Tuesday, August 30, 2011
3dmotive
Signed up for 3dmotive. com in order to get the tutorial video on vertex painting for use in the fort to bring brick and building textures back and forth from old to new.
http://www.3dmotive.com/training/udk/advanced-mesh-paint-with-udk/
http://www.3dmotive.com/training/udk/advanced-mesh-paint-with-udk/
Summation #9 - Maya Studio Projects: Game Environments and Props
The book Maya Studio Projects: Game Environments and Props is a book created to give new and experienced users an idea on how to construct assets for a game environment. The book is based in Maya but at times shows you how work would look in a actual game engine such as UDK. It is divided into two large parts. The beginning chapters are about texture creation and while the later is about modeling low poly assets for game importation.
The first part of the book about texture maps goes over the basics of all game texture maps, diffuse, normals, and specular. These are the most common three maps used on all game assets. A Diffuse map is a texture map that gives a asset its basic colors and is the most basic and widely used of all the maps. The Normal map is a texture map that is a bluish purple color used to imitate variations or dips and bumps within a assets surface. It does this by used precomputed information that gives the texture a Red Green and Blue channel that is used to immolate depth on the surface by reflecting light in different ways. Normal maps are created specifically for games because they do not take to much processing power to import and use in engine and they help give assets in a scene more depth than they normally would have on a base mesh model. Specular is the last map that is extremely important. This map gives information on how the surface reflects light and is based of a grayscale image. This grayscale image gives the game engine information on how light reflects or is absorbed on the surface of a material. For instance if I had a shiny metal object the Specular map would be a bright gray to a white to show the engine that it has a reflective surface, while if I was making something like a tire, the specular map would be more black so to not reflect to much light. The important thing to remember with specular is that all objects react to light in one way or another.
The later chapters of the book focus on modeling assets that are low poly for use in game engine. The three major models created are a revolver, a racecar, and a city skyscraper. The most important one relating to my project is the skyscraper as he uses modularity to construct the building. Modularity is the use of small chunks of a building fitted together to create the whole. This is done so that you can import a smaller number of geometry pieces and maintain a quality but fast running environment.
Overall the book was helpful in understanding pipeline organization and overall understanding of modular design.
Works Cited
McKinley, Michael. Maya Studio Projects: Game Environments and Props. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub., 2010. Print.
The first part of the book about texture maps goes over the basics of all game texture maps, diffuse, normals, and specular. These are the most common three maps used on all game assets. A Diffuse map is a texture map that gives a asset its basic colors and is the most basic and widely used of all the maps. The Normal map is a texture map that is a bluish purple color used to imitate variations or dips and bumps within a assets surface. It does this by used precomputed information that gives the texture a Red Green and Blue channel that is used to immolate depth on the surface by reflecting light in different ways. Normal maps are created specifically for games because they do not take to much processing power to import and use in engine and they help give assets in a scene more depth than they normally would have on a base mesh model. Specular is the last map that is extremely important. This map gives information on how the surface reflects light and is based of a grayscale image. This grayscale image gives the game engine information on how light reflects or is absorbed on the surface of a material. For instance if I had a shiny metal object the Specular map would be a bright gray to a white to show the engine that it has a reflective surface, while if I was making something like a tire, the specular map would be more black so to not reflect to much light. The important thing to remember with specular is that all objects react to light in one way or another.
The later chapters of the book focus on modeling assets that are low poly for use in game engine. The three major models created are a revolver, a racecar, and a city skyscraper. The most important one relating to my project is the skyscraper as he uses modularity to construct the building. Modularity is the use of small chunks of a building fitted together to create the whole. This is done so that you can import a smaller number of geometry pieces and maintain a quality but fast running environment.
Overall the book was helpful in understanding pipeline organization and overall understanding of modular design.
Works Cited
McKinley, Michael. Maya Studio Projects: Game Environments and Props. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub., 2010. Print.
