Occlusion Map and Final Model

With this Model I have decided to apply an Occlusion Map. Having not applied one to a hard surface model previously I was interested to see the results of using baked in shadow.

How the Game Looks

War Hounds: this is how the final game build is looking and how to play (this is also the games load screen).

Our Team Logo :D

Team Peer Reviews

Ben Critchlow

Ben was very proficient in his role as the games programmer and was responsible for all game code, code related tasks and in inclusion of all game assets. Over the duration of the project Ben never encountered a problem that he wasn’t able to quickly overcome. His coding skills seem far more than competent and often added great technical feedback at group meetings. Work going into the game build was always quick to find it’s why into the game. Although one main criticism is the programing pipeline, assets where placed into a drop box and then had to be iterated into the game by Ben. This could have been made more efficient by allowing team members to back direct iterations into the games rout folder. On reflection I am very thankful for the opportunity to work with him. Ben had been the cornerstone in our team, and I don’t think that we would have been able to achieve what we have with the game prototype if we had a less competent programmer.

Malcolm Armstrong

Malcom’s role to our team was producer; he was tasked with management of the game development, management of team resources and ensuring team communication. In executing his role he was very proficient, taking a hands-on approach to communicating with appropriately sized meetings. Which I felt were always focused and to the point. I felt that he was very good at allocating tasks to individuals in the team and was able to manage the tasks given. He also showed good communication skills when interacting with the team and passing relevant information and concerns between team members. His strengths definitely lie in his ability to effectively relay and keep on top of tasks. Malcom also seemed to have a very good understanding of the machinations behind managing a small games development and understood industry language like “milestone” and “iteration”. However, I feel that there was a lack of visual representation on the monument side, no charts or timetables where presented to the team. I personally like these as I find it useful to have a physical representation of time, deliverables and also find it motivational to have a visual representation of the project progress. Overall I am very thankful for the opportunity to work with Malcom, he managed our game very effectively and is an easy person to work alongside.

Abhishek Goyal

Abhishek fulfilled the role of game designer within the game development team and was responsible for conceptualizing the game setting, as well as the game-play and the design of the game level. I feel that going into this project he had a lack of knowledge in game design theory, specifically the psychology of what makes game-play mechanics fun/exciting. However he was able to adapt to his role fairly effectively and quickly. In the task that were required from him (design document and game level design) he delivered to a good slandered, although then often were delivered a little behind schedule. As a team member Abhishek was invaluable, he was often enthusiastic when talking about the game, committed and brought a positive energy to group meetings. The worked delivered he throughout the development of the game was professional and well presented. He also was very visual in his explanations, for example often sketching things out to communicate ideas which I particularly like. However, I feel that his main weakness was a lack of knowledge and slight confusion over his role as game designer coming into this project. Overall I enjoyed my time working with Abhishek and found him to be a great team player, in spite of a few unexpected design revisions I feel that our game development ran reasonable smooth and the final realisation is in keeping with the team’s original objective.

Building The Mig

To start building the Mig I using the same process as the robot, using blueprints sourced online.

Game Environment

Mig 21 Fishbed

The aim of building this model is to continue with hard surface modelling again while maintaining a low polygon count.
While the previous model was mostly angular I felt I would benefit from modelling an object with more fluid lines while still learning more about hard surface modelling.
The chosen this jet as it has challenging aspects to model such as the nose intake and also combines a smooth shaped fuselage with more angular structures such as wings and tail plains.

Environment Designs

After countless meeting with our module mentor the biggest area of concern. They feed back given was the it was too realistic for our style, it "didn't fit the game look and that it wasn't consistent with the other game art. So, if been decided that I am now being put on the environment. Having just one artist making all the games assets with give the game the consistent art style. The only draw back is that it is more work for me. ;)

After discussion with the team we have decided that a combination on designs two and three is what we are after. The shape of the landscape in design two with design three's palette.

Scout Run

Here is my Scout run cycle.

Other Game Sprites

AA gun - Fire & Destroy sprites

Player bombs (for dropping on the AA Guns above)

This is the rock that will stalk the player ultimately destroying them if they fail to eliminate all the levels AA guns.

Run Cycle

I found this video and I think that is is perfect reference for what I'm aiming in the scout run. I love the spring in the run and would look to replicate something similar, however perhaps not quite as "over the top".

This images show the locomotion of the run, the key point are; The body weight going up and down, the legs bending in perspective and the flipping of the feet.

