3D Terpology

3D terpology especially within the face is the layout of polygons that have been manipulated to fit a model ready for things such as facial animation I.E..

There are many ways in which to model a head in 3D. In this tutorial, we'll look at polygon modelling with subdivision smoothing for mesh refinement. This approach enables you to create the topology of the face mesh in a very direct and hands-on manner. With NURBS modelling, creating a human head can be problematic, and the best method involves stitching multiple surfaces together. This takes an awful lot of planning and isn’t a method you can jump straight into. Polygon modelling enables you to correct mistakes more easily

Correct topology (the way a surface is structured) is the single most important aspect of head modelling. We'll be creating special topological structures, known as ‘edge loops', which outline areas of the face and mimic the rings of muscle under the skin. Without proper loops, a head will be difficult to animate. We’ll also be making sure all the polygons have four vertices (called quads). A mesh of all quads is less likely to pinch when smoothed and animated.

Life Drawing

There were no pieces of life drawing i was particularlaly proud of mainly due to the fact that the model changed every week and we didn't seem to have life drawing for a long enough amount of time to become acustomed to the various styles of drawing we had to do. In the future i hope for the life drawing to be a lot more complete and part of the corresponding project. My favourite model to draw however was the woman we had to draw. She had an interesting body shape and the quick fire style drawing of every different angle made it easier for me to draw an overall body shape quickly and then work around the basic shape later. I would like to do more life drawing so i can try this technique of drawing out further.

small company vs AAA company

The design process that netherealm go through is not too different from how they used to work many years ago when working with williams to make the very first mortal kombat. The principal of how they would work on certain parts of the game have been changed very little however now they have a much larger production team and the funding by warner bros interactive.

FINISH HIM: How to Make a Killer Fatality for Mortal Kombat

The fatality development process is extremely collaborative. In the past, we didn’t start designing and implementing fatalities until the majority of the game was finished. But with this game, the team began working on fatalities early in the development cycle in order to have the maximum amount of time to come up with ideas and polish them. Fatalities are born in the dark recesses of the designer’s minds – each fatality always starts with a general idea from [Mortal Kombat co-creator] Ed Boon and the designers. They basically lock themselves in a room for hours and lay out all of their ideas. Once the meeting begins, one brave soul is the first to share a sick and twisted way for the player to finish off their opponent, and the process begins.







animations such as fatalities have been storyboarded like this since 1992.

http://www.ign.com/

http://iplaywinner.com/

Paolo Garcia:

GS: What are some of the lessons learned from previous MK entries that affected the design process for the latest game?

PG: The biggest lesson we've learned was planning for the tweaking of moves after the game ships. We prepared for this from the beginning of the current game's development and have built most of the gameplay around adjustable values. This will allow us to adjust some things, if needed, after the community gets its hands on the game. We also wanted to give fans features and game elements they have been asking for, which is why we have a strictly 2D fighting plane and a return of classic moves, like Sub-Zero's ice clone, Cyrax's net, the classic version of Scorpion's teleport punch, Reptile's force balls, and lots of other cool things that players will discover as they go through the game.

GS: Finally, Mortal Kombat has endured for all these years and remains a popular series. What do you attribute that to?
PG: The Mortal Kombat franchise has enjoyed huge success over the last 20 years in gaming and other entertainment mediums because of the rich story and the fun factor. The games are so much fun to play with friends or on your own. Another big factor is the expertise of the team currently working on the game--many of whom have worked on several of the Mortal Kombat games going all the way back to the beginning. There is a lot of great passion for the franchise at NetherRealm

as opposed to other large companies netherealm still has more than a handful of members that worked on the original games and thus have a deep passion for the franchise. other men and women are employed but i personally feel that the love for a franchise is what should be a driving force for large companies and not how much money will be made at the end of it.






motion capture has come a long way in the past 15 years

first Mortal Kombat game was, "... put together in 10 months in 1991-1992..."  and also in an interview with Official Nintendo Magazine, Mortal Kombat co-creator, Ed Boon, stated, "Mortal Kombat started out with four people in 1991; I was the only programmer, John Tobias and John Vogel were the only two artists, and Dan Forden was the only sound designer. That was it

makings of:

into outworld the making of mortal kombat 3
making of mortal kombat deadly alliance
various promo videos for mk1 (1991-1992)
magazine articles (official nintendo magazine 1992)
various in game feature videos such as character bio cards which include interviews with the actors explinations of how certain goals were achieved etc.
the history of mortal kombat video.

Independant vs Mainstream

Tale of Tails

The endless forest:

The Endless Forest is a multiplayer online game and social screensaver, a virtual place where you can play with your friends. When your computer goes to sleep you appear as a deer in this magical place. There are no goals to achieve or rules to follow. Just run through the forest and see what happens.

The endless forest seems to be somewhat of a relaxation game Which involves activities that you can do to prevent the game from being completely monotanous. It has an interesting art direction with the deers that the player plays as having some human features, At first this style is unusual to look at.

The Path:

Storyline wise Tale of tales state this game is influenced by red riding hood. Although it very much seems to be red riding hood instead of its own creation. Marketed as a horror game it has a very tim burton esque art style behind it.

A complete downfall for this game is that T.O.T state that there are no enemies to fight and no puzzles to solve. As  lifelong horror fan the number one rule based on personal experience is that if there are no enemies to threaton you, you are not under threat. Feeling vulnerable and in danger is key to scaring any player. puzzles add to the games psycology. keeping your mind open to possibilities. while solving obstacles you're also more aware to horror moments like noises etc.

Vanitas:

From what i can gather you pick up and place objects in different positions. you can tilt them with your iphone or drag them with your finger. It has become apparent to me that T.O.T isnt really a game company so to speak ther is very little gameplay involved in all of these games. They're more artisctic than anything else.

Activision:

The main difference between Activision and tale of tales is the sheer amount of work that needs to be done. The games that T.O.T make are very small games based on their own creative ideas and they just want to get their games out there to be played. Where as the number one priority for activision worldwide is to make in as much money as possible. No worker within activision will have their own creative choices chances are they will simply be told to make something exactly as it's drawn. To make a full game is harder for tale of tales however. As a small independant company they need to work on everything where as activision have designated departments for different areas of the game such as art and 3d animation. whilst tale of tales would have a team of 10 people activision would have a worldwide team of thousands.

Activision owns games like guitar hero and call of duty. These games take real life things such as existing instruments and weapons and have to replicate them as accurately as possible where as tale of tales are able to just create what they want, especially seeing as the games they create are fantasy based.