Imago Heaven - Update

Players view from inside a stationary turret (Click image to enlarge)

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Hey readers! another level, another update. Heres the latest screens captured of Imago Heaven, level designer Sam Owen has taken Imago Heaven through several levels of polish and refinement and it really shows. The current version reflects his commitment like fellow level designers Adam Khoury and Stephen Rhodes to creating visually stunning yet fully playable levels.

Powerhouse Games Team

Meet the producer - Christopher Begley

(Click on image for a laugh!)

Hello  blog readers!

So I'm Christopher, the producer on Bug Company. First I'd like to explain my role within the team. Primarily my producer role within Powerhouse Games is to plan work (deliverables) to be completed by the team, then organise the team and administer a level of control by monitoring assigned tasked. To complete these activities required myself to collect information from the team almost every day, open and maintain communication channels (email, text, phone) and give a absolute level of commitment to the project from day one. 

From a personal perspective I would have to say the most challenging aspect of being a producer is dealing with the rough and smooth on a daily basis. This job definitely requires a strong will its important to project a sense leadership and belief in any project as its producer. Everything I have learn from my time as producer I will take with me into my final year at the University Of Salford.

In the future I will take on the role of producer once again in a team of six students. I'm really excited to use what I have learnt over the past few months and hopefully avoid any pitfalls that I fell into this semester.

Christopher Begley

Widows Cave - Update

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Two new images from Widows Cave, the underground level previously shown here created by lead level designer Adam Khoury in collaboration with 3D artist Gary Seddon.

Enjoy!

Powerhouse games team

Imago Heaven - From paper to polygon

Heres a video created by level designer Sam Owen showing how he created his level Imago Heaven, enjoy!

Powerhouse Games Team

Art Bible V4

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Heres some images from the newest version of Bug Company's art bible. In this version the main addition is that the document has shifted from a portrait to landscape layout ( also moving from A4 paper size to A3 as a result).

Powerhouse Games Team

Updated Vehicle Renders

Above: The 3D model was created by using a 2D sketch as a guide (Click to enlarge)

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Above: Top view of bug (Click to enlarge)

Heres an update on one the two vehicles in Bug Company. This one is a small 3D bug model was created by Gary Seddon. The vehicles key feature is its ability to carry two players (one to control the bugs flight and another to ride on the back). Like all 3D models this one will be textured to a high standard before being imported into Bug Company. Previously the large transport bug in Bug Company was shown as a placeholder model (to get an idea about size etc within the mod). We'll be updating our blog soon with a final model for that one too!

Powerhouse Games Team

Wanna meet the team?

"Hello, my name is Christopher Begley and I'm the Producer on Bug Company. Over the next two weeks I'm going to get each member of the team to write a short blog post. These posts will allow readers to connect with each team member and gain an understanding of their role within Powerhouse Games."

More coming soon!

Down time for the blog

Hey sorry to anyone who checks our blog over the last week or so. The teams been hard at work over the 3 week Easter break from University. We'll bring you more information early next week. In the mean time enjoy some new posts soon.

Powerhouse Games Team

Game Audio? yes we have that covered!

Over the course of this project audio has not been highlighted on this blog. Audio in video games should not be ignored, its an integral part of any video game. Heres a sample of music created by Jonathan Frith (above) for Widow's Cave (Adam Khoury's underground level). More to come soon, hope you enjoy his hard work. Link below to download (thanks gigasize.com)

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=1x6mdjkyb2f

Powerhouse Games Team

General's Remains

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Heres a 2D map for level designer Stephen Rhode's General's Remains. This level is focused on a large central tree & includes underground entrances. Underneath the tree water has collected that restricts player movement. around the map giant mushrooms create cover from attacks. Massive tree roots also provide cover. The map is ambitious from both a level design and art standpoint. Clearly an exciting addition to the already established Widow's Cave & Imago Heaven. Look back soon to see this level in its 3D glory.

Powerhouse Games Team

Imago Heaven - P.O.D

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Heres some image of level designers Sam Owen's most recent process of design. Below is a link to download the document (once again thanks gigasize.com).

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=9k8gmjor7qb

Powerhouse Games Team

Art Bible V3

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With feedback from design lecturer Zuby Ahmed, Emma Hampson revised her art bible last week. Like the previous version our art bible is a visual reference for the entire mod. Heres some Sample images (UPDATE, a new A3 landscape layout art bible has been created based on additional feedback). Thanks to Emma's hard work heres a link to download version 3 of the bible (thanks again gigasize.com), enjoy!

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=x3d39n50cxf

Powerhouse Games Team

Easter Bunnies & Beta Deliverables

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Powerhouse Games have 3 weeks to reach beta (70% of game completed). The deadline of april 21st will soon be here. This week our lecturer asked for Beta deliverables. Over the next 3 weeks it is the responsibility of Christopher Begley (Producer) to tailor deliverables for each team member. Once beta is reached only a month remains until the mod is to be completed (May 18th). UPDATE document says "week 10", this is actually week 11 for the team.

Powerhouse Games Team

Level Update - Imago Heaven - Sam Owen

Heres some recent images for level designer Sam Owen's level for Bug Company. Click on each image to enlarge. Enjoy!

Powerhouse Games Team

Weekly Deliverables - Week 6

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Heres an image of the teams weekly deliverables for week 6 (ending the 23rd of March). Each week the teams producer (Christopher Begley) sets deliverables based on previous deliverables. We have two meetings a week and on a Monday morning he collects deliverables (files) and a record of work completed for the previous week. Deliverables are assigned in coordination with the project schedule document (using Microsoft Project). From the following week (week 7) this information will be posted on a Tuesday/ wed morning.

The Powerhouse Team

A level designers P.O.D - Adam Khoury

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Hey heres a treat, as well our process of design each level designer also has one. Because we have three level designers each is required to document how as designers they created them. The process of design linked here (once again Gigasize.com) for Adam Khoury's level Widows Cave. His level is interesting to look at because at one point it creatively changed direction. Take a look at the above image to get some information on each area within Widows Cave.

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=w21hgytpwtf

Powerhouse Games Team

Bug Company- The Art Bible

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Heres a link to Bug Company's art bible v2 (thanks again gigasize.com). The art bible sets the tone for all visual (2D concepts, in-game visuals) elements in the mod. This document like other documents is a working document that is updated weekly by lead artist Emma Hampson. UPDATE - AN ENHANCED VERSION OF THIS DOCUMENT WILL BE UPLOADED SOON.

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=otmq4xf25kb

Powerhouse Games Team

Take a look at our game design document

Last week we linked to a file hosting site to host our process of design, thanks Gigasize.com. Heres a new link for (each week the document is revised) our most recent Game Design Document version for Bug Company. The Game Design Document is used in the games industry to detail mechanics and other game related information. The document is a docx file and requires Microsoft Office 2007 for windows or Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac to open (UPDATE! also opens in Pages on Mac).

Enjoy!

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=gzsp3hfljvc

Powerhouse Games Team

Want to read our process of design?

The process of design is a vital part in the machine that is Bug Company. Our process of design covers everything that makes Bug Company what it is today (each level designer has a process of design that will be added to this document later. This document was created by our document team Louie Mitchell and Luke Bale and is updated weekly. heres the download link of our most recent version...

www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=w8n7d34h5pd

Powerhouse Games Team

The usefulness of reference images...

Above: The map of widows cave now complete with reference images (click to enlarge)

Here is a 2D map of a level introduced earlier named Widows Cave. To help the transition between level design and art departments these images are vital. Using arrows and reference images level designer Adam Khoury can show the art department how he envisions Widows Cave's visual style. Adam's influences come from a wide variety of sources including the 2008 role-playing game Fallout 3 using the Lamplight Caverns area of the game for tunnels and stalagmites image references.

Small Development Update

Overall Bug Company is progressing well. As Bug Company is mod and not a complete game the process of design differs from previous university work the team has created. To help with the project we have been given an additional two weeks to finish Bug Company so the Mod will be completed late May, rather than early May.

