BA3: Digital Modeling: Companion Cube, Pt 2.

More of my Maya Scribbles…

Here are more of my notes which I managed to scribble down during a couple of tutorials, one based upon helpful hints and tips, the other during our Companion Cube project.

• You can use the move tool to move the offset areas but never let the edges of an object you have built touch because you will find yourself with hidden faces.

• You cant extrude edges because an edge is an infinitely small shape in space and Maya will likely make on side disappear (think about Tomb Raider, older versions, where you could rotate the camera around Lara but more often than not the camera would go through a wall but you would still be able to see through that wall) s if it had disappeared.)

• Your door need to be perfect from both sides ensuring there are no hidden faces or incorrect elements on either side.

• Moving the pivot area > select hierarchy (top 3 square icons above the shelf) > X key changes cursor to snap too areas of the grid/ C key snaps to a curve or edge/ V key snaps to vertices & points.

• Manifold geometry > edit mesh > merge > single edges are merged into 1 shape.

• If you have extra edges you can select and delete them and then select merge under edit mesh. 

Portal 2 Companion Cube, Pt 2.

Tuesday, 20th 

I must admit before I dive in with the “walkthrough” that this week I struggled. Not with getting to know Maya as a programme, deep down I actually love Maya…not sure how long that will last. No, the thing I struggling with was keeping up. I often found Maya did stupid things that it wasn’t meant too and I would end up not having the cube looking correct. Trying to fix what happened would often lead to me missing something else just as crucial. Alas, the tutorials are still really fun, I’m not the only one who gets lost and I find we all bond over helping each other out and trying to help fix issues! It makes the learning experience much better! Anyway, what I am trying to say is that this week my walkthrough guide might not appear as clear as it did last week. I will try to amend it if I can at some point. 

  

Part 2, Step 1: The 1st very basic step was to build a new cube. This was so begin working of the outer block sections that you can see in-between every large corner section. As you can see from the screen shot (just) I have created another cube by selecting the cube from the polygon shelf. I then made the cube bigger and moved it into place over the top of the larger cube we built last week. 

Note: I found it got very confusing halfway through building this new element of the Companion Cube, having to look through the main cube and the visual reference images so I can only wish I had done this sooner than I did. I decided it would be best o have everything in separate layers so I could turn them on and off at my will to ensure it was easier to see what I was building. I did this by highlighting what I wanted to be in a layer (e.g. the main base cube) and then clicked the small orange & blue ball icon at the bottom right of the screen above the layers section to section it off into a “new layer”. I then called this layer “BaseCube” (or something similar). I then did the same for the new cube we had created and named it “CenterCube”. This left me with 3 layers, the reference images, base cube and new mini cube so that I could turn them on and  off when I needed too. It made my workflow much easier!

Part 2, step 2: Here is what the shape looks like when we “hide” the reference images and  base cube. To get here I had to select the layers and attributes section and select “SubDivs” and change the quantity to 2. this made the cube have 4 smaller faces per every main face/side. We then turned off “camera based selection” by double clicking the move tool icon and selected the 2 L shaped sides of the shape (right click & select edge).

We then went to edit mesh and chose the bevel tool option. However we only clicked it, we didn’t double click to open the options. What this allowed us to do was to enter the number manually on the left side of the Maya interface screen. We had to set the bevel to 1. This created the extra face you can see (which we don’t actually want) but also brought the middle sub div down lower. 

 

Part 2, step 3: Okay so it’s evident that there is an extra face on the side of the shape as you can see from the screen shot above and below. To get rid of any unwanted faces and not end up with hidden faces (for example by merely manually pushing the 2  edges together, it will not get rid of the face). 

To properly be rid of this extra face I had to right click and ensure I was in object mode > select the entire object > edit mesh > merge vertex tool & select it. This option gives you the chance to move certain vertex and merge them into other vertexes which is helpful to remove faces. Here you can see that I dragged the corner vertex (highlighted in red)

 

Part 2, Step 4: I needed to further sub divide the shape to give more accuracy for the upcoming steps. I did this by selecting edges and setting the offset to 0.5 to even out the new lines so they evenly went round the shape. 

