Soul Steal Final Major Project Evaluation Tom

Hutchinson
For my final major project,
I chose to take the artistic
pathway. An interactive
element from a game.
Produce part of an
environment for your
games design using a
combination of 3D Studio
Max, and a games engine,
either UDK, CryEngine or
Unity to allow user
exploration. I used Unreal
Engine 4 to create a level for my game Soul
A screenshot from the start of
Steal. The level is played in first-person and
takes place in a haunted valley. The objective is to enter the fort ahead to find
and retrieve and artefact containing human souls.
I decided to use Unreal Engine 4 because it is easy to use to create a 3D game
and I had used it before so I was familiar with its functions such as bsps,
importing, and the blueprint editor. Though there was still lots that I was
unfamiliar with so I needed to watch quite a few tutorials to learn how to use
some of the engines features to create certain parts of my level.
I started off by writing a project proposal to make sure I knew my idea and to
confirm my plans with my tutor to make sure I could achieve my goal. Secondly I
created a Gantt chart to plan how long I would spend on each part of the project.
However, I felt like my Gantt chart wasnt detailed enough so I created a new
Gantt chart with more detail so that I could plan exactly how many days I would
dedicate to each part of the project. I then sketched concept art for my level. I
sketched a plan overview of how I anticipated my level would be laid out. This
greatly assisted my development as I had a design to work from and I knew what
assets I needed to create.

Next I did sketched concept art for the sword model I wanted to use in my game.
I sketched different ideas for hilts and for blades from researching sword images
online. I began creating this sword at a later date but decided that having a
sword wasnt a top priority and that I would complete the sword if I had time left

My second Gantt
over after completing the more important parts of my
chart
level. Unfortunetly I didint have enough time left over to create a high quality
model and texture for a dword after completing the important parts of the
project so I left it out.
The next thing I did was create the 3D model for the outer fort wall. I used 3ds
max to create this model by using edit poly. Ive had previous experience with
creating 3D models with 3ds Max from previous projects such as: modelling a 3D
treasure chest from provided concept art, modelling a 3D environment, and
modelling a 3D mech. I didnt need to follow any tutorials to create any 3D
assets in 3ds Max because I already had the skills. This was useful as I didnt
need to spend time learning how to use the software and I was able to get on
with actually creating 3D assets. I unwrapped my fort wall and created my own
brick texture in Adobe Photoshop for the model. It took much longer than
expected to effectively create my own textures. I needed the texture to be
seamless, meaning the bricks needed to line up with each other perfectly
between each part of the wall and around the corners. This proved to be difficult
as the unwrap was not perfectly scaled by the same amount with every polygon.
This meant that some bricks, while they were the same size in the Photoshop file,
were stretched when applied to the wall object in 3ds Max, meaning the texture
was not seamless and didnt look professional. I unwrapped the wall a seconds
time, this time making sure the unwrap was easier to work from in Photoshop by
using the stitch tool. I was eventually able to make the brick texture seamless
are look professional on the fort wall. I decided that for the rest of my assets, I
would download textures or use the Unreal Engine textures if I felt the textures
would work. But I would have created my own textures for every asset if I had
more time to do so.
I originally planned to model building blocks for my castle fort and put them
together in Unreal Engine 4. But due to time constraints, I decided to create the
castle fort using bsp objects in Unreal Engine to save time. I used additive box
bsp objects to create the corridors and subtractive box bsp objects to create the
doorways. I used 3ds Max to create the model for the castle fort towers because I
didnt think I could create good enough looking towers using bsp objects.; I
believe the castle fort still looks high quality with bsp objects, but if I had
managed my time more effectively, I would have created the whole castle fort

