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Looks like I've got another week of watching anime while working on job applications and Car Washer to look forward to. Not too exciting, but not too bad either I guess. If nothing else, it gives me the chance to catch up on all my DVDs.
When I talked about Ink's graphics before, I focused mainly on the artistic side of things. Today, I'll be discussing the more technical details.
Ink's Graphics - Technical Details:
3D Software:
Polygon Budget:
Entire Screen:
Important Characters:
NPCs:
Monsters:
Environments:
Effects:
Misc Items:
Texture Size Range:
Shading:
Lighting:
Shadows:
Designer's Comments:
You'll notice that I didn't really fill in any of the details in the above list. The reason being that the graphical specifications are dependent on several factors. Said factors include: which game system(s) the game is being developed for, the game engine being used (the engine is the software backbone of a game, many developers license engines from other companies while others create their own), the game design itself (how many objects need to be on the screen at once, how detailed those objects are, how much AI and animation they'll be using, etc), the size and skill of the art team, and how much time the art team has to work on the game. So naturally this isn't something I can just fill out randomly, a lot of thought and planning goes into these specifications. Instead, I'll explain what all those categories are for.
3D Software: The two most popular professional 3D modeling programs are 3D Studio Max and Maya (there's some others out there, but they're not used anywhere near as much). Both have their pros and cons and while most modelers will vehemently defend their favorite, it really comes down to personal preference. Usually, to make things simple, game developers will choose one program and make sure all the modelers stick with it. In addition to the main 3D modeling program, the art team may use some more specialized 3D software and plug-ins as well.
Polygon Budget: A polygon is a closed 2D shape with at least three sides. While there are a few different ways to render (draw) 3D models, the most common way is to build the models out of polygons (or just plain triangles, depending on the engine). The more polygons a model contains, the more smooth and detailed the shape can be. However, there's a limit to how many polygons any given computer or game system can draw at a given time. And this number is further reduced by whatever other things the system is doing at the same time (textures, sounds, animations, AI, etc). The polygon budget is the maximum amount of polygons that the developers feel the game can show on screen at one time (ideally without any slowdown, dropped frames, or other graphical problems). Once the overall polygon budget has been decided, the team needs to decide how to divide that number between all the things that need to show up on screen at any given time. There's lots of tricks for making models look good with a small number of polygons, and things like pre-rendered backgrounds and pre-recorded movies (such as FMVs) can circumvent the limit entirely, though they're less interactive as a result.
Texture Size Range: A normal 3D model is just a plain boring shade of gray. The texture can best be thought of as the paint job that goes on top of the model to add the colors and fine details. The process of creating good textures is actually a lot more complicated than just drawing a nice picture. In most situations, you have to unwrap the model first, which involves cutting it open along a seem and stretching the "skin" out flat. This isn't the place for a full explanation but suffice it to say that unwrapping complex models can be a very complicated process. But back to the textures. Textures themselves are 2D graphics files, often created in Photoshop or a similar program. Depending on the engine, platform, and the like, there are often limits on the dimensions and file size allowed for each texture, which is what this entry is for.
Shading: Textures aren't the only way to add color and details to a model. You can also use shaders. Shaders are simpler to use than textures, but also don't allow for fine details. They can be quite useful for objects that just need basic colors or appearance traits though, like a glass jar, red ball, or shiny metal poll. Of course, the amount and type of shaders that can be used varies by engine and platform.
Lighting: Nothing in 3D can be taken for granted, and that includes lighting. Lights need to be created, tweaked, and very carefully positioned. And, predictably enough, the number and type of lights that can be used varies by engine and platform. Larger art teams will often have dedicated lighting specialists to ensure that the lighting always looks natural and appropriately illuminates each area.
Shadows: In real life, shadows are determined entirely by lighting. In 3D, however, you have quite a lot of control over what casts shadows and how. There's a lot of advantages to that, but it also means more work, especially to create good looking shadows. There's numerous different techniques for rendering shadows. Some put less of a strain on the hardware, others produce better looking shadows. And yes, the engine and platform have an influence in how shadows are handled as well.
Josiah
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Not sure about you guys, but I was pretty psyched about the start of Lost's sixth and final season last night. And I wasn't disappointed. I was pleased to see that some of the theories my friends and I had been talking about proved to be correct and the way they handled the attempted "reset" should prove to be pretty interesting as the season progresses. If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, then you probably haven't been watching Lost. I gotta admit, the plot is very complicated and you pretty much need to see just about every episode in order to know what's going on. It's interesting though, and the character development has been great. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they explain all the mysteries and wrap things up.
I didn't start watching Lost in the beginning. Actually, when I first heard about it, I thought it was some sort of reality show (people stuck on a deserted island and all that). Eventually, I learned that J.J. Abrams was behind it and started to get interested (since my family and I were really into Alias, a different show of his, at the time). But it sounded like a show I couldn't just jump into so I waited. Then, one day, I had this really awesome coupon for a DVD set at Borders. They didn't really have any anime, but they did have season one of Lost. Alias was over at that point and I figured it would be nice to find another show my whole family could get into watching together, so I decided to pick up the DVDs and give it a try. We quickly got hooked and bought the second season soon after finishing the first. After that was a rather long wait for the season three DVDs to be released (which happened while I was in Japan), followed by a rush to watch them all before season four started.
I'd go into some of my theories about the plot and what's going on in the series, but I don't want to spoil things for those of you who aren't caught up with the show. Besides, I've rambled long enough. I really should get back to work.
Later!
Josiah
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