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Initial Idea generation
I was able to document all my ideas of themes that I have researched, through creating this mind map, and I now have a better understanding of the possible outcomes I could create, as by creating this, I was able to pick and choose out of the options that I generated, which ones I like, and which ones that I didn't like. I narrowed it down to two options, which is the Ancient Japanese 3D environment, and the baseball swing Animation. I was tempted by doing the animation, as I had learned more about Animation itself through my Specialist Case Study that I conducted in Unit 12, however I have decided to do the 3D environment instead because I feel that after researching into Animation, it is not something that interests me as much as I thought it would, due to reasons such as having to work on as short as a 30 second animation for a long period of time, whereas when I work on an environment the outcome to me at least, would feel more rewarding, and I think that I would enjoy working on an environment a lot more then animating a single character for example
There are many reasons as to why I have chosen an Ancient Japan theme for the environment, as I have an interest in Ancient Japan, and in Unit 7, I studied Ancient Japan, and attempted to create a similar environment, which didn't go to plan due to having to work from home.
Now with more experience in the software's I use, I understand exactly how I can improve, and can use my Unit 7 work as an example
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
I will be creating this project in Maya and Unreal, both of which I can access from home. I also have the skills to use both of these softwares as I have used these before in other units. To add onto that, for Unit 7 I created a similar environment in those softwares of which it was based on Ancient Japan
Weaknesses
My knowledge on how to use Unreal Engine isn't as good as it is with Maya, however I can address this by using tutorials on how to use Unreal Engine.
Although my knowledge on Maya is improving, there is still a gap in my knowledge which is UVing. UV is something that I have little to no knowledge on, however I can improve by using tutorials.
Opportunities
Due to Unit 7 not going to plan because of having to work from home, I will be able to use this Unit to help improve my environment design skills where I was not able to in Unit 7. Along with this, I have the opportunity to improve my UVing/Texturing skills, as that is something I have a very limited amount of knowledge on
Doing this Unit will give me the opportunity to get knowledge on Substance Painter 3D, as it will be something that I need to use in the future and this will be my first time using it.
Threats
One of the threats I could potentially face is that Wix may not be working. If this is the case, I will be able to do my work on word, and wait for Wix to be restored, and then transfer the work onto Wix.
Another threat is the deadline which is 27th May. Although this is a threat, in the games industry you will be set deadlines, and so it is good experience as it will require me to use my organisation and time management skills
Project Proposal
Feudal Japan
After deciding the theme of my project which is Ancient Japan, I then had to consider what point in the timeline of Ancient Japan it should be set in. So I decided to have it set in Feudal Japan. There are many reasons as to why this is, one being because of the ArtStation challenge in 2017, of which competitors were tasked with creating something of a Feudal Japan theme. This means that I will be able to take some of the environment designs from this challenge and use them as references for my project
What is Feudal Japan?
Feudalism in Ancient Japan is about the relationship between Lords and Vessals where land ownership was exchanged for military service and loyalty. Societies were built on a system of herederity classes. The nobles at the top, followed by warriors, with tenant farmers or serfs below
Land was very important for rice production, and Feudal Japan has a history of powerful clans fighting for land from other clans. Clan warfare was constant, bloody and violent. Feudalism is a political and economic system based on mutual protection and mutual obligation
The Feudal era of Japan consists of three main periods which are the Kamakura Period, Muromachi Period, and Azuchi Momoyama Period
From doing research into Feudal Japan I have gained a knowledge on some of the props I would like to create such as a Naginata weapon
A Shoin-Zukuri is home for Samurai, and so here I have created a moodboard which contains 6 different weapons that Samurai's used in Ancient Japan that I would like to create for this project and add into the scene where it will be put together with the armoury stand in the allocated position on the 2D Floor Plan
I would like to create these weapons because I believe they are very nice looking and they are also accurate to Feudal Japan, as they are what the Samurai used within that time period
Shoin-Zukuri
Shoin-Zukuri is a specific style of Japanese architecture, that warriors of Feudal Japan lived in. and it is what I will be creating for this project.
