Something I say about nothing

[billbillman-blog]

How do I learn?

That’s quite a difficult question to answer I think. Everyone learns differently that’s a given, and also why so many people believe that our education systems are so stifling before you enter third level. There is a concentration on reading and writing. Resources are only really developing now to apply education to the other learning styles. Personally I know I learn better Visually and Kinesthetically, the compliment each other, watching how to do something, then trying it out yourself.

 This is the Fleming model of learning and it covers all basis of human sensory. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your learning style doesn’t develop. I think I have applied all styles of learning at some point in my life, but I do have a fear, now that i approach my mid-twenties that my ability to learn will be dramatically reduced. We are told constantly that as children and young adults that we learn faster and tend to hold on the information better.

 I don’t know if i disagree or not, I haven’t felt like my learning has trailed off especially now that I have returned to University to learn something completely new. But I do feel that having learned so much already eventually I might run out of space. I suppose the only thing I can do is see how it goes.

[billbillman-blog]

Gaming to Change the World.

 What if we could harness gamers power to solve real-world problems? Jane McGonigal, a game designer and present on TED Talks believes so. Her talk in 2010 on how gaming could make a better world, isn’t just clutching at dreams but actually have viable evidence for how gamers are a valuable human resource.

 We all prefer to play games then to function in the real world, that is part of what gaming is, escapism. Not many people would agree that spending time in this virtual world could be of assistance to the world we try so hard to avoid, but Jane McGonigal’s evidence says otherwise. It would be hard not to agree with her, it might seem a little far fetched at first but then again gaming has developed so much more since 2010 that some of her ideas could be even more applicable now than six years ago.

 Gamers are exceptional problem solvers, it’s one of the skills that many games teach us as standard we are presented with a problem or a puzzle and must find the solution. What if we could apply this simple skill to the real-world? That’s not all either, according to McGonigal the four things that games makes us virtuosos at are, Urgent Optimism, Social Fabric, Blissful Productivity and Epic Meaning. These are not just fantastical titles but they actually have real meaning when she describes them and as a gamer I completely understand the emotion and feeling of each one. All could be valued in the real world and in our current situation all are severely needed. It’s nice to hear that we, gamers, can change the world especially from another game designer. Now the only problem is applying the focus of that half billion games in the world to solving the world’s problems.

https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world?language=en

[srsfunny]

Kitty Cat Love

[billbillman-blog]

From One University to Another.

 No two people are alike, the same can be said about the universities I have attended.  Imagine the difference of walking into your first lecture, at eighteen, with five hundred other students, and six years later entering a classroom with fifty people. I already recognise the faces of each of my class members.

 In my past experience of University I represented the student union for my class and for years after I would be approached by people telling me, ‘you were my class rep!’, and would comment on something I did, and I would have to admit to them that I don’t know them, they would laugh it off, ‘how could you know all hundreds of us’. It made me feel like a faceless number, no longer the young adult experiencing life independently for the first time. It couldn’t feel more different now, it’s personal.

 Having a Facebook group with all the members of my course able to chat and organise together, being able to contact my lectures directly through social media, it makes me feel connected, like I’m part of something. That coupled with the complete change in how we are assessed. I went from school doing written assignments to university doing longer written assignments, with little or no originality to how we were assessed. Now I’m writing code and making video games from my first week. Now I think I’m actually experience what college should be, learning something new through creative means.

[billbillman-blog]

Game Worlds.

  The development of game worlds are such an essential part of our experience in video games, yet the difficulties involved are much greater than most people would believe. A Geographer’s Guide to Building Game Worlds by Kate Edwards on GDC Vault gives a excellent insight into building game worlds, whether they are trying to create a real world scenario or emulate our world in a fictional setting.

 Most people probably think that creating the world of a video game is easy, that you build the terrain and populated it with characters, buildings and items on the basis of a narrative that the game revolves around.

 However, Kate Edwards talk presents a much more detailed and complex system. At its most basic level, is the world built upon the concept of a real world or a fictional world? Both have their own difficulties. In a real world context, the primary issues revolve around history, faith and culture.

  Each change depending on what part of the world the game is developed or sold too, and something that might seem trivial in one region can be serious or offensive in another. In a fantasy world, believability and logical consistency are vital. Edwards uses the term Topology, basically the why and how things are related rather than the where, when and who. Without these connections, the world can look cobbled together and unrealistic which will be noticed by the observant community that is the gaming industry.

I never really read this much into the creation of game worlds, but it does prove fascinating that so much is necessary to create what many may consider the easiest part of game design. I always had my own interest in cartography within history as well as world design in gaming, seeing how it functions within the industry is valuable information to have for my future in game design.

http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023762/A-Geographer-s-Guide-to

[mamalazzer]

The cutest scene in the whole movie

[sixpenceeeblog]

Australian street artist Rone has torn himself away from the bigger, better, higher philosophy of modern day muralism for a new, intimate project that explores the fragility of beauty in crumbling interiors. Based in Melbourne, the artist, whose popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, returned home after a series of international large-scale murals and found himself thinking introspectively about concepts of abandoned space, aesthetics, and memory. The result is a pared-back, emotionally naked series of portraits titled Empty.

Text via MyModernMet

[yes-gamer]

For more : YES-GAMER

[billbillman-blog]

My First Day of a Second Learning Adventure.

 How do you describe your second attempt at University. Going in with the knowledge that you have done all this before makes it that little bit simpler, comforting even. However, its never what you expect. How could it be, new surroundings, new people, a breath of fresh air.

 You can imagine my intrigue when after the brief introduction of what we will be doing for the next year is followed buy, ‘Now we’re going to play some games’. The Icebreakers were kept to a minimum as we were thrown into a game of Werewolf. How better to get to know strangers then to be thrown into a game of deceit and secrecy. Our initial foray was a typical failure as we hadn’t quite grasped the rules. No problem for me as I doubt the life of a typical villager suited me. So, you can imagine my delight at being graced as a werewolf for our second round.

 I decided I would play the part of one of the most outspoken members of the community, quietly trying to direct attention away from my bloodthirsty compatriots. In particularly my ‘lover’ and fellow werewolf, thanks to the devilish ways of cupid. My pack achieved exceptional success, encouraging the villagers to turn on each other during the day and gradually whittling down the innocent at night.

 However, my days were numbered. I attracted the suspicion of several members of the community despite convincing many of my innocence. My biggest mistake, having the fortune of occupying a chair rather then having to sit on the floor, which incurred the wrath of Pasin. After surviving several close votes against me, we made the fatal mistake of murdering the hunter at night. I was selected due to seer curiosity, too see if i was truly innocent. Alas, my deceit was revealed to all! Not only at the cost of my own life but that of my lover, two werewolves, one fatal bullet.

 Joining the land of the dead I watched from my ghostly position with joy as one of our pack survived right to the end. What a wonderful way to begin an education, it can only get more interesting from here.