Planning

For our last semester we had been separated into groups and teamed with the  2nd year students from the Game Design Course to come up with ideas for a game and eventually a game prototype. This tasks involves creating a story driven vertical slice that focuses on developing artistic elements of the game. The game prototype will need to demonstrate the use of art and animation assets that will be informed by a pre-production plan, and the task will be undertaken with a contemporary games engine. The focus from myself on this project, will primarily based around the games art direction, art assets and the animation. The narrative design, game mechanics and level design will be what the game design students will be tasked with achieving.

Our Animation team included Dayna, James, Katie, Daniel and myself, as well as the Games Design Team which consisted of Matthew, Patrick, Turlough, Filip and Adam. After getting to know each other we began trying to come up with ideas for what our game would be about, the timeline it would be based in, the games genre and what kind of perspective the player would be experiencing it from i.e. first person, third person, side scroller or top down. We came to the conclusion that our game would be a 3D first person horror game with the player having to complete puzzles throughout. Our main sources of inspiration were from games like Outlast, Cry of Fear and Little Nightmares.

Our original concept for the horror game was for the player to be on a train, where they would have to pass through each of the trains cabins, each representing a different era from the past, while completing puzzles along the way. There would be a evil conductor on the train that would chase you through each carriage.

Here are examples of our early brainstorming, with the first image being from class when we were initially split into groups and the other being from our Miro board:

We then setup a Discord server as it was the best method of communicating with each other, especially with members of the project being off sick and most importantly communicating outside of lecture time.

We then set up a Miro up a Miro board so that we could continue coming up with more ideas for the game. The mood board was separated into different segments such as game ideas, mood boards, a group meeting timetable and research/reference material for the project.

We still had many ideas on how we wanted the game to work, and we had some doubts on its linear style of gameplay. We had a vote within the discord server to pick which of the 7 concepts we would like to have as our project and came to the conclusion that concept 7, which was based in a toy store, would be a better goal for our project.

We then worked on further developing the toy store horror game idea on Miro.

With our final game concept settled, we began working for our first presentation, which would from then on be a weekly occurrence so that our lecturers could see what each of the members from our group was working on towards the project. During our second week assigned ourselves different roles for the project, I would be working modelling and texturing the projects hard surface models. We had a developed a list of models that would be included in the game and divided the models evenly throughout the group so that everyone would contribute evenly towards the project.

Modelling

I was tasked with creating the following models in Maya:

  • Battery
  • Bin
  • Bunny
  • Front Desk
  • Hand Dryer
  • Key
  • Mirror
  • Screw
  • Seat
  • Sink
  • Table
  • Toilet
  • Toy Car
  • Vent Door
  • Vent fan

 

I began researching online for different images to use as image planes for various objects that would be included in the game. The Discord server was very useful during this stage of the project as it allowed all members of the animation/design team to communicate and ensure that the stylistic choices each of us were making for our models remained consistent throughout each of our models. The asset table on Miro was useful as it made sure everyone knew what assets they had been assigned to work on, so time wasn’t wasted with duplicate models being made. It was important to keep in mind when modelling throughout the project, that all the models would half to be to a specific scale as the player would be experiencing the horror game through the perspective of a child, so things would need to scaled larger as a result.

The first models I made on Maya were the chair and the front desk. Both models would be used one of the main rooms of the map so I wanted to get them modelled and exported as “fbx” files so that the Game Design students couple import the models into the game so they were in place before I had made the textures for the models. I had already researched for some image references that could be used for some of the models and I used them to create an image plane to help shape some of the chair, however I didn’t want to copy it completely so I removed the image plane afterward to allow me to make my own changes to the model.

I decided to make all of the models and do the UV editing for each of them first, as opposed to creating a model, UV editing and Texturing them one by one. By separating the processes, it was much easier to keep the texture designs similar, and to keep the aesthetic of the game consistent.

Chair

For the chair I just used a standard office chair I found on the internet as a references and slightly changed the orientation of the pillows and the shape of the back/arm rests. This model is relatively planar so UV editing and unfolding the UV shells of the model wasn’t to much hassle.

Front Desk

I modelled the front desk of the toy store with the use of an image of a receptionists desk, there were a few minor issues when UV editing this model as some of the UV shells were overlapping with one and other but I was able to fix this by changing the way the UV shells were unfolding on the UV map.

Sink & Toilet

Both of these models required a similar approach when modelling as they both involved a bowl type shape.

Reference images used:

To create this concave shape I used the “difference” tool on Maya, which essentially causes shapes to acts as a template to cut out segments of models. By selecting the shape you want to alter and then selecting the shape you want to use as your template you can then go the “Mesh” window to the arrow beside the Booleans tab. From there select difference and your template shape will removed parts of the model which it has outlined.

