Category: Spring 2020

Project Folder | APK

Description
Crystal Cave is a 360° experience created for the Google Cardboard that immerses users into a small cave containing glowing crystals. To guide my design, I strove to create a cave that would have a serene and peaceful identity. To create the calm experience I was aiming for, I focused on making this environment one that did not look like a generic cave, and decided to include various mysterious, glowing crystals to do so. As such, the experience is designed in a way where the user finds themselves standing on a rock in the middle of a pond, looking at the mouth of the cave and the mountains outside or looking around inside the cave, eventually “discovering” a large assortment of glowing crystals at the end of the cave. 

Process and Implementation
To achieve the peaceful identity I was striving for, I first looked for references and sources of inspiration that had this mood/atmosphere. I first came across The Long Dark and was instantly captivated by the vast, yet tranquil environment it portrayed. Using this videogame as a main source of inspiration, I created two moodboards. The first moodboard contained a lot of images of large, mountainous and snowy environments. After deciding that this would perhaps look a bit too generic and not quite alternate, I created the second moodboard, which contained an assortment of ice caverns with streams of water and crystals, and which lined up better with the serene atmosphere I wanted to create.

Now that I had an initial idea of the general visuals, I created the following storyboard/sketches. As seen in the composition below, I decided to place the user in between the mouth of the cave (which would show a glimpse of the world outside) and the end of the cave (which contained a series of elevated rocks with large, glowing crystals).

In this initial stage, I was only certain about the composition at both ends of the cave, and not in the other surrounding walls. Once I started working in Unity, I started with these two parts, and decided to design the remaining viewpoints as I developed the project.

Once I started working in Unity, I deliberately created a place that naturally guided the user’s attention through the careful placement of rocks, stalagmites, and crystals, and through the deliberate use of lighting (both from the crystals lighting other parts of the cave and from the moonlight coming from outside). For instance, as shown in the still below, the rocks in the pond along with the rocks at the end of the cave naturally guide the user’s attention upwards towards the largest crystal atop the rocks.

The biggest aspect that created the peaceful and alternate “feel” of the environment was definitely the crystals. Their cool teal color and their emissive glow was key in producing a serene atmosphere. Their lighting also afforded me with a lot of possibility regarding which aspects of the cave would be darker, and which ones would be less obscured. This then really guided me throughout the process of designing parts of the cave that would otherwise just have been empty. This can be shown in the following screenshot, where the crystal’s glow is used to suggest at the surrounding stalagmites. In this manner, the cave loses its potential of being scary, as certain areas are not entirely obscure. In a way, it could be said that the crystals themselves emit peace.

Reflection/Evaluation
Overall, I feel that the project implementation does reflect the serene identity I was striving for. As mentioned previously, the emissiveness and glow of the crystals inside the cave were key in creating a soft and peaceful atmosphere, and in making the cave feel more like a place rather than just an empty cave. Their placement as objects that directly countered the darkness of the cave contributed to producing an environment that would have otherwise been hostile. Looking back at my moodboard and initial sketches, I feel that this final outcome gives justice to the environment I envisioned, which I am really happy about. Regarding the medium, building for Google Cardboard versus building for the PC really gave different results. In the Cardboard, the whole environment looked much brighter in general, and the lighting lost its soft edges and quality. However, it still maintained itself as a serene environment, which is what I was striving for. Using low-poly visuals in Unity also contributed to the calmness of the environment, as the lack of hyper-realistic visuals created enough of a visual separation between the real world and this alternate crystal cavern.

Final Project Screenshots

Description

Despite the fact that the world is ever-increasingly connected, I feel increasingly lonely and small amidst all the chaotic events taking place all over the globe. The imminence of global warming, of global wars, of global inequalities… threatens to put an end to our civilization, to wipe away the existence of everything on the small rock we called Earth. Not everyone is yet to realize that our existence is so small that it does not even outlast a blink of an eye compared to the scope of the universe, of space and time. Does everything that happens here on Earth matter?

