Comprehensively explain the purpose of the game engines with elucidated examples and consistently using subject terminology correctly.
Unity game engine & Unreal Development kit
I am comparing two game engines, Unity and UDK. These two
engines are used for a lot of high end games are two of the most powerful one
on the market.
Unity is able to work with IOS, Android, Windows phone 8,
blackberry 10, Windows, Windows store Apps, Mac, Linux, Web player, PS3, Xbox
360 and Wii U. This compares to UDK, where you are able to use UDK on all of
the above and their newest version is now capable of working with Xbox one and
Playstation 4.
Although UDK is able to work with more and higher quality
platforms, Unity allows you to work with either 2D games or 3D games. It also
allows you to create content where you are able to run 2D and 3D in the same
game. UDK is predominately focused on 3D, but it is much more capable of
running better quality content because of its newest version, Unreal 4.
Unity is a much more popular program for mobile games as you
are able to create 2D games, which is much better suited to the mobile
industry. Although, mobiles are very powerful and are able to run high quality
3D games, Unity is capable of this, so therefore it has become useful within
the mobile industry.
Unity has a lot of built in features to the program to
ensure, that it is easy and efficient. It features its own rendering system
which uses DirectX 11, comes with 100 pre-set shaders with advanced features
bump and specular. Unity’s lighting has allows you to adjust your own setting
for your preference and real time lighting and shading. Whist Unity is
preparing the lighting setting, it will run in the background, allowing you to
continue working on other aspects. The unity features such as the special
effects has pre-set features like water or you can create your own.
It also features particle effects and a complexity manager
to ensure you are creating what you want to create. Unity also features its own
audio system powered by FMOD. This allows you to adjust the high/low pass which
is the tone of the audio, distortion, echo and reverb. You can edit the audio
to be work with your environment.
Unity has its own version of speed tree which is called the
tree authoring tool where they are pre-set models and also enabling you to edit
the tree to your own requirements. Unity’s physics system is called Physix by
Nvidia. The physics system that is used for the 3D, is used with the 2D as
well, although it’s by Box 2D. With the 3D physics system, you are able to
create soft body movements with in the scene. You are able to apply joints to
models like hinges, springs, ball-sockets and character limbs to make it a much
smoother creation. Unity has a dedicated wheel collider that allows you to simulate
the traction of a car.
Unity has its ‘simple and powerful’ animation technology
which allows you to animate human characters as well as non-human characters as
life like as possible. It allows you to
place the points of the joints on the character in a 2D format, making it
simple to understand and use for people who are new to the program. It also
allows you to create a few motion clips so you can animate the trees how to
want them to animate.
Unity is a very capable game engine and does not tend to
crash or have issues as much as UDK. The engine is really big in the mobile
game industry, but for larger high budget 3D games, UDK is the best option
because Unity is yet to have a big release on any console.
The unreal development kit is what is used for the higher
budget games, simply because it produces a lot higher graphics than Unity and
you are able to release onto any console with UDK. Although this might be the
better option for high end games, it has the tendency to crash, it requires a
powerful PC to run it. It is also more complicated than Unity, but it offers
quality tutorials to assist you.
UDK allows you to set the program to the specifications of
the program, meaning you can run it on lower end PC’s, but within reason. It
also has C++ code which allows you to set up a game to how you want it. It now
supports the advanced, DirectX 11 rendering features such as HDR reflections,
dynamic lighting and material shading. It has many other features as well which
will help make your creation as high quality as possible with the given tools.
UDK features a lot of tools which helps you create a
complete game. It has its own animation features which enables you affect the
way your character moves within the environment. You are able to edit the
skeleton of your character and sockets in its animation blueprints. You are able
to edit the target animation points, like the joints, where you want on the
character and also the collisions points for your character.
The artificial intelligence within the engine is fully
editable. You are able to give the AI a lot more spatial awareness of their
surroundings, which allows you to make the AI complete smarter movements with
its AI system. You can edit the path which updates in real time, meaning you
will not have to enable it later on yourself.
Like Unity, UDK allows you to build audio for your game and
edit the audio so it works well with the main menu for your game and the
environment of your game.
Cascade is UDK’s particle effects editor, which allows you
create fire, smoke, snow, dust, dirt, rumble and other particle effects. You are
able to edit the settings of all the particle effects, you can change the
colour, change the size and bounciness. You are able to go into more advanced
setting to refine what you want for your game.
