Next Gen week 31 year 1

Due to the current time frame i have been soley focusing on my games document. firstly I listed veichles and weapons which my game would contain. I rather enjoyed that part though it did put me off as it was rather engrossing into all of the cool things available in my imagianry game. from there icreated a fake HUD for what my game would contain.I mocked one up using photoshop. The issue of it was i feel it is too simplistic yet i know its the format that most companies use when developing that type of game because they don't want it to either distract or put off the player. This is what i've found common when trying to create this game. This is the middle ground as I want it to be complex to appeal to those I am pitching it towards but simplistic for it to be a real game that people would buy, The process for this has been long but i am glad that it is because this is something where i have all the creative control and it is a topic in which i have been studying for so i have some experience.

The biggest dowside of this all is that this isn't actually real nor am i a proffesional so creating something like a demo for this is too complex. Aditionally because of this Iam relying on more off what i've wrote and learned than what iv'e created because as this is my first time i want more detail into the written work to demonstrate my understanding of what iv'e been taught. I would have preferably balanced both of them out but given the time constraints I doubt that is possible.

Regardless though this has been a great experience where i have given an idea i am really proud of and have turned it into more than a mere concept which i am greatful for.

Next gen year 1 week 30

The previous week i continued on with my Games doc. For it I went on to what would be the controls of the game. This required a lot of detail as my game is to have two different game modes which both require their own controls for. Detail in the controls is heavily required as you have to think of everything that is possible within your game. Towards the end of the week I completed the controls and moved on to the selling points of the game. These being the concept of the game and its unique selling point on top of the games synopsis. I have completed them but i feel more detail may be required in order to really sell the game i'm pitching.

On the VFX project i finally completed the shots. Whilst editing the footage on NUKE i encountered a big error but with assistance it was resolved. Also continuing the in it I finished modelling the robot as well as completing texturing it.

next gen year 1 week 29

As it was a bank holiday on Monday all lessons were cancelled. As a result our blogging session on top that our VFX and core principles of game design never happened.

Therefore beginning Tuesday we had a session with our coding teacher to help get rid of our nerves and a last minute check through of possible topics and questions. Going into the exam the next day i felt well on the topics and my code.

The next day was the day of the exam. Beforehand i managed to get an extra revision session to add to my collective notes to give me confidence. However whilst the exam went on I felt terrible and tremendously nervous. It took me while to understand the questions and what they were asking. The wording was different which heavily threw me off originally but before the end of the exam I managed to wrap my head around most of the questions and attempted all of them. Currently I am waiting on the specific results but my mind is at rest  so know i can focus my mind elsewhere.

During the coding lesson i spent my time working on my games doc. During this I changed my idea. At the time i had went with a board game i was making. However i couldn't fully flesh out the idea and how it would work out. So i decided to work on my other option. For this i spent my time drawing what would be the games protagonist. I personally need something to base my work on so i drew over someone to base the look upon.

next gen year 1 week 28

Last week I was taught a new tool. The tool I used generated the Photoshop image process into 3D. The task in hand was to create a maze. For this I generated a generic maze and adding it into Photoshop whilst behind the maze adding a greeble texture behind. Afterwards i added random shapes to it. From there I went to generate the end product in 3D which is an amazing tool. My biggest regret was not noting down the process as this tool looks to have importance.

Continuing with my VFX project I got to tracking both phone shots adding a working animation on both of them. I currently need to rotoscope the thumb so it is above the phone screen layer.

In coding we continued to prepare for our coding written exam by doing extra pieces of revision to help everyone pass. With the exam quickly approaching to an extent i am feeling slightly more confident than before with intentions to pass.

Next gen year 1 week 27

Last week i continued to develop my knowledge of using curves within MAYA. The first small task was to use the information of last weeks lesson to create a pawn from chess. We were timed whilst participating which added the element of pressure. For this i used the pencil curve tool which is the easiest option as you just draw out the shape you want but i wanted to try it out. Afterwards we learned to use nerbs which are basic shapes used to create an outline for shapes. For this we modeled a carrot by adding many 3D circles of various sizes to make the cone shape of the carrot then using the curve tool i added the carrot top.

