Fun/Tests With Photoshop
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@Pisarz
The main reason I did this is because I was setting up a CI server (basically a server that will automatically package an OM version whenever I push a change), and I wanted to see a sort of "official" background on it. I guess it's more of a drama/excitement thing :pAnyway I'll probably be done with this for now as I'm getting back to programming the game tomorrow.
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@bilal
Haha, ok. Got it.
It's good to know that you'll be back!
I'm still not available, but I managed to obtain Adobe After Effects cs6! I still have no idea of how to use it, but at least I now have the tools for making almost anything related with cinematic cut scenes, trailers, and more! The nice part is that I think that the .obj files can be imported into AAE CS6. So, if you were able to import that pod and those commanders into UE4, we might use those models without much difficulty.
In fact, I could even attempt to use sketches and make cinematic cut scenes so that afterwards, with Unreal engine 4 they could be done using in-game models.
Possibilities are endless!
Also, for photoshop painting, you could look for FZD Design Cinema in YouTube. It is very interesting and it provides some useful tips for anything related with concept art and design. There are many more, but this one has lots of videos uploaded already, and they are very good.
One more thing. I need some opinions about the sketches that I did for the assembling machines thread since I'm not sure if they can be used for OM. I tried to do my best to make something simple and new, but staying within the design language of the original game. Do you have any suggestions?
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@Pisarz said:
I'm still not available, but I managed to obtain Adobe After Effects cs6! I still have no idea of how to use it, but at least I now have the tools for making almost anything related with cinematic cut scenes, trailers, and more! The nice part is that I think that the .obj files can be imported into AAE CS6. So, if you were able to import that pod and those commanders into UE4, we might use those models without much difficulty.
In fact, I could even attempt to use sketches and make cinematic cut scenes so that afterwards, with Unreal engine 4 they could be done using in-game models.Great! There is also always the option of creating the cutscenes with UE4's matinee editor. Then we could use AE for trailers/media content etc...
Also, for photoshop painting, you could look for FZD Design Cinema in YouTube. It is very interesting and it provides some useful tips for anything related with concept art and design. There are many more, but this one has lots of videos uploaded already, and they are very good.
Thanks, I'll make sure to check it out as well!
One more thing. I need some opinions about the sketches that I did for the assembling machines thread since I'm not sure if they can be used for OM. I tried to do my best to make something simple and new, but staying within the design language of the original game. Do you have any suggestions?
They certainly look amazing, and you've followed the design of the original game well, but right now it's a little difficult for me to give any suggestions. I can't say whether we would want to have assembling units or not, or any arbitrary unit type. While I certainly wouldn't mind if we wanted to have missions including them, multiplayer is a different story due to game balance. Perhaps we need to start a community game theory/balance and faction design project where we figure out which units are staying and what is changing about them. It's always important to be sure of how the game should play and what changes we want to make to get things done faster.
Trying to think of an web app that would be good for something like that. I'm considering trello, but I'd rather something with visual tools to let you put in images and text wherever. Maybe gliffy?
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@bilal
Great!
I'll see what we can do about your last point. I've always thought that portfolios are a nice way to start (like artstation.com), but eventually we'll need something like that. -
@bilal, I've seen Trello. Apparently you can upload images as well. By saying "with visual tools to let you put in images and text wherever", you were referring to an interactive board or something?
I also found this:
http://www.adobe.com/la/products/adobeconnect.html
I'm still looking for other options.
The other option that we have is the following:
Suppose that we start a new thread (let's say "new features").
Someone in charge of said thread would write a description for it.
Posts would be published.
As a result, the description would then have another section (using this: "___" ), in which there would be links and downloads available.
So, this "billboard" would be updated accordingly. Old files and links would be replaced if necessary. So, the users of this forum would look at the latest posts and see if the billboard was updated.
The billboard would need to state when was the last update.I have seen this system before and, apparently, it works (it would be similar, but not identical, to the system that I implemented for my blog thread: http://wiredforwar.org/topic/53/pisarz-news-status-other-stuff, since there would only be the last date, instead of the entire record).
Honey Lemon approves!
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Here are some of them!
http://www.creativebloq.com/design/online-collaboration-tools-912855
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@Pisarz
Okay. I was thinking mostly of a tool where we could put down, for example, a faction, and then have a picture of each unit it includes, then showing unit values with text off to the side, or somewhere in a properties list. Other examples could be a research tree or a tree showing which units a building could produce.I was planning on using trello mostly for a roadmap, but it could actually work in this case, but maybe to a different extent. For example, a trello post could be a Light Infantry Factory, and then inside it would be each unit.
As for the billboard, do you just mean editing once a decision is made, or for development? Because I think we can just have a trello for both cases. Maybe we could have that thread until the development site goes up and we just have a decision changelog.
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I'd like to see this as a loading screen.
The more stuff it loads, the brighter those eyes will glow! -
@bilal
We need something equivalent to being together in a big room with walls covered with notes, concepts, model sheets, sources of inspiration, etc.. In the middle of this room, a long table with folders and portfolios. We would be able to talk and exchange ideas.This allegory is very important for me because it is how real studios work. Therefore, since we are not physically in the same place, we need to be able to do all of this in a simple and practical way. Trello seems to be a nice option, but I just wanted to see other options to see if there is anything that suits our requirements as good as Trello or better. Yet, I realized that we can do this right here. The problem is that we would need to separate the brainstorming and discussion threads from the "formal" threads, which would be purely for development and technical purposes only. This is a HUGE issue.
See, for example, what happened with some of the things that I did here in the forum already. The Goliath Optimization Program and the New Skins Kit amongst other things are currently on standby. They were not discarded, but they are not finished either. This is entirely my fault because I promised too much, and I apologize for that, BUT, we also lack of something very important: a system.
