BCT

DTB has been a great learning experience as I have taken on the role of a 3D modeler and level designer. Despite it being a Studio, it is essentially my 15 point paper, hence the majority of my contribution has been shown through the artifact. Looking back over the project I can see that I have made some positive progression in my design judgement and practical skill set. I have also found an efficient work flow in a group environment. I feel like Sujay has led the team very well, and this has helped my learning because he has encouraged explicit communication between each member. He set out a Trello board that entailed all the specific tasks for each member to help clarify these processes to keep everyone on the same page.

Due to this paper being 45 points for him, he has had the largest influence over the project and he took the responsibility to express the concept and what he would like (drawing out rough designs even). 

I looked at similar fighter games that our project was inspired by such as  Shrek SuperSlam(7 Studios & Shaba Games, 2005), Gang Beast(Boneloaf, 2014) and Super Smash Bros(Bandai Namco & Sora Ltd., 2014). Although we were looking at these games for their mechanics at first, I had a look into their aesthetic design as it made sense that both came hand in hand with one another. All of these games have cartoony, fantasy world designs and that is why we decided to go for this aesthetic opposed to a realistic textured game. 

After looking at Ultra Realism vs Stylization it was made very clear that there was a preference towards stylization with 88% of votes, 

“ Stylized. Always. A realistic look never really jumps out at me unless the graphics are really, really good or there's some impressive animations. ”

“ Stylized, since it's usually easier to justify things there than it is with realism. ”

“ Whichever style fits in coherently with the game's direction. ” (Seppli, Justin258, StarFoxA, & King, 2013)

While it may have been technically original to have a hyper realistic fighter 3D fighter game in this peculiar genre, I do not feel that there are the resources (time and skills) to develop the necessities of that project. We wanted to communicate the theme and it would be easier to achieve this through a stylistic aesthetic approach. 

I found this enhanced my work pace because he has led confidently, without being entirely overpowering. I still had the space to make my own design decisions on the specific aesthetics of the project, but it was nice to have a holistic perspective. This meant that the theme and concept wasn’t incredibly vague leaving it so broad where I have to make up content on my own. 

Sitting down for SCRUM meetings and planning out the next phase of attack was particularly useful. This allowed us as a group to implement the necessary changes whether it be discussion over bugs, changes in mechanics (adding/subtracting from the project), likewise with the aesthetics. In addition we could talk about the development of the project and make a collective decision for the transition of changes into the next sprint. This tied in well with the timing of Game Developer Meetups as we could showcase our work on the 3-4 week basis and gather some feedback from the gaming community. 

Here is a primary example of the workflow for the map design

I was then able to use the above reference from Sujay to form a list of the objects we wanted to have in the game. I was also able to use this as a rough reference for level design. Even though Sujay apologized for his drawing skills, the importance was that it communicated the ideas he envisioned.

At this point I had practically added all the assets and this map was technically at the first phase and suitable for testing (given that we made adjustments to the collision for the models). I started modelling some of the content plain and simply with some details. At this point we hadn’t decided on an actual accurate scale as we wanted to test it.

I was then able to implement these changes after we tested the prior map. The map above had a change in scale and few more assets added to the environment. We removed the over hanging fabric because it affected the visibility for players.

At this point I was able to add texturing to the environment. We changed the tables because we wanted to have a ‘rounder’ feeling for the environment (hence the logo is designed on a circular wooden surface).

I could then go onto areas such as optimization through poly-count (Silverman, 2013). This essentially meant focusing on the slightly more complex matters and going back through the work to make the project a  ‘usable product.’

Testing with a variety of audiences for feedback was also very useful as our game may be played very willingly by a diversity of people. Testing with the game community meant getting feedback from people who are engaged in the gaming community whether it be playing/making/both and may provide some deeper and more relevant feedback to the production of the project. Testing with the general audience meant seeing how suitable and friendly it is to casual people who may (if the game went commercial) play the game as it was aimed for (not just avid gamers, everyone). This meant aspects such as the control scheme which may be picked up easier by gamers, may have been different for the general audience of people who do not interact with 3D fighters or digital games at all. While understanding my individual job as a 3D modeler was important it also emphasized the importance of designing and understanding the audience behind the game too.

The project overall went pretty smoothly and this was due to good teamwork, communication and work ethic. I would say that in future it would be a good opportunity to strengthen our practical skills and also give new tools ago whether this be software or project management. We are still quite early in our career to simply stick to one particular set of equipment and I think with the right amount of time we may find smarter alternatives. I would like to move away from messenger and slack to try something new, and as suggested Hack’n’Plan is a recommended tool for game development because it allows for specific time allocation in addition to visual progression both as individuals and as a group. This may be particularly useful if we are working on a larger project (with more people potentially) in future and want to address a specific problem that is causing a choke hold in the development.

