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As of my freshman year, I will be posting content centered around a certain topic. You can expect my blog posts to feature well-written sentences.
Brady Bryan
Modifications are extremely common in the video game community. Some people will even just purchase a specific game to play it with mods since they enhance the user's experience with custom fan-made details. Mods come in different shapes and sizes, so to speak. They can be as small as a custom UI or small cosmetic, or they can be as large as to completely alter the look, playstyle, and feel of a game. Mario, Pokemon, and Sonic all possess several iterations of mods that overwrite the original game's code. Despite this, mods have been subject to controversy, as some games that can run mods require a dump of the game to be modified. A dump is exactly what it sounds like: a dump of the game that contains every file that makes up the game, essentially creating a copy of the game that is both modifiable and playable. In other words, this is tan-amount to piracy. Such corporations like Nintendo are cracking down on this as they are the main victim of this, especially with the 3DS and Switch. This stems from a whole other subject known as "hacking," in which one exploits a console through multiple methods, allowing the user to have full control over their system while also running the risk of bricking the console (rendering it absolutely inoperable, thus making it as useful as a brick) and/or getting banned indefinitely. Other times, games such as Minecraft and Skyrim openly invite their player base to have fun with modding their games. Skyrim includes a mod menu in the base game from which you can download community-made mods, which is a very nice touch. Minecraft simply allows easy installation without anything remotely illegal or controversial, thus enhancing the game's creativity. In short, mods are fun, but with great power comes great responsibility. Recap:
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Brady Bryan
Since the past two decade, video game companies are beginning to require consumers to pay for an online membership in order to access online multiplayer as well as a handful of perks. However, the effectiveness of modern memberships appear to be slowly decreasing as the high prices boasting terrible incentives such as free games that came out two or more years ago and ineffectively moderated online servers for Triple-A such as Black Ops 4, along with deals that typically save you around two dollars during the duration of your membership. No one likes to pay for these services, but we do it anyway with the sole intent of being able to play online. For example, Playstation's "PS+ (PS Plus)" membership's prices range from $10 per month to $60 per year (365 days). That being said, the best option for getting the most bang for your buck is to opt for the 12-month subscription. With this in mind, the official page for the online memberships boast about "access to exclusive online features," "price cuts of up to 75% on tons of great games," "1GB of online storage," and "automatic game updates." While these are great things to have, automatic game updates shouldn't be something that requires money, and paying for one gigabyte of online storage is made pointless when one could just use an external USB or hard drive collecting dust in their drawer. That being said, the only real reason to get PS Plus is for online play and (to some extent) the PlayStation Store deals. Unfortunately, you only paid for an online service, not a quality online service. Nintendo's far cheaper online service suffers from this greatly as well. Games played online are typically laggy from the amount of people using the servers. Despite this, you would think that they would optimize their servers to create a more pleasurable experience considering that you paid for it. When it comes down to it, online services are never necessary, but if you want to get the most out of your games or even play with your friends online, you will have to account for the borderline garbage online service with a bunch of novelties tacked onto it. It's unlikely that video game companies will cater to us more than they already are as these decisions come from a business standpoint. Recap:
Source: Brady Bryan
Recently, we have started to get into the nitty-gritty of utilizing 3DS Max in applicable ways with the use of MassFX and particle systems. However, none of this would have been possible without gaining a deep understanding for the essentials: base knowledge. From learning what primitives are and how parameters work to applying various modifiers and adding forces and daylight systems, we have come quite a long way. The most interesting tools we have learned thus far to me in general are the tools we recently learned, primarily MassFX, forces, and particle systems. All three of these tools simulate real-world physics, which is an important feature to consider when creating assets for a video game as it is not only reminiscent of the real world and simply looks good, but it also prevents certain objects from looking static and stale. As we are given more assignments, we will most likely be expected to make our scenes appear more realistic and less solid and simple. As a result, we will not only have to implement other types of tools into our scenes, but several at one time. Other tools that I enjoyed using were the Hair and Fur modifier and the foliage AEC Extended Primitive. As the name suggests, the Hair and Fur modifier allows you to generate different types of hair, fur, and even grass while changing the height, placement, and color of them on a specific surface. The foliage primitive allows the user to generate different types of trees, bushes, and other shrubbery while changing the scale and seed (a number that dictates the overall look and orientation of the foliage). As we continue to use 3DS Max, I hope to create more realistic and interesting scenes which incorporate new tools. Recap:
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AuthorBrady Bryan is quite familiar with blogs since he had to frequently post on his blog in 6th grade. Although its been a long time since then, he still knows what a proper blog should look like. Archives
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