Adopting this rather bleak outlook on our existence on Earth, I created an alternative reality experience in which the last human being stands on the surface of the moon, looking back to an explosion-stricken Earth, surrounded by nothing but lunar’s deserted terrains and relics of human’s lunar exploration. Throughout the experience, I wanted to emphasize the smallness and the emptiness that one feels when presented in such an environment, and that maybe it can make an influence on how we see our fragile existence on Earth.

Process and Implementation

Regarding the design aesthetics of the environment, I chose to stay as faithful as possible to people’s perception of the moon through realistic rendering of its surface and terrain albeit with a surreal element of an explosion-stricken Earth. By combining the two ends of realistic-ness, I hope to create an experience that is almost real, but not quite, something that has the possibility to happen in our current understanding of reality, perhaps in the far, dark future.

It was clear from early on that the “front” of the scene (where the viewers can see the Earth) will be mostly flat, dotted with some relics of previous lunar exploration (a lander and a flag). The terrain transitions to a more rocky, mountainous region that wraps around the viewer’s position towards the “back” of the scene, raising higher and almost touching the sun on the sky, which heightens the insignificant existence of the viewer even more.

The lunar terrain was built with the Terrain tool in Unity by using a normal map of the moon as well as the tool’s multiple terrain brushes. Cement was used for the material of the moon surface, and it suited perfectly.

In the front view, lunar exploration’s relics (a lander and a flag) can be seen. If the enormous distance between the Earth and the moon creates a spatial separation between the person and the rest of the human race, these space relics added a second layer of human separation to the piece: temporal separation. The only other times when there were other people sharing such an abandoned place and such an isolated feeling was back in the 60s-70s during the Apollo program. The person is lonely, both in space and in time.

Compared to the first sketch, there were some changes to the scene. First of all, the position of the sun was pushed to the “back” of the scene so that it could illuminate the “front”. If it had been at the “front”, it would have cast shadows on the flag and lander, making them impossible to be seen clearly.

Also, I originally envisioned the Earth to be slowly disintegrating into pieces, instead of smaller explosions on the surface as in the final product. Such slowly disintegrating Earth would have a stronger impact on the physicality of the scene by providing viewers with a nearly-frozen capture of the Earth in its most vulnerable form. By not showing the direct cause that makes Earth disintegrate, I hoped to ignite a sense of mysteriousness and unsettling.

However, after toying around with the Dissolve shader, I realized that I had to switch every other object’s shader to Lightweight Pipeline as well, and when doing that, a lot of them did not retain the original materials. That’s why I ended up using the particle systems to create smaller explosions on the surface of the Earth in hope of achieving the same effect of showing the viewers how small and fragile our existence on Earth is and that maybe we should embrace and appreciate it more.

Reflection and Evaluation

Overall, I am moderately satisfied with the environment albeit a failure to produce a more enticing/dramatic disintegrating Earth. Also, while there was a failure to produce a sky filled with stars and asteroids flying around (the procedural sun skybox did not allow me to add another 6-sided skybox filled with stars), I think it would not have added much to the experience as a whole. The fact that the sky is desolate, except for the ever-present Sun and the dying Earth, amplifies the emptiness of the environment.

The drastic disparity between the expanse deserted environment on the moon and the tiny size of the Earth, and everything that belongs to it, highlights how insignificant our existence is, not only for the lone person stands on the moon, but also for our entire human race. Such size disparity is nicely represented with the help of virtual reality where viewers are not limited to a flat and fixed 2D view but a free 360-degree experience.

This experience emerged from the idea of solitude. Considering both
Gabriel García Márquez’ One Hundred Years of Solitude and the way spaces between places can have placeness led me to understand solitude as a place marked by chosen, intentional loneliness. Such placed space becomes apparent in games like The Long Dark, where the vastness and the spectral presence of humans in their artifacts turns what would otherwise be in-between space into a place of “the forest” or “the ghost town”  or “the wild.

