Female 3D Model - Low Polygon Model Done

 
So today is the due date for my project that I've been blogging about for a few months. As you can see on the screenshot above, I have the low polygon model of both the dress and shawl on the body of my character.

As I said before, I tried to finish the model before so I could make a texture for it, but I ran out of time. I will be going on vacation in a few days, and won't be able to touch my project for about a week. When I come back, I will start working on laying out the UVs and eventually I will texture the model. I still don't know how I want to make the character look, but I think I will go for a stylized look.

My plan is to eventually: texture, bake maps, rig, and make a shader in Unity. I don't know how long it will take me to get all this done, but I think that its a good goal for early 2016.

That's all for now, and have a happy new year (in case I don't post again this year). I don't know how many people (if any) actually read this blog, but thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Shawl Retopology in Topogun

So I did more work on the shawl in ZBrush to get the folds looking the way I want. This time it was really simple since I used my work on the dress to guide my work on the shawl.

I then took the high polygon model into Topogun just like I did with the dress before. This time it was much quicker to get this done, specially since its just one really long rectangle. Now that I am more familiar with the tools, I was able to just start putting points on the model and quickly worked my way around it. Tomorrow is the due date for this assignment, so I don't think that I will have a texture for it by tomorrow. While the texture is not required for the assignment, it was just a personal goal I had.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Dress Detail Rework

So a couple days ago I thought I was done with the dress for my model, but after showing it to my professor he gave me some feedback on the folds. I decided to go back and do more work on it and I think this looks a lot better.

I went back and tried to add a few more folds, but I wanted to keep it light. I didn't have to worry about doing the retopology again since I didn't change the overall shape of the dress. I don't know if I will get to baking out the normal maps before I turn the assignment in, but since I will continue to work on this project I don't think of this as wasted work. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Dress Retopology in Topogun

So last week I was talking to a fellow classmate in my class and the subject of retopology came up. I told him that I would do the retopology for my dress in ZBrush. He told me that he would use Topogun and that its super easy to learn.

So today I decided to buy a license, its only $100 so I decided that it was worth it if it was even slightly easier than ZBrush. Well, I can say that it really is super easy. I didn't even watch a tutorial on Topogun and I figured out how to use it. I'm probably not using it to its maximum potential, but I managed to do the retopology for the dress in a couple hours while I learned the software. From here I can just export my work as an Obj and done.

I will work a little more on the shawl and I will also do the retopology in Topogun. Anyways, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - nCloth for Dress & Shawl

So after trying for a bit to make my dress in Marvelous Designer, I failed. I got a really good basic dress, but it just wasn't turning out how I wanted it. So I have now decided to go back to Maya and do more work with the nCloth system and get a good base dress and shawl that I like.

The above picture is of where I am right now after subdividing the dress a few times and playing with the settings for the simulation on the dress. I had to pin/anchor most of the dress from the hips up, which is why it looks really flat/unchanged on the top and with folds on the bottom.

From here I will take both pieces of cloth into ZBrush and try to do as much as possible there. I also don't have any experience making cloth in ZBrush, but I think that I have more control in ZBrush than I did in Marvelous Designer.

This project is due on December 20th, so I have to hustle and try to finish everything as soon as possible with the sculpt so I can get a texture started. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Cloth in Marvelous Designer

Front View

So here is my first attempt at making cloth in another software package called Marvelous Designer. I've honestly never used software like this before, but the gist is that its a tool used for making cloth and getting it to drape on your model in a natural way and its super easy to use. Now, this doesn't mean that I am now an expert at this, but this was my first crack at trying to make my dress in MD (short for Marvelous Designer). 

3/4 View

What I really like about this tool is that it works just like sewing in real life, you have to know where to make your cuts and what not. This is probably what gave me the hardest time, and still does. I know nothing about sewing or fashion, so I am having a hard time knowing where to put my cuts on the "cloth". I have been looking at how other people doe in real dresses, and I think I'm getting closer but I still have a long way to go.

