I have just finished making a level for my course at AIE( Academy of Interactive Entertainment) and it has been an interesting experience.
I was given an assignment to make a level for a game. We were put into groups of four. What you do in the game is there are 2 players and each person is trying to collect the most amount of ducks. Whoever has the collected the most amount of ducks by the 4th round wins the game.
We started by choosing an area around Melbourne, we want to base the level off. My group chose hosier lane.
We started by sketching out ideas for what the level was going to be like. After some group discussions and many different ideas and sketches, we agreed upon a design.
Greyboxing
Once we had figured out how we wanted the level to be we started geryboxing the level. We did this using Pro Builder. Pro Builder is a tool that allows you to easily greybox your level.
Greyboxing is were you put in the main features of the level without any detail. This leads to the scene being made up of mostly different size cubes. The reason why we do this is because we need to see if the level is going to be fun. If we add a lot of detail and then realize the level isn't fun it means we have wasted a lot of time on something we don’t need.
So instead we make a simple object that has the same dimensions as the object we want to be there. We then test the scene.
Once we have gone through different iterations of the level and we have tested it and think that it is fun and have a design we like. We then start making more detailed assets in Maya.
Greybox version of the level.
Art Asset
Once we had made the model for an object we then had to change the mesh from the Pro Builder mesh to the mesh we made in Maya.
This was something new I had learnt to do and instead of placing the new object and trying to line it up with where the old one is, it was actually just as simple as a few clicks.
Once most of the art asset models were kin the scene. The level started to look better and it also showed we had made progress which is a good feeling.
Art assets in the level.
Textures
When we were able to make the assets we then learned how to texture them. I then realised how hard making textures really is and it also showed that i'm not that good at art.
That is ok though because that is something I can only get better at and they didn't turn out that bad so I am proud of myself and my team.
But texturing isn't all about how to make pictures we also learnt about unwrapping an object in maya. On some objects it wasn't too hard but on some more complex objects it was a bit more challenging. It ended up working out well in the end and I learnt another skill which is never a bad thing.
Animations
We also learnt about animations. We learnt about how to make something move, change colour and we also learnt you can animate more than just objects. You can animate lights as well which I had no idea you could do.
Conclusion
By the end of the project I have learnt so many new skills and I am so happy I have learnt them. One of the most important skills I have learnt is time management. If you don't get your work done on time it can affect the whole outcome of the project and it can show. I also learnt a bit about lighting and got to play around with it in my scene and I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.
A mock up screen for an art test i did for the slot game. I got the job, by the way! #slotgame #digitalart #gameart #artasset #2Dart #2Dgameart #gamedesign #conceptdesign #polynesia #tropical #colorful #art #conceptart #artistsoninstagram #artistsofinstagram #kaynessart #artoftheday #artist_spotlight #gameui #uidesign #ui
