GA221: Set Dressing Update

Just wanted to make a quick post on how my set dressing is going. So far extremely slowly. I had to spend most of the day doing some unplanned re-optimizing so that ate a chunk out of my time. I did however get my bridge and some rocks in and I played around with some other configurations. I'm hoping tomorrow will be more successful.   

Status Update!

So today I decided to optimize my UDK packages to get the most out of as little space as I could. We're suppose to have a 50,000 kB package but mine turned out to be around 290,000 kB. To get this down I basicly had to reduce the file size of all my texture (and I have a lot of textures) so they would take up less space. I also combined my textures with their respective specualar maps by putting the speculars in the textures alpha channels and saving it as a targa file. The whole process was extremely repetitive but it gave me a lot of new space for my package. Anyways thats mostly what I worked on today. I played around with some set dressing but not enough to post a picture on here. I'll be posting my progress on that this coming week over the thanksgiving break.  

GA 221: Temple Kit!

A little update on my latest modeling project. All these temples where made from a modular kit I made in Maya. That kit consists of a wall, side trim, stairs, a stair wall, a floor mesh, and one texture (colored differently three times). Now these temple are suppose to only be seen from a fair distance so I didn't need a tone of detail on them. And some of my other classmates are working on iconography that can be placed on these guys. 

This next week I'll get to start set dressing my level for class. Can't wait!

Cult Clash!

First off if you would like to check out a downloadable PDF version of my game click HERE!

So over the course of a month I've been working on a board game that could theoretically be downloaded off the internet and be played in every home. This is what you would call the print and play board game. When I began to conceptualize what sort of game I wanted to make it didn't take very long for me to decide on creating a strategy war game. I find these types of games extremely interesting and challenging. The idea for the game play was inspired by D&D 4e and Magic the Gathering. Both games I really really enjoy.

As for the games theme I originally wanted to try making a military shooter like board game. However that theme never really clicked all that well for me. It wasn't until half way through working on the project that I decided to go in a fantastical direction with my theme. This is where the idea of Cult Clash really started to come together. This past year I've really started to take a liking to Lovecraftian lore and stories. So it was decided that my game would be about crazed Lovecraftian cults sacrificing each other to ancient gods. Sounds like a real family friendly idea!

Because I had so many different game pieces I decided it was best for me to keep my design fairly simple. So I opted to just use simple shapes when designing the look of everything. Honestly I broke that rule in a few places and used some fancy texture but I think the design comes together really well.

Close up view of the game in action!

A true gentalman's game.

The hardest part about this project for me was writing and balancing the rules of the game. The second hardest was keeping myself from continuously adding new game mechanics. 

It was also hard keeping myself from having to much fun making my games box.

The game box took much longer to construct than I had originally anticipated. On top of that I had the idea at the last possible moment and decided to act on it. I don't recommend acting on these impulses in the future as they tend to cause lack of sleep. 

I made the box out of an old leather jacket I got from Good Will for ten dollars. I cut it up and used the scrapes to wrap two small illustration boards. Then I glued these "book covers" to the box and added a few extra decorations. Then I aged some old printer paper with coffee and glued them to the side of the box. The project to an entire night, but it was worth it in the end. 

What I've learned from this experience is that it's best to try (if you can help it) to make your work load manageable for yourself and not over scope on a project. Because I tried adding so much to the game I didn't really have time to polish everything in the final product as much as I would have wanted to. 

So from now on I'm going to try and make sure I keep my head out of the clouds and focus on what's most important for my projects, or else I'll never sleep again.

GA227: Cult Clash Game Board

This is my game board for my print and play game Cult Clash. You take on the role of three mages belonging to one of four cult factions of the game. Your objective is to eliminate the other players mages before they do your's by casting spells and combining your mages attacks together. My inspiration for the gameplay came from D&D 4th edition and Magic the Gathering. However I'm trying to place a higher emphasis on using the environment to your advantage.

GA221: Temple Block-Out Ideas

The last prop I'll be working on is a modular temple kit for my classes Aztec Dinosaur level project. I'm working on this with one of my fellow class mates so it's going to look pretty awesome. Heres a quick look at two basic shapes for the temple in Maya.

There isn't any stairs or ornementation yet, but I really like shapes. Right now I'm thinking about working with the one on the left. I'll consult my partner on these next time we meet.

GA221: Cliff Faces

Here's a quick look at my medium difficulty prop model. I was tasked with making rocks and rock cliff faces. Looks like it cam out pretty well. still need to finish making smaller rocks to compliment it.

I made this by taking a texture and placing it on a flat plane. From there I extruded and modeled the plane along the cracks in the texture to give it a more 3D look.