Motivation and Time Management

“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” Arthur C. Clarke.

Some inspirational and powerful words there. Made me think actually, how we can push ourselves to test our limits, bit like being a thrill seeker. So why do we need motivation? We work towards a desired goal/s for achievements.

From studies involving over 6000 people, Professor Steven Reiss proposed a theory that there are 16 basic desires that guide almost all human behaviour thus being motivated. The desires are:
• Acceptance, the need for approval
• Curiosity, the need to think
• Eating, the need for food, survival
• Independence, the need for individuality
• Order, the need for organised, stable, predictable environments
• Physical Activity, the need for exercise
• Power, the need for influence of will
• Romance, the need for sex
• Saving, the need to collect
• Social contact, the need for friends (peer relationships)
• Status, the need for social standing/importance
• Tranquility, the need to be safe
• Vengeance, the need to strike back
• Family, the need to raise children
• Honor, the need to be loyal to the traditional values of one's clan/ethnic group
• Idealism, the need for social justice

I’m sure we can all relate to most of the points there. All these aspects are part of happiness, self-satisfaction and survival for humans. Without them, we would be ‘cabbaged.’ It’s what makes the human mind interesting with the way we think.

Another useful quote for motivation is by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
“Self –trust is the first secret of success.”

Guess you need something to look forward to in order to get the ultimate motivation and ask yourself why you’re doing what you are.

And if we learn how to trust ourselves first, we become more motivated, as the success leads to achievements thus making ourselves feel happy. Just like console games, why are so many people motivated to constantly play them or chose this activity rather than coursework? Examples I can relate to are the game “Left for Dead” and “Grand Theft Auto” which have achievement and trophy systems as do other games. As soon as you complete a task or earn something, you gain a reward of an achievement or trophy and get a higher rank above other people, which becomes the reason why I’m motivated to carry on playing. This relates to the “status, need for social importance” desire. Also, playing “Left 4 Dead” gives me adrenalin rushes with the zombie hordes and unpredictable nature of the game.

Furthermore, if something is of great importance or interest for someone, we automatically use it as a motivational tool, no mater what it is. For example, it could be a person that drives you to achieve what you want and pleasing them.

Music is also a key tool that motivates me. I need it as it focuses my mind to the work. The rhythm of the music is everything. The best type of music I work to is drum and base/electronic such as Pendulum because I will work faster due to the rapid pace of the music.

Another motivator is having something to look forward to. For example, I made a promise to myself that I won’t buy the Xbox until sufficient work is done, however during this time, other aspects distract me anyway and it’s almost unavoidable.

Evil aspects that distract me the most are Facebook (what a killer of time, but horribly addictive!), PS3, going out, television and depressing experiences.

The one I’m most disappointed in myself for is watching television. In reality, all we’re doing is staring at a box with a light in it wasting away time. In the time I spend watching TV with pointless shows, I could be drawing, reading, sculpting and generally doing anything productive. I hope to learn from this so from now on so I limit myself to the occasional movie, as I find many very inspirational. For example, I watched “Avatar” in the cinemas the other week and found the general concept amazing. The movie really does send a message to the viewer about what we’re doing to this planet with technology and selfish desires. The movie cleverly draws in a wide target audience to create awareness. I also found the use of bright, saturated colours inspirational and how they we’re combined and used. This will definitely reflect on the aesthetic aspect of the work I produce.

“You will never ‘find’ time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” Charles Bruxton.

How true this quote is. Achieving the amount of work you want is about finding the time to do it which means avoiding distractions. Time itself doesn’t really exist, it’s just something us humans created to form organisation, routine and order in this world. We as humans are animals that instinctively want to live how we want, when we want, but with time, we are in a set routine. Think about it, animals don’t go looking at the clock to check the time, unless it’s the ‘White Rabbit.’ If I could, I would live life as if there was no time to live around.

I admit, time management isn’t one of my strengths. I really suck at it! I’ve tried to make a timetable to organise my time, before but I can never keep it up. Something will interfere. I’ll end up doing something else last minute such as go out or play the PS3 when I shouldn’t be. And what really discourages me is the set amount of time we should be putting into our work because I know I’m not doing as much as I should be, therefore this ends up demotivating and slowing down the production of work.

I know we should be working hours like a full time job, but we’re only human (no, I’m not using it as an excuse) and depending on different people, we are guaranteed to have depressing and unproductive days and we all work at different paces. We’re not machines that have no emotion or feelings. Obstacles in life are always going to be there to demotivate the mind to think “what’s the point?”

