Game Engines

The following post will take a look into some of the significant game engines and middle-ware software development kits that are currently available on the game development market. We will look at both some in-house exclusive and third-party licensed packages.

3DVIA Virtools
Developer: Dassault Systèmes
Supported platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Wii, Xbox 360

Popular titles using the engine: Lazy Raiders

3DVIA Virtools is one of the few game engines I can say that I've ever had any experience with. That is to say, a game studio that I used to work for used it for most of their developments ― although, I should point out, I didn't personally get to use it any point. It is a pretty low-key engine in comparison to some of the other middle ware packages included in this article but I thought that it was significant enough to mention non-the-less.

The engine's main selling-point is its capacity for facilitating for a speedy game development process. It therefore puts an emphasis on providing a rapid-prototyping and rapid-development solution to small studios. As such, it caters mostly for low-budget developments that are released on the WiiWare and Xbox Live Arcade platforms in addition to the PC and online browser platforms. Interestingly, 3DVIA Virtools is also employed in sectors outside of game development, such as urban planning and pre-visualisation.

Lazy Raiders is the first game to be released on Xbox Live Arcade that uses 3DVIA Virtools. Embedded above, is a short promotional trailer of the game in action.

Anvil
Developer: Ubisoft
Supported platforms: Windows, PS3, Xbox 360

Popular titles using the engine: Assassin's Creed II, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Anvil is an engine developed by Ubisoft for use with two of its most successful franchises, Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia. One of its most innovative features is its use of Autodesk's HumanIK middle-ware package. All the games of the Assassin's Creed franchise require for the playable character's hands and feet to be calculated and positioned in the world such that they convey a convincing animation sequence. With most engines, this would be a really tough challenge as Assassin's Creed games allow for the climbing and mounting of any object that is extruded from the world by more than two-inches. However, because of Anvil's utilisation of Autodesk's HumanIK software solution, it was possible for the Assassin's Creed games to accomplish realistic real-time calculated animation sequences throughout gameplay.

As is evident in the fact that Autodesk's HumanIK was integrated so well, Anvil is highly compatible with other middle-ware packages and features all sorts of plug-in technologies such as the vegetation system used by Far Cry 2.

CryENGINE
Developer: Crytek
Supported platforms: Windows, Xbox 360, PS3

Popular titles using the engine: Crysis 2, Codename Kingdoms, Lichdom, Far Cry, Forged by Chaos, Nexuiz, Cabal 2, Warface

cryEngine was the engine responsible for the birth of the Far Cry franchise. In fact, cryEngine was originally intended as a tech demo for showcasing Nvidia's graphic rendering technologies but upon discovering the engine's potential it was used for creating Far Cry.

A later release of the engine saw the development of Crysis with Crysis 2 currently being created on yet anouther release of the engine.

One of the things that really stood out about Crysis was its graphical capabilities on a computer powerful enough to run it on its highest settings. The game's complexity was such that it consists of a massive 1GB of texture data and utilises 85,000 shaders! It certainly can be said that Crysis is a good demonstration of cryEngine's graphical capacity.

A free-to-use version of the engine is intended to be offered in the future; similar to Unreal Engine's Unreal Development Kit.

 The above trailer demonstrates some of the graphical capabilities of cryEngine.

Crystal Tools
Developer: Square Enix
Supported platforms: Windows, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360

Popular titles using the engine: Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy Versus XIII

Crystal Tools is licensed as an exclusive in-house engine by Square Enix. It is a fairly new engine, having only been used on three titles (all within the Final Fantasy franchise) so far.

As Final Fantasy games tend to have a strong emphasis on storyline development and cut-scences, it was required for Crystal Tools to reflect this in its technical features. Two of the engine's main selling-points are therefore centred around delivering high-quality real-time rendering to a game and managing to seamlessly integrate real-time cut-scenes into a game's overall flow.

Euphoria
Developer: NaturalMotion
Supported platforms: Windows, PS3, Xbox 360

Popular titles using the engine: Grand Theft Auto IV, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Backbreaker, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3

Euphoria would be better classified as a plug-in middle-ware package than as an engine. This is because it caters for a very specific set of tasks within game development. Similar to Autodesk's HumanIK package, Euphoria's job is to calculate real-time animation sequences for biped rigs. It stands out from most other similar packages in how well it manages to generate fluid, realistic motion. In fact, NaturalMotion classify it as a dynamic motion synthesis package as it does so much more than just provide basic real-time animation calculations.

The above video demonstrates how NaturalMotion delivers a life-like result through use of nervous reaction synthesis.

