Final Novel Blurb - Graphic Novel

Blurb: 
A young samurai named Nagamasa dares to end a war on his own by traversing pitch black forests filled with bandits and feral creatures.  During his journey to speak with the 4 Ancients, he is unwillingly aided by his perky sister, Midori, and utilizes the strength, fighting ability, and wisdom taught to him by their grandfather, Durara. Nagamasa's goal to speak to the 4 Ancients and learn more about the history of the world will not come as expected, as no one who has ever spoken to the Ancients has lived to tell the tale.

Themes:

How much would you sacrifice to protect the ones you love?

What about the ones you love will you remember when you can no longer see them?

What is "family"?

Expecting the unexpected can result in a more independent and inquisitive lifestyle.

Is the truth really worth searching for?

Characters:

Nagamasa - 22, male, 6'0", a Samurai with an athletic build, carries the katana his grandfather taught him how to fight with. When he is not training or exploring he is helping his grandfather fix up their family shrine.

Midori - 17, female, 5'6", Nagamasa's young and talkative sister. Against her grandfather's wishes, she wants to learn how to fight and protect her family like Nagamasa, though she is usually seen gardening or helping Durara with housework.

Durara - 72, male, 5'8", grandfather to both Nagamasa an Midori, homeschooled them from an early age since they live in the countryside (in an attempt to keep them out of the ear torn cities where their parents died). He is often seen teaching Nagamasa how to fight, or helping Midori around the house. Unbeknown to him Nagamasa has been teaching Midori how to fight as well…

Inputs - Capstone

For my next Capstone installment I realized that I should explain the origins of common attacks like fireballs and dragon punches.  These two attack motions have been the staple for nearly every fighting game that has ever been released since its debut in Street Fighter I in 1987.  I want use these same motions in my game since they are so widely used and they are what I grew up on, so in order for others to understand these motion I’ll go into detail explaining them.
                The fireball is known in Japanese as the “Hadouken”.  It literally translates to “Wave Motion Fist/Attack” as –ken means “attack” in Japanese, while “Hadou” describes the type of spirit energy being used.  The motion input for this move is (now keep in mind were playing on an arcade here, so it’s a joystick rather than a directional pad) quarter circle forward, and any of the (usually three) punch buttons.  Quarter circle forward would mean you start the joystick at a 6 o’clock position and swipe it to 3 o’clock position, travelling a fourth of the way around the “clock” that is the joystick. Another way of describing it is “Down, Down-Forward, Forward”, as if you were following written direction where to place the joystick. After this quick swipe if any punch button is pressed, a fireball will come out.  The reason why any punch button can be pressed is because of the light, medium, and heavy version of attacks like previously stated, each button would represent a different strength (usually with Light being on the left closest to the joystick).
                The dragon punch on the other hand is just as popular, but noticeably harder for beginners to do.  The dragon punch is known as the “Shoryuken” in Japanese, again with the suffix –ken meaning attack, and Shoryu meaning “Rising Fist”.  The shoyuken is a popular uppercut move that many characters have because uppercuts are notoriously safe moves with a lot of priority.  This move is inputted by moving the joystick: forward (to 3 o’clock position), down (to 6 o’clock), and then down-forward (to 4 o’clock), and then any punch.  To give a visual idea, you are making a letter “Z” where the top to points of the Z are neutral and 3 o’clock respectively.  Once you get the hang of it down it becomes a very easy command to do, and an important on at that due to its priority. 
                   These 2 motions are important because even though there’s only two different types of movements, they open up ways to do many different attacks with slight variations.  For example, there’s the Hadouken, the backward Hadouken (which is the same input in reverse, so quarter circle backward, or a swipe from 6 o’clock to 9 o’clock), the Shoryuken, and the backward Shoryuken.  Each of these four inputs can either be followed by a punch or a kick depending on the move, so that is 8 different combinations for moves right off the bat.  Most characters only have about 4-6 moves anyway, so not all of these inputs are even needed!  This prevents too much unnecessary repetitiveness and adds a realistic edge to the inputs.  If a character had a fireball attack that involved them kicking out a ball of flame instead of it coming out of their fist, their fireball input would be quarter circle forward, any Kick.  This customizability helps players remember moves easier and helps distinguish characters from each other because of their unique movesets.
                There are other inputs that are not as widely used, such as inputs for charge or grappling characters.  Charge characters do not use simple inputs such as quarter circle forward, but rather, they force the player the hold the joystick backward for a second, and then immediately press forward and any punch/kick.  This style of characters is more defensive, an usually relies on the opponent making a mistake an punishing them with a charged up move.  This same charge style input can be down from down to up, giving these characters only 4 types of inputs available outside of unorthodox inputs like mashing punch to send out a flurry of fists.
                The last moveset belongs to grapplers, and these inputs involve a lot of half circles rather than quarter circles.  A lot of these half circle moves are grabs that have very high priority, so the extra quarter of a distance to travel hinders the usefulness and priority to some of their attacks.  The attack may have more priority, but if the opponent can consistently throw out a fireball quicker than you can input a half circle, you’re going to have to rethink your strategy.   

