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Overview

During the summer I was planning ideas for my Honours project by tailoring briefs to improve selected areas of my skillset. In this post I intend to outline a range of projects that I have already started in a basic form. This analysis will continue with me speculating on how these projects can be improved to the high standards required for an Honours brief.

1) A gallery space of my own work

This project is a concept project which will showcase a range of digital pieces that I have created at college, university and for my own website. This project will provide all my work with a brand unifying all my pieces in one designed intractable space. This brief would be positive because it will showcase my work in a relevant way to game development enabling me to show progression in my skillset. I would plan to divide pieces into categories enabling the user to explore my work as a series of gallery spaces. The intended user of this space would be a prospective employer needing to review my work for a job application.

2) Victorian railway station

During the modelling process Quixel Suite 2.0 was recently released, I decided to gain some experience with the texturing software DDO by using my high poly R8 revolver cylinder model. i began by adding smart materials and adjusting them to what i liked, then added any extra details to any layers by using the paint onto model feature.

While working on the model i found some areas that I was not happy with most notably the chamber sizes.  This set me back in the modelling process as I felt I needed to fix these issues. Once I altered my models i returned to DDO to try and learn more about the program with my revised model.

The first weapon i decided to model was the R8 Revolver. After collecting reference images i broke the model down into its different sections. I decided to model the chamber of the revolver first as it is a key part of the weapon. When testing ways to model I found modelling onto a curved surface was difficult as pinching was easily caused. I found the best way to model the chamber was to model one section on a plane then to use a bend modifier on the duplicated plane.

Then kept making adjustments to the plane until I was happy it matched my references. I found that the model slightly warps when the bend modifier is added changing the way the parts of the object is shaded. therefore this process took allot of trial and error.

When choosing the weapons to model I wanted to have others input. As the choices may be different than if I was to pick ones myself. I started by making a list of multiple weapons split into 5 types: - Assault Rifle - Rifle - Pistol - Submachine gun - Other

Overview

The space cargo ship was the most productive project because it is a combination of art based 3D architecture and game design which this brief will improve in both of these skills. Another is the reason vessel was good because it offered me an adaptable brief the way it could be achieved in terms of workflow progress.

Two aspects (Alien village and space cargo ship)

There are two elements with different architectural styles, the cargo ship is industrial where the alien environment is Art Deco in style. This contrast provides interest to me and requires a range of texturing styles that will show my skillset.

Architectural design

The two aspects will be displayed in different art styles to highlight the contrasts between the ship and the city to the player. 

The cargo vessel will have a function of utilitarian style where the majority of the systems working will be evident and displayed in the interior. This is because the vessel is designed like the cargo containers, similar to sea going ships of today.

The alien environment will feature expansive open areas, with large lift and stair systems, which show the amount of people the city can support. There will be a more relaxed art style with several areas of coloured panels.      

Game design (story and key events)

Overview

With the concept art process completed I tested my skillset in using Adobe Photoshop to create artwork for the space cargo vessel. I have created two concept sheets that both feature nine different thumbnail designs & then chose three to refine further. This process allows for quick iteration meaning that I can adapt designs simply.

Thumbnails

This begins with rough sketches which are quick to draw and decent at generating vessel ideas. The thumbnails enable me to experiment with different design solutions. This is a productive method of translating research into prototyped outcomes. It enabled my to look at the design brief from multiple different angles and therefore produced more rounded developed designs

Greyscale designs 

The greyscale designs were more developed with finer detail and quality required for an Honours project. The simplest way I achieved this was re drawing the design, with a pencil brush I created. Refiner gave the space look more realistic to the thumbnails. The dramatic difference in the way the design looks was because it featured greyscale colour. This enabled me to place depth and show a light source to add realistic qualities. 

Presentation research

For the presentation element of the outcome I looked at a range of professional game artists to understand their practices.

Further development