Building The Level In Maya

I decided That it would be a nice idea to model the level on Maya and then I can write a conclusion between the two which could be an interesting piece of resource, and one which I could learn from. I found the modeling side of the level fairly straightforward through using Maya, there was a few tricky objects to build such as the skull and the snakes head, which I used way to many polygons however I wasn't planning on being able to play the game at this point so thought I could get away with it. Because I had designed my level to go in tunnels I found that really tricky for example the volcano bit, however with it been in 2d I didn't have to be as accurate as from the view of the player you shouldn't be able to see it that much. What I did find a absolute nightmare was aligning things up for example the platforms together and what not, overall I enjoyed modeling the environment and it did look really good. When it comes to texturing this is an area in which i'm not the strongest and is something I need to improve my skills on.I really struggled, because I had gone for a kind of outline self shaded approach it was really tricky. I thought I could get away with just texturing the front size with it been a 2d game, which unfortunalty I'm not sure in which to find that view on either Maya or Unity so it would be nice to view the game in that mode, as from the perspective mode you can tell that some of the texturing looks dodgy. I also wasn't keen on some of the textures and they got pixalated, some are really nice but some are horrible. I learned that for the style of game I did I should have imported the textures straight from illustrator, but because I was using my laptop which I have CS3, it wasn't working well with the CS5 college has so I guess been more prepared should benefit me for future. Overall I do really like the texturing, it does look good and im happy with the appeal of the level, I especially like the caves, it reminds me of Little Big Planet which is always a good thing. It was a shame I did not have more time to put this into unity and really play with it and experiment with particles however this project did serve as a good experiment test, the next test is I would like to creat a game in which you can play which is something i'm looking at for my final project, so overall i am happy.

Flash Camera Views

Unfortunatly Blogger wont allow me to upload videos, Anyway I did a quick test using Flash, of the camera angle in which I plan to use for my video game, Im very happy with the result and I plan to have the camera stick in part 1 of the level, I think the level is to a suitable distance as it allows the player plenty of space to see approaching obstacles and enemies, but is not too far away that you cant even see your character.

For the second test which is for the second part of the level Similar I had the camera stick however towards the ending I plan on having the camera fall down as the player jumps down, as I want to give that efect of falling from a great height and I plan on having the camera fixed towards the center of the screen following the character in the center.

Flash Animation

I was going to Animate the Parts of the Levels which were going to be animated in Flash however I didn't get time to complete this action before the deadline, however I plan on uploading a video over Xmas. I have decided that on the level the parts which will be animated are the suns on the combayer belt which will rotate round continuously as well as the lift which will carry on its circuit during the play. Also the spikes in the middle will be animated to pop up and down and different sequences offering an extra challenge to wards the player and Finally I plan on animating the clouds at the end of the level to just move from side to side. Like I said I hope on get demonstating the animation of level soon.

Final Concept

Concept And Game Info

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Level Maps

Heres just a quick Level Layout I did for my gaming environment using resources and Concept Art I have previously played with.

Statues

Buildings and Architecture

Here I just came up with some quick sketches for the shape of buildings and architecture within the level, I believe I came up with a few decent designs which can be taken further, apart from that not really much else to report.