Deadline Submission List 10/06/2013

For my final handing in i will be submitting the following pieces of work listed:

• Sketchbook development x2 - showing my development from my initial ideas and the process i have been through to come to my final submitted piece.

• Sketchbook research - supporting research that has helped me through out to develop my ideas 

• Blog - a blog i have created detailing my whole final major project from the beginning to end 

• DVD with animations - my final fly through animation and game play video with videos of my loading screens separate along as with other two animations. 

• Documentation - Including target audience, synopsis, proposal, evaluation 

Evaluation

Evaluation FMP

My final major project was my opportunity to showcase my skills in my own way for my final major project by pitching an idea at the beginning and then developing into my final piece that I will present.  At first I wanted to create a 3D environment for a game because I wanted to get a job in the industry and thought this would be the best way to showcase my skills and have work in my portfolio for whenever I go for a job interview not thinking of any narratives or what type of environment I wanted I pitched my idea by researching online at existing and what ii could do different and showing my previous BTEC environment work I did in my group.

I began my project struggling to come up with ideas and just randomly creating designs and not really researching as much as I should have so began researching into architecture, game environments and types of game are out there like genres and types of environments I can do, which helped me to get my fmp started for once instead of just doing random designs that really did not lead anywhere.

Researching and developing continued for weeks did not move as quick as I wanted it to as I did not have no plans sorted out as if when I should finish certain things so it dragged on longer than it should have and next time I should really do a timetable with deadlines for certain work of my fmp to help me move along quicker and get my work done.

Development continued work started to get moving but deadlines where coming closer and closer and I did not have enough for to show so had to make many decisions through the process like changing narrative ideas, cutting out certain parts of the fmp and making alternative choices and designs and making fmp smaller but keeping the same concept and quality that will help me to pass without losing the quality and content of my fmp.

There were moments when I had no idea what to do I was struggling with ideas trying to get my models done and learn new things at the same time like how to use game engines and import my models and create my environment which took up a lot of time and really should have planned to learn the engine before actually doing any modelling so I know what I had to do before they had to go in the engine as I did it in reverse I had to go back and make changes as I did certain things wrong that will not work correctly in the engines this continued for about a week or two which I could have used to improve my work more instead of sorting out mistakes that should not have been made.

As I got the hang of the engine and how it worked, work started to move forward and I began to get more work done and environment began to get more and more developed which I was happy with and as the first deadline approached I managed to get a fly through done and a test demo of my walking around my environment but with unfinished sketchbooks as I spent too much time on creating my environment. 

After my deadline and I had received my feedback I was told that I had missed out some of the brief that required me to create a real life client to use this product. While developing my environment I was so into getting it finished and making it look good that I had forget about the audience I was aiming it for and what the actual environment was going to be used for this was because I did not plan out my project and did not read the project correctly at the beginning.

So as I got the feedback I started to think about my audience and what the environment can be used for which lead me to a educational game teaching the player about different cultures around the world playing the game by collecting materials scattered around the map and collecting points this made more sense and made my project more original then just typical video game out there already. 

Over all fmp did not go terribly bad but needed to have made some improvements in the way I work that could have saved me time and not have to change my fmp structure and narrative multiple times and learn to manage my time more efficiently and spread out my task, trying not to do everything at once and also making sure I read the brief properly and clearly making sure I understand what is required of me for handing in on deadline.

Final game play video with loading screen

My second animation for handing in on my final deadline before singing project off showing the game play style and point system how it works and how the player will be able to walk around and pick up the objects and how it will begin with a screen coming up with objectives and goals.

FMP Gameplay Video(converted) from Harjinder Singh on Vimeo.

Final Fly through with loading screen

After developing my environment more and creating a loading screen this is my final loading screen that I will be handing in for my final deadline before signing off my project this works well with the loading screen as it may not be a game loading but went with my theme of a game and as it was showcasing the map this could be used like a demo video showing the environment and where you can walk around before loading the playable level.

FMP Flythrough Final from Harjinder on Vimeo.

Loadingd screens

Developed loading screens for my fly trough and game play video as I am developing a educational game and made sense to have a loading screen that the player would normally see when playing a game to give the impression of a game loading and giving the examiner a example of how it would work.



Loading screen flythrough from Harjinder on Vimeo.


Loading screen game from Harjinder on Vimeo.

Kept both designs similar and simple not having too much going on and just about having enough to make sure the player understands whats going on and what to do. For the loading digits i tried to make it realistic as possible by making them speed up and slowdown as it would on a actual loading screen with flashing text indicating that it is loading or complete.

Gameplay Video

Development of game play video showcasing how the game will be played and how the player will earn points. this video is the rough version of me walking around collecting the materials and at the moment does not have the points presented or objective which I will be adding in after effects later on.

FMP Gameplay Video from Harjinder on Vimeo.

Flythrough

After i had lost my environment and had a deadline coming up and I did not have anything new to show for my fly through I had to show same one again until I had recovered my files I just added a title and created by at the end of the video for the deadline on Monday.

Flythrough draft from Harjinder on Vimeo.

