Final Submission: CryEngine Level.

My final CryEngine environment can be downloaded from the following location.

http://www.mediafire.com/?1cc2u1gt9x8v8hc



N.B.: I mistakently named the level file with the suffix EXP2 rather than EXP3, but am unable to rename the folders without disturbing directories to textures etc. Please ignore any inaccurate filenames.

EXP3 Week 4: Developed CryEngine Environment Captures

 I reflected the shallow curvature of Glendalough Valley to create a sense of harmony between my bridge and the environment, also linking the company headquarters to each other as well as each side of the valley.

 Facebook's headquarters roughly resemble the company's logo, and the texture used is a reminder of privacy issues regarding information shared on such websites.

 The Coca Cola headquarters resemble a C, but flipped so as to seemingly face those of Facebook with open arms. I chose a texture that resembled the company's primary product and could act as an advertisement.

 A curved slab extruded along the bridge allows passage between opposties sides of the valley. This path has not been explored in as much detail in my level, but with further development the elevator paths could extend right to the top, where passage and parking of vechicles could potentially be accommodated.

 By standing on the exterior balcony areas, the employees of each company can find a view of the other's headquarters.

My dining table is located on a podium spanning a narrow creek on the valley floor. It is a cantilever design in which the weight of a monitor (presumably portaying current relevant information) balances to lift the length of the table.

EXP3 Week 4: Peer Feedback

<scanned feedback sheet will be uploaded>

EXP3 Week 3: Bridge Design

In discussing my bridge design with my tutor I drew a simple concept model.

I constructed the members using Google Sketch-Up's "Follow Me" tool to extrude several circles along an arc. (I then made this a component and copied it five times).

This gave me a skeleton to add block forms for the headquarters to,

 which I articulated by removing voids from these blocks and adding textures.

EXP3 Week 3: Testing Textures

Before applying the textures to my models, I placed them on some quickly constructed prisms in google sketchup to see how they looked.

EXP3 Week 3: 36 Custom Textures

My 36 custom textures portray movement of 6 different kinds; Linear, Rotational, Scalar, Fluctuating, Progressive and Diminishing. I selected words that seemed meaningful in expressing changes in power.

EXP3 Week 2: Riding the Elevator

My two elevators are a similar shape to facilitate comparison, each intended to illustrate different ideas of power.

The elevator for Coca Cola employees is in the form of a spa bath, allowing them to enjoy a refreshing ride between the headquarters and valley floor. Fittingly, Coca Cola gains financial power by promising customers comfort and refreshment.

The elevator for Facebook is a podium-style design, ensuring the prestigious employees can be seen as they travel between the two sites. This echoes the way the company encourages users to mount themselves on display and gain a sense of self-importance.

The roof forms of each are also meaningful in respect to each company's approach to gaining power; for Coca Cola it is a smooth, gradually levelling curve while Facebook's depicts a continuous increase.

 Above is the code used to animate my elevators; in this case K moves the lift up, and L moves it down. My tutor helped me discover a feature allowing the direction of motion to be reversed at any point in the path. This was done by making the press of a trigger key stop the opposite motion while releasing the key activates the desired motion. (The other elevator is trigged by O and P).

EXP3 Week 2: Two Point Perspectives

EXP3 Week1: MashUp

My MashUp of the news articles is a semi-abstract amalgamation in which I intend to give some idea of the history and current standing both financially and socially of each of the three companies.

Doctor John Permberton. Developer Ryan Brant. Sophomore Mark Zucherberg. Beginnings! Coca Cola concocted 1886. Take-Two Interactive Software founded 1993. Facebook is started Feburary 2004. Pemberton's bookkeeper Frank Robinson gives names and logo, sales began May 8th. Asa Candler buys Coca Cola formula. Take-Two expands. Take-Two acquires Global Star Software, TalonSoft, control of Telstar. Facebook originally within Harvard, spreads to other universities then high schools. Growth. Coke syrup sold to licensed independent companies, Facebook moves headquarters to California, Take-Two acquires developers and studio PopTop Software. Struggles. "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" radio add flops. Brant resigns from chairman as company is investigated. Winklevoss twins and co claim Facebook stolen. Overcome? KO Stocks 75.23. TTWO Stocks 11.56. FB Stocks 31.91.
"Let's grab a coke." "Take-Two?" "Add me on facebook!"




Original Articles:

"Milestones in Facebook's History"

http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/milestones-in-facebooks-history-20120518-1yuab.html

"The History of Coca Cola"

http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/coca_cola.htm

"History for Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc"

http://www.mobygames.com/company/take-two-interactive-software-inc/historyz

EXP3 Week1: Valley and Draft Environment

I have chosen to create an environment based on the valley Glendalough in Ireland.

Its name translates roughly to "glen of two lakes".

The images below are captures of current progress in my CryEngine enviroment.

EXP3 Week 1: Intersection of H-prisms.

Each of these forms was designed by combining 3 H-shaped prisms of various dimensions. In one case the H-prism is a void cut out of another.

EXP2 Final Submission

My earlier problem with displaying textures seemed to result from the texture files added to the CryEngine textures folder by PlayUp being in .tif format rather than .tga or .dds as required. I fixed this by downloading a program called FileFormat and using it to convert my texture image files to .tga format, which I placed in the "textures" folder within my level and then mapped to each texture manually in CryEngine's materials window.

Below are updated screenshots of my monuments in the environment, now with correct custom textures.

I have also updated the download link for my level in the previous post.