Summation #8 - 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds
The book 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds in an in depth look at creating a game world based in game engines such as UDK or Steam. Although it does not direct go into importing objects or actors into these engines, it does show you how to prep textures, models, and other assets that you would later put into your overall environment. The main focus of the book is divided into different parts of the production pipeline. The beginning of the book focuses on understanding the uses of scene optimization. Scene optimization is making the best use of all assets, textures, effects, and other additives in your environment for each pieces overall use. For instance if I have a small cup in a kitchen scene and want to texture it, I would be best using a smaller size texture map since the player will never able to seen an extreme amount of detail in a small cup. The same goes for the geometry of the cup, I would keep it very limited in polygonal count in order to optimize the cup to run fastest in the scene while still maintain the overall quality of the scene. In the reverse direction, if I were creating a large space ship that has crashed on a planet, I could use a larger amount of geometry and maybe even use wider array of texture maps due to the fact that based on player scale the textures would be quite visible if they were low resolution and it would impact the overall look and feel of the environment.
As the book goes on it goes into great detail explaining making texture maps and the ways to go about adding noise variants to a map. This is don’t through specific overlays and blending textures through Photoshop or other image editing software to give the most believable texture you could give to your assets. By adding variants to your textures through overlays and blending you are able to avoid repeating patterns and bland texture samples.
Toward the end of the book the author talks more about a specific environment that he created for the purposes of the book and go through a step by step process of creating that environment. The scene depicts a jungle base with a front gate into the complex. By using the techniques shown in the previous chapter he shows the proper way to model all of the assets and then goes about setting up proper UVs. UVs are the spacial coordinates used to assign textures to each face on a polygonal object. Then he textures the scene and final renders the scene in Maya to show a mock up of how it would look in game.
Works Cited
Ahearn, Luke. 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds. Amsterdam: Focal/Elsevier, 2008. Print.
As the book goes on it goes into great detail explaining making texture maps and the ways to go about adding noise variants to a map. This is don’t through specific overlays and blending textures through Photoshop or other image editing software to give the most believable texture you could give to your assets. By adding variants to your textures through overlays and blending you are able to avoid repeating patterns and bland texture samples.
Toward the end of the book the author talks more about a specific environment that he created for the purposes of the book and go through a step by step process of creating that environment. The scene depicts a jungle base with a front gate into the complex. By using the techniques shown in the previous chapter he shows the proper way to model all of the assets and then goes about setting up proper UVs. UVs are the spacial coordinates used to assign textures to each face on a polygonal object. Then he textures the scene and final renders the scene in Maya to show a mock up of how it would look in game.
Works Cited
Ahearn, Luke. 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds. Amsterdam: Focal/Elsevier, 2008. Print.
Summation #7 - Half-Life²: Raising the Bar
In reading the book Half-Life²: Raising the Bar I wanted to take a closer look at one of my favorite companies and how they were able to create some of the best games on the market. Valve, the developer and designer of Half Life 2 is also know for creating games as Left 4 Dead and Portal, both of which in my opinion were some of the most interesting games to play both because of story, characters, environment, and overall mechanics specific to each game. Valve has a very different way about going about creating games and I feel some of these tactics may be what is needed to push mainstream gaming in an educational direction. Also I feel that the game Portal is one of the best examples of approaching the ideas of divergent thinking in a game which is one of my main focuses.
Through the book different parts of the production workflow are examined and broken down from the concept design all the way up to creation. Mainly I wanted to focus on the two parts that specifically relate to my thesis, which are environments and mechanics. The environments for Half Life 2 when it first came out were absolutely mesmerizing. As you go from level to level you get a real understanding of the connection of style and realism. This connection allows Value to design a believability environment while still being able to stay within the limitations of consoles and PCs alike. Early concepts were able to establish the overall ideas of how transitions between the city streets and other various parts throughout the city.
The other important part of the book I found interesting was the chapter on the game mechanics. Weapons such as the Anti-Gravity gun add a whole new thought process to the game and how the player interacts with their surrounds. These mechanics in Half Life 2 were the beginning thought processes to design future game mechanics such as Portal’s portal gun. Also designs for making rapid movement through portals as well as cinematic transitions making the game have a movie like feel.
Overall Half Life 2 is best able to capture some of the more innovative and widely used techniques in the industry today. These techniques were built on to create many of the games today that are considered to promote the most out of the box thinking available in gaming today.
Works Cited
Half-Life²: Raising the Bar. Roseville, CA: Prima Games, 2004. Print.
Through the book different parts of the production workflow are examined and broken down from the concept design all the way up to creation. Mainly I wanted to focus on the two parts that specifically relate to my thesis, which are environments and mechanics. The environments for Half Life 2 when it first came out were absolutely mesmerizing. As you go from level to level you get a real understanding of the connection of style and realism. This connection allows Value to design a believability environment while still being able to stay within the limitations of consoles and PCs alike. Early concepts were able to establish the overall ideas of how transitions between the city streets and other various parts throughout the city.