Gamebryo
Developer: Emergent Game Technologies
Supported platforms: Windows, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360

Popular titles using the engine: Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Epic Mickey

Having been used in around 200 games to date, Gamebryo is a pretty versatile engine and can be used throughout a very broad range of genres. Its flexible nature is shown yet more-so in its plug-in based tool architecture that caters for the integration of many other middle-ware packages . It has been used in a variety of games including both AAA and casual games, as well as in serious games too! It is perhaps best known for its use by Bethesda Softworks in their The Elder Scrolls and Fallout game franchises.

Havok
Developer: Havok
Supported platforms: Unix, Linux, PS3, PS2, PSP, GameCube, Wii, Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox, Windows

Popular titles using the engine: Halo 3, Half-Life 2, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Heavenly Sword, Guitar Hero III, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Saint’s Row, TimeShift, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Second Life

Havoc is more-so a physics engine than a game engine. It is seen in the games industry as a superior choice of physics engine, having been honoured in the 2008 Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards. The engine features all kinds of goodies, putting emphasis on such areas as constraint dynamics, soft and rigid body physics, vehicle dynamics solvers, cloth simulation, collision detection, character controllers, mesh/asset destruction, and so on.

Havok has been used in a multitude of games including, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Halo 3 and Half Life 2, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and even the popular online virtual world, Second Life! In addition to developers incorporating Havoc into their existing pipelines, it isn't too uncommon for a developer to take Havok and implement it directly into their in-house engines. Examples of this can be found in: Valve Corporation's Source engine, which implements a heavily altered version of Havoc; LucasArts Ronin engine, which implements a combination of both Havoc and Euphoria.

Above, can be seen, Havoc's cloth simulation capabilities.

Rockstar Advanced Game Engine
Developer: Rockstar Games
Supported platforms: Windows, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360

Popular titles using the engine: Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis, Grand Theft Auto IV, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne

Rockstar Games' in-house game engine, RAGE, is a further development of Angel Studio's Angel Game Engine. It features all sorts of third-party middle-ware plug-ins for tailoring the engine towards Rockstar Games' specific needs. Among the plug-ins included is, Euphoria, and Bullet physics engine.

RAGE has been used in most — if not all — of Rockstar Games' recent titles. Among those using it, is Grand Theft Auto IV, a game renowned for its realistic physics simulation capabilities.

Source
Developer: Valve Corporation
Supported platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3

Popular titles using the engine: Burnout Paradise, Counter Strike: Source, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Manhunt 2, Blitz: The League

Source is a game engine developed by Valve Corporation, used in many of their in-house releases as well as in third-party developments. It was first used in Counter Strike: Source back in 2004 and has since been used in many other Valve Corporation titles such as the famed Half-Life 2.

A very prominent and unique aspect of the engine's personality is its service for offering frequent engine updates. That is to say, users of Valve Corporation's Steam receive regular updates for their downloaded games every time that Source engine is updated.

Unity
Developer: Unity Technologies
Supported platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Wii, iPhone/iPad, Xbox 360, Android, PS3

Popular titles using the engine: Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, GooBall, Global Conflicts: Palestine, Off-Road Velociraptor Safari, WolfQuest, Dead Frontier

Unity is another one of those odd-job engines that is used by different developers for different purposes. Like 3DVIA Virtools, it is used outside of game development for tasks such as urban planning, training simulation, medical visualisation, and pre-visualisation. It is an incredibly accommodative engine, offering developers the ability to export content to all the popular modern-day game console platforms in addition to iPhone/iPad platforms, Android platform, online browser platforms, and even Mac widgets! Unity has recently won the Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award for 2010.

Many low-budget companies opt for a Unity license because of its low price despite its advanced, competitive features. In fact, the company's attitude reflects this business philosophy even in their slogan, 'The most powerful engine this side of a million dollars!' 

Unity is available with two different licenses: one for commercial purposes, and one for non-commercial purposes. The commercial version, Unity Pro, comes with additional features and doesn't display a Unity splash-screen as found in the free, non-commercial version.

Unity's support for the iPhone platform has spawned a very positive response in the mobile game market. The above video shows some of the top iPhone App Store games developed with Unity as well as some PC games too!

Unreal Engine
Developer: Epic Games
Supported platforms: Windows, Linux, iOS, Mac OS X, Dreamcast, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3

Popular titles using the engine: Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Unreal Tournament 3, Army of Two, Turok, BioShock, Mass Effect, Mirror’s Edge

Ah, and of-course, there is Unreal Engine. Just as I started this article with an engine that bears particular significance to my life, so will it end in the same manner; Unreal Engine is an engine that I am about to start using at university — a slightly scary, yet exciting, prospect, I must admit!


