This week we prepared to get the game for alpha testing that we had in the end of the week.My main task this week was to look through the backlog and look in the game to see what models and textures we needed. After that I helped the texture artist with creating a tillable wall and floor texture. I also worked on blocking out colors on props that needed to be textured, meaning that for the alpha they would have some texture. I have learned this week that you can use the green channel of a normal map to add details like sand or dust on top of bricks for a brick wall texture. You can also use a displacement map to add details on brick and floor tile textures.
I also spent a day optimizing the project as it was barely running on our computers. I managed to raise the frames per second (FPS), from 3 FPS to around 30 FPS per level by removing unnecessary geometry. This will help us to at least run the project files on our lower spec computers. This problem does not affect builds of the game as it merges the geometry together.
Sculpting
I continued to work on a 3d sculpted base model using Sculptris. The base model is for the statues that will be located in every level. The face is now almost complete. So for next week I am going to sculpt finish of the face, the arms, import the sculpture to Zbrush and then to 3ds max for rigging and posing. After that I will just need to give the statues props and adjust the base mesh to give the statues different characteristics. Some picutes of the face can be seen down bellow
Side:
Front:
3/4 view:
I have also made a statue for the entrance to the temple there will be two of this statue in the entrance facing each other, a picture of the entrance statue can be seen down below.
Most of the necessary props got finished this week and we started to import these props into the game.
Alpha test
Feedback from the alpha test, we got mixed feedback on the game during the alpha test, the feedback we got the most where that the levels were too dark and this also resulted in that the mirrors became hard to see. Another problem was that the game at the moment does not give any feedback to the player. The positive thing where that even whit these problems people still seemed to like the game.
After the alpha test we had a team meeting where we discussed different solutions to the problems brought up during the feedback. Some props need to be redesign, remodeled and textured. I also came with an idea to lower the saturation all non-important textures and objects, while leaving the important objects whit the higher saturations, making these object more attractive to the player as they will pop out a bit from the background. We are next week going to test this on players and see if it helps the player to see the objects they need to interact with.
Before:
After:
Next week
I am going to rework the wind level and add more props that give the level more of an airy feel to the level, I will also work on the statues and have them finished by the end of the week. We will also start implementing sounds and music next week too.
idera13 