practice2-creativeprojectdev

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Blog 45: Pitch preparation

I need to pitch what my idea is and why I took my idea, and impress them with my pitch and prove to them that the work you gonna work on serves a purpose. It's not a waste of time. •Format: 3D gaming and movie showcasing environment.

•The intended audience consists of players of games like Outlast and Silent Hill as well as fans of psychological horror.

•Distribution: professional showreel, ArtStation portfolio, Unreal Showcase.

•Setting: An abandoned medical school that was shut down due to unexplained autopsy events.

•Story Hook: A new recruit security officer encounters a haunting, collapsed environment.

•Themes: psychological terror, suspense, and isolation.

Workflow pipeline

•Research & Reference Gathering

•Environment Blockout

•Modeling

•UV Unwrapping & Baking Texturing

•Import & Assembly in Unreal

•Lighting Setup

•Volumetric Effects & Post Process

•Polish & Optimization

•Final Rendering

Why this project?

•Realistic 3D environment creation to display my artist skill.

•Professional workflows from concept till final render .

•To display strong environmental storytelling.

•This project strengthens my portfolio and demonstrates my ability to create immersive, professional environments ready for games and virtual production.

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Blog 44: Learnings

Thought this module I have learn how to do a VR game and make it as an apk and run it in oclus quest. Also, I have learnt how to do a pre-production document for the work you're gonna do. The only thing I wanted to learn more about is the business module. If you master that also it will also help on the path to becoming an indie game developer. And also while planning, I came to know which area I focus more on and where I need more time, and what kind of skill I need to focus on more, and I need to develop more.

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Blog 43: Pre-production documentation

Finally, I have all my content to create my pre-production document. Now I need to come up with a name for my work, even if I develop it as a game, it should be suitable for that.\ I thought of going for Autopsy schooling or the School of Autopsy. After some research, I came up with the name "The Autopsy Academy". I have created a document for pre-production with all the references, my aim, and what software I want to use, and my planning and how I will break down the work.

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Blog 42: Sculpting tutorial

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Blog 41: Gantt Chart (Timeline)

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Blog 40:Experiments

Scene setup and testing for different moods

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Blog 39:Practitioner Blog 5: Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment, 2023)

Alan Wake 2, developed by Remedy Entertainment in 2023, shows the pinnacle of environmental, atmospheric storytelling. Contrary to other horror games based on monsters or violence, Alan Wake 2 instils terror through the environment design itself. Dynamic weather, real-time light change, and surreal manipulations of recognisable environments (such as distorted forests or changing city streets) instil a sense of tension that develops organically. The mastery of psychological horror through environment, independent of intense scripted sequences, has left its mark on how I am designing The Autopsy Academy. I intend to mimic its approach of using dynamic fog, colour grading, and minor ambient details to modify player perception incrementally over time. Alan Wake 2 also emphasises the necessity of emotional architecture, not designing spaces to be realistic, but how spaces make players feel as they move through them

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Blog 38: Lighting style

I have collected some game references and their lighting style.

In Silent Hill, the lighting is mostly muted and cold. Outdoors, the town is covered in heavy white or gray fog that washes out all colors. Indoors, lighting is very dim, usually casting a dull yellow or pale blue glow from your small flashlight. In the Otherworld, colors shift dramatically to rusty reds, dark browns, and deep shadows, creating a nightmarish, bloody tone.

In The Evil Within 2, lighting changes often depending on the location. Safe zones are lit with warm, soft yellow and orange light, making them feel temporarily safe. Corrupted areas and boss fights use deep blues, harsh whites, and blood reds, often mixing cold and warm tones to create a feeling of unease. Flashlight use adds stark, white highlights in otherwise dark environments.

In The Outlast Trials, lighting is very harsh and cold most of the time. The primary colors are sickly greens from night vision, dirty whites from flickering fluorescent lights, and intense reds during alarms or danger moments. Much of the game is bathed in darkness, with small pockets of brutal, artificial lighting that feel sterile and oppressive.

In The Mortuary Assistant, the lighting is mostly low and shadowy, dominated by warm yellows and browns from indoor lamps. When supernatural events occur, lightning can suddenly change to deep blacks, sharp whites, and sometimes eerie blue or red flashes. The natural lighting feels safe at firs,t but becomes threatening as the hauntings intensify.

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Blog 37: Environment and Props

I have collected some props and some references on what the environment should look like.

