The Tutorial Submission

The tutorial I have developed above is purely on AI nodes and how they interact with each other and the environment. Through the production of Experiments 1 and 2, I have noticed that I do find it quite difficult to use the Flow graph system in the Sandbox Editor and it is quite hard to find tutorials on absolutely everything you wish to produce.

Experiment 1 was simply the act of putting Archetype Entities together and analysising the effect of explosions on them and on the player. Although this did not involve flowgraph nodes, I decided to add this feature into the Town Hall structure by allowing the platforms to move and transport the player around different sections of the structure. Similarily, I used this procedure to move the elevator in Experiment 2. However, this experiment explored the use of flowgraphs more and allowed me to experiment on things that I had never tried before. For this reason, I have decided to use the techniques I have learnt to combine tutorials together and create something I found interesting - making an AI walk up a set of stairs and making a vehicle drive up a ramp.

Through the experiment procedure, I noticed that when I draw an AIPath on the terrain, it lays flat and its pretty much impossible to get it to slant the way you want it to. Throughout the second experiment, I wished for characters to move up stairs, but wasn't sure if it would work the way a normal AIPath would. So I proceeded to try it out and see what happens, and noticed that it didn't make a difference on how high the AIPath was positioned - the character would always move in the direction of the path, as long as there was something there to boost the character up (in the case of the tutorial - stairs and a ramp).

Through the experimentation of this, it helped me quite a lot in experiment 2 and assisted in the explanation of my idea of 'navigation' through the Town Hall structure.


Xanthochori. Add AI to Vehicle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjARJ9RR-rM&feature=related. Accessed September 2010

Xanthochori. Making AI Drive Vehicle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elOSbV3s0dc&feature=related. Accessed September 2010

Exp2 Submission

180 Second Video Clip

SketchUp Model

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=f86a109fd8ac2ee29f7662a2247983b

Crysis Levels and Objects Folder

http://www.filefront.com/17478686/z3334826_JessicaMorgan.zip


Crysis Elevator Keys

N to move elevator up
O to move elevator down

Wk6 - Installation and Nodes Videos

Installation and Nodes in Crysis

Here are the final videos taken of the Crysis environment. They show the AI nodes used throughout the development of the Porosity lens.


Station

Restaurant

Wk4 - Tutorial Subject

Tutorial Subject

The core subject for this course is Porosity. The first experiment was to express the notion of Porosity and the physical effects of explosions on it. To represent this, there were many Archetype entities added to create the scene, along with a custom Sketchup model that incorporated the use of flow graph nodes - to make the platforms move. Something which could have made this a little more successful was if the platforms moved as soon as the player stepped on them, rather then having the player to control its movement using the keyboard.

For the second experiment, Porosity is investigated in a personal and humanly manner. The objective is to analyse how long people stay in an area and how they travel from place to place.

Wk3 - Sketch Installation

Crysis Sketch Installation

To come, elevator that goes from bottom platform to top.

For the sketch installation I created stationary platforms that run throughout the whole structure (creating platforms like those found at a train station). Alongside this I also included walls to close the entire station area, and added a set of stairs towards the center to allow access to the second level.

The idea behind the installation is the relation it has to people and not only concentrating on how long they stay in a certain area, but how they travel throughout it.

Wk2 - S.W.O.T Analysis, 2 x 30 Second Videos and My Porosity Lens

S.W.O.T Analysis on chosen Flow Graph Nodes

Since The Porosity Lens is all about the peoples navigation through an environment, the flow graph nodes chosen are all AI nodes. The three specific ones are Entering a Vehicle, Walking to a TagPoint, and Driving a Vehicle. Without the help of tutorials and online resources, the discovery of these nodes would be close to impossible for me since I'm not very familiar with flow graph nodes on the Sandbox Editor. The tutorials I found helped me discover capabilities of the flow graph system, which is where the strength of these nodes came from.

Linking back to not knowing much about the flow graph system, I think that would probably be the biggest weakness. It limits me in discovering its capability to do things other then what is presented in tutorials, but does allow me to think a little more out of the square and combine tutorials together to create new actions. In saying this - although I do have a great weakness in creating these flow graphs, I do see it as a great opportunity for me to learn more about them and create different things throughout the experiment to help meet the requirements of the brief.

The reason I have chosen the nodes mentioned above, is because I see them as the most simplistic way of defining how a person navigates through an environment. Through the experience and practice of different flow graph nodes, I hope to develop these nodes into more complex ideas, and defining them in the context of The Porosity Lens.


Second Video Clip

The video above shows the second node chosen - an AI walking to a TagPoint in the game. To add a little more, I placed the target inside a village house, allowing the officer to walk up the stairs and into the house.


Third Video Clip

The video above shows an AI driving a vehicle along a certain path. The vehicle and AI were the same used in the first video - AI Entering Vehicle, with nodes added to the flow graph to make it drive.


My Porosity Lens

'A way to understand peoples navigation through and environment'
Through this description, my understanding of a Porosity Lens has somewhat increased. I understand now that it's the way in which people navigate through the environment around them - whether by land, sky or sea. I'm looking at focusing my Porosity Lens on land, using the interaction of people and their vehicles through AI nodes. The thought of creating a village similar to the one I created in Experiment1 is a thought to how the Porosity Lens is going to be laid out.

'Takes into account how long people spend at certain places'
I'm not yet sure what I'll be doing to link my Porosity Lens to this description. The idea in mind is to show how long people stay in houses, camp tents, petrol stations etc., and to show how they move from those areas into other places and how they go about doing so.

Description of The Porosity Lens taken from http://www.russelllowe.com/benv2423_2010/experiment2/reference/week_02.html by Russell Lowe.

Wk1 - Flowgraph Nodes and 30 Second Clip

Three Flow Graph Nodes

Below are links to tutorials I found on different flow graph nodes.

AI - Entering a Vehicle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv1nptvZ3HI&feature=related

AI - Walking to TagPoint (inside Village)
http://konakona.nbtxathcx.net/sb2/index.php?page=flowgraphs

AI - Driving Vehicle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elOSbV3s0dc&feature=related


First Video Clip - AI Entering a Vehicle

The video above shows an AI flow graph that allowed the players to enter a vehicle in the game. One was given the command to be the driver, one a gunner, and the other just to enter the vehicle.