Object Pickup test

As part of my game is for the player to collect materials scattered around the map and return them to the building it belongs too and earning points to unlock materials to next building. Below is a test i did in cry engine of picking up object and taking to building to see if it will work for the player correctly which it did and adds a nice feature to the game that will really make the player interact instead of just walking around and looking at the environment, giving the player a physical interaction with the game allowing them to collect the materials them selves in any order they like and from anywhere in the environment.

Rough demo to get the idea across of what I am trying to accomplish

Picking Object test from Harjinder on Vimeo.

FMP level problem

After my feed back and developing of map and game style and audience I have come faced with a problem with my level i can no longer open my level in my engine as servers have gone down and i can not use without internet connection and files keeps saying it may be corrupt this has been like this for the past two days i have not had a Chance to make much improvements to my environment and facing the possibility that I may have lost my environment so to deal with this situation I have developed my book and blog future showing the work I have done to incorporate the audience but will not be able to improve environment at this moment.

Final fly through first Deadline

Before i began doing my target audience after feedback from Hand in, this was the fly through I submitted with my sketchbook on my first deadline. After getting feedback from this and my sketchbook was when i started to develop the maps and game play ideas it has taken me this long to upload as i had lost original file and managed to convert again after fixing some problems I had.

FMP flythrough from Harjinder on Vimeo.

Research

Another video found of environment created on cry engine same engine I am using showing the day cycle, showing from day to night and how the tone of the ;eve; changes as it gets darker and lighter.

Like the use of day and night cycle as it can show my level in a different visual style as the day changes and to give the effect that the player has been searching for materials for along time as it starts to get darker and hard to see.

Class3 on CryENGINE 3 from Undead Labs on Vimeo.

Final Map

Final map of environment showing locations of all the houses and materials and the path for the player to take made this so that it was clear where certain parts of the map where and what u are looking at when playing. 

                         
                                                    Afghan Houses Map

Materials Map

          

Shanty Houses Map

           

Zimbabwe House Map

 
                         
                                                           Final Map 

Info screen Test on still image

Crated short animation to show what the screen will look like when it appears on the player screen with the 3D model spinning background color needs changing on 3D model to match the rest this is a early development and will be improved.

Info screen test from Harjinder on Vimeo.

Information screen development

Once player collects all the points they will see a screen with the history and facts about that building and where it is from. Before i could show this in my final video i had to design them thinking of how I could lay it out that i will show where the images and text will be placed and what u will see.

Below is development of design :

Next is the color variations of digital version overlay on top of in game screenshot to see how it will look and trying out different variation of location and size at the end sticking with having it in the middle making it easy for the player to see and read as it will be straight in the face in the middle where they will be looking most of the time.

Environment Map (Player path)

Following is a top down view of map showing the players route that i have sketched out so the player knows where they can walk around on the map to find there materials they are looking for or to just look around the map and enjoy the view of my mountains structures with 3rd world country houses scattered around.

Game play Style

Player will collect materials for the buildings scattered around the environment that will earn them points to unlocking a screen that will tell them about the building they have collected all the materials for that building and then will unlock the materials for the next building that will appear on the same map along side the previous materials making sure that the player picks the right materials if not they will lose points for the wrong materials picked up.

10 points for wood materials
15 for red metal materials
20 for  yellow materials
25 for bricks
30 for grass
35 for mud
40 collecting all the correct materials

and lose points for collecting wrong materials

5 points lost for wrong materials

Below is more information on game play I have done in my sketchbook

Target Audience

My target audience will be 11 onward aiming at school kids, adults and gamers as it was a interactive educational game that will fit perfectly for these age range and audience.

Player will have to walk around salvaging parts of the building and collecting points once earned enough points and parts for the specific building they will unlock the information about that building about the history and facts that they would have not known before which makes this perfect for schools to teach about history and poor 3rd world countries making it fun at the same time while they learn.

Below is my target audience sketchbook development

Building variations

After design and modelling my buildings from different cultures i began combing them together using materials from each building creating new designs that show the materials used on other buildings working with buildings like the shanty houses or the Myanmar house, giving me more unique and original designs that i could develop future into my environment.

UDK] Game Art - Moated Grange Environment (Research)

While researching game artwork and non game artwork i cam across this video by Paul Svoboda on vimeo of his level he had created in UDK even though it is a different engine I could still transfer the skill into my engine that i was using for my environment.

The use of lighting the ways it casts shadows and reflects of the water, the detail to falling leaves of the trees rerally caught my attention and made me think this iis what i should be aiming for this amount of detail.

[UDK] Game Art - Moated Grange Environment from Paul Svoboda on Vimeo.

Environment Artwork Research

Below is my research page on environment art work, looking at the amount of detail that has been taken on developing these artwork, the use of color and textures and the way lighting is used to show to atmospheres and mood and the amount of different textures have been used for different surfaces that really bring the environments together and finally the different art styles that really separate the environments from each other that will help me with my environment i the direction i can take it into to make changes to make it more original and my personal design. 

