Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction Week 7 and 8 – Sketchup model built & manual collision system

This the final model I’ve built for ADM RPG, it took more than a total of 5 weeks to build it to this scale and the only thing that was not build by me is the railings found on the roof top and level 1 and 2 inside ADM. Although there are still many areas which is not completed like 2nd floor Foundation side(the scale is wrong but everything else works) and 3 and 4th floor, I could not go back to edit it as my Sketchup trail expired, tried many ways to reinstall the sketch up but apparently it doesn’t work once I updated to Sketchup 2017. This is a animation I did within Sketchup animation program. Since adding details is a never ending process(i could add much more detail down to every single object in adm, all table placement and sprinkler on the rooftop and such) but I need to proceed to next step else I will never complete the game, so I will leave the model as it is as it is already playable. IT IS NOT PERFECT BUT ITS WORKING AND COMPLETED!

This is the process in which i added the collision to the fence(it is downloaded and doesnt have a mesh that is usable as a collider within Unity, therefore i need to create my own).

Explanation of what I did in this video:

Create a rectangular box and scale it according to the angle and size of every fence(which tooks alot of time, this is a timelapse video of 30x speed)
Place the rectangular box covering the fence
Add Physic: “Mesh Collider” to the rectangular box
Turn off the “Mesh Renderer” so the box disappear from sight
Collision still work after Renderer is turned off.
Try the collision out and spot for possible bug(stuck and such)

After this process, I’ve got full collision system that all the current object have collision, the walkable areas are walkable while places like outside of ADM area and water at Sunken Plaza are off limits.

Next up I will add NPC and interactable objects to the game, write in narrative for them and refine the game till the end of semester.

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction Week 6 – ADM RPG try Sketchup to Unity

This is a (really) late post for week 6 as I had been busy building the Sketchup model throughout the week and over the 1 week school break.

During Week 5 to 6, i build the outer walls of ADM and tried to import it into Unity and figured out how the collision work as the model doesnt have collision and I figured that I need to add the mesh collider to the model by finding the model mesh among 3 thousands of mesh and use it as a collider. after which, this is the first try I did for the game, i would say it is working better than I expected.

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction Week 5 – ADM Building part 1

ADM Layout Research: Floor Plan Searching

I tried to find floor plan of ADM online and after long period of searching, I could not find any Floor plan that contain any information information I need Therefore I took a photo of ADM floor plan at level one near the lift to use it as the base to build ADM so that my general proportion is correct(hopefully).

First Blender Usage – Gave up.

I’ve tried blender (since its free) and seriously dont like it as I am totally not used to it, all the basic control is different from what I am used to, therefore I’ve decided to stick to Sketchup since it can be exported into FBX and be used as Unity Models.

The Start of BUILDING ADM.

In the end, sketch up is much better since the function is more basic and is able to be used to create a low poly model(note: my game is phone base game therefore highly detailed models might lag game and reduce the overall experience while playing).I have the picture of the Floor plan of level one. But the height and other thing like the slope gradient I’ve used google image search to estimate how tall it should be, how steep each slope is and roughly model ADM out visually(i am sure it is wrong structurally speaking, but at least i tried to make it as visually similar to the real thing as possible.) Every line was actually drawn by me(except the little human figure which is there by default when sketchup is opened, which i used it to gauge the scale of whole ADM and i changed the scale a few times afterwards)

When I tried to build the Sunken plaza, I realized that I’ve modeled ADM wrongly in the previous picture the ending of the two slope (product design room and the animation room side) are on different height and tried to fix it to the correct one below.

As the top of ADM is a slope and curvy, everything near to the top of ADM was REALLLYYY HARD to align as sketchup is good only in making XYZ alignment but not otherwise so I need to draw many line in XYZ direction just to align the position and delete those lines afterwards, which took me a lot of time.

After that all this modeling, I’ve made the rough exterior of ADM out but I am sure that the bigger problem will be the interior which will take up most of the time, at least I’ve got the easiest part done, FOR NOW.

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction – Learning Unity Part2

After trying out the tutorial in the last post, I found another one which is much better!

