Thursday, September 3, 2020

Explain the Sequence and Rate of Each Aspect of Development from Birth free essay sample

To more readily clarify the succession and pace of every part of advancement, the improvement will be separated into age gatherings: # 0-6 months: *Physical improvement : By the time he is a half year old, an infant will have the option to turn their head to sound and development, watch their parent’s face while taking care of, grin at recognizable faces and voices, arrive at their feet when resting, go after and snatch items, and put things in their mouths freely. *Social and passionate turn of events: A multi month old child will react to their mother’s face, grin, and need solace and nestles from their folks. Language improvement A multi month old infant will have the option to make an assortment of glad sounds, will react to music and singing, and will reflect their parents’ developments and articulations. # 6 a year: *Physical advancement: By the time he is one year old, the little child will have figured out how to sit first with help, and afterward without, he will have the option to turn over, he will start to creep or mix, he will have the option to remain with help, he will raise his arms when he needs to be lifted, he will react to his name, he will pass objects from hand to hand, search for hings that have been covered up, and go after food. We will compose a custom article test on Clarify the Sequence and Rate of Each Aspect of Development from Birth or on the other hand any comparable theme explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page *Social and passionate turn of events: A one year old will appreciate the organization of others and will appreciate playing straightforward games, and will demonstrate love to his folks, however stay timid with outsiders. *Language improvement: a one year old will begin to jibber jabber, will turn his head towards the wellspring of a sound, and will show their sentiments. #1-2 years: Physical turn of events: Between the ages of 1 and 2, a kid will begin to walk, will sit independent for extensive stretches of time, feed themselves, wave, demonstrate needs by pointing, see books, shake his head to disapprove of something, slither upstairs, stoop, start to demonstrate inclination to one hand, assemble a pinnacle with Lego blocks, hold a pastel and make blemishes on paper. *Social and passionate turn of events A youngster between these ages will attempt to satisfy grown-ups, will conceivably get restless when isolated from his fundamental carers, may utilize a teddy for comfort, will be for the most part agreeable and can be diverted while carrying on severely, and will play with other kids. Language advancement: Between the ages of 1 and 2, a youngster will advance from utilizing single words to making phrases, he will begin to comprehend the utilization of discussion, and by the age of two they will utilize something like 150 words. #2-3 years: *Physical advancement: Between the ages of 2 and 3, a kid will figure out how to bow to play, toss, kick a ball, assemble a greater pinnacle, and pour. Social and passionate turn of events: a youngster will build up a feeling of personality and will need to be progressively free, he will request consideration from grown-ups and won't share it, he will begin pitching fits in the event that he doesn’t get what he needs quickly, and will appre ciate playing with grown-ups and other kids. *Intellectual advancement: By the time a youngster is three years of age, he will have started to understand that others are independent creatures from themselves, he will mirror others, and become increasingly sure with the consolation of his folks and carers. Language advancement: A kid will have the option to assemble words into a sentence, will begin posing inquiries, can take an interest in sing-alongs, and utilizes a few hundred words. #3-4 years: *Physical advancement: At the ages of 3 and 4, a youngster will figure out how to bounce, pussyfoot, go here and there steps, catch, climb and toss, paint, string dabs, use scissors, draw individuals and houses. *Social and passionate turn of events: at this age the youngster turns out to be increasingly free and certain, they like to support grown-ups, they begin offering to other kids, and considering different people’s emotions. Scholarly turn of events: he would now be able to c omprehend 3 section directions, and compose objects by type, size, shading, or shape. *Language advancement : he would now be able to utilize various manners of speaking, and utilize the past tense, he can utilize around 1500 words, and is improving at drawing. #5-7 years: *Physical improvement: At this stage the kid figures out how to bounce, compose, sew, skip, ride a bike, hop from stature, string a needle, and do fastens and shoe bands. *Social and enthusiastic turn of events: Children presently start to cause companions, to get rules, they appreciate helping other people and being given duty, they like daily schedule and need structure. Scholarly turn of events: At this stage, kids figure out how to acknowledge contrasts, and they likewise find out about viewpoint. *Language improvement: By now the kid can talk fluidly, and can imagine stories, and can utilize books properly, and can perceive an ever increasing number of letters while partner them to sound. #7-12 years: *Physical advancement: At this stage, a youngster can serenely run, hop, skip, hit a ball and climb. He likewise appreciates playing group games, however may misconceive his capacity. Social and passionate turn of events: the kid is currently picking up freedom, he appreciates being in gatherings of other offspring of a similar age, and can be handily impacted by his companion gathering. He is beginning to grow nearer companionships. The youngster i s additionally progressively mindful of his own sexual orientation and favors playing with offspring of a similar sex. He builds up a feeling of reasonableness and equity, yet at the same time needs the assistance of a grown-up if there should arise an occurrence of a contention. *Intellectual improvement: The kid will presently peruse to themselves, and will have built up an enthusiasm for certain specific subjects. Language improvement Now the child’s jargon is as yet extending, and he has not yet aced spelling. The youngster can likewise clarify complex circumstances, read for all to hear, and knows the various tenses and syntax. #12-16 years: *Physical improvement for young men: At this stage young men gain in stature and in bulk, this gives them an all the more masculine physical make-up. Private parts and body hair additionally create. His voice may break, and he may create skin inflammation. For certain young men the development spray will show up later, this may cause some pain. Physical improvement for young ladies: At this stage the girls’ bosoms become increasingly adjusted, as does the body all in all. The body hair likewise starts to create, and the periods start. *Social and enthusiastic turn of events: At this stage, adolescents experience such a significant number of physical changes, youngsters can regularly become hesitant. They need a great deal of consolation. Young people likewise i nvest a great deal of energy returning forward between silly needs and grown-up wants, this is brought about by the numerous progressions their body and feelings are experiencing. In anticipation of autonomy, young people will in general be less and less near their folks, and increasingly more near their companions, and in spite of the fact that they may not be prepared for a relationship, they will build up an unmistakable fascination for the other gender. *Intellectual improvement: Teenagers center for the most part around getting the endorsement and acknowledgment of their companions. They need to do likewise and look equivalent to their companions. The assessments of their folks become less significant. *Language improvement: Now their psychological inabilities have created, adolescents will in general become snide and clever. They likewise will in general appreciate discussing.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Cyber Crime & internet

The full acknowledgment of the potential advantages brought by web in the worldwide network is extraordinarily disrupted by digital wrongdoing exercises. Digital wrongdoing is progressively turning into a significant worry over the social, logical, financial, and law authorization fronts of the worldwide network. Despite the fact that the real monetary effect of digital violations is difficult to qualify, it is evaluated that the American country looses over $100 million on web related wrongdoings consistently. There are various kinds of digital wrongdoings (Laser, 2009).These incorporates; wholesale fraud, misrepresentation, hacking, digital fear based oppression, malignant PC programs, web posting of hostile materials, and medication dealing among others. Because of the negative social and monetary effect of digital wrongdoing exercises, governments and different partners have occupied with various avoidance measures. They incorporate production of open attention to empower web cli ents to recognize, report, as well as abstain from being casualties of such wrongdoings (McDowell, 2008). Programming researchers have likewise occupied with creating successful PC and system security software.In expansion to this, there are laws, for example, the Intellectual Property Law, Electronic Communication Privacy Law, and the 2001 Patriotic Act serve a significant job in distinguishing and arraigning digital wrongdoing guilty parties. This exposition tries to talk about vindictive PC programs (additionally know as malware) as a type of digital wrongdoing, its qualities and how it is forestalled, distinguished, as well as arraigned. Pernicious PC programs are characterized as coded programs, which serve either to degenerate the successful working of a PC framework or lead to baseless remote getting to of data from a PC arrange (Loader, Douglas, and Thomas, 2000).Viruses and worms are the most well-known kinds of malevolent PC projects or programming. Different vindictive PC programs incorporate spyware, and Trojan. They are codes which serve to bargain data put away in PC arrange gadgets. This kind of noxious PC programs is usually connected with contaminating executable PC records and forswearing of system access by approved clients (Loader, Douglas, Thomas, 2000). Surely, through broad tainting of PC documents, such codes are liable for slamming of PC arrange devices.Other basic types of malevolent PC programs are tricky Trojan ponies, multi-reason bots, and spyware programs. This is progressively turning into a typical digital wrongdoing. Such projects are described by their capacity to take into account the taking of touchy data from secured systems (Metropolitan Police, 2009). As indicated by accessible data on these vindictive PC programs, they can serve to help a programmer in remotely getting to passwords and Mastercard subtleties of system clients without detection.In expansion, because of their complex ability, such projects are utilized for encouraging ruining of classified data put away institutional systems (Loader, Douglas, and Thomas, 2000). Such can likewise be utilized by psychological oppressor gatherings to qualify the pivotal data from their objective government before assaults. There are various ways built up for forestalling vindictive PC programs as a digital wrongdoing action. The most widely recognized measure is the formation of mindfulness among the overall population and organizations on the best way to distinguish and relieve being influenced pernicious PC programs (McDowell, 2008).To understand this preventive measure, arrange programming researchers have occupied with various looks into; growing exceptionally keen system security programming. Without a doubt, some product, for example, antivirus are regularly discovered free in the web. Such are filling the urgent need of alleviating contamination of PC organizes by malignant PC codes, for example, infection and worm among others. In any case, this insightful system security programming carries with them the capacity to distinguish and prevent access from claiming frameworks by unapproved clients (Lasar, 2009).According to accessible research discoveries on the effectives of noxious PC programs, it is plainly settled that a few types of these projects which are difficult to control. In a transition to ensure the uprightness of data innovation in the general public, it is a typical practice for profoundly touchy organizations to shut down their systems after understanding any errant practices. It is important that such moves are instrumental in guaranteeing the proceeded with unlawful access of systems by programmers. This is normally trailed by a difference in the general access security codes and other check requirements.Indeed, for security codes of exceptionally touchy institutional systems, consistent changing is prescribed to lessen get to chances by programmers. The way toward distinguishing and arraigning digital wrong doings is very intricate. This has been firmly ascribed to the way that guilty parties in these wrongdoings utilize high advanced advances (Metropolitan Police, 2009). It is generally asserted that cheats are typically in front of innovation. Another issue trading off the way toward recognizing and arraigning noxious PC programs wrongdoing guilty parties is low paces of revealing such violations by the people in question (McDowell, 2008).Such have likewise been related by the disappointment of system organization suppliers to help out the law authorization in distinguishing such rates. Regardless of these downsides, the war on noxious PC programs as a digital wrongdoing action has utilized various techniques. First is the utilization of PC measurable examination practices to qualify proof of suspect malevolent PC program guilty party (Lasar, 2009). This procedure includes innovative investigation of gathered information by legal PC scientists.It is to be underscored that as indicate d by existing laws, for example, the Intellectual Property Law and Electronic Communication Privacy Law accommodates lawful suits against the software engineers and merchants of pernicious PC programs (Loader, Douglas, Thomas, 2000). Another usually utilized measure in distinguishing digital violations is the tapping of correspondence arranges by law implementation operators. In spite of the fact that this strategy has gotten overwhelming pundits for meddling with the protection and privacy of correspondence, it fills extraordinary need in alleviating ridiculous access of delicate networks.The Patriotic Act of 2001, which takes into account government reconnaissance of the web, is planned for relieving psychological militant exercises. As indicated by the arrangements of the Act, law authorization is given legitimate power to capture web correspondences by wrongdoing suspects. Another pivotal arrangement of the Act is its obligatory direct for organize suppliers to help out the law authorization in recognizing the first of a given correspondence of noxious projects. In view of this explanation, the way toward distinguishing pernicious PC programs has essentially improved with the authorization of the Patriotic Act.Another proportion of identifying digital wrongdoing exercises is the cutting edge smoothing out of the revealing and responsiveness rehearses in the law implementation (McDowell, 2008). This energizes organizations and individual survivors of vindictive PC projects to report such frequencies, in this manner upgrading the way toward moderating such crimes by the law requirement offices. Taking everything into account, the raising issue of digital wrongdoing exercises is progressively trading off the acknowledgment of the potential advantages brought web mechanical headways in the community.Although all digital violations have negative social and financial effects in the general public, malevolent PC programs are a genuine danger to the security of co untries over the worldwide. Such projects are clearly accused for adulterating executable PC organize record, smashing of system gadgets, denying access by approved clients, and permitting access of private data by programmers. In this manner, there is requirement for more counseled endeavors by the PC security programming researchers, law authorization, and different partners to take part in planning powerful proportions of battling digital wrongdoing. References Lasar, M. (2009).An prologue to the FBI’s hostile to digital wrongdoing system. Recovered May 28, 2010, from http://arstechnica. com/web/news/2009/11/a prologue to-the-fbis-hostile to cybercrime-arrange. ars Loader, B. , Douglas, T. , and Thomas, D. (2000). Digital wrongdoing: Law Enforcement, Security, and Surveillance in the Information. New York: Routledge. McDowell, M. (2008). National Cyber Alert System. Recovered May 28, 2010, from http://www. us-cert. gov/cas/tips/ST05-006. html Metropolitan Police. (2009). T rojan’ PC captures. Recovered May 28, 2010, from http://cms. met. police. uk/news/arrests_and_charges/trojan_computer_virus_arrests

