Task 3

I went to the national media museum to look at the video game history section. I thought it was very interesting and fun, because I could play the video games displayed. The first video game I played was Super Mario Kart, I liked the video game I thought it was fun and the colours used were bright. The target audience for the video game is kids, because it is fun and has a little violence like throwing a turtle shell on the other drivers, which wont be noticeable to children because they already throw things around, so it kind of draws them into the game because they can throw things at other people in the game and not get told off for it, so it makes it fun for kids to play. The video game is about racing but the characters in the game are from the adventure game Mario, apart from Donkykong who was in the first Mario game called Donkeykong where Mario was called Jumpman and he had to jump over barrels to get to the highest floor to save The Lady later called Pauline. In 1982 Mario was the villain guarding Donkeykong in Donkeykong Jr which is a sequel to the game Donkeykong, this is the only game where Mario was the villain. In 1983 Mario had his own game called Mario Bros, where Mario had a younger brother called Luigi. They both were plumbers and had to defeat creature that are coming from the sewers below New York city. The next game that was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, was Super Mario Bros where Mario ends up in the Mushroom kingdom, and has to save Princess Toadstool later called Princess Peach who was kidnapped by Bowser king of the Koopa, who is the leader of the turtle like koopa race.

The next game I looked at was called  Sonic The Hedgehog 2, I though the video game was fun and the target audience was kids, because the game was very colourful and simple. The graphics were a 16 bit cartridge and when the game first came out people really liked the game so they ended up getting hedgehogs as pets. The console to play the video game was Sega Mega Drive. The video game is about a hedgehog called Sonic and his friend called Miles Tails Prower who is a fox. Sonics nemesis called Dr. Ivo Robotnik has captured woodland creatures and trapped them in robots to take over the world. He is looking for the seven chaos emeralds to create an armored space station called the death egg. Sonic and Tails have to embark on a journey to collect the chaos emeralds and stop Dr. Ivo Robotnik's plan to take over the world and save the woodland creatures. There is a little bit of violence in the game, its when you fall on spikes and die, but apart from that I think the game is for kids.

I also looked at Pacman which was released in 1980, the video game was fun and I think the target audience was everyone because, the video game is simple and everyone enjoys it when they play, but it is usually played by kids. Pacman is now an icon for the 1980s pop culture. The video game is about the character Pacman, who is the yellow circle that is in the image on the right. You have to eat the pac dots also called pellets and you eat fruit that appears, if you eat all the dots then you move on to the next stage. In the maze there are also four bigger dots, called power pellets when eaten they can give Pacman the ability to eat his enemy's, but the effects only last a few seconds and as you move on to the next stage the effects don't last as long as they did before. There are also four enemy's in the game, they try to catch Pacman and if they do, you lose a life and if all your life's are lost then the game is over.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a video game released in 2009, the video game can be played on the console Wii. I have played the video game and I think the graphics of the game is great. The video game is 2D, I really like the art style of the game, I think its great because it has a sort of traditional Japanese art feel to it. The target audience for this video game is teenagers because there is a lot of violence, monsters and killing which is not suitable for kids. In the video game you can play as both the characters shown on the image above, the male character is called Kisuke, and the female character is called Momohime. This game has three different ending for each character. 

Dante's Inferno is a video game that was released in 2010, the video game can be played on the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3. The video game is about Dante journey to save his wife from Lucifer. In the beginning of the game Dante was told to collect a relic from someone, but on the way of his journey he was literally stabbed in the back and killed. Dante is a crusader who committed atrocities in the war, and was told by a Bishop that his sins were Absolved. When Dante was confronted by death and judged he was told that he's going to hell for what he did, Dante refuses his judgment and defeats death in battle and takes his scythe. He then goes home and finds his wife Beatrice and father Alighiero brutally murdered, Beatrice's soul appears but is taken away by Lucifer and then Dante sets off on a journey to save her by going to hell. This video game has a lot of violence and gore so the target audience would be 18 and over. 

I don't think the old games I have talked about have any ethics, but the last two games promote a lot of violence, determination. Muramasa promote's swords because in the video game you have to collect a lot of swords and forge new swords as well. So people playing the game might want to buys swords. Dante promotes determination in a relationship, because his beloved Beatrice was taken by Lucifer and Dante doesn't stop until he rescues her, so people playing the video game might want a strong relationship where they would do anything for the one they love. 

 

Asura' s Wrath

Asura's Wrath is a video game released on the 21st February 2012. This video game begins with the earth being in danger by demonic race, called the Gohma. Advanced technologically god like beings know as the Eight Guardian Generals, leading them is there Emperor Strada using an immense fleet of war ships to purify the earth. As the generals fight the Gohma Asura's daughter Mithra acts as the priestess who has the ability to enhance their powers. As Mithra enhances their powers Asura was able to defeat the most powerful of the Gohma and the source called Vlitra who tears up the planet when revealed. After the battle Viltra goes back into the earth and stays dormant, and the generals claim victory.