Unreal Engine, developed by Epic Games and used both in their own titles as well as in hundreds of third-party titles, is one of those engines that everyone has heard of. Targeted fore-mostly towards first-person-shooter developments, it has been used outside of this field in the creation of stealth, RPG and even MMORPG games!

As with a few of the other engines that I've mentioned, Unreal is available for commercial developments and non-commercial developments depending on the license obtained. Unlike most other engine licenses, however, is the fact that the non-commercial license doesn't necessarily have to be non-commercial. That is to say, the non-commercial version can be licensed for commercial use so long as a certain percentage of a game's profits are payed to Epic Games. This allows for Unreal Engine to be accessible to small, low-budget developers as well as the big-boys!

Above, can be seen, some of Unreal Engine's key selling-points and technical innovations.

Competition: A Character and a Culture

The following is a low-poly 3D character competition that will take place over the Christmas break. It should be seen as an opportunity to expand your portfolio and build upon your existing skills. The theme that has been set is intended to encourage competition partakers to explore fresh concepts and avoid resorting to boring clichés.

It is advised that you use Laurens Corijn's real-time viewport shader called Xoliulshader for your real-time renders. The actual shader itself can be found here and a tutorial on how to use it can be found here.

The deadline for this competition is 8th Januray.

Task

You will be required to produce a low-poly, PSP spec 3D character asset, accompanied by a range of concept sketches that demonstrate the development of your ideas. It is advised that you also produce a concept illustration (either traditionally or digitally) of your character design before modelling it — although, this is optional. Your work should reflect the theme described below.

You may create a pedestal or similar decorative asset for enhancing your beauty-shot render.

You should produce and submit:
• Concept sketches that reflect your idea progression
• A concept illustration (optional)
• A fully textured, low-poly character asset
• A pedestal asset for beauty shot renders (optional)
• Real-time and beauty shot renders of your final asset


Theme

The theme is very broad and accommodating. The idea behind it is simply to research into an interesting culture and base your character design around it. Both modern-day and historical cultures are acceptable but Western sub-cultures (such as cybergoths, hippies, etc.) are not. While some artistic license is acceptable, it is important that the final character design strongly reflects your chosen culture.

Try to find a culture that no one else will think of. This is your chance to be very individualistic and venture into unexplored territory!

Specifications

The specifications are loosely centred around PSP asset requirements. They are set quite low so as to compliment the higher-poly portions of your portfolio and demonstrate to employers that you can work at any polycount.

Character:
• 3,500 triangle limit
• 512px x 512px diffuse @ 24-bit OR 32-bit TGA
• 256px x 256px colour specular @ 24-bit TGA

Props:
• 0,500 triangle limit
• 256px x 256px diffuse @ 24-bit OR 32-bit TGA
• 256px x 256px colour specular @ 24-bit TGA

Pedestal:
• 0,500 triangle limit
• 256px x 256px diffuse @ 24-bit TGA
• 256px x 256px colour specular @ 24-bit TGA


Judging

Your work must be submitted to the competition's Facebook page before 8th Januray for it to be considered an entry. Judging will take place for the two days following the submission deadline (9th and 10th January). All competition partakers will be allowed to vote on any submission other than their own. A winner and two runners-up will be derived from this voting process.


The main purpose of this competition is to encourage a friendly degree of competitive spirit between game art students and allow for us all to further develop our artistic and technical skills.

It doesn't matter whether or not you win; what is important is that you produce a good piece of work to add to your portfolio.

'Sexy' Women in Games

A friend of mine has recently had her blog attacked by some readers for expressing her beliefs regarding how females are portrayed in games. That is to say, my friend feels that the female archetypes found in many of today's games are offensive and degrading to women. Most bizarrely of all, one of the flamers was not only female, but also a professional games industry employee ― if that doesn't make it clear that there's a problem with the industry, what does?

The purpose of this post is to continue the debate from a fresh angle and in the process, hopefully offer some moral support to my friend. I have already approached this subject previously, but in a far broader sense. That post can be found here: Character Portrayal: the Bond Between Gamer and Game.

As I see it, there are two elements to this debate that both constitute as questions: firstly, is it acceptable for women to be portrayed in such a sexual way; and secondly, are such portrayals actually sexy?

So do I think that there are too many sexy females in games? Interestingly, no. I say this as it depends on how one defines 'sexiness.' I personally believe that there are far too many over-sexed, barbie-dolls with back-breakingly large breasts in games, but I certainly wouldn't classify these specimens as being sexy! Much to the contrary, I find such females to be quite repulsive and I gravely hope that I am not speaking only for myself in saying so.



