Stephen Wang's ARCH1392-Digital Collab Studio

Crysis Week14 Ex-Final Post

2009-06-18T21:55:00.001-07:00

Week 14 Final Hydropolis – Reflection

Our Goal:

Our Initial goal was to create The Hydropolis Underwater Hotel as close as possible to the original design.

What we achieved:

Because of the lack of information for the Hydropolis, we managed to create the interiors and exteriors of th Hydropolis island based on our understanding of the architeture. Large amount of design couldn't be solved due to our level of sandbox editing skills. But the final fabrication does resemble 80% of the original design with 1:1 scale real world Dubai environment.

My Contribution to the Project

Implementing Real world Dubai Google Earth Map into Crysis with added vegetation, buildings and objects

Create AI People, AI-cars, AI-boats, AI-Vehicle

Create Underwater Hydropolis Lighting

Create Night time Hydropolis Lighting

Create Custom Dubai Mainland buildings

Create Custom Minimap

Create Spawn Point

Team Collaboration

Team Structure:

Allan (Team Leader & Main Hydropolis Island Modeller)

Stephen (AI, Underwater Lighting, Minimap, Custom Building Modelling, and Dubai Environment Modelling)

Philip (Custom Hydropolis Shell Modelling in GC)

Eva (Underwater room interior modelling)

For team collaboration, each team were assigned to their part of project fabrication which was informed by our team blog. the difference between our team and other teams was that the way we using sandbox editor. Unlike other teams who fabricate everything in one single crysis layer file, we used multiple layers to fabricate ours. The reason for using this method was because our team couldn’t meet up as often as other teams and as we are on a tight time schedule. So everyone in our team was assigned to their part of fabrication tasks and was merged together later. There were many benefits of using multiple layers. One was that team members don’t need to wait for others to finish their part in order to do their part of work which saves time; by exporting parts of our crysis map as layers, we limited the risk of losing objects and fabrications in sandbox 2 editor to minimum. Another benefit was improved time management on project phases.

Conflicts

We did encount some conflict during team collaboration phases, mainly due to the differences of skills and technology levels of each team members. Some team member wasn't capable of doing their part of fabrication at expected quality which resulted in redoing the same project fabrication multiple time.

Problems encounted

AI Path
Causing Sandbox Editor to crash whenever tried to draw AI Path in sandbox 2

Final Presentation error
AI character changed from female scientist to male soldier during the Final Presentation. Maybe was because of the map been reset to default in the new computer

Some team member didn’t save fabrication as layer and did lose the objects within the map

Problems solved

Import Sketchup Buildings to crysis
I couldn't import the custom made sketchup building into crysis for the first 8 weeks of the course until i realised that i need to ungroup all the buildings for them to be converted to .cgf format.

Problems Unable to Solve

I was trying to make a game start cutscene for our Hydropolis map. But couldn't make vtol or helicopter to take off from custom made building top or on crysis solids. Vtol or helicopter will simply sink down and explode.

Under water room textrues are affected by the ocean lighting outside

Final Thought

It was a great experience for learning crysis sandbox as a way of architectural realtime visualisation. Yes, although we did have many problems throughout the whole fabrication process, not everyone in the team were from the same culture background, and not everyone in the team can finish their part at expected quality, i have to say that we did do hell of work and achieved what we expected in the beginning. It was a learning experience not only for architectural study but also for coping with different people in the society.

References:

Dubai Sketchup Building Original:

Courtesy of
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=9d45e4ca8d6b552daa8a1830375d237c&prevstart=24

Custom Textures
Courtesy of
http://www.cgtextures.com

Crysis Week13 Ex

2009-06-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Final Map Fabrication

Final Fabrication Updates

Hydropolis Trailer

Hydropolis Extended Trailer

Crysis Week12 Ex

2009-06-18T21:49:00.001-07:00

Mid Level Custom Minimap

Still Researching and Experimenting with Medium Level Minimap Specialisation. Research on how to add a second minimap name to the minimap script.

Ideas:
Thinking maybe to hide the top level of the Hydropolis Building and take the minimap of the internal, but currently can't figure out how to add the new maps name into script as well adding the new map image to the folder.

Research on how to create mission for the map in order to use the second minimap.

