CS development of characters over time

Starting with Lara Croft

230 pixel model in her debut on the Sony Playstation One

to a 32,000 polygon model in the latest games.


As the technology progresses you can see a move from the angular looking Lara Croft from the first games to a more curved lara croft. Along with more details on her person, more detail in the holster straps and in her textures, because they are higher textured in later games.

Looking at spyro. Here he is in one of his earliest games
He is blocky and low poly. His wings are flat polygons

 

Here is spyro from the gamecube era. He has a higher poly count and can now make a more expressive face. He is more animated than the previous spyro. The increased polycount now allows him to have expressions on his face, making him appear to think, compared to the above screenshot of PS1 era spyro who could be mistaken for a side-kick or voiceless NPC

 

Leg Rigging

 The fundementals of rigging seem fairly straight forward. You develop a skeletal system to which you assign controls of various types. This project required the rigging of a pair of legs.
So to start we needed to apply some bones to the legs

This proved fairly easy as once you simplify the bones in the foot, the leg is a simple system of bones going from the hip, to the knee, to the ankle, to the ball of the foot, to the toe. These are then fairly easy to attribute an IKhandle to. Point constrain a simple NURBS circle in Maya to the IKhandle and you have a very quickly made control for your leg bones.

Creating a reverse foot lock was fairly simple once you knew how. It was merely a matter of connecting the correct SCcontrol to the correct bone. The hard part was making sure the skin didnt deform whilst the leg was animated. This was done through a "paint" tool which told each face in the skin mesh how much it could or could not deform when being manipulated.

Door project 03

Here is my door completely assembled minus the texture map. What I have to do now is UV Map my door and export the UV map into some imaging software such as photoshop. Once in photoshop I have to paint each individual sections of the UV map and apply them onto my door as a texture.

Here is my textured door. I really liked the style of my door here. The colours interacted in a way which was very pleasing to my eye. I feel it has developed a retro art decor look here. One which would be suited to a game that used a fairly unique art style, one where it wouldnt seem out of place.

door project 02

Basically when looking at doors i found myself attracted to art deco. its simple but the lines are elegant and the design is generally very nice.
Also on the technical side, its quite angular which i see would be easier to model in maya.
Art deco also would allow me to use some more colour, perhaps warm woodish tones, warm colours at any rate. It could feed into a bioshock style game.

I'll start my model by creating a cube in 3D and subdividing it so i can have 4 panels in the front along with a section kept flat for the door knob.
I'll extrude the front of the door to create the panels.


I'm planning on the basic design of the door to be quite simple, keeping the lines straight and angular.
I want the main deco feel to come from the texture map. Using colours and textures to give the door some character.

Basically I want to do a simple panelled wood door, which art deco styling provided mostly from the texturing.

Creating a door 01

Looking for inspiration for doors. Posting some pictures of doors that interest me.

Digital Folio

Big studio vs Small studio

While looking up Infinity Ward as an example of a large studio to contrast with smaller independent studios I found an interview with Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward's community manager. He provides an interesting insight into how the studio behind the highest grossing game of all time developed Modern Warfare 2.

Back when developing Modern Warfare 2 Infinity Ward was a relatively small when say compared to DICE, the developer company behind Battlefield Bad Company who have approximately 300 employees.
Infinity Ward had a fairly limited time-frame to develop Modern Warfare 2, but apparently they used that to their advantage as a tool to drive their development. They also looked at the importance of all aspects of the development, spending a good portion of their budget on audio, hiring Hans Zimmer to provide the score.
Infinity Ward had the advantage of having such a big budget behind them. They could do something that no independent game could compete with. Despite the limited time-frame in which to work they managed to turn that into an asset as well.

The interview is short but can be found here:
http://www.develop-online.net/features/669/Interview-Infinity-Ward

Topology

When researching topology I found it originally referred to a branch of mathematics that concerned itself with spatial properties that would be subject to distortion or motion. This helped make it quite clear that facial topology is all about looking at the deformation and movement of a face.
Topology in the animating sense is all about following the actual anatomy of a face, the facial structure and muscles to see how a face would realistically distort and move.

This picture here for example shows how topology works with the muscles in a face to show how that face would move realistically.

Topology seems to be applicable to both 2D faces and 3D. However on 2D images topology is only put on there for reference for 3D modelling.

This face has lines showing the topology of the polygons used. It shows how the polygons should distort in order to create a realistic looking opening and closing mouth.
Topological lines seem to be focused around circling the eyes and mouth. This makes sense as these areas in the face have the most movement and would require more attention in how they would move in a 3D polygonal model.

Big studio vs Small studio

I've mentioned before on my blog the differences between big budget titles and small studio developments.

I spoke about how with smaller studios there is less of an obligation to provide money to stockholders thus giving the independant game developer the chance to break genre boundries and be more experimental.

