Game Art With Hannah: January 2014

F.M.P.

Three letter that have been looming over my head all year. There's a lot expected of me and a lot on the line. So, when asked to write a outline and technical specification as practice for the course, the ideas of what I wanted to do began to swirl around my head. They left me with only one thing being absolutely certain: I have NO idea what I want to do for my FMP.

So that's my summer decided.

Anyway, on with the practice. I searched the interest for some examples of design documents, and found Game Pitches, which had a few examples of design documents, although many of them had been removed. I browsed through the Metal Gear Solid 2 document and the Grand Theft Auto design document to get a feel for what I needed to write about.

So here we go.

Mock FMP Design Document

Project Outline

Personal Aims

The main goal I aim to achieve with this project is create an industry standard AAA environment along with a lead character, NPC and vehicle that will be used as a show reel piece for my portfolio. The concept will be a 1940's Hotel in New York City in a noir style. To fully realise this idea, I must achieve an interesting noir-style atmosphere with my lighting and textures. My secondary aim is to create the environment and vehicle with as much historical accuracy as possible to realise a fully realistic environment and characters that will fit within the period.

Learning Outcomes

- To improve my knowledge of lighting systems in Cryengine 3 to create an interesting and suspense-filled atmosphere

- To show that I can model and texture assets I have created to an industry standard, with a level of photorealism.

- To improve my portfolio with interesting characters that I have designed and fully realised in 3D.

Platform

The platform I am aiming for is the next generation of consoles and, by extension, high-end PCs.

Genre

I am hoping to create a 1950's noir narrative based exploration game, similar to that of Dear Esther or Gone Home.

Audience

I would like to appeal to a wide audience. However, some of the themes I wish to tackle with this project may lead to a more mature audience. Due to its narrative-heavy nature, it is unlikely to appear to the modern FPS fan.

Technology and Software

I will be using Cryengine3 as I am far more comfortable with the software and it's real-time lighting is a real bonus.

For my asset creation I will be using 3DS Max, ZBrush and 3D Coat for retopology.

For my textures I will use Photoshop CC, Crazybump, Ndo2, and Zbrush.

Technical Specifications

Lead Character

Female detective

35,000 triangles

6 2048x2048 texture including face and details (albedo with alpha if necessary, but kept to a minimum, bump, specular with gloss in alpha)

NPC

Male detective partner

Due to player interaction, similar specs to the player character other than the inclusion of LODs

40,000 triangles (LOD0)
1250 triangles (LOD5)

LOD0 - 6x 2048x2048 texture including face and details (albedo with alpha if necessary, but kept to a minimum, bump, specular with gloss in alpha)
LOD5 - 1X1024 texture (albedo)
Textures for each LOD should decrease, keeping them to a minimum. Only albedo textures past LOD2.

A Vehicle

The car itself will be a 1940s Dodge Deluxe Convertible and will be only featured at the beginning of the level.

60,000 triangles (LOD0)

1875 triangles (LOD5)

4x 2048x2048 textures (albedo with alpha if necessary, but kept to a minimum, bump, specular with gloss in alpha)

Textures for each LOD should decrease, keeping them to a minimum. Only albedo textures past LOD2.

An Environment

The environment will be entirely interior. Because of this, it will be built out of efficiently made modular pieces.

1000 triangles (maximum)

LOD2 if overly detailed

Textures will consist of either:

1x 2048x2048 texture detail (albedo, alpha if necessary, normal, specular with gloss in alpha)

1x 1024x1024 tilable texture (albedo, normal, specular with gloss in alpha)

Can be pushed up to 2048x2048 if absolutely necessary.

Will be a variety of these textures that can be reused repeatedly. Will need a list of the modular pieces to be entirely sure of the final texture specifications.

Props and Scenery

Basic props:

1500 triangles - MAXIMUM

LOD2 if overly detailed

1x 2048x2048 texture MAXIMUM (albedo, alpha if necessary, normal, specular with gloss in alpha)

Only albedo textures for LODs

Hero Assets:

Up to 10000 triangles MAXIMUM

LOD3 if overly detailed

2x 2048x2048 textures MAXIMUM (albedo, alpha if necessary, normal, specular with gloss in alpha)

Only albedo textures past LOD2.

I'm sure I'll look back at this next year and laugh at my technical specs, but then again, the likelihood that I'll be developing for anything next-gen next year is low. Still, this was incredibly informative and, you know what, I think I know what I want to do for my FMP now.

This has been a long post. Have a representation of how I feel when I have to think about my FMP in gif form.