Unit 71, Callum's work

You are an apprenticeship games designer working for a small games developer in the east midlands.
Your manager what’s you to create a 3D gaming using the new Unreal 4 Engine :-

This is a game that has 3 areas which are interconnected. Two of the rooms are to explore and the 3rd room contains the zombies (bots).

The first area is the largest and is set in an outside environment with landscaping and grass and some water features.

The Second room is a cave (or house / hut) in the landscaped environment. This is a fairly large area the player needs to explore and maybe find stuff.

The third room is access via a door in this cave or house and has zombies in their which will attack the player on sight.


https://youtu.be/nlw3KvYimlE

Overall I don't think my game is that bad, however the health and death of both the zombies and the player which I couldn't get to work, and the weapon changing which I also couldn't do means that the game still isn't properly done. The map overall is bland, with the houses all being the exact same, and the textures aren't that great. However the animation works, the player can shoot, and the zombies chase after you.... even though they are trapped in their spawn room.

Unit 66 P2..... apparently

Client brief:

Imagine you are a refugee escaped from a city and headed into remote highlands. The zombies are everywhere and you want to get away from the city and the zombie hordes.

That's the game in essence.

Plan for :-

A game that has 3 areas which are interconnected. Two of the rooms are to explore and the 3^rd room contains the zombies (bots).

The first area is the largest and is set in an outside environment with landscaping and grass and some water features.

The Second room is a cave (or house / hut) in the landscaped environment. This is a fairly large area the player needs to explore and maybe find stuff.

The third room is access via a door in this cave or house and  has zombies in their which will will attack the player on sight.

Plan what you think you need for this type of game.

My Brief:

Story:

Going through an abandoned town, ending up at _____ Where the player finds weapons and alerts the Zombies, which then flood out into the abandoned town, now you the player must escape.

People:

Zac Argo

Callum Martin

Elliot White

Modeller: Callum Martin

Texture: Callum Martin

Scripting: Elliott White

Documentation: All

Terrain: Zac Argo

Sounds: Zac Argo

Lighting: Elliott White

Ideas:

Set in America?

Around 2015?

Open ended “DOOM” style map? Similar Gameplay?

Blood effects?

Target audience is an 18!   

Models:

Guns – Pistol, Shotgun, Assault rifle

Character model – Both male and female

Maps – Town, Facility, Fields.

Callum - Making models for the characters, both male and female, and texturing appropriate, this will involve going into Maya and creating two models from scratch. I might also make a few buildings for the map in the Unreal engine and import them into the map later. With texturing I imagine I would use photoshop to create it, and then import into Maya when the model is done.

Elliott - making the blueprint/scripting for all the game mechanics. E.G. movement, physics and player interaction. I will also create the lighting for the maps, making sure to keep the tone of the game in mind.

Zac - I will be making the terrain for the games, making maps and texturing the world, making sure to include a water feature to adhere to the brief we were given. I will also be finding and making sounds for the game, through a combination of recording my own sounds, to editing and mixing sounds downloaded online for things like gunshots. Though being weary of copyright law when getting the sounds, means that if I do download them, they will be from a sound effects gallery where I can use it for free.

My Animation work

This is a video of my finished walk animation, If this doesnt work, watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zpeYtTUDMg&feature=youtu.be

Unit 66 & 67: 3D Modeling and Animation

Assignment 1:
Creating a 3D Model and Animation for a Computer Game

Rigging the Maya Model

Rigging is done by using the joint tool. You start off by placing your first joint, this joint will then be connected to all other joints in one long chain, using the “connect joint tool” in Maya. The first joint is the parent, with each other joint being anchored by that joint, in my model, the parent joint is in the neck, if I was to move or rotate that joint the whole skeleton would move. Knowing this, you create a new joint going down a hierarchy where ear real world joint is, if you move the shoulder, the arm moves, if you move the knee, the lower leg and foot moves etc.

Once the joints are roughly where you want them to be, you can go in one by one, and hold the “d” key to move independently of the skeleton. You can make the whole process easier by only doing the torso, arms and legs, then mirroring the joints using the “mirror joint tool”, creating the skeleton completely symmetrical.

Animation

To start of the process of animation, first you need to click every joint that is in your Skeleton and save the state of the model, setting each start point on the 1^st frame, you do this by pressing ‘S’ on your keyboard.

