Environment Project
Inspiration For The Idea
I have been very invested in Doctor Who recently which I used to love when I was a child. I rediscovered it while watching the latest series and it made me want to go back and watch the older ones. Especially the 11th Doctor since he was always my favourite, and I grew up watching that era. My initial idea is to create a sci-fi themed walk through. I would love to create something out of the ordinary. I could mix real world with a gimmicky styled appearance. Some planets shown on Doctor Who have this strange effect of combining a natural Earth-like look while maintaining proof that it definitely isn’t Earth. One of the planets I take inspiration from is Galifrey. This planet has a desert base to it, but the infrastructure is nothing like what you would see on Earth. This planet underneath, Trenzalore, is the exact example of what we imagine hell looks like. The idea of this planet is this is where every Timelord is buried. The more important the Timelord is, the bigger their gravestone is. I think I could create something that looks dark and intimidating like this but have something else in place of the gravestone idea.
My Definition Of A Walking Simulator
In my view, a Walking Simulator is the type of game that consists of entering an open world and exploring through it. You may discover objects or characters, but the main goal is to take in the scenery around you while meeting new things along the way. Games like this, just as examples, are Minecraft and Ark (two games I've played before) as the core idea is to venture out and discover. The aspect of traveling wherever you like gives the player a sense of freedom within the game.
Working In Unity
I started out by creating a terrain. By using a terrain, it allows me to change the level of it. I can play with the terrain tools to raise or lower it, creating an interesting base for the environment. I investigated using multiple sky boxes before choosing the one that best fit what I wanted to do. I decided I wanted to paint my terrain to give it a texture. I was going for a space theme, so I wanted it to be rocky. In order to do this, I used the terrain paint tool and switched its setting to paint terrain. I set the first brush as a rock texture so that it would cover the entire thing. The next thing was finding free assets to suit the idea for my scene. Since I was creating an alien inspired planet, I needed assets with a sci-fi feel to them. I found a free asset pack that came with multiple assets in it. They were sci-fi buildings and I thought they would fit in perfectly. I loaded them into my scene and laced them in randomly. I had some trouble with them being placed above the terrain. This was because of the uneven, bumpy surface. I went through each one and lowered them, so they weren't floating. After all this, I was left with a moon-like scene filled with sci-fi tower blocks.
Ideas
I personally think these are two strong ideas that I'm happy with, but I will need to decide on a final idea in order to start the process of making it. These ideas have the possibility to have a great backstory behind them that influence the assets I choose to place within the world. A good backstory helps give the world more character and a strong meaning so this is something I would like to give a go.
Sound and Music
I would love to have dramatic music playing as the player is walking through. This would fit the destructive environment if that is what I decide on. If I go for the first idea, this type of music would fit just as well as it would make the feeling of being there more atmospheric. In terms of sounds, I could create a footstep sound that matches with the material on the ground. Along with this, the game could have background sounds (constantly playing) of things that are happening in the distance.
Ending
It doesn't necessarily need to have an ending since the player will just be wondering around as they please so they might not end up in a particular place. But I would like to make sure that this scene that I create has a way that it finishes.
The Layout Of The Environment
With the last game project I participated in, it was designed as a tour for the player. The environment leads you through a specific path which you must follow. I'm thinking of doing something like this because it would ensure that the player has the opportunity to see everything. This would oppose to the annoying experience of wondering around aimlessly as the player may end up missing areas of the map.
Ideas For how It Could Look
I would love to have a section of a field. This would look like any standard field, and I want it to include things like flowers and trees. Potentially here I could have the sound of birds to add to the atmosphere. I want it to look normal besides for one thing. It would be dynamic if the grass was pink. This will add to the other worldly environment that I want to create. This is a theme I would love to maintain throughout the map. If I select a realistic area from Earth and change things about it to make it feel odd, it will feel like the player is on a different planet which is the goal. I would also like to have a place where mountains would be, but I want the mountains to be triangle shaped, which is something you wouldn't see on Earth. I would like to make a deserted section as well. I want to use different colours in this area. It could be that different coloured sand means something different. I will do this using the terrain paint tool and will design it in a striped pattern.