Friday, August 21, 2020

Organisation Behaviour Culture and Leadership

Question: Portray about the Organization Behavior for Culture and Leadership. Answer: Presentation Authoritative conduct is one of the critical viewpoints that impact the business execution. Associations are only social frameworks. It is important for a people to see how the associations run the tasks in the event that they wish to work in them or oversee them. The postulation of association conduct is by all accounts intriguing just as trying also. It is related with the people, gathering of people cooperating in groups. The exploration of authoritative conduct identifies with the normal conduct of a worker or individual in the association. In this unique circumstance, Chhokar, Brodbeck and House (2013) remarked that authoritative conduct is considered as the deliberate investigation of human conduct, disposition and execution inside a hierarchical setting. The report considers the contextual analysis of XYZ Consultants to see how changes in the authoritative conduct could impact hierarchical just as representative execution. Foundation There have been a few factors, for example, representative inspiration, initiative and effect of character could impact the hierarchical conduct. As remarked by Antonakis (2013), the people shouldn't act in a similar way in a specific work circumstance. It is the consistency of a pioneer or the chief about the normal conduct of a person. It is apparent that the human factor is contributory to the profitability; in this manner, extraordinary significance of human conduct and the hierarchical conduct should be joined to the report. Point The point of the report is apply assortment of ways to deal with hierarchical conduct and improve the human relationship inside the firm. The report likewise centers around investigating the relationship among various components of authoritative conduct and its adequacy. Extension The extent of report is under: Impact of execution or the character Worker inspiration Authority Commitment hypothesis Applying the commitment hypothesis to recognize persuasive variables connecting with the contextual investigation Kahns need fulfilling approach Representative commitment is one of the noteworthy fields in an association that could to a great extent impact the presentation of the workers and the association too. In this specific situation, Marion and Gonzales (2013) remarked that the concurrent work just as the declaration of a people favored self in a work conduct, which elevates connection to work and to others is the known as the constructive representative commitment. In this unique circumstance, Greenberg and Colquitt (2013) referenced that the representatives ought to be locked in on a physical, enthusiastic just as the intellectual levels. Nonetheless, these levels are genuinely influenced by three mental spaces including the significance, accessibility and wellbeing. Subsequently, the significance is characterized as the positive feeling of degree of profitability of self in job of execution. Kahn clarifies mental weightiness as an inclination the individual experience into work execution. As opined by Parris and Peac hey (2013), the worker watch importance, when they have a sense of security, helpful, and significant just as not underestimated. For the situation study, it was considered that when Tim first began the activity he executed an open administration style, where the workers are urged to examine any issues with him. Also, the working space of the advisors were arranged on a similar floor. Also, Tim and preparing experts would share a typical eating territory and washroom offices. This assists with shaping a casual association among Tim and different specialists. Above all, the preparation advisors were extraordinarily engaged with all parts of the business. The family just as the individual duties of the representatives were exceptionally regarded and considered before any work routine was finished. This shows the feeling of weightiness, which decidedly impact the exhibition of the workers Recognizing the progressions exploring the initiative style and the way of life Subsequent to assuming control over the activity, Fiona acquired a few changes the authoritative structure just as the way of life, which contrarily impact the exhibition of the workers and hierarchical efficiency diminishes. Thus, Fiona follows an alternate authority style dissimilar to her dad Tim. Fiona follows a totalitarian initiative style, where she used to have authority over all choices and little contribution from the HODs. Thus, the HoD of the experts would take the choices workers are not engaged with settling on the significant choice of the business. In any case, totalitarian initiative may not be successful for such little and medium undertaking where worker suppositions are least heard. Be that as it may, Gillet et al. (2013) contended that when choices required to be made rapidly without talking with huge gathering, despotic style is compelling. Authoritative Justice and value hypothesis of inspiration and talking about these two terms Value hypothesis The value hypothesis created by Adam incorporates the inconspicuous and the variable factors that impact people appraisal just as the view of the relationship with their work. In this manner, while building up the authoritative profitability alongside representative execution, it is important to concentrate on the standards of value hypothesis. It assists with expanding workers work fulfillment and consolation level. While applying the hypothesis, it is huge to concentrate on the equalization or the awkwardness that by and by exists between the contribution just as the yield. The information sources may incorporate exertion, difficult work, responsibility, unwaveringness, aptitudes, capacity and different abilities. In actuality, different aptitudes may incorporate acknowledgment, feeling of accomplishment, notoriety and duty, worth, regard and different components. The authoritative situation of XYZ Consultants given for the situation study, shows that Tim, to pick up the yield from the representatives he actualized an open administration style where worker sentiments and qualities were thought of. Subsequently, the yield got from the business as authoritative culture, where the representatives are believed to be taking an interest in deciding their work routines and they would counsel before the work is disseminated. In addition, the individual and family duties were esteemed and association gives worker examination benefits as the acknowledgment to the representatives. Hierarchical equity Organizational equity is alluded to the representative view of decency in the workplace, where the impression of the workers are isolated into four distinct classifications including distributive, procedural, educational and interactional (Myhill and Bradford 2013). The distributive equity spins around workers worry of the compelling result they get (Bosà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Nehles, Van Riemsdijk and Kees Looise 2013). The contextual analysis demonstrate that Tim keeps up a successful association culture, where worker benefits are profoundly viewed as dependent on which representatives consequently give the info. Be that as it may, Fiona assuming control over the business, the worker advantages, for example, representative examination frameworks were taken off. Consequently, the representatives may see this culture as unreasonable judgment. Despite what might be expected, procedural equity rotates around the reality how representatives see decency of the business procedu re dependent on which the result is resolved (Barrick, Mount, and Li 2013). In like manner, the interactional equity incorporates the reality, where the clarification or conversation are adequately conveyed. For instance, in XYZ specialist, Tim inspires open correspondence and workers could examine anything with him. Prescribing the progressions to expand inspiration of the representatives and improve their exhibition So as to increment authoritative execution and worker work fulfillment, the XYZ advisor could change the initiative style and hierarchical culture. The association could execute law based initiative style in which the workers or the gathering of representatives take progressively participative job in all business procedure including the dynamic procedure. By applying this model, the association could recognize the potential issues of the workers that contrarily influence their presentation. The workers could raise the issues as popularity based initiative style incorporates an open correspondence approach, in which any representative could talk about the individual issue with the pioneer. In any case, the just initiative could prompt correspondence disappointment and unaccomplished ventures (Marion and Gonzales 2013). End On the culmination of the report, it very well may be included that authoritative culture or the conduct assume an essential job in building up the presentation of the association and the representatives. Nonetheless, the conversation on value hypothesis shows that discriminatory examination could bring about a mess and strain, which may urge representatives to reestablish value. This could increment or lessening work exertion and worker turnover. Reference list: Chhokar, J.S., Brodbeck, F.C. furthermore, House, R.J. eds., 2013. Culture and initiative over the world: The GLOBE book of inside and out investigations of 25 social orders. Routledge. Antonakis, J., 2002. House (2013), The Full-Range Leadership Theory: The Way Forward. Transformational and Charismatic Leadership: The Road Ahead tenth Anniversary Edition (Monographs in Leadership and Management, Volume 5) Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 5, pp.3-33. Marion, R. what's more, Gonzales, L.D., 2013. Administration in training: Organizational hypothesis for the professional. Waveland Press. Parris, D.L. what's more, Peachey, J.W., 2013. An orderly writing audit of hireling initiative hypothesis in hierarchical settings. Diary of business morals, 113(3), pp.377-393. Greenberg, J. what's more, Colquitt, J.A. eds., 2013. Handbook of authoritative equity. Brain science Press. Gillet, N., Fouquereau, E., Bonnaud-Antignac, A., Mokounkolo, R. what's more, Colombat, P., 2013. The intervening

Monday, June 8, 2020

Morality Plays or Mortality Plays Religion in Everyman and The Brome Play of Abraham and Isaac - Literature Essay Samples

Religion has long been a source of inspiration for the performing arts. This influence can be seen at all levels of performance throughout history, from church basement productions of the birth of Jesus to the fist of God casting itself down at the end of Cats, to the morality plays. In the plays of Everyman and The Brome Play of Abraham and Isaac, a very clear and specific interpretation of Christianity is presented, and in many ways both of these performances tell the same tale. The portrayals of God and the duties He places on Christians paint a detailed image of how religion was internalized in fifteenth century England. While religion remains a strong source of inspiration, it is evident that Christianity has morphed and changed over the centuries. The first and most evident similarity between these two works of art is that they are both morality plays, religious dramas that have their main characters overcome some obstacle to portray a lesson in piety and morality under the grace of God. In both the play of Everyman and The Brome Play of Abraham and Isaac, their opening scenes hold a distinct trait often seen in morality plays. Both, after a brief prelude, have none other than God Himself enter to center stage. While it is impossible to know with certainty how this character was portrayed, due to no image or description of the performances remaining in any collection, it is known that this Almighty could only have ever been played by a mere mortal actor. The mind’s eye creates a character with an older, bearded visage, and a loud booming voice, but of course this is just speculation. Each recreation of these plays most likely took artistic liberties, but the scenes more or less remain the same. A man, claiming the title of God, enters center stage and proceeds to execute a monologue, the God of Everyman cries, â€Å"I proffered the people a great multitude of mercy/ And few there be that asketh heartily/ They be so cumbered by their worldly riches/ That needs on them I must do justice.†(Everyman, l. 57-61), just as the God of Abraham and Isaac says, â€Å"Abraham’s heart now will I assay/ Whether that he be steadfast or no.†(Brome, l. 35-36). Each God holds a different sentiment when talking of man, the one in Everyman speaks of them with frustration, aghast at their apathy towards their Creator, while the one in The Brome Play sounds more contemplative, aware of Abraham’s love of his son and interested to see how it stands in comparison to his love of his Father. In the end, both the God of Everyman and the God of Abraham and Isaac require of their creations a trial, a test of their devotion, and a desire to make of these individuals an example for all mankind to gaze upon and learn from. In other words, â€Å"I shall assay now his good will,/ Whether he loveth better his child or me./ All men shall take example him be/ by My commandments how they shall fulfill.†(Brome, l. 43-46). In fifteenth century England, these artists saw their God as a man looking for confirmation of the piety of His subjects, a higher power testing the bounds of mankind, their capacity to believe in, and to love, the Almighty Lord. The fact that both plays hold such similar depictions of God is not inherently mystifying, upon reading only a small selection of the genre of morality plays, most readers would be able to recognise many repeating patterns, characters, and plot devices. What makes these opening scenes fascinating to the modern reader is the mere fact that God is presented in any form besides the abstract. In contemporary and modern art, it is considered sacrilegious to attempt to personify God in any way, especially in as mundane a form as an actor on a stage. Christianity has changed over the ages, and in turn God has become more distant from his creations than He was seen at the time these productions were written. While the God of Everyman and of The Brome Play are both played on stage by a man, and significantly closer to man than what is seen in the modern era, both plays still hold a parallel that keeps mankind from interacting with God directly, both plays have a messenger. For Everyman this messenger is Death, and for Abraham it is an Angel, but in both God calls upon these characters to send a message to their respective mortals from God, and each must explain the need for death to the men below. God tells his servants they must travel to earth to bear the news, â€Å"Mine angel, fast hie thee thy way,/ And unto middle-earth anon thou go.† (Brome, l. 33-34), this not only distances Him from His experiments, but also illustrates the positions these men hold. Everyman and Abraham are no prophets, they receive no burning bushes, but rather the writers portray them as examples, messages to be sent to all of humanity, a lesson in devotion. This facet of the plays is not nearly so surpr ising as the previous inclusion of God, messengers of holy word have consistently been commonplace characters in many forms of performance, and the idea of a mission from God is a tried and true plot device still used today. It is a common device among biblical stories to have God create a test that man must pass to prove their sanctity. The tales of Joshua and Gideon, amongst others, show that when man places their trust in God, they receive peace and compensation, and both these plays hold true to that theme. Everyman must die to complete his pilgrimage with â€Å"a sure reckoning†(Everyman, l. 70), and Isaac must be sacrificed by his father to prove that the love for the Lord is stronger than the love for the son. The writers of these plays bring to light the idea that the religious man of the fifteenth century must prove himself worthy of the gifts God has granted. The three men all have to sacrifice the life which they hold most dear, must overcome all fears and longings in a test of will, in the name of God. These grand trials speak not only to the perceived duties of mankind at the time, but also to the involvement God had in the lives of His creations. In both cases, God has taken a vested interest in how mankind is behaving and how they will react to His wishes. When in Everyman, God exclaims, â€Å"Of ghostly sight the people be so blind/ Drowned in sin, they know me not for their God†(Everyman, l. 25-26), He is clearly displeased with the apathy and greed of His subjects, but this disappointment is proof that He cares deeply towards the feelings and thoughts of man, a strong indicator that in the era of these plays, it was assumed that God was looking on, invested in, the daily actions of humanity. This is a sentiment that is not so widely assumed in today’s culture. Looking at current performance art, a common trait held by many characters is the perception that while there may be an omnipotent God, He either no longer cares about the fates of His creations or He has outright abandoned ship. There are always exceptions to the rules in art, in comedic performances such as Dogma and Bruce Almighty, God is presented as a man, or woman, but these perfor mances do not hold any form of religious merit, and in fact often poke fun at established religion. No longer is it a standard belief that the Almighty sits so close to his subjects, that He watches earnestly for our reactions, or cares how mankind feels towards Him. Once again, where God was close at hand in the fifteenth century, He is a distant abstract today. While in many ways the reactions of God and men in art differ greatly between then and now, one aspect that has held strong over the millennium is mankind’s resilience to the challenges thrust upon them by higher powers. In both Everyman and The Brome Play, the men struggle with the weight of their actions, Everyman moans, â€Å"O gracious God in the high seat celestial/ Have mercy on me in this most need!†(Everyman, l. 153-154), just as Abraham cries, â€Å"A, Lord of heaven, thy grace let sink,/ For my heart was never half so sore†(Brome, l. 159-160). Both do not wish to follow through with this call from on high, yet both manage to eventually cast aside their selfish desires in the name of the high power, and both continue to follow through with their trials. It is important to note that many men shy away from this glorious purpose, as seen by how quickly Fellowship abandons Everyman and the doctor at the end of The Brome Play states, â€Å"Trow ye, sirs, and God sent an angel think / And commanded you your child to slain, /By your truth, is there any of you/ That either would grouch or strive theragain?†(Brome, l. 443-446). The majority of humanity is not up to task, cannot prove the worth of Mankind, but the resilient few, the chosen ones, take on God’s challenge with grace and dignity. Now, the Chosen One archetype remains extremely prevalent to this day, almost all popular performances, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hamilton, Camelot, Les Miserables, et cetera, center the entirety of their plots around this archetype. Man has always desired to be the hero, to stand out from the masses and create of themselves something magnificent, something memorable, and the plays of old validate this ideal. The image of God and his role may have transformed as time has gone by, but the belief that man is strong and can rise above all obstacles, that has always remained steadfast. This case for the fortitude of man allows for a variety of emotions to occur within the audiences of these works. In many ways, it gives the audience hope, as they see in the end The Brome Play that God is merciful and good, allowing Isaac to continue to live, to kiss his mother and spread his good nature to all he meets, and in Everyman, as Good Deeds remains at his side even as Everyman sacrifices himself for the sins of all. These show that good Christians are rewarded, that God is omnipotent yet kind. But along with this hope comes shame, shame that they, the audience member, may not be strong enough, may not be holy enough, to carry through with these great deeds, that though they connect and sympathise with Everyman, they may more closely mirror Fellowship or Cousin. In many ways, the Gods calling out their frustrations and their needs for love on stage are chastising the audience as much as the characters in the plays. This shame serves to show that God is not impressed with m ere observers, that work must be put into faith in order to gain entrance into the halls of greatness, in order to gain peace and respect, as a good christian. This shame then turns into a call to arms of the audience, it is motivation to better their lives, to prove their worth to the church and to the world and to God. These manipulations of emotion show that in the fifteenth century, there was still a perceived need to try and better the actions of man, that despite the prevalence of religion at the time, men were still not rising up to humbly accept the tests presented by God, that mankind could do more, could be more. The audience was made to internalise the lessons presented by these two plays, much as the audiences of sermons and the news and the Hunger Games are supposed to internalise the lessons presented today. In the end, art is made in an attempt not just to entertain, but to improve upon, those who take the time to study it. The morality plays of Everyman and of Abraham and Isaac hold many similarities, both tell tales of God, in need of mankind’s validation, sending a messenger to tell a single person they must face a trial that involves a man dying, and the journey is long and filled with woe but in the end both the men appease God. In His mercy and His knowledge mankind finds peace and prosperity, but these findings cannot be maintained without the dutiful following of God’s word and a willingness to sacrifice in His name. At the time the performing arts showed, through the recurring presence of God, that man was looking for an investment from on high, that the people of this era were wishing for a physical sign of interest, be it judgement or praise, from the Father they had loved for so long. In certain aspects these tales from the fifteenth century, and the values of the writers and audience held at the time, differ greatly from those held dear today; no longer is man allowed to creat e God for the stage, no more are great tests of will presented to mankind by God, and in performance the Almighty does not often hold the same fascination and curiosity towards His subjects as He once did. Yet, despite all this, it cannot be ignored that even after all this time, the artists of the world still believe that mankind will accept all challenges, will conquer all trials, and, after a little tragedy, that sliver of hope will bloom into a story where everything turns out all right for man in the end.

