Arctic Hideaway was one of my projects for my Virtual Environments class at UTD. The assignment was to build a virtual environment of any theme from scratch, including at least one particle and sound effect in the Unity engine, using industry standard programs like Maya 3D Modeling and Substance Painter. The concept I came up with was a stranded explorer in the arctic, desperately attempting to scavenge what materials they could from the wreckage of their ship.
For this project, I decided to use a painterly style inspired by the video games The Signal From Tölva and FAR: Lone Sails utilizing common PBR materials and practices.
Two major elements of design that I focused on were space, and shape. Space was used to promote the sense of isolation and create a juxtaposition between the ice fields and the inside of the ship, utilizing wide, open spaces outside and a distinct lack of space inside the ship. Within the clustered ship, the specific pieces of furniture and other objects required distinctive shapes to help them stand out from each other and assist the cluttered feeling. The ice fields on the other hand only shows one distinctive shape, which again creates a direct juxtaposition between the interior and exterior.
The environment uses a color palette consisting of dull reds, oranges, yellows, and bright blues to assist in the environmental storytelling. The metal walls, tools, and furniture use shades of red and orange to promote the idea that the interior of this ship is warmer than the icy exterior, while the furniture that the explorer would actually use and move around uses shades of yellow to highlight them for the player. The icy wastes outside on the other hand use bright blues to distinguish where the explorer’s safety ends.
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