Update - 6/20/10

The defense was successful. Please feel free to view the presentation at the link below:

http://prezi.com/wefwcxehdcy_/making-use-of-next-gen-assets-in-cross-platform-development/

Update - 6/16/10

The project and paper are now complete with the defense scheduled for Friday, June 18th.

The final triangle counts for the scenes were as follows:

PS3/Xbox 360 - 33,722
Wii - 20,709
PSP - 11,782
DS - 1,395

And here are the final, textured scenes, shown at intended platform resolution:

PS3/Xbox 360

Wii

PSP

DS

For reference, shown below are the wire renders of all four scenes:

PS3/Xbox 360

Wii

PSP

DS

Update - 5/17/10

I've made some minor changes to the high scene (shown below) and am ready to begin work on the other scenes.

In creating the remaining scenes, my goal will be to transfer as much information as possible from the meshes and textures of the high scene. That is, I hope to re-use previously created texture maps and meshes whenever possible. Some ideas I have for achieving this include the following:

• The use of the ProOptimize function in 3DS  Max for optimization of meshes
• With the "Retain UV's" setting, this allows for the simple shrinking of texture maps instead of any reconfiguration.
  
• The use of standalone tools, such as MeshLab, for optimization of meshes
• The use of projection mapping within 3DS Max for re-use of textures

Although the current scene already falls within the acceptable triangle limit for a scene on the Wii and PSP, an attempt will be made to reduce the count by at least 30% for each system. With the current scene at approximately 27,000 triangles, that would put the Wii and PSP scenes at about 19,000 triangles and 13,000 triangles, respectively. The count for the DS scene will be significantly lower, as the limit for that system seems to be at 2,000 triangles or less.


Update - 4/10/10

The high (PC/PS3/Xbox 360) scene is locked, pending approval by my supervisor. I will now start reducing the triangle counts and texture map sizes of assets so that they are more in line with the requirements of other systems, those being the Wii, PSP, and DS.


Update - 4/9/10

The PC/PS3/Xbox 360 scene is nearly complete. Shown below are some of the assets for that scene.


Introduction - 2/4/10

The goal of my MIT project is to examine the various art requirements of modern game systems and attempt to derive a process for re-using LOD assets to streamline production.

I will begin with a scene meeting the rough polygon and texture requirements for the PC/PS3/Xbox 360. The Wii, PSP, and DS versions of the scene will be created using LOD assets from the first scene.

My tentative asset list is:
More information will be made available as the project moves forward.