Sunday, 15 April 2012

Continued Research Into AC2 Doors


This first image is one I found showing the model meshes for two main featuring characters out of Assassins Creed Brotherhood. It is interesting to see how quad and tri's are used in the character topology, and how this translates from model to rendered character. I remember Mark explaining how planes in Maya can only be seen from certain angles as they have no 3D value - you need to give a surface mass in order for it to be visible from all sides, not matter how thin you decide to make it. A similar effect is seen in Mudbox when you try and view your sculpt from underneath, it has a hole going through it as the sculpt is only a plane which has been modified in shape, it is not a solid shape like a bust.

This 'see-through' phenomenon happens in almost all games as it is easier (and quicker) for a game to run if the characters and scenery have as little information to load as possible. For example when you are playing a game and the camera appears to go through a wall, and the wall half-disappears or where a characters clothing will sometimes not be in view depending on which angle you aim the in-game camera. I find all of this info-trivia very interesting as I had personally always wondered what the hell was going on when such a thing happened in my game!


Here we have a typical shop/storage doorway in Assassins Creed 2 (Hereafter AC2)

I have noticed that the doorways in the game( which cover the areas of Florence, Rome, Venice and Tuscany) encompass two main design styles; the arched doorway and the squared doorway. Both doors feature wooden paneling if they are for the home, and if they are for storage etc they have this studded finish to them.

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Robin Silcock

I am a Second Year Games Art and Design student at Norwich University of the Arts. After exploration of a number of roles in my first year, I am now looking to graduate as a 3D Artist with applicable skills in Maya, Mudbox, ZBrush and Photoshop. I understand that my skills in this field are not there yet - but I aim to achieve this goal through consistently working through the programs in my University and Personal Projects. I love to be busy - I have always had a lot of things on my plate since the age of 7 where I successfully balanced school with Ballet, Tap, Horse-Riding, French, Piano and Singing Lessons! In the same fashion, my university schedule is just as hectic and varied; I am a Peer Mentor to first year students, Student Rep for Second Year, and President of the Enterprise Society. Like I said, I love to be busy! I am a Games Hippie - so to speak - I believe that Games if designed and harnessed in the right way, will be able to help solve many of the global issues we have today - even if it starts off in a small way. Just look at the positive effects that Facebook and Twitter have already had... When navigating my blog;
  • Works in Progress - This section is a constantly running account of all my current projects - personal and for university. It will contain reference images and website links and sometimes less than coherent posts, so be prepared!
  • Finished Pieces - This is where you will find my more polished artwork. Looking for help with Maya? Check out the posts tagged "Maya How-To's"