Monthly Archives: February 2016

Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 3, Study

Video Impressions, WIT, , , , ,

The format of this piece will be a description of Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 3 with a to scale time line with emotion sections plotted with the following Key, where High Emotions are plotted below the time line (black line) and Low Emotions are plotted above.

Following this there will be a number of pie charts in the following format. Pie charts on the left are Totals of the scene, and pie charts on the right are Screen Time. Lastly the raw data for this scene will be presented in the form of a table.

Follow this link to the main entry for this article series.

Spoiler Alert! You’ve been warned!

With that out of the way lets begin! (A video of the scene is at the end of the post if you wish to watch it first!)

Scene Three

Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 3 starts with a mangled ball of steel bathed in blood (25) and dead silence except the sound of dripping blood. It’s a big change from the previous scene, and is a shock into a short section of Horror.
bloody_structure

We move onto a shot of Kurama, his back stained with a bloody hand print left by Lucy (26), reminding us of her. Perhaps viewers might wonder what kind of relationship do they have? Why didn’t she kill him? Is it a mark of shame?

Continue reading Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 3, Study →

Shogun 2s User Interface, A Study

Design, Game Impressions, Projects, WIT, , , , ,

The purpose of this project is to further my understanding of good UI design by studying various elements of Shogun 2s User Interface (UI) used in its Sengoku Jidai Campaign Map.

This post will serve to discuss the Campaign Maps UI layout, and be an index post in a multi-post project of non comprehensive personal observations of Shogun 2s User Interface.

Disclaimer: The User Interface (UI) is not quite in its Vanilla form due to having the Steam mod by Radious installed at the time of the study.

Shogun 2s User Interface Screenshot
Shogun 2 Campaign UI

The focus of this piece will be mostly on the 2-D elements of the interface such as menus, tabs, pop-up, and icons NOT the ‘3-D’ campaign map itself. So lets start with the general layout of the the Campaign User Interface.

General Layout

We can abstract Shogun 2s User Interface into an approximate layout with the following areas:

Shogun 2s User Interface General Layout
Interface Layout – Not to Scale
  • Dark Blue – Help and Options.
  • Green – Screen Center.
  • Light Blue – Map Lists.
  • Orange – ‘Selection’ Dial.
  • Pink – Description Popup area.
  • Purple – ‘Selection’ Banner.
  • Red – Map and Global effects.
  • Yellow – Management Dial.

Continue reading Shogun 2s User Interface, A Study →

Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 2, Study

Video Impressions, WIT, , , , ,

The format of this piece will be a description of Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 2 with a to scale time line with emotion sections plotted with the following Key, where High Emotions are plotted below the time line (black line) and Low Emotions are plotted above.

Following this there will be a number of pie charts in the following format. Pie charts on the left are Totals of the scene, and pie charts on the right are Screen Time. Lastly the raw data for this scene will be presented in the form of a table.

Follow this link to the main entry for this article series.

Spoiler Alert! You’ve been warned!

With that out of the way lets begin! (A video of the scene is at the end of the post if you wish to watch it first!)

Scene Two

Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 2 starts off with an atmospheric section to relieve us of the previous Low Scene (1). It does this with several methods including:

  • Sound – Wind, birds, running water, and the rustle of trees.
  • Music – Light string background music that is sweet yet melancholy.
  • Color – Lots of light, bright colors, and plenty of contrast. Green foliage, blue water, and sky appear a good deal in the first section, as well pink blossom trees and their petals as high lights. The use of these colors help add life to the plain grey concrete.
Episode 1 Scene 2 Time Line
Episode 1 Scene 2 Time Line

As a small aside, its worth noting the contrast in crafting between the cold, lifeless and deadly silent environment of the the previous scene, and this scene which is full of light and life.

Continue reading Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 2, Study →

Rick and Morty – Cartoon Watch

Video Impressions, WIT, , ,

One day surfing the web, watching videos on a great Youtube channel called Wisecrack. I came across a video discussing the philosophy of a show called Rick and Morty. Piquing my interest I decided to give the show a chance.

Rick and Morty is an adult animated television series created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Adult Swim, and it hasn’t disappointed. I’m happy I watched Wisecracks video beforehand as it gave me a deeper appreciation for the show, particularly regarding the exploration of Lovecraft’s Cosmic Horror.

Rick and Morty Logo

Adult Swim has renewed Rick and Morty for a third season. Hopefully it will be out sooner than the last gap between seasons. Until then if you live in the US, you might be able to watch episodes at Adult Swim or on TV.

