The Question of Materiality following the Naturel/Human logic.

Due to the simplicity of the level geometry I wanted to geek quiet a bit on the materiality of the scene to amplify the sense of immersion into this alien-like yet familiar semi-human environment.

The building forms are something semi-naturel, growing out of the ground and detaching themselves they have no apparent human-like logic, yet there obscurity in the geometry is something that should seem potentially man-made.

I have found some inspiration for this in the natural volcanic formations of 'Giants Causeway' in Ireland. The strict geometric patterns create seem almost too planned to be naturel, too orderly not to be man-made.

This obscure sense of logic, this anonymity is something I am aspiring to create through the materiality as well.

In any case I have been experimenting queit a bit trying to get some nice textures for my walls. Below are some sketches.

A good friend (Aleks Hill)  creates amazingly convincing line drawing (seen on bottom) that have that sense of naturel or man-made obscurity about them, I am going to see how well thye turn out as an alpha channel on to my texture.

Otherwise programs such as crazy bump give me a bit of freedom in the detailing of image textures. 

Developing Design

So far I have been sketching and through trials of designs, I have been highly influenced by various counter strike maps such as CS_Italy and De_Dust for the creative implementation of funnel points and event spaces; the perfect timing of location points where CT's and T's meet.

In CS_Italy both the terrorists and counter terrorists have a select option paths to take (usually choosing between 2-3) and the funnel points are careful oriented to give both sides an equal advantage. 

De_Dust offers a similiar logic, something I want to use in my game, having spent thousands of hours playing both maps it seems like an appropriate starting point for a precedent for my level; in terms of using the option-path method rather than the open world method of level designing.

My level is at the moment facing a simple criteria based around panning out equal distant option paths for both teams and applying the split-block design idea that I had from early on regarding the 'place of contemplation' aesthetic I was going for.

Living Form

My goal is to create a very basic map for a 8x8 player match, and in order to do so I want to make the most out of every little space, creating numerous funnel points and events.

I had this idea of taking advantage of the level differentiation seen in my 'place of contemplation' as a sort of vehicle for intrigue within the game level. Utilizing the ups and downs of the form to create interesting spaces for confrontation between players.

 

Thees buildings could perhaps also move up and down continually creating a sense of a dynamic space, that changes and morphs, giving it perhaps an alien feel of a sort of living building where the slit divides it in half as it grows into the ground and up. 

I drew many sketches of possible island shapes to accompany the geometric form of the blocks themselves, trying to imagine natural forms that may accompany different spaces, in this concept the player would most likely remain mostly inside the block forms rather than experiencing them from the outside. 

Formulating Ideas

I am writing this level for practice as well as to elaborate on a project from my first year of architecture school that I sincerely enjoyed working on. Originally a place of contemplation based on the journey of the deceased as described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, will be applied uniquely to this practice game level I wish to work on using the Unreal Developement Kit (3).

I will use this blog as a sort of personal update/driver to establish my ideas through writing more formally than my sketch book in the hopes that by outlining my design process I can use this blog as a reference for future improvement.

I have always been interested in the relationships between spaces in games and those of reality, and I have thus selected my 'Place of Contemplation' for its poetic nature, allowing for an easy first step in utilizing a relatively contextually liberated idea.