Before I get into this, I decided that my recurring theme will be a review type theme. One game for each blog.
Minecraft.
I love this game. Absolutely incredible for such a simple-looking game. It's very pixelated, but that's what the game is like, and I like it.
I started playing in Alpha. I've played several years; the first two and a half on my own, that last half with friends on my server.
My server started as a little 2-3 person server for me, my brother and our friend. And then we joined an unschooling group on Facebook and found out that some of the people we added to our friends list played too. Soon enough there was 5+ people on my server. But the real jump happened when my awesome mom posted about my server on her Facebook page and she got at least 15 people wanting to join. It was so much fun turning my server from just another random forest spawn point into what it is now with all my new friends.
To the actual aspects of the game. It's amazing fun, and even though there is no storyline, there's a boss now. Because every great game has a boss. Blocks are 16X16 pixels. Yes, pixels. They're not little squares made up of hundreds of pixels, they are pixels themselves. Anyone could easily count them in a matter of seconds. There are different areas, Swamps, Pine forests, Birch forests, Deserts, and it snows! The goal is obviously to kill the boss, but this is virtually impossible without defying the laws of gravity, by punching a tree stump, and watching the rest of the thing float in mid-air. Yeah, Minecraft doesn't like physics... However, sand and gravel fall. And sometimes Minecraft can be just pure astonishing. There can be massive overhangs and mountains, huge caverns loaded with ores, ravines and more of the sort. It's gone so far since Alpha. Now there's Enchantment tables, a boss (Of course.), strongholds, abandoned mine-shafts, and much more.
What can you learn? Do you want to get into Architecture? People build huge buildings all the time in Minecraft! Scaffolding and everything to place a block where it's needed. You can design totally unique buildings or structures with nearly any materials you want. I would list what you can build, but possibilities are endless. You can build absolutely anything that comes to mind. If you can think it, you can build it. It's video gaming Architecture. You come up with a good, stable idea for a nice looking building, and try your best to make it happen. It's so much fun to be able to just build freely in this game. And you can make any project look beautiful with a little decorating.
Paxton, the unschooled gamer. :)
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Gaming Career
I've been thinking about gaming as a career.
There's a company named "Infinity Ward", and you don't need any college degree or any schooling at all to get in. You just need to have the skill and be able to prove it.
Now, there's a company located about 15-20 minutes away from our house, 2XL games. They make some good games, and we own one of them. If I can get an internship in a couple of years, I could get on the job experience by observing. Now I don't know exactly what I'll need to know to pursue a gaming career quite yet. Right now I'm just learning about what is really involved in creating a game, not how you make it. I know that I'm going to have to gain the experience, and I'm not 100% sure what this "experience" is yet. But everyone else had to gain it at at some point in time too, right? Technically, I could get an internship for 2XL games right now. There's no age requirements specified.
Infinity Ward is the company that makes the Call Of Duty series. And that series is insanely fun. And to work for them, I just need to know something, and be able to prove it. So why not?
To work for them someday would be absolutely amazing.
I've wanted to pursue a gaming career for years now. And I've looked around and researched enough to know that it's possible. But the fact I can get an internship in just a few years for on the job experience, I would get a job that would be so much fun for me, and I don't need to go to college for this. But this wasn't always the case.
About two years ago, this idea was totally out of the occasion. Although I still wanted a gaming career, I was also looking into a college called ITT Tech. And a bit later, say a year ago, I was looking into another college called Blue Sail University. I liked the idea, because I got the career I wanted. But then, I was looking at Infinity Ward's website. And I realized that it's not needed. This is my idea for a career. And hopefully, It will someday become my reality.
I'm an unschooler! And I plan to stay that way.
Paxton, the unschooled gamer.
There's a company named "Infinity Ward", and you don't need any college degree or any schooling at all to get in. You just need to have the skill and be able to prove it.
Now, there's a company located about 15-20 minutes away from our house, 2XL games. They make some good games, and we own one of them. If I can get an internship in a couple of years, I could get on the job experience by observing. Now I don't know exactly what I'll need to know to pursue a gaming career quite yet. Right now I'm just learning about what is really involved in creating a game, not how you make it. I know that I'm going to have to gain the experience, and I'm not 100% sure what this "experience" is yet. But everyone else had to gain it at at some point in time too, right? Technically, I could get an internship for 2XL games right now. There's no age requirements specified.
Infinity Ward is the company that makes the Call Of Duty series. And that series is insanely fun. And to work for them, I just need to know something, and be able to prove it. So why not?
To work for them someday would be absolutely amazing.
I've wanted to pursue a gaming career for years now. And I've looked around and researched enough to know that it's possible. But the fact I can get an internship in just a few years for on the job experience, I would get a job that would be so much fun for me, and I don't need to go to college for this. But this wasn't always the case.