using 3ds Max because I could have created more detailed models with more
interesting shapes and curvature.
I create my Unreal Engine scene using the third-person pre-set. I edited the
character blueprint to move attach the follow camera to the character head
socket. I then positioned the camera to the character head to create a firstperson perspective. The reason I create the first-person perspective this way
instead of using the first-person template, is because the character model is
visible to the player. For example, the player can see the arms move in front of
them as they move and they can see the body if they point the camera
downwards. As I originally planned to include a handheld sword in my level if I
had time remaining, I would be able to attach the sword to the character model
so that it would follow the character movement.
I also implemented a sprint feature. To add the sprint function I first created a
key binding so that when left shift is pressed, the character movement speed
increases to sprint state. I created the key binding in the input section of the
project settings on Unreal Engine. Next I added to the character blueprint to
implement the sprint function as shown in the image below. I created a "Sprint
Speed" and "Walk Speed" variable to define the walking speed and sprint speed
for the character. I set the walk speed to 380 and the sprint speed (when shift is
held) to 600.
I used the Unreal Engine 4 landscape editor to create the terrain. I started out
with flat terrain and used the sculpt tool to create mountains to create a valley
for the game to take place in. I used other sculpt tool in the landscape editor
such as smooth, flatten, noise, and erosion to get the terrain to take the shape I
desired. I originally wanted to create the terrain using a program called Geo
Control. Geo Control can be used to create advanced terrain height maps.
However, after trying the software and creating a few height maps with it, I
decided to use the Unreal Engine 4 landscape editor to create the terrain instead
as Geo Control was very difficult to use to create mountains to the scale I
wanted.
I used rock, gravel, and grass Unreal Engine textures to paint the terrain. To set
up the material to do this I needed to use the material editor to create texture
layers. I needed to be able to create holes in the terrain in order to create an
underground passage to get inside the castle fort. To do this I needed to use the
Unreal Engine material editor graph to allow me to use the visibility sculpt tool in
the landscape editor to create holes in the terrain. I created the underground
passage using bsp objects. I then linked each end up with the holes in the
terrain.
I created torch models in 3ds Max to use in Unreal Engine as light sources. To
inspire my torch design, I created a mood board from research images of
medieval torches and lamps. This mood board greatly helped me with the asset
creating and I would have liked to have created mood boards for other assets as
well. I created two blueprints using my two torch models and attached a fire
emitter with an orange coloured point light inside. With adjustments to the light
intensity and radius, I was able to illuminate my level with these light source
blueprints to create an effective dark haunted effect.

I used Unreal Matinee to create the animations in my level. Examples of assets I

animated in my level include the two portcullises, the lift, and the chain levers.
To do this I created movement tracks and used key frames for the objects to
move from one position to another. For example, for the main portcullis, I had a
key frame for when it is in the start position, and a key frame for it to move up to
its end position, allowing the player to move through the doorway. For these
animations to happen, I needed to use blueprint even graphs. For example, with
the main portcullis, I created a trigger box near the chain lever and created a
blueprint event graph so that when the player pressed E while stood in the
trigger box, the portcullis and chain lever Matinee animations are played, and if
E is pressed again while the player is stood in the trigger box, the two Matinee
animations are reversed.
I followed tutorials on how to create the particle effects surrounding the soul
hourglass artefact within the castle fort. I changed settings so that particles are
spawned and move in a certain direction, trailing a specific colour. If I had
managed my time more effectively, I would have done more research on how to
create interesting particle effects and made a much greater use of them
throughout the level. To make the hourglass artefact rotate I created a blueprint
event graph to make it rotate around the x-axis. I also made the hourglass
destroy itself when the played collides with it so that it can be used as a pickup. I
but a spherical collision box just outside the hourglass model.
I migrated assets from the Unreal Engine particle example level. These assets
include the fire particles, the floating dust particles, and the rocks that sit on the
edges of the valley. This saved me the time of creating my own fire and rocks
and still look very good in my level.
Overall, I am very happy with the level I have created for my final major project.
If I had more time to complete it, I would have added even more to the level by
extending it, creating new tasks for the player, creating more assets using 3ds
Max and less bsp objects, and created my own textures. I would also have
created a full sword model and created a realistic looking texture for it using
Photoshop and attached it to the right hand of the player model. I would also
have liked to create animations so that when the player left clicks with the
mouse, a swinging animation is played with the sword. As I am happy with the
outcome of my project and enjoyed creating it, I will continue working on it in my
free time over the summer to improve my game development skills for
university.