Art Assets
During the last week have been looking into different art assets for my game. During the past semester it had slipped my mind to create any art assets for the GUI and the on screen avatars them selves until a few weeks before the Christmas period. I have rebuilt my mile stone time line however due to some mechanics that needed rebuilding and other assignments building up pressure, this again slipped my mind.
However mentioned on the last post, have already started creating assets. Since I am being marked on the game play and not the art I have not spent as much time on it. This is also because art is not my strong point and I will take forever to do one thing.
Due to this I have created some simple art assets for the main menu, that I thought would fit in with my games 'spacey theme".
3D Models - Player Avatar
For the space craft itself, I decided to find a low poly royalty free space craft model. The models art style is roughly what I am after and it has received plenty of four and five star reviews. It is available in a variety of formats all of which can be opened in 3DS Max for modification. The poly count for the model is just under 500 polys, therefore if I decide to release the game after handing my dissertation on the Android Store, it can work on mobiles and tablets or low powered PCs. I can also do this because I have checked the licence on the site and it said nothing about commercial use. However if anything changes to the licence in the future, I have found other models that are less fitting but can be used commercially.
Another feature the model has is it has multiple modifiable textures included, and a few "Targa" texture files. I looked through the specs of the texture, and it was 1024 by 1024. This is handy because I dislike texturing and it would take me ages to do it myself and I do not have the time.
The model also had "specular", "bump" and some other maps. I tested the model with the texture in Unity3D and considering where the ship is on screen (even with the closer camera from the new version), these affects were not that noticeable to me, therefore I have not included the extra maps in my project, also it saved draw calls and processing power. However if many people requests more detail on the ship, I still have the maps and will add them to the ship.
Texture Map:
The texture map in .psd file format, was brilliant, it is divided up into multiple layers and there were variety of metal patterns to choose from and the layers were easily manipulatable. After some time of experimentation I decided to keep the wind shield or wind screen the shade of blue it was originally set at, and changed the beige orange peeling paint work to a green colour because I like the colour and the target audience (teenage boys and possibly early 20's males) generally prefer darker colours.
I also changed the logo on both wings because as much as the fire looked interesting, suggesting the ship could be in danger zones, this did not suit a mining or trading ship. I created a logo on PhotoShop which sort of resembles a planet with a few rings around it. I created this logo because the ship will extract and mine "mass" resources from planets and bodies, and what is what the logo represents.
It is a good idea I am doing this now because before hand I merely had place holder assets, and the visual aids will make the game more interesting and engaging to the player.
Other models:
Also if it is required, I have found other space craft models, which suit my game. These will be handy if I need to change the space ship or if I require more models for NPCs (non-player characters). However I have checked the licence for each model and they are all royalty free and as far as I am aware (unless the licence has changed since writing this blog post) I can use it if I sell my game.
Planet Models and Texture:
Currently I have place holders where each planet is supposed to be and a smoke texture to resemble a gas like planet and the shader is tinted green on the inner planet and a darker shade of green on the outer planets. These are all Unity preinstalled items that come with the engine.
Planet Model:
I found a model inline for the the planet Mars, however it used a special form of plain that I have not come across and it was an editable Mesh. I did not want this because it occupies a vast amount of poly's for something that does not require the detail. However I like the texture since it resembles the planet Mars and the texture itself is seamless and will keep the player immersed.
Due to this I decided to create a basic sphere in 3Ds Max, I managed to keep the poly count lower than 500 polygons in keeping with my low poly theme. Also since there will be many objects to render on screen, sticking to a poly budget is a wise idea and when playing in browser the file should be smaller and quicker to load.
Another thing, it has been suggested by a few players to make the planets and body's orbit around something. If I do decide to do this in future iterations the low poly count should be handy since the renderer should not have as much work do to.
Planet Texture:
I decided to find a royalty free planet texture online, because I am not a great artist and this s not what I am being marked on. This will also speed up the creation process of game assets. From the 3D model explained above, a mars texture was included as both a ".PNG" and ".Targa". Since the texture was based off the planet Mars which is a real planet, I decided this fitted the model asset. The only adjustment I decided to make was adjusting the pixel dimensions of the texture. The file that came with the model was set at 2048 X 1024. I tested this repeatedly with my new planet model and in the Unity engine. I discovered since not a lot of detail will be seen (even though a lot of detail remains in the resized version) a 512 X 256 texture suited the new model.
Also I have checked and the texture does work with the new planet model, I also rescaled it to 512 X 256 since not a lot of detail will be seen, thus saving on draw calls. However I still have all of the original file so if anything requires alterations I can do it.
