The project was intended to be an adaptation of the novel "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway. I've extracted some elements from the original novel which I've considered essential for my purpose. The game-play takes elements from action-adventure genre in twisted dream-like first-person view. The player can pick and craft items, using them to unlock doors or kill/avoid hostile creatures. Overall the prototype implies both action and puzzle elements in mystery novel setting: our character wakes up on an exotic island and he can explore freely the surroundings, unveiling it's mysteries.
Development
I've programmed the project using Unreal Engine 4 Blueprint scripting. I've created most of the content using Blender and Photoshop for texturing. I've used Unreal Engine 4 post-process tools to obtain a dream-like effect which helped me to give more depth to the subject. The sound design was not polished, I just insisted so that different areas of the island will have different sounds.
The Marlin Ancient Alien ship
An essential element to this project is the mystery of the ancient Marlin Alien ship. Therefore the design of this character was important for setting the mood and desired curiosity.
I've imagined that the Marlin should both a creature and a mechanical structure, one which could be used as a ship. The subject implied the idea of a big and strong sea creature, therefore I had to transpose this in my model. Also I've followed a Sci-fi novelty proper to those old 60's adventure movies, even if I didn't have a very defined target in this regard, I knew what shapes and color pallet could fit the subject –> ancient alien technology rusted and degraded in salt water or attacked by other sea like creatures. The story of this structure basically had to result from the looks of its decay.
Workflow for modelling the asset:
I've created the base model in Blender > then sculpted it > then proceeded to UV unwrap each piece, re-topology of the model, then scan the final Normals and Ambient Occlusion maps.
The first prototype was developed in 2 weeks.
Later on, for 10 more days I've polished some of the 3D assets.
Tools used
Unreal Engine 4, Blender, Adobe tools.
