Creative project w1

Introduction

This creative project will consist of a 5-week production for the client, Unruly Ember. As detailed in the brief below, the project aims to promote the encouragement of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) sector for young people between the ages of 14-21. Catering to the soft sci-fi theme, an asset must be produced in the form of either a 3D model. game mechanic or final digital art piece. The asset must also show the role of chemicals and their interactions to make fuel and oxygen.

Time management

As an additional note, the Monday of the second week is a bank holiday which means that no online session will take place. However, I will still continue to work independently to ensure I keep to my schedule and maintain productivity.

Risk Assessment

This is the risk assessment I have created for this project, it contains the risks/hazards I have considered and what I will do in order to prevent them from happening. These hazards consist of illness, loss of data, time management etc and must be considered in all projects as a health and safety precaution.

Swot analysis

Above is the SWOT analysis I have produced for this project, it includes a range of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats considering all eventualities. I have produced this in order to discuss my strong/weak points and make note of them so that I can improve on my weaknesses, further develop my strengths and minimise the threats.

Sci-fi Research

Games

Destiny - 2014

Destiny is an online multiplayer FPS set in the distant future of a mystical, advanced world where you take on the role of a protector of earths last protected city as you fight various races of aliens to save what little remains of your me planet. This game provides good inspiration as it incorporates a lot of STEM features as well demonstrating the standard of a AAA sci-fi game. I especially like the environments and 3D models within destiny as they are both highly intricate and offer a lot of inspiration in their designs and structure.

Space engineers - 2013

Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction, exploration and survival in space and on planets. Players build space ships, space stations, planetary outposts of various sizes and use, pilot ships and travel through space to explore planets and gather resources to survive. This game includes a lot of STEM which I can take inspiration from and offers a new take on space survival and ties into a lot of the same aspects that are included within our brief.

Portal - 2007

Portal is a first person puzzle game which presents the player with many puzzle-filled rooms to solve and proceed through. I chose portal as one of my inspirations as I like its minimalistic approach to its level design and art style as well it's incorporation of STEM and many other great examples of Sci-Fi. I also like the idea of having something to do with portals/dimensions in my final asset and believe that portal does an exemplary job of using these.

Film & tv

The Martian - 2015

The Martian is a film and book about an astronaut that gets abandoned by his crew on Mars after his team assume he is dead. When he becomes stranded alone on mars he uses what he has remaining to survive, this involves using the experience he has in the STEM sector and other practices to survive until the next mission to Mars. I chose The Martian as one of my inspirations as it accompanies many space travel/STEM themes that will aid me in the creation of my asset.

Interstellar - 2014

Interstellar is a film about the Earth's future and it slowly becoming more uninhabitable due to dust storms and global crop blight, this leads scientists to explore the science behind wormholes in the attempt to transport the population of the earth to a new location. A former NASA pilot is sent through the wormhole with a team of researchers to explore 3 planets and find mankind's new home. I specifically wanted to include Interstellar in my research as it explores the use of dimensional travel and wormholes which is what I am considering doing for my final asset, therefore this will aid me in the production process and give me a better idea of what to include.

Books

A space odyssey - 2001

Although I have not read A Space Odyssey, the synopsis I found online reads, "An imposing black structure provides a connection between the past and the future in this enigmatic adaptation of a short story by revered sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. When Dr Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and other astronauts are sent on a mysterious mission, their ship's computer system, HAL, begins to display increasingly strange behaviour, leading up to a tense showdown between man and machine that results in a mind-bending trek through space and time." This is a good book to use for inspiration as it inspired the director of Interstellar Christopher Nolan and therefore accompanies a lot of the same themes related to space travel and time as well as the fate of humanity in a dystopian future.

Solaris - 1961

Wikipedia synopsis - "Solaris is a 1961 science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem. It follows a crew of scientists on a research station as they attempt to understand extraterrestrial intelligence, which takes the form of a vast ocean on the titular alien planet." I chose Solaris as I wanted a wide scope of material for my research, which led me to search for some older sci-fi books. This book offers an interesting take on ocean/alien exploration which I may want to consider whilst creating my own unique ideas for my asset.

