Mirror's Edge Level Design Concept Images

 These are some quick 10 minutes sketches I did to help capture and reference my idea for what I wanted to level too look like and how I wanted it too play out; 

I wanted faith too start off at the top of  a mountain looking down towards to final objective.  

I wanted faith too climb in-between small crevices and gaps.  

I wanted an Epic Climatic finish to the level in which faith does a back flip down a waterfall and gets saved by her compainion that's guided her through the level. 

Et Voila my quick concepts. 

Jane McGonigal TED talk.

Jane McGonigal recently did a TED talk about how games can positively influence our lives and even extend it by up too 10 years! Quite a Claim huh? Here's the link too the TED talk, take a watch and see the maths behind it and her interesting opinions on the matter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfBpsV1Hwqs

Well, that saved me butchering the maths and finer details of what she talks about! Now for my two penneth.

Firstly I'd like to say I love what Jane is doing for games and the industry and for everyday people with Super-better  It's truly inspirational and it's great that we have people like her it the world! She's taken a bad situation and made it better for herself and in doing so has not only inspired many people but also created a product to help people in similar - tragic - circumstances!

However I feel like I'd just like to highlight a few things I picked up on with some of the research and evidence she presented in the TED talk;

The top 5 things people say on their deathbed;
Now I've neither been on my deathbed nor have I been close to anyone who has been. Not close enough to listen to their biggest regrets. I've also not read the research that compiled these top 5 phrases or sentiments. This means I'm approaching this blind however I feel it is still something too consider. When people are asked questions like this often they will conform too what they think the researcher or person asking the questions wants too hear.

Say for example someone was doing a psychological study on how working hard has long term effects on people. Due to a number of bias' present in psychology it's difficult to get an accurate answer. Social conformity bias for example -  someone may say something along the lines of "I wish I didn't work so hard". This may be because they think it's what they think other people have said and don't want too stand out. Or it may be because it's what they think they want the researcher to hear. (Yes we also have a pschological tendency to do this) However people also suffer from the "Screw You" effect which is telling you the complete opposite of what you want too hear!! - Just worth mentioning!

Many people also won't want they're lasting legacy or final words too be something that is maybe more selfish or less profound, there are many things too consider with these sorts of studies, it's a very subjective area of psychology and sociology.



Also I'd like too address the fact that McGonigal claims it could add up too 10 years onto your life.
this is the claim that "worried" me the most about her TED talk.

She says studies have shown that people who practice those 4 stimuli on average live 10 years longer. She claims this information has been gathered from 1000's of peer reviewed studies. Which it will have been however, I can't help but feel some researcher bias may have crept in the the collation of the data.

I mean it's difficult for us too be objective about things when he have a particular view or opinion that we're trying to prove or reinforce. We tend to ignore the things that disagree with the outcome we want. I'm not suggesting that Jane McGonigal intentionally mislead anyone or indeed did mislead anyone. I'm just saying there is more too it than what was first presented too us on the TED talk. Since Jane McGonigal doesn't have a background in psychology I'm sure she wasn't aware of some of the problems & complications with collecting & collating such data first hand.

I'd Also like too people who have had the chance too exercise those 4 stimuli may have led very different lives to those that haven't. I'd be interested too see the sample sizes and those sampled for the study too see if it's representative of the general population. (If there was ever such a thing) I really hope that the samples were well selected and diverse too re-enforce the argument Jane puts forward since it could help many people. I really love the work that she's doing however when someone claims they could make me live 10 years longer alarm bells start too ring. Flashbacks of emails from Nigerian Princes' start to occur...

I've written my opinions here without investigating into the studies since I didn't want it too affect my initial opinions or judgements, however if I get chance too look into it I will and I'll update it here.

Bad Bertie Inspiration

We've been tasked with re-creating and Ashley Wood Robot in 3D

There were many too choose from however I decided to go for the 'Bad Bertie' robot which is a variation on the original Bertie Robot.

Here's a moodboard / Inspiration image for the project, it help me keep a 'feel' for the project but can also be used for reference images.

Medieval House Model

We were tasked with making some medieval houses in 3D that we would model, unwrap and texture over a 2 week period.

We started off by initially doing sketches of our designs; We had a few reference images too look at but not many since the internet wasn't working whilst we were sketching out our designs;

I initially liked these sketches, and the medieval style really had me inspired.

I went on to model the house, however as you can see the house is quite curvy and wonky, which is hard to texture so the initial model. To remedy this the model was kept straight until the texturing would have been done.

Unfortunately whilst I was modelling the house, I felt it was too basic and became disillusioned with the designs and decided to redo the sketches and designs to make a new model.

Here is the resulting model;
 

This is the front view of the house, I've put it into the graphite view port to make it easier too see.
As you can see this is what I want the house too look like, It's not the model I'd unwrap as it's wonky and difficult too unwrap.

This is a different perspective view of the house, As you can see it's considerably more complicated than the previous design.

This is the model that I'd texture, it's completely straight which will make it easier to unwrap. This is what the model looks like in a view port that isn't artistic. It's just got realistic lighting.


As you can see they're are a lot of repeated elements within this model so when it came to the final UVW unwrap, I deleted the repeating elements too save texturing multiple elements pointlessly.
When it comes to reconstructing the house again once it's textured I will just copy the textured elements and make iterations of them. This means all the repeated items will look the same however I feel this is a good compromise as it gives more space to add detail into the other elements of the house. 

