Final Major Project - Highgate Cemetery [Brief]

Arron Manchester – FMP BriefThe Highgate Cemetery

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Arron Manchester - FMP BriefThe Highgate Cemetery

Initial Ideas:In an attempt to focus on my ability as an environment artist my initial ideas were formed around an ambition to understand the environment design process. For this, just like in drawing, I believe the best method to learn is by recreating (or strongly referencing) something that actually exists. When thinking about what most environment projects I have seen achieved in the Unreal Development Kit include, I realise that I would need an area that features a variety of natural and manmade materials, textures and with a multitude of assets available for reference. My final major project should aim to successfully demonstrate my skills in asset generation and understanding of how a game environment is implemented in engine.


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I often find myself talking to new friends about interesting personal trivia when breaking the ice, and more often than not the story of ‘Bishop Sean Manchester’ arises.Stemming back to when I was around 9-10, I have always found his story intriguing, not only is he the president of the British Occult Society and the Archbishop of Glastonbury, but he is also the only known

British ‘Vampire Slayer’. (so it is claimed)

I first found out about the Bishop when flicking through some paranormal magazines my dad collected when I was younger. Under the bed covers with my torch I terrified myself with all the eerie stories within, and as you can imagine, when I saw the article about a “Bishop Vampire Slayer” in England who shares my surname I was immediately fascinated! Life, as it does, took its precedence over any serious investigation but over the years, during spare time, I would learn more and more about his story from magazines, news articles, the internet, TV and from relatives. The story that


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stood out the most was regarding his exploits at Highgate Cemetery, London. Media frenzy took place in the 70’s evolving around the Bishop and his claims that he was hunting a Vampire in the grounds of the cemetery. Dressed in catholic religious-wear and equipped with holy water, crosses and stakes and a devout priest, he was adamant that ‘the vampire contagion’ had emanated from the cemetery and it claimed it was his duty as a catholic minister to remove it from existence. He later announced that he had indeed successfully hunted the vampire, drove a stake through its heart and burned the corpse. A female companion at the time had apparently been bitten and possessed and had required exorcism by Bishop Manchester. There is much more to the story, involving the disappearance and mutilations of animals around the cemetery grounds during the time and at some point it is said the Bishop spoke of ‘giant vampire-spiders’.

Of course, the fantastical story, whilst surrounded by actual events and real media coverage, is open to


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scepticism, but it is the closest thing to a fact-based supernatural story I have ever shown interest in.

The Bishops ‘Vampire Slaying Kit’

I first visited Highgate cemetery in 2008 and was immediately whelmed by the daunting gate house upon arrival. Later during

a tour I was impressed by the huge grounds filled with Victorian, Celtic, and even Egyptian architecture. The

overgrown ‘Egyptian Alley’, lined with tomb entrances, leads through to ‘The Circle Of Lebanon’ a magnificent structure of twenty sunken tombs built around the roots of an ageing and

ancient ‘Cedar Of Lebanon’ tree.


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Due to a my being familiar with some of the grounds, the first thing that came to mind when considering possible Final Major

Project ideas was the Highgate cemetery and the story of Bishop Sean Manchester.

The history, context and the impressive environment seem to offer everything necessary for both interesting visuals and

game plot for a Final Major Project.

Expanding the idea:Now that the initial concept was in my mind it was time to realise the practicalities of it. Just how suitable is the environment? What resources can I gather? Just what will be involved in the design process? These and many more questions needed to be answered before pitching the idea to the lecturer panel and advancing the project to the next stage.


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I also used Google maps and an aerial photography website to understand the placement of the main landmarks around the ground. It also helped me to understand the scale of the map.

I revisited my 2008 photos and researched everything I could about the cemetery and its original designs. I was able to find some original drawings (Above & Right) by an Unknown Artist that helped me understand some of


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With this information I was able to produce a 3D mock up of the landmarks and a very rough idea for how the level could be laid out. I decided that for the first pass, the main landmarks should be situated closer together. I included the gatehouse, memorial


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pillars, Egyptian alleyway and the Circle of Lebanon as the final and most focal landmark.


