Fantasy Environment - Project update

Phwoar!

What a time we have had! There has been a storms, cyclone, flooding, family health scares and a root-blocked sewer pipe to deal with plus 50 other things. Thankfully, I managed to get a few little pieces of paid work here and there!

Honestly, I’m currently more inspired to work on a game project that I’ve been thinking about for at lest 4 years and apply all the skills I’ve learnt from this Fantasy Environment project (and the work I did on Macabre by Weforge) while it’s still fresh.

I’ll still be working on this bit by bit, because I do want a comparison of my skills over the years; but I’ll also post a few things here on my game - once I’ve ironed a few things out.

So what’s different since last update?

I’ve been working a lot more in Substance Designer, scratching an itch I didn’t know I had. I really, really love working on procedural nodes. But I also hate it. What would take me perhaps a few hours to create at most by hand took me days to complete - but I could feel myself understand the program, the way to think about things and if there’s a better node for this process or that process. Once the nodes are in place though, it takes me minutes to crank out different looking ones - unlike by hand. So there definitely is a trade off there.

I’ve recreated the cobblestone textures time and time again. This time, I think, I have some nice clean graphs and textures to boot.

The graph that made those above cobblestones

Creating a slate shingled roof texture in Substance Designer

It wasn’t just cobblestones that I worked on. I’ve managed to create shingles! both round and square. I’m happier with the round shingles more than the square ones, but there comes a time where you have to say “this is good enough” and work on something else.

The hardest part of making the shingles was figuring out how to apply a gradient to a gradient.

I tried to affect the rows, but that cause a big problem with the damage markers afterwards, and it felt like I had way less control over things. It also made it less tileable - And I didn’t want that. I ended up applying a gradient to each row manually and then using 3 different seeds to create the overall tiled texture. This gave me the ability to keep the textures completely tileable, while still having the affect of one slate shape overlapping the other.

Honestly, I’m pretty happy with my progress

The Game Plan

Yes, I said I was going to be working on the environment. Yes, I know I’m changing my plan; AuDHD becomes me. I got bored of it, and I’m not getting paid. so while, portfolio work is incredibly important I’m going to start devoting most of my attention to my game idea for the next however-long. Because I’ve been inspired!

I find that the smart thing to do is while I have the drive and inspiration, I should turn this ember into a working fire. Something that I can pursue and feed long-term.

That means making documentation, prototyping and base art, ironing out details, mechanics and story elements. I need to network (uegh) find people that are like-minded, have a passion for this type of project or can just want to help in some way. And most importantly, I need to find money. Funding. Which is nigh-on impossible at the moment with the way things are going.

So I think that’s my goal. Get this idea to a point where I can pitch the game idea and show people what it could be. To get some money, to help employ myself, and some others in the Queensland games industry, generally make a name for ourselves. Nothing too grand - of course.