Reflective Journal 3.0 by Otávio Neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc Stage 3 en-us 2018-09-10 22:19:07 UTC 2023-03-29 04:30:00 UTC hello@padlet.com September 10 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/279679325 Explain your ideas and what you have been thinking about?

As a trajectory of my Foundation one thing I am sure about this project is that I am going to make a game, anything else is up to debate aside from that. Going into more detail I have been thinking a lot about the fun and joy I have of building and creating things analogically and I want to try and create a game system that can emulate that on a digital platform. After giving some thought about my limitations as well, both in terms of time, funding and raw technical skill it is obvious that a complete, full on game is out of the questions is impressive enough to just make a small part of these big AAA games, so I am going to strive for focus and pinpoint accuracy. At first I was looking to world builders like Mario Maker, but then found that a more common trope was more suitable, the character creation screen, that is a staple of many genres such as the MMO and some RPGs and what I find fascinating is how people tell stories of spending hours on that screen just crafting their characters, it is more than enough proof that those systems can be entertaining on their own. 

How have you used inspiration from research to inform these ideas?

When researching possibilities for my project I found a lot of intricacies between games that have the same overall theme, but have large fundamental or mechanical differences. One of the key differences was the one between Battletech and M.A.S.S. Builder, both had very robust customization systems, but there was a key difference in the intent and what made the system feel meaningful. Battletech had a huge customization of parts that have minimal aesthetic changes, but determine the specs of your machine during gameplay, furthermore, because it is a tactical RPG it has the advantage of not focusing too close on the robots, so their designs take a back seat, it is still important, but it is not front and center. On the other hand we have M.A.S.S. Builder, which has a third person behind the shoulder camera, which means that your robot is always visible to the point that you can see all the small details, because of that the focus of the customization system is on the accessories and cosmetic changes, there are some mechanical choices, but those are few and far between as well as being presented as being just as important as the cosmetic ones.

How can you develop your ideas from here?

Definitely need to do more research on a wider array of subjects and sources, look through book and sci fi material such as Star Trek, try to avoid straight up robot references and more looking at technology and sci fi worlds and art. There also needs to be a very solid conceptual development of the idea in order to make the game have concise aesthetic and feel to it, if I use design elements from various proprieties then it will feel like gloated mess. ]]> 2018-09-11 02:27:54 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/279679325 September 11 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/280801113 This is the second day of the project and the priority right now is to develop an overall action plan for the whole project. This will not only be a guide for keeping up the pace during this long project, but just by breaking down what I need to do and overlaying it on top of the timeframe that was given. Of course, due to the length of the project I cannot perfectly plan what I am going to do weeks from now, so I tried to have a detailed plan for the next two weeks (since there will be the first deadline by the end of it) and for the rest I tried painting broad strokes just to have an idea of how much will the process take me. 

Instead of doing the action plan with pen and paper, this time I tried experiementing with software for it, more especifically Excel. Since this is a long project I need a place where I can quickly find what I need to find and there is also the matter of updating the action plan on a week by week basis, a task that is much more easily accomplished by software than it is on paper. In order to keep track of the new versions of the action plan I decide to upload each new version on the research file so people can see the progression during the whole project and how smooth the production actually was.]]> 2018-09-13 13:04:34 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/280801113 September 12 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/281105221 With a solid action plan in mind it was time to start planning the formal project proposal. From the tasks that we were given the most challenging one would be the bibliography, mostly because we weren't instructed as to how to build one. Before hand I would simply overload my research file with as many references as possible, that would help with the wide and varied range of sources, but it also helped with registering things that I would prove useful at a later time. I am not sure if the bibliography is meant to be done differently, but it feels like it requests a selection of the researched content, like if it only contained what was relevant directly for this project. This sums up a lot of questions that I have for this brief, it's questions are built with the idea that we already have our projects defined, with we can make an action plan, explain the references and so on, but what the tutors seem to request from us is to not decide on an idea until long after I hand over the brief, so I have plenty of time experimenting and trying out different ideas. Not only does this severely limits our options since most big projects would require an earlier start, it actively makes it harder to plan the brief as we have to guess and shot in the dark about our decisions, ultimately amounting to a useless piece of paper that doesn't help with the project's development at all.  ]]> 2018-09-14 01:10:08 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/281105221 September 13 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/281120319 Today I had the chance to show my progress to a tutor so I can have some guidance on my current progress. Lately I have been very lost in terms of the conceptual part of the project, I feel like when I start working I will be mostly fine and unimpeded, but when it comes to research it has been a slog as I constantly have to hold out on what I want to reference and work with and try to go with something more akin to the foundation program. It's very frustration having to waste hours for a couple of references that might generate some ideas, but wont really make a solid impact on the outcome, definitely not more than what a real technical research would, like searching about widget implementation and such. 

When showing my project to the tutor one thing that stroke him as odd was how well defined my project was and not in a good way. It felt like I was clearly going somewhere, it's just that this place is rather predictable. Furthermore there was a comment about my project trying to simply replicate what has been already done without doing something new alongside it. Even though that is up to debate, as I have planned an experience that is solely focused on the customization aspect, I can see where he is coming from, especially as the project that I describe look really familiar to the references that I have. It was amazing to see M.A.S.S. Builder and how it is basically a more polished version of what I wanted to create, but it's also frustrating because now that niche is covered and I have to do something completely different in order to feel apart from it. Last bit of advice is in relation to the Action Plan, I have had trouble planning ahead to a project which I am not supposed to have a clear idea yet, so that lead me to end up painting a lot of broad strokes, but that wasn't as bad of a plan as I thought since this action plan in the brief has the simple function of serving as a comparison for my updated action plans throughout the project. ]]> 2018-09-14 02:29:33 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/281120319 September 14 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/282676672 This was a surprisingly helpful day, my action plan had me researching pieces that I wanted to see in Inhotim and sending it to my tutor, unfortunately that didn't come to pass during studio sessions, but it was for the best in the end. We were invited to a surprise workshop about how to write the brief, this was incredibly helpful to me as I was very insecure about the specifics of it and was having a hard time getting information from tutors. The most helpful part was when we went through section 1, 2 and 3 and read our texts as examples to see if they acconplish what the brief is asking of us ans what can we improve in terms of writing. Since I already had a draft ready I was able to apply almost immediately the feedback in a concrete manner. An unintentional benefit is that by discussing my work with my peers and Michael I was able to gather a surprising ammount of research material and because of the nature of the environment the sources ended up being quite varied. 