Robot Final Build with Texture

I think that my final build is ultimately a success as the final model came to 478 Tris in total. I was able to see how far texture maps could be used to give the illusion of detail.

Enemy Animations

Enemy sprite sheets.

Line 1. Flight

Line. 2 Damaged

Line 3. Destroyed

Scout for TF Rig

In my next animation I'd like to use a big more of an advanced game rig/model. I was looking at the scout character from Team Fortress 2. I want to animation him in a speedy run, light an bouncy to suit his character design.

Game Professional Awareness

Tutorial: Week 9

Chosen Question:
- Is the games industry a maturing medium? However is it deserving of wider cultural acceptance?

Notes:

Robot Colour Map

The scheme of my colour map is intended to give the robot a distinctly military feel.

I have also used the colour map to solve the issue with the mini gun by texturing a single barrel to give the illusion of multiple barrels.

Player Animations

Here is the sprite sheets that I have finished for the player animations.

Line 1. Flight animation

Line 2. Light damage

Line 3. Heavy damage

Line 4. Explosion

I had a lot of fun doing these (although it was very time consuming). :) This is my fist ever sprite sheet, at first I didn't know where to star but one I got to grips with the basic principles it was quite smooth sailing. The key unlike with normal 24 frame animation I had to get the key actions down in as few sprites as possible. This is because of the limited processing power the our platform has.

Double Bounce Walk

Double Bounce Walk for Krag.

Building My Robot

Building this robot I'm using the front view I had refined from initial concepts as a guide. The challenging aspect of the modelling phase is modelling movable joints and the mini gun while maintaining low polygon count.

AA Gun

The rocket and AA gun are waiting to be animated and shoot at you in game. ;)

Rocket

AA Gun

Player and Enemy Planes

After going with the bobble head idea here are the finial designs for the player and enemy.

Player

Ememy

Little Dino Guy (Krag)

For the double bounce I'd like to use this little guy as I think the double bounce suits his look.

He's very low poly. :) So key poses will be important.

Double bounce walk, you can see the two distinct bounces.

Refinement

I find the heavier set designs more appealing and opted to go further with one of these 3 (above).
While the left and right were also strong options I felt that the design in the centre provides a more recognisable silhouette as well as beings more functional configuration.

AA Gun Thumbnails

AA guns

After looking over these quick sketches three is the one everyone feels fits are game most. It's cartoon and suits the target audience more (The kids). :)

Plane Third Thumbnails

Plane designs third pass. Player on the left and enemy on the right.

Okay, after talking over these designs with my peers the feedback was; The plane design is good but their not seeing the "dog element our game. It was subjected that I need to incorporate the playing in the plane. One idea that a really like was to make the bobble headed, which fits in with the style of the game and would also make then easily recognisable to the player.

Games Character

Here is our game character - Winston Chewtoy. :)

Double Bounce Walk

For my next animation I wanted to try a double bonce was.
John K Animation Blog
I was looking at John K's animation blog as I feel he enplanes the double bounce walk cycle very well.

"In a normal walk a character goes up and down once each time he takes a step. Usually when you step, your leg bends DOWN to take the weight then it pushes UP on the way to the next step. There are endless variations of this, but that's the concept.
In a double bounce walk, you go up and down twice in each step.
Not only do you go down as your foot contacts the ground, you go down again in the middle of the step.
WHY??? A double bounce step is musical. It's like a dance. It's fun. It's in lots of 30s cartoons. Porky Pig in Clampet's cartoons always walks double bounce. It shows that he's youthful and full of pep. It also conveys innocence."

Initial Concepts

My initial Idea for these character is a robot that would serve as a core troop for an army of mechs and robots.

Plane Second Thumbnails

Plane second pass.

After talking it over with the module supervisors it was pointed out that I am perhaps thinking a little too abstract with my designs and that the planes need to be readily identifiable as plane. As it is a game this art is for the player need to know what they are looking at and fast. So all the the planes (although being cartoon in style) "still need to look like the can fly".

Character Second Thumbnails

I've just finished these second passes on the player character as I felt that the design really need some work.

After talking with the boy's from the team we have decided we all like the fist one. It's quite cliché but we like the charm in that as we're going for a mock, dog, English stereotype pilot.

Bull Creations Animation

Here is my final animation for the bull creations rig.

Low Poly Robot

The first challenge I have set myself is to build a hard surface, low polygon model suitable for use in RTS (Real Time Strategy Games).

