Game Art & Design

Hopes For This Class

I am hoping for this class that I will gain the skills necessary to create my own games using the unreal engine platform. Along with this I am hoping to acquire connections and foundations for my future career as a game developer/designer. This class is super important for these goals so i am hoping to get all that I need from this class as well as doing well enough to move onto Advanced Game Studies for next year.

Value of Industry Recognized Credentials For My Future

The value of an industry credential such as the Unreal Engine certification for my future as a game developer/designer is immense. A credential such as this one can prove to hiring managers and different companies I would be worth hiring. That along with my portfolio as an aspiring game developer could give me a leg up compared to other candidates that are interested in the same position. Along with that i would also be able to more easily apply for internships in college due to the background I would posses. 

Importance of Code of Conduct 

A code of conduct is immensely valuable when working in game development and other related fields for a plethora of reasons. First of all if there was no code of conduct there would be a lack of respect for the employees making the games. For example lets say a part of the department does bad during a specific aspect of a game, what is stopping the supervisor or any higher ups to bombarding the employees with verbal abuse or something worse. This also goes for employee to employee like stopping harassment or discrimination because of physical or mental characteristics.

What genre did this feel like?

This simple choose your own adventure style text game gave a genre and feeling of a suspense or mystery. The way the lack of information and cryptic messaging was unsettling in a way that lead me on a path that felt eerie, but in a good way. Also the build up of atmosphere was very enjoyable with the final push through all the obstacles you had to move your wat throughout.

Feeling of different genres

Some parts of the game did feel a lot like a completely different genre at times. The ending push definitely felt like a platformer or something of the sorts with how you had to dodge and weave through the different obstacles. The part walking through the woods and the boat was definitely very suspenseful and gave a bit of a closed world vibe like an origan trail clone in a sense with different writing.

How might the character you’ve created change the way you imagine playing What Remains when you start building in Unit 4?

I'd say that it would change the way I imagine playing what remains by actually putting myself in the shoes of the character I have created. instead of it feeling like some vague story or something to that effect. it's going to feel a lot more personal and, in my opinion, more enjoyable since it's my character. It's also going to be a lot more of a unique experience.

What similarities and differences do you see between Autodesk 3ds Max and Unreal Engine?

There are definitely a lot of similarities between 3ds max and unreal engine. For example the movement is similar with how you are pretty much just a floating camera. However unreal engine is a bit harder to control since we're looking at a whole scene and not just one model. There is also how there are the 4 viewports, how we can multi select, rendering, and adding different blocks to create scenes making unreal feel similar yet different. There is also the tabs for how you can view the scene that is similar with the wireframe and no lighting that's similar. 3ds max definitely felt easier to control though that may just because i have more experience with it.

How well do you feel learning 3D modeling last year prepared you for working in the Unreal Engine?

I felt 3D modeling helped me prepare a lot because not only will i need to make my own models if I'm making a 3D game but I also it let me experience and get used to how these types of software work so i can be better the next year. Not only that but with how similar they are it'll be easier to pick up unreal engine so I can work more efficiently on game design. Another thing I'll add is the frustration I got with 3ds max. Sure I loved working with it but some of the stuff i had to do really annoyed me. This in turn gave me a true look on what it's like as a game designer and get frustrated with my project but still keep working because i want an amazing finished product.

What did you find most challenging, and how did you work through it?

Something I found the most challenging was definitely the UI and navigation. It may look similar or act sort of similar but it feels completely different to use. Moving the camera feels kind of funny in a way and sort of feels like an ice level. It's harder to control and with the difference in UI it's harder. One thing that's going to take a long time getting used to is the asset manager. I wish I could just put it to the side or just have it be an always open tab down below. It's a lot less convenient when I always have to click crl+space to use assets

Choose one of the five terms we started INTRODUCTION lesson with, and write a paragraph that shows what you now understand about it

I now truly understand Gameplay from the unit introduction. I can really understand what it means and how I can analyze it. Gameplay is the most important part of an entire game and shows exactly what type of game it is. How the gameplay works or the unique features about it, like rolling, dashing, and other gameplay mechanics, really can make or break how fun and rewarding the entire game is. The main thing in gameplay is fluidity. If gameplay doesn't flow together smoothly, it usually makes the game less fun.

How can simple mechanics lead to complex gameplay?

Simple mechanics can lead to very complex gameplay for a couple of reasons. First off mechanics interacts with a lot of other factors in the game like physics, logic, and the code itself that's allowing you to move or do whatever. Depending on all those factors the gameplay, when simple, can have all the mechanics combine in a meaningful way allowing for extremely complex movement and stuff. Not only that but when you find techniques that you're able to do back to back it can make for extremely complex movement in video games. 

Use examples from Tetris, Rocket League, or LEGO Fortnite to support your answer.