Continuing the VFX project I spent the first lesson transferring my data over to a room upstairs which was a rather frustrating process as the computers were just bad trying to transfer my stuff over which annoyed me as I could have been working in that time. The next lesson as we moved room i was asked to redo my work on NUKE to get a fresh start whilst i believe it wasn't needed i don't mind doing it again so it stays in my memory.

In coding preparation for our code exam continued. For this we completed the previous exam questions. Overall I still don't know how to feel about this upcoming exam but i'm eager to learn and pass.

Next gen year 1 week 26

Last week I continued to develop my knowledge of coding. This is an area I have struggled with throughout the year and continue to do so. That is why my tutor went through the code of my game line by line to explaining its purpose and how they work. This put me at ease and made me feel better about the coding ahead of the exam.

In continuation of our VFX project we used Photoshop to create a phone screen that will be shown on the phone when edited in at a later stage. We also needed to add a notification on the screen for the sake of the story. After we created the phone screen we went onto after effects. This was to animate the notification sliding down the screen and then animate it so it would go back off screen. This proved to be trickier than first thought as I had to go back and lighten the screen as well as move the notification to the middle of the screen as that is where Frank swipes the screen. Another important issue was timing and adjusting the animation to sync up with the footage so he would swipe the screen at a later stage.

On Friday of that week were doing coding, and specifically looking at the previous exam in preparation of the coding exam. This whole lesson where we answered questions left me feeling on and off about the whole exam with aspects both positive and negative. However I am glad I participated in doing the exam questions as i want to get practice and help while I can.

Lastly that week in our animation class we learnt how to animate using the modelling software MAYA. For this we learnt how to use the animation tools to in order to animate a ball bouncing. Whilst we've done this before on adobe animate but its good know how to use various software's especially one like MAYA which is used a lot in the industry animating shows like 'south park'.

Next gen year 1 week 25

This week was the week of our exam. this was an open book meaning we had access to the internet as well as being allowed to converse with our peers in order to simulate the conditions in which games are created. This proved vital for me and assisted me vastly.

The exam in itself  was a variation of our mock exam being a slingshot style space game. The biggest difference from this was there being no scoreboard. Regardless i chose not to use past resources from my mock and start again as i felt it would be easier for a fresh start. From there i went on to create the game. The biggest problem was creating a path that you would have to follow where if you go out of order the game fails. The production of the rest of the game was fine as i had some experiences from the mock to aid me in creating it.

Despite this at first i didn't meet all the requirements as i could not complete making it arrive out of order. However the college ran a re submission day in which i managed to complete it ensuring i have met all the criteria of the exam.



























































































 

Next gen year 1 week 24

This week was the week that followed after the unity mock exam. For this we received the criticism back from the exam telling us the pros and cons of our work. Overall no one  passed but  it was due to an confusing extension task. Firstly i was with our tutor who helped me with my coding by going through the lines and explaining their purposes. This helped me out partially but afterwards i continued to struggle. The aim of that week was for us to improve the game and gain a better understanding of the code that built it up. This week was a hard and tedious process coming from the mock exam which was very draining. 

The Friday on that week i decided to catch up on art. For this i used adobe animate to replicate the walk cycle. For this i would place a bunch of circles in a wave. From that i would then draw the torso and limbs for the person. I quite liked this activity as it was good to just draw though the final product didn't look to good but it is something I intend to go back on and give it a better look.

Next gen year 1 week 23

This week was different from others because our class had a mock exam. For this we had 4 days to create a game meeting the criteria of what they wanted in a game. For this they wanted a space slingshot type game where you are timed as you fly around planets. Luckily it was an open book exam meaning i had resources to aid me in this difficult task.

