Here you will find what was discussed during our group meetings. If you missed the schedule meeting then you can come here to see what the group has decided and give input if you have any. But you should really come to the meetings :p
May 20th, 2013
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: All right. Any attempts at formality I take are always laughable, but here goes.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: This meeting concerns the as-of-yet-unnamed UDK team battle game we are to be creating.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The first item on the list concerns reviewing what we have so far and making sure everyone is on the same page in that area.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The game is to be made using the Unreal Development Kit, to start.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The play involves two teams (two distinct factions) competing in a variety of game modes which share similar combat mechanics.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The general mood is to be light and comical.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The art style is to be a mixture of voxel art and ultra-low-poly.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: An example of ultra-low-poly can be seen here:
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: ...one moment...
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin:
http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles11/289221/projects/5131159/5ab1e99294072d0b8e52d5c5b471d359.jpgTaylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: I will be right back. (unforseen interuption)
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: haha, alright. i think this art style should convey that light and comical mood of the game, also i think it is actually really cool.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: It will also be interested to see how these two very different forces mix together visually.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: I am terribly sorry. Sudden family issue.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: I am back now.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: It's alright, no harm done
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: And of course, here is an example of voxel art:
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin:
http://cdn.onelargeprawn.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/voxel_sonic.jpgJustin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: yeah I was looking at that. I dont think the characters should be voxel art, or atleast not so blocky
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Right. Perhaps the characters could be the ultra low poly, and everything else could be voxel?
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Maybe all plant life and random animals and such could be ultra low poly as well.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: that would be interesting to see
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: You and I are the ones who would be making the models, so the two of us can decide on this. And my vote is for it.
Samulis Augustus: probably be better too. Less work as a whole.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: I vote for the landscape being voxel and everything else being super low poly
Samulis Augustus: With low-res games being "in" again for the time being, it should be fine.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: What about items and chests and such? If those were voxel we could allow the community to create items for contests etc.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: That sounds like a good idea. get the players involved in more than just gameplay
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: So, I vote everything organic be low poly and everything inorganic (plus the terrain) be voxel.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: My vote is yes for that aswell
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: All right, then. Moving on.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Gameplay/
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: While we don't need to go into deep particulars at the moment, we should get a couple major points set in stone.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The idea was that certain maps are tied to certain game modes which can range from simple death matches to capture the flag type or objective scenarios.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: There are two distinct factions which have their own "home" zone to some extent on the map.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: A simple arena-style death match might have a small, identical respawn zone for each faction, while one mode might involve the Wood King faction invading the subterranean fortress of the Under King.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: In this situation, the "home" zones would be very different.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Each faction is made up of different classes which are visually and mechanically distinct.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: When a player enters a match (and every time they die) they select a class to spawn as.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: If a player gets a certain amount of kills with a class, that class raises to the next tier.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: This changes the character visually and provides upgrades in terms of weapons, stats, and abilities for some characters.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: If a character dies, its class returns to tier one.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: In addition, making kills, capturing objectives, etc. award "resources" which go into the faction pool upon death. When the faction pool reaches a certain number in a match, a bonus feature is unlocked for the faction.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Any objections or suggestions so far?
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: Maybe a suggestion for a game mode. It could be a multi level game mode where the game starts in a middle area where the front lines pretty much are. based on the victory conditions, the team who wins pushes further into the enemies territory on the next match. this would continue all the way to their stronghold where they have to kill the enemy leader. If the defenders hold them off, the game ends and can start over
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: We can worry about individual game modes at a later time; We need to get the basics coded first before we add different modes.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: But that does sound interesting.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: No objections?
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: i dont have any
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Samulis?
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew:
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: All right, then.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: We are agreed on the basics.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: one thing needs to be discussed
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: What is it?
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: is this a first person game or a 3rd?
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: or whatever else there is
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Ah, yes. I had that in mind, too >.<
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Well, in my opinion it should be 3rd person.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: I was thinking the same thing. Theres not enough detail in the game to needs first peron i think
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: need first person*
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Indeed. Ultra low poly would look very weird close up.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: And players can appreciate their changing characters and customizations better in 3rd person.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: (the actual customization and such can be discussed in a later meeting, when we have the basics blocked in)
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: sounds good to me
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Is there anything else I am missing?
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: ummm. i dont think so for the basics
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The monetization model is to be Free to Play with the magic word: microtransactions.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: but not to the point that you have to buy everything right? and we wont just cater to those who will pay for things correct?
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Right.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: That will need to be figured out better later, but I have taken a solemn vow never to create a pay-to-win game.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Maybe that should be a CS requirement
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: haha, possibly
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: I just want it to be fun to play
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: All right then. (phrase of the day)
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Yes, we shall make F2P mean Fun to Play =P
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: Haha, thats awesome
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Okay, by the end of the month, what are our goals?
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: We only have 10 days left, so it's basically just an extension of a week.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: Hmm. maybe we can use this week to test out super low poly modeling so we can get models for you to test shaders with atleast?
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: I believe the first asset we need before anything else is a standard Under Faction character model and Wood Faction character model.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: So we have proportions which can be used to model the maps.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: And as you said, they would provide me with an actual asset to test shaders on.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: so we need to figure out what our charcters would look like before we can model them
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Either we can aim to make a specific model of a character, or we could just make a generic template.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The template would be more useful than a specific model as the different character models would vary in size a bit.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: And it would mean no detailed character art to start with.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: I think a generic template would be best for right now. That way we wont be limiting ourselfs before doing character design
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: All right.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The models should look as low poly as possible while having subtle loops at joints and such so the arms and legs deform well.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: So whats the poly limit for characters?
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: I don't know. I think we need to be more concerned with how they "look" than a specific limit.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Anything we will be doing will be far under the UDK performance cap.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: If one character has a ton of faces more than another but *looks* just as super low poly for whatever reason, then great.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: I'll see what I can do.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: All right.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: Do you want them textures also?
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: textured*
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Well, we haven't decided on the specifics of an art style yet, but a very basic texture would be welcome just so I can test the shaders better than on a checkboard pattern.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: SO what is your personal goal for the end of the month?
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: Mine? Im just hoping I can get a basic model for both factions modeled and textured.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: All right.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: What about yourself?
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Mne is to have a fully working sobel (AKA Borderlands) outline filter and to work out all the bugs in the cartoonish shader I am working on.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: In addition, I wish to have begun to learn UDK script and the working of the engine better than I do, which isn't saying too much.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: yeah, im trying to learn to do UV Maps better
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: By the time we have a rigged and textured character to try out, I want to be able to make the character run and jump in the 3rd person.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: As well as interact with objects to open doors, etc.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: I'll try to start learning animating aswell then
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Don't worry about it at the moment unless you finish the template modeling and find yourself with extra time.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: Alright. I'll do what I can.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Okay.
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: So what are we going to do about meetings?
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: Well, I have the sneaking suspicion I forgot to put PM into the forum post and Kenichi is going to be on here at 4:00 AM tomorrow (or this morning) wondering where we all are...
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: haha, I may still be awake, who knows.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: The first of next month is a Saturday, so let's plan on having our next meeting be then in the afternoon. Does that sound good?
Justin | Cyberspace Studio: Graphics Crew: Sounds fine to me.
Taylor | Cyberspace Studio Admin: All right. I guess we are done, then.