The other important part of the book I found interesting was the chapter on the game mechanics. Weapons such as the Anti-Gravity gun add a whole new thought process to the game and how the player interacts with their surrounds. These mechanics in Half Life 2 were the beginning thought processes to design future game mechanics such as Portal’s portal gun. Also designs for making rapid movement through portals as well as cinematic transitions making the game have a movie like feel.
Overall Half Life 2 is best able to capture some of the more innovative and widely used techniques in the industry today. These techniques were built on to create many of the games today that are considered to promote the most out of the box thinking available in gaming today.
Works Cited
Half-Life²: Raising the Bar. Roseville, CA: Prima Games, 2004. Print.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Summation #6 - Game On: the History and Culture of Videogames
The book Game On: the History and Culture of Video games is a wide collection of thoughts and concepts on understanding the phenomenon of video games and how it has become as big as it is today. While reading through the chapters the one that caught my attention the most was the chapter entitled violence and the political Life of video games. In doing research for my thesis I really wanted to more fully understand the idea behind action oriented game play being the top seller for games and why the typical education game either does not have any sales or is just generally boring.
In this chapter I really feel like Clive Thompson, the writer really hit the nail on the head. He explains how at one point in American history the TV was the newest form of technology and at that point your parents would usually say something along the lines of “TV will rot your brain”. Interestingly enough video games have taken the place of television because now that group of teenagers using those TVs has grown up and TVs are now common place. This all goes along with the western fear or change through technology and understanding its role within society. Hundreds of tests and studies have been done on television and how it affects the human mind. Strangely enough with all the controversy games portray there has only been a handful of inconclusive studies about gaming and even a smaller amount on its effects on youth and if it can instate violence.
A further look into violent gaming can show statistically that guns misfiring in homes or businesses actually has a higher death rate than “video game” caused violence. Also added to that how many of these deaths blamed on video games actually occurred because of the violent games the shooters were playing. Video games have become the violence scapegoat and the idea is that all children who play games will become psychotic killers. A close look at the current trend in games actually puts the player more often in control of a police officer or of military personnel more times than in control of a psychotic killer. This should actually make the public look more into the mentality that police officers are running around instating justice by killing hundreds of thugs rather than the idea that just shooting a gun in a virtual world makes your son or daughter a trained killer.
Overall much more conclusive evidence is needed to prove or disprove that game cause violent tendencies and unless we can remove the violent stigmatism behind gaming then educational games will be that much harder to get into our school systems that can actually educated and provide a wealth of knowledge to our current generation of upcoming students.
Works Cited
King, Lucien. Game On: the History and Culture of Videogames. New York, NY: Universe Pub., 2002. Print.
In this chapter I really feel like Clive Thompson, the writer really hit the nail on the head. He explains how at one point in American history the TV was the newest form of technology and at that point your parents would usually say something along the lines of “TV will rot your brain”. Interestingly enough video games have taken the place of television because now that group of teenagers using those TVs has grown up and TVs are now common place. This all goes along with the western fear or change through technology and understanding its role within society. Hundreds of tests and studies have been done on television and how it affects the human mind. Strangely enough with all the controversy games portray there has only been a handful of inconclusive studies about gaming and even a smaller amount on its effects on youth and if it can instate violence.
A further look into violent gaming can show statistically that guns misfiring in homes or businesses actually has a higher death rate than “video game” caused violence. Also added to that how many of these deaths blamed on video games actually occurred because of the violent games the shooters were playing. Video games have become the violence scapegoat and the idea is that all children who play games will become psychotic killers. A close look at the current trend in games actually puts the player more often in control of a police officer or of military personnel more times than in control of a psychotic killer. This should actually make the public look more into the mentality that police officers are running around instating justice by killing hundreds of thugs rather than the idea that just shooting a gun in a virtual world makes your son or daughter a trained killer.
Overall much more conclusive evidence is needed to prove or disprove that game cause violent tendencies and unless we can remove the violent stigmatism behind gaming then educational games will be that much harder to get into our school systems that can actually educated and provide a wealth of knowledge to our current generation of upcoming students.
Works Cited
King, Lucien. Game On: the History and Culture of Videogames. New York, NY: Universe Pub., 2002. Print.
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