Finishing Up Battle Arena

I did my character statue rigging. I looked up poses typical of Greek statues at the time for inspiration, and ended up doing something similar. 

Importing Assets into Unity

Imported my battle arena into Unity along with the rigged statue. Added all the textures, with point lights for more atmosphere. Also added a dark skybox. 

Texturing and Mapping the 3D Model

This is my process of mapping my statue, using xNormals to bake the UV Map into a normal map and cavity map, and then using Quixel to add the textures to the maps.

 Ambient Occlusion map

 Diffuse map

The UV shell map

Normal maps 

and specular maps

Resulting in the statue looking like this

Improving My Arena

Decided to change the entire layout of my arena after the feedback I received, the main thing I wanted to change was the size of the actual arena. I wanted it to be bigger, and I wanted it to have an environmental backdrop to give more depth to the scene.

Here are some screenshots of my progress.

This is where the statue will be placed, right in the center of the arena 

Made the arena taller, to resemble more of a Colosseum

After this I textured the arena:

Sculpting Statue

I am trying to replicate a statue of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, to put in my Greek Colosseum inspired arena. First step is the hair

Modelling Character Statue

Modelling Statue Process

 Connecting the arm to the body

Connecting the legs

Body Connected

Smoothed down

Shaping a bit more..

Added the head, feet and hands to the body and smoothed it down 

Used spheres for the breasts and simply connected them to the mesh and smoothed them down.

UV Unwrapping

Modifying the feet by extruding to create toenails

And the hands

3D Modelling Statue Research

Ancient Greek themed statue

I decided to make my statue model based on the ancient Greek statues. I chose this idea because the style and form is very classical and I like the poses that they use. 

Considering my  moodboard is full of male statues, I decided to make my statue a female, after the goddess Aphrodite, because it would be more interesting to model. I want to have a dress hanging loosely over her too.

Props for Arena

Modeled a Battle Axe for a prop in my arena. The only problem is it is most likely too high poly. So I decided to model a shield instead to put as a prop inside my arena.

So to make it seem as if a fight was being waged inside the scene, I decided to model a shield. Here is the step by step process.

Modelling Props for My Arena

Some screenshots of my work process, modelling a torch, and then UV mapping it to texture. There is also a screenshot of the terrain I will use for my Battle Arena in unity, already textured.

Classic Column

In class we learnt how to model a classic column using a plane and an image. I have decided to integrate it into my Battle Arena as the foundations; here is how I have started. 

Research on Ancient Greece

What is it about Ancient Greece that makes it so monumental to us today?

And how can this be used in a game?

I am aiming to find out more about the way life was lived in Ancient Greece, their beliefs and values and their artistic culture, that has helped to shape modern society. 

To answer my question I will look at online resources that talk about Ancient Greek culture, their mythologies and their laws. There are many games that have used Ancient Greece as a template for their stories, but twisted to suit their own ideas, such as the God of War franchise which is heavily influenced by all things Greek.

The Ancient Greeks used stories to help them learn and understand the world around them. Gods, mythological monsters, heroes, all featured heavily in these tales. The family history between the Gods was complicated and dramatic. It was clear that the Ancient Greeks enjoyed drama - they had many plays based on tragedies that people flocked to watch. 

The period Ancient Greece was set in was known as the "Bronze Age" and this lasted from around 3200 - 1100 BC. It was called this because a revival had begun in terms of trade with the wider world, arts, crafts and writing re-emerged and city states developed. As the British Museum website states, by around 500 BC democracy had emerged in the city of Athens. In drama and philosophy, literature, art and architecture Athens was the pioneer. The city stretched from the Western Mediterranean to the Black Sea, creating enormous wealth. Additionally, every fourth year the Olympic Games were held in honor of the god Zeus, and this attracted people from across Greece. They are the reason why we still hold the Olympic games today, albeit less bloody. Ancient Greece has also influenced how we run government today, as the majority of the world uses a democratic, "for the people" system that originated in this time period.

Ancient Greece also gave birth to many famous philosophers that shape our way of thinking and viewing the world today such as Aristotle, Homer, and the originator of ancient medicine, Hippocrates. 

References

The British Museum. (s.d) Ancient Greece. [Online] At:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/cultures/europe/ancient_greece.aspx [Accessed: 02.10.15].