Pete's Writing and Graphics Portfolio

Well, well, well

2010-09-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got my own website up and running and so it brings this little part of cyberspace to an end.

To keep track and view all of my work more coherently please visit:

www.peteingham.com

Thanks, see you on the other side.

More graphics work...

2010-09-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

I've had these knocking about on my laptop for a while and thought I might as well put them up. They're graphics work from various treatment packs that I have worked on.

Enjoy

The Replay Value

2010-09-02T02:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/article/315/the-replay-value/

Article up on games and their replay value.

Update...

2010-08-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Egypt which was truely an experience... I never thought so much stress would be involved in trying to get home in a taxi. Having a brain hemorrhage would have been more relaxing.

Anyway... been busy writing articles and creating graphics and am at the moment working on another screenplay and thinking about beginning a new novel.

I'll see how things go.

Peace

Devil Theory

2010-08-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

This was originally entitled 'Historia Calamitatum' but I decided to steal the title of a previous piece of work and slam it with a new name as seen above.

Again it's another extract and has had numerous redrafts since I started it quite some time ago.

Enjoy!

Devil Theory Extract

Karma Police

2010-08-12T06:42:00.000-07:00

There's some work on here from a while back which is the very first incarnation of the script.

Five drafts later it is finally complete... for now.

I sent the finished piece off to a competition a while back and now I'm playing the waiting game.

Here's an extract... take a gander

Karma Police Extract

Graphic Design Work

2010-08-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.thejellymoustache.com/

Created some graphics for a comedy website.

They include:

A row of moustachiod individuals.

A Maniacs' Tea Party

To Buy or Not to Buy?

2010-08-12T06:24:00.001-07:00

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/article/297/to-buy-or-not-to-buy/

Article posted about the influence of adverts and my own personal experiences that make me an angry individual. >:(

The Gaming Stigma

2010-07-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

I done wroted another article. This one's on the stigma associated with us gamers....when will you learn society?

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/article/285/the-gaming-stigma/

KAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHN!!!!11

Severance I: Genesis: Prologue

2010-06-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

Severance I Genesis Pro
Below is the prologue from another novel that I have been working on. The same fantasy vein going on with a slightly more futuristic slant than Devil Theory. The latter I intend to upload a few chapters from quite soon.

Dig in to some word nurishment.

Are You Gonna Finish That?

2010-06-05T01:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/article/225/are-you-gonna-finish-that/

In this article I try to figure out why some of us (me in particular) never finish the games we buy.

No More Heroes

2010-05-05T04:39:00.000-07:00

We discuss our perception of the game hero and their fallibility through the years.

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/article/207/no-more-heroes/

I get quite 'ranty' but damnit it's passion!

Do You Want A Franchise With That?

2010-04-06T05:06:00.000-07:00

Article up on NGN about games franchises as a whole.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/article/200/do-you-want-a-franchise-with-that/

Lights, Camera, Press Start

2010-03-03T03:39:00.000-08:00

Article up on Games>Movies

I cover Street Fighter to Mario Bros.

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/article/184/1/lights-camera-press-start/

Check it,

P.S Shoryuken

Dungeons and Deathstars

2010-02-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

New article posted up on NGN about my gripe with RPG's aesthetic setting. In short it needs to be more innovative yadda yadda. Take a look.

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/article/179/2/dungeons-and-deathstars/

Article up on NGN about Games writing...it's biased

2010-02-03T03:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.newgamenetwork.com/article/171/1/so-theres-this-space-marine/

Article is up on NGN about the state of games writing in the industry...it's really me just bitching and moaning but it has some truth to it...I promise.

Quick bit of Digital Art

2010-01-27T04:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted some digital stuff so after seeing a cool screen grab online I thought I would play with the image a little and here's what I came up with.

The shot is from the Luc Besson film Angela-A which I saw last night, watch it, as I can't be bothered reviewing it at the moment. Was good.

Article online - 5 Bestest Movies Ever

2010-01-20T08:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.nerdles.com/2009/12/12/the-totally-unofficial-5-bestest-movies-ever/

Basically I wrote this one a while back and had no idea anyone had even published it until I searched my blog through a stat counter site. But yeh, I basically wrote about my 5 favourite movies in no particular order...we have romance, action, comedy...the whole spectrum.

So check it out!

It's been awhile...

2010-01-18T03:42:00.000-08:00

Yup, it has.

I looked back and thought it was about time I update the blog with what I have actually been doing with myself over the past months. I moved to London in October and procured myself a job at the afformentioned Fastfinger as a Production Assistant/Be-yatch which is going well, and I'm meeting a lot of interesting people.

