Wednesday Class Hours: 10:05 – 1:45
Mr. Cronin
Notes
- Welcome to early release Wednesday! Callbacks:
- Eric to US History @ 12:10
- Jack to US History @ 12:10
- Maddox to English @ 12:10
- Great day to turn missing work in!
10:05 Attendance and Article
10:10 Midweek Morning Meetings
Wednesday’s we will have our Midweek Morning Meetings.
You and I will meet 1:1 and we can:
- See what you are missing for assignments
- Go over the previous weeks T&E grades
- Go over anything you are pretty confused about so I can review
When not meeting with me – I want you working on Production.
10:50 Morning Break (10 minutes)
11:00 Low Poly Forest Level 1 & Kickoff Meeting
This week you are going to start individually creating a game level in Unreal Engine. We can this the Ground or Floor level. This will be our Level 1.
While you build Level 1 think about what Level 2 could be – it is ROOTED in this level. You could have Level 2 be a floating island (with this level below it). You could have Level 2 be a upper mountain section (with this level below it). Level 2 will be a separate area in this Project that we can see from Level 1. Level 2 will be inaccessible until you collect a certain number of items. We will load Level 2 (at a different player start) when you collect enough items.
Create a new FPS Game project called lowPolyForest.
Using
- Unreal Engine and Blender
- Landscape Tools
- Models created by you and your team
- OBS to document
You will build and show off your level.
In terms of landscapes, we are going to have you build with a terminating horizon style of level, where the game takes place inside a boundary. Notice the image above how we are inside almost a volcano crater. There need to be mountains around the outside that keep the player inside this barrier.
We will use both steep terrain for this, but also can use Blocking Volumes – just like they did in the Divergent Diamond Game from last week. We can nudge players the way we want to have them move based on these blocking volume force fields.
Kickoff meeting with the Creative Directors
On the Public Drive you will find 3 semi-permeant (2 weeks) folders that your CD will organize. One for each team:
- Nintendo
- Rockstar
- EA
It is up to your CD and team to establish who is going to make what, and when they are due. The first part of the project this week is asset creation, and then once assets are built you will import to Unreal. The second part of the project this week is Level creation.
You as an individual are limited to using what your TEAM creates – so everyone chipping in and efficiently making quality low-poly assets will be key. High quality. On time.
Who is making what? When do the assets need to be in by? Are they being exported as FBX files or are they being submitted as Blender files? Decide and be organized! The better the team works, the and easier (and higher quality) your projects will be.
How will I document and present my individual Level 1?
You will use OBS and create a 30-60 second exploratory clip called lastNameLevel_1.mp4.
Anything you want credit for, you have to demonstrate in the Level 1 “trailer”. If you make a beautiful tower and then don’t show it off, you don’t get credit for it. Show off your labor and efforts as a team!
11:35 Lunch
- No food in the room / eat in the Cafe.
- You are welcome to return to the room when you have finished eating and work / hang out.
12:05 Attendance and Article
12:10 Afternoon Practice & Production
Low Poly Forest Level
- lastNameLevel_1.mp4
Design Homework 7: Outdoor Landscape Concept Art
- lastNameDH_7.jpg
Week 7 Agency
- lastNameAgency_1.jpg through lastNameAgency_3.jpg
12:40 A Gentleman in Moscow
Imagine being sentenced to spend your life inside a luxury hotel. In A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, Count Alexander Rostov faces exactly that. Trapped in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel after the Russian Revolution, he builds unexpected friendships and watches history unfold outside. The novel asks an important question: Can you still build a meaningful life when your freedom is taken away?
A class read-along gives us a chance to slow down, disconnect from screens, and get lost in a great book together. As we read, you’ll naturally build your vocabulary, strengthen your reading skills, and experience a story without notifications, tabs, or other digital distractions. Think of it as a chance to unplug, relax, and let your imagination do the work.
1:00 Afternoon Break (15 minutes)
1:15 Afternoon Practice & Production
Only 5 minutes as it’s Wednesday – Dailies at 1:20!
1:20 Dailies
1:25 “19 Minutes”
Every day in GAWD will end with “19 Minutes” of silent reading. Closing down our day with silent reading provides many benefits:
- Improve Literacy Skills / Reading Stamina
- Create space for a small reading meditation where we can disconnect from the world and get lost in a story
- Unplug
At the end I will 3 students and ask for a 1 sentence explanation of what happened.
1:45 Dismissal
