Shards of the Past

I really like the story, it's really detailed and (of course) original. I'm liking it a lot.

I like all the different difficulty modes, since I like a good challenge. But are they all available from the start? Perhaps the insane mode should only be awarded to players who've already toughed out the game once already?

Those models are killer, Jake. Very realistic, and almost gritty.

You haven't mentioned what the HUD would look like. Perhaps you could make a quick mock up in cinema that shows the cameras perspective as well as the HUD.

Kizz (AW) wrote:

I like all the different difficulty modes, since I like a good challenge. But are they all available from the start? Perhaps the insane mode should only be awarded to players who've already toughed out the game once already?

No Kizz, all difficulties are not available from the start of the game.
You will have to complete the game on one of the first previous difficulties before the ultimate challenge is unlocked

Kizz (AW) wrote:

You haven't mentioned what the HUD would look like. Perhaps you could make a quick mock up in cinema that shows the cameras perspective as well as the HUD.

HUD screenshot is following shortly.

Liking the HUD. It seems to be fairly minimilistic but offers the information you'd need to play.

Spoiler:

This is a pretty quick storyboard I did earlier today of the title screen you will be given when you play the game!
If you can't read the writing, I'll quickly explain.

The beginning shot will be a total black screen, but only for a very short time, this will then be changed by alot of smoke clouding the screen, giving a nice mystical feel to the game straight from the off. Gradually the smoke will clear and you will start to see the laboratory that the main drill head is being kept in. Once the smoke has cleared, the title of the game "Shards of the Past" will dissolve from thin air into the middle of the screen, quickly followed by the "New Game" and "Load Game" icons. Once this is done, the camera will slowly start to pan left and right around to room, to give the title screen a more atmospheric nature to it.

I know the drawings are simplistic and plain, but I did them to give a quick general idea of the title screen. The explanation should relate well to the images though

xFUBARx CrYpTIc wrote:

Kizz (AW) wrote:

I like all the different difficulty modes, since I like a good challenge. But are they all available from the start? Perhaps the insane mode should only be awarded to players who've already toughed out the game once already?

No Kizz, all difficulties are not available from the start of the game.
You will have to complete the game on one of the first previous difficulties before the ultimate challenge is unlocked

THis would detract a lot of people who don't want to have to play through the game multiple times just to get a challenge out of it, you might want to rethink this.

yer i like the hud that you have designed, it looks simple and you have see things clearly.

i agree with cuddles on his comment about the difficulty setting i personally start all my games on normal when playin for the fist time. if i had to play a game 3 times to get all aspects covered it would need serius replay value or id lose interest. maybe a branching multi strand story to keep things fresh. (3 different endings to reach by making a choice at a certain point) this could also have a trophy attached to each ending to add that challenge aspect for all those trophy whores out there.

although the weapons are modeled to a fantastic level, i think that they could do with looking a bit more thrown together like mixed weapon parts from diffrent guns

i would like to see some enviroment pictures to give me more of an insight to what the game is going to look like. i think this would go with the design doc good.

You guys need to post some more work on this, the lack of response from out comments is distressing

Production Report.
I was in charge of doing the pirates, some of the environments and 2 weapons for the hero and enemy.
I have done the lab after the accident, this wasn’t hard to do as I took the lab scene i already have and modified it, cracking the glass and making it look messed up. I made a beach scene for the pirates to be shown on, this was easy to do because there isn’t a load of scenery on a beach. I am currently doing the pirates and am up to texturing them. This should be done by the end of the day. I have some trouble while rigging the pirates with the arms but this was worked out with the help of Claire. At the moment we are abit behind but should be able to catch up for next week.

Production Report.
I have been carrying on with my model from Unit 65 and currently up to the stage of UV Mapping and Texturing. All the rig and controls have been completed and my character now will move properly without any faults. After the texturing I will begin to test animation sets for the main character to see if my character can actually run, walk or do any other movements that will be needed in the trailer, and won't look a complete mess. I have also been working on the storyboards to show what will be happening in the trailer and what will also be on the opening menu of the game.

In relation to the schedule we planned at the start of the project, we are currently 2 weeks behind however we are going to catch up rapidly by managing our time better in class and also trying to get as much as we can done at home to save time in lesson. In theory, if we can get animation completed and texturing done within 2 weeks, we will then have a full 2 weeks to put the final touches on our animation, change anything that isn't right, and then have the rest of the final 2 weeks to complete the rendering.

I have been incharge of doing the villan and the throne room. I have finished the throne room (but will put on a better marble texture before we use it in the animatiom). On the villian i just have to put the finishing touches on the hair and texture. I have weighted and given the villian controles, so he is ready to animate (Finally)

If I can texture the villian and finish the hair this week, and possibly the begining of next week, then the rest of next week i can animate. If I can accomplish this then we will have 2 weeks to render and do post-production.

Spoiler:

Production Report.

This week, I have finished the pirates off, I had a problem with the rig, so i had to remove it since the character wasnt going to be running around anyway, or having any animation I just moved the bones to create the pose

Spoiler:

I am now using the bones and it is working out pretty well. Once I have finished the pirates I should be starting animating some of the enviroments.

This week, i have been preparing the lab scene for animation, and scaling it to fit the characters for animating. We also as a group worked out our planning for the animation and who will do what. By the end of the week i plan to have rendered one lab scene.

I set up and animated a camera in the lab scene, and now need to animate the characters inside it.