Jungle concept

Here's a quick concept I had created, although it is doubtful we'll be going with a jungle theme for our project I thought it'd be in good practice to do one!

Halo

Halo is a big inspiration to us, and although the game does not feature a similar world to what we want to achieve, I believe many of the buildings and architecture we are creating reflect what was created by Bungie. We are all big fans of the game, and so it is quite obvious a lot of our inspiration comes from the game. However, having said this, we are trying to look at what inspired Bungie in the architecture and world, so that it can hopefully inspire ourselves.

WW2 research

In order to help us create something unique, we have to look at many of the things that inspired many of the great science fiction vehicles, many of which stem from real life! I feel looking at many of the vehicles from World War 2 will be of great help to us.

Red Faction Guerrilla

I believe Red Faction Guerrilla is a good source of inspiration, especially since it is somewhat similar in style to what we have in mind for our piece. Especially in terms of the lighting and colour palette used.

The story

As written by Andy!


2215

Earth's resources are depleted all that remains are the low yielding wind, tidal and light farms. Yet Earth has been turned into a Galactic homeland for the rest of the EC (Earth colonies), in essence an expensive holiday resort treated like a pilgrimage.

With the introduction of inter galactic travel in 2098 Earth's answer for energy came in the form of Intronium a high yielding energy resource that seems limitless in supply. It is found on planets and moons with harsh weather conditions ranging in polar opposites and as such it was seen as a useless venture. 2120 the EC roles out space technology with increased enthusiasm and introduces Terra-forming, previously uninhabitable atmospheres are now breathable and the weather conditions on many moons have been greatly improved making Intronium accessible.

2142 Lance Carter, Earth's richest citizen, establishes Inter Planetary Mining (IPM). IPM uses the EC's imprisoned convicts to work his mines, conditions are too harsh to open to the general populous-no one would apply. The Galactic Defence Force (GDF) is introduced in order to keep control over the convict workers, some of the small mines faced rebel uprisings but Carter's answer to this was to glass the planet. The mines vary on the planet or moon they are working on and how the Intronium is reached, common ground usually being that of depth.

2214 our mine is situated on the moon Utor 8 which orbits a huge storm planet.
Utor 8 is under IPM hold and directly under the jurisdiction of Dr Fritz, his style of leadership is that of the iron fist – one foot out of place and you disappear. The GDF is notorious here as 3 years ago there was a rebel surge but Fritz insisted to Carter that he would deal with it, and so he did a huge death toll that fills one of the abandoned mines on Utor 8. So the GDF use this as an excuse to exact their own authority.

Given enough food and water to survive and worked long 10 hour days in deep mines the convicts are given no choice over the situation. The convicts live in temporary buildings set up in and around the mines, as there is no money trading is essential and what is traded is either stolen or scavenged.

A small rebel force is amassing amongst the convicts, who are slowly gathering weapons and vehicles along with usable technologies and supplies, with the aim of overthrowing the GDF and claiming the planet for themselves.

History of Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or (coal) seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock salt and potash. Any material that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or created artificially in a laboratory or factory, is usually mined. Mining in a wider sense comprises extraction of any non-renewable resource (e.g., petroleum, natural gas, or even water).

Mining of stone and metal has been done since pre-historic times. Modern mining processes involve prospecting for ore bodies, analysis of the profit potential of a proposed mine, extraction of the desired materials and finally reclamation of the land to prepare it for other uses once the mine is closed. The nature of mining processes creates a potential negative impact on the environment both during the mining operations and for years after the mine is closed. This impact has led to most of the world's nations adopting regulations to moderate the negative effects of mining operations. Safety has long been a concern as well, though modern practices have improved safety in mines significantly.

Films to be looked at

I have a few films I suggest myself and my teammates look at. Although we may be going with a very different look and feel for our film, it is key to look at as much different variation as we possibly can. The designs used in these films are incredibly inspiration, so it should help us refine our vision.

Blade Runner



My personal favourite film. It is widely regarded as one of the best science fiction films and to us it is valuable for research into the slums for our project.

Wall-E



Absolutely superb film. The first 30 mins are key for us to realise our vision, especially in the lighting and atmosphere of earth.

Star Wars




What can I say? Absolutely vital to us in every single way.

In looking at these films it should open our eyes up a bit more, and help us in accomplishing our shared vision of the film.

Sci-fi Mining Planet

Group Project with:

Andy Kinnear
Alex Caldow
Ben Keswick
Chris Caldow
Tom Ritchie

Project Brief

Project Title: Animated Environments

Unit Title: Digital Environments/ Visual Studies

This unit focuses on the development of students' skills in environmental computer visualisation. Students begin to exploit the possibilities of animation within an environment to create a virtual setting to support dynamic character interaction.

Working in teams to simulate conventional animation industry workflow, students are introduced to the visualisation and creation of a environment in 3D using modeling, texturing and lighting techniques. They learn how to create and populate this environment with contextually appropriate assets, in a consistently defined and implemented visual aesthetic that is derived from their drawing and research into environments both actual and virtual.

Unit Aims:
To introduce industrial, team based, animation workflows;
To develop personal reflection upon individual contribution to group endeavor;
To develop UV mapping and texturing skills;
To develop the ability to generate considered and analytical visual responses to research.