Damaged Pillar: Doric Column

After struggling for a while to model my first pillar design, I moved onto something a little more achievable. I began to design the low poly mesh as a Doric Column.

After placing all of the largest shapes in the correct areas, extruding and combining the bottom and top half; I was ready to export the mesh from Maya as an OBJ file and import it to Zbrush.

Whilst in Zbrush I attacked my column with all of the wear and tear I wanted to see on the final render.

I realized I had missed a step in decimating my mesh, as the damaged sections were far too high in tri count in comparison to the rest of my mesh.

I decimated my mesh in Zbrush then reimported it. From left to right are the; Decimated, Low Poly, Damage and High Poly meshes. The damage now had to be bridged onto the low poly.

Bridging 1

Bridging 2

This process is not exactly difficult, but it is one of the most time consuming tasks I have ever encountered. It can become quite dull after a while, though the finished result is worth the effort.

UV mapping

Baking

Something went horribly wrong with my bake and the normals were crushed, stretched and distorted. I spent a long time attempting to fix this as can be seen below.

My first UV map, which did work, but it wasn't densely packed enough to make use of the 2048x2048 resolution.

I encountered issues with this map and I am still unsure why. The low poly and cage were both the exact same topology and the high poly was in the exact same position.

I decided it would be easiest to map the whole model again as opposed to puzzling over it for hours on end.

Here can be seen my final UV map, which worked perfectly. I am extremely happy to have this finished.

GS: 2000 word report/essay

Write about what a game does and/or means to its players

What does the game do for who

What do the games narrative and mechanics mean to the player

Metagames, what do games say about games

How does the gamd respect diversity

Look at your bibliography, are the authors respectable

Think about art theory, philosophy, literary theory, this shows how in depth you have thought about what you're writing

Allow time for editing - leave for a day and come back

There's a 10% margin either way

Get down the descriptions first then edit later

14th Apr Video Game Studies: Reflecting (on) games

- magic circle
   - a games stuck in development for 40 years
   - you are in essence a play tester, editing and  improving the game as you play

- far cry primal
   - critics disapproved, claiming the game to be nothing more than inflated dlc

- meta games
- Stanley parable and Undertale
   - Stanley parable breaks fourth wall to comment on players decisions

- the beginners guide
   - dialogue on mental health
   -

14th Mar Time Machine

Task 4 Time Machine

- Maya file > layers > low poly & cage
- Zbrush > high poly render
- Texture maps > normal map

Wiki unreal materials

- Time  management > stress management

- Time Machine can be anything (justified)

- TRIaNGLES NOT QUaDS 10k

- Textures 2k

- Albedo = base colour

- Metallic map

- Roughness map

- Normal map (Maya harden edge UV island) - Maya Mel script

- AO map

* Emissive map

**UE4 screenshots (deactivate visuals of lights and volumes = ' G '**

How to fix UE4 scale issues -- Windows > setting preferences > settings > scale/measure > cm

Lack of Cultural Diversity in Final Fantasy Games

Lack of Cultural Diversity in Final Fantasy Games

Being quite the fan of several Final Fantasy games, having played VIII, IX, X, X-2, XII and XIII it has come to my attention that in the soon to be released installment of the franchise the cast of protagonists is somewhat less diverse than what fans are used to. The protagonists are all seemingly Caucasian males. I'm not saying that there's an issue with this, it's merely a design choice (perhaps the climate of said protagonists home has caused fairer skin to be more prominent). surely SquareEnix wouldn't go out of their way to alienate non Caucasian players? It's strange that after previous casts featuring one or more characters of non European descent to change this almost iconic feature.

Accessibility in Games and Bodily Awareness

Accessibility in Games and Bodily Awareness

Zelda Skyward Sword has some of the best motion controls I have used in a game, though I'm sure many would disagree (I have not delved very deeply into the world of motion controlled gaming). The player is only able to control the protagonist's arm as if it were their own, but every swing of Link's sword feels truly as if it was your own. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to carve through trees and defeat enemies by utilising the accuracy of the motion control, slicing beneath a shield or stabbing through a gap in their armour.

Analysis of Ludonarrative Dissonance in Depression Quest

Analysis of Ludonarrative Dissonance in Depression Quest

Depression Quest, aptly named, is a minimal text based game about living with depression. As can be seen below the player is unable to make certain choices depending on the protagonists mental state. This adds immersion to a game almost devoid of any visual aid. Being unable to access sections of gameplay due to the protagonist's depression causes the player to become deeply invested in helping the protagonist. The player can at certain points in the game seek help with the help of friends and family. The decisions made by the player are the only thing pushing the story forward, thus there is little ludonarrative dissonance caused.