Repeating Assets & Texture Sharing

This is the list of repeating assets that will be included:
- Bin
- Chairs
- Sofas
- Desks
- Some doors
- Keypads
- Some Lights
- Light switches
- Stairs
- Banisters
- Toilets
- Fire Extinguishers
- Signs
- Pipes
- Some windows? (depending on the different styles in the building)

Areas sharing texture space:
- Walls
- Flooring
- Ceiling

Not sure if i've missed any?

Writing on the walls - images from Left 4 Dead

These a few screenshots of writing on wall found in Left 4 Dead. I only found writing in the safehouses, not in the open areas of the game due to the fast pace of the game distracting the player from stopping to look at the walls.



We could put writing near the lighting where the player is most likely to take their time navigating around the area to influence curiosity and draw the player to the next door/area.

Let me know what you think :)

Colour and paint

Forgive the amateur paint, I can't do as much justice to this as Z! ^^ Just a follow up to the screen shots I took from silent hill.

Screen shots from silent hill

I took these while the game was being played, as research. They all had hues of strong underlying colour, mostly yellows, blues, greens and reds. I used these to then knock up some colour trials of the toilets...

Game Art of Bioshock

Heres a video i watched this morning, based on the environment design for Bioshock 2,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GkQ1fprBKI

the Lead Environment Artist, Hogarth de la Plante. Talks about how the environment were designed and how the lighting was used to create a really effective atmosphere.

There are also another 4 videos on the design of Bioshock, Including Character design. Definatly worth watching

Work schedule

Work, you Slaves of Spaazm!

Mark
- Concept male toilets in middle floor. Start modelling some basic objects e. g. cubicles, urinals, etc.

Priya
- Make list of repetitive assets. Concept the stylisation. Colour schemes, etc.
- Concept different ways of blocking up doors: barricaded doors, boarded up doors, locks, padlocks, broken keypads, etc

Aby
- Assign the layout of the blockaded objects to the floors.
- Concept windows. Grimed boarded up, cracked glass, etc.

Simon
- Concept the pipes; broken, grimed, etc.
- If more time, start making/testing the assets on ceiling.

Andy
- Concept stairs; grime it up, think of how the middle staircase is blocked off (objects in the way? broken off?).

Zongyi
- Sit back and relax.
- Concept female toilets. And other things.

Unreal Notes from Si's lesson

Export mesh from Max with several IDs.

Call the box a certain code, "UCX_"

Box - Do not modify. Attach everything else together.

Assign IDs in max like one normally would.

Have 1 diffuse in canvas slot. Just need diffuse in first one to work.

When comes to exporting, slot has to be assigned to diffuse.

Select all in the collision, Export > Export Selected > Save to a folder. Save as ASCII Scene Export (.ASE).

WWW.HOURENCES.COM!! Advanced tutorials and help for Unreal. And Unreal Wiki.

-IN UNREAL -

Build a simple block.

First thing to do, add a light. Hold L and left click.

- Small black box button next to a pair of binoculars. "Content Browser" window comes up. A place to store textures, materials, collision meshes, etc.

Import object. Give package new name in Unreal. Ignore next pop-up window.

And the model is IN!

- Import textures. If diffuse, leave the Compression Settings to default. If Normal map, then select "Normal" otherwise won't work.

Can't simply assign textures to model. Must make materials like Shader. Right click, New Material. Opens up Material Editor. Go into TextureSample >Drag in texture you have and pull top black box to Diffuse in List

"PreviewMaterial". Blend Mode > Masked blend.

Simply pull the boxes on the left side of the Texture box to the list on the left. Eg. when assigning alpha, pull white box to OpacityMask.

Right-click > Static Mesh > Materials > Assign from content browser.

- SCALING -

One character = 96 Unreal units.

In Max, always scale a model next to a biped of 96 Units.

In Unreal, select the static mesh. Left box scales everything.

- BRUSH -

Brush is the red box. Right-click on brush, > Add volume > Lightmash importancevolume > That will stop the light gonig outside the box. Keeps light bouncing inside.

- WHILE IN "GAMING MODE" (Right-click > Play from here). -

While in "gaming mode" 8D: Press Tab. Behind view > Fly: to navigate through level.

Ghost -on. Go through walls. Jump around easier.

Press windows tab for full-screen lol.

To hide gun, it's show hud.

- HOW TO SAVE -

Right-click on Package > Save > Make 2 folders (one called "level". And then "UPK"). SAve in UPK. The package is what we save as.

If want to move, select all in the Content Browser and go into "LEvel" foldier.

- HOW TO OPEN FILE -

Go to Content Browser, load Package. Click the little Open Folder icon. Then Open Package. Package opened. F'yeah.

- LIGHTING SYSTEM -

When building, if there are any gaps then lighting will go bad. Don't ever change Drag Grid. Ever. Keep Snap Grid on. At 16.

- ASSIGNING MATERIAL TO FLOOR -

Drag 'n' drop.

- TOOLS -

Use a Gizmo tool to scale.

Select what you want to import first.

Go into UDK files. > UTGame > Screenshots. Find screenshots of super high res.

Have own work. Do work on uni machines.