MA Games Design - Project 1 Conclusion

 Project 1 Conclusion

    So let's begin with the question, is realistic better? Well I think that this project was a good first step but it was only that, a lot more research and experimentation is definitely needed in order to answer this question, and I am still debating whether this is the direction I choose to take my master's degree in. First I want to break down what I achieved and learnt along this process.

    So what did I learn? Well I always knew that the process of creating a high poly realistic model is one that is time consuming but rewarding. It takes a keen eye for detail and one misstep will result in either having to recreate a section of the piece entirely or continuing on will result in a less than realistic/ideal finished product. Referencing is key and nothing beats having the real thing in front of you to study versus images at odd angles or poor resolutions. Having said this it's very difficult to achieve for everything you want to model and some things are just impossible to obtain in real life and that is where the artist's own interpretation of the object comes into it. But a good question to ask is how much of the artist's own spin on the object is acceptable when trying to achieve a realistic model.

    While creating the low poly version I decided to take a lot of liberties and leave out a lot of details from the actual P9, this was done for a variety of reasons the main ones being; lower poly count (although I feel like I may have left too much out of the low poly version which in hindsight would not have been too hard to keep within a low poly count), time (I wanted to keep the time of the creation of this piece down to a minimum, but while attempting a new piece even in a low poly version, a lot of it is spent working out the awkward or strange ergonomics of certain aspects of the pistol). However overall the low poly version somewhat resembles the gun itself and would work in any kind of game with a low poly aesthetic, whether or not the player would care which gun it is in this scenario is something I would like to research further into.

    Moving onto the process of creating the high poly version, one thing I am happy with is that I was able to cut down the time it took me to get a model to this level of quality, this is something I still feel I need to improve on, but if I was working within a studio and they were asking for a 1:1 copy of an object I wonder how much time I would be given to work on something like this, especially if it is a core part of the experience. For example if it were a triple A first person shooter where realism was key. There are of course parts missing from my model and some kinks to iron out but this develops over time and with trial and error.

    I think if I am to keep progressing in this direction I need to expand the focus of the subject from gun design which I am comfortable in to either more areas of weapons design (medieval weaponry, bigger weapons such as artillery or mounted emplacements). Or I go into a further exploration outside of weapons design and look at all aspects of models from organics such as; characters, organisms, flora and fauna to inorganics such as; vehicles, buildings/environments, inanimate objects (furniture, tools, utensils, etc...). To go down an expanded avenue may achieve a better result and understanding of all things realism or I could end up spreading myself too thin and leaving myself with nothing but surface knowledge and no refined answers.

    To finish off, I do still feel strongly about this question and I believe the pursuit of it can aid me and my skills in 3D modelling but I am wondering where to go now at this crossroads and I need to decided which path to fully commit to in order to end up where I want to be.

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