Roll out the mechs, 3D week 3

Hello again, last week's blogpost I said that I would make a vehicle from one of four concepts. Since it's too badass to resist I chose the mech. I felt like it was the logical thing to do because it seemed like an interesting challenge. When I finally decided I immediately went in to pre-production.

The mech I decided for

Besides the concept we were also to choose a game in which this model we are to make would fit in. At first I started thinking that this mech would fit in the Metal Gear universe or ARMA. Those games were good matches for the mech but it wasn't perfect and then I suddenly started remembering a game I played a lot a couple of years ago, Battlefield 2142. This mech is perfect for Battlefield 2142, if you've played it you would know what I mean. The game is basically battlefield with big mechs like the one in the picture.

The first step was to find good reference pictures that matched what I was going for. I found a lot of good references by searching for tanks and robots. Since I was going for a desert feel I included the M1 Abrams tank in my references, it also looks totally badass. The M1 Abrams also has a very nice deserty plate armor which I'll try to include in the mesh and textures later on. This here below is my gathered references, it's not all of them but it's the ones I found most important.

I also researched a lot about hydraulics, I really wanted to know how this machine works and moves. Understanding how it works is an important step to get good results. I went to Youtube to find moving reference material of quadroped robots. It was really cool but sometimes creepy to see how they work. Here are some of the videos I found useful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQicXbj5Ivs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0KMDNtEpvc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-KF1Prj5ZI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

After researching a bit I created a prototype in 3DS MAX to see how it moves. I created a fast rig and started animating but I found it incredibly hard to do. The other robots I've been checking material on has mostly been robots with spider legs. The legs of this mech wasn't as flexible and efficient as the spider legs, this one had more of a turtle's legs.

I struggled with the animating part so I can't really show what I did because it didn't turned out very well. I at least have a general idea of how to do it now. All this research will help me when I get into modelling and designing the mech.

Oh yeah almost forgot, last tuesday the entire class went to a museum about almost everything from the stone age to the 19th century. We were to take pictures of some of the objects in the museum for reference. It was really interesting and I got a lot of good reference photos. I'll end the post with a few photos I think turned out well, these are times I wish I had a better camera. Thanks for reading, I will probably post an update during the week of my progress on the mech.

3D Week 2

Hello again, just wanted to do a quick update on what's been going on lately in my 3D progress. This week is the second week since I started taking this course about 3D, for this week we made some crates. I chose to do a Sci-Fi crate with a clean borderlands look. It took about a five hours to make and was made quite hastily but I'm pretty happy with the results. I even did a fancy animation for it because why not. Making stuff like this in haste is a pretty good way to improve your workflow and everytime you repeat a simple process you've done before you get more efficient.

Besides the crate I got a very interesting assignment from my teacher. I am to make a vehicle from some concepts I've received. The challenge is to make it complete and ready for importing to a game. This includes modelling, baking, UV-mapping, texturing, rigging and animating. I'm very thrilled for this since I lose a challenge. Here below is the four concepts I'm to choose from, I haven't decided yet which one but I'll keep you informed. Thanks for reading and sorry if it was a bit short but I'll make up for it in the coming weeks.

Munchkin Analysis

Introduction

So I got this awesome assignment from school to play a board game with some classmates and analyze it, what better game to play than Munchkin. I will now take a look at the card game Munchkin and try to analyze it. For those of you who haven't heard of Munchkin before I'll try to explain what it is. Munchkin is a highly competitive card game with a comical twist. If you've played it before I'm sure you know what I mean and if you haven't you'll see what I mean by the end of this analysis. Before I start analyzing the game and finding out why it's so good/bad I need to explain how it works.

What is Munchkin and how does it work?