The billboard concept (as I've seen it) works like this:
Decisions are made by voting polls.
Development is done by both discussions on the thread and by someone doing and afterwards modifying "the thing" (in this case it would be a model sheet, a demo, etc.; basically the main subject of the thread).
The thing, whatever it is, is always updated and uploaded on the description post, stating when was the last update.
The changelog could have its own thread in order to avoid a huge list on the front page.Therefore, the user/developer/guest sees first what it's currently being developed and then, by going towards the end of the thread, what it's being discussed.
Yet, I always prefer to actually try something else in order to determine whether it's useful or not. Trello, therefore seems to be a good option:
http://justincone.com/4-tips-for-working-with-trello/I vote for Trello AND the billboard. This is to have something for guests and users to look at (the billboard) and something for developers to work with (Trello). As a result, Wired For War would have a "public" space and a "working" space. This forum would determine what is going to be done in Trello. This is why I believe that we need a system. There would be more active users and things would be done in an organized way, hence, faster.
Wow, that was a long post, haha!
By the way, how can we use GitHub? Because I need to learn coding from level... zero. Would I be able to contribute without that kind of knowledge? (This reminds me of the specialization dilemma.)
@Encrypted
That's a wonderful idea! -
@Pisarz said:
@bilal
We need something equivalent to being together in a big room with walls covered with notes, concepts, model sheets, sources of inspiration, etc.. In the middle of this room, a long table with folders and portfolios. We would be able to talk and exchange ideas.This allegory is very important for me because it is how real studios work. Therefore, since we are not physically in the same place, we need to be able to do all of this in a simple and practical way. Trello seems to be a nice option, but I just wanted to see other options to see if there is anything that suits our requirements as good as Trello or better. Yet, I realized that we can do this right here. The problem is that we would need to separate the brainstorming and discussion threads from the "formal" threads, which would be purely for development and technical purposes only. This is a HUGE issue.
Well a true remote studio would have not only live voice and video chat sessions (which we won't really need so much until there is a more dedicated and larger team), but since we're not at that stage I would agree with these threads. However, if we had the development site up I would argue that unit listings etc would go there, or on the wiki.
See, for example, what happened with some of the things that I did here in the forum already. The Goliath Optimization Program and the New Skins Kit amongst other things are currently on standby. They were not discarded, but they are not finished either. This is entirely my fault because I promised too much, and I apologize for that, BUT, we also lack of something very important: a system.
The billboard concept (as I've seen it) works like this:
Decisions are made by voting polls.
Development is done by both discussions on the thread and by someone doing and afterwards modifying "the thing" (in this case it would be a model sheet, a demo, etc.; basically the main subject of the thread).
The thing, whatever it is, is always updated and uploaded on the description post, stating when was the last update.
The changelog could have its own thread in order to avoid a huge list on the front page.Therefore, the user/developer/guest sees first what it's currently being developed and then, by going towards the end of the thread, what it's being discussed.
Yet, I always prefer to actually try something else in order to determine whether it's useful or not. Trello, therefore seems to be a good option:
http://justincone.com/4-tips-for-working-with-trello/I vote for Trello AND the billboard. This is to have something for guests and users to look at (the billboard) and something for developers to work with (Trello). As a result, Wired For War would have a "public" space and a "working" space. This forum would determine what is going to be done in Trello. This is why I believe that we need a system. There would be more active users and things would be done in an organized way, hence, faster.
Yeah, I'm all for having a thread that publicizes what decisions are made. I actually already have something like this for development that I need to update on github here.
By the way, how can we use GitHub? Because I need to learn coding from level... zero. Would I be able to contribute without that kind of knowledge? (This reminds me of the specialization dilemma.)
GitHub is just the site that hosts our git repository, which is where all of the code is version controlled/stored. If you want to get started fast with the repository, you can download the github for windows client and clone the repository, plus you'll have to download UE4. All of the details should be on the getting started page on the wiki there.
About contribution, it could take a while to start, but if you're interested, I would look at C++ video tutorials and object oriented programming in C++ guides, then move on to UE4 C++ tutorials. However, I think art is probably in a more dire situation since all the logic in OM is straight-forward and will mainly take time, plus other programmers can help when they have time soon enough. More is always better though.
You can also view commits, which are changes that I push to the repo on the code page, if you want to monitor the progress.
BTW, if you're still interested in doing design projects, I think the units that need the most redesigning are probably all the heavy siege units (Crusader, Eradicator, Goliath, Gorilla). While we're still far from worrying about unit specialization, if you plan on continuing, these units probably need it the most in my opinion. (Maybe that's what the future system is for :P)
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@bilal
Great!About the allegory, I just wanted to present that image so as to portray my view of the virtual workspace. Our main problem would be time, since we are all from different parts of the world! My emphasis was mainly for the folders and portfolios. These would be on the billboard and on Trello. Considering that we would be able to share and modify, etc. material, the good thing about this system would be that, since only the creator of the thread can modify the description, there would be a version control.
I've seen your first link before, but not the commits link. It is very interesting, but unfortunately I can't understand it (yet). I always thought that learning some coding language was necessary. I think I need it for some After Effects' features anyway. I'll do some research in the future about this, but I also have to consider that old phrase: "Jack of all trades, master of none!". I prefer : "Jack of all trades, master of some!" haha.
So, about UE4 and GitHub, I think that I should help you with that first. Apart from the artistic perspective, concept art is also useful for explaining game mechanics, etc. The way information is displayed, unit stats on the field, etc. From the basics to the details.
Finally, I agree with your last point. But, are we going to try using Trello or something else?
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@bilal Done! it's "Pisarz" :)
