POD's are also used to help service spacecraft/satellites and this is how the player will begin their journey. The legs help keep them attached to the hull.
For a while I was struggling to get decent grass physics but today I feel this is reasonably decent. This is by no means perfect but it's a start, though a bit of a hack job. Getting used to Physx in UE4 was a pain... and with no softbody support at the moment which makes things a bit trickier!
So, what does the our world look like to a 1 millimetre tall alien?
Here's some reference photo's I took recently that may give you an idea:
This is probably the closest i'm going to get to a grass blade without a microscope: On the surface of most plants there are little hairs called Trichomes. Also, the common repeating little lighter slits are Stomata, tiny holes through which all plants breath in Carbon dioxide and expel oxygen and water vapour. A single stoma slit is about 10-12 micrometres long (there are 1000 micrometres in a single millimetre!) Look hard enough and you can see the cells too...
One of my bird feeders got ignored and the seeds began germinating. These seeds are about 5-10mm in size. Can you spot the creature? The spider webs should give you a clue....
It wasn't until aftewards that I noticed a tiny little spider had also made it's home in the feeder... and it was having a meal (looks like a common fly, but hard to tell what kind)...
I was inspecting my Strawberry plant leaves and found this little guy. He's about 7-10mm long at most.
He looks like a caterpillar but it may be a larvae. Somethings been malling my strawberries though...
That's the tip of my pinkie finger:
The hairs on this stem (trichomes) prove useful for climbing...
Yes, you can see into his body and yes that IS what you think it is at the rear:
A fuchsia plants flower bud...
A less than healthy strawberry plant leaf:
On the underside of a strawberry plant leaf:
And even closer, the small hairs called Trichomes, if you look close enough you can see the cells of the leaf surface:
It was getting dark so he appeared to curl up, perhaps to turn in for the night. After watching it for a while I didn't really have it in me to harm it, despite him and his mates making a right mess of my strawberry plant!
UK 5 pence coin up close (these are the smallest coins we have, a tad bigger than a cm I'd say)
An immaculate phone doesn't look so immaculate when viewed up close! This is the phone camera (the material around it being the phones leathery cover...
The side button on an Galaxy S4 Mini phone (with coin on top):
Wow you are a beast. Is is still just you and a coder working on this? And you aren't even working on it full time?
That Dev Log video is great.
Everything is looking really good, except for the design of the aliens. I think they look a little too human and cartoony and so seem out of place. Your presentation everywhere else has a feel of realism and seriousness, but those guys look more at home in a children's animation. They just don't seem to fit. I think you could easily rectify it by giving their anatomy and faces more insect influences and removing things like teeth and eyeballs. Just my opinion of course.
Hey Fomori Thanks for the critique on the characters. It's a tricky one because the original aim was to make the aliens somewhat anthropomorphic yet heavily stylised in their anatomy - except with realistic lighting/materials.
Part of this is down to the style of narrative I want to achieve, with dialogue and emotions clearly readable.
The concerns you raise are valid so I'm hoping once the first character is ready (which will be very soon!) and placed in situ that he will look the part.
Heres a shot of the WIP prototype character skin material for instance:
It will be interesting to see what yourself and everyone thinks when he's ready and in a scene
Last night I started an initial block-out for one of the adversaries. These guys tower above the POD. The POD is about 1cm with it's legs included, this guy is a about 2.5 inches high.
Before blocking out I tend to do very rapid spline sketches of the core forms. I've found this to be a very useful way to start because it allows me to get a good idea of the 3D shape even quicker than blocking without having to worry about topology. All of these designs started out as 2D paper sketches first of course.
Jaw-dropping technique you got there, I can really see the potential of it, would've never think of that! Gotta try that for sure. Amazing designs, following this.
Thanks Soldeus It helps because creating good topology is not yet instinctive for me - I come from a 2D background and full on 3D modelling is something I've only started relatively recently.
It's been a while since I've visited this thread...
I am just BLOWN AWAY with how phenomenal this project and its development is. What you've shared here is so very awe inspiring. Thank you, this is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen. Once you ship this game, EVERYONE will know what Infinitesimals is and who James McWilliams and Cubit Studios is. I think this is very special. I am supremely impressed, I'm definitely cheering you on.
