In order to maintain a web presence and showcase my work online I have created a professional game art blog under my online alias of Gendrick on Tumblr.
The blog can be found at http://gendrick-gameart.tumblr.com/
The professional blog is still currently under construction due to commitment on the actual projects thus far, but I hope to use it to showcase my personal games development work as well as my work with Zeppelin for Hire.
The reason I'm using tumblr is because of the ease in which my work can be submitted and shared across the website. Similarly, the tumblr interface is also incredibly easy to use, and works can be formatted correctly without error or difficulty, unlike the problems I have faced on other blogging sites.
Thursday, 22 May 2014
PPP - Self Publishing
Talk about self publishing and how it will benefit me as a writer
As a writer it is often difficult to get published, similarly I have several opportunities to develop comics with art provided by my peers. Therefore I need to find an avenue to release and sell my works both online and in print. This can be achieved through self publishing, although potentially more expensive than going through a publishing house, I will retain all creative freedom in my works, something which is very important to me.
Though self published works can be sold online, it is also possible for me to use self publishing to order printed copies of my work and sell them at conventions at a fixed price determined by myself. These conventions can also provide an excellent networking opportunity.
A way self publishing is possible is through the website Lulu.com. This website allows for self publishing books both as ebooks and in print. Lulu also allows for printing through Amazon, and publishing of ebooks via Kobo and similar ebook readers.
As a writer it is often difficult to get published, similarly I have several opportunities to develop comics with art provided by my peers. Therefore I need to find an avenue to release and sell my works both online and in print. This can be achieved through self publishing, although potentially more expensive than going through a publishing house, I will retain all creative freedom in my works, something which is very important to me.
Though self published works can be sold online, it is also possible for me to use self publishing to order printed copies of my work and sell them at conventions at a fixed price determined by myself. These conventions can also provide an excellent networking opportunity.
A way self publishing is possible is through the website Lulu.com. This website allows for self publishing books both as ebooks and in print. Lulu also allows for printing through Amazon, and publishing of ebooks via Kobo and similar ebook readers.
PPP3 - Possible future, working for Gearbox Software
I am a big fan of the Borderlands series, and as such, I would love to work for the videogames developer Gearbox Software. I feel that Gearbox have a great creative environment, and their games have a distinct style that suits my personal tastes
Unfortunately, like so many of the larger games developers, they are based in the U.S. so to work for them I would have to emigrate to America, this means that it is unlikely that I can work for them for at least five years.
Recently I have begun to feel that I do not wish to work for a larger games company, instead preferring to work on smaller indie projects. However after developing my portfolio extensively, working for Gearbox might be an ideal opportunity to explore.
Unfortunately, like so many of the larger games developers, they are based in the U.S. so to work for them I would have to emigrate to America, this means that it is unlikely that I can work for them for at least five years.
Recently I have begun to feel that I do not wish to work for a larger games company, instead preferring to work on smaller indie projects. However after developing my portfolio extensively, working for Gearbox might be an ideal opportunity to explore.
GaMaYo
GaMaYo is an informal network of games developers from the yorkshire area. When Zeppelin for Hire begins publishing games, we will eligible to enter this network.
Because of the opportunities that could be gained from joining GaMaYo, it will be an invaluable benefit to Zeppelin for Hire, however they only accept developers who have released at least one game and are based in the Yorkshire area. While we are still a long way off from releasing our first full game, two of the three current members of Zeppelin for Hire are based in Yorkshire, while I am living Nottinghamshire, meaning that I am close enough to commute to Yorkshire if needed.
There is a wide variety of developers that are a part of GaMaYo, ranging from iOS app game developers such as Appy Times, to developers for triple A consoles such as Sumo Digitial. Similarly, many of the developers consist of only a single person, while others contain multiple people.
When Zeppelin for Hire is ready to join, GaMaYo could prove to be an invaluable asset to the growth of the development team.
Because of the opportunities that could be gained from joining GaMaYo, it will be an invaluable benefit to Zeppelin for Hire, however they only accept developers who have released at least one game and are based in the Yorkshire area. While we are still a long way off from releasing our first full game, two of the three current members of Zeppelin for Hire are based in Yorkshire, while I am living Nottinghamshire, meaning that I am close enough to commute to Yorkshire if needed.
There is a wide variety of developers that are a part of GaMaYo, ranging from iOS app game developers such as Appy Times, to developers for triple A consoles such as Sumo Digitial. Similarly, many of the developers consist of only a single person, while others contain multiple people.
