Week Seven

Week Seven: Atmosphere

This week I have been working on the exterior models of the houses in Maya as well as regularly importing them into the game to see how they are operating with the other parts pf the environment. I have been using my film photographs as the materials for these models, some in black and white, some in color. They are getting to a point that I am happy with in terms of the style I want the environment to have.

I have also been working with other features in the environment to change the overall mood. Using multiple lights and some scripting, I have created the illusion of night and day that changes over time in a loop. Along with this I have also added some fog and atmospheric changes. I am using particle systems to create a smoke like substance that will beckon the player towards
the end goal. 

The smokey substance also becomes brighter as the day turns into night, allowing for a more interesting reveal. I am really enjoying how the environments looks during theses transitionary phases of the day (the shadows look really cool). I added a lens flare that occurs when the player looks up at the sun, that increases as the sun sets and rises. Unity has so many effects and controls for everything you add that it has been very exciting to explore these elements as a work through the project.

My main issue with the lighting has been how bright the buildings appear during the "night-time." I want to experiment with maybe adding a sort of porch light coming from the house so that this will appear more natural. I hope to experiment more with the lighting as I work through some of these problems. 

Besides this I have been working on transitions between scenes and the layouts of the interiors of the houses. As I improve on these other scenes, I am continuing to collect photos and paintings that I can use for elements in all of the environments. I think most of these things will continue to change as I progress in the project, and more objects become involved.

Next week I will show more of the models and hopefully figure out how to add video on here so I can give an in progress walkthrough of at least one of the scenes!