I finally finished the 4th draft of my screenplay which left me feeling quite drained but now I need people to look at the thing so I can obtain some feedback. I also picked work back up on the book I was writing, 40,000 words down and double that to go I imagine...but I'm enjoying it so I can't complain.

Still tring to find a job in the game industry but nobody wants a writer at the moment so I'll keep banging on at them till they do...failing that, turn up at the office with a snooker que whislt high on crack...then they'll see sense.

There's still a myraid of other things that I want to do, but it's finding the time blah blah...get a job more in what I want yadda yadda...it'll come pig...it'll come.

Fastfinger Films

2010-01-18T03:31:00.001-08:00

Fastfinger is a great new global content creation studio situated in the heart of Hammersmith, London. They specialise in kids animation as well as some live action production.

I have the pleasure of working there and you can see my lovely statue-esque mug on the people page. If you would like to know more about the company or its founder Matthew Davies, click on the image and you'll be whisked to the website.

Karma Police - Screenplay extract

2009-08-19T03:26:00.001-07:00

So while I was on my work experience I was encouraged to present my own original project. I decided to go with my short story that I wrote not so long ago. I changed some elements of the story and premise but the characters essentially stayed the same.

I drafted up a treatment for the now film that it would be and began writing the screenplay. I've included a short 7 page extract from the 1st draft that I am still working on. I look forward to finishing a draft sometime in the near future.

Have a read and of course feedback is more than appreciated.

Character Design for my own thing

2009-07-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

While doing some writing work and such I rustled up a rough character design for something I'm working on...not great but it gets the job done.

Will upload new stuff as it comes.

Some abstract digital art

2009-06-15T17:06:00.000-07:00

I decided to create some digital art starting off with the model and then built it up with brushes, fractals and some other trickety. I spent quite a while on it but I feel there's still a little something missing.

Biz-ness Card

2009-06-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

Seen as though I'm going to be heading off to a few expos in the coming weeks I thought I might as well knock up a business card. I think it's a lot better than my old one, tried to keep this one quite simple...I think all my info should be on there, just hope it makes an impression. 0_0

Karma Police

2009-06-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

Karma Police is the story of Mercurial, a 'Bringer of Judgement' that deals justice on the flip of a coin. This short story details the exploits on one of his missions and the complications and certainties of fate.

‘Fortuna est a levis res’

Edge Mag...I was bored

2009-06-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

What can I say, as the title states I was suffering from boredom at the time. A botch job but it doesn't look too bad.

P.S I love Edge magazine...Imitation is the Best Form of Flattery :P

Written Work Update

2009-05-19T07:56:00.001-07:00

It's been quite a while since I updated the blog and I found that there were number of written pieces that I had yet to upload. Sooooo here they all are.

Just a quick note though before I start, all my writing work is available from my skydrive which there is a link in my profile, at the side of the blog and also here.

http://cid-f35fa8d3cd60e2d1.skydrive.live.com/home.aspx

House Of Cards

This was a pilot comedy script that I decided to write for a half-hour sitcom. It revolved around a TV agent named Matt who has to deal with his only client; Denver Wallace while running round helping his boss and his disruptive family. I submitted it to the BBC writers room but unfortunately it never went further than that ;_;

In the episode Matt has to cope with the recent break up with his fiancee while getting Denver a job as a guest reporter for a local news network where he is interviewing the oldest woman in the world. Matt also has to deal with his parents who have just separated as well and convince them to give it another shot. The episode culminates with Denver launching the old woman through a table after she gives him a 'surprise hug' and the two have to escape from the retirement home.

Damocles

This is an extract of script I started to write about a man named Ryan who, while taking the train home encounters a mysterious old man that dies while uttering an intelligible sentence to him. From that moment Ryan experiences weird visions that show him where an ancient treasure is located. He soon becomes embroiled in an ancient mystery that has him chased by a shadowy organisation that has ties to the government and police force. Ryan calls on his childhood friend Shauna to help him make sense of the events and unravel the enigma.

The script was inspired by a lot of things in different mediums. I enjoyed films like Indiana Jones and games like Broken Sword that deal with mysteries and legends, especially treasure hunts and this was really fun to write.

Historia Calamitatum

This was fantasy novel that I started last summer. I have about 50 pages completed but haven't had the time during my dissertation and other work to complete it yet. It is something that I would definitely like to continue in the future.

The story is about a man named Ardent Drecht who has embarked on a mission to destroy all of the 'Obelisks' in the world. The Obelisks are the towers that stand in towns and cities where the Cult of the Ark are present, a religious group that worship an ancient ark that enslaves all who pray to it.

At the conception of the novel Ardent is in an underground city where he is about to witnesses the sacrifice of a young Saladinian woman. Ardent interrupts the sacrifice by destroying the tower and by proxy saves the woman. She wants to repay her debt to him and promises to help him by telling him how to locate one of the fabled Obelisks he has been searching for.

