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Story Assets: Chapters 0-3

December 18th, 2009 Sean No comments


Fourth: Story Assets
Deliverable from the writting team
Sean Braithwaite & Pedro Facao

Summary


The story is about the city of Fourth and the people that live there, set in the future of a post civil war nation. Unlike present day where the world is getting smaller, in terms of globalization, the story world is considerably smaller in terms of mindset. We, as real people, sometimes identify as global citizens, sharing concerns of the world as a whole. By contrast, the average inhabitant of Fourth sees the entire world in terms of their city and shares no concerns with peoples living outside the city walls.

The country in which the story takes is agoraphobic. Fourths country is isolated from the rest of the world, surviving in a state of fear masked with false peace. There are no provinces or states, just cities and ordinary citizens never leave the city where they are born. All products, including information are produced and consumed in the isolation of the cities. There are no old people and it’s assumed this is the way it has always been.


The history of the city and (surrounding country) is shrouded in secrecy. Each citizen lives their lives within the city, mind and body; never questioning their own lineage or role in any greater context. When their home becomes under attack, the effect on everyday citizens is something similar to blow back.

“Blowback is the espionage term for the violent, unintended consequences of a covert operation that are suffered by the civil population of the aggressor government. To the civilians suffering it, the blowback typically manifests itself as “random” acts of political violence without a discernible, direct cause; because the public—in whose name the intelligence agency acted—are ignorant of the effected secret attacks that provoked revenge (counter-attack) against them.“

The identity of each citizen has shrunk to fit the city walls. An attack on such a scale is equivalent to aliens attacking the earth as a whole, it’s perceived as an attack on humanity. When the player begins the game, rockets launched from an unknown enemy are undoing the city and the lives the inhabitants have built within it. As Kara, a young girl, the player navigates through the destruction,  discovering the history of the city, the current crisis and Kara’s role in both.

Chapter 0:


Author notes: This is the lead up Kara gameplay, as in this all happens before the player takes control. When we open the game with Kara, she’s in the classroom

Authors notes: People in a city, rockets flying around.

The sky turns to a natural white surrounding a projectile heading northeast across the main avenue. It’s part of the city that has sprung loose, jolted from some prior event that the population didn’t see or hear; something that went unnoticed. There was no explosion, just a dislodging or tearing of some natural fabric with enough force to disrupt the skyline. The city of Fourth swells with thinking. Its people don’t leave their homes, choosing instead to look out through kitchen windows, to peer upwards past the curtains keeping them separated from the outside world.

Open Up to The two main charter’s, position them in the city

“This will never do” says Father, Dan Lain says with a defeated shake of his head, looking into the sports page of the morning paper. Daughter, Kara sit poised in clothes conforming to local color mandates, swinging her feet playfully. This scene is typical of their location, a residential area of the city of Fourth, where nuclear families live. However this family is not nuclear, it’s just Father and Daughter, and for that reason it’s strange. The lack of symmetry is noticeable to the scene, a seating placement at the table is clearly left unattended. It is even more noticeable to their neighbors, to which expectations of family geometry is very important.

Look out the window, see something weird but hide the panic.

Dan, peers out the window, sees the clouds rushing by but remains stiffened in his chair. There is a natural calming taking place within him as his mind resolved the panic of this new “event”. Pockets of shadows stream across the house, like a helicopter cutting off moonlight, and yet nobody can see the actual object. Kara slows her feet that were previously kicking underneath her chair and takes brief glances at the man who sits at the head of the table. Dan remains composed, eyes arched but fixed on the center piece, breathing out worry. They are and have always been, who they have needed to be. He doesn’t know whats happening but he’s heard this sound before.

Kara is young and looks wide eyed at her father who remains unmoved. Her legs swing back and forth as she musters the courage to start talking to him. “Are we going to the park today?” She knew the answer. “No”, responds her father, hiding his smile behind a coffee mug and angled above his white shirt.

Kara:  ”Daddy, it’s a beautiful day isn’t it”
Father: for the first time he looks at her, warms his tone and replies, “alright, let’s go”

Kara smiled to herself as her legs picked up for a moment.

Hand in hand they walked through the neighborhood where Kara avoids each crack in the sidewalk as if stepping on one would make her fall through in an abyss. Each home densely positioned on prime real estate; simply but warmly architect-ed to fit it’s proper row. Windows on the street opening into the kitchens and homes. One by one, homes emptied as the street started to fill with families. Kara tightened her grip as they stepped onto the avenue.

