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Yo ~ The First of Many...


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Hello, I'm Becky - one of the many acolytes in the study of 3D Modeling & Animation.

I think it takes a unique mindset to succeed in online/unpaid projects, and I'm ecstatic to have found a place so full of creative, motivated, and talented individuals! It shows me that just having money, time, and the right tools doesn't guarantee an amazing game - the right people do.

I hope y'all don't mind my future questions (and there will be many) - the digital medium still feels very new to me. My native palate includes fiction, poetry, music (viola, violin, and percussion), and pen/paint/anything-I-can-get-my-hands-on. I'm currently an undergrad student at EWU (hence the username) majoring in Computer Science: Video Game Development and Musical Performance. I love friendly banter and debate, and while I'm here hope to pick up some of the finer points of successful collaboration. I'm always up for a challenge, and would sincerely appreciate any constructive criticism - or random blurbs, if the mood strikes you. ^-~

And for my first query, it's something I've always wondered - are computer games more difficult to make/design than console games? Or vice-versa? I've always thought of consoles as just specialized computers, while not a powerful as their counterparts, much smoother/faster in game execution. Is that a product of the game or the machine it's played on?

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Welcome :P Thanks for the warm words.

And for my first query, it's something I've always wondered - are computer games more difficult to make/design than console games? Or vice-versa? I've always thought of consoles as just specialized computers, while not a powerful as their counterparts, much smoother/faster in game execution. Is that a product of the game or the machine it's played on?

Hard question. Here's a developer's perspective:

When designing and coding a console game, you usually have much more limited resources (most of all: memory). There are also requirements from the platform owner prescribing all sorts of hard limits, e.g. maximum load time. Finally, the hardware is often a bit wacky (see PS1, or the decidedly non-SMP configuration of PS3). PCs have fewer such constraints and problems.

Then again, with a (single-platform) console title you do not need to worry about different graphics card capabilities and so on. Counterbalance that against the inconvenience of needing a Devkit to test the build.

As you can see, there's no clear answer - everything is tradeoff.

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Thanks everyone, for taking the time to greet me and/or answer my questions.

janwas: You have a good point - I personally find that having a predictable set of limitations/goals keeps my creative juices flowing, as it helps me make decisions that would otherwise hang in the air of "maybe", "possibly", or "if only".

Mythos_Ruler: Truly, consoles are becoming even more powerful than I could've ever imagined. And if what Johnny Chung Lee has done is any indication -> http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/ <- , there's still an enormous amount of potential for growth and innovation there. Of course the same goes for computers, though as a gaming/entertainment experience I find that consoles really deliver since they can draw your entire body into the game, instead of just your eyes & hands (screen & mouse/keyboard/joystick).

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Welcome to the forums . . . Becky! Hope you enjoy your stay!

Say, I've noticed a lot of you guys from EWU coming here. Do y'all have some alliance with WFG or something? I'm just interested because I go to EWU three times a week for the swimming and library (hoping to jump into running start this fall). :P

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Welcome to the forums . . . Becky! Hope you enjoy your stay!

Say, I've noticed a lot of you guys from EWU coming here. Do y'all have some alliance with WFG or something? I'm just interested because I go to EWU three times a week for the swimming and library (hoping to jump into running start this fall). :P

Yeah, we do - I think one of the founders in this whole project used to go here, or something along those lines...

Anyways, EWU is the first school to be offered this unique & valuable opportunity, and I intend to make the most of it. Good luck with running start. :)

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