When Zeppelin for Hire is ready to join, GaMaYo could prove to be an invaluable asset to the growth of the development team.
Game City
Game City is an annual video games festival held in October in Nottingham at Nottingham Trent University. There are also several other Game City events held though out the year, providing ample opportunities year round for networking within the games industry.
Because I will be living in Nottingham after leaving college, Game City will be local to me, meaning that it would be worth visiting as many of their events as I can afford. Similarly the networking opportunities presented by the Game City event mean that Zeppelin for hire could benefit greatly, allowing us further opportunities for future projects, and to perhaps take on new members for the team.
A similar event I will also be attending is BAF Game held in Bradford in November.
Because I will be living in Nottingham after leaving college, Game City will be local to me, meaning that it would be worth visiting as many of their events as I can afford. Similarly the networking opportunities presented by the Game City event mean that Zeppelin for hire could benefit greatly, allowing us further opportunities for future projects, and to perhaps take on new members for the team.
A similar event I will also be attending is BAF Game held in Bradford in November.
BAF Game
BAF Game is an annual event held in Bradford every year as part of the Bradford Animation Festival in November. The event comprises of several guest speakers who come from various positions in the games industry from the world over, with both local and international companies coming in to talk about various aspects of the games industry.
It provides a perfect opportunity for networking with the BAFter hours event held after the seminars with the games developers and other guest speakers.
While I have been to BAF game twice before, I did not engage in the networking events. This was mostly down to me not having any sense of direction I wanted to take in the games industry, however, now that I have formed Zeppelin for Hire with Adam and Andy, I feel that both myself and Zeppelin for Hire could greatly benefit from networking at this event.
A similar event would be Game City, held annually in Nottingham, which I also fully intend to attend.
It provides a perfect opportunity for networking with the BAFter hours event held after the seminars with the games developers and other guest speakers.
While I have been to BAF game twice before, I did not engage in the networking events. This was mostly down to me not having any sense of direction I wanted to take in the games industry, however, now that I have formed Zeppelin for Hire with Adam and Andy, I feel that both myself and Zeppelin for Hire could greatly benefit from networking at this event.
A similar event would be Game City, held annually in Nottingham, which I also fully intend to attend.
Personal Development - Writing competitions
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/adults/short-stories/prizes/
It is no secret that I am passionate about writing stories, I love creating worlds and characters across a wide variety of genres, however I always struggle to motivate myself to write any more than the odd page or two. A way to keep myself motivated to write, provided I have the time.
http://www.bedfordwritingcompetition.co.uk/
The Bedford Writing competition is an ideal competition for working over summer. The deadline is the 30th of september 2014 and has a word limit of 3000 words, a word count I often find myself writing to with my stories.
http://www.inktears.com/Inktears/WritersNewWritersContest.html
The Inktears flash fiction contest has a deadline of 31st July, and a word limit of 500 words. I feel it would be an interesting challenge to attempt a short story of only 500 words as there is very little you can tell in a short space. The story would then have to be a sudden event that can engage the reader.
There are several other writing competitions that can be found at the booktrust link above, however the two I have listed here are ideal for me to get into writing and entering competitions.
It is no secret that I am passionate about writing stories, I love creating worlds and characters across a wide variety of genres, however I always struggle to motivate myself to write any more than the odd page or two. A way to keep myself motivated to write, provided I have the time.
http://www.bedfordwritingcompetition.co.uk/
The Bedford Writing competition is an ideal competition for working over summer. The deadline is the 30th of september 2014 and has a word limit of 3000 words, a word count I often find myself writing to with my stories.
http://www.inktears.com/Inktears/WritersNewWritersContest.html
The Inktears flash fiction contest has a deadline of 31st July, and a word limit of 500 words. I feel it would be an interesting challenge to attempt a short story of only 500 words as there is very little you can tell in a short space. The story would then have to be a sudden event that can engage the reader.
There are several other writing competitions that can be found at the booktrust link above, however the two I have listed here are ideal for me to get into writing and entering competitions.
PPP - Script writing for comics
Because I have recently started writing comics with my peers, I have found it necessary to learn how to correctly format my scripts.
A cursory look on the internet revealed a short tutorial guide on how to properly lay out comic scripts. This has proved to be invaluable as I was able to quickly pick up script writing for comics and easily managed to find a way to write comfortably in that format.
