Progress Update

Hey guys,

Its been a short while since my last update. I've been a bit busy with some shifts at work plus as a result of walking around in all the cold weather I got a cold :(
Hopefully my new thermals and jacket will protect me from the elements in future :P

Anyway I have begun mucking around with matinee a bit more and have set up my first camera event for my gears of war level.

Also since my last update on elevator evacuation I have blocked out the second encounter in section A of the level, It all seems to work alright the biggest problem i'm finding is that if the player gets the Boomshot from the first encounter it makes the second encounter with the turret really easy. So I might have to look into dropping the ammo down to 1 on it or adjusting encounter to compensate.

Here's a quick upload I did of my level so far. I apologize about the frame rate my computer doesnt like it when I play levels with fraps running.

Here's the link for the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9DUOQz1btA


Heres a shot from the cutscene :P

Updated Portfolio and video's

Over the past few days I have been busy updating my portfolio to include gameplay footage from Legend of the Guardians the Owls of Gahoole (the game I worked on)
This was quite a pain as I had to record video via dazzle and then edit it together on my pc. Unfortunately the dazzle only records in SD which is a bit of a shame but oh well.

I also set up a matinee camera path through my dm-waterfall level and took some footage of my finished level.

The video's can be found in my professional work section and personal work section of my website.

www.brendonvince.com
or at these links if you are to lazy to navigate :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej8CfyPQLaM
Dm-Waterfall Flythrough (Dont forget to watch it in 1080 :P)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_mmQMFH1o
legend of the guardians gameplay compilation

Dm-Waterfall - Crypt Revamp

Today I worked on revamping the area underneath the church to be more like a crypt.
I also added a set of stairs that come up on the outside of the church.
I think this makes a huge improvement to the overall flow of the map as it makes the underground area alot more accessible.

The crypt is looking alright still not 100% happy with it. Biggest issue i'm having is that I dont have any static mesh's for coffins so I have to make them out of bsp brushes which are resulting in less than stellar results.

its time's like these I wish i was using gears of war version of unreal ed so I could place all the cool damaged books and ground debris assets they have :)

Anyway here are a few screenshots.

DM-Waterfall Second room Update.

Ill make this blog short.
After trying a bunch of different things I finally settled on having ramps in the new room instead of an elevator to get up to the second level.
I also added some more trim and add a cover to the stairs that go to basement

Heres an update.
The level is now playable again :)

The next big thing I need to do is make the downstairs basement more exciting I was thinking of giving it a complete re-work to make it more open instead of just a long hallway.

I'm just debating whether I want to do that right away or take a break from dm-waterfall for a few days and put in some time on my gears of war map.

Ill see how I'm feeling tomorrow :)


Still need something on the floor to break it up trying to work out what

Dm-Waterfall Second room WIP

So I spent today working on the second room that i added in my dm-waterfall level.
The main reason for adding this room was so I could make a set of straight stairs leading down to basement of church instead of the crappy dog leg ones I had before.

I also think it adds a lot more to combat as well as it gives the players another room to fight in and gives the players another opportunity to use the second level.

Here are a few screenshots of the room so far. I'm pretty happy with it the main things I need to do is fix the lighting up so more natural light comes through the windows and to decorate the back wall and the floor a bit.

I also need another way to get up onto the second floor/walkways. currently the only way up there is via the stairs at the other end of the church or by going the long way from behind the waterfall.

I am thinking about maybe putting an elevator in this room because I cant see a clean way to get a set of stairs going up to the second level.

You can see in the 5th picture I have a platform on the ground that I was thinking of using as an elevator but don't think it quite fits in. any advice from anyone who's done a lot of elevators on a good way to get it to fit in?


This is my favorite shot for this room as it looks really polished in this shot :P the other shots show things that need a bit of work :P



Now with added doorway above altar.

DM-Waterfall Church revisions

So I spent the day working the main room of the church.
Think i've got it to a point where im pretty happy with it. Only thing it really needs is some more trim on the walls as they are a bit bland at the moment.

Today I finished the lattice work on the roof added in some columns, the altar, added a new floor and added some rubble decorations to the floor to help break it up a bit.

The only thing im not sure on is the second reaper placed high on the back wall im thinking of moving it to be the centrepiece of the new room im building as its a big cylindrical room and I need something to break it up.

Im currently in the process of building another room behind the altar which is going to have a straight set of stairs leading into the mausoleum below which I will have to rebuild from scratch.

Anyway here is what it looks like at the moment (Still needs few minor touch ups)

Any feeback appreciated :)

I can do better (Dm-Waterfall Revisions)

So I was having a look over my Dm-waterfall level today the interior of the church especially and the really long boring tunnels located underneath the church and on the way to behind water and thought I can do better.
So With Sigur ros music playing as my inspiration I've begun to give this level an overhaul starting with the church interior.
I began work this afternoon on it and as you can see from the original picture its very dark and un-interesting.


Heres a WIP of the updated the ground level and upper walkways still need re-working but I think overall its feeling a lot more open. Also need to work on the godrays as i've kinda spammed them at the moment



Also here's a shot of the roof from outside




One last bonus screenshot before I head off to bed :P

Elevator Evacuation WIP Video and An updated DM-Waterfall Video

Today I spent a bit of time sprucing up my UDK level Dm-Waterfall and made a small gameplay video to show some game play in the level, Unfortunately the footage is really low res as im still experimenting with movie maker.

I have also uploaded a small video of the WIP of the first area in Elevator Evacuation. The music is very silly in the video as i didn't realize that fraps recorded all audio on my computer, But figured it was an interesting contrast in music to have playing while i was slaughtering locust :P

Check out the video's on my youtube page below
Dm-Waterfall Gameplay Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9u0f3AK19M

Elevator Evacuation Area 1 WIP Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNctAEfR97A

Dragon Age Environments

So I've been playing dragon age pretty full on the last few days and am really enjoying it.

One of the things I have been blown away by is how impressive all the environments look and how well all the area's are designed.
I love how through awesome lighting, god rays and placement of decoration props they can make simple square hallways look interesting.
I think my favorite location is the abandoned temple in briscillion forest (did I spell that right)
I've included a few screenshots that I've taken in area's that I found inspiring below.
Makes me really wanna do another fantasy level, I've downloaded the dragon age toolset. I'm not sure how powerful it is and if you can make your own levels with it but figured I would give it a whirl at some stage down the track.

Anyway Hopefully I can finish dragon age in the next day or two so I can get back to building my gears of war level.




Love how nice this simple square room with pillars looks so interesting because of the lighting and prop decorations