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Money In The Great Gatsby - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1182 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/03/26 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: The Great Gatsby Essay Did you like this example? F. Scott Fitzgeralds powerful use of setting in The Great Gatsby solely defines an individual based off of living accommodations, lifestyle and, most importantly, location. Despite an individuals motives, level of financial success and reach toward high society, it is proven impossible to fully experience the top of the social strata unless born into the lifestyle. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Money In The Great Gatsby" essay for you Create order Fitzgerald uses the city of New York and the east coast as a place of opportunity, where once wealth that all strive to have is earned, it can be flaunted in a number of ways. The people in New York who end in an unsuccessful attempt to catch wealth, end up in a place known as The Valley of Ashes. The moral decay of the Valley of Ashes separates the two successful branches of New York, known as West Egg and East Egg. West Egg holds those who were fully able to make the wealth they once dreamed of a reality, no matter the circumstances and moral decisions made to reach the money. West Egg holds the new money. East Egg is home to those who inherited the money they have, the old money, never having experienced the hardships to obtain money. The physical divide of living locations, lifestyles, and accomodations show how truly unapproachable the prestige and fashionable lifestyle of the old money in East Egg is to obtain if having not been born into the highest social strata. The East Coast acts as not only a symbol of economic success, but as a place where people can attempt to escape the bondage to the social strata one grew up in. Financial boundaries can be broken once welcomed into the bustling economy of the 1920s in New York. New York is described by Nick as a place where, anything can happen, now that weve slid over this bridge, I thought; anything at all'(Fitzgerald 69). In saying this the possibilities for financial prosperity are endless in a big city with a booming economy. No matter the geographic or financial background of a person, the place they come to make and earn themselves is full of opportunities for success if done correctly. There is also a change in societal views on where different people should stand in society. Nick says that he sees, a limousine pass [him], driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl,(69). In New York, where everything is fast paced and business is constantly changing, not only is the possibility of financial prosperity a potential reality, societal roles are no longer fixed and limited to white males. New York is a city for advancement, but the power and standing of old money cannot be overridden. The two different halves of New York are East Egg and West Egg, holding very economically similar yet very different people of status. The people of West Egg have less experience with money and feel the need to flaunt it in gaudy extravagant ways. West Egg homes usually tend toward having less fashionable, bizarre taste with, tower[s] on one side, spanking new under a bed of ivy, and a marble swimming-pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden(5). The new money lifestyle lacks the status and connections to other people, so to compensate for a lack of connections and status, the largest houses are built with the most extravagant parties to catch the public eye and build a name for themselves. East Egg, meanwhile, holds those of old money, the more classy, traditional display of money, with houses that are, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay,(6). Those of East Egg do not feel the need to flaunt their money because the status everyone dreams o f has already been built for them through family. The people of East Egg will never view those in West Egg as equals because of the immoral business dealings those of West Egg participate in to earn their wealth. Although the financial status of the two different people in these places may be the same, the social class levels will never change because of where they began on the social ladder. While the economic growth of the nouveau riche is prominent, they will never exel to the class level of the old money because of the way money is acquired. One man who embodies this is, Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, [who] sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that and he must be about His Fathers business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty, (98). Jay Gatsby came from God, or in other words, was created out of nothing. The economic growth of a person can not only lead to nicer material things, but also change in relationships and personality. The lifestyle of those in West Egg leads to nothing but a feeling of unfulfillment in having a lack of relationships with others. The missing relationships in life come from trying to impress the people at the top of the social ladder who will never truly accept the lifestyle they live. The reach for great amounts of material wealth get put before all else, consuming all things, no matter the people and relationships that are broken along the way. The business and economic status of people in the world holds greater power than that in finding meaningful relationships. The place where the people broken and stranded in the immoral business endeavors of those who enquire new money is known as The Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes is described as, a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air, (23). This place represents all of the people who have been hurt and left behind by those on the hunt for wealth, still a relevant idea today. Not everyone can succeed in the attempt for the American Dream. Those who try, but are unsuccessful, are left to strug gle financially, and left in the Valley of Ashes. The setting alone shows how people can never fully experience the top of the social strata if that is not the place that they started. The place where an individual grows up plays a crucial role in the places that they will make it too. Despite ones efforts and ability to reach economic success, they will never be viewed in the same ways as those who inherited money. Those with new money will be degraded by those with old money because of the immoral ways they inherited money, the gaudy ways they decide to flaunt their money, and the attempt to build a relationship with the people with old money. The Great Gatsby is representative of the social classes today and how being able to achieve the American Dream is just out of ones reach, no matter the effort made.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Is There a God - 1211 Words

Bertrand Russell has arisen one of the most important issue, which attracts the psyche of every human being. The existence of god has been a question that has plagued mankind started to think logically since forever. People believe in God but when they are asked, have you seen god? The answer usually is negative. Like many other authors, Bertrand Russell had written an article on this controversial topic of â€Å"is there a God† in 1952. Before arguing on this topic, it is important to know the background of author. Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and also a social critic. He belongs to an atheist family and he had a large amount of research on these types of topics. Writing on these types of topics becomes biased no matter what your beliefs are. An atheist would try to prove the non-existence of God while a theist would try to prove God`s existence. Besides seeing, observing and hearing, there is a faith present in the heart of believer. Althoug h, almost every religion claims that God exists no one has ever seen him, and it is in human nature that man believes only what he sees, still the people do believe in God because they cannot simply accept that this whole universe can be created on its own. However, since a lot of phenomena in the universe can be explained on the basis of science, and quantum mechanics in particular, hence, there is a large amount of people who do believe that there is no God. The bigger question that Russell seems to handleShow MoreRelatedGod s God : God813 Words   |  4 PagesGod being in control and intimately involved with His creation is essential to our faith as Christians. This belief impacts all Believers regardless of vocation however it is especially important for those of us going into ministry as pastors. â€Å"I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help Him. I ended up asking God to do His work through me.†(Hudson Taylor) Throughout all of Scripture we see God alluding to the truth that He created all things and is at work in all things and ultimatelyRead MoreLord God, God And God851 Words   |  4 Pagesthe supreme being: God and Lord God. While God and Lord God both have immense power and the unique ability to create, they are separate characters with separate personalities. Lord God is like a Greek anthropomorphic god with human desires and limitations, whereas God is an all-powerful abstract being of pure spirit. Lord God, like a Greek anthropomorphic god, has a human form and body. We first learn about Lord God in chapter two, the second creation story. Firstly, Lord God â€Å"formed man from theRead MoreThe God Of God1504 Words   |  7 Pageswas the god of creation. He was round and monstrous in size. Nobody knows how he came to be, but nobody ever dared to question him about it, even when they were given the chance. 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In addition, he called himself I am like God because Jesus, God the Son, and God the Father are one. Moreover, Jesus shows the union of God with humanity. He had three purposes; be the prophet who spoke the word of God to the people,Read MoreIs God A True God? Essay971 Words   |  4 Pages I believe that there is a true God who is involved in the world. If it would not be for our God who is keeping everything under His control, the world would cease to exist. God is the one who created this world. He is the only being who is eternal. God was not created. He created the world and continues to be very much involved in it. God created everything in this world from nothing. Then He formed man from the dust of the earth. After He formed man, He breathed into him theRead MoreJesus : The God Of God1408 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Son of God, etc. but the true meaning behind His name will only be determined by the faith and revelation. Scholars on this subject have tried to search the truth among the Scriptures, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other canonic books. One thing that it is found in common is the coming of a messiah, a chosen man by God who will change the world. When God created humankind, He placed in the Eden, His primeval messiah, and he was appointed to represent Him on earth, but Adam failed to God and made theRead MoreThe Word Of God : God964 Words   |  4 Pagesthat when God spoke for the first time, Life, in the form of an energy called light, illuminated the universe. In that moment of time, darkness was the present condition across the expanse. The darkness could not understand the light and thus fled as God expressed his sovereign will through the spoken Word. The declaration of His Word brought forth light. This original light inundated the cosmos with life. Therefore, we conclude that life in the universe exists by the verbal Word of God. 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Evolving Workplace Technologies Sample Essay Example For Students

