30.11.09: Sketchup Progress

I have started to refine the windows and animations; trying to make the fly through the map less bumpy.

29.11.09: Interiors Video

I have tried another, more jumpy, animation showing the environment from a closer perspective; moving through the few interior spaces I have built so far.

29.11.09: Video!!

First video from the sketchup map! I wondered if it would be easy to create a video file of the animations and its just a couple of clicks. I have finished quite a smooth fly through the area which has developed slightly from the last post and starting to take shape!

28.11.09: Sketchup Colour

In just a couple of days, I'm catching up with my progress on the Unreal version of Stokesay. I have experimented with some basic stock textures and the lighting and fog settings to bring the structures to life. I really like the drawn style of the programme which should suit the rest of the content i submit much more than UT3.

27.11.09: Sketchup

I had been working on some more drawings for the equipment screen part of the project, looking at lighting and shading, and thought I could give Sketchup a go. I was amazed at how undemanding the program is on your system, making tabbing between multiple windows of reference images and sketches less likely to crash something! After 6 hours in Sketchup I'm absolutely in love with it. The controls are really intuitive to me - a mixture between Unreal Ed, Flash and Photoshop and the visual results are what I want from my 3D work. I think I will leave my BSP work in UT3 where it is and convert over to here as it would be a far more appropriate program to master over the next year for this concept style work which I am orientating towards. You can very quickly visualise shapes and environments here, while Unreal is an environment for dedicated level design. Despite some anti-aliasing issues and the need for images on each face, I'm really happy with how the map looks in this program, with the built-in and instantaneous video system being a massive bonus. The Matinee video recording within Unreal was a real chore while here, in seconds you can have a fly through working which can be easily updated. Working in Sketchup still shows I can think in 3D, which is all I wanted with Unreal Editor, and I think this could be a far more valuable program to understand.

21.11.09: World Map

I accumulated a massive amount of writing and research over the summer for accurate characters, events and weaponry, and after a tutorial with Jay, he suggested I looked into professional design documents online for a structure. Supreme Commander's Chris Taylor has a full downloadable template with every conceivable part of the design process documented (the list of contents alone is three pages!). I have now started tidying up and structuring the thousands of words, tables and images into relevant sections; building up a design document even at this early stage. I'm so glad I did this ground work over the summer, as it has saved me a huge amount of time now and has informed a large number of my design decisions.
I have also been developing the world map for the game, now having a rough sketch for each of the 20 tiles and four of them coloured in photoshop. I have experimented, using techniques introduced by Gareth, with creating a hand drawn and worn effect, while it may be altered throughout the course of the year. I am also working on several images for the legend of the map such as bridges and forts, making them approprite and to create unity across all of the tiles.

14.11.09: Concept Sketches

Further sessions with Gareth have been really inspiration and as I'm from an artistic background (from GCSE to A level and then a Higher Education Foundation Art course) I really want to develop my drawing and Photoshop skills. Working in sketchbooks can be a great way to see someones thought and development processes and I now have 15 to 20 pages of concept sketches and structural designs for location object and character designs. My interests in the industry have moved away from level design at the end of last year and towards concept work. On previous courses and with the group projects over the past two years, I have enjoyed the challenge of having to come up with a number of varied concepts, being passionate about each one but also being prepared to drop them and move with the group decision. Its a challenging process but really tests your creativity and produces an interesting range of work. I therefore want to focus this year on my conceptual work and less so on 3D as we haven't looked at design programs such as 3D Studio Max and I would rather focus my time developing the skills I have, than learning too many major new ones.
That said, Gareth introduced us to Sketchup last week; a free downloadable 3D program which isn't resource heavy but is a really easy and effective way to construct and animate ideas. I am even considering leaving Unreal Ed and moving to this as I think it would be a more appropriate medium for a concept artist to work in than a full game engine.

24.10.09 - 06.11.09: Concept Art and Sculpture

Following a really positive meeting with Gareth, the 3D tutor, I have been inspired to work on the drawings and visual content for the game. As my most successful work in the past in school and college has been artistic, I think it would make sense to progress those skills this year as much as I can as they are widely transferable.
So far I have 16 pages of sketchbook drawings and with some invaluable photoshop hints from Gareth in an hour and a half session with just me and john I should be able to develop them nicely.
I have also begun experimenting with miniature sculpture. Ive always liked Warhammer model making and they sell high quality sculpting equipment which I have used to create a couple of Marquettes for reference. I think it could help with the drawing, having a 3D shape to work from for lighting and such while also showing another unusual skill.

13.10.2009 - 23.10.09: Proposal Presentation

My time has been focused on completing the proposal document and preparing for the presentation.
I have been refining a power point I developed earlier which covers the key concepts of the game. Following the actual presentations, we were told that few if any of us really presented what was wanted. I think we all felt that our projects needed introducing as we didn't know what each other was working on, while a more structured presentation of the proposal document may have been wanted. Maybe if we had done a very brief presentation in week one, it would have allowed us to share our concepts and then work on something more formal later.

I think the document is coming together, with a few visuals from the prototypes and planning; my time spent over the summer really paying off.
Having to structure a work schedule for each month has been really useful as I now have a rough plan of what I will need to complete each month to get what I have set out completed. The workload looks pretty light per month, especially after Christmas when the client work is over, and I'm confident the project will be larger than I anticipated.