So, for my final project at uni I've had to design some characters and environments for an arcade game which is based on flying the space shuttle.
I'd be really grateful if you guys could offer your opinions on it. All you have to do is look at the pictures, answer the questions on them in the attached .doc file and re-attach it/post your answers here. Simples!
A video mockup of the "attract" video can also be seen here if you're interested: http://vimeo.com/8817480
I quite like the idea of leaving them in there to see if the oh-so-serious academics will notice they're looking at something resembling a rubber sex toy...
apart from the obvious they also kinda look like chess pieces...pawns i think but i don't play chess so i could be wrong (the small ones with the round tops)
Soooo, does anyone have a few minutes to fill in the .doc on the first post? Don't worry too much about the blah at the top, it's the questions that are important.
You were obviously after a simple, comic style look. Still, the whole package looks very badly crafted, with no research whatsoever on how the parts actually look like in real life. Your style strongly resembles children's doodlings, and not in the desired way.
Cheap textures, horrid UV mapping. Even if you go after a comic like look, don't rush these things. Also, don't use fine structures for bump mapping or on textures, because they make obvious how badly the textures are wrapped around the models. You see pixels being stretched verywhere.
The general ideas is good, but the realisation is lacking in almost every way possible.
They all look rushed.
no.
Thought it was about characters this time? Actually, I think the characters have about as much thought and research in them as this particular question.
You were obviously after a simple, comic style look. Still, the whole package looks very badly crafted, with no research whatsoever on how the parts actually look like in real life. Your style strongly resembles children's doodlings, and not in the desired way.
Cheap textures, horrid UV mapping. Even if you go after a comic like look, don't rush these things. Also, don't use fine structures for bump mapping or on textures, because they make obvious how badly the textures are wrapped around the models. You see pixels being stretched verywhere.
The general ideas is good, but the realisation is lacking in almost every way possible.
If you do something, do it properly. I know it's hard and timeconsuming, but that job you did looks either so desperately rushed, or you simply lack talent. As I am in a friendly mood today, I think it's the former.
no.
Guess not, especially since I don't know anything about the gamplay. I usuall rank that before visuals, but as visuals are the only thing I got, I have to judge by them. And I am underwhelmed.
Lastly: if you do make qestionnaires, also spend more time on them.
There's 10,000 words of research and images behind it but if that's the impression it gives, I won't criticise your opinion
I'll admit the realisation isn't as good as it could be, luckily the project is about the ideas and isn't being marked on technical merit.
Possibly a bit of both as nobody outside uni has offered feedback on my work and I'm on a B average there at the moment. I've attached my best bit of work so far, which got a high B, to this post. I'd be interested if you could tell me whether you think it's worth the grade as a bit of impartial feedback
You could if I had any programming talent. The project's just about making the environments and characters within a set poly/texture size limit. I'd love to play it too but no chance of that!
I know it's harsh, but these are fir games and as you may know I've written a lot of them, mostly freeware. I could not use these assets.
Where's the passion?
You've been taught badly. That face isn't a game asset and you are trying to do with meshes what you should be doing in textures... Only 1 wireframe? Why aren't you burning the detail mesh onto the game asset texture... What techniques are they teaching you because this is beginner stuff.
Every artist I know who got into the industry spent their evenings making models. Where's the passion?
Well, I don't want to demotivate you, as practice and effort are as, if not more important than talent.
Still, the small wireframe suggests a) a badly optimized model with loads of unneccessary triangles and b) areas which should've been modeled out but weren't, like the basic shape of the haircut.
Also, again, your texturework seems subpar.
If I might give an advice: start drawing and painting, read up on it to get a feeling for proportions and shapes. As it is, your work has a certain childlike naivité to it, which basically is a result of not knowing how something actually looks like. It helps if you alter the way you see things. Don't try to see them as what they are, but try to see only the lines and shapes that define an object.
