My MS2 documents are now available.
I’ve been working on a few props lately to try out some texturing techniques and explore workflows for the Unreal Tournament 3 Editor. The normal maps for these were created mostly in the “traditional” way using photoshop (though some details were transfered from high poly models). I was able to look into some procedures that were new to me, like how to combine normal map layers properly and how to strengthen depth illusion without loosing detail.
I imported them into UT3Ed, a process that went relatively well although some problems arose. There were some difficulties converting to the right format, and when I did I seemed to loose some edge normal information. But on the whole, I quite like the editor so far (although, admittedly, I’ve yet only scratched the surface). These screenshots are from Maya viewport (I’ll try to get some in-engine screens up as well once I’ve ironed out the problems). 2512 tris for the three objects combined. The horse cart currently uses 2048 maps and the barrel and bucket share 1024s. I might reduce them by half later (I find it generally better to work in a higher resolution and then reduce than to start working at a small res).
Nils
I have finished modeling and baked normal maps for my \”test\” character. It is based on an idea for a character I\’ve had for some time (in other words it\’s not directly related to the theme of my project). It was a valuable experience that will definitely help me when I start working on the character for my scene. I will be able to steer clear of some problems that I might have otherwise encountered and I have got a better idea about which workflow suits me best. I will go into more detail about the process of making this model and what I learned from it later in the research document. Here are some Maya screengrabs:
Nils
Opinions were voiced in connection with my Milestone 1 presentation that the name I have chosen for my project might be misleading. I have decided to change the name in accordance to these suggestions. The official name of my project is now simply Game Graphics! I’m terribly sorry for any inconvenience this sudden (albeit slight) name change may cause.
I have also fixed the areas in my documentation that were lacking according to the MS1 review. The new documents can be found here:
Project Plan 1.1
Research Document 1.1
I hope my delivery is satisfactory so I can move on with the project!
Nils
My Project Plan and Research Document are now available. The Time Plan can be found at page 9 of the Project Plan. I hope to be able to get some sketches up soon as well.
Nils
The time devoted to the project these last few weeks has been spent writing the project and time plans, performing some research, looking for visual inspiration and doing some (rudimentary) sketches. I will add the finished documents, as well as some of the skeches, shortly.
I am also fairly certain I have settled for a theme. It was not an easy decision as I had lots of different ideas that I liked flowing through my head. In the end I went for a historical setting. More precisely my scene will “take place” in the remains of a german town pillaged by swedes during the Thirty Years War. There are several reasons I chose this setting. First of all I think it’s a relatively unexploited (even unknown) historical period — as opposed to, for instance, the Second World War or medieval Europe. For me this makes it more interesting to work with. Secondly, seing as how it is set just before the use of military uniforms became widesread, it allows some freedom in terms of clothing style (that being said I still intend to keep it reasonably historically accurate). Choosing a historical setting over fantasy or science fiction also has the inherent advantage of having to do less concept art work. While I do not generally mind sketching and drawing — in fact I rather enjoy it — I don’t consider it a focal point of this project and I know from experience that it is easy to get bogged down in complicated designs.
The main character will probably be a rather unpleasant captain, in a game he would be your enemy. He will wear fairly typical early/mid 17th century clothes, with some curious details and several weapons. As for the scene itself, I’m thinking in terms of a small cobblestone street or backalley with partly destroyed building walls and various props like barrels, horse carts and wine bottles.
More to come soon!
Nils