MICTLAN: THE JOURNEY A University Thesis Presented to the ... · This document describes the...

MICTLAN: THE JOURNEY

__________________

A University Thesis Presented to the Faculty

of

California State University, East Bay

__________________

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Art in Multimedia

__________________

By

Tommy Lothian, Bobby Trinh, Victor Varela

June, 2007

ii

AGP © 2007

iii

ABSTRACT

This document describes the research and production of a 3D video game, Mictlan: The

Journey, which aims to push the envelope in the way video games are played. The game

includes a type of controller not adopted in the gaming industry that utilizes the entire

human body to navigate the game. The content for the project is based on the myths of

after life from the ancient Aztec civilization.

Key Words – entertainment, innovation, controller, immersive, Aztec mythology, Unreal

2004, Mictlan, sensors, AGP, journey, 3D game, afterworld.

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MICTLAN: THE JOURNEY

By

Tommy Lothian, Bobby Trinh, Victor Varela

Approved: Date: James Petrillo ____________________________________________________ Teah King Graham ____________________________________________________ Janet Green ____________________________________________________ Rafael Hernandez ____________________________________________________ Scott Hopkins ____________________________________________________ Ray Mitchell ____________________________________________________ Gwyan Rhabyt ____________________________________________________

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PREFACE

The birth of this project goes back to the individual project of a member of Aztec

Gaming Production (AGP), in the summer of 2006. Believing that the rich content based

on the Aztec myth of Mictlan could serve as the backbone for a video game; they

embarked in what would be a roller coaster ride for the next year.

The three members believed the content was good, but felt the project needed

something to set them apart from other innovative video game controllers. AGP believed

that they had to create the next generation of video game controllers. In doing so they

came up with one question. What if one could fly? Or simulate flight?

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The members of AGP would like to thank all our family and friends, thank you for

believing in us. Also, to those who didn’t believe in us, you made us stronger.

To our advisor Janet Green, thanks for all your help and guidance. We would like to

thank Raquel Arcia, Timothy Druley, Teresa Hardy, William Lee, Joffrey Long, John &

Pat Lothian, Ray Mitchell, Marzetta Parish, Jill Vu, Tong Yan and everyone who helped

us out in any shape or form, thank you!

AGP

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CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………........... vi INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………. .......vii PART 1: RESEARCH QUESTION……………………………………………….. ......... 1

Research Content…………………………………………………………... ..... 1 PART 2: PROJECT DESCRIPTION……………………………………………… ......... 3 PART 3: USER EXPERIENCE…………………………………………………….......... 5 PART 4: THE FRAME……………………………………………………………........... 7 PART 5: COMPUTER…………………………………………………………….. ......... 8 PART 6: BASIC STAMP………………………………………………………….. ......... 9 Features……………………………………………………………………....... 9 PART 7: HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY…………………………………………. ........ 10 eMargin 3D Visor…………………………………………………………..... 10 PART 8: 3D SOFTWARE ………………………………………………………........... 12 Poser………..………………………………………………………………. .. 12 Bryce ..………………………………………………………………….......... 13 Maya.....…………………….…………………………………………....... .... 14 PART 9: 3D GAME ENGINE…………………………………………………….......... 16 The Unreal 2004 Engine.…………………………………………………...... 16 PART 10: CONTENT DESCRIPTION……………………………………………........ 17 The Myth ...........……………………………...………………………………17 The Story…………………………………………………………………… .. 19

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PART 11: PROJECT EXPLANATION…………………………………………… ....... 21 The Journey…………………………………………………………………. 21 Game Level Interaction Map........................................................................ 23 PART 12: SOUND………………………………………………………………… ....... 28 Soundtrack…………………………………………………………………... 28 PART 13: PROJECT FEASABILITY…………………………………………….......... 29 Changing Technologies……………………………………………………... 29 Production Plan……………………………………………………………. .. 30 Budget……………………………………………………………………… . 33 PART 14: AUDIENCE JUSTIFICATION………………………………………........... 34 PART 15: OBSTACLES…………………………………………………………... ....... 37 PART 16: HOW TO……………………………………………………………….. ....... 38 Exporting Static Meshes…………………………………………………….. 38 Creating Terrain Maps….…………………………………………………….38 Poser-to-Maya……………………………………………………………... .. 40 Maya-to-Unreal ED………………………………………………………..... 41 ActorX Setup………………………………………………………………... 42 PART 17: PERSONAL GROWTH……………………………………………….. ........ 43 Bobby Trinh ………………………………………………………………. .. 43 Tommy Lothian …………………………………………………………….. 43 Victor Varela ……………………………………………………………….. 44 PART 18: FUTURE DIRECTION OF PROJECT.……………………………….. ........ 46 PART 19: ASSESSMENT…………………………………………………………....... 51

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PART 20: ILLUSTRATIONS…………………………………………………….. ........ 53 PART 21: APPENDIX.………………………………………………………….... ........ 68 Appendix A: Feedback from Testers……………….……..………………. .. 68 Appendix B: Flowcharts…………………………………………..…............ 92 Appendix C: Waiver Form………………….……………………………..... 97 Appendix D: Risk Management Matrix………………..………………..... ... 98 Appendix E: Computer Specifications…………………………………….. 105 Appendix F: Marketing……………………………………………………. 108 Appendix G: Technology and Software Research....................................... 112 PART 22: WORKS CITED…………………………………………………......... ....... 119 Art and Content Sources………………………………………………….. . 119 Books……………………………………………………………………..... 120 Game Engine Support . ……………………………………………………..121 General Sources…………………………………………………………... . 122 Hardware Sources………………………………………………………… . 122 Maya and 3D Sources . ……………………………………………………..123 Music………………………………………………………………………. 124 Web Design Sources……………………………………………………… . 124

Aztec Gaming Production – March 05, 2007

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PART 1. RESEARCH QUESTION

How can a non-standard control mechanism create an environment where the

user is able to learn the Aztec’s theological beliefs within an immersive 3D game?

Research Content

The entertainment industry is built on a never-ending cycle of innovation.

They are forever locked in a cycle of trying to provide more and more realism. This

change is mirrored by the evolution of technology. Consumers are lured with the

promise of more detail and more realism than before. Audio has gone mono AM radio

to high-definition digital, satellite radio to surround sound. Video has gone from black

and white, standard-definition, to full color, progressive-scan, digital high-definition,

broadcasts. Video games as well have progressed from monochrome squares to full

color high-definition massive-multi-player online 3D immersive gaming worlds.

Consumers continually demand more.

Some things have not changed though, input devices for example. Keyboards and

mice have been essentially the same for as long as the computer has been around. So

have the video game controllers, they are still essentially all hand held with various

types of directional pads and a few buttons. Sure, they have for the most part lost the

wires and vibrate when something exciting has happened in the game, but there has

been no real innovation.

Certainly the sound is clearer and the video is crisper and processors have

advanced to the point where they can render near photorealistic results instantly. We

do have steering wheels for driving games, miniature rods for fishing games, guns for


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hunting ducks, even controls for flying air planes, but what about games where you

are simulating flight.

This project is a major innovation in controller design, utilizing the whole human

body as the controller in a unique way. The entire human body has been utilized

before in products like the Sony Eye Toy and Dance, Dance Revolution. However,

the controller our project is proposing is unique in that the user will be suspended

horizontally, as opposed to standing vertically.


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PART 2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The game will be an immersive 3D environment. It will engage the user’s

whole body in a unique way. The user will be suspended horizontally to simulate the

sensation of flight. In addition to the suspension the user will be wearing a

stereoscopic head mounted display. Due to the positioning of the player during game

play, we thought it would be better to include a head mounted display to make the user

more comfortable. The display will have a head tracking system that will determine

the position of the user’s head. This will give the user a first person perspective from

which to control the game play. It will allow them to explore the game in a more

detailed and natural manner.

For both portability and strength, the suspension harness will need to be enclosed

in a strong frame. The frame will be constructed of 4 x 4s. It will be approximately 8

ft cubed; this will allow for almost everyone to be able to enter the suspension harness,

and be suspended. There will be six points of suspension. The suspension will be

achieved by cables attached to the frame using pulleys to get the cables to the

necessary equipment under the structure. The center suspension harness will be fixed.

The cables for the arms and legs will be attached using handles similar to ones used in

weight training machines. The first two are for the arms. Then there is the suspension

point for the upper body including the chest and abdominal areas. Two additional

suspension points will be slightly above the user’s knee on both legs. The last point of

suspension will be for the user’s ankles. All the suspension points will be fully

adjustable dependent on the users height, and the natural comfort level of their

wingspan to avoid any discomfort while suspended in the harness.


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Every part of the body that is used to help determine the direction of the character

in the game will have a cable extension transducer attached to it. As a result both

arms and right ankle will be connected to a separate cable extension transducer and

measure where the user is from the initial resting position. [See Appendix C

Suspension Harness Diagram]

The game will be a giant open world. The user will be flying through a section of

ancient Central America, as a spirit of a recently deceased Aztec common person. The

challenge is to find and complete the necessary tasks to get through to the afterlife and

reach Mitclan. The game will consist of puzzles such as follow the leader type, and

mazes.


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PART 3. USER EXPERIENCE

The user will walk into a lightly dimmed room. Around the edges of the room

will be information about the Aztec culture and their beliefs, most importantly those

relating to the religious beliefs about the afterlife. The information around the

computers area will give information about the myth, as well as tutorials on how to

play the game and safety tips. In the center will be a suspension apparatus, used to

experience the game. In front of the apparatus will be a big screen that will project

everything the user is experiencing, so that the audience can see what the journey is

like without entering the harness.

The computers in the room will have content geared at filling in the information

not covered in the video game, such as the type of people and deaths that are allowed

to go to the other houses. Along with filling in information not covered in the game,

there will be a module that gives information on how to proceed through the different

steps of the afterlife / game to reach nirvana as a common person. Another section of

the module will explain information mainly pertaining to the Western Paradise of the

Sun, where in the afterlife according to the Aztec legend, women who die during

childbirth are taken. Also in the modules will be information on the Aztec god Tlaloc

and the children that were drowned as sacrifices to the god of the rain. Finally, there

will be information on sacrificed enemies, warriors who die in battle or kings and what

happens to them during the afterlife. The other two modules are intended to teach the

user how to enter and use the controller properly to avoid injury and misuse of the

gaming installation. These two modules have video to illustrate proper use through

visuals and audio.


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The audience will see the user suspended in the harness wearing the equipment.

They will also see a projection of what the user is seeing in the stereoscopic head set

on screen in front of the user to add to the sense that they are flying.


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PART 4. THE FRAME

The frame is made of wood. The main upright supports are 8-foot 4 x 4s. The

base surrounding the upright pieces made of 8-foot 2 x 12’s. They are bolted to the

upright pieces using 6 interlocking 5-½ inch long 3/8 hex bolts. The height of the base

allows us to place all the electronics under the floor. The floor is supported by 8-foot 2 x

4s arranged in a tic-tac-toe grid. The floor is ½ inch plywood. The center of the floor is

supported further by adjustable steel supports that take out the bend in the floor. The roof

is constructed with 8-foot 2 x 6s. There is a plywood roof that helps to stiffen up the

frame. The cable used in the suspension and control of the game is able to support over

3,000 lbs. The cables are connected to the frame using steel uni-strut. The uni-strut is

suspended using 8-inch long U-bolts. Each point of suspension is secured in the channel

using a channel nut and a washer and jam nut. The eyebolts are capable of supporting

1400 lbs. The double block pulleys are capable of supporting 400 lbs each. The small

pulleys are capable of supporting 525 lbs. The large ones are capable of supporting 550

lbs each. Each of the eyebolts connects to the pulleys using an anchor shackle. Each

anchor shackle can support 666 lbs. We also use 2 forged eye nuts. Each of the eye nuts

is able to support over a quarter of a ton.


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PART 5. COMPUTER

We are using a Gateway Pentium 4 Computer. It is clocked at 1.8 GHz. It has

1.25 GB of RAM and an 80 GB hard drive. In addition to the standard array of ports, are

one serial port to connect to the BASIC stamp, and three USB ports. One USB port

connects the head mounted displays motion tracking sensor and powers the displays. The

second port on the back of the computer connects the USB game controller. The port on

the front uses a Bluetooth dongle, to connect the Wii remotes that are used as handles.

The graphics card is a new 4x AGP NVIDIA 6600 GT. It is configured for stereoscopic

vision with a resolution of 800 x 600 at 60 Hertz. The card also outputs on the additional

s-video connection to feed the DLP projector mounted to the roof of the project.

The basic stamp is a BasicATOM Pro 24 is reading the input from the cable

extension units using the analog to digital conversion. It is programmed to pushing the

buttons on the game pad. Both the Bluetooth Wii remotes and USB game controller

connect to the computer using the Human Interface Device (HID) protocol. HID is the

same protocol as the head mounted display uses to control the mouse during game play.

All the control devices connect to the unreal engine using HID. The last upgrade done to

the computer is a 5.1 surround sound card. It feeds out via optical audio to the 600-Watt

surround sound receiver.


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PART 6. BASIC STAMP

The project will be utilizing the Basic ATOM Pro=28M Development Kit as

the microcontroller. This microcontroller is self-contained and is very similar to the

educational basic stamp board.

Features:

• 32k of program space

• 2k bytes of user / system RAM

• up 8 A/D pins

• up to 100,000 plus instruction per second

• Code and pin compatible to the Basic ATOM

• Hardware based 32 bit math

• Based on the Hitachi 3664

Costs:

• $149.95


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PART 7. HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY

During research we found several types as well as models that could be used

for our project. We have decided to use the following product because of the

product’s overall features best suited the needs of the project. This head mounted

display model is also very affordable.

eMagine 3D Visor Digital Display

This head mounted display is portable, lightweight and design for use with a

PC and Mac.

• Advanced state of the art head tracking device

• Full SVGA stereovision (800 x 3 x 600) OLEDs

• Full color (>16.7 million) pixels, High contrast (>200:1) ratio

• Low power visor

• Lightweight, compact, and ergonomic

• Integrated headphones provide high fidelity stereo surround sound

• Built in noise canceling microphone

• Borderless view

Specifications:

• Resolution: 800 x 600

• Virtual Image Size: 105in at 12ft.

• Field of View: 360 degrees


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• Input Signal: RGB signal input, 24 bit per pixel color

• Modes: 2D and 3D Stereoscopic

• Eye Relief: 25MM

• Power Consumption: <1.25W typical

• Power Supply: USB or 5V DC regulated

• Stereovision: Automatic detect of frame-sequential stereovision data

• Renders 2D and/or 3D video

Costs:

• $549.00


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PART 8. 3D SOFTWARE

Poser

Poser is a three-dimensional rendering and animation program optimized for

models depicting the human figure. The benefits of using this software are numerous.

