This morning I headed into work on my bike and then to the company gym where I usually start my day. Keeping with my early-rising habit I developed over the Christmas break I found myself there earlier than usual. I expected the gym to be packed with those seeking to lose a bit of weight gained over the Holidays. Nope, it felt really empty. Perhaps the idea of making and then breaking resolutions has gotten to the point where the new trend is to not make them in the first place. I hope I am wrong about that as the new year is always a great time to reflect on how we can improve ourselves.
On Sunday my wife asked if I had set any goals or resolutions and I had to confess that I have not made the effort yet. I sort of have a few ideas that carry forward from previous years like skiing more and dropping a bit of weight. So far I have started the year off right as I am down a few pounds which is a freaking miracle considering all of the feasting most people do during the holidays. I have also come back to work with a sore body from skiing so much over the break.
In this vein of looking at ways of improving myself over the next 12 months, I think I would like to learn a new technical skill or two. I have a very strong understanding of relational database systems and have even dabbled with other database technologies. Therefore those are not good areas to expand. Instead I should look at where my weaknesses are and set some goals to improve those parts of my professional skill set. I have used both Amazon's (AWS) and Google's (GCP) cloud platforms but could definitely improve there. Our company has a learning portal and should probably leverage it first and then fill in any shortcomings with a local conference.
Another area I would like to focus some effort is improving my artificial intelligence (AI) knowledge. Last year I ran through a Reinforcement Learning book and learned a lot. The book wasn't all that great but I did enjoy the code segments and doing the examples. There are a number of new AI tools emerging and I will try to find one that catches my interest and do something with it.
Finally I want to do more with gaming technology. I have dabbled with the Unity game engine but think I could learn a lot by learning Unreal as well. There are so many samples and tutorials that it would be good to spend an extra hour on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings hanging out at the office and building something interesting.
While it is nice to create a list of improvements, be sure to write them down. Someone once said that a goal not written is just a wish. If you want the wish to come true, start by writing it down and then coming up with a plan. I have the starting part down, now I should follow through and make a proper plan for each of these resolutions. Good luck on your own New Year's Resolutions.
Showing posts with label Unreal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unreal. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Thursday, July 25, 2019
The Fortnite Phenomenon
This morning I attended a meeting where we talked about the Fortnite video game. It is one of those hugely successful games that has everyone scratching their heads wondering how they can repeat the process for their own titles. It is from Epic Games, which is also the creator of the Unreal game engine. As a side-note, if you want to try your hand at creating a video game, you can use the Unreal engine for free. You only have to pay Epic when you sell copies of your game and then it is just a small percentage.
So what makes Fortnite so successful? I can try to answer that question but the reality is that if I could explain it, then everyone would use the same formula to make their own games successful. So let me begin by saying that filling a need at the right time is part of the equation and that makes duplicating the game's success very difficult.
Fortnite is very simple to understand. When I played my first Fortnite match, I did so with a small description of the game. I didn't need any lengthy instructions nor in-game tutorials (as is often the first hour or two of many games). All I did was jump out of a flying school bus and try to stay alive as long as possible. I managed to do so more than half of the players in that match and felt pretty good about myself.
Fortnite allows you to play online with your friends. It is no secret that I started playing the PS2, thanks to the console as a birthday gift from my brother who worked for Sony at the time. Then my Dad, brothers, and I would go online every Thursday evening from 7pm until around midnight playing with and sometimes against each other. Our favorite game was SOCOM 2 and we had a lot of fun. Our group eventually grew to include a brother-in-law as well as a few nephews. At the all-time peak of our gaming, we met together with our consoles at Thanksgiving and played in the same room. This is quite a feat given that one of my brothers lived in San Diego, the other in Portland, and me in Salt Lake City. Fortnite builds upon the ability to play with friends and does a pretty good job of keeping it fun for everyone.
Fortnite makes it tough to cheat. One of the reasons my brothers and I stopped playing online video games together is because of cheaters and campers. As Fortnite serves as a showcase for the Unreal game engine, Epic took care to make it very difficult to cheat. That doesn't mean cheats don't exist but they are few in number. Fortnite also developed a shrinking environment which makes it difficult for someone to find a hiding spot and stay there for the entire game. You may be able to hide for a few minutes but then a storm causes the playable area to shrink and not moving to the active area eliminates you from the game.
Fortnite does not require a huge time commitment. I just finished playing Red Dead Redemption 2 and it took me over 100 hours to complete. While I didn't play the game in a single sitting, sometimes I would play for several hours at a time. With Fortnite you can play in 10-minute increments. That makes it very easy to fill small blocks of time and doesn't require multi-hour commitments.
Fortnite is free to play. You can download it to your video game console, computer, or smartphone for no charge. Free is always an attractive price for any video game.
Finally, Fortnite levels the playing field for everyone. There is no advantage by paying for anything in the game. You all start out with the same inventory and are required to scavenge for weapons and supplies during each match. That means that your friend whose mom has spent hundreds of dollars in the game does not have any advantage. He or she may have a really cool outfit or be able to do a nice victory dance after killing you, but it is skill that ultimately wins the game.