When researching about what I wanted to see in Inhotim I had a bit of guidance from yesterday's small tutorial with Daniel. Something we both agreed on is that the visit should focus on sculptures and models, through that I can have some varied research about materials and techniques as well as some research on shapes and what are the limits of a human figure. It is very important for me to research these subjects in order for my robot models to not fall under the design tropes that the genre is bathed in now days.]]> 2018-09-18 03:07:44 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/282676672 September 17 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/282679816 Today was mostly dedicated traveling to our hotel in Brumadinho so there wasnt as much production as I would like. When looking through the our schedule I was able to get a grasp of what we will be seeing each day, most notably during day 4 we will be mostly free to see whichever pieces we feel necessary, so if I miss any of them that are on the list this will be the time to see them. We also got something quite useful in the form of a guide about how to approach pieces of contaporary art that may look too dense or complex to understand. This will help close the understanding gap between me and modern art, a medium that I not very fond or familiar with, but that still can be a good source of research. The method includes a series of questions that help break down the information of the piece of an easier comprehension of the whole. ]]> 2018-09-18 03:25:56 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/282679816 September 18 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/283234419 When comparing a bench to a piece of contemporary art there is an immediate difference between them in terms of utility. While furniture has a clear immediate purpose, contemporary art doesn't, art is made because the artist wants to make them and that says a lot about our society. 

We were able to see a lot of the galleries and installations close to the entrance, this limited our view a little, but it also allowed us to see the pieces with more care. Some of them that have proven to be useful sources of research are Jarbas Lopes' "Troca-troca" and Olafur Eliasson's "By Meabs of a Sudden Intuitive Realization". What was fun about this pieces is that at first they dont connect at all to my work, but when you try and make the connection you realise that they can actually enrich the robot modeling theme quite well. The first and most surprising was "Troca-troca", in which the premise is that 3 of the same car, but with different colors would be part swapped so that their exteriors would give almost a toy look. This is precisely what toy modelers do when building, they swap different pieces in order to create a pleasing aesthetic and even if the intent isnt there for the piece, the execution is still very reminiscent. The second piece was "By Means of a Sudden Intuitive Resolution" I didnt have many expectations when going in, but the room itself is a masterpiece in terms of creating an environment. The room shows us very little, making every bit of information count, on top of that we are forced to really on our otger senses in order to get a hold of the situation. The water splashes harder due to the darkness of the room and the flashes make it harder to hear, the work is an example of synesthesia.]]> 2018-09-19 03:02:47 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/283234419 September 19 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/284582321 This is the most productive day so far for the trip, we say over half of the galleries and art pieces, including some of the ones I had chosen to see in my reflection. One piece that I hadn't much expectations, but turned out to be quite incredible was the Beam Drop installation by Chris Burden. The element that was missing from just seeing pictures of it online was the scale, when you are in the presence of such huge monument it becomes quite perplexing and it is for sure going to be used as a source for mechanical environments, especially when you see it sprouting out of the land as well as the clear divide between steel and nature. Another piece from the same artist that was actually underwhelming due to it's scale is Chris Burden's Beehive Bunker, which seemed like an impressive monument that would cause an immediate impact, but when it turned out to be only slightly taller then myself I couldn't help, but feel disappointed. 

This day was also an amazing example of how you can take away completely different things from the same piece of art. While visiting Tunga's gallery I was completely lost by the artwork's meaning, even when the guide explained it to me just breaking down the information was brain taxing and didn't lead anywhere. However, while looking at one of his sculptures of a humanoid figure made entirely out of rocks I thought to myself "this would make for some great character design". It plays with the materials and the human shape and imagining how such a creature would move and interact is a concept so interesting it could carry a game on it's own. Same thing goes to Claudia Andujar's pictures of the Amazon forest, a work that seems to be mostly anthropological, which serve as terrific references for environment design. The pictures have a nice sense of composition and angles that make the content feel lively and grand, furthermore, the use of filters and post production effect made some shots which would be perfect for concept art. One that comes to mind is a shot of a mountain surrounded by an endless stream of pink trees, the familiar setting combined by the exotic color palette makes the scene feel exciting, just by looking at it you can have this desire to jump in and explore more.]]> 2018-09-22 01:14:38 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/284582321 September 20 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/284696134 After seeing most of the park, this day was meant to serve as an extra time to visit the artwork that we skipped in the previous days. Because of rain and lack of a kart this day wasn't nearly as productive as the last ones. Even still, there were a couple of pieces that were remarkable throughout the day. A piece in my list that I didnt manage to see before was Chris Burden's Viewing Machine, essentially a big telescope like structure that when looked through has a sort of kaleidoscope effect. From the outside it is a very interesting piece of machinery, the presence of tubes and handles feel much more like 70s and 80s technology represented in media, a look that differs significantly from today's slick and minimal machines. When analyzing the inside it is certainly an interesting effect and view, but aside from a quick shot or some interesting promotional material I dont see it being of much use to this project. Another work that caught my eye was Valeska Sores' Folly. A house whose walls are made off two sided mirrors, so when seeing from the outside the house's wood framework looks almost floating and when you go inside the visuals completely transcend reality. It feels like the house is bigger on the inside than the outside, if it was in a game it would certainly be one of the most memorable levels as it turns expectations on their head and create a sense of mystery, like there is more to this place than meets the eye.]]> 2018-09-23 04:36:50 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/284696134 September 25 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/285840018 How was the experience to write your own project proposal?

This task may seem easy due to the creative freedom, but when you start analyze and break down a real complex problem you start to unpack all the branches that come with it. If you are discussing a story, there is a context, it was created at a time and place and that is key to understanding the story, furthermore there are elements of that story that trace back to stories told a century ago and this rabbit hole just keeps, getting deeper until you can't even identify where you began anymore. With that in mind, however, this was an enjoyable experience and it gave the opportunity to study fields which I am very interested in and ask myself "How can I make something different? What can I contribute to this?".

What have you learned from this?

More than anything this experience helped me develop a formula to approaching my projects. Usually I would get something to do and just dive right in, knowing where I want to go along the way. This strategy, however,is both unprofessional and inefficient, since it leads to run of the mill work that is rushed most of the times. In this case I had to really think about what kind of research that I wanted to put, how would I approach this topics, how I would plan myself, why am I doing the things that I want to do? Those are questions that I must ask myself at the beginning and throughout the course.

If you could do it again, what would you do differently?

Probably my weakest point was the bibliography, it was broad, maybe not as much as some, but I really tried to branch out to unexpected places and get out of the circle that my subject encapsulates. Furthermore, the references themselves had quite the number of mistakes right before handing in, leading to a last minute correction, which is shameful to say the least. 

Do you think your presentation was clear?

After reading my proposal to other people some times before and constantly asking feedback from tutors I was quite confident in the presentation and the messages that I wanted to transmit. From the crowd's reaction the proposal seemed really clear and concise, however my research in Inhotim did not have such an established link with my project, feeling more like a lose thread.


]]> 2018-09-26 03:04:50 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/285840018 September 26 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/286318491 Today marks the beginning of the production schedule. The first step into making my game will be making some concept art, as much as I can for body types, pieces of armor, backgrounds and menus. The reason this is so important is that this step will most likely create a visual identity for my project, I noticed that my parts turned out much less mechanical and much more organic, so everything going forward will have to keep that in mind, from developing mechanics, to animation and modeling. I managed to speed up the process yesterday by making 4 inner frame concepts which will be the skeleton that the player will customize, everyone will start from the same base skeleton and customize everything on top of that. If I find more time then I can experiment with the player choosing between multiple inner frames, but from a production standpoint it's much easier to work with a base rig and then just add an unlimited number of cosmetics on top of it. Today I finished the last inner frame concept for me to choose later and moved onto the armor parts. I decided to use 2 pages for each customizable option, but that turned out to be quite the restrictive amount of space, only giving each option about 12-15 parts, much less than the 20 parts that I want for each option in the final product, but enough for a minimum viable product. As I said before, I started a trend of making my designs look organic, that is mostly due to the difficulty of taking inspiration from already designed parts, from cars to plane to even other robots, every time I used such reference it turned out more like a copy than as base reference. On top of that looking at nature and creature designs and trying to twist those shapes into mechanical concepts was incredibly interesting and will certainly give the game a unique feel to it.