-History of the Hadouken and Shoryuken are from Street Fighter: World Warrior Encyclopedia by Matt Moylan

A Wordpress Site - Advanced Internet Media

                Some of the most well known websites and blogs in the internet today are hosted by Wordpress.com.  The ease of use associated with this Content Management System sees popularity from novice web designers, but for these sites we get a look at what is truly capable with Wordpress’s features.  One such site is CNN.com, a popular news hosting site and blog that has been the go-to source of worldwide events for some people for years.  I know my whenever I visit my grandparents CNN is the only thing they ever have on, so for some people this is a program that they follow regularly and sometimes constantly.  Because of this their website needs to be easy to navigate, and know how to draw the reader in with the layout of their news coverage.
                I’m going to approach this from my grandparents’ perspective, and analyze why an average CNN viewer such as them could find comfort in the website due to its parallel to the television program. Upon first visiting the site, we are greeted by the signature red and white color theme that is associated with CNN, which is a nice way to introduce a reader to the website.  The Home page displays breaking news, which is a great organization tool because that is obviously what readers are going to be looking for most of the time.  Aside from Home there are two other pages highlighted in a darker red than the rest of them:  TV & Video and Trends.  TV & Video is a nice addition because for those who do not wish to read as much they can opt to just watch a segment to keep up in a similar way to them just watching the program.  I know this is probably what my grandparents would want to use, and they could easily find it sine it’s right next to the home button.  The next page, Trends, features not as popular news stories, but a wide selection.  For those who simply want to read any sort of news available this is another great starting point, and an obvious reason why it is bolded with these other two selections.
                The rest of the pages are laid out in a similar fashion to a newspaper or a magazine, with pages such as U.S. News, World News, Technology, Health, Politics, Travel, etc.  The farther towards the right we look the less serious the stories seem to be, with many of the last pages (like Travel) being slightly unnecessary to the average browser. Still, they include all of these options anyway to offer diversity to the reader, which for a news site Is a smart move.  Each one of these tabs gives a description of what kind of information the reader will find on each page simply by hovering over it, which I think is a great addition.  There is also a separate list of pages underneath of the main one for hot topics that have been searched recently.  Again, this is a way for readers to easily find what they are looking for at a glance.
                The Home page’s actual content involves large pictures with summaries of stories underneath rather than just displaying full stories.  This is a great way to draw people into the site rather than just being able to read everything at a glance.  This also prompts browsers of the site to actually explore the rest of the site as well, a way to get people to learn without even realizing it.  A glance leads to an exploration through this sight, and I think that is a very important quality to have in a webpage.  At a glance the material should be interesting and easy to navigate, but on the inside is where you can sort of persuade your reader into browsing the site further. 

Popularity of CMS - Comm 477

                Content Management Systems have seen an exponential increase in popularity as of late – and with good reason.  Content Management Systems have helped turned average citizens into novice web designers, and for the more serious have offered a way for adept web designers to easily and quickly create efficient working websites that please clients.  So just what exactly makes these Content Management Systems so effective and popular? 
                One of the main reasons why Content Management Systems are seeing more attention is their ability to organize a vast amount of resources.  According to http://www.essent.com, Content Management Systems can manage images (including GIF and JPG), audio (including MP3 & WAV), video (including .MOV and .WMV) Flash, Silverlight, HTML and other source files that would normally need to be handled separately.  With this in mind if you are working with a large staff –each working with a different type of file – they can all work simultaneously on the same site knowing that it will easily support everything at once.  But with all of these different types of files and actions going on there needs to be a way to easily manage all of this information in a way that makes sense, and that is another reason why CMS are growing popular.  Staying true to their name, Content Management Systems do a fantastic job of not only accepting diverse types of information but also organizing that information in a way completely unique to the users or designers.  This way everyone working on the site can upload their respective files onto the site and not worry about altering other peoples’ works, which can be a problem when trying to host a site from multiple servers when not using a CMS.
                Content Management Systems are easy to use, and because of their ease they are often utilized when a quick website needs to be created.  www.a3webtech.com explains that when using CMS it is just as easy to create a 1,000 page website as a 10 page website, and the only thing standing in your way is how you want it to look.  That part is relatively easy, with most CMS offering many default layouts to choose from for simple sites.  The ability to create pages rapidly is aided by the ability to make changes on multiple pages at once.  This way all of the data that is being added can all be updated as one unit instead of the author going in and changing every single page (reminds me of my time in Comm 352…)
                Content Management Systems are helping more and more people create websites and learn about web design every day.  The ease of most of these sites (like Wordpress for example) allows for even inexperienced users to create efficient websites that fill every needed role, making CMS an obvious choice for any company using webspace.          

Final Novel Ideas - Comm 343

                My expectations for my final novel project for Graphic Novel are to create a compelling story that uses minimalistic imagery.  After reading novels such as Maus and Essex County, I have come to realize that flashy, over-animated panels are not as important to conveying a story as I once believed.  Both of these novels are in black and white, and feature hand drawn characters that, despite their silly appearances, all do a fantastic job of expressing emotion on a human level.  We instantly sympathize with Lester in Essex County before we even discover his mother’s passing prior to the story.  His lonesome behavior and superhero attire suggests that he has a minute social life that is going unattended to by his uncle, his new guardian.  In Maus, even though all of the Jewish characters are portrayed by mice we are still able to feel the tension and sadness that goes into a story dealing with the Holocaust.  Making sure the characters can convey a message rather than relying on cool and flashy over the top artwork will prove to be what separates collegiate level work with that of a professional.

                My novel takes place in feudal Japan, during a time of roaming samurais working as swords for hire.  Our hero is a young male samurai in his early twenties that is in search of a way to end the ongoing war at hand and therefore keep his family (consisting of his younger sister and his grandfather) from becoming another casualty of war.  Whenever an individual prays for guidance one of 4 voices is heard.  This leads many to believe that there are four Gods (known as the Ancients) who are truly in control, and countless warriors have attempted to meet these Ancients face to face to ask them questions but none have lived to tell the tale.  The story will pick up with our hero already very close to the dwelling when his younger sister chases him down to join him and aid him in battle.  He is reluctant since he has only begun teaching her how to fight, but he is seemingly at ease knowing that he can keep his watchful eye on her.  When they finally meet the Ancients they will discover a secret that has escaped everyone in their attempt to know the truth; however, the truth about the Ancients may cause even more problems for our hero.
                To essentially spoil the ending, our heroes discover that the Ancients are really just one cloaked figure with 4 different rotating masks, each one with a different personality and a different type of advice to give.  When it’s true form has been discovered, the Ancient replies with anger and violence.  The story will end with our hero destroying the Ancient, and therefore the source of answered prayers for the world.  With this lack of a religious deity to fight for the war, many stop fighting as a reaction to their unanswered prayers and concerns about their family, and instead simply go home to be with them.
                The themes present are about family and nonconformity.  For many people who do not have the answers to the world for themselves, they rely on others to give them this information.  If this “other” is some type of religious figure, then your decisions will be skewed by what you are told is right and wrong rather than using your gut to tell you how you truly feel about a situation.  This is a generalization I understand, but this voice of reason is why many individuals choose to fight for what they think they believe in.  My novel will explore themes of individualism while breaking away from conformist roles that society would pressure us into performing, knowing that at the end of the day it is better to please yourself and those you love rather than the world who would probably not do the same for you.

