Industry Portfolio Development Blog - Joel McIvor

This week was on finishing up some of last weeks tasks and improving the player experience by working on zooming out the camera to capture more of the environment.

Camera Placement

This was inspired from a level in Death Stranding (2019) when the camera pans out as the player starts to scale a mountain, revealing the pure scale of the environment. 

I found that scene really powerful and wanted to do a similar effect in the Beach level. So I positioned the camera to a similar angle. This will hopefully give a similar effect once the level is complete.

Texturing

The texturing this week was mainly on the cliffside as there were issues with texture stretching that haven’t been fixed.

It however still gives the impression of a cliff, so for now it’s workable.

I also textured the floor with a sand texture which I think completes the look of the environment in this screen shot.

This week was a continuation of last weeks implementation of assets and blocking out the terrain on the beach. I also forgot to mention in the last post that all of these models are made in Autodesk Maya as I have worked with the program for a few years now.

Blocking out Terrain

Here I was using Unreal Engine’s landscape sculpting tool to make the mountainous background and uneven beach surface.

I also added a basic water material to simulate the ocean in the environment.

Implementing

I finally imported the cliffside into the game engine, this took a bit of trial and error. I first attempted to import the models separately and combine them in Unreal, but this cause issues as I couldn’t properly combine them accurately enough.

I then reimported the model as one which seem to have worked much better.

Next week will focus on texturing and camera placement. 

This week was focused on working on making a start on models and importing them into Unreal Engine 4.

Modelling

One of the first models I made was obviously the basalt rocks, this was a simple hexagon shape that was extruded out to make a pillar.

The next model I made was the cave and cliffside that surrounds the environment. This involved modelling a cuboid and slanting it to make it look more “cliff like” which will blend well with the basalt rocks I think.

Implementing

I then implemented the basalt rocks via FBX into the engine using the third person template Unreal provides.

I wasn’t satisfied with the material applied to the rock so I swapped to another darker rock material provided by the Unreal Starter Pack.

Next week I will import the cliff side and block out the terrain.

Concept Art

This week I wanted to visualise the level in some concept art so that I can model around it when implementing. 

These concepts were drawn in pencil first, then fine lined, and finally scanned in:

Hopefully I can adapt these images properly in engine at capture the scale and atmosphere I’m aiming for. I am hoping to start creating and implementing models next week.

During this week’s Lab Activity I was tasked with finding 5 game jobs that would match my area of specialisation within the United Kingdom.

I documented what they were looking for in terms of essential skills/qualifications and desirable skills. I looked at studios such as Travelers Tales, Double Eleven, and Super Massive Games.

Essential Skills

In particular the one key skill all the listings had was having clear and concise communication skills. This refers not just through general conversation with colleagues in other disciplines, but also in design documents.

Iteration was also a key skill as games naturally need assessed and reworked to refine qualities and remove flaws.

Knowledge of Unreal Engine was a common skill as was knowledge on player psychology to ensure a solid design mentality that will challenge and reward the player according to the game genre.

Desired Skills

The unified skill all the listings considered “Desirable” was a genuine passion for games under the specific studio’s theme/genre e.g. Travelers Tales make the Lego Star Wars games, therefore having a passion for family friendly games that focus on fun will probably be more desired.   

How I will showcase these skills

When it comes to showcasing these skills in my artefact I will emphasise the planning and pre-production stage; sourcing my inspirations in detail to show a clear pipeline of research, planning, implementing, and refining. 

I will also document how I implemented the level in detail as this will show off my knowledge of Unreal Engine 4.

Finally, I will discuss in detail my creative decisions to show my passion for the artefact and game development in general.

This week was focused on getting a solid concept of my disciplinary. I have decided to design and implement a level set on a moody beach; inspired from the coastlines of Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.

I have visited the coastlines of Northern Ireland and Scotland over the years and have consistently been mesmerised by their beauty and scale. Specifically with Giant’s Causeway and it’s unique rock formations that are called Basalt Hexagons:

I think they would add a unique visual style to the level and would be easy to block-out using a simple hexagon model.

I think considering the environment it would be appropriate to make the game genre a third person adventure game with puzzle elements to add a bit of relaxing gameplay. A slower pace would also allow the player to take in the sights of the beach more.

In general atmosphere would be a major factor to this level. 

For a better visualisation of the level I have made a mood board, with one or two photos I took myself when visiting Ireland and Scotland.

The following blog entries will detail my journey throughout the university module: Industry Portfolio Development.

It will focus on defining my specialisation in the computer games industry, along with preparing myself for a future career in said industry.

I am working to become a games designer, therefore the following blog entries will focus on game design work.