To create this flooded desert environment, I managed with two classmates. We developed our idea for a post-apocalyptic desert setting based on pre-supplied prompts.
Our prompts included:
- Setting: Exterior Themed Outpost or Cabin
- Architecture: Modern (Dead organics, apocalyptic)
- Visual Style: Realism/Hyperrealism
- Environmental Condition: Flooding (Twilight, Arid/High Desert)
- Surprise Twist: Dinosaurs/Large Creatures
Based on these prompts I made these concept sketches for an idea of our base environment.
After that we worked on further building out the story while building the main assets. My main assets were the hut, and the snake body. My group member Paige Harner worked on the dock, barrel with fire in it, and the dam. My group member Lior Dubrovsky worked on the dinghy model.
The final story we developed is this: A person escaped to the desert to flee nuclear war, but they are unable to escape the affects of the nuclear fallout. As the dam that created the desert is being destroyed by a mutated creature trying to break through, the desert is slowly flooding. While the eventual breakthrough of the creature will likely bring the end to the life of this person, the flooding supplies them with many resources including a banged up plastic dinghy, logs and planks, and whatever else they can fish out with their nets.
I worked on the majority of the overall scene design including the lighting, terrain, layout, and visual effects. The terrain was designed in World Machine, and then textured in Unreal using Quixel assets. Many of the assets and effects were sourced from Epic’s Marketplace or other online sources.