Blender Physics (Assignment 2) & More Concept Art

This video records Blender physics at work with some objects I have created. The physics engine in Blender is pretty user friendly and kind of fun.

What I am really excited about with this particular file though, is the way it looks when rendered. Using a haloing effect, I'm experimenting with the design for some of the plant life that is to be incorporated in our game.

Here are some frames rendered from the same scene in the above video. Actually rendering an animation of this kind of shut my computer down, so my next step is to determine how to retain the design while reducing the calculations required.

Some inspiration for bioluminescence

Bioluminescent water

Deep sea bioluminescent creatures

Ideas and Concepts

Here's a concept of what an environment may look like in our game.

Maybe a villain?

Sexy Billiards

Watch a video of me playing the game Play the game

Is the game fun? Why? Why not?

The game is easy to learn, but a bit of a challenge to win. It's pretty funny (and a testament to the physics of the game) that I have the same results with this pool playing game as I do when playing pool in reality--mediocre. The primary appeal of the game seems to be based in the fact that you can choose a "sexy" opponent (all female). As a female, the "sexy" part doesn't make much of a difference to me. Throughout the course of the game, your "sexy" opponent insults or compliments you according to the success of your last play. Probably the best part of this game is the commentary--not so much because they're witty or funny, but because some are obviously very badly translated into English.

I would say the game is entertaining but not really very fun. It’s a way to pass some time, but I won’t be coming back to it. Mostly, the lack of fun comes from a lack of progress. There are no levels, and only four opponents, all of which are female (no males for the female players!?). All of the opponents play the same way, so there’s not even a way to play a different style of opponent. Once you have won or lost, you go back to the main screen and choose an opponent. There is a high score tracker, but it’s really pretty pointless. There is no incentive to play the game once you’ve played each opponent and observed their ridiculous commentary.

What are the goals of the game?

The goal of the game is, like most, to win. Presumably, one should also be titillated by the "banter" with your "sexy" opponent.

What is the game theme?

The theme of the game is in the name -- Sexy Billiards. Have a sexy time playing billiards! Also, for me, the theme became “get beaten repeatedly by insulting & repetitive female representations of a computerized opponent.”

What experience(s) does the designer wish the player to enjoy? Does the designer succeed? Why? Why not?

The designer seems to want the player to have a good time imagining him/herself engaged in a battle of billiards against a sexy and witty opponent. The billiards part of the game is well done with an appropriate challenge level that adjust as one gets better at the game, making it mildly entertaining. The "sexy" part pretty much escapes me -- making the game more fun for only half of its audience as the only available sexy opponents are female.

Theo Jansen's Strandbeasts

Theo Jansen is a kinetic sculptor and engineer who makes amazing creatures (from irrigation tubing and plastic bottles) that possess a primitive form of intelligence.

This video is a TED lecture where he presents footage and demonstrates the creatures he calls Strandbeasts--really cool stuff!

Also, his official website.

Toward the end of this video is a demo of a "Animaris Rhinoceros Transport". It is capable of carrying very heavy loads and weighs about 2 tons. All I could think, watching this armored "animal" skimming across the pavement, was that this creature should be in a video game--this is the personal tank of the future soldier.

Pictures of Final Installation of Interactive Creature

These photos show the rim of the porthole screen a bit better than the video. The window floated in empty black space while the tiny creature inside followed you around and the sound of red noise and water surged forward from the depths of the blacked out background.

Motion-tracking creature made with Processing

Interactive Creature

Here's a video of one of my final project in fall 2009's Computational Design class with Meg Mitchell. It's a Plexiglass covered porthole with an environment and creature rear projected on it through Mylar. The creature tracks brightness (motion) while the grass waves to its own rhythm.