Instructions:
With the instructions screen (and menu screens in general) I studied the art style of Mass Effect 2 and looked at the aesthetics of the menu screens. I made the start menu look like a holographic screen since this is space themed and set at some point in the future. To do this I made the .PNG images 70% transparent to make it appear slightly holographic. I also choose the colour red since it is the same colour as the mass storage bar on the player's HUD.
With the instructions I have made them as visual as I can and have only used text for titles and where things require it. I have made the instructions visual because this will make it easier for the player to understand how the game works. Another reason is because the brain processed images faster than words the player has to think less and they can more quickly pick up the games rules and how it operates and play the game sooner. However due to this I, the images I used for the sprites had to be large enough in order to be clear for the player to interoperate the information easily due to the web player screen size. This meant I I could not cram everything on a single screen, therefore I decided to have several screens explaining clearly.
For the instructions screen, I originally wanted each place to slide from right to left when the player click the 'Next' button. However I decided not to do this after some experimentation due to a few reasons.
The code became over complex
Space Trader:
For the space trader I had a look online, there were a few models, however the ones that fitted my space theme, were ridiculously expensive. Due to this I decided to quickly create a model based on some images from other games online and modify it based upon my own design. I will say however, I have only imported the grey box model and have done the UVWMapping but not the texture. The reason for this is, if players do not like the model incase it impacts their game play, I have not wasted time on it and can change the model if needed be.
Planet Models and Texture:
Currently I have place holders where each planet is supposed to be and a smoke texture to resemble a gas like planet and the shader is tinted green on the inner planet and a darker shade of green on the outer planets. These are all Unity preinstalled items that come with the engine.
Planet Model:
I found a model inline for the the planet Mars, however it used a special form of plain that I have not come across and it was an editable Mesh. I did not want this because it occupies a vast amount of poly's for something that does not require the detail. However I like the texture since it resembles the planet Mars and the texture itself is seamless and will keep the player immersed.
Due to this I decided to create a basic sphere in 3Ds Max, I managed to keep the poly count lower than 500 polygons in keeping with my low poly theme. Also since there will be many objects to render on screen, sticking to a poly budget is a wise idea and when playing in browser the file should be smaller and quicker to load.
Another thing, it has been suggested by a few players to make the planets and body's orbit around something. If I do decide to do this in future iterations the low poly count should be handy since the renderer should not have as much work do to.
Planet Texture:
I decided to find a royalty free planet texture online, because I am not a great artist and this s not what I am being marked on. This will also speed up the creation process of game assets. From the 3D model explained above, a mars texture was included as both a ".PNG" and ".Targa". Since the texture was based off the planet Mars which is a real planet, I decided this fitted the model asset. The only adjustment I decided to make was adjusting the pixel dimensions of the texture. The file that came with the model was set at 2048 X 1024. I tested this repeatedly with my new planet model and in the Unity engine. I discovered since not a lot of detail will be seen (even though a lot of detail remains in the resized version) a 512 X 256 texture suited the new model.
Also I have checked and the texture does work with the new planet model, I also rescaled it to 512 X 256 since not a lot of detail will be seen, thus saving on draw calls. However I still have all of the original file so if anything requires alterations I can do it.
Instructions:
With the instructions screen (and menu screens in general) I studied the art style of Mass Effect 2 and looked at the aesthetics of the menu screens. I made the start menu look like a holographic screen since this is space themed and set at some point in the future. To do this I made the .PNG images 70% transparent to make it appear slightly holographic. I also choose the colour red since it is the same colour as the mass storage bar on the player's HUD.
With the instructions I have made them as visual as I can and have only used text for titles and where things require it. I have made the instructions visual because this will make it easier for the player to understand how the game works. Another reason is because the brain processed images faster than words the player has to think less and they can more quickly pick up the games rules and how it operates and play the game sooner. However due to this I, the images I used for the sprites had to be large enough in order to be clear for the player to interoperate the information easily due to the web player screen size. This meant I I could not cram everything on a single screen, therefore I decided to have several screens explaining clearly.
For the instructions screen, I originally wanted each place to slide from right to left when the player click the 'Next' button. However I decided not to do this after some experimentation due to a few reasons.
The code became over complex
Space Trader:
For the space trader I had a look online, there were a few models, however the ones that fitted my space theme, were ridiculously expensive. Due to this I decided to quickly create a model based on some images from other games online and modify it based upon my own design. I will say however, I have only imported the grey box model and have done the UVWMapping but not the texture. The reason for this is, if players do not like the model incase it impacts their game play, I have not wasted time on it and can change the model if needed be.
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