This is a sexy female according to
Namco Bandai Games

Let's look at Ivy Valentine from the Soul series. She is, perhaps, an over-used example when arguing against how women are represented in games, but that is only because she is such a prime example of blatant sexual advertising! 

So is she sexy? Well, this is of-course a matter of opinion and being a subjective matter, there is little point me providing my own opinion. A better asked question would be: what about her is supposed to be sexy? Her morbidly over-sized breasts would be a good place to start. In writing this post, I found it interesting to discover that Namco felt that they had made Ivy's breasts too large even for their standards in some of the promotional material for Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny.

The next most obvious feature that makes her just so damn irresistibly sexy ― can you feel the sarcasm? ― is her costume (or lack thereof). Apparently, grafting a few skin-tight strips of shiny, purple latex onto a woman of an oversexed dominatrix demeanour, equates to pure sex appeal. I wonder what she does to keep warm ― in fact, on second thought, I'd rather not know!

Last-but-not-least, is her sword/whip. It is a penis! Yes, a penis! Some may disagree, but I believe that there are implications in its design that lead the weapon to represent her power over the male gender. The truth, however, is that females like Ivy have no real power, contrary to what many believe when they speak of 'empowered females.' We'll look into this phenomenon a couple of paragraphs on from here.


Above, is an articulatable figurine of the character, Bayonetta, from the game of the same name. Mari Shimazaki exaggerated Bayonetta's leg proportions to up her sexual appeal. If she were a real person, she would be a whopping 2.5 meters tall! I personally like the fundamental concept behind her design but the blatant sex-selling function of her costume ruins it for me.

The cause of the problem that we're trying to address here is relatively simple. The games industry clearly seems to perceive male gamers as possessing a very poor taste in women and being driven fore-mostly by their primal instincts. The industry has concluded that offering big tits correlates with big sales. Whether this is true or not is disputable both ways.

Regardless of whether male gamers really do enjoy these crude sexual displays that are projected on them by female game characters, the fact remains that this is not only offensive and degrading to women, but damaging to them also! What do I mean by that precisely? If it isn't clear already, I am about to enter the realm of body image disorders.

I know a lot about eating disorders. How and why I do isn't important. What is important, however, is who/what is responsible for the recent surge in eating disorders over the past few decades. It would be crude to attempt to point the finger at a single source, but that said, it would be very hard to argue against the suggestion that female media depictions are partly responsible.

An 'empowered woman,' apparently

One look at Katie Price says it all. To me, she seems like a real life version of Ivy Valentine. I have consciously taken it about myself to absorb-in as little information about her as possible, so I can't really provide much in the way of factual information about her. I am, however, aware of the fact that due to the absurd size of her artificial breasts, she requires minor surgical procedures on a frequent basis to maintain them. Surely for most, that would be reason enough for not getting them!

It really is a shame that so many women are now convinced breast enlargement surgery is on the road to looking attractive. While some people find breasts of this artificial calibre attractive, just as many — if not more — don't!

In actuality, these women that flash up on our TVs and game consoles are far from being empowered. Katie Price is a slave to her boobs, and her boobs in turn, are a slave to society. She is not empowered.
 

Another 'empowered woman'

The size-zero culture and facial plastic-surgery are two things that bother me even more than breast enlargement surgery. I say this simply because I find the former two to be far more damaging. I have known females in the past to plaster their faces with foundation make-up to an extent that makes them look as if they are wearing face-paint! My regular observations of this behaviour lead me to conclude that many women feel that they have to hide behind a wall of make-up to cover up what society deems to be 'flaws' in their face's visual appearance. They essentially treat make-up as a mask with which they can hide from the world.

Not all make-up is necessarily bad

Make-up isn't all-together a bad thing. I'd be a hypocrite to say otherwise as despite being a man, I do tend to wear some from time to time. As with many of life's subtle tendencies, there is a fine line between approaching make-up use with a healthy attitude and an unhealthy attitude. I generally tend to believe that make-up should be used for enhancing one's features rather than hiding or obscuring them. Take eyeliner for example; when used masterfully, the results can be incredibly attractive.

As for the size-zero culture, I am, of-course, referring to the indisputable dark reality that women left, right and centre are throwing up half of what they eat out of pressure to achieve and thereafter maintain the body-weight that they see in magazines. Anorexia and bulimia nervosa both constitute downward spirals of exponential worsening. They are absolutely horrible things to get drawn into; food intake restraint and/or food purging becomes easier and easier to do each time until the point where it actually starts to feel like the right thing to do!

So how does any of this relate to games? Well, as should be blindingly clear to most, these archetypes found amongst cat-walk models and TV celebrities are almost identical to those found in games. It is quite possible that the different media-centric industries of the modern world all encourage one another in a cyclical manner, with games being influenced by film/television/fashion and film/television/fashion being influenced by games.

