Coming in on the end of the semester

So there is only about two weeks remaining in the semester so I am busy with school work.  I wish I could say I found a little time to work on this project, but it was just not in the cards.  This week will probably be similar to last week if not more difficult so the next update on the game will probably be middle of next month, though I hope to be wrong.
~gunnah

Small downtime

So I just realized where we were in the semester and how much I need to do.  I really wish I had kept better track of where we were, but Life really has not liked me of late.  I doubt I will get much of anything done in the next three weeks, as such I am switching to a Sunday night only schedule until the semester is over (after first full week in May).  I am hoping I am wrong, but it seems that only happens when I think I am going to get something done.  Have a good week and sorry about missing Friday's post,
~gunnah

No pictures but progress

As I think I have already mentioned, I am making the walls in a single mesh despite being two or more objects.  This is mostly to make my job simple when I go to tile them, I just need to match the.edges or the road to the wall and roof and the section is done.  I think it may work if I had done the what I had initially planned, but this seems to be moving along so I am no messing with it.  Unfortunately the lighting I have been using does not work well with this method of modeling.  When I move it into an engine it will work fine, but inside the modeling program there is a problem.  The automatic lighting make a spherical lit surface and this creates several very odd shadows where there should be none.  Once in the engine a more appropriate lighting will be made so this problem will not be as bad, but it is a bit of a waste of time to do lighting for some so small.

Hopefully that was clear.  Now what I did do, again no pictures because of lighting problem, is the wall and roof for the straight piece and the wall for the ninety degree turn.  While that may not seen like a lot, that is both mesh and texture.  That leaves five more tiling models and then I can move onto the custom pieces.  With any luck I can continue making progress during the week.
~gunnah

Changing shifts did not work as well as I hoped

So my dry run changing shifts worked rather poorly.  I got very little done, mostly because I was tired the entire week and did not feel like doing much.  On the up side, I am going back to my old shift next week, so I should start getting a few things done as I go along.  Also, I am not sure if I wrote this or not, but I am making the walls as one model per road type.  So instead of having two or three walls per road, there will only be one.  This is mostly so the walls will snap to the grid in the same manner as the roadways.  Hopefully I wioll have some of those to show off tomorrow.
~gunnah

Another quick weekend

Okay, so I had a hard time getting things done with one of the days being a holiday.  I am hoping that the next week will be favorable with the earlier shift I am going to be on, though no guarantees.  In  a perfect world, I would hope to have the walls finished by the end of the week.  That may be hopeful thinking, but that is my goal.  Until then,
~gunnah

Small steps forward

Sorry this is very late.  I have continued my work on getting the repeatable pieces done for my map.  To the right is the T-intersection and below is the 90-degree turn.  The 45-degree turn is modeled, I just have not textured it yet.  Once the is finished I will move onto the walls, which will be a little more numerous, as most pieces will need multiple walls around it.  Once those are made I can move onto the ceiling which will finish most tile-able parts.  After that I will probably make a light - more as a placeholder than a finished product, letting me get back to it later when I can make a few different ones so it will not be as monotonous looking.  Once the halls are in place, I will build the custom rooms in the same manner - floors, walls, ceiling - and then the basement of the level will be almost done.  What will be needed is a ramp or two, I am thinking two different widths, and then just small materials to make the level more interesting, but those can wait.

As far as the engine discussion goes, I have decided on a test for UDK.  If I can build the demo, than it is my choice of engine and I will get the license.  But this is still a little while away.  What I did do over the last week was check how I could import the objects and materials, and after a bit of work I have found it is not that bad.  Once I am happy with how the level is built, I will move onto making the moving models - tanks, missiles, mines, satellites, et c. - and then making four textures, one for each team, for each.  Once all of those are finished, it will just be a matter of programming the demo.  Now of course, I made that sound as easy as possible and the demo is probably a decent way off still.  I am unsure if I will add small details to the map or just leave it as empty hallways, I am tempted to do the latter to keep construction time down and save something for the actual release.

So again, sorry for the late post, I hope this makes the direction I am moving in clear.  A lot of modeling and texturing in the coming posts, though I am hoping they level pieces at least go together fast.  The other pieces, the non-permanent tanks and missiles, will probably have more detail and take a bit longer to finish.  My post tomorrow will probably be early since my shift at work changed for next week.  Until then,
~gunnah

Another very short weekend

Not much done to be honest.  I really should have just pushed forward with the pieces for the basic road kit, but I got distracted.  I have been trying to find ways to make objects looked abused and neglected, and it is not easy to find a good tutorial.  Currently my primary focus is rusting effects and I have bombed twice, though I may try the second tutorial with the exact sizes used in the tutorial, I bumped up the scale a bit to make it easier to see.  That is pretty much it, hopefully I have the road kit done and start on the wall kit, which is why I have been looking at how to make something aged and deteriorated.
~gunnah