We arrived Monday morning refreshed and ready to dive back into our respective software! After a brief meeting to review script/story changes, we were once again divided into our teams of Gameplay and Visual Artists.
On the Visual Arts side, students were introduced to the concepts of UV-mapping and Texturing. That is to say; how to add color, materials, and features details to a finished model. The process of UV-mapping involves “un-wrapping” a 3D model so that its vertex coordinates correspond to a UV-coordinate on a flat image. R.A. Vince demonstrated this by taking a cute stuffed bear and ripping it apart (literally)! He showed that by cutting along strategically placed seams, we can turn a stuffed, rounded bear’s skin into a flat canvas that can then be easily painted on. In the case of a 3D model, once you choose the seam locations and “unwrap” it, it can then be colored in Photoshop.
Though the original plans included heading up to the mountain to gather photos for textures and then having a picnic lunch, bad weather forced us to remain inside where we practiced how to best collect images with the intention of using them for 3D model textures. Students were taught that textures should be seamless, with even lighting and shadows as such details will be added in the engine’s lighting set up. Later on, R.A. Veniamin taught the basics of Photoshop as well as how make an image seamless so that is can become a tiled texture.
On the gameplay artists’ side, things were moving along swiftly as students began with a morning of brainstorming and work time followed by making some test maps with events, actions and behaviors. This team picked up Construct 2 quite quickly and by the end of the day, they had some demo mechanics to show to the group.
During work time, the character models progressed, we had the basic programming structure for the “put the statue in the right order” puzzle and the script was reduced for cutscenes of a more realistic length considering our time limit. All in all, a very productive day!