Balancing Defense - Capstone

                Following Jesse Schell’s novel The Art of Game Design once again I have learned more and more about balancing mechanics that I would like to see present in my game.  One of the other more interesting aspects of balance is “punishment” – penalizing the player for making a wrong choice.  At a glance this seems counterproductive, wouldn't we want our players to have constant positive feedback while playing?  The answer is no, and surprisingly being punished while playing a game can make the situation more intense because you as a player are aware that you should be learning the entire time you’re playing.  In fighting games, since each character has a health bar and takes multiple hits to knock out, the ENTIRETY of a fighting game consists of punishing mistakes, which is why I believe fighting games are some of the best genre-wise in developing motor skills as well as thinking improvisationally. 
                Punishment in fighting games specifically increases the challenge for smarter players, as reaction time is crucial to being a successful fighting game player.  Increasing the punishment in relation to a minor or major failure is also a key element because you would not want to punish someone too severely for their mistakes, especially if they are still learning.  Unfortunately most fighting games have a steeper learning curve than most other games, as playing against the computer and a human have completely different feels and strategies associated with each. 
                The punishment factor in fighting games is usually always the same: two people are fighting, one person throws a punch, the punch connects and they must decide which order of operation to continue attacking with, while the opponent (who was punished by being hit) must think defensively of how they can get out of this situation.  Another example is: two people are fighting, one person throws a punch, the punch misses (or “whiffs” the opponent) and they are subject to punishment as they essentially chose the wrong move to do in that scenario, technically speaking.  This gives the opponent a chance to punish the attacker with a move of their own, and their offense becomes the same as previously stated.
                  In fighting games it is common knowledge that being on the offensive is easier than blocking a string of attacks, and for that reason I would add 2 distinct features that could help with players defensively: Burst and Parry.  Burst is a command usually activated by pressing all of the face buttons on the controller or fight pad, activating a “burst” of energy that completely frees you from any attack while simultaneously pushing the attacking opponent across the screen. This burst is limited to usually one per battle, and I cannot think of a better tool for defense that is accessible to any playing ability.  It’s like the perfect panic button.  Your instinct when panicking would be to press as many buttons as possible, and that is why this input works so well, just press all of them!  The burst is instant and completely resets the current fighting stage spatially, which gives you more time to think without the enemy just bullying you.
                The other defensive maneuver, Parrying, is a much more difficult to achieve action but yields a much better reward: complete invincibility.  In Street Fighter 3, a new feature was added where you could potentially parry any attack (or string of attacks) by simply pressing forward as soon as you get hit.  While this seems simple, it is one of the most difficult defensive maneuvers to master.  That being said it has easier capabilities.  Pressing forward puts you completely open to the enemy’s attack, so unless your timing is spot on, you’re gonna get hit.  However with good timing an experienced player could potentially block every attack thrown at him or her, but this is highly improbable.  It’s usefulness can be more easily attributed to surviving in a zoning war (a scenario where both opponents constantly throw fireballs at each other)  Since fireballs are usually a single striking move that travels forward at a set rate, it is relatively easy with little training to deflect fireballs consistently.  This instantly levels the playing field for characters without fireballs, and forces those with them not to rely on them.
                My next field of study is how I plan on using “super meter” for the fighting style I want.  But a good place to start is by clarifying in further detail just how important (to me at least) super meter is.  

Balancing Offense - Capstone

                                     In an effort to further my knowledge of balancing and mechanics, I have read even more of Jesse Schell’s novel, The Art of Game Design to get an idea of how these balances should be implemented.  An aspect of balance I had never thought about was the “risk versus reward”  factor:  moments during gameplay that offer little risk yield little reward, and therefore actions that involve high risk would yield a high reward.  A way to implement this is by creating a light, medium, and heavy version of each attack, all with minor changes.

                                An example of this is a move common to fighting games: the command grab.  A command grab is an input that certain characters can perform while directly next to an opponent.  If the grab connects (aided by the ability to go through an opponent’s guard because of its grab status) a decent amount of damage can be dealt.  But with light, medium, and heavy versions of attacks, we can add variety to each attack by offering the player 3 different versions to choose from.  The light version would deal the least amount of damage if it connects, but it would activate the fastest.  It also has the shortest reach, meaning you would have to be right up next to your opponent to activate it.  The heavy version on the other hand is the opposite:  deals the most amount of damage if it connects, has great range, but activates slower.  This means that if the opponent were to throw out a move at the same time as his command grab, the opponent’s attack has a better chance of breaking through because of the lower priority of the heavy command grab.  The medium version is a nice balance of the two for safer players.
                                Another addition to this strategy of multiple versions of attacks is allowing the player to use their a portion of their “hyper meter” (or whatever meter is being used to display special attack energy) in order to power up a normal attack to have essentially the “best” combination of effects.  Using the command grab as an example again, this powered up command grab utilizing a bit of hyper meter might have the damage of the medium version, the range of the heavy version, and the priority of the light version.  This means that the attack is better in every way, taking the better aspects of each version in order to make the “best” version of the attack.  It is up to the player to choose which one of these to use depending on the situation.  It also adds more depth to the fighting because even if a character has four attacks, if they have four different version of each attack then they can stand a fighting chance.  Sometimes the hyper meter versions of moves have effects like projectile invincibility, or home in on an opponent if the attack is a diving kick for example.
                                In my quest for obtaining balance the next topic I need to research is defense.  As a constant reminder from Schell, keeping both players on a level playing field is ideal, so I must find a way to level the playing field even when two polar opposite characters are fighting.  A lot of fighting game rosters suffer from “bad matchups”, where certain characters are just plain not good against others.  Hopefully the combination of defensive and offensive tactics implemented will combat this dilemma. 