About two years ago, this idea was totally out of the occasion. Although I still wanted a gaming career, I was also looking into a college called ITT Tech. And a bit later, say a year ago, I was looking into another college called Blue Sail University. I liked the idea, because I got the career I wanted. But then, I was looking at Infinity Ward's website. And I realized that it's not needed. This is my idea for a career. And hopefully, It will someday become my reality.
I'm an unschooler! And I plan to stay that way.
Paxton, the unschooled gamer.
Monday, January 9, 2012
My first post
Hello. I'm an 11 year old unschooler, and I'm a huge gamer.
I hear a lot of people a lot of the time saying that video gaming makes your brain rot. I've heard from people that while video gaming, you don't learn anything or use your imagination. All you do is sit there, pressing buttons, moving your mouse or analog sticks and basically doing nothing else. But that's where they're wrong.
Take a game like Portal 2 for an example. I just recently bought Portal 2 for our computer, and I love it. When you hear the word 'Puzzle' you think about something that exercises your brain. Portal 2 is just that. You have a portal gun, and you use the portal shot out of it to make your way to the exit. Now I know, it sounds simple, you put a portal in front of you and a portal at the exit. No. There are certain places that you can place portals, there's buttons to be pressed, there's lasers to be redirected, there's catapults that launch you across large gaps, there's bridges of pure light, there's momentum needed, there's turrets, there's a heck of a lot of thought and effort involved to getting past each and every level, and the goal is to figure out how.
Now, do you really think that you could beat that game without using your brain or imagination? This game takes a lot of thought. It's an amazing puzzle game.
Let's get to my everlasting love of Minecraft. This game is the single best game I have ever played in my entire life. Yes, better than ANYTHING else I've EVER played. This game is never ending. It can be a sandbox game, it can be a survival type game, or you can play custom maps. I will never grow tired of this game. Exercise your brain? Heck yes. When you're down In a cave, cornered by Zombies or Skeletons or Creepers, and you have no sword, (And this happens a lot... Trust me.) you need to think. You need to think harder and faster than you've ever thought before. Do you make a run for it? Do you dig a hole in the wall and make a sword to fight? Do you surrender? It's that one moment of complete brainstorming that makes this game so much fun, and also great for your brain. And this is survival mode. Want imagination too? Try creative mode. Infinite everything. You could build a scale model of the Eiffel Tower or create a massive statue of yourself, make pixel art, or absolutely ANYTHING you can imagine up. I have a server that my friends and I play on, we have mansions and statues, secret rooms and piston masterpieces, cactus farms, mob traps, lava pits, roller coasters, and an amusement park.
Basically, my point here is; To everyone who says gaming rots your brain, and is horrible for imagination and all that crap, you're so wrong.
Paxton, the unshooled gamer.
I hear a lot of people a lot of the time saying that video gaming makes your brain rot. I've heard from people that while video gaming, you don't learn anything or use your imagination. All you do is sit there, pressing buttons, moving your mouse or analog sticks and basically doing nothing else. But that's where they're wrong.
Take a game like Portal 2 for an example. I just recently bought Portal 2 for our computer, and I love it. When you hear the word 'Puzzle' you think about something that exercises your brain. Portal 2 is just that. You have a portal gun, and you use the portal shot out of it to make your way to the exit. Now I know, it sounds simple, you put a portal in front of you and a portal at the exit. No. There are certain places that you can place portals, there's buttons to be pressed, there's lasers to be redirected, there's catapults that launch you across large gaps, there's bridges of pure light, there's momentum needed, there's turrets, there's a heck of a lot of thought and effort involved to getting past each and every level, and the goal is to figure out how.
Now, do you really think that you could beat that game without using your brain or imagination? This game takes a lot of thought. It's an amazing puzzle game.
Let's get to my everlasting love of Minecraft. This game is the single best game I have ever played in my entire life. Yes, better than ANYTHING else I've EVER played. This game is never ending. It can be a sandbox game, it can be a survival type game, or you can play custom maps. I will never grow tired of this game. Exercise your brain? Heck yes. When you're down In a cave, cornered by Zombies or Skeletons or Creepers, and you have no sword, (And this happens a lot... Trust me.) you need to think. You need to think harder and faster than you've ever thought before. Do you make a run for it? Do you dig a hole in the wall and make a sword to fight? Do you surrender? It's that one moment of complete brainstorming that makes this game so much fun, and also great for your brain. And this is survival mode. Want imagination too? Try creative mode. Infinite everything. You could build a scale model of the Eiffel Tower or create a massive statue of yourself, make pixel art, or absolutely ANYTHING you can imagine up. I have a server that my friends and I play on, we have mansions and statues, secret rooms and piston masterpieces, cactus farms, mob traps, lava pits, roller coasters, and an amusement park.
Basically, my point here is; To everyone who says gaming rots your brain, and is horrible for imagination and all that crap, you're so wrong.
Paxton, the unshooled gamer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)