I learned how to write comic scripts for a web comic titled "The Misadventures of Prince Jeffrey"I am writing with artwork provided by my friend Jeff Maddison.
Script writing is very different from standard prose writing. While prose writing is designed to present a story directly to the audience, script writing frames it in a form that is easier to manage for adaptation into a visual format. In comics, script writing is usually divided into a set number of panels that will appear on the page, with the panel descriptions setting out the actions the characters take while the dialogue is laid out in, often numbered, a way to easily communicate how the speech bubbles will fit onto the page.
I hope to continue writing for comics long after the webcomic is finished. Both professionally and on web comics. I would also love to write comics for DC comics and 2000 AD, both comics publishers whose works I have been a big fan of for a long time.
A cursory look on the internet revealed a short tutorial guide on how to properly lay out comic scripts. This has proved to be invaluable as I was able to quickly pick up script writing for comics and easily managed to find a way to write comfortably in that format.
I learned how to write comic scripts for a web comic titled "The Misadventures of Prince Jeffrey"I am writing with artwork provided by my friend Jeff Maddison.
Script writing is very different from standard prose writing. While prose writing is designed to present a story directly to the audience, script writing frames it in a form that is easier to manage for adaptation into a visual format. In comics, script writing is usually divided into a set number of panels that will appear on the page, with the panel descriptions setting out the actions the characters take while the dialogue is laid out in, often numbered, a way to easily communicate how the speech bubbles will fit onto the page.
I hope to continue writing for comics long after the webcomic is finished. Both professionally and on web comics. I would also love to write comics for DC comics and 2000 AD, both comics publishers whose works I have been a big fan of for a long time.
PPP - Founding the LCA Tabletop and Board Gaming Society
I formed the society in order to allow people of similar interests to myself to meet likeminded individuals and to get a chance to take part in tabletop and board gaming.
In order to form the society I had to follow a procedure set out by the Student Union, requiring me to list the societies intention and ensure that we had enough members to warrant an interest, as well as appointing a committee to aid me in running the society. While simple to follow and set up, the procedure was time consuming and although I started forming the society in January, we were unable to have our first session until the week before we broke up for the Easter Break. However this means that when the other committee members take over the running of the society, they will be able to set up effectively immediately.
So far sessions with the tabletop gaming society have been fun with an increased turnout each session. Thankfully sessions have been small so I haven't had to worry about trying to accommodate people into large sessions where there have been more people than we can fit into a single game.
Currently members are advised to bring their own games, and so far this has been successful. The largest sessions have been the pen and paper roleplay games which can accommodate a large ammount of people.
The society has mostly been advertised via word of mouth, although the LCA Student Union also put out an email advertising the society.
In order to keep the member of the society up to date and answer any questions that they may have I have set up a facebook page that is open to anyone to join, similarly I have also been provided an email address by the LCA Student Union I can use to answer any questions to the society.
So far running the society has been a rewarding experience and simple enough to organise. The use of social media through facebook has been a massive contribution
PPP3 - My Practice, Level Designer
As part of my studies I have done a lot of work within game engines, and this has sparked an interest in Level Design. Level Designers are responsible for the layout of the game environment, making sure that the environment meets the needs of the player in response to gameplay.
I feel I have learned a massive amount in regards to being a level designer through my end of year project Northern Iron.
I have recently started an indie games development team with my peers from the Northern Iron project we have dubbed Zeppelin for Hire. For our first project we will be creating an 80's sci-fi inspired game under the working title of Saturday Night Vengeance. Because this project will be a massive departure from Northern Iron, most notably being from a 2D rather than 3D perspective I will have to make some very different considerations. While we have not yet finalised the style of gameplay, we do know that the game will centre around two or more human characters and their stories, requiring the set dressing of the level to reflect their quest for vengeance.
I feel I have learned a massive amount in regards to being a level designer through my end of year project Northern Iron.
I have recently started an indie games development team with my peers from the Northern Iron project we have dubbed Zeppelin for Hire. For our first project we will be creating an 80's sci-fi inspired game under the working title of Saturday Night Vengeance. Because this project will be a massive departure from Northern Iron, most notably being from a 2D rather than 3D perspective I will have to make some very different considerations. While we have not yet finalised the style of gameplay, we do know that the game will centre around two or more human characters and their stories, requiring the set dressing of the level to reflect their quest for vengeance.
