Half Term Website Progress

Throughout the half term I've been working on the creating the website for my client. I have ensured that all pages correctly navigate to the required pages aswell as implementing external links to pages such as moodle & facebook. The tasks I still need to do obtain some video to put on the site aswell as a few more photos.

Project Scope 4: Flash Website Details

4: Flash Website Details

One of the key factors which the client stated during the initial interview was that the site must be completely unique so with this in mind, the design of the website would need to have it's own unique interface but still be able to have maximum functionality. Most of the pages in the website will include a number of images which have been collected for the website and have them smoothly transition to other images in regular intervals.

The initial home page will include buttons which link to the following pages; Course Information, Media Gallery, The Wall & useful sites. All of the transitions to the pages will look as professional as we can make it.

One of the initial ideas we had for the homepage was to have a scrolling website made up of a 360 degree image. Buttons to the other pages can be found in various objects in the image. The buttons will be easily detectable as they will either flash constantly or perform some dynamic movement to enable it to stand out. 

The course information page is the place where general course information can be found for the business students it will include information such as a news bulletin as well as external links to college resources such as the college website and Moodle.  News bulletins on course information page will have as minimal text as possible and once clicked on will open an additional page displaying the whole bulletin.

The Media Gallery page is the place for all of the media content for the site and will include links to a photo gallery and video gallery and recent and updated albums will be displayed on the page accompanied by a title and description. The video gallery will include videos such as interviews with students and the photo gallery will include photos relevant to the business department.  

The page titled “The Wall” is the page where students can communicate with each other. A student blog and links to the college's Business Department Facebook page can be found on this page. The link to the Facebook page will be in the form of a custom button which we have created.

The “Useful Sites” page is where links to external sites such popular websites & financial News can be found on this page as well as anything else which is deemed useful for the department.

The general navigation between different pages of the site will be done by single buttons or in the form of a drop down menu. The interface will look professional but also make the site look attractive for its target audience. The interface will remain similar throughout the various pages to prevent confusion. 

Responsibilities:

Louis & Co. are responsible for the following elements of completing the flash site pages

ñ  Ensure that all pages provide a suitable amount of content before site launch

ñ  Collect all of the media content.

ñ  Completed  all of the feasible requirements specified by the client

ñ  Design the site according to the department & target age group

ñ  Make the site as interactive as possible without hindering overall functionality

The Client is responsible for the following elements of completing the flash site pages.

• Ensure that Louis & Co. are contacted if requirements are changed.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Review

Game Description:

Metal Gear is the 4th instalment in the Metal gear series after it's initial release on the PlayStation. The Metal gear series is iconic for is cinematic sequences and redefining the stealth action genre. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of the Patriots is set 6 years after the events in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty and you discover the world has become consumed by war as war has become an industry in which governments now follow to sustain their countries. The Private Military Companies benefit massively from the constant battle and rival PMCs engage in spontaneous battles which leave the world in ruins. The Villain in the series is "Ocelot" who has become the leader of 5 largest PMCs in the world and it's the job of your character "Solid Snake" to assassinate him.

Gameplay

The gameplay in MGS4 has remained very much the same as it has in the previous instalments in the series but has implemented some new features such as the introduction of a stress bar which is located beneath you characters health. The stress bar has various effects on your character such as if the stress bar is full you character becomes a lot more accurate when aiming in first person view and your health will restore a lot faster. The bar also has an influence on how concealed you are when trying to remain hidden from enemies. The stress bar will rapidly increase when in fire fights and will decrease when out of combat or listening to the in game “”I-Pod”. In MGS4 there are various ways in which you can play the game for example although the game is primarily a stealth action game you very easily play the game in constant fire fights. You also have the choice to play the whole game in 1^st person view while previously you were restricted to 3^rd person. The boss battles are fun and dynamic and require their own unique strategy to beat them. Players are rewarded for not killing bosses which can be done by using tranquilizer ammunition rather than live ammo. The rewards include camouflage and weapons and you will be rewarded a better rank when completing the game.  

9/10

Graphics

The visuals in MGS4 are unmatched in quality as the in game locations and characters are textured in great detail. The in game cinematic sequences are visually stunning and the action sequences are better than most movies. The game does suffer from random drops in the frame rate but only for a very short duration but personally I believe it holds up pretty well considering the scale of some scenarios and the graphics still look amazing considering it was released back in 2008. The interface you use is unique to the Metal gear series such as the use of holding down the L2 and R2 buttons to activate a dropdown box which you use to equip items and weapons.   10/10

Story

The story in MGS4 doesn’t disappoint the previous instalments in the series and the story which is tied together by the amazing cinematic sequences which never become boring. You do sometimes feel the game is more like movie than a game as some cinematic sequences can be as long as 15 mins long. The games story smartly influences the increase in difficulty as you can dispatched to more dangerous location around the world. Every action in the game feels like is has a consequence on how the game will end and the cinematic sequences can vary depending on if you decided to play the game stealthy or “All Guns blazing “.

10/10

Lifespan

The introduction to a PVP multiplayer to the metal gear series substantially increases it’s lifespan as it implements a character progression system where you can improve various skills of you character as well as your characters appearance which causes players to play it again and again. The Campaign mode enables players who have completed the game to redo the campaign with special equipment which enable you to play the game differently then you initially did.

8/10

Overall

10/10

Website Project Client Notes

The following requirements were set by out client:

The website would have links to all the major newspaper websites

The Website must include financial news

The website must have a unique appearance

Include a gadget which updates automatically to the current FTSE stats

"The News at 10" play as audio in the background

Implement a Student blog

No interactive tour

Must include lots oh photos

Simple to navigate the site

Client will provide quotes from past students and is able to contact a student for video interview

Scrolling Website is preffered

Game Scripting

Today I learnt about the role of a game scripter. The role of a game scripter is to produce a script for the game which basically outlines what happens at different stages of the game. A programmer will initially create a program which has a easier interface in which the scripter can produce levels in the game. In the video which we watched an employee explained that you would likely start off creating basic levels for a game and once you have expressed your imagination & skills you will be promoted to having more critical roles in the design process.  One of the key attributes you require to be successful in this role is being able to communicate effectively to your team so that you can express your ideas effectively to your team so that they share your Enthusiasm. When creating my level for mario using the editor I learnt the importance of saving in certain formats and file sizes. I also learnt how to edit existing images so that I can edit them to what I want. I did encouter a number of errors which were caused by coding the level incorrectly. I was able to link levels together which progessively increased in difficulty. I did in a few cases need to edit my created level so that it can be completed as in a few cases my level was impossible to complete. Regular testing is an important process which needs to be conducted in regualr intervals to ensure it works correctly.