ITCD Capstone Final Report -...

Stephanie Goehringer | ITCD Capstone Final Report | Night at the Ottertorium | 1

ITCD Capstone Final Report

School of Information Technology & Communication Design

Capstone Advisor: Pat Watson

By Stephanie Goehringer


Table of Contents

Abstract 3 Executive Summary 4-5 Problem Description 6-8 Background 6 Problem Description 7 Target Audience 8 Environmental Scan & Review of Projects Solving Similar Problems 8 Solution Description 9 Project Description 9 Project Goal 9 Project Problem and Solutions 9 Methodology 10-12 Implementation Plan 10 Resources 10-11 Expertise 11 Risk Analysis 12 Project Changes 12-13 Deliverables Description 13 Budget 14 Timeline 15 Evaluation 15-19 Collaboration Statement 19 Appendices 20-22 Letter of Understanding from Client 20 Resume(s) 21-22 Final Documentation 23 Advisor Signoff 23


Abstract

Night at the Ottertorium was created by Stephanie Goehringer as a means of

introducing the new ITCD Department building Academic Building II to the public

before its construction. It is a 3D interactive game that draws inspiration from Night at

the Museum (2006) and Super Mario 64 (1996). Night at the Ottertorium exposes

players to mystical environments controlled by a mischievous sea otter. After hours,

players can explore the depths of the new Information Technology building to find shell

keys hidden in a number of rooms. The objective is to solve the otter's puzzles and turn

the building back to normal before morning. The game took a year and a half to

complete all the essential 3D models, animations, and game puzzles and integrate them

in the Unity 3D game engine. Autodesk Maya was used to create all the 3D models and

Adobe Photoshop was used to create textures for the models. The cost of the game was

projected to be $97,784; however, the actual cost was $3,315 for the computer

equipment required to complete it.


Executive Summary

The Information Technology and Communication Design (ITCD) Department

features an Interactive Design concentration, with new game design courses, from which

four student games have been produced: Quest for the Grail, Zombie Munchies,

Spectrum, and Mire Manifestations. However, none of the previously stated were

created as promotional interactives for the Department, unlike Night at the

Ottertorium, which features the new Business and Technology Building, also known as

Academic Building II or AB2. The proposed interactive is a game that shows off the

building and promotes the department and university.

Night at the Ottertorium was created to be attractive and engaging for potential

and future students, as well as a relatable experience for current students. Current

students will relate to the interactive because the internal and external architecture of

the new building closely resembles that of the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial

Library. The goal of the interactive was to create a persuasive environment that will

serve as a virtual tour of the new building before it is built. Since new generations are

only getting more immersed in technology, an interactive is the best way to convey

information in a new and exciting way.

The setting for the game is the interior of the new building. The game begins as

the player wakes up and finds themselves trapped in the atrium. They immediately meet

a mischievous, magical otter, who controls many things in the building after hours. The

otter challenges the player to complete puzzles in order to turn certain classrooms back

to normal before the building reopens. The concept is similar to the Night at the

Museum (2006) motion picture, where the main character is in charge of keeping order


in the museum after hours and making sure that all the magical elements remain in the

building.

The game was a collaborative project and was completed for the Spring 2013

Capstone Festival by Stephanie Goehringer and Samuel Reiter, who used 3D modeling

and game authoring tools, such as Autodesk Maya and Unity 3D respectively, to create

all the models, assets, and animations for the interactive. Mark Farao and Maggie

Corrales also contributed to the completion of the game. The theoretical budget for the

project was $97,784 due to the cost for the software, hardware, and labor required to

finish it. The labor was calculated based on hourly rates for a 3D modeler, sound

designer, and game developer. The actual cost for the game was $3,315 for the

hardware, which consists of a digital camera and three computers with powerful

processors, RAM, and graphics cards to increase productivity and efficiency of the

workflow.


Introduction & Problem Description

Background

California State University Monterey Bay was founded in June of 1994, shortly

after the decommission of Fort Ord as an Army base. Since classes officially started in

August 1995, the campus has been evolving and growing to accommodate the increasing

numbers of students it accepts every year. New classes have been created within all

departments and new buildings were constructed, like the Chapman Science Academic

Center in 2003, followed by the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library in 2008.

Within recent years, Pat Watson and a select group of students from the ITCD

Department were commissioned to create an informational flythrough of the Library

before its completion. The animation showcased the exterior and interior of the new

building; however, it was not an interactive experience.

Presently, there is a plan to build a new Information and Technology Building

that will contain design labs, lecture halls, and offices for staff members. Recently, the

Spring 2012 Capstone Festival featured a student interactive of the building (AB2) and

surrounding area, incorporating 3D models of the Chapman Science Academic Center,

the Library, and the nearby dorms, but it did not show off the interior of the new

building as originally planned. Therefore, a second interactive was created for the ITCD

Department and was led by Stephanie Goehringer, a Digital Animation Major. However,

the completed project is an interactive game rather than an animation; one that shows

off the interior and exterior of the building.


Problem Description

Currently there is limited promotional media for the ITCD Department that are

relevant, attractive, and engaging to students and donors. Some universities have

interactives that let potential students navigate around a virtual campus, which could

attract them to that particular school. Some campus tours are 3D and allow the viewer

to navigate through the environment and interact with characters and objects; however,

others, like the Pepperdine, have an interactive 2D map that only show pictures and

basic information of the buildings on campus when hovered over or clicked. The 3D tour

is more effective because viewers can explore the campus and determine if they like the

university from the convenience of their home.

Night at the Ottertorium needs to attract donors in order to raise more money

for its construction. The building is not scheduled to be built for at least a year and a

half; therefore, there is time for more funding to be acquired. Supplemental financial

funding will allow the university to purchase new workstations and chairs that optimize

the use of classroom space.

There is also a wish to boost enrollment in the Game Development Major, which

focuses on teaching 3D modeling and animation for games. The completed game will

ultimately bring more attention to the ITCD Department and the university as a whole.

Currently there is relatively low enrollment within the game design concentration since

it is somewhat new.

http://vimeo.com/27163889


Target Audience

The target audiences are potential students and donors. The students can range

from incoming freshmen to high school and middle school students. The graphics of the

game will appeal to donors and the charming, magic otter will engage a younger

audience. It will also appeal to older individuals and science majors because the game

contains elements like the food chain, predator-prey relationships, and certain elements

specific to CSUMB that make the game an enjoyable experience. The game features an

otter, the CSUMB mascot, that the player challenges in an effort solve puzzles and

riddles.

Environmental Scan

The Interactive 3D Fly-through of Academic Building II (AB2) by Kevin Panian is

the project that was completed for the Spring 2012 Capstone Festival and was originally

supposed to showcase the interior and exterior of the building. The other major student

promotional project was the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library flythrough.

The library animation was a substantial effort when it was made; however, it was not an

interactive. It simply presented the information to the audience instead of giving them

the ability to explore the library themselves. Night at the Ottertorium gives the player

the freedom to navigate through AB2 with some elements of danger, challenges, and

quests that need to be completed. The new project takes the previous interactive to the

next level because the first person controller interacts with objects, other characters, and

enemies to solve various puzzles to complete the game.


Solution Description

Project Description

The project is of a 3D interactive game. It features California State University

Monterey Bay’s new ITCD Department building called Academic Building II. It will be

constructed next to the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library within the next 2

years. The completed game contains cut-scene animations, multiple environments, a

magical southern sea otter, and a player-controlled character in a first-person

perspective inside a navigable 3D environment.

Project Goal

The primary goal was to create a promotional interactive for the ITCD

Department that is attractive and engaging to potential students. It is also meant to be

relatable and familiar to current students because new building will be 3D modeled with

a similar likeness to the Library for optimal persuasiveness. The project will also

showcase sophisticated technology and will be used as a means to attract donors. It will

also bring more attention to the Game Development major and the University as a

whole.

Project Problem & Solutions

By creating Night at the Ottertorium, the ITCD Department and CSUMB will

have a promotional interactive that will be viewable and playable on the Internet, or

downloaded and played locally on personal computers. It will also bring more attention

to the ITCD Department as a whole.


Methodology

Implementation Plan

The first step was to create a plan of action to start the Capstone Project.

Therefore, the project was organized and completed based on the following steps:

1) Planning - for group meetings, game concept design, and time management;

2) Conducting appropriate research;

3) Sketching, drawing and 3D modeling game objects and characters;

4) Revising those elements;

5) Adding interactivity in Unity;

6) Testing;

7) Evaluation;

The steps did not necessarily occur in that exact order as revision and testing could be

repeated multiple times throughout the process.

Night at the Ottertorium was primarily a collaborative effort that featured the

creative talents of Stephanie Goehringer and Samuel Reiter. Stephanie was the lead

modeler, animator, and production manager and Samuel was the lead programmer and

game designer. As group leader Stephanie Goehringer completed the most work for the

project and invested the most time to complete it. This included modeling almost all

game elements, texturing, rigging, and animating the game characters, and texturing

and lighting the environments.

Resources

Below table 1 shows the breakdown of the resources that the student had at her

disposal. Some resources, like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, were used in order to

observe Southern Sea Otters [Enhydras lutris] and take pictures and videos of them

swimming, grooming, playfully rolling, and eating. The Aquarium was also used as a

resource to get pictures of jellyfish, urchins, and corals, among many other organisms.


Software Hardware/Equipment Other

1) Autodesk:

● Maya

● Mudbox

2) Unity 3D

3) Microsoft Office:

● Word

● Excel

● PowerPoint

4) Adobe Master Suite CS3:

● Photoshop

● After Effects

● Dreamweaver

1) Computer: ● Desktop XPS 8300 ● Laptop XPS

2) External Hard-drive: ● 1TB

3) Flash Drive 8GB 4) Printer: Canon MP210 5) Camera:

● Digital

1) Personal Drawings 2) Game Concepts 3) Art Supplies:

● Pencils/Pens ● Brushes/Paint ● Markers

4) Monterey Bay Aquarium

5) Holistic Game

Development with Unity

6) Creating Games with Unity

and Maya

7) CSUMB Staff

Table 1: Student Resources

Expertise

Below table 2 shows the courses and skills learned throughout the student’s

education at California State University. To complete the game, the student combined

her science background with her technical skills to create a persuasive game

environment. She also learned more about baking textures, rigging characters and 3D

models, and scripting.

Course Name Skills Learned

Bio 240: Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Classification and characteristics of major Phyla

Bio 345: Marine Biology Classification and characteristics of Marine Invertebrates and Vertebrates

CST 209: Intro to Animation Maya, Photoshop (PS), After Effects (AE), Flash, Loop Animations, Metamorph

CST 221: Scripting for Multimedia PS, Illustrator (IL), Flash, Actionscript 3

CST 305: 3D Modeling and Animation Maya, PS, AE, Lighting, Texturing, Rendering

CST 321: Multimedia I Maya, PS, Unity, Javascript

CST 351: Web Design PS, IL, Dreamweaver, HTML 5, CSS3

CST 405: 3D Animation Workshop Maya, PS, AE, Animating, Rigging, Skinning

CST 421: Multimedia II Maya, PS, Unity, Javascript

CST 428: Digital Art Workshop Maya, PS, AE, Multimedia Art, Blend Shapes Table 2: Student Courses and Skills


Risk Analysis

There are a number of complications and obstacles that may hinder development.

Such instances include not meeting client standards, a severe illness of the group leader

and unexpected accidents, like hard-drive failures, lost flash drives, and changes in the

budget or accessibility of essential software. The project may also be too large, work

intensive, and complex for the team to complete by the Spring 2013 Capstone Festival.

Therefore, the team took extra precaution to back up files in multiple places, in order to

prevent loss of data, and kept on the schedule set forth in the timeline section of the

report.

Project Changes

Throughout the process of creating Night at the Ottertorium there were a

number of changes that were made to the game mechanics, environment designs, and

the storyline. The storyline drastically changed multiple times. At first the game was

going to be a simple scavenger hunt in the building. The next concept was a futuristic

game where the player gets genetically modified into an otter and has to navigate

through the building that is submerged after a tsunami. The current storyline draws

inspiration from Night at the Museum (2006) and Super Mario 64 (1996) because the

player is trapped in the new building overnight where a magical, mysterious, and

mischievous otter controls rooms and objects in the building. The otter has a number of

puzzles and challenges for the player that transports them to a polar iceberg, a Saharan

desert, and an underwater canyon.

The first name for the game was You Otter Be Involved which was based on the

weekly email that is sent to all students which contains information about upcoming


events. The idea was that the student would get an email that would get them to

participate in a genetic study that ultimately turned them into an otter. The new name

Night at the Ottertorium is based on the storyline because the game starts off in the

auditorium and the otter controls the building at night.

The puzzles changed in every environment. In the polar room, the original

concept involved the polar bear chasing the player while they collect specific objects.

The new concept slightly differs because the goal is to feed three bear cubs in order to

get the key from the mother bear. The desert room was going to have many cacti that

would chase the player once they found the key in the oasis. It has changed to have a

scorpion chase the player after collecting the key from a temple. The marine room

changed from having the killer whale as the predator to playing as the killer whale. The

goal is to help it navigate through the canyon and ultimately reunite it with its pod.

Deliverables

The project consists of a 3D interactive game that can be delivered digitally on the

Internet and hard copy on a CD. There is a local and public Internet version of the game.

Other files that will be included on the CD are 3D model files, picture renders, cut-

scenes, music, sound effects, texture maps, concept art, and game concepts. The

Internet version is playable at http://sgoehringer.com/nightattheottertorium.html and

includes a gallery of screenshots, concept art, and artwork from the game, a breakdown

of the game development production pipeline, and general information about the game

and the team.

http://sgoehringer.com/nightattheottertorium.html


Budget

Below table 3 shows the theoretical and actual cost for the production and

completion of the project. It is divided into three sections: software, hardware, and

labor.

Software Cost Units Quantity Theoretical Cost Actual Cost

Maya $4,000 per license 1 $4,000 $0.00

Unity 3D Pro $1,500 per license 2 $3,000 $0.00

Adobe Photoshop $2,000 per license 1 $300 $0.00

Mudbox $4,000 per license 1 $4,000 $0.00

Total $11,300 $0.00

Hardware Cost Units Quantity Theoretical Cost Actual

Dell XPS 8300 (Desktop)

$1,315 per unit 1 $1,315 $1,315

Dell 17 R (Laptop) $1000 per unit 1 $1000 $1000

Dell $800 per unit 1 $800 $800

Digital Camera $200 per unit 1 $200 $200

Total $3,315 $3,315

Labor Hourly Cost

Number of Hours

Quantity Theoretical Cost Actual Cost

3D Artist $40.00 1500 1 $60,000 $0.00

Sound Designer $26.76 25 1 $669 $0.00

Game Developer $37.50 600 1 $22,500 $0.00

Total $83,169 $0.00

Subtotal $97,784 $3,315

Table 3: Theoretical and Actual Budget

The total estimated cost was $97,784 to complete the project. It was calculated based on

hourly estimates for each position, the cost of the hardware, and the cost of the software.


Timeline

Below is a Gantt chart that illustrates important milestones that needed to be met

in order to finish the project on time. Some aspects of the project overlapped indicating

that they were completed simultaneously, whereas other elements had to be completed

in a particular order.

