Space Escape - animator, modeler
Space Escape is a space-themed escape room puzzle game played in Virtual Reality (VR). The project was done with a group of five, using Maya for models and animations, and Unity for the game programming and the VR aspect. I contributed on the animations and models in this project.
Contributions
Brainstorming
Modeling & Particle Systems
Animating
Brainstorming
Brainstorming started by everyone writing down any thoughts and ideas on post-it notes. Thoughts and ideas were categorized into themes, the type of the VR experience, and the activities. We then examined the post-it notes in each category and explored various combinations that may spark an idea for the project.
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We decided upon a space-themed escape room type game. Space theme minimizes the needed models to fill the world; while the escape room minimizes the game area, and allows more focus on the interactions aspect of the gameplay. My team then moved on to sketches and explore what may the scenes of such a VR game look like.
a sketch of how might the players interact with the environment
a concept sketch of a puzzle involving connecting wires
a sketch of different devices as part of the puzzles
Modeling and Particle Systems
I was responsible to create a bunch of random objects, props if you will, to fill the room. Objects that could encourage players to pick up and wave around or objects that could steer players to do certain interactions were my focus. Objects such as a flag, a flare, a piece of paper and a TV screen which contain hints on how to solve the puzzle. While working on the models, I discovered that the particle system in Unity a lot of fun to play with. So I explored the particle systems and implemented them into the game.
some models that I made, from left to right, top to bottom: power cell, screen, paper, flag, star, and flare
Animating
To let the environment to look less static, our team decided to include an alien in the game which had an animation that bangs on the window from time to time. A teammate did the modeling and rigging of the alien, and the model was passed on to me to do the animation in Maya. The animation was not as difficult as attempting to sync the audio of a “banging” sound with the animation. The timing of the audio in Audacity and Unity was a bit offset, so several attempts of trial and error I was able to sync the audio.
a fully rigged alien model
an alien model, looking from inside the spaceship
placed a plane to make sure the hands would not clip pass the window
since animals use their tails as a counterbalance, so I animated in such a way as well