Infinite Robot: Sword, 2012
On the weekend of January 28th, 2012, I participated in the Global Game Jam in San Francisco at Citizen Space. (Special thanks to SoCho for organizing the event so beautifully.)
This year I joined forces with a team interested in building a Unity 3D game using Kinect.
Amir Hirsch, founder of ZigFu, served as our Kinect wizard.
Our team also included:
Kristen Kho (Software Engineer at PopCap Games) - Programmer
Angelo Hizon (3D Artist) - Art Direction
Anthony Aiello (Lead 3D Artist at ZippyBrains) - Environmental Art
Eric Tippett (Founder and CEO of Planet 8 Entertainment) - Game Designer
Yari Bundy (Audio Professional) - Audio
Since we all had experience in game development, we easily fell into our roles. I ended up being elected to serve as the character modeler and texture artist. Most importantly, we had a realistic concept of what could be achieved in 48 hours, which is to say, not much. Understanding this, however, is the key to making the most of the situation. So we opted for a simple game concept – an on-rails shooter, with a simple, cartoony aesthetic.
This year I joined forces with a team interested in building a Unity 3D game using Kinect.
Amir Hirsch, founder of ZigFu, served as our Kinect wizard.
Our team also included:
Kristen Kho (Software Engineer at PopCap Games) - Programmer
Angelo Hizon (3D Artist) - Art Direction
Anthony Aiello (Lead 3D Artist at ZippyBrains) - Environmental Art
Eric Tippett (Founder and CEO of Planet 8 Entertainment) - Game Designer
Yari Bundy (Audio Professional) - Audio
Since we all had experience in game development, we easily fell into our roles. I ended up being elected to serve as the character modeler and texture artist. Most importantly, we had a realistic concept of what could be achieved in 48 hours, which is to say, not much. Understanding this, however, is the key to making the most of the situation. So we opted for a simple game concept – an on-rails shooter, with a simple, cartoony aesthetic.
Under the art direction of Angelo Hizon, I created a robot character styled after classic anime like Astro Boy and Ronin Warriors. I was excited about taking on the challenge of creating a character that was different from most of the work in my current portfolio. While I was delighted with the final renders, and I was easily within the tri-count parameters determined by the project leaders (6000 tris), by the time the project evolved to its finished state, including the implementation of toon shaders, it was clear the character could have been much lower poly and still served just as well.
However, at the San Francisco location, special “Kudos” awards were determined by popular vote and declared at the end of the event. Our project won a Kudos for “3D art” and one for “innovative use of technology”.
For more information, check out the Infinite Robot: Sword Game Jam Site.