Project: Cursed
2024 (WiP)
2024 (WiP)
Project: Cursed is a personal project of mine that looks into the aftermath of one of my first games 'The Curse of Springfield Mine' (view this project here).
The player plays as a private investigator who is trying to piece together the tragedy that struck the miners as they worked a few short weeks ago. Piece together the larger story of the Springfield Mine and uncover the secrets that lie deep within the dark pits of the mine.
My aim for this project was to create a short narrative driven experience for the player to close off the story of the previous game.
I decided that this project would take an experimental development style, working on this project in short bursts after I felt I have learned new methods of level design and improved blueprint creation.
Expand my level design methods through detailed drawings.
Improve my 3D modelling skills.
Improve my visual scripting abilities using UE5's blueprint system.
This project is still a work in progress as I experiment with a lot of the design and blueprints, leading to a calmer but longer development cycle.
Check out some of the blueprints I made for this project here.
Below is a quick video of the level that I created in a short amount of time and does not reflect the finished project.
Inspiration:
The inspiration for this project was The Curse of Springfield Mine, my final year project of my undergraduate degree. The narrative ending is very abrupt which I wasn't a big fan off, making this project an ideal method of closing off the story.
Planning:
I gathered reference material for the exterior of the mine in addition to the resources from The Curse of Springfield Mine. These pictures helped me to design the mine yard and points of interest that I felt were necessary to guide the player.
A positive about using a previous project as inspiration is the bulk of the planning workload has already been complete, meaning the development process can begin sooner.
I created a rough level layout of the mine yard and the mine itself. I split the level layout of the mine yard into three sections using the traffic light system.
High detail (green).
Medium detail (orange).
Low detail (red).
The traffic light system helped me to put my focus into the desired areas, reducing the chances of getting carried away with sections outside of the target area.
I didn't want to use the traffic light system in the mine as I wanted this section to be highly detailed as it is a small area and not as big as it was in The Curse of Springfield Mine.
I coloured and annotated the level layouts to make it clearer to understand.
I used the level layouts to create the block out level in UE5. I kept to the desired development area to avoid exploding the scope of the project. As I was working on this project sporadically, I felt that keeping to my designs was crucial to keeping the development fun and enjoyable.
The blocked level was very difficult to see when all the cubes used the same base material, so I used different colours to distinguish between the different elements. It still wasn't clear enough but the level layout helps to understand my vision I was trying to create. I chose not to block the train tracks or fences as I felt these weren't a major environmental factor.
The two variants of grey represent the buildings. I used two different shades to help distinguish between them. The plane was green to represent the grass, although the final texture would most likely be mud. The vehicles are coloured orange to make them stand out and finally the two entrances to the mine are coloured white.
To finish the planning phase, I sourced third-party assets that I felt fit the environment style I was trying to achieve. Any assets that I couldn't find to match my aesthetic vision would need to be created by me.
Development:
I started the development process by creating the models that I couldn't source from third-parties. This severely delayed the progress of the level but helped me to create an environment that I felt fit my vision better.
I used Blender to make the assets that I couldn't find from third-parties.
The first model I made was the generator. This is part of the first quest for the player to complete. I spent a long time practising my normal maps with the model and it turned out quite well.
I created the watch tower next. This was also part of the first quest. I gave myself creative freedom when modelling to give my own unique art style a place in the environment.
These models are important to the environment as they allow the player to turn the lights on to bring the level to life. Ignoring this quest leaves the level very dark, even with the flashlight equipped.
The railway tracks took a long time to model as there were several different models to create this set. The UV mapping was incredibly tough to do as there were so many faces that needed to be UV mapped.
The fence and gate were straightforward to create as there was little issues with the modelling or UV mapping process.
The elevator tower was time consuming as I was using reference material and some creative freedom where I felt it benefitted the model. The model itself didn't need to be perfect as the environment is dark where this model is located in the level. Its main purpose was to create a realistic silhouette of the tower in the environment.
The mine entrance purely based on my creative freedom as I felt reference material for this particular asset wasn't necessary.
Implementation:
I sculpted the landscape to fit the mountainous terrain I wanted and used the landscape visibility tool to create the entrances of the mine. I textured the landscape at this stage as I wanted to get the landscape development done before I implemented the assets.
The first asset implemented was the mine entrance. I added two as I wanted one for the mine carts and another for workers. A third entrance is available through the elevator but it is only available by using the elevator.
I created the perimeter of the mine yard using the fence models, placing the gate on the flat section of the landscape.
Once I placed the buildings into the level it started to take shape. This took some time as I kept changing my mind on the height that I wanted the buildings to be. I initially wanted a low building scape so the player could see the silhouette of the mountains in the background and to make the elevator tower appear taller than it is. This changed when I experimented with the taller buildings and found that I liked the change of elevation between the buildings.
I updated the lighting to improve the aesthetic of the night setting. This helped me to get an idea of how the silhouettes of the building and mountains would look and if I needed to make any adjustments.
The vehicles and props were added after to help bring together the environment. I wanted to get a quick video out showing the progress made but I felt the environment was too empty so I added these props in before recording the video.
The mine was part of this video and I hadn't started it. I quickly put together a small section of the mine using third-party assets and done some quick lighting to make it look unsettling. A quick retrospective makes me less than satisfied with this section of the project and the assets used. While it does a good job of getting the feeling of isolation across, it does not feel like I used the right choice of assets and lighting for me. As this is a work in progress this will be changed.
Reflection:
Below is a small paragraph on the reflection that I have done for this project so far.
Positive:
3D Modelling is impressive.
I feel quite pleased when I see the models that I have been able to create for this project. I feel that my abilities have improved greatly.
Unique development cycle.
Working on this project in small bursts with breaks in between reduces the chances of burnout and allows me to put high quality work into the short bursts of time I work on this project.
Negative:
Very dark.
The environment is quite dark. While there is a quest (in progress) that turns the lighting on, the base lighting makes it difficult to navigate the level.
The mine feels... 'off'.
I am not happy with the current state of the mine. It was completed in a short space of time for a short video, making it still a work in progress. Fixing this level won't be an issue.
To finish:
3D modelling has improved greatly.
Flexible development cycle reduces burnout.
Very dark level (currently).
Mine level needs to be redesigned.