Everyone ignored what was obviously happening, looking at each other with forced smiles. Long streams of smoke, tips bursting with light. They streamed in parallel, miles above them making a hollow sound. The peaceful city was under attack but the people didn’t know it. It seemed that the rockets were going through buildings, missing their targets but that wasn’t right; they were in a holding pattern, acquiring their targets.

The city was layered and Kara’s family was half way up it. The avenue they looked into was on an the edge of a sector, just as levels became elevated. Fourth was filled with such places, vantage points where inhabitants became aware of the differences between their layer and the one above (or the one below). From a distance the city was circular with deserted surroundings and no roads leading outwards. From this position, the entire neighborhood was facing inwards towards the center of the circular city. Behind them was their neighborhood, it was strange that without knowing what was going on each family resolved to investigate in the same way; walking outside towards higher buildings. It was also strange that each family looked more or less the same, two parents, some multiple of children and nobody past 50. Kara, her family and the families that lived in that sector had now congregated on this street, peering past the building to the sky filled with smoke, in awe as if it were fireworks.

One person was not in awe; Kara’s Father hands gripped. For a split second his eyes lost composure and sank deeply into his sockets. Although Kara’s father was young, early forties at the oldest there was something aged if not wise about his reactions up until this point. Right now, he was loosing his shit. The memory that came to him in the kitchen this morning had now become clear, he knew what was flying through the air and he was scared.


Dan grabbed Kara’s hand and she knew at that very instant to do as directed. They ran into the city leaving the crowd behind them, still staring at the sky.


Chapter 1: Playable game


Authors notes: this portion is written as a script for the interaction


Positioned in the center of the city, in a large building on the 45th floor, in a room that looks like a classroom. The room is rectangular with the long side running east to west. The north wall is composed almost entirely of windows opening onto the city skyline. Through the windows shines light from the sun setting, creating shadows and yellow highlights along the south wall of the room and leaking into the hall through the door.


Towards the front of the room sits Kara in a desk that includes a pad and coloring pencils. There are 24 such station in the room but Kara’s is attached to the teachers desk, one row of seating away from the windows. She’s doodling on a piece a paper ripped from a pad located at the top left corner of the desk, doodling herself, holding her mothers hand, walking into the sunrise. Her legs are crossed at the ankle, tucked behind the 2nd leg of the chair.

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Action and View:
The camera behind Kara, observing her drawing, focusing on her arm as she colors in her own character. Pan out to view the whole room, with Kara at the front of it (the viewers right). From the rightmost window, a rocket appears in the distance and travels across the viewable space (seen behind Kara, through the windows looking onto the city) and hitting the side of a buildings. Kara gets up from her chair and aproaches the window, trembling. The camera follows, getting closer to Kara as she approaches the windows. The building is still standing as flames start to blow out the sides and rubble tumble from the point of impact. A few moments pass and three more rockets hit different locations of the same building and it goes tumbling down, hitting other parts of the city as it collapses. And there is a moment of silence.


AUTHORS NOTES: The rockets were retro looking in all aspects but their size, about 4 feet in length. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:V-2_rocket_diagram_(with_English_labels).svg
They are made for precision, destroying the structure of a building systematically and efficiently. A single rocket would be sufficient to the eliminate a car or perhaps room in a house, but certainly not an entire buildings. Instead, they travel in swarms, isolating targets in fly overs and converging in sequence to remove it’s supports.

A rocket enters the view space from the left most region and Kara trembles, backing up from the window slowly, heading from the door. The camera is at the window, looking upwards and see the sky filled with rockets circling the city in flying V formation. One breaks away from the grouping , targets and hits a building directly infront of Kara, sending flaming pieces of debris directly at the classroom window.


[[ THE PLAYER TAKES CONTROL, indicated to run for the hallways]

Kara runs into the hallway with the view of the glass windows breaking behind her. In the hallway, adjacent classrooms are being filled with debris, glass shattering and loud thumps. The hallways runs parallel to the classroom (east to west) and is long enough for 4-5 classrooms (30 feet each, 150 feet total: geometry is not critical).

