Battle Arena End Result

In the end my Battle Arena turned out better than expected.

The comic book textures turned out fantastic and really added to the feel of the level.

For most of the textures I painted over them using photoshop, with a little help from images that were found on the internet.

Most of the textures in the Arena were made to look like they were worn so I made sure to make them look cracked or old in a way, with the boxes I tried to make them look sort of new, yet worn in a way.

Flags and foliage were also added to some of the models to help add to the feel of the Arena. These were done using transparent objects using Alpha channels.

In the end I was very pleased with the outcome of my battle arena, the textures looked fantastic and so did the models that they were applied to.



Greybox

For our first level we were tasked with not only making the scene in Maya, but also coding the level too. 

Out of all the classes I found the coding part to be particularly the hardest, as I could not wrap my head around how code worked. For my greybox level I decided to try and go for something short and simple. The original plan was to make a small level where you played as a janitor in a shopping store, cleaning up spills and mess. However the task soon became more than I expected in terms of work.


First I designed a plan for my first level, it was to be a simple store area so most of the map would be filled with store shelves. Other parts, like at the back area, would have different things like boxes or barrels.
At the front of the store I even moddled a parking lot, cars and high street to help make the level feel like it is a store.

Out of all the parts of this project, modeling was the most easiest. As we were not allowed to texture I found it easy to make models that didn't need much complexity.

Over the course of the project the store underwent many re-designs and re-modeling. For instance the first export of the store was just a room with an entrance and shelves, but over time more detail was added like small shelves and boxes, and  even doors.

Admittedly I wasn't expecting the coding part of the course to be an easy task at all, after hearing so many horror stories about programmers trying to code. I myself found the coding to be particularly tricky, most of the time I would have to ask for help when trying to script things to work.

After a while though  I sort of got the hang of the use of scripting. In my latest build I was able to script events like sounds or even objects that disappear when the player clicks on them, if he is in a trigger.

In the end I have to say I was kind of satisfied with my first level, I managed to get some events working and scripting, and the main level area looked appealing.

3D Foliage

For 3D we were tasked with making foliage using Alpha channels in Photoshop.

Admittedly at first I had a lot of trouble with the process of making the foliage as I had trouble getting the Alpha channels to work. After a few tries however I was able to get it to work.

In the end I was able to make vines plants and leaves using the process. 

Maya barrel

For our first assignment in 3D we were tasked with making a barrel using Maya and texturing it.

For my first barrel I was quite pleased with the outcome of the model and texture, even more knowing that it was my first time making one using Maya. 

After making the first barrel I also tried making a low polly barrel as if it was from World of Warcraft by playing around with the textures and polygons.

3D Rock

For 3D we were tasked with making a rock in Maya using the sculpt tool, the process was relatively simple and in the end produced nice results. 

After finishing my rock I decided to texture it with an asteroid like texture for fun.

Frog drawing

For Visual Arts we were tasked with making a frog that had the same characteristics as someone who was human.

For the research behind the frog I was going to draw I took inspiration from classic animated movies like Loony Toons.

For example I took inspiration from Michigan J Frog from the Loony Toons episode "One Froggy Evening." (The Episode where a frog sings "Hello my baby hello my honey.")

I also took inspiration from the famous paining of the Dogs playing Poker by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. Even though they were not frogs I still found the idea of an animal playing card games like Poker amusing, so I chose to base my drawing on the same idea.

Before I started the main drawing in Photoshop, I did two sketches in my sketchpad to get a feel for the concept of human like frogs.

For these drawings I decided to make one frog look like someone you would see at a sports event, while the other someone in a management position. 

Here is the final frog drawing that I made in photoshop, I intended to make him look like someone who had a gambling addition of sorts.

Room Drawing

For Visual arts we were tasked with making a small Sci-Fi room. 

For my room I took inspiration from various games such as Titanfall and Star Citizen.

At first I aimed to add clutter to the room like crates and notes. Then I decided to add a dead body in the corner and blood to make it look like an experiment of sorts had escaped. After that was done I decided to add some lighting into the drawing to help set the mood of the area.

Tentacle Monster

For Visual Arts we were tasked with making a tentacle monster creature. For this assignment I decided to make something that was akin to the monsters from the Resistance series. 

Process of making the tentacle monster. Throughout the time I spent drawing the image I made sure to add detail to my work to make the image come alive. For example when drawing the lighthouse I added detail to the building and island surrounding it.

I also added light from the lightning strike onto the tentacles and body in the drawing. This was to make the drawing look more life like and to give the impression that there is some wetness.

Final image.

Inspiration for the monster was taken from the Resistance game series, in which many creatures have various alien like looks. The glowing eyes were a massive influence as I wanted to use the same technique to make the image come to life. Most of the main inspiration came from the Kraken monster that appears throughout the game.

Zombie Textures

As a special task for halloween we were tasked with turning this girl's model into a zombie by editing the texture file.  

For the zombie I added blood effects and cuts, I also made the skin a tiny bit more pale and added blood stains to the clothes of the character. 

Above is the original texture file for the girl.

Above is the edited texture file for the zombie girl, you can see blood stains and cuts all over the clothes and body. I also tried adding small blood stains on the body. 