Side View

Anyway, I will give it a few more attempts at making the dress in MD but I don't want to spend a lot of time learning a new software package when I need to get this textured within the next two weeks. If I give up in trying to make the dress in MD, I will make sure to come back and visit it since I am super impressed with this tool. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Version 1.0 Model Almost Finished

So I was a little lazy over thanksgiving break, and now I am mad at myself because I feel like I wasted a week. Now that I'm back, I'm done with the model that I've been working on for a couple months now. I know that it has been a really slow process, but this is the first time that I pushed myself this hard to do a character model.

Once I was done with the dress, I felt like she was still missing something, so I decided to create a shawl using the NCloth simulation. I'm not too familiar with it, but I think I will have to go back and rework it since the shawl drapes really weird on her shoulders. Once I'm done with that, I will have to reduce the polygon count on it, but I think I will do that part in ZBrush. 

I also worked on her shoes this week. At first I didn't want to give her high heels because I think its really quiche, but since she is wearing an evening-like dress, she has to wear heels.

Next I will finish the shawl and move on to doing the UV layouts for the model. For this assignment its not required that I texture her, but I do want to turn this into a portfolio piece. I will post progress on that as well, and over winter break I plan on working on a shader and on a rig for her. 

The reason for the shader and rig is that I was talking to my professor and he though that I should know the whole process a character goes through while in development for a game. And since I am now learning how to code, I think I'm starting to lean on becoming a Technical Artist. That's all for now, thanks for reading. 

Female 3D Model - Hair Finished

So I finally managed to finish the hair. I will mention that this was my first true attempt at making hair in Maya, before I never really got this far with a character that I need to do hair. While I learned a lot in the process of making the hair, it took for ever to finish it. I did 4 layers of hair to give it some volume, and it still doesn't quite look the way I thought it would. But for now this is good enough and I won't touch it again.

I also did some work on the dress, but its also not finished yet. Also, earlier today I started to block out a gun holster that she will have on her exposed thigh. I still don't know how I will make it but I know that I will think of something.

For next week I hope to have the holster done and I hope to have started to work on the shoes. While I do know that having female spies in high heels is very cliche, I really like that look and I'm going for it anyways. I will make sure that they are not as ridiculous as stilettos, but my character will be wearing high heels.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Work on Ears and Hair

So since last time I managed to finish the head by attaching the ear to it (see top render). It took me some time to make sure that all the edges would match up.

I have also started to work on the hair, which turns out takes a ton of time to do. What I have been doing is create a curve and then extrude along that curve. This allows me to control how the hair falls, but I also have to do multiple layers to make it have some substance. So far I finished the first layer and I'm about half way done on the send layer.

Hopefully by next week I will finish the hair and start working on the rest of the body. I want to finish the dress and start on the gun holster. Anyways, that's all for now and thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - More Work on the Face/Dress

So since last week I have been working on the face, but I only managed to finish the mouth and the eye balls. I tried to start working on the ears, but I just couldn't bring myself to keep working on the head.

I did keep working a bit on the dress. I decided to make it a full length dress, but I don't know if I'm going to leave that way. I want to break up the shape of the dress a bit, but I still don't know how to do that. I will probably experiment a bit with the shape but for now this is what I have.

By next week, I will try to work on the dress a bit more and maybe even the shoes. I'm thinking of giving my character high heels, but I think that may be a bit of a cliche. Anyways, thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Face

So since last time I have been working on the face of my character. I have mostly the face done, but the mouth has been giving me a lot of problems. I have the general outline done, but I still have to do some tweaking to get it just right.

Hopefully by next time I will have all the face done and maybe even the ears. Anyways, thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Hands & Dress

So since last time I was able to finish the hands and I even started working on the clothes. I completely forgot about making the knuckles for the hands, but since I'm probably going to have her wear gloves, I don't know if I need to make them.

I made a very simple dress, but I still have some work to do on it since there are random triangles all over the place. I also don't know if I want to have a long dress like my concept drawing, or if I should leave it like the short skirt its right now.

