Task 18: Elements of Game Technology, part one: game engines

The Unreal Editor founded by Epic Games is a powerful engine that utilises various components to make up a modern Unreal-based game, these components are brought together to give you a quality real-time experience.

The first game that would utilise this engine is called Unreal this was launched back in June 1998, it received a warm welcome from the PC gaming community. It was arguably one of the best looking games released at that time.

 Epic spawned off many more games using the Unreal Editor

List of games:

1.       Unreal (June 1998)

2.       Unreal Tournament (November 1999)

3.       Unreal Championship (September 2002)

4.       Unreal 2: The Awakening (February 2003)

5.       Unreal Tournament (March 2004)

6.       The list goes on.....

The unreal engine can be used by anyone as it is a free software that consumers can download. It’s mainly used for aspiring mod makers or fledging game designers. Also for anyone who has ever wondered exactly what kind of work goes into making his favourite game.

The next engine that I would like to talk about is the Cry Engine developed by Crytek the makers of Crysis. The engine was first used as a technology demo for Nvidia, but when the company saw its potential they turned it in to a fully fledged game. Resulting in games like Farcry and Crysis.

List of games:

1.       Farcry (2004)

2.       Crysis (November 2007)

3.       Crysis 2 (March 2011)

 

The Cryengine is also a free non-commercial software that anyone can try out for free. The cry engine is mainly used for first person shooters this is where it has got its recognition from. Whereas the Unreal Engine can be used for a variety of games. The graphics that are used in the Cryengine look mature and lend more towards the realistic sides of things, whereas the Unreal Engine has a graphics system where almost any format of game would fit perfectly with the engine.

More and more developers are using Unreal Engine this is because of its usability to port a game on existing platforms, it has also spawned a fair amount of successful titles such as Gears of War and Unreal Tournament most of the reviewers commenting on the vibrant graphics. I think the Cryengine is still in its early days so it may take years for developers to start taking the engine seriously. I know that THQ has acquired the licensing rights to develop the successor to Homefront on the Cryengine so things are looking bright for the engine.

Links:

www.udk.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unreal_Engine_games

www.mycryengine.com

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryEngine

Book:

Mastering Unreal Technology published by SAMS

Task 17: Elements of game design, part six: documentation

I am going to create a fantasy based game where the world would be seen as a third persons view. My aim is to create a world where the player is always amazed by the amount of colour and vibrancy that the atmosphere has to offer. I want the player to find himself comfortable in the area he his in where he will be greeted by the public, whereas in games the player has to go up to the AI to interact with them.

The platform it is going to be on is the PS Vita reason being is that I want to take full capabilities of the touch screen on the front and back. My audience would likely be from ages 6 and over as there won’t be any sort reference for adult material.  I would be developing on UDK this is because I am most familiar with this engine, also it is more suited to the specific graphics I am looking for. I will be using 3DS Max 2012 for modelling assets and Photoshop for texturing. I will also be using Zbrush for high poly modelling.  

The lead characters name is Leon he is the protagonist of the game, the whole budget of the game will be under 700 000 tris including the main lead. Leon’s tri limit will be under 50 000 tris. The actual game would not last more than 30 minutes. A lot of detail would go in to the main character and minor details to the secondary characters. The rest of the tris would go in to the lush environments.

There would be one vehicle where the player would need to cross over the river he would be travelling on a boat. This would be during the middle of the game. The area where the player would be in is full of richness of saturated colours making it seem almost surreal to the human eye. The area would be using a lot different lighting aspects, to create the atmosphere that is needed. The area would be built entirely from scratch so I would need to research on what sort of elements would go in to building this level:

·         Futuristic

·         Clean area

·         Heavily lighted

·         Sun reflecting areas

·         Particle effects

The props are more of static meshes that are really there for the player to see and admire, such as:

·         Clock tower

·         Statue

·         Apartments

·         Skyscrapers

·         Trees/bushes

·         Boat

Specifications

Character

The theme of the character should be a fantasy based where he would wear a full futuristic gear. Concepts are needed. 

