My game takes place in a world (called Polarenti) inspired from symptoms of Bipolar Spectrum Disorder. I have been developing this world for my MQP and am including several concept sketches/paintings to convey the feeling of this world.
Originally, humans of Polarenti lived alongside plants, trees, clouds, and objects. Once civilization developed, an asteroid struck Polarenti, releasing a substance (Magora) toxic to humans. Plants, trees, clouds, and objects became sentient from Magora being transferred into the atmosphere. Magora resulted in a warmer climate full of energy and also mutated objects to form strange creatures.
Humans soon realized that Magora was dangerous. It made them feel full of energy, eliminating any need for food but also slowly killing them (causes them to turn squiggly). Some humans flocked to an arctic zone on the opposite side of Polarenti named Colrab (not affected by the asteroid).
Humans of Colrab then evolved to turn maggot/larva like. Eventually, it became a part of life, and intoxicated humans began mating to create the Magoran race. Magorans now live alongside objects in the colorful city where the environment has turned into a whimsical mess of beams/structures/sentient objects. Subspecies continue to form as humanoids of Magora and Colrab mate. Currently, Magorans hunt for mutant objects (Crinks) to offer to Maple (head Mixamuck) in return for Magora Elixir located in Crink dance clubs.
Within Polarenti, there are many areas, but for this game level I will be focusing on one part of Magora which is more of a residential area. Game objects/characters include sentient buildings, trees, flowers, watering cans, chairs, street lamps, lanterns, springboards, and lawnmowers. Most objects are sentient themselves, but some smaller particles are not sentient (these are abstract particles of pure substance). Many Colrab carry lanterns.
The objective of my game is to search for certain Crinks (object mutant inhabitants), collect them, and bring them to Maple the head Mixamuck (sentient tree mutant).
Game mechanics are minimal, the player can collect objects or simply explore the world and observe. The intended audience is people who enjoy abstract art, whimsical object characters, or unusual and imaginative settings. I am creating a setting taking inspiration from many sources including abstract expressionism, metal ball machines, and mosaics which hopefully makes for a compelling world an audience would want to visit and observe. Ultimately, the initial inspiration was symptoms of what the DSM terms “Bipolar Disorder/Bipolar Disorder NOS,” extreme shifts in mood and energy, flight of ideas, racing thoughts, impulsivity. However, I will say that the art is from my perspective alone, I conducted research (which has far too many limitations to list) but the art is how I feel.
The art style is not realistic, but more whimsical and cartoony. There are intense colors. I am including my art from MQP to try and communicate the world. While my MQP involves drawing and painting, I will need to translate this into 3D models somehow.
If I had to pick one piece of art to convey the feeling, I’d pick the above image by Hyman Bloom. That’s my aim with any of my artworks.
I find it really pleasing that you are using your MQP as inspiration for this project! It will be awesome to bring the MQP to life in a 3D way. My question is, what was your process of coming up with such a rich story/background.
Hi Courtney, my process is generally extremely nonlinear. For this particular world, I started by doing a “free flow” of ideas in a digital sketch paper just getting out thoughts. Afterwards, I go between daydreaming, collecting reference, sketching/painting, and also writing up details to develop the core story/world. Stuff almost always changes and iterates each time I switch between mediums. I constantly get new images and new ideas which then changes my original backstory. Eventually, I come to a point where I enjoy my ideas and keep the backstory pretty much solid, only creating branching story paths from that point onward. It’s hard to explain, but lots of brainstorming, researching, and making stuff 🙂
Also “free flow” for mem involves both quick scribbles and notes
wait no, I think I was daydreaming and doodling before that. Either way, nonlinear, sorry wish I had a clearer answer
The vision for this world is very unique and very cool! Nice. With much of the environment itself being sentient, will the player be able to speak to a lot of them?
Hi Dylan, I’m not really sure how to control talking in Unity or Maya. I have also never animated facial movements with 3D objects, so unfortunately I don’t see how this will be possible. Normally, the objects communicate with themselves through nonverbal gestures and sound effects. At least in my head. So if I can figure it out, I’m hoping to suggest communication in some form.
although now that I think about it, humanoids do talk, the thing is there is a lot about this world that I haven’t described in my pitch and wouldn’t be included in my level because of scope. If I was going to build the entirety of the world, with all the subspecies, then I would definitely want talking at least between the plant creatures.
I absolutely adore your work and how in-depth your story is. As for your particular art style, how do you plan on getting the flowy wobbly world of your work into the 3D format without stiffening it?
This will be a challenge. I was thinking of using maya to make warped cyclinders and squashed sphere shapes. I am concerned it will become stiff, but I’m hoping it will not bring the feeling of the world down. With my limited 3D experience, I will be exploring what is possible to overcome the issue.
oh also Hannah thanks, I saw your comment on my portfolio too and I appreciate your comments.
The sketches of the Magora inhabitants are cool- I like their tendon-y composition. While they are bipedal, they seem like they might deform differently than humans do, as their limbs look more tentacle like than bone structured. If thats the case, do you plan on making them be able to deform like that here?
Yes, naturally they deform. Actually, initially I wanted the entirety of the terrain (and anything infected with Magora) to change shape instantaenously. I wanted the world to be constantly changing. But, I’m not sure how to make that happen. In my concept sketches, I wanted things to look like they are falling apart. But in 3D, I think things might have to be more solid looking. I might try to have some bony/squiggly limbs sticking out in different directions. I’d say it’s less of a tentacle and more of a collection of limbs which are all jumbled. It will be a challenge for me.
I really like the overwhelming sense of chaos in Polarenti. Other people have wondered about the 3d implementation too and it seems like you’re going to rely largely on shape language. Have you thought of or would you consider adding simple low-frame-rate animations to add some life into your scene? I can see both still-life and animated versions being really cool – the still one would feel like a snapshot of chaos frozen in time.
Considering how much of a surrealist element there is, I am getting the general vibe of everything being very free-flowing and alive. Normally, a regular world’s environment is static, but Polarenti gives it enough lore to transform multiple aspects of it into a living thing. With that in mind, are you going to incorporate any additional hidden lore? This doesn’t have to be as direct as a book or message (but you can very well do that with NPC dialouge), but also within specific areas of the environment (like little hints about the story of General Mixamuck). Really cool world building.
This seems like a really interesting and unique concept! I’ve honestly never seen anything like this, and I’m really impressed you’ve come up with this concept from scratch! My question is how many different characters are you planning on making for this sample level?