We are doing the animation by using “Key frames”. For animation there are 24 frames to a second, whatever is in between those 24 frames is automatically filled in by Maya to get to the next key frame, so set the next key frame you will have to move the timeline slider up in 24 frame increments.

This is the MAYA timeline, as you set key frames, they appear on the timeline

This is the reference image I used for my walk cycle

Creating a new joint and connecting it to the arm, allowing me to move them both together

moving the leg and key framing the model every 24 frames

Key frame tool, used to create the smooth walking animation

the joint tool, used to connect and create joints

Making the hip joints, then connecting the legs

Creation of the elbow joint

Unit 66: 3D Modelling

Unit 66: 3D Modelling

Assignment 1: Understanding the theory and applications of 3D Modelling

Scenario:

As a junior games designer working for a small games developer in the East Midlands, your manager has you to explain the theory and applications of 3D Modelling, Animation and Environments using detailed illustrative examples.

Learning Outcomes Unit 66/67/68:

P1 Summarise accurately theory and applications of 3D with some appropriate use of subject terminology.

M1 Explain theory and applications of 3D with reference to detailed illustrative examples and with generally correct use of subject terminology.

D1 Comprehensively explain theory and applications of 3D with elucidated examples and consistently using subject terminology correctly.

Task 1)

Analyse 3D Models, Animations and Environments, using clear and relevant illustrative examples.

Your analysis must include Applications of 3D, Displaying 3D Polygons animations, Geometric

Theory, Mesh Construction, 3D Development Software and Constraints.

Suggestions for evidencing could be video recording, screen shots, MS Word report.

Min 500 words for Word report.   

3D model:
3D models made and animated for games are normally made using software like MAYA and 3Ds Max, After importing a reference image of both the front and side view of the thing your modelling, you would start with a primitive shape like a cube, cylinder or a sphere, that you would then create subdivisions in order to manipulate the individual vertex's to ether resize, rotate or move them to where you want.

Starting from a cylinder and making a chest

Once major parts like the torso, arms and legs of the model are done, you would use the bridge tool to connect them together, and again go through and manipulate the vertices that are out of place. Once the whole model is done, you can go through and remove unnecessary polygons in order to keep the overall polygon count down, which interns helps lower the render time, however doing so reduces quality.

Lower Poly count to Higher Poly count

Texturing is another thing that can be done in MAYA, allowing you to add textures like bark for trees, or rough textures for a wall. Editing the textures positioning can be done through the UV map, in which you can move the texture to fit the model.

A bump map is a black and white version of the texture you plan on putting on your object. MAYA uses this black and white image to add depth and texture to the look of the object even if the object is something like a flat wall. Bump mapping is used to add detail to walls and all types of different things as it is faster and easier than individually creating the bumps chips and other detailed parts of a object. This lowers the poly count and rendering time of the object because it isn't physically made it’s just texture to look like it has been made.  .   

Adds depth to the texture

Animation:
Animating can be done inside MAYA, by using joints and creating a skeleton. This will act like a real skeleton when attached to the model, allowing you to move the parts of the model. Making the actual animation involves making little adjustments to each frame. The more frames there are, the smoother the animation, however it can take up hours getting a seamless animation, if you make big adjustments, then MAYA will fill in the gaps and automatically move the pieces of the model from frame to frame, However, Increasing the number of frames increases the quality but also increases the render time. 

Example of Joints in an animation frame set

Environment:
Some game engines allow you to create the game environment internally, using primitive shapes and manipulating them in a similar way to using a program like Maya. This allows you to use something like the Unreal engine to create and texture the world, from buildings to grass.

In game screenshot

This screenshot from Tomb Raider shows a level that was most likely made outside the game engine in a program like MAYA, the game goes from frosty mountains and windy beaches, to bloody caves and dirty shantytowns. The foliage is very detailed and varied, the buildings are a mix of old Japanese and WWII. The sky-box is constantly moving and changing as you progress through the game, adding a view that's great to look at. 

Finished Torso 

Body without it's head

Hands

Finished face

Half the face

One finished leg

Audience profiling

Explain what audience profiling is and specifically in relation to your chosen game.

Make sure to cover the following:

-          Socio-economic status (economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes) - the class in which the demographic fall under, high, middle or low, depending on education, job, income etc.

-          Psychographics (personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles) - this is the specifics of an individual, what do they like, how to they feel, what’s there attitude etc.