Aside from that I was also able to meet with Carlos in the morning to discuss action planning and bibliography. During the action plan discussion he suggested something to deeply enrich my planning, daily notes about what I managed to accomplish, what went wrong and what went right each and every day. Action planning isnt just how well can you make a schedule and follow it, it's a way to see how you deal with mistakes and problems that will eventually occur and to see if you can plan through those problems in order to still meet deadlines and present viable outcomes. ]]> 2018-09-27 02:17:55 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/286318491 September 28 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/287173670 This marks the end of the concept week, I used the day to produce some early concepts for environments and now I have everything that I need to move on to developing a more concrete prototype. When developing the environments I found out that it wasn't that hard to find interesting places to place robots, especially when thinking in the context of our world. This is mostly due to them clashing a lot of nature and that contrast is, if intended, really charming, I go back to 08th MS Team, a show about a group of soldiers piloting robots in the Vietnam forests and the metal and wilderness clashed really well there.

Aside from development there was also a production crit for this week. Unfortunately this crit ended up being much more focused on the environments than the robot parts that I spent days producing, but there was still some good feedback to reflect on. The most important one is to remember that the robots are the most important things on frame, the backgrounds should never steal attention away from them, so put detail, but keep it modest. Another thing which I agree quite a lot is trying to draw from real world locations instead of games and other works of media, I just found really hard not to copy when looking at these kinds of references, by looking at the real thing you can get your own interpretation and expand on it as you wish. ]]> 2018-09-29 03:24:36 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/287173670 September 27 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/287175890 Following my action plan I had the very straightforward task of continue developing the robot parts concepts for the arms and legs. Since this task should not take as long as I thought it would I also set a goal to continue researching the Unreal mechanics and how I am going to build the programming aspect of the game. For the the concepts it was considerably harder than the others mostly due to the shape restrictions, you can alter a head, backpack or torso quite a lot with it still looking in place, but arms and legs tend to have more strict restrictions. This time I brought some toy models as well to help with the shapes of the limbs and it did help me at the start, however it wasnt as helpful as I thought it would be, especially in terms of generating new ideas. What helped me a lot this time was thinking about simple shapes and lines for each design, instead of having something in mind and trying to replicate it simply using shapes within the arm region to create a new design. 

After this process there was also a quick talk with Daniel which highlighted the importance of putting this conceptual part first, it makes it so much easier to show someone what my idea is. Suddenly the aim gets a concrete form, but it is still not too rigid, so there is room for adjustments and feedback, which is refreshing from the feedback we would normally get after deep production has already started. Being able to work on this project on a fundamental level is scary due to the time constraints, but also fun since I feel like a have much more room to maneuver this time. ]]> 2018-09-29 04:09:01 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/287175890 October 1 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/287923398 The week's objective this time is to make the mechanics for the minimum viable product. I will experiment with Unreal Engine and scout out my tool and limitations so that will heavily influence my plans on further production. Today I started developing an inventory system which I will adapt into the customization system that I am looking for. My vision for this project is something that is much more akin to an RPGs equipment system than your usual customization screen so looking at such tutorials make for better reference. During the process I didn't run into many problems aside from having trouble filtering out information that is tailored specific to an RPG instead of general customization.

There was also a one to one tutorial with Solange and that was an incredibly comforting experience. For a while I have felt a bit in the dark in terms of which direction my project is going, but it seems like I made the right call focusing a lot on concepts and research. There are still improvements to be made, namely printing references to glue on the sketchbook, though I am not sure if I will do this weekly or wait for a later date. There was also a good reminder to keep a tight register of my learning outcomes in software as these things will serve as evidence for experimentation and complex design problem solving. ]]> 2018-10-02 02:40:58 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/287923398 October 2 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/288942213 Beforehand I had planned for today to continue experimenting on Unreal Engine, but, after the recognizance I made last week in the free time in between the concepts, I came to the conclusion that it would be better to start working on some very early mock up assets to test in the engine now rather than later in development. This is all due to the nature of the system I am basing myself on, if I used Unreal's Standard mannequin during the test then I wouldn't have any experience working with a rigged model produced by me, but there is also the problem of having to basically start all over again because of all the adjustments I would have to make switching models mid work.

When starting the work I had to look at the concepts I made last week and decide on a proper one to start working. Knowing that I was working on Maya, since it's both an industry level software as well as a software that I had a fair degree of competence in, it's better to avoid shapes that are too organic, taking out the tree and disfavoring the human frame. If I were to use those concepts it would be better to use a software like Z Brush, which specializes in organic modeling, but that would also require more time allocated to learning this software and that is time I can't afford to lose. The workflow itself was very calm and I managed to finish the model in an impressive time-frame considering my last attempt during winter break. That experience actually helped a lot when approaching this model, as both had similar human silhouettes and thin bone size so it was a good basis. Another thing that helped out was seeing video of how modelers approach complex shapes such as a human body, usually they will part from one part, such as the idea and extrude in layers until the shape is complete. I tried to apply it and that truly was effective, I started out with the spine and extruded most of the bone from that, this way the polygon count never got out of hand to the point that I couldn't adjust my shapes anymore. ]]> 2018-10-04 02:27:33 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/288942213 October 3 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/288944344 Today was definitely not the most productive day of the project, but it does pose as interesting development. Back on Monday I had the inventory system mostly figured out and was ready to turn it into an equipment system, that however got held back by a problem spawning a widget that would allow me to click on different objects from my inventory. In short, without that widget spawning there is no real way to store and access models and meshes through an interface. This had to be dealt with quickly, but since I was working withing someone else's system and one made for a much more complex game it was extremely hard to figure out where the thing was going wrong. Even after looking through the guide front to back I couldn't find the missing match between our projects. 

This puts me in an interesting situation, if I follow this guide and I make it work than the biggest hurdles that I could face are gone, but that requires watching through the whole 30 episode tutorial series and replicating the guide until I can make the inventory function work, after that I just have to remove irrelevant information and functions from my project. Another solution, however is abandoning the guide, at least the inventory part, and trying to make my own using what I learned when working with widgets. This, however doesn't look like the wisest choice since if I run through some trouble afterward then I will have no choice but to watch all the videos and by then I will have wasted much more time than I can afford. Because of this I will spend tomorrow following the video thoroughly regardless if the information seems relevant to my project or not and, hopefully, this will fix the widget problem with the inventory system. ]]> 2018-10-04 02:39:56 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/288944344 October 4 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/289337606 As I explained yesterday, today would be mostly dedicated to recouping my loses and getting back on track with the action plan. In order to avoid getting set back even more I decided to follow the tutorial series through and through to guarantee that the Inventory system will work flawlessly. When talking to my peers about this strategy most of them told me that it would be easier to just look up another tutorial or try to do it on my own, but what they dont realize is what I have to gain should this work. This game system works perfectly as a blueprint for my final project, it outlines most if not all the mechanics that I want to implement as well as perfectly explain how to do a competent equipment system, which is the crux of my game. Furthermore, when working through seemingly unrelated material I started to get a fair degree of understanding about the engine itself and how the Blueprint system works, so this could be seen as experimentation. To adjust my action plan, today would be dedicated to get back on track, as this is a priority and I will reduce time that I would have invested on the menus and move them to producing a decent equipment system since one is crucial while the other can afford to be postponed for latter steps of the process. 

