Games Develop YEAR 1 Unit 8 FINAL MAJOR PROJECT

Pre-Production

What was the purpose of the project? What did you hope to learn?

The purpose of my project was so I could practice my 3D modelling skills and learn some better or new ways of solving problems whilst I developed my project, I also could use this work to add to a portfolio of my work that I could use later to apply for a job or university.

What was the theme for the project?

The theme of my project was based around a story driven environment set in the 1930’s and it had to have a Noir film feel to it. The environment was based around a detective’s office and I wanted it to show so story of this man’s life.

How have you developed your ideas?

I developed my ideas by researching my initial 3 ideas at first and from there I choose which idea I like the best and that I thought would be achievable within the time limit.

My first idea was to try and set up a crime scene which was most likely going to be a murder and I thought it would look best set up in a house but I didn't think I had the skill set necessary to create and fill an entire environment, so I didn't follow up on this idea however I did like the theme I was going for so I developed this into my second idea which would become my final project, whilst I was developing this idea I decided it needed an overall theme and as I was doing crime already I thought making it noir themed would be a good idea as it gave more structure to my project because it gave me an art style to work with and a design to follow.

How much reference material did you find (primary and secondary research)? Do you think you could have done more? If so, explain what you think you could have done.

The research I did into this project was more about looking into how to set up a scene and environments. The research I did first was trying to find games with similar themes or design, the games I looked into were Bioshock infinite, L.A. Noire, Mafia 2 and Fallout 4. I looked at Bioshock because it has a dlc and some parts of the main games based around a noir film theme and so I looked at these to how I could set up an environment with these themes and what techniques they used to convey this theme, secondly I looked into L.A. Noire because it is a game based around a detectives life and it also has a noir film theme to it but for this game it is less about looking like a noir film and more about the stories that the films set which is that the main character in the story is usually a victim of circumstance. The third game I looked at was to get a sense of where I should base my environment, that was Mafia 2 I looked into this game because of where it story is set and what they did was take two of the most heavily crime influenced cities and mashed them together to create their map so what I did was look at the cities they chose and picked which one I though was the most appropriate, the two cities were Chicago and new York after some research I found that new York was the best choice as it offered a bigger mafia presence and it also offered a bigger

story element to my project as it allowed me to involve the mafia's moonshine operations form the 1920's into the story. The last game I looked at was Fallout 4 and I only looked at this game for character because in this game they have a detective called nick that is based of film noir, I could tell this from the way he is dressed and his story of his life because they whole of nick's life in fallout is him being a victim of fate and having to live with this and that’s why I looked into this to get what kind of man I wanted my detective to be. I also looked into the movies them self’s because I needed to see the sets and how light was used in these environments to create atmosphere. I also looked at historical information on the internet and I found the history’s channels website to be very helpful.

Which developers, art movements, designers, media companies/campaigns and industry examples have you looked at to assist and inspire you? Why?

Bioshock, L.A. Noire, Mafia 2 and Fallout 4. As I stated before the reasons that these games inspired me was because of the way they can set up a scene and deliver a story and also these games are among the most interesting and fun games I have played and I think that a lot of that is down to the stories in them and that it why I wanted to try and recreate a story in my environment because I love how they have done it and I wanted to do it for myself.

Explain how your production board presentation went. What feedback did you receive and how did this help you focus your production?

I think that my presentation when well apart from I thought I could have prepared more and known exactly what I was going to say, I also felt my PowerPoint could have had more information. The feedback I received on my project was that it was a good idea and that it would mostly likely be achievable, but they had some constructive criticism, they said that I should change the cameras view because in this type of game it would be likely that you would have to look closely at objects and that might be difficult in a third person camera, I also received feedback on where I should construct my project the suggestion was to bring it all together in the unreal engine where I could set up better lighting and I could also set up better textures for example I could have better looking normal maps.

Production

How did your work change through the project?

At the beginning of my project I was going to create a whole room but as I was designing this I thought about my previous projects and I had already done a room and they weren’t complicated so I wanted to change that up a bit so I decided I wanted to environment to look like it had been ripped out of a room, like in a dream sequence I wanted something like what you can find in the game Dishonoured, so I made this change to my design. Also based on the feedback I received from my presentation I changed where I was going to put everything together and I move my models over to the unreal engine, this change also allowed me to add more detail to my project and also allowed for easier setup.

Which technical skills, methods and techniques did you use?

The technical skills, methods and techniques I used for my project was based around 3D modelling, texturing and a little bit of engine work. For my main modelling parts of my project the main techniques, methods and skills were based around the edit poly tab, however I did learn some new skills whilst creating my project like bolean, cloth modifier and soft select. I also used Photoshop in my project and I used quite a few of the main tools, for this project I used Photoshop to create deffuse maps, specular maps, opacity maps, roughness maps and normal maps. Lastly in my project I used the unreal engine, in the unreal engine I made collision meshes for models, changed the camera view from 3rd person to 1st, I also added all my maps to my models in the unreal engine (except the deffuse) and I made an emissive map using Photoshop and the engine and I also created a glass texture to use on my models using the material blueprints. My blogs will contain more detail on these subjects.

