Project 303: Creating the pause menu screen and the map

The Project Description

This here is my personal blog, that outlines all aspects of my progression throughout the Ani303 project. We are required to write, plan and produce a short movie for the deadline of June 13th 2008. The entire year group has been separated into groups by choosing their favored film, and have dedicated their final year to this project. I personally chose the story written by Johnathan Pryce with the working title 'Aztec Escape'
Follow this blog to find out where, when and what has been going and hopefully get an insight into the way i work with in a group.

Friday 16 May 2008

Creating the pause menu screen and the map

I used Tomb Raider as my main influence and mimicked the design for our own paused game menu. I produced the background in Photoshop and created a 3D render of the golden cake spinning, with the intention of playing an AVI on the screen, to give the set a more animated feel.

It seemed however that some technical issues with Maya and lack of knowledge on how to solve it created a barrier. After a little deliberation and time thinning, I decided that it wasn’t overly important to the story that it moved and was own in the interest of aesthetics; therefore I created a static 2D texture in Photoshop using one of the render stills as an alternative.

The map was a simple job and took an hour or so to make, with pleasing results. The aim was to produce an indication of some kind as to what the explorer or perhaps the game character in the TV would need to motivate him to race through and explorer an ancient temple.

The map didn’t take long and to be honest I really enjoy it. I’ve always enjoyed using Photoshop and this sort of work is more like light relief from the 3D work.