-          Geodemographics (Location based) - where about in the world are your demographic from.

-          Gender – whether its men or women who are the main demographic. 
A game like Super princess peach or Yoshi's Island which are colourful and cute, changes to the Mario series marketed towards girls, where as something like Doom was marketed as a man's game.

-          Age – the sort of age range does it aim to reach. 
Mario is a more kid friendly game at its core, with cartoon like enemies and bright, vibrant worlds. Where as a game like Deus Ex is an adult game which focuses around police workings and conspiracy.

-          Sexual Orientation – how accessible it would be for a specific sexual orientation.

-          Regional Identity – what region the person is from. 
Something like ZombieU appealing to people from the UK as its set in the UK, where as the Battlefield games are about America in some sort of war.

-          Mainstream, alternative, niche – this is about how well known your product is, and whether it’s a big budget mainstream, or an alternative spin on something from an independent, or really specific and niche on its demographics. 
A mainstream game would be something like call of duty, or the Arkham games which appeal to a wide audience. An alternative game would be something like the Bioshock games, which gained mass critical acclaim, but wasn't massively popular on release. A niche game would be something like Limbo, a very basic independent game with well built atmosphere and story that complement the gameplay.

The last of us I think appeals more to a male audience, and only because typically survival horror as a genre is one that is mostly male, not that the game doesn't appeal to women, but I think more so for the story is what appeals to both, and the setting and gameplay is the sort of thing that is male dominant. 

Age, similarly to gender, I think appeals to a wide range of ages, although it’s an 18 rating, I think the demographic starts at like 15-16, and goes right through to 25+, because of this, I think it’s hard to find a point between in which we can find the age of most buyers, but I think it’s safe to assume that late teenagers to young adults are its main audience,  through the games use of unique body horror for the clickers, to the fact that Ellie, the 14 year old swears and comments on actions in a way that’s far more mature than what a 14 year old would say.

The game is possibly more accessible to Americans, the main character is a generic American, with a rough Texan voice, and the game is set in America and goes through Boston, Pittsburgh and Salt lake city which I don't think are places many people outside the USA know about. As for socio-economic status, I think anything from lower class class up, I don't think it appeals more to any one specific class.

I think the sort of mainstream audience who would enjoy the game more, are those with strong family values, as the central plot point is caring for Ellie, a fatherly bond is formed not just between herself and Joel, but also with the player. whilst those more niche audiences may find the story or the setting really appealing.

Reviews of the last of us

The last of us critic reviews.

Yahtzee Crowshaw, Anther zombie apocalypse. Lack of mission marker is great for exploration. Smoke bombs are useless. Massive bandit groups. Super zombie 1 hit kill attack. Super zombie is way too sensitive to the player. AI run into enemy fire and Ellie doesn't do anything during gameplay.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7638-The-Last-of-Us

Tom Chick, When Ellie is in the same spot as Joel in cover, she is instead ducking under his arm and hiding in the gap between Joel and the wall. Ending is great. A lack of gameplay identity, an ongoing setting and tone, a sense of focus that sustains it. It has an uneasy time deciding whether it’s action, stealth or a survival horror. Scavenging is implemented poorly. The zombies become oddly peripheral, and they’re way too silly. The Last of Us is as generous with its characters as it is confused with its gameplay. You’ll often see a helpful icon telling you to press the triangle button because something cute or touching is going to happen. There is no risk of failure in a game like this. Getting hit has real consequence, even if that consequence is usually having to replay the entire encounter.

http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2013/06/12/the-last-of-us-has-real-heart-but-not-much-else/

Audio-visual packed highlights; acting, unparalleled; mature huge, both in terms of gameplay and story. Sometimes just a little unclear where the exit of a region. Once in the buildings is the same. Secondly, because the number of bullets that you find is smaller than the number of times that Joel has a hint of glee.