I found this Youtube channel to be very helpful when creating these models specifically:

Toy Car

I used this same method when modelling the toy cars in order to create the cut out for the cars side view windows.

When researching for this project I wanted to get a simple car model that wouldn’t require too many polygons to create as the model would be used several times to create clutter on the shelves of the toy store. to Reduce the amount of time spent on creating multiple textures for one model, Patrick managed to find a setting on Unreal Engine that made the colour of the car random and it would change the colours of each of the cars every time the game was loaded up, so the cars would all look different but more time could be spent texturing other models for the project.

Bin

The bin was another model which required use of the Boolean tool, in order to create the cut out for the bin to be hollow.

There were a few minor issues with this model when in the UV editor and it was rather difficult to get the UV to wrap round the inside of the bin, but through trial and error as well as playing around and tweaking the UV shells and how they were folded I was able to solve the issue.

Fan

The fan was relatively simple to model, and because it was going to be placed behind a vent cover, meant that I would need to make a low poly model as it was important to make sure we weren’t over complicating models with detail when it wasn’t necessary, because this would impact the performance during gameplay. I modelled the vent fan off a Razer computer fan, as I thought the design would match quite well and there wasn’t to much difference between its appearance and an actual vent fan. Although the UV mapping for this model didn’t come out perfect, the textures looked find when applied in Substance Painter and when they were imported into Unreal.

Vent Cover & Screw

The screw model consisted of a semi circle shape and a cylinder attached together almost like a mushroom and the vent cover included several rectangular shapes, orientated in the shape of the vents frame. Due to the simplistic shape of these models I didn’t feel it was necessary to get reference material for these models as they were simple models to make. Both models were very quick to UV edit with no issues.

Here is my vent cover and screw models in Maya with their UV’s:

Battery

The battery was another model that was quick to UV map as it was two cylinders, with one scaled to give one of the cylinders a flattened appearance to resemble the battery’s “positive terminal”.

Mirror

To make the mirror used 5 flattened rectangular shapes in Maya, 1 to represent the reflective panel and the other 4 that would be along the outside of the panel that would be the hooks for the mirror to hang on the bathroom wall.

Bunny

The bunny model was relatively easy to produce, I found a useful video on youtube that helped me produce the model. I blocked out the shape roughly and then edited the vertex’s of the shapes to smoothen them out before bevelling them to remove the corner and give the model a round, plush appearance. The UV mapping was very much trial and error with this model, I made several attempts at sewing and cutting the UV shells to try and make the texture fit properly and after many attempts I managed to get it right.

Here is the link to the youtube video which I used to help make this model:

Key

The model for the key was important as this would be an item in the game that would be used to unlock doors throughout the map. Its a a simple model consisting of a a cylinder, a square like shape which has altered to represent the keys notches and a loop shape for the end of the key. The loop was the only part of this model that was tricky to map in the UV editor. It similar to the bunny model this shape had rounded edges so it was a matter of locating the right part of the UV shell to cut/sew.

Table

The table consisted of mostly basic shape, the legs of the table were slightly more complex to UV map as they had many bevels along their edges. I modelled the table off of an image that I found on the internet, which I used as an image reference.

Hand Dryer

For this model I used this image reference to help model the hand dryer:

I tried to replicate the reference hand dryer when making my own model in Maya whilst still ensuring there were some differences in the design. On my model I added a frame around the main body of the hand dryer with the idea that I would texture it to have a sign saying “OUT OF ORDER” when I was texturing it.

Texturing

To texture my models I used Adobe Substance 3D Painter as I felt most familiar using the programmes from the Adobe Creative Cloud. The texturing process began immediately after I had finished modelling each of the assets on Maya and had exported them as FBX files. I then organised all of the assets into a folder that I had created for this project. In the project folder the were folders for each of the models with their Maya, FBX , Substance Painter, and texture files.

Here is how I laid out my project folder:

Here is and example of how I organised each of my asset folders:

Battery

For the battery asset I used a latex black texture to act as the plastic film that’s wrapped around batteries base. I used an aluminium brushed worn texture for the end of the battery which held the positive terminal, and reduced the brushed worn effect to give this part of the model more of metallic appearance.

Bin

The base of the bin was textured using a red plastic matte texture, with the bin lid being textured with a black plastic armour matte texture. Both of these textures had a similar non reflective appearance which I was looking for when texturing this asset as I didn’t the bin to look cheap with an overly reflective appearance.

Vent Fan

The vent fan was textured using worn out steel texture that I found on Substance with a rough iron texture underneath to add an uneven finish to the model.  I didn’t spend much time focusing on any details in particular with this model as it would mostly be out of sight behind my vent cover model.

Mirror

The mirror was textured with a “glass film dirty mirror” texture for the reflective panel. Our game was first person however, so we didn’t use a character model for the player. This meant that we would have to ensure the mirror model would not reflect the world in Unreal so it would not break the immersion if the player went up to the mirror and just saw the characters floating arms. The hinges of the mirror were textured using a simple steel “smart material”.