Characters must be created in 3D max using Photoshop and Zbrush. Fully rigged.

·         Main character – under 50 000 tris

·         2 Secondary characters – under 7 500 tris each (15 000 in total)

Environments

The area should be worth interesting to look at along with interactive objects. Should look modern there should be no areas of oldness, everything should look new. Almost as if the area was just built. Concepts needed

·         500 000 tri limit for the whole of the environment excluding props.

·         Efficient use of lighting.

·         Sounds should also be included

Props

Concepts needed

·         Clock Tower - 20 000

·         4 Apartments – 15 000 each

·         Statue  – 10 000 tri

·         Skyscraper – 5 000 tri

·         2 Trees – 5 000 tri

·         Boat – 5 000 tri

The 30 000 tris left will go on anything else I could add.

PS Vita’s crazy pricing for games

The PS Vita has been out for couple of weeks now and the buzz around it is actually pretty good considering the Nintendo’s 3DS performed quite bad at launch, it was only the after the 3DS got a price cut things started to pick up pace.

I have not got a PS Vita yet, but I will get one eventually. I have seen in many places that the games are ridiculously expensive for a small card, ranging from £25 for small games such as Ridge Racer and upwards to £45 for bigger games, Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

Things are changing fast in the gaming industry and everyone has a budget on how much money they can spend on games. Sony has met competition from OnLive and other cloud gaming services, and millions of people are jumping towards app gaming, which will certainly damage Sony’s market share no matter how good their PS Vita is.

Millions of people are moving towards the app generation where they spend little amount of money on games where they can pick up and play anywhere. However for hardcore gamers the PS Vita is gaming haven for graphics and gameplay in a small compact device. The games have got great reviews but a change in pricing needs to take place or else the economy would fall in to the cheaper app generation or else Sony could face losing millions of customers.

I think any games that are over £40 are too expensive, and anything below is great. In my opinion the PS Vita is on a different world for full on true gaming, and I don’t even own the BLOODY THING!!!

http://www.game.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HubArticleView?hubId=141806&articleId=162279&catalogId=10201&langId=44&storeId=10151

www.techradar.com/reviews/gaming/handheld.../ps-vita.../review

Finished my trash project

When I finished my treasure chest I was well in the first
week of my next project THE TRASH. With the trash project I was not worrying
about it that much, as it was just a bunch of boxes all placed randomly. My
initial thought was that I wanted to get it over and done with because I wanted
to start on the mortal engine project. It took me about 2 weeks to finish the
trash project which is a record for me as I never finished a project so quick.
It just shows that I am getting faster in using 3d max which is fantastic.
Although I did say to myself that I would try and add more objects other than
boxes....I kind of added a lot boxes:/ however I did add a big cone to the mix
which is not a box everything else is pretty much boxed shaped.

More than the modelling I particularly like the use of my
texturing, not only did I make it look dirty and scruffy (I think) I also added
a small text on the box, which says;

12/12/2011 WAB

Keep area clean or pay 1p fine

All proceeds go to JRahman Corp

If you’re wondering what WAB means then it stands for WEN
AM BAK!!!

Task 16: Elements of game design, part seven: level design

Level design is similar to environment design, the way an
environment artist would start planning what he would have in the scene a level
designer would also have to start planning its process. Level design can fall
in different categories when it comes to developing, it can be as missions,
levels or stages. Level design is not something that is done visually (which is
widely regarded by a lot people) it is more to do with intellectual side in
terms of planning and construction within a game formality.

Level design usually starts with concept art, sketches, renderings, and physical models. When the initial
process of planning is complete then these concepts will go in to documents,
and thus making a model of an environment.

I think planning the
level is vital as it not only allows the fundamentals to be laid but it also
allows the basic shapes to be in place. Planning is not something that will
allow an artist to finish all his work, but it does allow the work to be completed
at a faster and a much smoother rate. If you think about it when an artist
makes a concept for a level, rather than having to think of what to do next he
would have everything he needs in front him, this in turn would allow the level
to be created at a much smoother rate. The planning process in level design is
called Preproduction this is just a document stating what you are going to
create? And how it will look and play?