This model has to be low poly so that large numbers of the unit could be fielded at any given time. In order to achieve this I have set the maximum allowed polygon limit to 500 Tris.

I now have to come up with a design that will be suitable to be modelled and serve as an armed combat unit that would not only be unique but also be believable as a functional character.

Plane Thumbnails

Here is the first interactions of the plane designs for the game. Personally, I like the shapes of one and two but there's still a long way to go with these designs.

Character Thumbnails

So, I began developing the games concept by starting with the character designs. I like to do this because I find it easier to to create a setting once a basic blue print of my characters are established. Also, I have only been given the task of creating and animating the games characters. Abhishek will design and create the games environment.

After discussion with the team it's been decided that the designs of two and three are most appropriate for the player character. Both look strong but because of their spherical from give the impression of goodness and being none threatening.
Designs seven and nine were selected for the enemies, their tall/pointy looks is what we liked.

Rhino Run

This video show how a heavy four legged animal would run, the weight looks bounced with a lot of effort for step to step.

Bull_Rig

So for my 4 legged rig I can across this nice rig that I'd like to use instead of my initial horse idea.

He's like a cross between a hippo and an elephant, as you can see his rig and polygon count are suitable for a games engine.

Here is my walk-cycle plan, it's more or less the same movement as the horse but I wan to give the feeling of bulk like a rhino.

Game Mock-up

So last week I found out that I would be working on a 2D side scrolling shooter game on the Android platform. The game involves players battling enemy planes and dodge enemy bullets while trying to destroy ground anti-air guns. The concept for the art style is creating a world in which dogs do battle in aircraft.

So I was ask to do a mock-up of how I think the game might look.

Movement of the Horse

Quadruped Walk Cycle

For my first animation cycle I am interest in quadrupedal locomotion. I'm looking into different animal movements.

After seen the Disney animation Brave the thing the resonated with me to most was the scene where the movies protagonist Mérida aggressively rides her house Angus through the forest. I really like the animation of Angus, the weight of his movement, the trust and power of his run.

So, I did this study as I wanted to look a the muscles behind the horses movement. It's easy to see where a horses power and speed come from when you see the huge upper leg muscles exposed.

Some sketches of horses in motion.

Low Polygon Modelling And Textures

To begin this model I started researching into 3D character modelling for the current generation for games hardware. I’m looking at a Gnomon Workshop DVD Character Modelling for Next-Gen Games - Modelling and sculpting with Richard Smith.

Notes

Lecture 1

• Program used in Tutorial is predominantly Zbrush (Richard believes that Zbrush is the powerful tool available at this current time).
• The target for his low poly game model is 7000 tris which has he states is suitable for a current gen game.
• Starting point is a rough character sketch which is very much "Still a work in progress. The image should tell where stuff is and how it fits together.
• Gathering reference material, photo ref of the fabric materials that to character is wearing. However, Richard adds reference should be added to and changed by the artist in order to make it fit the sculpt.
• The modelling begins with a basic block out mesh to use as a guide showing where things are when it comes to creating clothing.
• Roughing out the machete allows for the anatomy to work to be done at the beginning. This is mostly for the proportion and the fine details aren't important as he will be sculpting over them.
• The transpose tool is used to alter the pose of the rough machete in order to make it more dynamic
• Richard prefers to sculpt His models in a relaxed pose with the arms away from the body but not in the T pose as it can look strange when you animator the arms down by the sides due to the shoulders being in such an extreme position.

Low Polygon Modelling And Textures

What I want to get out of this module.

It is my intention that by taking this model I can expand and develop my existing 3D modelling skill. I hope to gain a more in-depth understanding of the processes behind the creation of low polygon 3D models. As 3D for games is the field I am most interested in, it is important that I am aware of the restraints and challenges of working with in a low polygon budget. The endgame after completion of this module is that I will be better equipped to pursue a career as a 3D modeller with in the games industry.