 

Part 2, Step 5: This is where it got super complicated to keep up with the class tutorial! So many people, including me, were having issues getting Maya to behave to I tried to keep accurate workflow notes on how I got from what you can see above to the stage I am at now (and that you will see next). Here Is what I wrote: 

Edge > select middle (i.e. the middle “ring” that goes round the cube) > edit mesh & bevel > segment 2 > select edges on front & back middle (not on top or the bottom) > scale tool “R” key > function/insert & enter > snap to centre vertices on edge > hold “V” (so it changes to a circle) > move to the middle back of the 3 rings that go around the shape > use the middle mouse click to move the tool itself > select the scale tool from the left side > ensure “soft select” is checked (your model’s edges should turn into a fiery colour to show the area that will be affected) > select fall off mode…

What I have written here are the notes I managed to take during the session. As we were all having trouble keeping up I cant really re write them so they make perfect sense, nor do I have any real idea how to re create the shape from scratch. But what I did take from it was a further understanding of the tools. This section was us basically creating the curves of the shape (as seen below). What I will do now is post the rest of my notes and screen shots along with the final outcome in hope that it makes more sense. 

Select the “L” faces of the shape (the 2 corners that sit inside the base cube) > extrude them to “0” > select everything in object mode > extrude again and then re select move tool.

Part 2, Step 6: Okay now the main shape is ready all I need to do is duplicate and rotate the shape so that it goes all the way around the main base cube. I made workflow notes for this section too so here they are. 

To duplicate the shape > right click select object mode > edit > duplicate special (square/tools) > copy/parent > make sure the pivot point is in the centre of the entire shape so it pivots nicely around a central point (use function/insert & enter keys together to be able to move the pivot point) 

The duplicate special options menu brings up a grid in which you need to manually enter the amount you want to rotate and duplicate your selected object.  This is what it looks like…

 

Part 2, Final Outcome: Okay, once we had figured out which of the boxes where the different axis (X, Y & Z) so we could rotate them properly, we could select the different shapes and literally rotate them around the centre pivot at 90 or 180 degrees so that the duplicates were on the right side and looked right. Here is the final outcome. 

BA3: Digital Modeling

In-Game Visual Research

Okay get ready for even more visual stimulus and research! Now that I have looked into the cultural background of Ancient Greece and can better understand why God of War III looks the way it does, I figured it was time to take a look at the game as it runs to see just how the doors are used and how they are represented.

Here are various screen shots that I managed to capture from a few different YouTube videos. I wish I had time to re play the entire game again myself and screen capture my findings however time is against me!  So I thank the YouTube community for their videos which I was able to watch and use to get the specific shots I needed. Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried for some of the screen shots, I couldn’t capture them sharply and so some are a little blurry but I plan to note down what I have taken from each image and how I could apply it to this project I am working on. 

There will be a variety of screen shots varying from the style of the architecture used within the game to the actual doors themselves. I have tried to capture as many examples as I can as I feel that while this may look excessive, it will really benefit me when I begin doing the concepts for my door. I have quite a few ideas floating around in my head right now thanks to these images.  

The first set of screen shots were captured from a video uploaded to YouTube by a user called  findlestick. My thoughts, comments and observations are below…(there were a few different videos I watched from this and the other user so I decided to leave the actual video off my blogpost as there are enough images as it is!)

 

Here you can see large stones which build the shape of the doorway/building. Although partially destroyed the doorway is very symmetrical. It is surrounded by pillars. Despite the scene being during night-time/cloudy weather conditions the stone appears to be of a grey/dark blue colour. 

An example of how Ancient Greece used godly statues to aid their architecture designs. Here we can see a large window/door way/part of building being guarded by 3 of the Gods (Poseidon, Zeus & Hades).  A greenly metallic colour compared to the dark blue/grey building.

  

Classic columns surrounded by and built into the rock formation in the background. 

Examples of different materials used within the architecture of these Godly statues. Bronze, rock and metals at a guess.  You can see the gates are used as barriers to the doors on the bottom image. All doorways are built into the rock. 

Again, built into the rock but also making use of the mythology of Ancient Greece and the idea of “portals” being introduced into the gameplay to transport the player to a new section of the game. Portals are highlighted in blue (something probably very difficult to re create in 3D for this project). Around the blue portals is very intricately carved rock with stairs leading to the portal. 

Examples show a secret door in the game. The door itself is built into the rock, I believe this section of gameplay is in a cave of some description. A common trend I am coming across is that doors in God of War are beautiful, they aren’t JUST doors. They are works of art. I don’t know if this will make my work for this project harder, as I must consider the details and obscurity of the style. This door here is no different. You can see the hands are all carved straight into the door. 

 

I used these 2 screen shots to depict the mood of the architecture. Its all very grand but at the same time very large and intimidating. You can see the clear use of columns and intricate details that connect certain parts of buildings together.