Looking at Mojang Specifications (the small developer of Minecraft) first. It began with just the head developer known as Notch (Markus Persson) creating a game in Java called Minecraft. During its alpha-stage it was available to download and play for a small fee. It became so popular that Notch was able to hire 5 additional coders and form his own Company (Mojang Specifications) to focus on the development of the game.
This is quite an unusual overall development strutcture or "pipeline". First off the game was the product of a single coder working alone. The alpha being released online available for download is a very unusual step, but it raised awareness for the game and gave the creator enough money to funnel back into the game to actually create a game studio around it.

Here is an example of Minecraft

In a similar vein there is an independant game courtesy of two brothers called Dwarf Fortress. This game was designed by Toady One (Tarn Adams) and his brother ThreeToe (Zach Adams). Toady One is the sole coder of the rogue-like Dwarf Fortress and similarly to Minecraft this game was released during its Alpha stage of development after 4 years. It is still being worked on today by Toady One alone. The game was released for free and people who download it only have to make a donation to the development if they feel like it. Like Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress is still having updates released for it periodically by Toady One available to all those who are playing it.

 In Dwarf Fortress the simple ascii graphics hide a deviously deep gameplay experience

Both of these games have produced a significant income for both game designers. Largely due to the non-conventional means by way that the game is distributed.
One example of such is that one weekend the servers for Minecraft went down. This resulted in the game being available to download for free. Notch encouraged people to do this to try it out. The downloaded version of the game during this period suffered from a couple of bugs, namely sound issues. The number of downloads for the game jumped during the weekend when it was free. However this didn't mean that actual sales of the game when it cost money went down. After the free weekend Minecraft saw a boom in sales, namely from people who downloaded the game when it was free and were so impressed they bought the proper downloaded version when the servers came back up.

The fact that both of these games are located on the internet exclusively and are created by small teams also has an effect on the developer/consumer relationship. Both Notch and Toady One are easily contacted. Both have taken fan ideas and concepts into account when creating their games. This is a level of interaction that generally isnt seen with the bigger studios. Because of the smaller teams behind these games they have the time to check fan input and can change/add to their games accordingly. Although this is due in part to both of these games still being in beta-stage testing. Large companies also hold beta-tests but for the most part these are small affairs with randomly chosen participants. With Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress anyone who is playing them is a beta tester and such anyone's input is important.

With big studios consumer input is relegated to open beta tests, which aren't generally the norm. Instead big companies publish limited demos or hold massive marketing campaigns usually in relation with a website. These methods can work, but they are one-sided. There isn't a dialogue with the consumer, just a one-sided campaign to raise the consumers awareness about the product.

Animation Principles 3

Looking at good examples and bad examples of the 12 principles of animation.

8.Secondary action: The result of an action causing a second action


Good example.

In Luxo Jr the Child lamp is hopping along the tabletop which is the Primary Action. The Secondary Action is the power cord rippling along to the lamp's motion.

9. Exaggeration. Distorting an object or motion to convey an idea.

Good example.

Here the Child lamp is stamping on a ball squashing it to an exaggerated degree. This shows how the lamp is playing to roughly with the ball and sure enough within seconds the ball gets a puncture.

10. Appeal. Creating something that the audience will want to follow.

  When Pixar created Luxo Jr. They worked hard on the appeal of the characters. The Child lamp is actually modelled on the playtime of one of the animator's children. The end result being that the lamp actually does have a child like quality that is very charismatic to watch. Especially as it is juxtaposed by coming from an inanimate object. Another thing they did was ensure that the bulbs in the two lamps were the same size, despite the lamps themselves being different sizes. This was to emulate that in a child they have larger appearing eyes because their eyes are infact the same size as they will be when they are adults. This leads to the image of being "cute" because of having huge eyes.

11. Personality. The sum of all previous principles. The idea behind each one is to bring a personality to the character animation.

       Luxo Jr. Pixar Studios (1986)

Animation Principles 2

Looking at both good and bad examples of the 12 principles of animation

4. Staging - Presenting an idea so that it is clear to the audience.

Good Example.

In Pixar's short: Luxo Jr. the staging of this scene means the audience follows the ball along with the Father lamp.


 Bad Example.

In CAD: The Animated Series the main character's gaming session is interrupted by a phone call from work. However there is no phone in shot in the character has to reach off-camera to pick up the phone. The lack of staging here means that the conflict regarding the phone ringing whilst the character tries to play video games has no drama to it.


5. Follow through and over-lapping action. This is when one action seamlessly flows into a following action.

Good Example.

In Luxo Jr the Father lamp shifts backwards to avoid being hit by the Child lamp. After this action he watches the Child lamp move into shot and run after the ball.

Bad Example.

In CAD: The animated series the main character imagines he is being chased. Whilst running he stops entirely to grab a piece of chicken to throw backwards at his imaginary assailant. Then he continues to run. The lack of follow through here makes the whole scene stilted and makes it lack any sense of urgency.