Alongside production there was also a crit today and it worked surprisingly well for my project in terms of feedback. It went for a more personal approach with me showing my project to someone and having them explain my project to the class and having someone simply do this shows which are the weak and strong points about my idea. My greatest weakness so far was proving my experimentation, I noticed that even though there was an argument to be made for experimentation in my sketchbook, there was also a lack of evidence showing the references and how this experimentation was a result from a research and not just filler pages for the sketchbook. ]]> 2018-10-04 18:45:12 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/289337606 October 5 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/290542409 Today was focused less on production and more on registering research and sketchbook management. It would have been very inefficient to work with figuring out the Unreal Blueprint problem while at EBAC, since I would just have to redo everything back home. Instead I decided to use that time to catch up in terms of research and sketchbook, so filling out missing tabs and putting pictures as necessary. Looking at the final results on sketchbook I can definitely see how putting a print of your references there can help someone understand your thought process and how you came up with those ideas better. 

Before that, however, there was also a reflection crit with our pathway leader and it was a good opportunity to have someone else give their opinions on my reflection, since this prevents me from adjusting my writing style to favor a certain reader. Overall there was a good reception with a small note of being less descriptive with my reflections, something that I have to agree, but there was also the suggestion of using pictures to illustrate your work progress each day. This was something that I tried before, but found it very inefficient due this role already being filled in by the research file, however my reflection will look much more solid with those elements, so if I find the time I will make sure to update it accordingly. ]]> 2018-10-09 02:27:05 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/290542409 October 8 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/290542423 Even though this was meant to be a mostly straight forward production day there was an unexpected meeting invitation from Kevin to talk about my project, so I had to take it. Though it was mostly an introduction to what I have been doing there was some really positive reception in terms of the concept. As for any advice, there was an emphasis on planning, he gave me some methods used in industry to schedule production of big projects and when looking into them myself it is clear how they can help my project. One that I found particularly useful is the MoSCoW method which puts task and goals in one of four levels of necessity, this will help manage the targets which are truly essential for building my game as well as understanding what is worth pursuing and planning time around. Another aspect he touched on was the presentation as my tight schedule might make VR or 3D printing too ambitious, however he threw away the idea of using AR instead as it is generally a much easier technology to produce and thinking about the possibilities with it are incredible, being able to take your digital robot and place it anywhere in the exhibition space would be incredible, especially if you could take pictures with it. There is still more research to be done with it, but overall I am very satisfied with this meeting. ]]> 2018-10-09 02:27:11 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/290542423 October 9 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/291061048 Instead of focusing on production like the rest, today there was a very important research visit to Split Studio, an animation studio here in São Paulo. It was interesting seeing a less sterile environment that we usually see in this kinds of visits, it was a more down to earth look at animation, really showing the people in the trenches doing what they can to meet the deadline, the space was truly alive. After visiting the divisions of the office there was some time for questions, much less tailored to the specifics of animation, but as to the hiring process and the animation pipeline. One thing that was unexpected is that they very rarely do an animation from start to finish, usually the storyboard and animatick are already done, they just work on top of the foundations laid out by the client. Usually you would think that the client would throw his idea and the studio would scramble to make it work, but as we can see it is a very delicate process that requires multiple studios for all sorts of jobs. That also leads into the hiring process, there is a focus on people that can be a resource to the team, which means that the person needs to have that resource labeled over her work. If you are a specialist in rigging, modelling, 2D animation, background art, character design, etc... Then it is hard to see what kind of asset you can be, so try to focus on a few aspects that you want to work with while also trying to remain open to other areas. On that sense, one thing that make me more comfortable is that on top of the work itself one thing they want to see is work ethic, there is much more value in someone with the desire to learn and improve and keep working hard then in someone who is really good, but acts as if he has already capped his level. This, in my humble opinion, suits me a lot as I have always tried to compensate my shortcomings with study ethics and sheer effort. ]]> 2018-10-10 03:02:43 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/291061048 October 10 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/291997549 Continuing with my current production schedule, I had to develop 3 Backpack assets and 3 Leg assets in Maya. As I continue using the software I am noticing a significant speed increase in my performance, especially with the familiarity of the shortcuts, such as using QWER" to move around the main modelling tools. One thing that would help with my speed would be a second monitor, as I have to keep changing windows on a constant basis to check for references, so this can save a lot of time over a long stretch of time. One thing that I am noticing as I develop these parts is that I may have to redesign the inner frame a bit in the final version. The torso and arms feel very awkward since most of the armor causes some clipping in a way that doesn't feel natural. One of the biggest problems I am having is the shoulders, whose square shape makes it difficult to mount things without clipping, as well as the "ribs" since I feel like I made them too large and now there are big sections where the inner frame is visible because of it. I was also surprised at how entertaining the leg design was, usually you would think head, torso and backpack would be the most fun, but thinking of the movement and how these pieces of armor would work alongside the joints was a nice challenge and one that I didn't consider much in my original sketches. ]]> 2018-10-12 01:01:34 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/291997549 October 11 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/292002904 Today I had the very special opportunity to visit BGS or Brasil Game Show, the biggest gaming event in Latin America. Even though, unlike BIGFestival, this event is more tailored towards playing games instead of making them there was still some research opportunities. The biggest addition this year was the indie's alley, a section of the event dedicated to indie creators showing their games off to the public and potentially industry professionals. There I was able to talk with 3 projects that caught my attention: Lenin The Lion is 2D narrative puzzle game that was entirely made by one person, when talking to him about the development there was a clear source of resourcefulness, clearly he had a few talents in programming and art, but the rest of the production was made with just wit, showing that you dont actually need to be a one man team to make something good. Another project that caught my attention is an untitled game made in Unreal Engine 4, I talked with the developer, who was a programmer, about how was it to work with Blueprint and it surprised me to hear that most of the game was made in C# as he thought Blueprint was way too slow in a large scale production, though fine for smaller projects. Lastly there was a Q&A with a developer of a recently released game on Steam, an achievement considering the lack of focus in the main market here in Brazil. Regarding that I asked about the differences between developing the game for mobile and for PC/Console and he said that though this was a problem back than when there weren't as many tools, nowadays with multimedia engines like Unity this kind of production is achievable even by a small team of 3 plus a couple freelancers. Furthermore, the online marketing space has become wider and wider, with less restriction put in place of games that want to be on those platforms, a feature that defined the mobile market, but is now present in PC and in some shape on consoles.]]> 2018-10-12 01:30:50 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/292002904 October 12 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/292609606 Continuing with the regular production I had to proceed into making the last pieces of armor. As I said before the proficiency that I am getting with the software is helping with any potential struggles that I could have. One example this time is the Bevel Tool, which I was pretty confused as to it's uses at first, but managed to use it very efficiently today in the makings of my more geometrical arms. Alongside that there is also the same problem of the inner frame not being very compatible with my current designs, I think it's important to already plan for a concept session after the next week, which will be dedicated into making the minimum viable product, before proceeding into the major production aspect. ]]> 2018-10-14 23:08:14 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/292609606 October 15 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/293665207 Before moving back into Unreal Engine I wanted to take a day to study posing in subjects like photography and theater. This would help me create stronger compositions for the robot's action poses and help me understand how to accentuate certain aspects of each pose. The most import thing that I took is to always play with the distance between you and the camera and use things like foreshortening and the lens themselves to your advantage. For instance, if you film from an angled down shot you will push the legs and feet further away from the camera and the shoulders and heads closer to it, this will accentuate those parts of the body. Furthermore, it's important to be aware of the negative space as well as any other elements that are together in the picture. For instance, should you have two focal points it's important to always have them at the same plane as otherwise it will create a sense of distance that can lead to the viewers confusion as well as mess up the proportions. This leads also to the size of the screen coming into play, as weather I choose a vertical or horizontal format will greatly influence my designs. A vertical format can lead to the robots feeling taller and thinner as well as making the environment feel small and restricted, while a horizontal format can lead to a greater environment focus as the robot will be smaller by comparison. There is also an aspect to analyzing lenses and the camera itself, but due to the digital nature of my project I dont have to worry about it so much, at the most I have to adjust the lighting a bit. ]]> 2018-10-17 02:13:34 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/293665207 October 16 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/293665218 Today was market by a constant stream of overcoming adversity thrown against me and it shows an evolving proficiency with the untameable Unreal Engine 4. While following an outdated tutorial I ran into a number of errors, most of them related to blueprint, but with enough patience I was able to get over all of them. This was all possible due to my acquaintance with the Blueprint system, which shows in real time the commands firing off and allows for easy localization of possible errors. One example was with the interaction system that went down apparently for no reason, while tracking the Interaction command through the Blueprint I was able to follow it all the the way up to a node which had been unconnected by accident. This is not to say that the system does everything for me as even when you know which part of the system is down the solution is not always obvious. When finishing the equipment mechanic there was an issue of the equipped item not appearing in the character, I tracked down the issue and fond that the message telling the system to equip was not being able to relay said message and it would fail every time. After looking through all the components involved and past experiences from people in this system I was able to discover that the classes of my blueprints werent set, so the system couldn't find the actors in the scene. It goes to show that when there is an issue with a mechanic is always better to look at with an open mind and use blueprint as a resource, since most of the times problem occur for reasons that don't seem related to the given occurrence. ]]> 2018-10-17 02:13:40 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/293665218 October 17 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/294674769 After trying to arrange a meeting 2 weeks ago I finally managed to get a hang of Carlos to discuss my project and if my course of action is solid or if he sees any glaring flaws. Overall the whole meeting was pretty useful, but more for my own sake than because of actual advice, I usually go straight ahead in a project, taking very little time to think about my actions. For this project I wanted to change that and take moments such as this where, even if there is nothing worrying me or glaring, I go to someone and I show all the work I have been doing, my plans, my research, a kind of reflection through another person. This tactic might have seen like a waste of time, but it did get me pretty confident with my planning way ahead and with this weight lifted I have been able to work with much more freedom and tranquility. As for the actual advice, there were some improvements that could be made for the sketchbook, namely writing comments near the pictures, which were an amazing addition according to him, in order to give even more context for the project. There is also the matter of experimenting more with my drawings, one suggestion was changing the weights of the pencils or pens, maybe a more rough and thick pen will change the outlook of the piece and perhaps give it new meaning. ]]> 2018-10-19 03:10:23 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/294674769 October 18 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/294675815 In order to prepare for the progress tutorial tomorrow I decided to speed up the deadline for the MVP to today in order to get some viable feedback from the tutor. The main points that I needed to cover was simply importing all of the models and transforming them into playable assets inside of the equipment system, this would allow for the primitive partswapping customization which is the core of this whole project. While implementing the Arms, I ran into the trouble of having parts of the "Arms" needing to be attached to different sockets in the inner frame, this was a tricky situation, however, by allowing the player more customization options, being able to individually select between the hand, lower arm and shoulder individually in between arms it was actually easier in the programming part. This changed a lot of what I planned the interface to look like, originally I though of this minimalist menus which would draw more attention to the robot, however with the amount of information that I need to display now I dont think that is much of an option. This isnt to say this is a bad thing, especially if I create some sort of design to enrich the menu and make them part of the composition.

