Seed uses stylized low poly graphics that focus on color and a fantastical feel combined with a custom cel shader (bellow). While not all assets were custom made, I felt that the trees needed to be. Nature was the primary focus of my project, and trees are one of the primary indicators of climate, weather, and biome. These trees were designed not only to fit with the visual style, but to be modular and allow for customization fast iteration in a large scale.
Seed
2023 Interactive Art and Game Design Senior Project
Level, Asset, and Gameplay Design with Project Management
I created a custom high map using Unreal Engine’s built in landform tools. The island was designed to showcase four unique biomes: forests, grasslands, beaches, and mountains. This also required the use of a custom built auto-landscaping material. This material allowed me to customize the mountain and beach textures, while still letting me manually paint in pathing and farm textures. Environment assets were placed using a combination of procedural generation and hand placement.
Seed is a game based heavily on traveling and exploring the world, so I wanted to insure that traveling itself was enjoyable. One way I did this was by creating an animal companion that the player could ride and customize during gameplay. While none of the animals of seed are real, they are all based around real animals in order to keep them familiar while still enhancing the fantastical elements.