6. Slow In and Slow Out. The spacing of inbetween frames to create a sense of movement that has nuance to it.


Example

In the well established ball bounce animation the placement of the inbetween frames gives the ball a sense of weight and the animation some gravity. As the ball moves slower the frames bunch up closer, whereas when the ball falls it speeds up so the frames space it out further and further.

7. Arcs. The best expression of dynamic movement when animating is through the use of an arc as that is the most efficient course of travel from one point to another in nature.

Good Example

 In Luxo Jr. When the Father lamp hits the ball the lamp's "head" goes up in an arc. It feels natural and gives a real sense of life to the inanimate lamp.

Animation Principles

Looking at both good and bad examples of the Twelve Principles of Animation.

1. Squash and Stretch - Defining the mass of an object and its flexibility through motion and distortion of its shape.

Good Example:

In Pixar's first animated short "Luxo Jr" The smaller lamp bounces on a ball, the ball distorting in response to the weight placed upon it.

Bad Example:

In the online flash-based animation "Ctrl+Alt+Del The Animated Series" characters faces have no squash and stretch, expressions are merely pasted over the head. The lack of squash and stretch means that expressions look flat and stilted.

2. Timing and Motion - Spacing actions to define the weight and motion of an object/character in animation. Can also be used to show aspects of a characters personality.

Good Example: 

In Pixar's "Luxo Jr" the smaller desk lamp hops around a lot. The motion showing a lot of hyperactivity you would see in young children. The motion also gives it a sense of weight

Bad Example: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtsek8E0eNY#t=4m0s

  

In the Ctrl Alt Del Animated series on the web, motion is choppy and gives no real sense of mass.

3. Anticipation - The preperation for an action

Good Example: 

   In "Luxo Jr" the smaller lamp is about to jump on the ball. The way it contracts its "body" like a spring before jumping is anticipatory of the jump that it's about to do.

Bad Example:

In CAD: The animated series this character runs towards a vehicle and just immediately jumps inside without any preperation. It looks off and makes the world feel as though it has a lack of physics.

Apple App: Week 4

The game has moved towards having a more humorous bent. The story line has been written. It was written to be comedic and light hearted. This ties in with the comedic and colourful art style. The idea being to make the game cheerful and friendly to all potential players.
The control scheme is based around the tilt action of the Apple Platforms. The only other controls being a pause and jump action. These are going to be areas of the screen and not buttons that get in the way.
The enviroments would be varied. Level concepts so far are: Burning building, sinking ship, A jungle being consumed by a lava flow from nearby erupting volcano. Middle of a city during an meteor shower, Monster attack on a harbour and  the escaping of a space station as it crashes to earth.
These enviroments should have enough variety to keep players playing on until the end.

Apple App: Week 3

I've decided upon modifying the setting of the game. Originally it was going to be set in real disaster areas. However I felt that there would be difficulty in building a narrative structure that encompassed all of the seperate disasters that would make up the game's levels. So thinking back to what inspired me; ie 1970s disaster movies I decided that the game itself would be set following a series of disaster movies.

Most of the work this week has gone into the art direction. Art wise i decided to go with a simple sprite based look similar to 8-bit or 16-bit platformers of the early 1990s. This is in part due to wanted to free up the Apple Platform's processor to dealing with the enviromental physics more than the graphics.
I also felt that simple cartoony 2D graphics would open up the game to more potential gamers. It also lessens the fact that the game is taking place in disaster areas. Cartoony stylised graphics will sanitise the setting.

Apple App: week 2

Looking for a setting for my game I decided upon using disasters as a setting. That would then explain how the player can control the enviroment, if the enviroment is already falling apart. So I looked at disaster films including The Poseidon Adventure, Towering Inferno and Armegeddon. The idea forming that the main character would be someone trying to escape these situations and needing the player to control the enviroment to let him through.

Ideas for ways that controlling the enviroment could work: Tilting the screen allowing a suspended platform to swing over to the character's position for him to run onto then tilting it over to the other side of a chasm or something to allow the character to cross.
Tilting the screen to allow water to overflow a container to put out a fire
Shaking the screen to cause a wall to crumble and fall.

It occured to me that this could turn into a puzzle game with the player trying to figure out what could be done to bypass obstacles. I though if that was added to the side-scrolling platforming idea then you would end up with a very frantic timed puzzle platformer. This would make it more necessary to allow the player limited control over the main character. A stop/start button perhaps as well as a jump command. However I didnt want to cover the screen in buttons as the smaller Apple Platforms already have fairly small screens.
But due to the screen being touch sensitive the entire screen could be divided into invisible "sections" that act as buttons. This is used in the app Star Wars Trench Run and it works well. This means the player can keep the screen clear, letting him see more of the action and without the controls being limited to "button areas" but instead being an entire section of the screen it would be easier to make snap jumps as the player wont have to be accurate when using his thumb.
But with the inclusion of the pause to allow for puzzle solving there is a chance to increase difficulty by removing the pause button meaning the game can have two levels of difficulty adding to replayability.