After having the main systems done I wanted to still have one more layer of customization in order to guarantee that my message is transmitted properly and so I started working on a color customization system. If the player is not only allowed to choose what to wear, but which colors each part is going to be then I just easily increased the number of options exponentially. This, however, proved to be no simple task as there were no easy to find tutorials on the subject matter, which means that this system had to be crafted entirely on my own with the tools I got from my studies. Though challenging at first, when looking through the blueprints and seeing how things work and why are certain actions scripted the way they are I was able to easily find the place in this complicated system where I could get a hang of all the assets and change their materials based on a variable that changes according to which button the player presses. Another key thing that does feel weird when playing, but helped immensely when programming is that you choose the color before the piece, unlike most games where it is the other way around. This helps me get a hang of the piece within the Blueprint, since it's impossible to reference an object that hasnt spawned yet, however, if I find time I do want to research on way to revert the order of actions as it will feel more natural to players.  ]]> 2018-10-19 03:17:58 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/294675815 October 19 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/295257464 Today was the Progress Tutorial to review my progress so far and the results were quite shocking and plan changing. First and front I received my lowest score from this entire year, a pass, having in mind that this was the project in which I worked the most on, it was especially shocking. This, however, will not be a sign of things to come as it just served as evidence as to how close of a distinction I am currently. During the tutorial I was given clear goals that I need to achieve in order to get a distinction, by making 80 collages as well as experiment with different techniques during the second wave of concept I will be able to fix most if not all of my flaws. With that said, however, this completely changes my current plans for the project, as I was ready to ride the wave of breakthroughs and push forward with development, but now I have decided to take this whole week to do more research and visual experimentation with different materials and techniques since any other time would be too late and if I pass this chance than I pass my distinction as well and even gamble for the chance of getting a referral. 

For the rest of these days I will do extensive research on anything that pops to mind and try to relate this to my project, if my biggest weakness is being too focused then I will unleash my guns and shoot indiscriminately at every conceivable direction. Hopefully, even though it is only a week, a kick into hyperdrive will give my research enough of a boost to rise from a simple "pass" to a well deserved "distinction".]]> 2018-10-22 00:42:31 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/295257464 October 22 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/296756266 Do you feel any difference between the experimenting weeks and the first day of the making? What is different in your opinion? And how will you make this differentiation in the way you work?