Types of Frames - Comm 343

 In the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegleman, a tale of survival is presented to us in the form of a father's storytelling.  The artistic style of this novel feels very hand drawn and written, and the frames for the most part are always neatly in squares.  The large connection between all of these frames come in a variety of forms in order to successfully tell his tale.  According to Scott McCloud's novel Understanding Comics, there are six main types of panel-to-panel transitions found in comics.  In Maus, I have identified at least four different types used.  The transitions used usually always follow the same pattern, which I will identify!

#1 Moment to Moment

Moment to Moment #1 - most of the scenes where the father and son are talking feature this very  subtle transition.
Since the father an son are talking in a normal speaking voice with no huge action taking place, the changes are small.

Moment to Moment #2 - Again, the father and son talking with little differences in each panel.

Moment to Moment #3 - The father continues to tell his story with small transitions in the panels.

#2 Scene to Scene

Scene to Scene #1 - When the father's storytelling starts to envelop the scene and we start a flashback, a scene to scene transition is used.  Since this entire story consists of flashbacks through storytelling, we see this transition used a lot as well.

Scene to Scene #2 - Where the first three panels make up a Moment to Moment transition, once the flashback is the main point of the stor again we quickly travel through time as a reader.

     
#3 Action to Action

Action to Action #1 - We move quickly through these scenes using the action to action transition in order to make the stories faster and more fluid 

Action to Action #2 - again, the scenes move faster  with the action to action transition.

#4 Subject to Subject

In moments of high stress we see the subject to subject transition used, as it can easily bounce from person to person in  order to give an idea of what everyone is going through.

Spiegleman utilizes mostly the Moment to Moment, Scene to Scene, and Action to Action transitions in the same type of way throughout the entire comic.  This is not necessarily a bad thing as the familiar setting becomes easy to read as the story becomes more involved and intense.  It also keeps the moments of flashback and present tense separate in order to make the story easier to follow along with as well.  I have definitely come to realize that more is not always better if you're following a theme, this can make your work flow better and have a concrete pattern that is easy to follow whether you realize it or not.  We pick up on patterns easily as humans and this has been an application that has inspired me this semester, along with the importance of simplicity.

3 Novels - Comm 343

            The three novels I have chosen to read for class are The Sandman Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman , X’ed Out by Charles Burns, and Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel.  I chose each graphic novel for different reasons after doing a bit of research about each of them to find their summaries.  I feel that each graphic novel will assist me in my writing and creative process.
                The first novel I chose, The Sandman Vol. 1, is a New York Times best seller from a widely acclaimed writer.  I chose this in part for its popularity (having never read many American comics before like Watchmen or the Batman series, American comics are still somewhat novel to me) because I will be able to pick up on ideas and aspects of a successful comic that has had positive reviews.  Since graphic novels are such a diverse form of literature, being able to see what makes one so widely accepted and praised will be a good starting point on learning how to make my graphic novel more accessible to all audiences.  In all, I mostly picked this comic so I can see for myself what truly makes what critics would agree is a “best selling” graphic novel.
                The second novel I chose is X’ed Out.  From the little research I did (mostly consisting of looking up summaries that did not spoil any story for me), I came to find that this novel features “adolescence taking drugs and performing risky behavior”, which sounds like an interesting topic in itself.  As a young adult living in a liberal day and age it will be interesting to see an artistic take on these types of actions and use of drugs.  One reviewer commented that this novel was “similar to other works by Burns, but with more hallucinogenic scenes”.  I am very interested to see this art portrayed, and how he interprets the altered mind on paper.
                The last novel I chose, Fun House: A Family Tragicomic is actually an autobiography of sorts from the author Alison Bechdel.  The “fun house” is short for the funeral home that her father worked at, and this story tells of a young daughter living with her distant father and her inner struggle with her sexuality.  As a lover of sociology I am extremely interested in the roles of the family, and in particular dysfunctional families.  This will be a great insight on the communication between characters in a novel, as I am sure that there will be many heartfelt moments and inspiring scenes.  This will truly be a comic that will make me think on an emotional level, which I feel is a nice compliment to the reasons I chose the other two.

Balancing Mechanics - Comm 461

              Aside from the creative aspects of my game (which come flowing naturally like a golden river of honey), I have been very interested in learning how to make my game as balanced as possible.  A common critique of older fighting games (and even some of the more complex fighting games we see today) is that there is a complete lack of balance.  Some games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 have been revolutionary in the sense that they offered over fifty playable characters.  Even though this game is over ten years old, a roster that size is unheard of even by today’s standards.  Although it grants the players the widest selection of playable characters, it also creates countless difficulties when it comes to actual gameplay.   Even though there are over fifty characters, only maybe twenty of them are “worth using” because their frames, hitboxes, and priorities are just simply better than others.  For example, having a giant robot as blatantly the most powerful character in the game has been a common theme of these older fighters.  It just seems…unimpressive.  I want a level playing field where fire-ninjas are going up against crystal Goddesses, and the battle could always go either way depending on the player’s actual playing skill.  I have taken ideas from some of my favorite games to implement this.
                In Jesse Schell’s book The Art of Game Design, he spends an entire chapter on balance and game mechanics, many of which I intend to utilize in my design.  The first is symmetry, making the playing field even for both players.  This means always giving each player the same “materials” to each have at their disposal when the round starts.  Tools such as “Burst” and “Parrying” have been tools implemented by fighting game designers to give skilled players an advantage despite what character they are playing as.  Burst frees you completely from an opponent’s assault (which is a refillable gauge used by each player) and parrying can completely negate an opponent’s attack with precise timing.  This way a player can concentrate on playing a character that they actually like rather than a character they know is just plain good.
                Another need for balance lies in the difficulty in the game itself.  I find that most retro fighting game creation was not tested as thoroughly with professional players as necessary.  Way too often in modern day fighting games a professional player can quickly find and exploit any unbalance in a particular character, and these game-changers usually are not discovered until months after the game’s release.  This calls for updates, patches, or even re-releasing games which has caused fan appreciation to drop heavily for companies like Capcom.  I would intend to have the game tested heavily and thoroughly by players of all skill styles.  It would be interesting to see if there is a trend in the type of character selected by each type of gamer (from casual to professional).  From there, we would be able to determine if a certain character is too “hard” to play as, or just simply mechanically difficult to use (to a point where the player would have no control over the difficulty).
                All of the balancing issues ten to be resolved by extensive testing, which companies usually cut short due to release dates being so strict.  I will further look into what other options or aspects I can add into my game in order to make it enjoyable for all ages and skills to enjoy. 

