Kira-Nerys Sugden

Games Art and Design. Norwich University of Arts Reader | Artist | Dreamer

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Go to my new blog

Koipeach.wordpress.com

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Finished Model

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Substance Painter Research

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wA8SADf5A0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_x-YYMkQ5g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3We8skpjCHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxDmt4wx0DE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSoJDO1d0Tw

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Research

Images

[link] Shadowrun RPG

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Material Research

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Hologram

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Sketches for Sign Post

I started out with the original wooden sign post but realised quite quickly that I really didn’t want to do that and when I looked around a few people were doing rock based ones so I knew I wanted to come away from that.

I looked at more Sci-Fi Apocalyptic style sign as I am really interested in that genre.

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BA2a Asset Production Task

Sign Post Diorama

Requirements:

Triangle count – 4000

Maximum Texture Size for Asset – 2048 x 2048

Maximum Texture Size for Ground – 1024 x 1024

You will evidence your understanding of the asset production process:

High poly modelling

Presentation of work

Retopology

UV mapping

Texturing

Baking

Research

[link] Sci Fi Lampost on Behance

[link] Signpost/Lampost by Laith Ahmad

[link] Medieval Lantern by Zachary Gregory

[link] Old Signpost by Alexandra Zolotareva

[link] Sign by Andrew Abadzhian

[link] Blacksmith Shop Sign by Andreas Hötzinger

[link] Neon Sign Study #1 ‘A’ in Hiragana (Japanese) by Ronnie Neeley

In Game Style Research:

Fantasy

[link] [link] TERA Poporia

[link] [link] [link] TERA Sylvanoth / Seeliewood

Apocolyptic [Real World]

[link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] Last of Us

Apocolyptic [Sci-Fi]

[link] [link] [link] [link] [link] SOMA

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Studio Reflective Journal

Which mistake has been the most useful, and how will it change your work in the future?

My biggest mistake through out this 8 week project has been stressing about the work and letting it effect my work ethic and motivation. I haven’t been proud of my work as I feel like it should have been made in 3D or made better because it doesn’t really show off my skill set and what I want to do. For the future, this will make me think about the execution of my work more, and not just the design. I think if I had done it in 3D I would be more proud of it and enjoy making it a lot more. How has your work this week helped you develop the skills you are working towards and future employment?

This project has made me realise I enjoy Blueprinting, I like problem solving and working on it until I succeed at getting it to do what I want it to. This has also taught me to take more care in my decision making as I rushed into doing a 2D scroller thinking that’s what we had to do when I could have done a 3D one like I really wanted to. I want to make sure I do this in the Game Jam.

How might you further develop the meaning behind your project to add value and interest for the observer/consumer?

I want to make my game more interesting so I would like to look into adding a “beginner” and “expert” level system where there is more bad guys that could kill you with a slightly different level layout. This would make it more fun for players who enjoy a challenge, and an enjoyable experience for those who don’t. I want to work on the riot aspect of the game as well so I will integrate that more into the level.

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Final Playtest before Mid-Term Review

David Doak Lecturer

What he had to say about the game: Visually very good. I like the sound effects although the light/checkpoint sound doesn’t fit with the rest of the game as it’s quite harsh. Might want to find something that works with the other sound effects. Something more calm feeling. Personally feels it’s too easy [although I’ve had people say that they think it’s enough so maybe look into difficulty settings]. At the final bit, he struggled to jump onto the platforms as you couldn’t tell where you where while in the air. Something in the background to make this more obvious might be good. Likes the music, fits the game really well.

What he had to say about the Art: Good, I like that you have drawn a new pose instead of copying and pasting. It looks inviting. Might want to think about doing banner type ones, vertical and horizontal.

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Advertisement Artwork

Google Image sources: Apple Logo [ link ] Google Play Logo [ link ] Steam Logo [ link ]

Primary Resource Photos: My friend modeled for me so I could get accurate poses for what I wanted. Ignore her facial expressions.

Advert Image 1:

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Audio VFX

Coin [ link ]

Oil [ link ]

Lightbulb/Checkpoint [ link ]

Knife [ link ]

Malfunction [ link ]

Cannon Ball [ link ]

Gentry Shut Down [ link ]

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Commission Work

My brother is coding his own game, a simple 2D scroller and since he knew I was doing Indie Dev we both thought it would be good practice if I had a go at designing different kinds of Sprites. He didn’t want them too detailed and liked a pixelated look. They were fun to do and made it so I didn’t get bored of doing my Indie Dev work when I was getting frustrated with it.