Crysis Week11 Ex

2009-06-18T21:48:00.002-07:00

Specialisation Implementations

Add Spawn Point-For Play in the Actual Crysis Game

Advanced Terrain-Beginner Level-Implementing real world Dubai Google Earth and GIS data in our map

Follow AI Path-AI People or vehicle follows path

AI drives along path-AI cars drives on road

Basic Material-Add materials to Custom Building Imported to Crysis

Paint Terrain Layer-Dubai Environment Fabrication-Sandy beach painted

AI Cut scene - still in process

Crysis Week10 Ex

2009-06-18T21:48:00.001-07:00

Play Hydropolis In Crysis

Currently Couldn't Play The Hydropolis Map in Crysis Game because we haven't put a spawn point in the map yet.

Below is the link to my beginner level Specialisation - Custom Minimap

Go to the bottom of the page to download the tutorial pdf

http://arch1392-collaboration-2009.wetpaint.com/page/Create+Custom+Minimap

Crysis Week9 Ex

2009-05-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

Specialisation Outcome

Create Custom Minimap in Crysis

Team Atlar-Stephen Wang

Below are some criteria of varying difficulties for my chosen specialisation:

Easy

Create custom minimap for the hydropolis environment which includes all vegetation, landscape, building geometry and items. (Completed)

Medium

Show multiple minimaps within the hydropolis map.

Show all vehicles and items as highlighted objects in map view (rectangular box around vehicles).

Show sea level differences in minimap which highlights contour lines.

Difficult

Show any characters in minimap as approaches or near the player.

Show hostel behavior indication in minimap which highlighted by arrows.

Show signs and indications on the ground and in the minimap which indicates specific directions for the player. Usually this is shown by one or multiple green flashing beacon. Possibly to change the color of the flashing beacon from green to red that indicates distance differences.

Show level plans in map view when the player enters buildings.

Automatically swap level plan in map view as the player enters different levels in buildings.

Make multiple targeted location to show in minimap for player to explore.

Useful Video Clips for Making Minimaps:

Crysis Week8 Ex

2009-05-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Final Fabrication Peer Review

Peer Review

Team Digilism

Strength

Sketchup models have been successfully imported into crysis with custom textures which I reckon is one hack of achievement as myself have tried and failed numerously for our design. “Less is more” maybe the key for their design focus. There was a sense of loneliness that I felt during team Digitalism’s presentation as they tried to explain this giant memorial within a busy city. Mentally, I think their building in crysis has captured the spirit of the original design.

Weakness

The building itself doesn’t have much interactivities going on. The lack of AI in their design could have pulled them back for the level of interactivity in their video as well as the highlighted images of their building. And the use of lighting was set to minimum which again could be improved in the future.

Team Orange

Strength

In terms of complexity, certainly team orange’s building will score a very high mark. Noting that not only complexity but also details have been presented throughout their design. As a architecture, their building has conveyed the aesthetics of the original nicely in crysis environment. Their building design was made in 3Dmax and export into crysis with custom textures which is again a great effort and achievement. Many things can be learnt by just looking at their design in terms 3Dmax modeling. Especially for night scene, the building itself speaks for itself which I think is the biggest selling point. Excellent lighting effect and very interesting crysis models.

Weakness

The merge between the crysis environment and the building seems disconnected. Maybe is because of too much interactivities outside the building which overpowers the focus the building itself.

Team-Evolve

Strength

Solving future sustainability issues has been taking into actions in their building proposal. I liked the idea of sustainability in their presentation which immediately captured everyone’s attention. Some fine detailed custom textures have been applied throughout their design which adds more depth to the building itself. The environment itself was nicely modeled combining with realism and interactivities.

Weakness

The challenge for their design comes from the building itself which is not a interesting architecture in terms of geometry, location and interactivity. Because their design is set in the middle of a desert, the sense of building and map scale could be improved in order to bring more into the inside of their building design.

Team Urbans

Strength

Very Detailed crysis environment which I personally think consumes a lot of time and effort. The environment is very nicely modeled using advanced techniques. It’s almost unnoticeable comparing with the crysis environment and the real. Good stuff.

Weakness

As the building is a memorial for Albert Einstein, to make it interactive and interesting just for general public will be quite difficult and so far not much going around and inside the building.

Team Omega

Strength

What else do I need to say? This team’s design got the blessing from the actual architect. Very accurate and detailed modeling in crysis. High level of interactivities combined with nice environment which merged very nicely together.