And for the research work: I think I spotted your problem. If you do visual work, research visually. WHat things do is less important than how they look. Your work suggest you do it the other way round: you try to incorporate things by function, but care little for how they look. A prime example is the space station. It has a tubic shape and solar panels, so that roughly, it is right. Still, how the solar panels are attached, and how the sections are connected are totally off from how they look in real life, thus creating the already mentioned childlike visuals.
But keep up and don't let yourself get shot down by people like becky and me (even though I hope we give a tad of constructive criticism too).
Exactly, don't take any of the comments as 'this is bad, stop doing it', take them to mean 'this could be lots better, keep doing it loads more, and it will get better'
An excellent modelling community, for both low-poly gaming models and high-poly renders, that are prepared to help newbies and pros alike is: http://www.maxforums.org/
Sorry, I should have mentioned the face wasn't for a game but as game art is something I'd like to work in, thanks for the advice I did make some environments for a side project over the Xmas break which I'll be happy to send to you/upload for your opinion?
That's actually really helpful and I appreciate it, thanks! You're right that I spent longer making sure the functions were incorporated than studying the shapes I've attached a pic showing three stages of the face model as I'm not sure if the unnecessary triangles/bad optimisation you pointed out were due to the TurboSmooth. Stage 1 is my model, Stage 2 is NURBS smoothed, Stage 3 is TurboSmoothed.
TiJay: If you're going to use Turbosmooth, keep in mind that it works best with 4-sided geometry. Triangles and +5-sided polygons will cause "pinching" which may not be what you want.
As for those two characters, they lack features and personality. Very basic stuff like shape of the body (small, thin, fat, tall) can be easily done with low polycount and rest you can do with texturing. For texturing that kind of characters, clean and smooth lines are far more important than anything else, yours look like they were painted with a shaky mousehand. (paths are your friends, mkay?)
We did topology with varying degrees of success and tried to use 4-sided polys only, because it was our first time doing faces and there was a tight time limit, we did the best we could. I know that my skills in those aspects need improving though.
They were done with a graphics tablet and a thick brush, point taken though - I think I'll redo the faces.
I know I was harsh, so i'll start by saying sorry for how terse I was and explain what led me to that: I've been programming since I was 6 but I only turned professional a little over 2 years ago, before that I made games as a hobby where my team and I were established as one of the top freeware games studios.
Our stuff is all old now and like all artists i'm embarassed by what I did before and preffer to look ahead, so this isn't bragging and i'm not about to post a link to anything - but if you dig deep you might be able to find plenty of titles i've worked on, there's over 100 and atleast a dozen PC games are still out there on download sites. Just please bear in mind the year of release when you look at that stuff
The standard in free software, the stuff that's made just for the sake of it and given away, is much higher then what I saw looking at your screenshots. The consequence of that was when I looked at your work I made the assumption that here was somebody drifting through further education and not putting the effort in, and from where I sit that cuts a little close to the bone.
In the software world that I cut my teath in everyone did it for passion and because making something creative is reward in itself.
However I also appreciate that I was very lucky to be surrounded by some very talented people to the extent that some of my former team members have been involved in some of the games you lot talk about when you post about the latest AAA title in off topic. As for myself I took a tangent and work in ecommerce these days, as I became a web developer rather than continue to make games.
I'm going to do two things. Firstly, i'm going to give you a link to a public 3D artists forum frequented by several industry professionals (and a former team mate of mine) http://www.3d-for-games.com/ - you'll get the very highest standards of critique, assistance, guidance and tuition there. You won't get a certificate or a job (actually, you might get the latter as many of the competitions are for real game assets and job opportunities) - but if you are passionate about what you do and get involved then you could not be rubbing e-shoulders with better people.
The other thing i'll do, is if you improve and if you have a passion for it, then keep me updated via PM's with the odd screenshot of your game related work and if and when I think you're ready i'll give you the chance to work with me on a 3D game project by producing some of the media assets and getting your name on a quality title to launch your career with. That's a real offer to get your name on a quality title to help break down some doors - IF you have the passion and use it to develop the talent.
