Games Portfolio - Journal (Week 9) - 3D Model Creation

Project Journal - Week 9

Project activity for the week of 20/04/09 (Week 9):

This week I spent my time with Supreme Commander attempting to produce work in the map editor and in 3Ds Max. More final models were worked on for the completed product to be handed in 3 weeks from now. With such little time left, me and most other class mates are still very unsure how to utilise many of the features in Supreme Commander, such as getting models and characters to animate and successfully creating camera paths etc.

In the lesson this week I spent my time wisely attempting to complete my final terrain in University due to the editor not working back at home. Now roughly half complete, I hope to have the map entirely finished next week by spending as much time in University as possible.

To see all posts concerning this unit, click the 'Games Portfolio' tag below. To see all project journals, click the 'Journal' tag.

Easter Break - Work Overview

During the two weeks for Easter, several pieces of work must be completed.

Currently, Games Design 2's 'Game Mechanic Article' has been completed on my part with several thousand words being written on four different gameplay mechanics. The mechanics I chose to discuss were 'Dual Wielding', 'Grenades', 'Shield Regeneration' and 'Turrets', all of which are in the context of the game 'Halo 3' on the Xbox 360.

Team Project work has also been completed, with the Progress Report now half-finished, the Games Design Document in its final state and the final level build itself started. Hopefully, more progress on the level build will take place during next week.

Research regarding the final assignment for Games Design 2 has also begun, with more being added to the research report next week. Examples of subjects discussed in the report consist of how existing levels in the chosen title (Half Life 2) are laid out, how they work alongside the story and other environments, what's found inside the levels, how often enemies spawn and how difficult it is for the player to reach the goal. Ideas for our own expansion level and Visio Diagrams of the existing levels will also be produced and include in this report.

Games Portfolio - Journal (Week 8) - Existing Levels

Project Journal - Week 8

Project activity for the week of 30/03/09 (Week 8):

This week I spent my time with Supreme Commander playing though stages of the main campaign mode and analysing how the single player and multiplayer maps are built. Whilst most seem rather simply made, the terrain constantly remains interesting in terms of obstacles and items and in multiplayer they always remain balanced with the maximum amount of armies allowed to battle on that particular map always kept in mind.

The lesson this week was cancelled due to a lecture taking place in the games lab. An email from the office however suggests we keep checking our mail inbox during Easter for some work from the lecturers. Despite this however I attempted to begin work on my Supreme Commander map, although came across a major problem with the Supreme Commander GPGNet software. Unable to access the GPGNet 'Vault' due to it not loading, me and the majority of other students on the module could not download the Map Editor to produce terrain on computers at home. All other versions of the Supreme Commander Map Editor downloadable from the Internet crash upon creating a new Map.

During Easter, I hope to solve this problem with the map editor and begin work producing my final map ready for showing off at the end of the unit.

To see all posts concerning this unit, click the 'Games Portfolio' tag below. To see all project journals, click the 'Journal' tag.