiring a strong professional network is required. From this I gather that they are suggesting to start out as a free lancer to build portfolio and network which they suggest is vital and build them up to impress a large company who could potentially offer you a job. Whilst that way looks like a hard path to go down another way could be through internships and apprenticeships. This is because you'll be working closely with a company and could get hired as a result if you get noticed.

Next gen year 1 week 13 & 14

As week 13 was the last week leading up to the Christmas holidays. Because of this not to much was achieved as this was a time allowed for us to relax after a long enduring term. However in the production of this i have advanced by adding a nos tank to place in the vehicle as well as other features like a steering wheel and a brake. Furthermore i have also added treds to the wheels of the car. But for the most part this week i have only added minor details to it.

Week 14

This week i have began the final stage of production being the stage where i texture the car. For the most part this process was tedious. I found it quite easy because the body of the car has a low poly count as well as a UV map that was easy to navigate. In addition to this the vehicle is military so the car's colour scheme was just mostly green. As well as this i found texturing the triple intake bug catcher relatively easy as basic colours would cover their design. Something else i textured that took a significant amount of time was texturing my bottle of nos. This was mainly down to fixing the bottle to make sure the texture wouldn't distort when it was applied.

Censorship & Age rating in the games, animation and VFX industry

In this blog post i will be talking about how age ratings and censorship affects the industry as well as identifying the risks and considerations.

Censorship

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information, on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or "inconvenient" -Wikipedia

Specifically in the animation industry if TV shows or films want to include sensitive material in their content they have to obligate to the law and either remove the content or water down what they're showing. Using profanity in shows that want to be shown results in the words being bleeped out. Shows and films using adult material and intend to keep it that way can have their work shown on television provided it is on at 21:00 as in the UK that is the watershed.

The same guidelines also apply towards the VFX and games industry as what the developers do is send it off to a committee (an example of which for the games industry is PEGI). From there the product will be reviewed and given a rating. From there the producers will see the criteria and choose what to censor. As well as this even adult games can be censored. A prominent example is 'south park: the stick of truth' where Europeans have a specific level cut due to the inappropriateness of the level.

Age rating
The company responsible for age rating in the games industry is PEGI and they review the product and instruct the developers on what they can do to change as well as assign them an age rating of; 3,7,12,16 and 18. each rating has their own standards with 18 being the most mature and traditionally violent games with 3 being the least harmful. 

Cyber security in the games industry

Hacking is gaining unauthorized access to software and hardware.

Cyber security is the body of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access. In a computing context, security includes both cyber security and physical security.



The most recent instant of hacking within the games industry came from Christmas of 2017. As the Nintendo Switch was being hugely sought out as one of the biggest gifts that year pirates managed to gain the same level of access as  Nvidia engineers  giving them functions not available to the public. After this it has made updating the software very risky with people being recommended to play offline to avoid updates as well as buying physical copies of the games they want. As of yet a resolution has not been found to get the pirates off of the same access as they have.

Another case study of hacking within the games industry is the infamous 2011 PlayStation Network outage. In this the account information of 77 million people were compromised and forced Sony to disable the online network for 23 days. It took from April to May the 14th of that year for them to release a firmware update that required users to enter a new password. As a way to stop outrage credit was given to the community. PlayStation's  response to stop future events like this happening they changed their terms of service. Afterwards Sony's security did not test the time as they were hacked later on in 2014.

SWOT analysis

SWOT

When I finish my course here are the areas I would be keen on to join would be as a concept artist and/or a 3D modeler.  My preference is to do this contracted rather than freelance.

Strengths

-          I am creative and imaginative and am passionate about the subject

-          I know basic 3D sculpting tools which I learnt on MAYA

-          I have the basic skills of being an artist

-          Familiar with programmes like MAYA

-          Quick learner

-          I am obedient and follow orders to the best I can

 Weaknesses

  I am terrible at coding.

I Lack in confidence of myself and my peers.

Currently my art skills aren’t top notch.

 I am yet to find a specific field in which I excel at.

-          I need to hear things more than once to fully understand.

Opportunities

 The skills are cross transferable skills so I can work in both films and games, possibly giving me an advantage in both fields. 

-          A small role can teach me in all areas

The places I’ll be at will great place for experience and learning.

-          this course is scarce so getting a job will be easier and less competition.

Threats

In this industry I am easily replicable.

lack of experience.

Due to my young age I have less of portfolio compared to others and less experience.


SWOT analysis of job roles

Freelance-
strengths:
flexibility
work when you want

weaknesses:
may preform under your targets due to isolation
Can't receive sick or holiday pay
anything required will take longer
prices

opportunities :
can lead to bigger opportunities

threats:
companies offering the same service
less people will seek you out
have to produce the best work to compete

Self-employed-
strengths:
you are your own boss
can schedule your work life around your private life
can hire others to help

weaknesses:
less security
fewer free benefits

threats:
small companies are always at threat of being brought and taken over
threat of losing financial stability

opportunities:
is the start to possibly becoming a large organisation


short term contract
strengths:
can lead to being hired full term
continues work
variety

weaknesses:
can't work on anything too big

threats:
could be replaced by someone wanting a long term contract

opportunities:
can gain more experience by going to many places


full term contract
strengths:
financial stability
work on bigger and longer projects
guaranteed work and paid

weaknesses:
lengthy commitment
less flexability

threats:
being tied down to a specific company can lead to missing out on greater things

opportunities:
bigger role at the company