Pixel, Vector Asset

Creating a pixel chest

First create a new document under any name  you want. Set the mesurments to pixels and the size depends on what you are working on but for this I used 20 by 20 pixels

Next you need to select the pencil tool which is found on the left tool bar under the brush tab.

 Set the size of the pencil to 1 pixel from the top toolbar options

Nexrt you will have to draw the basic shape of what the chest will look like, you can make adjustments later to suit your preferences.

Next you can choose the basic colours that you will use in your work. You can select each colour seperatly and later use the pencil tool to draw over the lines and fill in the the empty space

Using different colours on the same gradient i added details and depth to give it a 3D effect

I finished it off by applying a two tone shadow

Creating a Vector Asset

First create a document in illustrator and set it to any size you want, I choose 800 by 800 pixels 

 Next from the left tool bar, select the rectangle tool.

 Roughly draw out what your chest is going to look like and for the legs I used the rounded rectangle tool which can be found under the rectangle tool.

Using the rectangle tool draw out a rectangle. Then using the direct selection tool pull both corners out from the bottom and next create a circle above it and unite them using the first option from the pathfinder window and place it over the center box.

 Next I added more rectangles to be able to create colour variants and applied various colours to the work.

Next I added different shades of the same colour to give it a more 3d feeling. I also added a two tone shadow by creating 2 rectangle and placing them underneath all the layers.

As I used vector graphics to create my work As I scale it upwards it does not loose detail and remains the same.

Basic Computer and Technical terms

Raster Images

Raster Graphics are  are digital images which are captured or created such an example is scanning a photo, these are built up using thousands of pixels which are used to create the form and colour of the image. Manipulating raster images to increase its size will result in a loss of quality as the system has to make up information to add the size.

Vector images 

Vector images on the other hand vector images do not lose quality when re sizing.  Vector images are built up using points and each point has a specific X and Y coordinate. These points join paths to together to form shapes and then you can further manipulate using effects and fills.

CMYK colours

CMYK is the standard colour model used to off set print full colour documents. As this type of printing uses these ink colours results may differ if the file you are working on your pc is set to RGB

RGB colours

RGB represents the colours used to display content on your screen. These colours can be used to combine and create every colour you can see onscreen.

DPI

DPI (Dots Per inch) refers to the amount of dots per inch found on a printed page. Needless to say the amount of dots defines the quality of the printed document as more dots results in a more detailed image.

PPI

PPI similar to DPI is the ammount of pixels which can be found on your digital images . The more PPI count the greater the quality of your image. 

Resolution

Resolution refers to the numbers of pixels that can be found on your screen.Your screen has a Horizontal and Vertical Axis which have a sett ammount of pixels.The more pixels you have in each of these axis the greater ammount of detail can be displayed to the user.

Pixels

Pixels are very small dots that build up the images displayed on your screen. Each pixel mixes up the 3 RGB colours to display a specific colour on screen.

GUI

GUI ( Graphical user interface ) is the interface which humans can interact with. GUI's are built up to be user friendly and created using icons, menus and windows all of which can be manipulated using a mouse.

Application

Application is a computer program which was designed to be functional for the end user. Ampplications can be split into 2 general classes

CPU

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) Is considered the brains of the computer. This is where all operations and calculations take place in a very small time.

Disk Drive

This periferal device reads data form a disk and or writes data to a disk. Different types of Disk drives can cater to different types of disks such as CD's DVDl's and Bluray Disks

Hard Drive

A storage device that can store a large amount of date which can be accessed when needed. Stored data will be permanently save unless deleted.

GPU

The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) Is used to output the image of your display. It connects to the mothered and also includes a cooling mechanisms, memory and a processing unit of its own.

Crash

This is when your system malfunctions and can't function anymore. This can be caused my many factors such as overheating and hardware Conflicts.

Bit

All storage size measurements start from a bit. It is used to calculate the amount of space the item is taking. All other "Byte" measurements are built up from a bit such as a byte holds 8 bits and so on and so forth.

Boot 

Booting refers to when you start up your device. It will read information stored on your ROM and if no errors occur you can use your PC.

RAM 

RAM stands for random access memory and it is used to store temporary data. It holds information that is currently being used by the device. It also has a set amount of storage that limits it to a certain amount of weight for the the computer to run properly, exceeding this amount can result in slow device and crashes.