Munchkin is based on the typical fantasy roleplaying games we know and love but with a comical twist. Munchkin is a popular game with tons of different versions of it, they are basically the same but with different themes such as Munchkin Cthulhu based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft or Star Munchkin with a Sci-Fi Twist. The version I have been playing is Munchkin Pathfinder based on the roleplaying game Pathfinder and it is that version I will be analyzing.
Munchkin is played with four or more players, preferably with good friends or mortal enemies. A fun thing about this game is that cheating is allowed if no one sees you doing it.

The basics of Munchkin is to kill monsters, betray your friends, gather treasures and level up. All the players start at level one, the goal of the game is to reach level ten first. In Munchkin there are two types of cards, door cards and treasure cards. Door cards include monsters, classes, factions, curses and other various effects. Treasure cards consists of items, effect cards and go up a level cards.

Go up a level cards can be played immediately and adds a level, this can not be the game winning level.

Let's go through the beginning stage of Munchkin. Two decks, one with treasure cards and one with door cards are shuffled and then each player is handed four of each. This game is turn based so one player is selected to go first and after his or her turn the next player clockwise or however you want to do it gets to play their turn. Before anyone starts their turn any player can equip or use items, play class or faction cards and go up a level cards. After your turn you must discard cards so you don't have more than five on your hand. You can also sell treasure cards and buy from other players, when you got 1000 gold pieces you level up and your gold is reset. A level from gaining 1000 gold can not be the game winning level.

Let's say we start our turn first. We equip our armor and use the Eagle Knight faction card. Our faction is now Eagle Knight, this means that we cannot use another faction card unless another card says we can. Our armor of insults gives us a +2 bonus, this +2 bonus plus our level is our combat strength. So we are level 1 and we have +2 from our armor which gives us 3 in combat strength.

Each turn the player must kick the door. This means drawing one card from the door deck face up so everyone can see it and something happens depending on what type of card it is you drew. If I draw a curse I am afflicted by it's effect like this one below which makes me lose by best item, this would be my armor of insults in my case.

A typical curse card. If I start with a curse or draw one face-down I can use it against other players.

Let's say I didn't draw a curse and I drew a monster card, I now have two options and that is to run away or fight it. I've encountered a Level 1 Hobbled Goblin, its combat strength is equal to its level which is 1. This monster is no match for my +3 in combat strength and I defeat it easily. After defeating it I get to loot the room for 1 treasure which I draw facedown from the treasure pile and go up a level making me level 2 and my combat strength +4. Monsters always wins ties unless you have a card that says otherwise.

Let's say the monster was level 6 and I attempted to run away. When running away I roll a dice and I must get 4 or higher to successfully run away. If I fail in running away I am inflicted with the monsters bad stuff which is descriped on the card. Bad stuffs can vary from losing levels, losing items, getting a permanent -3 in combat and even dying. Upon death a player throws away all their cards except class or faction cards that are in use and wait upon their next turn to draw four door cards and four treasure cards. Levels are retained even in death.

If I neither drew a monster or a curse card I can either play a monster from my hand to battle it or take a face-down door card and end my turn. If I battle I cannot draw the face-down door card at the end of the turn. Players are welcome to trade cards with each other and assist each other in combat. When assisting someone in combat you don't get any levels but you can discuss the reward for your assistance, for example two treasure cards. When fighting together your combat strengths are added together. That's how your play Munchkin basically, the rules might seem hard at first but once you get into it and actually start playing you'll learn it in no time.


Munchkin, Round 1, Fight!

Enough of the rules, let's see how it went for me and my classmates when we played our first round of Munchkin. Me and four of my classmates gathered around the table to play Pathfinder Munchkin, all but two of us hadn't played the game before so we started with a test round to figure out the rules. It started out with everyone equipping themselves up with items, factions, classes and so far it was pretty fun and not much conflict. After a while, I was in the lead, level 9 and that's when it went chaotic. Because I was so close to victory everyone started working against me, this included cursing me by removing all my items, reducing my level and messing up my combats with effect cards. If I were up against a monster who had 16 in strength and I had 18 they would strengthen the monster so I ended up dying and losing everything. After being abused by all my friends I was almost out of the game, no cards or items left to use.