After the battle Asura was summoned by the Emperor and when he arrived he found the Emperor dead, a few guards storm in and accuse Asura of murder and treason, Asura shocked and confused ends up running out of the palace and faces one of the generals. After defeating the general Asura runs home and finds his wife dead, and his daughter kidnapped. Asura flies in a rage and try's to rescue his daughter, but is defeated by the god Deus, he then reveals that he is the one who killed the Emperor in an attempt to bring about "The Great Rebirth", Asura is dropped from one of the battle ships and falls to earth and dies. Asura then wakes up in Naraka, which is a realm that is in between life and death. Asura ends up escaping and returns to earth he then faces one of the generals and finds out that twelve centuries have passed. He also finds out that they have sealed his daughter Mithra, away and are using her power to get stronger. In rage he fight the general and before defeating him the general uses his new power and becomes bigger than the earth.

Asura still beats him but loses his arms and is then beaten by another general who arrives, the general who beats Asura is his brother in law, called Yasha. After Yasha beats Asura he drops him into lava. After 500 years the lava has dried up and Asura's body was found by a village. They found him when they were building the village so they created a shrine around him. Asura awakens by a little girls prayer, and continues on his journey to save his daughter. I have played this video game and i think it is a good game, the graphics are good. The colours in the game are bright and sharp. I really like the character designs in the game.

 I also really liked the background in the game I thought they were amazing. In the game the main character would fight on earth and in space, but the views were awesome. I found some images so I have uploaded them below, the images are very detailed and look very epic.

 

 

Task 2 Contact Sheet

Contact Sheet

I was searching for places in Bradford central, for references so that I had an idea on my background for my video game. I am still not sure on how to design my background, so I took photos of buildings I found interesting, so that I had an idea on what to design. My video game setting might be in Greece so I took photos of buildings I though would help me. The first image on the second row is interesting, I really like the building structure and the patterns on the building, for some reason it reminded me of Greece. I also took photos of the clock tower because I was looking at how the top of the building looks like so I could use it as a reference for drawing tops of certain types of buildings. The three images at the bottom caught my eye because there are cracks and dints around the window which I could use to help me draw texture and detail on some buildings.

The images below are references for the street views in the video game or any where outdoors. The second image on the forth row is for colours, and patterns that can be on the buildings. I found some of the places in Bradford useful because, they helped me with ideas for, designing certain views and objects that could be in the like stools and bins. I also took photos of bright places, and places that look abandoned an a few dark and creepy places.

I though the images on the first row were pretty cool because the grass has different shades of green and some are even a different colour. I liked the way the first image, on the forth row looks. I also liked the first two images on the last row, because it looks kind of creepy. It looks like an entrance to a dark place, and looks kind of mysterious. I also liked the last two images on the forth row, because it looks kind of creepy and haunted.

I also took photos of plants and trees, that I like and I took photos of ones that would help me in my designs for my background. I liked the brightness that I could capture in some of the photos of plant and nature. I also found some of the shapes of the leaves and plants interesting. I also took close ups of a few plants because I wanted to look at the texture and colour of them. I also took photos of the stems and trunk of some trees because i was looking at the cracks and dints that create texture. I also took photos of moss growing on the side of a building because I was looking at the texture and colour of them.

I took photos of statues because, I was thinking of adding a statue in my background. I ended up taking photos of a few statues, so I took a few of them in different angels. I also took photos of the dirt at the bottom of the statue because it shows that the statue is old, and you can see the texture of the statue and the way the mold grows, over time. You can also tell in the images that it was raining when I took the photos because the floor was wet, but after a while it stopped raining and the sun came up which helped because I was able to take some of the photos when it was dark and some when it was bright, so I have a variety of photos with different brightness and contrast.

I also took photos of different textures, so I could use them for reference. I took photos of the water fountain in Centenary Square because I was thinking if I wanted to add a water fountain in my background, then I would already have the references I needed for it. I also took photos of different textures of rock and stone so I could use it for a building or for a brick road. I took photos of the sky so that I had references of how clouds look, and the different shapes and textures they have because some clouds are smooth and look kind of smudge and some clouds, look thick and round.

Health and Safety :

• Don't get run over be careful and watch were you going look left and right before crossing the road.
• Don't lose the equipment keep the equipment with you at all times. Don't leave the camera and tripod unattended because someone could just steal the equipment.
• Don't trespass private property and watch were your going, because if you just start wandering around and you don't know were your going you could get lost.
• Don't run with the camera because you could trip and hurt your self and break the equipment.
• Don't get the equipment wet because it could damage the equipment.
• Don't hit people with the tripod, pay atention and don't just wave the tripod around because you could accidentally hurt someone.

