Online Learning Week 1 (16/09/19 – 20/09/19)
Online Learning Week 1 – Blog Update
NextGen Games, Animation & VFX
3D Asset List & Evaluation
Kirby’s Warp Star which the pink ball-shaped protagonist rides on
Horseman’s pick being modeled in Mudbox
A normal map for my horseman’s pickaxe model
Horseman’s pickaxe in Maya
Picture of a model of the Galaxia sword from Kirby but the file no longer exists
- How effective was your modelling? What went well? What could you improve about each model?
It’s quite effective.
- How effective was your UV mapping? What went well? What could you improve about each set of UV’s?
It was mildly effective.
- How effective was your Texturing? What went well? What could you improve about your Texturing for each model?
Same as the UV mapping
- Do you feel you successfully made an asset pack for your chosen location?
Yes.
- Are there any other things you could improve? Time management, presentations skills, rendering?
I could improve managing my time and rendering.
- Peer Feedback – Ask a peer to give you feedback on the same areas of your asset pack (Modelling, UVing, Texturing)
Peer Feedback
I haven’t done it.
- Targets – From your evaluation and your peer feedback, list the key areas you need to practice/improve on…..
- Time management
- Rendering
Game Analysis of Alien Hominid
For my game analysis, I will be analysing the early 2000s indie game Alien Hominid from The Behemoth.
- Summary – The game is about a yellow alien who crash lands on Earth only to find agents trying to capture him and you play as him to fight them and other enemies with various weapons such as his green blaster and some grenades.
- Demographic Profile – Alien Hominid’s demographic profile is mainly young people under 30s who enjoy watching Flash-animated web cartoons on Newgrounds and YouTube and playing action video games on video game consoles. Also, the type of players that play Alien Hominid tend to be Killers and Achievers.
- Theme – It’s an action side-scroller game based on the classic run-and-gun game Metal Slug by SNK where you constantly shoot enemies as you scroll across the level.
- Playing Time – It takes around nearly 1 hour to finish this game.
- Art Style – It is based on Newgrounds animations and games as it was developed by the person who made Newgrounds, Tom Fulp, and his friend Dan Paladin who designed its popular Flash games.
- Core Pillars – It was a 2D game made in the early 2000s.
- USP – At the time of its console release in 2004, it was the one of the first video games based on an online Flash game and used Flash to design it, which is now a staple in 2D indie video games.
- Difficulty Curve – It is initally easy but gradually gets challenging as you succeed.
- Replayability – It has extra features such as a trio of multiplayer modes, a PDA mini-game that can played on an on-screen screen with lots of levels and a retro-inspired minigame.
- Reviews – The run ‘n’ gun video game was very well-received, even prior to its release.
Case study
- It was a 2D slide-scrolling run ‘n’ gun game inspired by similar shooters like Metal Slug with the humor and style of online Flash cartoons on Newgrounds at the time.
- Alien Hominid was initially a Flash browser game on the website Newgrounds but was later ported to consoles in 2004. At the time, the current home consoles, PS2, GameCube and the original Xbox, were 128-bit and from the 6th generation of video game consoles.
- As the 6th generation was the second generation to be mainly 3D focused, most popular games were on 3d platforms. This was a downside for 2D games as people are more focused on 3d games.
- Alien Hominid and other run ‘n’ games were quite niche (with the exception of Mega Man Zero) during the 6th generation so they had a small fan following. Alien Hominid was popular enough for its developer, The Behemoth, to make more games such as Castle Crushers and BattleBlock Theater.
- In the late 90s and early 2000s, there was a popular video game series called Metal Slug that had released several games by the time Alien Hominid was developed and introduced as a Flash game in 2002. This has impacted the game positively because of the similarity and fandom.
- The Metal Slug games are well-designed with its pixelated art style. However, Alien Hominid has an equally good cartoony art style inspired by content on the programmer’s website Newgrounds. Metal Slug has influenced Alien Hominid with its run ‘n’ gun gameplay mechanics
- I don’t think that they shouldn’t have done something different as they did a splendid job on their first console game Alien Hominid but they could add a multiplayer arena mode that is both LAN and online where you play with and against other players.