Even though this was the start of the making process of the project I am still experimenting with different techniques due to the feedback I got during my tutorial on Friday. However, in my plans I do plan my making process to be much more production focus in terms of just building and implementing assets and less about trying out which mechanics I can implement. This is all due to these weeks being for a more mindless part of the process that is needed in big productions, after weeks of experimenting, researching and planning you still need a few weeks to just follow what is planned and work. 

In terms of today's experimentation, I had to do 80 collages to serve as inspirations for the future parts in my project. I had planned to do 40 of them today and 40 tomorrow in order to finish with this experimentation rather quickly, but found out that this kind of goal was a bit absurd, so I decided to do 30 per day and finish it in 3 instead. This isn't much of a loss as I have time to spend with this experimentation. When working with the collages I found myself really lost as this technique isn't something that is very common practice in my field, so today could be counted a warm up of sorts. ]]> 2018-10-25 02:59:26 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/296756266 October 23 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/296756296 I kept up with my production of the collages today, doing the next 30 collages. At the start of the day I decided to use newspaper as my primary resource for the collage since yesterday I used a manga magazine and that influenced how my characters looked, so I wanted to see how other images would influence my design. At the end of the day, I wouldn't say it changed much, if anything the anime cut outs were more helpful as they were more vibrant and lead to more lively collages that the newspaper cutout just cannot reach.

I also had the opportunity to show Daniel my collage work, he works with this technique in a professional level, so I really wanted to see his opinion on my designs so far. The reception was really positive, my carelessness, per say, helped to create more fluid collages that aren't too rigid and dont show any fear or regret, it makes them earnest in nature. A few tips were to also think about simple textures, not shapes, I would build the shape in accord to what I need, the focus would be just on the texture or colour work. ]]> 2018-10-25 02:59:33 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/296756296 October 25 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/297253005 This was a day of heavy experimentation, I had to finish the 20 collages that were left, this ones were focused on the environments, but there was also sculpting with plaster as well as clay. While working in the environment collages I did a very different approach from yesterday's tests, I tried using only textures and cut out shapes instead of character cutouts like before, I wanted to see if that allowed for more creativity when working. Surprisingly enough, the more freedom of the texture approach made it harder to find a ground level to start my collages and, therefore, made it harder to creatively express myself. Next time I have to experiment I should try mixing both, starting with some default character cut outs to serve as a base and then moving into texture cut outs that I deem necessary for the scene.

When it comes to the sculptures I experimented with 2 very similar techniques with some glaring differences, plaster and clay. They were both very accessible materials that also leaded themselves perfectly to a more free-form creative process, but there were clear limitations to each of them as well. Plaster had the advantage of being fast, I could in 10 minutes mold just what I wanted as well as drying the plaster with a bit more time until it became perfectly solid. Meanwhile, clay takes a very long time to finish drying and that makes it much harder to work with the finished products, on the other hand, I found clay much easier to sculpt due to it's nature of acting as the fill while plaster needs a frame of reference in order to properly sculpt.]]> 2018-10-26 03:27:48 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/297253005 October 26 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/297859708 Today was certainly a weird day in terms of planning. We started the day by having a surprise group tutorial during the morning that took up the entire morning slot and didnt allow us to work on our projects individually. The strange thing about this is that we are already going to have a Production Crit on Monday and we have been instructed not to repeat content in between these evaluations, which means that Monday's crit is going to look solely at the progress developed during the weekend, which most certainly cannot be that much. The goals I have set for Monday's crit is bringing in the first build of the game in order to gather feedback from people and tutors alike as well as bringing the results of my experiments and research from the past couple of weeks. Monday will be very special due to Sol being at EBAC, so it's my chance to show her the improvements I did since the Progress Tutorial and get feedback as to how my project is going up until now, I also hope that a more hand on approach to my project shows her the appeal and fun of the game.

When talking production there wasnt much aside from registering in the sketchbook and research file. This is not to say those tasks were simple or unimportant, as they will most likely carry my way into a distinction, but they are very manual process that require little thought or choice on my part.]]> 2018-10-29 03:07:36 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/297859708 October 29 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/299342749 Once again we had an unexpected surprise at the beginning of the day, my tutor, Sol, couldn't come today. Due to that I couldn't show a lot of work to verify my current level of context and practical skills. The whole afternoon was also completly unproductive as it was focused on the doing the crit. This means that we lost a whole day of production due to crits and at this step into production this can be really detrimental and has put me behind schedule, not giving me time to do the concepts I had planned. Another issue was that I couldnt transfer the demo from home to EBAC's computer due to a formatting problem(however I have found a quick fix for it and should have it by tomorrow), so I couldn't show that in the crit and had to rely on just showing the exhibition tests and practical testing. The exhibition got quite the warm reception, it seemed pretty solid with minimal complaints aside from worries about how the AR technology is going to work in such a space. I do agree in that statement, I certainly did not test enough with AR to get comfortable with the technology and I am also not in a position to plan about how it is going to work. I need to finish whichever work I need to do in Unreal Engine so I can fit at least a couple of days of just AR testing with mobile.]]> 2018-11-01 13:14:49 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/299342749 October 30 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/299347502 Today had some of the same problems as yesterday, but it was also much more productive. We did lose the morning doing the crit for people who couldnt present their work yesterday, but that didnt affect too much since I managed to catch up in production during the rest of the day. I had to develop another armor set for concepts and for today I decided to go with a dinosaur armor set as they are a subject that I really love and know much about, but couldn't find a way to implement in a game about robots. For developing this armor set I focused mostly on the interesting and unique shapes that dinosaurs have and for most of them I found that to be their skulls. Dinossaurs like the triceratops and parasaurolophos or pachycephalosauros all have distinct dinossaur like skulls that are almost fantastic by today's standard. 

During the rest of the day I also had a lot of people try out my game and I also recorded their feedback, user experience and overall time that it took for them to be satysfied. This will not only improve my game, but it will also give me a clearer idea of how the experience will go and I would be able to place some kind of sign that states "Usual play time around 10 min". Most of the feedback was in small user experience details such as the scroll bar being too small or the icons being confusing, however they are all quick fixes.

Lastly I had a small one to one tutorial with Cezar in order to evaluate my work that I was supposed to show Sol. The reception was quite comforting as I seem to have gotten over my downfalls from the last tutorial, however the piece I have produced themselves still seem to be sticking too closely to a standard design mentality, so I will have to keep my research in mind when designing the new concepts.]]> 2018-11-01 13:24:19 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/299347502 November 1 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/300135029 Continuing my Concept development, I did more armor sets inspired by the Maori Tribe, Carbon Structures and Instruments. The main reason I chose these subjects to serve as inspirations for pieces of armor is that they both have no correlation among each other, which would make for a more varied pool of pieces, but they also have nothing to do with robots, which means that these pieces will feel unique and remarkable for the people that play the game. 

