Francis Varley: Games Art 2024-25

  Contract of Engagement: Date:  13/11/24 Studio:  Luminol Arts Introduction: This contract dictates the terms of engagement between Luminol Arts ("the studio") and individual project workers ("the engagees"). This contract applies to work being created on Luminol Art's "Tempus Fugit" visual novel ("the project"). Engagee Responsibilities: Working at the studio, roles and responsibilities assigned to the engagee represent a crucial piece of the development pipeline that is in their hands to develop. Though the studio may provide ideas and concepts, it is up to the engagee to create appropriate material relating to their role that fits the assigned project as guided by the Director. The engagee is to seek feedback on the work they produce relating to this role, and feedback should be taken into account in further developments.  All engagees are free to comment on, and provide feedback to, the work that other engagees produce. The application o...

Zmodeler: Zmodeler is a brush/tool that allows for 3D modelling techniques, such as extruding and beveling, to be used atop a Zbrush Sculpt. This operates similarly to Autodesk Maya, with edges and faces able to be selected and manipulated using a variety of settings. To demonstrate the Zmodeler tool, I loaded up the default Cube project. I then, using the "Geometry" setting in the Tool menu at the right side, changed the Subdivisions of the cube to 2. This removed much of the geometry of the cube. I then used "Delete Higher" and "Delete Lower" to lock the cube into its two-subdivision state, removing any erroneous geometry. I then turned on the " Line Fill " setting, which is activated by pressing SHIFT+F . This shows the geometry of the cube, illustrating all faces and edges. The shortcut for Zmodeler is B , Z , M . The Zmodeler functionality operates similarly to a brush. Holding Alt allows you to select faces. Shown below, I held down the Alt...

Presentation Preparation: In preparation for our group presentation - in which we would pitch the intellectual property of our game and explain its gameplay, style and concept art - we created a short slideshow. This would show, in simplified terms, the entirety of our project: illustrating our pitch, our research and the considerations we had taken towards its design. As such, we split the presentation into numerous sections, dividing it to show what each team member had individually contributed. We would then each add our work to the PowerPoint. After having added my work, I went back to produce more splash art of our game. I felt that this was necessary as it would help to visualise what our game would look like when presenting our work, as the vast majority of our designs were singular enemies, towers and levels. More scenery could then help to show how these elements of the game would interact with one another, creating a more cohesive presentation with stronger visualisation. Whe...

Foundational Research: Self-Forgiveness In our project, Tempus Fugit, the main character sits before a Spirit-like entity that represents their feelings of introspection, self-forgiveness and memory. It is the discussion that occurs between the main character and this Spirit that spurs the narrative shown in the game. In-game, different scenes and events are recollections of previous memories that caused a negative emotional response in the character, these negative emotions tied towards underlying mental health conditions and represented in-game as the numerous "Spirits" that the player can interact with. As these characters are representative of mental health conditions, and as our game bears mental health as a primary theme, we decided to research the topics appropriate to the characters we are designing. My character is different from these, not representing a specific mental health condition but instead representing the character's feelings of self-forgiveness and in...

Group Meeting and Next Steps After the presentation, we had a meeting to discuss our next steps going ahead in the project. We all attended this meeting and gave one another an equal voice in discussing our project and the next steps we will take in its production. When we created these targets we made sure they were attainable; specific and understandable, with a strong deadline appropriate to the amount of work we are going to create. My tasks are as follows: -Create foundational research relating to the idea of Self-Forgiveness. This is the mental health aspect that my character is based around. This is due in to my group for the 8th of November. -Create 25 character thumbnails based off the research I have produced. This is due in for the 15th of November. -Create the "Contract of Engagement" legal document. This is to be presented to the group for the 15th of November. Narrative Considerations Additionally, we spoke about the next steps we will take in the creation of ou...

Base Mesh Creation: I have continued to work on my Base Mesh, a 3D model human form that can be manipulated and sculpted. I used IMM shapes - primarily the IMM capsule - to do so, creating large forms for the arms and legs and adding supplementary forms for where major muscle groups would lay. For example, I placed a sphere shape atop the shoulder to show the location of the deltoid muscle. I could then sculpt this into the bicep and pectoral regions, creating a sweeping shape that encapsulated the arm and connected the arm mass to the torso mass. The Dynamesh functionality assisted me in the building up of these forms, as this connected the IMM Subtools I had drawn to the primary Torso mass.  Clay Buildup Tool: The Clay Buildup Tool (Shortcut B, C, B) allowed me to sculpt the predefined masses together, the tool directly adding or subtracting mass from the sculpt and allowing for the sculpted region to be built up in a manner similar to the adding of layers. The Cay Buildup Tool a...

 In this exercise I drew muscle groups in the body form memory, creating both a front and back. Ultimately, these were very rough and not entirely accurate: as this was from memory, gaps in my knowledge were shown and - looking at reference of muscle structure in the human body - I was able to see how to improve this diagram. From here I went about creating more detailed studies that attempted to show how the muscles weave and interlock throughout the body. In this exercise I found that this interlocking motion occurs much more frequently than I initially assumed; as such, I could identify how individual muscles "flowed" into other muscle groups, creating the wide curves that form the human body. This assisted me greatly in showing where and how the muscles interacted, particularly in poses that saw muscle bodies moved or rotated in a manner that I had not drawn in a studying manner before. By identifying the points in which the muscles connected, I could more easily identify...