Evolving Workplace Technologies Sample Essay Life is about changeless alteration and that alteration comes from different influences. Persons have become obsessed with seeking to foretell the hereafter of the workplace. By the clip we’ve figured out what the following large or best thing is something else comes along and strike hard its predecessor off of its thrown. Employers and employees are no longer sitting around doing determinations during their tiffin interruptions. The changeless alteration of work patterns and engineering are truly impacting the workplace. Merely one inquiry still remains. Can we maintain up with this rate of alteration? With engineering assisting smaller companies on the playing field they now have the power to vie and make things that large companies have to offer. Technology has given staff the chance to work from the comfort of their places. Men and adult females no longer hold to travel in and work a normal 8 to 5. â€Å"I would conceive of ( the workplace ) is traveling to be really flexible. something that allows both the employer and employee to travel about. reconfigure. rearrange. re-team with really small proficient trouble and we are get downing to see the beginning of that† ( Barker-Benfield. 1997 ) . Companies are going more organized and more persons are working together in squads in internet. Some of these people may neer hold the chance to run into one another. We’re all societal butterflies and this is technology’s manner of maintaining us together. â€Å"Collaboration engineering sprang up 20 old ages ago. but we kept moving. behaviorally. like we did when we were run intoing face to face† ( Burg. 2013 ) . The germinating workplace could finally intend no occupations for tonss of people. This means there’s traveling to be a greater accent on employee public presentation. Companies even measure the part each employee makes to the company and this could be cursing to some. â€Å"Many organisations are gravitating toward new workplace criterions of leting employees to telecommute because it makes for happier more loyal employees† ( Kunes. 2013 ) . Employees now have the ability to alter and do their ain hours and the topographic points they want to work. New coevalss of communicating engineerings are upon us. They are turn toing the new manner to work that is pervading workplaces worldwide. It’s what Puskar calls a â€Å"dynamic. cultural displacement in the marketplace† ( Burg. 2013 ) . With the rapid progresss in engineering. the traditional workplace has become disused. Employees take work on the route with them and utilize a assortment of tools to pass on. For directors. this is both exciting and honoring. Working and take parting in a practical community has enabled employers and employees to better keep great connexions with their co-workers. Technology and workplace patterns will neer halt germinating. â€Å"It’s all about us cognizing our bounds. and utilizing the tools available to assist us go smarter and tilting to accommodate to everything that is thrown at us† ( Frazier-Reid. 2012 ) . Technology has shaped the universe around us for the better. Employers now have employees who have achieved flexibleness in the workplace. You are no longer required to pack up everything to follow your dreams. Having the universe at our fingertips has become a singular game modifier. Are you accommodating and lasting or are you merely bing? Annotated BibliographyBarker-Benfield. Simon ( 1997 ) . Workplace Evolving in Step with Technology. Communications. Jacksonville. Sunshine state: The Florida Times- Union. In the article the writer does several interviews to acquire an thought of how engineering is altering the workplace quickly. The writer found that non everyone will necessitate to work the normal 8 to 5 in an office scene. Technology has allowed employers and employees to go really nomadic. He besides notes that engineering has to make a better occupation of accommodating to persons. Burg. Natalie ( 2013 ) . How Technology Has Changed WorkplaceCommunication. World Wide Web. forbes. com/sites/unify/2013/12/10/how-technology-has-changed-workplace- communication/ The writer examines how engineering has changed the manner people do concern and utilize it daily. Harmonizing to research. engineering has made employers and employees lives’ a batch better. She goes on saying engineering has helped employees connect better with their workplace doing occupations more desirable. doing them more productive. Frazier-Reid. Nicola ( 2012 ) . Blog. mindjet. com/2012/06/the-evolution-of-workplace-technology- .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d , .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d .postImageUrl , .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d , .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d:hover , .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d:visited , .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d:active { border:0!important; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d:active , .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d:hover { o pacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left: 18px; top: 0; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uced43e35a67306ace550ef0ac40fdb5d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Physical Essay

Monday, April 20, 2020

Runaway Jury Ethics paper Essay Example

Runaway Jury Ethics paper Essay Virtuous Revenge? The movie defines the trail that Jury will sit in on. A man walks into a New Orleans brokerage firm and opens fire on everyone inside. He kills one of the higher-ranking employs, Jacob Woods. The movie then immediately Jumps two years ahead in time. We meet Nicholas Easter, played by John Sack. He opens a letter to find out he has been summoned for Jury Duty. The case is none other than Celeste Woods, the woman whose husband had been shot two years prior, vs.. Vicksburg Firearms, the company that allowed the gun to get into the killers hands. We will write a custom essay sample on Runaway Jury Ethics paper specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Runaway Jury Ethics paper specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Runaway Jury Ethics paper specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As Nick is walking away room his mailbox, someone is taking pictures of him. This is where the main ethical dilemma is revealed. Rankin Fitch, played by Gene Hickman, has already begun to gather information on all the possible Jurors that could work the trail. He plans on getting the Jurors that would vote for his client, Vicksburg Firearms. Wendell Roar, the attorney that represents Celeste, also decides to hire a Jury consultant like Fitch. He chooses a man that came down from Philadelphia, named Lawrence, to do the Job. In the midst of the movie unfolding, we also find out that Nick has been chosen as Juror #9. When Nick arrives home later that night, He greets Marble, and we learn that are trying to sway the Jury as well. They are trying to make money by selling the Jurors votes to the highest paying side. There are 3 different sides working this trail, each wanting to win for their own reasons. Is this idea of swaying a Jury ethical? The three theories of ethical behavior that most apply to this movie are Rights Theory, Utilitarianism, and Justice and Fairness. I will apply these separate theories to try and answer this question. The first theory I want to take a look at is Justice and Fairness. The whole trial is about whether Mrs.. Woods deserved to be compensated for her husbands death. She was taking on a Gun manufacturer, not the specific person that shot her husband. Her attorney claimed that Vicksburg Firearms werent checking store sells. Therefore allowing people to buy as many guns as they wanted. They claimed people were buying these guns in large amounts, to sell on the black market. Of course, Vicksburg attorneys argued that the company had been checking up on different sales. They argued the fact that it wasnt there fault her husband was injured. They also argued the fact that the shooter was the real cause and was dead. So the question, in regards to whether Mrs.. Woods deserved the money or not, can actually be found by looking at compensatory Justice. If Vicksburg Firearms was negligent to where their guns were being sold, then it might be their fault that the gunman was able to acquire a gun. This is the reason that Finch was hired. The company knew that there was a slight chance they could lose and have their reputation, and money, deteriorate. Is this any reason that a Jury should be looked at as votes? Is it something that can be bought or manipulated to go a certain way? The answer is no. Rails theory of fairness pulls many different approaches of Justice into two principals. The first principle, the principle of equal liberty, is the greater of the two. It states that liberties must be protected from invasion of others and must be equal to those of others. This simply means that everyone deserves equal treatment. So the Jury should be protected from outside, and inside, invasion. Therefore they are tightly linked to duties. That is why I am going to look at rights theory next. Rights theory defined is an individuals entitlement to do something. Moral rights and Legal sights are different, but when trying to swing the Juror votes, both are violated. Using the legal rights system, it permits a person to act a certain way. That is why the Jurors are allowed to Judge whether someone is guilty or innocent. Moral Rights are entitlements based on moral standards independent of a legal system. That is why someone trying to swing the vote is wrong. These people are independent of the legal system but still feel that they can control others rights. An easier way to look at it is; if I have a right to do something, others have a duty to not interfere with that eight. Because these Jurors are fulfilling a legal right and their moral rights are being jeopardized, both of their rights are being infringed upon. Moral rights, in particular, provide individuals with equality and autonomy. One cannot subject others to their wishes. Finch does not do this subtly. He gives many of the Jurors ultimatums by digging up dirt in their past, and also causing problems. Two of these situations stood out very clear to me. The first was when Finchs henchman told Kick that he knew about her abortion. That he knew the baby wasnt her husbands and if she didnt vote his way, her husband would find out. The next situation was when Finch set Mills husband up to get arrested. Mill was told that if she didnt vote for Vicksburg, her husband wouldnt be released. These tactics are morally and legally wrong. The last topic I want to look at is Utilitarianism. This is Just selecting the best course of action that has the most beneficial consequences for society. Some would argue that this is the only way a verdict could be swung. If someone from the inside or outside could sway the verdict so that the most positive, or least negative, outcome loud happen, it would be all right. This is where I want to take a look at Nick. He is a juror on the case and has his own agenda. He plays both sides but his intentions are made clear at the very end of the movie. Nick had been in Middle school when someone came in and shot up the school. He wasnt able to save Marbles twin sister and always thought it was his fault. When the town he was from tried to sue the gun manufacturer, they lost and went bankrupt. Finch was the Jury Consultant for the gun company. Nick worked with Marble on this trail and they were able to swing the votes away from Finch.

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Secrecy in America essays

Secrecy in America essays According to a survey performed for the Defense Department in 1996, it was found that the majority of U.S. citizens believe that the government withholds too much information by classifying it as a secret. In this book, Secrecy: The American Experience, Senator Daniel P. Moynihan reinforces that view. This is a distinctive book with numerous weaknesses, some errors, and one great strength. The weakness is that the book shows controversial arguments rather than a policy analysis. Moynihan has a particular view he wants to advance, and he is not interested in considering alternate explanations or exploring evidence that is contradictory with his view. Moynihan marks the start of modern secrecy with the Espionage Act. Most of the distinctive features of twentieth-century secrecy are rooted in the program to build the atomic bomb, including vast secret budgets and cover stories. I particularly enjoyed the book in that it told the truth of past events. I did not like that the book was written from only Moynihans point of view and did not discuss other opinions. I enjoyed the book because it is nonfiction and reveals the truth of secrecy in America. Most importantly I found it interesting that this book was written by Senator Moynihan rather than by an ordinary person who would make many assumptions in order to write a book about secrecy. This US senator from New York analyzes the roots of Americas obsession with government secrecy and pleads for its dismantling. This book is not primarily an insiders account of the Government in action. It is, more ambitiously, a historical assessment of the culture of secrecy, particularly in the area of foreign policy. Moynihan cites the CIAs failure to forecast the end of the Soviet Union as yet another deviation caused by secrecy. In his view, the CIA simply failed at its most important task. It is possible that all of tho...

Friday, February 28, 2020

Does a foreign company have an obligation to conform to local customs, Research Paper

Does a foreign company have an obligation to conform to local customs, or is it, at most, just good business to do so - Research Paper Example Foreign investment therefore is a result of the rising needs of companies to enhance the accomplishment of organizational goals. This paper presents a critique of whether a foreign company has an obligation to conform to local customs, or whether it does so since it is at most, just â€Å"good business†. When companies establish in foreign land, they find rules that govern trade, some of which may be similar to the parent country while others are totally different. There are also other companies in the particular country that are already established and are keen observers of the entry of new industries in the economy due to competition. Such companies expect the foreign investor to compete on fair grounds with the local organizations. No matter the nature of local customs, market liberalization requires businesses to invest based on willingness as well as the capability to maintain competitiveness under the prevailing conditions. On the other hand, local customs are obligatory for all organizations that have interest in investing within an economy. As investors move in to foreign markets, they usually face difficulties depending on many factors such as political stability, barriers to trade and conflicts of interests among other hindrances. These usually present high risks to foreign investors considering the fact that it requires a high initial capital outlay to establish in a foreign economy. The stocks acquired in foreign companies may be lost if the host country fails to formulate policies that facilitate foreign investment. In case of policies focused on the expropriation of foreign companies to utilize property or premises for other development purposes, foreign organizations may face a lot of difficulties and are usually at a risk of closure and losses (Dugan et al. 2008). However, the international law has provisions aimed at protecting foreign

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Toddler Development and Its Influences Research Paper

Toddler Development and Its Influences - Research Paper Example The article provides related information about infants to children aged below five years. A toddler is a child between the years of 1 to 3 years of age. This period of time is considered the most exciting and challenging times for both parents and pediatricians. The most evident and dramatic changes occur in language and interpersonal skills. Themes in affective development include the toddler’s striving for autonomy and independence from the parents, a continued importance of attachment with the family, and the initial work on achieving impulse control. Nutrition unlike any other factors has the ability to affect the child’s brain development both as an external and internal factor. It is considered external because if the foods needed to provide certain nutrients are not available the body lacks materials with which to create new brain cells, neurons and other brain structures (Rosales et.al, 2009). These nutrients include protein, zinc, iron and special fats among ot her nutrients. Nutrition is considered an internal facto because it directly affects the formation of the brain itself including the genetic makeup of the brain. At this age, the child is the inquisitive stage. This means that most of his activities require him to think more and ask questions. This means that his brain activities have increased and his brain is quite active in addition to growing. It is a tricky to feed children at this stage. This is because they are self-independent now and they have preferences for certain foods. Parents should provide several dishes in small portions. The dishes should be colorful and have nice flavors but at the same time have the nutritional value to promote brain development. It is important to understand that a balanced diet is essential in a child’s life as it is to any other individual. This applies to children yet to be born and those already born. It has been identified that pre-natal malnutrition has many negative effects on a ch ild. Some of these effects can be related to cognitive deficits, behavior problems, and low academic achievements. For this reason, it is essential to ensure that a child is provided with proper balance of nutrients so that there can be normal brain development (Rosales et.al, 2009). As stated above, nutrition is a major aspect during a child’s development. This is termed important because it causes reduction of cell production, has great effects on normal cell sizes, and changes their structural appearance. In addition to these effects, nutritional imbalance leads to low communication between cells in the brain. This is the reason such children seem to have lower academic performances or even perform lower in other areas. The potential impact of this research is that it can be of assistance to parents, nutritionists to provide appropriate diet for the toddler and how diet may prevent brain under development. The second scholarly article that was reviewed was written by Mitch ell S. J. and Cabrera N. J. and is called An Exploratory Study of Fathers’ Parenting Stress and Toddlers’ Social Development in Low-Income African American families. The date of the publication was the year 2009. The article attempts to find out the mediation effect on toddlers that fathers’ engagement has on them. The results indicate that there is moderate levels of parenting stress on the fathers, however the results do not indicate any direct effects of stress on

