Synoptic Project – Talking with the Client 2/27/18 & Revising the Production Schedules

Today me and my group had another meeting with the client over Skype. He liked the progress that we had made so far and suggested a small change to the project. Now he would like the app to feature a mini game that involves the player stealing the art from the gallery while trying to avoid being caught. Due to this our production schedules had to be changed so I did that.  Now the MVP date is two weeks earlier and during this time we will have the main gallery completed and working. There is also a small stretch for the main level which will extend the deadline past the MVP by two weeks. However now the main stretch goal will be to get the Art Gallery robbery game working by the final deadline which is June 11th.

Our group discussed how we should create the art gallery robbery game and we decided that it would be good for us to create low poly assets for a brand new gallery level which will have the same layout. This would be so the game can run nicely on mobile devices and the simple nature of the game will be matched by the art style. Due to this we had to add a new section to the jobs list which included the low poly assets. This is all still planning and nothing is currently set in stone.

The client has also gave us a all of the exhibition images that we needed.

Synoptic Project – Scrum 26/02/2018

Today’s scrum was only between me and Kurtis as we were the only members that were in attendance during this, however another scrum will be held tomorrow to make sure the full group is up to speed. I was the scrum master this week and our opinion on progress was positive. We are almost finished the individual production schedules and main production has actually began in terms of the modelling. Kurtis will begin to research into different light model concepts that may fit into the art gallery and also looking into the programming that may go behind interacting with objects. I will be continuing development of the art gallery building as I need to texture the wall pieces as well as create some other models for the building.

Scrum download link below –

26-02-2018

Synoptic Project – Modelling a Bench

When creating this bench I took into account of the reference images that we are using for the Art Gallery. I had noticed that the bench in the image below does not take up much room and is minimalistic in nature.  It is there to be used but to not take any attention away from the art.

Using this original reference I was able to research into different types of bench and find one that I liked the look of. I had looked at a few different images of benches and narrowed it down to two. I liked the idea of how simple the concrete bench was however I preferred how modern the bench on the left looked.

Using this bench I was able to find a website that had the measurements, so I used these as a reference of what sort of size I will go for. This will give me a nice ration of size and if it needs to be a little bigger in engine it can be easily up-scaled.

I then began to create the mesh for this object, at first I had a little trouble creating the legs as I was not 100% sure on how to do this; I ended up using a Boolean.

I then UV unwrapped the objects and combined them. This was surprisingly much more simpler than I had first expected. 

I added the checkers to make sure the texture would not be distorted and the UVs were done correctly.

Once this was done I was able to begin texturing in substance painter. I created two different textures. One with a wooden seat and one with a concrete seat. The reason I chose to create a concrete one was because I wanted to take some inspiration from my other reference image. However I asked Ben which he thought would fit more in with the overall theme and he said the wooden bench and I agreed with this.

Due to choosing the wooden bench I was able to begin working on adding detail to the texture to make it look a little more realistic. As the Art Gallery is supposed to go for a modern look I chose to leave the bench looking pretty clean as if it had been well looked after or if it was brand new. However Ben gave me a tip to darken the edges of my models to add to the realism so I did this.

Synoptic Project – Creating the Art Gallery

My first job that I have been assigned to do is create the actual building that all of the different assets will go into. I have given myself 3 weeks to complete this task as I believe this is one of the more important tasks that needs to be completed, however I do not think it will take this amount of time and I may just begin another task as soon as this is finished. The first step in the creation of this was to choose how big I wanted each wall panel to be and also what sort of panels I would need. 

I decided on making a wall panel 400cm tall and 400cm wide, this is roughly 13 feet by 13 feet. I chose this as I wanted the building to feel large and open as this is what many modern art galleries looked like. Once I had the wall panel sizes sorted I could begin to think of how large the rooms may be. From the block out I know that the rooms are going to be square so I must use equal wall panels for each side. I decided on making a single room 3 panel x 3 panels which will be 1200cm x 1200cm. Now that I have these measurements I know how big I can make the roof panels. The roof piece will include a skylight which will allow the player to look at the skybox. rather than having 9 individual panels for the roof we can just use one. However for the floor pieces I have decided to make these the same size as the wall panels so that everything with slot nicely together. Using this measurements I recreated the level block out in maya.

Everything slot together nicely and now that I know it will 100% fit together in engine i can begin development of the different panels.

I also test created a roof panel and this fit on very nicely.

Once I knew the wall panel was the correct size I was about to create the door panels.

I also created frames for the doors to add to the realism.

Below are the individual Assets I have created in Maya as well as the UV unwraps.

Wall Panel –

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Door Panel –

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Door Frame Panel –

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Synoptic Project – Individual Production Schedule

This is my individual Production Schedule, currently the rest of my group are also creating theirs. On Monday we began to assign all of the individual jobs that were on the job list, because of this everyone now know whats tasks they must complete and from this individual plans can be created. One of my primary roles is to do the 3D modelling and due to this many of my jobs involve these tasks. I will also be doing the level creation in engine as well as setting up lighting. This task will be done throughout the entire project so it can be built up as assets are completed rather than trying to build it in the last week.