Yes, People are starting to grow tired of Fortnite and it looks as if the number of active players is on a slow decline. Ultimately it will take quite a while before those numbers drop to zero and so Epic shouldn't worry too much right now. Besides that gives them time to think about what to create to replace it. I hope they come up with something equally spectacular.
So what makes Fortnite so successful? I can try to answer that question but the reality is that if I could explain it, then everyone would use the same formula to make their own games successful. So let me begin by saying that filling a need at the right time is part of the equation and that makes duplicating the game's success very difficult.
Fortnite is very simple to understand. When I played my first Fortnite match, I did so with a small description of the game. I didn't need any lengthy instructions nor in-game tutorials (as is often the first hour or two of many games). All I did was jump out of a flying school bus and try to stay alive as long as possible. I managed to do so more than half of the players in that match and felt pretty good about myself.
Fortnite allows you to play online with your friends. It is no secret that I started playing the PS2, thanks to the console as a birthday gift from my brother who worked for Sony at the time. Then my Dad, brothers, and I would go online every Thursday evening from 7pm until around midnight playing with and sometimes against each other. Our favorite game was SOCOM 2 and we had a lot of fun. Our group eventually grew to include a brother-in-law as well as a few nephews. At the all-time peak of our gaming, we met together with our consoles at Thanksgiving and played in the same room. This is quite a feat given that one of my brothers lived in San Diego, the other in Portland, and me in Salt Lake City. Fortnite builds upon the ability to play with friends and does a pretty good job of keeping it fun for everyone.
Fortnite makes it tough to cheat. One of the reasons my brothers and I stopped playing online video games together is because of cheaters and campers. As Fortnite serves as a showcase for the Unreal game engine, Epic took care to make it very difficult to cheat. That doesn't mean cheats don't exist but they are few in number. Fortnite also developed a shrinking environment which makes it difficult for someone to find a hiding spot and stay there for the entire game. You may be able to hide for a few minutes but then a storm causes the playable area to shrink and not moving to the active area eliminates you from the game.
Fortnite does not require a huge time commitment. I just finished playing Red Dead Redemption 2 and it took me over 100 hours to complete. While I didn't play the game in a single sitting, sometimes I would play for several hours at a time. With Fortnite you can play in 10-minute increments. That makes it very easy to fill small blocks of time and doesn't require multi-hour commitments.
Fortnite is free to play. You can download it to your video game console, computer, or smartphone for no charge. Free is always an attractive price for any video game.
Finally, Fortnite levels the playing field for everyone. There is no advantage by paying for anything in the game. You all start out with the same inventory and are required to scavenge for weapons and supplies during each match. That means that your friend whose mom has spent hundreds of dollars in the game does not have any advantage. He or she may have a really cool outfit or be able to do a nice victory dance after killing you, but it is skill that ultimately wins the game.
Yes, People are starting to grow tired of Fortnite and it looks as if the number of active players is on a slow decline. Ultimately it will take quite a while before those numbers drop to zero and so Epic shouldn't worry too much right now. Besides that gives them time to think about what to create to replace it. I hope they come up with something equally spectacular.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Report from GDC 2018
Once again I attended the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. This year's conference seemed to have a lot more energy than last. I also found a number of new technologies to be very interesting. While Unity didn't have a large presence, Unreal did. For those that don't know, both are makers of video game engines used by many developers around the world. In fact, if I had to give an award for the best booth at the show, it would be the Unreal booth. They actually had 2 booths and the one showcasing a number of games written in Unreal is my favorite of the show. This is significant because my company had a large booth but I liked Unreal's more.
Another booth, other than my own, that I enjoyed stopping at was from Amazon. They seem to have some pretty interesting technology that others can use to help create games. I stopped and talked with them for a bit and am impressed. Of course, I think my ideas are light years ahead of theirs but I might be a bit biased.
Virtual Reality continued to have growing representation and I am interested to see how that part of the market evolves. Right now I think we have some great technology with high-end hardware from Oculus, mid-market technology from PlayStation, and ubiquitous entry-level hardware with the smartphone manufacturers coupled with Google hardware . All we need is great content. Some new games have recently been released and I look forward to the E3 announcements this summer.
It pleased me greatly to see that this year's GDC seemed much better than some of the more recent ones. It gives me hope that the industry is healthy and picking up momentum again. Perhaps video games are just the distraction we all need to keep our mind off politics. I know it helps me.
Another booth, other than my own, that I enjoyed stopping at was from Amazon. They seem to have some pretty interesting technology that others can use to help create games. I stopped and talked with them for a bit and am impressed. Of course, I think my ideas are light years ahead of theirs but I might be a bit biased.
Virtual Reality continued to have growing representation and I am interested to see how that part of the market evolves. Right now I think we have some great technology with high-end hardware from Oculus, mid-market technology from PlayStation, and ubiquitous entry-level hardware with the smartphone manufacturers coupled with Google hardware . All we need is great content. Some new games have recently been released and I look forward to the E3 announcements this summer.
It pleased me greatly to see that this year's GDC seemed much better than some of the more recent ones. It gives me hope that the industry is healthy and picking up momentum again. Perhaps video games are just the distraction we all need to keep our mind off politics. I know it helps me.
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