PPP - Steam Greenlight
Steam Greenlight is a scheme developed by VALVe to allow aspiring developers to submit their upcoming games to be voted for by the gaming community. If the game idea generates enough interest then the game can be published and sold on Steam.
While Greenlight is a fantastic scheme for allowing developers to get their game published, there are a few faults. Firstly a great idea doesn't always guarantee a great game. There have been several instances of a game generating a massive amount of interest only to be released at a very poor quality. And secondly, on the reverse, a game will only get published if it generates interest, meaning that the game must be effectively advertised for people to vote on the game.
I feel the Greenlight could be an awesome opportunity for publishing Zeppelin for Hire games, however I will need to generate a strong network of contacts and followers to effectively advertise the game in order to generate enough votes to warrant publishing.
While Greenlight is a fantastic scheme for allowing developers to get their game published, there are a few faults. Firstly a great idea doesn't always guarantee a great game. There have been several instances of a game generating a massive amount of interest only to be released at a very poor quality. And secondly, on the reverse, a game will only get published if it generates interest, meaning that the game must be effectively advertised for people to vote on the game.
I feel the Greenlight could be an awesome opportunity for publishing Zeppelin for Hire games, however I will need to generate a strong network of contacts and followers to effectively advertise the game in order to generate enough votes to warrant publishing.
Zeppelin for Hire Website
To promote my Indie Games development team with Adam and Andy I put together a website for Zeppelin for Hire. While the website is still undergoing construction, it is located here at http://cyberpuke.com/zeppelin4hire/ at a temporary domain.
Once the website has finished construction it will be moved to www.zeppelin4hire.co.uk under a domain owned by myself
The website will consist of a homepage, The Team page, a Projects page and a blog/news feed as well as a page for contact details with the team members.
Home Page: This page will prominently feature the Z4H logo as well as some brief information about the company.
The Team: This page will contain pictures and information about the team members, explaining their role on the team and perhaps have an inspiring quote about lemon meringue beneath each picture.
http://cyberpuke.com/zeppelin4hire/the-team/
Projects: This page will contain an overview of the games that we have created/are creating, with visitors having an opportunity to go over each project in more detail, learning more about the core of the game.
http://cyberpuke.com/zeppelin4hire/fields/projects/
Blog: This game will concern the day to day news of Zeppelin for Hire and keep visitors informed of what the developers are up to
http://cyberpuke.com/zeppelin4hire/category/all/
Once the website has finished construction it will be moved to www.zeppelin4hire.co.uk under a domain owned by myself
The website will consist of a homepage, The Team page, a Projects page and a blog/news feed as well as a page for contact details with the team members.
Home Page: This page will prominently feature the Z4H logo as well as some brief information about the company.
The Team: This page will contain pictures and information about the team members, explaining their role on the team and perhaps have an inspiring quote about lemon meringue beneath each picture.
http://cyberpuke.com/zeppelin4hire/the-team/
Projects: This page will contain an overview of the games that we have created/are creating, with visitors having an opportunity to go over each project in more detail, learning more about the core of the game.
http://cyberpuke.com/zeppelin4hire/fields/projects/
Blog: This game will concern the day to day news of Zeppelin for Hire and keep visitors informed of what the developers are up to
http://cyberpuke.com/zeppelin4hire/category/all/
Prince Jeffrey Webcomic - 3D modelling development opportunities
Because of the complicated architectural nature of the Prince Jeffrey in-story world, with each kingdom and castle taking inspiration from a different set of cultures and architectural periods, it will be difficult to draw each environment from scratch with only a single reference.
I feel that by constructing asset reference, I will be able to help frame the scene a lot more effectively, as well as drastically improve both mine and Jeff's understanding of architecture in relation to perspective. I will also be able to dramatically improve my 3-dimensional modelling skills, and be able to produce a wide variety of buildings quickly and efficiently. Fortunately I will not need to use texturing as this is simply an aid to the lineart, however on pieces I am particularly proud of, I may wish to practice texturing techniques.
This development opportunity will also give the chance to try my hand at the 3-D sculpting program mudbox. Allowing me to further develop the shapes of buildings in order to create more interesting architecture dependent of the culture the architectural design is meant to represent.