It would make it very easy to create people that will be needed for the 3Dimensional

game. The export features are fairly limited as is the character creation ability. You

cannot create original characters using this piece of software. However, Poser offers

infinite opportunities to portray human diversity, form and expression. The problem

with Poser is that it is template driven. We will need to create many creatures as well

as human forms, and unless we can find templates for them there is nothing we can

use it for other than inspiration for creating human forms. Poser comes with libraries

of human, animal, and robot figures, poses, hairpieces, props, hand gestures and facial

expressions. Facial expressions are implemented through the use of morphs, which are

also used in many models to allow customizing of body and other features. Poser has a

large and avid following at a fairly high number of online community sites, and due to

the inability to perform sophisticated high-level 3Dimensional modeling inside the

application; the community has grown up around the trade and sales of Poser content.

The largest communities are Renderosity, Poser Pros, DAZ3D, Runtime DNA, and E-

Frontier's own Content Paradise. Another advantage to Poser is that it is scriptable,

using Python; many of the other 3Dimensional apps appear to be scriptable in a

similar fashion.

• Easy to create characters and morph implemented facial expressions

• High number of online communities


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• Poser is scriptable

Costs:

• $200.00

Bryce

Bryce is a texture-based rendering and ray tracing program ideal for creating

3Dimensional landscapes, space scenes, buildings and other objects. The feature set is

more complete than Poser, and the export options are better than Poser. The landscape

can be easily created and shaped to our liking. It integrates well with other

applications to make up for it’s own shortcomings. The one thing that Bryce does not

do so well is creating humans. It is very easy to import human forms from

applications like Poser and have them work perfectly inside of Bryce. It features tools

specific for creating atmospheres, trees, clouds and water. It has the ability to create

animations and a fly through of the created worlds.

• Easily create and shape landscapes

• Integrates well with other applications

• Features specific tools to create environments

• Animations and fly through of worlds can be created

Costs:

• $89.00


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Maya

"As game hardware has evolved over time, so has Maya, whether it’s through the

features the software offers or through our ability to customize the software to meet

our needs."

—Evan Wells, Naughty Dog co-president.

In developing our video game we wanted to find powerful software that

allowed us to integrate 3Dimensional modeling, animation, effects and rendering

solutions. In the process of researching several different software’s we decided to go

with Maya. Maya is a 3Dimensional graphics and modeling software owned by

AutoDesk. Maya is most often used in projects for the film, television, computer and

video games. One of the most important features we found was the ability to transfer

data and the compatibility between Maya and other software. Maya also features a

cross platform scripting language called Maya Embedded Language (Mel), similar to

Tcl. This allows the user good scripting language and the ability to customize Maya’s

functionality. This gives the animator the ability to program in Maya without the

experience in C or C++.

For the handling of larger, more complex scenes Maya allows up to 128 GB

for Windows XP, enabling artists the access to more memory than before. Maya also

allows for the display of High Dynamic Range Images like OpenEXR, TIFF, or DDS

image files that can be loaded into Maya as file texture. This will allows us to upload

images to add textures to our environments as well as characters and accessories.


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During our research we also found that Maya had more support for Unreal

Tournament’s game engine than 3D Studio Max and Softimage.

• Maya is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac.

• Allows for unrivaled character animation

• Detailed character accessories can be created (clothing, hair or fur, ect.)

• Fast pace data transfer between Photoshop, Illustrator and Maya.

• Scene enhancement without loss of detail

• Maya allows more efficient collaborate workflows, massive datasets and

managing complex scenes.

Costs:

• Commercial Price - $ 1,999.00

• Student Price - $289.98


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PART 9. 3D GAME ENGINE

The Unreal 2004 Engine

The Unreal 2004 Game Engine is one of the most advanced game engines

around. It has several things that are very beneficial to our project. The first is

Matinee. It is an animation environment that works within the game engine itself to

create movies or cut scenes. In most video games there would be a break from the

action and a video would be loaded into another window and shown as the cut scene.

It has a very good engine, with many of the capabilities already created for flight as a

motion. It has comprehensive particle effect tools and generators, as well has advance

AI, and AI navigation. More importantly it has a variety of game types that make it

easier for our needs, for each of the various levels or challenges that we are building.

It is highly customizable, through a scripting language called Unreal Script. This is

probably the most important feature because no one in our group knows how to

program in C or C++, but we are all familiar with the concepts of scripting languages

and there is good documentation on how to create your own levels and games in

Unreal tournament. Lastly, Unreal Tournament 2004 has a strong online community

that already has a very strong fan base.

Costs:

• $350,00.00


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PART 10. CONTENT DESCRIPTION

The Myth

The Aztec believed that where your soul went after you died depended on what

you did on Earth and how you died:

The Aztec culture viewed their lives as “being” and did not fear death. They

believed they were collaborators to the gods, chosen to maintain and nurture the gods,

who were crucial for the survival of the world in general, and for the success of the

Aztec people. It is believed the food eaten by mortals was too ordinary for the gods.

It was the energy seated in the heart and blood, known as Teyolia, which could

strengthen and preserve the gods. The Aztecs compared Teyolia to a divine fire. It

animated the human being, giving shape to their sensibilities and thinking patterns. So

toward this end, the Aztecs created the ritual of the human sacrifice. Among other

rival groups, the Aztecs participated in exchanges called Flowery Wars. Unlike wars

of capture, the sole purpose of the battles was to take captives for human sacrifice to

the gods. The wars were more like honorable events; competitions to gather food for

the gods. Captives from other tribes were usually sacrificed by the Aztecs to their sun

god; Huitzilopochtli, who had chosen the Aztec nation over all others. Aztec warriors

were in turn sacrificed to the reining deity of the city who captured them. These souls

where rewarded with the highest level of after life, which was the Eastern paradise

called Tonatiuhican or “the house of the sun.” This was where the souls of all

warriors who died in combat or who died as sacrificial victims to the Gods elevated to.

The paradise also included the souls of the enemy warriors who had special “god of


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the enemy death.” It was believed that souls stayed in the Eastern paradise for four

years, and then they would return to earth as hummingbirds or other exotic birds.

The Aztecs also implied the faith in a paradise of the West. Like the Eastern

paradise, comprised of the kingdom of the sun: the Western paradise was where the

souls of women that died in their first childbirth rested. To these women the same

rank was granted as soldiers who died in the battle. They would also return to Earth,

but as phantoms of bad omens.

Tlaloc was the Aztec god of fire, rain, agriculture, and the paradise of the South.

In his kingdom he receives those killed by thunderbolts, water, and contagious

diseases. He is the consort of the water goddess, Chalchiuhtlicue, and sometimes

regarded as the father of the moon-god, Tecciztecatl. It was believed that he could

send down to the earth different types of rain, which would help crops, grow or

destroy them. Each year a large number of children were drowned as a sacrifice to

honor him.

The paradise of the North was called Mictlan and this was the Aztec

underworld where the rest of the souls who did not earn a privileged death went to rest

and was ruled over by its Lord and Lady. It was a dark place, reached by the dead

only after wandering for four years beneath the earth, accompanied by his "soul-

companion" typically a dog, which was customarily cremated with the corpse. The

cultural accounts of the trials a soul must go through to get to Mictlan are detailed

below in chronological order:

1. Cross a deep river—dogs were buried with their dead owners to guide

them on this journey.


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2. Pass between two mountains, which were joined together.

3. Climb an obsidian (a dark natural glass formed by the cooling of

molten lava) mountain.

4. Pass through icy wind that cut like a knife.

5. Pass through a place where flags waved.

6. Be pierced by arrows.

7. Pass among wild beasts, which ate human hearts

8. Pass over a narrow path of stone.

9. Reach this level where the soul found rest.

To make them make this trip, people were buried in a squatting position with

items to help them on the way. These items included water, the dog that was

mentioned at the first level of hell, a jade bead to act as the dead heart at the seventh

hell, and other personal objects to give to Mictlantecuhtli or Mictecacihuatl when they

got to the ninth region.

The Story

Chicahua Necahual was the older of two boys and at 19 he was looking

forward to marrying Meztli, his girlfriend whom he had been seeing for a long time.

Meztli was the beautiful 16-year-old daughter of a farmer. In the Aztec society

woman where considered ready to wed at the age of 16. Meztli was not the exception,

learning how to form a family, trained in art and trade to help ensure the welfare of her

future home. Everything appeared perfect except for Tlalli Tlachinolli, Chicahua


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Necahual’s 17-year-old brother. He was also in love with Meztli, but unfortunately

Meztli only had eyes for Chicahua Necahual. Tlalli Tlachinolli could not stand seeing

his brother along side the woman he felt should be his. Tlalli Tlachinolli would stalk

the two and curse their relationship as his blood filled with jealousy. One night as he

watched his older brother and Meztli holding hands he became enraged, out of

desperation and jealousy he pulled out his bow and arrow and shot Chicahua

Necahual in the back. Tlalli Tlachinolli had committed the dreadful act of murder.

Chicahua Necahual was only a farmer, according to Aztec myth he did not earn a

privileged death. He would now have to make the journey to MICTLAN.


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PART 11. PROJECT EXPLANATION

The Journey

The game opens on a sacrificial stone near the base of the Temple of the

Moon. The player must travel to the base of the temple to trigger the first cut scene

and get instructions on what his first objective is. The spirit ascends to the top of the

Temple of the Moon and then is greeted by the God Mictlantecuhtli. A brief narration

and visual instructions will be given to the player in the cut scene. In the Avenue of

The Dead there are many smaller temples, the player will be able to climb each temple

to explore the Avenue of the Dead. Throughout the journey there are items to be

collected, which will aid in the user’s journey. These items include, heart shaped jade

stones and water, as well as pulque to heal your arrow wound. The user is free to

explore the Avenue of The Dead for as long as they want, but once they leave there is

no way back until they have completed all the tasks necessary to reach nirvana. Once

the user leaves the Avenue of The Dead they are greeted by their spirit dog. The goal

of the first challenge is to follow the dog to the spot where you need to cross the river

and guide you to the entrance of the cave. It is a chase game. If you fail to keep up

with the dog, you can find the correct spot on your own and loose the help of the dog

throughout the section. Avoid crossing the river in the wrong area, the water is

dangerous and you will die.

As you progress through the game you will be reminded of the next challenge that

you will face to help you complete it. The closer you stick to the actual legend/myth

of the Aztec after life the more helpful it will be, you have to complete all the


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challenges in order. It will be up to the player to remember the order that challenges

must be completed in and that the marker to complete the objective is triggered.

The second step to the afterlife is to pass between the two mountains. The only

mountain range in the whole game is impassable. At the base of this range there is an

entrance to a cave. If you follow your dog closely across the river it will lead you to

the entrance. This path through the two mountains is really a maze that the user will

have to navigate through. Make the wrong turn and get lost, make all the right ones

and complete your second objective. The next objective is to find the obsidian obelisk

or mountain of obsidian, and climb it. This turns out to be a volcano, and you have to

dodge the falling boulders on the way up, at the top you must cool the volcano. If you

picked up the water at the base of the volcano, you will be able to throw it into the

crater at the top; this action will cause the volcano to instantly freeze. The next part of

journey begins as the plume of volcanic ash freezes and it comes falling back down

the mountain and you must race the icy winds to the bottom before it slowly kills you.

For the fourth objective of the journey you have to cross an area that will put you

in the path of flying arrows, you will be hit by one causing injury. You must then go

to the next objective, which you will need to pass between two rows of waving flags,

identify the color of your tribe and enter the village. This will complete your fifth

objective. Your sixth objective begins at the entrance to your village; there is an item

necessary for the recovery of the arrow wound and completion of this challenge. Find

the jug of pulque and drink it to heal your wound. Pulque is an alcoholic beverage

made from the fermented juice of the maguey1. Before leaving the village, make sure

1 "Pulque." Wikipedia. Nov. 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulque>.


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you collect your jade bead; you will need it to complete your last objective. As you

wander around the forest, drunk from drinking the pulque, you start to see an

imaginary beast (your inner demon). This beast will try to eat your human heart. You

must rush the beasts before he awakes. Approach the beast while he is still sleeping,

you must aim and throw the jade heart that you picked up back in the village at the

beast. Once you have completed this task you sober up and must trigger the last

marker at the end of the forest to return to the Avenue of the Dead.

Once the entire tasks are completed you will return to the Avenue of The Dead,

and ascend to the heavens where your soul will receive eternal rest.

Game Level Interaction Map

Trigger 1 – Located at the base of the Pyramid of the Moon. [Proximity event]

The first trigger within the game will trigger the first matinee sequence. During

the matinee sequence, there is a sub action that calls out for the subtitle script. This will

cause the subtitle to appear on screen. Within the same matinee, another sub action will

call out to the voice over. This matinee sequence will also call out to the AI script that

will control the xpawn that is located on the top of this pyramid. Trigger will also send a

command signaling the first objective as complete and then activating the second

objective and trigger.

Trigger 2 – Located at the base of the dog xpawn. [Proximity event]

The second trigger will receive the activation call from the first trigger. As a

result this trigger will flipped to the active state. The trigger will activate the dog xpawn

AI script and the voice over. The trigger will then send the command signaling the

second objective as complete and then activating the third objective and trigger.


24

Trigger 3 – Located at the cave entrance. [Proximity event]

The third trigger will receive the activation call from the second trigger. This

trigger then activates the teleporter; cave matinee sequence, music change, and voice

over. Matinee sequence sub action calls the sub title script. When the matinee sequence

ends the player will be at the beginning of the maze. This trigger will also turn off the

first player start point and sets the second player start point at the beginning of the maze.

The trigger will then send the command signaling the third objective as complete and

then activating the fourth objective and trigger.

Trigger 4 – Located at the end of the maze. [Proximity event]

The fourth trigger will receive the activation call from the third trigger. This will

activate the matinee sequence, music change, voice over, and teleporter. The matinee

sequence sub action calls to the sub title script. This will also turn off the second player

spawn point and set the third player spawn point at the base of the volcano. When the

matinee sequence ends the player will be at the base of volcano. The trigger will then

send the command signaling the fourth objective as complete and then activating the fifth

objective and trigger.

Trigger 5a – Located at the top of the volcano, under lava volume. [Destroyable

event]

The fifth trigger will receive the activation call from the fourth trigger. The fifth

trigger will activate once destroyed. Once destroyed the trigger will activate the matinee

sequence, voice over, and volume mover. The trigger will also turn off the volcano

emitters. This will also turn off the third player spawn point and set the fourth player


25

spawn point at the top of the volcano. The trigger will then send the command signaling

the fifth objective as complete and then activating the sixth objective and trigger.

Trigger 5b – Located at the base of the mountain. [Proximity event]

This sub trigger will send a message to the player that they reached the base of the

mountain successfully.

