Work Within this Semester's Game Development

As far as showing off work this semester, I cannot show off my work within the game itself, or any models which are being used right now.  However, I will show work that was once utilized, but now is not within the game itself.

Most of these are basic models, abstract ideas I either drew up or came up with in a small amount of time.  Either way, it shows how simplistic something can be, but with enough work can look and feel like the object it's representing.

This first model was meant to represent a frost tower, something that shoots bullets or whatever to slow down an enemy.  I decided a snowflake look would be the best representation.  It was built as a base, with either the bullets or objects shooting out the points, or an object resting on top to shoot the objects.

This model is a tesla coil, but with jagged spikes shooting out of the rims.  I was told to build an object similar to the coil, but with a more menacing and fierce look to it.  Spikes was a simple enough idea to build easily.

This was a stage 2 tower in the original build.  Something simple to look bigger than the previous stage, but something to build off of for stage 3.  I designed this abstract looking object myself in drawings.  The base was eventually have textures representing what the game was about, and the two champers were connected by DNA, hence the twisted beam connecting the two.

Lastly, this was a watch tower.  Something I cooked up when I couldn't figure out what new towers to build, I was inspired by RTS games where towers were built as look-outs on the map, and could be later upgraded to attack.  I gave it a green hue to represent camo.

Final Game

Here is a link to download and see screenshots to the final version of Mall Cop Rampage, a game developed by University of Utah students in the EAE Program.

You can see all the models I made in play in the game.

www.eng.utah.edu/~torgeson/MallCopRampage.html

Side Scrolling Shooter - Work thus Far (Part 3)

Moving on from weapon work, I've been tasked with modeling various aspects that make up a mall setting.  I will show what I have made in various stages, and how I used a base model to create a few different items.

Now I have made a lot of models.  So like the last blog post, I will show some at stage points, while others will be shown in final form.

This is a mannequin model.  Nothing too outstanding, but I will point out one thing.  In the first picture, I showed the various edges on the model.  I did this to show this model is a simplified version of the zombie model I did near the beginning of the semester.  It was simplified into this form now, which makes a good substitute for an item you can see in the game.

Here are some trees to fill in spots for the mall.  Very simple.  Very plain.  With some textures, it should fit right in.

Another simple model to fill in spots in the game.  However, I did something special with the kiosk.  With how it is rendered, it can easily be altered through textures to have a different store selling a product.  Whatever it is, well it's up to the artist who is set to texture.  However, I did add I liked the idea of the kiosk dropping money if destroyed.

And what would be a mall without various kiddie rides?  Now this was a lot of fun to make, not just because of variety, but because ease of use.  All 5 of these rides came from the same base model seen at the top.  Using creative thinking, I used it to shape 4 aircraft and 1 funny animal rides.

Side Scrolling Shooter - Work thus Far (Part 2)

Posts have not been coming lately due to being busy outside of this class, and outside of school too.  However, like I said last time, it does not mean I have not been working.  I will show my work thus far into our shooter game, and what I have submitted.

Due to working on multiple projects, showing off the work at different stages would be too tedious.  Therefore, I will show each of my work in selected stages of work, instead of every single stage I have saved at.

Here is a very simple baton, which will be used as the main melee weapon for our mall cop to hit nearby baddies.

Here is a tough one that may not be inputted unless we have time, but fun nonetheless to make.  The flail would probably be a later upgrade for our mall cop.  Shown is it's design through multiple stages.

Another tricky one, but fun nonetheless, the flamethrower.  The design was meant to rest on the segway's front, and cables sent to a tank on the backside, which explains the pipe off the backside.  If implemented, would be fun to scorch all nearby enemies.

The tank of the flamethrower, which hides on the back.

An upgrade to the melee set, the katana.  Simple in design, but with some texture work can be crafted into something beautiful.

Last but not least, the shotgun.  This had some difficulty setting into fbx format, but I got it done.  A staple to any gun based video game, and I for one am proud of the design.

Side Scrolling Shooter - Work thus Far

Updating has been a little lackluster, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working.  I have been given the task of modeling some of the features in our Mall Cop game.

So the first model I was tasked with is a simple model for the zombies our hero will be fighting.  Here it is through initial stages.  Although the design becomes complicated, I do not add some specific features, such as a face, clothing, or textures, and instead adopt to make a more detailed muscle structure.  I do this for two reasons

1. This complex model can be altered and used for any type of enemy we need.  Whether it is to make the legs thicker for a jumper, or bigger for a muscle zombie remains in the final stages of production.  Instead a detailed model is used to expand to make more enemy types, saving time for our team later on.

2. I can use this practice for developing a career in modeling characters.  I can show how well I can make a model in my portfolio.

Each snapshot is the model (thus far) I have saved in my database.  Therefore, if I have to go back and make alterations or a model doesn't fit for the time being, we can use an earlier model and start from there.

I was also tasked in making a handgun for our hero to start out with.  It is more finalized than the zombie, but it is still in multiple stages.  Again, tweaks can be made and we can just start out with the simpler model for now.

Research on Side Scrolling Shooter

Given the task of researching more on what our game could include to make it stand out, I decided to go a different route than what everyone else on the team did.  The ideas we have for enemies all sound great, and out mall cop character is fine the way we have it already (in my opinion).

But what boils down to a great shooter is the weapons.  So what could we have our mall cop have?  Go the standard route and keep his weapons down to what regular mall cops have, include stuff he has available to him in the mall (a la Dead Rising), or go all out crazy and include all the weapons we could think of?

Considering this game is based in a dream, going the latter would seem the best option.  But having a mixture of all 3 sounds the best in my opinion.  Because dreams are based on our own psyche, it can include any and all objects.  It works on the basis of familiarity and goes to the surreal.

So our team has mentioned a sort of upgradeable system that would work like this:

Baton -> Club -> Knife -> Sword -> Flail

As we can see, it goes from something he uses daily to something out of the ordinary.  In this way I believe we can achieve something that can stand out.

This is just a small bit on the melee side.  What will be the selling point is the guns.  So what can we work for our mall cop?

Taser -> Pistol -> Shotgun -> Mini-Gun -> Laser

An idea I've had before is this concept of an add-on.  It can be let go and dragged with you, and would act as a secondary weapon.  This idea may be hard for our mall cop, but a generality can be applied.  His segway is always the weapon.  So why don't we have the weapon link onto the segway and change as we go?  Have a standard segway with attachments for weapons.

Now the next problem arises is how do we handle the weapons?  Two ideas come to mind:

-Have them stack on top of each other (a la Super Metroid)
-Have them replace each other (a la Contra)

The stack system could be used as a damage recourse.  If our cop is hit, he downgrades to a lower weapon.  But that means it will be difficult to utilize a rock/paper/scissors mode for our enemies.

The replaced weapons does the exact opposite, of course.  We can do a weakness for our enemies, but have the frustration of locating them, or accidentally taking a weaker weapon.

Lastly is the concept of where we get the weapons.  Should we get them from the enemies themselves, or will they be scattered around the area?  Something to talk to with my team, of course.

Side Scroller Concepts (Part 4)

Still on the genre of a side scrolling shooter, we decided for the next one page document to go over a "Metal" setting.  In this game, the heroes are 4 band members trying to get their way to the top while rocking out to rock n' roll hits.

For this one, I was tasked with designing the four main characters.

And here are the four members.  A bassist, a drummer, a guitarist, and a singer (in that order).  They are designed to each use their music as their weapon and upgrade as they go.  You choose which one you want to be, and pick up your bandmates along the way.  Each has a unique way of dealing damage to the enemies trying to keep them from "rocking out!"