IDEA GENERATION

To commence the production of my asset I first had to mind map all of the initial ideas I had thought of, going into small amounts of detail to provide a small form of description. I had decided by this point that I wanted to proceed with either the game mechanic or 3D model but included the digital art piece within my mind map to demonstrate my exploration of ideas/concepts.

Ideas Survey

Now that I have produced a substantial amount of ideas I was pleased with I had to find out what people thought of my ideas and discover how to continue on with my asset. To do this I conducted a survey using Google Forms, below are the questions and their results visualised.

Question 1

To commence my survey I started with this question in order to confirm which of my 7 possible ideas I should continue to develop and create. The results show that the dimensional warping device was the most successful and will therefore be the idea I go with.

Question 2

Results

looks like it will turn out the best
It is the most fleshed out one.
sounds very cool and will be great if it is done well
the robot model should be easy enough to complete within two weeks
it sounds interesting
Not overly complex and definitely doable within the 5-week timeframe. Can work as either a mechanic or 3D model (or both)
it fits the brief well
no
It sounds the most interesting
Sounded very sci-fi
I feel like this would be the best idea for a Sci-fi concept
Warp Drives are commonly seen in sci-fi so it would fit with the theme
I like the idea of being able to travel to different dimensions to be able to help your own. I also got a better idea of what the assets would look like due to the brief description.
I think the most can be done with it
I like the idea of gas filtration and think the most can be done with it
I like the new and original concept
Would be a very cool concept to see fleshed out
It sounds the most exciting
Nope
I think a lot can be done with a drilling robot

This question is an extension to question one that discovers why the candidate chose what they chose and helps me to understand what I am doing right

Question 3

Question 3 shows me the idea people thought was the worst of the 7 ideas, the worst at 35% is the time-altering portal. A close second to the portal is the mineral scanner at 25%. These results tell me that I should steer away from creating these ideas.

Question 4

The aim of this question is to ensure I am keeping to the requirements of the brief by asking the survey candidates whether they think the idea they selected caters to the target audience. The main answer was a 4 which is very positive and lets me know that there is still room for improvement.

Question 5

This is another question to ensure I am keeping to the requirements of the brief but this time it is for the allocated time. The results show that 80% of the candidates selected yes and 0% selected know which fills me with more confidence to proceed with the production of the asset.

Question 6

Results

Blue, green and black
Grey & blue
Silver, white and blue
Blue, green etc.
Darker, duller colours
White, Black, Blue, Orange, Red
Dark purple, white, black
White, silver, blue
Clean and futuristic themes. ie white or carbon fibre
Depends on your inspirations
Blue, White and silver
You could have a light shade of blue for the trail and also have grey for the external design
I feel greys and neon blues fit the sci-fi theme the most.
Purple, Blue, Black, Grey, White
Grey and blue
Blue, Purple, Silver
Silver, black, white, purple
Blue black orange
I think a bright blue and futuristic white/silver
Blue, Black, Red, Orange

This question was added to determine a possible colour scheme for my asset by establishing what colours candidates first thought of when presented with the theme sci-fi. The answers mainly include the colours white, blue, black, silver and grey which will be considered when determining my colour scheme.

Question 7

Question 7 is a simple yes or no to determine what people would rather see from this asset. As I may be creating a joint game mechanic and 3D model I should focus on my 3D model first and finish the game mechanic if it is feasible.

Question 8

This last question aims to discover popular sci-fi media within the target audience in the hopes to better educate

me by performing additional research on these media examples and to gain a supply of successful existing examples.,

Results spreadsheet

Final Idea

From conducting this survey, I discovered that my final idea is the dimensional warping device that can travel to different dimensions, harvest the products from that dimension and bring back the products to their original dimension. This asset will have a futuristic aesthetic and theming, it will also be human-made using blueprints and materials discovered on distant planets. The asset will be produced using Photoshop, Unreal Engine and Maya as well as all of the commonly used file types that relate to them (JPG, PNG, FBX, MBF, UEP). Constraints within this project include the 2 weeks of asset production within the software, my limited skills in certain areas of creation, having to keep to the brief in terms of target audience and theme. I will continue to develop this idea for future weeks until it is a completed asset created to the best of my ability,

Reflection

This first week has been a good use of my time, I have come to a final conclusion with my idea and will continue to develop it in the future weeks to come. All content within this week has been covered to a high standard including all the necessary additions.

Week 2