"Welcome to Row 3 (Studios)!" Or so it would go, if we were an actual company hiring actual employees, or if we were welcoming you to tour the airy and newly furnished studio where our company works. But we are not an official game company, and we certainly do not have our own studio. Not yet, at least. And as in "we", I literally mean the three people in the third row of a high-school game design classroom, and well two more from the fourth row, but that's not important. However, the big question here isn't why we are named Row 3, as it should be relatively intuitive by this point in my post, but rather: ¨Why make an entire blog post about choosing a team name?¨ Well, names are important and are the first thing players will see and/or think of when they draw associations to a company. A name is also what really unites a team and makes them feel official; before choosing a name, we were just a rag-tag group of game design students, and now we are an officially titled studio making a REAL game. It is surreal. Now that that point is out of the way, I will elaborate further upon my first point, which is based upon the intrigue of a name and why that is so important. First off, why did we choose "Row 3" as our name (besides the obvious backstory)? There are a few reasons I became so attached with this as our group name, which I will go over. One is that it is concise, and not generic. There are a lot of examples of company names where it is just a word, usually an adjective or noun, followed by "Games", for example: Insomniac Games, Rockstar Games, and Epic games, just to list a few. I am not saying these are inherently bad names, but they definitely fall under a similar archetype and get bunched together, making them far more forgettable and way less intriguing, regardless of if they sound cool or not. On the other hand, 'Row 3" is unique, which sets it apart, despite being simple and seemingly straightforward once you know the origin. The goal is to make a name random enough to where outsiders will wonder why it is named that, but not too random as to where it has no meaning or seems out of place. Alas, people will wonder ¨Why Row 3 of all things?¨ There must be some reason or history to it. Therefore it will draw them into the background of our company/team and it´s personal connection to how we were formed, making our name far more memorable and enticing. When creating a name, it is also important to not make it overly complex, or to where it doesn´t roll off the tongue smoothly. Overall, ¨Row 3¨ fits the bill in pretty much every way and worked out really well as a company name; we were set on it almost right away. As the teams main asset artist, I also took it upon myself to design a logo. It was the first time that I had used Illustrator in a long while, and I primarily just messed around with the tools until I made something that I liked, although there is still room for improvement. I wanted to create a logo that was straightforward, but with a unique and memorable twist, which was the sort of optical illusion, or ¨infinite geometry¨, style. I also experimented with colors and tried adding gradients in the second logo using the gradient and live paint bucket tools. However, I think I prefer the first logo, as it feels more modern and professional. It would also be more adaptable to different backgrounds since it is clear. Either way, in conclusion, I am happy with how it came out even though it could still use some professional touch-ups. In a nutshell:
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In working through the Mystery Island project, I definitely found many of the processes to be draining, repetitive, and tedious. However, I can also appreciate the efficiency of modular design. I know it would take far longer to design a multitude of complex, individualized, assets rather than a few simple pieces that can be easily recycled. The process largely involved importing assets and organizing them together, and then using the vertex snap to piece together the parts. I also got experience with the easy-to-use terrain tool in Unity which I thought was simple and well-designed. One of my greatest take-aways from this assignment was project organization. As seen in the images below, I had to make sure to group and label everything precisely, otherwise it would be extremely easy to become overwhelmed or get lost. Each asset had many components; material, texture, and model. I created groups for each asset, and then compiled all those asset groups under a broader modular component group. In creating the outpost to be used in this scene, I also learned a lot and refreshed some rusty areas. Getting experience modeling from scratch, UVW unwrapping, and texturing was the highlight of this activity for me. I definitely enjoyed the creative freedom, and being able to create the really cool textures that I used, even though I didn't have much to work with. Unwrapping the UVW templates was slightly aggravating, but I think I understand it to a far greater extent than I ever did in previous years when we went over it briefly. However, I think texturing in Photoshop was definitely my strong point. It was also important to learn how to model efficiently and set myself up for success when UVW unwrapping. In fact, several times I completely reworked a model so that the UVW part would be easier. Overall, I learned a lot through this activity. I also was able to connect my scene to an interesting concept for a mystery-horror game on an Island, called Vacant Isle, where players are stranded and have to survive, explore, and collect clues in order to solve the mystery of the island which is now connected to their life/survival. My game concept is largely based upon exploring the outposts, as well as the clues left behind in them from their previous occupiers/inhabitants. They give the player something interesting to interact with on the island, besides the boring environment. Review and main-points:
When working with a team on a project as ambitious and collectively oriented as creating an entire video game, communication and pacing are key. Creating an organized space for managing that project is essential, especially in keeping members on track and making sure everyone knows their responsibilities. Setting up Trello was made to be extremely intuitive. I really loved all the features and the UI (User Interface), and it took only a 15 minutes to get everything established. When collaborating on a project as huge and group-involved as a game, a space like Trello makes all the difference. Just texting would be far too convoluted and people would lose track of what to do and become demotivated, or use that as an excuse to slack off. Trello ensures that everything is clearly displayed, and keeps things on schedule - without a ton of chaos in communication. There are a lot of useful tools, though sadly many of those are exclusive to premium accounts. Out of the free features given, the checklist and deadline tools are the most useful for keeping things on track. I also like how everything is displayed and organized. In the game design process, there are usually three main stages: pre-production, production, and post-production. Therefore I decided to make those the main lists and then to include the smaller things within each of those general categorizations. Overall, I feel confident that Trello will help my team be efficient and well-coordinated. It will help me, as Producer, in managing and allocating responsibilities to each group member and making sure things get done on a strong schedule. In conclusion:
As the team lead, and producer, I undoubtedly have the most responsibilities on the team. Not only will I have to oversee all aspects of production and manage everyone else, but I will also have to actively contribute in the game's creation just as much as the other members. For me, this will be specializing in the art assets that go into the game in order to utilize my strengths and experience. This includes my four year pathway in 2D (now taking AP 2D: Drawing), and my interest in digital art outside of school. I am versed in the techniques and in using the main programs that go into creating digital art assets; such as Photoshop, Procreate, Illustrator, 3ds Max, and Blender among various others. My ability as an artist makes me adaptable and capable in almost any field regarding art, even in things I have no experience with. When assigning roles it is important to make sure everybody is happy, but also that the team is cohesive and that all responsibilities are covered. This can be very confounding, and not everyone will be doing strictly what they want; especially with such a small team. Because I am versatile as an artist, I put myself in a position where I could fill in around everybody else, and picked my position based on where we needed more hands on deck. Overall, I expect to be creating the majority of the 3D assets including the characters, objects, and modular components of the environment. I also will be contributing to the textures, logos, UI, and graphics that go into the game. Because we are spread thin, I will also have to chip in with compositing all the assets and putting thing's together in unity. As team lead I will also have to allocate responsibilities, decide on deadlines, and create the schedule we base our development off of. Overall, I will likely be in charge of how everything comes together and in filling in the areas where general well-rounded abilities are needed. Luckily I have an awesome team to work with :) Conclusion:
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AuthorMy name is Quinn Peterson! I will be reflecting about my art work in this blog! Archives
May 2022
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