I feel that by constructing asset reference, I will be able to help frame the scene a lot more effectively, as well as drastically improve both mine and Jeff's understanding of architecture in relation to perspective. I will also be able to dramatically improve my 3-dimensional modelling skills, and be able to produce a wide variety of buildings quickly and efficiently. Fortunately I will not need to use texturing as this is simply an aid to the lineart, however on pieces I am particularly proud of, I may wish to practice texturing techniques.
This development opportunity will also give the chance to try my hand at the 3-D sculpting program mudbox. Allowing me to further develop the shapes of buildings in order to create more interesting architecture dependent of the culture the architectural design is meant to represent.
PPP - Indie Games Development
When I finish my degree course at the end of may I do not feel I personally have the skills required to work professionally for an existing games developer. To that end I need a space where I can develop my skill set and improve my port folio.
Because of the much smaller scale of Indie Games and the fact that they are usually self published means that I have a much greater level of creative control in regards to the gameplay and style of the game. Working as part of an indie games development team also means that I have greater opportunities to work as a writer, and adds the challenge of writing stories for a potentially non-linear platform.
After talks with Adam Khalid who I'm working with on my final project for university, we hit on the idea of carrying on working together after college as an independent games developer, with a possibility to release games through Steam Greenlight or similar avenues.
After several discussions amongst our team for the extended practice module we decided to call our games studio Zeppelin for Hire.
My role within Zeppelin for Hire will be that of lead writer and level designer, I will also assist in 3D modelling whenever we made 3Dimensional games.
Zeppelin for Hire
Following discussions with my teammates on the Extended Practice project, we have decided to form an Indie Games development studio called Zeppelin for Hire, sometimes abbreviated to ZfH.
Zeppelin for Hire currently consists of myself, Andy Bailey and Adam Khalid. Our roles within the studio are as follows:
Tim Holland - Creative Director, Lead Writer & Level Designer, 3D modeller
Adam Khalid - Concept Artist, 3D modeller
Andy Bailey - Concept Artist, Texture Artist, 2D Asset Artist
Our first Indie game project will be a 2D rpg style game set in an 80's themed post-apocalyptic wasteland, currently under the working title of "Saturday Night Vengeance"
To help get the project started, I put together a mood-board for inspiration:
Website
Our website is currently under construction but will be under the zeppelin4hire.co.uk domain handle once completed and hosted.
Business Cards
Business Cards for Zeppelin for Hire will be completed once our logo is finalised and our website is launched. This will be completed in time for Game Republic 2014.
Zeppelin for Hire currently consists of myself, Andy Bailey and Adam Khalid. Our roles within the studio are as follows:
Tim Holland - Creative Director, Lead Writer & Level Designer, 3D modeller
Adam Khalid - Concept Artist, 3D modeller
Andy Bailey - Concept Artist, Texture Artist, 2D Asset Artist
Our first Indie game project will be a 2D rpg style game set in an 80's themed post-apocalyptic wasteland, currently under the working title of "Saturday Night Vengeance"
To help get the project started, I put together a mood-board for inspiration:
Website
Our website is currently under construction but will be under the zeppelin4hire.co.uk domain handle once completed and hosted.
Business Cards
Business Cards for Zeppelin for Hire will be completed once our logo is finalised and our website is launched. This will be completed in time for Game Republic 2014.
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Northern Iron - Canal Segment
The largest segment of the level would be the canal section of the game, consisting of a storm drain and a drained canal.
The storm drain serves as a walkway between the highway segment and the canal, serving to showcase the disparity between the industrial and residential areas built by the Sons of Iron faction.
Northern Iron - Highway segment
For the Northern Iron project, I decided to divide the game level into three distinct playable areas, the highway, the canal and the train yard. This allows me to easily pace the game in terms of level design, with a small amount of enemies appearing at the start of the game, and gradually getting to a larger amount of enemies as the game progresses.
While the general layout remained constant, the highway segment received the most changes in regards to asset layout.
While the general layout remained constant, the highway segment received the most changes in regards to asset layout.
Originally the highway segment was incredibly compact and featured a small playing area. This was a result of the area slowly introducing the game to players and featuring very few enemies. Buildings were placed to provide obstacles for the player to weave around allowing them to get used to the in game movement.
The end of the highway segment is marked by a pile of wrecked cars, forcing the player to duck down an alley way to progress to the next segment, the canal.
When I received the finished floor model of the highway, it was much larger than the original blocked out playing area, however it was a simple enough case of rearranging the buildings to fit the scene. This also had the added benefit of allowing the player more freedom to get used to player movement, meaning that the original obstacles were unnecessary and detracted from the flow of the scene.