Weakness

Maybe to show more interactivities in side the buildings especially in the concert hall.

Crysis Week8 Ex

2009-05-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

Final Hydroplis Dubai Map Fabrication

Final underwater lighting-flood light beam onto underwater rocks. Becuase the water is quite deep in crysis (40m in crysis), the underwater scenes have t0 be shown using lights.

AI walking on the main island, AI are following Pathes drew on the beach

Final modification of the Dubai Marina Beach with AI walking, Roads, Trees, Bushes

Final Hydroplis Island modification

Collaboration Terms Learning

Technology

“To do his work well a workman must first sharpen his tools.” – Chinese proverb

Before you can get the most out of tools like wikis and blogs, you need to understand what you are going to use them fore. Just as it is a waste of money and time to purchase and train your team members on a complex system that they do not really need, it is also a waste to have your team worjki9ng harder than necessary for the lack of the right tool.

What are you trying to accomplish?

Before you can choose a tool, you need to define the types of tasks you want to accomplish. One way to begin is to determine the types of output you need to create the team members who need input into each. And the team members who need to receive each output.

What are you current capabilities?

When setting up a virtual team, it is important to recognize and accommodate the conditions under which all team members’ function in their jobs.

Hardware/Software Issues

Internet Bandwidth

Does everyone on the team have access to high-speed connection to the internet? Are there time restrictions on access? Are alternatives, such as a secure wireless network, available? If mist people on a team have high-speed access, and one or two team members have dial-up access, communication and resource sharing can quickly break down. The team members with slower connections might not be able to handle large files in a timely manner, and might not be able to keep up with or participate in synchronous pace as other team members.

Disk space

As we all notice that more and more information is being transmitted and stored digitally, and our electronic storage needs are increasing. Particularly when team members tried to record/store videos, you need to consider the amount of hard drive/USB storage available to each of your team member.

Equipment

Does everyone have the equipment and software they need to do their jobs effectively? How old is each person’s equipment? Are there export restrictions for getting someone updated equipment? What operating systems are team members using? Does each team member have his or her own equipment, do people have to share? Do team members who travel frequently have laptop computers and cell phones, PDAs, or whatever tools are appropriate? Do you need to upgrade or buy extra hardware in order to accomplish you part of job?

Software

What versions of the application a are team members using ?while each team members has different needs depending on his or her function, the equipment and software needs to be compatible so everyone can work together more effectively, share files as needed, and so on.

File sharing server

More and more files are being uploading onto web server for all team members to work on their own remotely and effectively now days. Is the server capable of hosting the size of your file? Does the server support the form of file you are trying to upload? How long do you need to wait for it to be uploaded?

Security Protocols

What security protocols exist for each file sharing site? How do security protocols affect your team’s ability to communicate, share resources, and so on? Some team member might not have or downloaded the latest version of security protocol which they will have trouble accessing the files on a security protocol embedded server.

Communication

Before beginning any project, it is critical to establish a set of guidelines for team communications including what information to share, which method of communication to use for each, and specifically how you expect to communicate and how often. Then you can determine which tools are appropriate for the various types of interaction your team is likely to use.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous interaction

If something is extremely urgent (say “fire alarm”), then you need to use a “synchronous” mechanism to ensure that the tem members get exactly the same information at the same time. Synchronous tools include conference calls, meeting software, chat room, VoIP, and instant messaging software.

Messages with less urgency can be sent with an “asynchronous” tool that team members can access at their convenience. Asynchronous tools let your team members access the content of messages repeatedly, and are good for reference information such as project plans, schedules or to-list. Asynchronous tools include email, message boards, wikis, intranets, and blogs.

One-to-One conversations

When all team members are collocated, a lot of communication occurs as casual conversations or one-top-one in person meetings. In a virtual team, however the one-to one communication requires a bit more planning.

If all of your team members are online most of the time, instant messaging software (like Yahoo Messenger, MSN messenger etc) can be a quick and easy way for team members to communicate with each other. VoIP can chat rooms can also be used for one-to-one meetings, depending on the relative cost and ease of access to the team members.

