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Hey there, Gamers and Game Makers! In this week's blog, I wanted to highlight two Youtube channels that have been a great source of entertainment and inspiration to me as a game dev. I'm of course referring to Noclip and Gameumentary. Noclip Noclip has a special place in my heart as it's founder, Danny O'Dwyer is also an Irishman. NoClip are crowdfunded which only goes to show that their growth and success is a direct result of them making content that people not only enjoy but also want to support. Noclip is obviously very good at making game dev docs but their especially good at highlighting the people behind the games and putting a human touch to the products that attract such large player bases. Noclip also does something very interesting that not many other doc channels do, if any really for that matter and that's production classes. Noclip release videos not only about games and the stories behind them but also videos about the way they film and edit their docs. This is a fascinating and excellent move by the channel. One which I greatly appreciate as not only a game dev but someone with an interest in video production. Gameumentary Gameumentary make game dev docs about games that are not only blockbusters but also games from developers that don't get the attention they deserve. Gameumentary doc about The Deep End Games and their game Perception was what lead me to discover and eventually play the game. One which was one of the most interesting and entertaining games I've played in a long time, with a very interesting game mechanic.
Gameumentary not only make game docs but also do interviews with various developers about various topics affecting the game dev industry. Gameumentary have been gaining popularity and growing quite quickly and I for one hope it continues as I'm looking forward to seeing what they make next. Until next time! Hey there, Gamers and Game Makers! Since I've been back in college, I've had my fair share of exams and still have quite a few big ones left to go. So, I thought now would be a good time to share some of the things I do in order to prepare for an exam 1: Don't Cram!While cramming the night before might work for some people, those people number a very rare amount. In practice, cramming the night before an exam does not end well. So, give yourself plenty of time to study. For the most part, your lecturers will give you plenty of notice of an exam. What I tend to do when I know there's an exam coming up is compartmentalise the work I need to revise. Don't try to revise everything that'll be on the exam in one sitting but, rather break it down into sections and tackle a section in each sitting.  2: Have a Good Study SpaceWhere you study is very important. If you try to study somewhere that is full of distractions, odds are you're going to loose focus and not have a very productive study session. Find someplace quite and free of distractions. Put your phone away for the duration of time you plan to study for. Having a study space that is tidy is also key. Trying to study in a messy environment can be frustrating and counterproductive.  3: Look at Past ExamsMost colleges give students access to past exam papers. If this is the case, take the time to look at these past exam papers and practice them. You can often identify what questions come up a lot on exams. Remember, there's only so many questions that can be asked and repetition is bound to occur. If you can determine what questions are likely to be on an exam, the better prepared you can be.  4: Take Regular BreaksThis one might not seem as obvious. You might view taking regular breaks from a study session as procrastinating. While say studying for ten minutes and taking a two hour break is most definitely procrastinating, there are ways of studying with regular breaks that can be most effective. I recommend looking at the Pomodoro Technique as a way of better managing your study time.  5: RelaxThis one is easier said than done. Exams can be very stressful. We've all been in that situation where we've studied for the exam and we know the information inside and out but, as soon as the exam paper is put in front of you, you draw a blank and forget everything. The most important thing to do once this happens is to try and relax. Don't let the panic set in. You haven't forgotten that information. It's still there. Take a breath and pause for a minute. Look over the paper carefully, reading each question slowly. While there is a time limit on your exam, don't focus on that. You have time to read over your paper and settle yourself. We often confuse excitement with fear and panic. If you've ever seen athletes talking after a big event, they often mention the excitement in the run up to the event. The same can be said of an exam. If you think of the panic you have more so as excitement, you'll get a better grasp on how you tackle the exam.  Until next time!
Hey there, Gamers and Game Makers!
It's been a while since I've done a general update of everything. So, now's as good a time as any to take stock of what I've been up to. College: I'm nearing the end of my second year as a mature student in my computer science course. Things are going well, but, the level of work has ramped up significantly going into this final semester which means I've had to prioritise college that bit more. I'm in the middle of a block of exams at the moment as well as projects, so, the majority of my time lately is focused on college work. Game Dev: As you might have guessed from the college part, my time has been pulled somewhat away from my current game dev projects. I'm still getting some design and art work done on my current game but it's been slowed down until I finish my final exams for college. I hope to be able to pick up the pace once I finish and start posting more about it over the summer. Tutorials: I'm also trying to work on what will be a longer running tutorial series that will also be adapted into a workshop that I'm hoping to run over the summer. This will be aimed at beginners with the hope of being able to design and code a simple game. All in all, it's a pretty busy time at the moment but, I hope to be able to focus more on the game dev side of things soon and in turn post some W.I.P of my current projects. Until next time! Hey there, Gamers and Game Makers! In this week's blog post, I'm going to be talking a little bit about remakes. More specifically, what I think makes a good remake. I'm mostly going to be talking about the Resident Evil 2 remake as I think it provides one of the best examples of what a good remake is.  Remakes are nothing new. We've seen plenty of remakes over the years. Some good and some bad. For the most part, remakes tend to be the same game just with better textures and graphical effects. They tend to keep the exact same gameplay elements, even if they are buggy and the overall game itself tends to be a copy of the original that now just looks better. Now, Resident Evil 2 remake is interesting. While they maintain the story of the game, they embrace change on other aspects of the game such as the before mentioned graphical updates but most importantly, gameplay. Resident Evil 2 was known for it's fixed cameras and tank like controls which sometimes added to the tension of the game but mostly was clunky trade off of that era of games development.  The Resident Evil 2 remakes biggest advantage is how it embraced changing the gameplay from fixed camera tank controls to free third person controls. I admire this move for a number of reasons. The main one being that they're not trying to simply remake the same game exactly as it was just with better graphics. The original is the original and it has a special place in my heart for being among the first horror games I played. I have fond memories of that and I feel a carven copy remake would taint that memory. This is not always the case. The Crash Bandicoot remake was a fantastic trip down memory lane.  I also admire this approach to the development of the game because they've taken an already strong story and simply given us that again but with more robust gameplay. Resident Evil 2 Remake stands out to me as a great example of what a remake should be. Some games don't need a remake but for those who attempt the remake route, I hope they take a page out of Resident Evil 2s book.
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