See Em Es - Comm 447

                Content Management Systems allow for us as web designers to create consistent series of text that is easily manageable.  This technology is also used in blog websites in order to make the blogging experience more streamlined in its pursuit of simplistic information and communication. Utilizing a Content Management System allows for the creator of a site of a blog to focus less on the design process or extensive coding that may take hours of time an effort that could otherwise be spent on actually working on content, so using these systems can be very helpful and not to be frowned upon for being a “shortcut” by any means.
                According to Web Design Land (conveniently hosted by Wordpress), one of the most important aspects of Content Management Systems are their affordability.  Most of these hosting sites offer their services for a relatively cheap cost considering the time that could be speculated to be saved – especially if you do not know where to begin.  For those that simply want to present information or text, this can be a fast way to get started effectively with little problem.  Another way to combat the cost of signing up with one of these CMS is realizing that most of these systems allow for easy customizability of your site at your fingertips.  This cuts out the need for a web developer, and thus an entire extra person entirely. 
                ShiftCMS gives similar praise to these systems.  Since it is so easy to change the layout of your site, you can constantly and easily update the same information for years to come and keep it fresh.  They compared it to a billboard that you can constantly update to meet the chaning desires and needs of your audience.
                SMS really does allow for more freedom while editing a site.  With a site that’s easy to manage the creators have the liberty to edit what’s truly important more frequently.  Not that the layout and design are not important, but the content is what the viewer is looking for at the end of the day, and CMS ensure that you will have one less thing to worry about.

Understanding Maus - Comm 343

Both Maus and Understanding Comics have done a fantastic job of illuminating basic and universal elements of comics.  One of my favorite topics brought up by Scott McCloud in Understanding Comics is the simplicity of the human face as an icon.  We need such a little comparison to the human face in order to make a connection, and he was able to explain this concept very intelligently.  The example he gave where you draw a series of blobs an then simply add dots for eyes also put into perspective just how easy it is to personify inanimate objects that have only a loose representation of a face – because it is what we want to see.
                I noticed this simplistic face mechanic was used in Maus to make these mice more believable as a substitute for humans.  They walk upright and wear clothes yes, but it takes more than that to sympathize with a drawing.  It takes emotion.  What really astonishes me about the artwork in Maus is the facial expressions that are present, no matter how simplistic they may be, all successfully portray their respective emotions.  The simple chancing of the eyes from a dot to a “ ^ “ shape is enough to express joy.  At moments during the story when Anja was depressed, she had dark lines running along her face that make her seem worried, stressed, and ill.  Again, a simple addition of lines to the face can change what we perceive as a noticeably different emotion. 
                The final interesting piece of information I found in McClouds book was the information of the hieroglyphics.  Considering ancient Egyptian writings as “comics” never dawned on me until I read the definition he provided.  Again, their style is the essence of simplicity, at times not even requiring text an just letting pictures do the talking.  But what’s important is that right from early times we realized that sequential images really do work as a means of communication.  This is easily seen in man instruction manuals – tiny black and white images that show a three or four step process that requires no text to any audience. 
                If it’s anything I’ve learned so far is how simplicity is not to be underrated or underestimated.  We as humans see what he want to see in imagery, and I just need to use that to my advantage.

Capstone Expectations - Comm 461

     My capstone project is an idea that has been floating around my head for the past two years or so of my college career.  I am going to create an entire design spread for a conceptual fighting game I have been working on as just a "fun side project".  It's going to feel great to actually make this idea into a concrete an tangible creation.
     My biggest goal is to create a great story that envelopes all of the characters in some way.  There will be a narrative attached to the game, and all of the characters (24 of them I believe) will have a role in the story progression that forces them to interact with one another.  The characters themselves will all have specific personalities, abilities, and goals that set each of apart from another.  There won't be any "palette swap" characters that have the same moves just in different clothing, as I detest this in fighting games.  As a lover of the fighting game genre since I was a young teen, I will be able to take all of the things I have liked and disliked about the games I have played over the years in order to create a game that I think could actually work.
     The characters I have created are all based off of my friends, with some of the characters' careers or abilities being completely parallel to the individual they are based off of.  For example, the character Myriah is an archaeologist that fights with two pickaxes and is outfitted in the beige uniform worn by these scientists while they are out in the field.  This is based off of my friend Jennifer who is studying History here at Shepherd, and her dream of one day being a field archaeologist.  Other inspiration for characters via my friends sometimes come from personal moments or inside jokes that can be made into reality.  My friend Travis is being portrayed by a ninja style character with a Tiger motif - inspired by this gigantic painting of a tiger that he considered his prized possession for a while (which never ceased to make me laugh).  Since my friends are the inspiration for these characters, I also want as many of them as possible to do the voices for the characters as well.  This will include taunts, pre and post match quotes, and in battle quotes that include grunts for when the character takes damage or yells an attack.  I literally want there to be a sound test available to the viewers when they see this project, because voice is such an important factor when it comes to characters in video games nowadays.  It also creates the diversity I'm looking for in my characters.
     Along with characters and story I am going to include stages, game options and settings, and ideas for online support and play.  I literally want to do as much as I can creatively for this game without actually being able to make it.  This is going to be a lengthy process, but I remember Monica mentioning that this project should be fun, and now that I see this becoming a reality this will definitely be one of the most exciting things I have ever done.