Below is the the UVW template that I worked off to paint the textures onto. I found whilst modelling that this UVW template wasn't very good - Going forward, I feel i'll have a better understanding of how to properly layout the UVW and how to optimize the space that you have.

Here is the textured UVW template; I found the hand painting fun to begin with and I think it's definitely something I would enjoy doing! I started to realize whilst doing the texture work however quite how bad the UVW template was, I then became a little deflated with the project and didn't work into the textures as much as I would have done with a good template.

Although this sounds like a bad situation, I feel it's a good thing since it's taught me the importance of making a good template. Also I found that painting the unwrap all at once then applying it to the model is probably the wrong way to work. I think if I actively reapplied it to the model too see my progress I may have been able to make create a better texture map as i'd be able to see how it falls on the model and which areas need work.


I feel if it may be a good project for me too come back to at the end of the year, so I can re-work the UVW unwrap and texture sheets too see how I've improved!


Below is the model with the textures applied too it;

Scenery for level design

https://www.google.co.uk/search?num=10&hl=en&safe=off&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=824&bih=940&q=bryce+canyon&oq=bryce+canyon&gs_l=img.3..0l10.16803.20300.0.20420.17.11.2.4.4.0.87.839.11.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.vjs_lu8zorc


Bryce Canyon.


http://www.annuaire-web-france.com/wallpaper/nature-environnement/paysages/Paysages-image-grand-canyon-063.jpg


http://www.rv-trips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Bryce_Canyon1.jpg

http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/utah/bryce-canyon-area

Art Deco

Art Deco -

Art deco is a design movement that originated in central france in the 1920’s and 1930’s. It’s scope and influence hit many design mediums such as graphic design, architecture and industrial design, to name just a few.  It represented functionality, elegance it’s distinctive linear symmetry could be likened to forms from the ancient Egyptians and Aztecs - So Wikipedia says.

Unlike many popular design movements Art Deco wasn’t based upon political and social intentions was purely created to create a sense of modernity and freshness that would appeal to a mass market of consumers. This is what made it so popular and successful, however it was also the undoing of the movement. It had a great emphasis on luxury and elegance, however as it travelled westerly and started to get produced on mass for the mass consumer it’s individuality and luxurious feel was tarnished as - quite simply - poorer people in society  could afford Art Deco style products. Thus losing it’s sheik appeal for many of the more affluent people that bought into the movement.  

Art Deco is still popular in the current generation of design, this could be down to the fact it’s a very flexible style and you could put many - products, buildings, designs - in the art deco category! However the most popular pieces of Art Deco design can be seen below -

The Empire State building; Arguably the most recognizable Art Deco building ever built.  

We can learn a lot from the Art Deco movement, not only from their design principles, but also from the lessons they learnt with mass marketing products. Sometimes the appeal of something is down to it's niche and it's lack of popularity. Often you'll hear people say "Oh I liked that song before it got popular"

This is why the iPhone is VERY cleverly designed. You could retrospectively say that it's taken an Art Deco route in the respect that it's a luxury product that's been mass produced. However, the iPhone has maintained it's elegance and luxury appeal when most Art Deco designs didn't.

This could be a combination of it's functionality and form, since it's a highly productive product that people rely on day to day. It could be attributed to the fact that it's a product with many different layers that span further than it's physical design and hardware. The reason of it's success or Art Deco's isn't clear yet, however it will be. It could be that the iPhone hasn't been out long enough for people to grow bored of it. Art Deco's decline didn't happen overnight, this could be the case of the All Mighty iPhone.

Only Time will tell.

Bauhaus Design Movement

Design Movements -

Bauhaus -

The Bauhaus design movement founded by  Walter Gropius concentrated on removing the distinction from form and function. Much of the products and art produced from the Bauhaus design school in Germany clearly demonstrate this. Gropius’ background originated from architecture, despite this the design school didn’t have a architecture department for some time. However this doesn’t mean that the movement didn’t have a huge impact on architecture across the world.

Examples of Bauhaus design can be seen in major cities worldwide; Here’s an example from Tel Aviv - Also know as ‘The White City’

Retrieved 2012 - (http://www.telaviv4fun.com/bauhaus.html)

Not only did the design movement heavily influence architecture however it also had a huge impact on product design too. Examples of this can be seen everywhere from furniture to modern appliances.

One of the most recognisable pieces of Bauhaus design is the Wassily Chair;

Retrieved 2012 - ( http://www.designclassics.co.uk/wassily-armchair.html)

It has become very much an Iconic piece of what Bauhaus design represents. The synergy between form and function can easily be seen with the metal tubes making up all of the chairs structure and much of it’s striking appearance.

However I feel the most Iconic piece of design that takes on much of the Bauhaus principles, is something many of us have in our pockets. The iPhone.

Retrieved 2012 - http://www.venlodigital.com/wp/iphone-4-long-term-test-and-thoughts/

The iPhone is a great example of a product that has broke down the line between form and function. You find yourself having a very hard time trying to decide which the designers took the most consideration towards. It’s one of the easiest modern devices to use yet it still looks so striking and appeals too millions worldwide.


Much of this can be applied to games design. It helps to inform you that aesthetics, graphics and audio don’t just have to be there ‘unnecessarily’ to make the game appealing. It helps to remind us that they can be used as mechanics too.

On a more fundamental level however, taking inspiration from Bauhaus principles will help to create something that has a true synergy that will come across to the player. If as designers we consider form and function from of our games the start of the design process, it can result in something amazing. This doesn’t have to be rigid, however if we give everything a purpose in our games I believe it can create a more immersive and pleasant experience for the players.