31.12.09: Sourced Map

As I said the other day, I think drawing the map from scratch would be unnecessary; not gaining me more marks, requiring a massive amount of time and still looking quite crude. I have therefore started working in Photoshop with the maps I found of Oxfordshire throughout the history of Ordnance Survey.
This is a smaller version of a high quality jpeg which I could easily import and manipulate in Flash; layering an interface and user controls.

30.12.09: Expert Advice

As the area I live in is one of the key locations of the Civil War, a number of publications have been written on the subject by local historians. I took the opportunity to talk to one such expert about the historical events and specific questions related to my project development. The discussion was fantastic and I generated 4 pages of notes as well as photographs of a number of coins and medals he had from the Civil War. He has also offered to give an opinion of some of my writing such as the timeline events and storyline missions and the feedback should be invaluable.
I have experimented with some of the photographs in Photoshop to make the most of the powerful and relevant imagery of the coins and medals.

26.12.09: Festive Progress

Been a while since the last post due to the Client Brief needing prioritising as its due in in a fortnight and just from taking a break!
However, I have still made some progress on the Sketchup map with refining the important details on the South Tower. The crenelations and small turret make it much less of a box and the whole environment more lifelike. Thinking about games design as well as simply recreating a location, I have converted the turret from a flag tower into a sniper spot; creating a tactical location within the game.
I have also got three new books and a DVD on the Civil War which are full of really excellent research material. I have been drawing from the photographs and historical and contemporary artwork as well as updating the design documentation with some new information.
While I make a point of creating my own material from scratch, I am considering adapting sourced images of maps for the project as the 20 hours to make them might not be appreciated in the marking and so not make enough of a difference. As the internet is pretty poor for finding useful Civil War imagery, I think there's sill a bit of kudos in researching from books and film.

10.12.09 - Video Development

By adjusting the video settings in Sketchup I have got an avi file which could import straight into Flash at my desired resolution and frame rate. I decided 800x600 pixels is most suitable for web, especially with the smaller laptop screens with the additional loss of space from browser toolbars. 30 frames per second also allows for a beautifully smooth run through and this experiment has shown me how well the process should work.
While I will need to texture and complete the map, then redo the animations, I will create smooth and interesting transitions along the routes the user will be able to move. A great idea by Gareth while discussing the semi-documentary stile I want to create, was to make big 3D arrows showing paths through the map. Different colours could be used to denote different units' movements or paths the player could take.
I shall now begin to develop objects to clutter up the environment and add realistic detail.

02.12.09: Stokesay Development

We're into December now and I think the project is going OK. All of the sections are under way, with each one taking about as much time as I had hoped. I'm really considering focusing on Sketchup as I could create animated visuals of numerous locations and items relatively quickly.
The Stokesay map is progressing well and has now overtaken the UT3 version in just half the time. I still don't feel bad about the sacrifice on visual quality as I think its better to be able to see the entire map more clearly as they were intended to be informative. I also think its a lot more stylised than Unreal, which without extensive time simply looks like a UT3 mod rather than an original concept.
I have been focusing on developing the interiors as well as the video. There are now 12 unique and detailed windows on the South Tower, with the 3 separate levels cut out. The two buttresses on the tower are also now in place, making it appear much less boxy and I have cut out a rough shape for the large underground armoury; tying in the ideas developed in Gareth's project.