Still progressing slowly, but I'm still working on it. ;)
8/25/11
Comicon Challenge - Action Shot - More Progress
I promise I'm still working on this, just being slow. :) I got some feedback from my coworkers and tried to calm the camera movement down a little on the action shot - but I still think it's too much. Also, no one was really buying Catwoman knocking the Hulk down (including me), so I changed it up:
8/21/11
Walker Boys Unity Tutorials - Lab 1: Point & Click
As I mentioned earlier, I was between projects this week at work, so I decided to buckle down and dig into Unity using the Walker Boys Unity Tutorials. I started last week with the somewhat flimsy C# knowledge I picked up a few months back by reading this book and learned a TON about Javascripting - culminating thus far in my first lab!
Play it Here!: Lab 1 - Click on objects to destroy them (some take multiple clicks). Get 30 points to win.
Here's my info sheet for turning it in:
NAME: Cat Musgrove
TIMEFRAME: For Lab 1 specifically, worked on & Off Thurs 8/18 - Sunday 8/21 (maybe... 16 hours total?)
PROJECT DETAIL:
Followed videos closely to create a "Point and Click" game - where you click on objects to destroy as many as possible in a set amount of time. You have 20 seconds to gain 30 points. Started with project setup and asset creation - making prefabs for each object & explosion (created explosion using particle system in Unity).
Scripted player controls - ray is cast from mouse to detect collision with enemy objects. Each click lowers the counter on the enemy objects, and when they reach zero, they explode. Each enemy has variable for how many clicks they take to destroy, as well as how long they take to respawn. Enemies move to random positions on game start, and when they explode (renderer is turned off for a certain amt of time after they explode). They also choose a random color within an array of colors that you can set within Unity for each object.
Scripted score & UI. Created Main menu, win and lose screens (each had their own script). Added audio to game.
Worked on my own (without videos -- but with help from Issam) to complete the "On Your Own Objectives" which included creating additional enemies, adding 'shooting' sound, making the sphere's respawn time random, making the sphere flash before exploding, and making a square that moved. For the random respawn time I learned about coroutines and how yield WaitForSeconds reacts when you put it in the Update function directly - so I created some workarounds to not keep initializing the same script. For flashing I dealt with the same issue. For the moving sphere, I learned how to use transform.Translate with Random.Range. I also set up invisible walls around the boundaries of the screen, and learned how to use object collision to trigger events.
SOFTWARE USED: Unity & MonoDevelop
FINAL THOUGHTS: I learned a lot in a week! I'm still running into issues with Syntax, but I think I'm able to at least start looking in the right places, and think in the right sort of order. I asked for Issam's help a lot, but it was usually Syntax related - where I was on the right path, but little things were keeping it from working (example - having the moving cube run into the level boundaries - I didn't know I needed to have a rigidBody collider on the cube in order to use the OnCollisionEnter function.. that sort of thing). I look forward to the next lab!
TIME BREAKDOWN:
Mon - Weds (~8 hours a day):
Watched Intro to Unity & Intro to JavaScript Videos, took tests.
Thurs (~5 hours):
- Followed videos for project setup, asset creation
- Followed scripting videos for:
- Player Input
- Player Raycast
- Random Position
- Click Loop
- Respawn Wait Time
Fri (~5 hours):
- Followed scripting videos for:
- Random Color
- Counter (Score)
- GUI HUD
- GUI Menu
- GUI Win/Lose
- Touch Ups
- Audio Setup
- Followed video for learning how to create build
- Started "On Your Own" Objectives:
- Add audio effect on mouse click
- Started to create a random spawn time for the spheres
Sat (~ 4 hours):
- "On Your Own" Objectives:
- Finished adding random start time for the spheres
- Add 2 additional enemy shapes
- Made sphere blink for 3 seconds before exploding
Sun (~3 hours):
- "On Your Own" Objectives:
- Made script to make MoveCube move randomly across the screen
- Created site for hosting files, uploaded everything & did written description!
Play it Here!: Lab 1 - Click on objects to destroy them (some take multiple clicks). Get 30 points to win.
Here's my info sheet for turning it in:
NAME: Cat Musgrove
TIMEFRAME: For Lab 1 specifically, worked on & Off Thurs 8/18 - Sunday 8/21 (maybe... 16 hours total?)
PROJECT DETAIL:
Followed videos closely to create a "Point and Click" game - where you click on objects to destroy as many as possible in a set amount of time. You have 20 seconds to gain 30 points. Started with project setup and asset creation - making prefabs for each object & explosion (created explosion using particle system in Unity).
Scripted player controls - ray is cast from mouse to detect collision with enemy objects. Each click lowers the counter on the enemy objects, and when they reach zero, they explode. Each enemy has variable for how many clicks they take to destroy, as well as how long they take to respawn. Enemies move to random positions on game start, and when they explode (renderer is turned off for a certain amt of time after they explode). They also choose a random color within an array of colors that you can set within Unity for each object.
Scripted score & UI. Created Main menu, win and lose screens (each had their own script). Added audio to game.
Worked on my own (without videos -- but with help from Issam) to complete the "On Your Own Objectives" which included creating additional enemies, adding 'shooting' sound, making the sphere's respawn time random, making the sphere flash before exploding, and making a square that moved. For the random respawn time I learned about coroutines and how yield WaitForSeconds reacts when you put it in the Update function directly - so I created some workarounds to not keep initializing the same script. For flashing I dealt with the same issue. For the moving sphere, I learned how to use transform.Translate with Random.Range. I also set up invisible walls around the boundaries of the screen, and learned how to use object collision to trigger events.
