For this project I have decided to do the Steampunk brief, Reasons I decided to take up this brief is that Its nothing Ive ever really looked into so it will be nice to try out something completly different and will also improve my knowledge in a different area. Looking at the brief and its requirements I would like to if possible stay away from Character Design, I dont mind helping out in this area but as said before I want to try something completly different. Part of the bried that interests me is Coming up with concept design for Buildings and Environment so will bw interesteing to look into this area. Also the project requires us to gain knowledge of Second Life a software Ive never used or had any experience on so it will be interesting to try it out.
My group consists of Dan and Steve.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Comparisons Between 2 Reviews
I read alot of reviews whether its music,games or film, so I have a brief knowledge on how to write reviews, and ive been a big fan of the Officil Xbox Magazine for a few years now so ive kind of took influence from them in writing my review, I say both reviews tend to start of by grabbing the readers interest, as I believe the first paragraph is the most important in any review as you need to keep the viewer hooked. another important aspect is to consider the audience in which you are writing too, which I think both reviews have achieved well as I went for an informal review as I believe its more apropiate considering the audience im writing to consisting mainly of teens/younger adults who arnt really interested in the technology side such how the game was made, but more about whether the game is good and so on. It is also important to use apropiate words that you know your viewers will understand which both reviews do. Obviously there review goes into more detail and is alot longer and may mention stuff I have'nt as I had a 500 word limit, but I got across the main points, Both reviews also have a conclusion of somesort and a rating system. There review goes into more detail as such like recomending other games and such but I believe both reviews are very similar.
Official Xbox Magazine Review - Forza Motorsport 3
You know the drill - Forza teases you with a quick blast in a supercar and then promptly dumps you with the kind of modest hatchback that's as sexy as sock suspenders.
Cue several hours of attempting to wring some kind of personality and excitement out of a car with under 100 horsepower, right? Well in Forza 3's case, you couldn't be more wrong.
When you do settle into the seat of that Ford Fiesta (or equivalent), having tasted the giddy performance of an Audi R8, you realise that somehow Turn 10 has made booting front-wheel drive runarounds into corners as much fun as blasting around in a supercar.
It's testament to the liquid-smooth visuals and enormous sensation of speed, that every race in Forza Motorsport 3, no matter what the car, feels exciting.
Advertisement:
It's one of the few racers where 100mph feels just as quick as you'd expect it to. The addition of tighter, twistier circuits, such as the Montserrat and Amalfi courses, which are a much more suitable playground for the full range of vehicles than classic tracks like Silverstone or the Nurburgring makes even the earliest career races utterly thrilling.
Of course, once you get to the point when you're desperately hanging onto a prototype racer at Le Mans, it's like being fired out of a cannon.
The other traditional blight on this sub-genre of racing games is that victory's not just down to driver skill. You usually have to spend ages fiddling with your car's tuning and upgrades, just to ensure you aren't left coughing in a cloud of tyre-smoke off the line.
Forza tidies this up with a single option in its slick, clean interface. Prior to every race you can just hit the Quick Upgrade button and the game will offer up the optimum upgrades that will ensure your car is as fast as possible while still eligible for the event. Another button press and you've bought the lot and it's all been automatically fitted. If only Kwik Fit was that efficient...
And efficiency is what Forza's all about. While the career mode runs on a calendar system, it's usually kept hidden away in favour of three brilliant options. One is a short series of races that your current car is eligible for, another is an opportunity to try out another car in your garage, and the final one allows you to race on at least one circuit you haven't driven before.
It's just enough freedom to keep things interesting without overwhelming you with options, and gives your journey through FM3 a satisfying momentum. Combine that with a neat sense of reward - you'll get a new, increasingly powerful ride every few races as you climb the driver levels - and you've got a system that provides structure to the racing without getting in the way of it.
While it can be tempting to just stick with your favourite car because they're all a riot to drive, it's definitely worth exploring the 400 or so that are on offer.
Every one is unique, and not just aesthetically. Turn 10 has a notoriously clever simulation engine at work, and you can feel the difference in character between vehicles more than any other game we've played - pick a racing car that is covered in downforce-producing wings and flick ups, for example, and you'll actually feel the chassis being pressed into the ground through high speed corners. It really is that good.
You'll be getting more intimate with oversteer as well when you hit the cobbled streets of Italy's Amalfi coast. For the first time in the series, Forza 3 has rally-inspired events, where it's just you and one other competitor over a point-to-point race (though the circuits can also be used for traditional eight-car races too). Okay, Turn 10 hasn't ventured as far as including off-road racing physics, but the surface is markedly less grippy than the tarmac tracks, which usually results in lurid slides, and the undulating hills and drops mean you're guaranteed to get some air. Unless, you know, you're not trying hard enough.