A reoccurring theme is that 'weapons = power'

So by this point in the post, I would hope most agree that media depictions of women are far from empowering. Now, instead of talking about what isn't sexy, how about we talk about what is?

So, what is sexy? Well, just as with what isn't considered sexy, what is considered sexy is a highly subjective matter. I personally find three things to be very attractive: power, intelligence, and individuality. Sadly, very few game characters possess the latter two, and the former quality is often denoted in a very blunt, unsubtle manner.

Power can be demonstrated in so many ways that it isn't. I generally perceive it as having the courage to be oneself and trust in one's own views. That is to say, power is essentially defined by a person's commitment to what they do and believe in.

True power is the ability for an individual to stand on their own two legs and steer themselves through a difficult situation without requiring the emotional investment of others. Stuff like this is a matter of brains, not brawn. Weapons and muscles are simply an accessory that give power to those who otherwise wouldn't have any.

Boobs + glasses =
instant intelligence

Intelligence is a hard thing to get across in a character design. Slapping glasses and a smart/casual outfit onto a character doesn't constitute intelligence, but yet we tend to see this stereotype an awful lot in games. The true nature of intelligence is far too intricate to be represented in such an unintricate way. Intellectuals are found throughout all walks of life — so why is it that they would all look and dress the same?

Real-life professionals are always
seen to dress like this, apparently

True intelligence can be a very attractive quality. It is most apparent in a person's manner of speech and temperament for tackling challenges; although, that said, there's no definitive way of identifying or classifying it.

Intellectuals are analytical, inquisitive and intuitive; three characteristics that — with enough consideration — a character artist can factor into a character's aesthetics. A person's visual demeanour is largely influenced by the decisions that they make, and therefore, intelligence can be depicted through how these decisions influence their overall appearance.

Individuality is a celebration of one's own unique identity as a human being. This can manifest itself in one's cultural background and ethnicity, one's opinnions and feelings, or one's life choices. It is a matter of one being the person that they want to be, rather than the person that a culture forces upon them. I like people who appreciate the value of this ideology as they tend to be far more interesting to talk to and generally far more accepting of others. I have put up with the oppressive nature of society for long enough to not care about people's superficial judgements of me any-more — apart from at job interviews, of-course! The ways in which I decide to express myself and the decisions that I make are purely my own; they do not result from pretension.

Just as some find large breasts and long, blonde hair to be attractive, I in the same way, find individuality to be incredibly attractive. Yet, to find such a quality present in a game is a challenge and a half since so many character designs in some way or another conform to a strict set of tried-and-true archetypes. The sad truth is that where-ever financial considerations are made, spreadsheets and formulas are never too far away. This is a problem that bothers me deeply; competitive commerce essentially kills morals and creative originality.

Alternative hair colours are the only
constituent of individuality
in games, sadly

For individuality to truly be demonstrated in games, character designs need to start varying in more than just hair colour and ethnicity. Humanity is an incredibly diverse phenomenon and its about time games start reflecting this!

I quite frankly find it disgusting that my friend was attacked for stating her views on what is supposed to be her own, personal blog! Hopefully this post will demonstrate that she is not alone in her views. Plenty of men and women, inside and outside of the media industries feel this way. The problem is that money tends to over-rule morals.

I may in the future, write a post on the misrepresentation of men in the media industries. I consider it to be a problem of equal weighting to that of female media misrepresentation, and as no one else on my course seems to have addressed the issue yet, it certainly is something that I would like to write about. Stay tuned for more!


Further reading material on character design:

• The Aesthetics of Unique Video Game Characters

Game Documentation: My Attempt at a Mock-up

The following blog post will constitute a mock-up of some of the documentation involved in game design and development. The game used in this post is a fictitious concoction created purely to give substance to the game documentation that I have created. This entire post is just an example of how a game's documentation may or may not be constructed ― stuff like this varies greatly depending upon the project and studio at hand.

Game Concept

Game Title: Incandescent Minds

Target Platform: Sony PlayStation 3 (with use of PlayStation Move)
Target Audience: Male and females, aged between 18 and 30
Target BBFC Rating: 18

Introduction
Incandescent Minds is a science fiction RPG/adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic, futuristic world with art style influences drawn-in from the cyberpunk sub-culture, Lhasan architecture (Potala Palace), Middle Eastern architecture, and medieval Venetian styles. This blend of influences is combined such as to achieve an art style full of both morbid/sinister and eccentric/quirky visual impressions.