This is a reference board of Shoin-Zukuri architectures, of which I will be taking inspiration from when I create my own interior of a scene based on Shoin-Zukuri. I have chosen these particular scenes as I will be able to mix them together to create my own style room.
As you can see from the images provided, they all have a clean look, and are not battle damaged or worn out, as I would like my Dojo to be clean and new-looking
From looking at these images, a recurring architecture is a Shoji, which are sliding outer partition doors and windows made of a lattice wooden frame and covered with a tough, translucent white paper.
Here I have gathered a few reference images of shoji doors, and I plan on making two versions of the doors, both being slightly different then the other.
From researching into wooden architectures in Ancient Japan, I found out that typically they like to use natural wood to show its natural beauty.
So below I have found some textures of wood which I could potentially use for the doors and even other architectures
Substance 3D Assets (adobe.com) - Makore Wood
The image bellow is some specific reference gathering on Tatami mats. I have gathered these images, as from what I have seen on many different dojo environments, both art and real life, they all seem to use these mats. It consists of a thick straw base and a soft woven cover with cloth boarders. From images I have found online, they all seem to be a very similar colour, that being a light yellow, and in some cases a light green.
I have also conducted research into the size, which I found to be 0.9m by 1.8m. I will take this into consideration when putting together the scene within unreal, as I will need to have it an accurate size when put together with the other assets. This will also help me understand what floor pattern I would like to create.
The image to the left is something I found online. This is an example of the patterns you can create with Tatami mats.
I will be using this for when I place my Tatami Mats together to create my environment, and as I now understand the scale of the mats, I will be creating the 'Syugijiki 12'
For the material I could use on my Tatami Mat, I have found a Straw Material on Substance:
Substance 3D Assets (adobe.com)
Along with this I have also found a very specific material on Substance for Tatami Mats:
Substance 3D Assets (adobe.com) - Tatami Mat
Here is a survey that I created for my project
To gather answers from this survey, I will share this into Teams for my classmates to answer, and also share it with friends and on Discord.
From receiving the results of this survey I will be able to see what people would be interested to see from my project
The Results
From seeing that everyone who answered this survey would be interested in a Japanese themed environment I now know to go through with this idea. Furthermore the results have shown to me that more people would be interested in an interior environment of a Dojo rather then an outside environment. 4/6 people would rather see a realistic artstyle, and 2/6 people would rather see stylized, and no one picked Voxel Art. So therefore I will be going with a realistic artstyle
Specific Game Research
Ghost of Tsushima
This game takes place in Feudal Japan, the same time period as my project. The games protagonist is Jin Sakai, one of the last remaining Samurai of Clan Sakai, who is determined to drive away the Mongols that invaded Tsushima. It is said to be historically accurate and so I will be able to conduct primary research into this by playing it myself and taking screenshots of environments that I feel capture what I would like to create
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
This game is based in the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan, and you play as the 'one armed-wolf' , a disgraced and disfigured warrior rescued from the brink of death, and is tasked with protecting a young lord who is a descendant of an ancient bloodline.
Tenchu
Tenchu is set in a fantasy reimagining of 16th century Japan, and is about two Ninjas called Rikimari and Ayame, two Ninjas from the Azume Ninja Clan serving as spies to gather intellgence for Lord Gohda and protect his province from the demon warrior Onikage.
Nioh
Nioh is an action role playing video game set in Japan during the year 1600. It was developed by Team Ninja and Kou Shibusawa for PlayStation 4
Onimusha Warlords
Onimusha Warlords is an action adevnture game, based in 1560, first released in January of 2001 for the PlayStation 2
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Shadow tactics is a stealth game, released in 2016. In the game you take command of a team that includes Samurai and Ninjas
Way of the Samurai
Released on May 5th 2002, Way of the Samurai is a PlayStation 2 action adventure game set in 19th century Japan. The player takes control of a Ronin who gets into conflict with rivalling clans
ArtStyle
As mentioned on my evaluation of the results of my survey, the artstyle that I will be going for is realistic. As compared to other artstyles such as Stylised, Voxel and 2D, Realistic is the style in which what you are trying to create. This is also another reason for my choices of the games I have studied above with games such as Ghost of Tsushima having a realistic artstyle, as you can see in the images I have gathered from the game below
Ghost of Tsushima has been the most inspiring game for this project, based on its Artstyle. It is realistic, although it does have elements to it that aren't quite so realistic. I believe that it has its own unique artstyle that looks similar to a painting for example with the grass being excessively longer and thicker then normal grass.