An effect card that can add +3 in combat strength to either side.

The game went back and forth a lot after I was weakened. Everyone had been stocking up on cards that could be used against other players, to undermine their progress and secure their own. The outcome in this stage was near impossible to predict but after a while everyone ran out of steam, no cards left to play. One of my classmates, Martin ended up winning because no one could stop him.

This game escalated so quickly when players started getting higher levels, I could barely keep up. The randomness of it all makes it very enjoyable. I was so close to winning and yet it turned around so quickly. We noticed afterwards that everyone had been cheating in one way or another during the game whether it was holding to many cards or slightly bending the rules. Keeping track of everything becomes really hard when the game is nearing its conclusion. Amidst the confusion I had eight cards on my hand while I was only allowed five yet no one noticed. What was supposed to be a test round turned out to be loads of fun. This round took about two hours to play.


Munchkin, Round 2, Fight!

Now we're all familiar with the game, by the beginning I already noticed the evil grins of my fellow classmates. This start involved a lot more trading than the round before, we would sell and trade items to prepare ourselves for the oncoming onslaught. This round I wasn't in the lead which I believed was a good thing, I was saving my items for the end and played quite passively. Unlike the first round, when one player would face up against a strong monster everyone else would offer their help in exchange for a fitting reward.

By helping the weak players progress we get stronger ourselves. Things escalated as before into chaos as my classmate, Simon was closing in on victory. As every round went on we threw everything we had at everyone else, hoping that when our turn came we could secure our own victory. Martin ended up winning again and we could do nothing to stop it. It all felt like a giant lottery, we were just increasing our chances. This round took about one hour to complete, considerably shorter than the first one, perhaps due to the first one being more of a learning experience.

Round 3

This round was very much like round 2 but more diverse. Four players, including me was around level 7 and 9 when one was level 3. We were three level 9s competing for the victory while the two other players who were low level was only sabotaging for us with higher level. I won this round by manipulating others into using all their stuff on the others with high level. I started noticing around now that this was much like poker, you can't reveal your hand too early and bluffs can be very effective. This round was about one and a half hour long.

Round 4

The last round we played together was a close one, everyone had been learning and adapting to each others playstyles. We had been testing different tactics and figuring out what worked effectively. This ended like all the other rounds in total chaos. The first player to go for the victory is almost always guaranteed to be sabotaged. I won this won too but it was extremely close, everyone was level 9 waiting for an opportunity to claim the victory. It was really cool to play such a competitive round without an underdog, goliaths facing each other on fragile ice.

Target group interpretation

Munchkin is fun for any group of people I think, but it is definitely more enjoyable by people who get the references and has a roleplaying game or fantasy background. It is aimed at teenagers and people under 30 who grew up with roleplaying games but I think it's enjoyable for everyone as long as they have the right mindset towards it. The comical aspect of the game appeals to many young people but many children won't get most of the references so I wouldn't recommend it towards anyone under 12. I also believe it gives adults an opportunity to be childish.


Summary

Munchkin is a great card game, a heap of fun. The balance of the game is that there is none, the most important part of Munchkin is the social aspect. The chemistry between the players is the best thing about the game. It creates situtations where we hate and love each other, the group dynamics are amazing. The rules are not set in stone and the game is very flexible in a way, because why not cheat if no one notices anyway. We only have one goal and that is to reach level 10 first. The cards are designed in such a way that it feels like they are there to empower us, they are tools for our victory. We might hit a wall and be in last place but we always have the opportunity to mess with our fellow players. One bad thing about the game is that if you're unlucky it can be very slow and unfair. There are curses that make you lose all your cards in your hand and then you have to wait a lot of turns before you can recover from it. Even though the randomness can sometimes be bad it can also be a blessing in disguise, it allows for a lot of funny situations and much replayability. I love Munchkin and I will definitely play it more in the future, thanks for reading.

