Antarctica & Question Edited

Did some good ol' Google Imaging on Antarctica and glaciers. It's pretty bad of me, but I'm slowly starting to think of altering my question. The more I research, the more I realize I want to expand from "Global Warming" to "Endangered Animals". It would give me more leeway with environments, rather than being stuck to Antarctica.

That being said, I'm only to design one level of this interactive software for classwork specifications...but I love a good challenge!

I hope I don't regret it later but, here's my brand spankin new question: How can I show the impact and losses of endangered animals to kids in a simple and engaging way, through a 3D environment/world?

With that established, some more inspiring imagery:

Booterfliez

Should be concentrating on question more, but here are some simple concept sketches I've been working on for my Antarctic level:

I still haven't been able to scan in my doodles, but I decided the user needs a guide in this unknown place to give hints, tips or basic advice. It took me awhile to go with a rare or near extinct species of butterfly. At first, I was thinking a fairy and cleverly naming it "Mother Nature", but doubted that would appeal to male players. I liked birds, but felt for modelling and animating purposes, a black butterfly is badass enough too.

Upload doodles and butterfly genes soon! And some studies into Antarctica.

Theme and Question

I've FINALLY settled on a theme/question! I've decided to go with an Interactive Education Tool theme, aimed at kids (8 - 12) about the animals that disappear due to the effects of Global Warming. The environment will most likely be set in a snowy landscape, and the animals will also offer clear, simple tips and advice and thank the player for being Global Warming aware.

Final Question: How can I show the impact of Global Warming to kids in a simple and engaging way, through a 3D environment/world?



Things to consider with this question: What characters would the player encounter? (which animals?), What would the environment look like? Will the child understand the interactive demonstration? Will he react in a positive (or negative) manner and learn from the demonstration?

Another thing I'm undecided about: Should it be a fantasy style environment? Or stick closely to the landscape of Antarcitca?

I'll upload afew sketches I've been working on when I have access to a scanner. Going to get down and work on some Photoshop drawings when my laptop is fixed!

A simple singular interaction

I came across this video a couple of years ago, and I recentlly dug it up. I love the simple yet monotone blue/white world, and the one interaction with the mysterious women. It's pretty... :3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb_ZU1lCgnc

It was created with:

DarkBASIC Professional, DBPro Plugins, Gamecrypt, Sparky's Collision, EZRotate, Enhanced Animation, Autodesk 3dsMax 8, Adobe Photoshop CS3

Not sure how I can do something this cool in UDK...

Themes and Decisions

I'll be updating this blog for Advance Interaction, and will use it as my 100% digital sketchbook to document my progression in this course...

That being said, there are loads of different themes and they need alot of time and consideration, so not rushing... :)

In the mean time, I've been made leader of our current group, and our theme was "making travel easier within a town - consider navigation, travel, and tourism". Our team bonded quite well, and we brainstormed for over an hour.

Well, until I have better ideas for this project, ciao~