Trigger 6 – Located at the entrance of the forest. [Proximity event]

The sixth trigger will receive the activation call from the fifth trigger. This trigger

then activates the matinee sequence, voice over, and music change. The matinee sub

action will then activate the sub title script. The trigger will then send the command

signaling the sixth objective as complete and then activating the seventh objective,

trigger, and damage volume.

Trigger 7 – Located at the entrance of village. [Proximity event]

The seventh trigger will receive the activation call from the sixth trigger. This

trigger then activates the matinee sequence and voice over. The matinee sub action will

then activate the sub title script. The trigger will then send the command signaling the

seventh objective as complete and then activating the eighth objective and trigger.

Trigger 8 – Located at the entrance of village. [Proximity event]

The seventh trigger will receive the activation call from the sixth trigger. This

trigger then activates the matinee sequence and voice over. The matinee sub action will

then activate the sub title script. The trigger will then send the command signaling the

eighth objective as complete and then activating the ninth objective and trigger.


26

Trigger 9 – Located at the jade bead weapon base and med base. [Proximity event]

The ninth trigger will receive the activation call from the eighth trigger. This

trigger will give the player fifty points of health. The player will then receive the Jade

Beads from the weapon base. The trigger will then send the command signaling the ninth

objective as complete and then activating the tenth objective and trigger.

Trigger 10 – Located at entrance of the second clearing. [Proximity event]

The tenth trigger will receive the activation call from the ninth trigger. This

trigger will activate the matinee sequence, voice over, and music change. The matinee

sub action will call out to the subtitle script that will display in the letterbox. This trigger

will then send the command signaling the tenth objective as complete and then activating

the eleventh objective and trigger.

Trigger 11 – Located inside the static mesh of the beast. [Destroyable event]

The eleventh trigger will receive the activation call from the tenth trigger. This

trigger is a destroyable trigger. Once the trigger is destroyed this will activate the

teleporter. The trigger will then send the command signaling the eleventh objective as

complete and then activating the twelfth objective and trigger.

Trigger 12 – Located under the beast and on the stone platform. [Proximity event]

The twelfth trigger will receive the activation call from the eleventh trigger. This

trigger is linked to the teleporter. Once the player enters the teleporter the trigger will be

activated. This trigger will activate the matinee sequence, music change, and voice over.

The trigger will then send the command signaling the twelfth objective as complete and

then activating the thirteenth objective and trigger.


27

Trigger 13 – Located at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun. [Proximity event]

The thirteenth trigger will receive the activation call from the twelfth trigger. This

trigger will then send the command to the “ASRound_End” script signaling the end of the

round and game.


28

PART 12. SOUND

Soundtrack

For the score of our video game we chose to use the soundtrack of the motion

picture Apocalypto, by director Mel Gibson. Apocalypto is a movie about the ancient

Mayan culture. Specifically about a young Mayan man whom has been captured and is

to be sacrificed, but escapes and returns to the land he calls home to be reunited with

his family. Essentially a chase film, Apocalypto’s soundtrack is rich with heart

pumping music that fills the viewer with adrenaline. This is why we chose this

particular soundtrack, to support the visuals in our video game. Specifically for use in

the cave, volcano and the beast sections, all areas in the level that required action

theme music.

Section Song

Avenue of the Dead Storyteller’s Dream

Cave Holcane Attack

Volcano Tapir Hunt

Forest An Elusive Quarry


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PART 13. PROJECT FEASIBILITY

Changing Technologies

Given the current trend in video gaming technology, the need for this type of

controller is growing, along with the demand of user-friendly interfaces for various

gadgets that we tend to own. We first saw this in Nintendo's Gameboy. A first

generation gaming system contained only two screen displayed colors were only olive

green and grey. Gamegear was the next portable console to arrive on the scene as

competition for Nintendo’s Gameboy. Sega offered full colored display and a more

complex controller. Even with the full color display Sega failed to reach the

popularity of Nintendo’s Gameboy. In turn, Nintendo made their portable console

smaller, and with full color display. This not only increased the sales of the portable

console but rooted them firmly in the industry of portable gaming. Sony introduced

The Portable Playstation (PSP) which features full color display, similar controller to

their Playstation 2, and full multimedia capabilities. Nintendo answered back with the

Nintendo DS, while still maintaining the original Gameboy controller setup. We have

observed that as the technology advances, the demand for the Gameboy continued to

stay strong due to its familiarity to the previous gaming consoles that the company has

sold. Even to this day, the portable Gameboy is still popular among the gaming

community due to its simplicity.

With the release of the Nintendo Wii and Sony’s Playstation 3, there is a

popular trend for more innovative and unique controllers that incorporate more parts

of the human body. We believe that with the success of our controller, our project


30

would help further open a new door behind video gaming interaction with not only the

hands and wrists of the user, but with the entire human body.

Production Plan

AGP is comprised of three members, which required collaborative

communication skills. To improve the efficiency of our work and research we used a

project management website called Project Path to keep our work organized and

prevent confusion. Here are the web links to our management website and our official

website.

https://aztecgamingproductions.projectpath.com/login

http://www.officialagp.info/

The following milestones were critical to meeting the required production

timeline.

Milestones

Member

Due Date

Research Aztec Myth Victor Varela Wednesday, 08/05/06 Research Technologies AGP Wednesday, 09/11/06 Brainstorm Ideas for Storyline AGP Tuesday, 08/07/06 Build Model of World AGP Saturday, 09/08/06 Group Meeting @ Victor's AGP Friday, 09/22/06 Presentation Meeting @ Tommy's AGP Sunday, 09/24/06 Presentation Rehearsal @ Victor's AGP Monday, 09/25/06 Presentation 5:45 @ Grad Lab AGP Tuesday, 09/26/06 Complete Framework for Cube Bobby Trinh Wednesday, 10/11/06 Wii Pre-Order @ Game Stop AGP Friday, 10/13/06 Group Meeting @ Bobby's AGP Saturday, 10/14/06 Maya 7 Group Training AGP Wednesday, 10/18/06 Complete Harness for Cube AGP Tuesday, 10/31/06 Hacking USB Controller Tommy Lothian Friday, 11/17/06 Case Modding Tommy Lothian Thursday, 12/15/06 Promotional Website Up Bobby Trinh Monday, 01/22/07 Story Board for Promotional Video AGP Wednesday, 01/31/07 Thesis Revision 2.0 AGP Wednesday, 01/31/07 Website Updated Bobby Trinh Wednesday, 01/31/07 Testing Microcontroller Tommy Lothian Wednesday, 01/31/07


31

Milestones Member Due Date

Research History of Aztecs Victor Varela Monday, 02/12/07 Software Writing Tommy Lothian Monday, 02/12/07 Storyboard Myth Victor Varela Monday, 02/12/07 Script out Voice Over AGP Thursday, 02/15/07 Circuit Design Tommy Lothian Thursday, 02/15/07 Documentation Tommy Lothian Friday, 02/16/07 Record Voice Over AGP Saturday, 02/17/07 Physical Installation Improvements Done Tommy Lothian Monday, 02/19/07 Controllers Working Tommy Lothian Monday, 02/19/07 Complete 1st half Module 2 Bobby Trinh Monday, 02/19/07 Complete 3D Models Tommy Lothian Monday, 02/19/07 Edit Story of Game Victor Varela Monday, 02/19/07 Wiring Sensors Tommy Lothian Tuesday, 02/20/07 Testing Sensors Tommy Lothian Thursday, 02/22/07 Calibrating Sensors Tommy Lothian Friday, 02/23/07 Edit Voice Over's Tommy Lothian Saturday, 02/24/07 Promotional Video Due AGP Wednesday, 02/28/07 Completed 2nd half of Module 2 Bobby Trinh Wednesday, 02/28/07 Animate 1st half of Module 3 Victor Varela Wednesday, 02/28/07 Complete Flash Game/Video Tommy Lothian Saturday, 03/03/07 Test Scripting AGP Wednesday, 03/07/07 Animate 2nd half of Story Victor Varela Wednesday, 03/07/07 Submit hardcopy of Story to Bobby Victor Varela Wednesday, 03/07/07 Bug Testing Tommy Lothian Wednesday, 03/07/07 Presentation Rehearsal AGP Wednesday, 03/14/07 Finalize Script for Voice Over Victor Varela Tuesday, 03/27/07 Test Scripting (Character Movement) Bobby Trinh Friday, 03/30/07 Software Revisions Tommy Lothian Friday, 03/30/07 Testing (Trigger a Sound in Script) Bobby Trinh Friday, 03/30/07 Testing (Assault Scripting and Maps) Bobby Trinh Friday, 03/30/07 Complete 3D Models (5 items) Victor Varela Friday, 03/30/07 Removal of Timer in Unreal Bobby Trinh Friday, 03/30/07 Record Voice Over Victor Varela Friday, 03/30/07 Improvements Tommy Lothian Tuesday, 04/03/07 Audio Editing of Voice Over Done Tommy Lothian Tuesday, 04/03/07 Audio CD for Game Victor Varela Wednesday, 04/04/07 Sound Indexed Victor Varela Wednesday, 04/04/07 Testing (4 Legged Character) Tommy Lothian Saturday, 04/07/07 Testing (Modifying Default Settings) Tommy Lothian Saturday, 04/07/07 Terrain Completed Zones Layed Out Victor Varela Friday, 04/13/07 Story Board Video Sequence Tommy Lothian Wednesday, 04/25/07 Bug Testing Tommy Lothian Wednesday, 04/25/07 List of Visual Elements Tommy Lothian Wednesday, 04/25/07 MP3 File Transfer to Victor Tommy Lothian Wednesday, 04/25/07 Textured Static Models in UnrealEd Victor Varela Friday, 04/27/07 Software Revision Tommy Lothian Friday, 04/27/07 Poser Animation of Mictlan Done Tommy Lothian Friday, 04/27/07 Sounds in Unreal Bobby Trinh Friday, 04/27/07 Improvements AGP Saturday, 04/28/07 Shade screen Roof on Structure Victor Varela Saturday, 04/28/07 Narrative Completed Tommy Lothian Saturday, 04/28/07


32

Milestones

Member

Due Date

Index New Sounds in Unreal Victor Varela Saturday, 04/28/07 Testing (Building our own Gun) Bobby Trinh Monday, 04/30/07 Additional Sounds from New Index Bobby Trinh Saturday, 05/05/07 Have Chiropractor Evaluate Structure Tommy Lothian Borrow Tumbling Mats for Floor Tommy / Victor Monday, 05/21/07 Thesis Paper Conforms to Guidelines Victor Varela Monday, 05/21/07 Begin Formatting Theses PDF File Victor Varela Monday, 05/21/07 Complete Maya Animations for Video Victor Varela Monday, 05/21/07 Scripting Tested and Ready for Unreal Bobby Trinh Tuesday, 05/29/07 Testing Challenges AGP Friday, 06/01/07 Final Video Tommy Lothian Sunday, 06/03/07 Website Finalized AGP Monday, 06/04/2007 Testing Completed Game AGP Monday, 06/04/07


33

Budget

With an idea of what software and hardware we needed for the production of

our project we came up with a monetary figure that would adequately fund our project.

The table that follows outlines the budget that it took to realize Mictlan: The Journey.

Aztec Gaming Productions Financial Budget 2007 Summary - Working Budget

Category Actual 07 Budget

07 Forecast 06 Budget

Variance Forecast Variance

Hardware Category Computer $1,156.79 $800.00 $500.00 -$356.79 -$656.79 Controller $2,667.44 $3,000.00 $2,500.00 $332.56 -$167.44 Hardware Total $3,824.23 $3,800.00 $3,000.00 $24.23 -$824.23 Software Category Other Content $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Plug-ins $542.18 $300.00 $200.00 -$242.18 -$342.18 Programs $289.98 $300.00 $800.00 $10.02 $510.02 Software Total $832.16 $600.00 $1,000.00 -$232.16 $167.84 Construction Category Building Materials $1,654.99 $1,200.00 $900.00 -$454.99 -$754.99 Other Building Materials $0.00 $300.00 $100.00 $300.00 $100.00 Software Total $1,654.99 $1,500.00 $1,000.00 -$154.99 -$654.99 Marketing Category Print Advertising $208.13 $400.00 $400.00 $191.87 $191.87 Internet Advertising $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Marketing & Merchandising $229.16 $100.00 $100.00 -$129.16 -$129.16 Marketing Total $437.29 $500.00 $500.00 $62.71 $62.71 Administrative Category Learning Materials $237.95 $300.00 $300.00 $62.05 $62.05 Office Equipment $0.00 $100.00 $0.00 $100.00 $0.00 Office Supplies $167.90 $100.00 $200.00 -$67.90 $32.10 Administrative Total $405.85 $500.00 $500.00 $94.15 $94.15 Total Controllable $7,154.52 $6,900.00 $6,000.00 -$254.52 -$1,154.52


34

PART 14. AUDIENCE JUSTIFICATION

Today’s audience of video gamers has drastically changed over the past couple

of years. 2The typical age, which was normally under 21 years of age, has grown

steadily for the past five years. Today, 69% of American heads in households play

video and computer games. Of that percentage, 44% are between the ages of 18-49

years of age. What is the bottom line when it comes to profit? In 1996 the dollar sales

growth for computer and video games was merely 2.6 billion. In 2005 this increased

to 7.0 billion with its peak in 2004 with a reported 7.4 billion sales growth. Another

interesting aspect to this is that in 2006, 42% of Americans plan to purchase games

during the year. Due to the content of the project we are aiming toward the 69% of

people who play games.

As the popularity of consoles continued to grow in mainstream adoption, the

seeking of more innovative controllers is not only being pushed by the public, but

from big video game companies as well. For example Nintendo’s Wii controller

resembles the look of a traditional remote controller. Microsoft has also joined the

raced for developing innovative controllers with its force feedback wheel, which is

aimed toward the racing genre. These controllers maybe slow in the development

phase but the need for these improvements is loud and clear. It is very apparent that

computer based games are becoming an integral part of our modern society.

There is a clear popularity and demand for more unique controllers. On Sony’s

Playstation 2, Guitar Hero was released with a guitar shaped controller. At Dave and

2 "Essential Facts." http://www.theesa.com/archives/files/Essential%20Facts%202006.pdf. (25 June 2006)


35

Busters, an arcade located in Milpitas that is focused on an older crowd, they have two

Japanese games that are dependent on the movement of the human body. These

games help get the gamer out of the sitting position and into a more active role in the

game.

Nintendo came up with the Donkey Konga controller, where the user will hit the

drums to initiate a certain move within the game. This controller is unique because

the player does not need to push a button or the directional pad to operate it. Instead,

the player would use the controller much like a musical instrument. Another

innovative controller developed during the life of the original Nintendo Entertainment

System, was called the Power Glove. The glove had a traditional D-pad on the

forearm and numbered buttons. The numbered buttons change the settings of the

glove. Moving the glove in certain ways controls the character on the screen.

