Project Plan
The Games Proposal module requires me to demonstrate and
explore my skills in the areas of Game Conception, Character Creation, Level
Design and Environment Design; all of which need to pertain to the same theme –
which cannot be games related. I have decided to explore the Siege of Sarajevo
as my theme. As the longest siege of a capital in modern warfare (nearly 4
years long) I feel the subject has great gravitas and depth. And although
modern warfare has been done to death in the games industry I feel the European
setting and first world urban location brings something fresh to the genre.
Aims For the Project
·
Create
a series of game elements from a non-game theme
·
Apply
the theme appropriately to each discipline
·
Create
a Professional Game Concept
·
Design
and create 2 Character in 3DS Max
o
One
high poly (6000 tris)
o
One
low poly (600 tris)
·
Design
and create a Level in Unreal Development Kit
·
Design
and create an Environment
Intended Actions
·
Research:
o
Gather
information on the Siege of Sarajevo
§ Research the pre siege Sarajevo
§ The early effects of the siege or
impending siege
§ Look at the duration of the Siege,
focussing on participants, tactics and effects on the civilian population, as
well as NATO involvement.
§ How did the siege end? And what
efforts were made to rehabilitate the city
§ What were the political and social
implications after the siege
o
Find
notable events from the conflict, which can help construct game concepts,
mission ideas and needed mechanics. In addition to aiding the narrative of the
product
o
Research
Army insignias, uniforms, equipment and vehicles – historical accuracy is very
important in a game based upon past events. It prevents those with knowledge of
the subject from being removed from the immersion, whilst also serving as a
partially educational experience for those new to the subject.
§ Inform the aesthetic of the characters,
levels and environments
§ Inform the content of the design
·
Create
a game concept:
o
For
example a sandbox RTS game set in Sarajevo
·
Create
a character and build them in 3DS Max
o
For
example designing a Bosnian Soldier using my research into uniforms etc
·
Create
a level in Unreal Development Kit:
o
For
example design a dynamic level in a collapsing office block
·
Design
an environment and create it in 3DS Max:
Deliverables:
·
One
professional concept document for my game concept
o
Digitally
as PDF
o
Physical
bound copy
·
Two
professional characters
o
One
High poly 6000 tris
o
One
low poly 600 tris
§ 2D concept artwork printed on A2 and
digitally on disk
§ 3D models presented on A2 and
submitted on disk as JPEGs and Max files
·
One
professional level 3-5 minutes long
o
One
packaged game using UDK
·
One
professional environment
o
2D
concept and designs printed on A2 and on disk
o
3D
environment presented on A2 and on disk as JPEGs and Max files
·
One
blog documenting research and development of the entire module
Module Plan:
Date
|
Planned Actions
|
1st
October 2012
|
Finalise project
plan, decide upon project theme. Begin theme research, looking at the cities
activity prior to the war as well as documenting historical milestones of the
Siege of Sarajevo.
As well as participants
insignia’s, uniforms, equipment and vehicles.
Begin thinking
about concepts and assignment ideas.
|
8th October 2012
|
Continue to
research the details of each side.
Research into media
coverage and influence of the siege.
Continue thinking
about concept ideas.
|
15th
October 2012
|
Research
consequences of the siege.
Begin to collate a
better idea of what my game concept is.
Skeleton draft the
concept document
|
22nd
October 2012
|
Refine concept
document with all sections covered to a decent level
|
29th October 2012
|
Assignment 1 – Professional Game Conception – Hand-in
|
5th November
2012
|
Decide upon 2 characters
to model
Complete any excess
research to complete my background knowledge of the chosen character. Collect
any reference imagery that may be needed for concepting, modelling or
texturing.
Begin concepting
characters
|
12th
November 2012
|
Finish concepting
characters in 2D
Start modelling low
poly character
Aim to finish the
low poly character
|
19th
November 2012
|
Pushback time for
low poly character
Start high poly
character
Have main bulk of
the character’s form completed
|
26th
November 2012
|
Finalise any form
modelling
Detail the high
poly character
Finish the high
poly character
|
3rd
December 2012
|
Finalise any
modelling issues in the two characters
Render both models
|
10th
December 2012
|
Assignment 2 – Professional Character Conception and 3D Modelling – Hand-in
|
17th
December 2012
|
Start outlining
what I want to occur in the level
Define what type of
level it is and what type of game it is for. As well as other factors such
as, location, objectives, equipment, participants etc
Sketch rough ideas
on paper
|
24th
December 2012
|
Start full paper
design of level
Include player
paths, pickups, collectibles, unlocks
Annotate any
thoughts or detail that can’t be distinguished on paper
Note where any
assets go and possibly which UDK assets are needed
Plan enemy paths
and anything else present not controlled by the user
Finish paper level
design
|
31st December
2012
|
|
7th
January 2013
|
|
14th
January 2013
|
Build a skeletal
and empty level with no assets
In UDK
Begin populating
level with assets
|
21st
January 2013
|
Populate level with
the UDK preset assets
(+other external
preset assets if not present in UDK)
Begin introducing
kismet to make the level interactive
|
28th
January 2013
|
Implement kismet
throughout the levels
Test as I go making
sure major bugs are not present
Fix any bugs found
Give to others to
test for flow, bugs, ease of use and other user related issues
|
4th
February 2013
|
Implement enemy
system or equivalent system depending on game e.g. puzzles
Test personally
Test externally
|
11th
February 2013
|
Implement any
objectives or collectables in the game
As well as any cut scenes
that haven’t been added yet
Round off any bugs
etc
|
18th
February 2013
|
Assignment 3 – Professional Level Design – Hand-in
|
25th
February 2013
|
Decide upon what
sort of environment I am designing. Interior? Exterior?
Gather any extra
research imagery needed
Begin planning
concepts of scene on paper/photoshop
|
4th March
2013
|
Decide upon
environment and begin 2D design
Work from sketches
and build up to blueprint-esque drawing(s)
Create multiple
perspectives to communicate my idea and greatly aiding 3D creation
|
11th March
2013
|
|
18th
March 2013
|
Start 3D modelling
from the 2D design sketches I made
Model only a rough
plan of the scene first
Isolate sections of
the scene and begin detailing and adding assets
|
25th March
2013
|
|
1st
April 2013
|
|
8th
April 2013
|
Finalise modelling
Render Scene
|
15th
April 2013
|
Assignment 4 – Professional Environment Design and 3D Modelling – Hand-in
|