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The next step was to start thinking about colour schemes and the overall atmospherics of what I would like my FMP to include. For this I researched similar environments already found in games, and, seeing as I had recently bought the third instalment of the Gears of war franchise, I noticed that they feature some very similar architectural designs...


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I was interested to see how they achieved such detail so did a little research into how they generated assets and architectural models using high poly baking techniques...


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I was adamant I wasn’t going to go down the drab and dreary approach to recreating the cemetery and so thought extensively about the colours I could utilise. The photographs I took in late autumn in 2008 were bright and colourful without any editing, the sun was shining and the autumnal colours really made for a vibrant atmosphere. I took note to make sure I document the different types of flora at the location on a return visit.


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After stumbling across a tutorial on night and day cycles within Unreal Development Kit I considered the possibility of including such in my FMP to fully take advantage of the different ambiances the environment could offer in both day and night. With, perhaps, the night time being lit by both the sky & moon and lit torches, candles and oil burners placed around the level. I also considered including a playable character for the project based on the Bishop himself. For this I knew I would need his permission to use his likeness so I set about contacting him. He agreed as long as I respected copyrights which of course, I shall.

The Pitch:After putting together a presentation to pitch the idea to my course lecturers, and after witnessing the dismissal of what I thought were quite solid ideas from other students, I fully expected my pitch to be blown out of the water. However it was quite the opposite, I got a positive reaction from the panel and I can only assume it was down to the fact that I had established


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my ideas for quite some time and have been showing great enthusiasm towards the project. Looking at others and their ideas I realised it was also in my favour that the actual environment is relatively local and not unrealistic to obtain first hand reference. I explained the context and why I find the area interesting and soaked in the feedback from my tutors. Mike suggested cropping out some of the landmarks and focusing in on making one (the Circle of Lebanon) to the highest quality I could. He brought my attention to the textures and detail in the photo references I showed and said it would be impressive if I could live up to the level of detail. Both lecturers commented on it being a solid idea. I was quite taken aback by the positive response, and felt a little uneasy that they didn’t demand more justification from me, nonetheless I became determined to live up to expectation.

Technical Specifications:As I have quite large scale ambitions I aim at creating a mid to large map. Taking onboard the feedback from the lecturers, I shall initially concentrate on making the Circle of Lebanon the main focal area at first, and, depending on time scale and the level of quality I achieve on that, maybe expand outwards and include the other landmarks. As it stands, If I was to just model the circle of Lebanon and surrounding area, I would aim for around 80-90k tri limit. This is based on looking at other UDK projects online and the count of the example levels provided within UDK itself. As for texture budget I would guess at around 90-100mb, this is only a guess and I base that on what was given for the Rooftop project this semester. If I was to branch out and include all the landmarks I would aim at around 140-150k and a texture budget of around 180mb. I


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would look at making things such as gravestones modular and use parts to create unique combinations. As I shall be utilising the UDK engine I would aim for the project to meet the specifications of the Microsoft Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. I wish to create L.O.D’s and use high poly baking techniques for most assets to ensure a good quality standard and optimise performance.

Possible Assets include:

Angel Statues Grave Stones Flat Tomb Stones Urn Tomb Stones Custom Tomb Stones Gates and Fencing Modular Walls Modular Tomb & Gravestone Pieces Large walk-in Tombs Chains Plaques A Variety of Trees A Variety of Plant life Grave Items such as flower pots Debris

Iron Castings Torches Drains Vampiric, Religious and Occult Items Animated Birds such as Crows or Rooks Coffins

To Summarise:In short, I aim to create an environment that strongly references London’s Highgate Cemetery to a current-gen standard, working to the context of the story of the vampire slaying exploits of Bishop Sean Manchester. I shall initially


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concentrate on the specific landmark of the Circle of Lebanon, but aim to expand outwards and include a playable character based on the Bishop himself. I wish to emphasise the beauty of the autumnal colours and overgrown nature within the environment during day time and the more eerie atmosphere of a cemetery at night. I shall be learning new techniques along the way (particularly high poly workflow) and foliage creation and implementation, as well as understanding what is possible with advance lighting techniques in the game engine. I am eager to produce an FMP of high calibre. Wish me luck!

Documents

Final Major Project - Highgate Cemetery [Brief]