Blog revival and 3D Week 1

After a break in the summer i'm back into the blogging game. I've started a new course in 3D and I will for ten weeks post 3D related stuff. This week I will be analyzing three different screenshots from different games and I will also be posting some of my work I've worked on throughout the week. I will start with the screenshots. I will talk about what makes them good and/or bad from an artist's perspective, let's get started!

Screenshot 1 - Batman

I haven't really played this game which can be good because I'm a bit impartial.This screenshot oozes of action and suspense. You can feel the strength of the composition from the slanted camera angle, this makes for a very exciting screenshot. I like that the camera is positioned in such a way that it feels like it's me lying next to Batman. The center of attention in this screenshot is obviously the dude with the gun. His armor gives him an artficial look which is cold and intimidating, he looks like a killing an assassin. He has so much power in this picture and I will explain why now. All the details in the screenshot is focused on mostly him and a little bit on batman. His silhouette is reinforced by the lighting, the color and the blurry background, he really stands out.

Conclusion: A very simple and straightforward screenshot, they want us to look at the dude with the gun and I think they've succeeded with that pretty well.

Screenshot 2 - Bioshock Infinite

Now this is a game I've played, Bioshock Infinite. If you haven't played this game already I highly recommend it. Enough praise, let's chop this up and analyze it. The first impression I get from this is the color and the architecture. I feel that this picture is trying to show me that this is just like an ordinary town, but way better. There's no litter on the streets, everything looks like it's in top shape, it's too perfect, in an eerie way. The focus in this picture is the statue in the middle, everything around it, the buildings, the people is all gathered around it; almost as if the statue was there way before the city was there. Utopia is the right word for this screenshot, the architecture and the constructions feels very warm and cozy unlike today's skyscrapers. The people and the vegetation makes it feel more organic than it is. The skyrail and the propellers merges in with the rest of the picture well, it makes the picture more interesting than it already is. I feel like i'm watching from a cat's point of view which feels a bit meh to me. I would have preferred a human's perspective but I guess it's to make you feel small.

Conclusion: A beautiful, colorful, playful and interesting screenshot to look at. There's not really any cinematic feel to the picture because nothing is really into focus, everything points to the statue but my eyes often wander off towards all the other interesting stuff unlike the earlier batman screenshot.

Screenshot 3 - Dishonored

Dishonored is also a very good game, definitely recommend this one too. This picture feels like a mix between the earlier two pictures. This one feels slightly cinematic, perhaps due to the first person perspective like we had in the batman one. This picture really sucks you in, i'm drawn to the building in the middle because it takes up so much of the space in the picture. The boat and the building indicates my direction and where I should go. The focus of the big building is reinforced not only by the detail but also by the color and light Of all the houses in this picture the big one is the only one where we can see inside, we can also see that the lights are on indicating it's a place we can go. Because the houses are in a row of eachother it helps me understand the scale of it all. We can also notice some color on our friend on the boat, it indicates that he is someone of importance to us, he is guiding us to where we need to go. This screenshot gives a vibe of industrial london, a very rough place to live. There is almost nothing organic in the entire picture expect from our friend on the boat and the reeds in the water.

Conclusion: This picture is tough and merciless, we are making our way through this industrial maze of houses. Amongst this abundance of small houses we see this one destination reinforced by the entire composition. I like this one because it tells both me and my eyes where to go, it doesn't feel forced.

Now that I'm done with the screenshots I will show you a little off my work during this week. I'll start this off with what I learned from a monday lecture. I was introduced to way of prototyping a game level quickly in the modelling software 3DS MAX. The idea is to use simple 3D shapes like boxes, spheres, cylinders and cones to quickly get an idea of what you want to do. This saves a lot of time in the pre-production phase of developing games. I created a quick level with the game Uncharted as an inspiration and the word danger as a theme. This took about two hours to create, with plenty of practice it will go a lot faster.

I also wanted to show off this fairly low poly knife I made in 3DS MAX and Photoshop. It took about a day to create and I like my results given the time I spent on it. I experimented with a texturing software called DDO by Quixel, if you haven't tried it you should check it out. Thanks for reading!

