Demersus Devlog #3 - Pipeline Test 1/3

The Pipeline

What I’m referring to as the pipeline is the process I’ve devised a little bit ago when brainstorming new ideas for the ZTGK contest. Basically it describes the full step-by-step process of digitizing a sculpted clay model through processing, rigging, mocap and engine use:

The Steps

Here is a little note I jotted down with my thoughs / issues I’ve found for each step:

Concept Art

Besides me not being a great artist and not having enough skill to draw something worthwile, this went along pretty well, the most important bit is that I got the idea / plan of what I wanted to do in clay on paper so I can reference it.

Armature

I wanted to start out the ‘clay’ process by creating a rough armature with the wire I got specifically for this task (after watching a few videos about using model clay I’ve noticed that I might’ve gotten a wire that is too thin though). I’ve also noticed that people usually use some sort of hand drill to twist the wires together so they hold their shape better. To make that easier for myself, I’ve designed and 3D printed a custom bit for my Bosch battery powered drill:

During testing however, the bit held up surprisingly well - no issues at all with the 3D print itself, however I could feel the tiny drill straining and I had issues clamping down the wire on the opposite side.

The Pivot

After some more thought I’ve decided to abandon the wire approach for a few different reasons, mainly the increased difficulty of working with it and most likely uncertain / uneven results.

The current approach I want to try is digitally sculpting a base ‘skeleton’ / armature (most likely in Blender ), 3D printing it and using that as the basis for the clay (depending on how well things go, maybe even abandoning the addition of aluminum foil).

What’s Next?

Up next is testing out the new approach and finishing up the Pipeline test plus creating a simple, initial sandbox project for gameplay and mechanics testing.