The classroom door from which the player came is now closed. A large window in the door allows you see the into the classroom and outwards onto the city.Rockets are swirling around hitting different structures. The hallways shakes with a collision, the crumbles crumbles as pieces of gyp rock fall from the ceiling and cracks appear in the walls, the player is to understand that a rocket has hit one of the upper floors. There is an explosion at one end of the hallways and the player is to head to the other extreme, find a staircase and head downwards.


Chapter 2: Monuments and a Lifetime of Labor


Before Fourth, cities were cluster with Monuments (capital M) to commemorate a person or important event. Varying constructions but most often quality matterials, sculpted by artists and placed in areas best suited for reflection and appreciation. By function, Monuments indicated pinnacles of a cultures past. In the creation of Fourth, the concept of monuments was re-appropriated to represent symbols of the cultures new resolve. Instead of looking backwards on a cultures memories, monuments serve as indicators of the cultures dedication and to focus the population on looking forward. No longer are these structures simply visited, monuments are populated. For many citizens of Fourth, monuments are second homes.

The center of the city is filled with monument; imposing structures with very few windows that reached dizzying heights. They differ only slightly stylistically to be distinguishable to their inhabitants. From the time you are born you are placed in one of these buildings. They contain the school that educate the people, from childhood until they are ready to work. All entry level positions house offices within monuments, large pit like arrangements of cubicles were white collar work gets done. Once working in monument, there is very little reason to leave as the education delivered was tailord for work within the same building. Furthermore there is a sense of pride associated with each monument, children will inherit the same education and work from their parents.

The building itself are all organized like ladders climbed over time. The lower levels have social services like daycare, dentists, eateries. Above that are educational institutes, everything from primary school to college. One level up are pit like establishments; business that require many people to work at many desks with many managers. The top is reserved for decision making, board rooms with fewer desk, reserved for people who conceive and execute serious ideas. For all intended purposes, these higher levels were closed off; people who worked here rarely mingled with the rest of the population but instead focused on directing it. In this way, monuments, as an idea, are more like pyramids. Each dedicated to god who sits at the top, inspiring. Although, the leaders of Forth are rarely seen, their influence is felt. Politics is reserved to the upper levels and abstracted almost everyone else.

Looking at the skyline of Fourth there was a noticeable drop in heights between these buildings and the surrounding city, everything else seemed dwarfed. People lived in area’s close to the ground, veiled from viewing the cities overall structure. In looking upon monuments the citizens felt safe in their city but small as a part of it.

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Schedule

October 12th, 2009 Nancy No comments

This page is dedicated to deadlines. People have things to do. This is where those tasks meet up to the normal calendar.

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 WEEK # DATE Paper Artists 3D Artists Programmers Audio Web & Video Production GENERAL CLASS

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 week 2: September 15th PREP (gmail, forum, personal schedules, concept discussion) General Presentation (Nancy), SVN (Alexis), OGER exporter (Ramy)

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 week 3: September 22nd Further submission of concepts/sketches. DUE: Character simple models Programming Abstractions done, Game Gui done DUE: concept ideas, sketches for soundtrack and sound fx DUE: Making of “blueprints” Photoshoot, SCHEDULE FINAL, Zbrush tutorial

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 DISCUSS: Color scheme, overall direction Zbrush learning character mechanics, level loading, sound Ambient sound recordings and soundtrack production -Fine tune making of blue prints+ adapt to web site
-ccgd website part of this?

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 HOMEWORK: Work on refining ideas, continue sketching and concepting. Be more linear in your designs Normals maps and Kara and male/female generic characters level integration (gui+gameplay?) character class extension create a GENERAL list of required foley sounds as well as objects to use to create them. Record as many sound fx and ambient sounds as possible -Setup interview dates
-readjust schedule if changes occured (using concept art++ as base illustrations for web site)
-adap making of with website content / vice-versa

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 week 4: September 29th DUE: Story and Gameplay document FINAL. End of sketching/concepting period. Decide on overall theme/look. DUE: Character normal maps DUE: Level begun integrated in Game, programming bullet engine ray casting identifier DUE: list of foley sounds to record, Ambient sound drafts -indiv. interviews dates -final making of blue prints -final websites blue prints UV Layout tutorial

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 DISCUSS: Technical Drawings Texture types, materials character interactions, location specific interactions? Foley, soundtrack, and sound fx being used together check if sufficient visual material to extract style and adapt to web

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 HOMEWORK: Technical drawings begins. Begin some rendered scenes Texture character TESTS for generic male&female character interaction: grabbing, jumping, crouching, etc + animation? XML/Yaml parser for sound, lights, etc. Continue to record foley and ambient sounds, begin creating integrated soundscape recordings -design ccgd website -record interviews

