Summer Project

Intro

Starting off with the summer, we had been handed a summer brief to complete. The project itself was to do with character concept and coming up with different designs for a specific character. The character itself had to be revolved around an apocalyptic period. We could create the initial story behind why the world was upon chaos but it had to be something not supernatural, something that would or could possible happen with an explanation.

In groups we discussed possible ideas such as a nuclear explosion, meteor, nature turning against us and the sun becoming too hot. Within these ideas we had to keep the aspect of that the character that we was designing would not know what is happening straight away, they would be guessing and initially that creates the whole story.

I personally wanted something just simple and I kept with the idea of it being a nuclear reaction. I had many ideas raging from that there was only older people left in the word, ages ranging from 40-65, with the odd younger one out there. This idea I thought had the feeling that the world was coming to an end, that life was ending and that gave fear to the character yet they yearn to stay alive. 

A majority of the world would be in ruins, with the odd base set up by bandits. Of course there would be little groups that would stick together, relying on each other to scavenge food and resources for the group. Within the group there would be set roles and people would have to abide and follow the rules for the group to stay alive. Also considering about the disadvantages and how it would really affect people, since what we all knew once was just wasting away; it would send anyone a little crazy right? This made a big impact on how I would want my character design to look since I had to consider all the possibilities he has been through up till that point. Such as if someone close to him had died, how would that affect the way he looked? I wanted to show emotion and I also decided to create an older character to give that feeling.

I had a number of ideas straight away and I was struggling between two. I was creating a male concept but I wasn’t sure about the age. I wanted to create a younger version and an older version, to signify that he lived his years, that he had been through a lot and managed to survive the apocalypse. I wanted to create an older version because I wanted to show more character, the pain he has been through and the audience question what he has been through.

With my ideas increasing I decided to create a moodboard so I could group up my ideas and references into one places. Looking for pictures on objects that would be used in that situation, I looked up water bottles, boots and a backpack design. Also while looking at references I kept in mind the kind of character I wanted to create, him being young or old I had to keep in consideration that younger the character the more that person could carry.

After a while I found a few pictures to help me and that I could look back on to keep me on track. 

 

Finishing Up!

Coming to the end.

Once finishing parts off I had to go over stuff in more detail. I used triggers for multiple objects such as, in one part of the map I created a vent so players could access different areas and get different objects. To do this I had to create ladders so I had to make sure there was a ladder volume and that the wall I wanted to climb was climbable. I also had triggers to the doors I wanted to open. Although the most difficult part to figure out was the lift, plus it was also hard to really do on my laptop since the lag was unbelievable. At first I created a simple trigger that would make the lift go up and down when the player walked into it. I created to movement tracks so that when you walked into it upstairs it would come to you and return to the bottom.

After messing around with it a lot I just couldn't get it. The lag created a big problem and nearly gave up with it since I couldn't really do much. Instead I decided to go with a different idea and use abject as the usable trigger. Putting one at the bottom and putting one at the top it was easier enough to do it this way. Once messing about and getting things right I tried to test it out and It still wasn't working. I continued to mess around with it, adjusting time frames and how long the lift would pause before continuing the path of its course. Again I tested it and finally got it right!

It was the most frustrating part because I had to make use of the lag and then trying to figure out how both the upstairs and downstairs would work with each other.

All in all I finally finished my level and was glad It was over. I normally enjoy making objects and designing them but towards the end it began to be unbelievably frustrating for me. Either way here are a few screen shots of my final level design.

Building in UDK

Getting busy!

I made sure it was big enough to be a multiplayer map but was do able in the time frame we was given. At first my idea was to have two floors, the second floor was accessible by stairs since I wanted a quick and easy way to use. I started creating the add-on from the bottom floor, a room that would be a staircase. Once I started this I realised that I just didn't like how things were going. I messed about with it a few more times but I just couldn't get it how I wanted. I then took a step back and revised my plan. I came up with a few ideas that revolved around using a lift instead. I wanted to make sure that, since it was a multiplayer game that it had a continues flow of gameplay. So having a lift I created a somewhat like shaft next to it. at the lower level it had plants so it was designed to fit in well. On the upper level It was just a place where you could drop down and maybe get the advantage point on the other players.

After knowing that I had a accessible way to the second floor, I started to block out the shape with the brush tool. This was a little time consuming but it gave me the opportunity to make precise objects. The upper level didn't really take that long to make. I done the walls first on one side so I knew the boundaries that I had to work with. I then created different rooms, with downstairs being the main lab and work stations. I wanted the upstairs to hold a different manor and feeling. I created a lower part into the floor, this would be a place where people could sit. I guess the upstairs was more of a lounge area, although it had labs also in the corners.

I ran into a few problems at this point, making sure everything aligned and was precise. I forgot that our school college doesn't use UDK 2013 and I downloaded that one on my laptop. I saved over my original file and once I got to college couldn't load it. I had to get my laptop and continue my work from there. Of course the more objects I added it created a huge sense of lag with my laptop so trying to do work on there was such a pain. After I finished the upstairs I had to finish the lights and make the lift work.

 

Games Development Project 5

Project: Level Design

This was our final project for the year and we found that we had to create a Sci-Fi level in UDK that was revolved around the multiplayer aspect. As always I tend to generate ideas in my head and have plans set out. I wanted to create a two level design that was generated from my idea that I used last year.

I started off looking for initial designs and ideas to create a mood board. I looked for a while, taking in ideas from other people’s levels and how they went about it. I also kept in mind in what I wanted to create, such as lifts and moving doors. I had to make sure I could accomplish this and not set myself up for something that I could not achieve.  Giving me a starting base from my level that I did before, I was able to add an extension and create another level. I looked at stares and lifts, since I was creating a upper level, I had to do some research of how I wanted my rooms and how, since it is a two player map, I was going to accomplish that feeling.

I created a mood board so I had ideas to base my level off and always had something to look back on. I went with different designs, but they all had that same feel. I like the abandoned feeling so I kept it simple and went with the idea of a sci-fi lab.

I drew out rough ideas to give myself a sketch in my head on what I wanted it to look like. I created a floor plan and panned out how and where objects would be, such as walls and stairs. At first I done a plan that wasn't very detailed and then I went over it in more detail and defined where stuff

would be.