Timeline
Fall 2020 - Spring 2021
Responsibilities
Visdev, 3D Modeling + Texturing, Environment Design
Tools
Maya, Photoshop, Unity
Background
Fish Game! Fish Game!
I worked primarily in environment visualization, which let me interact with all stages of the game design process - from concept art to the finished level design. I was drawn to the possibilities and potential of merging a "lost civilization" and "chem-punk" aesthetic through my work. Through environmental storytelling, players can piece together the reasons for this underwater society's collapse.
Concepts
Environment
Through the concepting stage, we floated around various ideas for environment direction - the Atlantis-like lost civilization angle was obvious, but how could we distinguish it further?
To communicate a feeling of abandonment and chaos, we decided on visual indicators: Overgrown plants are an easy way to evoke the lost civilization vibe, and large, distinctive shapes give players a sense of direction when exploring.
Assets
Creatures + Props
After defining the visual direction and iterating on concept art, we could start creating assets to hand off to level designers.
I worked with combat designers to communicate creatures' abilities and stats through their shape language and color choices (ie. bulky and colorful = tanky and poisonous enemy). They had to fit in their environment, and we took a lot of inspiration from real animals.
Afterword
Takeaways
This was the project that got me hooked on visual direction in game design. I learned the importance of collaborating on + establishing a cohesive, solid art direction.
I loved working with engineering, usability, design, and narrative teams to conceptualize and visualize their work. It felt so meaningful to see how the world fit together - it seemed like we were the players piecing together the lore of the world through these snippets.