For next week I plan to redo the head since the eyes are all wrong and I am having trouble making the lips. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

New Software QA Job

So after about a month an a half of looking for work, I am happy to say that yesterday I started my new job as a QA Specialist at Towers Watson. That's just a fancy title for a QA tester, unfortunately this time around it won't be testing games or even at a game studio.

So Towers Watson is a big firm that does a bunch of financial stuff, but specifically I am working on testing software that they use for their health care side of their business. I am not sure how much I can or can't say, but essentially I will be testing software and hopefully I will be here for a while and hopefully learn more about software development in general.

My dream of working for a game studio hasn't died, its just in the back burner for a bit. This year I decided to go back to school to learn software development for games, and so far I have taken a Python class last semester. This semester I couldn't take a programming class since there wasn't one at a time I could work with.

Anyways, my first day at my new job was good. Basically I followed someone around all day and learned what they do there and how to test some of the software. Anyways, thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Arms & Head

So I finally finished the arms and the head, although I think I may have added a bit too many polygons to the lower half of the head. At the moment I haven't added any lips since my character is going to be wearing a half mask.

I tried to start working on the hands, and I was thinking of just using the hand I made a few weeks ago. But that hand has too many polygons and its more of a man's hand. I will try to make the hand and mirror it over this week.

I hope that I will also have time to start working on the clothes for my character. Nothing fancy, but at least get in the basic mesh for a dress and maybe even the hair.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Torso Retopology

Since last time, I have reworked the torso of my model as you can see from the screenshot above.

It took me a while, but I started from the between the legs and worked my way up. I first cut the edges that connect the hip and the torso. Then I worked on the muscle structure on the abdomen and worked my way to the breasts. I worked on the back and the butt, and finally I made the legs and feet.

I tried to have the arms done this week, but getting everything done took a lot longer. By next week I will have the arms done and hopefully more. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Female 3D Model - Basic Blockout

So like I said last time, this semester I'm going to focus on modeling a female character in Maya since I'm good at environment art but not at character art... specially the face.

This is the general shape of what my character is going to be. As you can see, everything is even quads and there is no real edge flow at the moment. My goal for next week is to add more detail on the muscle definition and work on the topology of the body. I don't know how much I will be able to get done, but hopefully as much as what I currently have.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Character Concept

So for my 3D modeling class, I had to create a simple sketch for what I want my character to be. I am going for a female spy.

Anyways, this was something I threw together quickly. Thanks for reading!

Human Hand 3D Model

So this semester I decided to take another 3D modeling class, this one focus on modeling a human character in Maya.

To start things out, the teacher of the class wanted us to model a human hand to see where our skill in Maya was. I kind of went a little crazy with my poly-count and it doesn't have the best topology, but since I'm not going to use it in a model I think it will due.

Next up we have to make a rough model of the body of the character that we will be modeling the rest of the semester. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

On the Job Hunt - Resume Updated

So now that I'm not working at Disney, I am looking for a new job. So far I have interviewed at a few places, but nothing yet. Anyways, I am just posting this here in case it helps me find a job.

Anyways, for now I will relax, catch up on some games, and maybe work on some art as well. Thanks for reading!

Last Day at Disney - Again

So today was my last day at Disney Interactive's QA team. Since this is my second project in the game industry, I didn't feel as bad about it as I did almost a year ago. On that day, I felt like my dream of working in the game industry had been within my grasp and I had failed to grab a hold of it.

Now I understand that being a contractor is just a way of how stuff is done in the industry. Its an unfortunate thing that a lot of people in the game industry must first work a lot of contract jobs before finally settling down. But I'm still young and hopefully I will be working at a different studio soon or at least something relate.

I have to say that even though I won't be going back to Disney for at least a year, I am very happy that I got a chance to work on my second project. This time around I was team lead for the PS3 network team and I had a chance to work more closely with the development team than last year. I also got to meet a bunch of new people, some that have even become good friends now.

Anyways, I leave you guys with my favorite trailer for Disney Infinity 3. Thanks for reading!

