First Step Game Creation

Student of ... Honestly I don't know anymore, but focused on Video Game programming.

[yes-nicholas-things]

Finished!

So it took much longer than I had expected but on December of 2021 I finished my degree! I am now a graduate of Silicon Valley University (formerly Cogswell Polytechnical) with a Bachelors in Game Design Engineering! It’s been a long road and I had to move around way too much, but here’s hoping it was all worth it as I set out with my resume and put out more applications than I ever thought I’d ever send. 

My first job taken as a place holder and first step is as a tester and it’s been interesting. I do hope to advance soon, but I’m glad to have started the job to continue to learn more about the industry! While that’s going I’m hoping to start a new project using the new UE5. will hopefully keep this updated as I go!

[yes-nicholas-things]

Luck Holding out!

I know my posts very limited but I’m hoping that I finally have things under control now. I’ve left the Art Institutes all together.

While I’ll miss the teachers I I had there, I’m glad to have finally found a place that I can continuing and hopefully finish my degree. :) I’m now studying at Cogswell Polytechnical College in San Jose! They were generous enough to help me pay for my continued studies and were very nice helpful in getting me settled in! 

After my first semester I’ve seen that there’s a lot I need to pick up on and change, the courses here are a bit more difficult to handle. Never the less, I have picked up a side job and been pushing forward! I will get my degree! (I’d be the first in my family to get a bachelor’s btw!)

[yes-nicholas-things]

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Ok.... So I moved out here to San Diego. Spent a couple moths living in a tent (Mind you I had electricity so it wasn’t terrible) and getting set up to get my own place here. Well I kind of should have seen it coming but I give those who seem to work hard the benefit of the doubt. Bad news is that AI San Diego closed last month as well.... So I was in a bad spot again. I was able to knock out 4 more classes but still not enough to finish my degree out on my ass again.

The teachers and staff there were super awesome and helped set up a college transfer fair for the students. from there I found that there was going to be a Teach Out program offered to students. It was in down town LA hosted by the Studio School College, which meant another move but I wouldn’t lose credits. But yet again I was let down... Apparently not enough students were interested and the program fell out.

So as sad as it may seem I am going to need to roll back some credits and start from half way at another school. I have already talked to a few places like Cogswell College and plan to to talk to University of advancing Technology tomorrow. Long as I have plans laid in front of me I will keep moving forward. As long as I can afford it. 

The degree means a lot to me. I will be the first person in my family to attain a bachelor’s degree in anything. So I’m not gonna let myself get thrown out by this and hopefully I can still get my degree. If anyone’s reading this, thanks for listening to my problems :)

[yes-nicholas-things]

Some sad news and hopeful news

Some the Art Institute of Phoenix is closing down along with several of Art Institutes. So I will not be able to graduate with a degree from the Art Institute of Phoenix. What’s worse is that apparently there’s a residency requirement (meaning I need at least 25% of my schooling left to change to their school without retaking classes) for me to transfer to the only other Art Institute with a game focused degree. I was so close to getting my degree and that’s what’s going to hold me back. My GI bill is also almost empty, but I guess there’s not much that can be done about it.

The hopeful news is that the other Institute is thinking about signing a waiver for students in my position. There aren’t many, but there’s enough that most Institutes have signed the waivers, except the only one I need. So fingers crossed that they get it signed soon or I’ll have to consider a different school and possibly take out student loans to finish up my degree.

[yes-nicholas-things]

1 Year Left!

So I’m at my 1 year mark, or at least so I hope. My math schedule got all messed up since I was last to register for it. I got bumped out for another student who needed the credit. But I think since I’ve been rolling 5 classes a quarter I can still make it by the end of next year :)

I’ve just finished another quarter, which consisted of Trigonometry, Advanced Game Prototyping, Team Production, and then Ethics Online.... I hate taking classes online >.< But I’ll leave that topic alone.

So far Team Production has been a lot of fun. Finally started collaborating with a team of students to make a game. Our team is a bit unbalanced but there’s not much that can be done about it. Lots of artists and only 2 programmers, me and another student. 

