Project Eches - Sneaky Peak

Here's a sneaky peak at the game we've all been working on for our final project this year. (Echoes)

Project Echoes - Sneaky Preview from Project Echoes (C) on Vimeo.

Still not finalized but the team all have a great feeling about this project and that it's going to be completed to a good standard before the deadline! We're holding a second play-test on our university campus this week after the great feedback from the 1st (and hopefully our playtesters will agree we've worked on that feedback!).

Less than 2 weeks to get this project done, so I'm going to keep working at it until then. Wish us all luck!

Project Echoes - Optimized Ivy and Ninja Theory

As you've probably seen I've been posting some images of heavily ivy-ified props recently which I keep saying that I'll be optimizing soon. Which I have now got around to doing! I suppose a very important question might be why did I decide to do so much damned foliage considering it's known for being a pain in games? 

One of my main influences for this aspect of the environment has been playing Enslaved and getting to move around the environments in that, which I can honestly say despite very linear levels (infact, because they are so linear) are beautiful artistically speaking. Here's some shorts of the environments which I've found influenced me during this project -

I love Ninja Theory's use of colour and foilage in Enslaved, and I feel the broken down post-apocalyptic future covered in green plentiful grass has wonderful juxapostion and really adds to making the environment feel like a plausible place where the world doesn't end after it's apocalypse,  instead it grows anew. 

I've just started playing DmC (and have Heavenly Sword on my wishlist on LoveFILM), and I can see the same level of work and detail in this game as seen in Enslaved, which has been motivating while working on the levels for Echoes. DmC has the same wonderful use of colours seen in Enslaved in a completely different palette but still clearly the same style, and the concept art is gorgeous. This is the style in which I'm going to be trying to develop my art within the next year or so, as it always feels so fresh and engaging to an audience. Currently this is the vein I'm seeing my art develop in and in the future I would love to do some work for Ninja Theory.

So here's my first post of some optimized foliage covering my ruins for the game. Personally I'm loving the addition to my ruins, and feel like it's giving them a munch more personalized and overgrown and abandoned feeling than I was getting before, and I feel this is getting me closer to where I want to head with my work

However after optimizing this I do have a lot more understanding why some games have shyed away from ivy, especially before generators and in game tools. The first stages were especially time consuming, but it got a lot quicker afterwards. I'll be posting up a tutorial for how I did it in the next few weeks once I've got some more of it done with the other ruin pieces. So watch out!

Fuel: Lemon and Ginger Tea

Put together two rough videos of the 2 art projects I'm going for my major project. We had 4 projects worth of time to fill, and each project is meant to take roughly 4 weeks. All of my project's were involved in the Echoes project.

I only have 2 art projects as my other two projects got consumed by directing and game engine stuff. 

Project Echoes - Dragon from Ruth Beresford (C) 2013 on Vimeo.


Project Echoes - Props from Ruth Beresford (C) 2013 on Vimeo.

As you can see from the videos, I need to quickly wrap up all the props I've made, while also wrapping up the games engine and directing. About 3 weeks left, so you can really feel the tension rising on the course, but the excitement is quite a good feeling to be around. Everyone is really motivated and positive atm, so let's just hope that continues ;)

3 and a half weeks left

Been quite quiet recently, as a lot of my work at the moment has been either directing for Project Echoes, or scripting for it. But as we had to submit a bunch of our work this week for '1st submittal' (I suppose a tester round of our final hand in) I had to do some renders anyway and thought I would share this one. 

I know, I know, I know. I need to optimize that ivy. It's on my do to list once I've got a bunch of the game-play straightened out!

In other news, I've applied for an erasmus program to Sardinia during the summer. It'll focus on doing live briefs creating informative animations. Had the interview and I'm really hoping that I'll be successful. I really want to get involved in projects outside of game to help widen my skill bases, and refresh my creativity. Also, it'd be a great opportunity to further my (possibly dreadful) communication skills. I should find out Friday, so wish me luck! (I suppose if I don't get on I can have Download Festival/Rezzed/WalesGameDevelopmentShow to keep me from sulking ;) )

Project Echoes - Our First Playtest!

We're holding a play-test this Friday to help us guide where to focus our efforts in the next month of developing Echoes. 

Project Echoes - 'lil Screenshot

Been playing around with some shaders and lighting and just wanted to share this picture of the Winter Court in Project Echoes =)

Just over a month 'til the end of the project and it's wonderful seeing it all come together.

Project Echoes and My Problem with Trees!

Currently fighting against a few problems with the level. The alpha planes are looking a little off in my level. Currently I have these trees in the level, but I find they're looking very flat and with them being so low I'm not sure they work well.

Here's a video of some rough game-play with these trees:

Here's the other leaves I've made which would relay less on opacity, and have more possibility for shape. I am also wondering if they would improve my FPS in Unity as they're would be less alphas to calculate.

Here's video of how it would look in game-play:

I feel that although the trees with the giant leaves are a better design, that they aren't right for this environment. Feedback from the team has confirmed this, so I'm looking at ways to make my trees less obviously game-y. I'm thinking if I move the leaves up higher that this would help as they'd always be further away and it'd be easier to dress the trees for viewing from below.

Echoes - The abandoned mind

Some bits and pieces of ruined buildings I've been modelling for Project Echoes. The general idea is that the pieces should be modular, so that different buildings can be created using the same pieces, which some texture variations. This is how far I am with them atm. As you can see I've got the modelling down, I just need to carry on with the texturing!

Here most of these are just diffuses in progress atm.

