Conclusion

This is likely to be my final entry for this blog so I decided to look back over the course of the project, summarise what I've done and how I achieved it, as well as explain things in more depth.

To start with I worked on my own with no assistance on any part.  it was incredibly tough, especially as I started late and only had a couple of days a week to work on it.  this meant I had to work very quickly, as 3D modelling and texturing can be very time consuming.

The design and concept evolved over the course of the project, from a game about chasing Dracula around Whitby, to a game where the player collects Jet artefacts whilst exploring Whitby Abbey, to a scene that tries to capture the style of a painting by Francis Jukes.

The concept art was produced to help me plan how I wanted to layout the level, as well as act as a very short storyboard for when things would happen.  I also worked on making the project logos that I needed for the submission.  With the changes in design I was worried that I would need to rename everything, which thankfully never happened.

When I knew what I was doing, I started making the whitebox assets.  The models were constructed in a way that allowed me to add detail at a later point if needed. these models remained for the most part, relatively unchanged and being used in the current build of the level.

I decided to use a few texture sheets as possible and I've managed to use only two textures.  The overall aesthetic I was aiming to achieve was inspired by Francis Jukes (provided by The British Library's asset pack) and popular videogames that use a painted style (such as World of Warcraft and Vagrant Story).  Components that make up the abbey are chunky and angular, and the textures were hand painted by myself.  The brick texture took the longest out of the texture pieces, as this would be the most visible part of the game.  The UV's for all of the models were mapped to a single texture as stated before, which probably took the most time.

It's been hard work but very rewarding.  I've learned a lot more than I thought I would during this project.  I will most likely take this project further and turn it into a more polished portfolio piece, as I quite enjoyed the visual style used.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Finally, Some Images

It's been a long time coming but I finally have some images to upload and show.  They show most of the environment that I've created.  I would love to add more detail but I need to submit my work.  Some of the images are a bit dark but you can still make out what they are.

There are a couple of images I really like that show the hand painted texture used on the building.  Hope you like them.

Terrain Texture

(My tileable terrain texture)

I always like to use as many of my own assets as possible.  In this project all of the assets have been made by me except for the skybox (and it's material).  I have dedicated a lot of time today to create a terrain texture to match the style of the other assets (see image above).

I think it turned out quite well, even if it displays a bit smaller than I originally intended.  I painted it in a way that would give the appearance of depth, without the need for a normal map (I am only using diffuse textures for this project).  The texture tiles without any noticeable seams and adds a lot to the scene (which you shall see later).

General Progress

(Progress so far on the level)

As this is the last full day I'll be working on this I thought it would be a good idea to give a general update as to the state of the project so far.  As you can see from the image above, it's far from finished.  The reference map it was standing on is finally gone and the models moved to ground level.  Over half the models have been UV mapped to display the texture properly.The main texture need a few more bits added to it and the terrain need a new one made.

So what does this mean?  Well I've decided to get the map as close to finished visually as possible.  The gameplay will most likely not be included in the submitted build, which will be a real shame (I am a bit stubborn though, so I haven't given up entirely on it).

I will be putting some images up of the finished assets in the next post together with some images of a finished map (hopefully).

Texturing

(Untextured whitebox model of Whitby Abbey)

I now have Whitby Abbey mapped out with 3D models and it looks okay.  I will be adding a little bit of extra detail to a few of the models but most of them are likely to remain as they are.  The next step is to create a texture I can use on them.  Most of today was spent hand painting a texture from scratch (no photos were used in its creation), with various stages of testing to see what it looks like on a model.  I'm not trying to create a photo-realistic recreation of Whitby Abbey; instead I want a painterly look as stated in the Style Guide post.

(A small section of the texture I've been working on today)

I can't apply it in engine yet, as I will need to redo the UV maps to use the texture properly and efficiently.  For those who don't know what a UV map is, it's a 2D representation of the geometry of a 3D model.  It dictates where an image will be displayed on the surface of a model.  As you can see from the image below, the texture looks quite good on the model even though it hasn't been mapped properly yet.  I am aiming to map them tomorrow or Sunday.

(A test render of the texture on a model without finished UVs)

The texture will be merged with some others onto a single material so that multiple meshes can use the same texture space in engine.  This increases efficiency and demonstrates optimisation for game development.

Style Guide and Schedule

(Project Style Guide)

I've been working on a small style guide / mood boards in order to maintain graphical consistency across all my work, as well as give me something to refer back to if I start to struggle with any of the artwork.  Whilst working on this guide I produced the project logo which will become the header for this blog (it's also a requirement for submission).

(The first version of my project planner)

I've created a schedule / planner to help me keep on track, as well as ensure that I don't forget anything.  However, I have to say it is incredibly optimistic, with no room for anything to go wrong and for me to burn myself out.  There are a number of aspects I am willing to remove in order to achieve a completed project but they're listed in case I actually get a chance.  The deadline is marked as the 1st August rather than the actual competition deadline which is the 4th.  This is because I will not be able to work on the project after the 1st.