I have a couple examples I can give about how each of these games use complex movement. In Tetris it seems unbelievably simple, move left to right and turn blocks. However right before you hit the bottom you can move into a gap even if it's only a one block tall gap. In rocket league there are so many ways i can go about this one. One I can definitely say is the different ways to hit the ball. In the game you can only jump, boost, turn left right, and go backward and forward, yet you can pull off crazy shots like a backwards shot or even flying for a short time using the boost. In Lego Fortnite I don't really have a lot to say. I mean you can build some crazy stuff to move around I guess.

Why is it useful to understand game mechanics when analyzing or reviewing a game?

It's useful to know this stuff for a couple reasons. If you don't understand what you're trying to make, or at lease basing something of off, then how can it be good? That would be like if Toyota hired a random guy off the street to build a car from scratch. There is no way it would function right or even be any good. To make something good you need to educate yourself on the subject and research so you can make something great and understand everything.

Think about how this knowledge helps you explain what works — and why.

This activity has helped me a lot to really learn how to give feedback and explain the reason why something works. For example before I would find something I thought was cool like the movement and say "I like the movement" or something to that effect. I didn't understand why it was good or what made it enjoyable to use. Now, however, I can confidently find out what works and how i can accurately tell what about it I liked instead of having a vauge response. It's a lot better for both you and the game developer because the game developer gets really good feedback and stuff while I learn how to properly see what makes a game so good.

Why is mood and atmosphere important in games?

Mood and atmosphere is very important to any game for so many reasons. One main reason I can think of is because just like art style, mood and atmosphere are a game's personality. Without these important characteristics a game has no personality or any way to stand out to someone meaningfully. It's also especially important for storytelling purposes, like having rain for an emotional scene or a dense fog at night to create a suspenseful, uneasy atmosphere. All of these parts of mood and atmosphere make a game truly unique so it's especially important to get these features right.

How is it different from game mechanics?

These elements are a lot different from mechanics for a couple of reasons. First off the atmosphere doesn't interact with the player directly, it just sets a tone for the game and the level. Sure there might be collectables that feel like they don't interact with the player. However just collecting that stuff constitutes it being interacted with. Also mood and stuff is more so thematic than gameplay so it's not really for us to use to interact with just to set the scene.

Write a paragraph that shows what you now understand about this term. Include examples of how the term is used in a game of your choosing.

Mood and atmosphere serve as the emotional glue that connects your player’s actions to the world around them, transforming a every single mechanic into a cohesive, immersive experience. In Trailmakers, for example, this is ]achieved through a n incredible symphony of environmental storytelling and sensory feedback. For instance, the stranded in space campaign utilizes a quiet, soundscape filled with synth and glowing plants and rocks to cultivate a mood of isolated wonder, urging the player to explore rather than just survive. This shifts dramatically during super fast races or dogfights in the sky, where the atmosphere becomes frantic and high-stakes through the aggressive roar of you vehicle seeming almost alive and the visual blur of motion. Even the weather systems in the high seas expansion going from calm and sunny waters to  very oppressive, lightning-heavy storms that directly impact the player, shifting the tone from one of creative freedom to a tense struggle against the elements.

Why do we need collision objects? Why can't the computer just use the static meshes to handle collisions?

Using high detail meshes like that for collision is not used very much due to the high cost on the computer. Calculating the amount of triangles every frame is way too taxing for the computer so instead we use simplified collision objects to minimize the impact on the computer itself. It also provides a smooth and snag free collision so the player character doesn't jitter on every microscopic gap. This is also allowing developers to create invisible boundaries that prioritize smooth player movement over complex models like the ones often used in games.. 

What was the hardest part to understand about collision detection?

There really isn't any part of the collisions that were confusing to me. it just makes sense. There is an invisible object that acts as the structure of the object. Well there was one part that did sort of confuse me. It was the names of the collision shapes. It's all good now because the video explained it pretty well.

What surprised you most when comparing two professional reviews of the same game?

There was a lot I noticed was different between the 2 reviews. Firstly How each reviewer looked at the same game was interesting. One was more analytical about the performance and not the gameplay as much. The other reviewer however was different in looking at the gameplay a lot more in depth. They also had some different experiences. For example it stated in one review that there was worse performance than there was on the other review. 

How can reviewing two different opinions help you become a better game reviewer or designer yourself?

Looking at different perspectives helps a lot when trying to become a game designer. Seeing how other people interpret different games can make it easier to understand what makes games so enjoyable to play as well as how to move the industry forwards. It's also always important to look at different reviews to understand multiple perspectives. There are so many ways just looking at reviews for games you enjoy can really impact how you make games as a whole. For example if I was to make an action RPG I would want to look at reviews for different reviews for popular games that fall under that category so I understand what makes them so good. With that knowledge it will be easier to understand and create a better game then you would if you never read any reviews in the first place. 

How does your hero’s story (their lore) connect to the new world you will build in Unit 5?

There are a couple ways I want the lore of my character to connect to the world I'm building. First of all I want my character to find a note that will lead him back to town. This will be the town I will soon build. Next I would like to add the forrest but thicker and make the path thin and eerie like I described before. This will complement the lore i created for my character greatly.