Within the engine, you are able to add cut scenes and edit
them to the standards you wish, dynamic gameplay sequences and movies are all
possible with UDK. The editor is said to look like many other video editing
software’s, which will help those who are new to the program.
You are also able to create large, open environments with
the landscape system. This enables you to create landscapes easily. You are
able to import file over from 3D programs and their LOD system will make the
environment you have created, look professional. Within their environment editing
area, they have speed tree where you are able to place trees in your
environment.
UDK is much more capable than Unity if you aim to create
high quality 3D games. Also, its community is very helpful on the forums,
giving in depth details and tutorials. The engine has been around for fifteen
years and has got and established name within the gaming industry, meaning, if
you have a big team, the budget and you are able to make it look good, your
game will be recognised because of this engine.
UDK has Integrated Partner Program and provides integrations
with more than a dozen industry leading technologies; NVIDIA PhysX, Autodesk
Gameware, Enlighten, Umbra, Oculus VR and other companies.
Personally, I would want to use UDK as I feel that it is
heavily 3D and I intend to work within the 3D area and that is what I wish to
specialise in. These two engines are free to download, so it gives you the
chance to experiment and learn the engines before or if you buy them. They are
very expensive, but if you which to make a high end game, you are going to need
all the available features.
construct 2 is a 2D game engine that uses HTML5. This is a simple game engine that does not require any coding to create the game you want.
Here is my 'enemy' for my game, where if you land on it you die and start again.
The inspiration for my character was canvas rider as the character in the game rides a bike on tracks you have created. I wanted to create a trials kind of game where you have to get over obstacles to complete the level.
Here is a GIF of my cycle that I created in in flash and imported all the separate frames into construct so you are able to create an animation.
Here is the jump cycle for my character that I created in in flash and imported all the separate frames into construct so you are able to create an animation.
This is what my character looks like when he is not moving.
Here are some in games shot of my construct 2 cycle game.
In 1967, Steven Anson coons developed a long piece of
mathematics to create the Coons patch. This idea expands on the idea of a
Bezier surface. The Bezier surface was created by a French designer to help
design car bodies. These are made up of splines which are used in computer
modelling programs today. The idea of the Bezier surface is what 3D tools are
based on today for b-splines and NURBs.
NURBs stands for Non-Uniform Rational B-spline.
In 1972, Ed Catmull, the co-founder of Pixar, created the
first digital 3D film. This film was a collection of animated pieces put
together to create a film. This film was of an animated hand, in which Ed
Catmull used his left hand to create the model. https://vimeo.com/16292363
Along with Ed Catmull, in 1972 as well, Dr Don Greenberg
also created a 3D film. The video is called ‘Cornell in perspective’, which
takes you through a small town, up to a building further on. He also helped
make and write about the ‘Cornell box’. This is used to test rendering engines
and that they are able to copy how real materials work together.
In 1973, a teapot was made into a 3D model by Martin Newell at
the University of Utah. The story is that Newell and his wife were having tea
and he was complaining about not having a nice complex shape, but nothing too
mathematically complicated that he could use for his 3D lighting and material
experiments. His wife told him to make a 3D model of the teapot they were using.
Newell agreed, and created the teapot. In 1975, he had to manually draw out
where the polygons should go, and typing the coordinates of each polygon into
the computer. He made the teapot data available for the public to use and is
the reason why this particular teapot pops up in 3D history so often.
In 1976, the first Tron movie was made and it featured a
scene with the light cycles. The scene shows the bikes on a grid, much like we
see in 3D programs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3ODe9mqoDE
Tron had lots of CG for its time, about 15 minutes. As this is an old piece,
the models are incredibly basic and none of them using textures.
In 1982, Autodesk was founded by John Walker. He created
AutoCAD which ran on the IBM PC. This was initially created for drafting in 2D,
but as time went on, it also had 3D capabilities.
In 1995, Toy Story was released. This was created by Pixar
and this was the first film to be completely made in 3D.
Companies
Activision is a games developer company who were founded in
1979, They have been successful for many years and are still going strong with
a huge fan base. They have created the Tony Hawks series and Call of Duty.