Target Audience

After creating narrative for my environment which was combining different cultures together with wales mountain structure and designing my environment and layout i had a idea of what type of environment I wanted this to be. I wanted to showcase and educate by showing 3rd world countries house's scattered around the beauty of wales mountain structures and will allow me to educate the viewers looking at my FMP about the different houses from different cultures around the world making it unique and original  then just another typical first person shooter game that you see advertised all the time. Target audience would be aged from 11 on wards  teaching them about different cultures.

Final Cry Engine Level Screens

Early Walk Around In Cry engine

FMP walkthrough from Harjinder on Vimeo.

Development of Cry Engine 3 Level

Future developed screenshots as I began to start duplicating and  and adding in my other versions of the shanty houses and details around the house which started to really develop as I wanted it to look at the beginning of my designs and was happy with progress so far. 

Cry engine Buildings

Started to lay out my buildings and creates little paths connecting them together so you can walk around.

Cry Engine 3 Developed Map

Managed to work out how to import my models with textures attached and began adding detail to the environment making it look more realistic and more like a environment then a blank 3D space. adding the more detail to the floor and surroundings started to give it that feeling that this is a actual environment that the player can walk around in with trees reacting with the winds and sun reflecting of models and casting shadows. 

Cry Engine 3

After completing my 3D models i began watching and researching online about game engines and how I could incorporate my environment and make it interactive allowing you to walk around my environment.

So as i researched into how to use and import my models into cry engine I began modelling my terrain that I needed before I could do anything else.

Below are screenshots and progress of the terrain I had done through out modelling.

Afghan House

Zimbabwe House

Myanmar House

Shanty House Version 4

Shanty House Version 3

Shanty House version 2

Final Zimbabwe and Afghan House designs

Map Layouts 2D

Created these layout designs to give an idea of how my designs and 3rd world houses will look around the mountains. For the first two images I used my own drawings ans the third i used image of real houses just to showcase how they look and give an idea of my environment link to my final 3D environment. 

Final Shanty House Designs

My final Shanty house design was made of scrap metal and wood. While in process of designing i decided that it will look better if i had multiple versions of the building scattered around the ma, by having a whole completed shanty house and then a few models that where half done to give the illusion of civilians living there by houses being build around this beautiful scenery of Wales mountains.

Final Wales Mountains and 3rd World Houses

Top Down view showing the layout of my Wales and 3rd world which has changed since my last design due to change to FMP direction as I have decided to just create one environment instead of three showcasing my aim for my final major project and selecting this environment as it was the strongest one which showcased my final major project clearly, the fusion of different cultures with wales mountains.

Vence and Chicago Bulding Model 3 (Early Model Concept)

Vence and Chicago Bulding Model 2 (Early Model Concept)

Vence and Chicago Bulding Model 1 (Early Model Concept)

Very early model of my Venice building kept this traditional as I wanted to have some traditional buildings around my environment alongside my own designs.

Jonathan Barnbrook Fmp Poster Designs

My attempt at creating a poster for my FMP that was hung up on the day of the Jonathan Barnbrook seminar showcasing that my FMP was about by creating a poster to send out that message telling what i want to accomplish at the end of this project.

Fusion was name as it connected with my project as it meant combining two opposites together which was what my FMP was basically about two opposite cultures united together. Poster design was to be simple and straight to the point making it easy to understand when seen for the first time.

Venice and Chicago Map Final

Similar to my China map design kept it small and compact keeping it close together making it easy to travel around the city showcasing both cultures of Venice and Chicago.

Modern and Traditional China Map Final

Final layout design of modern and traditional china kept the concept of the design so that it was compact and a small environmental connected together by each house b bridges which gave it a nice look and feel and was a good choice as it fitted in with my idea of a water city perfectly making use of the water around the environment for travelling.

Modern and traditional china building development

Development of buildings experimenting with different styles and layouts such as exploring the possibility of combing the concept of jigsaw pieces connected together with my environment making it easy to move buildings around and create different and unique designs all the time.

Right page show little concept created for my jigsaw idea which i was going with the concept of allowing the buildings to move around creating new environment layouts and designs bu using the same buildings making it change form by it self through out the day showcasing different cultures through buildings moving around then self.

Modern and Traditional China

First attempt at designing buildings for modern and traditional china combining both designs from different cultures together to create new fresh designs and use some of the old designs and tweak them a bit and add modern or traditional features to them.

Wales Mountains and 3rd World Houses

More designs looking at different third world countries and the different styles of houses they live in that i can apply into my environment scattered around wales mountains.

Environment Change Modern and Traditional China

After trying out a few designs with traditional China and Japanese culture I had realised that where was not much difference between both and that it would be better to try out  modern china and traditional china as this would give me the opportunity to show how china has developed through the years and how china can look with traditional and modern mixed together.

Wales Mountain Structure and 3rd World Houses

More development work for 3^rd World Wales laying out the environment to possibly how I could look with a few buildings designs and how they might be spread across the mountain and what section of the map it will consist in. 

Venice and Chicago

More concepts for Venice and Chicago environment keeping in tradition with first designs with coming aspects of both cultures but also sing traditional building mixed with my original designs.

Etching Test 2

Another attempt at etching this time trying out some Chinese patterns. Pattern was a good attempt but did not really work as I taught it would have for texture for my buildings walls or fabric pattern inside the building.