In the depths (working title)
Hey guys, Wanted to share with you a project I'm just about to start, I will be updating this thread with bits n bobs from it throughout the next month or two and will be updating my blog at the same time.
If you'd like to see all the pictures im using as reference press on the blog button below to have a look!
http://mark-silvester.com/blog/
I want to create a scene that will show potential employers how I work and my reasons for working in this way, I’m going to be giving myself deadlines and I’ll be documenting my process from start to finish on my own website www.mark-silvester.com and the website www.polycount.com to get critique as I go along.
I’m giving myself 1 month and 2 weeks of work time on this and 2 weeks of cleaning up the scene and getting it ready to be shown. I will be posting every week about the design choices I’ve made and how I’ve created all the art assets. At the end of the project I will be creating a presentable video and document that talks through everything in a nicer setting.
From this project I want to show how to change a story in the players’ minds by changing the environment around them. For the first environment I want the environment to feel a tiny bit uneasy, I am basing the first environment on a Swedish forest on the outskirts of a town at night, the environment will start with a snowy road with street lights on the left railings on both sides and trees and bushes just of the path.
Looking online at the vegetation that grows in Sweden I have a massive collection of trees, bushes and general wildlife to use that will create the feeling of Swedish life, sign posting will all be written in Swedish and will use the same road symbols.
The road will go on for a minute, it will then come up to an abandoned cabin, this is the first time I want the environment to change pace, I want an oil lamp light to be on in the shack, two reasons why I’d like an oil lamp, oil lamps flicker, giving a stunning atmospheric effect, if seen through a window it’ll give a impressive glow effect to the rest of the room. I want the lamp to turn off when the camera gets closer to the room I want people to be thinking “Is there someone in that room”? The room itself is an abandoned cabin, it has all the normal things you need in a cabin, gas stove oil lamp, bed, table and chairs all damaged up because they haven’t been used for a while. The floor will be wooden and will have a basement hatch. The basement hatch is a very important asset to get right in this scenario, if this was an actual game it would be the player’s next objective to find so we need to make sure 3 things happen
• People know what it is
People need to immediately understand what the hatch is and that they need to open it up and walk down it, I will probably put a very faint blood splatter next to it (looks like someone has tried to clean it up) to give the impression already that something is off about the hatch.
• It looks different to the floor and it looks interesting
The hatch needs to use a different texture to the floor (maybe have the floor pattern going one way and the hatch going the other) and it needs to look interesting, if it looks like everything else in the cabin players will not be drawn toward it.
• Its lit well
The hatch needs to be lit well, at the moment I’m thinking of having a god ray type deal coming through a window that will light the hatch so it’s a vocal point in the cabin.
The last environment will be a horrific scene that will be found under the basement hatch, the camera will fly down the stairs until it gets to a big metal door with an anarchy symbol over it, the door will open to what looks like an abandoned prison. The prison will have a variety of torture chamber equipment in it, there will be dried blood over the floor walls and shackles placed around the small rooms which are supposed to give the feeling that people were brought here against their will. The camera will sweep through each room showing the equipment used and will then get to the end of the prison, a big satanic worship ground, for the prison environment I’m picturing the scene from Amityville horror (2005) version when he rips open the basement area.
If you'd like to see all the pictures im using as reference press on the blog button below to have a look!
http://mark-silvester.com/blog/
I want to create a scene that will show potential employers how I work and my reasons for working in this way, I’m going to be giving myself deadlines and I’ll be documenting my process from start to finish on my own website www.mark-silvester.com and the website www.polycount.com to get critique as I go along.
I’m giving myself 1 month and 2 weeks of work time on this and 2 weeks of cleaning up the scene and getting it ready to be shown. I will be posting every week about the design choices I’ve made and how I’ve created all the art assets. At the end of the project I will be creating a presentable video and document that talks through everything in a nicer setting.
From this project I want to show how to change a story in the players’ minds by changing the environment around them. For the first environment I want the environment to feel a tiny bit uneasy, I am basing the first environment on a Swedish forest on the outskirts of a town at night, the environment will start with a snowy road with street lights on the left railings on both sides and trees and bushes just of the path.
Looking online at the vegetation that grows in Sweden I have a massive collection of trees, bushes and general wildlife to use that will create the feeling of Swedish life, sign posting will all be written in Swedish and will use the same road symbols.
The road will go on for a minute, it will then come up to an abandoned cabin, this is the first time I want the environment to change pace, I want an oil lamp light to be on in the shack, two reasons why I’d like an oil lamp, oil lamps flicker, giving a stunning atmospheric effect, if seen through a window it’ll give a impressive glow effect to the rest of the room. I want the lamp to turn off when the camera gets closer to the room I want people to be thinking “Is there someone in that room”? The room itself is an abandoned cabin, it has all the normal things you need in a cabin, gas stove oil lamp, bed, table and chairs all damaged up because they haven’t been used for a while. The floor will be wooden and will have a basement hatch. The basement hatch is a very important asset to get right in this scenario, if this was an actual game it would be the player’s next objective to find so we need to make sure 3 things happen
• People know what it is
People need to immediately understand what the hatch is and that they need to open it up and walk down it, I will probably put a very faint blood splatter next to it (looks like someone has tried to clean it up) to give the impression already that something is off about the hatch.
• It looks different to the floor and it looks interesting
The hatch needs to use a different texture to the floor (maybe have the floor pattern going one way and the hatch going the other) and it needs to look interesting, if it looks like everything else in the cabin players will not be drawn toward it.
• Its lit well
The hatch needs to be lit well, at the moment I’m thinking of having a god ray type deal coming through a window that will light the hatch so it’s a vocal point in the cabin.
The last environment will be a horrific scene that will be found under the basement hatch, the camera will fly down the stairs until it gets to a big metal door with an anarchy symbol over it, the door will open to what looks like an abandoned prison. The prison will have a variety of torture chamber equipment in it, there will be dried blood over the floor walls and shackles placed around the small rooms which are supposed to give the feeling that people were brought here against their will. The camera will sweep through each room showing the equipment used and will then get to the end of the prison, a big satanic worship ground, for the prison environment I’m picturing the scene from Amityville horror (2005) version when he rips open the basement area.