Unit 71: Object Oriented design for computer games

Concepts and principles

simplified understanding
simplified understanding make it easier to learn and understand the code to identify it easy for example with blueprints you can locate the functions easier to make it more understandable to code objects also you can organise your code to make it easier to locate to fix or remove.

re usability
re usability refers to using the same object multiple times, with many characters you can input the same code to make them do the same function for example when your making ai for your game you can use the same code in all enemy's.

maintenance
maintenance is the ability to change or edit the code if an error has occurred or to a just the length of code for less lines for example you can maintenance you code for a object to make it simpler or better.

efficiency
efficiency is how well the code works for the object the more efficient the better if you have code that is not that efficient then it will not be that good.

real-world modelling



collaboration and sharing
some objects can run together using the same parent but can have there own unique code aswell they share the code to get the same out come as the other object for example you could have your ai linked to the same parent to run the same.

communication
many objects use communication meaning colisions and resonses some objects communicate /interact with other objects using weapons or some sort of projectile which can leave bullet holes comence ragdoll or brake the glass however some interact by picking up a object or getting itno a vehical

quality assurance
this is looking through all your code and checking to make sure your code works well and maintains a certain outcome to make sure everything fits the games design until you finish you games production







Game objects: sprites; characters; weapons; rooms; walls; scenery; instances; rewards, eg
bonuses, power-ups

sprites
sprites are objects that are implemented into two dimensional as a graphic character, weapon or scenery sprites are the visual side of the object that would be placed into the scene also sprites can be used for you ui to. you can animate sprites using code and make them do all sorts of things.

characters
are the main object in the game weather is ai or the player in most games a caracter is human but in some are not humans most characters have a name animations and coding that is unique to others but some can be the same for example with zombie characters some will have the same code and colision as other but some would be similar.

weapons
weapons are what the character uses to attack another character. they will have animations and will all have unique code. weapons can range from many things like guns knifes bats even a frying pan anything you attack a character with is a weapon. any weapon thats shoots a projectile will have similar code to others beause they may have different damage or more ammunition. some weapons have colissions with walls and are able to shoot through walls or leave marks.




Object properties: colour; size; speed; movement; sounds; health; lives

object properties consist of colour size speed movement ect but these are all programmed differently you can use colour on your character weapons or your ui its a way of brightening up you game and show emotion between objects. objects will have different sizes characters will often be the same but sometimes they can be bigger than others depending on the design of the game. the speed of a object shows what they are sometimes a object can be quite slow in movement but have a really fast attack.

sounds
sounds can be used to set mood and atmosphere in a game the can be used in the enviroment wepons characters basically everything can make a sound in a game. sounds can be basic or they can be quite good also alot of games tend to have quite a bit of music in there games.

health and lives
health and lives are used in games that have action and adventure to show strength or to show how many times you can die the health and lives can be shown in the players ui so they can see how many lives or how much health you have but not every game has this feature games like forza Motorsports dosnt have health or lives but the cars can suffer damage.


Actions and events: mouse and keyboard events; create; destroy; collision; timers; scoring
actions and events are the main part of code. events is the start and the actions follow. the mouse events can be used to set the camera or to fire a weapon. keyboard events can be used to interact with objects or move around also can be used to change weapons or change settings. create events can be use to spawn / draw a object into the world of your game in which could be a projectile or spawning zombies.the destroy event can be used to remove a object from your world like destroying the projectile ones it collides with something. collision is used in nearly the hole game as you need collision to make effects and sow damage also collision is needed to allow you player to walk through buildings and for a projectile to kill a enemy.

timers
timers are used in alot of code to begin a event in a game by counting down or up this is good for creating delays. timers are used in many game for different reasons they are used to trigger events like explosions in game make timers can be made two ways 1 being the drag and drop method and the other being gml code.

score
score is used in alot of games to keep total of points for a player or a team score can be interpreted in many ways and is often shown in games ui so they can see it whilst playing. score in most games is used as a kill counter but in racing style games it can be used as drift points in a race.

Inheritance
parent and child
in codeing parent is used as a base for multipul objects to make them run the same this can be used to create many ai like zombies. the child is the object that is linked to the parent to use the same code to have the childs function the same. this can be used for zombies.

overriding events
overriding events can be used to change game mode for example this can be used to switch game mode from first person to third person.