Drawing - Tharja WIP

So I know that I only do a few drawing every once in a while, but its because it takes me kind of long to finish. So I decided that I would start doing WIP (work in progress) post every few days for the ones that take me longer than usual.

This is a drawing based on Tharja, one of my favorite characters from Fire Emblem Awakening. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Disney Infinity 3.0 - Released

So today Disney Infinity 3.0 was released, and I am really excited for everyone to play the new game that I helped test.

As the picture above shows, this time around we also have Star Wars characters along with more Marvel and traditional Disney characters. This time around there are three play sets:

The first one takes elements from episodes 1-3 and the Clone Wars cartoon called Twilight of the Republic. The main playable characters are: Anakin, Ahsoka, Yoda, and Obi Wan. You can also play as Darth Maul once you beat the Play Set at least once.

The seconds one takes elements from episodes 4-6 called Rise Against the Empire. The main playable characters are: Luke, Leia, Han Solo, and Chewyy. You can only play as Darth Vader and Boba Fett once you have beat the Play Set at least once.

The last one is based on one of my favorite Pixar movies, the Inside Out Play Set. The main characters are: Anger, Disgust, Fear, Joy, and Sadness. Honestly, this is probably my favorite Play Set, this is mainly a platforming game with a lot of twists and turns. I would like to point out that the game is not an adaptation of the movie. This is its own game with its own story line, the premise of the story is that Riley feel asleep and is having nightmares and its up to all five of the emotions to help Riley through the night. If I had to guess, I would said that it takes place after the movie but I don't know.

Aside from the three Play Sets, there are two Toy Box games just like last time: Toy Box Takeover & Toy Box Speedway.

Takeover is a dungeon crawler much like the Kyln/Brave games from the 2.0 edition. The main story is that Syndrome took a wand and is now in control of the powers of the Toy Box. He created his own fort and its the players mission to travel through different worlds to find a way to take the wand back from Syndrome. You are also able to play this game with 3 other friends to make the experience more enjoyable.

The Infinity games have had racing in the Toy Box and ways that players can make their own tracks to race with their friends. But now there is an official Toy Box game that has different racetracks themed after popular Disney movies like: Big Hero 6, Nightmare Before Christmas, Guardians of the Galaxy, and a few more. Like the Takeover game, you can play with 3 other friends to race against each other and the AI.

Last but definitely not least, the Toy Box. There are a bunch of new logic toys that can be used to make bigger and more complex games. Hopefully everyone will have fun playing this new game as much as I did since I know a lot of the people that put in long hours and hard work to make this game the highest reviewed Infinity game out of all three.

Thanks for reading!

Disney Infinity 3.0 - Loot Drop

So in a couple of days Disney Infinity 3.0 will be released and we got a surprise at work today. Since the release of the game is going to be on a Sunday, they gave us the game today. We got the game and all the figures and power discs that will be available at launch.

Now that my second contract with Disney is almost over, I am really grateful for the opportunity that I got to work on this game. Thanks for reading!

Drawing - Velma

Here is another drawing, this time its of Velma from the children's cartoon Scooby Doo. I also did some quick simple shading. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Low Poly Sword - Poly Painted

So I just finished painting the sword in ZBrush and now just need to bake all the maps so I can render the low poly model with the color and normal map of this version from ZBrush.

I was hoping that I was going to be able to finish this morning, but it will still take a few more hours to finish and apply a toon shader for the sword to make it look the way I want. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Low Poly Sword - Detailed

So yesterday I finished the low poly model of the sword, so today I decided to finish the high poly model. There really isn't all that much detail on it, but its enough that I will be able to get a good normal map.

I think that the one part that has the most detail, and I don't know if I wasted all my time is in the hilt. I made some grooves on the handle for the grip since this is a one handed sword. I added some dent and scratches throughout the sword and now I have to paint the model. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Low Poly Sword

So I know that I jump from one project to another fairly quickly, but that's because I am always trying to work on something different. I decided to go back to something I haven't done in a long time, low poly modeling.

