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Zenderquai
08-27-2003, 10:39 AM
Hi guys -

This is kinda my first real posting here so go gently - :)

http://www.neogothic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/floor%2001.jpg
http://www.neogothic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/floor%2002.jpg
http://www.neogothic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/floor%2003.jpg
http://www.neogothic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/basement%2001.jpg
http://www.neogothic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/basement%2002.jpg

these are stills from my thesis project - the last project of my Masters in Digital Games, and it's a research project into how cinematic lighting, and colour psychology can inform how a game artist can evoke emotion in a game environment through how it is lit. The findings are expressed through a study of gothic (old and "new") architecture.

the concept for the design is of a gothic-inspired 50's airship hangar, that has come under new ownership - so it's a mix of traditional gothic flavours and newer "techno-gothic" ideas.
no military leanings, or aliens .. no future timescale.. it just exists. I also wanted to attempt to avoid the gothic cliché of everything being dark and grimy - so I've tried to make it fairly clean, bright and atmospheric.

I also didn't want to shoot myself in the foot with subject matter - if one wants to evoke un-ease or tension, one hangs hooks from the ceiling and blood stains the walls.. I wanted to try to let the lighting do this for me. The lighting in the main area is supposed to evoke a relaxed ease, and the basement is supposed to evoke an agitated tension.

I haven't yet got any Ai paths laid down so I don't know how it plays, I haven't managed any collision meshes either, but as it is it's fully playable through UT2k3 - (my first level in this editor) the assets were all created in Max 5.1, the textures in Photoshop7

The timescale was originally 14 weeks, but with several personal 'events' and the accopmanying essay, I had about 9 weeks to produce this.

The polycount is around 72,000 (for everything, the main arena and the basement) - and the texture size goes no higher than 1024x1024 and the library no more than 30Mb memory. which is, as I understand it, fairly good for a 2k3 level.
it uses straightforward textures and the shaders that 2k3 offers. the textures were made with a mix of renders from high res modelling, and photo-manipulation.

I worked to the UT2k3 specs so that it could afford me the artistic opportunities that lower spec platforms would not have offered.( also knowing that if I got into the industry, I'd never work at this high a limitation for a long while ;))

sorry it's so epic - but it needs a context, I think without gameplay, it needs the rationale as a research proejct - i'm not sure if it's successful just as a piece of art?

tell me what you think though :) - Crits welcome!


thanks for looking. :)


Nick

DogmaD
08-27-2003, 11:06 AM
The hangar looks really good, but i think you could make some improvements for the lighting into the basement.
I understand you want a different mood in the basement and you are trying to achieve this with the red lights. I think you might be better of with no lights in there at all. I can't really find a source for the red light, but what you might want to try is this:

Have one light at the top of the stairs, a little more blue, its really white now and that looks unnatural, there is no light that gives of a pure white color. Don't use red, but some dark blue at the bottom, to give the idea the light from the stairs lites up the room just a little.

I see there is one exit when you get down into the basement, at the right. Have some light coming in from that direction. When you enter the basement this way you walk into this dark place, and you only see this lit up corridor on the side. You will get the feeling something is in that corridor, because you come from this dark area into the light. If the lighting is right is should put some tension in the scene.

Hope it helps.

Astaroth.NL
08-27-2003, 12:34 PM
1st floor is amazing, truly wonderfull level design, basement is indeed less in quality, needs more details plus the red ligthning looks sorta cheap and to present. But the floor is great!:buttrock:

Frank Dodd
08-27-2003, 01:09 PM
I must agree with the above comments, two things struck me with this immediately, first the great detail that is in the model, excellent structure and texture. Secondly how flatly lit it was, a model with this much quality would really benefit from a more dramatic lighting set-up.

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