I’ve went through this tutorial twice by accident as my save file got overwritten by another file when I tried to explore the asset store. so yeah, this is the most basic of Unity, the way to move something without animation.

ANDDDDD THE MAIN POINT OF THIS POST!

This is Unity Chan!!!

most probably the character I am going to use for my 3D game, Unity Chan is a free to use character model by Unity(I am sure of it as I’ve read all of the licencing, Grant of License, Condition of use, as well as their official page FAQ.*They even allow it for normal commercial use*)

After this Tutorial, this is still insufficient to create the basic control of the game as there are many mechanics lacking (camera panning, the character dont even move well), but I still gain important knowledge from here and trying it out, this is a tutorial focusing on animation than movement.

I’ve also did my scripting and modified it to make it animate and move slightly better than in the tutorial, so yeah, that’s about it, the exploration of unity and learning lots of stuffs in it, maybe one day I could be a game producer 😉

After a few more attempt and followup on the project, i managed to make the camera to follow and pan according to the character movement which i really like it, this should be the base to create the final project.

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction – Mechanics/System/Things I need

Unity

Basic movement with animation.(walking, running, jumping,interaction, NPC idle animation)
collision system with walkable and unwalkable areas.
Character Control with Camera system.(3rd person view ~~or first person?~~, ~~click to move or~~ keyboard controlled movement?)
User Interface (speech, ~~option menu~~, dialogue selection,Interaction with objects and NPC)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXjRR1nnC5M)
Distance system that allow interaction only when the character is near to the Interactable.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXjRR1nnC5M)
NPC and Intractable Object.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-FVQ3jpRN8) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBd-hiDGrrg&index=50&list=PLb34wPRpZdVeoBHH-WWRzGT7J6d32mEww)
NPC movements(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXpi1czz5NA)
Invisible wall to mark out playing areas.
System/portal that change the stage.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtSVnV9iVk8&index=80&list=PLb34wPRpZdVeoBHH-WWRzGT7J6d32mEww)
Quest system with counter.
Inventory system.
loading screen(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJQXoG3caGc)

Environment

Adm in 3D maybe split into different stages.(for unity)
lighting(indoor and outdoor)(within unity)
Skybox(within unity)
Sound, simple noise, environment, background music, character sound.
Architecture, environment and objects in common areas.(all areas that doesn’t require metric card.. yes… thats almost whole of adm excluding classroom and office)
Textures (concrete, glass, water, grass,wood)
Foundation rooms.

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction – Plot V1.

Chapter 1 : Orientation Week

The Story Happens in ADM Building.
Main character enrolled into ADM as first year.

All the tutorial for control and mechanics happen here as the first few task guided by an Non-Player Character (NPC).

The player are required to walk around the common area of ADM to make more friends(NPC) and they will give random facts about the school, survival tips to survive ADM life, there will also be intractable objects lying all around and player are required to complete certain number(10-20) of NPC talk and interacting with certain number of intractable(15-25) to complete the task.

Upon completion of the task, The player will be directed to proceed to the office at level one to collect their matriculation card which unlock their entry to Foundation Drawing, 2D, 3D and 4D room.

End Of Chapter 1.

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction – Learning Unity Part 1

Unity Capability, Tutorials and Free Assets (YAY!!)

This is the first tutorial which i went through, I really love it as it is a smart point and click RPG system, the collision is all auto and generated by Agent Mesh which is a really smart system that auto calculate the path when it is blocked and it will move by the next shortest path.

Since I know nothing about Unity, this single video took me atleast 6 hours to complete, after I completed this tutorial, I realize that there are only 7 parts currently (most of it is about combat which I don’t need it) and is insufficient for me to create my project. (below is what I did by following through the tutorial, I really love the lighting and effect of those low-poly object works together!)

maybe I will wait for another tutorial to be released by this guy, or I will find another one. Atleast I learn a whole lot in this tutorial!! (and also learnt how to download assets and use them!)

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction – Platform Research

First of all, Game Maker Studio vs Unity 5 for game making.