As you can see in the image to the left, the game does not quite follow weather seasons, as there is a red tree standing amongst dark green trees. This shows that the game does not follow a realistic approach, and rather uses something of its own to create a nicer looking picture.
Ghost of Tsushima has been the most inspiring game for this project, based on its Artstyle. It is realistic, although it does have elements to it that aren't quite so realistic. I believe that it has its own unique artstyle that looks similar to a painting for example with the grass being excessively longer and thicker then normal grass.
What interests me the most about 'Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice' is the texturing
The three images above are from 'Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice' and as you can see it has very gritty and dirty looking textures. To me this shows the time period it is based, which is Feudal Japan. Reasons for this is because Feudal Japan was full of war and violence and the environments in this game really show that with how dirty and worn looking they are.
As my project is also set in Feudal Japan, I will be taking inspiration from this games texturing designs into my project.
The two images above are from 'Onimusha Warlords'. This game will help me make my project, as what really inspires me from it, is the props. For example in these images you can see weapon holders. These look like something that I can easily create and put into my scene on the left side of the environment hanging on the wall
Bellow are my plans for what I will be accomplishing for the next 3 weeks, including Half-Term in which as mentioned on the plans I intend on doing some work.
In conclusion, these three games are inspiring to my environment. I will be using similar lighting techniques as Ghost of Tsushima, taking the inspiration of the textures from Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, and finally creating similar props that have been present in Onimusha Warlords.
Analysing similar projects
This Environment is from ArtStation. One of the first things I noticed upon looking at this, is how shiny the wooden floor is, which is very unrealistic and is something for myself to bare in mind when creating the materials.
What I do like about this environment is how the light shines in through the windows and onto the floor creating rays of light and a nice shadow of the window. I think this is very pleasing to look at and overall the environment is well made, although I feel that little more depth to it would be great as it feels very empty and there is not much there to look at
This is from a different project by someone else on ArtStation and I have noticed that they have the same problem as the other project I looked at had, which is very glossy wood. It seems to be a very common mistake
ArtStation - Japanese Dojo
This project in particular, I have not found any faults on. I really like the warm colours used throughout the scene, it really shows the time of day being set at sunrise without showing the sun or even the sky, and because it is a small scene as compared to the other two I looked at, it is easier to fit more detailed assets in and therefore giving the scene more depth and more interesting to look at. This is something that I shall consider for my project, as I should be keeping it at a relatively small size to keep my small amount of assets within good view to maintain a lesser feeling of emptyness
ArtStation - Dojo
Research Plan
How I will create the project
I will be creating the assets in Maya, and then exporting them into Unreal for rendering. Within Unreal I will create and put together the entire environment using the assets created in Maya, and putting them in the positions where they are marked to be on my 2D floor plan. It is from there that I will be able to set up a camera in Unreal, into the position marked in my floor plan, and then I will take a high resolution screenshot of the scene from the camera.
This will be the method I will use to create this:
Blockout
Blockout Modular
Blockout Props
Modular Assets
Prop Assets
Unreal Implementation
Final High-Resolution Screenshot
I will be taking screenshots of the work as it progresses
What are Samurai?
The Samurai began as provincial warriors before rising to power in the 12th century with the beginning of the country's first military dictatorship known as the Shognate.
The Samurai ended in the 19th century
Narrative Background
Although what I intend to create is only an image of a 3D environment, I still have planned what I want the backstory to be about. The story takes place nearer to the end of the Feudal Japan Era, and the image of the environment is home to a lone Samurai who once belonged to a now fallen Clan and hides within his home to avoid conflict with rival clans
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