Computer Game Development Project

Today was the first day of my main project for this semester, I got to meet the other two members of my team (Team SUBTLE CRY) and get rap my head around our brief. The design document I received from my team is as follow's;


Design Document for:

DOG FIGHT

One Liner, i.e. The Ultimate Aircraft Game

“Something funny here!”™

All work Copyright ©1999 by Your Company Name

Written by designer

Version # 1.00

Thursday, October 04, 2012
Table of Contents

NAME OF GAME 1
DESIGN HISTORY 5
VERSION 1.10 5
VERSION 2.00 5
VERSION 2.10 5
GAME OVERVIEW 6
PHILOSOPHY 6
Philosophical point #1 6
COMMON QUESTIONS 6
What is the game? 6
Why create this game? 6
Where does the game take place? 6
What do I control? 6
How many characters do I control? 6
What is the main focus? 6
What’s different? 7
FEATURE SET 8
GENERAL FEATURES 8
MULTI-PLAYER FEATURES 8
EDITOR 8
GAME PLAY 8
THE GAME WORLD 9
OVERVIEW 9
WORLD FEATURE #1 9
WORLD FEATURE #2 9
RENDERING SYSTEM 10
Overview 10
2D/3D Rendering 10
CAMERA 10
Overview 10
Camera Detail #1 10
Camera Detail #2 10
GAME ENGINE 10
Overview 10
Game Engine Detail #1 10
Water 10
Collision Detection 10
THE WORLD LAYOUT 12
OVERVIEW 12
WORLD LAYOUT DETAIL #1 12
WORLD LAYOUT DETAIL #2 12
GAME CHARACTERS 13
OVERVIEW 13
CREATING A CHARACTER 13
ENEMIES AND MONSTERS 13
USER INTERFACE 14
OVERVIEW 14
USER INTERFACE DETAIL #1 14
USER INTERFACE DETAIL #2 14
WEAPONS 15
OVERVIEW 15
WEAPONS DETAILS #1 15
WEAPONS DETAILS #2 15
MUSICAL SCORES AND SOUND EFFECTS 16
OVERVIEW 16
RED BOOK AUDIO 16
3D SOUND 16
SOUND DESIGN 16
SINGLE PLAYER GAME 17
OVERVIEW 17
SINGLE PLAYER GAME DETAIL #1 17
SINGLE PLAYER GAME DETAIL #2 17
STORY 17
HOURS OF GAME-PLAY 17
VICTORY CONDITIONS 17
CHARACTER RENDERING 19
OVERVIEW 19
CHARACTER RENDERING DETAIL #1 19
CHARACTER RENDERING DETAIL #2 19
EXTRA MISCELLANEOUS STUFF 21
OVERVIEW 21
JUNK I AM WORKING ON… 21


Design History

The game is about the world which is controlled by the dogs instead of humans. But has the similar problems like human e.g. war. Now the game depicts a war scene i.e. the world war .And now the hero of the game, the aircraft pilots have taken over the scene. The game shows an aircraft pilot (dog) flying over the city in may be F.1 (from 1916) destroying the enemy planes and soldiers (dogs again).

Version 1.10

Version 1.10 includes some tuning and tweaking that I did after making my initial pass at the design.  Here is what I changed.

1. I rewrote the section about what systems the game runs on.
2. I incorporated feedback from the team into all parts of the design however no major changes were made.
3. Just keep listing your changes like this.

Version 2.00

Version 2.00 is the first version of the design where a major revision has been made now that much more is known about the game.  After many hours of design, many decisions have been made.  Most of these large design decisions are now reflected in this document.

Included in the changes are:

1. Pairing down of the design scope. (Scope, not design)
2. More detailed descriptions in many areas, specifically A, B and C.
3. Story details.
4. World layout and design.

Version 2.10

Version 2.10 has several small changes over that of version 2.00.  The key areas are in many of the appendixes.

Included in the changes are:

1. Minor revisions throughout entire document.
2. Added “User Interface Appendix”.
3. Added “Game Object Properties Appendix”.
4. Added concept sketch for world.

Game Overview

Philosophy

The game design

This game is an aerial combat game, in an environment where a dog flying F.1 moves across the city in war fighting through the enemies in sky as well as on the ground. The game design an art is 2d, an it’s a side scroll game, and we basically opted for the dog world since it’s a casual mobile game so to target more of audience a casual cartoon style would be more suited. Fundamentally we are trying to achieve something that has never been achieved before by creating a world of dogs. The also shows an abstract form of city the plane is flying over, and different comic characters (dogs).

Common Questions

What is the game?

Describe the game is a paragraph.  This is the answer to the most common question that you will be asked.  What are you working on?

Why create this game?

Why are you creating this game?  Do you love 3D shooters?  Do you think there is a hole in the market for Jell-O tossing midgets?

Where does the game take place?

Describe the world that your game takes place in.  Simple as that.  Help frame it in the reader’s mind by spending a few sentences on it here.  You can go into lengthy detail later in a section solely dedicated to describing the world.  Remember that we want to keep this part of the design light and readable.

