Finally, I've finished all of my experimentations and research. I've thoroughly enjoyed this module since it's open-endedness has been the source of many new discoveries for me in terms of technical art. I've learnt about concepts I had no clue existed 3 months ago, and I would've continued not to know if I hadn't have chosen this topic.
I thought it would be a good time to reflect back on my statement of intent which I set myself at the start of the year and see if I've achieved what I set out to achieve.
The question I was intending to resolve was "How can I develop my technical art skills to efficiently optimise the game development pipeline?". Now, this was something I discussed with associate lecturer Louise Crouch in the Games Academy afternoon one afternoon when I was asking her advice on where to take my project. I was stressed that I hadn't met the criteria of 'optimisation', as when I set the statement for myself I was uneducated in the world of technical art so I didn't understand how restrictive that would be.
Instead, I opted for spreading my research across as many topic areas within technical art I could, ensuring I linked it back to Unreal since that's the game engine my team is using for our project. This was more fulfilling in terms of research as it meant I could experiment more freely.
These were my methodology points:
Research professional technical art practices and recreate them to the best of my ability.
I believe I achieved this by discussing professional practice with Lewis and replicating shaders that emulate those used in video games, such as the water shader I created.
Read articles and watch videos to support my understanding of methods/techniques and therefore accompany my experimentation.
I read many articles, referenced a handful of books and watched plenty of Youtube videos to back up and complement my research and practices.
Evaluate and reflect on my experimentations so I know what to improve on and to refine my workflow in future projects.
I believe I showed constant self reflection throughout my research, as I often had to reassess and curate my plans for experimentation according to scope. I am now armed with new knowledge and definitions I can expand upon to take my knowledge of technical art to the next level not only in my university work, but also in personal projects.
These were my learning goals:
Discover how I can use my prior knowledge of Python to script and procedurally generate objects in my workflow.
I somewhat achieved this in my Maya Python scripting blog post. I didn't get round to procedural generation this time, however I feel more able to tackle that subject with the skill I've developed in this module.
Gain a deeper understanding of the tools used to create art for games.
This goal was definitely achieved. I now understand how simplified game engines are for users, and how many stupendous formulas that oftentimes go unnoticed are calculated to cut corners and deliver an experience to users.
Develop technical art skills which will enhance the pipeline of my GAM202 group game.
Unfortunately, i don't feel like I hit this goal. For one, my group project is highly realistic so the type of shaders I developed would be difficult to develop, and for two I have someone on my team who is essentially an advanced technical artist. I have learnt a great deal from him over the course of the group project, however I have felt slightly inferior in technical art because of his abilities. This is something I'm working on overcoming though, because his skills have enhanced our game massively and he's been a pleasure to work with.
Finally, I created my poster for this project. I thought the most simple approach was to showcase 5 equal slices showing my 5 main showcase pieces I created throughout the module. I added a paper texture into the background and a halftone effect to give the poster an editorial magazine look.
I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog - it's been a long 4/5 months but I'm proud of what I've achieved :)
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