Tasks:

• Finish final texturing on Bio Room Models 0h
• Make models for the rest of the mansion 9h
• (This task pivot was decided during team meeting that week)

Total Hours: 9h

Positives: Because of the increasing visual scarcity between the rest of the space and some of the more developed puzzle locations, we decided that instead of texturing this week, I should make models to use throughout the rest of the game, that also drive our sci-fi aesthetic a bit more home. Then, later on, I’ll do a texturing sweep, etc, and get these tasks done in waves instead of focusing on one area first. I think this is going to work out well, and I also got quite a few models done, with plans for how they can have extra ‘fun’ features for players during the polish phase. I also added some more leaves to the polybrush presets so that the biowall can start looking more overgrown.

Negatives: There weren’t any major negatives this week, things went pretty smoothly. 

Looking Ahead: More models and implementation

 

Tasks:

• Fill Biowall with Models 5h
• Begin final texturing on biowall models 2h

Total Hours: 7h

Positives: This week was a whirlwind, but a good one. Previously it took me about a sprint to do all the research about how to produce foliage in a useful way, and I think this week it’s really paid off. What took me so long last time I’m now able to do relatively quickly, and got out 3 foliage models + vines instead of one. The texturing took place alongside this, because most foliage looks pretty awful before it’s been textured, since for performance that get reduced to shaped cards. I also tested a VR workflow to see what the benefits may be, and made out Vine models in Google’s free Blocks VR modeling program. It was really quick, and probably great for prototyping, but the integrity of the models in unity is questionable.

Leaf sculpted, modeled out for low poly count, and poly-painted using Zbrush and Maya

Negatives: I was sick this week and unable to come to class, which is a negative, but after some rest I got caught up and got a surprising amount of work done. Some of the models still need to be duplicated fully scene-setup in unity, but they at least work and are prefabs at the moment. 

Looking Ahead: More artistic development on the puzzle areas

 

Tasks:

• Create Additional Decorative Models for Biowall 8h

Total Hours: 8

Positives: This week I started modeling out additional models for the bio-puzzle to fill it out, taking them from Maya to Engine and arranged them in new ways. This included new pots, new materials, hanging grates for vines later, papers for posters, leaves, etc. I also worked on UVing those models so that Unity’s light baking wouldn’t show extreme artifacting on static models, which should allow the game to run faster while also making the objects in the area look better. Again using poly-brush, I sculpted more dirt prefabs for pots and a dirt prefab for the dirt behind the plant wall grating so it’s not just grey anymore (in doing so also learned about Polybrush’s texture painting features).

Negatives: Ran into some problems with scene management, but they were pretty easily resolved – just had to redo setting up materials, and some gameObjects had dramatically changed sizes. 

Looking Ahead: More development on the puzzle areas, making the plant wall puzzle harder by adding other plants

 

Tasks:

• Complete and Implement Gallery Puzzle Models 1h
• Implement New Biowall Models 3h
• Bugfixing Polybrush in the project 2h
• Complete Decoration Models & Rearrange Biowall/Decorate 3h
• Complete models for scanner puzzle 0h (Duplicate Task)

Total Hours: 9 

Positives: Polybrush took some more setup and a couple bug-fixes to get working, but once it did, it made it so much easier to make the pots full of flowers than it would’ve been. The sizes of the flowers got a little wonky, but after painting them all in, I just had to go in and scale them up or down, maybe move them around a little – much faster than manually placing. Polybrush also allowed me to sculpt little dirt piles out of the default capsules so that they didn’t look so inorganic. After implementing those, I moved on to my next task, model for the scanner puzzle, and learned that Syd had already gotten it done, which freed me up to work on making the current Biowall setup look more like our original concept art, including implementing some garden decoration models that needed a little bit of cleanup before going into Unity. In addition to this, also got the frames from last week into the game.

 

Negatives: This week went pretty smoothly getting things done. There were the Polybrush bugs that added some time onto getting my work done, but in the end I ended up knowing more about how to use the tool, and it’s definitely sped up the rest of my workflow. 

Looking Ahead: More development on the puzzle areas, modeling and implementation.