I have just finished the sword and I will work on a shield next. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Making a Lights Out Game in Unity 5 - Part 2

So I was trying to finish this today, but I guess I didn't work fast enough. I am actually almost done with the game, but the most important part of the game so far is the level editor that allows us to create levels on the fly and save them to a text file.

The little script is designed check which of the light switches are "on" and then writes it to a text file. Then I manually copy it over to an XML file that reads it to load levels. I will continue to work on this and hopefully I will be done tomorrow. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

levelEditor.cs:

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;
using System.IO;

public class levelEditor : MonoBehaviour {

public string levNumber;
string runtimeLevels;

// Use this for initialization
void Start () {
}

// Update is called once per frame
void Update () {
}

public void setLevelName(string nr) {
levNumber = nr;
}

public void ClearButton(){
for (int i = 1; i < 26; i++) {
if (GameObject.Find (i.ToString ()).GetComponent<lightSwitch> ().isOn) {
GameObject.Find (i.ToString ()).GetComponent<lightSwitch> ().change ();
}
}
}

public void SaveButton(){
string levelstring = "";

for (int i = 1; i<26; i++) {
if (GameObject.Find (i.ToString ()).GetComponent<lightSwitch> ().isOn) {
if (levelstring.Length == 0)
levelstring = i.ToString ();
else
levelstring += "," + i;
}
}

runtimeLevels += 
"\n\n" +
"<level>" + "\n" +
"<levelname>" + levNumber + "</levelname>" + "\n" +
"<setup>" + levelstring + "</setup>" + "\n" +
"</level>";
System.IO.File.WriteAllText("D:/Documents/Unity Projects/LightsOut/Assets/Resources/editor.txt", runtimeLevels);
}
}

Making a Lights Out Game in Unity 5 - Part 1

So a while ago I did a few Unreal Engine tutorials, and now I am doing some tutorial to learn Unity 5 from Digital Tutors. This tutorial is about making a simple game of lights out for mobile devices using C#.

The screenshot above shows the simple set up of the game so far. I made a cube and attached a couple of scrips and made a prefab out of the cube game object. The scripts that I wrote so far are at the bottom of this entry.

There is also a simple XML file that I made that makes it possible to "create" a level by typing out which cubes should be in the "on" or "off" position. This should come in had later when I need to make more levels.

I have only finished 4 of the tutorial episodes so far, I will post more stuff as I'm done. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

lightSwitch.cs

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class lightSwitch : MonoBehaviour {

public bool isOn = false;

// Use this for initialization
void Start () {

}

// Update is called once per frame
void Update () {

}

public void change(){
if (isOn) {
isOn=false;
this.transform.localEulerAngles = new Vector3 (0,45,0);
}else{
isOn=true;
this.transform.localEulerAngles = Vector3.zero;
}
}
}

turnManager.cs

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class turnManager : MonoBehaviour {

// Use this for initialization
void Start () {
int count = 1;

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++) {
GameObject tmpGb = Instantiate (Resources.Load ("Cube", typeof(GameObject))) as GameObject;
tmpGb.transform.position = new Vector3 (j * 1.5f - 3, i * -1.5f + 3, 0);
tmpGb.name = count.ToString ();
count++;
}
}
this.gameObject.GetComponent<levelHandler> ().loadLevel (1);
}

// Update is called once per frame
void Update () {
if (Input.GetMouseButtonUp (0)) {
RaycastHit hit = new RaycastHit ();
Ray ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay (Input.mousePosition);
if (Physics.Raycast(ray, out hit, 100)) {
makeMove (int.Parse(hit.collider.gameObject.name));
}
}
}

void makeMove(int name){
turn (name);
turn (name + 5);
turn (name - 5);
if (name % 5 != 0) {
turn (name + 1);
}
if (name % 5 != 1) {
turn (name - 1);
}
}

void turn(int name) {
if (name < 1 || name > 25)
return;
GameObject turnObj = GameObject.Find (name.ToString ()).gameObject;
turnObj.GetComponent<lightSwitch> ().change ();
}

