hubertmdx

[hubertmdx]

Final Major Project (on hold)

Due to the global pandemic of Covid-19, our university got closed and we have lost access to Oculus Quest, headset which is essential for us to test our game.  We also lost access to our latest saves from Unity. Therefore, I am unable to document some of the work that I did in the Unity engine (composition, lightning and some of the texture work). 

Not only that, but the sole purpose that the game was structed towards was the EGX Rezzed, and being to able to showcase our work towards potential investors/employers. However that is no longer an opportunity as the event was cancelled.

[hubertmdx]

Here is a short demo gameplay of Alkemix!

In this demo we have shown an example of creating a potion order.

Here is a rough description what is going on in the video:

0:19 - Picking up request letter from the pipe system.

0:22 - Dropping the letter on the book will reveal the recipe for the potion.

0:35 - Picking up the first ingredient (hatshroom).

0:40 - Cutting the hatshroom into pieces.

0:48 - Dropping the hatshroom pieces into the cauldron machine.

0:58 - Picking up second ingredient (red crystal).

1:05 - Dropping the red crystal into the cauldron machine.

1:17 - Picking up the third ingredient (griphin’s feather).

1:23 - Dropping the feather into the cauldron machine.

1:28 - Picking up an empty flask

1:37 - Filling up the flask with ready potion by turning the valve.

1:46 - Putting the ready potion in the second pipe to be sent to the customer.

Note: This is actually the only footage of our game that we have, the rest of the files are stored on the computers at the university but because it got closed we have lost access to our latest save in Unreal, as well as some of the latest saves from Maya, Zbrush and SubstancePainter.

[hubertmdx]

Work in progress

I have imported 3D models with the textures that we had so far into the Unity scene. This scene will be sent off to the game designers, so they start applying all the mechanics that they have been working on and bring the game to life. 

Note: not all of the models have texures applied at this stage.

The last screnshots shows the texure of the wall and two types of shelves filled up with alchemy tools just to fill up the empty space in the walls.

[hubertmdx]

Production assistance

Here are the rest of the objects that the second year students did for us.

Jana made storage for the potions, magical mushroom and steampunk dome for plants.

Conner made bowl and a wall decoration in a steampunk style. However, I decided not to use this decoration because it had too many seperate UV maps and importing everything into Unity and connecting every single texture would take too much time.

[hubertmdx]

Production assistance

For the production assistance we have been assigned five students (Joanna, Iris, Jana, Connor and Raymond) from the second year. We asked them for help with modeling and texturing some of the models. 

Raymond modelled and textured a knife and a cutting board.

Iris modelled a potion flask, Chinese Lantern, candles and wall shelf, for the shelf she also created textures.

Joanna modelled and textured a book and stand. She also helped me and Natalia to texture some of our models (flasks, feather, rose).

All the models made by the second years students were sent directly to me. I was responsible for making sure everything was properly made. I made all the corrections to the meshes and UV maps. When everything was done, I imported everything to the Unity scene. 

[hubertmdx]

Work in progress

Pulsing glowing effect made in Unity. Crystals charged by the machine will be glowing like this!

[hubertmdx]

Some additional 3D models that I had exported from Unreal Engine project, they will be used to decorate our scene in Unity.

[hubertmdx]

As we started building the enviorment in Unity, the game designers from our group suggested to reuse some of the models that I had previously made. So I decided to use an old kitchen form the Specialist Pathway project. It would be placed in the background just to make the enviorment more diverse. I just need to adjust some of the texture settings so the whole model will suit our game visual style. 

[hubertmdx]

Preparation for EGX Rezzed

We had to create a poster for our game, it was needed for the EGX Rezzed submission. Natalia created a few minimalistic posters and presented them to our tutors. From the feedback that we had recieved, we decided to redo the poster, as the minimalistic version that Natalia had created did not quite reflect the visuals of our game. So we had one day to redo the poster, Natalia started form scratch, she drew the poster in PaintTool SAI and started colouring it. She asked me for help so we finished the poster together.

Make sure to click on the poster to see the true resolution!

[hubertmdx]

Work in progress

Natalia started working on the cauldron machine and she asked me for help with the modeling so I jumped in to help her. I have modelled all the elements on the right and top side of the cauldron. 

[hubertmdx]

Work in progress

For texturing my models I used SubstancePainter, but before texturing I exported models form Maya to Zbrush and I created a high-poly version of them so I could then bake them inside SubstancePainter. 

[hubertmdx]

Work in progress

A few 3D moddels done by me in Maya and high poly version of the feather made in Zbrush. 

Modular pipes are going to be used to create the “pipe system” for recieving a potion request and sending off the potion to the customer.

