Game Engines

The first game engine I would like to discuss is the Frostbite Engine.The creators of this engine(DICE) developed the Battlefield games. The engine's large-scale environmental destruction with online vehicular game play brought new heights on PC utilizing Direct X 11.(http://sites.amd.com/us/game/games/Pages/frostbite-game-engine.aspx)

Here are a few features (recorded in 2008):
The shading system included high level states instead of low level platform-dependent states and it is more flexible for the user and the system. The terrain rendering system has a low view distance with a true horizon, low memory usage, multiples high-res heightfield textures, and easy destructions of buildings. ( http://www.moddb.com/engines/frostbite)

It has been reported earlier this year that the engine would be introducing Battlefield 1943. This is one of the company's first download only digital distributed titles. Battlefield 1943 is not a boxed product, but is currently available for the following systems: Xbox360, PS3, and PC.
(http://www.develop-online.net/news/31738/DICEs-new-download-only-Battlefield-will-cost-15)

Here is a list of a few other engines:

Id Tech- Rage

The Rage engine  utilizes 60 fps target instead of 30 fps. This particular game is the first to feature Id's newest graphic engine, IdTech 5. (http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Rage-The-Tech-Behind-Id-Tech-5/)

Naughty Dog- Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

The platform used for this game is the Playstation 3. Drake's Deception supports a stereoscopic 3D resolution. (http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/uncharted-3-drakes-deception-ps3.html)

Machinarium

Poster image (http://machinarium.net/demo/images/Machinarium-titulka.jpg)

Okay so truthfully in the beginning I was puzzled at how to play this game, but nevertheless I was able to figure it out. I would like to just put this out there, I feel like there could have been more instructions given to the player so that (s)he would know exactly what the objective was for each level. I know that is a little book and hit bubble located at the top of the right screen corner, but who would have really known to click those??? Umm, yeah I did NOT until I say a video on how to play this game...... Anywho that is not the main purpose of this post so getting back on subject: THE ANALYSIS.

 Here goes:

For each level the player has to figure out how to build the objects that the robot character needs to move forward throughout the game.With  that being said this game is considered a puzzle/strategy game, but it has activities which requires the character to explore different areas so it is also somewhat an adventure game. The game is not set at a fast nor slow pace (how the player manuevers around the scene determines the speed). The background music seems to have a sci-fi feel to it. The sound effects for this game is pretty good, which includes water splashing (plopping), scurrying and sniffing as the rat looking thing moves around in the beginning, swinging noises from the rope and magnet, and squeeky (sometimes rusty) noises as appropriate for the metal objects. The characters mumble when they talk (almost like Oscar the grouch). The sound effect that I love the most is the metal hitting the ground as the robot falls off of the ladder (it was also the funniest part of the demo to me). Some of the ambient noises include water drops, chimes, and electric(static) noises. During the last scene the music becomes "darker" and more "mysterious", which gives the feeling that the player is in a dark/ gloomy place. In this particular scene the wheels from the cartridge are squeeky and the metal from the stick at the top makes a nice stretching noise as in enters each space. Well, that is all I have for now...

Post- 1994 Computer Game- Powerpuff Girls: Battle Him

Picture of the game (www.gamespot.com/gbc/action/powerpuffgirlsbattlehim/index.html)

So who remembers the Powerpuff Girls? They were the three little crime fighting kindergarten girls made of sugar, spice, and everything nice! They were hot, I mean come on they had a cartoon and a few video games out. The game in particular that I am analyzing today is the Powerpuff Girls: Battle Him. I chose this game because this is another one of the few games that I actually played. I think my mother bought this game for me, which went with my Gameboy Color system (yes, this was popping way before the PSP came out)!

Picture of the gaming system (nintendo‑game‑boy‑color‑3gf‑460)

 (I had a lime green one JUST like this one!)

So, yeah this game was about Bubbles (the one in the blue dress) fighting Him (the red villian, who look resembles the devil). It is only appropriate that the game starts with the Powerpuff Girls theme song as the title, credits, and backstory comes up. Once the game begins like a "kick butt" background sound comes on which kind of gets me hyped and ready to fight. As Bubbles passes (frees) a citizen the citizen saids "Thank you." When battling a villian, either Bubbles of the criminal will say "Ouch!" when hit.  A bling or chime noise is made when Bubbles collects a charm, such as a heart, card, or bottle. Unfortunately, when Bubble's dies she screams. The music speeds up as Bubbles advances and gets closer to the  villian. I was only able to find the first level of the game on youtube and well I haven't played the game in so long, so that's all the sound analysis I have. (I would like to add that even though the sound effects are simple, they are an upgrade from the computerized noises from Spike).

Analyzing Pre-1987 Computer Game Audio- VECTREK: Spike (1983)

Photo of game system (atarihq.com)

All right, so for starters I was actually excited about doing this analysis for this particular game! This game is called Spike and it is one of the games compatible with the Vectrex (the first home arcade system) gaming system. I was born almost a decade after this game was establish, but even I enjoyed playing Spike. My uncle passed down his Vectrek system (along with the other games) to me when I was around 5 (approximately). I can say that this was probably the game that I played the most. For some reason when I was younger it I reminded me of Mr. Pacman (don't ask how I came up with that comparison lol). To be honest I don't remember why I liked this game so much (during my elementary years). Although I have not played the game in x amount of years, but now I admire the romantic theme of the game (Spike trying to save his lady, Molly).

Photo of game cartridge (obsolete-tears.com)

Okay, so on to the reason of this post (AUDIO). Just like any gaming system Vectrek had a main noise that it made whenever any game was turned on, which I describe as a sort of a "da da doom" sound ( I think this is the same sound my old Gameboy Color made). As the title of the game is displayed, a playful theme is heard. As the game begins there is a shuffle sound that represents footsteps as Molly is being taking away by the villian. Computer generated voices are heard was Molly and Spike cry out to one another.

A distressed Molly cries for help (old-computers.com)



The background music of the game is somewhat of a high pitch, which eventually speeds up later on during the game ( this adds suspense to the player). A ladder is lowered on each stage (which Spike has to climb to reach the door), and as the ladder hits the platform a low pitch is made.There is a "puck" sound as Spike climbs the ladder to each platform. As Spike reaches the key (this opens the door to the next level) a triumphant sound is heard. Now during the next level of the game an object (which Spike was to defeat) enters the scene. This object resembles an upside down jack-in-the-box, and as it hops around it makes a "boing" noise. A kicking (thump) noise is made from Spike's feet as he kicks the bouncing object (or any opposing object). As Spike dies a sound of defeat comes from the game, which is later followed by the infamous computerized "DARNIT" by Spike. After Spike dies a few times the game ends, but no spectacular noise is made the screne just simply displays "END". Considering the time period of which this game came from I think the audio was suitable.