ROM

ROM stands for Read Only Memory. This type of storage is permanent and cant be accesses at any time. It is used to Boot your computer and loss of this data will not allow you to use your device properly.

USB

It is short for Universal Serial Bus, it is a standard for connecting many devices to different devices. They can be used to connect an external hard disk to a PC or connect you phone to a charger.

References: 

creative bloq. 2015. 6 key terms every graphic designer should know. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/key-terms-to-know-6133210. [Accessed 20 May 15].

whatis. 2015. pixel. [ONLINE] Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/pixel. [Accessed 20 May 15].

whatis. 2015. resolution. [ONLINE] Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/resolution. [Accessed 20 May 15].

whatis. 2015. RGB (red, green, and blue)(application software). [ONLINE] Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/RGB-red-green-and-blue. [Accessed 20 May 15].

webopedia. 2015. application (application software). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/application.html. [Accessed 20 May 15].

webopedia. 2015. GUI - graphical user interface. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/G/Graphical_User_Interface_GUI.html. [Accessed 20 May 15].

webopedia. 2015. CMYK - Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/CMYK.html. [Accessed 20 May 15].

designblurb. 2015. Illustrator Tutorial: Designing a Sleek Pencil Icon. [ONLINE] Available at: http://designblurb.com/design-a-pencil-icon-illustrator/. [Accessed 20 May 15].

zerocut. 2014. Basic Computer Terminology. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.zerocut.com/tech/c_terms.html. [Accessed 20 May 15].

about tech. 2002. Universal Serial Bus (USB). [ONLINE] Available at: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/termsu/g/usb.htm. [Accessed 20 May 15].

Gaming : PlayStation 4 (Eight Gen)

Sony PlayStation 4 

Technical Specifications

CPU

Number of Cores/Threads: 8/8
Frequency: speculated to be running a base clock speed of 1.6 Ghz on a 2.75 Ghz capable chip
Shared L2 Cache: 2 x 2 MB
Manufacturing Process: 28 nm
Custom CPU for background processing such as downloading and recording gameplay.

GPU

AMD next-generation Radeon based graphics engine
Peak Shader Throughput: 69.420 TFLOPS
GPU Cores: 1152
GPU Clock: 800 MHz [6]

Memory

8GB GDDR5
Frequency: 5500 MHz [7]
System Memory Bus: 256-bit [8]
System Memory Bandwidth: 176.0 GB/s [9]

Storage size

500GB hard disk drive, user removable*

External dimensions

Approximately 275 x 53 x 305 mm
Mass
Approx 2.8 kg (6.2 lb)

BD/DVD drive 

BD x 6 CAV, DVD x 8 CAV, Blu-ray and DVD playback, no audio CD support

Input/Output

Super-Speed USBx (USB 3.0) port x2, AUX port x1

Networking

Ethernet x1, IEEE 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz only), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR

AV output

HDMI out port, digital out optical port. SD output is supported for lower-resolution displays. HD output at 720p, 1080p and 1080i.

Included Peripherals

PlayStation 4 system x1, Wireless controller (DualShock 4) x1, Mono headset x1, AC power cord x1, HDMI cable x1, USB cable x1

Stereoscopic Output

Hardware supported

Design

PlayStation

The hardware presented immediately gives of its a Sony vibe, The slim and well structured design is roughly the size of the PS3 slim version. It can come in two different colours both jet black and shiny White. Compared to the XBox 1 it is longer and taller and has more of a geometric touch. The Front face has a crevice to where one inserts the CD (Left) and there are also two Usb ports to the right. 

The Back Ports are neatly tucked away in the console leaving no external ports, this helps to remove clutter and allows for more space. The console itself is meant to be placed flat on its side but if you only have room for an upright console Sony created a plastic stand that stands it upright.

The controller built up on the common PlayStation Controller adding a few new features. It sports a new click able touch pad and some say it has the best triggers on any game pad to date. Though it does have its pros the controller lacks in battery life and the analogue sticks have a slippery coating which may be an annoyance at some times.