Friday, January 31, 2020

Facebook and Privacy Essay Example for Free

Facebook and Privacy Essay Objective Summary: Ex-Apple Engineer, Peter Warden, has collected public fan page data from 215 million Facebook pages, revealing current trends, such as ‘God’ being the number one most popular fan page among Facebook users in the Southern U.S., whereas ‘Barack Obama’ featured heavily for San Francisco users, and ‘Starbucks’ was number one in Idaho. Warden plans to release this data to the academic community because he sees great potential in the data that can be extracted from these sites. This process is called data harvesting. The article suggests future academic work in this area is likely to occu impacting on peoples privacy. (FACTS 100 words) Response: The ETHICAL issue central to this article is privacy and control. On one hand, Warden claims his intentions are altruistic (helpful to others) and that the data he is making visible here is a matter of public discourse. However, the FACTS are that individual users who are generating this data have neither been consulted about the data collection nor have they given permission for Warden to use it. Clearly Warden does not VALUE others peoples privacy as much as he WANTS (emotion) to create the website. The argument could be made that once a user ‘becomes a fan’ of a page on Facebook or, indeed, publishes any content to the internet, that information becomes public. User who have deployed privacy settings to carefully maintain a strong sense of control over their profiles, however, might well feel very ANGRY about this use of their data. Facebook can harvest that data (and does, for targeted advertising purposes) because they have a commitment to those advertisers (emotion )and engineers like Warden can develop data-trawling engines to collect accessible information across a massive dataset. The LAW needs to be much clearer about the rights of consumers, companies and advertisers in these situations. As Facebook is presumably bound by its own set of critically considered ETHICAL guidelines, these are neverthess underpinned by commercial VALUES and a vested interest (emotion) in keeping the data of its users from competitors. Warden claims to be operating under his own set of ethics that privilege (value) the furthering of knowledge. The issue then shifts to the academic community. Warden contends that one of his central motivations for collecting this data was so that he could share it with the academic community. Although this claim may be true, most (if not, all) Universities have clear ETHICAL guidelines for research that explicitly VALUE and therefore require consent from participants. If none of the users gave consent for their data to be collected in this way, this in effect denies them a sense of AGENCY. Thus, academically, this data is tainted. While its implications are important the trends it makes visible are crucial to understanding the localised structures of social network sites like Facebook. Personally, I would believe people should be able to tick a box that gives consent for the use of their personal material. I do not believe, either, that it should be one of those boxes you are obliged to tick before being able to use a site: that removes my personal AGENCY and I VALUE this very much. It should be up to me to decide whether other people get my data. If this sort of system was in place, everyone would know the FACTS, everyone would understand what is going on and no one would feel (emotion) betrayed or exposed unfairly.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Tough Guy Case Study: Managing Organizational Conflict Essay -- Tough

Introduction: The Tough guy case study focuses on Chip Mazey, a newly appointed Vice President of the Hudson Smith Gordon. Though many of the employees that worked with Chip Mazey had a problem with his attitude around the workplace, none was bold enough to confront him. The employees faced many challenges as none of them has the power to change. They all considered it â€Å"tricky business†. The employees were hesitant to report Mazey’s attitude mainly because they thought he would deny the allegations or reporting it to the seniors would result in a tense situation within the workplace. As such, they all chose to bear with his sharp, unprovoked, and unrelenting lashings. Defining the Problem: Chip Mazey, man who has been with the organization, has done wonders to the organization with his sheer intelligence and working style, known to have shown productive results. Yet he also had bagged the ill reputation of being a ruthless and reprove in nature. Mazey though has been part of the organization for a longtime, developed poor interpersonal and managerial skills. Hardly appreciates of their work, never gave credit or appreciated for good work and also had disgusting behavior of selling other’s ideas as his. His mantra for controlling and influencing his subordinates was to put them under pressure and float fear among them. Almost every employee have a disconcerting experiences with VP. In fact Mazey doesn’t share all the details that are required to complete the task, created panic in the minds of the employees by showcasing the meetings which were not planned and used to assign the tasks which were no necessity. He constantly took means of threatening, demand ing, intimidating which clearly shows that he was dominant in nature and... ...ngo. Manuel Mendonca. Ethical Dimensions of Leadership. ISBM 0-8039-5787-4. SAGE Publications, India. Lussier, R.N., & Achua, C.F., (2010). Leadership, Theory, Application, & Skill Development. (4th ed). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Allen Nan, S. (2008). Conflict resolution in a network society. International Negotiation, 13(1), 111-131. doi:10.1163/138234008X297995 Brubaker, D., & Verdonk, T. (1999). Conflict transformation training in another culture: A case study from Angola. Mediation Quarterly, 16(3), 303-319. Tost, L., Gino, F., & Larrick, R.P (2013). When power makes others speechless: The negative Impact of Leader power on team performance. Academy Of Management Journal, 56(5), 1465-1486. doi:10.5465/amj.2011.0180 Yemen, G., Clawson, J., & Bigelow, E.T. (2007). Tough Guy. University of Virginia, Darden Business Publishing.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

The Impact of United Kingdom Tourism on the Employment Rate.

The impact of United Kingdom Tourism on the Employment rate. Source : Travel and Tourism Economic Impacts 2012 United Kingdom UK Tourism had generated 938,500 jobs in 2011 which is 3. 0% of total employment in the UK economy. The Tourism employment includes airlines, transportation service, hotels, restaurant, travel agents and leisure industries directly and indirectly supported by tourism. According to the data, there is a decrease from year 2002 to year 2005.Fords end 90 years of British car production with the loss of more than 2000 jobs after the last Fiesta was made at its factory in Dagenham. This somehow brings an impact on the tourism industry and indirectly affect on the industry. In addition, the UK government has introduce a tax rises at the year 2002. This had affect on some of the citizens of UK with less inbound tourism and outbound tourism with the taxation. Moreover, with the Iraq war happening at 2003, this greatly brings a huge impact to the tourism industry of UK. The government has spent around 7. 4 billion pound on the Iraq war.The rises on year 2006 were because of the grand opening of the Emirates stadiums which brings in a lot of footballs fans to the country. The international friendly matches featured the Brazil national football team had successfully brightened up the tourism of United Kingdom again which leads to the contribution of employment. The world economic crisis happened at the year 2007 which lead to a decrease on the chart till the year 2009. During the world economic crisis, the whole world when in the recession and affect on the travel industry directly and indirectly.However, the critical decrease on the year 2009 was due to the Norovirus. The Norovirus case was happened at the whole Europe where some of the vegetable was polluted and affect illness to the consumer. The virus has cause a panic in UK and the whole Europe. There is a positive growth from the year 2010 to year 2012 towards tourism economic employment. It w as because of the Olympic held in UK where bring the growth to the country. Government had spent money on the tourism facility and building to support the tourist that visit the country for the great events.This had created jobs opportunity for the citizen of UK as more labor was needed for tourism industry including hotel, travel agents, food and beverage, transportation and etc. The Olympic had brings an unpredicted opportunity to boost inbound and also outbound to the UK over the next decade. One in twelve jobs in UK was currently directly or indirectly supported by tourism and the number of jobs supported by tourism is set to increase between year 2010 and year 2020. Reference Tourism Alliance (2012) UK Tourism Statistic2012 United Kingdom World Travel and Tourism Council (2012) Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2012 United Kingdom

