Maya Practice- Lighting

Doing more Maya tutorials today, focusing on lighting.

Design for Society- Medusa

The name of the game I'm creating for my Design for Society is called 'Medusa'. It is the term for a baby jellyfish, just after the polyp stage but it also is reminiscent of the Gorgon from Greek mythology, so it has a factual meaning whilst also having an air of menace about it. RPG Maker VX is the software I am using, which uses RubyScript to code games. For the purposes of this brief, I am using the default sprites for the backgrounds and characters. I will be using my own artwork for the scrolling backgrounds, character portraits and the jellyfish enemies. I am also aiming to use my own music, using GarageBand. Here are some screenshots of the game in development:

The title screen.

The character's have jobs that relate to the removal of jellyfish from the seas, either directly or indirectly.

The game will have educational elements included, in which the player will learn facts about jellyfish.

The game's futuristic setting under the sea, allows for coining new terms and creating great backgrounds.

In the demo version, players may fight jellyfish in the Data Terminal, an underwater virtual reality room.

Design for Society- Jellyfish Research

My "Design for Society" brief requirements will be satisfied by using RPG Maker to design and construct a demo version of a game that will concern the social problem of jellyfish. The game is well underway and it has required a great amount of research. I have taken information from several sources (including Wikipedia, Hutchinson's Encyclopedia and reports from various newspapers) and compiled it into note form for my reference. I will post this soon in one of my pages labelled "Jellyfish Research".

Maya Character Rigging

Just managed to rig my character in Maya. I think I have done it right, I'm just having a few minor problems with the model as a skin. I also used IK handles to test the joints out.

Testing the joints with an IK handle.

A relatively simple rig as Koya is a relatively simple animal!

Fragments- Beginnings

I have recently been using RPG Maker VX to help with my Design for Society Brief, as I'm creating an RPG based on a jellyfish takeover in the future, during global warming. However, it inspired me to start creating a game concept I'd thought of in college. At this stage, the game has only just started in development and I'm currently drafting a proper GDD to go along with this new project!

Here are a few screenshots of the development happening. The world map has been created and coding for the characters, equipment, some enemies and some of the locations are complete. Of course, I'm aiming to use my own graphics eventually and the screenshots are using default sprites and portraits for the moment.

The characters have been coded into the game with a respective class.

A sneak peek at the world map screen.

A screenshot of a boss battle.

Life Drawing Again

After the perspective walk, we just did a static pose.

Perspective Walks

In practice for the walk cycle, we did a perspective walk in life drawing. It helps to gauge what a walker looks like as they walk at an angle.

More Monsters!

I've done more monster drawings! The whole reasoning behind these is inspired by digital artist Masahiro Ito, who is famous for working on the original Silent Hill games as the monster designer. The thing I really admire is the way human elements are incorporated into horrific monsters, and it it this aspect that makes them scarier in a way. Sometimes, you can look at the monsters and realize that look like they're in pain because they are deformed human figures. The other fascinating thing about Ito's work is the symbolism, which can drive analytical people (like myself) crazy with the endless layers of meaning in a single monster's appearance.

Humanoid monsters

Flash Practice

Started tutorials on Flash today. I know a little about it already, but basics are important I guess!

Maya Walk Cycle

Design for Society- Jellyfish Survey

Here are the results of a survey I did concerning jellyfish. From these results, I can deduce that not many people have been stung by jellyfish and that they have not considered them a threat in the future or otherwise. My game can therefore be successful as I can defy people expectations and hopefully help them to learn and become much more aware of jellyfish.

The Message- Concept Art

Here is basic concept art of what the alien world where Koya lives will roughly look like. I was going for a kind of Mars-inspired desert look, except with a strong orange sunset background. The planet would also have greyish mists, giving it contrasting strong and drab colouring.

Design for Society- Concept Art

Here is a piece of concept art for my idea in the 'Design for Society' brief. It is a game in which global warming has happened and the world's continents have been overrun by the oceans. Jellyfish have taken over pretty much the entire oceans and are now a threat to the remaining human race who survived by taking refuge in large underwater cities. I want to bring to light the recent news about jellyfish overpopulating because of the sea's temperature (due largely to global warming) and our overfishing of the ocean. Jellyfish are already starting to become dangerous due to their stings and the fact that they can destroy factory outlets by clogging up waste pipes. Also I found a jellyfish's anatomy interesting, as they have no brain, no digestive system, no respiratory system and are technically neither invertebrates or vertebrates. They are simply watery bags with a small nerve cluster and stinging tentacles. Presenting them as an antagonist in a game will be quite interesting as they are similar to terrestrial 'aliens'.

A future scientist gazes on as a giant jellyfish passes the city.

Model of Koya

Screenshots of my model in Maya of Koya. The body was simply a sphere that I edited with Scale and Selecting by Component and editing carefully into the body shape. The legs were made with the CV Curve tool and a NURBS circle and Extruding them. I then used Selection by Component to shape it into an arm. I then converted the whole shapes to polygons and combine the meshes.

Maya Practice again!

More screenshots of Maya practice sessions.

The Message- Updates

Here's some sketches of Koya, in various poses to show his body structure.

The Message- Walk Cycle 2

Here is another drawn walk cycle cobbled from our life-drawing sessions. Hopefully it will help in drawing walk cycle in different perspectives.