MDDN 343 - ADVANCED COMPUTER GAME DESIGN: April 2013

Saturday 20 April 2013

FINAL RENDERS

I really kept it simple. Just setting up some simple light and make my lizard floating on a ocean surface.

TURNTABLES FOR FINAL MODEL

Turntable for my low-poly model

Turntable for low-poly model with wireframe

Turntable for my final high-poly model

NEW RIGGING

New rigging I've built up again

Now I did know how to use control curve! Finally!

I did use automatic UV tool in Maya, just really simplified the progress. And this time I wouldn't use Photoshop to texture it, to really save my narrow time I was having I used the Paint Tool in MudBox (also a great experience to try new things)

I looked for some color schemes on kuler.com ...

I prefer this one over my first! My first one was way too vivid and seemed not fit properly.

I used the Paint Tools in Mudbox... Worked out well!

UV with basic colors and textures

MUDBOX WORK AGAIN and FINAL MODEL

I've dealt with it before! So it now does the matter of time!
I got my final model. And sure I got quite lots of enhancements for my lizard.

More refined horn and neck flap with refined bones and webs.
The legs now have fingers and much more refined webs to function swimming well.
The thorns on the tail are neater.

REMODEL (WITH LEG)

I now got my model with the legs, and is ready to put back into MudBox once again.

PRESENTATION AND FEEDBACK

I have not done the legs put still put up some slides on to present to tutors.
I got feedback about the neck flap's function and its uses (maybe to scare away his enemy). Furthermore, the color scheme seemed not fit my amphibian-liked lizard.
I really need to think about those.

Tuesday 9 April 2013

TOO MANY POLYGONS

My model in MudBox at final stage is roughly about 600k polygons which is too massive for a game I reckon. So I ask Ben about it.

I go lower and lower into this 2660-triangle lizard and wonder: would it be proper for my low-poly

And I put on my 680k-triangle version and ask it for my high-poly model

Furthermore, I reduce the polygons with "reduce" command in "mesh" menu... which cut off tons of triangles. If the second solution can't be used, this is plan B for that.^^

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Ben says that 2660-triangle is about the same as his example model showed in class, so it should be my low-poly model.
For the high-poly, fortunately, Ben said that the 680k version is pretty for high-poly; opposites of my thoughts.
Yes, all good now and I'm ready for next steps.

STAGES OF MY FINAL MODEL (BODY)

Just quickly put on blog some images of my progress.

I go pretty detailed on the neck flap to make it much better.

Got some kinda fins on the back of the lizard's tail

My final model with textured skins, amplify muscles, and lots of tweaks, fixes... Even the eye hole and eye lid part are fixed for much better visuals.

CONFUSES & SOLUTIONS

I know it is gonna be a model for game, not for animation so I will get away with glossy, great-looking renders with massive polygons.
But I wonder how many polygons should be put up on screen for a game? And to apply it for what platforms? (i.e: Ipad, Window, Xbox...)
And put on up those questions with pen. Also the possibility of making from this to

...this with normal map

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No I can't make it since the two model are too different, so the normal map won't reach. Instead Ben suggests to sculpt something in low-poly model then export back into Maya-------> do the UV map -----> export to the MudBox and now work on the higher-poly version.

Well, I should try things out before any further questions with Ben. Thank you Ben.

GOING EXTREME

EXTREME mode! I try something new after getting feedback from Mr. Kah

1) Chubby looking... Not sure that I like it since the animation for this is gonna be slow and heavy

2) Well, I love the horn and pointy neck flap. Hopefully I will go further with this horn

3) Blows things up... Neck flap goes blossoming. Look like a flower but the mesh is screwed up!

4) Jumbo! The little elephant from Disney. Yeah, kind of but in chubby looking way. But this is pretty promising.

Sunday 7 April 2013

FEEDBACK P1A

Sweet, I got some feedback from Kah which I think is really helpful while doing this.
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Initial Feedback:

The swimming lizard is a good start. The animations are pretty good too, except the head is a

little stilted. Try varying the speed of motion - could it move faster/slower?

There's something missing in the translation from 2D sketch to 3d model. I'd experiment

further with the proportion, really push everything to an extreme to see if you can improve

on the overall composition.

Then focus on detailing the model. how does the crown on the neck fold. How big are the

claws? How thick are the fins and tail? Don't be afraid of asymetry.

SOME MORE MINOR ERRORS APPEARED

Yay, some more errors before sculpting AGAIN! Never mind, I got used to it! :D

Some hole appear and need to be merged. Fixing time!

NO FINS! JUST ADD INTO MUDBOX

I temporarily forget the fins for awhile, I will create them in Mudbox... yes, hopefully!

ADD FINS AND ERRORS AGAIN!

I tried to create the fin like I'd done before. But I knew how to split edges and merge vertices more properly. Hopefully, this time wouldn't fail.

But it did... :(

T-shape fault again and sure thing was I couldn't sub-divide it.

RECREATING THE LEGS

The old legs were pretty faulty, so I recreated the whole new legs. This time I will leave it separated with the body so I can sculpt it a bit easier I think. Here's the base of a new leg.