Nintendo has developed another controller for this very console; however there was

very little popularity for this controller. U-force was a controller that utilized infrared

technology to help detect where the player’s hands were to activate a button. As a

result, the player never really had to press a button on an actual controller. The idea of

more intuitive controllers has been in development for many years. They are just

beginning to gain popular attention in mainstream media, pop culture, and in the

gaming industry today.

However, Nintendo is not the only company that has taken their chances with a

more innovative controller. During the time of the Sega Genesis, the company came

out with another controller named the Sega Activator, which was very unique. It was

an octagonal shape and began taking up more room then the traditional controller at


36

the time. To operate this controller the player had to stand in the center of the

octagon. Each side of the octagon corresponded with a button on the controller. To

active the button, you would stick your arm or leg over the panel/side of the octagon.

Along with this controller, the company also came out with another controller fishing

rod controller for their bass fishing game that was released on Sega Dreamcast.

However, the popularity of these controllers has been less then successful when it

comes to revenue growth for these various companies. We believe that our controller

that uses the entire human body would be very successful because it gets the gamer up

from their sitting position and fully give the gamer the illusion of complete immersion

into the game. Emerging trends, with new gaming technology, enable players to more

closely mimic physical interactions with their real world experiences into their game

or interactive role playing experiences. From previous initial research we have

observed that this technology is already in use. However, because we are planning on

placing the entire body, off the floor, forcing the user to concentrate on how their body

reacts to their individual movements.

The head mounted display is needed to give the user the experience of truly

flying through the 3D environment. Due to the content and its relationship with the

spiritual world, it is important to transcend the user by giving them the feeling that

they are flying through the environment. This interactive video game, though not

extremely physical, will keep the player off the couch and on their feet. Through the

use of their entire body the user will become further stimulated in the environment

because they will feel fully immersed in the 3D world.


37

PART 15. OBSTACLES

One of the challenges AGP faced during the process of building 3D content was

the inability to export static meshes from Maya to Unreal Ed. Though documented, the

process and technique referenced on several websites to aid us were unable to offer us

methods of solving our problems. This barrier lasted approximately four to five weeks,

delaying up AGP in completing other tasks that were depending on the exporting of static

meshes from Maya. With the suggestion of our advisor Janet Green, we contacted Sasha

Grueneberger of Conspiritus. Conspiritus is a former thesis group from CSU East Bay.

Upon contacting Sasha she commented that they to ran into the same problem, causing a

delay to their project as well. We compared notes and techniques as well as software

used. Essentially we used the same technology, the only difference was the volume of

Maya (Conspiritus – Maya 6 and AGP – Maya 7). *Please note that textures will not

export with static mesh.

One of the decisions our group made, that we wish we had done differently

was the allocation of time to the different tasks. When we started in fall quarter our

group made the decision to have everyone working on the same task, which was the

construction of the installation. Looking back now it would have been a wiser

decision to have started earlier on the development and building of our software

content and hardware controllers, and also for the group to have split up and taken

individual development roles on tasks at an earlier stage of our project development,

having started in the fall quarter.


38

PART 16. HOW TO

Exporting Static Meshes

When building a level in Unreal Ed it requires the use of a 3rd party 3D modeling

software, in our case it is Maya. After building the detailed models it is then required to

export them to the .ASE file format. To export from Maya we need the ActorX exporter

plug-in, as well as the placement of the unzipped msvcr71.zip folder into the plug-ins or

Window system folder. After the installation of this plug-in and the activation of the

load and auto load command in the Plug-in Manager folder, you will be able to export

static meshes using Mel script. The proper Mel script to use in exporting .ASE files is

axmesh. First highlight the desired static mesh then input axmesh in the command line

and hit enter. When the ActorX dialogs pops up fill in the desired fields and save in a

designated folder, it helps to be organized and it will keep you from going crazy looking

for the files.

Creating Terrain Maps

Unreal Ed has a very capable tool for creating terrain, and you will have to

learn how to use it to fine tune terrain, but for creating terrain from scratch I found it

is a bit clunky and awkward to work with. This next section will describe the process

that we used to create the terrain in our game. There are three programs that you will

need to make this work. One program you will need to have is Adobe Photoshop. I

used Adobe Photoshop CS2. The next program you need is a free tool called G16ed.

I used version 1.45.0, it is written by Martin G Bell, the link can be found in the

software section of the resources list. The last program you need is called

EarthSculptor. It is written by Ernest Szoka, I used version 0.25 Beta, and it is rock


39

solid. It is also freely available from his website, again see the software list. Start

with EarthSculptor, read the manual to learn how to use it but it is a fairly simple tool,

geared specifically to creating height maps. I can't say enough how wonderful this

tool is. Once you have your terrain looking the way you want choose the Utility

menu and then Export Heightmap. Save you file as a PNG. This is important

because PNG supports 16 bit gray scale images. Next open your file in Photoshop.

You could use any image editor that supports 16 bit gray scale images, but those are

hard to find.

Once in Photoshop you can perform any additional edits you like, but mainly

all you are using Photoshop for is to resize the image and save it as a RAW file.

Choose Image then Image Size. EarthSculptor has a sort of nasty habit of not saving

images sized as a power of two. All the images I worked with had been one pixel

wider in each dimension than then should have been. (513 x 513 instead of 512 x 512)

Unreal Tournament only accepts height maps in powers of two. Next you have to

save the image as a RAW file. Make sure that you do not change your working space

from 16-bit gray to 8-bit. Many filters and functions will not work in 16-bit mode,

but if you change the color depth you loose a ton of resolution in the height map.

This will make your terrain look very steep instead of smooth. Choose Save As, and

then under Format choose Photoshop Raw, and save the file.

G16ed appears to be a very capable editor of terrain maps on its own merit. It

appeared to have a steep learning curve and definitely did not have an intuitive

interface, but it does one trick and it does it well. It will take the RAW file and

convert it to a 16-bit grayscale BMP file. The only file unreal will accept with 16 bits


40

of grayscale values. Once you have it up and running choose File, then Import, then

RAW data. Find the RAW file you saved from Photoshop and import it. If you want

to you can use the tools in G16ed, but all you need to do now is choose File, Save As,

and in the Save as type make sure it is G16 bmp files (*.bmp). If you have done

everything correctly at this point unreal will import the newly created 16-bit grayscale

windows bitmap image.

Poser-to-Maya

We wanted to have very high quality models in the game so we decided to use

Poser for our characters, and integrate them into Maya for export to Unreal Ed. There

are two plug-in that I found would transfer Poser models to Maya. The first plug-in

we tried was BodyStudio 2.7 for Maya from Reiss Studios it cost one hundred and

seventy nine dollars. It works very well, but after really digging into the unreal

tournament characters, I learned that they were all based on the skeleton animation,

that is the animating of bones rather than vertices. BodyStudio 2.7 for Maya only

transferred the meshes and textures. The skeletons were left behind in the poser data.

The animations transferred beautifully and the models looked great and had exactly

the same textures they did in Poser. You could use the vertex animation, but it is not

supported well in Unreal Tournament 2004 and involves a lot of coding in unreal

script. Needless to say this plug-in was probably a waste of money.

The second plug-in we bought was the CR2 Loader for Maya - Plug-in Ver.

1.3 and Animation Loader for Maya - Plug-in Ver. 1.0 from Greenbriar Studios

together they cost three hundred dollars. This plug-in lives up to the hype, as long as

you don't crash Maya. Make sure you save before and after doing anything. For the


41

most part this plug-in is fairly straightforward. I found that it was best to have a

separate file for each animation and one for the reference pose that has no animation.

In the file with the reference posse you need to un-bind the skeleton from the skin and

rebind it with less than five influences. I found that two works best. Also create a

character set. Export this model as your skeletal mesh. If you try to add animation to

this skeleton using the plug-in to load animations from poser, you will crash Maya.

That is why my models were animated in another file. You still have to create the

character set, but don't change the binding setup. It works pretty well; the only

limitation of this plug-in is that it only allows pose-to-pose animation style. However

this can yield good results if you pick the right poses and place them the right number

of frames apart. The leg motion in the dog character is believable, but it is lacking in

tail and head motion. It doesn't look very natural but that works for our game because

everyone in the game is a spirit.

Maya-to-Unreal ED

This is a note for using the UT2004 Maya-to-Unreal Ed exporter. This will

only work with the PLE edition of Maya. we used version 7.0.1, from what we have

found it says this information somewhere, but we missed it, because we spent weeks

trying to get this to work. Hopefully this will help, instructions on how to set up the

plug-in are hidden in this directory: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My

Documents\maya\7.0PLE\docs\UT2004 Help. When you find these documents open

index.html and follow the directions. It is very clear how to setup the plug-in just as

it appears in the tutorials.


42

Actor-X Setup

If you are experienced at all with using Maya and Mel scripting, then this will

probably not be helpful. ActorX and Maya have many functions that are only

accessible from the command line. For instance if you wanted to count the number of

polygons in a object, as you need to do often when trying to design efficient low

polygon models you would have to type "polyEvaluate -f" in the command line.

Now, you can recall previous typed functions by placing the cursor in the command

line and hitting the up arrow, but that doesn't carry over each time you start the

program. It would be useful if you could have a button that called that function. You

can add your buttons to the custom shelf that call any commands you use frequently.

All you have to do is type the command in the command line, but before you press

return or enter select the entire command and click and drag it to any shelf you like.

You can do the same thing with the script editor if you prefer.


43

PART 17. PERSONAL GROWTH

Bobby Trinh

I entered the program with a BA in Art with an emphasis in both Digital Graphics

and Multimedia. The programs that I was mostly familiar with are the typical graphical

programs and authoring programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash, etc.

Understanding the conceptual theories of computer programming with electronics was

something that I was never really familiar with. However, through the program I was

able to gain a greater understanding and respect for electronics and hardware

programming. I still do not fully grasp the physical aspect of wiring but being able to

understand the concepts of how things works helped me a great deal during the last part

of the program. Another field that I grew tremendously in was in my 3D skills of

modeling architecture during our initial conceptual design stage.

Along with growth along the technical side, I believe that my conceptual skills

have improved throughout the production of this project.

Tommy Lothian

Before coming into the program I knew Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects,

Photoshop, and Pro Tools. Once in the program I learned Flash, and Action Script. I

also learned Dreamweaver, Web design principals, and project management.

I feel like I gained more knowledge about engineering, than anything else, but

only enough to be dangerous. I have a very good understanding of the inner workings

of the Unreal Tournament Engine. I feel like I have a rudimentary knowledge of how

to use Maya, it certainly was not my focus. I have a very good understanding of

BASIC and micro controllers in general. I have a good understanding of what it takes


44

to be a project manager. I have a better appreciation for the tar pits of software

development.

Victor Varela

With a degree in Art emphasized in Multimedia from CSU East Bay, I decided to

join the Graduate Program at the same school to take my skills already learned to the next

level. During the first year of the program I worked with various classmates, all of which

had different styles of design and work ethics. This experience exposed me to dealing

with various situations and allowed me to learn how to successfully complete many

projects.

In the second year of the program with my thesis group, we embarked into

unfamiliar territory for our project. For myself personally I would be using software I

hadn’t used before or wasn’t really skilled in. My skills in 3D modeling, with the use of

Maya, grew vastly with the production of all the pyramids in the Avenue of the Dead, as

well as all the 3D items in the game. I also learned how to use UnrealED, the editor for

the game engine and how to use the game engine and the 3D software to work together.

Building a wooden structure requires the knowledge of construction, something

I didn’t have. Even though another group member did most of the designing, we all had

input, as well as suggestions on how the structure would look like as a finish product.

I’ve gained skills in the area of construction and I’m satisfied that a solid and stable

structure is standing because I helped build it.

Working with two other people with different personalities and work styles has

made me a stronger person. I’ve learned to take on tasks and complete them in a timely

manner because someone else’s task depends on the completion of mine. I’ve also


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worked on my own projects; being a part of the graduate program has given me

experience of working in groups. Something that is part of the corporate world,

especially large companies that require production teams to take on projects to have them

completed in time to meet deadlines.


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PART 18. FUTURE DIRECTION OF PROJECT

During the production of this project we were able to research a vast variety of

gaming technology’s that are both in development and already out in the market. We

believe this project would be most successful in future games upon further refinement of

the overall controller and interaction. We believe with further integration of the Nintendo

Wiis’ remotes the controller can tackle a larger array of video game genres. We also

think that this project can be used for training purposes aside from entertainment-based

video games.

The first thing we would like added would be decoration on the structure itself.

It is certainly impressive in size, but with the addition of traditional Aztec art work it

would create a more authentic Aztec environment. The details would include carving

on the upright pieces. The floor would have a calendar decoration on a custom mat. I

would like the top crosspieces detailed with lettering maybe our project name and

then the various compass locations that corresponded to the temples the Aztec

believed in. The base should have some detail too. We think not having a roof is also

an aesthetic flaw in its current state, but safety should always come first and art is not

as important as fire code. We also think more padding should be added to the chest

harness. There also needs to be some kind of cooling in the floor, for the very hot PC

and the 5.1 surround amplifier. All the panels should open up on the floor, and there

should be some way to latch them down as well. Structurally the roof is too low for

the height of the floor. It is quite possible that someone could hit his or her head on

the u-bolts holding up the suspension equipment. There needs to be padding over the

clips for the cable and the ends of the wire need to cut so that there are no exposed


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edges. The handles on the Wii remotes need to be upgraded. The black ribbon is the

easiest to use, but the least pleasing aesthetically. There also needs to be some head

support, and some support for the arms to help keep them up.

In terms of software, there is a lot more that could have done with unreal, all

we were able to do in the time was utilize the complexity offered at game level,

conforming to the rules of the assault game type within Unreal. It would have been

better if we created our own modifications to the game. That would have allowed us

to have total control of every aspect of the game. There is a lot more that could have

been done with the weapon coding. It was difficult enough to get our own weapons

to appear in the game let alone control every aspect of the weapons. For example we

were not able to control the explosion of the types of weapons we modified. The jug

of water explodes just like the flak cannon alternate fire, and the jade bead explodes

like the impact grenade. All of these could have been changed, as well as the

orientation of the jug, which is currently upside down, and the yellow corona and flak

trails on the jugs of water.

The textures could also be better. The character models were not correctly

mapped on their UVs. Unreal Tournament allows the use of 2 skins of 1024 x 1024

one just for the face and one for the body. We only used one and not very effectively

at that. The cave entrance is not properly textured, neither are any of the pyramids.

