Misc Doodles and Wisdom of Architecture School

I recently received the news that I got into Brunel University to study my masters in Digital Games: Theory and Design. Surely, it is no wonder I am beyond excited to begin!

Thinking about going back to university I remembered all those moleskins I filled during my architecture course at the Canterbury School of Architecture, UCA. Aside from all the building sketches and perspective lines, movement studies and plans, I'd often sketch things that were not exactly architecture, but were not exactly anything else either. Simply knowledge and experiences collected during the three years in Canterbury. Here are a few.

But the truly dearest is the back page of the moleskin, where a few friends decided it would be great to leave their own signatures.

Perhaps its wishful thinking but I like to think I'm not exactly leaving architecture. Having done three years of it, it has heavily shaped the way I approach game design and I will continue to sketch, analyse and create from the architecture around me.

Adventuring through Morocco

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”  - Augustine of Hippo

When I was a pre-teen my parents would talk about how privileged my sister and I were for living in so many European countries. My parents didn't leave Spain until they were 18. I complained that I would turn 18 and I would have never left Europe. I am 21 now and tomorrow I will be flying to Marrakech, Morocco, Africa.

If you would like to follow my travels, you can do so here: travelthestory.blogspot.com

Passages at the Ateneo of Madrid

Sculptures by Ulla Haga. Paintings by Erica Fromme
Photographed by me.

Calderón de la Barca and Velázquez believed that artists were intellectuals to be treated with respect. After three days of socialising with magnificently inspirational artist in Madrid, I cannot see how anyone could think any other way.

I originally went to the capital as moral support for my mother, Rosa Mascarell-Dauder, who co-curated with Trevisan International an exhibition at the heart of Madrid. Artists from all over the world had sent boxes of paintings and sculptures to her and my father's apartment to the point where navigating the living-room was a task for Theseus and Ariadne. A few transports to the exhibition hall later and I was soon talked into being the event's photographer and hired as a translator for next day's tour of Madrid.

Rosa (Mother), Rosario, Paola and Borja (Father) unpacking artwork at the venue.

After days of unpacking and whitewashing and fixing lights, everything culminated with a congregation of great thinkers at the exhibition opening. Essays could be written on how inspirational not just the minds behind the artworks were but the people standing behind the artists too. I will not attempt to condense the genious and say, if you are in Madrid, swing by the Ateneo and contemplate their magnificent artwork.

The artists.

As for the tour of Madrid, did you know the Calle del León is called that way because a man used to keep a lion on that street as an exotic pet and let people see it for some coins?

___ in [ ___ ] Development

You can replace the  ___  in [ ___ ] Development with nearly anything. Space, game, historial, scientific, personal...

I wrote the title for this blog in the middle of my architecture course at a time of doubt. It was around when I was creating the UCA Engineers club because I missed sitting in my further maths class solving away at mechanics problems or when I picked up a bit of programming because of the fascinating things you can do with computers and robotics or philosophising with Samuel Lowe because of everything new I learned when we did.

Only one thing has been very clear to me since the beginning: I want to push things forward. So think of this as a bit of a disclaimer for this blog. I am not a master, simply an overly eager mind making sense of the information and problems that she stumbles upon.

New Studio and Rosetation

 
Galaxy Rise Games now has a studio!  Beginning of this month Adrian May and I moved to Gandía, Spain to fully dedicate our time to the Oculus Rift. A few paellas and beach days later our equipment arrived and we are set and ready to work.

Before working on our main game, Adrian and I have created Rosetation, now in its testing phase. In July I mentioned a little something I wanted to try out for the Oculus Rift based on observations of Proton Pulse and other sensations of height and speed. This game has evolved and we are now making it for the VR Jam.

Rosetation being my first start to finish game, there were many times where I felt like I had been dropped in a maze of freezing cold water and left to figure things out. With perseverance and guidance from Adrian things worked out and honestly, it feels amazing. A lot of lessons have been learned and the prospect of how much more I still have to explore is truly exciting!

I spent the majority of these three weeks:
+ Writing up and explaining the game, its mechanics, levels and concepts to Adrian.
+ Modelling and texturing the assets in Maya.
+ Discovering displacement mapping, how awesome it looks and how Unity doesn't support it.
+ Setting up assets in Unity ready to be programmed.
+ Fidddling with the scene's lighting to get the right environment. 
+ Discussing technical problems with Adrian and researching solutions.
+ Reading and editing code to improve gameplay based on observation and feedback.

Though the VR Jam is ending soon, I will be playing with this game a bit more and keep on testing.

People Inside the Oculus Rift

Owning an Oculus Rift means that people start gathering around it to play. Here are a series of what our afternoons usually look like.

Becky exploring the garden.

Eve in engineering.

Will, Adrian and Stanley (playing) in Proton Pulse.

Eve, Alex, Becky, Adrian and Holly (playing) in Blue Marble.

The engine wing of Indefatigable modelled by Innes Blomberg.

Oculus Rift, Post University and Proton Pulse

After my recent graduation from university, I've been spending most of my hours toying with this device, the Oculus Rift. In a team of four we are developing games for the new virtual reality.

Current workstation: a wall of computer screens.

Owning an oculus also means playing it a whole lot. I've explored underwater, seen the earth from space and had everyone in Half-Life 2 stare me straight into the eye. So far my favourite of all VR games has been Proton Pulse. I've beaten the giant face boss about four times by now and had friends play it many more.

Alex playing Proton Pulse in the Rift.

 
There are lot of things that game does right with the Oculus Rift:

1. No walking means no stillness illness. A huge problem with the Oculus is the nauseating feeling of your eyes telling you you're moving when your body isn't. By simply not having to walk, this uncalibrated sensation is no problem at all.
2. Space perception as a game mechanic. What the Oculus does really well is the perception of space and depth. When you are in a tunnel, you feel like you are actually in one. So when Proton Pulse places its blocks further and closer away, you can tell the distance it is from you and react accordingly. (Also when they decide to twist the tunnel it is awe-striking.)
3. The Oculus as the controller, looking as the game mechanic. The thing about 3D space is that you can tell when an object is flying straight towards your face. By simply looking at it, you bring the paddle up to stop it from hitting you. Simple, intuitive, no explanations needed.
4. Unrealistic realism. Another problem with the first Developer Kit version of the Oculus Rift is the wire mesh sensation. Due to the screen not being in HD, realism is shattered through pixels. Proton Pulse doesn't try to look real, it sits happily in an 80's world of pulsing and pixelated lights that through it's consistency becomes immersive.

Let's not forget the amazing music of Proton Pulse that keeps you on your feet and dancing with the Oculus.

Based on these observations I have decided to work on a little side project in Unity with the help of Adrian May. It is a first person SuperHexagon type game where you must escape closing in walls. Five minutes into building it we found the walls made really cool patterns when viewed from above.

A lot of my hours are now spent building models for the main game and I'll be keeping this blog updated on my side of the ups and downs. The Oculus Rift is an amazing piece of technology and what is even cooler than jumping in VR is to be a part of its construction.