Do you need to change your hero in any way based on what you now know about the valley? Or should you keep your hero as they are and instead adapt the design of the world to fit them? 

After looking deeper into the hero's backstory and appearance, I don't think I need to make any adjustments to the current character. There will definitely be a strong sense of cohesion between the world and their lore. I feel the hero aligns perfectly with the game itself. Now, I just need to adjust some elements of mood and such. All in all the character fits in pretty well it's just the mood that needs to be adjusted.

Thinking about your Unit 3 activities on game mechanics, mood, and fairness, which of those ideas will influence your world design the most in Unit 5? Why?

I would say mood will influence it the most. This is because of how I want the game to feel. It needs to fall hand in hand with the character. I want the game to feel dark, miserable, mysterious, and unforgiving. If it's just the character it wont make sense with the world. 

How did experimenting with lighting help you understand the importance of atmosphere in a game world?

Experimenting with lighting helped me a lot to understand the importance of atmosphere and how it can affect how people will experience you game. First off playing with the colors of the light makes such a huge difference. Having a warm color like orange or yellow makes the world feel warm or maybe cheerful.  However, going with a faded purple gives off a depressing or cold feel to the world, like a feeling of dread. What you choose effects the atmosphere of the game so much and you don't realize this until you actually start to experiment with these things.

Why is real-time global illumination (Lumen) such a game-changer compared to baked lighting?

Baked lighting is like painting shadows and light directly onto your 3D models. If you move a lamp, you have to repaint everything from scratch. Lumen is a game changer because it calculates light bouncing instantly as you move things around. This means you don't have to wait hours for a computer to bake lighting anymore. As a designer, you get to see exactly what your game looks like while you're still building it. For the player, it means the world can have a dynamic day-night cycle or flickering lights that feel totally real. It basically brings movie-quality lighting into a game that responds to every move you make.

What kind of problems could happen if your level didn’t have the correct Game Mode?

If the level didn't have the correct game mode a couple of things could happen. The HUD could just not show up at all or the player doesn't spawn leaving you as a floating camera. Game mechanics might also break and it just wouldn't work properly. Not only are these game breaking but they will ruin the players experience if you let a mistake like this slide.

Which sculpting tool did you find the most useful for shaping your world today, and why?

The sculpting tool that I found the most useful was probably the sculp tool due to how versatile it is. I used it in many ways using all the different tools in sculpt like using noise to add texture to mountains or lowering the ground to make a river. Another tool that was particularly useful was the flatten tool. Using that tool it was a lot easier to create even ground and create mountains, or at least the basic shape of the path using mountains. The only downside with flatten is that it really stretches the textures and I need to use the smooth tool to make them look semi normal again and not as stretched. 

What challenges did you face when trying to make your landscape look realistic?

There were a lot of challenges that I faced with working on making the landscape realistic. I wanted to add some noise to the path to make it look more natural but it was a lot harder than expected to get the exact way I wanted it. I had to repeatedly use noise and then smooth until i got to the result i wanted. I also used noise on the mountains to make them look more ridged. It kind of worked but I needed smooth it out some to fit with the artstyle.

How could you use reference images to improve the realism of your world?

I could use reference images in a bunch of ways to increase the realism of my world. First of all using reference for natural, real-world images to guide the density and distribution of trees, bushes, and rocks, rather than relying on uniform, artificial scattering. I could also use photos with light to understand how i can position lighting in my scene as a whole. It will also help when understanding materials or how the landscape would be with weather. This would also help understanding where to add scratches and blemishes to make the scene more realistic.

Which parts of the reference image were easiest to recreate in your landscape?

The easiest areas to paint were the bigger mountains that weren't as stretched as some of the others. It was a lot easier to paint on because the brush wasn't so stretched where I could barley add any detail. It was also super easy to just paint the ground because of how flat it was. It also wasn't stretched like the mountains. It looked a lot better too. 

Which areas were the most challenging, and how did you approach them?

the most challenging areas was the connectors of the mountains and the ground. I wanted the grass to creep up along the side. I did my best to make it look not so choppy but it was no use. I tried everything I could. It was also really hard to make it look passable. There wasn't really anything else that was difficult.

If you could improve one part of your terrain, what would you change and why?

There's nothing else I really want to improve. It looks good and I'm fairly happy with the result. Though if the edges of the mountain were less choppy that would be a lot better. Other than that though I don't have anything else I want to change. It looks really good to me and I'm content with the result.

My world has the supports for the challenges shown in the video. It may be different but it does have everything it needs to create every step needed. When everything is implemented it will be really fun.

There are a couple adjustments that might be needed to make sure everything plays properly. The hill I plan to add the boulders is a bit small so I will probably need to increase the size of it to make a truly fun experience. I also probably need to add some more space near the castle to make everything work the way I want.

They should match the challenges of level 2 by keeping the same style of level to make things stay consistent