Friday, 21 December 2012

Elemental Wolves: Character List and Roles

Elemental Wolves: Charcter List and Roles
 
NO STEALING THERE IS COPYRIGHT ON THIS!!!
 
 
In this publication I’ve written down each character that’s in the story so far and given a slight description about why they’re in Elemental Wolves.
Characters
Humans
o   Faith- Main protagonist in the story and also the Element Seeker/ princess of Crystal Dynasty. Faith’s job is to master each element the Elemental Wolves possess and befriend animal kind.  Her main goal to over-throw the evil king who is her uncle.
 
o   Hiro- In the first story he’s the antagonist known to be the evil ruler of Crystal Dynasty, however he’s more of a guardian being a pawn to the Dark Lord who doesn’t appear in this story until the end. Hiro’s job is to wield the dark arts creating fear and despair amongst the animal kingdom, threatening to kill Faith as he did her parents. He was supposed to be an Element Seeker and can control all elements but the darkness has tainted each power.
 
 
o   Madame Smith- An aristocrat who order for the capture of street children and teenagers (or willing adults) to work as slaves in her Sekkusu house. She’s quite young herself being 26 but she looks more like a teenager.
 
o   Lord Smith- Lord Smith holds the same role as his partner being 30 years of age but looks around 22. However with the Sekkusu house, his job is to finance and set up ‘capture’ plans for the ‘Catchers’ to collect more beings.
 
 
o   Suso- A Catcher but was forced to do this job so he didn’t have to be slave in the Sekkusu house. On the other hand he tries to help other people escape the establishment including Faith which results in him having to once again become a slave.
 
o   Ichi- A Catcher but doesn’t play a big role apart from drive the van him and his team mates use.
 
 
o   Diane- A nasty piece of work and the third Catcher, Diane is known for her malicious and hostile attitude towards those she sees beneath her. Her job his to harm any prisoner trying to escape keeping things in order for Madame Smith. After Suso’s punishment she’s made leader of the Catchers.
 
o   Lisa- Another slave who desperately tries to escape continuously, she bumps into Faith who in turn is trying to escape and the pair converts to sworn enemies. However when both become roommates they develop a friendship.
 
o   Mr. Goodfellow- One of the Sekkusu house’s greatest customers and tries to have Faith at his mercy.
 
o   Itachi- At first he’s Faith sworn nemesis but soon becomes her love interest. Itachi is Spear’s disciple having been rescued by the dragon, after his parents fell in the Great War. The boy trains in the elements (mainly fire) despite him not being the Element Seeker; however he also studies Spirituality meaning he can change into his Spirit Demon which is a dragon. During combat Itachi rides his horse Shun completing Yabusame (archery on horseback), wielding just one katana. In the story he sets about protecting Faith shortly after Yuki’s banishment and becomes prisoner to Spear for not following his master’s orders. In the end he has to break free of his chains and run to the battlefield.
 
 
o   Kushina- Faith’s mother. Even though she doesn’t play a huge role during Itachi’s lesson on teaching Faith to relive past memoirs, Kushina appears having locked herself as a memory and reveals to Faith what happened during the massacre of the Great War.
 
o   Zora- Once the great ruler of Crystal Dynasty until his brother Hiro killed him during the Great War. Zora only appears as a memory like his wife until the final battle has been completed where he congratulates Faith for her courage, bravery and hope. During the memoirs though he’s seen as a kind person until he forced to send an army into conflict with Hiro, before that though he rescued Yuki as a cub after his parents were murdered by Hiro taking Yuki the Elemental Arts. On the night of the Great War though he realises that his brother was after Faith and returns to the castle to find Kushina, his wife, murdered and orders Yuki to protect his baby before he dies at his brother’s hands.
 
Wolves
o   Kaji- Fire wolf, the youngest in the pack and brother to Tomoshibi. He enjoys playing tricks on Hiwatari with his best friend Phantom.
 
o   Deidatei – Sun wolf, Deidatei is usually quiet and reserved in the pack unless he’s being threatened. He hangs around with Fell and is considered (besides Yuki) one of the oldest.
 
o   Fell- Moon wolf, a great friend to Deidatei but neither is joined by blood. Fell is quite the opposite to Deidatei being very sociable and humorous. However he’s more like an Omega being one to back up his fellow pack mates.
 
o   Aeron- Earth wolf, Aeron hangs around with his spirit guide a rook. In battle his weapon is a bo-staff made from bamboo but usually his powers are his main arsenal. Aeron doesn’t play such a big part in the story because he’s more of a lone wolf but works happily amongst the pack.
 
 
o   Leiko- Ice wolf, she always follows Aeron as she sees him as lonely and wants to be everyone’s friend. In combat she’s one of the fiercest using deadly sinister ice to pierce her enemy.
o    
o   Baowu-Mist wolf, very shy but eventually gets used to others easily follows pack’s orders. Baowu likes to taunt his enemies in amongst fog leading them off cliff, into quick sand or drowning him.  Despite him being quiet at first he is known to be a talkative and deadly wolf.
 
o   Joey- Darkness wolf, even though he’s given the task of learning the dark elements he’s not evil; which another element in itself. He is a good friend being another sociable member but sees himself as everyone’s farther and hates to fail his friends.
 
 
o   Epona-Physic wolf, Spirituality is where this wolf thrives able to read others thoughts and sometimes catch glimpses of the future or other’s pasts. She holds strong bonds with Akii, Sakura and Tomoshibi.
 
o   Tomoshibi- Light wolf, an older sister to Kaji and keeps in close contact with Hiwatari after growing up together. Tomo is the most sensible in the pack liking to speak a strong English accent to make her seem regal, unless it’s in battle then consider her to be a tomboy.
 
 
o   Hiwatari- Water wolf, Hiwatari is Phantoms older brother and doesn’t reveal this till later. He weilds the element water but prefers to use his Katana his farther gave to him before he died protecting him and Phantom. Hiwatari appears much like Aeron being a lone wolf but is perceived as a cold, ruthless killer unless one of his pack mates are in danger where you see his passionate side- especially if it’s Phantom. He tends to mask his feelings in the hope he never gets hurt. As a younger he was asked to join forces with the darkness but turned down the offer.
o   Phantom- Air wolf, he’s the second youngest in the pack and Hiwatari’s younger brother but doesn’t know until later. He enjoys playing tricks on Hiwatari with his best friend Kaji and has an exceptional sweet tooth loving dango and chocolate mochi. During combat he protects Kaji who in turn protects him.
 
o   Akki- Demon wolf, Akki is very calm and peaceful in the pack usually resolves fights between Hiwatari, Kaji and Phantom. Her fighting style though consists of fighting with dark arts and Spirituality. Also she is one of the eldest in the team being a child during the Great War when most of the others were cubs.
 
