Sam_S

My name is Sam Sachs and I am in the Simulation in Digital Entertainment program.

My favorite Video Game would have to be the Zelda series. Zelda was the first game that I ever played and is the game that got me hooked on video games. I have mainly played RPGs since then, leaning toward them due to their storylines and the amount of time you can invest in them.

After I obtain my degree I would like to become a video game programmer.

Week 2 post

The idea that many people not reading books these days is rather common. Reading books takes alot of time, time that most people would rather spend doing something else. In the digital age we live in if people want to read a book they have many options on how they do it. People are able to get a digital copy of most books and have the book read to them while doing something else.

Personally I used to hate reading and if there was a book that people said was really good that happened to be made into a movie, I would go and see it. However recently I have started to enjoy actually sitting down and reading books. As Jeffery said "We will always find moments when we want to get lost in the deeper narrative of a book or novel." When I read books I find myself engrossed in the novel and fall into the fantasy world of the book.

Epic 1 post Suddenly a group of elves appeared from the forest, upon them seeing the vultures attacking me they advanced towards me and proceeded to fight the vultures off. I noticed a female elf in white robes in the back of them that looked as if she was chanting a powerful spell. Suddenly I felt the pain ease from my body and noticed that I had all my limbs back. I was shocked to say the least, that I was fortunate enough to have these elves come by and have such a skilled healer in their mists. I sit up slowly and offer them my thanks. The elves insist that i follow them to their village as the forest is crawling with creatures. Needless to say after the entire 20 foot dwarf ordeal that almost killed me, I agree and head with them to there village deep in the forest.

Epic 2 post With great effort I manage to escape from the swarm of ewoks and Darth Vader and come upon a dirt road. As I limp slowly down the road before me I notice a small hut on the side of the road. I knock on the door to see if anyone is home, an old woman answers and notices my wounds. She asks if I would like to come in and rest while she calls for the cleric that lives down the road. I graciously accept her offer and enter her house to rest, laying down on the bed before me I slowly fall into a deep sleep.

Epic 3 post I get up and head toward the the mountains that are in front of me, as I approach them I notice a gigantic cave. In front of the cave the ground is littered with dead bodies along with unusable armor and weapon scraps. Letting my curiosity get the better of me I approach the cave and head inside it. I proceed cautiously down the dark corridors of the cave, upon turning a corner I notice there is a light flickering in the distance.

Epic 3 post #2 After what seemed like an eternity I finally reached a brightly lit room. As I look around I see mountains of gold, huge furniture and a Gaint, I stare at the gold thinking of all the stuff I could buy if I was able to get my hands on it. However I would have to be able to either avoid the giant or possibly kill it so I could get away with the gold. I creep forward torwards the giant stelthly as I hope to catch him off guard.

Piracy - lessig1

The issue of piracy these days seems like a huge deal. Many people use P2P networks to download music, movies and many other things. This essay stresses the point that many authors are being robed of profit due to massive P2P sharing. While I agree with the fact that downloading these products can lower the income of the authors, it can also be a benefit for them in the long run. Personally I dont like going out to buy a CD if I dont know if I like all the songs on it or even some of them. Being able to download them or listen to them from a friend that has them would be able to let me know if its worth buying. New movies are another example of how "authors" can make money of this P2P sharing. Often not even 2 days after a movie is release in theaters a "First Cam" is usually posted on the torrent sites, more often then not these movies are horrible quality, if a person like the horrid qualty one they may go see it in theaters. Also with more and more movies being relased in 3d people will more than like go to see the movie in theaters.

Also discussed in the article many authors of these "products" believe in the idea: " Creative work has value; whenever I use, or take, or build upon the creative work of others, I am taking from them something of value.Whenever I take something of value from someone else, I should have their permission. The taking of something of value from someone else without permission is wrong. It is a form of piracy." This is the reasoning that as said in the article led to the girl scouts getting sued by the ASCAP for singing songs around the campfire without paying for them. I honestly dont see how the artists and the ASCAP can go as far to sue people for singing songs. I mean when most people are in the car and listening to music they sing along with it. According to what the ASCAP has said in the past this would be considered piracy, should they be allowed to go so far as sueing anyone that sings a song without buying it? My answer would be no thats going way to far.

Doctorow1

Sam Sachs @ Kyle I agree with the entire "audiences spread the word on eBooks that intrigue them and is the main reason why Doctorow has become so successful". Alot of artists have a hard time making a name for themselves. Gaining a fan database will produce a profit in the long run, because if people like someones work they are more than likely going to buy a hard copy of it to keep.

lessig2 @ John: Sam I agree with you that it can be hard to come up with good new original ideas of ones own. As you said many people look to what has been successful in the past take certain bits and peices from it so it is "original". I dont think that changeing 30% of the original idea can be considered as a "new original creation" though as you said most things in thwe US created are. A 50% change of an idea I think would be more of an original idea.

Secondlife Sam Like Jeffery mentioned signing up for this game was a small pain in the butt. I to had to make a second email account in order to get the confirmation email apparently second lifedoesnt agree with yahoo or something. My take on this game so far is that while being able to visit all these different areas is rather neat, frankly the graphics and controls are horrible. I do really like the fact if one wanted to be able to visit any random place they can at the drop of a dime by clicking a button. Exploring many of the areas i have come accross Ive notices signs where one can buy clothing and others things. Second life was rather smart to incorporate a RL currency to lindon dollar system, it prevents RMT's from invading the game and it allows an income to the creators. While this game has many neat features the games not really my cup of tea, if i wanted to visit all these new places Id do it in RL and not on SL with the choppy graphics. Like Jeffery also mentioned other than the ability to fly the games not much that better than RL.

Halting state As Karen said the electronic world would no doubt creep more and in more into our real lives as the technology is introduced. Her idea that smart contact lens or other surgically installed electronic devices may very well happen. The rate the technology has changed in both the eye correction field and the size of our electronic/the amount they can do in the past couple year has been gigantic. I mean the microchip is getting smaller and smaller and able to hold more and more things these days. Eye doctors are already able to go into someone’s eye and put a permanent lens in them. Who’s to say we won’t have contact lens that can change the prescription of the lens as it needs to in a few years or even be able to do other things.

As for one of Stross’s predictions for the near future, I think we may very see some cars with auto pilots soon. Auto pilot is already used in a variety of other vehicles I don’t think it would be too hard to incorporate it into an everyday car. However the smart sensors that were on the road that prevented the taxi from being remote controlled may take a little effort into making. I also see them being a little too farfetched to actually put into everyday use as if a single malfunction occur with the sensors it could lead to a horrible accident being caused.

Fianl Project For my final project I am doing a GDD for a single player RPG that will Incorperate both advanced 3D animation with advanced AI. The AI i am planing on adding would allow some monsters and the majority of bosses to have a heightend AI and would be able to predetermine what moves a player might be about to make. A boss in a game that would be similar to this concept would be Dark Link in Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The AI for these mobs would not be all that difficult due to the fact if its to hard casual gamers wouldnt want to play it. However there will be a couple off story line bosses with highly advanced AI that would give even the most serious gamers a challenge(hopefully).

The game would be veiwed wearing a LCD Headset for the 3D vision and the player would be using a motion senisive controller similar to the Wii's or the new Playstation Move. The headset a play will be wearing will allow them in interact with NPCs as while, Enhancing the AI for them if a player was to go within a set distance of the NPC while facing them, they wouold turn and start to communicate with the player. The headset will allow the player to move the way the character is facing by simply moving their head in RL.