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Designing a game level - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 35 Words: 10571 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Designing a game level from visual inspirations Abstract Designing a level from visual inspiration focuses on some of the key strategies as well as general methods used in designing a level. This dissertation focuses on the working minds of artists (mine included!) and elicits the strategies one uses, inside their head. By doing so, I could lay out a guideline by which, others could try out the same things to make a level. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Designing a game level" essay for you Create order This is to convince the reader that the artistic process isnt a rare talent to a select few individuals, but rather, a way in which we think and would also help them get along with their own levels. Its organized chapter wise, beginning with a brief history followed by the basics. As we move further on, more and more diverse topics are introduced. Lot of the general requirements in creating a level is covered. The 2nd chapter, entitled Inspiration, Vision, Dreams is a bit more detailed since part of the dissertation is about visuals. Introduction Welcome to Designing a game level from visual inspirations. This is a dissertation that takes the reader through the process of creating a game level from visual inspiration to the final output. Once a level is done, fellow gamers can rejoice by playing the level. A lot of valuable information and techniques from my research and experience will be provided here, which anyone, beginner or expert will have something new to look forward to. Level design in short is like putting a puzzle together. Except here, the puzzle can unfold in many different ways depending on the way required, only limited by our imagination. Usually, a level designer need not create the assets, textures or even the source code. But by putting these together, one can make works of art that touch gamers profoundly and provide them with hours of entertainment. Building a level can be a long process, depending on the scale, resources and technical knowledge. But nonetheless its a very rewarding experience, where one gets to see their level come out, every second of it. Planning is the key, and knowing what to do next is important. So its crucial that the big picture is in mind first, with the major areas and gameplay worked out. Throughout this dissertation, Ill be eliciting strategies from my observation of others, from creating visual dreams and inspirations to realizing it on the game itself. There will be a few step-by-step instructions which one could try out instantly. The Format This dissertation is organized in a straightforward way, chapter wise. A lot more is focused on the strategies one uses inside their minds, rather than the technical know-hows. Chapter 1: The Basics of Level Design. This chapter deals with the basics of level and game design and introduces some of the requirements in any level, which should be keep in mind before starting. Chapter 2: Inspiration, Vision, Dreams. This chapter deals with ideas and strategies behind the artistic process inside the human mind. It also covers some of the outside use of references. Chapter 3: Refinement and Paper Work. This chapter builds upon the previous chapter and works on refining the already given ideas. Chapter 4: Building the Landscape. Here, ideas will be presented to start up the actual level construction. How to make it more strategic and fun gameplay wise. Chapter 5: Mood and Atmosphere. A lot about the lighting, effects and sound will be discussed upon here and the importance of it. Chapter 6: Testing and Finalizing. In this chapter, the final stages of the level will be discussed. Chapter 1: The Basics of Game and Level Design Making a level is a very creative and enriching experience. Stretching our imagination and making works of art for a living is one of the most satisfying jobs ever. Playing a level might be fun, but making it brings out a profound state of pleasure. Its another world experience, where the designer creates a body of work for others to play and get entertained. If youre reading this, then I hope to convince you through my research that anyone mildly interested in video games can create levels. A good first step for making a level would be to make a design document. Levels are basically the content of a game so when one makes a level, a clear idea of whats required is important. The first and foremost thing is to completely BELIEVE that itll succeed, even before designing the level. Being tenacious and driven is important as that makes us to look for as many ways as possible to succeed. Modeling the successes of others and using it works as well. Of course, whats a success and whats a failure when it comes to making works of art is always relative. What might be small for a veteran level designer might be a big achievement for an amateur. But its always better to aim for the best and strive to achieve it with every part of your body and soul. Its how powerful it is inside our mind that makes it shine on the outside as well. Letting our imagination run away is a good thing. So throughout this dissertation, Ill be presenting strategies that might not have much to do with lev el design itself, but it all comes together eventually. BELIEVING is what makes things real on the outside. Seeing is not believing its the opposite. All too often, beginners seem very excited to create their level or game but fall short most of the time. There might be different reasons, such as motivation, procrastination etc. but usually it boils down to the fact that they dont back themselves enough and end up abandoning the project. Others just end up making uninspired levels with bad and unimaginative gameplay. But this research will prove otherwise anyone could be convinced about their own capabilities. To avoid this, we need to be smart and ferociously approach the creation process. Reading books articles always helps in that regard. Finding out how others have succeeded and trying it out is an unbelievably easy yet powerful strategy. This chapter deals with the following: History of game and level design The basic knowledge required about level design How to empower the player Challenges and Pacing A bit of History Earlier on, the term level design never used to exist. The programmer did all the work including the visuals. But the visuals werent all that hard, since the computer could only handle so much and hence had to be kept at a minimal. Early Stages MUD was one of the earliest game that required a bit of level design. Developed by Ralph Koster, Brad McQuaid and J.Todd Coleman, it was a realtime multi-user dungeon game which basically revolved around texts. The player interacts with each other by typing in commands. Then on 1978, Tomohiro Nishikados Space invaders was released. Its a simple 2-dimensional game, where the player shoots aliens moving towards the ship. In the 1980s, came along a landmark game, pac man created by Toru Iwantani. Its a 2D game which really displays one of the earliest examples of level design. Of Course, its not as complicated as it is now, but hey, making it fun is the whole point. Another famous example of the 80s would be super-mario bros developed by Nintendo, which almost anyone would be aware of. The 90s include some of the earliest examples of FPS games such as wolfenstein 3D, duke nukem and half-life. The late 90s (1998) is when epic games released unreal tournament and their unreal technology. This brought about a reform in modern games since the technology allowed for greater flexibility. Some of the highlights of the 2000s were Far Cry (2004), F.E.A.R (2005) and Crysis (2007). Unreal History June 1998 Unreal was launched with a warm welcome from the gaming community. Its the first game to use the unreal engine and one of the best looking games of that time. The games lush environment and beautiful graphics took gamers by storm. The game also had a robust multiplayer mode that could be played against artificially intelligent bots, I.E, players controlled by the computer rather than human beings. The games development laid the foundation for the unreal engine. Its modular design allowed Epic, or its licensees, to easily customize parts of the engine without needing to rewrite the entire program. The game also made it possible for the mod makers (those who edit pre-existing games) to insert their own UnrealScripts to enhance and customize their gaming experiences. November 1999 Unreal Tournament was launched for the PC and ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast console gaming systems. The game was originally intended to be an expansion pack for the original Unreal. Focused on multiplayer gameplay, it also offers an intense single-player experience by implementing some of the most advanced bot AI ever to be used in a game. Unreal Tournament was also backward compatible with maps from the original Unreal. March-July 2001 The Unreal Developer Network (UDN) website goes online, giving the world a central location to find documentation and tutorials for content creation and other aspects of the unreal engine. To this day, licensees and mod makers use the site regularly, and it remains one of the most respected resources for information on Unreal Engine and its development. September 2002 Unreal championship is launched on the XBOX closely followed by Unreal Tournament 2003 on the PC. Both games focus mainly on multiplayer gameplay, with Unreal championship being one of the flagship games for the debut of the Microsoft Xbox Live! Broadband online system. Digital extremes assist epic with content creation for the games. The new unreal game sport a wide variety of new engine features, including the implementation of powerful particle system, terrains and the karma physics engine. The game also includes martinee, an embedded system to generate in-game cutscenes and movies. Finally, the revolutionary static mesh is introduced, which allows levels to be populated with more geometric detail that had ever been seen before, while maintaining extremely fast gameplay and animation frame rates. February 2003 Unreal 2: The awakening is launched. Its the first Unreal game to focus on single-player gaming since the release of the original, almost five years earlier. The game pushed the limits of the Unreal Engine even further, showing an unprecedented amount of onscreen detail in a fast paced game with a deep plot and intriguing nonplayer characters (NPCs). The game also supports the user of static meshes, terrains, the martinee movie system, the karma physics engine, the materials and particles and was supplemented by the golem animation system from legend entertainment. March 2004 Unreal tournament 2004 is released. This game marks yet another leap in gaming experience that Unreal players have come to expect with the new Onslaught game type and the introduction of vehicles, players are no longer limited to simple levels. They now have vast terrains, skies and even outer space. The Present 2007 Unreal 3 was released which saw even greater improvements over the previous releases. The visuals are better and the system has been solidified all that much more. Its easier and quicker to add better graphics and effects to the level. Sound has also been improved upon vastly. The Basics Making levels or games can be a very daunting task as there are many things to be covered. A thing to remember is that its made for OTHERS to be ENTERTAINED. It can also on the rare occasion, serve as a medium for self-expression for the artist which can truly be an inspired process. Keeping that in mind, that the level is made for others to be happy and entertained enables the designer to go in the right direction. Having Fun Having fun doesnt only include the player, but it includes the creator as well. Fun and pleasure is what drives us to play the game, as well as making the level. And if its too much pleasure, it becomes an addiction. Some people enjoy jumping out of a perfectly fine airplane as a way to have fun. Others like to glide from top of mountains with sticks attached to their legs as a pleasurable activity. I figured that if they could enjoy those, I could just about make anything fun. What makes the creation process fun for the artist? * The fact that fantasies are becoming real * The process of creation itself is liberating * Using this digital platform as a form of self-expression * The fact that the lives of others will be enriched and entertained Video games are supposed to be fun for others. People expect to be entertained and use it as a medium to get away from their not-so-perfect day-to-day lives. And so, making a game fun should be of the first and foremost importance. Theres no short-cut method to make a game fun. The industry employs millions and millions of testers to find what works for them. And the truth is that, there are millions of ways to make a game fun and there are absolutely no limits whatsoever. Pleasing everyone isnt easy, but the level can be tweaked according to the information at hand. Target Audience As discussed before, since others play the level, a target audience is always a consideration. So knowing whom to aim for is crucial, especially during the early stages of the level. Everyone will have their opinions on whats fun and what isnt. To track down specific target audiences, the genre must be decided upon first. The weirder the level, the harder it gets to find a specific audience. Finding the gamers can be pretty simple, depending on the genre. Internet communities and forums are the easiest and most reliable method to find them. There are rather a huge number of internet gaming sites which one could check out and each of these sites may have different gaming communities. Genre Knowing the genre is equally as important as the target audience. Knowing what works so far in a genre and what players expect is a necessary input. There are many different genres with many different games in it. The genre and target audience are closely related. Of course, there are bound to be many open minded individuals who are open to just about anything, but then again, its more likely that theyll seek out a wide range of internet communities and magazines to find games of their liking. The genre is also followed by the platform on which the game or level is made. A strategy game on a PC uses the mouse to maneuver around and the keyboard for various shortcut and menus to make it fast paced. First Person Shooter (FPS) games use the W, A, S D keys to move around (which is quite common in most FPS). Empowering the player When a player plays a game or a level, they go with a belief such that they are experiencing a different world and that theyd wish its their reality. Its basically a fictional scenario, which one wishes its their reality since its a lot more fun. An important is that a player should be made to LIVE a role inside the level and make them experience it very deeply that it resonates with their neurology. The player should get immersed in it deeply such that its just too much pleasure to ignore. Theyll crave for it every second of their life. And this is a good thing as it keeps gamers coming for more and thereby, theyll call their friends as well. Putting the player with power is one of THE selling points of games when players can kill monsters, shoot people and accomplish big quests with their own character, it gives a lot of joy and a sense of empowerment. Powers can also come in various forms, like for example, the power to create magical spells. There are endless number of ways to empower the player and the vast number of video games out there that are different just proves that. Game mechanics Developing the game rules and mechanics can be a very hard task for a game designer. Every game has to have its mechanics, on how things works, how the experience system (XP) for example is set up; how much damage does your attack do and so on. For a level designer though, a lot of this is already in place. Theyre usually left with the option of tweaking it to their liking, but usually, a big chunk of the headache is over with. The physics of the game should be in place as well like gravity, destruction and such. Hence level designers are more concerned about how they put these things together. Putting things together and making them all relate is a big task for the level designer to figure out. Gameplay Gameplay is more or less what the player does inside the game. Its the players perspective and not the developer. Its how they perceive the virtual world and how much fun it is. When a game is in creation, the gameplay type it encompasses is important. Usually in the case of a level designer, some of the gameplay elements are already in place. Improving upon it though is never out of the cards. Challenges and Pacing Challenges in a level always take centre stage, as they are one of the key driving forces. Setting up goals to achieve, plans to be followed and missions to be completed will determine what the challenges are. Challenges can range from simple straightforward ones to really complex combined ones. A whole book could be written on the subject of challenge alone. Pacing generally refers to how the level unfolds to the player i.e. how players spend every moment while playing the level. It also includes the tempo of the level i.e. how slow or fast it is. The rhythm decides how it feels to the player. A good level will have all the ups and downs one could relate to in life rewards, joy, tension, anxiety etc. This makes it all the more important to think in terms of the players perspective right from the start. Overview At the end of this chapter, the following concepts were covered: Games are made for others to be entertained Find out what works and using them Fun factor always a priority Target Audience Genre Game Mechanics Gameplay Challenges Chapter 2: Inspiration, Vision, Dreams This chapter deals with the visualization process and strategies designers use to come up with the ideation and concepts. There are also some of my own experiments presented. Ideas are formed by using our different senses images (visual), sound (auditory), feelings (kinesthetic), smell and taste. By knowing the inside process other artists use to bring out their ideas, a guideline could be given which should convince anyone to try it out for themselves. Thats what level designers do. They take ideas and give it a solid form (in this case, a digitalized computer level). Hence knowing how to take these ideas in and convert them to in-game features is an important asset of level designers. This chapter deals with the following: * The visual process of an artist * References Images and Inspiration * Altered state * Building the mini-level The Visual Process Level designers are artists, period. The visuals are a major component one needs to tackle first. Visually inclined thinkers use their right brain more often than their left. Our brain is symmetrically divided into two halves left and right. Above is a picture of our brain with its various activities. The left brain handles all our analytical and reasoning skills, whereas the right brain handles majority of our imagery and non-verbal skills. The left brain might be the dominant one throughout most of our lives, but artists think a lot visually i.e. they use their right brain a lot more. And being able to see the big picture is all the more crucial. Dreaming and day-dreaming alike is a very much right-brain activity. The next part demonstrates this right-brain shift. The Right brain exercise: The following is a very simple experiment which changes the way in which we think, where our mind starts making pictures rather than thinking verbally. Doing this exercise allows us to experience this shift real time. Its usually found that participants drift away a bit while doing this. Using the following supplies, one could experience it themselves the point Im trying to illustrate. * Drawing paper * An HB or 2B pencil * Sharpener * A board to rest your paper on The following is a vase with an optical illusion where two faces are in symmetry. This will be the focus of our experiment. 1. We begin by copying one of these patters on a paper. Right-handers copy left face (figure 4) and left-handers right face (figure 5). Slight variations in the profile need not be corrected. 2. Continue by drawing the horizontal lines at the top and bottom. This forms the top and bottom of the vase. 3. Many at this point might be inclined to think verbally, such as this is the head, this is the nose, and this is the chin and so on. 4. The next step is to redraw the exact face on the opposite side, beginning at the top and making our way towards the end to complete the vase. 5. Half way through, our minds get confused on how to proceed. The best way forward is to let our minds resolve it without trying to use an eraser. 6. If an altered state wasnt produced, try repeating the experiment. If a state of shock or paralysis was experienced without knowing how to proceed, then its just our brain trying to sort out things. We learn by patterning and eventually memorizing it. But here, every time a new part is drawn, new patterns need to be made as drawing the forehead isnt the same as drawing the nose. So how was this resolved eventually? Probably by making calculated images of what the vase ought to be on the other side, inside our mind and using that as a reference. And this is how artists think they have a way of accessing their visual brain more often than others. If I ask someone a question how many chairs are there in your living room? theyd stop and think for a moment. An image of their living room was probably made after which the chairs were counted. What artists do so often is that they enter into a deep and relaxed state, which so relaxed that theyre able to vividly imagine what their final output would look like way before they even get started. By putting pi ctures together, breaking them apart, adding subtle details to it and connecting the dots all in our mind, the entire mechanism that creates visuals and lets us imagine things could be accessed. All great inventors are visual thinkers. Nikola Tesla, an Austrian-American scientist who helped create the first electric Light-bulb holds more patterns than anyone else to this day. He was very much a creative person. Now heres a visual thinker. Before constructing the electric motor, he imagined building the motor completely inside his head, part by part, even including the nuts and bolts. Then hed run the motor and see how it works and figure out its mechanism. All this was way before the actual construction of the motor, inside his head. Albert Einstein IMAGINED himself riding on a photon with all the other particles around him and manufactured all kinds of equations from it. The thing Im trying to emphasize is that we already have a mechanism inside our heads through which our creativity could reach the ceiling. The level I made was finished way before I even started on the editor. Reference and Inspiration Randomly making up images and trying it out isnt always the best strategy. Having reference images in accordance to the final output and letting ourselves be inspired will be a driving factor in the creation process. It also gives a starting point upon which adding new ideas would be easier. And references in the end, should always relate to whats being created. Reference can come in quite a few forms. Photographs of actual places are the most obvious one. Seeing the imagery of other similar levels and trying to emulate it is another. But for level designers though, usually, a lot of the images are already in place. Its how they are arranged and composed together that determines the final output. Additionally, level designers always have the option of creating their own custom content for the level and are usually a requirement in many cases. Photographs: Photographs are an obvious example of reference. In truth, any photograph can inspire a person. If theres any key architecture or building in the level, then finding appropriate photos from the real-world can prove very useful. If theres a futuristic city with big buildings, then getting a picture of New York seems like a step in the right direction. If a level has mountainous areas with lots of forest and nature, then getting something similar sounds like a good plan. Im not all that keen to know on how a photograph is acquired as long as they help, but visiting the place can make it an altogether a different experience which could be a driving force for a particular look and feel. One thing Id always like to do with photographs is to do a small mind exercise to get a full body experience. It involves going in to the picture and literally living it with all our senses. The mind body exercise This experiment involves stretching our imagination. Its basically using all the senses and our body to experience a photograph in a whole new way. Even if the photograph wasnt taken personally, this process might prove otherwise, since the artist has complete creative freedom. What it enables is to live the entire image so that we can get an idea of what the level should look and feel like. 1. We begin by taking looking up a photograph of interest. Making sure that its something useful and not letting our minds be disturbed is always a better thing. 2. The next step is to look at it thoroughly and give our full attention by making an image of it in our mind. Take a deep breath in through our mouth and out through the nose and closing our eyes helps. 3. Once my eyes are closed, I imagine myself floating inside the photograph, seeing what I see, hearing what I hear through my own body and feeling the atmosphere of the place. 4. I then Associate myself with the photograph i.e. see it through my own eyes. I turn the brightness up, increase the volume and feel the warmth or coolness of the place. 5. Now while totally living the picture, I start adding in new things. Think in terms of how this relates to the level and adjust accordingly. If its a coastal area I might want to add the sea on one side and mountains on the other. If Id want to change sunlight to night time, so be it. One important thing to remember during this process is that the designer has complete creative license and is free to add anything and everything as long as it fits in the level. 6. Altering the entire photograph to a more cartoonish and stylized look is never out of the cards as well, if thats what required. This simple process of deeply imagining what the level ought to look will make it much more accessible for anyone to come up with concepts and help during the creation process. Repetition is important, as that solidifies the ideas inside. Repeating it often with different photographs gives us all that much more variety. Playing similar games: The easiest and obvious source of reference and inspiration would be the games similar to that of the level. There are millions of video games out there with countless number of levels. Getting ideas from those isnt hard at all. What one needs to keep in mind are the toolsets used in creating the level. In the case of Unreal Editor, its always better to look for games which look similar, such as Quake and Farcry. Although ideas may come from many different sources, the core of the gameplay and visuals will be defined by the editor in use. So its always better to keep in check the minimum requirements of the genre by looking up at similar games before getting adventurous. Searching the internet: The internet and video games are so vast that its next to impossible even in an entire lifetime for a single person to keep track. The communities on the internet might provide some of the most valuable details ever in creating a level. Theyll give pointers on what works and what doesnt. Besides, there are many top level designers who would gladly give their advice as well on the internet. Everything else: Everything else literally can include anything. One could get inspired with new ideas from just about anything. From junk around our house to great paintings anything goes really. Brainstorming how to use it and how it all comes together is the key. Landscape paintings offer as a great source of inspiration. Great illustrators and concept artist of the past century have many to offer. There are countless movies to look up on. Eventually though, the ideas in our mind needs to be cohesive and vast enough to constitute a level. Once its a bit clearer on the overall look and feel of the level, the construction process becomes that much more easier as there are fewer chances of getting hung up. Planning is everything. Building a mini level Being able to alter our state gives us access to the unconscious portions of the brain. It gives the same process great artists, art-directors, visionaries and great inventors use. An altered state is just a heightened state of awareness where our sights, sounds and feelings become clearer. And while in this state, one can use the same tools as in the level editor and build an entire level completely inside the brain. Its just a focused attention, where we take our consciousness and focus on a particular activity very intensely. Everyone has done this all the time. People get inside the elevator and look at the ceiling thing. When the elevator stops, the command is to leave. At school, kids constantly day-dream and drift away during class. Its not something out of the ordinary. Weve all been doing it all the time. Our ability to induce an altered state and focus our attention so deeply on creating the level lets us complete the entire level in our minds. The Process 1. Lets begin by focusing our attention on the way we breathe. Breathe in deeply through the mouth and out through the nose. The more one does this, the deeper they relax. Its simply an activity our mind isnt used to doing before. 2. Disturbances such as inside voices could be slowed down and eventually removed. Reduce the tempo and change the tonality till they arent distractions. 3. The third step involves thinking of the feeling of shock experienced earlier while drawing the vase the feeling that makes our mind run around in circles. Doubling it intensifies it all the more. 4. Now I close my eyes and begin to relax. The deeper Im relaxed, the easier it is to visualize comfortably. 5. The next step is to imagine the level editor on a big screen in front of us. See where the image is located and make it centered so that its easily visible. The ideas and visuals already thought of are now projected onto the screen. 6. The virtual virtual level construction now begins. Since cohesive ideas are already formed on how it should look like, by using all the tools available in the editor we can begin constructing the level part by part. 7. Every time an area is constructed, our minds are capable of playing it in our imaginary world to get a feel on how its going. 8. This is done part by part for every area of the level till the big picture is complete. After completion, a pen and a notebook always proves useful to write down the details of the level or draw it out in a simple orthographic view. If it doesnt click the first time, then we just keep trying. The trick is to focus completely on the task at hand that time seizes to exist. Every part of our body should be lined up and directed at a particular area. Visualizing becomes a lot easier this way. Overview The topics covered here were: * How to access the right brain * Collecting references and using them * Coming up with great ideas * Getting into an altered state * Using the brain in such a way that makes visualizing easier * Building a mini-level Chapter 3: Refinement and Paper Work Refining the level for in-game purposes and doing the paper design would be the next task. This chapter deals with ideas and points to remember while drawing/writing out the level and sections of it. This chapter deals with the following: * To make the imaginative level more video game friendly * Points to remember while drawing out the level * Writing a design document * Creating maps Video game levels Video game levels have quite a bit more to them than the visuals alone. Although the previous chapter dealt with ideation and visuals, its always better to keep some general pointers in mind while dishing out the details of it in paper. The first line of action would be to take out a pen and paper (or pencil) and to consider how the environment of the level and gameplay match. Envisioning the players perspective enables the designer to get a grip on the gameplay and fun aspects. There are a few things to be considered, like the missions or quests of the level. What should the player achieve in order to win? Killing bosses, finding secret places or having a multiplayer gametype (if its a multiplayer FPS level) should be kept in mind. The next logical step would be to draw the level on a paper. Getting into the details isnt necessary as the proportions and area are of first importance. A completed top view gives the designer a reference point to begin the level construction. Its much easier to make boxes and circles as place holders for the buildings and landscapes from a top view onto the paper to cement the ideas. Once the perimeters are certain, drawing out detailed concepts becomes that much more easier. Point to remember Here are a few key points when it comes to beginning stages of any level Marking the player spawn point and where all the different obstacles are, such as cliffs, rocks, ladders, dead ends etc. is a necessity. A few other details to mark would be all the places of importance, such as treasures, bosses, hidden pathways and such. Many levels in other games might look open-ended, but theyre actually closed by invisible boundary markers which doesnt allow the player to move after a specific distance. The graphics and the pathways are what makes them seem large. The trick is the make the player think its really big by giving them multiple pathways. So giving the player more than one route is vital. If the game editor for which the level is being made still hasnt been decided, then limiting the enemies, objects and such to a smaller number to begin with is a safer bet. Some engines can handle more than others, depending on the pre-supposed graphics. Writing down as much as possible of the map such as lights, blocked pathway, boundary, the color of the ground, the texture and so on helps to keep on track during the construction process in itself. The more details, the easier it gets to nail down the ideas later. Once these details are done, a pretty good mental as well as a physical image should be available before starting the level construction. Its important that during every second of the process, one knows what theyre doing. Loitering around and trying out things can work out at times, but will be even more time consuming. A level might also need a strong plot, depending on the gametype. Storyboarding, writing bits and pieces on paper or having a comical paper design all helps to solidify the plot. When Im making a single player level, Id like to use a comical method of drawing to bring out the story. Others might prefer a traditional storyboard. Anything goes really. There are no rules only tools. A lot of the gameplay elements needs to be in check as well. The genre will be the deciding factor on this and if followed along the guidelines of this thesis, one should by now have a clear idea of what kind of level is in the making. Another mind trick would be to literally imagine playing the entire level in our heads. The players need to be given maximum flexibility. Writing a Design Document Design documents always help, even in terms of creating a level. A level has many of the elements required in creating a game and keeping on track is crucial. Its basically putting all the information gathered into meaningful, single document. Its especially useful for large scale levels. It helps in several areas, such as * Keeping on track * Remembering whats required * Makes it easier for other to follow along and give solid feedback Theres no particular format for a design document. It could be written in any way since its for our own reference. * The simpler the better. Complicated use of language isnt a requirement as long as the message is sent across. * Making it complete and cohesive implies that any major requirement of the level isnt forgotten. Usually every single detail possible should be included, such as environment, plot, players role, treasures and so on. * References need to be included as well, such as visuals, photographs, drawings, paintings, concept art, storyboards etc. * Its better to avoid programming or marketing strategies. This document is just to help the designer keep on track. Adding details not pertained to the level construction serve only to complicate things. Drawing Maps A picture equals a thousand words and hence, no amount of writing can bring about the points as well as maps and drawings. Making really detailed in-game views arent a necessity. A well defined top and front view should suffice for any level construction. Using the techniques and ideas already presented, one should already have the big picture in mind. Now its time to make a clear map of whats required. Here are a few pointers: * Paper without lines or graph paper is always better. Approximation of the area and drawing out the borders of the entire level should be the first step. * A map for terrain alone will be of great aid. The environment should be drawn where and when required, such as trees, lakes, mountains and so on. * The scale should be kept consistent in accordance to the level. This helps estimate what it would be like when the actual level is constructed. * Another map with all the major landmarks and playable area properly outlined is a requirement. Buildings maybe denoted by simple squares (if its in the top view). A top and front view (and maybe side) would suffice for all the maps. Right now, all we require is a clear idea of the perimeters of the level. The rest of the details can be filled in as the construction of the level is in progress. Overview Heres a brief overview of the chapter: * Things to remember while making a level * Drawing maps * Making a design document Chapter 4: Building the Terrain Building the landscape and terrain includes the basic setting of the level onto which details are placed. If a level has even a semblance of outdoors, then a terrain is essential. A lot of effort needs to be put into to it. A really bad looking and composed terrain will receive negative comments. This chapter covers: * Methods and tips on making terrain * Making it gameplay friendly * Texturing and placing props to flesh out the level Importance of Terrain Terrain continues to grow in beauty as the day passes by; with each new game coming out has ever stunning terrain. And along with the characters, props, lighting and effects, a level should be having all the basic requirements complete. Water for example is getting more realistic as the day passes by. Mountains draw us in even more. People like to look at these terrains as they walk by. Grass, trees, rivers, mountains etc. are all the bread and butter of a terrain. A lot of it depends on the kind of level in the making. Terrain needs to be in accordance to the patterns found in the real world a bit random and chaotic but, believable enough for the player to get involved with it. Terrains in current generation 3D games are nothing but a bunch of triangles modeled smoothly in a 3D software package, but the thing to keep in mind is that adding too many triangles into a level will make it unstable. Luckily for level designers though, a lot these terrains are already provided with the editor. So how we use them makes a big difference. Methods to generate terrain: There exists three different methods to generate a terrain using the right tools and softwares. Depth Map A depth map (sometimes height map) is a 2D black and white image that holds height information. It basically tricks the player into seeing things that arent actually there. It basically is a map where the greyer the color, the more height it denotes. The really black ones are the ones with lower height. The advantages of using this method are that its quicker and computer friendly. Modelling in 3D This can be a tedious and long process. Its basically using a 3D software package to model the entire terrain. The artist here models each terrain by using the software such as Autodesk Maya or 3D Studio Max and the sculpting tools associated with them. The advantage is that you get the finest results possible with stunning amounts of details. The disadvantage is that the artist needs to be careful on what to include and what not to, as frame-rates can be drastically hurt depending on the number of triangles. Using a mix of both The third method is probably the best approach. By using the advantages of both these methods, one can make the finest terrain with the best frame-rate. A lot of game companies do this and hence, develop their own tools. Luckily, for a level designer, many of these tools and editors are already provided. So, its how we use them that matters the most. The advantage of course is that the designer gets the best of both worlds the large scale construction of Height maps mixed with the finer details of 3D modeling. Tiled Terrains Many strategy and role-playing games use whats known as tiled terrain. The game area is basically divided into square tiles inside the level editor, upon which one may place objects and such. Tiles are great way to just get the big picture of a game, especially when gamers might not look for finer details. Its pretty simply to use and easy to manipulate. Gameplay Pointers The gameplay side of terrain is all about making it more fun and enjoyable. Making the terrain and laying it about can be a fun task, but one shouldnt get carried away without having the gameplay in mind. If its too hard, too inaccessible or with many bugs and glitches, players will find it hard to enjoy it and might even get frustrated. So to avoid this, here are a few pointers: * Make just as much as required for the game without going overboard. Too much of details can clog the machine and reduce frame-rates drastically. Less is more should always be a consideration. Add just as much as required to get the desired look. * Too many secret pathways for players to figure out all the time can be frustrating. They should be used sparingly. * Running around in a maze pointlessly might annoy the player and distract them away from the bigger picture of the level. This is of course assuming that the level isnt maze based. * Some things should make sense like it is in the outside world. If theres a hill with a path going downwards, making a sudden 120 degree angle upwards doesnt make any sense at all. * Players should be given subtle hints and pointers on where the borders and boundaries or end of the level are. A lot of times, especially in outdoor levels, there might be an unreachable mountain ranges and such. These should be made clearer to the player. Texturing and placing props to flesh out the level The look and feel of a terrain is vastly improved by placing appropriate textures since the surface details of an object are really important. Textures could be placed on 2D images by painting them in or by using photographs. In the gaming industry, full time texture artists are hired and level designers are left with the step of tweaking and editing these textures to their liking. Here are a few examples and important points on texturing a level: * Texture should be appropriate to the setting. Green textures in the middle of a desert just dont work. It should make some sense. * Textures should be seamless and tiled properly. This part can be time consuming, but its important nonetheless. The textures should flow from one part to another smoothly without making it look computerized. * Enemies or big areas shouldnt be completely dark. Not being able to see them makes it annoying to the player. * Keeping it relatively simple is always a good idea. Terrain should enhance and make the level look good. Over saturating it with bring colors and such just makes it annoying. Chapter 5: Mood and Atmosphere Setting up the mood is an important part of the level. It sets the player up to get immersed into the level. It increases the emotional impact of the level. This chapter covers: * Establishing the lighting * Effects * Audio introduction Lighting Lighting is of the first and foremost importance in establishing a mood to a level. The intensity of the light, color, shadows and movement will dictate how the lighting will end up. Proper lighting can convert a normal cave into an evil sanctuary, make the forest feel alive or bring about a vast change in weather condition. Lighting can be a tricky process, as it might take a lot of back and forth adjustments to get the correct look. Here are the types of lights: Types of Lights Static Lights are pre-supposed lights with a specific function. These lights are rendered before the level starts up since they stay common throughout. Since the rendering is in advance, static lights can be used often and throughout the map. Dynamic Lights exist within the game and their function can vary, depending on whats required. Dynamic lights are predominantly used to change the mood while the player plays the level. How Lights are used The first thing to keep in mind is always how it affects the player. Having just enough to get the particular mood required is the key. If its too dark or too bright, well, of course its bound to be annoying Using the ideas and techniques provided in chapter 2, knowing and getting to whats required shouldnt be hard at all since all it takes is a bit of patience and a lot of tweaking around. Mastery over the technicalities of using lights in the game editor helps immensely. Usually, lights maybe of different types such as point lights, spot lights and directional lights. Trying out all the properties listed in the editor is part of the learning process. Also, one needs to keep in mind that going extreme dark or light may work out depending on how the level looks. The game Thief by Ion storm games uses very dark lighting to make it feel scary. Lights also bring out the forms of the 3D or 2D terrain much more clearly. A few key important pointers while placing lights: * Color/Color Theory * Intensity * Position All three of the above are crucial in determining how the light behaves. Effects One of the best ways to create an ambience and mood in a game is by using effects (or particle effects). Effects can range from a huge fire, to smoke from a forest, to water splashing all over the player! Theres also the atmospheric effect such as fog and haze. Fog and haze are used to blur out vision and enhance the atmosphere. A dense foggy area can add so much more vibrancy to the level. Now-a-days, especially in outdoor levels, fog and atmospheric effects are a must. Other particle effects such as a few well placed torches, waterfalls or an icy wind can change the effect a level has upon the player dramatically. Most editors have their own way of applying particles and effects. Audio Sound is a very important part of a level. A game cannot exist without sound. Using the correct sound effects for the environment in itself is a challenge. Usually level designers are provided with sound in the editor and are only required to use it appropriately. There are two types of sound: Ambient sound/sound effects Sound effects include the audio that adds realism to a game. In-game voice recordings, sound of the environment and many others such as the sound of water splashing, air blowing etc. all adds to the mood of the game. Ambient sound is always present in real life. Adding them wherever necessary is important. Music Any game or level that starts has a soundtrack associated to it. A good soundtrack will get the player hooked on instantly. Soundtrack depends on the genre and setting of the level. Adding a soundtrack/music gives the game a cinematic feel. Music by Zone: Entering a different zone from the one the player is in might require a change in music. Music by Action: Its sometimes better to use appropriate music when the player is engaged in combat. Music by Choice: One could get a bit creative in this area. Adding a virtual radio station inside a game can give the player options to change the music. Similarly, one could include sound systems and such, depending on the level and area created. Overview Heres a list of topics covered: * Bringing about a mood and atmosphere to the level * Lights and how to place them * Types of lights * Atmospheric and particle effects * Ambient sounds * Music/Soundtrack Chapter 6: Testing and Finalizing This chapter deals with techniques and methods to polish and finalize the level. These are the final stages of a level creation. From visualizing to using our brains (no pun intended!) to building up the terrain, landscape, architecture and so on. And now, these are the final touches. This chapter deals with: * Fine tuning the level * Balance/bug fixes * Release Fine-tune Repetition Repeated plays are the key to fine-tune any game level. Playing it over and over again slowly reveals the flaws and errors, which could be fixed. Anything out of place should be looked upon immediately. Every corner of the level such as the environment, the insides, below rocks, behind trees and such must be checked clearly. Any issues with regards to lighting and effects should be resolved. If theres any area inadequately lit, fix it is of the highest priority. By going back and forth this way, any level could be smoothed out and polished. Here are a few key points: * Lights * Proportion * Glaring omissions * Frames per second Testing Official private or public testing of the level by others has many uses. The main thing is that it assures quality or at least gives pointers in that area. Testers come of different types, depending on the resources available. Theres free testing and professional testing. Free Testing As the title suggests, free testing allows one to test things freely! It basically means, the level is distributed to a select few individuals who are willing to test it out. This could be done by giving it to friends or via the internet. Free testing offers an advantage in that, since most of these testers arent professionally trained, they look for bugs where one might least expect it. And testing is just one of those areas where even a non professional could prove useful. Professional Testing A professional and planned testing involves making game testers do very specific activities in order to find bugs. These are usually the most obvious ones. For example, a test plan could look like this: 1. Jump 100 times. 2. Jump 100 times while firing shotgun. 3. Jump 100 times while alternating firing shotgun and kicking. 4. Jump 100 times while in cutscene. As the above example indicates, this type of setting is much more planned and thorough about whats required to find. The level designers work should be to note down everything possible a player might do in their level and make the testers test it. Bug fixes and balance Glitches Once the testing is underway and the glitches in the level have been found, its important to identify the types of bugs. Finding out what it is exactly and under which category allows us to rectify it instantly. Heres an example on the types of bugs which could be classified under category. A bugs: There are the most obvious and important bugs that needs to be rectified immediately. Such bugs might prevent players from finishing or completing the level. An example would be the game freezing or crashing. B bugs: These are bugs that dont prevent players from playing the level, but may still be major annoyances. This might make the level less fun to play. These maybe present all over the map from the terrain to textures and lights. C bugs: These fall under the category where the testers suggest ideas to improve the gameplay than fix things. Nonetheless, any good suggestion should always be approached with an open mind. Fixing bugs While many bugs might be found, fixing them is the next step. Big levels could get complex pretty quickly and some bugs act as a hindrance to the gameplay and fun. Some of the most common bugs are: * Terrain bugs: Bugs related to the terrain that is, the ground, landscape etc. * Architecture bugs: Glitches related to the buildings and architecture. An example would be incomplete architecture or collision related, where one could walk through walls. Fixing Gaps: Gaps may mean: Holes in the border or ground or in the architecture. Fixing them is very important. Fixing Normals: Problems related to the normals which generally means, players can see through objects such as wall.. Collision bugs: These are problems related to collision where the player is able to walk through things and such. AI bugs: AI bugs are bugs related to bots and artificial intelligence. A programmer might be required to fix these. Scripting bugs: Scripting bugs are just programming errors which might arise due to the editor in use. Again, a coder might be necessary. Balancing Balancing is simply issues related to how easy or hard the game is. Balancing a video game level might get complicated because its not easy to spot immediately. This process can take a while. A plan of action to balance a level would be to: * Try and get the feel of the overall difficulty. Asking questions such as is it too easy or too hard? usually gives adequate answers. * If its too easy, increasing the difficulty of a particular area is always a good option. If its too hard, reduce the enemies, traps and such. * Too many overpowering areas or items reduce the fun. While the rest of the level might be balanced, just the wrong thing at the wrong place and time can change the course of the game drastically. Finalizing Once tested, fine-tuned and balanced/fixed, the level now ready for release! An appropriate name and description is a necessity. Formalities need to be in place, such as file format (for example, unreal editor 3 uses the .ut3 and .upk formats). A quick descriptive document helps the player know what its about. Sending it over to friends and posting it over the internet are great ways of getting it out there. The party is just beginning! Overview: This chapter dealt with the following: * Polishing the level * Testing and the types involved * Bugs and types of bugs * How to fix glitches * Balancing * Final release Conclusion The end of this journey is now imminent. This dissertation is meant to convince the reader about their own capabilities. The industry is vast and level designers are only now being represented in the spotlight. Having the right mental as well as technical strategy are both key factors in creating a level. The thesis started out with the basics and a brief history, which then moved on to the fun stuff of creating the level in itself. A lot of pointers and ideas were given out especially in the visualization area. How to visualize inside our minds is especially an important point in being able to communicate through to the outside. Using our imagination is a highly undermined area where theres lot to be explored. The ideas and strategies presented here is just the tip of the iceberg. This is only the beginning for a whole load of things to be explored. Literature Review Introduction Level design has always been a creative endeavor and many feel intimidated about the entire process. The grandiose nature of current video games only makes it worse. Making a level can be a huge undertaking as there are lots to be covered by a single person. The scope for better information and improvement is vast in this area. Visualization is one of the key components in making a level for without visuals, theres no level. And with the right strategies in place, anyone can approach it with confidence. Typically, answers are arrived at from another field. Heres a quick rundown of relevant information Review of Literature Lenses and fundamentals are useful tools, but to truly understand level and game design is to understand an incredibly complex web of creativity, psychology, art, technology, and business. Everything in this web is connected to everything else. Changing one element affects all the others, and the understanding of one element influences the understanding of all of the others. (The Art of Game Design, Jesse Schell 2008) These lines basically sum up the complex and vast nature of level and game design. Level design is an element of game design, which contains all the requirements seen in an entire game. To truly understand level design takes a lifetime of learning. One must go beyond the boundaries of video games and seek out knowledge from other areas. An article by Rob Hale from https://agamesdesignblog.com states that level designers use a visual language as the basis to communicate with the player. He stresses the importance of players perspective and not to violate with their internal reality and rules. This topic is of particular importance, as too often, designers forget to take in players consideration. Heres the excerpt: A Visual Language is what Level Designers use to communicate with the Player. The Level Designer should really be telling the Player how to complete their Level. It is not a competition between the Player and the Level Designer to see who wins However what is important here is that the player has used their internal model of the games mechanics to solve a problem. The Solution may have been in plain sight but it is up to the player to establish the relationship between the elements and solve the problem. They will adjust the model to include this new information on how to kill this kind of enemy and similar encounters will appear much easier in future. (Rob Hale March 2009) When I was about seventeen, my thoughts turned seriously to invention. Then I observed to my delight that i could visualise with the greatest facility. I needed no models, drawings or experiments. I could picture them all as real in my mind. Thus I have been led unconsciously to evolve what I consider a new method of materialising inventive concepts and ideas, which is radially opposite to the purely experimental and is in my opinion ever so much more expeditious and efficient. (Nikola Tesla 1919) Nikola Tesla in his autobiography explained his methods of invention and visualizing. Using our minds, level designers can become inventors, innovators and creative masters. Tesla was able to visualize so vividly that he was able to construct everything inside his internal reality. This is a great tool which one could certainly use in other areas. Tesla further goes on to say: The moment one constructs a device to carry into practice a crude idea, he finds himself unavoidably engrossed with the details of the apparatus. As he goes on improving and reconstructing, his force of concentration diminishes and he loses sight of the great underlying principle. Results may be obtained, but always at the sacrifice of quality. My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea, I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. (Nikola Tesla 1919) Certainly, one area that has been overlooked is our own capabilities. What Tesla did isnt out of the ordinary. Were all capable of going to such lengths, but one needs to stretch their imagination to get better at it. This is just one of the few strategies used in visualizing that works. References The New Drawing on the right-side of your brain by Betty Edwards, 1999; Tarcher; Rev Exp edition. Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson, 1992; New Falcon Publications. Beginning Game Level Design by John Feil and Mark Scattergood, 2005; Thomson Course Technology. The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell, 2008; Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. The Hows and Whys of Level Design by Hourences Nikola Tesla My Inventions by Nikola Tesla, 1919. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink, 2006; Riverhead Trade. Amadeus (1984). Bibliography https://www.hourences.com/ https://agamesdesignblog.com/2009/03/01/continuity-level-design/ https://www.worldofleveldesign.com/ https://www.game-artist.net/forums/spotlight-articles/