Week 7: Sentry Gun Post Mortem

This week was the last week of my sentry gun project, and I finished it to a standard I am over the moon with. I actually had time to not only fix everything and make it work correctly in in engine, but also time to experiment with different effects.

Final Sentry Gun Render

My texture turned out pretty good too, I like how I managed to create a rough rocky grainy texture for the stone parts and a nice crisp crystal blue for the power crystals and crystalline sections of the crab.

Sentry Gun Albedo Texture

I struggled with the engine work quite a bit though, when I first set up my turret the main body shell would move around the axis correctly however the claws would not rotate at the same axis, so they clipped my model.

Eventually I fixed everything so it worked correctly, then I had a chance to play! I made an emissive map so my crab and its projectile would pulsate light.
 

Emissive Glow on High

Emissive Glow on Low

I also had a chance to slow down the rate at which the projectiles and ejected casings were fired, and their lifespan (how many would be on screen at once). I did include a sound when ever a projectile is launched, however I can't show you through photos!

Play Test

A nice touch was that when you got near the sentry gun, it would tilt up like a little crab saying hello, and I fell in love, he's so cute! This gave me an idea for the last minute add we had for the project, a marketing poster. I had no clue before this moment, but some quick inspiration had me throw this together quickly.

Overall I love how this has turned out, there were parts I struggled with but I still thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I have learned so much, what I'm good at and what I really need to work, and how. Again my most valuable tool has been talking to other people, for feed back and help. They've helped me and I even helped out others struggling with parts that I managed to fix. Finally I'll just throw in the rest of my beauty shots, taking a look at different angles of my crab.