Because of the practical limitations of having to rely upon visual cues for immersion, I focused on filling the space with objects that would suggest a long-term occupant whose grasp on physical reality has been eroded by solitude. In response to this erosion, the occupant tries to remind themselves of reality by manipulating it physically, but their mind starts to slip. Finding Solitude situates the user inside of a stone cave, with a campfire, woodpile, sleeping mat and various stone and wooden animal sculptures, along with the tools to make them, scattered about the cave. The smoke rises from the campfire and spreads across the ceiling. A waterfall rises across the entrance to the cave, flowing backward and obscuring a view of a frozen lake and several mountains.

Initially I thought of creating an empty cave, but after some research, I realized that An empty cave may feel lonely, but the time and effort implied by filling it with artifacts of activity-the statues, the figurines, the tools, the wood stack, the campfire, and the sleeping mat-would  turn that loneliness into solitude. Someone, the user, has been there, expending their time and effort. The repetitiveness of the statues and the size of the wood stack imply the obsessiveness of this expenditure, suggesting the futility of effort which yields nothing for anyone outside of the cave, anyone aside from the user. While these serve as indicators of the way a mind in solitude starts to shift, the upside-down waterfall confirms that the user’s experiential reality of the world has collided with their physical reality. They are hallucinating. Logically, if the user entered the cave, they should be able to exit, but the waterfall covers there only exit and creates cognitive friction with such causal inferences. The user is made to believe that they cannot leave when, in fact, they can. In this way, all of these elements combine to create a sense of being present inside a mind filled with solitude, a reality which is neither the physical reality nor the experiential mind, but somewhere in between.

The initial view is almost banal, with a campfire, a wood stack, and a cave entrance covered by a waterfall. I wanted something to be slightly off about this view, so I inverted the flow of the waterfall. The placement of the campfire allows for the smoke cue discussed later, but it also makes sense practically. The fire’s smoke should mostly exit the cave and the light should ward off dangerous creatures. Hence, its placement implies the foresight of one who has been in the wilderness long enough to understand these functions, as well as the nature of the wilderness outside.

The initial view is almost banal, with a campfire, a wood stack, and a cave entrance covered by a waterfall. I wanted something to be slightly off about this view, so I inverted the flow of the waterfall. The placement of the campfire allows for the smoke cue discussed later, but it also makes sense practically. The fire’s smoke should mostly exit the cave and the light should ward off dangerous creatures. Hence, its placement implies the foresight of one who has been in the wilderness long enough to understand these functions, as well as the nature of the wilderness outside.

If the user turns left, the wood stack comes into view with an axe leaned up against it. The stack has an unreasonably large amount of wood, but does not necessarily suggest anything strange aside from the amount of time  the individual has been there. It also implies, along with the unevenness of the walls and ceiling, that the cave exists within a larger natural context with plenty of available firewood, such as a hilly or mountainous forest. When the user turns completely to the left, a wolf head statue comes into view, and they are drawn to the back wall.

Similarly, if the user turns to the right, they start to see the statues, which guide them to turn all the way around to see the wall of various animal carvings 

Tools lying on the floor near the statues bring the user’s view down, a movement that will guide them to the figurines and the sleeping mat if they turn left initially or toward the back wall if they turn right. The sleeping mat also implies the number of people who live in the cave: one.

A final, subtler cue to look at the statues  comes from the smoke, which radiates toward the back of the cave. Both the waterfall and the smoke are constituted by large particles rather than lines. This both fit better with the style and helped make the two feel more like objects in the space by exaggerating their movement to compensate for the lack of sound and taste that often indicate the presence of such translucent substances.

Overall, I felt this experience did succeed in implying solitude, but there are many improvements that could be made. In terms immersion, sounds of the waterfall and the campfire would help. In the initial design, I also wanted the statues to growl when the user was not looking at them to add a bit more tension to the scene. The smoothness of the floor and the way the smoke blocks just disappear like bubbles popping also brings users out of the experience. Finally, using animal models designed for low-poly rather than adding a stone texture to models designed for life-like textures would improve the consistency of the aesthetic. 