 
o   Sakura- Music wolf, Sakura during her time on Earth enjoyed listening to many different genres and managed to kidnap Madame Smith’s iPod which she keeps charge using Chi. In Crystal Dynasty though she’s Cai’s twin and although not identical they were separated when Hiro’s army snatched away her sister and murdered their parents. In the story she does come into conflict with Cai by protecting Faith and nearly dies after using all her power, towards the end Cai reunites and the two once again become beloved sisters.
 
o   Chi- Electric wolf, extremely energetic , eccentric and friendly his fighting style is more speed then electrocution and proceeds to be the most flexible with his series of kicks, flips, swipes, bites and jumps. He enjoys Sakura’s company by charging her iPod and listening to the music as it reminds him of the Japan which he wishes to live in, being a technology geek.
 
 
o   Cai- Immoral wolf, Joey and Cai are very similar with their elements both being the darkness but Cai practices in the extreme dark arts called Immoral which is more the evil side of darkness. She’s Sakura’s twin and friends with Hei Lei and Mids who are also servants to Hiro. At a young age she was kidnapped by his army and trained in her element to protect Hiro and destroy Faith. However after seeing what damage Hiro was doing to Crystal Dynasty she flees along with Hei Lei and Mids to Ryoanji, then goes in search for Yuki with Dreyzer and Hei Lei.
 
o   Yuki- Elemental wolf, he plays a major part in Elemental Wolves. At a young age his parents were also murdered by Hiro’s evil army. Zora rescued Yuki and trained him in the Elements to protect himself, afterwards Yuki devoted his life to Zora becoming one of Crystal Dynasty’s top guards where he meets Spear. However Hiro seeks him out and in exchange for his help he’ll bring back Yuki’s parents, outraged at what happens Zora demotes Yuki to a lower status before Yuki leaves to join forces with Hiro feeling betrayed. During the Great War he’s sent out to kill Zora and Kushina but when he returns to the castle he finds out Hiro’s plan was to commit infanticide by killing Faith and instead rescues Zora’s child sending her to Japan for safety. For his sins he cursed with immortality and waits patiently for Faith to turn 18. When she arrives at Crystal Dynasty he becomes her mentor teaching her the elements, befriending nature and combat skills. When they’re forced to flee to Ryoanji , Yuki comes into battle with Spear over the past and admits his doings to Faith. As punishment for his disgrace and betrayal Yuki gets exiled from Ryoanji and the palace being forced to flee into the mountains. Dreyer, Cai and Hei Lei persuade him to come back and fight in the War of Hope to protect Faith.
 
o   Shay- Yuki’s farther who you only see in flashbacks.
 
 
o   Kida- Yuki’s mother who’s only seen in flashbacks.
Dragons
o   Tsume- He’s more of a farther to Itachi than Spear and is usual found fighting with Spear over Itachi’s health.
 
o   Spear- Guardian of Ryoanji and was once a loyal knight of Crystal Dynasty. After Yuki’s betrayal and the rescue of Itachi he hoped he could resurrect the peace in Crystal Dynasty by training Itachi to be the Elemental Seeker hence why he doesn’t like Faith. Therefore he’s quite cruel to others around him despite the fact he desperately wants to protect them from evil. He dies in the War of Hope after realising Faith is fighting for the greater good and Itachi truly loves her.
 
 
o   Jun- A laid back dragon who enjoys reading and sleeping heavily in trees, his job is protector of the rainforest alerting Spear of any activity from Hiro’s forces.
 
o   Seiteki- A girly dragon that enjoys getting pampered, sun bathing and doing nothing. Also she seems to be leaching of the others, Seiteki can be very powerful during battle having been a descendant from a bloodline of dragons bred for their strength and cunning wit.
 
 
o   Yin- He watches over Crystal Dynasty with his partner Yang and reports any activity from Hiro to Spear. Although relatively small, both Chinese Lung’s pack a punch against enemies.
 
o   Yang- Very much the same as her partner.
 
 
o   Hei Lei-Tsugndra dragons are mainly used for war and battlefields. Hei Lei is the last male of his kind and was bred in captivity to serve the dark powers. He doesn’t agree in being evil but only does it as he has no choice, sometimes resulting in being defiant to his master’s wishes. He’s friends with Cai and looks after her along with Hiro’s mare Mids. During missions he’s clearly stated he hates Star, Mids’s son, because of his malevolent cruel behaviour.
Horses
o   Yangxin- The last Bloodless Black Unicorn, these equines were famous for their power and loyalty to their owners being born as unicorns or pegasus’s. However legend tells every eclipse a mutation happens and instead a kirin is born as a Bloodless Black Unicorn and is said to be a disgrace bringing ill fate to the herd. As a foals they won’t know what they are until they’re 3 to 4 years of age. Yangxin found out he was a Kirin at the age of four and fled into the wild so his parents didn’t feel disgraced. However his farther hunted him down and banished his son from ever returning to the palace grounds. He gets rescued by Yuki and soon becomes Faith’s horse after gaining trust in her.
 
o   Jenkins- A normal Shagya Arabian stallion owned by Itachi. He hangs around with Yangxin at Ryoanji and soon looks after Mids when she arrives. He enjoys jumping more than anything and looks after Itachi during missions.
 
 
o   Mids- A painted mare captured by Hiro’s army when she was in a wild herd and became his mount. However Hiro decided his horse wasn’t fast enough and made her become a broodmare despite the fact she loved her master dearly. Eventually she escapes Hiro’s clutches after nearly getting killed by her son and aids Faith in the War of Hope.
 
o   Star- Mids only surviving son that passed Hiro’s tests. He a paint stallion changed to the height of 18-19hh instead of being a normal 15hh. Star is brainwashed by Hiro as a young foal and separated from his Mum at a young age, now he plans to follow his master’s to the end and nearly destroyed his mother.
 
Other Creatures
o   Dreyer- Ghost Phoenix, during a migration for winter Dreyer was separated from her flock during a snow storm and was killed for her beauty. However she didn’t pass on peacefully and walked the earth alone until she met Yuki. The white wolf took her in and now she happily helps him in his errands.
 
o   Terra- Phoenix Griffin, these creatures are half phoenix half griffin and live mainly in the mountain tops. Terra however helps protect Ryoanji and follows Spear’s leaderships meaning if extra forces were needed he could resemble his family to help win the fight.
 
o   Kyuubi- A fox, Kyuubi meets Yuki and the pack after they flee from Yuki’s temple. He guides them through different terrains on the road to the temple Ryoanji.


Elemental Wolves Plot Notes


Elemental Wolves Plot Notes

For two of my assignments we had to think about creating our own story/ game (Story Development and Improving Productivity Using IT) so for both of these I still used the story: Elemental Wolves but in Story Development I had to write Faith's Backstory as a plot, whilst in Improving Productivity I had to give a plot more about what the game is going to be like and why rather than the story behind it. However after assessing both of these publications it became quite clear I didn't give a lot of detail about the actual story of Elemental Wolves which confused my evaluation partner and would the examiner.

