Development: Pipeline #1

For my pipeline production project I'm going to make a few 3D assets to populate a small 20s inspired scene.

Therefore I started to make the first asset which is a crystal ashtray.

I started out with a simple cylinder I cut in quarters. I modelled one quarter and then mirrored the geometry on the other axis.

I applied a simple blinn material which I set up to replicate glass/crystal.

Carees and Portfolios

Careers I would like to look into are Environment Artist, Character Artist and Animator.
For the development project we are doing for the next 3 weeks I'm positioning myself as a environment artist.
I'm going to populate a small scene on a side table inspired by the 1920s.
It will include an ashtray, a cigarette holder and a drinking glass of some sort.
All assets will go through the pipeline process which includes: low poly model, high poly model, uv mapping, texturing, lighting and rendering.
I want to have a full HD render at the end of the project displaying all the assets it their best way.

Useful article about pipeline production
http://blog.digitaltutors.com/understanding-a-3d-production-pipeline-learning-the-basics/


I also had a look into several professional portfolios on art station.

Seth Thompson (my absolute favourite 3D artist to date)
https://www.artstation.com/artist/seththompson

Renaud Galand
https://www.artstation.com/artist/renaudgaland

Bibliography

Cameron Moore, (2016). 'Making Moral Choices in Video Games'   [online] Available at: http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/130954.pdf [Accessed 18 Nov. 2016].

This text is about the experience of good and evil in video games. It will help with the complex storytelling of games and how we choose a path. It also has a look on eucatastrophes and how they can change the view on events, choices and characters.

City, University of London. (2016). Video games can improve decision-making. [online] Available at: http://www.city.ac.uk/news/2016/march/video-games-improve-decision-making [Accessed 18 Nov. 2016].

It introduces a study on how making choices in video games change our behaviour in making real life decisions. How not we change but how we think about decisions and their influences.

Gamasutra.com. (2016). The Designer's Notebook: How Many Endings Does a Game Need? [online] Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2179/the_designers_notebook_how_many_.php [Accessed 18 Nov. 2016].

Talking about how many storylines and endings there should be to have enough choices. Also how to differ challenges and choices and what it means to the play experience. How to challenge players on a level they’re not overwhelmed but also not bored.

Google Books. (2016). Interactive Storytelling for Video Games. [online] Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QUrarEcvaO8C&pg=PA194&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 18 Nov. 2016].

How much choice should you give to a player and what about completely player-driven stories? How do we keep our morals if all decisions are upon us.

MacGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken. 1st ed. London: Jonathan Cape.

Chapter 'Fun Failure and Odds of Succes'

How is failing in video games different to failing in real life. Video games make us enjoy failing and try again and again and again. It has a certain level of frustration which keeps us going. But how does that frustration change our ability to make choices inside the game and does it transfer into the real world?

Nowloading.co. (2016). Why Do You Make Certain Choices In Video Games?. [online] Available at: https://nowloading.co/p/video-games-choices/4082794 [Accessed 18 Nov. 2016].

Parker, L. (2016). Black or White: Making Moral Choices in Video Games. [online] GameSpot. Available at: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/black-or-white-making-moral-choices-in-video-games/1100-6240211/ [Accessed 18 Nov. 2016].

Wps.prenhall.com. (2016). Fundamentals of Game Design (Adams/Rollings). [online] Available at: http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_gamedev_1/54/14050/3596994.cw/index.html [Accessed 18 Nov. 2016].

Tertiary resources like blogs, forums etc.

http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-9137/the-witcher-3-can-there-be-too-much-moral-dilemmas-1774489/

How to write an essay?

https://www.internationalstudent.com/essay_writing/essay_tips/

http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/writingguides/1.01%20Essays.htm

Character and Weapon

I designed the character and the story around her last semester at my home university HSRM.
The character model is inspired by Tim Burton's unique characters from his stop motion films, the 3D animated scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
I'm extremly proud of the hands. They weren't to easy to model and they turned out exactly how I imagined them. As last semester the focus was on hand motions I really put in the time.
Her head was remodeled a few times be cause I wasn't happy with her expression and looks.
After the 4th attemped I'm now quite happy with her. The only thing she misses now is a face rig for expressions. I very likely need to re-rig her completly anyway cause I made a few mistakes and experienced some issues while moving her.
I kept her and the weapon low poly, while smoothing her in Maya the weapon keeps it's hard edges.
The weapon was modeled in about 45mins and is still missing a chain, which is crutial for it's use as a weapon in game. So far it will not be implemented into my game as a weapon in a fight situation, it will just deal as a light source through out the prototype phase.

Seminar Task 3

Already the title 'Video Games are better without Characters' is such a bold statement from Ian Bogost it leaves me startled.
I played awesome, good and horrible characters in video games but it never made me wish to not play as a character. Characters, for me, give me the opportunity to become someone else, to have unreal powers, speak in another language or live in another century. So why should anyone have a problem with playing a character?
Progressing into the first paragraph makes it clear. It's not that characters themselves are a bad thing. It's more that they tie you to a certain thing. Bogost lists a few games and makes a point: we mostly play muscly, male characters with a grudge. It's the diversity he misses. The possibility to choose or change the character to the players liking. He likes the anonymity of Sim City and the aspect that the gameplay's focus is on the whole thing itself, and not depending on one character. If your economy is shit, something else will be working. The game will not be over cause one thing fails.
If you fail in Assassin's Creed, it's over. Start again. It all depends on your success as the character, no one else, no back up system.  Sim City enables you to explore systems without being one on one with reality. It allows you to fail in some areas with out starting over again. It can be fixed later on.
Another problem Bogost mentions is the character diversity in regards to players. He wants more minoritys represented, to give players more options and not to underestimate minor groups like female gamers. So if we have to produce games at all we should cherish our players and focus on the representation of the indivual rather than just the system an circumstances of the game itself.