Bethesda Softworks was founded in 1985 and have become one
of the biggest companies for many years being known for Fallout and the Elder
Scrolls series.
Bungie Studios have been going from 1991 and they have a
strong history in the games industry. They have created the Halo series which
has been one of the biggest game series and they are creating the much
anticipated release of Destiny, their next gen game which is being made in
collaboration with Activision.
Capcom is a large Japanese games company who have created
the street fighter series and the resident evil series. This company have reached
huge success with their games, but they are slowly fading out due them creating
separate companies and not releasing games outside of Japan.
Digital Illusions CE, also known as DICE have been going
since 1988 and have created some of the most well known games. They are the
creators of Mirrors edge, but more notably, they have created the Battlefield
series. This is currently one of the biggest games to be released across many
different platforms. They are now one of the leading companies in the industry
today.
Epic games are the creators of the Unreal series and their
most well known game, Gears of War. Although they have had huge success with
Gears of War, they have stopped this series and have seemed to have
disappeared, meaning a company which has been going sense 1991, have stopped
being one of the leading companies.
Rockstar games are one of the biggest companies in the world
and have been running from 1998. They have four studios; Rockstar Games in New
York, Rockstar North in Edinburgh, Rockstar San Diego located in Carlsbad and
Rockstar Toronto in Oakville. They have created some of the most well known
games such as Midnight club, Max Payne, Red dead redemption and Grand Theft
Auto. They are the leading games company in the industry and are always pushing
graphics quality in their games.
3D modelling techniques Polygonal modelling is a method of creating 3D models by connecting line segments through points in a 3D space.
Polygonal modelling. Many three dimensional models are
created as textured polygonal models. Polygonal modelling is a method of
creating a 3D model by connecting line segments through points in a 3D space.
These points in space are also known as vertices. Polygonal models are very
flexible and can be rendered by a computer very quickly. One cannot, however,
create an exact curved surface using polygonal 3D modelling technique.
Primitive modelling. This is the simplest way of modelling
three dimensional objects. Using geometric primitives such as cylinders, cones,
cubes and spheres, complex models are created. This approach ensures easy
construction as the forms are mathematically defined and precise. Primitive
modelling is mainly used in developing 3D models of technical applications.
NURBS modelling. The NURBS (Non-uniform rational B-spline)
modelling method can be found in popular software like Maya. The developer can
create smooth-surfaced 3D models using this modelling technique. Unlike
polygonal modelling techniques which can only approximate curved surfaces using
numerous polygons, NURBs modelling can truly create smooth curved surfaces.
Splines and patches modelling. These methods are similar to
the NURBS modelling procedure. They depend on curved lines to identify the
visible surface.
3D modelling can be easily performed using dedicated
software such as Maya, and 3DS Max. There are also some scene description
languages like POV-Ray which are used for modelling. While most three
dimensional software suites are priced very high, open source programs are
available for free. Most programs follow polygonal and NURBS modelling methods
to create models. For modelling complicated materials like rain, clouds and
blowing sands, the programs employ a particle system to make the modelling
process easier.
Skills required
Sketching and Thumbnail Iteration, Perspective, Composition in 2D sketching. It is not important, but I feel it can some times help to be able to draw.
Intentions to achieve
1.) For
my final major project, I will be creating a first or third person game. It
will be set in 2014 London where you have to survive in a destroyed
environment. You will be faced to survive against an Alien invasion in the
destroyed environment. I will be working to create a 3D representation of an
area in London where I will be creating this in 3Ds max. I will also be
creating textures in Photoshop to make the environment seem more realistic.
Once I have created the final piece, I will be adding the final piece into UDK
or creating a fly through of the environment.
2.) I have taken influence from games and
pieces of concept art. I have looked at Day-z and GTA games and I have also
looked at Mass effect concept art to help develop my idea. I originally thought
of creating a 3D environment in 3Ds Max and applying it into UDK. Internet,
magazines have helped me find inspiration for my final piece.
3.) I intend to create my final piece in 3Ds
max and use Photoshop to create the textures for the models. Possibly once this
piece has been created, I will import it into UDK so it becomes a playable
environment or it will be made as a fly through.
There are techniques I can use in 3Ds max
to help my final piece. Some of the techniques are Polygonal modelling,
primitive modelling, NURBS modelling and Splines and patches modelling. To
create my environment, I will take the process of collecting reference images
and then create small pieces of a building, where I will texture the small
piece in Photoshop. I will then duplicate the creation to form a building, this
is called modular building.