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 week 5: October 6th The completion of at least x (to be filled in later) technicall drawings. This will proceed to go onto week 7 if necessary. DUE: Complete Character Models Character interactions programmed: jumping crouching, climbing, some auxilary actions DUE: Ambient sounds, General Foley sounds -design draft -video material Texturing tutorial

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 DISCUSS: Textures Buildings round 1 choices from concept artists production quality: starting game, playing game, crude distribution demo using SDK? Discuss results of recordings, co-ordinate with nick (level designer) discuss ccgd design, adapt

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 HOMEWORK: Finish the more technical drawings and begin final architecture plans for modelers. Begin buildings models round 1, begin interior details, tram and tram tracks playable level, some scripted events, world building tools completed Complete mixed soundscape of ambient sounds, fx, and music draft -record interviews -finish ccgd website -screen capture?

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 week 6: October 13th MIDTERM PRESENTATION technical drawings. DUE: Characters Rigged, Buildings round 1 trials. 3D PRESENTATION: Showcase models so far and map PRESENTATION: playable demo in blocked level DUE: Soundtrack draft PRESENTATION: Ambient sound, music track, foley sounds, fully mixed example of all sounds playing together PRESENTATION: -Video drafts -CCGD website MIDTERM PRESENTATION:

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 DISCUSS: Logo Building placements, insert into map, discuss additional props and details scripted in-game events sound integration

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 HOMEWORK: Texture work begins, rendering scenes, Logo sketches/ideas Buildings round 2 models, interiors continued with props sound engine integration, scripted in-game events refine everything, post-process sounds, record more foley and ambient sounds as required, co-ordinate sounds with nick’s (level designer) requirements, co-ordinate sounds with scripted events -record interviews -help audio if nothing to do

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 week 7: October 20th END of technical Drawings. Buildings round 1 models done, Subway track and subway models done, animations started scripted events co-ordinate sounds with game engine requirements, discuss further integration, continue work on foley, ambient, and soundtrack. Continue scripted events work

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 DISCUSS: Poster art/ad? Effects tests, buildings round 3 models particle effects? fire, smoke, fog sound integration issues as required, sync issues Enough material to start web site design?

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 HOMEWORK: Texturing, Rendering scenes Collaboration with programming for effects, buidlings round 3 particle experiments record, mix, refine! -record interviews

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 week 8: October 27th Documentary Draft Done, Logo Buildings round 1 textures done, buildings round 2 models done programmed particle experiments: fire/smoke/water/fog. post-production, sound integration web design draft

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 DISCUSS: NPCs, Logo if needed, make changes also (if needed) Map so far. Details remaining, Begin lower level physics supplemental any further sound recording required and engine issues

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 HOMEWORK: Texturing, rendering scenes, Designing of some NPCs Extra props, lower level builds, central fountain additional physics effects record, mix, refine! -record interviews

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 week 9: November 3rd Buildings round 1&2 textures done, Interior models complete, ANIMATIONS DONE water phsyics effects done, continue sound integration, recording, post html/css layout w/ images done

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 DISCUSS: Additions to the lower level, continuing effects efforts shading, talk with Colin progress report

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 HOMEWORK: Texturing, rendering scenes Special effects with programming, texturing of interiors, upper building levels completed make great shaders! finish all recording and post-production, fix ‘bugs’. -record interviews -flash/javascripts/bugs/audio implementation in web

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 week 10: November 10th NPC characters All Buidlings + Characters + Animations + Textures DONE (textures may extend to the following week-Jos), Extra props. If have time, modelers can begin the other characters and worlds Cg shaders done, bug fixes, code clean up DUE: All sound fx, ambient sounds, soundtrack web site mostly done

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 DISCUSS: Story boarding lower level completion, anything left bug tracking any integration issues, rendered scenes sounds -Screen capture for making of?

