Evaluation and future development.

At the start of this unit we were given the task of creating a Cutscene with interactive elements.

I feel I have met this criteria and learned some lessons along the way.

I feel I am better at using the Sequencer for animating both scene objects and cinematic cameras and I hope this will come in useful for later projects.

I have learned a lot about using post process materials to create outline effects and how to control where they appear.

I learned a lot about how to use the particle system creator, and used it to make several effects in this project, including rain, clouds and the vision persistence effect on the bike light. I will definitely be using this knowledge to create effects later in the year.

I have created several technical blueprint objects to perform specific required tasks in the scene, which had furthered my UE4 blueprinting skills.

One negative thing I feel is that due to time constraints, we were not able to make high quality models, which I think would have enhanced the look of the scene.

For future development, I don't think I will be taking this scene any further with developing it, but I would like to explore the styles further and implement the technical knowledge I have gained further down the line.

Original Storyboard vs. In-game

Below I will compare my initial storyboard sketches with the final scenes which were completed in the project.

Original Storyboard Sketch

The overhead driving section and the zoomed driver view both translated well into the final piece and appear not too different to how I imagined. There was less zoom used on the second shot because you lost the sense of speed when the camera was too close to the character, so I pulled it back slightly in the final version.

As you can see above, there was originally only a short city driving section before the character arrived at the destination. This section was extended with several shots of the character driving through the city streets before arrival. This allowed for some dynamic camera work and to show off the particles used in the bike light.

I kept the two external shots of in front and behind the character because I think they worked quite well and have a dynamic feel.

The explore the arcade section has been extended with interactive player choice elements and a quick time event. This satisfies the interactivity part of the criteria and gives the player more investment in the scene.

Final Production Shots in Storyboard Layout

Overhead road creation

My storyboard sketch called for a long initial overhead section where a bike is driving for a long period.

In practice, creating a large level like this is impractical and time consuming, so I came up with a solution.

I used an 'infinite runner' game tutorial to allow me to create an infinite 'rolling road' that the camera could follow the bike along for as long as required without creating a large unwieldy level.

A section of the road used is shown below. It contains all the environment details required such as the road, buildings and lighting.

This road section will continue to spawn in front of the moving bike for as long as required due to how it is set up.

A trigger box at the end of each section detects when the bike reaches this point and spawns a new road section ahead of the bike off-screen. The blueprint for this is below.

To avoid the road sections looking too similar and to add some dynamic and interesting elements to the scene, the buildings will always be different sizes, so that it's not just a flat wall of buildings along the edges.

This is achieved with construction script within the road blueprint. This code executes whenever a new road section is spawned in, ensuring new and interesting results every time.

And here is a shot of the final overhead view with added post process outline for a futuristic neon wireframe effect.

Arcade Creation

Using the environment sketches I created earlier as a guide, I put together the arcade exterior building using unreal blockout pieces, then applied appropriate materials to get across the look and feel I was going for.



For the interior, I again worked from the sketches, but extended the width of the layout adding more avenues. I downloaded an arcade machine model as a placeholder to enhance the feel of the blockout.





As you can see below I added extra characters into the scene to make it feel more alive. Instead of creating new animations for these characters, I used the blueprint system to control the joints in a randomised manner. The code used can be seen below.





To add some interaction and player choice, I created the direction decision at the entrance.

The blueprint logic is shown below.



A different scene plays out depending on which choice the player makes. The fuzzy transparent material is custom made and is made to represent the possible choices the player has.

City Streets Creation

 When creating the city exterior shots, I started with the outside area by the arcade, which is what I depicted in my original sketches.

I used unreal primitives to block out the area, then added skyscraper materials that I had created, to enhance the look and feel I was going for, so that it wasn't just all grey blocks.

After this, I decided that I would like to extend the driving sections of the cutscene, so I created extra city streets for the bike to move around.

I added in street lamps and a wet road material which I had created to add more dynamic lighting and reflections to the scene.

And finally I used a post process outliner to give the whole thing a futuristic neon wireframed look, the material function for this can be seen below.

Storyboard and environment sketches

In the games industry, pre-production such as concept sketches and storyboards are an important step which sets the project in the right direction.

As this unit is a cutscene, I have created a storyboard sketch to guide the flow of the scenes and to direct the shots and camera angles.

This can be seen below.

I feel this sketch, while basic, is clear enough to communicate the direction of the cutscene.

I will compare my final shots with this sketch near the end of the project.

As there is an environmental area central to the scene, the arcade, I have created some concept sketches to help with the look, design and layout of the interior and some of the exterior elements.

This top-down view gives an idea of what I am aiming for with the environment and the layout of the arcade, though these are obviously just guides and the final versions are subject to change as the project evolves.

Here is a sketch of the top-down bike section depicted in the first panel of the storyboard.

Mind Maps and Mood Boards

Very early pre-production in the games industry involves hashing out ideas very quickly to get a sense of what the project is about.

One of these methods is to create mind maps, with the central point being the project and ideas for what might be desirable or required coming off the central point.

I have created a mind map for the cutscene project here.

Another major element of pre-production in the industry is to use mood boards.

These are selections of images which help to define the direction for the look and feel of a project.

I have used Pinterest to create some mood boards to help with defining the look and feel of the cutscene.