Dreamweavin' - Comm 447

               After using Dreamweaver last semester, I must say that I found editing and utilizing HTML to be not as difficult as I initially thought it would be.  Upon first using this program I was reminded of my eighth grade career of editing layouts for my Myspace page.  All of the silly codes like “a href” or “img src” came rushing back to me as I realized that this was something I had actually taught myself a long time ago and just never really knew what I was accomplishing.  This made diving into these procedures relatively easy to follow (“always close your doors”, for example).  With this knowledge I was able to make it through Comm 352 with virtually no serious problems, and the entire class was relatively painless.  It was nice to experience something so meticulous that could lead to such simple results.
               After what we learned today in class, however, I realize that there is still much for me to learn!  Having only inserted codes manually to every page in Comm 352, I’ve become used to this tedious way of writing.  It’s surprising that using these shortcuts like templates, widgets, and…sprys(?) were available to me all along and I went without them, making learning them now incredibly useful, but hard to learn.  You would think that learning a shortcut after knowing a program would make it easier to use, but in actuality I keep looking for the old way of doing things.  I definitely enjoy using Dreamweaver, and since this is the only HTML coding program I’ve ever used I would like to be very fluent in all of its components in my career. 
               I think this class will help me understand both the difficult and easy to use components of Dreamweaver, and if anything my coding should only get faster with more practice and knowledge of these shortcuts.  It is just surprisingly tricky to learn an “easier” route to a code after learning the long, manual version. 

Ipad Game (2) - Comm 344

    One of my favorite aspects of game design is creating characters, if the game calls for them.  With our original game there were no real characters involved because it was a learning experience for the players; however,  with a racing game I was able to add characters each with different abilities and personalities in order for there to be someone that anybody would want to use.  Like I said, this is my favorite part of game design because I love granting powers and abilities to different persons that reflect their personalities and explain more abou them.
     Drippy is the main character, and can be classified as the "young heroic male" archetype.  Adventurous and optimistic, he is on his way to the factory because he has been told legend of a mystical purification system being used there.  With this technology he could rid his hometown of Skyvale of any Toxins that have plagued his community. 
     His younger sister, Kate, (but goes by the superhero pseudonym of Precipa Kate) follows along without Drippy's permission since he thinks the task is too dangerous.  Kate won't take no for an answer, so she tirelessly follows Drippy to his destination (though due to her quick speed, Drippy does most of the following).  Her loud, confident and boisterous nature leads her to believe that her and her brother would be known as true heroes if they were to discover the secret on their own.  Unfortunately, her loud mouth has alerted some other rather mischievous individuals of the secrets that lie within the factory.
     Viskus could be seen as the main antagonist of the game, though he is a playable character just like everyone else.  Born from toxified groundwater that has been dormant for hundreds of years, Viskus has finally seen sunlight for the first time - and hates it.  He wants nothing more than to reach the factory on his own and shut down the purification system in order to drown the world in toxins, just like himself.
     The other characters don't have any relation to these three, as they are motivated by their own goals of reaching the factory.  I use this strategy when creating characters because I find it too "convenient" when every character knows each other.  Who is to say that random persons from all over the sky would not hear about the factory's secret?  Because of this, the rest of these characters are all strangers to one another until you reach the later stages where it is implied that they recognize each other from racing.  The voice acting in this game would include more of the characters reacting to one another the further the game progresses. 
     Next up is Slushie, a drop of freezing rain that is from the Slush Tribe located far north.  Because members of the Slush Tribe speak to one another through shivers, his speech is next to unintelligible.  The gradually warming conditions of the Earth's atmosphere is causing his tribe to weaken, so he is sent off to find the secret of the factory by his elder. 
     Plop is a rare species of "Big Drips", one that only appears during the heaviest of rains.  His big and burly nature may make him seem intimidating, but one glance at his big grin and beady eyes will be enough to put anyone's worries to rest.  A rather slow individual (in both speed and thoughts), but he is well aware that his life as a Big Drip is not a long one.  He makes up for this by always having fun and finding enjoyment in the little things - like rolling down hills.
     Sir Seltz is the head knight of the royal L'Aqua Raining Guard, specializing in protecting the royal family.  When the princess goes missing, Sir Seltz springs into action immediately, rushing to the princess's aid while following clues as to her whereabouts.  Quite the ladies man, his updo and shimmering smile are enough to swoon even the grumpiest of women in the kingdom.  Little does he know that the princess may have more to do with the secret of the factory than he and her royal family may realize.  Still, if the princess is missing, nothing will stand in his way of finding her - even if it means risking his own life.
     Princess L'Aqua XVII is the final member of the roster, but certainly not the least.  Her lineage traces back to the most ancient pools of groundwater that have been untouched and pure since time began.  Her royal blood allows her to deflect all toxins, which one would think would make her safe from peril.  Unfortunately this just seems to lead to more problems, as villains such as Viskus (who has actually heard of her family, being groundwater himself) want to use her blood for evil and personal gain.  Along the way she also meets Drippy and Precipa Kate, and becomes allies with them quickly.  Drippy's new mission becomes both reaching the factory and protecting the princess while Sir Seltz searches for her.  Once the four of them all meet up, they then head as a group into the factory, where Viskus is waiting.  Everyone soon discovers that the secret to the factory is High Priestess L'Aqua XV, L'Aqua's grandmother.  The princess learns that the eldest member of the L'Aqua family (on her mother's side) becomes the new catalyst for the factory's purification system.  This is a painless process that is renowned for its importance and generosity - the members of the royal family actually use their own pure blood to purify others.
     L'Aqua could serve as a potential love interest for Drippy if the player receives nothing lower than 2nd place on every race, and 1st place during the factory level.  If these conditions are not met, she simply returns to her kingdom with Sir Seltz, not before thanking Drippy and his sister for their tireless efforts and help in keeping the factory secure.