My idea for the sequel to the original Alien Hominid will be called Alien Hominid 2: Thwack Again.
Game concept
- Overview of sequel: The sequel will pretty much be the same but it will be even bigger and better.
- Theme: Run ‘n’ gun
- Key features: It will retain a 2D art style and graphics like the original with a side-scrolling level design. There will be returning bosses from the classic and new bosses
- Game platforms: Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS (less likely for the Vita and the Wii U)
- Gameplay modes: Single-mode or multiplayer adventure mode and free for all survival/team survival
- USP: The unique selling point of the game is that it will be distinctive compared to all the indie and AAA pixelated and 3D platformers as it is designed in Flash.
- The game will keep the aesthetic of the original game. On the Nintendo 3DS, it will take advantage of the 3D effect and Amiibo near field connection.
- Like the previous Alien Hominid game we will be adding bosses at certain stages and there will be a difficulty curve for the bosses as you progress further in the game.
- Another key feature is that if you complete the game, you will unlock the hard mode for single player, but you can only have 3 lives in this difficulty.
- There are now new items can picked up in Alien Hominid 2, these items can be power ups or weapons or explosives. A good thing about this new feature is that these new items don’t activate instantly when picked up. The old power ups can still spawn but they activate instantly when picked up.
- Completing the hard difficulty will unlock intense difficulty which the player will start off with 1 life.
- Completing hard difficulty and intense difficulty will unlock new pickable items.
- New game modes
- There are now cosmetics in Alien Hominid 2; cosmetics can be unlocked within those 4 game modes.
- Cosmetics can be equipped within the character customization area in the menu. You can now also change the colour of the aliens and choose their faces.
- Characters such as Fat Kid and Alien Prisoner will be playable.
Character Animation Idea
Character animation is the type of animation that pertains to bringing characters to life via animation. Today, I am planning to doing two tests of animation in Autodesk Maya for an animation project at college. Why 3 weeks for short animations? Good animation takes time.
Here are my ideas:
- Sit Down, Stand Up
This is basically an animation test of a character transitioning from a standing position to a sedentary (sitting) position or vice versa.
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- Catch
This is exactly what it says on the tin: a character catching an object as part of their endeavour.
I choose these two ideas because I found them interesting and there are creative ways to make these basic movements entertaining in animation.
3D Character Animation Project
- What steps of the project have you completed? I have completed the part 1 of Animation Research and Animation Planning.
- Which steps of the project do you need to still complete/add more to? I need to complete a 2D/3D animation practice by creating a range of tasks and scan the storyboard for my animation plan.
- What grade are you aiming for? I am aiming for a Merit or, more ambitiously, a Distinction.
- Looking at the table, what areas do you need to work on to meet that grade? (e.g. In order to get a merit for my Animation project by the end of project/next week I need to ….) I need to complete my animation research, my animation sketches, a 2D/3D animation practice and evaluation to get at least a merit or a distinction.
- My animation was quite effective in telling my story because it shows a person sitting down. I could improve my animation by making it more expressive and entertaining.
- I applied the following principles of animation: anticipation, arcs, staging and pose to pose (automatically generated by Autodesk Maya), along with follow through and overlapping action. I thought I did quite well with these principles but I wish I could had added other principles such as my favourites exaggeration and squash and stretch and include more overlapping action to make it more realistic.
- I could have used the graph to make the movement smoother and add more movement such as walking to make it longer. Also, I should have moved the chair so that it actually touches the mat and not float as you can see in the published video.
Invasion Sheffield VFX Project
How did you feel the whole project went?
It went well.
Does your final video look and feel professional?
Yes.
Comment on the success of any particular techniques you have tried.
Were there any major issues or hiccups along the way?
Yes, it was a bit challenging trying to mask out parts of the video files to make it look perfect, especially on my Invasion of the Water Pokémon.
Were the visual elements you created fit for purpose?
Yes.
If you were to redo the project, would you change any parts?
I would make the Pokémon actually move parts of their body, just like in animated characters in live-action/animated hybrid movies and TV shows and the Pokémon in Pokémon Go, Pokémon: Let’s Go! Pikachu/Eevee and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.