}

levelHandler.cs

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;
using System.Xml;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class levelHandler : MonoBehaviour {

XmlDocument levelDoc;
XmlNodeList levelList;
List<string> levelArray;

// Use this for initialization
void Start () {
levelArray = new List<string> ();
levelDoc = new XmlDocument();
TextAsset xmlfile = Resources.Load ("levels", typeof(TextAsset)) as TextAsset;
levelDoc.LoadXml (xmlfile.text);
levelList = levelDoc.GetElementsByTagName("level");

foreach (XmlNode leveldata in levelList) {
XmlNodeList levelinfo = leveldata.ChildNodes;
Debug.Log (levelList.Count);
foreach (XmlNode data in levelinfo) {
Debug.Log(data.Name);
if(data.Name == "setup"){
Debug.Log(data.InnerText);
levelArray.Add(data.InnerText);
}
}
}
}

// Update is called once per frame
void Update () {

}

public void loadLevel(int nr){

string[] levString = levelArray [nr - 1].Split(',');

foreach (string brick in levString){
GameObject.Find(brick).GetComponent<lightSwitch>().change();
}
}
}

Drawing - Supergirl

As I said before, I have been trying to draw more often. This time I drew Supergirl and did some quick shading. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Texture Tuesday - August 4

So I have been working a lot of over time over the last few months and recently stopped. Since I have more time to work on my art, I decided that it was time to start up Texture Tuesday again. 

Since I am currently in the process of creating a 3D environment, I decided to make the texture that I will use for the walls. I started the blocks in Maya, took it to ZBrush for the detail, and finally baked the normal/ao map in XNormal.

I will add color to the texture in the next few days and post an update. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Drawing - Genderbent Vega

So I have been trying to squeeze more time drawing and this is what I drew, its suppose to be Genderbent Vega from Street Fighter. Anyways, that's all for now, thanks for reading!

Building My PC - Getting an SSD

So I know that this has nothing to do with art, but I recently built my own PC, but I didn't get an SSD since they were kind of expensive. The other day I found a good deal on Newegg for a 250 Gb Crucial MX200 SSD.

It arrived earlier today and I have been working on my PC for the last couple hours while I figured out how to install the drive on my case. I was freaking out since I thought I forgot to buy the part to mount it on my case, but then I remember that I could just screw the drive to one of the bays it already comes with (pictured above). It is now 3 in the morning and I am happy to say that the OS and all the main drivers are installed.

While I am really tired, I really would like to point out how games run off the new drive. I got Arkham Knight at launch for my PC, and it had a ton of problem running off my regular mechanical hard drive. But with the new SSD, most of the stuttering and other issues are now gone and plays really well on my machine.

I still have a bunch of software to reinstall, but for now I need to get some sleep. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Anime Drawing - Sakurai from Rail Wars

So the other day I was talking to a friend of mine at work and the show Rail Wars came up. I did a couple of drawings awhile ago of one of the characters, so I decided to do another. This one is another of the main characters of the show called Aoi Sakurai, and she is awesome in the show.

Anyways, I don't think I will coloring this one, so this will be as far as I take this one. I need more practice in 2D art, so I will try to have more of these more often. As you can probably tell, I still have a long way to go on my line work. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Making a First Person Shooter in Unreal Engine - Part 4

So I have finished working on the tutorial for a simple first person shooter on Digital Tutors, here is what I have:

Last time I finished implementing the last few things that would actually end the game and just reload the same level. This time I had to implement the event graph for a secret path that lets the player shave a few seconds of their time in the game. The picture above shows the network that does a few different things: it checks to make sure you entered/exited the trigger sphere for the door and another that actually makes the doors slide down.

The picture above is of the final state of the game. The green stop watch is the bonus pick-up that reduces the player's final time by 3 seconds and you can also see the target. These two types of pick-ups are spreed around the level and the player has to shoot them to activate them. You can also see your current ammo on the bottom left corner and your current time on the top right corner.