Overall, I felt this experience did succeed in implying solitude, but there are many improvements that could be made. In terms immersion, sounds of the waterfall and the campfire would help. In the initial design, I also wanted the statues to growl when the user was not looking at them to add a bit more tension to the scene. The smoothness of the floor and the way the smoke blocks just disappear like bubbles popping also brings users out of the experience. Finally, using animal models designed for low-poly rather than adding a stone texture to models designed for life-like textures would improve the consistency of the aesthetic. 

Aside from these improvements, however, I am satisfied with the work. Rarely does an idea manifest as I initially intended it to because I have to bring out a concept without the ability to construct the world it exists in. With this project, however, the result was nearly the same as the initial inspiration, with the only limit being my skills with the technology. While that limitation did force me to cut many of the initial interactions I had planned, it also humbled me, making me appreciate the consideration and thoughtfulness that must go into creating a static environment. In particular, the medium allowed me to create exactly what I wanted, so I had to think much harder about the why, something that is often lost or modified when I fabricate tangible projects.

Source can be found here.

APK can be found here.

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.

For my first project, I attempted to create an environment that was peaceful and calm. The inspiration for my project was loosely based upon the game Human: Fall Flat. In the game, there was always a sense of serenity, and this was something I hoped to recreate. Additionally, when traversing through levels, your character would fall from the sky while surrounded by clouds. I wanted to incorporate clouds in my project. I was particularly drawn to one of the levels that had a medieval feel. I also loved the low-poly objects and I utilized low-poly assets to create my project.

The image I associate with serenity and calmness is one that is filled with greenery and nature. I also thought that having clouds surrounding your character adds to this calmness and presents a heaven-like feel. I wanted to create some sort of isolated island in the middle of the sky where one would be able to just relax and indulge himself/herself in the scenery and tranquility. To do so, I situated the camera so that the first thing you would see would be trees, the sky, clouds, and a grass field (Figure 1). On the sides, one can observe a mountain on the right and a house on the left. The reason behind is that I wanted to curate a sense curiosity so that the user would turn around and try to explore the terrain (Figure 2 and Figure 3).

In my project, I also wanted to incorporate a medieval feel to it. I originally intended to create castles in my project, but I felt like it disrupted this calmness that I tried to create. Instead, I utilized other objects that one would associate with medieval times. The first was the well in the centre of the screen in Figure 1. On the right side in Figure 1, there is also a church while the left side has a building with a water wheel. Lastly, there is a washroom directly behind the user that reminded me of the medieval times and also the movie Shrek (Figure 4).

Across the various photos, one can observe that there are numerous clouds. In this project, to create a close proximity between the user and the clouds. This can be seen in Figure 2 where the cloud casts a shadow over the water. I also wanted the clouds to be everywhere to create a sense of living in the sky. In the project, the user is not situated directly in the centre of the space. From Figure 4, one can tell that he/she is close to the edge of the land. I wanted create the illusion that the user is suspended in the sky and that he/she could fall off. In Figure 5-7, one can observe that the user is surrounded by clouds everywhere.

This world is an alternate world due to the fact that one is situated in the middle of the sky. The objects are also low-poly and the buildings are outdated in today’s world. There is also not a living object other than plants/trees in sight.

Looking back, I definitely feel that my implementation fits the identity that I picked. It evokes a sense of calmness through the trees, clouds, and grass. The idea that one is situated in the sky is also something that aids in the identity that I’m trying to create. However, there is a discrepancy between the clouds from the skybox and the clouds that I utilized to surround the land. This somewhat breaks the sense of immersion. Although my initial idea had more buildings and castles, I felt that I still achieved the identity I was aiming for. I also felt that Unity was great in rendering this type of environment. The asset store also had numerous assets that fit with the identity that I was trying to create.