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Studio Reflective Journal

Which mistake has been the most useful, and how will it change your work in the future?

I thought I would have a handle on my work this week and have it finished by now but I had something happen in my personal life that affected my motivation and only managed to complete some things.

The only notable mistake I made this week was when I was making my checkpoints I couldn’t figure out why it was going back to the start of the game instead of the checkpoint. I looked through all my Blueprints and gave up after about an hour because I simply couldn’t see why it wasn’t working and I tried several ways of fixing. George looked and found that I had it connected in my Player’s blueprints somewhere so once that was fixed it worked. What I learned from this was to really check everything but also that sometimes when you’ve looked at something for a long time you can’t see what’s wrong with it so it’s okay to ask other people for help.

How has your work this week helped you develop the skills you are working towards for future employment?

This week, I managed to get my enemies to attack, checkpoints, a goal, more obstacles like Acid and the earpiece pick up. I’m currently working on making a type writer widget for the text on the text box that pops up when you walk into the earpiece. The checkpoints and goal are important expects of  what I learnt this week as I know it’s something I will need to use in any game I do in the future.

Another thing I realised this week is as much as I have enjoyed UE4, and I know I’m still a complete novice at it, I feel that because my art style isn’t great, it ruins the effect of the game. I really like drawing realisticly but my skill level isn’t there yet meaning I am constantly unhappy with my work. I would have liked to do a 3D game but I knew that would be beyond my level at the moment. I want to be able to do this thought so I may have a go once I am more comfortable with Blueprinting.

Have you improved on or used a new process?

Like I previously mentioned, I’ve been researching how to create a typewriting widget as I wanted my text to appear like it was being written/said, not just appear straight away. I’ve been following a tutorial on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NVuk9d6zls

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Play Testing Results

Questions Asked After Play:

How does the game feel?

Does it feel natural to go a certain way or not?

Do the controls fit the animation?

Does the aesthetic fit the layout and vice versa?

Do you understand what you have to do?

Does the audio work with the game?

Playtester 1:

Gender: Female Gamer Type: Average/Skilled

Summary of what they said: It plays well, it feels easy to use and understand where you’re going. Mainly like the aesthetics, it’s pretty. The character is cute and fun to play as. The controls and animation work fine. When the layout is complete and you can get to the underground bit I’ll have another go.

To do after this playtest: Figure out double jump Finish level layout Sky/Background Restart screen Start screen

Playtester 2:

Gender: Female Gamer Type: Average/Skilled

Summary of what they said: Really pretty, I like the art. The main character is cute and it is fun to play. I like start screen and the restart screen is good because it links to the game. For what you’ve done of the level already I like it but I need to know what the pick up is for for the first mission (aka Earpiece).

To do after this playtest: Make the earpiece a collectible that changes the flipbook Background Finish level Double Jump

Playtester 3:

Gender: Female Gamer Type: Non

Summary of what they said: I really like the aesthetics and the character is cute. I feel it needs more direction because I got a bit lost. I listened to the music before it was implemented into the gaming programme and felt it fit really well.

Playtester 4:

Gender: Female Gamer Type: Non/Average

Summary of what they said: There isn’t much of a level to play yet and all you can do is run and jump so it feels more like a maze game. If you can implement the shooting and the NPC’s attacking, it would be more fun.  I like collecting the coins and the fact that they spin makes them easy to notice.

Playtester 5:

Gender: Male Gamer Type: Non

Summary of what they said: As a non gamer I enjoyed this. It was easy to understand and was fun to play because the artwork was cute and easy to follow. I liked the bad guys even though they scared me a bit. It worked really well, mechanics wise, and I liked that it goes underground. I think it could do with a lava pit or something at the end.

Playtester 6:

Gender: Female Gamer Type: Skilled

Summary of what they said: Really engaging. I like the music it fits well as it sounds like robots but its not intense. The art style is really nice and fits the theme. I think there really needs to be some interaction between the main character and the NPC’s as just dodging them feels not as interactive.

Playtester 7:

Gender: Female Gamer Type: Non/Average

Summary of what they said: 2nd time playtesting with a more complete version. The audio improves the game play a lot as it’s more immersive. The layout of the level is really good it’s interesting to complete. I think it could be more

Playtester 8:

Gender: Male Gamer Type: Skilled

Summary of what they said: Don’t have anything negative to say really. Loved it, was really fun and the aesthetics make it fun to play. Get shooting working, it will make it more dynamic. Like the audio it fits well. Bad guys are good, they’re scary so it puts a bit of intensity into the game play.