BTEC Extended Diploma in Computer Games Design

Unit 66: 3D Modelling

knife for character

to make the knife i imported a image plane of a knife and started with a cube the i moved the cube to the right and extruded it to the left until i covered the image on the plane then began to scale and move the vertex's to fit the shape of the knife. i then detached the blade from the knifes handle to get the shape of the blade easier i used the multi cut tool to mark the position of the sharp part of the blade then i used multi cut tool again to get the middle of the blade so i could merge the edges to make the blade thin then i moved on to the handle and extruded the sides of the handle and slowly scaled them to get the curve on the handle then added color to the knife and combined it back together.

colt 1911

first i imported a image plane to begin this model i started with a cube and scaled it to a rectangle and then extruded the top face to cover the handle the added divisions to get detail of the handle and the scaled and moved the vertexes to get the shape of the handle then extruded the face to get the full receiver and then marked where the trigger is and extruded the face to get the oval shape of where the trigger sits then bevelled the bottom of the handle to get the curve.

then i got a cube to form the slide i scaled it to cover the slide on the plane then i added divisions and marked holed that needed to be cut using multi cut tool then i began to shape the slide by moving edges and vertexes and the cut the hole for the barrel and the bullets exit from the chamber and then  made the interactive parts on the gun the barrel is a scaled cylinder and the rest were made by extruding and scaling and moving to get the shape of the trigger, the hammer, the safety switch and the slide catcher and then coloured the gun.

this was quite complicated to model when it came to the detail i think that it went well but i think the back of the gun could be modeled better to get the more rounded shape. 

f-35

first i started with a cube and cut it in halve to save doing the other side and get a perfect line of symmetry on the jet starting from the top plane i filled halve the left side of the jet and and more edges with the multi cut tool and then shaped the middle of the plane and marked the start of the winds and then extruded the face to the length of the wings and then inserted edges with the insert edge loop tool and shaped the wings and then moved to the front image plane and and i inserted more edges on to the mesh to get the shape from the front view and dragged edges with the move tool to shape it then i extruded the front face to get the tip of the nose of the jet then extruded the tail wings and then painted the plane.

i think it looks good but it could be better if the wings were smooth and had missles but the structure is over all grate and look quite like the plane its based off.

clowns body armour

to make the clowns armour i copied the faces of the clowns torso and legs and duplicated them and then i cut faces of the sides to make the straps to hold it on then i selected the front of the chest piece and extruded the faces and made them smaller and then to add abit of detail i selected halve of the middle but had a face gab between the one i selected and extruded them and used smooth mesh.

when making the armour i encountered a few problems when copying the faces but i resolved the issue i think it would be better with texture and maybe a few props like a knife and a few bullet holes. 

for all 4 of these models i thought they were a challenge and i have learnt how to you Maya quite well i now have knowledge of all the tools used to build a mesh of any kind but i need to improve on UV mapping. 

game presentaion

power point link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1M2nCIPOAjDc1plQzBfeW00cGs/view?usp=sharing

video link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwEdaaHRVB8

concept art is a way of presenting ideas for a game or movie this can consist drawings and prototypes of weapons buildings characters and even landscapes. in games concept art is used to come up with ideas for nearly the hole game it will be either 2D or 3D drawings of landscapes or props. concept art is the way people plan there game to get a look into what it will look like or just show what a few aspects look like.

concept art is used in many ways like one for presenting a idea or even for marketing some compains use conept art to get fans to preorder the game and to show off there idea

enviroment

this is a peice of concept art for the game dragon age here you can see that they have painted a castle on a landscape which is mountains it is a 3D painting and uses a bit of shading the castle is a big scale and gives you a wide perspective of the scene they have used a range of colours in the fore ground mainly dark and dull colours but back ground light and clear colours this contrast between the to to give off a quite real and alive feel to the concept.

as you can see over all this landscape could be a scary scene as its quite dark and random as the castle is place in a mountain but it could be the darkness overlooking the light. 

personally i think that this is quite a mystical picture the use of the dark colors around the castle is quite scary for a castle in the middle of no ware also the view that is imputed into the picture give you a sense of what the horizon will make you feel when you play the game.