The two set off on a journey towards the Obelisk and meet more companions on their quest who may help or hinder them.

Devil Theory

This is the script that I have been writing for my independent RPG Maker XP game. The story is about a young man named Flare that is hired to rescue a kidnapped Siegneurs daughter from a rebel clan. Joined by his friend Dirge the two embark on a mission to rescue her. However when they do, all it not as it seems because it seems it was just a ploy to awaken a power that has lay dormant in Flare for most of his life.

A mysterious sect have now marked him and plan to extract this power from by any means necessary. With the help of his companions Flare must take down this group while discovering what exactly his is and who he's become.

Bloodwork

2009-05-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

'Bloodwork' was the name of the screenplay which I had written for my 3rd year screenwriting class. It revolved around a surgical intern named Dan who, when his attending doctor had to leave an operating room was left alone with a patient who later dies. Dan feels that this is in someway his fault even though there was nothing he could have done to save the girls life. In the screenplay Dan must come to terms with what happened and what he believes in.

Peter Ingham Bloodwork

There were a number of iterations with this screenplay assignment and I found that the feedback from my peers and tutor helped progress the story from a rough diamond in to something that I am proud of.

The Legend of Ramayana

2009-05-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

The Legend of Ramayana was a piece of coursework for my Games, Markets and Production module. In the module we were assigned a market to create a game for and the area that we all were given was India.

I chose to create a console based Role-playing game for the market based on the Sanskrit epic 'The Legend of Ramayana' which centered around a prince named Rama who's wife has been kidnapped by the demon king Ravana and who has to embark on a journey to rescue her.

I chose to appeal to the people heritage and cultural interests for the game because I believe that it would strike a chord with them and appeal to a large demographic.

If you would like to read the game design document for the module then I have provided the link.

Eye Candy

Not only was there the game design document for this project but there were also elements such as prototyping and User Interface design, examples of which you can see below.

Game for my Dissertation

2009-05-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

If you've read my other post just before this one then you'll be aware that this is the game that I had to create for my dissertation project. The purpose of the game was to test my hypothesis about players empathising with the protagonist they play as.

The Scripts

There were a number of elements that were in the game making process. The first was creating the 2 scripts that were going to be used in both of the games iterations.

1. The character driven script in which there was a linear story, little freedom in dialogue and was an overall more passive experience like that of a Japanese Role-playing game. E.g. Final Fantasy, Tales of Symphonia, Lost Odyssey.

2. The player driven script in which there was an emphasis on player freedom, choice in how the story unfolds and was more of an active story experience.

The Game World

The game was created in RPG Maker XP which is a simple game creation tool which I was familiar with and made the whole process a lot more simple.

Character Driven Game Screenshots

With the game being focused on the character this version includes individual dialogue, face pictures that appear with the character and his own backstory.

Player Driven Game Screenshots

In the player driven game there are numerous dialogue options and the ability to take the story in different directions.

The Dissertation

2009-05-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

Well this is what all my university worked had been culminating to; the big 'D'...the be all and end all of my degree...so it felt. In retrospect it was one of the most exhausting experiences of my degree but also one of the best, especially when I had read through the thing and it almost looked like I knew what I was waffling on about.

Six university months and thirty double line spaced pages later I had it completed. Not to mention the practical and methodological side of the project in which I must have murdered at least two small trees with my paper consumption. But I digress, what I plan to have in this section is a basic run-down of what my question was, some screenshots of the game that I produced and most probably upload the PowerPoint presentation I gave so you can learn more if you wish.

My Question

When were first discussing possible dissertation questions most of us came up with some that would have been more suited to a PHD degree because they were so expansive. Due to this fact we had to go home over the summer and refine our question and this is what I decided on...

‘What are the differing levels of player empathy between stock and player created characters in a non-collaborative single player console based RPG?’

What this was basically examining was how the user empathised with the protagonist of a Role-playing game on a games console and if there was more empathy towards a character that the writing team created or that the player created themselves.

The reason why I chose to focus my thesis on this question was because, 1, it allowed me to write a screenplay for a game which I had always wanted to, and 2, I think it is important that writers create good empathetic characters for any media because, as my results showed, it brings about enjoyment.

My Methodologies

Alongside my written work were the methods that I had to employ to test my theory.

