barksbct502

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Week 11

I was indisposed while this session was on, as I was busy doing work for my studio project, but I’ll give it my best shot despite there not being a class recording and not having groupmates.

I kept myself to the 25 minute time limit as best I could.

In 50-100 words write about your strategy - Why and how you are using which methods to address the ‘future university’ scenario: For my method, I used the Lotus Blossom Diagram, which I didn’t enjoy doing a whole lot last time but felt perfect for this. Its great for organizing, compartmentalizing, and visualizing a plan and building on established ideas. My strategy is to create an environment for students, by students. This is done through getting them involved in the design process by changing it based on their feedback, slowly iterating until the perfect balance that will make the most people happy is found. This includes location, layout, activities, appearance , and soundscape among many other factors. 

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Week 10

This week we explored the concept of ‘Systems Thinking’ where each element in a system is affected by other elements either directly or through several degrees of separation.

How could you use systems thinking in your creative processes?: I could use it for seeing how one variable in a program could indirectly affect another for debugging, or for measuring how much supply is needed to meet demand. How could this method complement (or contrast) another method we have explored in CTEC500?: It reminds me a little bit of the Lotus Planner that was explored in week 6, and it could also be used in tandem with it to see how the changes would affect other changes, as well as their effectiveness at solving the issues they were put in place to rectify.

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Week 9

I had to design and lo-fi prototype wallet for someone who only uses cards, and doesn’t carry coins or notes.  I came up with a taco-shell-like design, held together by two elastic straps that can expand/contract depending on how many cards are inside. I then had to ask someone else a few questions about the wallet. I chose my partner.

What Do You Like About It?:  “It’s low profile, and has a modern feel to it”, “It’s minimalist”, and “It’s not too limiting” What Would You Change?:  “Close off one end so it’s more like a L pocket shape, so there is less risk of cards dislodging” or “make the bottom of the taco shell all elastic for better and more uniform expansion” Any Questions?:  “What’s it made of?” “Leather and Elastic.” “Not very 2020 friendly, is it.” “Piss off.” “*laughs*” Any Ideas?: “RFID shielding would be nice”, “Add a metal belt/pocket clip”, and “Add a keyring/lanyard eyelet”

I then had to modify the wallet based on their feedback.

[barksbct502]

Week 7

Original Photo: Aluminum Can Cut In Half

Interpretation 1: Alien Prison/Observation Cell, Large Scale

Interpretation 2: Social Distancing Marker, Small Scale

Q: Consider how you use drawing as a research method in your own work and tell us about that - it could be quite unlike any of the ways we have talked about in this class - maybe you make diagrams or maps to explain your ideas. A: I like visualizing my thoughts in drawings/words in order to help me keep track of what I’m thinking about if it gets to complicated just to keep in my head. Sketching something out before committing to a design for something is also incredibly useful. 

Q: How might you use drawing in other ways in your work? A: It could also be used as a sort of stress relief for me if things get too difficult or complicated, so I can just doodle and wind down while thinking about what to do next.

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may have just fucked my entire project by forgetting the conclusion in my assessment file. kill me

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Studio Game ‘Struggling To Function’ WIP 5: Main Menu screen added, and I have decided on a title. I’m starting to get nervous about being able to get this done on time by the 23rd and potentially showing it off in person at the showcase on the 27th. I also have another whole assignment to complete between then and now, so I’m really starting to worry. In terms of what I’ve done between my last update and this one, I’ve added object descriptions, manual camera control, and most of the objective system. Still to go is the writing (easy), and actual gameplay that isn’t walking around and bumping into objects.

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Studio Game WIP 4: I’ve implemented a full walk cycle for the ‘Positive’ emotional state, as well as grid based movement and object interaction. Also fixed an annoying bug where the player speed was proportional to the amount of objects in the room. Next I’ll animate the other 2 emotional states, finish up modeling the last few bits of furniture, then get onto the ‘objective’ system and actual gameplay implementation.

It also takes me an hour+ to model a single frame or object, so I’ll need to hurry to get this all done by the 23rd.

Still no title.

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Studio game WIP 3: Great success! My room management system works perfectly! I’m not sure what to do next, probably refine it a little better or get on to player movement and emotional states.

