Week 18
25/01/08
Over the last few weeks, the artefact has been under construction by the team. While Phil was building the level geometry and Nick was creating some textures to include in the level I wrote a short document on fear as this is what our level is based on. This document helped the team understand what it takes to elicit the emotion of fear and so when it comes to inputting the fear elements into our level we have a better level of understanding of what it takes to elicit fear.
Once the basic level geometry and the level had been textured the level was passed to me and I began to add props into the level, I had to browse through all the models that the toolset had to offer and decide which models would be best suited for the theme of our level and then placed these into the level appropriately. Also while doing this I also started to add decals to the level. These were placed to show off the wear and tear of the level. I also made the level linier; this is to ensure that the player doesn’t get lost while playing the game. This was done by blocking corridors, with numerous props and adding player clips so the player cannot get past the props. The main task here was to block the front of the reception, and the placing of some props was not really going to do the job effectivly. After a few ideas were proposed by the team, it was decided that a I should create a crash scene where a lorry had crashed through the front of the reception. Once i had done this i passed it to phil who gave me his impressions and how it could be improved.
While the level was with other team members, I started to look into a prototype lighting system with James. This was so when it came to lighting the level we would have a system that had already been devised and would help the team place the lighting effectively. Also, while the level was with other team member I would go through the level and write down a list of any problems that I felt were affecting the level. I would then discuss these problems at the team meetings and a plan to resolve them would be put in place.
Over the next week I will be helping the team get the level complete and ready for testing.
