Kristy Li

The Forest

The Forest is about a deer who got separated with its family. To find its family, navigate through the maze with WASD or arrow keys. (Make sure the deer doesn't hit anything because it messes up the game. Refresh game if collision occurs)

Concept and Intentions

The primary concept behind this project is about how we get distracted by things around us and lose focus on the goal. I wanted to make an environment where everything looks aesthetically pleasing to distract the player from playing the game. Finding the ending to a maze can be really easy when one rushes through it, but have you ever stopped to look at all the beauty around us?


The game starts off with a deer(the player) in the middle of the forest, and the player can move around through the forest. The deer is used because I wanted to portray its innocence and beauty, and how when they sense danger, they run the other way. With the music playing, everything seems to be fine, until the player reaches the stoned area. Dark and sinister music starts playing and the player realizes that they could be in danger or they are going in the wrong direction. When the player finds the exit of the forest, they realized that they were actually lost from the start of the game, but didn't realize that they were lost until they see the family in the ending.

Process

Mapped out the maze on Unity

(Green = forest, Black = stones)

Interactivity: Camera continued following player, even when they turn. Player did not phase through walls when collision occurs.

Trees were placed based on the walls, and decorated the empty space between the trees with grass, flowers, mushrooms, etc,.

Reflection

The 3D modeling of the environment worked well and was fairly simple, but it did take the longest because I had to decorate the forest with flowers and mushrooms. I didn’t want it to repeat too much because I wanted the viewer to see something different every time they turned the corner. Something that did not work as well as I intended is that the dark music can be heard in the forest, even though I only wanted the dark music to play when the player reached the stones area. Same thing with the first music, I only wanted the forest music to be heard in the forest and when the player reached the end, but the forest music can also be heard in the stones area.


To extend this project in the future, I want the forest to be even bigger, and make it look less like a maze. I also want to provide different exits and different scenarios with different music depending on which exit the player leaves through. I would also like to try using different animals and let the player choose what they want to be.

Thank you! :)