Game Dev Blog #10: Double digits and no pictures? WTF!?

Optimization

     So, this post I'll be discussing optimization of 3d models. Woo. Fun. But, there's a reason I want to talk about this! I hear this phrase thrown around a lot by game reviewers, optimization. They keep saying things like "they could have optimized this game for the PS3 more" or the 360 or insert platform here. That's... A wrong way to look at things. On some level it's true, but the way these reviewers are using the term, it's really misleading and sometimes just wrong. Every time I hear someone say "these textures look so bad, they really needed to optimize them!" I die a little inside. 

     Okay so, what is  the right way to use the term? To answer that, let's go over what exactly "optimization" is. The short for answer is basically just cutting corners to reduce the file size of a given game asset. That's about as generic and simple as it gets.

     For more specific terms, optimizing a 3D models (such as a character or weapon) means removing polygons while trying to maintain the profile shape of the model in question (ie. making sure a chair still looks like a chair when you are done removing polygons. Even if it looks like the boxiest chair on earth.) 

     For textures, it would simply mean scaling the image down. So if you have a 1024x1024 texture, and the game is running to slowly as a result, you would optimize it be scaling it down. Yes, that means losing detail. So the next time you hear someone mention that "the textures look so bad, the devs really needed to optimize them" punch that fothermucker in the face.

So to bring things to a close, optimization is trying to get as much quality as you can from assets that you are forced to reduce in resources. 

Game Dev Blog #5: Textures Part II

Time for part two of the texture series, we see me making my textures look rather more stylised and painterly than my previous post, to better match the style of the game:

I was working in crunch time and only had a couple of days to make all of my textures, so obviously I did not have the time to hand paint them all. My solution: run the texture through the Oil Paint filter and then the Paint Daubs filter (no tips for what settings in each filter to use, I played around with it for each separate texture type, eg. different for metal than wood). In this way I was able to achieve a relatively decent "painterly" look in a short amount of time and being that it was for mobile devices, you really can't tell that much of a difference.

Game Dev Blog #2: Envronment Props

Environment Props

This week I have been working on realising the concept art from last post in 3D. I created these assets in Maya 2013. This is still a Work In Progress (WIP). 

Next post I will be doing dome UI work, including the main title screen, and the buttons for the abilities in the game. Thanks to any who read this, feel free to comment and ask questions.