Try too hard, though, and this time around you can end up rolling the car. It doesn't happen often in the course of normal racing, but when you do manage to send your vehicle end over end it's a pleasing reminder that the simulation hasn't been compromised to please touchy manufacturers - you can even park a Ferrari Enzo upside down, if you wish.
In fact, the rewind button, an idea nabbed from Race Driver: GRID to ease the frustration of massive accidents, is so convenient, you'll find yourself using it more and more often for those embarrassing moments where you gently slither wide and get passed on the inside by the guy in second place.
Of course, this wouldn't be a Forza game if there weren't plenty of ways to distract yourself off the track. FM3 is without doubt the most comprehensive racing experience around - especially if you're plugged into Live.
The car painting system has returned and is now even more flexible, allowing you to arrange vinyl shapes in groups that can then be sold on for in-game cash (or given away) as a complete decal. We're already seeing impressive recreations of popular logos, meaning beginners can create their own concoctions using the work of other Forza players.
It's not just car painting this time around either - players can also sell their tuning setups or fully modified cars and share photos and replay clips too.
It's easier to shop your work around as well - every Live connected player now has a personal "storefront" that allows them to advertise their wares. If you see a particularly stunning piece of work, you can visit that player's page and check out what else they've been up to.
Just like Forza 2, it's this kind of depth that ensures you'll be playing FM3 for months, if not years, to come.
Once again Turn 10 has produced the biggest and deepest racer on the Xbox 360. More than that, though, the racing itself has been refined, and those who found Forza 2's on-track jousting faintly sterile will find that the much-improved AI, tighter tracks and more lively handling all make a huge difference. The flaws from the previous game have been buffed out, making Forza Motorsport 3 the complete racing game package.
Cue several hours of attempting to wring some kind of personality and excitement out of a car with under 100 horsepower, right? Well in Forza 3's case, you couldn't be more wrong.
When you do settle into the seat of that Ford Fiesta (or equivalent), having tasted the giddy performance of an Audi R8, you realise that somehow Turn 10 has made booting front-wheel drive runarounds into corners as much fun as blasting around in a supercar.
It's testament to the liquid-smooth visuals and enormous sensation of speed, that every race in Forza Motorsport 3, no matter what the car, feels exciting.
Advertisement:
It's one of the few racers where 100mph feels just as quick as you'd expect it to. The addition of tighter, twistier circuits, such as the Montserrat and Amalfi courses, which are a much more suitable playground for the full range of vehicles than classic tracks like Silverstone or the Nurburgring makes even the earliest career races utterly thrilling.
Of course, once you get to the point when you're desperately hanging onto a prototype racer at Le Mans, it's like being fired out of a cannon.
The other traditional blight on this sub-genre of racing games is that victory's not just down to driver skill. You usually have to spend ages fiddling with your car's tuning and upgrades, just to ensure you aren't left coughing in a cloud of tyre-smoke off the line.
Forza tidies this up with a single option in its slick, clean interface. Prior to every race you can just hit the Quick Upgrade button and the game will offer up the optimum upgrades that will ensure your car is as fast as possible while still eligible for the event. Another button press and you've bought the lot and it's all been automatically fitted. If only Kwik Fit was that efficient...
And efficiency is what Forza's all about. While the career mode runs on a calendar system, it's usually kept hidden away in favour of three brilliant options. One is a short series of races that your current car is eligible for, another is an opportunity to try out another car in your garage, and the final one allows you to race on at least one circuit you haven't driven before.
It's just enough freedom to keep things interesting without overwhelming you with options, and gives your journey through FM3 a satisfying momentum. Combine that with a neat sense of reward - you'll get a new, increasingly powerful ride every few races as you climb the driver levels - and you've got a system that provides structure to the racing without getting in the way of it.
While it can be tempting to just stick with your favourite car because they're all a riot to drive, it's definitely worth exploring the 400 or so that are on offer.
Every one is unique, and not just aesthetically. Turn 10 has a notoriously clever simulation engine at work, and you can feel the difference in character between vehicles more than any other game we've played - pick a racing car that is covered in downforce-producing wings and flick ups, for example, and you'll actually feel the chassis being pressed into the ground through high speed corners. It really is that good.
