Multimedia Designer
DEW
This is a collaborative project. In our team, despite members residing in various countries for study or personal reasons, there's a shared passion for the artistic style of traditional Chinese ink painting. United by this common interest and a mutual fondness for Limbo and Journey games, we conceived an idea: to develop a decryption adventure game infused with the captivating essence of Chinese ink aesthetics, narrating a journey story of finding love and experiencing personal growth. In my role, I am responsible for creating the 2D scenes and animations required for the game. While the demo is still in progress, I have successfully completed the materials needed for the demo from my end.
TEAM MEMBERS
Game Planning - Leo Zeng
Lead 2D Art - Ruotong Cui
Character Design - Damon
3D Art - Bu
Unity - Leo Zeng & Wenlan
STORYLINE SUMMARY
Upon awakening, the dewdrop is greeted by a bird bearing a love letter from a flower. Intrigued by the clues within the verses, Dew embarked on a quest to find the poem's author. Throughout this journey, Dew explored diverse landscapes, surmounted numerous challenges, and witnessed the blossoming of countless flowers. Regrettably, the sought-after flower remained elusive until the journey's conclusion. In the desert, Dew encountered a fiery red rose, which confessed that the letter was intended for another. Disheartened, Dew returned, but upon reflection of the notes gathered along the way, realized that the true treasures were the experiences gained during the journey.
THE LETTER
"I can see you
That's my specialty
I grew up in the far north
Wear armor
Get used to being alone.
I love you
As I symbolizes love
How will you fall into my arms?
Stay with me until the petals wither away.
If you awaken in a distant place
Please come and nourish me
If you want to abandon me
Don’t waste a winter of silence."
SETTINGS
The key clues in the letter are "I grew up in the far north", "wear armor", and "symbolize love". Following these lines, Dew heads north, passing through four sections on the map: mountain landscape, Chinese old town, tea garden, and desert. Along the way, Dew shows the letter to every flower it encountered, and each flower explains why it does not match the author. Dew meticulously records each flower's appearance and their responses in its notebook, steadfastly continuing its journey northward until the author shows up.
The protagonist, Dew, is an innocent awakened dewdrop, curious about everything in the world. This marks Dew's first encounter with the concept of "love", prompting a determined quest to find the mysterious flower. To maintain consistency with Dew being a genderless character, the pronoun "it" is used throughout the narrative.
CHARACTER DESIGN: DEW
References
Final Design
The pattern on the character's costume is designed according to the letter "water" in Chinese oracle.
KEY MECHANISM
GAME FLOW
INTRO ANIMATION STORYBOARD
DEMO DEVELOPMENT
The demo features an experiment level in the mountain landscape section showcasing some key mechanisms within the game.
CONCEPT SCENE DESIGN
Scene References
Experimental Sketches
Final Design
ASSETS
Moutains
Clouds
Branch
Flower
Fall & Stream
Wind
To grant players control over the wind, our solution was a fan switch. However, integrating an electric fan into a natural setting felt jarring. Drawing inspiration from Chinese mythology's wind beast—a creature resembling a deer's head atop a bird's body—I envisioned the fan as an integral part of this mythical being, seamlessly embedded within the stone
CHARACTER 3D MODELING
walk
run
jump
grab
UNITY DEVELOPMENT AND CHALLENGES
We encountered numerous challenges due to the combination of 3D character and 2D scenes. To enable the 3D character to navigate within the 2D environment, we implemented transparent 3D models positioned behind each element in the scene.
The cloud generator successfully creates random cloud formations that move across the scene. However, we've noticed that the movements lack the liveliness we intended to achieve.
We used the Sprite Renderer to control the fall and fan animation.