So I created another publication and dug out Elemental Wolves plot notes I made around 3-4 years ago, altering it and then re-writing it. Also another problem was I had so many characters that played so many roles I had to make another piece telling people about the characters and their roles in the story. However this will be included after this publication as been published which shouldn't be long.
NO STEALING AS THERE IS COPYRIGHT ON THIS!!!
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Beginning/ Prologue
Faith is running through the streets of Osaka giving a slight monologue on her personal views of herself and world, it ends where she comes against a bricked wall in the dead-end of an alleyway where the mysterious pursuers trap her.  The story changes to where we meet Yuki after him waking up in a secluded temple (give brief description of surroundings which are very Japanese orientated), he soon goes to the Dojo to train where we meet Dreyer the ghost phoenix.  A small conversation happens between the two until Yuki asks her to train with him- results in a mini combat where Dreyzer slaps Yuki and proclaims she’s going to get drunk due to having an addiction to whisky and sake this will also lead to another monologue with Dreyzer talking about how she died and how she met Yuki.
She comes back after Yuki has settled down to read a book and passes out on her best friend, Yuki smiles softly and takes her back to the temple in his room leaving the bird on his futon (Japanese bed) We then follow the wolf outside where he sits on a solemn rock that overlooks Crystal Dynasty and gazes at the stars where in his mind he watches Faith being chased through Osaka.
At this point the protagonist is captured by three characters that only play a slight role. These are:
~ Ichi
~Suso
~Diane
They take Faith to a Sekkusu house which is ran by two aristocrats who is represented as young adults, dressed in Victorian style clothing with a creative flair- a bit like Black Butler if a reference is needed. When Faith enters the establishment with Suso holding her, he lets her go in hope she will escape because Suso doesn’t like his job, yet he’s forced to bring in ‘street kids’ because he was once one and in exchange for not sleeping with random visitors he has to catch others for Madame and Lord Smith. Seeing it isn’t a trick Faith runs down a couple of corridors and bumps into a female who’s trying to escape also. The two have a spat and once again get captured by Ichi and Diane who presents them to their bosses. Suso on the other hand does get caught red handed despite Faith trying to cover his back and his stripped off his job and returned to the normal status of ‘slave’. Later on Faith is escorted to her room via Ichi and finds out the female she had a squabble with, Lisa, is rather much like her and soon the two become good friends.
The next day she’s dressed as a Lolita girl (normal uniform for slave girls) along with Lisa and is set to work in a corridor cleaning. Afterwards we go to Madame Smith welcoming a familiar customer who wants to use their services. The manager’s response to this is to pick out any lower status person that they like and to pay them the fee after they’ve used their goods. Mr. Goodfellow agrees to this and finds out he’s attracted to the main protagonist who in turn puts up a fight and refuses to back down to her captor’s demands, as punishment she’s sent down to dungeons by Madame Smith where Faith stumbles across 13 wolves. Before the cell door is locked Faith steals a precious key in which she believes can be pawned for money if there was a chance of escaping the Sekkusu house.
When entering the room, the wolves immediately recognise her scent, revealing to her that they’ve been waiting a long time for her arrival, however each wolf is chained to each other by  powerful steel shackles that can only be released using the key Faith stole.  Faith doesn’t believe in what they’re saying so in exchange for escaping the Sekkusu house and freeing the animals, she will follow them to where they need to go on the understanding Faith will be returning to Japan. After a quick agreement with the Elemental Wolves , they burst out the dungeon and make their way to the main floor of the house. Outraged at the mistake made, Madame Smith and Lord Smith desperately try to find the key before giving up and running away from their property which goes up in flames. Meanwhile Faith releases all the slaves there and properly thanks Suso who’s also trapped in a nearby isolation room.
The team take off across the streets and stumble upon an abandoned park where a withering willow tree, begins to sprout new leaves. A portal is then opened and the party are transferred into the realm of Crystal Dynasty where they meet Yuki and Dreyer. Yuki welcomes them and privately explains to Faith she’s the Element Seeker and what responsibilities lay ahead.
Build Up:
It turns out another Elemental Wolf who wasn’t present during the escape at Sekkusu house, Cai, is a spy for the story’s main antagonist Hiro. Cai herself leads mainly a guardian role throughout the plot,along with her ‘side-kick’ friend Hei Lei whose another guardian and also resembles a dragon used in war. Hei Lei and Cai find out about Faith’s arrival and quickly reports back to their master with the news where we hear a slight speech from Hiro. Again the focus goes back to Faith leaving a suspicion of Hiro  to the readers.  Akki (Demonic Elemental Wolf) is teaching Faith about befriending animals, this will then lead to Yuki announcing the task of learning how to ride Yangxin, the last Bloodless Black Unicorn. Turns out Yangxin doesn’t have the features of this equine breed and admits he’s an abomination making him turn sour furthermore, creating an instant hate to Faith. The girl struggles to keep hold of the horse but carries on trying.
Meanwhile we start to bring the characteristics of each wolf and introducing them slightly. This starts off with Hiwatari (Water Element Wolf) giving advice to Faith on riding Yangxin, Kaji (Fire Wolf) and Phantom (Air Wolf) begin to taunt the elder and succeed in annoying him. Outraged at not being left alone Hiwatari chases after the pair who hide behind Joey (Dark Wolf) and Tomoshibi (Light Wolf) who are talking to Fell (Moon Wolf). A slight fight happens between Hiwatari and Fell (because Fell is protecting Phantom) and this gets sorted. Hiwatari then leaves to cool off near a nearby lake nearly getting caught on fire by Kaji, the fire wolf feigns innocence and before anything kicks off again Baowu (Mist Wolf) and Dreyzer step in breaking things up.
Instantly the background changes to an oncoming storm where Hei Lei, Cai, Hiro and Star ( a horse) appear. Yuki by now steps out of the temple ready to defend the pack. Hiro demands they hand over the Element Seeker and no evil will befall them. Deidatei (Sun Wolf) sends down a beam towards the dragon which is blocked by Cai. From the temple’s veranda Sakura (Music Wolf) growls at Cai who only stares.  Hei Lei suddenly sets the temple on fire as tries to barge past the wolves who free Yangxin from his pen and the whole pack run off into hiding, leaving the guardians and Hiro to return.
The Elemental pack stumble upon a cave where Epona (Physic Wolf) and Aeron (Earth Wolf) go out hunting an return with not only food, but a ‘good’ guardian Kyuubi; the Rainforest Guardian. Kyuubi then leads the team across the rainforest and desert towards another rainforest leaving them with instructions to a temple known as Ryoanji. Miracle Falls is where the pack rests to take a breather yet unbeknown to Yuki’s group, they’re closely being watched by Jun, a green dragon who’s also resting amongst the bushes. Spear another dragon appears beside him sending a full frontal attack on the Elemental group after witnessing Yuki.  Without warning Spear aims for Kaji throwing him into the water, Hiwatari rescues the younger from danger along with Akki, Phantom, Deidatei and Tomoshibi who all begin to attack Seiteki (female dragon)
Leiko (Ice Wolf), Aeron and Joey face Yin (female dragon) Hiwatari then leads Kaji and Phantom to shelter as they’re the youngest but is blocked by Tsume (dragon). Yuki and Dreyer hold back Spear whilst Chi (Electric Wolf), Fell and Sakura square off with Yang, leaving Epona and Baowu to deal with Jun. Faith by then is attacked by a mysterious figure shrouded in an ebony cloak on horseback, leaping into action her and Yangxin duel against the other team using the element fire and of course Samurai Daisho* The mysterious figure manages to knock Faith off her horse and pins her to the floor. Spear realises who Faith is and orders the teams to stop fighting. The boy Itachi is ordered to release Faith and after an agreement both sides make their way to Ryoanji.
For a few of the chapters things go ok, Faith and Yangxin strengthen bonds and eventually Yangxin releases his secret of why he’s classed as different. Itachi falls head over heels for Faith who also learns nearly the elements except darkness.
The attention turns back to Hiro is already plotting a plan to destroy the Element Seeker and co. After failing his requests Hei Lei and Cai are punished for their actions and instead, Hiro sends out a loyal mare Mids to kill Faith, then sends Cai to watch Mids. During the time when Yangxin is showing Faith is old home near another waterfall they’re attacked by Mids and Cai, luckily Sakura was trailing Faith and keeps her safe almost sacrificing her life. During the fight Sakura reflects back on memories as she’s slightly dying revealing Cai is her sister- Yuki saves both Sakura and Faith leaving Cai alone with option of becoming good. Mids returns to Hiro demanding she sees her foal, Star, who was taken away from her at birth. Hiro complies with this and lets Star loose whose been brainwashed and corrupted with power that he tries to kill his mother. Cai returns and after seeing the scene between Star and Mids, she helps the mare seek refuge with Yangxin and Itachi’s horse Jenkins, whilst she goes back to free Hei Lei from Hiro.
Crisis
At this point things really start to go wrong. Before a fight that breaks out between Yuki and Spear over Yuki’s betrayal to the crown and the massacre of Faith’s parent’s army, Yuki tells Hiwatari to explain to Phantom he’s actually his older brother. Phantom doesn’t take kindly to this and tries to run away from Hiwatari who physically replays a scene of when their parents died during their childhood. During that night Spear attacks Yuki on the mountaintop sending him crashing down into rapids of the waterfall where we see Yuki’s past. Two wolves find Yuki washed up on the shore and take him back to Ryoanji, where after he’s healed he tells the truth about what happened during the Great War in Crystal Dynasty and is forced to leave the temple, by Spear branded as a disgrace to the army of Hope.
Promptly Hiro finds out about Yuki’s disappearance and declares war on the temple. Meanwhile Spear forces Faith to relive biased memories that make out Yuki’s intention was to only kill Faith’s parents, yet because the protagonist is loyal she doesn’t the believe the dragon and stripped of her powers .
Before Resolution
After this Faith doesn’t believe she has the power to correct things and Itachi starts sneaking her and some of the wolves out during different periods of the day to relearn and master each element.  Again Cai reappears and offers to help Faith learn the Element of Darkness in return for seeing Sakura and apologizing for her actions which goes to plan. Finally after mastering power Itachi takes Faith out one night for break and admits his love for her, Faith being naĂ¯ve doesn’t believe in him at first but thanks him for his help. Spear finds out about Itachi’s doing and imprisons him somewhere deep in the forest nearby. Faith and her pack flees Ryoanji to the lost kingdom her parents lived in to meet the survivors of Hope, after being confused by Itachi’s confession she goes back to find him only to observe him being tortured by Spear. Itachi refuses to tell Spear where Faith is hiding and is left to die alone. The protagonist goes to aid the boy and tries to break his chains admitting her love for him. She tries to break the chains that bind him but fails only succeeding in restoring his health slightly and staying with him a whole night.
Hiro gathers his dark army and heads straight for the lost kingdom, Cai and Hei Lei find Faith with Itachi and tell her she’s needed on the battlefield. However the heroine doesn’t want to leave Itachi’s side so he promises her he’ll be there to fight for her. She leaves riding back to kingdom on Yangxin. Cai and Hei Lei quickly go in search of Yuki with Dreyzer’s help. They find the wolf hidden in some catacombs and convince him to return saying it wasn’t initially his fault about what happened- which it wasn’t as Yuki goes to the battlefield, Spear returns to Itachi also willing to get to the war.
Surprised at not being dead he gives Itachi the choice to join him and be free or basically watch Faith die. Itachi manages to break the chains that hold him and escape Spear’s clutches arriving next to Faith in dragon form, before the battle begins. Yuki also appears by Faith’s side. Happy that the pack is once again complete the hero sends the army into war against her uncle.
Resolved
Near the end of the war Itachi protects Faith from an oncoming death dragon nearly sending him over the edge of a chasm.  Faith being occupied at defeating her uncle goes to her lover’s aid whilst Hiro chases after her, she shields Itachi from death and is ready to welcome her own as her Uncle sends out a devastating attack. Spear and Yuki out of nowhere intersect where Spear takes on the demon force sending him over the chasm but getting greatly injured himself, whilst Yuki deflects Hiro’s attack allowing Faith to kill him using her katana blade. At the end Spear collapses from the curse of killing the demon and says a few words of apology, his reasons for his actions and finally the hope they can all live in piece before passing on.
 