The game operates with an innovative camera dynamic that allows for the switching between over-the-shoulder and third person views. The gender inbalance issue is addressed by including gameplay mechanics that appeal to both genders. This is achieved with use of diplomatic and combat based character interaction mechanics, allowing for a player to tackle in-game challenges by employing either negotiative problem solving or tactical problem solving strategies.

Setting
The game is set in the United Arab Emirates around the year, 2400, in an alternate, apocalyptic universe. Most of the gameplay and plot development takes place in and around a fictitious city called the neo-Dubai metropolis.

Story
The story's central focus is that of a classical love story ― but with a futuristic, cyberpunk spin! The story draws influence from the fairytale, the Beauty and the Beast, through its inclusion of a young, naïve yet talented, female protagonist as 'the beauty' and a cynical, worn-and-weathered cyborg as 'the beast.' The story deviates from this archetype slightly in the fact that neither character can truly be classified as beautiful either in terms of personality or visual appearance.


Character Design

Zakiyah
Zakiyah, meaning 'pure' in Arabic, is the lead character of the game. She lives in a small sub-urban prefecture of the neo-Dubai metropolis called ElevenBlock but knows hardly anyone in her immediate neighbourhood. She is highly introverted and secretive, preferring to keep to herself rather than trust in others.

She makes a living by selling neo-Dubain machinery to small, neighbouring cities at a profit. This is a particularly dangerous job as transporting large machinery across desert-land runs the risk of being attacked by armed thieves. She considers herself an engineer and is very proficient at repairing and modifying vehicles in her spare time. She has no friends; only clients.

Kanvas
Kanvas is a non-player-character with potential to feature as the lead character of future spin-off developments. He was a professional cyber-part body modifier until his own machinery fell on him, crushing his torso and forcing him to graft his mangled remains into an assembly of bio/mechanical cyborg parts. He lives in a neighbouring city to Zakiyah and becomes romantically involved with her part way through the game.

Falah9
Falah9 is a non-player-character. Highly misanthropic, paranoid and business orientated, he has no interests outside of profit gain. He assists Zakiyah in acquiring business connections with other characters and constitutes a very important person in the diplomatic gameplay elements of the game. There is irony in the fact that despite his general hatred of people, he has more contacts than anyone else in the game!


Hardware and Software
 
The following hardware and software lists include all major hardware and software packages to be included in the game development pipeline. It is quite possible that smaller, more miscellaneous hardware units and programs may also be used on the rare occasion.

Hardware List
• MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo
     2.4Ghz processor
     1.07Ghz bus
     4GB DDR3 memory
     NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GPU
     NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT GPU
• Wacom Intuos3
• Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1TB Drive
• Sony PlayStation 3 

Software List
• Photoshop CS4
• 3DS Max 2011
• Mudbox 2011
• xNormal 3
• CrazyBump 1
• Unreal Development Kit

Photoshop
Photoshop will be used throughout the development process, firstly at the concepting stage, and then later on, for 3D model paint-overs and texture authoring.

3DS Max
3DS Max will be used for the creation of all game assets. It will be used mostly for its modelling and UV unwrapping tools.

Mudbox
Mudbox will be used for sculpting high resolution details onto game assets, allowing for said details to then be baked into texture maps. The program will also be used from time-to-time in the process of painting directly onto an asset so as to determine where in 3D space certain UV texture coordinates correspond to.

xNormal
xNormal will be used for baking ambient occlusion information into texture maps.

CrazyBump
CrazyBump will be used for converting height map information into normal maps. In addition to this, it will be used for modifying and refining existing normal maps created in Mudbox.

Unreal Development Kit
Unreal Development Kit will be the SDK used, as the game is to use Unreal Engine 3. Unreal Development Kit contains a scene graph that will be used extensively for placing art assets in the engine.


Visual Art

Asset Outline
The following is a list of assets to be developed for the game. As the game is intended for deployment on the Sony PlayStation 3 platform, the asset specification requirements are typical of a current generation game. All assets will be exported from 3DS Max in OBJ format for use in Unreal Engine 3, and textured with bitmaps in 24-bit or 32-bit TGA format.

Environment Specifications
Environments will consist of broken up terrain segments, each covering a square radius of around 1.5km to 4km. These segments will each feature a tileable 4096px x 4096px 24-bit TGA diffuse map with unique visual details blended in ontop with 6 2048px x 2048px 24-bit TGA diffuse maps. Terrain segments will load in and out of the game as the player navigates towards and away from them, as will each of the 6 unique detail 2048px x 2048px diffuse maps.

