Herring Factory Game Level (Unity 3D) - Update 2

Well as promised I have tidied up the main room of my Herring Factory Level, there are still a few issues with the model, as all the different parts are still not stitched together yet, and the modelling is not complete by a long way.

Anyway I think I have got to a point where it is getting interesting so I will share some images with you.

As you will notice I have integrated my rusty pipe model, that I showed in a previous post, the door is also in there too, but you can't really see it from my images.

You will have to excuse the lighting as it has just been placed so that you can see what is going on. Both the screen grabs are 'in game' shots straight out of Unity.

My Next plan of action is to join the two adjoining rooms at either end of the Main Hall, and also texture the walls, so that it looks more interesting. So keep an eye out for any future updates.

Bloomquist Dirt Car - V-Ray Render

One of my previous posts showed a low poly dirt car model that I produced to run in rFactor for the guys at  the Dirt Late Model Sim group.

To Create this model I made a High Poly version which I then used to bake my texture and normal maps from.

Shown here are some renders of the High Poly version that I created with some materials applied and rendered out using V-Ray.

 You can see the Low Poly version running inside rFactor in one of my other previous posts. Also remember to have a look at the dirt late model sim group by visiting there website http://www.dirtlatemodelsim.com

Herring Factory Game Level (Unity 3D) - Update 1

In between doing various other work I have also been working on a personal project of mine which is to create a sample game level which will work within Unity 3D. The inspiration for this level came from some images I found of an abandoned Herring Factory. You will find more details of this in one of my earlier blog posts.

So far I have managed to block the complete level out, I have also imported it into Unity 3D and created my camera system so that you can walk around the level and have a good look around. I have started to split the level into sections so that I only need to model certain repeated parts once. In doing so the level is a bit of a mess at the current stage and there are a fair few holes for you to fall through and a few flashing polygons. Once I have sorted these issues out I will post an update using the Unity web player so that you can all have a good look around the level for yourselves. Hopefully this will be in the next couple of days so please come back soon.

Anyway alongside this I have also created a couple of assets that will form part of my level.

The first asset that I have created is a large rusted pipe. These will be located along either side of my main room. The Image shown is just a 3Ds Max view port render. It uses Diffuse, Normal and Specular maps.

The second asset that I have created is one of the doors, that will be used in my level. The door will be a slide door, like a lift (elevator). Again the image shown is a 3Ds Max view port render. The model also uses a Diffuse, Normal and Specular Map.

Hopefully the next post I make will include a working level in which you can have a look around the Herring Factory within Unity.

If you 'like' my facebook page (on the right) then you will automatically be notified of my updates.

rFactor Bloomquist Dirt Car

Here are some screen grabs of my latest work the Bloomquist Dirt Car that I have re-modeled for the guys in the Dirt Late Model Sim group. 

The car is shown running in rFactor. I also have a High Res version which I have used to bake the normal maps from, which I will post in the coming days once I have applied some materials and rendered it out.

For more information on the Dirt Late Model Sim group check out there website;  www.dirtlatemodelsim.com

1970's Style Council House for Railworks Sim

I have just completed a model of a 1970's style council house for use with the Railworks Simulation Software.

The model contains roughly 400 polygons, and has been lightmapped, within 3Ds Max.

DSTL Real Time Ray Tracing Press Release

A project that I have worked on at XPI Simulation, which involved generating a 3D terrain model from LIDAR data and then using this model to see if it could be ray traced in real time.

For more information and some more images please follow this link;

https://www.dstl.gov.uk/pages/238

Real Time Road Surface

Recently I have been doing a bit of experimentation with Road Surfaces. I have added an image of what I have managed to create.

This is a real time model which could be used in any game or simulation engine such as Unity 3D, hence why it is a view port render. It uses diffuse, normal and specular maps to achieve the look.

University of Nottingham Driving Simulator

The company that I work for XPI Simulation have just delivered its latest driving simulator to the University of Nottingham. I lead the team creating the visuals which were generated using LIDAR data to produce extremely accurate results. The Picture in Picture enables you to compare the view seen in the simulator with a real life video of the same route. Notice how the bumps of the car match up with the bumps in the real life video footage. The cars that are driving around the model are all controlled by AI.

Herring Factory Game Level

My New project that I have decided to take on in my ever decreasing spare time is to create a game level, which I will hopefully convert so that it can run using the Unity 3D game engine.

Whilst looking for inspiration I came across some photos of an abandoned Herring Factory in Iceland. I can't remember what site I got the picture from but found it doing a google search. If it happens to be yours thank you!

Anyway the plan is to use 3Ds Max to model the level and then use Unity 3D to hopefully publish the level so everyone can have a walk around! I will block the level out and then hopefully put it into unity so I should be able to see how the level feels when walking around. Then I will spend my time modelling and texturing all the assets.

Red Bull Canimation

In my spare time I started to work on an animation to enter the Red Bull Canimation contest, (http://canimation.redbull.co.uk/), unfortunately due to work commitments I never managed to produce the animation in the specified time frame so I never got to enter my work, but I thought I may as well share what I actually produced.

You can see more images on my web site www.markshires.com

Also I produced some test animation which I uploaded to my You Tube account.
The first video clip shows my bull character falling out of the Sky, the idea being that he hadn't drank a Red Bull, so he had no 'wings'.

The second video clip shows a test animation using my Car that I created.

I used this project as a way to experiment with the Reactor physics engine inside 3Ds Max, I used the rag doll physics for the bull and the toy car physics for the car model.

Remember you can see more on my web site www.markshires.com

Radical SR8 rFactor Simulation at the London International Technology Show

I have just finished re-skinning a car that is to be used in a simulator running rFactor, which is on show at the London International Technology Show.

The Radical SR8 is a lightweight, high aero performance car represented

within ISI's rFactor simulation.

www.triplewidescreen.co.uk is using the vehicle on the VRX iMotion simulator
in partnership with Scan computers at the London International Technology
Show. Most of us will never have a chance to drive a vehicle like this, let
alone at race circuits all over the world. Now you can!

My Unity Car Racing Demo

Below is my Car Racing Demo, I took my 3D Model of my Seat Ibiza and tried to Integrate it into the Unity Game engine, you can drive it around the track by using the direction keys, there are still a few errors in the demo but I will try and iron them out if I get time!

For further images of the Car please see my web site
www.markshires.com




Unity Web Player | WebPlayer

« created with Unity »

How to embed Unity 3d files in Wix websites

I recently found out that you cannot upload .unity3d files to the wix web servers. After seeing the embedded files on other peoples wix sites I managed to find a work around so that I could view the web player on my site.

Here is what I did;
First of all you need to sign up for a 'dropbox' account which is free, this allows you to host your file and create a link to it.

Once you have your dropbox account you can copy your .unity3d file into your dropbox public folder. Once it has copied you need to right click on the file, select dropbox -> copy public link. (It may be a good idea to past this into Notepad or something for now.)

Back in wix you need to add an HTML widget to your website.
Next you need to open the .html file created by Unity, but you will need to open it in Notepad so that you can copy the code and paste it into the html widget in wix.

Your next step is to look through the code for a reference to your .Unity3d should look something like this;

unityObject.embedUnity("unityPlayer", "WebPlayer.unity3d", 620, 349);

You should then paste you link that you copied from dropbox over the WebPlayer.unity3d, make sure that the link stays within the quotes ""

After that you should be able to publish your site and then play your Unity Game!
Have a look at my site www.markshires.com