You'll be getting more intimate with oversteer as well when you hit the cobbled streets of Italy's Amalfi coast. For the first time in the series, Forza 3 has rally-inspired events, where it's just you and one other competitor over a point-to-point race (though the circuits can also be used for traditional eight-car races too). Okay, Turn 10 hasn't ventured as far as including off-road racing physics, but the surface is markedly less grippy than the tarmac tracks, which usually results in lurid slides, and the undulating hills and drops mean you're guaranteed to get some air. Unless, you know, you're not trying hard enough.
Try too hard, though, and this time around you can end up rolling the car. It doesn't happen often in the course of normal racing, but when you do manage to send your vehicle end over end it's a pleasing reminder that the simulation hasn't been compromised to please touchy manufacturers - you can even park a Ferrari Enzo upside down, if you wish.
In fact, the rewind button, an idea nabbed from Race Driver: GRID to ease the frustration of massive accidents, is so convenient, you'll find yourself using it more and more often for those embarrassing moments where you gently slither wide and get passed on the inside by the guy in second place.
Of course, this wouldn't be a Forza game if there weren't plenty of ways to distract yourself off the track. FM3 is without doubt the most comprehensive racing experience around - especially if you're plugged into Live.
The car painting system has returned and is now even more flexible, allowing you to arrange vinyl shapes in groups that can then be sold on for in-game cash (or given away) as a complete decal. We're already seeing impressive recreations of popular logos, meaning beginners can create their own concoctions using the work of other Forza players.
It's not just car painting this time around either - players can also sell their tuning setups or fully modified cars and share photos and replay clips too.
It's easier to shop your work around as well - every Live connected player now has a personal "storefront" that allows them to advertise their wares. If you see a particularly stunning piece of work, you can visit that player's page and check out what else they've been up to.
Just like Forza 2, it's this kind of depth that ensures you'll be playing FM3 for months, if not years, to come.
Once again Turn 10 has produced the biggest and deepest racer on the Xbox 360. More than that, though, the racing itself has been refined, and those who found Forza 2's on-track jousting faintly sterile will find that the much-improved AI, tighter tracks and more lively handling all make a huge difference. The flaws from the previous game have been buffed out, making Forza Motorsport 3 the complete racing game package.
My Forza Motorsport Review
The Wait is finally over, just as Jenson Button clinches the World title comes the third installment of this monster of a racing game from the masters at Turn 10 Stdious and we can tell you know this game excels even our high Standate.
For so many of us, this is the only chance we get to live out our boyhood fantasies, come on who has not dreamt of driving a Lamborghini Gallardo around The Laguna Seca or a Bugati Veyroun around Silverstone.If that does'nt wet your appetite enougth then Forza comes equipped with over 400 upgradable cars, even including cars sat on your parents drive, in Forza its just as fun to race around at 60mph in a Ford Focus, such is the brilliance of the control and physics system,each car acts deferantly and requires its own challenge to master, and depending on your level you can add assists on, making the game both fun for newcomers and you racing elite.
If thats not enougth the graphics are more stunning than a Page 3 callender. Several times we forgot we were even in a race and was just admiring the beautiful environment and the accelerating beasts, Words can got describe how visually stunning this game is, and makes all 100 tracks included in the game seem life like. All tracks from the 2 previous games are thankfully included, old time favorites such as Fuji Speedway,Catalunya,Laguna Seca,Silverstone are included and the world famous Nurburgring will offer great challenges to even the most experienced players.
We were really impressed with the new carear mode, if there was any negative points with the previous installment Forza 2 it was that Carear mode seemed to drag on forever and got very repetitive. However brilliantly the team behind Forza 3 have shortened the carear mode, but at the same time they have'nt, see the new setup in Carear mode is you have 6 years to complete to become a true legend,to reach this status each year u have to compete in the world tornament which is the main focus of each year however unlike Forza 2 you can complete all the sub tornaments and series in your own time, however competing these events will improve your Driving Level and Car Level an of course provide u with much needed money to improve your car. A feature we absolutly in this game is that for every driver level u go up you get a free car given to you just like that, we just received a Pagani Zonda, not bad for a days work. Were currently at level 19, and we are told there a total of 50 levels to acheive.
As expected Forza comes xbox live compatable providing the chance to battle it out with your freinds online for the ultimate bragging rights allowing upto 8 people to race at once, use scoreboards to compare your fastest laps and even upload images and videos of u destroying your oponments.
Overal verdict is Forza Motorsport 3 is an absolute must for any racing fans.
Overal Rating: 9.5/10
For so many of us, this is the only chance we get to live out our boyhood fantasies, come on who has not dreamt of driving a Lamborghini Gallardo around The Laguna Seca or a Bugati Veyroun around Silverstone.If that does'nt wet your appetite enougth then Forza comes equipped with over 400 upgradable cars, even including cars sat on your parents drive, in Forza its just as fun to race around at 60mph in a Ford Focus, such is the brilliance of the control and physics system,each car acts deferantly and requires its own challenge to master, and depending on your level you can add assists on, making the game both fun for newcomers and you racing elite.