Darksiders

Darksiders is a action, adventure video game about the four horsemen. The video game was inspired by the Bibles book of Revelation, which was about the apocalypse and the battle of Armageddon. In the video game you play as a character called War who is one of the legendary horsemen of the apocalypse. Darksiders was first released in North America on 7th January 2010. The beginning of the video game starts off with the apocalypse, there are demons and angels fighting in the human world and then War appears and starts to fight both the angels and demons, to create order he ends up meeting the general of the heavens army, and discovers that the other horseman have not arrived and the seventh seal has not been broken. The seven seals were created by the council because in the past there were only angels and demon and they were always fighting so a mediator group named The Charred Council, arose to to create order and balance. They ended up making the four horseman, of the apocalypse War, Death,Strife and Fury. There job was to enforce the Councils laws when necessary. 

As this was happening humanity emerged and the Council , called humanity the third kingdom the kingdom of man. The council knew that humanity was not ready for the end war so they created the seven seals, so that when man kind was ready the seventh seal would be broken, and then the four horsemen would ride into battle across the earth and punish the guilty and the ultimate fate would decided on the three kingdoms.

As War finds out that the seventh seal was not broken the general of heavens army is killed by a demon called Straga. War then fights Straga and is defeated but is saved from death by The Charred Council. The Charred Council accuses War of destroying the balance and bringing the apocalypse early, and helping the destruction of mankind, siding with the forces of hell. War try's to convince them that he is innocent, and demands a chance to find the real culprit behind this. The Council agrees but on two conditions, he has to be stripped of his former power, and he has to be bound to one of their keepers, called the Watcher who has the power to kill War if he strays from his mission. The game is basically about War finding out who the culprit is that framed him. When War returned to earth every thing was destroyed, he found out that 100 years have past while he was with the Council. In the end there is a big twist, it turns out that it was the Council who framed War and the game ends with War saying he is going against the Council but not alone and then breaks the final seal calling the other horsemen to help him.

I have played this video game and i really like it, I thought it was very interesting because as your playing the game your on the edge of your seat wondering who framed War. I also really like the designs of the game and the characters. The artist of the game is Han Randhawa. 

When you are designing a character you draw quick sketches of what you think the character will look like. For example look at the one above, they have draw the same character with different looks and in different poses. I really like the character design of the character below, because his wings are different to the way people normally draw wings, and i think he looks really cool.

The graphics in this game are really good and the colours used are a tiny bit dull to give the affect of chaos and war. There is also a variety of colours used, for example look at the image below, the further away everything is the more saturated the colours are. The colours in the image below are dull and not very bright, apart from the main character. When the main character is really angry he turns into a big fiery monster. But if you look he stands out in the image because he is the main character, the colours used for the main character are strong and bright.

There is also a part 2, to the game but the game is about Wars brother Death who is one of the other, four horsemen. Darksiders 2 was released on 14th August 2012 in North America. This game is about when War was being judged by The Charred Council, whilst that was happening Death was trying to prove his brothers innocence, by setting off on his own personal journey. The description I have given of the game is very very short. There are a lot of other things that happen and a lot of things Death has to face, fight, kill and solve. I have played the video game and I think the game is very interesting.

This is when Death goes to a different dimension to visit the demon lord Samael. I like the background and the structure of the building. The colours used are dark and bold.

I really like the character design of Death. I think he looks really cool and I think the outfit he is wearing is very unique because you wouldn't see someone wearing that in real life. Also you can tell by his body language in the image on the left that he is tough. By looking at the image on right you can tell Death is an intimidating person. The expression on his face is focus and anger. Death usually fights with two scythes one in each hand. I think the art style is pretty interesting because the characters figures are very bold, and enhanced for example Death has a very slim waist and a wide torso. Death is also the leader of the four horsemen.

This is Deaths horse called Despair, I think Despair looks very cool, and you can see some of the bones of the horse with some flesh. The image below is Death's Reaper form, when Death becomes like this he is very powerful, and strong he then uses one big scythe instead of two slightly smaller scythes.

 

The monsters in the game are pretty cool, I realized that in the image above, all the monsters have a hunched back. My favorite monster in the above image is the first one because it looks kind of cute, with its huge torso and 4 arms but tiny legs. Also if you look at its facial expression, it looks very cheeky and happy. The image below is for the island of the dead, its showing the designs and sketches of the ideas the makers of the game had, for what creature will move the island of the dead. The idea they went with is the dragon with the giant spike in its head, the spike has a chain attached to it that is also attached to the island of the dead which is floating.

The character on the left is called the Crow Father, who is also called The Keeper of Secrets he gives death information throughout the game. The character on the right is called Ostegoth, who sells merchandise to Death along his journey.

These are some of the weapons death finds and uses on his journey. Each of the weapons have different ability's, and strengths some are very difficult to find and some are very easy but the more rare or more difficult to find weapon or item is stronger. Over all I think the video game is very good, and i really like the artwork the artist has produced through out the game, there style is kind of bulky and bold, which i think suites the game and the theme of apocalypse.