Hello all, Pete here, aka YemYam.
For those that don't know me I've worked for Epic for a little over 11 years now. I specialize in mechanical modeling primarily weapons, vehicles and robotics. I've also done gore and creature work in the past. You can scope out some of my art by following my signature link. The bulk of my work over the years was for the Gears of War trilogy, although my first game was Unreal Championship 2 (I did all of the pre-rendered level backgrounds). I also worked on UT3 in between Gears 1 & 2 doing half of the weapons and a couple of the vehicles. The latest art of mine that has been released is the last three Epic tech demos Samaritan, Elemental, and Infiltrator.
I've been on "secret projects" for a while but have been getting super excited about the progress on UT as well as the passionate community surrounding it. There has been some amazing concepts and modeling being done so I couldn't take it anymore and begged to be on the team. I've got at least 2-3 months to start on the project and will be cranking out as much art as possible to help the project along. More importantly I'm going to try to share as much information as possible to help all of you make cool art for the game too.
Even though I've been doing it for a while my method of doing things isn't the "official Epic way". I'm not going to tell anybody how to do their stuff as modeling (as with any art form) is a very personal thing. However, there are a few global things that I think will help streamline the process so I'm going to implement them with the weapons & vehicles I do and will gladly help anybody else who wants to try my approach.
I've been browsing the forums for a bit getting a feeling for the community I'm very excited to jump into the fray! Along the way I will document as much as humanly possible but please feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer them. If I don't know the answer I will find out the answer for you. I'm still learning and growing every day so feel free to blast me with crits and/or comments. So, with that said here's my high level thoughts on how I'm going to proceed.
1. I want to get prototype weapon meshes, animations, and fx in the game asap. As long as the concept is going in the right direction (which I think Gooba's latest Shock Rifle is definitely there) then it's time to build a proto mesh, proto anims and get it in game. Once in the game I will iterate the nuances of the design with the design team, Gooba, and of course all of you guys. I typically don't dive into hi poly modeling until we are sure the design works and we work out any functionality issues before investing the heavy hi poly modeling task.
2. Once everybody is 90% sure the proto mesh is looking and functioning how everybody wants in game then I kick renders of the final (evolved through testing) proto mesh to Gooba and he will do the final concept paintover. Once that is done and we are still on track with the proto weapon in the game I will start the fun (and now easy) process of making the hi poly. By making sure the bulk of the design and functionality issues are worked out before hand there should be less churn and tweaks during the hi poly modeling phase. It's all about making it look cool and visually balanced with the other weapons in the game.
3. Hi poly gets finished, one last check with gameplay, the community, and everyone vested in the decision to make final tweaks. Once that is done, implement any last minute crits/changes then start on the low poly, unwrap, process, texture, etc.
4. If I've done my job then we have a pretty cool looking weapon that drops right into the game, replacing the proto weapon mesh and everybody knows what to expect. Hand it off to an animator and fx artist for proper art and that's the icing on the cake.
That's how I approach it and although you don't get as much eye candy up front I've found it's what works best for me and gives everybody plenty of time to contribute. Obviously you don't want to be waiting around or rushing the proto weapon trial stage so this process works best if you get multiple weapons in the pipeline like this. So once I get the Shock Rifle proto mesh in game I won't wait around to do the hi poly, I'll start on another weapon and get that proto mesh in the game.
I know we have a couple of weapons close to being finished and it's totally cool that they were done the way that they were. They still may need a little tweaking once we get them in the game but hopefully that will be minimal as a lot of those functionality issues were worked out the community with everybody's feedback. If any of you that have started weapons want help getting your proto mesh, base mesh, proxy mesh, etc. into a game ready testing state let me know and I will be glad to help.
So, that's my (semi) brief introduction.
Unfortunately I don't have anything to show yet as I just started yesterday but I hope to have first pass of the Shock Rifle proto mesh soon. I'll be posting a ton, sharing my process and techniques along the way. Feel free to post questions or comments or if you like drop me a PM. I'll do my best to get back to everybody asap.
Super stoked to be here and working with you guys on the game! I know how important the weapons are to everybody and will do whatever it takes to ensure that everybody is proud of what we create! I look forward to the collaboration.
