Robot Dog Progress Showcase

Robot Dog (not really robotic yet)
3hrs

672 Polys

1310 Tris

/* Notes: This fella will be the playable character of the solo game I'm currently working on. I want him to exude strength and stability, but he should also be lovable. He is a caretaker. He'll need to be expressive, but within his limits of robotic movement and gesture. Finding the right balance of organic and robotic design elements will be crucial... and slightly difficult for me. 

Structure changes for upcoming progress updates should include:

-Major revisions to the general shape of the head and neck (he kind of looks like a mule from the front... something from Viva Pinata maybe... Not ok)

-A closer look at how the back legs of a dog are actually shaped. His are pretty chunky, and oddly angled.

-Addition of purposeful design to points such as the eyes, nose, jaw, ears, tail, joints.

My thanks to Micah Moore, my new Maya teacher for this semester, for his already helpful advice. I'll be designing Robot Dog throughout his class, so his input will likely have a pretty big influence on the game's feel. */

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Finally, A Worthy Showcase

Unity Demo

The dream comes true!

Since first dabbling with Unity last semester, I've desperately wanted to use it to showcase my models - it seems silly to have 2D pictures of 3D art in my portfolio. Well I bit the wallet last week and bought the Unity license, and I'm sure it'll be well worth it.

Since we're on the subject, I'd like to thank Tom Higgins at Unity for helping me out. I only exchanged a few emails with him, but he's an awesome guy and exemplifies the fun but down-to-business attitude I've gotten from all my experiences with the Unity team. So check out the new raptor walk cycle and look forward to future Unity showcases.

/** Coding note: The animation is, unfortunately, not as it was keyed in Maya... There was an inconsistency in the way I animated the model and how Unity reads animations, resulting in a loss of the raptors vertical and side-to-side motion. I ghetto-rigged it to look fairly decent for now, but I will continue to look into the problem. **/

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Submitted

*Phew* Wow. Done. And, here is the playable version:

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Mods

: Third Set :
2pm April 16th
With the third set of mods I finally tossed in some original models. It's starting to look like a jungle! So far no legitimate textures.

Play

Features Added-
-Instruction Menu
-Log obstacle model
-Vine obstacle model
-Snake obstacle model
-Mesh collision
-Decrease in functional level design - I don't quite have the feel for the new obstacles. This makes the difficulty of certain layouts harder to predict. Important to remember for final level design.


: Second Set :
3am April 16th
Second set of mods is done!

Play

Features added -
-Start Menu
-Pause Feature (p)
-Checkpoint System
-Press enter on buttons


: First Set :
Did some more work on the Llama game - hoping to have it done by April 19th for the Spring show :-O Dunno yet if it's possible, but I'm going to try my hardest.

Play

Features added -
-Long jump by holding jump button (up or space)
-Duck button (left ctrl or down key)
-Inclusion of how those mechanics can be implemented (gameplay)

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Llama Cubes and Death Triggers

Another day spent floundering in Unity, and I think we actually have the basis for our Llama Race Game! This time, I coded everything myself from scratch. So far it's just made out of simple geometry - but if you use your imagination you can totally see Bala and Hanapu on little llamas jumping over logs. That or, once again, I've been staring at the screen too long.

Play!

Things I'd still like to work on -
-A way to make the jump height respond to how long the jump button is pressed
-A duck function
-A start menu

Things I'm worried about -
-It's laggy! Every once in a while I miss a jump because of lag. Frustrates the heck out of me, can only imagine how our target age range would feel.

Other than that... Coding is done? Bwuh?

Related Links:

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On a Roll

Two new games on two completely new platforms in just one week. I'm completely braindead. Bleh.

Check out the new game

/** Edit: After a lovely nap, I'm now much more qualified to give some real info on this. This 2D Platformer was created using the game development software Unity. I first heard of Unity through my history of games instructor Greg Orduyan, and if I can pull it off I'd like to create an original game level in Unity before the end of the semester to use as Greg's final. The plan is to do some collaboration with JM and his Popol Vuh idea - let him do the art direction and concept while I worry about all the technical nonsense. I'm ridiculously excited about it - a 3d game completed by the end of my freshman year? How awesome would that be? **/

/** ReEdit: Seems I forgot to mention that this was made from a Unity tutorial - all of the assets were given to me, so the only unique part of it is level design. There are also two original objects, but that's about it. Now I just feel bad that someone may have believed I did all that myself. **/

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