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Nothing hits harder than a 2am drunk mental breakdown while stressing about assignments and watching Enterprise about how you’ll never be onboard the NX-01 doing cool space shit

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Another WIP of my game for Studio. I’ve gotten around 2/3 of my assets modeled, with 5 left to do. After that, I’ll work out room management, then movement and interaction. Still don’t have a title.

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Studio Game WIP

WIP of my game for BCT Studio, I’m currently modeling all the assets, after that is writing and programming. I had to restart my whole project 2 weeks before the deadline for reasons I won’t get into here. I should be able to finish on time, I think.

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Photos and videos of Analogue input device for Physical Computing

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Week 6

How Did the Diagram Help With Thinking Of Ideas: It certainly helped with compartmentalizing my thoughts, and allowed me to branch from one idea to the other based on what I had written for other boxes. Would you use this in the future?: It depends largely on the idea I’m working with. This feels like it could work really well or rather poorly depending on what you’re looking to get from the exploration/expansion of the idea. It’s my least favorite of the processes so far, but not by much.

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Week 5

The Ideas: My first idea is a seated blocky humanoid figure made out of a single sheet of material, hunched over with holes just under hiss eyes for rainwater to drip through. He’d be placed atop the pictured perch about halfway down Fort Ln. I was incredibly sleep deprived during this class and I don't know how or why or when I thought of this, or where his other arm went. I think it’s about a friend. My second idea is a set of bricks that would jut out of one of Fort Ln’s many brick walled buildings. The bricks would have holes in their sides that would play a musical note when wind or people blow through them. This would introduce some more sounds into the street, but could get annoying fast for anyone who spends a lot of time there.  Lessons Learned: This was a fun exercise, as I love getting hands-on and making stuff. Although the process was a little frustrating due to the VERY short amount of time we had to design, make, and present our models. It’s also a lot easier to explain an idea to someone when you have a physical model of the thing to help them better understand what you’re talking about.

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Week 4

Describe The Object: My object is Maneki, He’s a lucky cat statue who sits on my meager lump of physical cash no-one is accepting anymore, keeping it safe until this all blows over. I like him more than most people I’ve met. The Process: To start off, I took a photo of him on the table, and transferred the photo to my laptop. Then I took a photo of the photo, transferred that photo to my laptop again, and repeated this process 10 times to completely deep-fry the image quality. Next, I opened the image in Paint.NET and applied all sorts of filters, effects, and color swaps until I got the picture in the 3rd image. I then ran the image through the shown distortion effects in PHOTOMOSH, and got this cool looking radial thingy. Reflection: This was really fun, and informative too. I enjoyed absolutely destroying an image into something completely unrecognizable, and found some interesting aesthetic choices I didnt know I would like, particularly the 3rd image is neat enough for me to put it on a t-shirt. I might use this method if I ever need a funky looking pattern for whatever I might be working on in the future. 

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Week 3

Aotea Square

Sounds Heard:

*Honk*, *Brrrrrrt*, *Thonk*, *Bang*, *Bleargh*, *Clank*, *Squeak*

Potential Changes:

 The sounds here were largely the result of nearby construction, cars, and art installations of vomiting robots. Not very nice to listen to. To change this, I’d install speakers that play more organic sounds like the calls of native birds, waterfalls, etc.

Impact of Change:

The space would feel a lot more natural and populated, rather than a flat expanse of cement.

Auckland Art Gallery

Sounds Heard:

*Bong*, *Clip Clop*, *The Earsplitting Shrieks' Of A Hundred Schoolchildren*

Potential Changes: 

 I didn’t hear many sounds here, but given that an art gallery is supposed to be a place of quiet observation, that was most likely by design. I would keep the space the same, but give schoolkids a lollypop each to keep their big flapping mouths shut.

Impact of Change:

No real change, other than accelerated tooth decay in the children.

Albert Park

Sounds Heard:

*Tweet*, *Chirp*, *Mumble*, *Click*, *Whistle*

Potential Changes:

This was my favorite location, as the sounds were all biological from people, birds, and insects rather than cars and construction. I wouldn’t change anything here, other than potentially some sound insulation around the perimeter to keep the sounds of the city out.

Impact of Change:

No major change, although the city would feel quieter behind the insulation.

[barksbct502]

German Traffic Light for Assignment 1 of Physical Computing