I instantly fell in love with this project! The animations and art that you have shown so far are pretty damn fluid. I'm looking forward to more of your development on this project!
Thanks Teroniz well, here's the next little snippet...
So. very recently I enlisted the help of an artist with very strong knowledge of insects by the name of Eric Keller. It's quite likely you've seen his work as a Gnomon instructor amongst other things!
Here's a work in progress engine shot of his first creation: A garden ant. I should note that like most insects it's supposed to be quite hairy, that will come next. He's done a great job so far:
In addition to the core textures from Eric, I added some little shader details such as SSS masked via Fresnel and a couple of detail maps for up close.
First up is Gennaro's final model for the prototype first character. He did a great job on it as you can see from his marmoset screenshot here:
Since this is the first prototype character, it will be the test bed for getting a whole host of character related things looking and moving right.
Firstly, I got the character into UE4 and made a start on the animated subsurface skin shader. I added a few things in addition to Gennaros base maps, adding Fresnel masks and other little flourishes + a detail base/normal map. The main bulk of the shader work relates to the animated body fluids, which are not final but are quite a good start. Eventually it will move in pulses to a heart beat type rhythm.
I will replace this gif with a video tomorrow but here are some static screen-shots straight from the game:
There are a few plates spinning at the moment that I want to keep up with. I want to finish the POD's hi-poly mesh entirely within a couple of weeks but I have game design tasks I want to finalise too. Here's a snippet of the control design section:
gnixon17: Yup, no longer a side-scroller at all though I sometimes illustrate designs from the side view because it simplifies things and can be quicker. The game is played from 1st/3rd person and there are shooter elements but calling it a shooter would probably be wrong. It's not about mowing down rows of enemies and I want to emphasize the exploration, wonder and adventure of a detailed and scientifically accurate micro-scale open world with narrative.
Of course, if fighting is the gamers plan then there will be plenty of opportunities for it but my aim is for the pacifist to be catered for as well. Aggression is not the only path to success.
The earthly insects you encounter will generally not be the main threat. Insects often get demonised by humans but I wish to present them in an accurate way and not as horrific slimy monsters to be destroyed.
The other aliens down there with you however... they are definitely dangerous
That sounds great. I'm glad you are not focusing on combat, since I think too many games solely focus on it. It would be difficult, but I think it would be pretty cool if you could accurately mimic ant behavior in the game.
Today I managed to create a reasonably decent plant cellular material. This is a good step in the right direction towards a scientifically accurate surface. It tiles without repetition but I can improve that further.
The little details of cellular structures in plants can vary a lot between species so this will be one of many patterns. I've not even begun the trichomes/stomata and other details. This pattern suits a general leaf surface of a walnut tree leaf but is not suitable for the veins of the leaves, which contain cells with more directional flow. A problem I must tackle next.
Here's an in engine shot of the leaf surface. The measurement bar is an approximate real-world scale. 100 microns is one tenth of a millimetre.
Ok, lots of things happening at the moment but I'll leave that for the next update. In the mean time, I'm getting close to finalising the POD's base mesh. The POD will be an ongoing project because there will be many upgrade/modifications for the player to choose from but this base specification is close to being ready. This has no material/textures yet. Just have to finalise some little details and it'll be ready for it's journey into the engine.
I was finding that I just couldn't get close enough with my macro shots to get the information I need.
I decided to purchase a microscope:
Normally when you think of microscopes you probably think of slides. Wafer thin slices of specimens with a backlit image. That's certainly useful for me and I have some slides which show cross sections of common plant stems:
However, what I really need is more information about the microscopic surfaces of specimens I gather, so I take shots with a top light (currently a LED handheld torch but I think I will rig up something more effective).