Screw

For the screw I used a Steel stained texture for the entire model, I then added a layer and used the brush tool to draw a black line down the center of the screw top for the notch where the screwdriver would go.

Seat

For the seat I textured the legs with a Wood Acajou texture which I over lapped with a separate layer that had a Plastic Dirty Scratched texture, this was done to give the wood a painted appearance alongside the dirt, scratches and edge damage to the chair legs. The main body of the seat was textured with Creature Skin Green smooth, this gave a smooth green leather aesthetic to the back and arm rests of the seat, the edges also have a brown areas around to make the chair look aged and worn out. The pillows were textured using Fabric Canvas Creased texture, this matched rather well with the chairs body and the creases on the fabric only add to the the worn and used appearance of the model.

Sink, Toilet and Hand Dryer

I took a relatively similar approach to these 3 models when I was texturing them as I wanted them to have the same plastic/ceramic appearance, with dirt and grime present in the assets crevice’s. I felt this design choice added to the story telling of the game as it gave the player an idea of how long the Toy store had been left abandoned for. The buttons, tap and Hand dryer tube were all made using either steel textures or iron forged textures, the scratches on these parts of the models gave a clear wear and tear appearance to these parts of the models, further indicating their age.

For the sign on the Hand Dryer I created another layer on the main body of the model in Substance Painter, and simply used the brush tool to write “OUT OF ORDER” across the model. Using a mouse to write the sign came in useful as it gave a sketched on, hand written appearance to the model.

I used a Plastic Glossy Armour texture for the piping on the sink in order to represent the waste pipe that would run from underneath the sink.

Table

I imported the same textures from my chair model over to my table model as the chair legs and table legs were both the same just scaled differently. The table top was textured using Plastic Glossy Armour but I had the plastic base set to 100% unlike the piping for the sink, were I had turned down this layer to 89%.

Vent Door

I textured the Vent Door using a standard Steel smart material from Substance Painter. This was a simple model that didn’t require much detail to portray the steel panel appearance of the vent. I kept all the details in substance at their stock values as I thought they looked fine.

Key

I used a Bronze Armour texture for the key asset as I thought the bronze matched really well with the model and the subtle scratches in the texturing give the impression that the key has been used many times before.

Front Desk

For the front desk of the Front Desk asset I used the Plastic Dusty texture as I thought the white texturing looked a bit plain and too similar to the FBX, untextured version of the asset. This texture allowed me to add some dirt and dust effects to the model making it look as if it has remained unused for some time.

Bunny Toy

For the eyes of the Bunny toy I used a latex plastic texture to give the eye a deep dark and shiny appearance. The nose was textured with the “Plastic Used Shiny” texture as it had a skin like appearance that I felt fitted in well with the design of the asset.

 

For the main body of this model I used the Fabric Flannel Tartan texture. For the paw prints I added another layer on the model and used the brush tool to add pink spots at the end of each of the arms and legs.

Final Thoughts

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time working in groups with the students from the Animation and Game Design courses. I’ve enjoyed playing games since I was a kid and as I’m sure many other people would agree that they’ve been a great source of entertainment throughout the years. It was exciting having the opportunity to experience what it would be like to work alongside a group of game designers, and the amount of work and effort that is put into creating these experiences. Even without a client changing their mind on stylistic and game design choices, there were constantly changes being made throughout the beginning of the project as to what the game would be based on. We had a group member leave and be replaced by another member of the class which worked greatly in our favour as we had new ideas for the project.

My time was primarily focused toward the creation of assets so most of the communication through the later stages was between the members of the Animation course. I feel that we all kept in touch consistently throughout the projects lifetime which made things a lot easier in terms of organisation. Our group meeting rota made things easier for those of us that had part times to attend during the project and helped everyone keep up to date on where the other members were up to in terms of progression.

With minor hurdles along the way I really enjoyed my time creating hard surface models and texturing them for the project. It was fun to seeing all the assets the teams had made slowly bring the project to life when they were all being imported and the game was being play tested. Textures not applying correctly became a slight burden but I had plenty of practise with the models that I had made, I became more efficient at organising my UV’s and textures, which has only better prepared me for future projects. I can see how my modelling and texturing skills have developed through previous projects. The most notable skill that I feel I have developed has been my UV mapping. It was an aspect that I was efficient at accomplishing but I found it far more comprehensible during this project because of my past experiences modelling, UV editing and texturing. Overall I really pleased with how my and all the other group game has turned out, and I really feel that all the effort we’ve put in has paid off.

Game Package & Playthrough

Game Package:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UiqGOJD3klE6Hyy15MDgB2Au4-TwUZxR

Playthrough:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *