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Quote: "Firstly, thanks again to Andy for involving me in this forum. We’ve been speaking recently about how we could hopefully help some of the forum members actually get into the games industry, or at least get a foot on the ladder.

With this in mind, rather than just set another competition, I thought it would be great to actually try and emulate a real “pitch” which some art providers sit in order to bid for a project. Generally the pitch can be seen as an art test to make sure the external team can produce the required quality. The test has a set of rules, timelines and specified deliverables – all of which I’d like to introduce to this competition. Entrants will be asked to create a game asset based on a set of specifications.

I’ve created a (diluted) brief which I’ll be posting shortly which contains all the info. There’ll be great prizes for this comp, 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, and if the interest is positive, we’ve plans for further competitions with one pretty amazing prize…

Finally, if you’re in two minds whether to enter – just give it a go!

Thanks,
David."

Quote: "Thanks for the interest in the new competition; I’ve attached a jpg file with the details of what’s required. As for the reference, Andy will follow up this post with link to loads of high quality images of the asset. I can’t get the forum to accept .doc or .pdf files, so I’ve pasted the details below.

Here’s the Brief:

***********************************************************************

For this bid process, you are asked to perform this pilot test assignment. The test will give us the opportunity to review your quality, creativity and efficiency relating to this specific project. This test should take no longer than fifteen (15) man days to complete. To assist, we have provided samples and references where appropriate.


PILOT ASSET DETAILS: Asset Name: env_monument

Description of Deliverables: Max 8 (preferably) or Max 9 and Texture files
Reference images provided: “env_monument.jpg” and separate ZIP package containing reference.

Other files provided: None


Task Guidelines:

This task is to create a believable asset for current-gen (Xbox 360 / PS3) consoles. The final model should be highly detailed with real-word characteristics and textures.

Asset context: Environment object; can be viewed from all angles and close up to player camera.

Asset geometry: Mesh must be clean and efficient. Material properties are single sided with no inward facing (flipped) normals.

UV’s: Please try and ensure an even texel density throughout. Also ensure all mapping co-ords are contained between the values 0 and 1. Please maximize UV space.

Scale: Metric (Meters) and use System Unit Scale 1cm to 1 Max Unit.

Pivots: Mesh pivots should be centered at 0, 0, 0


Asset Delivery Breakdown (5 files):

1 Max file:
The final mesh should be assigned a Standard material (DX Display enabled) containing all corresponding maps.

Number of polygons (not tris):
Base Model 350
LOD 1: N/A
LOD 2: N/A

MAX FILE NAME: env_monument.max
MAX MATERAIL NAME: env_monument_mat

3 Texture files + 1 PSD:

In-game .TGA files
Original preserved .PSD files (with preserved layers)

TEXTURE FILE NAMES:
1024 x 1024 TGA
2048 x 2048 PSD

env_monument_dif.tga Colour (diffuse) Texture
env_monument_spc.tga Specular Texture*
env_monument_nor.tga Normal Map Texture

env_monument.psd PSD map containing all elements used to create TGA files. Layers should be clear and named sensibly, with groups created for the separate diffuse, spec and normal elements.

*The specular map controls the brightness and colour of highlights.

Other notes: Unfortunately the reference was shot on a sunny day which can cause problems with contrast and shadows. Asset should be textured as if it’s evenly lit with matching light levels throughout.

This kind of asset will benefit greatly from rendering out an AO map, then using Photoshop’s layer blending to maximize its potential within the diffuse. Obviously it would need to share the same UV co-ordinates, so should be planned carefully."