The Questionnaire: RPG Questionnaire - This was created to single out my demographic and allow me extrapolate data on what people thought were important in protagonists, story and enjoyment.
Creating my game: The game was the most time consuming, but most enjoyable parts of the whole project. It consisted of me creating 2 scripts for the 2 iterations of my game. The first script centred more on a character that had its own backstory, personality and character traits. The second script focused more on player freedom in which they could craft the type of character they wanted to portray themselves as, good/evil for example. The game itself was created in game making program called 'RPG-Maker XP' which is a very simple tool for creating games. I had to create the levels and characters for the game which was very enjoyable. (another post will display the game as there is quite a lot of stuff)
User Test: The next stage was getting people to play my game, which I recruited from my degree course. I got them to play both iterations of the game, after which I would then ask them a series of questions in a close interview.
Close Interview: The final stage was the close interview in which I asked the subject various questions on areas such as their enjoyment of the game and how their empathy with the protagonists may have affected this.

Conclusions

There were quite a number of things that I took away from my thesis and its practical work so I'll briefly sum them up.

People found that the character driven game was more enjoyable and they were able to empathise with the protagonist more.
There was not just empathy drawn from the protagonist but also from other characters in the game.
Players empathy for the protagonist drove them to keep wanting to play the game.
People who more familiar with the RPG genre, Japanese JRPGs in particular showed more empathy towards the characters.

Thankyou for reading, we got there in the end.

I am still very much interested in empathy towards characters in any form of media and in the future it would interesting to further test my theory.

Below is the link for the PowerPoint presentation

It's been a while....

2009-05-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

I remeber setting this blog thing up what seems like a life time ago, however, now I have totally finished my university degree and must now find some employment. Looking back at some of the stuff on here (especailly my old profile pic) makes me realise how much things have changed in regards to my work and myself.

When I first created the blog I had in my mind that I wanted to become a straight games writer. However, after to coming to the realisation that to crack that particular industry you have to already have some good experience in the field. So now I have decided that I would like to write in any forum that would allow me to because I know feel that it would appeal to me more.

I plan to make some big updates to blog that will help me to show my work off to anyone who desires to see it. So if you're reading this then please take a look round at your leisure and don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or queries.

Thanks

My Game Project

2008-04-23T18:04:00.001-07:00

This original project started before I came to university and began in the last year of college. During the summer I started playing around with the simple program RPG2K3 which used sprites and simple scripting to create a SNES like game.

I then decided that I should start creating a script for the game because I had a basic story outline in my head. So I started writing my game script at the begining of university and it slowly grew. The game itself has a number of levels complete along with character interactions and dialogue. The script itself is long ahead of the game and I would like to finish that before I concentrate fully on the game.

The game itself is not meant to display my coding ability or graphic deisgn techniques, it's just a simple way of getting my ideas down into a format that I can show people and they can have fun with instead of going through a script. Hopefully I will have the game finished before I leave university and can publish it on the Web for people to play.

My Writing Work

2008-04-23T17:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a selection of my writing work in various genres.

CW2 Screenplay

For this unit I was able to create a short script for any genre of film. I chose to write a mystery/thriller that lasted about 10 minutes. This allowed me to write a screenplay unrestricted.

CW2 Story and Myth

In my Story and Myth unit I had the opportunity to work on one story for the whole of the module. This was a good chance for me to complete a piece of work that I was passionate about and that I could devote my time to write. I enjoyed this module because I had the freedom to write a fantasy story which I had wanted to do.

My Own Screenplay

This is something that I have been gradually working to complete in my spare time. I have about 90 pages of dialogue done up to now but hope to concentrate on it more during the holidays. Ideally I would love to make the game that I have been writing for but it would be a long way down the line.

Below is a link with some extracts of my work from these projects. Feel free to download them and have read.

My Website in the making

2008-04-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

My Website that should hopefully be completed in the June holiday. It will serve as a professional website to house all my previous and current work. The templates were designed by myself and have more of a design edge too them.

This is a temporary version of my page as it stands now http://www.peteringham.great-justice.info/

Photoshop Forum Signatures

2008-04-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Signatures I created in my spare time for forums and other websites that I belong to. Mindless, fun, creativity.

1st Year Introduction to Computer Graphics

2008-04-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

This was one of my first graphics projects for my course. I was tasked with creating a website for something I was interested in. I chose the Anime Full Metal Alchemist to create a website around. It was a fun unit and allowed me to use my skills in graphics and colour compositions.

2nd Year CW1

2008-04-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

This was the first 3D CW1 for Year 2 Semester. We had to design a room which had a number of objects in it. This was an interesting unit because it allowed me to design objects in higher detail than I had in the previous year.

2nd Year CW2 3D Room

2008-04-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

My semester A project in year 2 for 3D computer Design. We had to chose a scene that was pre 1950's and I chose the Azuchi-Momoyama period because of my interest in Japanese culture and history. I enjoyed the freedom I had in this project because it allowed me to be creative with my 3d modeling.