The story ends with Star going to darkest part Crystal Dynasty explaining to the Dark Lord Hiro has been destroyed, hopefully leading to a sequel.
 

Plot For My Game Evaluation

Plot For My Game Evaluation
 
Evaluating Eillisha’s Plot
Reading Eillisha’s plot was a very enjoyable process, it had a great storyline which made it a fun read, really creative character names and a very unique plot which I had never really seen used before which I give a lot of praise for. Eillishas actual writing style is also very unique and elegant as her varied used of vocabulary really gives the story a more interesting and sophisticated tone which ultimately makes her writing sound a lot more professional.
The plot itself started off reasonable simple to understand, but as it progressed it got a lot more complex and at some points I found myself reading a sentence 3 times just to make sure I understood it properly. I think this is due to the fact that Ellisha has so many different character names and roles and it is very easy to get confused with who is who and what role they play- especially when a plot is so short.
Furthermore, We aren’t introduced into the main protagonists name until the 3rd paragraph, when we are initially informed about her in the very first, I got very confused at this point and had to re- read all 3 paragraphs, incase I had missed something out.
Despite this, Eillisha has a very praise able and likeable writing style which i think really shines out in her work, and the plot itself is an enjoyable read, but I think you have too many characters in it at the moment. I also really liked the idea of the added feature where you can battle against other characters. This feature will make you game appeal to a more varied audience, maximising profits so I think this feature is something you should definitely develop and include as I would defiantly play these feature because it sounds like it would appeal to me.
So in conclusion, a few more tweaks on the characters and plot, your writing style is excellent and i would recommend further development of the added features.  Great job
Evaluated by Charlie Cammack


