Can a space tell a story? Can architecture be expressive? Can virtual environments be something other than arenas for battles or frontiers to explore and conquer?
Assignment
Create an expressive environment you can explore in first person.
Start from a mood, an emotional target.
The experience should last about 1 minute.
Focus on the atmosphere and the experience of moving through space.
Try no not set a completely linear path for the player.
Give it a purpose/conclusion, it can be about finding an exit or an object.
1. Setup
If you haven’t done it yet
Download the template from here
Instructions
2. Pre production
As a starting point pick a song from this compilation:
https://oneohtrixpointnever.bandcamp.com/album/rifts
And put together a mood board to define a visual/emotional/conceptual direction
Plus two patterns to incorporate among the ones defined here:
https://mycours.es/interactivity/a-pattern-language-for-expressive-environments/
And create a layout
3. Blockout
Create a blockout of your environment.
What’s a blockout? Check out #blocktober
Read the Level Design Book chapter about blockouts
4. Environment Art
This is an unorthodox process but it’s the fastest way you can add color and texture to an environment.
You can download BORING textures from these sites and go through the same process:
https://polyhaven.com/
https://ambientcg.com/
https://freepbr.com/
5. Interactions
The ink logic works the same way as the 2D version
Without coding you can also implement simple interactions with the trigger interaction script.
Adding sounds
Physics (basic)
Building your game