Ipad Game (1) - Comm 344

    In order to turn my group's game, Toxic Valley, into an iPad game, I had to go a completely different route for the play style.  Our game is successful on paper, but does not really do a good job of utilizing all of the features of the iPad like tilting, touchscreen, and motion detection.  This led me to brainstorm ideas for games that use motion and animation that would not be possible from a board game.
     My first idea was to use as much of the original game idea as possible, making a board game where the board was animated.  All of the locations would feature moving effects (like the forest fire, the machines removing mountaintops, etc.) and so would the players' characters.  The questions would pop up before you and you would answer them, and move along like normal.  Ideas for adding a moving die that you shake the screen to roll were also conceived.  Ultimately I did not like this style since I did not want to do a trivia game on a device that offers so much more.  This led me to want to create a game where the focus was movement from a first person camera. 
     By taking the same idea of our original game (drops of water moving downhill towards a factory), I was able to give the drops of water personalities, and goals for each wanting to reach the factory versus a "human player" controlling their fate through a game.  The addition of actual characters made the game feel more personal, and made for a simple, yet effective plot as to why these individuals are all headed to their similar destination. 
    All of the "areas" from the original game are included in here as well.  The mountain being the first and easiest stage, offers some of the fastest gameplay in order to let the player experience a fun, fast-paced race with few obstacles other than a rock or a tree here and there.  The areas would gradually get harder, with the farm having more Toxic Puddles rather than clean ones, and Animals in the way.  The forest has many puddles, but also more obstacles than any other zone to dodge.  The city forces the players to travel near roads, and there are very few puddles in this location.  "Hotspots" are present here and will slow you down considerably if passed over.  Finally the factory has the players traveling across a massive lake filled with Toxic spills. 

Puddles - increase stamina
Toxic Puddles/Spills - decrease stamina, but increase Toxic Attack meter
Hotspots - doesn't effect stamina, but slows you down greatly
Mud Tracks - doesn't effect stamina, but speeds up your character AND increases Toxic Attack meter.

   Accelerating is achieved by swiping up repeatedly, and Toxic Attacks are performed by shaking the screen.  Tilt left an right to steer in the appropriate direction.

The Monk

     The Monk is a stoic and brave class of fighters who use little equipment and utilize hand to hand combat to get the job done.  A lot of their moves rely on charging up, or switching to a particular stance in order to strike quickly and unexpectedly in many different ways.  From spinning lightning roundhouses to karate chops, the Monk is a glass cannon that can deal solid damage to individuals or even large crowds of foes.
     The Monk rarely uses any type of weapon.  Their most important weapon are their hands and feet, and they would feel more comfortable on a battlefield brawling than with a weapon any day.  Those who do utilize weapons usually wield blunt weapons like nunchuku, poles, or tonfas.  All weapons that you can actually fight with very fluidly using martial arts rather than a hacking, slashing, military weapon.  With or without weapons, the Monks rapid strikes requires high dexterity and concentration - witnessing a Monk in battle can almost seem like a choreographed experience.
     As well as not using weapons, Monks tend to never wear more to battle than the clothes on their backs.  This may seem unsuitable for battle, but Monks are diligent practicers of inner strength through meditation.  By focusing their energy through their body they can endure blows in battle, though still not as effectively as someone with armor.  Pendants or other accessories that increase focus, concentration, and purify the heart and mind would make great additions to the Monk's repertoire, as they would enhance their fighting abilities greatly.
     This inner strength can be used in other ways to in order to be an offensive force to be reckoned with.  A common theme is for Monks to have an "aura", or a visible field of energy present around an individual that represents spirit energy.  By charging up this aura through meditation or the heat of battle, the monk can use it to either defend himself or unleash a devastating attack.  Classic fighting games represent the projectile based attack that fighters would use if they were to unleash their aura in a burst in front of them.  This "fireball" like maneuver would give a Monk a range advantage when fighting as enemy close up.  A monk could also transfer this aura into the form of a kick that surrounds him with the spirit energy being released all around as he kicks wildly.  This would be a great crowd control attack that would come with little cost as long as the Monk can concentrate enough to recharge his aura during battles.  Monks can get creative with these attacks since they have so much control over their own actions.  Their awareness of their own bodies is what helps them to chain attacks together to create long combos that can constantly deal damage.  The aura energy can be used in creative ways as well, like creating duplicates of ones self to disorient the enemy, or even use the aura to heal another team mate.
     The Monk is usually a quiet and calm individual who speaks when necessary.  Being peaceful individuals, they understand that the fighting they do is solely to better the world, and not to create massive bloodshed through wars and weapons.  The Monk is a polite, wise, and helpful individual who would have a hard time not doing the right thing in any scenario.  This makes them excellent listeners and mediators for a team, and their combat abilities (along with the ability to heal themselves) makes them a solid fighter that any team could utilize.

