Inspirational Images to make a mood board for Cyber Club.

I enjoy cyber stuff, dark club atmosphere (Despite not ever going to a club or drinking or any social events really),  and LED lights, thus I making a list of images that I felt hit me with a wow feeling (or the feeling of awe and amazement) whilst searching the internet.

The modern day lacks the idea of sci-fi, and whilst yes some lighting and LED and such can be really silly and look less sci-fi and more stupid.

I never felt that arcades had the right atmosphere or aesthetic but this mood board will build up what I would call "A Cyber Club" however with the right changes could be a futuristic -Insert type of shop or location or such here-

Here we go:

Lighting of drinks, namely see in the dark drinks always seem so fun and cool, whilst never trying one (and most likely not too for a long time coming). The drink stands out and when atmosphere is dark it really contrasts.

ditto to above.

The drinks above are added due to the nature showing that drinks can be in many colours shapes and are not just something so simple; they can be really over the top with cream, or cherries or lemons...maybe even straws and umbrellas.  

Decorations like this stand out and can enlighten path ways they contrast background whilst also being solid and give off a light source, plus the fact this has water following in the centre meaning lighting may change but also helps glow much more.

... Ok yes a tad silly, the real reason I put this on here because the idea of a leader to a club, to be flashy what would he wear, this suit looks very close to a bathrobe but with lights, making it really a lazy club owner but is a set amount of sophistication about it.

Lighting, but more importantly crystals, the chandelier style does not fit a club, unless a ballroom style is added, however a flow down light lit with Led lights? That fits with the overall feel and glow.

Yes... A top hat. 

But again the reason was due to Sophistication whilst remaining sci-fi-ish and keeping dynamic feel to the club and it's owner.

Now I like Deadmau5, so the LED masks have always been something to amaze me.

The idea of a mask adds anonymity but with the lighting stands out, and if the mask has an music equalizer attach when speaking, then it makes the mask more dynamic and awe invoking. 

The style of this club room has a nice relaxing feel whilst also being bright enough to give a feeling of safety, but also is very Sophisticated.

I love this design because the strong out clashing lights from the bar having a pink/purple tint and the cooling colours within the club, it also shown from the two styles of lighting, hanging lights looking like Ice blocks, and Led spot lighting, really brings a bright contrast to the furniture. 

A Cyber crown... well more of a Ice crown, but if not the owner of the club wearing it, I can imagination the dress wear to be related to the scenery, maybe VIP's would wear such crowns with different colours to representing a personality.

The last few are lighting based and music Equalizers due to the spot light and pattern it casts, to the way the light is used to clash against the darkness within the club.

Now this one is an odd pick but it works if you change the colours, to different tones of cooling colours  and this being the tunnel into the club, whilst it could also be changed to be equalizers around the side however there is a lot of different things that can be changed here with the pictures above and all the pictures on the list but overall this is a inspirational mood board for some sci-fi things to draw back on.

References:

4.bp.blogspot.com, (2015). [online] Available at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttY02yI2_3tPyXNwtWefzS3NdAwWcptB3bG0Gnm1pPlbqBW3F0VYDNyDw6yO4ysLiPYSuK_zD55YkQBQHV2WbRPdvZbvBCfHyyrtQeFNO8VNehTwSiCmjDPq3zb88LVezHAOMWcMU-Nge/s1600/led+bar.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Cdn.trendhunterstatic.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://cdn.trendhunterstatic.com/thumbs/color-altering-led-crystal-ceiling-light.jpeg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Digitalproductionme.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.digitalproductionme.com/pictures/Robe%20Berlin%20Summer%20Rave%200248.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Dmdeejays.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.dmdeejays.com/images/revo_rave_fx2.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Enviral-design.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.enviral-design.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/eyePhoto.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Gobizkorea.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.gobizkorea.com/att/cat/teraled/tp_html/img/teraled_cat_1_large_img1_2.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

I.ytimg.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/q4jpFqHyCQs/hqdefault.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Litbimg.rightinthebox.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://litbimg.rightinthebox.com/images/384x384/201408/oghwgx1407122765724.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

S3.favim.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://s3.favim.com/orig/38/alcohol-booze-club-delicious-drink-Favim.com-314890.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

S3.favim.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://s3.favim.com/orig/47/alcohol-booze-club-delicious-drink-Favim.com-430973.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Scottkeneally.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://scottkeneally.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/url.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

S-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com, (2015). [online] Available at: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/63/76/1b/63761b0be85048a2c1acc5bfd41a4c1e.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Todayandtomorrow.net, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/kabaret1.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Waterfallnow.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://waterfallnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bubble-wall.jpg [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015].

Pixelh8 Talk: Social media, marketing, and more!

