In Fairy Trail the players walk along a forest path and end up in a clearing with a fairy circle. Upon entering the circle, they experience the magical version of the forest. The time of day changes and all the flowers start to glow. The scene consists of various modular forest assets.
6th Semester 2021, Game Design, HTW Berlin
Duration: 2 Weeks
Constraints: Designing an environment which includes a bridge and at least one object which changes by interaction
Technology: Unreal Engine, Maya, Substance Painter, Adobe Photoshop
Coaches: Prof. Jan Berger
My goal was to create a semi-realistic style with hand-painted textures. For the creation of the art style I used illustrations, photos and video games (e.g. Among Trees, Life is Strange) as references. When designing the trees and plants, I decided on species that harmonize well with each other. Since the forest already has supernatural elements, my focus lied rather on working out the mystical look than on how accurate and realistic the flora and common occurrence of the plants really is.
I came up with the idea of a path similar to an educational trail: with signposts that lead to the forest clearing and with panels that inform the visitors about the place and its peculiarities. This way the players get an idea about their surroundings and know what they have to do to activate the day-night-change. Another benefit of the educational trail is that I can use the man-made fence to limit the player’s walkable area. Hereby I can determine exactly which parts of the environment can be seen.