My problem is I keep telling myself that I have plenty of time to do the work, there’s always tomorrow right? WRONG. This continuous cycle leads me to do the work last minute and panic. But the weird thing is, this “panic” turns into an adrenalin rush and I all of a sudden start working twice as fast, but not rush the work and end up with some good final outcomes of work but of course I don’t produce sufficient amount of work.

I noticed that from the diary of what we did for a week, I found the typical distractions on there were the PS3, facebook, going out drinking and DVDs. But the blank hours where I did absolutely nothing was me spending the time literally sitting there collecting my thoughts and thinking about life. As my friends know I tend to drift off into my own world and I know it is not practical, but I can’t avoid it, I just do it. I suppose I need something to fill that void that makes me wonder off?

Next term I really need to get my act together and buckle down with the work as soon as it is set. I need to avoid these silly distractions, focus on what motivates me, filter out what demotivates and just get on with the work. The thought of failing continuously worries me.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: 'No Russian'

CoD 'No Russian' Mission
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxdZyGGE3T8&feature=related

Following on from the talk we had with Chris today, the clip of the ‘No Russian’ mission from ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ where an undercover detective, pretending to be a terrorist in Moscow airport really stood out. The detective must work with real terrorists and shoot innocent civilians in an attack or blow his cover and be shot himself. This controversial mission has been banned from various countries from its immoral and shocking content.

Before the mission starts, a “Disturbing Content Notice” is displayed warning players that they may find the mission offensive, therefore they have the option to skip the mission at any time.

The mission is there because Activision chose a brave step to publish this and went out of the boundaries that other games have stayed within. The mission is described as ‘sickening and disturbing,’ but isn’t that the whole point? The gamer is supposed to be hesitant when pulling the trigger to understand the character’s situation and understand what they are feeling.

I don’t understand what the big deal is about when other games such as Grand Theft Auto contain unethical content as innocent civilians also die due to your actions in some missions such as the bank robbery. After all, there’s also an endless list of movies that we see unethical behaviour in.

It depends on the individual player’s moral beliefs and mentality to come to the conclusion of whether this is wrong in a game or not. The game is meant for mature adults and at the end of the day, playing the game, causes no harm to anyone physically; it’s just informing us of what’s happening in this world.

This is just the beginning...

It’s incredible how fast this year has gone by, maybe because it isn’t a “full” year but overall I have enjoyed the first year with the course, the people I have met and learning new skills. My confidence has increased a lot in this year compared to my college days. I guess university changes part of who you are and provides experience to find yourself.

I particularly enjoyed the experiences I have encountered. I now know you have to go out there in the world and find what influences you to be creative. Books and pictures are not as useful as experiencing places first hand. Stepping out of the university boundaries would allow us to expand our horizons and drive our innovative ideas and in the next two years, hard work, passion and determination will be the key to success.

I don’t think we did enough traditional art in the first year of this course as technology has once again taken over. So introducing more traditional art in the second year would be a useful idea as there is a key trend of traditional art skills required in the gaming industry. This practice will have a domino effect with the rest of the work. If the skills in traditional art are improved, then the 3D work and digital paint will flourish.

In 3 Years Time?

By the end of this course, I really hope to get a job in either games or the film industry (preferably games) and I will do whatever it takes to get there. One thing I hate is giving up and I won’t be doing that any time soon.

I deliberate what I’ve been taught and apply it to my own learning processes. When I first started using 3D Max at the beginning of the year, like many others, I hadn’t a clue what to do but then I used what I had been taught to explore the program and now I know how to use the program effectively straight from trial and error and I hope to do this with all my work in the next 2 years.

In order to get where you want to be, you have to adapt to the needs of the industry by following the key qualifications and requirements from an early stage of learning.

I am a keen person with problem solving. If a problem occurs, I think about a solution to solve it rather than leave the problem to inflate, which I do when critiquing others and my own work.

Life Changing or Career Building?

Liberal arts colleges mould students to relate to general knowledge and develop the student’s rational thought and intellectual capabilities. To be honest, I think liberal arts colleges are there to give students common sense and logic. A degree is almost like a guide into the gaming industry, a rather useful one but you don’t necessarily need a one to obtain the qualities needed for the gaming industry. Both do provide a valid and fulfilling experience to students in their own way but I have only gained experienced from learning through a degree since I haven’t attended any liberal arts colleges.