The pyramids on the avenue of the dead have only one texture applied to them and it

is not very realistic. The Jade bead has a great texture, but the Jug of water has a very

noticeable seam.

The models of the pyramids are great, but the human characters need the


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weight maps painted on them more accurately. There is a huge bug in the game; if

you kill the dog it will definitely crash the game. We were not able to get the

animated beast in the game. Most likely this is because we used a custom skeleton

and there is no Karma data for that particular character.

The next thing to improve is the sound. The particular editor that we used

would not let us import any sounds and it would also not allow us to shut off any

ambient sounds such as explosions or the beasts growling. Also in order to get voice

overs in we had to stream a secondary ogg file in, which is OK, but the files have to

be as long as the game itself to keep from repeating. Again there is no way to shut

them off. There is no volume control of the secondary tracks either; the music tracks

have to be mixed in such a way that they are low enough to allow clear recognition of

the voice. This is not a negative, but it should allow for separate volume control of

secondary audio tracks.

Spawn management should also be improved. It works OK, but all the re-

spawn points have the custom weapons directly on top of them, no amount of re-

spawning will give you the custom weapons right away after you die. The result is

that if you die in the game when you start over you have the assault rifle instead of the

jug of water or jade bead.

The micro controller needs the most improvement. The sensors for the arm

should have been the more expensive ones that allow for calibration at the sensor

level rather than in software. The response of the micro controller needs to be analog

for left and right movement instead of digital. The response for forward and back

movement also needs to be analog to the game, to give people control of how fast


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they go and this would make it easier for people to stop. If there were one thing that

really detracts from the whole experience that is it. The controller needs to be smarter

as well. It needs to be able to determine whether the person meant to go straight, or

jump or turn right or left. The problem is that if someone is getting tired of holding

their arms up and lets them both sag equally they will stop going straight and the

game will interpret that the player wants to jump. Hacking a USB controller is a poor

way to get this whole thing to work. It is difficult, and very fragile. This makes

repairs and upgrades a very risky proposition. This was probably our biggest pitfall,

that and not having a backup micro-controller until the end. It is always best to Keep

It Simple Stupid. Prototyping is expensive, but ruining your only working one is

more costly. Always have two of everything that is not available at the local store.

The software for the micro controller could be optimized a little more. We would

have loved to build some of the functionality in the software into the hardware.

Although turning on and off LEDs is hardly slowing down the micro controller.

As far as future uses, we would like to see a controlled suspension. If you had

really heavy-duty servos, you could take the input of the micro controller, and

actually tilt the person in the direction they want to go, if they looked down the servos

could tilt them down or if the turned right it could turn their body to the right. In

version 2 there would be fans to move the air past you as you flew at various speeds,

different directions, different temperatures and moisture content. The supports would

be somewhat elastic. That might add to the feeling of weightlessness. Motion

tracking on the handles could be added so that you could simulate more advanced

throwing.


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The controller could be adapted to training for swimming or even maybe

skydiving. For example, it would be realistic to see an adaptation of our project used in

skydive training. The harness would be used to hold the person steady as the instructor

shows the player the correct diving positions. In regards to the controller, since the

controllers could help determine the arm positions it could stimulate the feeling of sky

diving along with visual feedback, but an ideal solution for skydiving training already

exists.

With a more refined look and a choice of different materials, we could market the

game and controller to theme parks as well as arcade rooms at shopping malls or

universities for a range of different game scenarios.


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PART 19. ASSESSMENT

When we began the journey to produce Mictlan: The Journey with all its

components we established that we wanted an immersive 3D environment and to

engage the user’s entire body. After all our hard work and effort we feel confident and

proud that we have achieved this objective. That didn’t come at an easy price, there

have been many changes to our original plans, but ultimately we feel very satisfied

with the finished product. We accomplished the task of being able to use a

stereoscopic head mounted display while orientated in the harness at a horizontal

position. The angle of the harness on the other hand was something that we had to test

at different angles, due to complaints of discomfort from some testers. After a visit

from a Chiropractor, he advised what the proper position for a participant should be

while suspended in the harness for an extended amount of time. With proper

placement of the surround sound and the tumbling mat for safety we feel the controller

is fit for playing our game. We feel that the only thing we could improve in would be

the aesthetic look of the controller, something we feel we didn’t succeed in.

The 3D world was accomplished, even though we lacked the realistic texture

found in the pyramids in Teotihuacán. Doing so allowed us to move on to important

tasks in production. We do not feel the current textures on the pyramids affect the

look and feel of the game drastically. We left out one trial from the original nine due

to the inability to integrate it into the existing world, we felt it was necessary and we

are satisfied with the results of the game.

The micro controller though functional, does act up due to over heating.

Proper measures have been taken to ensure that malfunctioning does not occur. We


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are content with the final product of the micro-controller, considering the minimal

knowledge we had in building one. We do believe upgrades can still be made to

improve speed and efficiency to the overall hardware of the project.

The overall assessment of the project is satisfactory and we feel that we did the

best we could in the amount of time we had to work on the project. Our project

actually began in the fall, instead of summer like other groups; our project was

pending committee approval. Obviously further upgrades can be made with adequate

time and financial help.


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PART 20. ILLUSTRATIONS

I. Head Mounted Display

II. Range of Movement

III. Harness Suspension

IV. Cube Frame

V. Avenue of the Dead Map

VI. World Map

VII. Aztec Character

VIII. Beast

IX. Dog

X. Storyboard – Avenue of the Dead

XI. Storyboard – Cave

XII. Storyboard – Volcano

XIII. Storyboard – Forest

XIV. Temple of the Sun


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I. Head Mounted Display

We were certain from the beginning that we wanted to use a visor that had stereovision with 360-degree field of view.


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II. Range of Movement

This sketch illustrates the range of motion a player must perform while in the harness.


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III. Harness Suspension

Our original idea for the harness would have required the player to wear a harness similar to one sky divers wear.


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IV. Cubed Frame

___________________________________________________________________

A preliminary sketch of the wooden cube equipped with the audience screen in the front.


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V. Avenue of the Dead Map

A detailed city map of the ancient city of Teotihuacán with the layout of the Avenue of the Dead and its two main Pyramids, Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon, a site that still exists in present day Mexico.


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VI. World Map

The first sketch of the terrain for the game, it includes the Avenue of the Dead and all the areas where the trials will happen.


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VII. Aztec Character


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VIII. Beast


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IX. Dog


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X. Storyboard – Avenue of the Dead


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XI. Storyboard – Cave


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XII. Storyboard – Volcano


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XIII. Storyboard – Forest


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XIV. Temple of the Sun

In creating our models of the pyramids we wanted to be as accurate as possible in our rendition of the actual place. Here is a preliminary model of the Temple of the Sun.

Here is a picture of Templo del Sol, located in Teotihuacán, Mexico.


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PART 21. APPENDIX

Appendix – A

Feedback received from volunteers who tested the project. This is data received

from three different tests.

Test 1 - Participant 1 1. The Game – Instructions / tasks / the story. After participating in the game, list in order (from the beginning of the game) the tasks that you recall were required of you, and what you needed to do to successfully complete each one and advance forward to the next task.

2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city 2 - The perception of moving through a landscape 3 - The perception of flying - - Audio effects - Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - The sensitivity seemed fine but it responded in arbitrary ways sometimes. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move forward? 3 - Ability to move Backward? - - Ability to move left? 3 - Ability to move right? 3 - Ability to Shoot? - - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your foot? -

Task Requirements - Navigate the field using the two hand controllers.

- Stay aligned and centered while your FPS keeps moving forward.


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If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. - The control was responsive but moved in wrong/awkward directions. 4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 2 - Your sense of physical safety / security? 1 - Wearing the headset? 2 (eye-piece moved from eyes when I moved head) - Audio volume levels? - If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Difficult to turn head because shoulder strap was a little in the way. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: 4- gaming - experience Any other comments… - I like the use of wii controllers + concept, but the controls need to be reworked and simplified (if that's what it takes to get them more reliable). Also, the pyramids were not solid objects sometimes.


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2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city 2 - The perception of moving through a landscape 3 - felt like any other first person shooter game. - The perception of flying 3 - Audio effects - Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - Still needs more work but on right track. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move forward? 3 - Ability to move backward? 3 - Ability to move left? - - Ability to move right? - - Ability to Shoot? - Didn't shoot anything. - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your foot? 2 If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. - I felt like I wasn't controlling the movements.

Task Requirements - To test out new video game.

- Test out the game. - Be strapped to a harness and keep head straight.


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 3 - But I can get used to it. - Your sense of physical safety / security? 3 - Wearing the headset? 4 - Kept moving not stable blurry. - Audio volume levels? 4 If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - After wards, I felt a little dizzy. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: 4 Any other comments… - I feel that with time this can really be a ground breaking game unlike any other. It will just take time to work out all the kinks.


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2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city 1 - The perception of moving through a landscape 5 - The perception of flying - - Audio effects 4 Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - The scenery in specific, the right side. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move forward? 3 - Ability to move backward? - - Ability to move left? 2 - Ability to move right? 2 - Ability to Shoot? - - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 3 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? - - Ability to maneuver with your foot? - If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. -

Task Requirements - Travel to different locations throughout the level. - Discover the course.

- Go in one direction. - Be able to control the movement throughout the environment.


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 4 - Your sense of physical safety / security? 2 - Wearing the headset? 1 - Audio volume levels? 1 If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Could use more support on legs. Head set was comfortable, but eyepiece kept moving down. Ease of moving head was difficult because harness for shoulders was in the way. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: 3 Any other comments… - Interesting simulator. I would to see more responsiveness to the controllers.


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2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city 3 - The perception of moving through a landscape 4 - The perception of flying - Didn't get to fly but I can imagine once it get completed. - Audio effects - Didn't hear any. Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move forward? 1 - Ability to move backward? 2 - Ability to move left? 4 - Ability to move right? 4 - Ability to Shoot? 5 - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 1 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? 1 - Ability to maneuver with your foot? 1 If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. - Well I understand you guys are still in the programming process. However, I had a little difficulty with going left and right when using my hands.

Task Requirements - Basically my task for the trial was just to get the controls down. - To go left. - To go right. - To go forward.

- I had to get strapped into the gaming harness. - I had to pull down my right arm. - I had to pull down my left. - I had to relax my right leg.


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 2 - Your sense of physical safety / security? 1 - Wearing the headset? 1 - Audio volume levels? - If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Having my arms extended for a period of time. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: 1 - Once the flying gets programmed this game is going to be very engaging. Any other comments… - Good work. I'm amazed by the whole setup..


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2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city 4 - The perception of moving through a landscape 3 - The perception of flying 3 - Audio effects 3 Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - Climbing up the pyramid. It's very cool. The effect makes it unbelievable. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move forward? 2 - Ability to move backward? 3 - Kind of hard to lift leg if you're out of shape. - Ability to move left? 2 - Ability to move right? 2 - Ability to Shoot? - - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your foot? 2 If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. -

Task Requirements - Going toward the pyramid.


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 3 - at the beginning it feels comfortable but after a while your back gets tired. - Your sense of physical safety / security? 2 - Wearing the headset? 3 - Audio volume levels? 2 If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Back and stomach. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: 4 Any other comments… -


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2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city 2 - The perception of moving through a landscape 2 - The perception of flying 2 - Audio effects 2 Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - Flying was fun but it could have been controlled better. Controlling of the character needs to be more sensitive. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move forward? 3 - Ability to move backward? 2 - Ability to move left? 2 - Ability to move right? 2 - Ability to Shoot? - - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? - - Ability to maneuver with your foot? 2 If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. - Moving right and left is a bit slow, should be more sensitive.

Task Requirements - Switch hit.

- Fly toward the switch


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 3 - Your sense of physical safety / security? 5 - Wearing the headset? 5 - Audio volume levels? 5 If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Arms get tired fast. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: - Any other comments… - To move forward you should put your hands forward like superman. To move backwards move your arms out like a plane. The legs in the back should be heads up and head down.


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2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city 3 - The perception of moving through a landscape 2 - The perception of flying 3 - Audio effects - Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - Player would get stuck a few times (couldn't move forward, only turning), or they would slow down/ glide slower than normal. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move forward? 4 - Ability to move backward? 2 - Ability to move left? 1 - Ability to move right? 1 - Ability to Shoot? - - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 1 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? 1 - Ability to maneuver with your foot? 1 If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. - Hard to keep head up all the time, a lower angle (that still faces you forward) would be more comfortable.

Task Requirements - Navigate the pyramids..

- Drop arms down to turn respectively, pull leg up to go backwards.


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 2 - Your sense of physical safety / security? 1 - Wearing the headset? 3 - Audio volume levels? - If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Wish the headset/ eyepiece could be locked in place/ behind head. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: - Any other comments… -


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2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city 3 - The perception of moving through a landscape 3 - The perception of flying 3 - Audio effects 3 Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - Just some clipping problems, took away from the "reality". 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move forward? 1 - Ability to move backward? 3 - Ability to move left? 3 - Ability to move right? 3 - Ability to Shoot? ? Didn't know I could shoot. - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 5 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? Didn't know I could. - Ability to maneuver with your foot? 3 If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. - Turning at times wasn't precise. It would keep turning maybe a millisecond after I desired & made moving difficulty.

Task Requirements - Turn, jump, backward walk, look around, Fly? - Climb a pyramid.

- Drop an arm, drop both arms, lift left leg, look around, jump into dust - Climb a pyramid


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 5 - Your sense of physical safety / security? 1 - Wearing the headset? 1 - Audio volume levels? 3 If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Arms are heavy to keep up that long. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: 3 Any other comments… - It was enjoyable to experience, but uncomfortable. Can't wait to see more of it.


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Test 4 – Participant 1 1. The Game – Instructions / tasks / the story. After participating in the game, list in order (from the beginning of the game) the tasks that you recall were required of you, and what you needed to do to successfully complete each one and advance forward to the next task. Task Requirements

- Talk to a man on the top. - Find the dog. - Go through the maze. - Go to the lava and fire your weapon at it. - Escape from volcano.

- Go up the steps and stop. - Go to the dog at the edge of the river - Move through the maze by following the arrow and stepping on the sparkling box. - Follow the dog up the lava; fire weapon into lava; avoid boulders. - Avoid boulders; go back down path.

2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city. 5 - The perception of moving through a landscape. 1 - The perception of flying. 3 - Audio effects. 3 Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - The area in which I occupied was very realistic. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move Forward? 4 - Ability to move Backward? 1 - Ability to move Left? 3 - Ability to move Right? 3 - Ability to Shoot? 1 - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your foot? 1 If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. -Sometimes moved around in circles. - Sensitivity problems when trying to turn in either direction.


