It starts May 12, and ends Sept 12. Let's see what you got!
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Development Blog: Timeless Epoch
Blog #1 – Introduction: A New Chapter Begins
My name is Muqaddas Aman (https://www.artstation.com/acceptedguy8) and welcome to the very first entry in my development blog series for Timeless Epoch, my final major project for the MA Games Art and Design. This project represents the culmination of everything I’ve learned so far as an aspiring 3D Environment Artist, and it marks the beginning of what will be an intense, exciting, and creatively fulfilling journey across the next three months—from May to August 2025.
Over the course of this MA, I’ve honed my skills using industry-standard tools and techniques—Substance Painter, Substance Designer, Maya, and Unreal Engine 5, among others. I’ve learned how to craft believable environments, develop cohesive visual languages, and bring fictional worlds to life through storytelling and worldbuilding. With Timeless Epoch, I aim to take all of that experience and pour it into a project that not only challenges me technically but showcases who I’ve become as an artist.
Following are a few examples of the work I did over the last few months.
. STEAM CITY
. Emperor's Chains
. Spider's Nest
. Infernal Engine
. Inquisitor's Throne
At its core, Timeless Epoch is built around two major pillars:
A. A Procedural Content Generation (PCG) System
B. A Highly Polished Modular Asset Kit
These two elements form the foundation of the project, but my overarching vision is bigger: to create a cohesive world that feels ancient, mysterious, and alive—one that feels like it exists at the edge of time itself. The name Timeless Epoch speaks to this idea: an age without boundaries, where ruins and relics from forgotten civilizations coexist with remnants of futures that never came to pass.
1. The PCG System – Breathing Life Into Architecture
My primary technical goal is to build a blueprint-based PCG system in Unreal Engine 5. Inspired heavily by the base-building mechanic from V Rising (Stunlock Studios, 2022), the system I’m creating will allow the user to place modular building pieces—walls, pillars, etc.—and when a closed space is detected, the blueprint will automatically generate a rooftop.
This functionality will simulate a kind of intelligent environment construction—something I believe is essential in modern game development pipelines, especially in games that rely on base-building, strategy, or procedural generation.
As the system develops, I intend to explore the possibility of using the PCG system to generate entire structures, not just rooftops. This would significantly increase its complexity but also allow me to push the boundaries of what's possible within a PCG-driven modular environment system.
2. The Modular Kit – Where Art Meets Function
The modular asset kit will serve as the artistic heart of Timeless Epoch. Initially, the kit will include core structural elements like:
Walls
Pillars
Doors
Roof tiles/pieces
But this is just the start. As the project evolves, I plan to introduce decorative and storytelling assets—things like broken statues, stained glass, overgrown vines, relics, altars, hanging cloth, and other elements that will enrich the world with subtle lore and visual storytelling.
My objective with these assets is to craft pieces that are highly polished, richly detailed, and built with industry standards in mind, making them portfolio-ready and demonstrating my readiness to contribute to professional production pipelines.
Artistic Inspirations – Giants on Whose Shoulders I Stand
This project is heavily influenced by some of the most visually compelling and atmospheric games I’ve encountered. These titles set the bar for me in terms of worldbuilding, environmental cohesion, and modular design:
Baldur’s Gate 3 – for its modular architecture and magical realism
A Plague Tale: Requiem – for its dense, atmospheric storytelling through environment
Elden Ring – for its ruins, fragmented worlds, and masterful blend of fantasy and desolation
Diablo IV – for its gothic architectural themes and detailed worldbuilding
Frostpunk 2 – for its modular city-building mechanics and harsh, steampunk aesthetics
By studying these games closely, I hope to synthesize their strengths and bring something original yet familiar to Timeless Epoch—a visual identity that feels rooted in time, yet unbound by it.
Personal Development Goals
While the project covers multiple disciplines, I’ve set two specific artistic goals for myself:
Mastering Texturing – I want to refine my ability to craft believable, layered, and purposeful textures using a trim-sheet-focused workflow.
Perfecting Trim Sheets – Creating reusable and scalable trim sheets will not only help me optimize asset creation but also make the entire environment feel unified.
Both of these areas are essential to becoming a competitive and effective environment artist, and Timeless Epoch is my chance to fully immerse myself in that process.
Looking Ahead
This is the first entry in a larger series of development blogs that will document my journey from concept to completion. Throughout this series, I’ll be sharing progress updates, technical breakdowns, visual explorations, and reflections on my creative process. I’ll also explore the narrative lore of this timeless world, discuss my inspirations in greater depth, and walk through my trials and triumphs as I work toward the final showcase.
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Development Blog: Timeless Epoch
Blog #2 – Lore of the Land [Urubis Exilium]
One of the most important steps in any project I undertake is establishing the narrative foundation—the world that my art belongs to. For me, the art is never just about aesthetics; it’s about context. Where does this structure belong? Who lives here? What events shaped it? These questions drive my work and allow me to become a participant within the world, rather than a distant observer.
The narrative always informs my design decisions, and my inspirations come from everywhere—music, books, paintings, weather, emotion, and even the quiet hum of a computer fan in the middle of the night. If the visual is the skin of my work, then the narrative is its soul.
The World of Epoch
What would it look like if a land was ruled not by one god, but by many—each wielding immense and incomprehensible power?
What sort of societies would form under their rule?
And more intriguingly... what happens to those who are cast out?
This is the premise that forms the backbone of Timeless Epoch.
In this vast, mythical realm—known simply as Epoch—powerful godlike entities govern with absolute authority. Each of these beings carries their own desires, strengths, temperaments, and ideals. Their worshippers shape entire cultures around these divine preferences, forging civilizations that are often as alien as they are grand.
But not all who live under their gaze accept this fate.
Many have defied their patrons—some in protest, others in pursuit of forbidden knowledge. For these souls, the punishment is often harsh: death, imprisonment, or exile.
️ Urubis Exilium – The City of Exiles
Derived from Latin, Urubis Exilium translates to the City of Exiles—a hidden refuge carved out by those who have rejected the gods or been cast away from their divine homelands.
For generations, it has served as a sanctuary for the displaced. Out of sight of the godly rulers, the exiles have come together to build a fragile peace. These people hail from different cultures, with unique technologies, beliefs, and—most importantly—architectural languages.
You, the player and worldbuilder, step into the role of custodian and governor of Urubis Exilium. Your charge is monumental: to build homes for these diverse peoples, weaving their identities into a unified, living city. In essence, you must architect coexistence.
Architectural Diversity and Divine Influence
Each exile brings with them not only memories of their homelands but also the styles and principles of their divine patrons.
For instance:
Together, these influences make Urubis Exilium a place of visual contradiction and harmony—a melting pot of aesthetic freedom, where no single style dominates, and yet everything feels connected.
For the Project: Lore-Driven Design
The lore of Epoch isn’t just a backdrop—it directly shapes the goals of this project.
Rather than creating a single modular asset kit, I aim to develop multiple kits, each with its own distinct architectural identity. These kits will reflect the cultural legacy of their creators and fit into the broader tapestry of Urubis Exilium.
Using Unreal Engine’s Procedural Content Generation (PCG) system, I will explore how these modular kits can come together dynamically to populate and evolve the city. This approach allows the project to grow organically, piece by piece, and to be expanded in the future with new civilizations, new exiles, and new designs.
In this way, Timeless Epoch becomes more than just a single artwork. It’s the beginning of a living universe—one I hope to return to again and again, adding new stories, forms, and structures as my skills continue to grow.
Next Up: Development of the PCG System