ElevenBlock Map
Prefecture ElevenBlock of the neo-Dubai metropolis hosts a variety of interesting people, all eccentric in their own way. It is famous for having fetish clubs and a cyber body modification sub-culture. At night, illicit races are held with banned hover vehicle technology on the desert planes surrounding the prefecture.

Asset	Priority	Budget	Dimensions
majorBuildings_group01	1	4,000 tris	1,300m x 1,300m
majorBuildings_group02	1	3,000 tris	0,800m x 0,800m
majorBuildings_group03	1	3,000 tris	0,800m x 0,800m
roads_group01	2	2,000 tris	0,600m x 0,600m
roads_group02	2	2,000 tris	0,600m x 0,600m
roads_group03	2	1,500 tris	0,400m x 0,400m
hoverStrip_group01	2	0,500 tris	0,300m x 0,300m
hoverStrip_group02	2	0,700 tris	0,500m x 0,500m
urbanDetails_group01	3	0,500 tris	0,050m x 0,050m
urbanDetails_group02	3	1,500 tris	0,125m x 0,125m
urbanDetails_group03	3	0,500 tris	0,050m x 0,050m
desertDetails_group01	3	0,900 tris	0,200m x 0,200m
desertDetails_group02	3	0,500 tris	0,150m x 0,150m
minorBuildings_group01	4	1,500 tris	2,500m x 2,500m
minorBuildings_group02	4	1,500 tris	2,000m x 2,000m
minorBuildings_group03	4	1,000 tris	1,500m x 1,500m
minorBuildings_group04	4	2,000 tris	4,000m x 4,000m
minorBuildings_group05	4	1,000 tris	1,000m x 1,000m
minorBuildings_group06	4	1,500 tris	1,500m x 1,500m
urbanTerrain_seg01	5	0,700 tris	2,500m x 2,500m
urbanTerrain_seg02	5	0,700 tris	2,000m x 2,000m
urbanTerrain_seg03	5	1,000 tris	4,000m x 4,000m
urbanTerrain_seg04	5	0,500 tris	1,500m x 1,500m
desertTerrain_seg01	6	1,000 tris	2,000m x 2,000m
desertTerrain_seg02	6	1,250 tris	3,000m x 3,000m

Scenery Model Specifications
The specifications for scenery are quite diverse in the sense that very few scenery assets are alike, and therefore neither should be their requirements. Smaller scenery assets will typically have a polycount from anywhere as low as 200 triangles right up to 3,000 triangles, while larger assets will vary from around 3,000 triangles right up to 8,000 triangles.

Diffuse texture maps will consist mostly of tileable 1024px x 1024px 24-bit TGA bitmaps except for where a different format or size would be better suited. 

Dubai Citadel Ruins Asset
The citadel ruins date back to before the neo-Dubai metropolis' destruction and later re-construction. No attempts have been made to repair them. The ruins offer an interesting aesthetic than can be seen from all around the Dubai Desert.

Mesh	Priority	Budget	Dimensions
rubbleDetail_group01	1	1,250 tris	0,025m x 0,100m
rubbleDetail_group02	1	1,000 tris	0,015m x 0,050m
rubbleDetail_group03	1	0,500 tris	0,035m x 0,050m
rubbleDetail_group04	1	0,750 tris	0,035m x 0,080m
rubbleDetail_group05	1	1,000 tris	0,040m x 0,150m
baseWall_seg01	2	0,500 tris	0,005m x 0,100m
baseWall_seg02	2	1,000 tris	0,005m x 0,130m
baseWall_seg03	2	1,000 tris	0,015m x 0,100m
baseWall_seg04	2	0,500 tris	0,005m x 0,050m
baseWall_seg05	2	1,500 tris	0,005m x 0,400m
baseWall_seg06	2	0,500 tris	0,005m x 0,050m
baseWall_seg07	2	0,500 tris	0,005m x 0,050m

Character Model Specifications

Character models are ranked within three tiers of detail based upon importance in the game. The first tier applies only to the lead character and has the highest specifications, the second is for significant non-player-characters, and the third is for insignificant non-player-characters.

First Tier
• Polygon budget:
     14,000 triangle-count
• Texture map specifications:
     3 x (1024px x 1024px diffuse)
     3 x (1024px x 1024px normal)
     3 x (512px x 512px colour specular)

Second Tier
• Polygon budget:
     10,000 triangle-count
• Texture map specifications:
     3 x (1024px x 1024px diffuse)
     3 x (512px x 512px normal)
     3 x (512px x 512px colour specular)

Third Tier
• Polygon budget:
     6,000 triangle-count
• Texture map specifications:
     1 x (1024px x 1024px diffuse)
     1 x (512px x 512px normal)
     1 x (512px x 512px colour specular)

Zakiyah Character Asset
Being the lead character, the Zakiyah asset is of first tier specifications.