When developing the Maori armor set I noticed that they have a really strong focus on 2D since most of the image references were of paintings and tattoos. Even though this may prove challenging, this allowed for freedom on interpretation of how would that beautiful linework would take shape in a 3Dimensional medium. I especially liked the possibility of working with different shaders, as the artwork resorts a lot on a clear contrast between the black paint and the background, so a toon shader would make a world of difference for that kind of armor.

When building the carbon set of armor I tried to use a lego mindset, have a basic building block and try to create big structures with an overlay of said building blocks. This choice was based on how these structures form in the first place, carbon atoms, a building block of organic life, when in large numbers, tends to organize itself by overlay and restructuring in a way that forms complex shapes worth of science fiction. ]]> 2018-11-04 04:07:43 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/300135029 November 2 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/300135074 Since there were no classes today it was an opportunity to work with my Unreal project back home. I still had to implement a few mechanics that are missing from the main game, so those take priority. The first thing is a posing system, though what seemed to be a pretty simple mechanic turned out to be a deep nightmare for one simple reason, you can make a character move without animation and Unreal Engine is not the software for that. That would mean I would have to waste even more learning a new software, something I can't afford at this stage, so I had to learn how to make do with Unreal Engine itself. The hardest part would be to record the animation and even though it took a few tries navigating through the menu I managed to find a crude solution through recording movements in real time and then adjusting them frame by frame. It's definitely not the most efficient way to do it, but it's a good one for my current time schedule. The actual implementation of the animations was surprisingly fast, a simple command of play animation on command took but a few lines of code and worked right in the first try.

After implementing this system I tried using some of the feedback I gathered to enhance the next build of the game. Noticeably most of it was pretty minor in terms of adjustments, move the Color UI to the other side, turn off the crouch command, make the scroll bars bigger, those are changes that improve the game drastically and yet they dont take more than a few lines of code.]]> 2018-11-04 04:08:45 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/300135074 November 5 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/302050911 Today I was able to finally have a meeting with Sol to discuss my current progress in terms of experimentation and research. The meeting was very useful as I have now gotten a firm grasp into my development as a foundation student and have now understood what I am missing from that desired distinction rating. Even though my feedback was mostly positive due to extensive experimentations and research I still have to create a solid link between that and my current practice. That means that everytime I use make something with a reference from my research it is important to make that link clear, show pictures as well as comments that explain which elements I am using for this piece. Furthermore, it would be particularly important to develop a piece of armor that is directly inspired by my collages, creating a correlation between my research and my work that is as strong as it could be.]]> 2018-11-08 13:59:15 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/302050911 November 6 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/302051018 According to the schedule, today we met our assistants from the other foundation who will help in our endeavors when setting up our Part 3 project. The introduction was very smooth since my assistant was someone who also was looking for a career in game development, however it's usefulness seems to be quite limited. Even though he wants to pursue that kind of career, he still does not have a strong fundamental knowledge of the processes of game development. This isn't all bad, however, it was nice to be able to explain to someone the processes that go into creating a game and by explaining all that I knew I was also able to reflect about my limitations, such as lighting and texturing. Overall, teaching can be just as effective a method as studying when it comes to mastering your craft.

After this I started studying more about AR technology and found out that I am in quite the complicated spot. ARCore, google's development kit for AR technology, is only a few months old and is only available on very limited platforms. Most importantly, I do not have easy access to any of the available phones and tablets, which would mean that I wouldnt be able to test my game until the exhibition day, an incredibly unsustainable deadline. Because of that I tried resorting to my backup plan, using a PC, however ARCore is only available for mobile platforms, so as of now I have no access to any device that can support my project. This is incredibly frightening as it risks a core aspect and selling point of my game, for now I have been trying a way to emulate a mobile platform within a PC, which would allow me to have access to ARCore, but that is proving to be quite the difficult challenge ]]> 2018-11-08 13:59:23 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/302051018 November 8 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/303429168 With the exhibition plans all defined I was given a deadline of proving that my project can make AR technology work for this exhibition. With this strict deadline I had no choice aside from getting a phone/tablet that can support ARCore or emulating my project on the computer until I got it right. Both options proved unviable as even if I got a phone/tablet from someone I wouldn't have enough time to implement the technology into my game and test it enough time to be considered playable. Even if I was able to emulate the device, it is not a software for you to play your games, it is merely for testing and development, so it wouldn't be able to run the game efficiently. The final nail in the coffin was when I was researching possible tablets and noticed that none of them are compatible with VR technology, meaning that I wouldn't have a device to play it at the exhibition.

With no options to make AR you would think that I had lost a big part of my project, however, AR was never part of the plan to begin with all I wanted was use it to convey the sense that you can place this models anywhere. That message is not tied to AR and I could very well convey it by making digital environments for you to place you custom characters. This would have an increased workload, but it would mostly be mechanical and achievable with time and patience, a much better risk than something that is generally quick, but incredibly difficult to set up like AR. While I was talking to Saeif, a BA student, I got the idea of using free assets and restructuring and re-positioning them in order to build the environments. This may seem underhanded, but professional level designers dont usually make their own assets, they are responsible for implement and reorganizing those assets in order to compose a level.]]> 2018-11-12 19:04:49 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/303429168 November 9 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/303429296 When rethinking my exhibition proposal I had to make the decision if I would stick to a mobile platform or switch to desktop. The advantages of mobile is higher acessibility due to a more intuitive design and more simple control scheme and shows a proficiency in the mobile market, which is highly coveted for brazilian companies. However, mobile would require a few sacrifices, I would have to lower the graphics in order to mantain game performance and I would also have to rework the controls in order for them to work with just a single button, the touch screen. With this setbacks I decided that switching to a desktop would be the far better route, especially because I should be able to attach a game controller via bluetoooth and make the setup look that much more professional.

The design of the exhibition isn't that much different either, the desk where the environments will be gone as there is no use for it now and I can use the leftover space to rearrange the plinths for a more aesthetically pleasing look. The only hardship I can think that can occur with this setup is the increase in the ammount of cables, as I would need a power source connecting to the monitor a HDMI going from the PC and into the monitor. This may improve the digital aspect quite a lot from what I had plan previously, as the focus wont be drawn away from the game and into the models as well as the performance boost that I mentioned previously. ]]> 2018-11-12 19:05:02 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/303429296 November 12 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/303429355 What must I finish today and tomorrow for my project to meet my planning?

It's very important to finish the overall look of the UI as well as finish and implement the final environment tomorrow at the most. The reason for this is that it would mark the end of the raw content inside my game, the rest of the work could be entirely focused on cleanup and bug fixing as well as registering my progress and production. This will make for not only a smoother development cycle, but also a clearer one, not mixing refinement steps with production steps. 
 
How will I plan my production during the next week to meet the submission deadline on November 21st?

As I have been doing before, I arrange my plans in an Excel sheets as that allows me quick and easy access to it anywhere I am as well as allowing me to do quick fixes and edits with frequency. For this last week it is very easy to through the planning out of the window in order to not get in the way of production, but this will lead to sloppy development and messy production pipelines. I will also be able to use my time more efficiently than I would do if I was just swinging it. As for specifics, I plan on having a build done at the very most by the end of Friday and having the other 4 others exclusive for registering things that were missed during the development. This is all to guarantee that my work isn't just polished, but the production angle is also very well detailed for the assessment, as sketchbook, research and reflection are incredibly important aspects in that evaluation. ]]> 2018-11-12 19:05:09 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/303429355 November 13 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305029678 How does what I have achieved today compare with my daily target? How can I adjust my planning before the deadline to be more effective?

