Zach's FYP Diary

Important note -- All diary entries were published on Tuesday 9th May 2023  Weeks 1 - 3 https://zachwfinalyearproject.blogspot.com/2023/05/weeks-1-3-introduction-plan.html Weeks 4-5 https://zachwfinalyearproject.blogspot.com/2023/05/weeks-4-5.html Weeks 6-7 https://zachwfinalyearproject.blogspot.com/2023/05/weeks-6-7.html Weeks 8-9 https://zachwfinalyearproject.blogspot.com/2023/05/weeks-8-9.html Final Post https://zachwfinalyearproject.blogspot.com/2023/05/9-12-final.html

So it's been a while since I updated, and all I can say is that my timekeeping is absolutely horrible and I've been ridiculously distracted with my personal life so much that I completely forgot to update this blog.  A lot has happened in regards to the project, and it's safe to say the diner... looks like a diner. The booths are in, the props are done, and everything is in place. I even have trees, foliage, and other random scatter assets in now! all that's left to do is to add in lighting and volumetric fog to block off the edges of the piece.  It's not been without it's own issues, of course. I've had plenty of bumps along the way. In fact at one point I considered throwing in the towel, and there's a very teary phone call recording to my best friend somewhere in the cloud that I'm sure an O2 employee uses to cheer themself up.  However, I have made very good use of the tools given to us by university. I used Marvelous Designer to create the booth...

 Once again, these two weeks have been very productive in terms of assets created and implemented in engine, along with my knowledge of Unreal Engine also being upped in regards to Shader Creation, and even problem solving.  I finally got the rear building into engine, and the rear steps, creating a brick texture in Substance Sampler before exporting them to Painter and using them on the building. I made sure to implement smart masks and grunge maps to an appropriate extent, creating realistic moss, grime, etc. After that I added the Neon strips to the sign, creating a Neon emissive shader to apply to each part of the sign that I needed to. 

These weeks have, arguably, been the most productive weeks of the entire module.  I have made great progress in regards to my project, with most architectural sections done (to be completed in week 7) and the rest to be completed over the course of the rest of the project.  I have completed the interior and exterior walls, the base, the canopy above the doorway, the asphalt road, and will complete the parking lot and pavement this week, also, with help from our course Leader, Shafeq Rahman.  Of course, I am still not exactly where I want to be with progress so far, but this has most definitely been a very large jump  regarding how far into production I am.  It is also worth noting that the written elements of our project (in the immediate future) are done, meaning I can focus solely on production.  Architecturally, the entire building is almost done (as of 8th March 2023), with only the doors and the steps left to create. I have used a Weighted Normal Workf...

 Weeks 4 and 5 of the project were, to put it simply, centered around developing reference and gathering as many resources as humanly possible.  I put together moodboards (below) for use throughout the project, referencing heavily to Life is Strange (2015, DontNod Entertainment). I also used the the internet to gather as much as I possibly could to try and make a start on production. Worth noting is that during these weeks I was still struggling with personal issues in regards to work, and as such I wasn't really able to make as much progress as I'd like to have made by this point in the project. I did, however, make significant progress between week 4 and 5 towards asset development. I was also left without a rather large real-world reference when I asked at the OK Diner, Hartlepool whether I would be able to grab a few photographs for reference and was told in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed under any circumstances.  I decided to make a real go at blocking out...

  My name is Zachary Wilkins, and I am currently studying BA Game Art at Teesside University. Going into my second semester of Third year, I am creating this blog as I am going to be documenting the process of creating my Final Year Project to hopefully look back on and then expand upon in future projects, implementing the learned skills to push my abilities further.  Introduction Working Title :  'Drew's Easy Diner' Overview  For my Final Year project I will be creating a hyper-realistic environment which will then be presented within Unreal Engine 5. The environment will be the interior and exterior of a traditional 1950s style American diner and will include the parking lot and the main dining area. This environment will be heavily inspired by The Two Whales Diner from Life is Strange Season 1 (2015, DontNod Games), substituting the painted, stylized aesthetic of Edouard Caplain (Lead Artist, Life is Strange) for a style more akin to Tate Mosesian’s and Rogelio Ol...