Prototype Two:
Trencher
Self Exploration
Like Mata Hari, Trencher (working title) the second 3D installation will use UI/ HUD elements based around talismans, this time based on these are based on the Ten Sephirot. These talismans will be used to navigate a labyrinth.
These 10 talismans will be presented randomly in a procedural generated maze and will be collected by the player so that a path forward to unique digital artifacts, and it will reflect on the kabbalah, specifically Shekhinah, and Sophia.
Artist Statement:
Procedural Level Design - The Labyrinth and Myth in 32bit
Prototype two is a project in procedural landscape level design. It draws influence from Postmodern land art, Jewish (and tangentially Christian) Mysticism, and is rooted in the aesthetics of the 32bit era of gaming. Trencher (working title) uses scattering algorithms and procedural generators/blueprints to build a random maze. The *player then traverses this vast ‘trench’ system similar to a first-person dungeon crawler, collecting talismans and interacting with digital artifacts conceptualized from digital collage, and modeled and textured with a fidelity akin to something constructed in the 32bit era (PS1, Saturn, Amiga). This era of gaming is very personal to me, as it is some of the earliest gaming experiences I had, specifically the first-person dungeon crawler (Shining the Holy Arc). Dungeon crawlers are some of the earliest PC games developed, and a great platform for the psychoanalysis of self exploration. The 32bit era of 3D gaming, like the Atari 2600 for 2D, had to overcome severe hardware limitation, seen in texture warping and fog, to render their 3D worlds. These limitations became strengths however, allowing these game to exist as unique digital artifacts.
Modular Environmental Assets
Conceptualizing and Modeling the pieces of the Trench System
Original Level
Post Processed
Level Concept
Demuxed
The procedural system of trenches is of course the most important for project two and I used modular design to properly build in Blender, with shaders and UVmapping done in blender, some additional work done in Substance and Unreal. Once these modular architectural assets are built I then repeat the process with other hero assets. The backdrop in Trencher is also very important with a day night cycle and a complex of massive Brutalist apartment buildings, a temple complex, and factory complex. Much influence was drawn Eastern Bloc architecture, and from the 1979 Soviet film Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky, and the 1974 film Phase IV by Saul Bass. Once modular elements where put into an UE4 level, post processing and PP materials where built and experimented with to give it a unique and otherworldly quality (test samples above).
Digital Artifact Design:
Conceptualizing, Distortion, Retropology, and Modeling
Digital artifacts will be present in Trencher as key stones. Working with proximity displacers then a series of procedural manipulations in Blender were done including converting to voxels. Modeling and texturing have not been finalized. There is a great need for optimization to make it a game ready asset, which I’m currently working on. Once this is finalized, UV maps are generated for textures and light maps, and it will be integrated into Unreal Engine 4.
Sound Design:
Soundscapes and SFX
As stated before, with Trencher I really want to emphasize the unique qualities of the 32bit era, this bleeds over into the soundscape, with the Japanese computer the FM Townes Marty as one of my favorite machines for sound reproduction. These computers came with different modules for sound but I’ve focused down to a few tracks that I really enjoy and will serve as the basis for my work. The human footsteps are essential SFX as the player moves through the water as well. Below is a sample of work – Barloom’s Lair.