WIP- snake hunting game... you're the snake!

[Scott Harris]

These type of snakes live in the Mid-west united states. Around New Mexico, texas, and Arizona so our environment will be the same.

I made a few first sketches just to get an idea of the look and feel we want.
http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/web_daysketch_.jpg

This game needs to be easy enough for children to play with about 1 to 3 minutes of time for hunting before food is found so we want to keep the game board small. ...kind of like a mario64 type of thing.

We will use rocks, brush, and cactus plants to box in the game area but I'm going to try to blend the foreground and background the best I can because we still want to give the players the feel of being in a vast desert.

http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/web_gameboard_sketch1.jpg

We don't have a gajillion polys to play with so to make the field look bigger, I'm hoping intigration of some scattered objects and BG plates will work together. Everything is a test... I have never built a game level before...

http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/web_gameboard_sketch2.jpg

[Scott Harris]

some physical specs,

the game itself will be playing as a freestanding app on a mac G5 with a 21 inch monitor in a keyosk like display platform.

we decided to use an oldtime arcade like joystick to control direction.
http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/joystick.gif

...and your average archade plunger buttons to control othr aspects of the game.
one to control the snakes tounge, another to turn on/off heat sencing, and the last to start/restart the game.
http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/button.gif

[Scott Harris]

I hope this stuff isn't too bland for all of you gamers CGtalkers taste... but I do hope that I could get a few comments once I get some material on this thread.

...I have never made a game before and am kinda freaked out about being in over my head a little. I'm the only animator for this project and I am also kind of directing it as well.



um...

ok, a little bit about how this whole thing is working. We draw out blue prints for the game... then meet with the curators and science guys to make sure we are not way off track. In this mornings meeting everyone agreed that hunting at night is more accurate for these types of snake and will better display their infrared hunting strategies.



So the game now takes place on at dust on a moon lit night...
http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/web_nightsketch2.jpg
Things most important to the curators are.

1. That the player plays the game as the snake in first person



2. Player has control of the snakes tongue (for sencing prey)



3. We display an accurate representation of the infrared scope these snakes have (and give the player control of that as well)



4. Educate the player about the striking patterns of this snake



5. Educate the player about the digestive system and jaw structure that enables the snake to swallow food 3x bigger than its head. (In this case, a pack rat)



We are going to put together a quick demo in UNITY ( http://otee.dk/ (http://otee.dk/) ) now. So I’ll be posting some 3D stuff very soon. UNITY is an awesome game engine, if interested it’s worth checking out and works great with maya!

[ojko]

It all sounds quite interesting. I guess that it's more of an interective teaching tool than a game though. Anyway, it looks like you've planned everything out well. So i'll be interested to see the content that's going into the game. :)

[Scott Harris]

well... it is a learning tool, but it uses a joy stick and has a fire button so lets hope its going to be fun enough to be consitered a game :D

we have the snake finished now in game. I'm pretty happy with it.
We are working on the game environment right now. the images below just have a crappy temp.

we are also getting a mock-up of the keyosk it will be housed in, so some time next week we will be taking a rough draft to the floor and testing it with museum visitors.

there is a lot going on with this thing... i wish I have a better way to sow you guys at the moment but oh well :shrug:

http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/snake_ingame1.jpg
http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/snake_ingame2.jpg
http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/snake_ingame3.jpg

[Jelmer]

nice work so far, still pretty early but the snake model is good :)

[BananaSalat]

Hey cool look interresting, nice work.

Which engine will you use for the game ?

[Scott Harris]

thanks.

unity
http://otee.dk/

check it out.

[DuttyFoot]

wow, that sounds pretty interesting. that snake looks pretty good

[ts-falcon]

hmmm interesting concept, snake looks good, id like to see some clips of animation!

[Scott Harris]

whew... it's been a while. But I have been working on this game the whole time.

I have
1. the rat (hunted) modeled rigged and ready for the game.
2. snake animation clips.
3. game environment compleated.
4. a trial version of the game ready for user testing.

here is the newest screen shot of in game environment.
we user test tomorrow on museum grounds so I will have time to update a lot more after that.

wish me luck!
http://meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/inGame1.jpg

[Scott Harris]

here's an animation test for ya'll

http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/snakeEat.avi

...will put up more.
...it's so hard to keep up, this project is flying by.

[BananaSalat]

Very nice animation ! But I would have liked to see the rat in the mouth completely ;)

[Scott Harris]

This is the final consensus of how a rat most likely is seeing it's food.

The IR heat pits work with optical vision. They also sense the "scent trail" of rodents.

http://www.meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/rat_ir2.jpg



Thanks for the comments, yeah, the rat stoping at that point is a time issue... that is the point where the jaws job is done and the rest of the body takes over. (it can take over 15 minutes)
errrr. Cant wait to show you guys a web build!

[Scott Harris]

If you are thinking what I'm thinking... you are totally right about the floor intersection.



Alright guys... I know there is still a lot to work on with this piece but I needed to get out a rendered version for user testing. This animation is taking place IN game.

this x-ray view is ment to teach players the ability of the snake to dislocate it's jaw in order to swallow food bigger than it's head. And show how it's jaw structure works.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efwaDCPbkxY

http://meta-phor.com/amnh/snake/snakeeat.png

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