30/04/13 Minutes

Everyone was present.

We're in a rush to get everything done and ready in the level so we can focus on smaller details at this point. The level is at a satisfactory level but its those smaller details and clutter that are going to add character and life to the level.

Tasks at the minute include mainly smaller assets that are going to really build the level

Heidi- finish 3 rubbish piles, self standing lantern, 4 baked down LOD buildings for bridge and other side.

Jimi- finish tree's, dripping particle effect, grass,decals

Kat- RAT RAT RAT

Liam- general engine things, sounds, particles, decals, getting everything in.

Niz-finish horse stables,cart, horse stand and lod boat.

James- Finish tavern assets.

Heather looked around our level this week and suggested the dripping particles to push the detail a bit further and also look into having some movement in the level in which case I'm probably going to bake down my washing line so it blows in the wind, Kats in the process of getting an animated rat in the scene. Along with the smoke and fire and rain this should give our level some kind of a lifelike and lived in atmosphere.

Assets, assets and more assets...

James -

Just thought I'd quickly show what assets I'm working on for this final stretch! Some are now complete and others are in various stages of production soon to be complete.
Most of it is designed to be included in the Bear Tavern's courtyard and should really add character to the space and add to the sense of clutter needed for this public house to look used regularly and interesting. Some assets are designed for multi-use placement around the level.

The Longbow and arrows are there to fit with the stories we discovered
of the Bear having originally housed archery facilities in its courtyard,
significantly adding to its popularity.

The tree is optional because if there if I run out of time we can
use a tree Jimi made for another location.

Optional little house, made using elements from the tavern model.

 Its going to be a tough next few days! All for one and one for all ;)

Update - Bear Tavern

James -

Since the last post, there has been a lot of progress made with my assets, The Bear Tavern in particular. The model was finished and textured, and loaded into the Cry engine among the first to make it in, so it was very exciting seeing it in real time along side the other buildings as the level progressed. I have been making ongoing tweaks and changes but really the last thing left to do is to get the lod in and working and fill up the courtyard with my other assets in production, some of which will be spread throughout the our map.
We have really begun to nail the composition and lighting too a point where I feel happy we are achieving the mood and atmosphere that we set out for, but perhaps most importantly I believe we are on the right track to achieving that realism element which was so fundamental to our idea.

So I just like to illustrate the progress that has been made over the past few weeks on the tavern specifically, along with other aspects of the level.

- At this point my textures were nearly complete and the main design of the Tavern was constructed.
I wanted to take that opportunity before we were able to import and try out our models in Cry engine, to experiment with lighting inside of 3ds Max. Since we conceived our project plans, one of my main idea's as co-art director was to set the mood and atmosphere of the map with night lighting.
- Using the moon and artificial light sources like lanterns and fires to bring it to life and create some really striking and beautiful atmosphere. Mystery and immersion I felt would be a huge selling point if we could pull it off.
 - Plus it would also add some believability and realism to our scene. Early on we soon identified that adding any characters would be too much to undertake, but I felt that would leave us with a ghost town effect if we followed the other groups directions to make there scene hit the daylight timezone.

I added staircase and balcony/ walkway - Used for viewing archery or lingering. should be interesting to explore and five an added vantage point.

At this stage the Bear Tavern was In cry engine now, the level was taking shape thanks to Laim, and we had some lighting to test maps were working correctly. For a while the night time lighting that I spoke of earlier was dropped due to it being difficult to achieve, it was replaced for early morning/ sunrise, and there was some disagreement in the group as to whether changing to daylight was better or worse. Ultimately daytime just seemed to conflict with realism having lanterns everywhere, and empty streets but no natural explanation as to why, which is the advantage night gave us.

With some technical help from some of the third years, Jimi and I were able to find a basic night setting that mirrored what I was after originally. With the positive feedback it received from the rest of the our group and other peers, it has now been adopted and we are decided on moonlit night which Liam has been enhancing. I think we are all really pleased about and it has given us an extra boost of morale for the finish line!

View from the main street looking directly at the Bear and the Gatehouse

View looking down into the entrance area of the tavern courtyard.

We still have some things to figure out but all the last assets from everyone are being created and added to the scene, including particle affects and decals. Its all coming together - Not long now!

Over and out.

Posters and fliers

I got to do some posters and flyers. The thought was that they'll break up the walls and add some life into the scene.

Persuasive advertisement posters as we know them today did not appear until like the 1800's. The advertisement they would've had would be informative, and probably mostly existed in text. Nevertheless we did a couple of images, it's more entertaining. They had the technology to print etching-style images like these  so it's not too far fetched.

It's been massive fun both researching and doing them. I wanted them to seem funny and a bit bizarre, and also contain a tidbit of information about the 17th century mindset. For example, the englishmen knew they ate tomatoes on the continent, but nevertheless thought they were poisonous. I thought that was really funny and wanted to incorporate that into a poster.

After making the above poster I thought it could be cool to make maybe a series of them, hinting at a cynical doctor taking advantage of the plague scare to sell crap and make money. I'd like to put his head on a sign so that he's got his own shop and stuff, it adds some sort of quiet narrative to the scene.

16th April Easter Update

Minutes and Presentation

After a busy Easter working on the off The Map Project, our first meeting back we had a presentation on our progress so far. Over Easter the deadlines were met.

Jimi managed to finish maps for all of his modular pieces and Liam completed the LOD set.

James finished texturing his tavern and has the courtyard modelled, he just needs to finish his normal and specular maps, LOD and collision.

Nizaam has finished textures for the entrance and is texturing the bridge and fencing around the area and has made a start on the market stalls.

Liam has put the modular buildings together and imported all assets and textures into and ready for engine and is currently making terrain,water and lighting in engine.

Kat managed to create a low poly boat and concept and create the dock with the surrounding wall.

I focused on creating the smaller assets such as oil lantern,broom,rake,pitchfork,small weeds,hanging baskets, firewood,wall brackets. I textured a balcony for Jimi and have put together buildings from the modular set.

Jimi also managed to create a pretty courtyard around the cathedral with gravestones, grass weeds and tress.

We quickly presented our level to the rest of the class and the tutors to show our progress and also if anyone had any critiques or advice for us to work with.

Liam managed to get my lantern to glow and created some nice lighting and fog effects with contrasting lighting. He worked out how to create mud terrain over the cobble texture with water puddles spread around. Here are some Banging screenshots of that level he is working on.