Blender is an amazing FREE software that allows for 3D modeling objects and then seamlessly exporting them to Unity to use within a game environment. 3D modeling is a complex mixture of math and art that takes years to master. A very unique story is how Pixar was made with a mathematical equation. This equation is the reason Pixar animations are so smooth and round. Click here if you are interested in the Pixar story. I am in the learning stages and I am very lucky to have an internship that requires these skills so that I may continue learning 3D modeling as well as game design. In a normal game development environment, there would be a team 3D modeling and a team programming the game. However, I am in charge of it all, which makes the going slow, though incredibly fun. This week was a very blender extensive week while I worked to design a pot sherd so that I may “litter” the ground around the pueblo with them. Even today if you look at the ground at the Coronado Historic site, there are pot sherds poking out of the ground everywhere. We can only imagine how many were at the site during the excavation.
First I must create the structure of the pot sherd object. This is called the wire frame.
I then set it up to diffuse a color light. I chose yellow to mimic the sunlight that will be hitting it.
Then a texture is created. I created this texture in photoshop using an actual pot sherd image found at the Kuaua Pueblo.
Followed by a material that can be applied to a face on the object. I also created a sandy texture for the edges of the sherd also using a real image from a pot sherd found Kuaua.
Resulting in a pot sherd!
The next goal is to upload this object into Unity and use it to decorate the landscape. I also wanted to make the site look more like it is being “dug up” by the archaeologists. I have added dirt mounds and more texture to the grasses and rocks around the walls.
Gallons of coffee were most likely consumed this weekend…
…while volunteering for the Albuquerque CreateAthon. Volunteers of technology experts and students have just one day to help a non-profit in Albuquerque with their technology needs. This project was overwhelmingly fun and exciting as my team and I stayed awake for 30 straight hours to participate and help the non-profit Centro Savila with a new logo, new website, new brochures and an amazing android application.
In effort to catch up after this event I spent most of my time this week doing research and editing images for the Kuaua pueblo game.
I was in need of researching the benefits and ability to use a database to hold the data that will be used within the game. This includes images of artifacts, positioning data, information and stories to enhance the game as a learning tool.
Unity does not support an outside database very well without using a server with internet capabilities. Although using a local database stored on the computer this game will be run from is possible it can also cause many malfunctions causing the need for a high level IT personnel if something were to go wrong.
I have decided against the external database and will create one inside the Unity game that will of course serve my purposes well but will not be editable from the outside or as large as one needed to house the large portion of data from Coronado.
Instead I will be very selective with the artifacts to be used to keep the application as lightweight as possible. While programming this, I will build it to be scalable and useful to anyone in the future to advance the project and use an external database.
.I have chosen three artifacts and started using Adobe Photoshop to enhance and crop the images to produce an aesthetic viewing inside of the game.
I was also shown AMAZING documents from the archaeologists while excavating Kuaua Pueblo. I have become fascinated with reading about their everyday work at uncovering the mysteries to this pueblo. These documents are helping Ethan and I to determine the locations of certain artifacts and objects within the many walls of the pueblo. I will be using this information to accurately place artifacts throughout the game to give a real sense to what it might have been like to be an archeologist working on the Kuaua Pueblo. I have also learned that apart from dirt and adobe walls found at the site there were many fireplaces throughout the rooms that I would like to add to the game.
The more invested I become with the project the more I love this historic site. Ideas to enhance this site come easily while sitting on the edge of the Rio Grande, watching kayaks float along the current and listening to the bees buzzing around me.
I feel blessed to feel apart of such an amazing place.
GUI stands for Graphical User Interface and is pronounced “gooey.” This term was created in the 1970’s to distinguish text based user interfaces from those that contain windows, icons and buttons. Today almost all user interaction uses a GUI, from your computer to phone or tablet.
These icons and buttons that are clicked or touched are sending commands to the hardware instead of typing every command you need. If the interface you are using has graphical elements then you are using a GUI.
For the Kuaua Pueblo Dig game, we have decided to use a touch screen monitor to allow the users to move about the scene. This means the GUIs need to coincide with the correct layout and code to be controlled with a finger. This means the GUIs can not rely on multiple button input and there must be a button for every action that needs to be done.
One of the most important steps to designing a GUI is the “pen and paper” phase. The layout of the GUIs needs to be drawn first to make designing it on the computer much easier. It is also important to do this phase so that you will know how many GUIs are needed, what they will do and where they will send the user.
Once this step is satisfied, recreating the GUI layouts in unity is the next step. This can be a tedious process because everything depends on layers and settings.
- Setup “canvas” layer
- Attach it to the camera that will view it. There are many settings to play with until it is adjusted just right. This canvas will hold all of the GUI elements in view.
- Create “panel” layers. This panel layer will allow for background images or colors. Panels are important for grouping different interfaces together. A panel should hold a set of buttons. Another panel should be used to display text. The reason grouping different elements together is important practice is for controlling them with code. If the code needs to change the text in view but the buttons are in the same panel it might cause the buttons to change as well.
- Code the GUI. Depending on what needs to be done code will be created and attached to the GUI element so that it becomes interactable. Some examples in the Kuaua game are switching between GUIs, switching between scenes, exiting the game, showing information and controlling the camera view.
- DESIGN! This is the last step that needs to be done for the GUIs in the Kuaua game. Button images, titles and icons still need to be designed and then added to the GUIs. Right now I am using placeholder images that come with Unity until I create unique ones.
The following pictures are rough drafts of the GUIs in the game now. Everything in them will be replaced with unique images and designs created specifically for this project.
I enjoyed this project so much because of the creativity involved. I used C#, Visual Studio & Blend to came up with the following screen:
]]>