http://gamer.nl/articles/review/the-last-of-us/

Philip Kollar, The Last of Us mines the same post-apocalyptic scenario as dozens of other games, but its approach is starkly its own. Inconsistent mechanics. Gunplay is a last resort. The aiming has a semi-realistic shakiness which, when mixed with the erratic movement of the infected, makes keeping enemies at bay a serious — and not terribly entertaining — challenge. Combat against the zombie-esque infected is especially frustrating. Not only are they faster, more aggressive and more unpredictable than human enemies, but multiple types of infected have an instant, one-hit kill if they get in melee range. Arenas full of waist-high cover where your only recourse is to kill everyone in your way. AI partners often attempt to follow you and stay behind cover nearby, but sometimes they screw up and get stuck out in the open. These moments don't result in detection by enemy AI, which is a wise concession to the stealth gameplay. But it looks ridiculous and shatters the atmosphere Naughty Dog works so hard to build. The Last of Us allows you to crawl through whole levels without needing to engage any enemies if you play it smart. The seconds that I spent waiting for enemies to walk past felt like white-knuckle, on-edge eternities. These instances left my nerves frayed, but I also felt good about progressing without forcing my young travelling companion to witness even more horrifying violence.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4396286/the-last-of-us-review

Oli Welsh, The Last of Us, a surpassingly confident and handsome survival thriller from the cinematic populists at Naughty Dog, serves the post-apocalypse straight. This melancholy twist is just one of several things that lifts The Last of Us far above its clichéd basis. The game starts slow. For the first few hours, the characters evade you to the point of seeming bland: Joel is terse and muted while Ellie, child of the apocalypse, is too blithe to convince. The Last of Us is a deeply impressive demonstration of how it can and should be done. The Last of Us is also a beacon of hope for its genre.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-28-the-last-of-us-review

In conclusion, the last of us is a great game story wise, and that’s why everyone gave it 10/10 or 100%, but during gameplay though the animations are great, the sections where the game forces you to fight are annoying, the crafting mechanics are poorly implemented, there is no consequence to death, and you will consistently get killed by a 1 hit super zombie.

Things that would need to be changed include making 100% stealth, 100% murder or a mix or both is possible, the rooms need to be big and open in terms of where you can explore, the crafting mechanics need to be more significant to survival, by ether allowing you to use scrap to mod the gun into something more deadly, adding a variation to the normal infected and add animals to the mix to spice up gameplay, make it harder for you to die, but also harder for you to kill. The 1 hit kill zombies need to go, the controls need to be ironed out and the sections where you are cinematically trapped as waves of enemy’s run at you need to go. When changing the characters and cities from the first game for the sequel, we need to keep the depth of the characters and the skilful interactions and character relationships. The cities need to be a mix of fully populated and completely desolate, the more we can create desolate mood and dark, depressing atmosphere.

These reviews are about what I expected, they are like my own idea on what makes this game good, but I defiantly wasn't as critical on gameplay. However my survey although gathered information about the story and the atmosphere, I didn't ask any questions about controls, and looking at the reviews, that’s the main problem with the game.

Survey Results

Did you play The Last Of Us? If no, why?

yes 42.86%

no 57.14% 

Only heard of it last year and i don't know anyone who has it. 

I wasn't interested in it

I didn't have enough money
didn't buy it

If you did play the game, did you play the multiplayer?

yes 42.86%

no 57.14% 

Rather than a full multiplayer, would you like the ability to have a co-op story mode? Why?

yes if it incorporated the other player.

Yes, It could add extra challenges to the story.

yes, its sounds fun

Yes. Survival would be key, obviously

Yeah, multiplayer makes most games more fun
This would be more to my liking, I'm not much of a competitive gamer as I used to.
co-op

With this co-op, would you want the player 2 to have a role in the story as well, or would you rather they play a copy of you?

story character 100%

copy of you 0%

If they had story significance, would you rather they be controlled by AI in single player, or only appear in cut scenes (kinda like Deadspace 3)?

AI controlled 71.43%

Cutscene only 28.57%

Would you be OK, if you were player 2, as playing as a female?

yes 100%

no 0%

What new mechanics, if any, would you like to see added to the sequel?

open world
RPG looting

Mechanics were great.

No idea
none

Did you feel the levels in the first game were too small?

yes 14.29%

no 85.71%

Would you be OK with weapon decay?

yes 42.86%

no 57.14%

Do you think you would like special mutants who are stronger with their own abilities (like left 4 dead)? If so, what?

no 57.14%

yes 42.86%

Animals infected by the mushroom things.
Spitters and Charger which change your game plan are very good route diverts.


Maybe next time focus a little less on the story and game elements, and ask about the price they would pay, which console they would play on. 
Rather than writing your own answers, i think there should have been more questions with drop down selection boxes and multiple choice questions.