If thats not enougth the graphics are more stunning than a Page 3 callender. Several times we forgot we were even in a race and was just admiring the beautiful environment and the accelerating beasts, Words can got describe how visually stunning this game is, and makes all 100 tracks included in the game seem life like. All tracks from the 2 previous games are thankfully included, old time favorites such as Fuji Speedway,Catalunya,Laguna Seca,Silverstone are included and the world famous Nurburgring will offer great challenges to even the most experienced players.
We were really impressed with the new carear mode, if there was any negative points with the previous installment Forza 2 it was that Carear mode seemed to drag on forever and got very repetitive. However brilliantly the team behind Forza 3 have shortened the carear mode, but at the same time they have'nt, see the new setup in Carear mode is you have 6 years to complete to become a true legend,to reach this status each year u have to compete in the world tornament which is the main focus of each year however unlike Forza 2 you can complete all the sub tornaments and series in your own time, however competing these events will improve your Driving Level and Car Level an of course provide u with much needed money to improve your car. A feature we absolutly in this game is that for every driver level u go up you get a free car given to you just like that, we just received a Pagani Zonda, not bad for a days work. Were currently at level 19, and we are told there a total of 50 levels to acheive.
As expected Forza comes xbox live compatable providing the chance to battle it out with your freinds online for the ultimate bragging rights allowing upto 8 people to race at once, use scoreboards to compare your fastest laps and even upload images and videos of u destroying your oponments.
Overal verdict is Forza Motorsport 3 is an absolute must for any racing fans.
Overal Rating: 9.5/10
Copyright
We were recently given the task of copywriting a piece of our own work, For this task I created an acount on Deviantart, and uploaded my work. Here is the link
http://lawnmoverlemondrop.deviantart.com/art/Skull-155156509
On this site it allows you to use the creative commons ruling, which allows artists to copywrite their work and edit your copywrite, For example I'va allowed users to Download and use my work howver Ive set it so they give me the rights. I believe this is a good method to use for upcoming artists as It gets your name out and who knows what can happen if the right person sees your work. I also really like the site and plan to upload some more of my work and hopeully get some good feedback and advice.
http://lawnmoverlemondrop.deviantart.com/art/Skull-155156509
On this site it allows you to use the creative commons ruling, which allows artists to copywrite their work and edit your copywrite, For example I'va allowed users to Download and use my work howver Ive set it so they give me the rights. I believe this is a good method to use for upcoming artists as It gets your name out and who knows what can happen if the right person sees your work. I also really like the site and plan to upload some more of my work and hopeully get some good feedback and advice.
RSS Feed - Good Or Bad Idea
I was recently told to investigate in the idea of having an RSS Feed, I had previously never experienced this, So I went along and checked out Google Reader, and from my experience of using it I got mixed impressions of the Software.
How it works is very impressive as I found out that most of the websites I visit including Artists who im hugely influenced by all have RSS feeds and it is very easy to use by just clicking the link provided and it wall send any updates directly to your reader, so if you just include a few RSS feeds it is very useful as you can identify much quicker of any updates or new posts instead of searching manually, However if you include alot of RSS feeds for me it just gets to crammed especially if you subscribe to any old website which can become a habbit, you can be just provided with loads and loads of unrelevant updates and basically rubbish, and may even miss out on some very important research which gets missed in all the junk.
So my overall opinion is if you subscribe to a few feeds which you find majority of the work relevant, then it is a brilliant idea and Id highly reccomend it, other than that Id continue to do it the old fashioned way and search manually around and you may come across some brilliant reaseach for example on some other site you have never visited.
How it works is very impressive as I found out that most of the websites I visit including Artists who im hugely influenced by all have RSS feeds and it is very easy to use by just clicking the link provided and it wall send any updates directly to your reader, so if you just include a few RSS feeds it is very useful as you can identify much quicker of any updates or new posts instead of searching manually, However if you include alot of RSS feeds for me it just gets to crammed especially if you subscribe to any old website which can become a habbit, you can be just provided with loads and loads of unrelevant updates and basically rubbish, and may even miss out on some very important research which gets missed in all the junk.
So my overall opinion is if you subscribe to a few feeds which you find majority of the work relevant, then it is a brilliant idea and Id highly reccomend it, other than that Id continue to do it the old fashioned way and search manually around and you may come across some brilliant reaseach for example on some other site you have never visited.
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