Lava monster

We were tasked with making a lava monster after being taught how to make lava in photoshop.

For my monster I contemplated many ideas to start with. For example one of the ideas I wanted to do was to make a tornado like lava monster, but decided against it because the idea did not sound as appealing. 

In the end I settled with a T-Rex like lava monster because of my love for Dinosaurs

Dwarf and Elf

We were tasked with making a Dwarf and Elf using the head hight technique to measure their size.

  

For both drawings I used references, like the drawing on the right hand side of the elf for example. 

Pixel art

For class we were taught how to make pixel art, and were given homework to make a pixel robot.

For my robot I made a small robot that took inspiration from Battlestar Galatica. 

First level map

For the first level of my game I was also tasked with making a map as well as a storyboard.

In the map you can see some areas are labeled with spills and bonus spills. I did this because in the level I wanted to player to have a main objective as well as a bonus objective. This would give the player something to do if he wanted to go though the level once again.

Most of the map is filled with store shelves. This is because in the main game I want the player to explore the area or find the objective area by looking out for the designated isle, which is usually pointed out by the signs that hang above them in stores. 

This will allow the player some freedom in trying to find the objective area, instead of being tunneled towards the objective.

In the level the player also starts off in a backroom, which can give him a feel for the controls before triggering the first objective. 

First level storyboard

For the first level of my game I was instructed to make a storyboard of all the important events that would happen in the level. The game itself was to be set in a supermarket, an odd setting but never the less an interesting one. 

Below is the storyboard of the level. 

In the storyboard I mapped out 6 major events in the level, all which required scripts or triggers to be used. Most of the triggers relate to cleaning up a section of the store, for example coming across a spill and a trigger box allows you to stop your cleaning cart and take out your broom. Another is causing a sound effect to play over the tannoy system to the player, directing him to a spill of some sort. 

Other scripts would just be for allowing the player to open doors or corner off spills in an area. Though overall the level would hopefully not be that script intensive. 

Weapons drawing

For one of our assignments we were tasked with designing a weapon and creating a moodboard.

Below is the moodboard that I drew inspiration from, I gathered various weapons and guns from different videogames such as Ratchet and Clank, resistance, and Wolfenstein. 

One the moodboard was made I sketched a few weapon ideas in my sketchbook. 

All the gun sketches here were intended to be futuristic. The first weapon is intended to be a assault rifle of sorts with multiple barrels, the second a shoulder mounted mini gun with rockets, and the third a hand held tazer. 

For the final part of the assignment I was tasked with making a side view image of a futuristic weapon. 

At first I started out doing a silhouette of the weapon before adding detail. One the weapons shape was decided apon I then set to work on the main colour, before then adding detail. 

Once I was happy with the colours of the weapon I then added detail using black lines. After that I added more things like orange colours and small details like shadows and a screen. 

After that was all done I then finished off the weapon and made sure no colours were extruding from the outlines around the gun.

Creature character silhouettes

One of our assignments was to create character silhouettes that resembled crustacean creatures. We were tasked with making at least three creatures that had some features of crustacean creatures or resembled them in a way. Each character had to be detailed and make using the silhouette technique. 

First I blocked out the characters using a black brush, to get the general shape of the creatures that I was going to create. Once I was happy with how they would look I then moved onto the next step.

After the blocking was done I then added a shade of grey as background, that enabled me to add detail.

I then added detail using a black brush, I added in line and other details to help give the monster some identity. Using a different shade of grey I added in other details such as eyes and other features. For the creatures I added in detail that resembled other crustacean creatures. For example the first monster has features that resemble lobsters, the second crabs, and the third shrimp.

Still doing this I then added in more detail and light grey around the edges to give off the effect of a reflection.

For the last stages I then added in a red background and shadow to the drawings.

Robot work for UCA

Robot work for UCA

For our first assignment we were tasked with making a robot. The task allowed us to make three robot designs, before then putting all the ideas together for one final idea.

The first design was somewhat inspired by the robots you would see on robot wars, small and crude. Though with this I added a small cosmetic twist. Usually on programs you would see a small robot with a saw attached to it somehow, with this case I added a ray gun to the back of it. I intended my robot to look sort of like a scorpion, small and deadly. With this I put the ray gun on the back of the robot with a bendable beam like structure that resembles a stinger. At the front I added hand like claws to help spur on this resemblance. 

For movement the robot had tracks added to him, instead of scorpion like legs. I also added a brain on the top of the robot for cosmetic reasons.

The second robot was just intended to be a floating TV. For the style I chose to go with the old box type TV's that you would see before the introduction of flat screen TV's. 

I added thrusters onto the side of the TV to make it look like the robot was self propelled in a manner, as if he was a personal TV assistant. To give the robot personality a face was added the screen. 

The third robot was something of a comedic take on a robot. The idea was based around a mech type robot, for this the robot was intended to be drawn to give off It's tall size. I also added silly features onto the robot like a giant missile and shopping cart. 

The last robot was a combination all of the three previous robots. For the deign I made it the robot have a TV as a face, clamps for hands, and a human like body for the hull of the robot. On the body there was also a text screen with words on it allowing the robot to speak.