Here is a clip from Rick and Morty. One of many fun little nuggets. Give it a watch!

Game Maker – Wall Walking System

General, WIT, , , ,

For my last game Multi I implemented a system which allowed for my game character to walk on and jump from walls based on collision handling from an article in the SoulHow Assistance Guides. I thought I’d share that Wall Walking System with you.

Assuming:

  • You have familiarity with writing code in Game Maker.
  • You have a basic understanding of writing simple physics code in Game Maker.
  • Your environments gravity pull objects downwards.
  • That you have handled cases where your character can move on horizontal surfaces

The following Wall Walking System allows a character to walk in a variety of different situations that I’ll illustrate and refer to using the following diagram.

Wall-Cases
Wall Cases

On completing this short guide your should have a better idea on how to have your character walk in the following cases:

  • Green Case – Left, Right on Horizontal Surfaces
  • Blue Case – Up and Down Completely Vertical Left Walls
  • Red Case – Up and Down Completely Vertical Right Walls
  • Purple Case – Left and Right on Vertical Ceiling Walls

In addition your character will also be able to jump up, down, right and left in the Green, Purple, Blue, and Red Cases respectively.

A caveat of this Wall Walking System is that it will not work in the corner cases highlighted by the orange lines due to not specifically handling the effect of the assumed environments gravity. Now on to the system!

Continue reading Game Maker – Wall Walking System →

Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 1, Study

Video Impressions, WIT, , , , ,

The format of this piece will be a description of Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 1 with a to scale time line with emotion sections plotted with the following Key, where High Emotions are plotted below the time line (black line) and Low Emotions are plotted above.

Following this there will be a number of pie charts in the following format. Pie charts on the left are Totals of the scene, and pie charts on the right are Screen Time. Lastly the raw data for this scene will be presented in the form of a table.

Follow this link to the main entry for this article series.

Spoiler Alert! You’ve been warned!

With that out of the way lets begin! (A video of the scene is at the end of the post if you wish to watch it first!)

Scene One

Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 1 begins with a severed hand, in a facility which is clean, cold, and deathly silent. We are thrown into a series of grizzly scenes with absolutely no context (1) .

Shock Factor
Shock Factor

Continue reading Elfen Lied Episode 1 Scene 1, Study →

Elfen Lied – A Study of Episode 1

Projects, Video, Video Impressions, WIT, , , , ,

This short piece details a brief study on the emotional makeup of the anime Elfen Lied’s first episode. To aid this endeavor I will be employing some lite statistical techniques and scientific methodology.

elfen-lied-logo

Please note that this is very much a subjective piece, being simply a personal study for the purposes of furthering my own understanding of how this experience was crafted.

Methodology

Emotion Model

Shave et al described the following list of Primary and Secondary Emotions in 1987:

  • Love
    • Longing
    • Lust
    • Affection
  • Joy
    • Cheerfulness
    • Zest
    • Contentment
    • Pride
    • Optimism
  • Surprise
    • Surprise
  • Anger
    • Irritation
    • Exasperation
    • Rage
    • Disgust
    • Envy
    • Torment
  • Sadness
    • Suffering
    • Sadness
    • Disappointment
    • Shame
    • Neglect
    • Sympathy
  • Fear
    • Horror
    • Nervousness

I grouped the Primary Emotions, and their respective Secondary Emotions into High and Low categories. Where High connotes happy like feelings and Low connotes sad like feelings as follows:

High = Love, Joy and Surprise.
Low = Anger, Sadness, Fear.

emotions
Emotion Hierarchy

Continue reading Elfen Lied – A Study of Episode 1 →

Know – An Educational Card Game

Design, Games, Projects, ,

The following are play instructions for Know, and educational card game.

know_logo

Equipment

To play Know requires the following equipment:

  • Blank Cards (or pieces of paper).
  • Pens (not pencils).
  • Teams (at least one player per Team).
  • Source of Answers e.g Academic Textbooks.

Definitions

These are the definitions for terms used in Know:

  • Answer Cards – A card that has written on it a Teams ID, their Answer and the Question number that the Answer Card is addressing.
  • Point Pool – The number of points available to be won on a Question.
  • Question Cards – A card that has written on it a Teams ID, their Question, and a unique Question Number.
  • Question Prep – A round for preparing Questions.
  • Question Round – A round for asking Questions and submitting Answers.
  • Resolution – A round for marking the Answers to Questions.
  • Round Deck – A collection of Answer and Questions Cards for a Question Round.
  • Team ID – A secret identifier that is unique to each Team.

Continue reading Know – An Educational Card Game →