Overview
Home was the first 3D project that I worked on in Digipen. Home focuses on the hooded character Noddy; who accidentally falls asleep on the mountain.
​
As she awakes from her slumber, she realize that the sun is setting and she has to go back home before nightfall.
​
Guide Noddy on an adventure through her small island and reach home.
Genre: Walking Simulator
Game Engine: Unity
Platform: Windows
Project Duration: 12 Weeks
About the Game
Home takes place on an island floating high up in the skies. As our protagonist Noddy awakes from her afternoon nap in the mountain peaks. Nightfall is about the descend on the island and Noddy quickly climbs down the mountain and head home.
​
As the player explores the island and find their way back to Noddy's house, they begin to learn about the history of the island and Noddy's family through props placed on the sky island.
The process
In Home I challenged myself and undertook the role of the Technical lead and worked on creating the codes for the in-game controls; events and cutscenes.
​
I also worked on designing the level of the island and populating the island with assets.
Creating the Landmarks
I begin researching on valleys and mountain to start of process of developing the sky island. Understanding how the ground and vegetation would grow in a terrain that has a river parting straight thorugh the land.
​
We wanted our sky island to be enclosed within a mountain range, at the edge of it a small settlement where Noddy's family would do trade with passing-by skyships or merchants.
Once I have identified key landmarks and geological structures that was associated with a valley, next was to design unique mountain shapes and structures to give the project its fantasy essence.
DEsigning around the landscape
The main focus of the module was the allow us to experiment with the 3D landscape, using various props and lightings to help the player navigate through the level in preperation for our major project in the upcoming trimester.
​
To further emphasize on the fantasy aspect of the game, we would include fireflies that act as a guide, showing players the right path if the players lose their way in the forest or the cave.
The image on the left is a screenshot of the project in a top view. The green dot that denotes the player's starting position, was carefully chosen.
​
This position allows players to view their goal which is denoted by the blue dot, it allows players to have a preview of the landscape and obstacles they would face on their journey back home.
​
Along the journey, various props were placed to provide
an implied narrative, giving players the opportunity to develop their own narrative to why Noddy is all alone on the island and her family's backstory.
​
With careful placement of certain props, I am able to hide various openings that leads to secrets within the game. Only by retracing their steps, players are able to uncover secret entrances to hidden parts of the island.
Stepping up as the Technical Lead
Becoming my team's technincal lead is a daunting task as I was not confident of my coding skills. Luckily I had classmates that were willing to assist me in my tasks.
​
As the technical lead, I was in-charge of mangaging and creating the scripts required for the game. As the game leaned heavily towards the experiential aspect of games. I created custom scripts that allowed my other teammates to easily manipulate the various cinemachine cameras placed in the game scene.
​
In my short duration as the technical lead exposed me to many systems that we used to make the game run smoothly and more efficiently.
What I've Learnt
This was the first project which I actively took on a Technical Lead role, it was tough learning about the different systems that C# had to assist coding beginners. Thanks to the support of my classmates, I was able to navigate through the different systems and create my own custom cutscene script; allowing my other teammates to edit the various cameras within the game scene.
​
The last time I have worked on the 3D project was 4 years ago, working on Home was a good reminder and wake-up call to remind me how different the workflow was when developing a 3D game.
​
Overall this project exposed me to the ideaology and thought process of a technical lead; determining the code structure that the project would adopt at the start and planning out how I would code out the various features within the project.