Within the first day i had successfully made a spaceship avatar which could be launched from a hook that acted like a slingshot. This was down to the player controller script which had been given to everyone before hand and also made a working propulsion system where pressing a key would boost the player.

On the Wednesday of that week i began to work on the planets which were the obstacles within the game. For that i downloaded some from the asset store and gave them all colliers. In addition to that i also wrote out a script that would give the planets gravity. For this i would then need to adjust the planets and remove the in software gravity. This resulted in my product consisting of  a rocket which could be sucked into planets or use the gravity to arc itself around the planets.

The day afterwards was the most treacherous experience imaginable that left me frustrated beyond belief. This was down to Unity just being lousy as it would crash and wipe what i'd made regardless of whether or not i had saved it. This then meant that my last day was all i had to make the game.

The last day i had managed to put my game back to its state before all of the heavy errors. After that i created a timer but used milliseconds as its measurement. I then spent the remainder of the day creating text so if you collided with a planet you would get a game over screen and colliding with a finishing line would give you a winning screen.

Ultimately i fell short of what was expected by the criteria as i was missing out on a best time leader board which i couldn't find any working  example to refer to whilst creating it. Whilst i am melancholy that i have most likely failed and whilst it is a mock i am nervous for the future. Despite this i do not see myself at fault as Unity crashed 20 times within that week and wiped my game twice therefore i have done all i can possibly to make the game.

Next gen year 1 week 22

In this week we continued in our VFX project. For this i needed to adjust the colours and saturation in each shot. I found this to be an easy process within the software and as a result it was enjoyable. Despite this though  it showed to be a time consuming process but for that day i did it. The day after i had to render out all of the shots into image sequences and i would've been done with editing on Adobe premier. However the last shot took too long and due to that i will have to come back to it at a later point. The next editing software in which i am currently using for this is Nuke. For this process i had to use the shot of someone holding a phone. For this i placed a tracker at the corner of the phone screen and it would try to follow the same position across all shots. The first tracker didn't go too well and i had to place each frame with the tracker individually. From there i placed 3 more trackers at each of the corners of the phone. These ones went dandy meaning i could leave them where they were and that is how i finished of the lessons of that week for the VFX project.

Next gen year 1 week 21

Hello blog

In the previous week we looked more into the players and categorizing them with specific genres developing our knowledge more to set us up for the following blog post. We also looked into specific statistics about the market which could help us out further down the line.

Later that day we proceeded on wards with our VFX project by filming the scenes needed. For this i play an extra who just runs away. Shooting it was a tedious process as we had to re do the same shot multiple times in weather conditions which weren't the best. Ultimately we got the shots required and after that I participated in taking a picture of a distortion grid to use for future purposes.

The next day we began editing the shots we had taken on premier pro. For this we edited the video by cutting time out from each time solely getting what we need. After this i took the time to re do the stop motion animation group work. For this we breezed through as it wasn't to difficult of a process just a rather time consuming one.

Next gen year 1 week 20

hello blog

In the previous week we continued to develop our knowledge of the core principles of game design. For this we looked further into additional rules of game development. these are known as the formal and dramatic elements. To help us we were given the task of innovating a game with a simple game and rule sets. In addition to this we also learnt about player interaction and the 6 types of player interactions. These are the type of game types you experience whether they're player vs player or something versus the computer.

Also, that week I began to develop a robot in MAYA which would be used in my VFX project. For this I had to create a robot that was simplistic in its design because we are to animate it therefore giving it legs would make it all the more difficult. For this i based the design off the training bot from 'Overwatch'. This robot was very easy to produce and all that is currently left to do is texture it to give it a lifelike look.

Next gen year 1 week 19

Hello blog

This week we continued to develop our knowledge of the VFX industry  by having a lesson based on cameras. From this we learnt about lighting temperature as well as other things like tools used to focus the cameras. In addition to this we learnt about lens aperture and how it is a factor which affects the depth of field and works like an eye. In addition to this we also took into perspective the lens focal length.