The Red Mage

     The Red Mage at its simplest is a combination of a Black Mage and a White Mage.  By utilizing both of these magic types, a team of adventurers could reduce their numbers by having a Red Mage on the team.  Not only can they heal and deal elemental damage, but their choice of equipment is much broader as well.  Unfortunately these mages cannot truly excel in either field of magic like their "pure" counterparts, but as far as being a "jack of all trades" sort of character, the Red Mage is a solid choice.
     Red Mages choice of weaponry ranges from staves and rods to basic military equipment like swords, rapiers especially.  This would allude to the idea that Red Mages are very dexterous beings, sharing some qualities with a thief as well.  While their weapon choice is better than that of the White or Black Mages, again, they can never truly excel at weapon wielding and must usually stick to the basics,
     Red Mages can also equip heavier armor than the other mages, another nod to their more active fighter role.  This does not mean that they have the level of defense that a warrior or paladin might have, but as far as mages go it can be very effective for them to be able to take more hits than the average spellcaster.
    Red Mages cast both white and black magic, but neither very effectively.  The idea with the Red Mage is to have a character that can do both very rapidly, constantly switching from one to another.  This can be effective in battles.  For instance a Cleric usually tried to avoid enemies in battle an wait for the need to heal to arise.  With a Red Mage, you would have a Cleric who would actually be able to output damage in the meantime, so no time goes wasted.  Obviously since the Red Mage cannot heal as well as a Cleric or deal as much damage as a Mage, it should definitely be up to the team leader to decide whether or not the team feels comfortable with such a gamble of a character. 
     The best course of action for a Red Mage would be to try to focus on one field of magic while only learning a little of the other in order to still be well rounded.  This way you could have a solid healer that still knows basic offensive spells, or an adept black mage that can still heal in a pinch.  The playstyle and usefulness of the Red Mage heavily draws from the ability of the player or leader to influence the mage to fit the team's needs.

The Ranger

     The Ranger is the go-to projectiles expert.  Sporting a bow or sometimes even a firearm depending on the era of the world of the game, the Ranger is all about dealing consistent physical based damage from across the battlefield, which makes this a safe play style that is great for supporting close-up fighters. 
     The Ranger's weapons of choice are all range-based, so we see a lot of bows, guns, crossbows, and even hand bombs.  Because the Ranger is usually well-versed in all ranged combat, he or she can actually choose which type of projectile to use for the situation at hand.  Bows have always been an excellent sniping tool for precise, long distance kills.  In a game where a Ranger is traveling by him or herself like Skyrim, the bow is usually the weapon of choice because of it's long range precision.  This combined with stealthiness can make for a deadly, nearly invisible opponent.  Guns are rarer, but when they are available they seem to be a consistent form of damage, while not being the best.  In Final Fantasy 12, guns have the ability to never miss, but in return fire very slowly and deal damage that isn't based off of any stats.  The damage may be static, but the consistent long range damage that is guaranteed to hit is sometimes worth it.  Crossbows fire more rapidly than regular bows, but the damage seems to be about the same.  Their lack of sniping options makes them a less suitable ranged option for smaller teams.  And finally hand bombs have followed the same route as guns, providing static damage not based on any stats, but bombs can be coated with poison, stun powder, sleep powder - you name it.  They can be a great way to cause splash damage to a group of enemies while adding harmful status effects to the damage as well.
     The Ranger wields light armor similar to a thief, but because they are usually away from the combat they can wear slightly heavier armor as they do not need to rely on agility as much as a thief would.  Equipment that increases range of sight, critical hit damage (useful for sniping), and adds additional effects to ammo are popular choices.  Fire arrows or Electric crossbow bolts are obtainable as a means of dealing elemental damage that technically isn't  magic based.  So if an enemy is weak to fire, but resistant to magic, fire arrows could be the way to go.
     The Ranger has also been known to summon familiars during battle.  Familiars are animals or animal spirits that can be summoned into battle to aid the summoner and his or her allies.  Since Rangers are in tune with nature and forests, a lot of their summons are creatures found in these areas: wolves, bears, birds, and sometimes even more exotic creatures like tigers or snakes.  With a lot of different animals to choose from, they can choose one who's fighting style benefits their own.  For example if a Ranger wanted to be a long-range sniper, he or she could summon a Dire Wolf to attack and distract enemies up close while the Ranger gets a free target. 
     The Ranger's personality seems to match that of a rugged loner.  They are used to traveling independently, so their roles in a group of fighters may seem shadowed by a mighty knight or a flashy, thief; however, the Ranger's knowledge of terrain, flora & fauna, and advanced survival skills can actually benefit a team of fighters outside of battle than any other.  These fighters are the essential long range fighter when you don't want to have to rely on conserving magic points for a spell caster, or when enemies in the area just resist magic in general.

The Future of Technology - Comm 352

     I believe that although we have made many advances in the realm of technology, the idea of any type of device being integrated into our bodies will not be happening anytime soon.  If anything our technology will continue to become more lightweight, streamlined, and include less buttons overall to have a more simple and modern look to it.  The idea of having watches built into our arms or mp3 players behind our eyes is just silly when looked at from a medical perspective.
     For starters, the body rejects most metal placed into it in general.  Ask anyone who has had what is known as a surface piercing where the piercing is placed in the body like a hook.  The body quickly rejects even this small piece of metal, and the surrounding area can easily become inflamed, swollen, and infected.  If our bodies reject such a small abrasion to the dermis of the skin, how do we expect to have an entire section of our arm converted into a form of machinery?  Not to mention how much skin would have to be removed for some type of operation like this to be successful.  And that is the most important word: operation.  Having any form of technological device placed within our bodies would be a matter of having medical surgery at a hospital.  Would you pay your bill for the new device at the front desk?  Will Sprint and Verizon have kiosks inside of every hospital?  All of these ludicrous ideas may be insightful and even possible someday, but as of right now this would be an insanely unsafe and costly process that we aren't eve ready as a country to test let alone look forward to mass producing.
     The other problem with any type of device being embedded into our bodies is the lack of testing time.  Even if this were to be a successful surgery with no immediate complications, we would have to monitor the first individuals to have this procedure done their entire life before mass producing something like this.  What if thirty years down the line your skin starts to decay and simply won't hold together any longer?  We cannot move to quickly with this idea of technology since such a major health risk is being taken.  Honestly the same could be said for the 3D craze that we are currently experiencing.  What if years from now we came to find that 3D televisions and effects were incredibly stressful to the eyes?  Our country's hastiness for bigger and better could eventually be our downfall if we are just blindly moving forward.  We need to think practical and affordable, not "cool" and "innovative" when it comes to the future of our technology.