Plot For My Game: Improving Productivity Using IT Assignment

Plot For My Game
 
For my game I’ve chosen to base it around my story: Elemental Wolves which features a princess who’s a street rat in the real world, having to battle for her place in a parallel universe (Crystal Dynasty) to defeat her uncle Hiro and control all the elements each wolf possess, plus overcome befriending the animal kingdom and understand what true love really means. For this my plot will be a mountain plot because the story is already based on this and it works well in gaming plots.
This is because the gamer thinks they’ve managed to succeed in their quest but things get furthermore difficult as the game goes on, enticing them to continue and prevail against the antagonists. In this case they would have to control Faith and succeed in over-throwing the evil king of Crystal Dynasty (Hiro) in order to survive and bring peace to the land.
The story begins with Faith living the streets of Tokyo as a street rat, avoiding human company and men in general. The date and time is of now, however it’s known if any child is living on the streets they’re picked up by a group called the ‘Catchers’ who unwillingly takes Faith to a Sekkusu ran by two aristocrats  Mr and Madame Smith. In there Faith tries to escape the house running into another escape-e artist called Lisa. After being caught the two are thrown into slavery become best friends, eventually Faith doesn’t follow her master/mistresses orders and gets punished by being thrown into a darkened room containing 13 chained wolves. Unknown to Madame Smith Faith stole a precious key from her mistress’s pocket thinking it could be pawned for money.
 
However in the room with the wolves she finds out they need to escape the house and return Faith to where she belongs. Eventually they all escape and let loose the slaves in that house turning it into a full-scale riot. Faith and the wolves flee to nearby park where a portal hiding under a willow tree opens because of who Faith is. From there they’re all transported to the parallel world Crystal Dynasty. Upon arrival Faith meets Yuki (a master element wolf) and his companion Dreyzer (phoenix ghost) Yuki slightly explains about Faith being an Element Seeker and starts teaching her fire and how to ride a horse.
Suddenly the dark lord, Hiro, hears news of this and sends his loyal companions Cai and Hei Lei (wolf and dragon) to simply hand over Faith or die. Hei Lei destroys the temple Yuki and co live in sending the team into hiding. From there they meet Kyuubi, a fox who guides them through many terrains all the while Faith learns new elements. When they reach a rainforest, Faith and co get attacked by five dragons and a boy named Itachi. It turns out they’re sent by their master Spear who insists on protecting Faith from her uncle. Faith carries on learning about the elements and conquers riding once and for all, Itachi by then starts teaching her how to transform into her spiritual demon (wolf) by showing his (dragon). They live in peace until Yuki and Spear clash due past history and that’s when Faith finds out who she really is.
Ashamed and ridden with guilt Yuki leaves the group which leads Hiro into declaring war against the protagonists. Cai and Hei Lei join forces with Faith and set out to find Yuki with Dreyzer, meanwhile Itachi falls for Faith saying he will fight by her side. Spear doesn’t agree with this and imprisons him which leaves Faith and her wolves/remaining dragons to fight against the dark enemy.
Finally when the battle is just about to start Itachi breaks free and Yuki comes back to the battlefield with Cai and Hei Lei. Faith and Hiro finally come to the last duel- Hiro dies as does Spear by protecting Itachi and Faith. Faith is crowned the Queen of Crystal Dynasty and lives as a bringer of justice- leads to a sequel.
Elemental Wolves will be based on an rpg/platform gaming system with the influence of Okami (possibly creating brush techniques as the elements. Twilight Princess (Legend of Zelda) being able to combat during horse/ wolf and dragon back which would bring in (hopefully) a younger/ teen audience. Also like Abe’s Odyssey you must get through each level in order to proceed forward and you can’t go back to the level previous during story mode. As an added feature there should be a battle option where you can go against other characters in a head-to-head fight using any of the wolves, dragons, horses or main human characters – on the other hand the characters will only be accessible as soon as the player meets the character or completes a bonus mission.


Faith's Backstory Evaluation

For my earlier post : Faith's Backstory we had to evaluate it by ourselves.


Faith's Backstory Evaluation
Is It Fit For Purpose?

In a way yes. I’ve been working on the story of Elemental Wolves for around three years basing it around my personal experiences and my favourite genres, as well as how I sometimes wish my life/ world was like (minus the death of my parents though) Faith as a character is basically my dream self which is everything I’m not, the girl throughout the story is a very brave young lady who learns to take on the world and never back down gaining loyal friends on the way with good morals.

 

Faith’s backstory~ I wanted part of Faith’s past to be revealed between the duel of Yuki and Spear, leading on to Yuki explaining in detail about his betrayal to the crown, why Faith’s parents are dead and slightly how she ended up in Japan instead of staying in Crystal Dynasty- which is what I’ve written in part of the chapter towards the end. In the actual plot notes that will be attached to this document, this will lead to Yuki’s banishment amongst the warriors of Hope, Faith and his pack mates resulting in Spear leading and mentoring the main protagonist. During this time the dragon forces Faith to relive the moments of Yuki betraying her kin, witnessing their deaths making it seem as though that was Yuki’s full intention which Faith proudly admits she doesn’t believe Spear who seemingly takes away her power as the Element Seeker. Later Itachi, the last black dragon, sorts the hero out by making her gain back her powers and spiritually connecting with her mother, who died leaving behind a memoir for Faith to understand what happened that night during the Great War and the rest of Faith’s past.

 

The plot notes are based around a Freytag Pyramid which I learnt at school going in the order of:

~ Beginning

~Build up/ Crisis

~ Crisis

~ Resolution starts

~Resolved/ Problems solved

With each header being underlined it should be a lot simpler for developers to break down when designing a game for Elemental Wolves, due to it being some sub-stories that end up being in one big plot; possibly confusing some people about the main morale behind the story.

 

Did It End The Way You Thought It Would?

Going back to the initial thoughts of Elemental Wolves I planned there would be no deaths and everyone survives and is happy- very Mary Sue and predictable. Instead after a few months I began changing little aspects of each character that would determine the fate of the ending. For example my basic thoughts on Kaji, Phantom and Hiwatari was Kaji and Phantom would only be used to mock the elder wolf Hiwatari with taunts, then I changed it to Hiwatari actually saving them because it was his job in the world. Finally I changed it again to him being Phantom’s brother and don’t reveal it until around the time Yuki and Spear duel. However when writing Faith’s backstory the ending is still the same as I wanted it to be where a few of the main characters die leading to hopefully a sequel.

 

Did You Use Techniques Or Try Using One Of The Tools/Guides?

To map out Elemental Wolves I did use the Freytag Pyramid as my plot device to structure everything so it didn’t go messy, with fragments of the story link with other pieces that shouldn’t have been linked. On the other hand when creating characters or actually writing the story I don’t use any guides or tools I just let my mind go on what I want to write. If anything I use for guidance it’s probably music as I pictured random scenes in my head that fit to music which is another reason I wanted to animate my story. For example The Voice by Celtic Woman would be used when Faith meets Kushina, her mother, during the memoir in the story.