As well as this in art we also learnt about the old processes that Walt Disney used to animate his originals by separating parts of the scene to help move them. In addition to this we also learnt the basics in using a camera to create stop motion animation. The process is called cell animation and consists of a background plate  .Moreover i also learnt the 12 core principles of animation.

Next gen year 1 week 18

Hi again its me

This is the week where we began the next set of topics. Firstly we began the new topic of the core principles of game design. For this we went over the eight core principles required in order to make a game. These 8 are;Boundaries, Conflict, Resources, Rules, Procedures, Outcomes, Players and Objectives. In addition to this we also learned about the history of gaming consoles and the innovations of it before given an assignment of blogging about the history.

I have also moved on from all GAVI work to work on the VFX industry. Currently we are yet to to much as for now all we have done is create a Gantt chart.

Another topic we have moved onto is learning about animation. From that we have looked at the pioneers of its creation as well as a brief history on it with an assignment to review a form of animation.

Next gen year 1 week 13 & 14

As week 13 was the last week leading up to the Christmas holidays. Because of this not to much was achieved as this was a time allowed for us to relax after a long enduring term. However in the production of this i have advanced by adding a nos tank to place in the vehicle as well as other features like a steering wheel and a brake. Furthermore i have also added treds to the wheels of the car. But for the most part this week i have only added minor details to it.

Week 14

This week i have began the final stage of production being the stage where i texture the car. For the most part this process was tedious. I found it quite easy because the body of the car has a low poly count as well as a UV map that was easy to navigate. In addition to this the vehicle is military so the car's colour scheme was just mostly green. As well as this i found texturing the triple intake bug catcher relatively easy as basic colours would cover their design. Something else i textured that took a significant amount of time was texturing my bottle of nos. This was mainly down to fixing the bottle to make sure the texture wouldn't distort when it was applied.

Next gen year 1 week 12

Hello blog

This week was a continuation on last weeks assignment to create a exploratory vehicle. After last week i continued my progress by sculpting the body of the duckw and adding a Boolean to create the inside space for the vehicle. Afterwards i went to create the bonnet for it and adding a PS charger towards it. this is the image i based it upon being the engine part sticking out of the bonnet. The charger there is different from the one i based mine on but this image is a good example of the type of features i wanted in my vehicle.                               

  After this i went on to make a rough wheel for the duckw. For this i went into depth upon the rim of the wheel and not the actual tire because i saw the design for it to be long so at the time I've just left it as a pipe as intend to back to it. For the rim i used the duplicate special tool to add all the bolts to it to perfectly create a circle shape around it.

Afterwards i went on to design the machine gun that would be mounted to the back of it. whilst creating it i found it to be a long and tedious task to create rather than a difficult one. At the end there is a place i wanted to use the curve tool to make the nozzle but couldn't do it and settled for replacing it with cuboids but this is something i want to go back on and improve on if time is on my side.

Another feature of the duckw i went on to make is the propeller placed at the back to make it an aquatic off-road car. This was something i stressed about as i left it for a while i found it easy. I stressed out about the creation of the propeller but all i needed to do was mess around the vertex tool.

Below is a collection of pictures showcasing where i am currently at in designing the duckw.

Next Gen year 1 week 11

Hello blog

This week i was given my final assignment. This task was to create my own exploratory vehicle. To start this i went into power point  to create a mood board. For this i filled up a slide of vehicles i liked and features that it would contain. This was created to give me inspiration for an overall idea for what my vehicle will be and what it will have in it.

From there i went into Photoshop to photo bash an image. This is the process of adding different pictures together to get a basic idea of what my vehicle would look like.  The car in which i am basing my vehicle off is the DUCKW which is an amphibious WW2  car. In addition to this i wanted to add other features like a roll cage and  a Supercharged Chrysler 426 Hemi V-8. Whilst this isn't a professionally attempted photo this was more than enough to base my MAYA work off.