weapon

this is concept art for a knife/sword and it is quite detailed and well shaded this could be a concept for a fantasy/zombie type game. as well as the dull look it may bring out a fearful feeling as its a quite mean looking sword. 

i like the look of this sword as it seems like a deadly weapon that could be used in many way also the fact that the sword has no color brings out the frightening look to the weapon and will benifit the person using it. 

character

this is concept art for the game fallout 4 the characters called synths and there are a few different types the first is the newest and as they get to the last you can see the inside which is a mechanical version of a human body the colors are quite dull which could make the character seem evil whcih can seem quite scary to see.

i think that these look quite scary as they are mechanical beings that are quite identical to humans. the complexity of the colors used in the desgin is truly detailed and makes them look scary as they have drew the insides to. as there is not much light i think that they are used as a enemy.

in this image you can see the production of concept at first you can see its just a basic outline of a head and then slowly gains detail to form the final product. when you look from the start to the finish the amount of detail 

i think that the face of this man seems evil as the look printed on his face with the dull colors seem quite strange if not evil. this man could be used as a mad scientist in a game or a movie.

in concept art there are many stages first you have to come up with a concept idea so you know what to draw and base your art on. then create a basic skech to create your idea on paper then beging to add color to bring out parts of the drawing then you outline the picture to seperate the colors and show cretin features and then light up areas to show detail and mood to your art. not all concept art holds color some are just plain black and white as they want to show the more darker side towards the picture. 

the mood shown in a image of concept can be important to show people the emotion the game or movie is trying to bring out of you.
the mood of the image is shown in diffrent ways by color or by or the surroundings of the conept.

3D modelling and animation

Understand theory and applications of 3D

Applications of 3D

3D modelling is used in alot of films and nearly every game. people tend to use 3D moddels for inventing and for architectural buildings to see what te final product will look like. 3D moddels will consist of animation, light rendering and most important the mesh. people will use 3D moddels and animations in games and movies but in a architect view it will probably be a mesh with texture.

3D moddel 

product desgin

animations

tv and film

games

architect

Displaying 3D polygon animations

application programming interface is the software that communicates with the graphics card and there are 2 different ones which are directx (this one is used for windows software only)  and open gl (this one is used for any othe system)

graphics pipeline is the process that 3d models go through when rendering to make a 2d raster image of a 3d scean there are different ways to render which consist of radioisity and ray tracing.  Radiosity is a method of rendering based on an detailed analysis of light reflections off diffuse surfaces. The images that result from a radiosity renderer are characterized by soft gradual shadows and ray tracing is rendering from the veiw of the light normally on still images. 

to render it requires a rendering engine e.g. vray and Arnold. vray is a industry standerd software that uses global illumination to light up the object where arnold is good for ray tracing. the rendering brings alot of effects for example lighting fog shadowing and vertex and pixel shaders.    

geometric theory

the main object used in modeling is a vertex because it makes up the shape which 2 vertex conected by a line is a edge where polygons have more vertex which will mean more endges than a 2d shape for example a square which consists of 4 vertex but a cube has 8. some modeling programs do not follow geometric theory for example it is possible for two vertices to have two distinct edges connecting them.

vertex are points that are included in every mesh they form the edges faces and the polygons.

curves
this is a way to bend shapes to make them have a smooth curve.
edge

the edge is 2 vertex conected by a line which makes up polygons and meshes.

polygons

a polygon is a 3D shape that is the base of most object meshes you can use prettey mush every technuiqe for example extrusion and box modeling.

meshes
there are many ways to view your mesh to help you construct it for example thes wireframe and is standerd wire frame is the meshes edges and vertex only visible the faces go invisable but standerd u can see all 3 the vertex edge and faces.

wire frame

normal

mesh construction

basic mesh construction inclueds the vertex face and edge and the basic polygons.

box modeling

box modeling is making a object from a basic polygon which will form the basic shape of your model.

 extrusion modelling

 extrusion modelling is a technique where the user will trace a outline of the object then use the extrude tool to build it this is one of the common ways to make a mesh

using common primitives 

this is a technique which people use all the basic polygons and merge them to from a mesh.

animation

rigging
is a animation technique that uses a skeletal structure to make it easier to make a animation for multiple animations for a object most used in characters. rigging has a primary point and then all the secondary points which link up to the primary.