The situation looks like it’s going to take a lot of effort, but the other programmer has a bit more experience than me and I am hoping to learn a lot from him as we develop our first game :) 

I’m sure that if we put our best efforts into this we can compete with some of the other top classes that were part of some big game competitions here in AZ.

Until then I shall continue to prepare for the worst and build my knowledge and understanding of Unreal, the engine we have chosen, and make the best of what we have.

Hope everyone out there is doing well and good luck to any other students out there!

[yes-nicholas-things]

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An unfinished self portrait for fundamentals of drawing :)

[yes-nicholas-things]

Image Manipulation class

So I’ve just had  my mid-term exams for classes and the class I’ve been having the most fun and possibly the most success in (My fun is proportionate to success :P) is Image Manipulation.  

The first few weeks we learned a bit about image restoration and a few basics about Photoshop. Now we’ve learned a but about how to more accurately and quickly cut around hair and some ways shape and shade object to make them look more realistic. Here are few pictures of the work I have been able to accomplish. 

The photo above was the one I spent the most time on compared to the others. Mainly because I liked the idea the most and liked the way it looked. It was a lot of fun getting the photo clippings and bringing them all together :)

This one was a rush job (Because, like an idiot, I didn’t read the instructions in detail and notice that I was required to have 2 photos to present.) But I think it still came out decent. 

This photo was just a test to see how well we could put images into another photo and make them seem real. I spent some time on this, but knew it didn’t look quite right. The hardest part was the fact that the man and tiger I put into the photo had to be shaded with multiple light sources. As you can see, the parking lot has light in many places so it made it hard for me to get the shading right.

Our current project is fairly open but with one specific rule. The photo has to tell a story. Here’s what I have so far and it’s a lot of throwing things together that may not make the cut and I may even make something entirely different.

I hope everyone had an excellent Valentines day and weekend at that! I’ll be back when I have something new to share!

[yes-nicholas-things]

A few more work examples

I’ve been sort of of and on the ball for the classes, but either way I’m keeping up and have a few more things to put up.

So for your image manipulation class we  learned a bit of how the tools worked and how to edit/”fix” photos. Like this dog photo above. although it’s pretty messed up, a bit of Photoshop magic made it looks almost brand new again.

 Yes, the shoulder may be a bit bigger, but it’s still alot better than it was before :p

We also started making icons using a pencil at a size of 1 pixel. there were a few people with some exceptionally great work. Mine was about middle ground on the scale.

I should've spent a lot more time on it instead just accepting this cartoonish looking fist. But I’m still glad it was passable. A lot of what this was about was blending edges. If you take any digital image and look closely at the edges, it will not be a hard line that immediately jumps from one color to another. Rather it mixes to give it a softer edge. 

I’m also taking the fundamentals of drawing and will post final drawing after it has been reviewed. I’m no artist (I’m here for mostly for programming) but I think I did well :)

I’ll see you guys later. Until then have a great weekend!!

[yes-nicholas-things]

Back again

Hey guys,

So classes have started up again. Right now they have me in some basic art classes. Fundamentals of drawing, color theory, Fundamentals of design, and image manipulation. So I’m learning art from square one and as I go I’l just post some of the assignments even if they are simple.

Like this basic Photoshop job :P

I’m also making a 16 x 16 pixel logo or image for myself (Which will most likely change as I make better stuff).

And this one from Fundamentals of design. All of it is fairly simple but we all start somewhere :) It’s been a great start so far and Phoenix isn’t as CI expected. If I learn anything I feel is worth sharing, I’ll be sure to post it up!

[yes-nicholas-things]

Have a great Christmas break!

Hey guys! I know I haven’t been posting much, but the only class I have been taking has been English since I haven’t gotten to campus yet. I start classes in January and will be on a full schedule without any part time work! (Thanks Army 9/11 GI Bill!) 

But that should give me plenty of time to post my progress and work! Until then I will be spending most of my time with friends and family. It’s just feels good to be home again and I want to take time to relax :)

I hope you guys all have an amazing Christmas/Holiday this year and I’ll catch you guys in Mid January when I start the more fun classes to talk about ;)

[yes-nicholas-things]

Just so we’re clear

Posts from here on out will be related to my time in college, but mainly any class, information, or event that helps me in move in the video game development industry.