What were the key areas of development in this project?

The key area of my development was in texturing, engine and some tools in 3Ds max. My main development in Photoshop was making normal map whilst I was doing my project I wanted more realism in my models so I did this for all my models and I learned how to create them more effectively and I also learn what output would give me the best results on what I wanted, this is just from use of the programme over time, also by working in Photoshop I have become more familiar with tools in the programme.

The second area of development was in the unreal engine, in the engine I mostly learned about the material blueprints. In the material blueprints I learned how to make my models look better with the maps I made and where I should apply them and what I should apply with them, for example when I started making the models materials I was only using a specular map to control the where the light hit and would reflect but through talking with my peers I learned about the roughness map and it is used to direct the reflection of light in the engine. I also looked into create a reflective glass material for my radio, ashtray and window and I also revisited something I didn’t do quite so well last term and that was an emissive map for the light on my radio.

My last area of development was with 3Ds max, with 3Ds max there are two new tools I learned and that was bolean and the cloth modifier. For the bolean tool I was trying to find out how to cut out a shape from a model and I knew that this could be achieve because I had seen it being done in the project that I did but this wasn’t in my project so I wasn’t sure how to do so I asked the person who had done it and they gave me a tutorial on how to use it and that it mainly how I learned to use it. As for the cloth modifier I knew how to do some of the basic bits and when I looked for online tutorials I got a little lost on the videos and then a peer offer help as they understood how to set it up and I watched and took notes so I could use it later if I needed to.

What experiments and exploration did you do? How did it affect your project’s development? Were there any significant changes?

During my project I realised that making a whole environment was maybe a bit ambitious for me alone so at first I shortened it to just one room but I felt that with the time I had it might look a bit empty so I changed the design to fit more of a dream sequence looking environment or as if it was a memory of something. Whilst I was testing before I had presented I was trying to create a glass material in 3Ds max and it was coming out right and

this also pushed me into the unreal engine because 3Ds max it a bit limited in its options for textures and I wanted to create something a bit more realistic.

Post Production

Is the final product appropriate for the intended platform/purpose?

My project in its current state is well within what I wanted and it does not exceed the limits of the PlayStation and with the amount of models in my environment it would not add up to anything near what the system can handle as my project is a singular environment with as much saved on the models tris as I could. I find that the purpose I plan for this environment was fine and would still be achievable if I had more time to work on this project but as it is now I think that my environment does not offer enough story but it gives you the basic details of the story like you’re in a detective’s office and your based in New York and the overall design of everything tells you you’re in the past and it is around the 1930’s or 1940’s and the light added I think fits the theme and looks like noir film.

Identify the strengths and weaknesses in your final product.

The strengths of my final project is that my models and textures are well made with the models having as much detail as I could give them and the texture also, I think that one of the key strengths of my projects is the textures and maps because while I was creating them I spent quite a bit of time on them and added extra details to make them look better and more believable.

The weakness of my project would be my timing and preparedness, I know that if I was more prepared I would have had more things I wanted to work and other bits I wanted to add and my main story would have been more involved in my environment, I also think that maybe I should have spent less time on some things and more on others to improve my environments look and feel.

Find a similar product - place it next to your own - what comparisons/difference can you identify?

(Images: http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/bioshock/images/d/d8/BI_Investigation.png/revision/latest?cb=20151122113230

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aQZZo5lXa1k/maxresdefault.jpg )

I am comparing my work to Bioshock Infinite, the scene that I have chosen is from a small part of the game where the player is allowed to walk around the main protagonist’s office

and from what you find you can see that he is clearly troubled by his past and that he has addictions to things that could be considered a crutch and you can also see by looking around that he used to be a cop. What can be seen in this game is what I wanted to achieve, I wanted a small environment that tells you a lot about a specific character. I think that from a quality of models point my environment is to a good standard when compared but when compared to story of an environment I find it lacking.

Review your proposal - what changed, what developments did you make, did you manage to complete everything you set out to?

From reviewing my proposal I can see that I have change/developed a few things, the stuff that I have developed from my original proposal is the size of the room and the camera’s view. The room size I changed to be smaller so I could work on my models in more detail and I changed the camera’s view because I was told to consider that it could be difficult to see objects in that camera. However I don’t feel that I have accomplished everything that I set out to do because I feel that I did tell the story of the environment efficiently enough.

Are you happy with your final piece? Are there any elements you like in particular?

Overall I like my final piece in some areas, the area that I like the most of my project is the models I made I think that they are to a good standard and I tried my best to give each model as much detail as I could. My favourite part of my project is the textures I created for my models and all the maps because I think that now I have them on my models it has really made them look good and more realistic, which it what I wanted.

Is there anything you would change? Why?

The only thing I would change in my project is the order in which I created my models, this is because I didn’t get some key models out in time and I feel like the environment is lacking in some ways.

Has your experience during this project changed your career goals?

I that doing this project has changed my career goals in any major way but by doing this project I think I would enjoy doing this more now.