Synoptic Project – Completed Pre-Production & Feedback

This is the week when we will have finished our pre production completely. We have 2 tasks still to complete and from the feedback we have seen that there are numerous other small tweaks that must be done to our pre-production before we start our main production, below I have listed what these are.

Technical Specification Overview – This was fine and does not need altering.

3D Block Out – This was fine and does not need altering.

Research Images – Our images were useful for the actual environment but the group needs to collect images for reference when we begin to actually create the individual models.

Class & Activity Diagram – This was something that we had noticed we missed during the scrum, this will be completed at the end of the week and Kurtis is going to speak to Ant to make sure it is done correctly.

Style Guide – This was fine and does not need altering.

Scrum Evidence – All members of the group will begin to blog about the scrums that we have as well as updating the trello weekly with the new information that was collected.

Audio Plan – The group had a vague idea how to source the audio however we did not look into this properly and we will need to look into where we can source audio from.

Burndown Chart – This was fine and does not need altering.

Initial Sketches – We will provide some more sketches of what the environment may look like.

Production schedule & Asset List – The production Schedule is completed however we are now beginning to sort the individual tasks so that the Individual Schedules can be made, this was also discussed in this weeks scrum.

Finalised Concept Art – When creating asset some small pieces of concept art can be created to help get a visual of what an item may look like before we begin development. Research images will also help with this.

Individual contribution forms – Every member of the team has began to fill these out with all of the different pre-production tasks that have been completed as well as updating it every time a task is complete.

Blueprint/ layout drawing with scale and units – This was fine and does not need altering.

Trello – This was fine and does not need altering.

Synoptic Project – Scrum 19/02/2018

Today’s scrum was primarily about the end of the pre-production stage and our next steps. We had still not encountered any problems really and we had this scrum just before getting feedback for our pre-production. We had thought we only had one job left to complete for our pre production, which was the individual production schedules. This was the final task in the pre production as this was when all of the different jobs and tasks will be assigned. The first step of this was to go through the job sheet and set all of the individual tasks to the different members of the group and make sure everyone has an even amount of work to do. Once these jobs have been set then everyone can create their own plans for time management.

However other than this it occurred to Luke that was had not created a Activity Diagram so him and Kurtis began to work on this.

Synoptic Project – Pre-Production Round up

So far we have hit all of our deadlines that were in place for the pre-production the only job we have left to do for this is the Individual Production Schedules, which will get completed at some point this week by everyone.

The first step in the pre-production was getting some research images for the concept and the style guide which me and Ben did.

Once the meeting with the client was done I began to work on the production schedule and everyone had been assigned different tasks. This is the production schedule currently. It includes the time frames and deadlines for specific tasks as well as a key for the important dates so we can fit our schedule around these.

While I was working on the production schedule Luke set up the trello & Kurtis began research into the programming.

Ben was assigned with creating the blueprint for the level.

Once all of these tasks were done me and Luke created an asset and a job list to get an idea of timing for all of the different tasks that will need to be completed once the pre-production was finished. Everyone in the group contributed to this list as different members had different ideas.

Once this list was done I was able to create the burndown chart so I could set a target for the amount of tasks that should be done by specific dates.

Kurtis and Luke continued the research into programming and provided the group with numerous links to helpful sites.

While they were doing this they also worked on the technical specification.

While this was being done me and Ben worked on blocking out the level using the blueprint and we came up with a couple of different concept ideas.

Kurtis also created some concept are for some of the different areas within the gallery.

So far I am really happy with my teams progress and overall it has been much more efficient and professional compare to the pre production that was done on the imagine worlds project as this is a lot more planned out before the work has actually begun.

Synoptic Project – Pre-Production Level Block Out

After the scrum this morning one of my tasks to start working on was the Level Block out. Me and Ben chose to work on this together so we can both have input on the layout as were building it. One of the primary objectives before this was to finish the level blueprint which Ben had done the previous week. This gave us the basic layout of the initial area to build from. Below are some work in progress images that were taken throughout this assignment. The below plan was created by Ben.

One of the main components Ben had missed off the Blueprint was the cafe area. However the plan was easily changeable as nothing is currently set in stone. One major change to the plan we originally made was increasing the size of the lobby so that we could fit the cafe area in. However this made the area feel far too big, and the plan was then changed again. Rather than having one big open room I think have have chosen to create small rooms that will be dedicated to different functions. On top of this the rooms will be easily changeable so the overall size of the level can be increased or decreased. If another room is required it can be easily added.

Synoptic Project – Scrum 05/02/2018

The first task this week was for the group to get together and have a scrum so we can discuss where everyone is at with their individual tasks. Each member of the group can update the Job List when they have completed their assignment, but the group meetings are still required to discuss these thoroughly. The group as a whole has not had any issues so far during the pre-production stage and no one has had any issues yet. This morning the rest of the pre-production tasks have been assigned to everyone. Luke and Kurtis will be doing some research into the programming that will allow the game to work. Me and Ben will be working on the level block out. I will also complete the burndown chart and Kurtis will be finishing his concept art. We are on track to finishing the pre-production by next week.