The top light gives me more material surface property reference but the backlight is still useful too:
Here are some dandelion seeds, to the naked eye those strands that help the seed ride the wind look like strands of hair. Up close however, reveal details that you may not expect:
The seed head itself is an interesting structure:
Finally, specimens don't always have to be static:
I found my french bean plant to have some unwelcome guests: Aphids
The shrivelled body here is a shed skin:
I was reminded of the constant struggle for survival that occurs, here I witnessed a larvae and it's Aphid victim. The larvae was sucking it's body fluids out. Charming
The microscope idea just blew me away. I mean, even when I do my research, I often find it extremely difficult or impossible to find nice close-ups of surface details. Hence making a pain to imitate or to figure out what could the actual "surface data" be, which in end create the realistic feel viewed from eye level.
mr_: haha, yeh I know exactly what you mean. It's been particularly tricky with this because I need objects to look correct from far away (at a distance more akin to a humans view) but also to be accurate when standing upon the item and seeing the details we could never see with the naked eye. Still quite a few hurdles to clear
A lot of things in the works right now, I decided to hire the help of Stefano Tsai and hand over the modelling of one of the first enemies. For now here's a little in engine preview: He's done a great job in matching the spirit of my initial concept and spline sketch:
The character prototype is now in the process of being rigged. The body is mostly done and it's the full facial rig and controls that now needs further work. For this task I've hired one of the best technical artists I know, Yacine Sefsaf. Here's some of his work in progress shots: Obviously these shots are just in the maya viewport and have no proper materials/lighting.
Another aspect I want to focus on for the prototype is the destruction system. There are no health bars in Infinitesimals in the traditional sense... bringing down enemies is more about penetrating armour in the right spots and destroying critical components. To that end, Stefano has been building the inner structure and machinery of the enemy Hunter Gatherer unit, just as I have been doing for the POD: Note that this has no textures yet.
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Here's some reference photo's I took recently that may give you an idea:
This is probably the closest i'm going to get to a grass blade without a microscope: On the surface of most plants there are little hairs called Trichomes. Also, the common repeating little lighter slits are Stomata, tiny holes through which all plants breath in Carbon dioxide and expel oxygen and water vapour. A single stoma slit is about 10-12 micrometres long (there are 1000 micrometres in a single millimetre!) Look hard enough and you can see the cells too...
One of my bird feeders got ignored and the seeds began germinating. These seeds are about 5-10mm in size. Can you spot the creature? The spider webs should give you a clue....
It wasn't until aftewards that I noticed a tiny little spider had also made it's home in the feeder... and it was having a meal (looks like a common fly, but hard to tell what kind)...
I was inspecting my Strawberry plant leaves and found this little guy. He's about 7-10mm long at most.
He looks like a caterpillar but it may be a larvae. Somethings been malling my strawberries though...
That's the tip of my pinkie finger:
The hairs on this stem (trichomes) prove useful for climbing...
Yes, you can see into his body and yes that IS what you think it is at the rear:
A fuchsia plants flower bud...
A less than healthy strawberry plant leaf:
On the underside of a strawberry plant leaf:
And even closer, the small hairs called Trichomes, if you look close enough you can see the cells of the leaf surface:
It was getting dark so he appeared to curl up, perhaps to turn in for the night. After watching it for a while I didn't really have it in me to harm it, despite him and his mates making a right mess of my strawberry plant!
UK 5 pence coin up close (these are the smallest coins we have, a tad bigger than a cm I'd say)
An immaculate phone doesn't look so immaculate when viewed up close! This is the phone camera (the material around it being the phones leathery cover...
The side button on an Galaxy S4 Mini phone (with coin on top):
That Dev Log video is great.
Everything is looking really good, except for the design of the aliens. I think they look a little too human and cartoony and so seem out of place. Your presentation everywhere else has a feel of realism and seriousness, but those guys look more at home in a children's animation. They just don't seem to fit. I think you could easily rectify it by giving their anatomy and faces more insect influences and removing things like teeth and eyeballs. Just my opinion of course.
Keep up the good work!
Part of this is down to the style of narrative I want to achieve, with dialogue and emotions clearly readable.
The concerns you raise are valid so I'm hoping once the first character is ready (which will be very soon!) and placed in situ that he will look the part.
Heres a shot of the WIP prototype character skin material for instance:
It will be interesting to see what yourself and everyone thinks when he's ready and in a scene
This was my original sketch as seen from earlier:
And I finally made a start on the high poly internal cockpit...
I am just BLOWN AWAY with how phenomenal this project and its development is. What you've shared here is so very awe inspiring. Thank you, this is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen. Once you ship this game, EVERYONE will know what Infinitesimals is and who James McWilliams and Cubit Studios is. I think this is very special. I am supremely impressed, I'm definitely cheering you on.