 

3d development software

maya

this is a industry style software that has is own file format which is the (maya binary file) this program has rendering animation and mesh building tools built is to use but you can add extentions to inprove the speed of the rendering engine 

3d max

this is made by the same company but is different in some ways to maya but they are quite simmilar for example they both freature 3d animation and modeling but maya is better for file format and its dynamic system. 

light wave 

light wave is mainly used for rendering static and animated meshes it feature a fast rendering engine which features radiosity and realistic refection.

constraints 

with making 3d models there can be many problems for example with making a mesh with a high poly count can make the file size very large and will take ages to render which and screw up deadlines if your working for a company. the file size and object detail can effect the hardware that the game will play on for example phones can only handle games with not so high file sizes or graphics requirement. for pcs alot of developer will not be able to make there games to good as they may want it to be played on low end computers.

Unit 70

Unit 70: Computer Game Engines

A game engine  is a bit of software that is the main base of the game that runs the sounds and the graphics using code nearly every game uses a game engine but some engines are not free for the public to use as they are private to a company all game engines are different but all do the same thing run games. some people use game engines to create mods for games and are mainly created by the public. there are some games that dont run off game engines but they have many problems. the game engine over all puts together environments, characters, props, sounds, ai and physics.

a physics engine is the part of the game engine that runs the animations body dynamics and fluid dynamics in a game.

a sound engine is the part of the game engine that runs the sounds in the game but when they are needed this can be music or sound fx

a graphics engine is the part of the game engine that draws the meshes of a game which can be characters or interact able objects and many more.

the AI control's the npcs of a game the way they move act and interact with there surroundings.

all of these work together to make the game run and create a experience for people but some game engine will run them in different ways.









examples of closed game engines.




FROSTBITE

the frostbite game engine is the engine used and owned by DICE the games made on the frostbite are mainly for consoles and pc the games mainly made on the frostbite engine are either first person shooter or racing

frostbite 1

this is the first version of the frostbite engine which ran battlefield bad company which was the first game made using frostbite but the only to use frostbite 1. this version ran games for PlayStation 3 and xbox 360.
battlefield bad company

frostbite 1.5

this was the second version of the frostbite engine to run games for pc aswell as PlayStation and xbox and also brought battlefield bad company 2 along with a few other games.
battlefield bad company 2

frostbite 2
this was the third version of the frostbite which brought the first need for speed powered by the frostbite engine and the updated battlefield 3 with better graphics.

battlefield 3

frostbite 3
this is the latest version of frostbite which has most of the dice games running off it. including battlefield 4 and 1 and the newer need for speed.

battlefield 4

battlefield 1

R.A.G.E




R.A.G.E (rockstar advanced game engine) is used by the company rockstar games and is a closed game engine which has many games that have been created on it. The engine has been used on several different platforms such as Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and the Xbox One.
gta iv

gta v

CREATION



this is the game engine for Bethesda games studios it is for 3D games and is based on the game bryo engine the game made on this engine are mainly role play games like fallout 4 or skyrim this game engine was developed after Bethesda found that the game bryo engine was abit outdated with there graphics the creation engine allows more detail on distant objects. this engine has a upgraded ai and many other features also is the one of the only game engines that has its on mod kit which is known as creation kit. this tool can be used to crreate any thing to add to the game. there has only been two games that have been made on the creation engine which are fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

fallout 4

the elder scrolls v skyrim

cryengine


the cryengine is desgined and used by devleopers called crytek which houses alot of game that people play on console for example it housed the first generation of the far cry franchise. the cryengine has many versions of which improve the speed of the engines frame rate grapics and phyisics engine. cryengine makes games for mobile console and pc.

cryengine 1

the cryengine was used to create the first far cry fps game but in the first version of the game engine they udated a fw features before releasing the second which was the garphics and HDR lighting.

cry engine 2

CryEngine 2 is used in Crytek's game Crysis, and an updated version in Crysis Warhead, a side story of Crysis there wasnt much that changed in this version apart from a few bugs and fixes.