Project Echoes - Frozen Fountain

So it's been a little crazy trying to get all these props together, but here's my most recent one. Got the diffuse, bump and spec done, but I feel I might have to further work on it to give it the right feel. It's meant to be a fountain that's frozen mid flow, but I'm not sure that's getting across right now.

One thing I might do to solve this is to look at shaders which I could use in unity on the ice to mke it more belieable, and another thing I might want to do is add a layer of snow over the fountain, and then change the spec map to reflect that so there feels like a clear difference between them.

I'll get onto those things as soon as I've got the other props up to standard, but until then, fountain!

Echoes - Oh yeah, rocks

This week has been focused on getting some rock and cliff pieces together for the scenery for Echoes. These textures will be used for the Summer level, and I will be creating some alternative textures for the Winter level.

I'm going to add an emission map onto the rock pieces, as they're going to have glowing labyrinth sigils on them.

 

Rocks presented a challenge at first, mostly due to my inability to work out how to keep them low poly but have a lot of shape to them. I wanted these 2 to be modular as well, so they could be used again and again in the game to create mountains, and enforce game boundaries, but have very little effect on processing within the engine.

After research I found the best workflow for me would be sculpting them in zbrush, and then taking them into Topogun. I tried modeling them straight in max to begin with but I found that the task was possible, but very time consuming. First project I've tried this set up and I'm finding myself liking it a lot, I feel it gives a lot more speed to the process and lets you create what you want to more accurately. I definitely see myself using this a lot more in future, and after Project Echoes has been completed I can't wait to give it a go on a character

Echoes - Ambient Scenery

Update on the props I'm going for Echoes, these are some pieces of scenery for the level. 

Need to work into the rose bush further, but I'm making headway with the texturing. The normal maps don't show in the viewport render, so I'll get some in engine shots at some point soon.

Next on my list of Ambient Scenery is -

Modular Cliffs and Rocks

Show variation textures for some props

Optimizing foliage

Texturing Trees

After they're done, I can move onto the ruins in the summer environment without too much worry.

Project Echoes - Magum Opus

I hesitate in calling this my greatest work for Project Echoes so far, but gosh is was one of the most fun! Found myself taking some time out to produce some of Genvieve's drawings for her nursery, and I quite liked the results, very talented for an 8 year old girl ;)

Echoes - My Bed

Well, not mine, mine's much messier than this. But I did want to get in a reference to the fact that my bed is much better than Tracey Emin's*

This is the first time I've used zbrush for modelling non-organic things. I used 3dsmax for the base mesh, and then look it into zbrush for a normal map. I took it into zbrush first and did this one, but I realised once I'd finished that I could add a lot more atompshere to this piece by having the bed look as if someone's slept in it. This is one of the key props in the nursery room, so I felt it was worth making that change.

So bring me forward a bit, and I had sculpted this new messy bed! I much prefer it, and feel it's going to add a lot more atmosphere.

*I have complete respect for fine artists and breaking the boundaries of art and thought... But Tracey Emin amuses me.

Project Echoes

It's been a long wait, but finally I have a website and facebook page to give you all for the game I'm directing this year!

Project Echoes - Facebook

Website

Further updates will be happening next week, and everyone in the team is really excited about the work we're getting done, so keep your eyes peeled. 

Echoes - Colouring Dragons...

Here's the start of my diffuse texture for the dragon enemy I'm making for Echoes. Hoping to smooth it out and add some nicer variation in it (and gosh that eye needs work...), but I think I'll start on my spec map and come back to it. Will probably test it in unity from now on instead of max, so I know what sort of look I'm going to get out of engine.

Project Echoes - Font

Health font (or poison cure) base model for Project Echoes. Created it using zbrush and max. Will hopefully get around to texturing it within the next week or two, but want to model a lot of the props before I start texturing them just to make level design progress a little easier.

Based on this concept.

Echoes - The Nursery

Been working on this the past couple of days, to give myself a break from trees and plants.

I'm modelling stuff in batches, and then will texture the same, so I think over the next few days I'll move over to texturing a bunch of the stuff that I've modelled.

In the game, these are looking to go into the Summer environment amongst the ruins, so I shall be texturing them decayed and knocked about a bit! But these items are going to be in one of the central rooms of the level, and hopefully the area where you find out a lot about the back story of what's going on. I just need to get around to writing the fluff with the rest of the team and it's starting to look very real!

Echoes - Trees

I choose to create the trees for our games project, and while there was an option to try and find a tree generator and tweak the stuff, I took this opportunity to learn zbrush a bit better.

I got some really nice shapes from using zspheres, they were based off bonsai trees as I felt this style of tree but much bigger would quite fit the sort of fantasy/surreal feel which the game is going for.

I then imported them into 3dsmax, and optimized them a bit. My plan is to take them into the engine and just move each one around a bit, scale and that sort of thing so they don't all look too similar. I might also come back and try and place one of these trees cover a rock or something.

Other set pieces I have left to create - rocks, plants, bushes, hedges, cliff like pieces and shaping the terrian!

Echoes - Dragons

Final dragon turnarounds and concept art. Not entirely sure on the colour of the feathers, but I feel I'll play around with this more in the production phase.

I'm hoping I've done most of the hard thought on it's design before building it, but I'm sure something will pop up. While I don't normally view myself as a concept artist, I found the design process for this dragon has made me want to work a lot harder on my concepting skills in the further. So I'll be trying to keep my painting skills up to date while modelling, as well as life drawing.

*Backgrounds on the sheets are not mine, but I've been unable to find the artist whose they are.

Echoes - Summer Buildings

Here's some development for the type of building we're envisioning for the project. I don't normally draw buildings so was quite pleased how quickly I ended up producing these, and felt it was good practise for both my drawing and modelling skills.