Music and wrapping up the art

Hello everyone, today I don't have much to show you visually. I will however present to you, a demo of my music for the game. The music is here below. Note that this is not the complete version.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1t7yy6unmt63wj0/Jazzysilence.mp3

It's a jazzy tune for the game when you're sneaking about. It was really hard to find good samples for the saxophone and the drums. Most of the drums and sax sounds are either really expensive or just generally hard to find. I used FL studio for this so I needed to have something that was compatible with it. A lot of my time for the music went to researching. I've never done any jazzy music before so I spent countless hours just listening and trying to replicate it on my piano.

I'm kinda satisfied with it. It's not perfect but nothing is so I should be satisfied with what I've achieved. When working on games in small teams with next to no experience you need to have a broad range of skills. This is not the case when in big companies, they want specialists and people who have honed their skills in one area very much.

Next week I will work on everything that's left on the game since last week is the last week of development.
The project is coming to an end and the most important stuff has already been done. There's a lot of small jobs that's left now so I don't really have anything big and new that I want to show. Next week I'll talk about the project overall and how it's been. For example about my new experiences in game development. Thanks for reading

//Valdemar

Soon BETA!

Our game is soon entering the beta phase. This means that all of the core mechanics of the game should be here and working. We should also begin implementing the less important features of the game now. I've test played our game and I must say that i'm quite satisfied. The only thing that is missing is to refine the stealth system and finish up our backlog. I am very impressed with the rest of my team. It's very fun to work with people that have many different talents.

This week I've been working on the music for the game and some other stuff. I'm having trouble with the music mostly because I can be very picky. The music is jazz styled so it's very hard to recreate with free samples. I will instead of the music show you this glowing effect I made in photoshop. There's no real reason for choosing the color blue, I just thought it looked cool.

This is a piece of evidence in our game. The game is about collecting all pieces of evidence on a floor and go down to the next floor while avoiding enemies. When you have collected all evidence in the game we want the player to know what is happening. This will also be explained in a tutorial in the beginning of the game. This glow effect is to signal the player that you have collected all the evidence and can proceed to the next floor.

This is how the evidence icon looks without the glow. If you paid attention in the tutorial of the game you will know what to do when you have all evidence even without this glowing effect. We want you to feel stressed when you have everything on the floor. This glow helps represent the fact that you must get out of there, there is nothing left for you here once you've collected the evidence. This glow is not something grand and important but I still think it looks nice and does its job.

That is all for this week. I've been very busy because of other courses i'm taking but I think our game is coming on nicely. I almost forgot to mention the playtesting. This monday we had playtesting with the other groups. It was very fun to test everyones games and get feedback on our own. It's definitely on of the best ways of improving and balancing a game. Thanks for reading.

Music in progress

This blog post will be about my music in the making. I am currently working on some jazzy, bebop music for the game project. I will not post any example in this post but I will however post later this weekend the complete version. I chose jazzy bebop cause I want it to feel old fashioned and classy. It will bring much to the game I believe. Some of the best music I've listened to is from video games. I've always been inspired by many good soundtracks from games. Some of my favourite music in video games is Banjo Kazooie, World of Warcraft, Zelda and Grim Fandango. I like Zelda and Banjo Kazooie because of their playfulness and unique tunes. I love World of Warcraft and other Blizzard music for it's epicness and well orchestrated sounds. Grim Fandango is one of my biggest inspirations for this project, it's jazzy feel fits what I'm looking for.

I'm not only listening to video game music, when trying to replicate a sound you have to research as much as possible. I've listened many hours to jazz and bebop music lately. I've also drawn inspiration from Cowboy Bebop's soundtrack. To make something you first need to understand it, only then can you correctly replicate it and creating something you can call your own.

I'm teasing a bit by not showing the music, but it's not done yet. I will make a post later showing my results. Thanks for reading!