SOFTWARE USED: Unity & MonoDevelop
FINAL THOUGHTS: I learned a lot in a week! I'm still running into issues with Syntax, but I think I'm able to at least start looking in the right places, and think in the right sort of order. I asked for Issam's help a lot, but it was usually Syntax related - where I was on the right path, but little things were keeping it from working (example - having the moving cube run into the level boundaries - I didn't know I needed to have a rigidBody collider on the cube in order to use the OnCollisionEnter function.. that sort of thing). I look forward to the next lab!
TIME BREAKDOWN:
Mon - Weds (~8 hours a day):
Watched Intro to Unity & Intro to JavaScript Videos, took tests.
Thurs (~5 hours):
- Followed videos for project setup, asset creation
- Followed scripting videos for:
- Player Input
- Player Raycast
- Random Position
- Click Loop
- Respawn Wait Time
Fri (~5 hours):
- Followed scripting videos for:
- Random Color
- Counter (Score)
- GUI HUD
- GUI Menu
- GUI Win/Lose
- Touch Ups
- Audio Setup
- Followed video for learning how to create build
- Started "On Your Own" Objectives:
- Add audio effect on mouse click
- Started to create a random spawn time for the spheres
Sat (~ 4 hours):
- "On Your Own" Objectives:
- Finished adding random start time for the spheres
- Add 2 additional enemy shapes
- Made sphere blink for 3 seconds before exploding
Sun (~3 hours):
- "On Your Own" Objectives:
- Made script to make MoveCube move randomly across the screen
- Created site for hosting files, uploaded everything & did written description!
8/16/11
Comicon Challenge - 1st Pass
Well, layout/1st pass, really. :) I'm so glad it fits into 10 seconds!
I'm really excited to animate Hulk's run - he's going to be like, this oncoming freight train of mass!!
I'm really excited to animate Hulk's run - he's going to be like, this oncoming freight train of mass!!
8/15/11
Comicon Challenge - Action Shot WIP 1
Making some progress. This is the main action shot - once I get it figured out I can start adjusting the other shots to lead into it better.
Right now too much of the action is getting lost in the camera movement - but it's a start!
Right now too much of the action is getting lost in the camera movement - but it's a start!
Walker Boys Studio - Unity Course - Progress
Hooray! I passed the 3rd Exam! (I forgot to take a capture of Exam #2)
I'm between projects right now, so I spent the day at work doing part 1 of the JavaScripting section of the Walker Boys Unity course. I felt like a lot of it was review, which is a good sign that the C# I was beginning to learn a few months ago stuck with me.
It was funny though, I would say this section took me a total of some 6-8 hours - and then the exam was only 10 questions long! I had tucked in for what I was expecting to be a long, hefty exam. :) Yes, I am disappointed that I got one wrong. ;)
I'm between projects right now, so I spent the day at work doing part 1 of the JavaScripting section of the Walker Boys Unity course. I felt like a lot of it was review, which is a good sign that the C# I was beginning to learn a few months ago stuck with me.
It was funny though, I would say this section took me a total of some 6-8 hours - and then the exam was only 10 questions long! I had tucked in for what I was expecting to be a long, hefty exam. :) Yes, I am disappointed that I got one wrong. ;)
8/14/11
8/13/11
Comicon Challenge - Thumbnails
Probably not legible to anyone but me, but here are my thumbnails! I chopped them up and stuck them in Premiere and I think it'll fit into 10 seconds, but it might be a tight squeeze.
Comicon Challenge 2011!
I'm going to enter this year's Comicon Challenge! Basically, for animation, the challenge is to pick a hero and a villain and have them fight - so I'm pitting Catwoman against the Hulk! I know they're not from the same universe, but the overall theme for the challenge is "Alternate Universe" so I'm not too worried about being correct. I also doubt in real life that Catwoman would ever be able to get a hit in on the Hulk, but it's my animation and I'll do what I want! :) The full rules are here.
Here are my characters (you can only use modified bipeds + a few extra polys to add things):
Here is my progress thread.
Here are my characters (you can only use modified bipeds + a few extra polys to add things):
Here is my progress thread.
Jordu Schell Workshop
Thursday and Friday at work we had a Jordu Schell workshop at VV! Basically, we watched him create something beautiful out of clay for the first day (I'm pretty sure magic was involved) and then the 2nd day we all floundered around and tried to make something of our own. ;) We also got to watch him paint his sculpture. It was incredibly inspirational, and it's crazy how much you can learn just from watching someone work.
Here's what I made. We worked from about 1:30 - 6pm on Friday. He's about 4" high - working like that totally exhausts your eyes (and this is coming from someone that's on the computer all day)!
Maybe I'll work on it a little more before I fire it. I was thinking about giving him a beard. :)
Here's what I made. We worked from about 1:30 - 6pm on Friday. He's about 4" high - working like that totally exhausts your eyes (and this is coming from someone that's on the computer all day)!
Maybe I'll work on it a little more before I fire it. I was thinking about giving him a beard. :)
8/12/11
Walker Boys Studio - Unity Course
So I found my way to the "Treasure Adventure Game" website the other day, and I found out about this free online Unity course by Walker Boys Studio. So far it's really great! I just finished the first lesson and exam, which consisted of about 60 videos explaining the ins and outs of the software + some practice time. The exam was mostly multiple choice, some matching, etc to check if I had a grasp of the basics.
I'm particularly excited about the course because it's designed to take a novice scripter to a 'confident' one in Java. I'm looking forward to digging into it!
I'm particularly excited about the course because it's designed to take a novice scripter to a 'confident' one in Java. I'm looking forward to digging into it!
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