Shelfs hanging on the chains are going to be placed just above the circular table to so there is more space for empty flasks and ingredients.

Griffin feather, just one of the ingredients. Also there is a rat tail modelled in a “straight line” so later on I can make a simple rigg and apply physics in the game engine so the tail will be moving as the player will grab it.

Steampunk bulb just for decorational purposes.

Three versions of magical crystals, they could be crashed into crystral dust or charged with machine to create “glowing crystal”.

[hubertmdx]

A few quick concept shetches done by me in Paint Tool SAI.

The first image is the concept of machine which will be used to charge and recharge the crystals with a magical energy, this will be an addicional mechanism for the ingredient preparation as some of the recipes will require the player to use normal crystals and more advanced potions will need to be made with charged crystals.

The second machine will be used to determinate the quality of the fluid mixture prepared by the player, the additional feature of the machine will be passive liquid mixing. 

The third image is just the concept of containers that might end up in the game (not all of the containers are going to be interactive, some of them are going to be placed in the background shelf just for decoration purposes) 

The last image shows updated plan of our game enviorment, made by me. It shows where all the major enviorment elements are.

Note: Player position is going to be static, this means they wont be able to walk around the map. Player will be surrounded by the circular table which will be filled up with different ingredients, tools and machines. The enviorment beyond the circular table is just for visual purposes.

[hubertmdx]

Early concept of the play area that I drew in my skechbook.

As this will be a VR game player will be standing in the middle of the circular table surrounded by different ingredients, machines and tools. On the left there is a cauldron machine where all the magic gonna happen. In the background a big clock will hang on the wall so the player knows what time is in the game. Time managment is actually one of our core machanics because the player will need to keep mixing, cooking, charging crystals for a specific period of time in order to create a “perfect potion”.

[hubertmdx]

It is time to start working on Alkemix! 

We have split the work for all of our team. Game desiners’ first job was to create a new whiteroom and start working on the core game mechanics. Me, Natalia and Arianna were responsible for creating 3D models, we created a spredsheet just to keep track of which models are already finished and which ones are still in process of making. I was responsible for making three different crystals, rat tail and griffin feather, Natalia for two different shrooms, kiss plant and rose, and Ariana for goblin ear and hell hound tooth. 

[hubertmdx]

Change of plans

After presenting the concept of our game to our tutors we have recieved a mixed feedback. It was difficult to present the idea clearly because we had included too many different mechanics and also the play area (witch house) was way too big.

So after the feedback, we got together to talk about the future of our game. We all agreed that our plans are too ambitious, especially since we don't have much time and we have only three people when it comes to the visual side of the game. We did not want to create a game where most of the locations would be empty, therefore boring for the player to explore. Game programers also agreed that we had too many mechanics and they might struggle to program them all in time because we have to create a playable demo before the EGX Rezzed deadline. 

On our next meeting we had a brainstorm session and after a while we finally decided to completely change the concept of our game. We were going to continue working on the last project, the game ‘Alkemix’, that me and Natalia did a pitch presentation on. We thought that this was the best way for us to create a playable game for EGX Rezzed, as we already had the core visual style/mechanisms of the game planned out. The only thing we wished to change was the artstyle, our plan was to create a magical steampunk enviorment. 

Here is a short description of the Alkemix:

“ALKEMIX is a single-player VR simulation game, where the player takes on the role of an alchemist, who crafts and sells magic potions. The action takes place in a potion making workshop, the player’s position is static, however the sensors built in Oculus Quest, allow the player to explore 360 degrees around the play space. In the middle of the room, there is a large table with multiple tools and mechanisms. The player needs to chop/squish/crush and control the heat of the ingredients for the potion. Requests for specific potions are sent through a “pipe system” in the form of a letter. The player gains money by making a high quality potion. They can then use the money to buy more ingredients or recipes. In the game the shop working hours go from 9am-5pm in time, after that the player gets 2 hours of “The Experimental Mode”, where they can freely craft and make / unlock new potions.There are bonuses for having a “perfect potion”. There is also a book with basic recipes to help get started. The aim is to make as much money for the business as possible.“

[hubertmdx]

After a week of planing we have decided that we want to create a first person puzzle game. The player’s aim would be to escape a witch house but in order to success player would need to solve a different logical puzzles.

We have created a white rooms in Unity just so we can have a visual map of every room that we want to include in our game. Originaly we wanted to include a Kitchen, Living room, Secret room, Atrium, Bedroom, Basement and 2-3 corridors. Rooms would indicate how far the player has progressed because they will start in a locked room and solving the first puzzle will allow them to open the doors to the next location.