The picture above is of the final screen that shows the stats for the player. This breaks down exactly how much "real" time they took, any time reductions if they got the timer pickups, and the final time. It also tracks how many targets the player hit and how many were destroyed. For this game I made it so each target could only be destroyed if it was hit 3 times, that is why it shows that I hit 1 target, but didn't destroy any of them.

I found that in Unreal you can create a destruction mesh out of an object and you can have a mesh shatter to pieces. I have tried to create one out of the target mesh, but I haven't been able to do it on my own since this part isn't in the tutorial. I will keep trying to do it on my own and will make a post if I figure it out. Thanks for reading!

Making a First Person Shooter in Unreal Engine - Part 3

I am now about 3/4 of the way done with the tutorial, and here is what I have so far:

Since last time, I created a way for the player to be able to finish the level. This consists of the player running through the map and "pushing" a button on the final room. For this end state, I have collision sphere around the button that displays a couple lines of text once the player is inside the sphere. If the player press the space bar as the instructions say, they will be unable to fire their gun or move.

Here is a closer look at how the network for firing the gun and moving around the map have been laid out. Please note that I have a few variables that I use to make sure that the player can't fire their weapon or can't move once the end game sequence has been started.

I hope that I can finish the tutorial soon, but since I have been staying late at work everyday I don't have much time to work on this. Thanks for reading!

Making a First Person Shooter in Unreal Engine - Part 2

So I am now a little more than halfway done with tutorial for making a FPS level in Unreal Engine. Here are a couple screenshots of what I think was the most valuable in the tutorial:

The screenshot about is the network I made for the flotation of targets that will be around the level. These targets have a static mesh and a particle system that make it look like they are floating thanks to a couple of rockets on the bottom of the target.

But since it would be weird to just have the target levitating perfectly still, we added this effect that moves the object ever so slightly up-and-down. Also, I added a delay with a random value to make sure that each target doesn't move at the exact same time.

Next was a brief introduction into Widget Blueprints, this is a builtin way for Unreal Engine to display a UI to your player. For now I have just set up the 4 different elements in the UI to keep track of the ammo the player has and the current time that the player has spent on the level. On the next few lessons I will learn how to do Data Bindings so the UI can update in real time.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Making a First Person Shooter in Unreal Engine - Part 1

So I have to say that I am completely in love with Unreal Engine and I can't stop going through tutorials to learn as much as I can about the engine. I recently finished a couple of tutorials that showed me how to use Blueprints and Data Tables in Unreal Engine.

I have decided that I am ready to learn more about the engine and learn how to make a First Person Shooter in Unreal, all thanks to Digital Tutors. I really like their site, they have helped me out a ton recently and I only wish that I would have taken advantage of it a couple of years ago.

Anyways, I have now started to the lesson and have started to make make some functions in Unreal, mainly this one:

When you start the lesson, the world is already set up for us so it gives us time to concentrate on only making the Blueprints for the game play to work the way we want it. This node network was created to help us actually shoot from the gun we already have set up. Essentially we get the location of the center of the screen and do a line trace to check if we hit anything along the line. I know that its kind of basic, but I just really like that we are able to do all this using Blueprints and not actual C++ code.

At this time I haven't gotten too far into the series, but I will keep working on this as much as possible over the next few days. I image that this series will take me at least a week to finish since there are 40 lessons total, so hopefully I can work through them fairly quickly. Thanks for reading!

Using Data Tables in Unreal Engine 4

So in my quest to learn as much as I can about Unreal Engine to make a game over the summer, I have just completed another tutorial series from Digital Tutors. This time around the tutorial didn't focus much on making blueprints, instead it focused on how to use data tables and C++ code in Unreal Engine.

The screenshot above is of some C++ code to make a function and a data structure that could be used inside Unreal Engine.

The screenshot above is a blue print that uses the code that we made, along with an enumeration to change a display mesh and item information using the data table. This node network would first find what kind of item it should be through the enumeration and then display the correct mesh for the the object in the editor.

This series was much shorted than the last once I took, but I really liked it because it gives me a look at other things that the engine can do. That's all for now, thanks for reading!