References: 

Seppli, Justin258, StarFoxA, & King, V. G. (2013, April 20). Ultra Realism VS Stylized Art Design in Games - Your Preference? Retrieved from giantbomb: https://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion-30/ultra-realism-vs-stylized-art-design-in-games-your-1429781/?page=1

IF DORA WAS A SPACE EXPLORA THIS WOULD BE HER BAG 

Reflection

The T-Minus project has been a learning experience that has really pushed a new level of workflow. As we have been through different project concepts starting in the holidays, we realized that perhaps a large exploration puzzle game wasn’t the most feasible option given the time period, neither was Walrush Snowboarder because the idea required too much attention and complexity with the physics. Walrush flyer contained ip that had been bought by Rockstar, and thus we started the current project very late in the semester. 

This essentially meant a large increase in workflow and pace. Aspects of our work methodology such as iteration needed to become rapid, and testing more frequent as we did not have time for setbacks. Subsequently time management and an increase in work hours were only expected, and I think this increased coherency within the group as a whole and as individuals. I found that the scrum methodology theoretically would have worked well due to the “sprints” that essentially allow for us to constantly test every 2 weeks or so with an updated product, however due to changes in projects, this also causes a transition in work flow. It worked better for my other project because it was more consistent and less drastic changes. Despite the hold backs and overwhelming technical difficulties behind some of the projects, this emphasized how important contingency plans are. Due to working earlier over the semester break, we were able to produce faster, iterate earlier and essentially establish the need for scrapping a project 2 weeks prior than we may have.  Having a plan B meant a faster transition onto the next project concept rather than having to go back to the drawing board and come up with something entirely fresh. This definitely helped with reducing time, as simply coming up with a suitable idea and justification could have taken weeks.

Keeping a solid workflow through T-Minus was largely supported through the use of the management tool Trello. We used an AGILE style methodology in conjunction with weekly standings and frequent blogging to ensure we were aware of the progress as individuals and also as a group. We changed to this approach because other tools like slack have not worked the best for our group in the past. It was more a matter of exploring other means of approaching work rather than limiting oneself to the same methods. 

As a group, I feel that initially we may have not been ‘thinking’ coherently as we should have. This may have been due to everyone solely focusing on their own roles rather than considering the state of the project. Having foresight is most certainly one of the most important aspects of developing games and often comes with experience. I do admit I should have pushed my perspective further when I felt the scope was too large and only continued to expand for the Soul Passage project. I learnt that it is about addressing problems as early as possible as this may mitigate drastic loss of valuable resources (time, money etc.)

As the 3D modeler and level designer for my group I have become increasingly faster at producing prototypes and this allows the group to pin point the areas that we can improve on. To guide my work, I used Finley and Steven’s conceptual art as a basis for reference and largely used Pinterest for learning techniques and keeping an eye out for appropriate stylization. 

We have used a series of different boards to find our inspiration. I looked at games such as Overwatch, Sunset Overdrive and Fortnite as game references for that express stylization incredibly well. Being part of two studio projects that follow a stylized art feel, I found a lot of this design research was applicable to both. This was not limited to purely aesthetic design decisions, but also included technicalities with modelling such as optimization and composition for level design.

I found adapting different phases of the workflow a very interesting process as I learnt how integrate my own creativity into a concept and add to what already exists. 

This week has been hectic working on the astronauts stations. I have been thinking about the different elements of a space ship and have revisited some of the modelling processes to help ease the workflow as much as possible for the others.

Above is a low poly model of the energy supply. The colours signify the different components of the model.

Here is a picture of the colour ID maps for another model, the launching platform for the rocket. This means that Finley can select the components of the model based off their colour with ease as opposed to creating his own masks for each section.

Here is a quick example of how they work, with the different components and respective colour ID that each component was given.

Here is a low poly version of the space station: base platform, sign, energy supply, spaceship, launch platform, launch supports ans satellite. 

And here is a high poly version on the left, with the low poly on the right. As you can see the details are not as blurry because it hasn’t been optimized. What will happen next is that Finley will bake this high surface detail onto the low poly version and essentially be able to fake this detail to a certain extent. 

This semester, I have worked more towards optimization of models. I have discussed along with Aldo approximations with polygon count as this is an important aspect of any game. Having a polygon count as low as possible means a less likelyhood of crashing due to overly packed resources stressing the computer out. It is also very important and dependant on what platorm we aim to distribute the game on (switch, etc.).

Here is a loose approximation and preferable target of what we are going for on polygon count:

* 300 for each pick up resource * 5k - 7k for characters * 5k space rocket * 500 for rocks and additional terrain objects * 5k space docks

I believe that this is a suitable number for each asset and collectively to go for as usually only mobile games would require further optimisation than this.

The 3D modelling and level design processes for both TMinus and DTB have emphasized the importance of iteration, testing and communication.

