In the weeks previous, I had met up with Harry, a 3rd Year music student who was interested in working on my project. He shared a music sketch for the healed forest environment for my game, to which I was ecstatic. I’ve fallen in love with the soundtrack, and it has served as inspiration to start creating assets for the Forest environment. I’ve since dubbed the area Windfall Forest, due to the prominent use of flutes in Harry’s music. It’s planned for the player to be able to gain more verticality through flowers or craters which expel large gusts of wind, allowing them to explore more of the area.
Sprites:
- A2 (W: 54.9cm x L: 42cm)
- Brushes:
- Kyle’s Paintbox Bristle 01
- Flow: 1%
- Kyle’s Paintbox Bristle Borb
- Flow: 14%
- Kyle’s Paintbox Encaustic Grip
- Size: 400
- Flow: 51%
- Size: 400
- Kyle’s Paintbox Bristle 01
I’m particularly fond of the assets I’ve created for Windfall Forest. The moss was a joy to work on, and it looks so lush. I’ve also stretched my capabilities and created other varying assets, such as tree stumps and logs, and have tried to work in finer details such as grass and vines.
However, as I’m a one-man team, I’ve had to cut a few corners to try and make the workload easier. I’ve done this by utilising some of the assets from the Caverns environment, so that I don’t have to create more rocks, and can just add the mossy textures on top. It feels cheap, however, I think the final results below speak for themselves.
Again, I’ve utilised particle systems to add a little more flourish to the environment, in this case, pollen particles of varying sizes. They drift in and out of the air at random, and I think it really creates a sense of peace within the area. By including 2 different particle systems, I can also apply different levels of parallax, which really solidifies the depth of the environment.
I’m very proud of the finished result, and it looks and feels even better in motion. The addition of Harry’s soundtrack also brings the environment to life in a way that the Caverns hasn’t been yet, and so I look forward to hearing what else Harry can come up with, and implementing that into the game.
I have also considered trying to add some physics based motion to some of the assets, such as the vines in the foreground swinging as you move past them, but I think that will be a final flourish I will add if I have time after working in the other features of my game.