Pete
For those that don't know me I've worked for Epic for a little over 11 years now. I specialize in mechanical modeling primarily weapons, vehicles and robotics. I've also done gore and creature work in the past. You can scope out some of my art by following my signature link. The bulk of my work over the years was for the Gears of War trilogy, although my first game was Unreal Championship 2 (I did all of the pre-rendered level backgrounds). I also worked on UT3 in between Gears 1 & 2 doing half of the weapons and a couple of the vehicles. The latest art of mine that has been released is the last three Epic tech demos Samaritan, Elemental, and Infiltrator.
I've been on "secret projects" for a while but have been getting super excited about the progress on UT as well as the passionate community surrounding it. There has been some amazing concepts and modeling being done so I couldn't take it anymore and begged to be on the team. I've got at least 2-3 months to start on the project and will be cranking out as much art as possible to help the project along. More importantly I'm going to try to share as much information as possible to help all of you make cool art for the game too.
Even though I've been doing it for a while my method of doing things isn't the "official Epic way". I'm not going to tell anybody how to do their stuff as modeling (as with any art form) is a very personal thing. However, there are a few global things that I think will help streamline the process so I'm going to implement them with the weapons & vehicles I do and will gladly help anybody else who wants to try my approach.
I've been browsing the forums for a bit getting a feeling for the community I'm very excited to jump into the fray! Along the way I will document as much as humanly possible but please feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer them. If I don't know the answer I will find out the answer for you. I'm still learning and growing every day so feel free to blast me with crits and/or comments. So, with that said here's my high level thoughts on how I'm going to proceed.
1. I want to get prototype weapon meshes, animations, and fx in the game asap. As long as the concept is going in the right direction (which I think Gooba's latest Shock Rifle is definitely there) then it's time to build a proto mesh, proto anims and get it in game. Once in the game I will iterate the nuances of the design with the design team, Gooba, and of course all of you guys. I typically don't dive into hi poly modeling until we are sure the design works and we work out any functionality issues before investing the heavy hi poly modeling task.
2. Once everybody is 90% sure the proto mesh is looking and functioning how everybody wants in game then I kick renders of the final (evolved through testing) proto mesh to Gooba and he will do the final concept paintover. Once that is done and we are still on track with the proto weapon in the game I will start the fun (and now easy) process of making the hi poly. By making sure the bulk of the design and functionality issues are worked out before hand there should be less churn and tweaks during the hi poly modeling phase. It's all about making it look cool and visually balanced with the other weapons in the game.
3. Hi poly gets finished, one last check with gameplay, the community, and everyone vested in the decision to make final tweaks. Once that is done, implement any last minute crits/changes then start on the low poly, unwrap, process, texture, etc.
4. If I've done my job then we have a pretty cool looking weapon that drops right into the game, replacing the proto weapon mesh and everybody knows what to expect. Hand it off to an animator and fx artist for proper art and that's the icing on the cake.
That's how I approach it and although you don't get as much eye candy up front I've found it's what works best for me and gives everybody plenty of time to contribute. Obviously you don't want to be waiting around or rushing the proto weapon trial stage so this process works best if you get multiple weapons in the pipeline like this. So once I get the Shock Rifle proto mesh in game I won't wait around to do the hi poly, I'll start on another weapon and get that proto mesh in the game.
I know we have a couple of weapons close to being finished and it's totally cool that they were done the way that they were. They still may need a little tweaking once we get them in the game but hopefully that will be minimal as a lot of those functionality issues were worked out the community with everybody's feedback. If any of you that have started weapons want help getting your proto mesh, base mesh, proxy mesh, etc. into a game ready testing state let me know and I will be glad to help.
So, that's my (semi) brief introduction.
Unfortunately I don't have anything to show yet as I just started yesterday but I hope to have first pass of the Shock Rifle proto mesh soon. I'll be posting a ton, sharing my process and techniques along the way. Feel free to post questions or comments or if you like drop me a PM. I'll do my best to get back to everybody asap.Super stoked to be here and working with you guys on the game! I know how important the weapons are to everybody and will do whatever it takes to ensure that everybody is proud of what we create! I look forward to the collaboration.
Pete
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