Took two classes on Unreal’s website. One on post-processing, and another on lighting. I’m beginning to get a better grasp on the appearance of many games, and other works made in Unreal and other engines. I need to start working on the level soon, and actual functionality with the lantern. What exactly that will be I need to sit and think on. I know I want it to reveal secrets, but how exactly? Well I know all about fancy lens flare so I can make the game look like a J.J. Abrams movie if I wanted to.
There’s a lot that goes on in lighting. It’s not too troubling to think about how much lighting costs in terms of computer power when creating a nice-looking scene, but in the lessons there is a constant reminder to always optimize. I have to keep in mind what I want to be well-lit and what I can forego. Since this game isn’t going to be of very realistic quality I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble with turning down some of the details when it comes to rendering. My main goal is to make a fun game that looks good, not just a good-looking game that is kind of fun.
I played around with the lousy hallway I made and added torches, the fog together with the bloom gives off this interesting ring of light around it. I might keep these light settings, but there’s so much to keep track of I’m not sure exactly which specific settings are actually helping. I’m just adjusting knobs and seeing what looks cool.
I haven’t started looking into level design yet, but there’s probably a class or tutorial for it somewhere online. It’s going to be another mountain to climb, similar to making the 3D model, I have to build a world from the ground up. Each object has to have the right materials assigned to them, there has to be proper lighting, collision for objects, and much more I probably don’t know about yet. I’ll keep working on this. No matter how long it takes.
GoldenGratus Games 