Terminal 1 – WIP – almost complete

Ryan Volker — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:27:38 +0000

I have completed another day of work this small environement. I ran into some technical problems with reflections and spent a large chunk of today working on them. After 7 cups of tea and many hours later the render is starting come out a lot better. There are still a few areas where I could work on the lighting but over all I would say it is about 80 – 90% finished. Since I have had such good success with this short project I may pick a few more small environements from LAX to work on. I have a few spots in mind so I am going to try and nail down what I want to do during this coming week. I may spend a few more hours on T1 during this week but more than likely I will be moving on to something new by the weekend.

Terminal 01 – New Environment

Ryan Volker — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:43:49 +0000

So I took a quick break from the normal 3D stuff I have been working on for the last few months. I’m trying not to burn out on FHF and Unity since I don’t have a whole lot of other projects going right now.

So with that in mind I pulled some old shots I took from my Cannon Power Shot and just picked an easy one to render. This could turn into another FPS level like Palomar 46 but for now I am not really trying to start another project. I just wanted to make a hard surface environment. It is a WIP as you can tell by the screen shot. I may work on it a little this week depending on how busy I am with FHF.

Hope you enjoy ….

Face Lift for ryanvolker.com

Ryan Volker — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:37:40 +0000

SO … I changed the site to another word press theme until I can figure out what I want to do with everything. The main goal was to get light box to work for my FHF images. So far I am getting good results but I still have some minor change to make. I may or may not keep working on the site for a little while. Right now it is just giving me a good excuse to learn HTML and CSS at the same time. Once I get a little better I may re – write the whole site in HTML 5 but that wont be for a while. FHF is taking up a lot of my time so once I get that to a mile stone I should be able to start a new 3D project and maybe retool the site bit. More is on it’s ways.

Site Update

Ryan Volker — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:43:38 +0000

So I re-worked the site for the Fall Season a little bit. I am planning on having a productive last few months of the year and wanted to clean things up a little. I even had some new work to post. Primarily P46 shots and my Encore logos. Time line has changed on FHF for the time being. I will be tabling this project for the next few months while I work out a better time line for the project.

I have more FHF shots but I am not ready to release anything for the time being. My next update should be close to my original Milestone 1 completion date (DEC04). By then I should know more. Stay tuned.

FHF has landed !!!

Ryan Volker — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:44:18 +0000

My next Project is finally hit the ground running – or in this case hopping. I am doing a small cell phone game with Unity game engine. Right now I am calling it Fat Happy Frogs or FHF for short. Under my mobile development tab you can find all of the concept art that I have been gathering for this project recently. This project is just as much about demonstrating a fun game with a unique art style as it is learning the Unity game engine. I am hoping that this engine proves that it is a low cost way that would allow me to develop MY KIND OF GAMES with. It should be a rock and roll few month while this project heats up. I am shooting for a DEC 04 Mile Stone 1 Date. Each week in November I plan on doing a lot of work and should have plenty to show. More to come soon.

Palomar 46 has been RELEASED !!!!

Ryan Volker — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 00:48:38 +0000

After working on P46 for the last few months it is my pleasure to final say “I’m Finally Finished!!!”

Yes it has been in the works for since the beginning of this year but I am finally done with this project. If you would like to get a copy of my game hit me up and i’ll send you a copy.

In my next project I am going to be using a new game engine and working with a partner to collaborate and make a game suited for mobile devices.

I am currently toward the end of stage 1 (concept and data collection) but I will need to revisit the concept stage once I am ready to start on environments and NPC’s/Enemies.

