U.V mapped and Textured

To create a good U.V map I planar mapped my model. To do this I separated the components and then projected a planar map from all necessary angles. I then opened the maps in photoshop and imported over the top them some nice textures that I found online. I then went back into maya and then component by component applied the corresponding map to each area of my model.

Bad Normals

After texturing and more importantly a little editing of my Maya model I imported it and realised that from one side one of the walls wasn't on show. This was because the normals weren't the right way round. I went back into Maya and after going back and forth a little bit I managed to get the right faces and reverse the correct normals.

Planar U.V mapping and textures

To create U.V maps for my model I used a simple planar mapping technique for everything. I separated all the elements of the model and then projected the maps from all angles. In photoshop I then opened the U.V maps and edited my textures. For this i simply searched the web for good wall and floor and textures and imported them to photoshop.

First Import

Here's a first import of my Maya model. The first thing that I saw needed to be done was for the history to be deleted as that initially resulted in some bizarre and unwanted shininess on the model. I also realised that I should probably put a wall around the remaining open perimeter of my model so that the player character can't get out.

Fewer Polygons

So that unity can handle the Maya model that so far I have only intended to be used as concept art, I need to lower the poly count. this is a simple enough task of going through and selecting all the edges that don't contribute to shaping the overall geometry and then deleting them.

Radiophonic Workshop

One of my tutors showed me this the other day with regard to my game environment music but I thought it was also a good insight into how industries can develop. As the video shows at this point in history the boundaries between sound design and composition started to blur a little what with the demand for hi-tech sci-fi sounds and all of a sudden people had to work with and in many cases invent new ways of making sound. It started to become more about inventing a technical processes of making the sound rather than just making a sound from already established means.

Unity Sound and Animation

Today we went through some simple techniques for adding sound and animation to our game environments. First we added sound simple ambient sounds to invisible objects, making sure they're looped and then we added sounds to be triggered when objects come into contact the player character. The most useful was the walking sound script which we added to our player character. After finding a suitable footsteps sound I cut it up into its individual hits and then combined the individual sound files with a script that made the individual files sound on each step of player character movement. After all that we finally covered a little animation which was very simple; the architecture of keyframes and graph editors for X,Y and Z co-ordinates was nicely familiar.

Baking Animation

Today we were introduced to an essential little trick used for importing animated objects into Unity. The technique is known as baking.

An example of a baked animation once put into unity. When triggered the robot brandishes his gun.

In Maya you select the geometry, making sure that all the keyframes are selected and then export it as an FBX and click on edit preset. Then you simply make sure that the smoothing groups, animation, and bake animation check boxes are selected as well as making sure that its exported as FBX 2009. Then you simply export and save in the scenes folder. Once that's done it's simply a question of importing it all into unity and if you've had different animations on the same timeline then ensure that the keyframes boundaries you select when importing into unity are correct.

Warped Reality 4, an Oddworld

I never actually played this game, but I nearly did. During my hardcore gaming pre to early teen years when I was a Die Hard Playstation and then-when it came out-Xbox fan I had an unshakable compulsion to buy a lot of magazines. They always seemed to be telling me to buy Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey and later Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey. From the artwork it seemed as though this game series was a light hearted comical one (like any platform game) but then I looked a little closer at Abe's face and saw his slightly worried expression and sewn shut mouth. I don't know exactly what this game's about-and at this stage I don't want or need to know anything more than what the pictures like the one's beneath tell me-but I certainly have a slightly clearer idea of the kind of warped industrial wreckage that my character could inhabit.

You see despite this being a fantasy world, there are still plenty of familiar elements to it. Everything from industrial to woodland settings gets a dash of quirk and technicolor.

Warped Reality 3, Darker Stuff

I played a little Condemned 2 the other day, it's a pretty grim affair. It's of the good old "action horror" genre, best known for containing games like "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill". All done in the first person-I forget the plot exactly-it's the typical case of being lost in a dark mysterious building with various deranged zombified creatures baying for your blood, whilst you only have minimal and primitive defense mechanisms. I'm looking at this game really to ask myself how I would go about adding a good dose of horror to it. Obviously I won't be adding psychotic zombies to the mix but I plan on creating an unsettling experience through the clever use of sound design and various threatening objects that evoke signs of an unnerving past. A nice combination of eery David Lynch esque noises and my character's broken home should do nicely.

Warped Reality 2, Predator

Another popular depiction of a different viewing of reality is the classic "Predator Vision" from the Predator movies. This technique works well for the Predator character as I feel it reflects his simple "survival of the fittest" mind. For those of you who don't know, Predator is a large extra terrestrial creature who indulges in trophy hunting of various species. I have only seen Alien vs Predator but It's fair to say that that all Predators are simple minded killing machines.

When we are shown what the predator sees it feels rather befitting in that his vision leaves out fine details and only shows something not far off from a mere silhouette. The various displays around the outside of his visor provide him with all the raw details he must need to eat, sleep and kill. In a slightly less twisted way I think my character could live this way-obviously without the killing part. Seeing as my character has a rather twisted past and no eyesight, what we see when in his environment is visually quite simple yet containing a rather dark undertone due to his haunted psyche creating unpleasant images within his mind's eye.

Warped reality 1

During my crit we (me, my tutors and my classmates) came to the conclusion that my character looked rather warped and darkly psychedelic and in no way photorealistic enough to be placed in an accurate Bhopal type setting. So we then came to the conclusion that things might work well if we make the game environment equally warped. We then proceeded to discuss various ways in which this could happen and one of them entailed Max Payne's nightmare sequences...

Both my character and Max Payne have rather troubled pasts so I feel that a warped reality riddled with flashbacks should work. I'm really referring to the bit in the above video when he's walking along red lines but I suppose the rest of the dream sequence is still a good example. I feel the sound design will the the most effective bit If I go for this kind of twisted experience.

Part Two; the environment

My character is now complete and handed in so now I need to design an environment for my character to inhabit. Seeing as he was the only surviving victim of the Bhopal incident it would be a good start to look at images of chemical explosions and industrial wreckage...

So firstly here are some images of the Bhopal and Chernobyl aftermaths that should give an idea of the mood.

and of other choice bits of industrial catastrophes...