Northern Iron - the challenge of being group coordinator
Of my roles in this group project, my biggest one has to be that of group coordinator/manager. It was usually up to me to make sure things going into the game all matched up and were to the correct standard.
Although difficult, I enjoyed the challenge and found that I was able to make sure that the game world naturally evolved by mixing my teammates' skills with my creative vision as story writer.
I feel my role as group manager actually came about due to me being comparatively assertive about the ideas I wanted to see go into the game, resulting the others into deferring to me whenever they had questions regarding the creative direction of the game space.
Much of the organisation came from the use of Google Drive and Facebook Chat, allowing us all to work from home while transferring files and information to each other, allowing me to make sure that all elements of the game were correctly implemented and made to the correct standard and fit the aesthetic style of the game.
Although difficult, I enjoyed the challenge and found that I was able to make sure that the game world naturally evolved by mixing my teammates' skills with my creative vision as story writer.
I feel my role as group manager actually came about due to me being comparatively assertive about the ideas I wanted to see go into the game, resulting the others into deferring to me whenever they had questions regarding the creative direction of the game space.
In game Enemies
Add Screenshots of enemy placement and health alterations, also discuss how you used the angry bots enemies as a template and what alterations have been made
The Enemy Mech from Angry Bots served as the template for two of the enemy mechs the player would face within the game. By raising and lowering the mech's health, I was able to change the difficulty of fighting the enemies dependant on how many of certain enemy types the player would fight at any one time. The reason we used this mech as template was because it moved and behaved in a very similar way to how we intended our own mechs to behave.
The Crimson Skull is the most common type of in game enemy, often referred to as the "grunt" type. Because the player will often fight these enemies in large groups, I lowered their health so that a few shots from the player would kill them, however the large amounts of the Crimson Skull meant that the player still had a challenge when fighting them. Also pictured is the enemy spider from Angry Bots which serves as a template for the enemy Booze Bombs
The less common Booze Spider mech appears much less frequently, but has a much higher health compared to the Crimson Skull, this makes them much tougher to fight and is represented by their larger size and appearing in key locations.
The Booze Bomb is the peak of Marauder innovation technology, it is simply a barrel of strong alcohol wired up to a V8 engine and rigged to explode. This is the weakest in-game enemy and poses very little challenge to the player on its own, however in large groups mixed in with the other enemies can provide a distraction from the more pressing threats.
Northern Iron - My role as Level Designer
During later stages of development on Northern Iron I took on the role of Level Designer, originally this role was given to Rhys Bryant, but because I was tasked with adding the playable elements to the game I needed to make use of Rhys' level. Unfortunately our original plan of creating the game level to correspond to areas of Leeds proved to be ineffective and too large for players to traverse, as well as being counter intuitive in regards to gameplay. Because of this, and troubles in transferring elements from Angry Bots we were using as a base for our gameplay, the original level was scrapped and I quickly constructed a mock-up version of the level based on the design specifications I had written out.
As level designer it was up to me to make decisions regarding the placement of enemies within the game as well as how the layout of the environment would affect gameplay and vice-versa.
Because none of the members of our group know much scripting, rather than code the game from scratch we used the base scripts from Angry Bots and replaced the models of certain elements with our own.
As level designer it was up to me to make decisions regarding the placement of enemies within the game as well as how the layout of the environment would affect gameplay and vice-versa.
Because none of the members of our group know much scripting, rather than code the game from scratch we used the base scripts from Angry Bots and replaced the models of certain elements with our own.
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Northern Iron - Alterations for Game Republic
Following our submission deadline we will be entering our game into Game Republic 2014, however there are several alterations and improvements that need to be made.
Voice Acting
Generic voice lines for the player character and the enemy mechs provided by myself, Luca Calabrese and Jennifer Maddison.
The characters that will be voiced are as follows:
Rachael Chadwick/Weapon of Sass Destruction - Jennifer Maddison
Rachael Chadwick is the pilot of the Weapon of Sass Destruction and has a thick Manchester accent
The Booze Spider - Tim Holland
The Booze Spider is a car converted with a beer keg for a cockpit and spider like legs fitted for movement, it is a product of the Nasti Moon clan and the pilot has an exaggerated north Nottinhamshire/Mansfield accent
The Crimson Skull - Luca Calabrese
Constructed by the Crimson Teeth clan, the Crimson Skull is a marauder mech named after its spherical shape and skull decals. The pilot has an exaggerated Northeast Yorkshire Accent.