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 3 - Your sense of physical safety / security? 1 - Wearing the headset? 2 - Audio volume levels? 1. If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Arms ached after a few minutes, the neck as well. - Somewhat difficult to breathe normally. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: 3 - Enjoyable, but I got frustrated while getting used to the movements. 6. Comfort Did you experience any pain or discomfort while playing the game? Please describe. - see “User Experience” Any other comments… - Cool game. Graphics were great and gameplay was enjoyable. It took a long time to get used to the correct movements.


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Test 4 – Participant 2 1. The Game – Instructions / tasks / the story. After participating in the game, list in order (from the beginning of the game) the tasks that you recall were required of you, and what you needed to do to successfully complete each one and advance forward to the next task. Task Requirements Had to find some guy. Had to find my dog.

Follow Arrows. Move left and right. Move Forward.

2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city. 1 - The perception of moving through a landscape. 1 - The perception of flying. 2 - Audio effects. 4 (Couldn’t really hear the music) Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - It looked and felt like I was there. Just the music wasn’t very loud. Hear him jump but no one talked. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move Forward? - Couldn’t move forward very well. - Ability to move Backward? - yes - Ability to move Left? - yes - Ability to move Right? - yes - Ability to Shoot? - yes - Ability to maneuver with your arms? - yes - Ability to maneuver with your hands? - yes - Ability to maneuver with your foot? - yes If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. - Moving forward was a little hard. Turning was fine. I spun around a lot.


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 3 (a little uncomfortable) - Your sense of physical safety / security? 1 - Wearing the headset? 1 - Audio volume levels? - Need to be a little louder. If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Harness needs more padding. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: 2 - I like the game, being in the air was interesting. The controllers I felt myself

using the d-pads to try to move instead of using my arms. I spun a lot, but overall it was cool!

6. Comfort Did you experience any pain or discomfort while playing the game? Please describe. - Just a little on the chest harness. Any other comments… - You guys got something here and it seems like it’s going to be really cool when it’s all done. The story seems interesting. Music and graphics are great.


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Test 4 – Participant 3 1. The Game – Instructions / tasks / the story. After participating in the game, list in order (from the beginning of the game) the tasks that you recall were required of you, and what you needed to do to successfully complete each one and advance forward to the next task. Task Requirements

- Did not complete any.

2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city. 3 - The perception of moving through a landscape. 4 - The perception of flying. 4 - Audio effects. 5 Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - There was no sound of flying. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move Forward? 5 - Ability to move Backward? 1 - Ability to move Left? 4 - Ability to move Right? 2 - Ability to Shoot? 3 - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 4 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? 4 - Ability to maneuver with your foot? 5 If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. -Next to walls you became stuck.


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 2 - Your sense of physical safety / security? 1 - Wearing the headset? 4 (Blurry screen needs adjustment) - Audio volume levels? 5 If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - The video screen needs adjustments for different viewers. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: - 6. Comfort Did you experience any pain or discomfort while playing the game? Please describe. - Nope Any other comments… - Game looks good for bug’s but still great.


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Test 4 – Participant 4 1. The Game – Instructions / tasks / the story. After participating in the game, list in order (from the beginning of the game) the tasks that you recall were required of you, and what you needed to do to successfully complete each one and advance forward to the next task. Task Requirements - Go to the temple. - Find the dog to go across river. - Find cave. - Complete maze.

- Simple navigation to the next objective.

2. The ‘virtual’ game experience. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very immersive and 5 being very difficult to believe, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions. - The perception of moving through a city. 2 - The perception of moving through a landscape. 2 - The perception of flying. 3 - Audio effects. 3 Please comment on any areas where you felt your ‘virtual’ game experience was less than believable and what made this so. - Jumping 20’ + feet in the air. 3. Navigation - Controls On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very difficult, rate your ‘Mictlan’ game experience with the following questions: - Ability to move Forward? 1 - Ability to move Backward? 2 - Ability to move Left? 2 - Ability to move Right? 2 - Ability to Shoot? 1 - Ability to maneuver with your arms? 2 - Ability to maneuver with your hands? 3 - Ability to maneuver with your foot? 2 If there were any navigation control difficulties in specific areas, please comment on them here. -No right, no jump, random lefts, moving forward-back + stop were hazy.


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4. User Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Comfortable and 5 being Very Uncomfortable, rate the following: - Lying in the harness? 2 - Your sense of physical safety / security? 1 - Wearing the headset? 2 - Audio volume levels? 2 (a little low) If you experienced any discomfort in specific areas, please comment on this here. - Maybe a better idea to have the arms down instead of out and move the forward to accomplish the present ‘downward’ results. 5. Gaming Experience On a scale of 1- 5, 1 being Very Engaging and 5 being Not Enjoyable, rate the following: 3 6. Comfort Did you experience any pain or discomfort while playing the game? Please describe. - Not really. Any other comments… - Good start to a real game.


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Appendix – B

___________________________________________________________________ Info – Circuit Design for Game Controller


93

___________________________________________________________________ Info – Game Controlling Software, used by micro-controller to control game play.


94

Info – Cont’


95

___________________________________________________________________

Info – Cont’


96

___________________________________________________________________

Info – Subroutine that we used to average our sensor data input.


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APPENDIX – C

Waiver Consent Form

CSU EAST BAY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION, INC. AND

CSU EAST BAY STATE UNIVERSITY

WAIVER OF LIABILITY INDEMNIFICATION AND HOLD HARMLESS AGREEMENT 1. In consideration of being allowed to participate in the Aztec Gaming Production’s (AGP) Mictlan: The Journey, I hereby

RELEASE, WAIVE, DISCHARGE AND COVENANT NOT TO SUE THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, THE TRUSTEES OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, EAST BAY STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION, INC., AND THEIR OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “RELEASEES”) from any and all liabilities, claims, demands, actions and causes of action whatsoever arising out of or related to any loss, damage, or injury, including death, that may be sustained by me or minor, or to any property belonging to me or minor, WHETHER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF THE RELEASEES, or otherwise, while participating in such activity, or while in, on or upon the premises where the activity is being conducted.

2. I am fully aware of risks and hazards connected with the activity of Aztec Gaming Production’s (AGP) Mictlan: The

Journey, the risk of which include but are not limited to bodily injury, and I hereby elect to voluntarily participate in said activity, and to enter the above-named premises and engage in such activity knowing that the activity may be hazardous to participant and my property. I VOLUNTARILY ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY RISKS OF LOSS, PROPERTY DAMAGE OR PERSONAL INJURY, INCLUDING DEATH, that may be sustained by participant, or any loss or damage to property owned by me or minor, as a result of being engaged in such an activity, WHETHER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF RELEASEES or otherwise.

3. I further hereby AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS the RELEASEES from any loss, liability, damage or

costs, including court cost and attorney’s fees, that they may incur due to participation in said activity, WHETHER CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE OF RELEASEES or otherwise.

4. It is my express intent that this Release, and Hold Harmless Agreement shall bind the members of my family and spouse, if I am

alive, and my heirs, assigns and personal representative, if I am deceased, and shall be deemed as a RELEASE, WAIVER, DISCHARGE AND COVENANT NOT TO SUE the above-named RELEASEES. I hereby further agree that this Waiver and Liability and Hold Harmless Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California.

IN SIGNING THIS RELEASE, I ACKNOWLEDGE AND REPRESENT THAT I have read the foregoing Waiver of Liability

Indemnification and Hold Harmless Agreement, understand it and sign it voluntarily as my own free act and deed; no oral

representations, statements, or inducements, apart from the foregoing written agreement, have been made. As

parent/guardian, I certify that I and he/she are in excellent health and have no physical, mental or emotional problems which

are likely to prevent participation in strenuous physical activity. I give permission for participant to be medically treated for

illness occurring or injury sustained during such participation and certify that I and he/she is covered by medical insurance.

Print Name Print Address Signature of Participant/Parent if under 18


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APPENDIX - D AGP Game Controller Risk Management Matrix

Identified Risk Likelihood of

occurring

Impact to project

Preventive Action

Contingency Action

Trigger Owner

USB Controller not compatible with game engine.

Moderate

High

No

communication between system

and USB controller

Tommy

Cable Extension Transducer (CET) not working with microcontroller

High

High

Contact the

Celesco and ask for data specs, get data specs

for microcontroller

Upgrade to

BasicATOM Pro 28,

research new circuit types to

increase compatibility

Transducer does not register with the basic stamp

code

Tommy Bobby

Cable on CET breaks

Moderate

VERY High

Order a backup

CET unit.

Use back up CET in place of damaged one. Inquire

about repairing price.

Loud cable

snapping noise

Tommy Bobby Victor

Not enough pins in the controller

Moderate

High

Create

flowchart of stamp

interactivity with controller

functions

Upgrade to

BasicATOM Pro 28

No interaction between board and controller

Victor

Nylon webbing breaks

Moderate

High

Double up on

the nylon

Reinforce the

stitching in the supports

Stitching becomes loose at the joints

Bobby

Basic stamp gets damage due to improper wiring of circuits

Low

High

Diagram circuit on paper before connecting, use a lot of resisters

to limit the current flow in

the circuit

Test circuit on smaller, and

cheaper board to avoid any

future damage to main board. Also read up

on specs

Board begins

emitting unusual amount of heat on

circuits. Box of “Magic” smoke

appears.

Tommy


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occurring

Impact to project

Preventive Action

Contingency Action

Trigger Owner

WII handles

break

Moderate

Low

Research the strength of

various types of materials to

be used as handles.

Replace the handles with

a strong material

WII remote

becomes free from the CET

Victor

Drum harness

breaks

Low

High

Find the strength

rating of the band harness

from manufacturer

Order a

stronger rated band harness

Band harness shows sign of pressure and

cracks

Tommy

Computer not fast enough to

run unreal 2004

Moderate

Moderate

Purchase additional

ram for system, possible

switch system with fast computer

Have a back up system

that is faster then the current gateway

Computer

shows long load times for

loading the game.

Bobby Tommy

PBasic and

MBasic implementation is not the same

High

High

Find various

resources online and paper on MBasic

Tommy

Bluetooth does not sync with WII remotes

High

High

Tommy Victor

Stereo flicker on external

VGA

High

Moderate

On screen

visuals not clear and shows

camera flicker – double images

of what the user sees.

Bobby Victor


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occurring

Impact to project

Preventive Action

Contingency Action

Trigger Owner

Optical audio is not working

with the system

Moderate

Moderate

Tommy

Computer

under the floor overheats

High

High

Plan on

installing ventilation

shafts through the floor

Purchase a

large cpu unit fan to aid in cooling off the board

System begins to slow down dramatically, poor response time to system

commands.

Bobby Victor

Poor wiring

and soldering connections

Moderate

Moderate

Double check all soldering connections

Re-solder the

poor connections on the board

Circuits begin to

short when in use

Tommy

Poor circuit

design

Moderate

Low

Diagram and

chart all placement of resisters and chips – label

all parts clearly

Redesign the circuit for the

board

Big difficulty in redesigning the

circuit

Tommy

Dell XPS will

not fit underneath the

floor of the game.

Moderate

Moderate

Measure the width of the

computer and compare to

the height of the floor

Downgrade

computer use to an older model that has a small width size.

Computer does not slide under the floor easily, trap door does not close with

the computer in place.

Tommy Bobby Victor

Damage to

exposed wiring.

Moderate

Moderate

Incase

exposed wiring in protective

tubing

Replace damage

wiring and place in

protective tubing.

Visible damage

to exposed wiring

Bobby


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occurring

Impact to project

Preventive Action

Contingency Action

Trigger Owner

Steel cable on harness wears thin, possible safety danger

Low

Moderate

Research on the strength and weight rating of the

cable that would be used

Upgrade to

stronger cable with a

more resistant

protective coating

Cable shows

visible signs of wearing after

various testing of the harness

Bobby Tommy Victor

Pulleys not sliding well

with the cables

Low

Low

Test various

types of pulleys from various types

of manufactures

Purchase

pulleys that are of higher quality then normal ones

Cable does not slide through

pulleys smoothly

Bobby

Eye bolts are

not strong enough to

support 500lbs

Moderate

High

Research

advantages of using forged

eye bolts.

Purchase and used forged

eye bolts

Connection on

existing eye bolts show sign

of separation

Tommy Victor

Installation

frame begins to crack and get

deformed

Moderate

Moderate

Plan for multiple

placement of steel braces for wooden

joints

Replace the broken piece of wood and use strong

steel brackets as braces

Large visible crack in the frame of the

structure

Bobby

Bolts come

loose

Low

Moderate

Check the

tension of the bolts on a bi

monthly basis

If bolt is unable to become

retighten, replace bolt and washer

Bolts are loose

when we recheck them.

Tommy Bobby Victor

Roof on

installation is possible fire

hazard

High

Low

Inquire about

fire safety with building

and fire marshal

Remove

wooden roof and replace with black

screen netting

Notification

from school and director to remove the wood roof structure

Victor


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occurring

Impact to project

Preventive Action

Contingency Action

Trigger Owner

Not enough in depth support

for Unreal Script for

unreal 2004

Moderate

High

Read over previous

projects that utilized similar

technology

Switch to

older version of unreal and

sacrifice detailed

graphics to level

Unable to

implement key parts of the

game such as: weapon

modification, sound

implementation, advanced bot

and AI control

Tommy Bobby

Unable to

model realistic terrain in UnrealEd

Moderate

High

Research

other possible 3rd party

software that can be

imported into the game

engine other then Maya

Use Maya to render terrain that would be imported into

the game engine

Unable to utilize

software tools effectively

Tommy Bobby

System conflict

between AI/Bots with

UnrealEd

Moderate

High

Go through unreal ed tutorials

Redo unreal ed tutorials and refer to the UDN

website for further support

Unreal Editor consistently

crashes

Bobby

Unable to

modify existing gun to custom gun for

project

High

VERY High

Go through

previous year’s

projects to see what

discoveries they had with

the unreal script

Hide the gun from HUD, create two meshes to shoot from

two different guns

Modification of

gun does not work with the game engine – system crashes

Tommy Bobby

Unable to export the

static meshes from Maya to

Unreal

Moderate

High

Research

ActorX tool to ensure

compatibility

Refer to

UDN network for

proper configuration

of ActorX tool

Static meshes do not import property into

Unreal

Victor


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occurring

Impact to project

Preventive Action

Contingency Action

Trigger Owner

Complex

texturing does not import into

Unreal correctly

Moderate

Moderate

Limit the amount of textures to

recommended layers of

texture that is ideal for

importing

Reduce the textures to

simple colors

Imported static meshes do not have textures when brought into the game

engine

Victor

Custom sounds do not import into the game engine due to

new sound package

High

High

Use previous

version of unreal that has custom

sound support

Replace

custom sound with subtitles

to aid in narration

Importing of sounds do not successfully

play in playback through the

editor, possible system crashes

Bobby

Unable to

control two bots and AI at the same time

High

VERY High

Control

different bots by using different

version of the xpawn

Script one

character as an xpawn and another as a

monsterpawn

Running level

with two pawns causes system to

crash

Bobby

Program two

separate spawn points for

player and 1 enemy

Moderate

High

Research the function of the spawn

manager actor with the scripted sequence

Reload level after the end of each game

Xpawn and player keeps spawning in

opposite sides of the map

Bobby

Environmental

sounds that system uses are

not realistic

Moderate

High

Use sounds

from previous versions of

Unreal to help in finding

more realistic sounds

Use the sounds

provided from Unreal in the best possible

manner and arrangement

Unrealistic sound upon

playback of the level

Bobby


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occurring

Impact to project

Preventive Action

Contingency Action

Trigger Owner

Problems with

importing Poser Models

into Maya

Moderate

High

Research any

3rd party programs that would aid in importing of models into

Maya

Find a 3rd

party program that

will aid in importing the Poser Model into Maya –

ActorX

Importing of Poser Models into Maya fail

Victor

Creating

skeletons in Maya

Moderate

High

Go through

Maya tutorials on

importing and exporting

skeletons into Maya along with creating

them

Seek advice

and help from current 3D Modeling professor at the school

Skeleton does

not react correctly with

animations when rendered

and tested

Tommy

Importing

Poser skeletons into Maya

Moderate

High

Research the 3rd party tool of ActorX in

importing skeletons

Create

skeletons from scratch in Maya and

sync it up with the

static mesh

Poser skeletons do not import correctly into

Maya

Tommy

Earth Sculptor

is not compatible

with UnrealEd

Moderate

Moderate

Research

compatibility between Earth Sculptor with

UnrealEd

Learn how to

use Unreal Editor to

make terrain through studying tutorials

Unreal Ed

crashes during importing of

terrain

Tommy


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APPENDIX – E

Computer Specifications Here is a list of all the computers and the specs that helped us in the production of our project. Keep in mind that what worked for us might not be what works for other projects.