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Blog 36: Materials, Textures & Lighting planning

The environment will feature painted concrete walls, worn linoleum floors, brushed steel surfaces for lockers and lab equipment, and aged wood for desks and chairs. All materials will be created using a PBR workflow, with attention to roughness and normal maps for added realism. A subtle use of dirt decals and edge wear will enhance the recently abandoned feel. Lighting will incorporate cool-tinted directional lights, volumetric fog, and isolated spotlights to build tension and guide the viewer's focus naturally through the scene.

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Blog 35: Learnings

I have done some substance painting for decal creation.

Also, learn some realistic props texturing.

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Blog 34: Colour palettes

Did some research on how colour works in horror, which colour sets the mood for different moods.

Took some examples from movies and some games that already exist on the internet.

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Blog 33: Deciding on levels and rooms

My main aim I planned on to create an autopsy room and a mortuary room with all the props that go with it. Apart from this, I have something on my wishlist. Since it's a medical school, I planned on doing a hallway, a classroom and some laboratory and some restrooms, security room.

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Blog 32: Thinking for a Storyline

The Autopsy School is a recently closed-down school of medicine that was closed by the government after a botched final autopsy operation went terribly wrong. As a result of what happened, strange things started to happen at the academy, scaring everyone in the surrounding neighbourhood. Panic hit fast, and the facility was barricaded from society. Several months later, a fresh night watchman is tasked to guard through the empty corridors, classrooms, and autopsy rooms, where pieces of the disturbing history are left untouched, suggesting something unnatural still resides in the walls of the school

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Blog 31: Reference analysis from games

I did research on games like The Silenthill 2, Evil Within 2, The Outlast Trials and the Mortuary Assistant and I have found some common in all of these games, like style, lighting and how they set the mood in the game.

All four games — Silent Hill, The Evil Within 2, The Outlast Trials, and The Mortuary Assistant — share a deep focus on psychological horror. They blur the boundaries between reality and hallucination, making players question what is real and what is imagined. Darkness, limited visibility, and the need for small light sources like flashlights are key parts of the experience, forcing players to navigate terrifying environments with restricted sight. Personal trauma drives the main characters, whether it's Harry searching for his daughter, Sebastian trying to save his family, Rebecca confronting her past, or test subjects struggling against mind control experiments. Each game is set in isolated, oppressive locations like small towns, mortuaries, and secret laboratories, creating a constant feeling of being trapped. Stories unfold through exploration, environmental storytelling, and scattered documents, requiring players to piece together the full narrative themselves. The worlds in these games shift and change based on the characters' mental states, with environments that feel alive and hostile. Death, decay, and corruption are constant themes, and while some games feature combat, the main focus is always on survival, vulnerability, and building intense fear through atmosphere rather than action.

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Blog 30: Dead Space Remake (Motive Studio / EA, 2023)

The 2023 Dead Space Remake by Motive Studio revitalised the iconic horror atmosphere of the original game by utilising modern lighting and material systems. One of the remake’s biggest successes is its reactive lighting; dynamic shadows stretch and shift as players move through claustrophobic corridors, amplifying fear without relying solely on scripted events. Environmental storytelling is also refined: blood trails, damaged walls, emergency lights, and scattered remnants of the ship's inhabitants paint a grim story without a word of dialogue. For The Autopsy Academy, I have closely studied Dead Space’s use of subtle guidance—how light sources naturally lead players to points of interest without breaking immersion. Additionally, Dead Space's balance between cold industrial architecture and organic decay influences my design choices, particularly in the use of metallic surfaces and corroded textures combined with ambient fog to create a lived-in, abandoned feel.

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kisnMktsoUA

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Blog 29:Resident Evil 4 Remake (Capcom, 2023)

Capcom's 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4 successfully modernised a horror classic, blending nostalgia with cutting-edge environmental design. The updated village layouts, enhanced texturing, and use of dynamic weather effects like heavy rain and mist significantly enrich the atmosphere. This modernisation has made the environment an active participant in the narrative, shifting weather changes tension levels as much as enemy encounters do. In designing The Autopsy Academy, I am particularly inspired by how Resident Evil 4 Remake constructs emotional beats through physical space. Tight corridors transition into tense open spaces, using light and shadow contrast to direct the player's attention intuitively. The quality of the assets—especially the cracked stone walls, muddy floors, and decrepit interiors—shows the importance of detailed texturing in telling the story of abandonment. I am taking cues from their blending of modular environment pieces and unique props to build layered, believable spaces that convey their own histories.

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHaRliUGJEk https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/380559-resident-evil-4/reviews/175370 https://80.lv/articles/analyzing-the-gameplay-art-direction-of-the-resident-evil-4-remake/