Characters in Bug Company

Bug Company contains classes. A class is a type of player character with abilities unique to that class. Bug Company attains creation of each class by following our Game Design Document which outlines each class and their abilities. Here are some images of 2D drawings and 3D renders of a female placeholder character that will later be used to realise each class.

Powerhouse Games Team

Bug Company... the details

On our blog we have mentioned in brief about Bug Company, for anyone who wants to know more heres the fine details in all their glory. This information is taken from our game design document and is correct as of the 6th March 2009.

Product Overview

Bug Company is a third person action shooter created as a modification for Unreal technology 2004. The mod aims to be an introduction to the team combat genre such as Electronic Arts Battlefield series. The aim of a game is to utilise both air and ground combat and capture the enemies' nodes. Players will control huge insects such as grasshoppers and giant beetles and ride them into battle to fight with their enemies.

Unique Selling Points

• Use multiple forms of insects transport and ride them into battle.

• Utilise both ground and air combat to fight your enemies.

• Use the pheromone tracker ability to analyse the environment and keep an eye on teammates.

• Large arsenal of weapons at the player's disposal, both lethal and non lethal all created out of natural resources.

• Choose between the peace keeping image and the death bringing Tagma as your soldiers and bring them into the battle.

Check back for more information soon including the all important gameplay mechanics...

Powerhouse Games Team

Artwork before static mesh creation

Above: A turret design created to shoot down flying vehicles.

Above: A birds nest and egg's contained within are a key feature within the treetop level.

Above: A kite design.

Above: Buzzzzz, the design above is for a bee hive with honeycombs on the interior.

Above: Beautiful purple flowers that will use a particle effect for glowing spores.

An important part of model creation is concept art. Heres a selection of a artwork created by Emma Hampson for Sam Owen's treetop level's static meshes. The setting of this level allows for a creative selection of objects.

Updates and then some!

Hey as promised we are uploading a whole bunch of work from our alpha build today. I hope that people are enjoying reading our blog so far, if anyone has comments on our work feel free to add comments to any post.

Powerhouse Games Team

Map Preview - Treetop Level

Above are images of a map created by level designer Sam Owen. The level has several points of interest ranging from a bee's nest to a large kite thats become tethered to the branches. The images included here are Sam Owen's 2D map of his level (created in Adobe Illustrator) and two screenshots of his level in action. Sam and our art department spent many hours creating a stunning map with plenty of character in its unique design.

Updates coming this weekend!

Stayed tuned for a mass update of information about Bug Company over the next few days from level design and other departments. It's been a busy few weeks for Powerhouse Games, now we have passed our Alpha milestone and began to our sights on beta.

Powerhouse Games Team

Map preview - Widows Cave

Heres a preview of level design lead Adam Khoury's map Widows Cave. As Bug Company is a team based game with capture mechanics the teams begin a fair distance apart (A & B on map) and fight over capture points (yellow circles with green crosses). Notice the large snake skeleton in the centre of the map?

The next step for Adam is to build a rough approximation of Widows Cave within Unreal Editor and test it.

Group Meeting 27/02/09

Above: Programmer Steven Matthews discusses Unreal coding with the team.

Above: Level design concepts from lead level designer Adam Khoury.

Above: Group shot minus Louie Mitchell & Chris Begley (I was taking the picture lol).

Deliverables 001

Each week members of Powerhouse Games are assigned deliverables. These deliverables are given out on a Monday and on Tuesdays we speak to our design tutor Zuby Ahmed about them. Once he is happy with the deliverables set each student has till the following monday to complete them. Over the next few weeks Powerhouse Games will work hard on weekly deliverables and pool their talents to create something special come early May, Thats all Folks!

(P.S. we even have Hilary's backing on this one, how can we fail?)

Unleash the BUGS! (Part One)

Heres some renders of a placeholder bug creature for Bug Company. The beetle in these images is carrying a platform that players can stand on as they fly into battle. Credit for this model goes to Gary Seddon (3D Artist).