Often when creating any component of a product (in my case the assets for the games) an idea may arise as good in theory however, in reality it may either be difficult to execute or simply lack an outside perspective. It is important to sit down, discuss and iterate with design as often the first approach will not be 100 percent spot on.

An example was the pick up resources for the players in Tminus. While discussing with Ben and the group we found that quite a few of the models appeared unnatural in their form. They were better off being merged as one model rather than two intersecting models as Finley was better able to blend the transition of the materials. Promptly after Finley explored some new concepts for the resources and through rapid iteration came up with a new selection of improved and clearly distinguishable models.

Testing in both groups DTB and TMinus helped to pin point bugs and feed back. Although a lot of the feedback had tend to be relevant to the programming side of things, it helped to get a good overview of the areas of the project that need more attention.

Over these past few weeks, I have been working on a few different things, some new and some processes which require revision.

Since we were pushing for an mvp, refinement was not of the essence, hence there were bugs that popped up and changes to some of the models. Once I finished touching up the astronaut I gave it to Finley who finished the model with some nice texturing:

Before

After

I followed up by re working the pick up items. Here’s  a look at the initial pick up materials:

We weren’t really feeling it for these models as quite a few of them didn’t have a nice flow, noticeably the rough and sudden protrusions from the spheres. In response, Finley mocked up some new concepts for the objects for me to work on:

And I further developed them into my own interpretation of the models where I felt necessary:

I am now currently working on the space rocket landing pads and platform dock where players will build their spaceship and see their dock progress as they build their way through a collection of materials:

These platforms are comprised of:

- Base platform

- Launching platform

- Banner/sign

- Energy supply

- Satellite

- Rocket Stabilizer 

- Rocket in lotus form

Today I worked on some rock clusters. For our project T-Minus we intend to have both procedural generation of resources as well as the layout of the rocks of the map. This is to prevent the map from appearing too linear each time the game is played, (break symmetry), but also by attempting to implement a relatively fair and randomized layout. 

Our other option would be to manually place these objects around the middle, however in doing so we would need to have a system where players rotate positions for each round to make it fair as obstacles placements would have slight impact and may create some imbalance. 

Today I was working on the rigging of the character. This was followed by a quick animation to see if I could export it to unreal with it working. Unfortunately I have never rigged or animated before. The complex with the character model and the animations will be the limit of time, but also the fact that there is the lack of experience behind this as I am not experience enough with animations and rigging to promise anything decent. We have 2 weeks to hurry the hell up and have things ready for the next GDM. From experience rushing things tends to compromise the quality of any given project. 

Today I worked on the other collectible elements such as Iron, Ice and Battery. 

Today I worked on converting the pieces of the high poly model of the astronaut into a low poly version. This is a process which involves unwrapping the individual pieces (gloves, torso, helmet) separately and then combining them into one UV map. 

Above is the high poly version of the model

And here is the low poly version

This is the uv map which is split into the different segments. Each colour is respective to the different parts. e.g. the biggest orange segment is the torso, while the blue strip is the belt. 

Quick spaceman model in development. 

Where I was at, in the beginning of the week

Iteration 1 complete, needs to be revised for any necessary improvement or any changes.

We just did our presentations on Thursday establishing that we were scrapping our project for the fourth time. The first time was due to difficulties with the concept and simply feeling the lack of passion towards the topic among other things. This was however, decided over the holiday as we got a head start by working over that period and moved onto the Soul Passage project. 

Soul Passage was a puzzle based game following the idea of a soul in purgatory. The issue with this is that we wanted to commercialize the idea, however the scope of the project was rather large for the time frame of a semester.

Walrush v1 was dismissed early because the company Rockstar who produced the popular GTA series released a game mode with a very similar play style to what we were working at. Due to the fact that the company has placed this work as IP we couldn’t proceed with the project.

Walrush v2 has collapsed due to the detail needed for the mechanics which would take excessive time to perfect to a standard suitable for commercializing.

Here is some practice models I have done over the break since we are restructuring our project and looking where to go next. I decided to work on a few different and somewhat diverse models to get allow myself to adapt to the needs of Limbus’ next project.

Here are some practice models of little creatures. Due to the fact that we are in the the process of restructuring our project, I have done some stylized modeling for characters. I feel like i’ve had more practice with environment and hard surface models and therefore wanted to explore stylization in an enjoyable way with these little creatures.

WHY do I do this? Not only to practice but to explore and facilitate different thoughts. This is my equivalent of doodling, only its 3D sculpting, I find that it gives me a break from the forefront of my projects and allows me to think about unique elements, certainly not restricted by just design thinking. “We must all learn how to craft light, space, composition, form, line and shape. But, then after that, we have to be trained to learn to play again...... finding enjoyment is an essential first step to finding good ideas.” 

References:

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/07/doodling-for-cognitive-benefits/398027/