On 16/03/15 we had a talk held by Matthew C. Applegate (better known online as "Pixelh8") and he talked about a large amounts of different industries he has worked with and different ways he has self promoted to get his music and his brand out into the world of music media, and other entertainment.

He spoke about different techniques to help get you out there such as:

• Blogging(Hence why I'm talking about this)
• Networking from friends
• Sending out review copies for free (If they are free to take and not forcing a charge of a review)
• Speaking to everyone and anyone who you work with and letting them know, Who you are? What you do? and How you are needed? (from any and everyone has skills and contacts to help learn or spread the word from)
• Taking business cards and giving (BUT Taking is more impotent cause of the next step)
• Emailing and questioning (Gaining more information from a direct source help you out a lot)

The list can be expanded more and more into social engineering skills and techniques but the main question I want to pose and talk about was:

"How do you contain the brand of "Pixelh8" and you with in self promotion, do you keep them both working as different brands or do you link them? Creating an echo chamber of promotion to help spread word and mouth?"

The response I got was handy and shows creativity though a network and how as an overall you can work things to help give you more views and be seen more.

Pixelh8 is a character, and so you have to set them apart to keep them contained (*On a side note this helps promote as really you have more brands and really can be seen from two sides now*) but using a character has to act in a certain way

(This is not a direct quote but is my understanding side of the conversation)

But this can be applied to every and all forms of media, and game design can really be out of the box when it comes to gamification; Meaning so much more can be done to make everything more entertaining with a form of media mashing.

Your ideas are your value, if a companies want your ideas then it has value and it should be first valued by yourself if you want to give this idea up, or work on it for yourself.

Remember you are the Self, and people want you not as a person, but as a construct of an asset to their list.

David Parlett and race games

David Parlett creator of hare and tortoise board game held a workshop lesson recently and made us think about a large form of race game, and it got me thinking in different ways much like how Popcap have game use a chaining mechanic to contently give rewards could a race game do the same thing whilst giving players behind a feel they still have a chance of winning the game.

I drove into 3 other questions from the workshop lesson are race games still needed in a way we know them today?
Are players fully in control of a race game?
and finally, Is it possible to have a fully supported three player game with the game revolving three player all having to race each other and the mechanic be balanced for all players whilst having a variation on each play from who plays as what part in the game.

I will attempt at answering the questions above during the studies and as I gain more information.

I made a video based on the workshop for my own personal youtube series that can be found here

List of words to pick and mix, Innovate and discover!

This blog is just a components of lots of different transitive and intransitive verbs to pick and match to make a game.

This list will increase as words are discovered and after doing so research how to use the verbs correctly.

agnize , abduct, accredit, abort, diminish, debark, debleat, deculturize, degenderize, falsify, firk, flash, objurgate, gesture,gladden,govern,kamikaze,lactify,lavish,leverage

References

En.wiktionary.org, (2015). Category:English transitive verbs - Wiktionary. [online] Available at: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_transitive_verbs [Accessed 17 Feb. 2015].

The unexpected public game: Pervasive Games

Ok here is a topic I been wanting to type up about for a long time in some kind of video or blog but now I will be able to talk about Pervasive games and Alternate reality games (ARGs, not to however be confused with augmented reality games).

So pervasive games and alternate reality games are game are games that over lap into real world and to no single location such as when playing a board game it is only to the board, or when playing on console or pc it is kept to a single room, whilst the games I will be talking about today are amazing in the fact they break down this wall of single focus, as the game is played outside and sometimes even all over the world.

Let's start with Pervasive games, and look at the example given in the lesson we had on it, A game known as "Killer/Assassin".

Killer/Assassin is a funny game much like all pervasive games as it requests a certain amount of thinking as you play , you are an undercover assassin, using tools like weapons, bombs or even poison to find your target and eliminate them, but this elimination can take place anywhere other then sanctums and if you are skilled enough you can get them without them knowing in till the last second.

To play Killer you have ton give some basic information before you start like photo, name, possible and address and if the game is ran in studies such as college or university, then possibly even the course you are in. This info is past on to the one hunting you down, (other than things like phone numbers) so the hunter has a starting point in finding and killing you.

Your target can be anyone and the person hunting you could be anyone too!


"Killer/Assassin" is a popular and well know pervasive game that strongly breaks the wall of play from in a single location to anywhere, meaning the game can take days, months, even years with skilled players. The game probably derives from a short story called "The Seventh Victim" with a simile themes to the game.

The game has many different rules however a book was published called "Killer: The Game of Assassination" and is the main used rule set for this pervasive game. Whilst I could talk about Killer all day, some would like to more about this Alternate reality games topic I spoke about at the top of this blog and by god I need to speak about this so let's jump into alternate reality games!