cryengine 3 and 4
in the third version of the engine brought light illumination and mod tool to create maps for crysis 2 crytek realeased a free version of the game engine which was for modding perposes for crysis 2.
going into cry engine 4 added a development kit for modders.

cryengine 5

cryengine 5 was a small update to the game engine it only added the vr feature to the game engine.

free to use game engines

unreal
the unreal game engin was created by epic games in 1998 although it was created for first person games people have made quite a variaty of game the code is witten in C++ and the engine is used by many game developers today. this game engine has may versions that have been realsed and the lates is unreal 4

unreal 1
the first generation Unreal Engine integrated rendering, collision detection, AI, visibility, networking, scripting, and file system management into one complete engine.From the start, the engine was designed in a way to be extensible and improved over multiple generations of games, as creator and founder of Epic Games Tim Sweeney stated in a 1998 interview with magazine Maximum PC.

unreal 2

the second version of the unreal engine was released in 2002 this generation saw the core code and rendering engine completely re-written. UE2.5, an update to the original version of UE2, improved rendering performance and added vehicles physics, a particle system editor for UnrealEd, and 64-bit support inUnreal Tournament 2004. A specialized version of UE2.5 called UE2X was used for Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict on the original Xbox platform.




unreal 3
Unreal Engine 3 was designed to take advantage of fully programmable shader hardware All lighting calculations were done per-pixel, instead of per-vertex. Unreal Engine 3 supports a gamma-correct high-dynamic range renderer. the first realesed console game was gears of war.

unreal development kit
udk was realesed to the public as a open game engine and in December 2010 UDK release added support for creating iOS games and apps. As of the September 2011 release, iOS, OS X and Windows platforms all support UDK-created games.


unreal 4
unreal 4 was revealed to limited people at a comfrence in 2012 but the engine wasnt open to the public till 2016 this version has better coding system which they call blueprints and a better redering preformance.

game maker
this is a game engine that is good for making 2d games and features a form of codeing called drag and drop which is an easyer way of coding for people that cant do script. all of your objects are organized in a resorce tree. there are many versions of this engine but the most of the changes are a few new features but alot of bug fixes. the game engine was orriginaly named animo when it was first realesed in 1991

unity




this is the leading game engine for mobile games and pc's Unity allows specification of texture compression and resolution settings for each platform that the game engine supports. the game engine feature loads of new features like a good frame rate, rendering power and animation edits.
unity has released 5 major versions of the game engine each improving the quality of the graphics and the physics engine the current one used today is the unity 5 engine. unity makes games for multiple platforms which include console, pc's, mobile and websites. unity deals with multiple licences which control mainly the outputting of the game you created.

all the latest versions of these game engines have good physics engines and graphics support but some are better than others the game engines that are free to use for example unity and unreal are quite good for running graphics and phyisics but the ones that you cant use which are rage and frostbite are more advanced for the companys to make better games which include alot of photorealistc art with most of the frostbite games but the rage and frostbite engine do have their faults for example because they both make high quality games they make multiplayer which the push the boundary with the amount of people which makes the good parts of the engine run abit bad however unity and unreal uses all of its features to improve players experience.

unreal and unity are very similar. unity was announced the best game engine 2012 but unreal had upend there game as they brought out unreal 4 they both are quite good with rendering and physics but unreal is slowly becoming better as they update there engine both of these are becoming more advanced than game maker and are about as good as cryengine and creation.

frostbite and rage are two advanced engines with different aproches to games where frostbite do photorealisic but rage do the same but abit less detail to their games. frostbite run graphics alot better as you can see in the game battlefield with is world destruction and effects left behind by it but rage has better Artificial intelligence as seen in gta v with the interaction between npc's and the player. both of these engines are about on the same level with creating fantastic.

killer clowns story assinment

task 1 the power point

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1M2nCIPOAjDWTM4eXJUcW5UN00/view?usp=sharing

task 2 the story

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1M2nCIPOAjDdlNFU0tUMV9BZDg/view?usp=sharing

task 3 game

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RiJk3zmTHP8UAc8S5WjFc4kTNzZaNA-6xvy4c8TueUQ/edit?usp=sharing