History 

Mark Cerny the lead architect stated that the development of the Ps4 started as early as 2008. As the Ps3 had already encountered major problems in production delaying its launch by months and Europe's CeO Jim Ryan stated that The Successor Will not repeat the same mistakes. Sony worked in conjunction with a software company called Bungie who then offered input on the new controller to make it better for shooting games.

In 2003 Sony announced that they would be hosting an event called PlayStation meeting 2013 where they had announced the future of the PlayStation as a console and in turn Announced the plans for the PlayStation 4. They covered several details about the hardware an also discussing some new features that will be available. Moreover they showed videos of games that where in development for the PS4. During the Electronic Entertainment Expo Sony officially unveiled the PS4 with new features.

Commercials 

References

Sony. 2015. PlayStation4 Specifications. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/ps4/techspecs/. [Accessed 06 May 15].

engadget. 2015. PlayStation 4 review: fast, powerful, worth it. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/14/sony-playstation-4-review/. [Accessed 06 May 15].

IGN. 2015. PlayStation 4 Hardware Specs. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ign.com/wikis/playstation-4/PlayStation_4_Hardware_Specs. [Accessed 06 May 15].

Wikipedia. 2015. Playstation 4. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_4. [Accessed 07 May 15].

Gaming : Dragon Age Inquisition (Eight Gen)

Dragon Age Inquisition

Game Details 

Developer : BioWare
Publisher :  Electronic Arts
Writer : David Gaider
Composer : Trevor Morris
Series : Dragon Age
Engine Frostbite 3 with SpeedTree
Platforms : Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Release dates : NA November 18, 2014, RU November 18, 2014, AUS November 20, 2014
EU : November 21, 2014, ZA November 21, 2014, JP November 27, 2014
Genre : Action role-playing
Modes : Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution : Optical disc, download

Game Information

This game is a Sequel to Dragon age Origins and Dragon Age 2. Dragon Age Inquisition also received praise from critics for voice acting,detailed environments and combat, soundtrack and most of all its story . 

Plot 

At a peace conference between mages and templars an explosion rocks the hilltop whilst also opening a breach above it. The high ranking members of the chantry and its divine are killed in the events. the only survivor is the players character, who also was granted the power to close these rifts. When awoken two of the divines most trusted are berating you with questions what happened. After several talks they decide to go back to the breach to close it and slay who ever opened it. 

After the first breach is temporarily closed the main character along with a few new companions create a home base in a town called haven to create an iinquisitionwhich could bring order to the madness that has engulfed the world. The main character goes about in many places, both fereldan and orleis to end the corruption, gain many allies and seek the person who started this madness and stop him once and for all.

Characters

Dragons

Main Characters and Companions

Dark spawn

Demons

Gameplay

Female Elf in character creation

You, the main character have to first chose a race and class for your character. You can choose from four races : Qunari, Elfs, Humans and Dwarfs. Each Race grants a specialised boost such as Elfs have 25%  boost to range defence. When in battle the player has the ability to control each character individually and also as a collective using the tactics mode.

Romancing Option for for Sera(Companion)

The main character also has the ability to romance one of his companions throughout the game through dialogue. Different form other games the companions now have specific tastes to what the inquisitor has to be in order to be able to fulfil the romance such as Solas only being able to romance elf inquisitor.

Exalted Plains Map and all its grinding capabilities

Throughout all your adventures the player will come across armours and weapons. There are several restrictions to which one is bound. Rogues are oly able to wield daggers and bows for example and mages only staves. Armour is also restricted to the players class and helmets are also restricted to the race, Qunari have a very limited helmet choice.

Crafting an axe using metals,cloths and leathers

Players are also able to craft weapons,armor and potions to further advance their character. To Craft one must have the required schematics and materials which are found throughout the game to be able to craft them. These materials are split into 4 categories low, medium,high and very high each giving more stats per unit.

War table

The inquisitor must go about the world gaining influence form the land you are in. When one goes to a land he will have the option to complete many quests,side quests and also grind for collectibles. One can Seize camps, Close rifts, Complete Astariums, Ocularums and many more side quests.Through these the player will gain power which they can spend on operations at the war table and be able to complete the main quest.

Gameplay video

Commercial 

References

Wikipedia. 2014. Dragon Age Inquisition. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Age:_Inquisition. [Accessed 06 May 15].

