Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Never Give Up On Your Dreams.


So, recently (as of this post) I created this forest pond/swampy type scene in the Unity engine to accompany my "Frog" character. I created all the assets with Blender3D (of course I use Blender for all my 3d asset creation) Anyway, the final scene turned out so much better than how I thought it would turn out. It actually looks like a real forest type of setting. See:





I think this is one of the most beautiful scenes/levels I have ever created actually. The lighting, atmosphere, colors, placement of trees and other details etc. It all just turned out wonderful and I am really proud of it. Okay okay, chill out you professional environment artist, 3d artist and photographers. I know it is not perfect. I know many AAA and other indie games have done similar scenes better. And I know there is room for improvement. There is always room for improvement of course.



I know that what I am about to say is going to sound very egotistical of myself but, when I finished working on this scene and saw the final results I couldn't help but just sit back in my chair and stare at my pc screen for 20 minuets. This scene is awesome and I believe that most of my recent stuff is some of my best work yet! I mean look at this stuff! (I know that I have already posted most of these images on the blog in the past but JUST LOOK AT THEM!)









Looking back and comparing myself and my older work from 6 or 7 years ago, or even looking back at how much I have improved since Potato Thriller (one year ago as of this blog post) makes me realize that I have come such a long way and learned so much as a developer and artist since I began this wonderful journey (sorry for the long sentence). I never thought that I would ever be able to create anything even close to what I am able to create today. I never thought that I would be satisfied with my own work. However, I always knew from a young age that I just wanted to learn how to make games and how to create 3d content. This was something I have always been very passionate about. Being a game developer has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember and actually pursuing that dream has consumed nearly a decade of my life now. But it doesn't matter to me because it is just something that I love doing and I am still constantly learning and trying to improve myself as a game designer. I am really proud of how far I have come but mostly, I am really proud that I never gave up.


I know that this entire blog post is coming across as really narcissistic and makes me look like the dev who just likes bragging all the time because I am usually really bad at wording these kinds of topics. I even cringed at myself a few times as I typed this up.

What I am trying to say and the point I am trying to get across here is that you should always believe in yourself and never give up on your dreams. If you are passionate about something, always pursue it. When I started out I didn't know anything at all and it took me forever to understand even simple game development concepts. I wasn't able to go to school to learn game development so I had to teach myself. There was a lot of trial and error and still to this day there is. However, I think that if I can learn how to make games then anybody can. Keep working hard, keep trying and never give up.

Okay?

Anyway, this has been a very weak attempt of me trying to write up a motivational blog post but hopefully the message gets across. I truly do believe in all of you and you can accomplish anything that you set your mind on.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

I made this turtle... His name is Frog.

Found my HAPPY ZEN place.

Was bored the other day. Cracked open Blender3d and created a new character. Made this turtle you see here. His name is "Frog".



Early WIP Blender Renders


Why is his name Frog? Isn't it a turtle?




Final Model In Unity Engine.

Look at that constant facial expression it has. So chill. So relaxed. This turtle is obviously either super high or really drunk to the point where he doesn't even know what he is. So... lets just call him Frog from here on out. My newest character. Frog the turtle.

Also, I made it possible to customize his skin for unlimited color variations and combos!



What am I doing with my life.......................



Saturday, May 6, 2017

Virtual Snowconesolid Avatar Version 2!


Not too long ago I introduce one of my newest character models Virtual Samer Khatib as well as a complete "Making Of" blog post which covered the full process of how I created the character from start to finish. In my more recent blog posts such as this one and this one I have been talking about a new game project as well as sharing a ton of early screenshots from the games development. In the blog posts I talk about focusing on quality texturing and modeling this time around. I also mentioned that I want to use my new Samer Khatib character model for the new project.

After focusing a lot of time on the new game environment, I looked at my character model and began to notice how out of place and inconsistent he was with the rest of the scene. After all, I did originally just do a very basic texture job on the original character model which only included solid colors. So I decided to go back to the character model and re-work a lot of areas that could be better or improved. 

Before showing the new updated version of Virtual Samer Khatib here are some screenshots of what version 1 looked like:

Blender Render


In Unity Engine
Boxers model

Clothes model

So just simple basic clothing and regular solid colors. I liked it. It still looked good in my opinion. But for the purposes of my new project, I want to be as consistent as possible with the visual art style. I took some time and experimented around with a variety of image textures
until I was able to properly get down a good efficient texturing style that would work out for my model. 

Experimental texturing screenshots:





not final

Virtual Samer Khatib V2:

Originally I was planning on just re-working the textures, but I actually ended up re-reworking almost the entire model and then some. I fixed a lot of clunky areas in the model, added new geometry and adjusted verts to give the model's body a more defined shape, the hair has been adjusted and isn't as flat, I modeled new clothes with multiple materials for the model, the feet are better, I optimized the model to work better in game and made the entire thing more unified and easier to customize in the future.  Okay, time to stop bragging. Drum roll please....

Alright, here is V2 of Virtual Samer Khatib:
NOTE: This is without any lighting or post fx in Unity Engine
V2 Boxers outfit

V2 Striped pajamas outfit (also made color variants of this.)

V2 Badass leather jacket outfit (was originally suppose to be suit/tux. I might ditch the bow-tie. I guess it can be both a suit and a leather outfit really)




I spent waaay more time on re-working the new and improved model than I wanted to but it was very well worth it and i'm glad I did take the time to improve upon the original model. I am very happy with the results. This is a very nice update to the original character model and I might continue updating him even further in future projects as well.

More soon!

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

May Updates+ cool NEW game progress + New Screens


     At the end of April I mentioned that I was working on a new game project and showed some early screenshots. I have made a lot of progress since then and the project is shaping up very nicely. I am working on it each day, little by little, polygon by polygon. Haven't decided on a name for it yet and I don't have any gameplay or trailer to show at the moment but I am very proud of what I have so far. Mostly, I am very proud of the modeling and texturing, the overall quality and work I am putting in this project is a major step-up from my previous game Potato Thriller (which has been out for over a year now, originally released April 1st 2016) 

With that said, I have really changed over the last year as a game developer. I took a step back for a while, looked at the many design flaws Potato Thriller had as well as many of my older games. I sharpened my skills as a developer and 3d artist, learned new skills and am becoming more serious as a game developer. I love creating and putting my work out there but I want to get better and better each time I do it. I want to continue improving my skills so that I can create more well built games. I have said this many times, but I am very passionate about being a games developer and it is an art form that has consumed years of my life now. It is just something that I keep coming back to. Something that I want to master. 

Alright, that was kind of an out of place random rant that was kind of all over the place. I always seem to do that in a lot of my blog posts for some reason. (I feel like I have said almost the same things in older blog posts also.) Anyway, quality. Quality is my primary focus on this new game project (and is something I want to always achieve in my future titles as well as everything else I do). I really want to make this game perfect and fun. Every aspect of it needs to be good quality. The graphics, the gameplay, the atmosphere, the entire experience! I want to create a game that is unique and nothing like any of my previous work. 

Game Updates?
     Umm.. I don't really feel like typing anymore. Kinda wasted this post being all "I am so passionate about games! I respect the art form!" So, uh yeah.. i'm working really hard on my new game. Here is a bunch of screenshots from development. BAM!












Also, you can use a FREAKEN COAT HANGER as a weapon in game! I am the very first game developer to ever do this! (I think I am at least)




The game will be some kind of a bizarre/horror-ish experience or something like that. I don't know man. I'm still working on it. 

MORE UPDATES SOON!