Think it, build it, refine it... TEAR IT DOWN. Now build it better.

This may be one of the most tedious processes I've ever seen/utilized. Start with the incredibly nice, detailed model... and build a worse version so you can merge it with the nice one for a model that will look like a pristine triumph and artistry and work like simplistic mass of squares.

The attached screen it about an hour and a half in.

"Lego/Goldberg Machine" finally done

Realized that I've yet to post this video, regardless of the fact that I've had it on my external drive for a good week and a half now. HUGE brain-derp on my part. But anyway, here's the final version of my 3rd project from Programming for Artists! Special thanks to SEGA for the loop inspiration.

Character WIP

No introduction needed for this one-- we're all well aware of the character project in 3D for Games. Here how far I've come! Behold Jiece, Sultan of the Strings!

That's all for now, take care.

Platformer WIP

As my hordes of readers (up to FOUR people!) know, the platformer project in Game Design is gaining steam, and we'll soon be in the thick of it. Personally, I can't wait to get started on the UDK aspect, as side-scrolling platformers are arguably my favorite type of game. Anyway, here's a preview of the level layout for my tutorial level, and a sample of a mechanic I'm going to utilize.

Take care,
    Will.

Reminded of how insignificant I am...

Which is soon to be a daily thing! Now that I've set it up so that my homepage starts randomly on polycount, conceptart, or gamasutra, I'm faced with the daily reminder that I've got to step it up. What exactly do I mean by "it"? Everything, quite simply. It's always been frustrating to have a head full of magnificent, gorgeous ideas for characters, monsters, gameplay mechanics, et cetera, and not have the artistic or technological capacity to bring them to life. Previously, I've just been able to brush it off and say that I didn't have access to what I needed in order to bring my thoughts into being, but now that I'm surrounded by multi-thousand-dollar computers and a slew of professors and classmates to bounce ideas off of, the blame can be placed squarely on me and my lack of initiative.

I believe I suffer from a rare ailment known as "being in college", and thusly cannot force myself to press on after a day's work has been done. I mean, once you spend 6-10 hours in the labs one day, I just can't work up the drive to practice my digital painting or take notes on game design. It simply can't be done! Presently, I'm working on a method that will get even me to go above and beyond the call of duty, and once I'm able to articulate the process into words, I'll post it  here on the internet for all to see. It wouldn't be fair to keep such knowledge to myself, now would it?

Goldberg Machine ACTIVATE!

Hello again, friends. Today, I've got the work-in-progress of my Rube Goldberg machine (the third iteration of it, anyway), which is a piece we've been working on for the last two or so weeks in Programming for Artists. Currently, we're trying to script a sorter for the different colors of balls that travel through the machine-- in mine, you can see that the blue ball is treated a little differently from the gray ones. Check it out!