Developer Log - 04/04/21

Approach: I have a set of carnival models that I need to design and texture, and I felt that going about modelling these models by first blocking the form and then applying a minimum set of subdivisions would help with managing my time and workflow. 

I went about today creating a cabinet version for whack-a-mole, using a reference image to at least get an approximation for the scale and shape of the main frame to develop with a cube polygon and plane polygon to create a circular cut-out for the surface where the moles will pop out from. Again Maya is the main software for modelling and Substance painter for the colouring.

First attempt at modelling the whack-a-mole model was to start off with a larger scale, mainly to have enough space between the holes to reduce overlap or have an exaggerated mesh. A cube polygon primarily was utilised, removing the faces besides the front-facing surface to circularize the selected faces to make a circle.  Then I connected the copied components together with the snap-to-pivot and linked another cube polygon (with the top face removed) using the target to wield tool.

I found that the linked sections with base cube wasn't seamless and had a few vertices stretching in areas that weren't aligned, so I decided to create another whack-a-mole model that prioritised the player's accessibility without hindering my workflow to prompt procrastination. 

Went for a scaled size that gives a semblance to the real-life counter part, and had applied more edge loops to smooth out the mesh to make the edges for the cube polygons rounded, with the hopes of making the main frame look plastic. Kept the circular hole surfaces but shrunk them to a scale that was able to fit into the centre without the mesh acting up and proceeded once done to import into substance painter for the basic colour.

Separated the model into four parts: Main frame, Sides, Surface Board and Coin Slot, for better organisation and preparation for further texturing for later. Sticking with the comic book / cartoony style still.