4.) I will document my work in progress
throughout this FMP process. I will be taking screen shots of what I am
creating and also annotating the screen shots and documenting the weekly
progress on a word document. Throughout the process, I will be creating
questionnaires to help develop the idea further and refine my target audience.
I intend to receive feedback from tutors, peers, friends and family so I get a
good depth of feedback on what is being created. I will take information I have
gathered from questionnaires, take them in to excel and create a chart to
clearly display the feedback. When this is clearly displayed, I can develop my
idea based on the feedback I received.
Firstly we created a cylinder which had 5 segments going down the cylinder.
We then made it an editable poly and selected two rings of segments and extruded them outwards.
We then select the centre ring of polygons and increase the size to make the cylinder become more like a barrel/Keg.
we the inset the top of the barrel and extruded it inwards.
We then selected all the lines which went horizontally around the barrel.
When we selected them, we chamfered them a small amount by 0.1.
After we chamfered the lines on the barrel, we then applied a mesh smooth to the model so it looks smoother more realistic.
This is the final result of the demonstration. I made it grey and green, with a metal texture applied.
Cardboard box
In this cardboard box demonstration, we created a rectangular box which we made an editable poly, went to the modifier list and selected unwrap UVW. Selected polygons and selected all the polygons on the model.
When we opened the UVW, we went to mapping and selected flatten mapping.
Once we had flattened the map, we saved the map as a jpeg, loaded it in Photoshop and applied images to the image and saved the edited map as a jpeg.
We then loaded the image into 3Ds Max in the mapping.
We then applied the image in the material editor and applied it to the image.
This is the final rendered cardboard box image.
Wooden box
In this demonstration, we created a box, turn't it into an editable poly, selected each face and inset it and extruded it inwards.
We then went to the modifier list and selected unwrap UVW. Selected polygons and selected all the polygons on the model.
When we opened the UVW, we went to mapping and selected flatten mapping.
Once we had flattened the map, we saved the map as a jpeg, loaded it in Photoshop and applied images to the image and saved the edited map as a jpeg.
We then loaded the image into 3Ds Max in the mapping.
Building
We created a simple building for a texturing demo where we had to collect textures and take them into Photoshop and edit them.
These are the textures I collected for my model.
Once I made the model, I took the UV map and took it into Photoshop to create the texture.
Here is the UV map which I had in photoshop an used the paint tool to edit the textures for the building I created in 3Ds max.
Here is the final model with the edited textures I created in Photoshop.
Shipping crate
For the shipping crate demo, we made a rectangle in 3Ds max to begin with.
Next, we selected each of the faces and inset them and then extruded them inwards slightly.
Then on the front face we extruded it all the way back so we had a hollow model.
After this, we created two simple rectangles which would be our doors for the shipping crate. We also moved the pivot point so that the doors would open realistically like an actual shipping crate.
Once we had created the model, we then imported the texture into the UV map and adjusted the mapping points to fit the texture so it worked with the model easily.
here is the final creation of the shipping crate.
Electrical box
We had a tutorial for creating an electrical box. firstly we created a rectangle.
we then used the slice plane so we were able to created doors for the model.
We then inset and extruded the door faces outwards.
We then selected the top of the electrical box, increased the size on the Y axis.
We then extruded the sides out so it over hanged the main model.
we then selected the top vertex at the front of the model and moved it down.
We then imported the texture into the UV map and adjusted the mapping points to fit the texture so it worked with the model easily.
Here is the final model of the electrical box tutorial.
Tool Box
We started with a long rectangular model for the tool box tutorial.
We selected the top face and inset and extruded inwards.
Car animation
We had a demonstration on how to make a car move around. We used the line tool to create a path we wanted our vehicle to follow. Once we did this,
Chevrolet SS Monte Carlo
In my own time, created the Chevrolet SS Monte Carlo in 3Ds Max which is animated, going around my city road.
I then added a cloth animation which wraps around the car model.
Barrels
I took time out to experiment with 3Ds max. I experimented with modelling, lighting and texturing. the first one was a very basic attempt.
I then made a more realistic looking model, taking influence from one I saw on the internet as I wanted to further my skills.
