Extended Practice: Rational

1. Blog Address
Where are you documenting the development of Extended Practice online?
http://megsdfgablog.blogspot.co.uk/

2. Subjects and Themes
Broadly speaking what are you interested in exploring and why?
The themes and areas that I want to be exploring are creating game environments, and more specifically for children as an audience. I am very interested in looking at older game from the 90s and seeing what made them so exciting for children growing up and seeing how they can be brought back using modern day technology.

3. Rationale
What you want to do during this module? Be as specific as you can at this moment in time.
If you plan on working on multiple briefs to demonstrate your practice, identify clearly each brief.
At the moment I would like to work on creating a series of game levels that will be for one game. The theme of the game is not yet known but it would be targeted towards children and have a sense of humor. I would only want to create the environments but ensure that I create a well detailed exciting back story and also design the main character and other ones that will feature but not create them for the actual game. I will decide what genre I will want to create and this will then create the structure for the entire game and what kind of objects will be included in them. I will use the knowledge that I have learned from COP to create some really nice lighting in the environments and then also look at how colour and weather can be used in different ways to bring the environments to life.

4. Explain how this will be developing your Specialist Practice?
This will help my specialist practice by enabling me to be able to successfully create environments for games and go through the entire process for this from concept to design to creation which will be nice to eventually see. I believe that areas from other modules that I've worked on will really help in aiding the creation of the levels and help bring them to life which is something that I really want to work on, along with bringing a sense of animation into them as well.

5. Resources and Workshops
What do you need and by When?
The only resource that I will need is assess to a computer.

6. Will you be working on a group project or brief?
( If YES explain )
This will no doubt be a stand alone project but there may be aspects of it that require help from other people for example concept art, or in game music and sound effects.

7. Are there any stakeholders in your project?
If YES, explain who they are and what their responsibilities are? - This is essential if you've got a Live Brief from a client
None as of yet.

8. What, where and when do you need to research. Begin to identify and artists, practitioners, companies or organisations that you will need to talk to. This could include getting to speak to people at conferences, events and other organisations.
I want to begin with looking at older games and what made them so popular and hope to get into contact with some of there original creators and then start looking into game remakes that have started to occur, as there have been many to come out this year, and look at what makes them so successful and stand out from the original.

9. Please identify at least 6 books, periodicals, websites or other media that may be informing your rationale. Please use Harvard referencing.
Various writers, (2013-14) Edge Magazine, Future Publishing
Schell, J. (2008) The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Elsevier Inc
Melissions, C. O'Rourke, P. (2012) The Art of Video Games: From Pac-Man to Mass Effect, New York: Welcome Books
Jenisch, J. (2008) The Art of the Video Game, Quirk Books
Ahern, L. (2008) 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds, Focal Press
Morris, D. Hartas, L (2004) The Art of Game Worlds, The Ilex Press Limited
Co, P. (2006) Level Design for Games: Creating Compelling Game Experiences