Element	Priority	Budget	Dimensions
head	1	3,250 tris	00.17m x 00.22m
hair	2	0,750 tris	00.20m x 00.40m
hand_l	2	0,750 tris	00.10m x 00.20m
hand_r	2	0,750 tris	00.10m x 00.20m
pepperboxPistol	2	1,750 tris	00.05m x 00.10m
hood	3	0,500 tris	00.30m x 00.45m
raincoat	3	2,500 tris	00.80m x 01.50m
shirt	3	0,750 tris	00.50m x 00.20m
shorts	3	0,800 tris	00.50m x 00.80m
leggings_l	4	0,250 tris	00.15m x 00.90m
leggings_r	4	0,250 tris	00.15m x 00.90m
undershirt	4	0,400 tris	00.50m x 00.90m
baseTorso	5	0,300 tris	00.30m x 00.70m
baseArm_l	6	0,175 tris	00.07m x 00.50m
baseArm_r	6	0,175 tris	00.07m x 00.50m
baseLeg_l	6	0,175 tris	00.10m x 00.70m
baseLeg_r	6	0,175 tris	00.10m x 00.70m
boot_l	6	0,150 tris	00.10m x 00.20m
boot_r	6	0,150 tris	00.10m x 00.20m

Kanvas Character Asset
Kanvas is of second tier specifications.

Element	Priority	Budget	Dimensions
head	1	2,500 tris	00.18m x 00.24m
cyberEye	1	0,500 tris	00.04m x 00.04m
hand_l	2	0,500 tris	00.12m x 00.24m
hand_r	2	0,500 tris	00.12m x 00.24m
skullCannon	2	1,200 tris	00.25m x 01.50m
desertCape	3	1,000 tris	00.80m x 01.50m
vest	3	0,600 tris	00.50m x 00.20m
trousers	3	0,600 tris	00.50m x 00.80m
chestPlate	4	0,400 tris	00.30m x 00.45m
baseTorso	5	0,300 tris	00.35m x 00.80m
baseArm_l	6	0,150 tris	00.12m x 00.53m
baseArm_r	6	0,150 tris	00.12m x 00.53m
baseLeg_l	6	0,150 tris	00.13m x 00.75m
baseLeg_r	6	0,150 tris	00.13m x 00.75m
boot_l	6	0,125 tris	00.25m x 00.25m
boot_r	6	0,125 tris	00.25m x 00.25m

Vehicle Model Specifications
Vehicle assets are ranked within two tiers of detail based upon importance in the game. The first tier is for interactive vehicles that will use advanced physics simulation dynamics, whereas the second tier is for non-interactive vehicles that will be animated but not use advanced physics simulation dynamics.

Polygon budgets and texture map specifications for different vehicles will vary based upon the size and complexity of each vehicle design so the following is therefore only a guide. This is especially true for some of the second tier vehicles that are significantly large in comparison to the others.

First Tier
• Polygon budget:
     8,000 - 16,000 triangle-count
• Texture map specifications:
     2 x (2048px x 2048px diffuse)
     2 x (1024px x 1024px normal)
     2 x (1024px x 1024px colour specular)

Second Tier
• Polygon budget:
     4,000 - 22,000 triangle-count
• Texture map specifications:
     2 x (1024px x 1024px diffuse OR 2048px x 2048px diffuse)
     2 x (512px x 512px normal OR 1024px x 1024px normal)
     2 x (512px x 512px colour specular OR 1024px x 1024px colour specular)

Bicycle Asset
This asset constitutes a bicycle equipped with a low-power hover-bike engine. It is highly nimble and sturdy but has a low maximum speed. It is used to speed-up exploration of urban areas but is rendered useless on desert terrain.

Mesh	Priority	Budget	Dimensions
frame	1	2,000 tris	00.07m x 01.80m
wheel_f	1	0,750 tris	00.50m x 00.50m
wheel_r	1	0,750 tris	00.50m x 00.50m
handlebars	2	1,000 tris	00.70m x 00.05m
saddle	2	0,500 tris	00.20m x 00.35m
engine	2	1,500 tris	00.40m x 00.60m
damagedParts	3	0,800 tris	00.05m x 00.25m
pedals	3	0,500 tris	00.20m x 00.20m
neonUnderlight	3	0,500 tris	00.10m x 00.50m
mudguard_f	3	0,250 tris	00.08m x 00.20m
mudguard_r	3	0,250 tris	00.08m x 00.20m
bell	4	0,200 tris	00.04m x 00.04m

And that's it! I hope you've found reading this interesting.