Looking forward for the next update.
killnpc: Thank you for the very kind words
So. very recently I enlisted the help of an artist with very strong knowledge of insects by the name of Eric Keller. It's quite likely you've seen his work as a Gnomon instructor amongst other things!
Here's a work in progress engine shot of his first creation: A garden ant. I should note that like most insects it's supposed to be quite hairy, that will come next. He's done a great job so far:
In addition to the core textures from Eric, I added some little shader details such as SSS masked via Fresnel and a couple of detail maps for up close.
First up is Gennaro's final model for the prototype first character. He did a great job on it as you can see from his marmoset screenshot here:
Since this is the first prototype character, it will be the test bed for getting a whole host of character related things looking and moving right.
Firstly, I got the character into UE4 and made a start on the animated subsurface skin shader. I added a few things in addition to Gennaros base maps, adding Fresnel masks and other little flourishes + a detail base/normal map. The main bulk of the shader work relates to the animated body fluids, which are not final but are quite a good start. Eventually it will move in pulses to a heart beat type rhythm.
I will replace this gif with a video tomorrow but here are some static screen-shots straight from the game:
gnixon17: Yup, no longer a side-scroller at all though I sometimes illustrate designs from the side view because it simplifies things and can be quicker. The game is played from 1st/3rd person and there are shooter elements but calling it a shooter would probably be wrong. It's not about mowing down rows of enemies and I want to emphasize the exploration, wonder and adventure of a detailed and scientifically accurate micro-scale open world with narrative.
Of course, if fighting is the gamers plan then there will be plenty of opportunities for it but my aim is for the pacifist to be catered for as well. Aggression is not the only path to success.
The earthly insects you encounter will generally not be the main threat. Insects often get demonised by humans but I wish to present them in an accurate way and not as horrific slimy monsters to be destroyed.
The other aliens down there with you however... they are definitely dangerous
The little details of cellular structures in plants can vary a lot between species so this will be one of many patterns. I've not even begun the trichomes/stomata and other details. This pattern suits a general leaf surface of a walnut tree leaf but is not suitable for the veins of the leaves, which contain cells with more directional flow. A problem I must tackle next.
Here's an in engine shot of the leaf surface. The measurement bar is an approximate real-world scale. 100 microns is one tenth of a millimetre.
I was finding that I just couldn't get close enough with my macro shots to get the information I need.
I decided to purchase a microscope:
Normally when you think of microscopes you probably think of slides. Wafer thin slices of specimens with a backlit image. That's certainly useful for me and I have some slides which show cross sections of common plant stems:
However, what I really need is more information about the microscopic surfaces of specimens I gather, so I take shots with a top light (currently a LED handheld torch but I think I will rig up something more effective).
The top light gives me more material surface property reference but the backlight is still useful too:
Here are some dandelion seeds, to the naked eye those strands that help the seed ride the wind look like strands of hair. Up close however, reveal details that you may not expect:
The seed head itself is an interesting structure:
Finally, specimens don't always have to be static:
I found my french bean plant to have some unwelcome guests: Aphids
The shrivelled body here is a shed skin:
I was reminded of the constant struggle for survival that occurs, here I witnessed a larvae and it's Aphid victim. The larvae was sucking it's body fluids out. Charming
You might have gone for a stereo microscope though. Better suited to observe the surface of things and gives you a 3-dimensional view on the objects you are looking at.
(examples: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oZ4hHMhBEs4/UUyL5Sn3JKI/AAAAAAAAAEE/IoWSy9zFyAQ/s1600/15743sweetpotato_stereo_2013.jpg
http://a.abcnews.com/images/Technology/ht_fabrice_parais_101021_ssh.jpg)
The microscope idea just blew me away. I mean, even when I do my research, I often find it extremely difficult or impossible to find nice close-ups of surface details. Hence making a pain to imitate or to figure out what could the actual "surface data" be, which in end create the realistic feel viewed from eye level.
subbed!
mr_: haha, yeh I know exactly what you mean. It's been particularly tricky with this because I need objects to look correct from far away (at a distance more akin to a humans view) but also to be accurate when standing upon the item and seeing the details we could never see with the naked eye. Still quite a few hurdles to clear
** note - fixed all broken video links, since polycount update **
He's done a great job in matching the spirit of my initial concept and spline sketch: