Steam Particle

Here's my final Steam particle shown in the video above. These Steam particles I made for my level in the mining caves where they burst from the pipes and obscure the players view. Particles for me are a tad difficult, but I think I accomplished some pretty cool things for this project.  First off, I created my own subUVs:

 

This was the first time I had ever attempted to draw anything for something like this, and I was fairly pleased with the results. Although, I did take me a few tries with the second smaller set to get a result I liked - the first attempt for example had shapes that were too recognizable on an individual level, so it was really easy to see when certain particles repeated.  Here's the full final particle system: 

I ended up using both sets of subUVs along with a GPU emitter for the small water droplets that fall from the source of the steam. With the water droplets, I had to exaggerate their size because of how dark the mine caves are in my level where they are placed along with how fast the player is going, its hard to pick up on the smaller water droplets. 

On both subUVs I also put a damping node in their material so that when the cars pass through the smoke or when it hits the ground it fades slightly at the edges so the transition isn't so harsh.

I also made a very simple steam for my train using the same subUVs in a slightly different way!

Particle Effect Research

Pressurized Steam 

I plan to make a particle effect that mimics the steam above for both my barrel (when the whistle blows to have steam come out of the whistle) and for my racing level for the pipes within the mines. 

This steam will blow out of a single point and grow larger as its life goes on.  For the emitters, I know I'll first need some sort of subUV set like the one down below:

I've been having a hard time finding a steam subUV thats free use that looks like the shape and effect I'm trying to make, so if I don't find one I'll have to make one myself.

I also plan to have another emitter make the cone of more dense steam in the middle, also having that effect be pure white and less transparent than the subUV emitter to give it a nice look of intense steam with some falloff.
And for the last emitter I want to have some denser water droplets that are too condensed to be steam and fall around the base of the effect. This gives the particle system the effect of steam pressure caused by heated water rather than just pressurized gas. I also want to add some sort of sound when the steam is in effect, as I want it to be triggered in my level by players driving through certain parts of the mines.

Heres my progress so far:

As I mentioned earlier, I've been having a hard time finding subUVs for the particle system so for now i've been working on base animations. Truthfully, I'm new to particles and it isn't coming very easy to me, but I do like the base effect of what I'm getting here just with the most basic material.  I'm still messing with the size by life module to make the sprites smaller when they are born but becoming larger over their life. Eventually, I think I will have to make my own subUVs, but I think its good practice and hopefully will help me get the effect I want.

Particles certainly are a learning experience...

Explosive Barrel Final

Here's my final for the explosive barrel project! I'm very please with how it came out, since its fairly similar with how I originally imaged it.  I also added some different noises such as the wood breaking noise and the train whistle!

Here's my code:

Gold Rush Grotto Racing Idea

My Vector images of the Racing map Idea I'm going to make. I got the theme idea from my Explosive Barrel project and my 3D vehicle project.  Both of them have a Industrial revolution/Train theme to them, so I decided to put a little spin on it by making a California Gold Rush level. 

Many of the obstacles match the theme, such as the carts and before mentioned barrels, as well as the rock formations around it. 

I also knew I wanted to have some choice as to where the player could go, but I didn't want it to be too much of a change for the sake of time and extra design. Instead, I choose to make the main road in the middle very thick for all 16 cars, but the path splits in half forcing the players to choose a direction and now race/fight with a significantly less amount of players, without knowing the fate of the other side, then reunite in the middle for the end of a lap.  One side had more obstacles but a speed boost, and the other has less obstacles and no speed boost, making a simple risk and reward that the player can explore and find in the 3 laps there would be. 

Also Here are some storyboards of how a race may go:

Here are some Visual Elements I want to bring in along with a Color scheme:

Exploding Barrel Design

Next up we are designing a exploding barrel! I decided that I wanted to keep the train theme I had going for my vehicle in 3D, and in doing so I forgot the most important part of the train in my vehicle design - the train whistle! I figured that making the whistle in this project would be beneficial to my 3D project and hopefully I will have fun making it! My overall end goal is to make the barrel light up and whistle before exploding. If I have the time or if i can figure it out, I think it might also be fun to make it blow out steam.