Overview

So levels all completed.... YAY!!! I'm fairly pretty happy with it though still having some problems with a few details like making a skybox without seams still alludes me a little at least for overcast skies. A clearer sky I can do fairly easily but then that wouldn't suit my level.
Modeling has been good as always i enjoy it but the trees werent as great as i would have liked just the leaves on them really i probably could have spent another 10hours trying to perfect not quite sire of the best way to go about that still but ill keep looking into it.
The whole process has been such a massive job and the perfectionist in me would like to spend another 50hrs on finishing touches....
My texturing has definitely improved through this process though which is good its less daunting now pulling things apart and placing them in the template in a way ill be able to remember what goes where i think the main thing that's holding me texture wise is my limited knowledge of photoshop..... something I'm gradually learning on my own but slowly.
Particles are in need of a little more understanding on my part i can add in your basic particles easily and make them go in the direction i wasn't spawn the number i want etc but refining them to look like more realistic flames is still beyond my grasp sadly.
Coding, don't get me started on coding its all gooble-di-gook too me! I would have liked to do some so that you can climb the ladders and see inside the tree houses but sadly not going to happen.
I don't think i quite grasped how massive this project was in the beggining or how much my new job would take out of me... but i got there in the end. I gotta say my favourite part of the whole level are my boats they came out exactly like the picture i had in my head :)

Level can be seen on the website listed below:

http://vimeo.com/31906915

And here are some screen shots:

Some Pics

So here are some pictures of my level being assembled no textures in these ones yet but you get the general gist :)

And as i have been promising to upload for weeks now finally i have the jpegs of some of my textured ones as well 

So above are some of my textured models i wont post all of the pics coz there are alot of models but ill take some jpgs of some of the low priority models when they are completely textured as well :)

Trees

So having trouble with trees still, if i make them as big as i want and all that then the engine has been lagging dont know if thats just the computer im using at the moment because i do know it needs upgrading but actually even putting a small number of trees in is doing this and im not quite sure how to fix it yet.... especially when i want a forrest all around them. I think to get more depth going i might make a big plane and put a jpeg in the background so i need less trees but i will still need some for the fore ground still. not sure how to get around this yet....


But Modelling is on track just getting the medium priority ones finished at the moment so i can move onto the decorative ones and texturing and im nearly done very exciting :)

still deciding on what types of textures to go where etc. needs a good balance really dark enough without being too dark etc hmmmmm i will post up my pictures next blog :)

New Assets list

So updated Assets list is as follows:

Modelling is coming along but still struggling to find a tree editor which is free i might just have to look for pre made trees or make my own.... but not sure how to go about leaves if i make them in max...

Sky box is underway as well, hopefully can get it to all match up good seen as i want it so dark and cloudy.
Have been having a bit of an issue with how i want the trees to be in my level as unity doesnt have any that are quite what im looking for none of them are big enough even at max height to overshaddow the islands...

Lighting and Sky Box

So for lighting and sky box im pretty much finished making all those decisions, i want a dark feel to the game seen as its their last stand at the beggining of the game.
Below are some examples of what im thinking lighting wise for the feel of the game and some forest photos for what i would like the banks to look like:

Sky box is going to be mostly dark clouds and grey skys kinda a mixture of the following:

mostly the fist picture though will be what im going with for the sky box

Final Planning

So final planning documents before i start modelling everything :)
Final level plan:

Assets list:

So concept images to follow when i can scan them into the computer.
Looking at tree editors at the moment so i can start modelling the tree houses and all of that :)

From the Ground Up pt4

So I've started to do some sketches for my level its basically the only place the remaining Humans and Fay have any sort of safety n protection and where the player will go through the basic steps of learning the game. Here are some sketches for my level layout and some of the events through the first level.

Forests

Soooo...... considering what i should base my forest in the game on here is my short list...

From the Ground Up pt3

ok so..... rewrite...

So when it comes down to it the story is all about unlikely allies uniting to defeat a common enemy.

Characters:

• Human
• Unseelie Fay
• Seelie Fay
• Shadow Lord- Enemy

So the basic story of the shadow lord is the same he tricked a human to open the gates but they didn't just leave the humans and fay be they systematically went about wiping them all out. All three races have been running and decide to join together to make a final stand in this village in the forrest. they surprisingly beat the force that has been sent after them and they are left with no other choice but to keep on fighting and working together. Protagonist is a human.

The Fay are based on old folk law and the world is inspired by a whole range of thing mostly books.

Seelie Fay are ruled their Queen, she is captivating, perfect in every way, those that see her are amazed though there is the feeling that under her seeming benevolence is a quick temper.She is pale with golden hair and ice blue eyes, tall and slender. Her garments are fine shimmering silk and her whole being seems to glow. All who see her must agree she is the most beautiful of all living creatures or supper her wrath.

Unseelie Fay are ruled by their Queen, dark but beautiful in her own way. She is not pure fay like the rest of her court but is just as powerful. She is better groomed than any of the rest of her court she takes pride in her appearance and has a reputation for seducing men. She has a scaled look to her and glowing green eyes. she is pale and wears more dark gothic style of clothing. There is rivalry between the two Queens as both believe themselves to be the more powerful and attractive.

The Human is not a soldier more on the path to being a scholar and historian before the war, he is young and knows a number of languages. He is tall with dark hair and average weight. He has brown eyes and a handsome face. He dresses in simple clothes a shirt and trousers, and boots as do any of the men from his village. Being the most schooled of the surviving humans and the only one to be able to converse with the fairies in their native tongue he is chosen as the representative of the humans for the war.

From the Ground Up pt2

Well, back story and characters are slowly coming along, nowhere near finished but roughly outlined below:

Fay (Seelie and Unseelie) and Humans have a tentative alliance, more a tolerance of each other.

Generations ago, a human with some fairy blood and so some magical ability, tempted and deceived by a spirit of the underworld brings together the ancient tablets from each sect (Human, Seelie Fay and UnSeelie Fay) and uses them to open bring underworld spirits into the land of the living, They then trick and trap him. The Humans and Fay together rally forces and manage to dismantle the tablets but none of the living can get rid of the spirits so they settle for basically closing the gateway between the underworld and the living world. The spirits traped are still the stronger of the armies and the Fay and Humans flee and hide the tablets and themseves. Generations have passed since all this happened and it has faded into legends rather than bemembered as history. Humans live most closely with the Unseelie Fay, the Seelie Fay keeping mostly to themselves and only passing briefly though on very rare occasions.

So far the only Lore im thinking of is along the lines of the Spirits are not able to cross deep water, shallow water will severely weaken them.

From the Ground Up

So, creating a game from scratch...... I have always loved the idea of a village in the trees, or strewn across small islands in a forrest or built on stilts, pretty much anything out of the ordinary. The sci-fi-fantasy world probably has alot to do with that. Some of the writers to have consumed alot of my life are Katherine Kerr to Robin Hobb, Janny Wurts, Celia Dart-Thorn, Raymond E Feist and who could not include Tolkien. They always pulled me in with their new worlds and strange people, so I guess its inevitable that when given free reign my mind goes straight there.
So anyway these are some of my concept images for the enviroment below:

 

I was leaning more towards a tree city to begin with but its come round to a mixture tree houses and of close small islands and floating houses with a market/town square etc brought together when needed from a series of smaller rafts which are bound together to create a large floating area. the people move through their village by a combination of rope bridges and boats. which works as a defence mechanism as much as anything else. there would be no easy way to invade this village as the land around them is densly wooded and unstable and the watter too deep to wade.