However at college we delved into using the 5 W’s to define our protagonist and antagonist. It didn’t help me much because I already written/ knew about Faith on the other hand it was quite fun. If I were to create a completely random character though I think it would help immensely. Then we created a mind-map of that character about them, characteristics, personality and representation which again I already knew Faith, it was fun but wouldn’t help that much unless I created a complete new character. Between the two tools though I would much rather prefer to create a mind map against others like: sketching, mood boards, storyboards ect.

Thursday, 20 December 2012

EA Today Assignment Notes


EA Today Assignment Notes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ok our second assignment for Understanding Creative Media Industry section, we had to do this as a presentation so regretably mine taken 40+ minutes because I didn't have a clue on what to include and what to get rid of.
 
Here are my notes:
 
 
Electronic Arts, also known as EA, is one of the biggest gaming companies in the world today and is spilt into four different categories that in turn have various international studios. These groups are known to be:
·         EA Maxis
·         EA Bioware
·         EA Sports
·         EA Games
EA Games
EA Games holds the biggest number of studio and development teams; reason being is this group sole concentrates on creating action adventure, role-playing, racing, MMORPG and combat genre type games.  Studios accountable for this are:
Ă˜  EA Interactive which includes EA's Pogo.com, Playfish and EA Mobile whose led by Barry Cottle and based in London (UK), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Redwood (California, USA)
Ă˜  Criterion Games (Guildford, England)
Ă˜  Danger Close Games (formerly EA Los Angeles, California)
Ă˜  EA Black Box (formerly Black Box Games in Burnaby, British Columbia)
Ă˜  EA Digital Illusions CE (formerly Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment, Stockholm, Sweden)
Ă˜  EA Montreal (Quebec, Canada)
Ă˜  EA Partners (Redwood, California)
Ă˜  EA Phenomic (Ingleheim, Germany)
Ă˜  Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores, Redwood, California)
EA Maxis
Creates and publishes casual games which include The Sims series and development/ marketing life-simulation games and online communities. The label is headquartered at EA's campus in Redwood Shores, although the original studio is located in Emeryville.
Ă˜  Maxis Emeryville (Emeryville, California)
Ă˜  The Sims Studio ( Redwood, California)
Ă˜  EA Salt Lake ( Salt Lake City, Utah)
Ă˜  EA Hasbro ( Rhode Island, USA)
Ă˜  MySims (Unknown)
Ă˜  Casual Studios (Unknown)
EA Sports
EA Sports publishes the realistic, casual, and freestyle sports-based games including FIFA Football, Madden NFL, Fight Night, NBA Live, NCAA Football, Cricket, NCAA March Madness, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, NHL Hockey, NASCAR and Rugby.
EA Tiburon (Florida)
 EA Canada (Burnaby)
 EA North Carolina (Morrisville)
EA Bioware
EA acquired Bioware in 2007 from Elevation Partners which includes the integrated Bioware Victory founded nearly about a year ago. These studios focuse on creating multiplatform, role-playing, MMO and strategy games- much like the other studio EA Games
BioWare Edmonton (Alberta, Canada)
 BioWare Austin (Texas, USA)
 BioWare Montreal (Quebeck, Canada)
 Mythic Entertainment (also known as BioWare Mythic based in Virginia)
 BioWare Victory (formerly Victory Games based in Los Angeles, California)
Electronic Arts Executives
John Riccitiello(Chief Executive Officer)
 John Riccitiello is Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Arts and is the world's primary developer and publisher of interactive entertainment.
John initially joined EA in October 1997 as President and Chief Operating Officer. He was President during a period of dynamic growth - with his help EA grew a better market share, diversified product portfolios and strengthened business across the globe. In 2004 he left to become a founding partner and managing director of Elevation Partners who was a private equity partnership that focused heavily on the media and entertainment sector. In addition to his responsibilities as a Managing Director at Elevation, he also served as the Chairman and CEO of VG Holdings which consisted of BioWare and Pandemic Studios and also served on the Board of Directors of Forbes Media LLC. He returned in April 2007 as a CEO for EA.
Peter Moore (Chief Operating Officer)
 Peter Moore is the Chief Operating Officer of EA who provides strategic leadership for all global operations that enable the company to bring products to market .He has more than 25 years of experience in gaming, entertainment and consumer products. Since September 2007 to August 2011, he held the position of President of EA Sports and during his time, EA SPORTS delivered some of the top-selling sports video games of the current console generation with franchises FIFA, Madden NFL, NCAA Football and NHL, John was also able to expand EA Sports gaming to social Medias and mobiles devices.
Before joining EA he  was Corporate Vice President of the Interactive Entertainment Business of Microsoft Corp giving him responsibility for leading both the Xbox and Games for Windows businesses, driving games development at Microsoft Game Studios, as well as gaining buisness relationships with third-party game publishers and developers around the world. Prior to that he was President and COO of SEGA where he was responsible for overseeing SEGA’s videogame business in North America.
 
Blake Jorgensen (Chief Financial Officer)
At EA Blake Jorgensen is Chief Financial Officer and is the world’s leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment. He joined EA in September 2012 with over 20 years of experience in finance spanning across different industries, with a deep understanding of technology, consumer products, online commerce and entertainment.
 
Rajat Taneja (Chief Technology Officer)
 Rajatis Chief Technology Officer of Electronic Arts and joined EA in October 2011 as CTO to drive critical technology decisions and investments for EA on a global basis, before joining EA he spent 15 years at Microsoft where he most recently lead the division responsible for development and deployment of all commerce and transaction technologies across Microsoft’s connected services, including Xbox Live, Windows Phone, Windows Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft adCenter  and MSN.
 
Frank Gibeau (President, EA Labels)
In 2011, Frank was chosen President of EA Labels where he leads the transformation of the company into a digital entertainment powerhouse by bringing world-class properties to all gaming. He is responsible for product development, worldwide product management and marketing for all packaged goods and online offerings within the four EA Labels.
The intellectual properties under Frank’s sponsorships include Battlefield, Command & Conquer, Dead Space, Dragon Age, FIFA, Madden NFL, Mass Effect, Medal of Honor, Need for Speed, NBA Jam, NCAA Football NHL, SimCity, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Sims, Spore, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Warhammer Online and much more.
 Before serving as President of the EA Games Label, he acted as Executive Vice President and General Manager of The Americas where he was responsible for a publishing operation that accounted for more than $1.5B of EA’s annual revenue. Frank directly oversaw product marketing, branding, public relations, marketing communications, sales, operations, and finance. Previously Gibeau  aided as Senior Vice President of North American marketing and has held a variety of senior publishing posts at EA. At that moment of time he was answerable for driving the go-to-market strategy for the EA and EA SPORTS brands as well as the launch of hundreds of game franchises across multiple platforms that have shipped since 1991.
 
 Patrick Söderlund (Executive Vice President, EA Games Label)
 Patrick is the executive vice president of the EA Games Label having responsibilities for product development and marketing of packaged goods and digital releases across  multi-platinum action, racing and shooter games like: Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Need for Speed and Dead Space. At the same time he oversees studios around the globe from Redwood Shores to Montreal, Guildford, Stockholm and Gothenburg.
 
 
 
 
Andrew Wilson (Executive Vice President, EA SPORTS)
The executive vice president of EA SPORTS is Andrew Wilson who provides tatic leadership over one of the most recognized brands in sports and entertainment. Mr. Wilson presumed his position in August 2011 after leading worldwide development for the company, having more than 11 years of experience at Electronic Arts. His responsibilities include management for product development and global marketing and planning for all packaged goods and digital services. Previously he served as vice president and executive producer of the EA Sports FIFA Soccer Division and was in charge of the strategic, creative and business direction of all EA Sports football games, including FIFA, FIFA World Cup, Euro, FIFA Manager and FIFA Street.
Gabrielle Toledano (Executive Vice President and Chief Talent Officer)
 Gabrielle Toledano is the Executive Vice President and Chief Talent Officer and is responsible for EA's global staffing and resourcing, benefits and compensation, organization and leadership capability development, rewards and recognition, Facilities and Corporate Social Responsibility.
 
Joel Linzner (Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs)
 Joel has served as Senior Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs since April 2004, before joining Electronic Arts in July 1999, he  served as outside litigation counsel to Electronic Arts and several others in the videogame industry.
 
 
Kristian Segerstrale (Executive Vice President, Digital)
 Kristian is the Executive Vice President, Digital of Electronic Arts.  At one point he was Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Playfish Limited from 2007 until November 2009 when the company was acquired by EA. Thereafter he took the role of General Manager of EA’s Playfish business unit.
 
Stephen G. Bene (Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary)
 Stephen Bene has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since October 2004. Since then he’s held the position of Vice President, Acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary and during June 2003- April 2004 he’s also held the position of Vice President and Associate General Counsel.
 
 
 
 
Ken Barker (Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer)
He joined EA in June of 2003 as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to  EA, he served as Vice President, Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer at Sun Microsystems.
Job Roles In Gaming Industry
Games Design
·         Lead Designer
·         Games Designer
·         Script Writer
·         Map Builder
·         Level Editor
·         Object Planner
·         GUI Designer
·         Storyboard Artist
·         Illustrator
·         Graphic Designer
Art and Animation
·         Creative Manager
·         Lead Artist
·         Art Director
·         Concept Artist
·         Environment Artist
·         PreVis Artist
·         Technical Artist
·         Artist
·         Animator
·         3D Modellor
Audio
·         Musician
·         Audio Engineer
·         Sound Effects Designer
·         Composer
Programming
·         Lead Programmer
·         Software Engineer
·         Programmer
·         A.I.Programmer
·         Middleware/ Tools Programmer
·         Graphics Programmer
·         Gameplay Programmer
·         Action Scripter
·         Platform Designer
·         Information Architect
·         Systems Analyst
·         Database Designer
·         Engine Programmer
·         Server Architect
Product Management
·         Head of Development
·         Executive Producer
·         Project Manager/ Producer
·         QA Director
·         Art Director
·         Programming Manager
·         Assistant Project Manager
·         Production Accountant
·         Production Scheduler
·         Production Assistant
QA
·         QA Manager
·         Quality Assurance Technician/ Tester
·         Lead Tester
Localisation
 
·         Localisation Tester
·         Localisation Manager
 
Project Management
·         Executive/ Senior Producer (Publishing)
·         Producer/ Project Manager (Publishing)
·         Account Director
·         Consultant
·         Associate/ Junior Producer (Publishing)
·         Project Co-ordinator (Publishing)
·         External Relations
Business Management
·         Chief Executive
·         Managing Director
·         Creative Director
·         Technical Director
·         Financial Planning Manager
·         Supply Chain Manager
Business Development
·         Business Development Manager
·         Sales Manager
·         Licensing/ IPR Manager
·         Product/ Brand Manager
Support
·         Operations Manager
·         Customer Support
More Structure
In gaming companies it takes a hundreds of people to create one game that will take over a period of possibly two or more years, for indie gamers whose teams may only consist of around two members it could take a longer time to make their end product. With all the different roles that people have to train in and produce, the company then has to be set in a certain structure.
At the moment EA’s team structure would look like this. For most beginners who wish to pursue a career/ spot in the gaming industry they usually start off as game testers detecting bugs from the development team and telling them how to improve the game. We also have at the bottom outsources where the companies like EA will pay a certain amount of money in order for animation, voice actors, localisation and other services from companies in partnership with Electronic Arts.
Meanwhile the Electronic Arts co-publishing arm is used for publishing/ distributing games developed by third party developers, these include:
·         APB – Realtime Worlds
·         BrĂ¼tal Legend – Double Fine Productions
·         Bulletstorm – Epic Games
·         Crysis series – Crytek
·         DeathSpank – Hothead Games
·         Fuse – Insomniac Games
·         Hellgate: London – Flagship Studios
·         Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – 38 Studios, Big Huge Games
·         Left 4 Dead series, The Orange Box, Portal 2 – Valve
·         Rock Band series – Harmonix and MTV Games
·         The Secret World – Funcom
·         Shadows of the Damned – Grasshopper Manufacture
·         Shank – Klei Entertainment
·         Warp – Trapdoor
·         Unconfirmed project – Respawn Entertainment – founded in April 2010, formed a partnership with ex Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella
Animator
Animators are responsible for breathing life into 3D gaming models allowing them to move fluently. An animator is responsible for learning and completing motion cycles that allow various animate objects and beings to move, this can include humans, animals background pieces such as vegetation or no doubt cars. In some cases animators have to create special attacks using certain tool brushes in order to aid their creation.
During the game it’s animation that allows the characters to move in the first place and lets people view cut-scenes which gives the player and incentive of what to do next. However it’s not all about just making the object move by walking for example, they also have a responsibility to show emotions and lip synchronisation clearly which can be quite demanding as well as time consuming. On the other hand it gives the player interactivity with their gaming character making it worthwhile especially when profits are possibly reaching a high.
Animators usually work for development studios, both publisher-owned and independent and also for specialist outsourcing companies like Electronic Arts. Unlike other sectors, where work is often on a project-by-project basis, Animators in the games industry are usually permanently employed.
So What Do They Do?
Using objects, models, and characters created by 3D Artists, animators must define their movements and behaviours and apply them using the animation tools and techniques provided by the selected 3D animation software package like Maya, Mudbox and 3D Max. Even though game animation can be a complex combination of many different types of movement cycles they have to make extensive libraries of re-usable animations for each character.
At the same time they are also responsible for the technical processes of rigging and skinning of the characters, which lies heavily on understanding a creature’s anatomy being able piece to be one bone with the next in a correct sequence. It requires also working in a technically efficient manner, taking into account the constraints of the game engine, for example it’s sometimes necessary to restrict the number of key frames used or the number of characters that can appear on the screen at a time which can be a pain. Animators must need to work closely with programmers and artists in order to create the best balance between smooth seamless movement and enhanced performance on the target platform, keeping in mind how the animations will appear in the context of the game.
How Do They Get Into The Gaming Society?
When looking for an animation career in gaming, people usually contain some knowledge in animation using certain software packages during a degree or some other course. What also helps is use of being able to draw free handed and have experience in traditional and digital Medias of art possibly during childhood or the GCSE period. Another way people get these jobs is having experience with animation from different media sectors like film and television. Any animator thing about having a career in the game production should comprehend the interactive nature of games understanding all aspects of their discipline, which includes character modelling, rigging, skinning, kinematics, and basic cinematography.
 
