Pre-Production
VR Experience Idea
My first idea is to do a VR Experience using either Unity or Unreal Engine. The player would walk through different rooms and experience the environment around them including sound and music to give more atmosphere. As for the genre, I think horror can evoke many reactions because of suspense and the use of music and sound that other genres can't really achieve. VR is also a growing technology that many companies are now adopting for filming, documentaries and games. From an employment perspective
Idea #1
As the character, you are walking around an attic which was once somebody's bedroom. It is dusty and different objects in the room are either covered by cloth or in some way obscured.
When the main character goes up to an object and touches it e.g the piano, it starts playing music, the cloth falls off and the room lights up as it would have been when the room was lived in. You are looking into the past.
When the main character goes up to an object and touches it e.g the piano, it starts playing music, the cloth falls off and the room lights up as it would have been when the room was lived in. You are looking into the past.
Interesting Assets
Bed
Record player
piano
side table
wardrobe
lamp
bookcase
trunk
Bed
Record player
piano
side table
wardrobe
lamp
bookcase
trunk
Calendar
Environment Research
The main aspect I want to focus on in my FMP is the actual environment. This includes modelling, texturing and lighting. Below are a few games that have given me inspiration in terms of design and game play.
Gone Home by The Fullbright Company
Gone Home is a first person story game which is narrated by the character Kaitlin. The objective is to explore the house and its objects which leads to Kaitlin telling the story bit by bit. I played this game during Christmas and although the environment isn't AAA standard, I thought the artists did a good job of making the environment intuitive. Most of the story is told by these letters you find throughout.
Perception by The Deep End Games
This game hasn't been released but the trailer made me very intrigued by the design. The story is about a woman who is blind and uses echolocation to 'see' the environment. The game is in the horror genre and there is some kind of ghost/apparition in the house. I like the style of architecture which looks to be midwestern American. For my VR Experience I would like to use a similar style as the house.
As the game has not been released yet, I decided I would email the company and see if I could be out in touch with one of the artists. The emails are below:
P.T by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro
P.T is a horror game created by Kojima and Del Toro. You are a first-person who walks around a corridor repeatedly with each new loop containing a different story. The environment is beautifully done, although simple each asset is very important and contains more detail than you first realise. In different loops sometimes the light changes to make the scene scarier such as uses a dark red. Its very suspenseful as you never know what to expect on the next look. This is one of the best games in my opinion that utilises the environment incredibly well and creates so much tension with little changes. I want to be able to tell a story by creating something simple yet effective.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and The Last of Us by Naughty Dog
https://80.lv/articles/video-environment-art-of-naughty-dog-at-gnomon/
Layers of Fear by Bloober Team
Moodboards and Inspiration
Bedroom Style
For the bedroom style I am very interested in 1950's American Midwestern style. The rooms of this time period were really big and had a lot of interesting details such as beams on the ceiling. I would like to do an attic room as I think this would be more interesting style wise. This kind of environment evokes a homely and motherly feeling, this style is the quintessential American family home. What is appealing stylistically about this time-period is the muted pastel colours but also the interior architecure is very detailed which makes it appealing for a modeller. In the 1950's the American economy was booming due to major social economic changes such as Workers rights and Womens rights which led to an opening of jobs. . This gave the average American family buying power, finacial stability and also a chance to buy and renovate their own homes.
A more luxurious lifestyle was now suddenly the norm to a previous working class. Additionally this gave women the chance to compete with each other in who had the nicest homes and the best hospitality. In a games environment you want to feel that southern hospitality. A new hybrid-style was cultivated ranging from post-modern inspired designs to pre-war.
Colour-wise everything was muted beofre but now, post-war people began to experiment with different colours and shades which makes it interesting from a texturing point a view. This also applies to different patterns, embroidery, ruffles which was typically on bedspreads and curtains.
A more luxurious lifestyle was now suddenly the norm to a previous working class. Additionally this gave women the chance to compete with each other in who had the nicest homes and the best hospitality. In a games environment you want to feel that southern hospitality. A new hybrid-style was cultivated ranging from post-modern inspired designs to pre-war.
Colour-wise everything was muted beofre but now, post-war people began to experiment with different colours and shades which makes it interesting from a texturing point a view. This also applies to different patterns, embroidery, ruffles which was typically on bedspreads and curtains.
Emails from sound student
Concept Art - Sakina Begum
Production
Record Player - References
I collected different references for record players. I could have been historically accurate but I wanted to design a record player thats a mixture of 1950's wood style and 1960's retro style.
Modelling
For modelling I've decided to go high poly first and then retopologize later into low poly. As I'm modelling I'm basically eyeing the reference image that I've chosen and adjusting edges to where they need to be.