Another thought occured to me, if the player had more control over the character, say movement as well as jumping, then it could be possible to make the game have a versus multiplayer. One player playing the character having to get from point A to point B in this disaster area and the other player controlling the enviroment, using the tilt controls to cause scenery to topple and fall and the touch screen to direct lightning or other disasters.
This could work as the Apple Platforms do allow for wireless multiplayer. However controlling the player character would go against the main idea behind the game and would be a completely different experience from singleplayer. I believe if the mulitplayer experience is completely different from the single player experience then that will cause frustration for the player as none of his skills acquired playing singleplayer would be applicable to the multiplayer game.

Apple App: Week 1

When looking for inspiration for my apple app concept I wanted to focus on utilising the apple platforms accelerometer technology. It is the tilt-detection that I think makes the apple platforms stand out so I wanted to make them the star of the show.

Taking a look at games already on the apple platforms there is one called Canabalt. A side-scrolling platformer where the only control is jump. I liked the idea of a constantly side-scrolling platformer and wanted to impliment more control into it for the player. Originally I had thought about doing something atmospheric, maybe have a horror or survival horror game. However I felt the screen for the platforms was too small for a truly atmospheric game, that and the speakers aren't of a high enough quality for really atmospheric sounds

Linking these two ideas together I thought about designing a game where instead of controlling the character moving across the screen you instead controlled the enviroment via the tilt controls of the apple platform.
The idea being a switch of the classic platformer, instead of navigating a character through a level, you navigate a level around the character.

Problems with this would include the ipad possibly being too big and unwieldy for the tilt controls to be useful.
Also how much control should the player be given over the character? Would just jump be enough?

Another issue with the Apple Platforms. The screensize. With the Ipad it's not as big an issue, but with the Iphone and Ipod Touch the screen is just a bit small.  This is another reason why I wanted an app completely controllable through tilt motions. If the screen is kept clear of a control scheme and interface then the player can see more of the action and feel a bit more immersed. Also with a platformer where timing is essential I believe being able to see whats happening on the screen would be very important.

Board game development: Play testing

Our playtesters ranged from 18-26 years old and were a mix of male and female players. Some had experience playing board games before and some had very little interest in board games.

When playtesting our game we found that at first the combat system was a bit confusing. It was a rock-paper-scissors type of combat with certain equipment combinations beating others. This however caused a big concern with game balancing and our playtesters found the system itself fairly daunting.
So we went back to the combat design. Instead of equipment being good against one thing and bad against another we decided to make it a simple bonus system. This equipment will provide a bonus to your dice roll during combat. This was found to be much simpler and let the game flow much more. Play testers preferred the new combat system to the old and it made balancing the game much easier.

Aside from the combat, there was little else that needed balancing. A couple of issues, for example hyperdrive making it too difficult to defeat a player, were tweaked in order to make the game easier and more enjoyable.

Play testing the game at the beginning found that a game would last around 2 to 3 hours. However this could be put down to many things, a lack of familiarity with the game system, a convoluted combat system (that was later fixed). However after a couple of fixes to the system we found game time went down to about 1 to 2 hours on a full size board with smaller boards cutting the game time down even more. This was indication that the concept behind an adjustable board would work. Smaller board meant a smaller, less time consuming game.

By taking on board what our playtesters said we ended up with a game that played very tightly, it didn't drag on and everyone enjoyed it. One constant piece of feedback from every playtester was: "This is a fun game".

Board game development: Board

We had trouble with the board originally. The original prototype ended up being a bit too complicated for what we wanted. So after a redesign we came away with a board that fixed the problems of the previous board and retained what we wanted from the concept: A board that could be assembled in many different ways to make for a changeable playing area.

The end result was tighter and more visually pleasing than the original prototype too.

Board game development: Playing pieces

These are the game pieces for our boardgame. The Player pieces are made of a self-drying clay and primed black, before being painted in bright acrylic paint. The idea of making the pieces look different is so players feel like they are playing their own adventure. Also it means when the game is replayed the player gets a choice as to the asthetics of his playing piece, it makes every new game feel different.

The die was bought as part of a set called "Blue Star" it was chosen because of the cosmic and space like look to it. It felt as thought it gave the game a stronger cohesion, it felt more complete than if we used just a white die.

board game development: Cards

When it came to the equipment cards we wanted an art style that fitted in with the board and tiles. We made the cards two sided, one that showed the equipment and the other than showed it broken. This was a gameplay element, the equipment cards also acted as "life points" for the player. If all of their equipment "broke" they would lose