Game Controller Gateway PC Specs:

Intel Pentium 4 1.8 GHz 1.25 GB of RAM Serial Port DVD-ROM

Installed Software: Windows XP Professional v. 2002 Service Pack 2 Basic ATOM PRO IDE Unreal Tournament 2004

Game PC Dell Precision 360

Specs: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz 2 GB of RAM NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT Over Clocked AGP 4x Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 PCI card

Installed Software: Windows XP Professional v. 2002 Service Pack 2 NVIDIA Force ware Graphics Driver v. 93.71 NVIDIA Force ware 3D Stereo Driver v. 91.31 Unreal Tournament 2004 PPJoy v. 0.83.0.000 GlovePIE v. 0.2.9.326 Xpadder v. 4.5 BlueSoleil v. 2.3.0.0

Production PC's

Specs: 2 x MacPro Towers 2 x Intel Xenon Dual-Core 2.66 GHz 2 GB of RAM or 6 GB of RAM ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512 MB PCI-E 16x


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Installed Software: Mac OSX v. 10.4.9 Adobe CS2 Maya 7.0 Unlimited Audacity 1.3.2 Blender Bryce 6.1 iLife '06 iWork '06 Levelator MacBS2 Macromedia Studio 8 Microsoft Office 2004 MOTU Digital Performer 5.1 MPEG Stream Clip NoteBook Poser 6 SlingShot Sorenson Squeeze TechTool Pro 4 Toast 8 Titanium Unreal Tournament 2004 iDefrag SuperDuper! Boot Camp XiphQT v. 0.1.7 Plug-in for QuickTime Windows XP Professional v. 2002 Service Pack 2 Unreal Tournament 2004 UnrealED Karma Authoring Tool (KAT) Photoshop CS2 Maya 7.0 Unlimited Maya 7.0.1 PLE Poser 6.0 Upaint EarthSculptor G16ed Basic ATOM PRO IDE WOTgreal ConText SyncToy ActorXTool v.244 Plug-in for Maya 7.0 UT2004 Plug-in for Maya 7.0 PLE BodyStudio v. 2.6.08 Plug-in for Maya or CR2Loader v 1.3 Plug-in for Maya


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Animation Loader v. 1.0 Plug-in for Maya NVIDIA Texture Tools Photoshop Plug-in

Specs: Dell XPS 710 Intel Core 2 Quad 2.66 GHz 2 GB of RAM 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256 MB PCI-E 16x SLI

Installed Software: Same as MacPro Boot Camp Install Microsoft Office 2003 Adobe CS2 QuickTime Pro Macromedia Studio 8 Audacity


108

APPENDIX – F

Marketing

Logo


109

Business Cards


110

Postal Cards


111

T-Shirts


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Appendix – G

Hardware and Software Research

Here are some of the alternate hardware and software products that we considered

initially in planning for production of our project.

3D Software SketchUp is a free 3D application from Google. It is all around excellent 3D

application. It is very easy to create anything in 3D. SketchUp is designed for

professional architects, civil engineers, and filmmakers. It is marketed as an easy-to-use

conceptual tool with a simple interface. Add-ons can be downloaded from website. One

such add-on allows the user to export the 3D model as a .kmz file, which can then be

opened in Google Earth. SketchUp is highly stylized, it is limited to a very sketchy or

hand drawn sort of motif. It does not yield a very photorealistic result, but for creating

basic models that can be used in other 3D applications it is a good tool. Considering the

price and the ease of use, I don’t think there is a reason that we should not use it. There

is a good community that has created many components and extras.

Blender is a free open source 3D software solution. It was recently used to create

the first open source movie released under the General Public License, called “Elephants

Dream”. As far as I can tell this was done by the community to prove that blender is a

viable alternative to other 3D software packages like Maya and 3D Studio Max. It is

certainly feature rich. The problem that I see with using open source software is that

software engineers write it, and in general not much emphasis is placed on interface

design and usability. That is not to say that this is the case with all open source, but the

people that no how to use the application are going to be the ones who wrote it. As with

all High-end 3D applications, there is going to be a steep learning curve. There is

certainty plenty of documentation, but it is all done online in the form of wikis and user

groups, rather than books and tutorials. The real reason that we more than likely will not

use blender is that it, doesn’t support at least up front what we need to do in the end,

which I’m guessing is create the level and import it into UnrealEd. 3D Studio Max and


113

Maya, all have plug-ins freely available tat will translate our creation in these programs

to the unreal Environment which is the engine will more than likely end up using.

SOFTIMAGE XSI V.5.11 is a 3d character-rendering program that has been

used in various current video games today. It is also important to note that Softimage is a

subsidiary of Avid Technology. Avid Technology is well know to produce innovative

tools for animators and digital artists in video production and game industries. In the

newest version of Softimage XSI they have included a small tool which is called

“Softimage: Face Robot.” This new tool allows greater control in the rendering of facial

features to a 3d character. Through the use of this tool, the creator is able to make facial

expressions more realistic to how the human body’s natural muscles react.

There are various key items to the program that make this ideal. Through the

website the company claims “A comprehensive C++ SDK, a variety of industry-standard

scripting languages, and support for over 50 2D and 3D file formats, make XSI is the

heart of any character production pipeline.” As we can already tell this program would be

mainly used to create characters that would be utilized in the game. This program does

however have the capability to be used in video game design; however it does not seem it

is the program’s intention.

One of the many improvements to this program is that they have made it more

versatile to accepting a larger variety of multimedia programs to assist in the free

exchange of digital assets. On the rendering side, they have made a vast improvement in

rendering in real time. What this means is that when the object is fully rendered you are

able to adjust the light source and the object would react to it without having to render the

object several times. Through this innovative tool, you are able to render portions of the

object while still keeping all other parts of the object non rendered. However, Softimage

has finally offered further support on other 3d programs that can be used in their

program. These programs include Autodesk 3ds Max, and Maya. What is the importance

of this? Every program has certain features that make their program unique and

sometimes preferred over other 3d and 2d programs. With the further compatibility of

these platforms it allows for several users to collaborate without having the challenge of

learning the tools of each different program. Lastly, Softimage XSI has improved on their

texture-mapping tool allowing ore complex textures to be applied to the user’s characters.


114

With every program there are some downsides, because this program is fairly new

there are several bugs that have arrived. One of the main bugs that we are able to see as a

problem is during the rendering process. According to the website, the system would

sometimes freeze causing a delay in the creation process. One can already assume how

damaging this would be when it comes to time.

3d Max allows the user to “Generate realistic characters for a top-selling

game. Create rich and complex design visualization. Autodesk® 3ds Max® 9 3D

animation, rendering and modeling software lets game developers, design visualization

professionals, and visual effects artists maximize their productivity and tackle

challenging animation projects.” One of the strong points to this program is that it allows

you to create 3d animations in layers. This allows the user to turn on and off certain

layers thus making it easier for the system to process this without having to worry about

running out of ram. Another reason why this is a benefit is that it allows the user to break

up very dense scenes without having to worry about ruining other parts of the animation.

3d Max has also improved in their texture mapping ability in a move to make their

characters more realistic. In the previous version of this program users were unable to

switch from hi resolution and low resolution when working with this program. In the new

version the user now has that ability therefore making their workflow much more

efficient.

“Mental ray® 3.5 software adds powerful rendering functionality to 3ds Max 9.

Create photorealistic skies based on the position of the sun with Physical Sun and Sky

mental ray shader. New Architectural and Design shaders make it easier for designers and

architects to create effects such as blurred reflections, frosted glass, and glossy car paint.

The ability to create bump mapping on glossiness only and to simulate round corners and

soft edges makes objects appear even more natural and true to life.” This is a huge

advantage because it allows the creation of both characters and level design. With the

special effects that this program offers we are able to create our 3d world to be as realistic

as possible giving the player a true immersive experience.

Provided from researching various other artists who have used 3d studio max, the

rendering capabilities make the end product of this program very popular. This program

can be easily used for interior or exterior design as well as character design. Because we


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are opting to use the unreal tournament engine there is a lot of documentation between

the compatibilities of the game engine and the program. 3d studio max also seamlessly

able to convert Autocad files into studio max files, Autocad is a program mostly popular

for its architectural building capabilities. The capabilities of this program can already

been seen in popular industry games today, especially on the newest console by

Microsoft, the Xbox 360.

IRRLicht is another 3d program that is currently under development but is free

for the public to use. Obtaining this 3d program is extremely easy to come by. This also

serves as a strong advantage because the ability to get this program is fairly high. This

program does offer some advantages in the rendering areas. This program uses

independent software renders. Ultimately, this program accepts many more rendering

programs then the standard 3d program. This program can also be used in both character

and level design, which would fit the need of the project. However, because this program

is still under development the chances for possible bugs and glitches increase. The

website for the program offers some in depth documentation regarding this program.

Because this program is still in the development stage, the makers of this program have

made it very versatile and compatible with other 3d programs such as Maya and Studio

Max. Another positive aspect to this program is that this program is platform

independent. What does this mean? Basically the program can be used on any computer

platform with any kind of operating systems. It allows for multiple users to use the same

program on different computing systems that best matches the user’s comfort level.

On the negative aspect of this program is mainly from the fact that this program is

really new. And with a new program there is the possibility of various bugs and glitches

that can occur, regardless of how in depth the information provided from the company

website.

3D Engines

Crysis Engine is as far as we can tell the most visually advanced game engine

around. It is a 3D engine that yields photo realistic results. There are several screen

shots, that show photos of islands and the same island rendered in the crysis engine, side

by side and you can barely tell the difference. The crisis engine is currently available

only for the serious developers. The company is called CryTech and they will sell the


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engine to serious developers only and to even find out the price you have to be under a

non-disclosure agreement.

Quake Game Engine - The main difference between quake and the various older

game engine is that its ability to truly utilize 3d rather then 2d. Many game engines will

use 2d and utilize the X and Y coordinates to give the illusion of 3d. The Quake game

engine however does not use this, it utilizes the true 3d space. The lighting technique that

the game engine uses is more realistic on both the environment and with the characters

that the user should bring into the video game. Aside from the intuitive nature of this

engine, the open source information for this engine is very abundant. This game engine

contains a lot of information that has been relied upon by many video game enthusiasts. It

is also important to mention that the controller layout on the keyboard is much more

common and comfortable for many players then the traditional mouse and keyboard

combination.

On the negative aspect of this engine is that the newest version of this game

engine is still not attainable. The quake 2 game engine is easy enough to obtain, however

because we will be using Maya as our 3d rendering program there may be some minor

conflicts between the two programs working together. Also, there is little documentation

between the two programs supporting each other.

3D Visors

The V-Real Viewer 3D is portable, lightweight (small and snug to ensure a

comfortable fit) and design for use with a PC.

• Full color, quality viewing and vivid graphics

• Connect to computer via a d-sub 15 pin connector and any video source

• Compatible with any version of Windows

• Head tracker can be added to track head movement

• Integrated headphones provide Stereo Surround Sound

• Includes eye-cups to block outside light


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Specifications:

• Resolution: 800x600

• Virtual Image Size: 76" at 11'


• Input Signal: NTSC/PAL Video, VGA

• Modes: 2D and 3D Stereoscopic

• Eye Relief: 25MM

• Power Consumption: 6V

Cost

• V-Real Viewer PC 3D with Earbuds - $749.00

• V-Real Viewer PC 3D with Headphones - $799.00

• Battery and Charger - $149.00

• Integrated Microphone with Voice Recognition Software Add $125.00

Visette45 SXGA is a fully immersive head mounted display that is lightweight

and comfortable and offers new display technology.

• Product design will allow for integration of wide rage of precision trackers

• Low power consumption

• Dual input signal for Video and PC (the 3D version only)

Specifications:

• Full stereoscopic type

• Resolution: 1280x1024


• Input Signal: Analog RGB, DVI, NTSC/PAL, S-video

• Virtual Image Size: 80”


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• Power Consumption: Input – AC80 to 280 / Output – 5V, 3.3V

• Modes: 2D and 3D

Cost

• 2D version - $8,500.00

• 3D version - $9,750.00

These are just two of the head mounted displays that have the features we would like. We

are currently leaning towards the V-Real Viewer 3D for its price, but we are still

conducting research for other similar products.


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PART 22. WORKS CITED

We have included a list of all the references that were used during the process of our project development. Art and Content Sources

• Andres's Homepage. Nov.-Dec. 2006 <http://webpages.csus.edu/~sac18212/>. • "Arrival of the Spanish." Sept.-Oct. 2006

<http://www.sbceo.k12.ca.us/~vms/carlton/spanish.htm>. • "Art and Archaeology." Greg Sandor. Feb.-Mar. 2007

<http://www.gregsandor.com/>. • "Avenue of the Dead." Oct. 2006 <http://www-

math.mit.edu/~rstan/photos/mexico/avenue_of_the_dead.jpg>. • "Aztec Clip." Click on Cuernavaca. Sept.-Oct. 2006

<http://www.clickoncuernavaca.com/more%20pages/clip%20art/aztec_Clip_III.jpg>.