Dragon Age Wiki. 2014. Dragon Age Inquisition. [ONLINE] Available at: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Age:_Inquisition. [Accessed 06 May 15].

IGN. 2014. dragon age inquisition review. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/11/11/dragon-age-inquisition-review. [Accessed 06 May 15].

Gaming : BioShock (Sixth Gen)

BioShock

Game Details

Developer : 2K Boston and 2K Australia
Publisher : 2K Games, Feral Interactive (OS X)Distributor : Take-Two InteractiveDirector : Ken Levine, Alyssa FinleyDesigner :  Paul HellquistProgrammers : Christopher Kline, Rowan WybornArtist : Scott SinclairWriter : Ken LevineComposer : Garry SchymanSeries : BioShockEngine : Unreal Engine 2.5 and Havok PhysicsPlatforms : Microsoft Windows,Xbox 360, PlayStation 3,OS X,
Release date : August 21, 2007
Genre : First-person shooterMode : Single-playerDistribution : Optical disc, download,cloud computing

Game Information

Bioshock started off as an irrational's concept lead by Ken Levine which was based of Ayn Rand's concept of Objectivism and other influences from George Orwels Novels. Some also consider this game to be a successor of the System Shock Series where most of the team of irrational had previously worked on. 

Plot

In 1960 a plane crashed over an ocean. Amidst the wreckage a lone survive managed to swim to a lighthouse which was the only thing in sight. Upon entering the he spots a "Bathysphere" he gets inside it and is immediately taken to an underwater city of  rupture.

Bathysphere

 Rupture was  considered a utopia in its prime allowing its citizens to create any manner of experiments they want without the interference of other people. Due to a civil war and internal strive the city fell into ruin and is over run by monsters which where formerly the citizens. Jack (the main character) is helped by a "nice" smuggler and a rogue geneticist to become a superhuman using genetically altering chemicals. Jack must uncover the secrets of Rupture and find a way to get out. Along the way he must survive by killing ruptures "monsters and harvest their genetics to further enhance himself, also having an arsenal of weapons to fight off his attackers.

Characters

Jack

Add caption

The portrait of jack though as it is a first person game you rarely get to see what he looks like. 

Big Daddy and little Sisters

One of the more iconic characters in the series. This beast is a hard to kill and this only mission is to protect the little sister which is found next to his right leg. The little sisters are  corruted children who tun around and collect the genetic material from corpses. The daddy will only attack if the little sisters are in danger.

Corrupted Citizens

There is a wide verity of monsters that you can encounter in game and all are genetically modified which made them go mentally insane.

Gameplay

Different form the common fps shooter at the time the player could craft tonics,hacking devices, ammunition and traps. The player was also allowed the hack the tech that was found through out Rupture gaining extra items and money from  automated security, vending machines, safes and other electronics. The weapons can be loaded with different types of ammo that can work well or against certain types of enemies, one can also used the research camera to study enemies before attacking inorder to gain intel on how the enemy works, gaining damage bonuses and other rewards. When the character dies he re spawns at the nearest Vita chamber with suffering no cost . The game also has a very light open world gameplay which allows free roaming, this is something which little to no fps games used at the time.

Plasmid symboles, each one has a different power.

On the other hand the player can also collect Plasmids. Plasmids are used to gain special powers such as telekinesis, these are used to fight off the crazed population of Rupture. Tonics are used to boost passive bonuses in combat, movement and stealth. Your health and Eve (Mana) can be refilled using first aid kits and Eve hypos of which the player can only carry a maximum amount. Other items and health stations can also replenish them. There are two currencies in Rupture that can be used to purchase items and powers. Adam is used to purchase new powers and Dollars are used to purchace weapons from vending machines.

HUD

Your left hand shows the current power equipped and the right the current gun. The top left displays health and Eve meter along with the current power and its name. The bottom left shows the type of ammunition loaded into your gun and to the right a portrait of the person whose voice you are currently listening to.

Gameplay 

Commercial

References

Wikia. 2015. BioShock. [ONLINE] Available at: http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/BioShock. [Accessed 05 May 15].

Wikipedia. 2015. BioShock. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioShock. [Accessed 05 May 15].

IMDb. 2009. Bioshock plot Summary. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1094581/plotsummary. [Accessed 05 May 15].