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 HOMEWORK: Story boarding, Texturing, rendering scenes Extras, bugs, details fix more bugs fix bugs, do any final mixes as required -record interviews

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 week 11: November 17th Storyboarding end (maybe one more week, if necessary) Everything complete. Fix ups. Details bugs are gone? end of any ‘recording’ and post-production. Focus on game engine integration -video editing -implement video in web

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 DISCUSS: Final touches Final touches final touches final touches for web

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 HOMEWORK: Final touches Final touches final touches final touches for web

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 week 12-14: November 24th-December 8th End of rendered scenes. End of texture work (w13). Finished city. Panic/Drink <<<end of line>>> video editing

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ZBrush Hotkeys and notes

September 22nd, 2009 Mohannad No comments

Navigation
Rotate: click on the empty canvas and drag
Move: Alt + click on the empty canvas and drag
Scale: hold down Alt, Click and hold the mouse down, release alt then drag to mouse. [it easier to get used to that it seems]
F:  frame object to the canvas

Ctrl+D: divide geometry
D: higher resolution [Go to the higher subdivision level]
Shift+D: Lower Resolution [Go to the Lower subdivision level]

Shortcuts while sculpting:
Shift: smooth
Alt: Zsubtract [dig into the surface instead of raising it]
Ctrl: Paint Mask

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Scale Reference

September 15th, 2009 Mohannad No comments

Needless to note that a consistent scale is essential! Here is a file that helps you keep the assists’ scale accurate. You can import this file into your Maya scene or use this file as a starting point.

http://psycho-designs.com/CGD/ScaleReference.zip

This file includes an average sized man, chair, SUV, and measuring tool [Create->Measuring Tools->Distance Tool]. Those are based of the scale we established by Cassandra early in the project.

Also, make sure you set up your grid and scene to scale.

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August 23rd, General Meeting 8

September 9th, 2009 ramy 2 comments

MODELLING THE BUILDINGS
Cassandra -> working on the school now and the arcade on the ground level (series of arches). That scene would involve a park
Nancy -> new fountain design coming up to accommodate multilevel planning of the city.

INTERACTIONS
Nick -> will have solid interactions written for next general meeting. This includes initial scenes and events. Must work closely with Cassandra to make sure everything is fly. Some proposed character interactions like tripping, hanging, climbing as dynamics as well as effects to be used (and therefore developed) like fire, water, rolling waves and particle effects.

Visual Style
Sean and Nancy -> should Ok some initial designs and let others feed off those designs when modeling and animating. give immortal a look, see if that lines up with some ideas.
Samir -> animations, still need that camera? ramy can hook you up.

CITY notes:
Bottom of the city would be “surreal”. the Top would be straight, realistic, white washed? Lower city would be very scary, playing on the basement fear for kara and playing with the shapes like the city of gaudi that were discussed in the forums and stuff that Mo designs does in terms of organics. The “Central Piece” of the map, indexed at #31, is in 2 parts, one on the bottom, one on the top. the bottom part is the fountain as a heart in a park, the top part is hung in the sky and will have a monorail hub as the center. The city itself would have a “web” on construction of what would be a monorail system, connecting some buildings together. Think the city of Venice but in the air instead of in the water. The bottom level is also the DEAD level, whereas up above there are parks and nature but all encased in glass.

SOUND
Focus will be on thematic music rather than sound effects as sound effects need to have a solid and final animation base before happening.

WORK WORK
we now encourage everyone to participate in the various positions, so if you have ideas for modelling, but are not doing modelling, model something anyway and see how it flies, this also goes for other stuff like drawings, sounds, interactions, even programming.

CLUB STATUS
Lot’s of questions asked with respect to club status with the now re-starting FASA. Emails have been sent, questions have been asked. getting club has it’s pro and cons, all of which was discussed at meetings, but namely, pro: space and money, con: responsibilities and money.

WEB SITE
Using Cassandra’s template, we intend to build a updatable blog/web space where we can show our work in progress and offer info on the collective in general for media/portfolio purposes. The space will need an official designer as well as graphical input for important elements such as the logo. We have yet to finalize the acronym for our group CCGD.

GENERAL PONDERING
most of us are in Santo’s class now, but we aren’t sure how he is going to manage it. Obviously, since it is the day we are all present, it maybe should be a day when we have our meeting. I also am not in favour of having outside meetings when we will be together already for 4 hours in a day, every week. anyway, Charlotte proposed we consider the following scenario and thinking about it for a week: that santo will actually conduct a class, that is to say: 2 hours presentation, 2 hours work. It’s a grim scenario, but i’m going with charlotte on this, let’s just mull that over and talk about it later.

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1st post!

May 26th, 2009 carignan.boy 1 comment
*kissyface*

*kissyface*

Works! Same site, more power!

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