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INSTANT

"This first person exploration and narrative game takes place in a forest in the Laurentides. The player incarnates Louis, a middle-aged man who returned to this place of childhood memories in order to remember a fateful instant of his forgotten past."

Genre: First-Person, Exploration, Narrative

Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Platform: PC

Team: 8 People

Specification: School Project

Roles & Responsibilities:

-Level Design

-Level Artist

-3D Artist

-Narrative and Story Script Writer

My work as a Level Designer:

designing locations according to a story

Level Design

Brainstorming

All 8 members of the team brainstormed together for the game idea and mechanics during meetings.

We came up with the idea of a first-person narrative game in a forest with objects to pick up for the player to understand what took place in these woods.

Designing in Detail

As a Level Designer, I suggested a map where the story would take place, including:

-Different zones associated with a memory of the main character

-Collectibles and quest items relevant to the backstory

-Locations where the player had to interact with the environment to proceed

-Where narrative scripted events would happen

Synthesizing to the Essential

After elaborating ideas for the game, we scaled down the mechanics to better fit with our skills and the theme.

I also reduced the collectibles to story-specific ones in order to help the player better understand the story.

The Level Art tasks:

Placing Trees

Using the Foliage Tool in UE4, I put vegetation along the railroad and mountain side, placing trees and choosing when to reveal the vista to the player for foreshadowing.

Texturing the Environment

Using the Paint Mode of the Landscape Tool in UE4, I painted textures on the cliff side and ground under the railroad.

My work as a 3D Artist:

conveying an object's story

3D Art

Researching

As a Level Artist, I did reference boards for the assets I would model and texture.

Modeling and Texturing:

I modeled and textured the following story assets:

-The boot of Max

-The carpet on the hut

-The crowbar

-The dead toads

-The lamp

-The polaroid of Max (texture only)

-The slingshot of Louis

Narrative Design

My work with Narrative Design:

give credibility to the characters

Developing Characters

With teammates, I defined the characters' personality and past to help the voice actors better incarnate them, as well as make the characters actions in the story more credible.

Writing Scripts for Voice Actors

I wrote the story's script with scene descriptions for the Voice Actors to visualize and understand what the game was about.

I added notes next to the lines to voice in order to precise the intonation and help the Actors convey the character's emotions and thoughts.

Correcting Texts

I also corrected the text using good syntax and grammar to ensure it was clear and easy to understand for those who would read it.

What I learned:

What I Learned

Working with Iterations

In the 3D pipeline, it is more efficient to work with iterations. An item made by a 3D Artist could be needed by an Animator early on, and so having a blocking ready to give the Animator to work with would prevent wasting time waiting for the asset to be finished.

A blocking can also be needed by a Level Designer and Artist to greybox a scene.

Updating your work frequently also shows progress to the team and allows for feedback, where waiting to finish an asset before putting it in the engine can lead to the frustration of having to modify it or doing it over for not being what was needed.

The importance of Roles

We did not have assigned roles when the project began, and so it was more difficult to organize the group and give tasks members would like to do (or be able to do). Once members specialized themselves, it was easier to work and progress.

Getting Along

For a project to work, every members of a team must be ready to let go of their stubbornness to join a consensus despite not liking it, and be willing to work until they can get to do something they enjoy.

We had some troubles progressing in the beginning due to minor conflicts in the team, but we managed to solve the situation by explaining it to a professor.