I think level design needs
to have a few elements which are required in terms of building a good
environment. Planning is first and foremost, because without planning there are
no real fundamentals. Secondly is
Visuals, taking in regards to color theory, lighting, architecture, landscape
and also what the player would see and not see. Thirdly is Gameplay, which
includes the players movements in the level, how fast he would move and what he
would encounter on the environment.

Most of these issues are usually
completed by the level designer who is responsible for creating environments
and scenarios using level editor. Some of the celebrated level designers are
from PC First Person shooters such as John Romero who made the levels for Doom.

Many believe that level
design is just to do with the artistic side of developing, this is not so as it
also requires a lot of technical process. This is due to the amount of conceptualizing
that needs to be done before any of the creating can be done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_design

http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/why-i-failed-for-years-at-level-design-and-game-environments.php

Finished the Treasure Chest

So I finally finished my treasure chest the other day actually a few days after the deadline..... I know
I should not have but there is always something I forget to add. This year we
have the freedom of working towards our own deadline which was pretty daunting
at first as I thought about how I would manage projects. Last year at every
deadline we had our work marked if it was not handed in time then it just would
not have been marked it was as simple as that. However this year we have to
manage our own time but all the work needs to be handed in before Christmas.

So back to the treasure chest. I was actually quite pleased with the final
outcome. It came out just as I wanted with a few errors of course. I did not
want to copy the exact reference image; I wanted to add my own twist. So I
decided I would make the legs a bit different, instead of making the top of the
legs connect to each other I made them go in to the main box.

This did not change the main basic shape but it did make it a bit unique as mine was the only one that
had this. I also changed some of the colours instead of adding a wood texture
all around I played with the colours a bit. On the legs I added a plastic
texture to the wood part which also gives it a nice feel.

I am pleased with what I have achieved considering I was gobsmacked when I first saw
the project last year. I thought to myself that looks very hard to do. But now
that it is over with I am well chuffed with the end result :)

Task 15: Elements of game design, part six: visual composition

Painting, sculpting or sketching, all of these need some sort of
composition to make the final image appealing. Without the right composition
the image would just look like another piece art work without any sort of
meaning. Composition is usually used to arrange certain elements to form
something. R. Berdan mentions “Effective
images are those that command attention and communicate some feeling to an
audience. Capturing a "feeling" and your viewers' attention is a
demanding task that requires practice, experimentation and study”. I think
an image needs to capture the audience in terms of what their feeling and what
they are thinking when they look at an image. This is something that is missing
from a lot of work that people do including mine; I think this is vital as most
people produce work for the audience so the audience needs to feel attracted to
the image.

To organise a scene is very difficult it requires a lot attention
to detail. I think it is a lot easier for a painter to come with a nice
compositional art; however I think if an artist goes to photograph something
then it would be a lot more challenging for him to get the right the scene, as he
would need to go out and search for he’s desired scene. But I think a painter
can just put down on paper on how he wants he’s final image to be laid out. I think
natural composition is usually the best lay out for forests and jungles, with a
few minor placements of your own.

For artists the composition for any scene requires planning, an
artist needs to plan where he would put objects to make a believe atmosphere.
There needs to be countless amounts conceptualising to get the right
composition, only then can someone come up with an interesting scene. R. Berdan
also says “Improving our visual sensitivity requires
quieting our minds, relaxing, and preparing by learning as much as we can about
our preferred subjects”, this is also something that needs to be taken in
consideration. In my experience I have found that I cannot work when there are
loud noises. For instance if I am drawing I need to be alone with only my
sketchbook and pencil.

Learning about something before we start to interact with it
is also an interesting fact, as this allows us to better understand what we are
about to tackle. When we see a scene that is interesting we need to isolate
everything that is not necessary and focus on the important visual elements.

People should study intensely on composition; this would make the
artists think a lot more when they are producing a sketch and also in turn come
up with a final outcome.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_(visual_arts)

http://photoinf.com/General/Robert_Berdan/Composition_and_the_Elements_of_Visual_Design.htm

http://goshen.edu/art/ed/Compose.htm