…………………….Look from more from me in November and December

Milestone 2 – Complete – P46

Ryan Volker — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 08:16:48 +0000

Palomar 46 Beta 1.0 – Milestone 2

We have finally reached the July deadline I set for Milestone 2 of the level I have been working. I have achieved a solid level of coverage for all aspects of P46 and have established my base line for the last and final stage. Since I posted last I have finished all main textures and static meshes. Currently we are at around 80 % coverage for large and medium static meshes. All blocking volumes are now in place to provide accurate game play bounders. Weapons and Pick ups are now available in game. I have experimented with vehicle over the last few weeks in P46 but have found them to be too complicated to be implemented for this milestone. I fixed an issue with the Sky box and now it should be ok going forward. Finally I have added bots, bot pathing and additional player starts to span the entire level. Overall the level is at a point where I feel confident I can begin the final stage of production.

- Final Stage -

Well it has taken me since around Febuaray to get to this point but I made it all in one piece. Over the last six months I have put together my first level done completely in the new UDK engine. I have enjoyed working with it and I will no doubt continue to use it to make games with in the future. This experience has shown me a lot about time management. I have been working on this project off and on for several months but in the last few weeks I have been putting in as much time as I can spare. Over these last two months I have really seen a large positive change in my productivity on this project.

- Milestone 3 -

At this point it would be easy to loose focus or move on to something else. However I do not think I am ready to start over just yet. My first estimate is that I need about another solid month of work on this project. Depending on the quality of work I think I can put in about 10 hours each week and maybe 10 more each weekend. So if I put in about another 100 – 120 hours into this project I will definitely get the results I want. That slates Palomar 46 for release some time around the first week or two in September. Even though these dates are still temporary depending on how I set up for Stage 3 they should proved for a good frame of reference while heading for the end of this project.

- New Projects -

Even though I am still focused on P46 I have been contemplating my next project. I know it will be something game related but I am still not sure what kind and to what end yet. Recently I got an iPhone 4 and that has completely changes the way I wanted to make games. Developing for small markets in a nitch environment may have it’s advantages and seems like a strong trend right now. After seeing how much I can actually do with the iPhone I may decide to gravitate back to a project that I started in the past depending on how P46 is received.

Screen Shots from Milestone 2 – Palomar 46

Palomar 46 – Update

Ryan Volker — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:12:48 +0000

Well it’s been a few months and as promised I have been making progress with my level. I was able to nail down 90% of all the main building meshes. Both out side and inside of this level have begun to come together. There are textures on almost all of the static meshes in the level accept for the 2nd story roof section. I have also begun the process of populating the level with filler (medium level) meshes that will fill out the level giving it more depth. For example – trees, and dumpsters out side. Inside there is still a lot of work left to be done. Last month I was able to implement breakable glass and now I will need add it to the rest of the level. I am using a sky box form the UDK but everything else in the level is home brewed so far. The goal right now is to have a Beta Level completed some time in July. The rest of June I am dedicating to blocking volumes and polishing current textures. There are still some issues with several of the static meshes that I hope to resolve but that is lower priority.

Animations

Ryan Volker — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:24:08 +0000

Here are a few animations I just did recently.

shaken, not stirred

Zombie_walkcyc

Palomar 46

Ryan Volker — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 04:28:51 +0000

Hey everyone,

One of the first projects I have decided to take on this year is a small level modeled after a business park I have been interning at. It will eventually be a Death Match or a team Death Match Level. I’ve decided to publish it using the Unreal Development Kit that was released earlier this year. I have had to make changes to it over the last few weeks but over all I am satisfied with how it is turning out. I began working on this back in January as kind of a pet project that would allow me to work on my environment skills as well as contribute to a larger project in whole. Since then it has been a source of inspiration for me and has allowed me the chance to work on my hard surface/organic modeling and texturing skills. Some of what is already on the 3D section of my site may end up being added to this Map but for now I am only working on the main sections. Below are are few progress shot and a layout of the basic level. Some of it is in game already so I included as many in game shot as I could. A number of things are currently not implemented such as lights, final textures, skydome, lots more stuff. You get the picture. Currently we are in the block out and construction stages of development. At this time my time table is not set for completion of this project. This post will be my first milestone in this project – acting as a general level of completion for this project. I plan on having several more over the coming months and should have most of this project done by May or June - tentatively.