• "Aztec Gods and Deities." Aztec Calendar. Oct.-Nov. 2006 <http://www.azteccalendar.com/god/>.

• Aztec Mod. Apr. 2007 <http://aztecmod.darkesthourgame.com/>. • "Aztec Moon Goddess." Mystic Unicorn. Oct.-Nov. 2006

<http://www.mysticunicorn.com/PCO-P3.html>. • "Aztec Mythology." Wikipedia. Sept. 2006

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_mythology>. • "Aztec." Wikipedia. Oct. 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec>. • Based on the Myth of the Suns and the Toltec-Chichimec Origins of the Mexican

People, as translated by Willard Gingerich, in The Flayed God. by Roberta H. and Peter T. Markman

• "Eagle Knight." Click on Cuernavaca. Dec. 2006 <http://www.clickoncuernavaca.com/more%20pages/AztecClip.htm>.

• Food Museum. Oct.-Nov. 2006 <http://foodmuseum.typepad.com/food_museum_blog/images/aztec.jpeg>.

• "Indigenous Internet." Iicoc. Nov.-Dec. 2006 <http://www.iicoc.com/Education>. • "Introduction to the Aztec Calendar." Aztec Calendar. Oct.-Nov. 2006

<http://www.azteccalendar.com/azteccalendar.html>. • "Mexican and Aztec History." Montezumas. Oct. 2006

<http://www.montezumas.com.au/aztec.htm>. • "Mictlan Myth." Oct. 2006 <http://home.freeuk.com/elloughton13/quest6.htm>. • Mod DB. Feb.-Mar. 2007 <http://mods.moddb.com/9170/aztecempire/>. • "Origin of the Day of the Dead." Gold Reef. Nov. 2006

<http://www.goldreef.com/diademuertos/hollowsday/origin.html>. • "Other Cultures." Myth Web. Oct. 2006

<http://www.mythweb.com/teachers/why/other/mictlan.html>.

• "Pictures." Aztec Mythology. Oct. 2006 <http://aztechyde.pbwiki.com/Pictures>.


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• "Pre Columbian America." Wise Gorilla. Feb. 2007 <http://www.wisegorilla.com/images/aztec/aztec.html>.

• "Pulque." Wikipedia. Nov. 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulque> • Sonora News. Nov.-Dec. 2006

<http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2005/2005-11/051102/imagesedition/art-02-fs.jpg>.

• "Spirit Hit." News. Dec. 2006 <http://news.spirithit.com/images/uploads/culture_art_ext_194x215/12.16.04_aztec-3_378.jpg>.

• "State." TYC. Oct.-Nov. 2006 <http://tyc.state.tx.us/images/hispanic_mural.jpg>. • "Teotihuacan." Instructional 1. Oct.-Nov. 2006

<http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/bevans/Art446-03-Teotihuacan/WebPage-Full.00014.html>.

• "Teotihuacan." Native Web. Nov. 2006 <http://nativeweb.org/pages/pyramids/teotihuacan.html>.

• "Teotihuacan." Richard Seaman. Oct.-Nov. 2006 <http://www.richard-seaman.com/Travel/Mexico/Teotihuacan/index.html>.

• "Teotihuacan." Shunya. Sept.-Oct. 2006 <http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/Mexico/Teotihuacan.htm>.

• "The Avenue of the Dead." Archaeology of Teotihuacan. Sept.-Oct. 2006 <http://archaeology.asu.edu/teo/intro/dead.htm>.

• "The Jean Charlot Collection." The Jean Charlot Collection. <http://libweb.hawaii.edu/libdept/charlotcoll/murals/mural12.html>.

• Wise Gorilla. Feb. 2007 <http://www.wisegorilla.com/images/aztec/aztec.html>. Books

• Baker, Stephen, and Song Speckels. "Apollo Beyond." Diss. California State Univ., East Bay, 2006.

• Brooks, Jr, Frederick P. The Mythical Man-Month. Boston: Addison-Wesley, 1995. 1-322.

• Busby, Jason, Zak Parrish, and Joel Van Eenwyk. Mastering Unreal Technology the Art of Level Design. Indianapolis: Sams, 2005. 1-962.

• Clark, Ruth C., and Richard E. Mayer. E-Learning and the Science of Instruction. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2003. 1-322.

• Flynt, Ph.d., John P., and Brandon Booth. Unreal Tournament Game Programming for Teens. Boston: Thomson, 2007. 1-283.

• Flynt, Ph.d., John P., and Chris Caviness. Unreal Script Game Programming All in One. Boston: Thomson, 2006. 1-596.

• Kearsley, Steve, Linh Nguyen, Ivonne Proano, Xavier Velazquez, and Sasha Grueneberger. "Conspiritus." Diss. California State Univ., East Bay, 2005.

• O'sullivan, Dan, and Tom Igoe. Physical Computing Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers. Boston: Thomson, 2004. 1-464.

• Reinhardt, Robert, and Joey Lott. Flash MX 2004 Action Script Bible. Indianapolis: Wiley, 2004. 1-938.


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• Ridell, Danny, Morgan Robinson, and Nathaniel Stein. Visual Quickstart Guide MAYA 7 for Windows and Macintosh. Berkeley: Peachpit P, 2006. 1-548.

Game Engine Support

• "A Mac UT Website." OSX. Oct.-Nov. 2006 <http://osx.beyondunreal.com/>. • Angel Mapper. Mar. 2007 <http://www.angelmapper.com>. • "Beginner's Guide." Chimeric. Feb. 2007

<http://chimeric.beyondunreal.com/tutorials/beginners_guide1.html>. • BeyondUnreal. Mar. 2007 <http://www.beyondunreal.com>. • Bulldozer. Feb. 2007 <http://www.bulldozer.utjag.co.uk/WaveToUMX.htm>. • Clantemplates.Com. Mar. 2007

<http://forums.clantemplates.com/showthread.php?t=67272>. • "CaveUT 2004 V.1.1." PlanetJeff. Jan. 2007

<http://www.planetjeff.net/ut/CaveUT.html>. • "Code." Tigoe.

<http://www.tigoe.net/pcomp/code/archives/pbasic_basic_stamp/index.shtml>. • "Coding for Fun." Mar. 2007

<http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/archive/2007/02/19/1719502.aspx>. • "Commands." UT Console. Nov.-Dec. 2006

<http://unreal.epicgames.com/UTConsole.htm>. • GameDesign.Net Prefabs. Nov. 2006 <http://prefabs.gamedesign.net/>. • "GDSE." Game Development Search Engine. Oct.-Nov. 2006

<http://www.gdse.com/>. • "Home Page." Unreal Wikis. Feb. 2007 <http://www.unrealwiki.com>. • Jabjuba. Mar. 2007 <http://www.jabjuba.com/new/unreal_editor_tutorial.html>. • "Latest Site News." Cyber Loonies. Nov. 2006 <http://www.cyberloonies.com/>. • Machinima.Com. Mar. 2007 <http://www.machinima.com/article.php?id=108>. • Old Unreal. Apr. 2007

<http://www.oldunreal.com/UnrealReference/mp3_2_umx/index.html>. • "Overview." Unreal Script. Mar. 2007 <http://unreal.student.utwente.nl/uncodex-

u1/overview.html>. • Planet Unrel. Feb. 2007

<http://www.forumplanet.com/planetunreal/topic.asp?fid=3694&tid=1942150>. • "Tutorials." Architectonic. Mar. 2007

<http://architectonic.planetunreal.gamespy.com/first_level.html>. • "Unreal Developer Network." EpicGames. Feb.-Mar. 2007

<http://udn.epicgames.com/Main/WebHome.html>. • "Unreal Engine 2 Runtime." Epic Games. Jan. 2007

<http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/UnrealEngine2Runtime.html>. • "Unreal Maps." Feb. 2007

<http://www.intergate.com/~spentron/unreal/index.html>. • Unreal Playground. Feb. 2007 <http://www.unrealplayground.com/>. • "Unreal Tournament 2004 Mod Author Support Site." Epic Games. Nov. 2006

<http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/PublicModResource.html>. • "Unreal Tournament." Unreal.IE. Oct.-Nov. 2006 <http://Unreal.ie/>.


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• "Unreal Tournament Mutators." Unreal Tower. Mar. 2007 <http://www.unrealtower.org/utmuts>.

• "Wolf's Tutorials." Feb. 2007 <http://unreal.gamedesign.net/tutorials/ued.shtml>. General Sources

• "Computer Software Training." VTC. Jan.-Feb. 2007 <http://www.vtc.com/index.php>.

• "Entertainment Software Association." ESA. Nov. 2006 <http://www.theesa.com/index.php>.

• "Essential Facts." 25 June 2006 <http://www.theesa.com/archives/files/Essential%20Facts%202006.pdf>.

• “Entertainment Software." ESA. 21 June 2006 <http://www.theesa.com/index.php>.

• “Healthy Gaming Guide.” X Box. 22 June 2006 <http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/familysettings/healthygamingguide.htm>.

• "LiquidIce's Nintendo Wii Hacks." Wii Hacks. Jan.-Feb. 2007 <http://wiihacks.blogspot.com/>.

• "News." ZDNet. Jan.-Feb. 2007 <http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,39020351,2103574,00.htm>.

• Obsidian Entertainment. Apr. 2007 <http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php>. • "Ogg." Wikipedia. Jan. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg>. • "Our Blog." IStock Photos. Jan. 2007 <http://www.istockphotos.com>. • "Pulley." Wikipedia. Oct. 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulley>.

Hardware Sources

• Basic Micro. Jan. 2007 <http://www.basicmicro.com/>. • "Beginning with the Basic Stamp." Maker Faire. Jan. 2007

<http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/03/beginning_with_the_basic.html>.

• "Calculate Resistor Values From Color Codes." DannyG. Feb. 2007 <http://www.dannyg.com/examples/res2/resistor.htm>.

• Celesco. Jan.-Feb. 2007 <http://www.celesco.com/>. • “Cyber Mind.” HMD. 20 July 2006

<http://www.cybermindnl.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=50&category_id=ced1bd070c3193f0349579a021e83Da7&option=com_phpshop&Itemid=1>.

• "Circuit Bending." Maker Faire. Feb. 2007 <http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/circuit_bending_4.html>.

• "Current-to-Voltage Converson." Science Hypermedia. Feb. 2007 <http://elchem.kaist.ac.kr/vt/chem-ed/electron/circuits/itov.htm>.

• "I-Pac." Ultimarc. Feb.-Mar. 2007 <http://www.ultimarc.com/ipacve.html>. • Jan.-Feb. 2007 <http://www.vrealities.com/vrealviewer3D.html>. • "Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)." The Electronics Club. Feb. 2007

<http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm>.


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• Mac DevCenter.Com." O'Reilly. Dec. 2006 <http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2005/02/basic_stamp_primer.html>.

• "Multimeter Tutorial." Maker Faire. Jan.-Feb. 2007 <http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/multimeter_tuto.html>.

• "Products." Cybermind. Dec. 2006 <http://www.cybermindnl.com • "Soldering Tutorial." Maker Faire. Feb. 2007

<http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/soldering_tutor_1.html>. • "Student Shop." Journey Ed. Oct. 2006 <http://www.journeyed.com/home.asp>. • V-Real Viewer 3D. 18 July 2006

<http://www.vrealities.com/vrealviewer3D.html>. • ZD Net UK . 28 June 2006

<http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,39020351,2103574,00.htm>. Maya and 3D Sources

• 3D Buzz. Sept. 2006 <http://www.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/sv_home.php>. • 3D Cad Browser. Mar. 2007 <http://www.3dcadbrowser.com/>. • 3D Commune. Feb. 2007

<http://www.3dcommune.com/3d/store/display.mv?vs_mura>. • "3D Modelling & Animation." ACL. Mar. 2007

<http://acl.arts.usyd.edu.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=59>.

• "3d Visor.Com." EMagin. Dec. 2006 <http://www.3dvisor.com/>. • “Alias Maya” JourneyED.Com. 26 June 2006

<http://www.journeyed.com/itemDetail.asp?T1=28126476+Y1999>. • Autodesk Maya. 25 June 2006

<http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7635018>. • Autodesk. Feb.-Mar. 2007

<http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/home?siteID=123112&id=129446>. • "Client Side Tutorials." Wavelenght. Sept.-Oct. 2006

<http://articles.thewavelength.net/269/>. • Content Paradise. Apr. 2007 <http://www.contentparadise.com/>. • "Creative Games." Creative Technologies. Feb. 2007

<http://creativetechnology.salford.ac.uk/fuchs/index.htm>. • "Documentation." Autodesk. Sept.-Oct. 2006

<http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=8782084&siteID=123112>. • "Documentation." Autodesk. Sept.-Oct. 2006

<http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=8782084&siteID=123112>. • "High End 3D." High End 3D. 07 Oct. 2007 <http://www.highend3d.com/>. • "Hints." Game Spot. Dec. 2006

<http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/ut2004/hints.html>. • Jan. 2007 <http://www.learning.maya.com • "Making Clothes." Free UK. Nov. 2006

<http://home.freeuk.com/elloughton13/everyday6.htm>.


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• "Maya Tutorial Database." Learning-Maya.Com. Oct. 2006 <http://www.learning-maya.com/index.php>.

• "Maya Tutorials." Ultimate 3D Links. Jan. 2006 <http://www.3dlinks.com/tutorials_maya.cfm>.

• "Mutators." Mar. 2007 <http://www.loony.loony.name/Tutorials/Mutators.htm>. • Pixel Corps. Oct.-Nov. 2006 <http://www.pixelcorps.com/index.php>. • Poser World. Feb. 2007 <http://www.poserworld.com/Home.aspx>. • Renderosity. Mar. 2007 <http://market.renderosity.com/>. • "Society for American Archeology." SAA. Sept.-Oct. 2007 <http://saa.org/>. • "Tutorials." Tutorialized. Sept. 2006

<http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Maya/1>. • "Tutorial Section." Corrupted Imagery. Feb.-Mar. 2006

<http://corruptedimagery.com/tutorials/unreal/mayatounreala.htm>. • "Tutorials." Jeffparrot.Com. Oct.-Nov. 2006

<http://www.jeffparrott.com/mayaut2k3_01.html>. • Vanishing Point. Mar. 2007 <http://www.vanishingpoint.biz/>.

Music

• James Horner. Apocalypto (Score From the Motion Picture). Hollywood Records, 2006.

Web Design Sources

• ActionScript.Org. Jan.-Feb. 2007 <http://www.actionscript.org>. • FlashKit.Com. Feb. 2007 <http://www.flashkit.com>.

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