Looking at job vacancies for game companies, in order to get the job, I discovered a key trend in the requirements. The applicant must have experience and logic. The words: ‘passion, enthusiasm, problem solving, team working and work within deadlines’ appeared in almost every job requirements.

Evan Hirsch, head of Acme Animotion Group (Hoboken, NJ), a firm specializing in providing 3D design and support for industrial design and animations states: "I want to see the basics: sketching, portfolio examples that show me how the student thinks and understands light, form, and function. I don't want to see a lot of slick computer graphics that don't show me anything; I'm after good fundamental skills."

There is no right answer for this one; in the end, it all depends on the individual applying for the job. It is down to their passionate work, motivation and drive that determine whether they qualify for the industry.

Sound for Games

Nowadays, without sound, there would be no game. Well, there would, but it would be a somewhat crap game. I know there are games that are still epic when played without sound like ‘Tetris,’ but with high consumer expectations and progression of technology, sound is a very important aspect to games that determine their overall experience.

Sound used in ‘Tekken’ makes each character unique to give them personality and background. In ‘Tekken Tag,’ the character named ‘Unknown’ has a stage soundtrack that suits her well. This character is under the control of an evil spirit in the form of a wolf and the composed music fits perfectly.

‘Unknown’ stage soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5D8ljM0Q_E

An example of a game where the sound effects and music have a lasting effect on the player is in ‘Left 4 Dead.’ As you shoot the infected in this first hand player game, you may encounter a witch and the game warns you when you are approaching her with creepy music that becomes louder as you get closer. And what really created the eerie atmosphere is the disturbing witch’s crying sound effect with the backing music. Sound is a warning of on-coming danger in this game and creates tension. If the game is played on mute your character is as good as dead.

Left 4 Dead Witch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHD8tLvoDww&feature=related

Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards composition 'Good Times' signalled the start of the take-off of hip hop music, and the song contributed to the success of the Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight,’ the first-ever hip hop record. It was this same song, with Edwards’ catchy bassline that influenced Queen's John Deacon to write the hit, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ in 1980. ‘Good Times’ is a prominent recording but I can’t say if it was the most influential recording of the 20th Century since I haven’t heard enough ‘influential’ music in that time to judge.

Game Engines

Ok this is a rather tedious blog and I have no idea how to make it interesting but here it is...

A game engine is the software intended to create and develop video games. With game engines, functions such as rendering for 2D or 3D graphics and collision detection are used.
Furthermore, game engines also provide the use of: animation, sound, networking scripting, artificial intelligence and memory management all of which are needed to make the game as realistic as possible.

Additive and subtractive environments relates to the way which the 3D world in games are created. Where the player can interact with the surroundings in a game, the ‘world’ is everything which the player can see and the type of environment determines what is outside of the world.

Additive environments consist of a void, empty area. When an element is created such as a room, a space within the void is sealed off to create the area for the room. This may be a hollow cube shape. In order to create landscape with the sky, the terrain, buildings and trees are designed first then the scene is surrounded by a ‘skybox’ which is a large hollow box with the inside showing the sky. The hollow shapes must keep the void out as the world and void must be separated. A hole in the world is a “leak.”

The 3D engine ‘LithTech’ used additive environments to create ‘Alien vs. Predator.’

In a subtractive environment, there is no void. Instead, before a world is created, there is only an infinite solid. The world is created by subtracting sections from the infinite solid, thus creating hollow spaces for the player to exist in. There are less likely to be leaks in the world this way.

The additive environment is easier to manipulate so some designers may work their way around the subtractive style of editing by subtracting a large cube, for example, then creating a void in the middle of the large cube (infinite solid) then working in the middle of the (fake) void.

The 3D engine ‘The Unreal Engine’ uses subtractive environment which created ‘Unreal Tournament and Deus Ex.’

An advantage into buying proprietary technology is that it is a way of gaining more income. For example, Unreal Engine 3 has given a licensing agreement to EA games. However, the disadvantage to this is that EA plans to modify the engine and if the turnout of their games are not successful, Unreal Engine 3 may lose reputation, therefore losing the chance to licence to other gaming companies.

Next generation games now have the challenge of successfully meeting consumer demand and expectations. There has been a vast improvement in games with graphics and gameplay being very realistic, but how far can consumer anticipations go?