Alternate reality games are a hidden game between the worlds of business, technology and life, the three worlds for a day, month, maybe three months, will merge together to make a game which will bring in millions of people with all sorts of skills, mathematics, language, medical skills, sporting fitness, and computer coders.
...but the game never has any rules, and never states it's a game.
To quote extra credits's Dan "...Because they never admit to a game, they can get away with offer up puzzles that would be considered by most designers as far too difficult to ask of a standard game audience..." This opens a world we have never seen before in till you see it, and even till you play it, I have spent too long searching down forms and websites and all the clues just to find someone already found that, but the rush of trying to find new things or the next link or a bridge across a problem that the players are having, is marvellous.

So let's type up some named examples and leave you to explore, cause this topic i don't want to spoil but i want to enlighten you on how many games you have missed over the years, that you could have joined into, for free, just by using you computer and a lot of time.

Augmented reality games list: The Beast, Year Zero, I love Bees , Why So Serious , Slusho!, Camdrome (A still running ARG that nobody can truly understand,) ,Cloud Chamber , Escape from god of the New world, World without Oil, and last but not least one I will have to spoil as no official name was given but "Portal 2's ARG" however I normally call this one Potatos = Potato + DOS
Ingress is another good one to look at but only if you have time as this links an ARG to a smart phone game.

I will recommend diving into forums or wikis searching up the names or info and seeing if you can find what some of them are linked to, you would be surprised on the amount of stories there are online.

And now I jump onto the sad news, ARG's are rare and far, but the pervasive games are even rarer, if you don't have a group to play with or the knowledge of the game, you can never play, in August 2010 a game by the name of StreetWars in london was halted and stop due to the use of water guns, and possible threat the game could have caused to the public, being called "irresponsible" however this is why the games are becoming not only rarer, but also more and more hidden and cryptic.

But diving down is just so fun!

68747470733a2f2f7777772e6d7973746572696f75737061636b6167652e636f6d2f

Have fun!

Bibliography:

Andersen, M. (2015). ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network. [online] ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network. Available at: http://www.argn.com/ [Accessed 24 Jan. 2015].

reddit, (2008). Alternate Reality Games • /r/ARG. [online] Available at: http://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/ [Accessed 24 Jan. 2015].

Whysoseriousredux.com, (2015). Why So Serious? Redux. [online] Available at: http://www.whysoseriousredux.com/ [Accessed 24 Jan. 2015].

Escape Senet: Co-op or die edition

Today we looked at Games Britannia part 2 and how the industrial era change games for politics, and money making style of game like buy squares on a board or moving around the board not as a race but as a positive feedback loop.

However instead of playing one of the industrial games we then looked at a game called escape Senet, in which the game adds another element, a player as the monster as they race to eat up the other 2 players.

The game makes player co-operation as the player can stack and team up with the other player to move along the place and abandon pieces (Which is only handy if the monster next turn as you can abandon a player into the line of attack meaning they have one less piece to get to the end and making your chances higher of winning however you also need to make sure it's a number less then a set amount eaten otherwise the monster wins making the game balanced more dynamic to the players cooperation and if they are willing to draw, rush for it, or attempt to block each other whilst a monster chases them down).

Early on in the game it seems to be a thing of picking if you would co-operate with the other player or be against them as the game really moved faster with team work, and players "piggy backing" on other players moves to get everyone moving.

The game people seemed to give the though that the monster was too over-powered or when playing impossible to win.
This changes depending on the players and how they co-operate or block each other for the monster to catch up.

This dynamic may not have been what was intended however it a good attempt and experiment with co-operational play that does not reward you for trying to beat your opponent, and by making sure you work in some way together to get a draw, rather then making the "monster" win.

Tablut: A game in which surrounding the king improbable

Tablut is a tafl game with a board that is 9 by 9 or 11 by 11(called Tawl Bwrdd)18 by 18(Alea Evangelii).

The game as two players with white or black, white has to protect the king and get him to the corners (or edge depending on the version of the rules you play) and black have capture the king by surrounding him.This makes the game compelling from the idea of movement on the board however king will more likely win then lose due to 1 piece movement and how you are forced as black to get 4 pieces around, when I say you can win with nothing but a king due to the movement style of rooks from chess, because of this the king can run away unless boxed into 2 or 3 boxes and then crushed slowly by the black team.

Whilst the game is meant to be fast paced, I think it would be better without a time limit as the game is trying to make pure strategy while playing as blacks, white can only move to retaliate what black does or does not move, meaning the game is over as soon as one or the other makes a simple mistake without seeing so in till 2 or 3 turns later when the move then makes you kick yourself into a corner in which you can be taken from.

The game is asymmetric and shows with the piece as the game gives more value to the king however the king counts just as much as another piece unlike in chess, where a king can do exactly what any other piece can do, so cornering can be just as hard (if not harder) then moving the king to the corner (or edge).