Qualified for Blitz Open Day!

I found out two days ago that my house mate and I qualified for the Blitz Open Day! Woo!!

The thing is, I don't know how I got in... or rather how some didn't!

There seems to be a very high standard this year, especially for artists in 2D and 3D. I only know this because of some individuals who did not make it, and it boggles my mind, since one of them is incredibly skilled at 2D. I was positive that if I had gotten through, then so would those whose work I admired and believed to be better than my own.

There must have been something in the design work they were looking for- that I had luckily hit the nail on. It could be that they had noticed I had helped work on another submission (since everything was credited in document and websites).  This is completely okay within their rules. Work submitted can be teamwork, as long as the team is credited. It could also be that they limit the amount of students attending from each university- this would kind of suck, but I suppose every university must be given a chance. In the worst scenario, I am just a lucky bugger who just SOMEHOW qualified.

I cannot wait to go see the others attending this event, they must also have some really good qualities, 'competition is fierce' they say.  I am more scared about showing my work than anything else, since it states in the email that I am welcome to, and if I don't I'd probably be missing out on feedback from developers... but what if my work is mediocre compared to the other students? What if that one piece I submitted just happens to look good?

Sometimes I hate my pessimism, and yet it is probably the reason I've worked so hard up until now.

New Goal: Ready a sketchbook and a pen drive with some digital work 2D AND 3D.

New Goal: Bring attempted work, works of Matt painting and new things I am trying, like proper concept art and low-poly modelling!

The goal is probably going to change a lot, but I will try to stick to the last one.

"Through a Rapist's Eyes”

I read an interesting journal about how women can protect themselves from physical assaults. It was interesting to say the least that it even have to be considered (though I must admit I live in a rather peaceful area in the UK). I eventually came across a link to a page that mentioned the qualities rapists look for.
It was convincing and almost believable until I found another site that stated it was mostly false, and has been since 2001.

So below I have two samples of either set of statements- 'Through a Rapist's Eyes' is the false, 'Assaulted Tale' is the uncovering of the false. I cannot say for sure the later is completely true either, but I feel it takes a much more cautious attitude towards the topic- and well..."better being safe, than dead" right?

"THROUGH A RAPIST’S EYES”  Do not re-blog this.

  

'1] The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle.
They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun! , braid, or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets....'

Assaulted Tale (aka This Bird Won't Fly)   Read: Response to the above

CLAIM: Heeding the advice given in popular email missive will keep you from becoming a rape victim. FALSE

........If rapists choose their victims based on hairstyle and length of tresses, it's news to those in law enforcement; they've never noticed this trend. Rape victims have short hair, long hair, and no hair. They're also young and old, short and tall, fat and skinny, femininely dressed or looking like they just fell off the tractor, and all points in between.............

This whole thing makes me consider my personal safety if I ever travel abraod, and contemplate going back to learning some martial arts. Even though I am merely 5" 2', some kind of defence is better than none.

Thought I would share this bit of an interesting read, especially for those keen to know more about protecting oneself against predators.

Dissonance Monster WIP

Final Major Profject

Applejack's Apple Hunt!

Here's a game just finished by Christian Skogen and I, it took a few months on and off.  He coded the engine from scratch with C++ and LUA, and that alone took him a few months. This is a great achievement for him, :D and I'm sure he'll qualify for the Blitz Open Day.

Code: Christian Skogen
Assets (except for sky dome): Gemma Suen (me)
It should work for Windows 7 and Windows XP, since he had to optimise it for XP especially.

Download Here!

BLITZ Open Day soon

Blitz Open Day is peering around the corner. It's a chance for university game orientated students like myself to get a better insight to the games industry, and this would be wonderful to qualify for.
By qualify, I mean you need to prove your worth by submitting one of the following: 2D, 3D, Animation, Audio, Games Design or Programming.

I initially didn't think my work would be good enough to submit, since I heard from some friends that they pick only the top 100 of each field or something like that. But they have also convinced me to give it a shot...

This is a collection of work from my Major Project: Dissonance. It's a game concept I need to design and partially complete by the end of this academic year.










I also helped out my boyfriend with his submission, here is a small preview: