rabbit

Time Out

2008-10-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

In the States at the moment taking a little break some scenic photos and texture shots and stuff.
Gonna really get down to work when i get home. Stuff for Rabbit and my portfolio. Another 3 weeks till i get home. Kinda miss it, kinda don't: undecided:)
More updates from myself and irishlostboy soon

Props WIP 1

2008-09-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

This is a pick up truck i'm working on it's been a while since i've put anything up as i have been flat out slaving for savings :) anyways gonna texture and stuff hopefully by tuesday evening. lol if i'm lucky

Rabbit news

2008-09-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

not a lot happening here to show pictures of. the level is still with JamesH. he is working away on physics. doing a fine job i am sure.

i am selling comercial use versions of some of our assets now over on turbosquid.

click the link to go have a look at them, buy them for your own projects etc. i will be adding cool new models there as regularly as i can, so if you are in the market for assets, make it a regular port of call.
i also will be using this page to host my tutorials, so go check them out too. they are of course free.

other news, i have gotten a job. i am doing some freelance work for Dx Studio. making assets for their product demos and that kinda thing. wont make me rich, but will keep the rent paid. this does mean a lot less time for rabbit related 3d, but that does not mean i wont keep my hand it and keep progress happening. slowly perhaps. but slow and steady wins the race. brian will have to step up his production to take the strain. :)
that is about all the solid info i have right now. hopefully before end of september i will have something more interesting to say.

2008-08-01T03:23:00.000-07:00

I'd just like to say I am very happy with the way this turned out twas a lot of work but we got there in the end. Tim (irishlostboy) done some truly excellent work with the lighting and tree especially.
Cheers

level design 18

2008-07-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

we are finished the Rabbit/PhysX/C4 demo level design. it just came to a point of, "finish it now, or continue forever". i am quite happy with the results so far.
sooo, you are all one step closer to playing around in this place.
here are far too many screengrabs, but i am excited to have gotten to a place where i can say "done". yay us

well, done is a relevant term. it still needs optimisation, and sound added. and the physics objects made do their thing, and lots of other little bits and bob's. but the main level is done.....ish. lol

level design 17

2008-07-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

work continues unabated. demo is getting nearer and nearer. we had a few delays with optimisation problems, but i think that is in hand now. i am very nearly finished the level to a satisfactory state. we have some truely incredible visuals. i cannot wait to let people have a wander around, playing with all our cool physics props. it will be great.

some new images.
here is a funky little airvent box thing. i dunno why, but i really like it. its nice and chunky and i like the materials.

here is a still of our turbulent sky.

and a still of the tree.

i wanted something to creat a visual break in the street, but give a sense that there is more to the world beyond. i have settled on an overpass. it looks suitably imposing i think. the lighting really needs addressing soon.

Video 01

2008-07-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

here is a vid of the sky effects. sunlight, moving clouds. water, and the tree in engine. nearly finished the demo level. as you can see, i am going with a more daytime look for the physics demo.

level design 16

2008-07-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

been a while since i updated, but that does not mean i have not been working. admitedly not as hard as i should be, but its still working.
the main piece of work i have done is a tree. sound simple. it was not. took a lot of trial and error to maximise the detail while making it feasable for realtime remndering.

here is the trunk section. it has two trunks twined together.

the branches are alpha mapped planes.

foliage are planes of course.

here is a wire render. its about 3500 triangles. includingall the detail bits.

ivy and fungus details.

here is a grass model. it is only really three planes. it needs optimising. it was rendered out from a full high poly model. this method is very time consuming, but it looks good from any angle. always a problem with foliage.

a breakable chair model.

and the tire all finished.

we are a few weeks away from having something playable for people to test out. its tough to keep focused on the project at the moment, but when i see the screens up like this, its all worth while.

level design 15

2008-05-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

another day, another piece of 3D. today i was messing with billboards. its an old trick, telling the story of a game-world with posters etc. its a bit heavy handed, but in moderation works.
the billboard currently has an old 50's style advert on it. it will be replaced with something more game relevent at a later date.

level design 14

2008-05-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

for a break post-college, i have been putting together simple models that although needed, are not very exciting.
a mid-poly skip. all the parts will be made functional. the lid and the castors, so it can be used in a very dynamic way in-game. no textures as of yet. i will get them done sometime soon. not having college is sooo good.

next one is a low poly tire. so far the textures are just for testing purposes. i was focussing on the normal map.

Props and stuff 01

2008-04-30T17:16:00.001-07:00

Wehey i'm finally finsihed college yup. Finished today and you'd think i'd be taking a break but no i've started doing some props and stuff thought i'd do a satellite dish Tim (irishlostboy) gave me a list of things to get cracking with in my own time so i couldn't resist getting stuck in.

Level design 13

2008-04-30T06:30:00.001-07:00

ok, we finished college today. praise the lord. here are some new screenshots. not perfect, but we are getting there.

have some new sketches from agatha as well we will put up shortly.

level design 12

2008-04-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a building i've been working on for the last hour or so working on the texturing momentarily and trying to get a decent scheme going. This is part of a much larger part of buildings for a quad building section (A middle open section be it park or car park with buildings all surrounding it) This is the front part of it that'll be facing the street. i'm looking forward to have this section of buildings completed soon i will have it all done by tonight.

I will be working on sound and some props also and i have a paper to write on physics implementation (specifically traps) in our game.

Will put up some more images soon

character concepts 02

2008-04-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

over the past week we have been mainly working on text documents and presentations. so not a lot of cool new 3d to show off just now.
on the other hand we do have a new team member to welcome. Agatha Noel has joined us as a concept artist. she will be interpreting the world and the characters of Rabbit for us in 2d. here are two of her first submissions.

level design 11

2008-03-20T15:34:00.001-07:00

Hello long time no speak messing around with physics props in C4 engine at the moment.
Testing scaffolding units and stuff. Was having a little break from work until recently.
With irishlostboy in berlin for the week i gotta pick up the slack.

Also Alkisl one of our programmers has implemented PHYSX into the 148 build of the engine.

level design10

2008-03-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

some barbed wire. this model will snap into the one next too it in such a way that the barbed wire strands look like one big long strand. and all that for just over a hundred polys a section. very economical.

character concepts01

2008-03-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

Marie and Mr. Sterns.

the design document will be out soon. it will explain who they are, and everything else you need to know about the game development.

level design09

2008-03-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

sewers. WIP

Publicity02 - Briamond

2008-02-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

Attended the Dare to be Digital opening today in Dublin today, there was a large enough turn out.
Approached a good amount programmers and was approached in kind bu Carlow and other colleges.

No lack of programmers about in this country.

The buzz about the place is quite positive at the moment.

However there'll be no resting on our laurels now gotta keep working.

No breaks for this beast of burden. WORK WORK work...........

Will keep posted.

level design08- Briamond

2008-02-28T12:54:00.000-08:00

Some screens of the newer buildings iv'e got in c4 gonna set up scenes in Engine and get it out for you guys. These are render scenes from 3DS max so i will have some screen grabs from C4 as well.

I've got some other buildings and street props to come as well such as a theatre, ornate apartment blocks and some more shops.
So keep your eyes peeled.

level design07-irishlostboy

2008-02-21T15:08:00.001-08:00

ok, Sean Brady got PhysX working in C4, so i spent a day pulling in all my physics props, whether they belonged there or not, and had fun shooting them around the level. physx is soooo fun.

i got a cat model done. there will be stray cats in the world, and you have to watch out, because they may give your position away if you are not careful.

publicity01-irishlostboy

2008-02-18T12:02:00.001-08:00

here is the flyer/ poster we have done for distributing at the Dare To Be Digital launch, to recrute programmers. if this is you, get in touch ;)

leveldesign06-Briamond

2008-02-15T13:47:00.001-08:00

Renders of some of the buildings in the project.

Will be building a sewer environment soon also some scaffolding physics objects.

leveldesign05-Briamond

2008-02-15T13:41:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics for more of the buildings and styles to be seen in the project.

Gonna hollow out some interiors for the buildings soon. will have something in the near future

level design04-irishlostboy

2008-02-14T21:05:00.000-08:00

messing with getting volumetric light effects to work.

they are looking ok to me so far. the textures need work, but the concept is sound.

level design03-irishlostboy

2008-02-13T22:11:00.000-08:00

lighting test. nothing fancy. orange lights, light flares, fire in a barrel. it matches the skybox a little better now.

I am off now for a long weekend. valintines is today, then i am back in the northwest from friday morning.
i was hoping to get more done before school is back on monday, but this will do for now.

status report01-briamond

2008-02-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

Currently working on some new buildings and props for the game will have some shots up soon...
Been a long enough week i'm exhausted but we struggle on and keep the work up to scratch... will have more soon....

level design02-irishlostboy

2008-02-09T19:26:00.001-08:00

the engine we are using is C4
http://www.terathon.com/c4engine/index.php
its a really powerful renderer. i expect great things from it.

level design01-irishlostboy

2008-02-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

the 3d elements are build modularly in 3ds max, then imported and assembled in the game engine.

a place to start.

2008-02-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

Game type;

FPS stealth/ horror.

Premise; “There is always an alternative to the straight route of violence”

You are a homeless child, found wandering alone by another homeless child in a hostile environment. The streets have groups of predatory adults hunting children for their bounty. You have no offensive abilities, but must use light/dark areas and visual obstruction to sneak past your pursuers.

story.

Opening scene;

Blurry vision. Sense of little feet walking. The flap flap of the little feet walking. Muffled sounds in memory. Screams, shooting, shouting. Indistinct and disjointed.

Vision spins around. A scruffy ten year old girl is gripping the player as vision clears.

“What are you doing?” the girl asks, terror evident in her voice and the shell-shocked gaze of her eyes. “Can’t you see the hunter’s lights? Can’t you hear them? You must hide!

Player is dragged by the wrist. They go through ruined and part ruined buildings. Destroyed cars etc. the girl finds a place to hide, and you crawl in. the gap is small and dark.

“Stay here and wait awhile. It’s too small a space to be hunted in here”

Player falls asleep, or just drifts off into a memory of before. Images are indistinct. Mainly of sounds of soothing adult voices. A mother singing a lullaby.

Hooting sounds start to invade the dream. The player wakens, but the hooting sounds continue. The sound of many children hooting.

“It’s ok to go out now” says the girl. “That’s the signal”

Player crawls out of the space, followed by the girl.

“I have not seen you before” says the girl. “If you want you can come with me I can bring you to Mr.Sterns. He will know where your nest is”. He knows these things

you follow the girl…….

dev blog

2008-01-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

Rabbit, a 3d game by Archangel Studio, created (so far) by students of ballyfermot college. this is our development blog.