 

2 large stone statues guard this portal door which again is built into the rock. I presume the guards are literally carved out of the same rock as the mountain behind. 2 columns and an arch way frame the portal. 

 

This part of the game is set in the City of Olympus and is where a lot of great in game architecture can be found. There is lots of sandy stone coloured buildings made with large, scare bricks. Domes sit atop of columns to add elegance while everything else is very square and “blocky”. 

Another section of the game, underground in the Labyrinths. Just a quick selection focusing on the materials used. There is a mixture of traditional wood with delicate metallic designs carved into thick hefty chains. 

 

I chose this screen shot because I had the idea (following on from looking in the environments section of my God of War art book where large statues were posed coming out from the top of the doorway) to create a doorway that would have some sort of mythical creature implemented into the design. The griffin seen here caught my eye with its stance, it would be perfect above a door. 

Other than my griffin/mythical creature door idea I felt I needed to have another idea that would be slightly more simple in design as I can’t for see how tough its going to be to model this door in Maya. Here you can see a section of the game that isn't built into rock or destroyed through gameplay. It is simply perfect looking. Shiny marble floors which reflect and bounce light beautifully, huge, tall standing stained glass windows alongside beautiful artwork smothered along the walls around the door. This door is inspirational. It has a decent but simple shape to it with separate areas with different designs and patterns on. The door is really tall (as you can see Kratos standing to the left where the save icon is). The arch at the top moulds the door into a beautiful and unique shape making this door look very interesting and fitting of the ancient Greek architecture seen throughout the game. 

The next selection of screen shots I was able to capture are from a video uploaded to YouTube by user MahaloVideoGames. They show much of the same but with different designs and styles so I might just post them without notes unless I need to say something important. 

 

Okay, for now, I believe that Is enough background research on the visual style of the architecture within God of War III. I believe (or, hope) that with all this I can refine some ideas floating around in my head and come up with some beautiful concept designs.  I have listed the reasons why I chose the images and have taken notes of key elements within each screen shot so that I can apply them to my design. This way I know what my door would be able to seamlessly fit into the game. I also have the research I did on Ancient Greece itself to back up my designs even more. All I can do now is crack on with the designs themselves! 

BA3: Digital Scultping

Further Research

Okay so I am not sure if I stated earlier but my chosen game for this project is God of War III. I found some different examples of architectural concept art and posted it on an earlier post however I now feel it’s the time to push that research further to aid my initial concept designs of the door/window. 

To help me with this work and getting visual primary references I bought the book “The Art of God of War (3)” which is full of absolutely beautiful concept work from the game. The part I was most interested in was the environments chapter as this contained more detailed concepts of the architecture and also has some beautiful stand alone door concepts which are perfect to refer to for this project. Here they are…

 

I must admit, doors are something I greatly overlook in games. Doing this project has made me realise the beauty and essence they carry and just how important they actually are to a game. I mean, a door can be a symbol of many major elements of a game. They can signify a beginning, middle or end section. They can represent unlockable areas, hidden secrets and new areas of for gameplay. They often lead the player through from one section of the story to another and yet I never sit and really LOOK at them. I never think about doors in games. 

The door I have shown above (with the Spartans, shields and swords around the side) is actually in integral part of the gameplay within this section of God of War III. I remember playing it. The eyes of each of these 10 Spartan soldiers lights up around the door.  You must defeat all of the enemies that are then thrown at you and every one of the main, harder ones you defeat  a light switches off.

This is just 1 example of a door that is a part of the core gameplay and is yet overlooked! I'm not saying this is a problem, I mean, it’s a door. All I am trying to say is doing this research has made me think about the smaller details in games that you do just overlook.

 

Pushing the Research Further!

It’s no secret that the God of War franchise is based  upon ancient Greece and it’s mythological culture. The games are rife with centaurs, minotaur's, titans and, of course, the ancient Greek gods such as Zeus, Hades and Athena.  I figured to fully appreciate and understand the architecture of the game I would need to look into Greek architecture and also look into the influences of mythology. 

Wikipedia defines Ancient Greek Mythology and architecture as follows:

 “Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece and are part of religion in modern Greece and around the world as Hellenismos. Modern scholars refer to, and study the myths in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece, its civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself. 

Greek mythology is embodied, explicitly, in a large collection of narratives, and implicitly in Greek representational arts, such as vase-paintings and votive gifts. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and mythological creatures. These accounts initially were disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; today the Greek myths are known primarily from Greek literature.

Archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artefacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence.

Greek mythology has exerted an extensive influence on the culture, the arts, and the literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in these mythological themes.”

I then decided to look into the architecture of Ancient Greece. The thing to seriously remember however, is that most of the ancient Greek buildings that are still around today are ruins or heavily restored to keep their beauty alive for generations. In the game God of War III, lead character, Kratos, is actually in the “ancient” Greek period and therefore the buildings are immaculate (other than when being destroyed through plot, story and gameplay).  This means that I need to find reference images and information about how they looked at the time, as opposed to how they look now.  To start off, Wikipedia had this to say about the ancient Greek architecture…

“The architecture of Ancient Greece is the architecture produced by the Greek-speaking people (Hellenic people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland and Peloponnesus, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Asia Minor and Italy for a period from about 900 BC until the 1st century AD, with the earliest remaining architectural works dating from around 600 BC.”

 

“Ancient Greek architecture is best known from its temples, many of which are found throughout the region, mostly as ruins but many substantially intact. The second important type of building that survives all over the Hellenic world is the open-air theatre, with the earliest dating from around 350 BC. Other architectural forms that are still in evidence are the processional gateway (propylon), the public square (agora) surrounded by storied colonnade (stoa), the town council building (bouleuterion), the public monument, the monumental tomb (mausoleum) and the stadium.

Google image result searching for “Ancient Greek processional gateway propylon”

Ancient Greek architecture is distinguished by its highly formalised characteristics, both of structure and decoration. This is particularly so in the case of temples where each building appears to have been conceived as a sculptural entity within the landscape, most often raised on high ground so that the elegance of its proportions and the effects of light on its surfaces might be viewed from all angles. Nikolaus Pevsner refers to "the plastic shape of the [Greek] temple.....placed before us with a physical presence more intense, more alive than that of any later building".

The Types of Greek Buildings

“The rectangular temple is the most common and best-known form of Greek public architecture. The temple did not serve the same function as a modern church, since the altar stood under the open sky in the temenos or sacred precinct, often directly before the temple. Temples served as the location of a cult image and as a storage place or strong room for the treasury associated with the cult of the god in question,, and as a place for devotees of the god to leave their votive offerings, such as statues, helmets and weapons. Some Greek temples appear to have been oriented astronomically. The temple was generally part of a religious precinct known as the acropolis. According to Aristotle, '"the site should be a spot seen far and wide, which gives good elevation to virtue and towers over the neighbourhood". Small circular temples, tholos were also constructed, as well as small temple-like buildings that served as treasuries for specific groups of donors.”

“During the late 5th and 4th centuries BC, town planning became an important consideration of Greek builders, with towns such as Paestum and Priene being laid out with a regular grid of paved streets and an agora or central market place surrounded by a colonnade or stoa. The completely restored Stoa of Attalos can be seen in Athens. Towns were also equipped with a public fountain house, where water could be collected for household use. The development of regular town plans is associated with Hippodamus of Miletus, a pupil of Pythagoras.”

“Public buildings became "dignified and gracious structures", and were sited so that they related to each other architecturally.  The propylon or porch, formed the entrance to temple sanctuaries and other significant sites with the best-surviving example being the Propylaea on the Acropolis of Athens. The bouleuterion was a large public building with a hypostyle hall that served as a court house and as a meeting place for the town council (boule). Remnants of bouleuterion survive at Athens, Olympia and Miletus, the latter having held up to 1200 people.

  Google image result when searching for the Acropolis of Athens

Greek towns of substantial size also had a palaestra or a gymnasium, the social centre for male citizens which included spectator areas, baths, toilets and club rooms. Other buildings associated with sports include the hippodrome for horse racing, of which only remnants have survived, and the stadium for foot racing, 600 feet in length, of which examples exist at Olympia, Delphi, Epidarus and Ephesus, while the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, which seats 45,000 people, was restored in the 19th century and was used in the 1896, 1906 and 2004 Olympic Games.”

 

Visual Influences Following on from my Research

Having looked into the background context of Greek and Ancient Greek architecture I now have a slightly more realised idea of Greek architecture that not only can I apply to my project but that I can also see within the God of War franchise.  I think to round this post off (as it seems to be getting a little on the long side now) I will post up some visual influences that I have found whilst researching the architecture and that I feel will prove helpful when trying to produce some concepts for my door.  These are NOT be my work, they are my visual research to aid and back up my written research. I have found these images through various search engines.