My target for the day was rather simple and maybe not ambitious enough, I needed to finish one environment of the 4 that will be present in the final game. This goal, however, was easily achievable during studio sessions and, therefore, I was left with a lot of unplanned time during my day. With that in mind however, my action plan is flexible enough that I can simply use the leftover time to complete, or in this case start, tomorrow's task and than have the empty time relocated to some other task should the time come.

What assessment criteria do I still need to securely evidence and how will I do this? 

When looking through the assessment criteria it truly is a scare piece of paper as every criteria requires sheer perfection in order for a distinction to be achieved. With this in mind, however, I do feel like I have made an impressive leap towards that max score. This is due to my constant talks and tutorials specifically geared towards reaching that goal and with time I started learning the rules of the game. If there is one aspect that I need to emphasize a lot during the registering of my work is the presentation and all the experiments I've done during that. Since I am making a digital project my presentation isnt purely just the physical, it should count hardware and software that I chose, it should count my experiments with the UI and UX in order to cater to my players needs. This are aspects specific to an exhibition environment, but that are entirely digital, even though that may seem like an odd prospect to someone who isnt very familiar with game exhibitions. ]]> 2018-11-15 20:53:39 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305029678 November 14 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305029721 Yesterday I was able to get ahead on my production schedule for the environment production and started my work on the last environment, space. This one in terms of modelling was much simpler than the others, it required nothing other than a sphere with a space texture wrapped around it, but in order to make that work within the boundaries of the engine was quite the herculean task. First problem that I ran through was that the sphere, like other object, hard mass and a collision, which means that it would throw my character around and mess all of the camera angles. I had run into this kind of problem before in my Building Narratives project and remembered to turn off the collision in order to make this work. 

After that endeavor it was a matter of working with reflections and lighting when within a closed sphere. Lighting and textures are by far one of my weak points in game design due to their technical ceiling and also not being the most popular aspects of game design, meaning there is little to no resources about them on the internet. I tried working with simple concepts that I could grasp, like transparency, metallic and base color, this would not yield the best and most faithful to reality result, but it was enough to make the texture look decent and also feel like a part of the project. ]]> 2018-11-15 20:53:46 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305029721 November 15 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305029766 With most of my textures defined it was time to implement the Cel Shader into my game. Due to the time of my project I simply could not support to work on a photo realistic pipeline as it is very technical and requires not only years of study, but also very expensive hardware capable of rendering those models. With this in mind I decided to give my project a visual identity through a technique called "Cel Shading", a post process technique which takes a raw image and simplify it's color patters to only a few tones per color, making the image look very flat, like a cartoon of sorts. This would, hopefully make my game very charming and also more alive as the regular 3D models and their usual shading feels very sterile and lifeless.

Even though implementing this shader was mostly an act of following a tutorial and adjusting values according to what I was aiming for, there were some surprising visuals that I managed to get along the way. Those are products of the post process shader and even though they are technically incomplete I can for sure see myself using them for some other projects as the visuals feel very unique, almost like a cyber noir look.

One immediate flaw of this shading system is that it does not like complex, high quality texture as they generate too much noise when under the shader. In order to combat that I had to look for lower detail, especially in terms of color, textures to serve as replacements, such as the grass in the wildlands, which was pure yellow due to all the noise present in the image.]]> 2018-11-15 20:53:52 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305029766 November 16 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305729632 Today was dedicated into implementing proper graphic design into the menuing of my game. Graphic Design is directly related to UI and UX, which means that by implementing concepts and design philosophies from that art field I am directly enhancing the overall player experience. What a lot of games taught me over the years is that having a solid set of mechanics is not enough if you can't properly inform your player of said mechanics, on top of that there is also the matter of doing it elegantly. A lot of games flood the player with menus and information that is too crammed and that leads to confusion and loss of interest, so using designs tricks that dont require explanations, such as colors or symbols can be much more effective. 

In this project I decided to go the philosophy that the most important things should get the more screen time and since my robot is the main character and the game isnt about a world or a story, instead it is just about him I made sure that he always got at least 50% of the screen. Every single other option should feel smaller in comparison to the character because that is where I want the player to be constantly looking. That is not to say that I shouldnt make the menus visible, I made them black to contrast with the overall white tone of the game for this very reason. ]]> 2018-11-18 23:17:10 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305729632 November 17 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305729645 After working on all the menus and title yesterday I wanted to start working on some marketing material in order to promote my project to outside sources during the exhibition, but also beyond that. Since I spent 3 months in this project I need to make so it stays relevant in my portfolio for at least this much time, if not more, getting the most out of my work. There is a matter of cost and manpower, though, I am a one man company and have a very limited budget, however I was able to plan quite the effective and cheap marketing pipeline for this project specifically. The thing I should capitalize the most is the use of the internet and social media to my advantage, using my "Robot Factory" logo and gameplay videos to spread the most about this project world wide through the web. However, I must also work in a physical level, this is a huge step up from other indie creator and gives a sense of professionalism that digital marketing simply cannot reach. For this I have worked on making business cards sharing my portfolio as well as this project specifically. This is a cheap solutions, being able to make 1000 cards for a fraction of what 1000 posters would cost, furthermore they are much easier to hand out than the latter. On top of that, I can always carry some business cards with me, so whenever I go, even if it doesn't have any connection to my career, I can simply hand out a card and attract potential customers. As for the design of the cards themselves, I decided to use the logo for the game on the front, a powerful and simple image that easily transmits the message and generates curiosity while on the back I would have a simple white surface with business information. It's important to keep the back clean so nothing will get in the way of a potential customer contacting me. ]]> 2018-11-18 23:17:17 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305729645 November 18 otavio_neves https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305729666 With everything from marketing to menuing to bug fixing done I decided that I was confident enough to ship the current version of the game and record a gameplay video of that version for the assessment. The reason I was so confident is because the nature of this game is very modular, it is very easy to add and remove features and parts should I feel something lacking for the exhibition. Furthermore adding more pieces wouldn't affect the performance or mechanics of the game, it would only be more content. On top of that, making more pieces is something that takes time and if I tried to fit it in this time frame, as I had planned, they would end up looking sub par and this could make the game feel far less professional.

As for the decision of the trailer itself, I decided to make it custom made for this assessment, something that will NOT be show at the exhibition or portfolio. The key reason here is that this trailer has the function of showing everything the game has to offer, it shows each and every piece and shows piece by piece the gameplay flow. If I were to make a trailer for an exhibition or portfolio I would follow a very different method, I would make quicker cuts and show less about the game, the reason is to build up hype and generate curiosity, it is never wise to show your hand all at once as it kill all of the mysteries that the game could offer. ]]> 2018-11-18 23:17:29 UTC https://padlet.com/otavio_neves/dox2qaqgycvc/wish/305729666