Sunday, 11 May 2014

Elements of game design part eight: documentation



Documentation in any part of life or business is important it makes life a lot easier later on for when people want to come back and reference or double check they have done everything correctly. In the games industry it covers a range of written activity from concepts, character profiles, narrative elements (a reason why it’s important to read and build up your knowledge and visual library), bug reports and testing, all the way to finance and planning for the game. So it is a must for anyone who plans to create a game or start up a business.

I will create a mock up practice brief for a project, which I will actually be starting this summer, give or take a few changes. Probably not going to as high poly but I will see what will happen with it. 

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My Mock FMP Project: A Dystopian Sci-fi world set in the year 2088-2150

Story: In the not so far future a well-known organisation is controlling most of the world behind closed doors, they have ushered in a war against countries who aren’t allied with them to take control of the last few resources left on earth to start colonizing mars and begin expanding into space.

Brief: Create a futuristic dystopian sci-fi city environment where there is a war waging on. Use the elements from the story to create your own world, you will need to plan and concept all of the artwork. You will be required to create the streets, buildings, shops, vehicles, guns, armour, characters and any other assets or props you can integrate into this world. The art style must be very realistic and believable.

This will be an FPS (First Person Shooter) game which will be running on PC and next-gen consoles such as the PS4 and Xbox One. Your target audience will be of an of audience of 15+ 

You have a choice of whatever engine you want to use from Cryengine 3 or Unreal Engine 4/ UDK. You will also be required to use 3DS max for basic asset modelling, Z-Brush or Mudbox for high poly sculpting, Crazy Bump or Quixel Suite with NdO and DdO for texturing, Marvelous Designer for cloth simulation sculpting if needed. Photoshop for texturing and Presenting screenshots.

Technical specifications:

Lead character:

There will need to be a lead character which leads a resistance to fight against the organisation. The gender of said character is up to you.

-A tri limit of 60,000 tri’s for this character
- 2 x 2048 x 2048 (diffuse + alpha maps) 32Bit
-2 x 2048 x 2048 (specular+ gloss maps) 32Bit
-2 x 2048 x 2048 (normal map) 24Bit

Weapons and additional props no more than 15,000 tri’s
- 1 x 1048 x 1048 (diffuse + alpha maps) 32Bit
-1 x 1048 x 1048 (specular+ gloss maps) 32Bit
-1 x 1048 x 1048 (normal map) 24Bit

An LoDs a Level of detail – one with 30000 tri’s
- 2 x 1024 x 1024 (diffuse + alpha maps) 32Bit
-2 x 1024 x 1024 (specular+ gloss maps) 32Bit
-2 x 1024 x 1024 (normal map) 24Bit

5500 tris for the weapon + props
-2 x 512 x 512 (diffuse + alpha) 32Bit
-2 x 512 x 512 (specular + gloss) 32Bit
-2 x 512 x 512 (normal) 24Bit


An NPC 

An NPC can be a civilian, an enemy soldier, mech pilot, a cyborg enemy or ally. These will be quite common throughout the non-multiplayer sections of the game.

-Tri limit of 40,000 tri’s for these characters
- 2 x 2048 x 2048 (diffuse + alpha maps) 32Bit
-2 x 2048 x 2048 (specular+ gloss maps) 32Bit
-2 x 2048 x 2048 (normal map) 24Bit

5000 tris for the additional props and weapons that the will have
1x 1024x1024 (diffuse + alpha maps) 32Bit
1x 1024x1024 (specular + gloss maps) 32Bit
1x 1024x1024 (normal bump maps) 24Bit
LoD Models can be 20,000 tris +2500 tris for the weapon + additional props

A futuristic armoured vehicle that the soldiers will drive and arrive in.
50,000 tri’s for the vehicle

- 2 x 2048 x 2048 (diffuse + alpha maps) 32Bit
-2 x 2048 x 2048 (specular+ gloss maps) 32Bit
-2 x 2048 x 2048 (normal map) 24Bit

LoD model of the vehicle at 25,000 tri’s
1x 1024x1024 (diffuse + alpha maps) 32Bit
1x 1024x1024 (specular + gloss maps) 32Bit
1x 1024x1024 (normal bump maps) 24Bit

The environment itself must be able to run at least 30FPS on a decent spec computer or the xbox one/ PS4 console.

Scenery props and objects will need to depend on your own judgement. Don’t go overboard with the tri’s and don’t worry about using too little. Use texture maps efficiently. The game needs to run smoothly at 30FPS, preferably at 60FPS

The length of this project will be 20 weeks

The aim of this project is to learn about new techniques in creating a realistic environment. Time management and planning. High poly sculpting practice, Asset creation and texturing practice, getting into grips with an engine and learning the basics and advanced systems it can provide.

You will need to find out how to solve your own problems with research and asking on the internet. Another aim is to build up your current portfolio and give it a huge boost in quality with this project, both visual design and game production aspects.
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