The next thing i did was to use MAYA to build it. At the time i couldn't find any blueprints to the DUCKW so i instead crated the base by using the blueprints for the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6*6 because they are both six wheeled cars. Whilst creating this wasn't necessary i personally found it comforting to create as i used the base to structure the body off of as well as the rest of the car.

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Next Gen year 1 week 10

Hello blog

This week we were set a penultimate weekly assignment before our big task. The task for this week was to design a fidget spinner. For this we also learnt an additional tool that could help us which was the curve tool. However i noticed while creating it this tool was not of use to me as by adding more sub-divisions it only became more of an distorted object. As of yet i have been unable to find the resolution but will look into it.                               

This is the first one i created. For this I used a basic cylinder and went into the duplicate special menu to create 3 identical cylinders all the same amount of degrees away from one another. As I have previously mentioned i was unable to show off the new curve skill which i learnt so i tried a different method. For this i added a large cylinder in the middle to 3 other smaller cylinders. I then went to edit the mesh by going to the Boolean's and taking away the difference creating the arms which connected to the center piece. Whilst the outcome for the arms look terrible it was all I had to work with.

My second undoubtedly resembles the look of the first one. This is only the case because I wanted  to texture the center piece so I just added a brand of a celebrity to it.

The third spinner i created is fairly easy and self explanatory on how it was designed. For this i just made 2 legs which i just duplicated to make the spider.

 For this last one I used a block which i smoothed down and changed the sub division count. This is because i changed the block into the shape by changing the vertices to form the shape. As well as this i also did the same process to shape the blue part of the spinner. The only other noticeable thing is the Boole ans i added to  create the holes.

Overall this has been a satisfactory final product but i am not pleased with it. This is  mainly down to to the curve tool so if i were to do it again i'd try to find a resolution. If it still wouldn't work i'd continue using Boolean's until i create arms which don't look so horrendous. 
           

Next Gen year 1 week 9

Hi again it's me.

This week we were given the task of creating and texturing a jet pack on MAYA. For this i could either create something or base the image of an existing one. As my knowledge of jet packs is very limited I chose to base it off of the MARVEL character Falcon by combing his 2 wing suit jet packs.

Whilst creating this i struggled a lot on finding a starting point. Whilst doing it i found that the easiest part was creating the body to it because it doesn't require that much effort to create it. The areas in which i struggled with are the jets. This is because it took many attempts to get right. Whilst this wasn't hard i found redoing it to be tedious and frustrating. In addition to this I also don't like how i designed the wings.

On the whole i am quiet displeased with how the final project turned out. If i was to do this again i'd either wedge or extrude a pipe to create the wing line as it came out as rather rigid. Moreover i think i could use more time to improve the wingspan. As well as this i believe more textures can be used to make it more innovative as well as demonstrate range.In addition to this in the pre-production phase i would find a better image to base the work off as i based it of 3 images which in hindsight was a terrible idea.

Next Gen year 1 week 8

Hello blog

This week I was given the task of creating my own tower and to sculpt it on MAYA. Before i were to do this though i had to go on Photoshop to create a tower out of already existing images, known as photo bashing. For this I placed a picture of a water tower and added other images to it to create a weird fantasy tower.

When making the tower I started by adding in all of the objects to overall resemble the shape. Then from there i went into to details, specifically building a small turret on the side. Overall on this project  creating the turret was the most time consuming part because it was the most detailed as well as the fact i allocated a lot of time to the base of it. Then from there I went on to texture it which was the easiest part as i didn't run into too much trouble whilst doing it.

Overall i Believe i used an okay amount of techniques and methods whilst creating it. I also like the turret I added to it mainly because of how that is what i spent the most time and went in depth to.

If i had to redo this I would allow myself to spend more time on Photoshop photo bashing to come up with a more creative tower. In addition to this if i had more time i would use it to create reflective windows to make the tower more realistic.