What do I control?

Describe what the player will control.  You will be in charge of a band of rabid mutant fiddle players.  If you want you can switch on the AI and turn it into a fish bowl simulation.

What is the main focus?

Now that we know where the game takes place and what the player controls.  What are they supposed to achieve in this world?  Angry fiddle players take over the U.N. building.  Be careful not to add a bunch of salesmanship here.  Your design wants to stay light and informative.

What’s different?

Tell them what is different from the games that are attempting this in the market right now.  This question comes up a lot.

Feature Set

General Features

Huge world
Mutant fiddle players
3D graphics
32-bit color

Game-play

List stuff here that is key to the game-play experience
List a lot of stuff here
Hey, if you got nothing here, is this game worth doing?

The Game World

Overview

Provide an overview to the game world.

World Feature #1

This section is not supposed to be called world feature #1 but is supposed to be titled with some major thing about the world.  This is where you break down what is so great about the game world into component pieces and describe each one.

World Feature #2

Same thing here.  Don’t sell too hard.  These features should be awesome and be selling the game on its own.

Rendering System

Overview

Give an overview of how your game will be rendered and then go into detail in the following paragraphs.

2D/3D Rendering

Describe what sort of 2D/3D rendering engine will be used.

Camera

Overview

Describe the way the camera will work and then go into details if the camera is very complicated in sub sections.

Camera Detail #1

The camera will move around like this and that.

Camera Detail #2

The camera will sometimes move like this in this special circumstance.

Game Engine

Overview

Describe the game engine in general.

Game Engine Detail #1

The game engine will keep track of everything in the world like such and such.

Water

There will be water in the world that looks awesome and our game engine will handle it beautifully.

Collision Detection

Our game engine handles collision detection really well.  It uses the such and such technique and will be quite excellent.  Can you see I am having a hard time making up stupid placeholder text here?


The World Layout

Overview

Provide an overview here.

World Layout Detail #1
World Layout Detail #2


Game Characters

Overview

Over of what your characters are.

Creating a Character

How you create or personalize your character.

Enemies and Monsters

Describe enemies or monsters in the world or whomever the player is trying to defeat.  Naturally this depends heavily on your game idea but generally games are about trying to kill something.

User Interface

Overview

Provide some sort of an overview to your interface and same as all the previous sections, break down the components of the UI below.

User Interface Detail #1
User Interface Detail #2


Weapons

Overview

Overview of weapons used in game.

Weapons Details #1
Weapons Details #2



Musical Scores and Sound Effects

Overview

This should probably be broken down into two sections but I think you get the point.

Red Book Audio

If you are using Red Book then describe what your plan is here.  If not, what are you using?

3D Sound

Talk about what sort of sound APIs you are going to use or not use as the case may be.

Sound Design

Take a shot at what you are going to do for sound design at this early stage.  Hey, good to let your reader know what you are thinking.

Single-Player Game

Overview

Describe the single-player game experience in a few sentences.
Here is a breakdown of the key components of the single player game.

Single Player Game Detail #1
Single Player Game Detail #2

Story

Describe your story idea here and then refer them to an appendix or separate document which provides all the details on the story if it is really big.

Hours of Game-play

Talk about how long the single-player game experience is supposed to last or what your thoughts are at this point.

Victory Conditions

How does the player win the single-player game?

Character Rendering

Overview

Provide an overview as to how your characters will be rendered.  You may have decided to include this elsewhere or break it out to provide more detail to a specific reader.

Character Rendering Detail #1
Character Rendering Detail #2


Extra Miscellaneous Stuff

Overview

Drop anything you are working on and don’t have a good home for here.

Junk I am working on…

Crazy idea #1
Crazy idea #2

3D Character Animation

First day of my masters and my first class in animation. :D

The purpose of this module is to create several animations (minimum of four) which can be compiled into an animation show reel.

The first task we have been given is to create a few game animation walk cycles. I have chosen to the walk rock climbing and walk cycle animations.

So, I'll begin with a little bit of back ground research. Here are some in game animations that stuck out in my mind;

Assasans Creed - Has some fantastic climbing machinics.

Uncharted 2 - Has a great big of climbing in the opening where Drake had to scale a train that has derailed over a cliff face. I love the weight in the way Drake climbs, the transfer of energy in his jumping is something I will be looking to emulate.

Rock climbers - How people climb in reality.