For Project 1, I decided to create a retrofuturistic environment inspired by the music/art genres of synthwave and vaporwave. By synthesizing and expanding on ideas, elements, and emotions expressed in existing synthwave media, I sought to create a minimalist, nostalgic space where the viewer could escape from “real” reality. Ideally, this space would be constructed in a way that steered the viewer away from questioning elements of the surroundings and towards simply accepting the “random” nature of the surroundings for what they were. To achieve this, I needed perfection in both design and implementation of the synthwave space.
Throughout the design/implementation process, I experimented a variety of things. I initially started with a static environment with only sun, sky, mountains, and a grid, but decided that this environment was too boring. To make the experience a bit more dynamic, I made a script that would scroll the grid texture to create the illusion of forward movement. This also had an unintended but welcome effect of making the terrain seem much more expanded than it really was. Since music is a defining characteristic of vaporwave and synthwave, I added a statue behind the camera that served as both an audio source situated in the 3D space as well as a point of interest for the viewer to look behind. In complement with the music, I added planets orbiting around the sun, then made the sun and planets vibrate along with the high and low frequencies of the music. Finally, I added shaders, lighting, and post-processing (bloom and chromatic aberration) to truly bring out neon and glossy elements.
Overall, I am quite proud of the end result. Despite having little experience in Unity, I managed to learn Unity’s C# framework, basic shader programming, as well as some useful quirks and intricacies that I hope to exploit in my next projects. The visual simplicity of the environment made it quite suitable for mobile devices, and I experienced little to no issue play-testing my environment. Most importantly, I feel that I successfully brought to life my unique interpretation of a synthwave world that I could get lost in.