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Studio Reflective Journal

Which mistake has been the most useful, and how will it change your work in the future?

The past week and a half I have been quite ill but I’ve been trying to do my work when I have the strength. My main mistake is not taking notes of what George teaches as I know I have a bad memory yet I do nothing to help me remember important things. In the future I will have a notebook dedicated to taking notes so it’s easier to do my work without asking for too much help as I want to be able to use UE4 independently. Another mistake is I haven’t figured out how to make the pain causing volumes work on the spikes and the enemies don’t attack. The main reason my playtesters (mainly non gamers) have issues with my game is that it’s interesting but it’s more of a time waster game as you can only jump and walk. This is not what I wanted to achieve and I’m going to work hard once I’m feeling better to make it so my game has the desired outcome I intended.

How has your work this week helped you develop the skills you are working towards for future employment?

This week, I learnt how to make start screens, restart screens, checkpoints and a goal which are really useful for making a game successful. This week has taught me a lot in self research and looking for answers when I haven’t had any tutor time ask it’s a big class with only 2 tutors who can help. I also had friends help me with things and I helped them which showed me where some things were wrong on my own work. I also enjoyed watching people play my game as they gave a new insight as to what it looks like to people who hadn’t seen it before and where stuff I thought was easy, they found difficult.

Has a taught session affected you or your work significantly and how?

In the taught session, I asked George if he could help me with my restart screen as I wanted to put an animation on it and it was really simple I’ve been able to apply it to other aspects of my game. It makes it look more professional. I also saw a classmates work and it made me realise I need to work on my background to make the game more engaging.

[kiranerysnua]

Audio for Korrode

I have been deciding on an audio file for Korrode as I think audio is a great way to immerse a player.

I started off looking at what sounds a factory makes to see if I could overlap them to create something interesting.

I had these two videos from Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ih0JJLoMIg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ODXREubFxs

However they just didn’t sound right. So I tried overlapping them with something different, like a song based on Robots. I overlapped the first video with the following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmDHIVKWw5o

Yet as much as I liked it, it just did not fit the style of my game.

I then stumbled across Daren Curtis who makes music licensed for using as long as you credit him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbLr90qfr9I

I loved it but again it just didn’t quite fit with my theme. I was about to give up when I stumbled across this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxSw37GZdXo

It’s perfect! Now I just need to figure out how to get it into UE4.

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Seminar 4

Write 300 words on the following 2 points:

How would you make a modern theme park sim or management game? Blue Sky: an endless runner, or maybe a post-apocalyptic strategy game?

Controversial theme parks: what can’t theme parks do? Perhaps remembering traumas, documenting events faithfully? Why?

I would make a modern theme park sim based on a post-apocalyptic future where people are kidnapped from their homes and put to sleep. When they wake they find they’ve been put in a series of games including mazes that spin and rely on zero gravity or obstacle courses where you cannot touch the floor. The winner gets to stay alive, the rest die through out the games. It’s tense and gets the player hyped up on adrenaline as they know if they fail the level it’s over. They also don’t know why they were picked to be there, it could be their family member or friend volunteered them, they did something wrong in society. It is mainly used for convicts but the main character and a few others are every day people.

I think Love Land or Jeju Love Land in South Korea is good example of a controversial theme park. The theme of the theme park is love and all that comes with it, including sex, genitals and the menstrual cycle. It is a popular Honeymoon destination as it has constant sex educations films on loop and 140 statues of different sexual positions. From what I’ve explained so far, it’s pretty obvious why it is controversial but a lot of people actually enjoy going as it is something that is not widely spoken about by families or in school. It’s a good learning experience where you can’t really be embarrassed because everyone else is there too.

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Seminar 3

Cards & Board Games

Consider an interesting example of a video game adaptation of a board/card game or a physical adaptation of a video game – what translates and what doesn’t? Write a summary on how this game relates its form to its function.

The game I chose is Club Penguin Card-Jitsu which is a physical adaptation of the online RPG card mini-game inside Club Penguin.

It’s a simple, visual card game aimed at children with simple rules that are the same as in game so they are easy to understand. There are two sets of rules, Quick Play and Standard Play, the latter being more complicated.

What children liked about the online version is you could win belts which showed how skilled you were at the game, and if you didn’t win you got coins meaning there was always a reward where as the real version has no rewards. However the players must collect the packs and you can get special edition “shiny” cards which have better stats than the original.

The artwork of the game translated really well as the Club Penguin style is quite cartoon styled and block coloured meaning the game board was easy to make look like Club Penguin.

On some packs you had a reference code that would allow you to unlock secret items inside the game its self.