Mathew Hawkins - Game Designer

 For this week, I had finalised the block out of the level. This means that the pre-production phase of my project has been completed and that I can move onto the production phase of this project. I had also conjugated all the work so far into a informative video which shows all the pre-production work. The video can be viewed here:  The next step is to begin turning the BSPs into static meshes to create textures and begin turning this block out into a proper level environment.

  In this week, I had began with the block out of my level in Unreal engine. I am using Unreal engine because that is the engine that I have the most knowledge in and I will be using the engine to create my final level. I began by creating the front of the building as a guide for the map to gauge the scale of the map. I then began working on the rooms one at a time to begin creating the layout of the map. This is the current version of the block out. For the cave system part of the map, I used Unreal's landscaping tool to create the cave system. This was useful as it allowed me to create a different looking block out floor which will help differentiate the laboratory areas to the cave areas. I had also done research into references to real world locations that will help with the end result of the look of the map. These are the reference images that I collected. These images will be useful as it give me a clear visual idea of what the differen...

  In this week, I have sketched out many ideas and layouts for my level. I had first done pen and paper sketches to quickly create level ideas, then moving onto Photoshop to create the finalised sketch idea. In this first sketch, I began with thinking about three pathways that the players could traverse to get around the man: Office corridor, Vent and Cave. The level would be dramatically changed from this design however the cave and the main area being a corridor would remain and be expanded further. Whereas the vent system would be condensed down. In this sketch, the corridor is expanded and is now given turns that block line of sight. More rooms had been added to make the environment more intricate and interesting. This also gave room to a upper floor that would give a element of verticality to the level that would make the level more complexity. In this sketch, the upper floor has been expanded to give a greater prepuce and the vent had been reduced...

  FDA 304 Game Design Pitch Designer: Mathew Hawkins Overview Summary I will be creating an asymmetrical first-person shooter multiplayer map that will have a team of 4 against another team of 4.The game takes place in a laboratory  that has had a recent outbreak of creatures that have been experimented  on from within the lab. In the game, there is Team 1 and Team 2. Team 1 is made up of human solders that have been sent into the lab in order  to destroy the outbreak of the escaped  creatures. Team 2 plays as these creatures and must defend against Team 1 by killing them till Team 1 is out of lives. Genre Low Sci-fi, Horror, Realism Scope One map, Indoor laboratory with outside spawn area and alien/monster caves & hive. Timeline Preproduction ·         Week 2 – Week 4 (30 th January – 19 th February) ·         Milestone video recorded on 20 th or 21 st Feb. P...

Research For this week, I had undertook research into recourses and materials that I will use in my development of my project. For this, I began by looking into the maps of pre-existing games in order to draw inspiration and to begin to understand level design fundamentals. The maps that I have researched into, that I will use as a reference when creating my level, are maps from Team Fortress 2, Evolve and Counterstrike.   In my research, I had also found reference sources that have help inform me about level design principles and how I could improve my level design skills. The next step for me, is to begin to sketch out level ideas to begin to develop the layout of my level.