Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Modeling the Characters




The Tool:

I've been studying Zbrush for some days now, and found Sculptris just a few hours ago.

Sculptris is very handy, quick, and hassle-free sculpting application. For the purpose of making concepts or even base models for retopology later on, I find this application very useful.

It's a very easy tool for creativity, and allows you to focus on what you're creating than fighting the UI.


The idea:

Based off of Starcraft and Broodwar's image of the Protoss, and combining it with Starcraft 2's more human-like features, I've decided to go for this structure.

I've always felt the Protoss were supposedly alien, and would love to keep those things in.


Purpose:

This model will be used to create the mid-res model, which will be for cinematic purposes.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Full Metal Loop

Experimenting with Metal Music.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Composing Music Tracks

New Version:


video

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Map Making: Gradual Progress

The key to creating the first map was to start small. Create a map 64x64 or 96x96 and expand the map size and camera bounds as you go forward.

It is more rewarding and you get more satisfaction working this way, than working a big map and not be able to have something a bit solid after an hour of work.

The key thing to remember is to keep in mind the specific areas of interest in your map. This is where your draft comes in handy.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Design Principles: Mission I, Into The Storm

A scene and a mission scenario is not that different. It must have a setup, revelation, conflict, and resolution.

In that regard, creating this mission required that the scene exists first, without thinking that this is going to be a mission scenario for a game.

Action/Adventure stories are arguably the easiest to convert into a game. Your characters are involved doing things, and everything hinges and focuses on these things they do and how it affects their progress through the story.

Now, since this is the first scene, it must contain the first major dramatic twist. It should present the way things are, and then an event should occur that turns things up side down, thus introducing the audience to the symptoms of the central problem of the story.

This however should be established so that it actually means something to the characters. Say, for example one event does happen that means so much to someone you are looking at. Without knowing first the things involved in that event, we will never understand how this can be important.

This will mean we could just shrug the event off, no matter how eventful it was for the character.

Turning this script into a mission is not automatic, and cannot be forced. It must come to you naturally, and it will. This is the time adjustments must be made, but this doesn't mean the tensions in the script will be broken or lessened. In fact, it can be amplified even more.

The only limiting factor will come from the absence of actual actors that will show the audience the emotion of the scene and thus the meaning of the various interactions of the story elements. Human actors, good ones, makes this task fluid, quick, and easy.

After all, being there in a particular event would feel so much different than merely listening to someone talking about it. And even listening to a story from a more expressive story teller is so much better when compared to someone who just reports it to you without even making a gesture.

What you can preserve for certain are the character interactions and the progression of their relationships as the event unfolds. The thematic nature of those relationships will never be different, whether you make a script for a film, a comic or a game. And of course all of the fundamental elements and themes of the story itself will never be changed.

What you may be forced to add are activities that doesn't really relate to the scene at all. Say, harvest these amount of minerals. I call these player errands.

Player errands however must at least be tied into the actions or activities central to the scene we are trying to convert or transcribe into a mission scenario.

Mostly, there's a lot of running around from script to mission, and vice-versa, when it comes to making this mission, almost to the point confusion comes in that either of the two makes any sense anymore.

The quick fix to this usual obstacle, which is by the way caused by exhaustion, is to remember the fundamental elements present in your scene, what you wanted to tell the audience, and how you'd want them to react or feel.

Making a mission scenario from a scene script is just like asking the question, "How do I show the player these things?"

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Characters of the SCBW Version: RALRAZIN

Role: Skeptic (allied)

Ralrazin is the younger sister of Nalani'Khal, and an expert in robotics engineering. Her talents involve the unconventional use of energy to construct, albeit unstable, machines.

While the effects of the 'Psionic Backlash' endured, Ralrazin became the key instrument to establishing the Psionic Matrix the Legions employed in the campaign. She was also the one who suggested the idea of overloading the Prism Cores which made contact with Aldaris possible.

Ralrazin trusts no one, and consider everyone to be ultimately self-serving regardless of any gesture of kindness, mercy, or kinship.

To this end, Ralrazin herself has aided the Legion simply because she happens to be where the Legion was when the event occured.

Zergund asks her why she decided to tag along, and she said,

"Our world is changed, Zergund. I doubt where I should be still matters. Where you are heading, on the other hand, seems very interesting."



Saturday, June 18, 2011

Factions of SCBW Version: VICERATORS

Vicerators are once members of the Nar'Khalani -- a group of individuals kept under control by the Conclave for their inability to control or wield their immense raw psionic powers.

Influenced by the Warped Voice despite their lack of knowledge regarding its existence, the Vicerators are unwilling pawns and time-bombs ready to be triggered when the time is ripe for them to fulfill their purpose.

Khaludar would eventually face the unleashed form of the Vicerators later into the SC2 version of the campaign.

During one of the Acts of Survivors (SC:BW version), the Vicerators were promised by the Voice to protect the Khalai Executor's tribesmen while he would venture into the heavily infested Scion Province in search for the Shards.

True to his word, the Vicerators joined the Khalai Executor's forces during the final Act, while Teradun attempts to force his way through the main bulk of the Swarm.