Essential knowledge and skills
They must be able to work as part a team and also on their own initiative, taking responsibility for organising their work within the production schedule, managing files and meeting deadlines. Have an understanding of the production process and the ability to communicate effectively with other disciplines is essential. Some knowledge of programming is desirable.
 
Game animation must be simple and expressive. The Animator should know how to reveal attitude, emotions and mood through a character’s movement and behaviour, creating memorable characters that will appeal to players, whilst knowledge of the timing and appearance of human and animal movement and facial expressions is essential along with the ability to lip sync.
Concept Artist
Concept Artists produce the illustrations that help 3D modellers create the characters. Their job involves creating initial and final designs of characters, backdrops and props giving full reference and detail as to what it is and what it will play in the game later, this can be shown through a portfolio of sketches that show how the character has developed, as the creator thought more in-depth about how the project should be represented. In the end after creating different styles and designs of that object, they’ll all be presented in colour on a huge scale board so other artists, developers and modellers can choose the correct design.  Another piece they’re responsible for his designing the gaming levels and backdrops, concept artist must be able to work as a team member but use their own imagination to create these pieces, which is why their role is highly specialised, and there is a limited demand for this work.

Typical career routes
Unfortunately there’s no set career route to becoming a Concept Artist. Some may start their careers as Graphic Artists, Illustrators or Graphic Novelists; others have worked in Special or Visual Effects or in Animation, and make the transition to Concept Artist via storyboarding.

Essential knowledge and skills
Concept Artists must have knowledge of computer illustration software like Adobe Photoshop/ Illustrator, SAI, Art Range or Paint.
A.I.Programmer
An artificial intelligence programmer gives the game a brain, constructing a set of parameters by which the characters not controlled by the player operate and make decisions creating a system of action and reaction. This is a deep field in game programming that requires a technically skilled team of highly specialized programmers to create dynamic and intuitive gameplay that is functionally flawless.
What They Do
This person works under the direction of the lead programmer and is responsible for determining a character’s behaviour which is when actions are taken by the non-player characters. The AI programmer creates code and procedures for pathfinding, group movement and cooperation, tactical strategy, and camera control. They set patterns and parameters for state mechanics and establishes how a character thinks and solves problems- creating a framework for artificial emotions and ideas. The job of an AI programmer’s depends as they move from one studio to the next—in some cases, object collisions fall to the AI programmer; in others, this task may be assigned to a physics specialist. During development, the programmer will work closely with designers to implement the necessary processes to make combat possible, establish decision trees for opponents, and create neural networks. He or she also cooperates with game testers to identify bugs and insert the appropriate fixes.
 
What Skills Are Needed?
The role necessitates a person who enjoys challenging problem-solving, is both a creative and critical thinker, and has a strong education in advanced mathematics. A bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or game development is required for a job as an AI programmer. Larger game developers may prefer a master’s degree.  You will be expected to have a firm foundation in C++; STL; APIs like OpenGL and PhysX; Perl, Perforce, and profiling tools. Coursework in physics and technical writing are also helpful. An AI programmer should be comfortable on multiple game consoles and able to adapt to existing systems. Strong written and verbal communication skills are necessary, as is the ability to draft clear, concise technical documentation. Most importantly, developers look for an individual who is passionate about making and playing games. The field of AI is constantly evolving, and therefore offers great opportunity for creativity and innovation.
 
Level Editor
Level Editors defines and creates interactive architecture for a segment of a game, including the landscape, buildings, and objects.They must follow the design specification, using elements like the characters and story that’re defined by the games designer, but they do have the chance to say if they feel something isn’t right. The Level Editor also develops the game play for the level, which includes the challenges that the characters face and the actions they must take to overcome them. The architecture helps to define those challenges by presenting obstacles, places to hide, tests of skill, and other elements to explore and interact with. Settings and atmosphere devised by the Level Editor can also give the player clues as to different ways of progressing though the level and the game as a whole.
What is the job?
 
Working from the overall game design documentation, the Level Editor designs a portion of the game usually referred to as a ‘level’, specifying in detail all the possible actions and game play events which take place within that level; the environment, including locations, general layout of the spaces within the level, and thoughts about visuals, eg lighting, textures, and forms; the characters and objects involved, whether they are player controlled or non-player characters; and any specific behaviours associated with the characters and objects.
 
The Level Editor first sketches ideas on paper or using 2D drawing software. They have to imagine the playing experience, putting themselves in the position of the player, mapping out all the possibilities.
 
They need to think about the logic and flow of events and actions, the conditions that need to be met for certain things to happen, the challenges the player will encounter, and the game play that occurs as a result.
 
The ideas are then worked out in 3D and tested in the game engine, which produces further ideas. In consultation with the programmers and artists, the Level Editor draws up a detailed inventory of level ‘assets’ (all the objects and programming requirements needed to make the level run in the game in its final form).
 
Every asset can impact on the game’s performance and the Level Editor must understand the technical constraints the team is working to, eg there may be a limit on the number and complexity of objects that can be displayed on screen at any one time.
 
Typical career routes
 
There is no set route into this job, but it is rarely an entry level role. Industry experience is a definite advantage and candidates are normally educated to degree standard. Level Editors need an understanding of the conventions of game playing and also an awareness of the target market.
 
Many Level Editors are enthusiastic games consumers, and may well have gained experience through ‘modding’, which involves creating their own levels of published games using software toolkits provided as part of these games.
 
A Level Editor might progress into the role from various junior positions in the industry, eg working as a tester in a Quality Assurance department provides useful experience and gives an overview of the development process, access to software and tools, and insight to the different jobs.
 
Essential knowledge and skills
 
Level Editors must have good spatial and layout design skills, knowledge of 3D modelling, and a firm grasp of game design principles.
 
They also need to be very well organised. Game development is a collaborative process and Level Editors work both independently and as part of a team and they must be able to accept and give direction.
 
They train the testers to play the game and also work closely with artists and programmers, for which they need a practical understanding of programming and preferably some scripting language competence. This is a multi-skilled role, requiring:
•spatial awareness and the ability to visualise layouts; imagination and creativity;
•excellent communication skills (both verbal and written);
•IT skills and competence in the use of world editing tools;
•attention to detail and the ability to evaluate quality;
•knowledge of different platforms;
•a passion for games and knowledge of game design theory;
•knowledge of the requirements of the relevant Health and Safety legislation and procedures.
 
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