2D Platformer - An Update

Whelp, it's been roughly two weeks, and the platformer has been finished. Originally, we were intended to use assets given to us to use (simple grey blocks), as well as a photoshopped character and enemy character to develop our intro tutorial level, however we were given some liberties in changing our environment (sadly not the music preloaded in) if we had extra time on our hands. I couldn't pass up this chance, and went for a very 8 to 16-bit look while retaining 3D models. Nothing too crazy, but a nice stylistic approach. We finished our first few passes and I had to make some adjustments on the level's design as it felt too drawn out and lack of action. Changes will be made soon in UE4. Pics soon!

Process of A 3D Biome

While I've been tasked with finishing some changes on my platformer in my game design class, I was also challenged with developing a weather-mirroring biome in my 3D class. Essentially, I've been able to write down and display my process through the last two weeks as I worked, and this essentially is my process book on the subject:

My Biome of choice this project is a winter-themed forest with a clearing in the distance in mind. It's to provoke feelings of being lost, bewilderment, and wonder. I've gathered much reference for this project, and with it I intend to develop a complex small scene with my abilities and tools. Here's a basic run down of what I got in mind:

Here's some digital paint art that of which I am drawing reference to as well by Aaron Limonick:

The color palette will follow heavy shades of light blue, followed by dominant features in black, white, and brown. I'd like to push the contrast by adding in orange or yellow sunlight to add to the scene's look. Here's a quick digital painting of what all I want to direct my location as:

Working from this, I made a basic grey block-out. From this, I'll work on some custom mesh models and textures to work towards the "blueprints" I have above in terms of composition. A screenshot from the block out as follows:

I've managed to make some minor changes to the meshes, and develop a small winter-y particle for weathering effect. I chose to adjust composition locations to keep off-center, add fog, paint the landscape floor and move the camera appropriately. Here's the changed variant:

Adjustments have been made. Simple meshes have filled in open spaces where block-in cylinders took place. The composition didn't feel strong enough, so I adjusted and tweaked some locations of the meshes and added/removed others. Developed a stronger vertex paint for the landscape, and modeled out two more types of trees, as well as added cards of branches to the older ones. I took the liberty of developing some small tufts of dead grass to populate the ground, as well as roots. Within my time, I was able to play with a post processing world node, capable of generating the depth of fog to a certain distance, elevating light passively. Current set up:

After gaining some feedback on what to improve on (floor too flat, vertex wasn't too naturally blended, shadows broken up incorrectly, etc.) I pushed to make the environment to a lot more complex by adjusting the floor, it's vertex paint, adding some treeline cards in the back to provide depth, and developed a new tree to replace the thin, leafless ones to add more thickness to the outside forest. Here's the current view:

I felt the environment wasn't going where I intended it to go. I powered up the snow VFX, and developed a complex vertex paint that also generates tessellation values on the rocks to show snow buildup. I toyed around with adding a lot of new foliage such as dead brushes, and changed the grass to be less tuft-y and more-so patches. Snow buildup was a huge thing for the bottoms of trees and logs, and I decided to add more rocks for extra silhouettes, and moved around some of the logs till I felt satisfied. Lastly, I built up areas that were negative space to get a better focal point, and I felt the light was too bright to be caught in a blizzard with, so I toned down the brightness (but retained the color for the sake of contrast) and added a strengthened height fog value. Adjusted changes are now as follows:

Now that the final adjustments were made, it was time to create a Matinee of the subject matter to generate the environment in a real-time view (helps point out the changes in the VFX). Here's the video (Be sure to hit 1080p!): Biome - Blizzard Forest

The final critique was quite helpful in changing some minor issues. We discussed that perhaps less camera movement is better, and that perhaps using foliage instead of snow buildup around the tree trunks was best, along with other ideas. Changes will be made soon, and updated as soon as possible.

I've considered tweaking the weather particle and perhaps including it on a future VFX reel. It's a strong snowy blizzard, but it could use some more work. Speaking of which - expect a VFX portfolio reel soon!

2D Platformer Level Layout

After some consideration and planning, I constructed a simple level design for the first level (the tutorial level) of a platformer game.

The rooms and halls are constructed so the player learns how to play without use of hand-holding words or instruction. Through this, players won't be incredibly challenged, but able to go through a few trials to learn how to play the game and take up its mechanics.

First Rough:

Second Run:

I originally had this idea where the character would be a knight who was stationed in a watchtower in an abandoned church, in which he is asleep. Upon the sound of a sudden signal, he is alerted, and an antagonistic character breaks in and smashes the floor out from under him. The knight is then tasked to traverse the church while it's falling apart, learning that the antagonistic character was after an artifact hidden in the church, to which the knight pursues. At a sudden twist of fate, the evildoer is then learned to be a minion of a powerful evil wizard who wants to use the artifact to destroy the kingdom, towards which the player much confront him through a long perilous quest.

The time setting I was aiming for was probably a medieval age, or perhaps somewhere near the end of the Dark Ages, when modernization began to take form, and the crude medieval times slowly began to fade out. This would take place in one final gesture to keep the medieval ways and fight against the destiny of the modern day. This would take place during the evening, as the knight would be asleep after a long day of being a watch guard, and the time of year would probably be autumn to keep a cold yet crisp atmosphere.

The architecture would have to be like an older fashioned church, where unlike most Renaissance cathedrals had fanciful architecture, this one was very run-down, and old. Compromised mostly of wood and stone, followed by a few stained glass windows (entry point for enemies raiding the church), and some armories for the watch guards.

Game Mechanic

Just one out of many potential ideas I'd like to consider as a game mechanic in my upcoming 2D platformer for my character.

New Year, New Project. Side Scroller.

Since the year has started up once more, and we're given the tools to use Unreal Engine 4, we have begun the task of making a side scroller with the tech we have here. To make a side scroller, one must understand the mechanics of one. Jump physics, mobility, character abilities (special game mechanic), and level design. I have begun my search for reference and work by recording the intro level to Freedom Planet, a 2D side scroller sprite-based game that's an action platformer. Here's the game play video:

Next is understanding the design of the level itself, so I've composed a quick vector map of the level I just ran through:

A simplistic level design, teaching players simple enemy designs, and item pickups as well as actions such as ladders, hanging bars, springs, and requiring double jumps.

New Particle Reel!

There's a first time for everything! As I've stated in a previous post some time ago, I really truly want to devote much of my work towards particles. Magic, Sci-fi, impact, weather, etc. I've been working on a lot lately, and I was able to record some of the many I'm working on currently. Here's a fast first-time reel!

Expect more in the near future. I'm going to spent most if not all my free time on Particle System mastery.

Final Works From Sophomore Year

Here's some shots and turntables on my car and character for this sophomore year's racing game, Sophomore Spin-Out 2014:

Character: Hitman Stein

Car: Lotus Evora