almost done...

The rooftop is coming together now, almost finished it. Things left to do is to add the sound, and maybe some post processing. And of course, the ever fun design document

Since last time, I have made a few changes. I've added some rain, and also changed the fog up a bit, as I thought that I needed some more weather effects to make it interesting. I didn't use particle effects, mainly because I was running out of time. To work out how to use it was taking me too much time, so I followed the method used in this tutorial.

 I think it looks very effective for a simple animated texture. If I have the budget, I will also add some decal puddles to the floor. 

For the skyline, which I thought was looking a bit boring, I have added some construction cranes, just to give the player something to look at if they look up. I also though the rooftop would look a bit better with a chain link fence around it, so that's gone in as well. I've added some reflections to some of the textures as well, which go well with the rain and just make everything that bit more shinier. 

So there it is almost finished, just got those last things to do, then I will make a flythrough.

Need to remember to update

Another update, ah I’ve been too busy with the rooftop project. Here is the latest update:

 

 Its almost finished, I’ve been modelling and texturing all of the assets, and that’s pretty much finished now.  In the last week we’ve got I am going to add some more effects, get some sound in, that sort of thing. We’ve also got to present it to someone from codemasters, so that’s going to be interesting. Hopefully it will make a good impression, but everyone else’s levels look so good, I’m a little worried mine will look crap.

With the final major project, I have been concepting. The presentation has been put back a week because of the codemasters thing which is nice, gives me enough time to make some more pretty pictures. I’ve set up aseparate blog here for the final major project, to keep things organised. Still feeling a bit nervous that my idea might be rejected. I know it’s silly to get stuck on one idea, but it just seems like a really fun thing to make.

In other news, I was just looking round in general for game art jobs. I was just seeing what was out there, and I don’t know if it was just were I was looking, but there seemed to be a lot of character artist jobs. It’s a shame, as character work is not my thing, but I don’t really have anything to show them anyway. By the end of the year though, I should have something of a proper portfolio together.

Anyway, this blog I am going to still update with other game art related things, and the other blog I will update with the final major project stuff.

SCP Containment breach

This is a little off topic compared to the other posts, but it is game related so I thought I should put it on here. I found out about this indie game the other day called SCP containment breach. It's a survival horror, and I think it is still currently in development, although you can download it here.

 http://www.scpcbgame.com/

The one thing that made it stand out was that it was particularly effective and terrifying. I can't watch a play though of this game, let alone play it myself. Its graphics are, to be honest, really bad, but the game play makes it. The player must try and escape a falsity. There are creatures that move towards you very fast, and are deadly, but they can only move if you are not looking at them. It's much like the angels out of doctor who. The player has a blink meter, and they can press space bar to blink manually. Here's a sample of what it is like.

I'm really quite impressed, simply because this game has grasped something that so many horror games don't. Jump scares are all well and good, but they don't make a game truly scary. The psychological horror element is missing. For example, dead space compared to this looks fantastic, but I find myself more afraid of the things I cannot see, even if it's just a blobby model.

trees are wobbling

Today I have been working on getting some wind in those trees. I was following a tutorial, and it was a lot more complicated than I imagined. This is what I now have in the material editor.

At first something went very wrong, and the trees were wobbling everywhere, it really made me feel a bit nauseous. They still need tweaking, but I'm just glad I managed to make something so complicated in the material editor.

I would leave this type of stuff until after I had finished making everything, but I don't want to get to the end of the project and have to rush it. I know I can make the assets, but this is something I have not done before, so it takes me a bit more time. Next thing up is getting the lights to flicker.

starting off year 3

It seems I've made it through to the 3rd year. I haven't changed to a new blog, as I'm not sure if we have to start a new one for the final major project. So I'm going to keep updating on this one, if nothing else it will help me organise my thoughts as I go through the last year of this course.

So let's start with an update. Over the summer I worked with a team on the Rosslyn chapel project, more details about which can be found here rosslynchapeldmu.blogspot.com . It was good, and I think I learnt a lot about high poly modelling and just 3d in general. And it was interesting to use a new game engine ( we built it in cryengine).

most of my stuff was to do with the roof

I also made some personal stuff,  some of which i finished. I had an idea for a Egyptian tomb level in cryengine, which I just never got round to finishing. It's all a learning process though. I've also got a few random models, and I made a little hand painted scene in udk. I was so proud that I managed to make something like this, it seems such a long way from my first summer project.

 learnt how to record video in udk too

 I decide over the summer that I would focus on 3d a lot more, so not so much in the way of paintings to show, mostly just sketches. With the final year coming up so quickly, I felt I just needed more practice. I'm not trying to be a concept artist, and I'm not going to get hired if I can paint but can't make anything 3d.

But on to the third year. We've started the rooftop project, and that's mostly what I'll be blogging about for the next few weeks. It's a udk project and it's got a very limited budget (20,000 tris and 32MB textures) and we've only got 4 weeks. It's going to be a challenge, but I'm feeling confident that I can make it look good. I may not be the best at this, but I can feel myself improving with everything that I make.

So what have I got so far? Well this. 

 still very wip

This is week 1 of work, and I think its progressing pretty well. I've kept the New York rooftop thing, but have tried to make it more vibrant. I've spent a lot of time on the trees, following a tutorial on high poly modelling the leaves and branches, which ate up a lot of time. They still need tweaking, but I'm happy with them for now.

Not sure what else to put, So I shall be updating as this project progresses.