Busy Week

I will keep this short since I do not really have much to talk about in terms of progress on my floor piece.  I was going to try to hurry to get the last few pieces created, but I did not want to rush the shapes.  I figured it was better to take a bit longer if it meant having a better selection.  What is the point of rushing through a piece only to have it be the first one tossed out because it had the least thought?  Of course the next contest begins this week.  Hopefully I can get something together for this contest, even if it slows this project up a little.

Well, no point droning on about how much nothing has been getting done and what great plans I can write.  Until next week,
~gunnah

Life

This week's post about sums up why I got almost nothing done this week.  Next week is likely to be similar. A lot of overtime in combination with car troubles meant what little free time I had was slept away.  I have been doing little bits on the game in terms of thinking about various aspects, but nothing concrete yet.  As mentioned in the two previous posts, my concern is getting a floor piece made, and then building the other pieces to make up the map.  Once that is done, I will have something to show.  Good news is there should only be one more week of heavy overtime.  Bad news is a new contest begins the week after next and I would really like to enter one of these.  I will admit my last entry fell apart due to inexperience modeling organic shapes, though I may finish it eventually anyway since I thought it was a cool scene.

That is it for this week, hopefully next week brings something new.  Until then,
~gunnah

Working on the Floor

Last post, I went over what was the minimum needed for me to create a level.  I detailed all of the pieces and their basic function, but I do not feel I gave one in particular enough credit.  The generic floor piece is one of the most important to construct for the map.  Not only will it likely be by far the most used piece, it will predominantly be responsible for setting the feel of the level.  Every other piece will be in one way or another a modified version of the floor piece.  Even pieces like the walls, while not directly a copy like the ramp, ledge or support pieces will be, will have the general shapes similar to the floor to keep a unified feel.

With this level of importance, I do not want to rush in and take the first thing I make and run with it.  Outside of missing some great ideas which may come from making multiple iterations, my main purpose is to find one that looks right while fulfilling my criteria.  Since form follows function, most of my criteria are fairly easy to meet.  Obviously, the science fiction look I am creating stems from the fact it is suppose to be a starship cargo hold.  Intricacies and a slightly unfinished look stem from the setting also and science fiction in general. These intricacies lead to cool and interesting looking pieces (and I could continue with this train of thought, but I think I made the point, its usage dictates a certain look and a certain look makes its useable).  The hard part come from my desired polygon count: one polygon or two triangles.  Having an intricate and detailed piece fulfill this requirement means a heavy reliance on normal and displacement mapping.  I do, however, feel this is necessary to keep the game running smoothly.  I know I could do some level of detail work, making the closer planes a little more high polygon, but I have worries about seems where the levels of detail change.  I have played game where their level of detail models changes too quickly and it made the game seem unpolished.

Hopefully, if things progress like they have been I will have a few more normal and displacement maps done by next week and then see how well diffuse, specular and ambient occlusion maps can fake distance the week after this.  Once I have all the maps done, I will show them, detailing the highlights and short comings of each.  At that point I can select one and start modifying it to make additional pieces.

Also, I know I said I was entering a contest.  Unfortunately work has been picking up and there has been quite a bit of overtime, so I was not able to get close enough to finishing the entry to even show it.  I may work on it later, but for now it joins my list of unfinished projects.  Until next time,
~gunnah