Modular Design
What I've learned about modular design is that you divide meshes up into different parts so that it saves space and the different shapes can be used repeatedly without the creator having to put time into making another identical mesh to be placed in a different position. So, for example, a Call of Duty map - one of the maps may include a house, but that house may not have been imported into the scene as is. Instead, the designers may have created different parts of the house like the walls, doors, and floors, and imported those parts into the scene where it would then be constructed to form said house. This method of creating scenes is efficient, less time consuming, and is easier on your hardware/software.
Artifacts
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In the process of rendering each of these models, I realized that with the more faces and edges, as well as the increased amount of polygons you have, the engine gets slower. In addition to this, the designer has to UV map/assign specific coordinates to the (seamless) material in a way that prevents any stretched parts in the material as well as having the material placed on a certain part of the mesh.
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Reflection
Creating a video game is something that typically requires large teams with varying skill sets. The producer will generally be the one making sure that deadlines are met, and that each role is on task; they manage the production of the game. The artists have many roles such as concept art, asset design, and the animators. They contribute to the visual appeal of the game to the directors/producers and the target audience.
The engineers are a big part of the game's appearance as well as they are typically involved in the graphics as well as the coding for the game. Then, the writers are the people that provide the storyline as well as the script for the game which is important in getting the viewer or audience to understand what is going on in the game, what it's all about, and the steps that they have to take throughout the game.
My role in the team was to be the writer as well as the general artist. I was responsible for creating and introducing the story for our game, the character's backstory, the how-to-play, and the writing portion of the Game Design Document (GDD). In addition to that, I was responsible for the character design, concept art, and some of the general artwork for the game such as what the level would look like, and what the house in our game would look like.
The engineers are a big part of the game's appearance as well as they are typically involved in the graphics as well as the coding for the game. Then, the writers are the people that provide the storyline as well as the script for the game which is important in getting the viewer or audience to understand what is going on in the game, what it's all about, and the steps that they have to take throughout the game.
My role in the team was to be the writer as well as the general artist. I was responsible for creating and introducing the story for our game, the character's backstory, the how-to-play, and the writing portion of the Game Design Document (GDD). In addition to that, I was responsible for the character design, concept art, and some of the general artwork for the game such as what the level would look like, and what the house in our game would look like.
Pre-Production
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A big part of pre-production is creating an understandable and appealing UI. This is the user interface and how the player interacts with the game. Having a UI that is clear, uncluttered, and understandable keeps the player engaged, especially if it incorporates the sense of flow. When a player experiences flow, they feel that they are excelling at about the same rate as they are being more challenged. This balance in game also contributes to having the player stay engaged.
Pre-production is also very important in terms of making sure your game has a clear theme are topic. You want to make sure that the GDD is detailed so that the artist and all other contributers to the game are aware of the story as well as the feel of the game. The feel as well as the rough sketches are very important for the artist and level designers because it helps them understand what the aesthetic of the game is and what it's going for. Giving the player the illusion of being able to make a choice in the game that could affect the outcome is called convexity. Having convexity is important for the player to want to ultimately come to an outcome. |
Production
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We had a lot of issues with working with Unreal Engine such as lack of storage/disk space. But it was a very easy tool for game creation. Assets were able to be added to any of your unreal engine products in a very easy way, and the editor was very easy to understand. With creating the landscape, there was a tool specifically for that in the editor, and if there wasn't a landscape that was already created, unreal offers to create one for you. It was very efficient and quick to create a simple landscape with foliage that would collapse into a single layer which saved a lot of space.
I found the coding to be incredibly more straightforward than 3ds max where you'd have to type in individual lines of code and constantly have to check for errors or typos. In Unreal Engine, instead of lines of code, you had coding building blocks that compressed very elaborate codes. Animating assets was overall the hardest part for me. I was easily confused about having to go into the blocks of code and recode things to make them perform a certain way. There were a lot of parts that I felt had to be put into animation and had to be placed in a certain position or else it would simply not work at all. |
Team Reflection
My role in my team was the concept artist as well as the writer for our game. The role of the artist is to create the graphical and physical appearance of assets in our game and work with the designer to ensure the feel of our game matches and corresponds with our artwork. I also took on the role of the writer who is responsible for creating the storyline, contributing to the official game website, and making sure to communicate the vision of our game in a flow chart that carried our players through our game.
As the writer, I created the GDD that consisted of the player's backstory which predates the events in which the player starts the game, the game's overall story with the theme and topic of our game and why we chose it, the how-to-play sequence, and the game's flow in a chart that carried our players through our game.
As the artist, I designed the rough sketches, concept art, and character and monster for our game, I designed part of the game environment that consisted of a house and a temperate forest. Since the feel of our game is dark and mysterious, I designed a forest to help create more of that mood.
As the writer, I created the GDD that consisted of the player's backstory which predates the events in which the player starts the game, the game's overall story with the theme and topic of our game and why we chose it, the how-to-play sequence, and the game's flow in a chart that carried our players through our game.
As the artist, I designed the rough sketches, concept art, and character and monster for our game, I designed part of the game environment that consisted of a house and a temperate forest. Since the feel of our game is dark and mysterious, I designed a forest to help create more of that mood.