One-to Many Email

Most of us are fairly comfortable with email communication. It is easy to fire off a short message, and the message can be sent to numerous recipients at the same time. However, sometimes the ease of sending quick notes to many people can be one of the drawbacks of email. If you are not careful, responses intended for a specific person may get sent to the wrong recipients. Misunderstandings can easily occur, particularly if your team members come form different cultural backgrounds, whether or not they are using athe same language.

References

M.Katerine (kit) Brown, Brenda Huetture, and Char James-Tanny (2007), Managing Virtual Teams, Worldware Publishing, Plano.

Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, (2007), Emerging Informationo Resources Management and Technologies, Idea Group Publishing, Hershey

Axel Bruns, (2008), Blogs, Ekipedia, Second Life, and Beyond, Peter Publishing, New York.

Crysis Week7 Ex

2009-05-03T00:23:00.000-07:00

Hydroplis Dubai Underwater Environment Progress

Underwater scene with light added (set at High)

Underwater scene viewed from play mode inside hotel (set at High). For underwater object to be visible, I changed the envionment setting for ocean-FogColour-FogColourMultiple-FogColourDensity in order to achieve the effect. And have to set the sandbox 2 to high or above to view the effect. Medium tends to render very roughly.

Crysis Week6 Ex

2009-04-25T07:58:00.001-07:00

Cysis Progress

Crysis Dubai Marina Beach Envionment with Hydroplis Terrain for 1:1 Scale Building

Birds view of the whole marina beach enviroment with hydroplis terrain added. Thanks to Gorden from team Urbans who helped me to solve the problem of texture imported to be too bright from last modification.

Another view of the island from real time play mode. Noticed the terrain colour to be much more realistic.

Crysis Week5 Ex

2009-04-22T14:47:00.003-07:00

Crysis Progress On the Main Dubai Island-Marina Beach

Original Proposed location for the Hydroplis Hotel near Marina Beach Dubai

Image captured from Google Earth to use as a reference image for making 1:1 scale map in Crysis. The image was stitched from over 40 images captured from google earth. The real size of the map is roughly 2km by 2km.

Image captured from CryEditor of the Current stage in making 1:1 scale marina beach in Crysis. There were many problems encounted during the process. One that i will have to fix is the exposure level of the dubai reference image imported into crysis which it always turned out lightened compared to the image imported in the tutorial video.

Another view of the marina beach in Crysis Editor. I have roughly made the building blocks on the island and used vegetations just to give a reference for later modification.

Image of the crysis character in the map according to the size scale.

Wikipedia Entry-Collaborative Software

“It is not a question of how well each process works; the question is how well they all work together.” – Lloyd Dobyns and Clare Crawford-Mason, Think about quality

Gathering applications

Primarily include surveys, project management, feedback, and time tracking. While these applications might be included in some wikis and blogs, e.g wetpaint.

Wikis

They are either stand-alone (such as MediaWiki) or part of a suite (such as TikiWiki) or as a web based such as Wetpaint. Wikis might include workflow management, blogs, image and file galleries, chat, a calendar, surveys and more.

Blogger

It lets you create a blog for yourself or for your team, letting all team members post on individual blogs. You can post photos, customize the layout, and set the options for syndication (RSS feeds). You can also specify whether your blog is public or is only available to those readers you have chosen.

Google calendar

It lets you create multiple calendars, which you can view individually or as a group. You specify the name of the event, when it is (and if it is and all-day or limited-time event, and if it repeats), where it is, which of your calendar it belongs to (if you have multiple calendars), and a description.

References:

M.Katerine (kit) Brown, Brenda Huetture, and Char James-Tanny (2007), Managing Virtual Teams, Worldware Publishing, Plano.

Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, (2007), Emerging Informationo Resources Management and Technologies, Idea Group Publishing, Hershey

Axel Bruns, (2008), Blogs, Ekipedia, Second Life, and Beyond, Peter Publishing, New York.

Crysis Week4 Ex

2009-04-22T14:47:00.001-07:00

Collaboration Learning

Intent

The word intent or intention is usually connected with desire and determination but in a less powerful meaning.

A working definition for intention is: “to have in mind a purpose or plan, to direct the mind, to aim.” Lacking intention, we sometimes stray without meaning or direction. “Only a few things about teams are sure, and one is this: successful teams have clear goals.” quoted from Glenn Parker’s book, Cross-Functional Teams. Without a shared vision, intention and goals to support a teams main vision which in our case the desire of high achievement, teams will fracture along personal views and functional lines and the project will fail.

Purpose

Why are you doing this project? What will be different when you finish the project successfully? Without a clear purpose, you will not be able to tell if the project is successful or not. For example, a project purpose might be “to shorten the customer’s learning curve.”

Goal

What are you going to do in order to accomplish the purpose? A project with the purpose of shortening the c ustomer learning curve might have a goal of “ simplify the user interface: or “ improve available training material.: Note that purpose and goals are not the same.

Major milestones

How are you going to accomplish the goals, and by when? You do not need to duplicate the task or schedule sections (those come later in the plan); just summarize them at this point.

References

M.Katerine (kit) Brown, Brenda Huetture, and Char James-Tanny (2007), Managing Virtual Teams, Worldware Publishing, Plano.

Kurt Verweire and Lutgart Van Ben Berghe (2004), Integrated Performance Management, Sage Publication, London.

http://healing.about.com/od/marciawieder/a/powerintention.htm. Accessed on 21st of April

Context

From Word Power Dictionary of Readers Digest, the word context meaning the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea. Context may be one of the most important cultural variables for virtual teams.

In high-context cultures, messages have little meaning without an understanding of the surrounding context. People from high-context cultures prefer more historical information and more subjective personal opinions. People from low-context cultures prefer more objective and “fact-based” information.

Members from high-context cultures may prefer communicatons that are able to carry a great deal of contextual information. This implies that information-rich technologies that convey a number of clues regarding meaning may be modre suited to a team with a number of members from high-context cultures. High-context cultures include China, Japan, Greece, Mexico etc. Moderate-context cultures include Italy, France, Britain etc. Low context cultures include English Canada, USA, Germany.

The collaborative context

Collaboration is the degree to which people in an organization can combine their mental efforts so as to achieve common goals.

Collaborative technologies have changed the context of interaction completely. Many conversations can take place at the same time. Ideas generated by different people on a shared screen for all to see inspire conversations within the group. Ideas are both external and manipulable. People can create icons to represent ideas and concepts, which others can modify or manipulate until they become both community property and a visual part of the conversation.

Electronic collaboration is the use of networking and collaborative technologies to support groups in the creation of shared understanding. Electronic collaboration fosters new kinds of collective work made possible with advanced collaboration technologies. The use of collaborative technologies enables conversations with new kinds of prosperities.

References

Vlatka Hlupic, (2002), Knowledge and business process management, Idea Group Inc (IGI), Hershey

Deborah L. Duarte, Nancy Tennant Snyder (2006), Mastering virtual teams: strategies, tools, and techniques that succeed, John Wiley and Sons. Stafford BC

Crysis Week3 Ex

2009-04-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

My category is shared Repositories such as Youtube, Google 3d Warehouse, Filefront or Fileplanet.

As shared repositories such as Youtube, Google 3D Warehouse and Filefront are widely used throughout all phases of the project, collaborative team building will form naturally by all team members. The purpose of using multidisciplinary shared repositories not only helps to develop better team culture but also emphasizes on the quality and efficiency of the project.

Our team could use Youtube for online video sharing which shows our work to everyone. Youtube allows our team mate to work seamlessly with each other throughout the whole project. Youtube videos set as a centralized sharing point for what we should achieve.

Google 3D Warehouse merges with Sketchup effortlessly since it is one of Sketchup’s supporting website for 3D model sharing online. Our team member couldl share their part of model via Google 3D Warehouse which improves work efficiency.

Filefront and Fileplanet allow us to share the actual model and map file for our project for supporting what each of us is doing despite differences in the progress of the final project which saves time for meeting up and pass over the models to team mates.

By providing a centralized shared repository for project information, team members won’t have to meet face to face in order to work their part of job. If we have team members in Asia, , Australia, North America or any other places that the whole team can’t not meet together, place project-related information on shared repositories will allow everyone to access what they needed 24/7. Incorporate other collaboration technologies, such as instant messaging, online chat room. This whole collaborative process throughout shared repositories will ultimately improve work efficiency of all team members.

Crysis Week2 Ex

2009-03-30T02:37:00.000-07:00

Collaboration learning

Culture

The term culture is defined in many ways. In our case, culture will mainly be defined for team building. All teams experience challenges in culture, logistics communication, and so on. Here i will use the example of iceberg to describe the challenge in culture for collaborative team building.

As with the icebergs that float on the ocean, it is not the obvious, visible differences that get even experienced people into difficulties when working with other cultures, but the nuances that lurk below the surface of most people’s conscious awareness. And cultural differences exist, not only in virtual teams like what we are right now, but also within the same locale, office, or social group. The structure of the iceberg is a common and apt analogy for describing culture:

Above the waterline: About 15% to 20% of culture is readily visible. These characteristics include things like language, ethnicity, dress, laws, art, architecture, and other attributes that fare immediately obvious when meeting a person from am particular culture or when you set foot in a particular locale that is representative of a culture.

At the waterline: about 5% of culture is on the edge of one’s awareness. These are things that might not be obvious until they are pointed out, but most people are conscious that they exist and can generally adapt their behavior appropriately. Examples include table manners, level of formality, personal space, hierarchy, and so on.

Under the surface: about75% to 80% of a culture lurks below the surface of most people’s awareness. These characteristics are the deeply ingrained attitudes, beliefs, prejudices, expectations, and so on that comprises an individual’s world view. In many cases, even people who are self-aware and thoughtful have difficulty articulating and explaining these attributes, precisely because they are so deeply ingrained.

In most situations, you get what you give. If you approach a situation with an open mind, a friendly attitude, and a genuine desire to understand and work with the other person, the other person will respond in kind. When inevitable misunderstandings occur, have a sense of humor about them and patiently work through the misunderstanding. Encourage your team to stretch beyond individual comfort zones and to learn about and accommodate cultural differences, while remembering that, at our core, we are more alike than different – we all want food, shelter, clean water, for our children to be better off than we are, and to leave the world better place than it was when we arrived.

Building a Team Culture

The challenge for managers of multicultural teams is to build an atmosphere of mutual respect, effective communication, and productivity despite differing worldviews and physical environments. In essence, as a manger or team leader, you must take a disparate group of people and culture, and develop a team culture that is an amalgamation of the best of each culture and strength that the individual team members bring with them. Manager can facilitate building a team culture by doing the following:

Budget for periodic in-person meetings

If the project is going to last for months or is highly complex, budget for periodic in-person meetings for at least the functional leads.

Facilitate an open discussion about team expectations

During the initial meeting, after some teambuilding time, ask team members what kind of team they want to be and what they want the work environment to be like. This helps identify what the team members expect from themselves, each other, and you.

Encourage social interaction

People tend to be more productive when they feel a connection to their teammates. Fun, social interaction builds that connection and encourages proactive communication with the other team members. Such interactions can range from checking in at the beginning of a meeting to an off-site teambuilding event.

Be proactive

The biggest complaint in post-project evaluations is communication. It is impossible to over-communicate. Follow conversations with an email summarizing agreements and action items, and ask the recipient to confirm his or her understanding. Identify potential challenges and opportunities, and plan as a team for the possibilities.

Recognize both team and individual efforts

Recognizing a job well done is an important aspect of team leadership. It is important to provide recognition thoughtfully and carefully.

Provide a centralized repository for project information

If you have team members in Asia, , Australia, North America or any other places that the whole team can’t not meet together, place project-related information on a intranet site or team blog, team wiki site where everyone can access it 24/7. Incorporate other collaboration technologies, such as instant messaging, online chat room.

Be considerate

Incorporate national and religious holidays, as well as vacations, in your project planning. Promise only what you can comfortably provide, but always suggest alternatives if you are unable to meet a request.

References:

M.Katerine (kit) Brown, Brenda Huetture, and Char James-Tanny (2007), Managing Virtual Teams, Worldware Publishing, Plano.

Kurt Verweire and Lutgart Van Ben Berghe (2004), Integrated Performance Management, Sage Publication, London.

Image 1: http://benasur.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/iceberg22.jpg, accessed on 26th of March 2009

Image 2: http://www.healthyteams.com.au/userfiles/image/healthyteamfoundations.jpg, accessed on 26th of March 2009

Image 3: http://www.12manage.com/images/picture_deal_kennedy_culture_types.gif, accessed on 26th of March 2009

Management

As described by World Power Dictionary, management means the process of managing. It is the process of getting activities completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people. For our case, the term management will mainly focused on Project Management, Team Management, and Preformance Management.

Management Functions:

Planning

Organising

Staffing

Directing

Coordinating

Reporting

Budgeting

Management can be divided into two sets. One is the set that concentrates mainly on efficiency and another is the set that concentrates mainly on effectiveness. Efficiency is about doing things the right way. It involves eliminating waste and optimizing processes. Effectiveness is about doing the right things.

A good management style is a blend of both efficiency and effectiveness. There is no point in acting efficiently if what you are doing will not have the desired effect.

Management techniques can be viewed as either bottom-up, top-down, or collaborative processes. As for our crysis project, collaborative process would suite best for our approaches toward better efficiency and team building.

References:

Kurt Verweire and Lutgart Van Ben Berghe (2004), Integrated Performance Management, Sage Publication, London.

Project management, http://managementhelp.org/, accessed on 27th of March 2009

Development of Management thought, http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/fis/courses/LIS1230/LIS1230sharma/history4.htm, accessed on 27th of March 2009

Tech Test For Exporting Model from 3D max 2008 to Crysis Sandbox 2

Crysis Week1 Ex

2009-03-15T02:23:00.000-07:00

Progress and Development

Error message for export file from 3Dmax 2009 Design to Crysis Sandbox 2

Here is my first attempt to try crysis sandbox 2 with 3Dmax 2009 as i am more experienced in 3Dmax and the user interface of sandbox 2 is very much similar to 3Dmax. There was a several error messages shown after opening 3Dmax 2009 Design. The reason for these error is because that crysis sandbox 2 doesn't support exporter for 3Dmax 2009 yet. Sandbox only supports 3Dmax 2008 and lower verions. Hopefully the exporter for 2009 will come out sometime this year.

Successfully exporting sandbox structure to 3Dmax 2009 and 2008 for furthre development

As mensioned above, 3Dmax 2009 doesn't support export to crysis sandbox 2. But the funny thing is that you can export sandbox 2 structrue to 3Dmax 2009 via ".obj" format. Also this process works for 3Dmax 2008 as well. Below are the picture for the process.

First select all components for exporting to 3Dmax, draw boxes around the components until all axis of origin shown.

Select "Export Selected Geometry to OBJ" in File manual drop down list.

Save the file as .OBJ format. I named mine as 1attempt.

Now open up 3Dmax 2008. Choose import in the File manual

Choose 1attempt.obj or any other .obj file you want open up in 3Dmax.

Obj Importer window appear after open 1attempt.obj in 3Dmax 2008. Remember to untick "Rotate Model" in the Geometry options panel.

1attempt.obj structure appear in 3Dmax 2008

Obj Importer window appear after open 1attempt.obj. Remember to untick "Flip ZY axis" in the Geometry options panel.

1attempt.obj structure appear in 3Dmax 2009 Design

Unbuilt Architecture

Coastal Residence
Southern Coastal Connecticut
Kaehler/Moore Architects

Hovering above a coastal flood plane, this house welcomes views of the sea

Courtesy Kaehler/Moore Architects

This single-family residence will blend nicely with the ecological sensitivity of the Crysis Island for its material and structure used. This house would be nicely situated somewhere on a hill top of the island which takes in the advantage of its glass box for the view. In my opinion, It is structurally friendly to make in Crysis editor, the house doesn't have many complex geometries which the team can focus more on the interactive and landscape part of the design to emphasize its design purpose.

Images from http://archrecord.construction.com

This architecture design was one of the entries for the 2008 AA Price for Unbuilt Work. The striking part of this design is its structure for the roof. The architecture itself is easy to make for its form not its engineering.It is rather a piece of mechanic instead of archtecture design. The roof will change its direction and shape according to the weather which is great for houses on a tropical island. I reckon it will be great for the team to consider its interaction with the weather which we can show that in Crysis. So this design will mainly forcus on programming and interaction of the architecture.

Images found from http://www.archmedia.com.au/unbuilt/results/

This is another entry from the AA unbuilt competition which is one of the works that blend into the coastal landscape. It is the environment and surroundings that the team has to focus on. This design will situated nicely again somewhere on the hill side of the Crysis island surrounded by forests and of course the view of the beach.

CryENGINE2 TUT

Here is a useful site that provides the manual for sandbox editor
http://doc.crymod.com/
http://doc.crymod.com/SandboxManual/frames.html?frmname=topic&frmfile=index.html

It will be essential for anyone using the editor as step 1.