Pre-production
Animation plan: The Pokémon will appear in parts of Sheffield to do shenanigans like flying. In The Invasion of Emolga, a flying Emolga appears outside of Hillsborough College. In The Invasion of Water Pokémon, a group of Squirtle, Mudkip and Azumarill magically slide in front a bus stop. It will be entertaining when you see it.
Production: I produced a decent production schedule highlighting
Risk assessment: The first short was just a pre-recorded file from John. In the second short, there was a low risk filming the bus stop but the risk would have been higher if I wasn’t careful as it was near a busy street.
Equipment list: Just a modern HD camera.
Progress Action
- What steps of the project have you completed?
I have completed most of the pre-production except the storyboard and animation plan and the production.
- Which steps of the project do you need to still complete/add more to?
I need to complete the animation design, storyboard, risk assessment and equipment.
- What grade are you aiming for?
I am aiming for a Merit/Distinction.
- Looking at the table, what areas do you need to work on to meet that grade?
In order to get a merit for my VFX project by the end of project/next week, I need to complete all of the pre-production documents and most of the production.
What is 3D Modelling?
What exactly is 3D modelling?
3D modelling is a method in 3D computer graphics used to create 3D renditions of any object or surface (including that of an object).
Where is it used in modern day? What is it used for?
Nowadays, 3D modelling is ubiquitous in lots of different industries e.g. creative industries. Notable examples include things like animation, video games, VFX in film and television, advertising, scientific and medical imaging, virtual reality and CAD-CAM engineering. It is so prominent in the media that it is sometimes very subtle.
What is it used for games?
It is used in games to make characters, objects and environments.
What software do people use for 3D modelling?
There are software commonly used to produce 3D models such as:
- Autodesk Maya
- Autodesk 3ds Max
- Cinema 4D
- Blender
- SketchUp (for CAD/CAM engineering and architecture)
- Modo
- Z-Brush
- Autodesk Mudbox
Areas of Modelling
The basic pipeline of modelling
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- Concept art (e.g. sketches and other drawings)
- Modelling
- Rigging
- Texturising
- Rendering
3D assets from a game art outsourcing company called Exigent 
Concept art
What do we mean by the term Low Poly?
Low-poly means a low polygon count.
What do we mean by the term High Poly?
High-poly means a high polygon count.
What constraints do you face as a 3D modeller? (Think about polygons, platform, time, clients’ needs, etc.)
The constraints that you face as a 3D modeller are things like polygon count, computer problems, time and budget, along with the issue of developing on multiple platforms or on a certain platform.
Stranger Things Title VFX (+ Brooklyn Nine-Nine Intro)
I have made my own version of the title sequence of the popular Netflix sci-fi TV show called Stranger Things as part of a VFX project at college.
Original:
My version:
Screenshots:
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- How did you use key-framing? I used key-framing to change the scale and position of the Stranger Things text to make it similar to the real intro sequence.
- How did you use fonts? I used the Georgia font because that was the closest font to the actual font ITC Benguiat.
- How did you consider timings? I timed the letters to appear at certain times and also change size because, in the original sequence, the letters appear at certain times and join together to make the Stranger Things logo.
- What else did you try? I added a glow.
- What render/ export settings did you use and why? I exported it as a H.264 because I was informed to do it.
I also worked on making a version of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine intro VFX with a group but I haven’t finished it.
What is Animation?
Basically, animation is the illusion of movement using pictures that are manipulated to show that ‘movement’. Animation comes from the Latin word ‘animare’, which means ‘to give life’. While animation has been well-known since the early 20th century, there has evidence of animation before the advent of cinema such as the zoetrope (invented in 1866) and the flipbook (invented in 1868 but still prominent today). The oldest earliest example of what is considered animation is a pottery bowl found in the ancient city of Shakr-e Sukhteh, Iran dating from approximately 5200 years ago.
Animation forms: Traditional (cel) animation, stop motion animation and CGI (computer-generated imagery) animation
Cool DigiClime - Adventurous in Sight 