Jamie Lozada's Observation Report

Post date: Apr 11, 2018 8:4:51 PM

GDC Observation Report #1:

There was a VR booth located within the south hall – a first person shooting game. Except, this booth came equipped with a rumble vest and gun accessory as well as the general VR headset, all of which combined to create an incredibly immersive FPS experience. The vest would apply pressure where you were harmed in game, which allowed you to quickly tell where you were being damaged from, and the gun would recoil as you shot in game giving some of the strength of a real firearm to the player. From this experience alone I was able to understand, just a bit more, the importance of player feedback in video games.

With this VR experience, however, you are able to take feedback into a more than just touch with a standard game controller. Since most gameplay feedback today is received primarily through sound, controller rumble, and a only a portion of real life space you can see with your eyes (a television screen), being able to take each of these up into the next level will truly enhance the way the public experiences games. Horror games will become much more terrifying, for example, as you are completely enveloped by the universe you are playing in. However, the rumble vest, as well as other VR accessories like the gun, will be able to take these VR games into a whole new realm of immersion which will create new genres of gaming, as well as revive older genres of gaming that have been on decline, like Horror.

Audio feedback and compelling visual feedback have both been aspects of gaming that I’m very interested in learning and being able to portray, and with VR, a lot of these can be pushed up to the next level, if not for school, for personal work. The next best thing would be to really polish up on feedback that is currently available for me to provide, such as animation feedback, camera feedback and some nice sound feedback, whether that be through ambience or combat. Experiencing what this VR fps game had to show has given me a few ideas as to how I could apply some of the same concepts to handheld feedback, whether it be through a series of player inputs with locations on the controller dependent on what’s occurring on screen or even just newer ways of depicting damage feedback in a fighting game.

GDC Observation Report #2: 

During a portfolio talk, there was a lot of discussion on properly curating what you’re showing depending on the studio you’re applying for, which was pretty helpful in itself. However, one of the members of the panel mentioned that with technology becoming more advanced and many more things needing to be known in order to create a product in the games industry, a lot of people hiring are looking for artists with good secondary and even tertiary skills that are complimentary with that primary skill that is displayed in a portfolio.

After having heard this information, it became more evident that many secondary skills tend to go hand in hand with primary skills naturally. For example, an Environment artist who primarily arranges the architecture or set dresses a scene may also be good at lighting a scene. In my case, much of what I enjoy in gaming is character animation for gameplay, and even animated small yet impactful shorts, both of which could easily go hand in hand to display both my animation skills alongside my staging skills. Originally, I believed that in a portfolio that only the one skill should be evident in the portfolio but now I understand that it’s good to show that I can branch out so long as it is relevant to my message.

With senior thesis, I definitely plan on acting upon both of my previously mentioned interests and polishing them as much as I can to show that I am capable of aiding in multiple parts of a studio in my portfolio. I would also like to understand, just in general, what can really prove useful to include in various other types of portfolios as far as compliments would go. 

GDC Observation Report #3

Lastly, Kate Edwards delivered a talk on how video game related careers are thought about by the general public.

“It’s just drawing.”

“You’re only pushing buttons. That’s not hard” 

“Video Games need to be treated like drugs and alcohol when it comes to censorship in violence” which was an actual quote from Hillary Clinton a few years ago. 

The gist of the talk covered what it really means to be a video game developer, whether it’s through modeling, concept art, or any other aspect. We are in this industry to tell a story – a fact that we’re all aware of – but the way in which we chose to do so is what’s important. Illustrators, writers, singers, directors etc. are all artists who shape the culture that we live in – artists produce the work that people talk about every day.

I’m always been trying to give the art I create some form of meaning, which I’ve been trying to define through the purpose of whatever I’m creating. Whether a piece is made to make people laugh or make people go “Oh, that’s cool,” I’d like it to leave an impression on the people that view it – an impression that goes beyond just looking at some moving colors.