Table 4: Gantt chart

Evaluation

The game was successfully finished prior to the Spring 2013 Capstone Festival. It

took almost a year and half to complete the demo of Night at the Ottertorium. It

underwent many revisions, changes, and modifications which are addressed in the

project changes section of the report.

Night at the Ottertorium underwent extensive play testing or beta testing. It was

also constantly tested throughout its production. After completing the demo, players

were asked to fill out a playtest form to evaluate the game. There were 19 evaluations

https://docs.google.com/a/csumb.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHpCdWFDcHgtNlR1clhmZGZOZjBnNkE6MA#gid=0


from students, alumni, and faculty. The questions in the evaluation form were created to

rate the game at industry level standards. Below are most of the questions and compiled

results from the form:

What kind of gamer are you?

Beginner 4 21%

Intermediate 8 42%

Advanced 3 16%

Hardcore 3 16%

Other 1 5%

Did you complete the demo?

Yes 14 74%

No 4 21%

Other 1 5%

Were you able to find the polar iceberg, the underwater canyon, and the Saharan desert environments?

Yes 17 89%

No 2 11%



Was the game enjoyable?

Yes 16 84%

No 0 0%

Other 3 16%

Overall, Night at the Ottertorium received positive feedback in all categories. The beta

testing was started prior to the completion of the game in order to get feedback on any

errors or bugs players could encounter. Many of the errors reported were fixed and

some of the suggestions from players were implemented.


Collaboration Statement

Stephanie Goehringer was the lead modeler, animator, and production manager.

She modeled almost all of the 3D elements in the game including, but not limited to the

animal models, the building interior, secondary models, and furniture. She also

designed the desert terrain. Samuel Reiter was the lead programmer and game designer.

He imported the models into Unity 3D and added animations, particle effects, and

artificial intelligence to various models. He also added in sound effects and music.

Stephanie and Samuel met constantly to test the game, talk about game concepts,

exchange files, and decide what music and sound effects to use.

Special thanks to Patrick Watson, Dr. Eric Tao and the ITCD Department, HMC

Architects, Maggie Corrales, and Mark Farao who all contributed to the completion of

the game. Patrick served as the Capstone Advisor. His input and critiques were integral

to the completion of the game. The ITCD Department was the client for whom the game

was created. HMC Architects supplied the blueprints for the interior and exterior of the

building. Maggie Corrales was the voice actor for the otter and Mark Farao created the

scorpion and desert temple models.

Stephanie Goehringer | ITCD Capstone Final Report | Night at the Ottertorium |

20

Appendices

Letter of Understanding from Client

November 14, 2012 California State University Monterey Bay Information Technology Communication Design Department 100 Campus Drive, Seaside, CA 93955 Object: Letter of Understanding regarding terms of proposed contract Dear CSUMB ITCD Department, This will confirm the agreement we made:

1) I will create a 3D virtual interactive game that features the interior of the new ITCD Building: Academic Building II.

2) It will serve as a promotional interactive for the department with the goal of attracting potential students to the university and donors to provide funding for the building.

3) The completed demo will contain the completed atrium of the building and three rooms with various puzzles for the player to solve. It will be completed by the Spring 2013 Capstone Festival.

4) It will be a collaborative project due to the sheer magnitude of the work load. I will be the group lead 3D modeler, animator, and environment designer and Samuel Reiter will be the programmer, sound director, and game designer.

I look forward to working with you. Sincerely,

Stephanie Goehringer Communication Design Major Digital Animation Emphasis (925)899-5782 [email protected]


http://csumb.edu/

mailto:[email protected]

http://sgoehringer.com/

http://goehringer.carbonmade.com/

http://www.firstnightmonterey.org/

http://csumb.edu/

http://www.firstnightmonterey.org/

http://www.examiner.com/events-in-san-francisco/stephanie-goehringer







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