CE01030-1 INTRODUCTION TO 3D MODELLING FOR GAMES 1B

Assignment Specifications 100% Coursework Consisting of: Assignment 1: 70% Practical assessment Assignment 2: 30% Written Report

Assignment 1: Practical Assessment (70%) You have progressed from your position as an environment artist to take a role with the central development team. On this occasion you have be advised you will be constructing one large complex object for a current generation game, again this is Unreal3 Engine or Cry Engine2 The model must be a vehicle from the World War 2 era. Your art lead has advised you that the object would be used as the focus of a cut scene and/or part of a level in the game. Therefore close detail should be included. Your publisher has again decided the theme of the game. On this occasion it is game set in World War 2. No substation or alteration of the theme is allowed as your publisher wants to push this demo out soon and has already produced the marketing artwork. The Asset produced must to the following rules 1. 2. 3. 4. Be accurately and appropriately researched Must be modelled correctly Be suitably unwrapped Accurately textured using 2d texture maps including, diffuse, normal, specular ( and where appropriate, opacity, emmisive) 5. Be presented in the unreal engine or real time shader within 3ds max

Submission of Practical work The practical work will be submitted in several stages. Times for submission are given as follows 23.59 Friday. 05/02/10 (Wk3) Research - This is to be presented on the forum You must create your own thread under the Assignment Forum. The title of this thread should be your name and student number. You should also add the name of your assignment when you have decided on what it will be. Your first post (completed in wk1 tutorial) should be a discussion of your own skills; what you feel your successes were of the previous project and what you need to improve on and develop to complete this project. Research should be presented an annotated in a logical order. Annotations should show a strong understanding of how the project will be completed. 23.59 Friday. 26/02/10 (Wk6) Progress - Again this is to be presented on the forum This is an update of how the project is proceeding. A mid poly object should be completed and detailing should be in progress. Students should documented work completed and remaining work to be completed.

1530. Friday 23/04/10 (wk12) Final submission - This is a final hand in at the office (k266) and through blackboard (Written Report) This is a digital copy of all of the files that you have been working on, including; max files, textures, shader used, unreal files, reference and plans. It should also include a copy of your written report and your thread from the forum. See below for further details of the report and final model details.

Assignment 2: Reflective Written Report (30%) (1500 words +-10%) The reflective report should demonstrate the technical understanding of the student. It should detail the processes involved in creating the project. It should show competent knowledge of Appropriate research Modelling Techniques Material and texture generation Suitability for a current generation game engine Evaluation and recommendations

Appropriate research: This should summarise the research that was presented on the forum. Show the planning and development criteria for the project Research into polygon and texture limitations of assets in current generation game engines Draw appropriate technical comparisons to assets in existing games Show appropriate photographic or drawn reference towards the development of the asset generated

Modelling Techniques Discuss the modelling techniques utilised Discuss their appropriateness and suitability. If another method could have been utilised this should be discussed. Would it have yielded better results

Material and texture generation Discuss the methods implemented for generating the textures for the asset Discuss their relevance towards an industry pipeline Discussion of real-time Shaders

Evaluation and recommendations Discuss the suitability for a current generation game engine Show sound understanding for the technical aspects of the project that we successful or otherwise. Discuss improvements that could be made Refer back to the initial posts and discuss successes and failing of the project

Additional assignment details.

Accurately and appropriately researched Thorough research should be completed on the model before modelling can be commenced. This will take the form of presenting a thread on the official Staffordshire University Forum where you will present you work In the thread you must include: o High quality plans where appropriate o Research of given object o Research of appropriate texture o Research of suitable tri counts and texture sizes that will be adhered to.

Modelled correctly The final assets should adhere to game engine standards. Therefore this means: Assets should conform to appropriate research, using plans where available. All assets must contain only triangle and quad polygons All assets must be optimised to an acceptable standard using game engine criteria o This means the triangle count should be of a similar size to complex objects (like mechs or vehicles) from current generation game All assets must be recognisable Where appropriate a high polygon detail mesh and low polygon object will be used to generate the normal map.

Accurately textured All objects must contain appropriate mapping coordinates. Assets should contain 2d texture maps which adheres to the game engine specifications. o This should include as a minimum: A Diffuse Map A Normal Map A Specular Map o Additional maps maybe use as necessary these include Opacity Emissive Textures should be done from reference photographs, but can be modified where appropriate.

Be presented in the unreal engine or through Real-Time Shaders. You can chose to do one of the following o As the model and textures should be ready to be imported into Unreal 3 it should be presented using Real Time Shaders within 3ds Max.

Import the model and its textures into ut3 and apply the materials to the asset and present it in the game engine

A Model sheet, Wireframe and beauty renders for the asset should be supplied along with the asset. o A model sheet should be included showing the following information the Name of the asset, the tri count the texture size(s) images of the textures o Appropriate wireframe renders should be included o Suitable beauty renders of different parts of the model

The Report The report should adhere to formal report writing standards and should consist of Layout A4 pages Font size 10-12 35mm margin on binding edge 15mm margins elsewhere Single sided reproduction Single or 1.5 line spacing (double spacing is acceptable, but not essential.)

Contents Title page Abstract Introduction Research and planning o This should include discussion of the game engine and design constraints. Main discussion on development o This is where you should discuss the workflow and techniques used throughout the project; discussing the processes involved and their appropriateness. Conclusions and Recommendations Bibliography References Appendices

Written Report Assessment Criteria

Structure and presentation (20%)

Written in the 3rd person Adheres to formal report writing standards Bibliography set out correctly References used where applicable and set out correctly Legible Formatted correctly (margins, paragraphs, sub headings etc)

Clarity and precision (20%)

Logical ordering of activities Suitable specialist vocabulary used Appropriate coverage of each task Generally free from spelling and grammatical errors

Technical content of the report (60%)

What was done? How it was done WHY it was done Incisive Conclusions and Recommendations Excessive word count will lead to marks being lost.

The student must be able to justify the workflow and pipeline implemented throughout the project. They should be able to justify how research has affected the project. The report should show the understanding of current game engine technologies and limitations. It should be evident that decisions were based on this research and development criteria support the projects outcome. The report is not a personal appraisal of the work produced. You do not have the expertise to make the decision that the work is good. You reasoning should be based on the technical limitations defined in the research along with comparisons against existing game engine assets.. When weaknesses are identified suitable solutions should be offered.