After watching this, I decided that i want to use Unity 5 as I really want to make a 3D game, although it is harder and will take more time to learn and apply it, I think it will be a good exposure for me as Unity will be capable not only in making Game, it could also be used as an app developing software which is really useful skillset for me in the future, moreover, it is free and can be exported into android/iOS which will be another big potential for future development.

Since I want to make a game based in ADM, it would make sense to make a 3D one as it will feel more immersive as player could look around in the environment. The biggest problem here is that there is no 3D model or Floorplan of ADM available online, that simply means that i have to build everything myself based on just one picture i took in ADM.

this will be the base that I will start with. After some research, I found out that Blender and Sketchup could be used to export model into Unity5 to be used as environment.

Next up – learning stuffs through tutorial and youtube for Unity, Blender/Sketchup

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction – Overview V1.0

A game where player start as a First year student in ADM, With the classic time table and going through tutorial by doing “Quest”(Projects) which each module required them to do specific task which will increase their skill level. the player will gain one skill point every 5 minute they are doing a specific task and will be able to advance to their “First Job” when they have completed all “Quest” available.

The advancement into next “Job” which is the selection of major within ADM system, there are 6 “Job” available for selection which are :

Animation – A Job which requires long hour of playing and each task takes a long time to complete, player need to have minimum stats in creativity and drawing in order to take up this Job

Product Design – A job that require long hours of playing and each task take long time to complete, player need to have minimum stat in hands on and drawing to take up this Job.

Flim -A Job that requires long hours of playing and each task will be expensive to complete, player need to have minimum stats in creativity and knowledge in order to take up this Job.

Photography – A job that require high observation and each task will be tedious to complete, player require to have stat in creativity and knowledge to take up this Job.

Interactive Media – A job that require large amount of resource and each task will be tedious to complete, player need to have minimum stat in creativity and knowledge to take up this Job.

Visual Communication – A job that require large amount of resource and each task will be expensive to complete, player need to have minimum stat in hands on and drawing to take up this Job.

After the player took up job, there will be a test to take before gaining the first ability in the job and unlocking their respective areas

Animation – “Speed Sketch” & “The Animation Dungeon”

Product Design – “Woodwork” & “PD Workshop”

Flim – “Cinematoledge” & “The Flim Studio”

Photography – “Keen Eye” & “Photog Room”

Interactive Media – “Troubleshooting” & “IM Room”

Visual Communication – “Visual Appeal” & “VisCom Lab”

Year 2 sem 2 – Narrative for interaction – The Four Concept Reflection

The Four Concept is a really interesting piece as it is written in a way that it is a narrative piece on its own with “Initial State”, “Insight Brought about Changes” and “Repetition” which is mentioned under the definition of “Narrative” used as a structure of the essay (mentioning that the four concept deserve a spanking something similar in the essay which I think it is really “playful”)

The first thing that blows my mind is “All narrative is interactive”….. I didn’t think about this before as like our Prof Vladimir asked something like “how can a painting (Wanderer above Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich) be interactive?” and we denied that it is interactive because that it is only a painting and painting doesn’t interact back. But this is not actual case as the fact that when we look at the painting, we will have a thought about the piece like “wow!! What a magnificent view!!” which only happens after we see it. Yes, it does not speak to us, but we feel and think about something because of it and it is the way that the piece of painting is “Speaking” to us when we “View” it. In a sense, this is a two way communication and therefore considered an “Interactive” “Narrative”.

Throughout the Essay, there is a constant classification of ideas into layers which not only interlace, but also was built upon the previous layers, like “Game Play” is built upon “Ludic activity” which is built upon “being playful”, I think this is really interesting as it split the idea of “Play” into different yet similar concepts. While reading this, I copied out a few sentence which gave me ideas that could be used to build into a final project, which are “”narrative have events”, “Cognitive Interactivity” “play -> Rigid rules -> Freedom within the rules”, these ideas helped me to formulate the idea of making a game which fulfills all of the prospects for the project – interactivity and narrativity while giving me the tools I need for producing the game – common knowledge relevant to our class, rules for games, and also freedom within the rules I created.