Music
Additional music tracks to provide some variation to the background music as well as music for the title screen these tracks will include:
Title Screen:
Georgia on My Mind - Django Reinhardt
In Game:
Helen Forrest - Don't you worry 'bout me (currently in-game)
Additional Minor Assets:
There are many models that have been constructed, but due to time constraints have not yet been placed within the scene, some of these models also have not yet been textured also due to time constraints.
These include:
Various pipes and distillery mechanisms
Finalised Crimson Skull Model
An assortment of spikes, flags and banners
Animations:
Due to time constraints and a lack of information on the unity website, I was unable to get the animations for the mech models functioning in game, however every model has been animated fully.
Title Screen:
Due to poor work flow pipeline planning and subsequent prioritisation, we have been unable to get a title screen made for the game level, however we need to get one finished for Game Republic
Voice Acting
Generic voice lines for the player character and the enemy mechs provided by myself, Luca Calabrese and Jennifer Maddison.
The characters that will be voiced are as follows:
Rachael Chadwick/Weapon of Sass Destruction - Jennifer Maddison
Rachael Chadwick is the pilot of the Weapon of Sass Destruction and has a thick Manchester accent
The Booze Spider - Tim Holland
The Booze Spider is a car converted with a beer keg for a cockpit and spider like legs fitted for movement, it is a product of the Nasti Moon clan and the pilot has an exaggerated north Nottinhamshire/Mansfield accent
The Crimson Skull - Luca Calabrese
Constructed by the Crimson Teeth clan, the Crimson Skull is a marauder mech named after its spherical shape and skull decals. The pilot has an exaggerated Northeast Yorkshire Accent.
Music
Additional music tracks to provide some variation to the background music as well as music for the title screen these tracks will include:
Title Screen:
Georgia on My Mind - Django Reinhardt
In Game:
Helen Forrest - Don't you worry 'bout me (currently in-game)
Additional Minor Assets:
There are many models that have been constructed, but due to time constraints have not yet been placed within the scene, some of these models also have not yet been textured also due to time constraints.
These include:
Various pipes and distillery mechanisms
Finalised Crimson Skull Model
An assortment of spikes, flags and banners
Animations:
Due to time constraints and a lack of information on the unity website, I was unable to get the animations for the mech models functioning in game, however every model has been animated fully.
Title Screen:
Due to poor work flow pipeline planning and subsequent prioritisation, we have been unable to get a title screen made for the game level, however we need to get one finished for Game Republic
Northern Iron - Adding diversity to the scene
Following the feedback, it became noticeable how the scene had very little diversity in terms of the assets within the scene. Using assets from other areas of the scene allowed me to reconstruct the level to a suitable quality, preventing a feeling of sameness throughout the scene. Below are some examples of how I have attempted to improve the lack of diversity amongst the assets within the scene.
In this picture I took one of the shipping containers from the Trainyard area of the level and moved it to the car barricades, adding a little more diversity to the area
Because we only have two car models, it was easy to overuse them when creating the barricade. A simple fix was to create new materials in unity that could be used to add a colour tint to the texture map.
The storm drain segment of the game level is perhaps one of the least visually interesting, to counteract this, I simply added cubes sized accordingly and coloured to act as cables and overhead pipes.
When shadows were added to the game level it soon became apparent that much of the geometry was actually floating a fair distance above ground level. The shadows allowed me to see the problem and alter the geometry height accordingly.
On reflection, I feel that the lack of variety of assets within the scene is down to poor workflow pipeline management, meaning that much of the geometry and environmental assets were left much later than they could have been. Now that myself and my teammates have a better understanding of the work flow and have comfortably embraced production roles, we are able to work far more efficiently, as demonstrated by the speed myself and Andy were able to make essential additions to the game world in the later stages of production.
The storm drain segment of the game level is perhaps one of the least visually interesting, to counteract this, I simply added cubes sized accordingly and coloured to act as cables and overhead pipes.On reflection, I feel that the lack of variety of assets within the scene is down to poor workflow pipeline management, meaning that much of the geometry and environmental assets were left much later than they could have been. Now that myself and my teammates have a better understanding of the work flow and have comfortably embraced production roles, we are able to work far more efficiently, as demonstrated by the speed myself and Andy were able to make essential additions to the game world in the later stages of production.
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