Rendering the High Poly Asset in Maya

Research into High Poly Model - Triple A Model Winter Submission

Using ZSpheres in ZBrush

Today in the session we were told that we were going to be going back into ZBrush, something that I have loved using so far, and were going to be learning about a tool called ZSpheres. We were told that ZSpheres where a fantastic way of creating a mesh if you didn't have one prepared in Maya before hand. This was something that I was much too eager to learn, as it was creating a basic template ready for us to sculpt over the top. Also it would help when it came to getting the shape of the thing that we were trying to construct, as Maya takes a lot of work to the get the shape of something right, this seems to be a much more simpler way of getting to that conclusion.

It was very interesting when it first came to looking at the ZSpheres  option menu. The idea is that the spheres themselves are like a brush and when you have played them, you can change the size of the sphere to fit the model shape that you want. Also when you stretch the spheres, many more appear and you choose to edit anyone into a pivot and send a section of the spheres into another direction.

Looking at how to create ZSpheres.

Creating the Top Part of the Mesh.

Finalising the Last Details.

The Full Mesh has Been Created.

Painting the Mesh So We Can Edit It.

The End Result of the Day.

What you Can do with ZSpheres.

Looking Into Game Mechanics On Current Board Games

This session was all about delving into the mechanics of a board game. We would look into games that currently existed and what made them a success in their field. The aim of the session was to play these games and pick out what makes these games enjoyable. It will also be very helpful as we could take aspects off of these games and apply it into our own.

We all bought board games in to the session, though we could only pick one to play as everyone had bought games in but most were 2-6 players. Me and a group of classmates had decided that in the end, we would play the board game "The Best of TV and Movies Logo Game". 

The Best of TV and Movies Logo Board Game.

The idea of the game was that you had to answer random trivia questions about TV and Movies, the more answers that you got right, the further that the player progressed. The game did not involve any die, it had a much more interesting system. The first question that you answered was orange. This meant that if you got the question right, you proceeded to that square. The same thing happened if you answered the Blue, Purple and Green squares as well. The counters are very simple, just to notify the player were they are on the board. Once the player gets to the very end, they have to answer a whole side on the card in order to win the game.

How the board looked while playing the game.

We started to play the game and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. This game tested our general knowledge and was great practise all round. It was simple to follow the rules and it was enjoyable. Even after a couple of hours, we didn't want to leave the game. This is something that I want to incorporate into our Winter Submission.

At the end neither of the teams won the game as we all could not answer a full side of a card, but that would not stop us enjoying ourselves. This was a great exercise and has definitely help, especially when it comes to picking that game apart adn discovering what makes a game succeed.

Creating a Paper Prototype and Our Own Board Game

We were told today that we were going to be looking into the idea of a paper prototype, what it is and actually making one ourselves. To start the session off, we had to grab a sheet of grid paper and construct our own  board game. As we were in our groups for the winter submission, we had to each discuss what game that we could construct and a set of rules that we had to follow.

In the end, we decided that the game that we would make would be a mix between Monopoly and Risk. The player had two separate boards, one being set for the player to advance round, where as the other had the players castles on. As the player advanced round the board, they would pick up items that would help their castles at different stages. These would be things such as arrows and boiling oil. The winner was the last castle standing.

Constructing our own board game.

The board was simple enough to construct, using grid paper to block out the board, which also was a simple square. The map in the middle was a few circles that were dotted around. You can see in the picture above that we wanted to use a combination of orange and green for the board squares. We also ended up making counters by drawing stick men and castles on.

The last thing that we were told to do with the game was to actually play it. So we managed to get hold of a dice and start to play. The game played quite well and it was enjoyable to play. In the time that we had to construct the game and come up with the rules, I felt that we did a good job with it

Mapping out the paper prototype.

The next thing that were told to do was make a paper prototype. This is when a developer will make a paper version of the game that they want to make, this will help them locate any errors, any mechanics that they wish to put into the game and find out if there is anything missing. 

This paper prototype that we were going to make had to be a shooter, so we had to construct a map from overhead view. This meant that we could move the counters evenly and not one person would have an advantage. When we made the map, we made it symmetrical on each side, this meant that there was no advantage to any player. We used a clicker on that our tutor had found on the internet to move the players, every time that we heard a click, we could move our player. If we were in sight of another player, we could shoot by shouting bang.

Playing our paper prototype.

This whole experiment was a fantastic way to test if the game could work. Just by doing this on the shooter, we found many different problems already. This is something that we will defiantly use when it comes to the winter submission game as it could reveal elements of the game that we are missing that we are not fully aware of. It will also tell us what we could add to the game to make it an overall much more enjoyable experience.

EGX - Birmingham Conference

We were fortunate enough to visit the EGX conference in Birmingham this weekend. This was quite important that we attended the event as it was a yearly show case which presented to the goers what new games were coming out. Not only this, but it also ran talks by game designers, such as Mike Bithell, the creator of Thomas was Alone. There was also a careers fair, which was most important that we had to visit.

Me Playing Total War Warhammer.

The first thing that we decided to do was head towards creative assembly booth, where the new game that they were working on, Warhammer Total War, was on display with a level in which you control a set of dwarfs, fighting Sevres goblins. After having several battles on the game, I really couldn't wait for it to come out. I was so impressed with the game I ended up talking with one of the staff members at creative, just talking about the game and the course that we partake in, where he directed us to the careers fair.

Controlling the Dwarfs.

At the careers fair, several companies had set up stalls, with many members of their teams talking to people interested in the game industries and the jobs that were offered. We ended up talking many different members of the Creative Assembly team. This was great as we managed to get an insight of what the industry was like and the people in it. They gave us many helpful tips when it came to creating a portfolio and what they, as a company, where looking for in a student when it came to employment.

After an hour and gathering as much information as we could, we decided that it would be best to move on, where we wanted to see what the current games industry is currently pushing out and developing, so we can see what sort of level we need to get to. There were many games on display that hadn't even come out yet, but the main ones that we picked out were Star Wars Battlefront, Tom Clancy's The Division and Assassins Creed Syndicate.

We decided that we wanted to attend one of the talks. In this one Mike Bithell was going to answer a Q and A from a speaker and fans. This was great as we got to see what had inspired him as a game designer and what, as upcoming game designers, to aim for, when it comes to being an indie designer. I managed to record the whole of the session, which I have added to the blog post, which was extremely interesting.

A to Scale Spider Queen.

After the session we walked around the whole of the complex and had a look at even more games. One interesting section was the Independent games that were on display. This is something that I am inspired because at certain stages, this is currently what we are, a bunch of people that want to make games. It was interesting watching people play these games as they were really getting stuck in, something that they really enjoyed, which is want I want to create.

The day as a whole was such a fantastic experience and I cant wait to go next year, but next time we will plan to go there, we will have to go there for several days, as the queues were many hours long. But overall the day was fantastic and I cant wait to go again.

Creating a Combat Knife in Maya