Scufundat: The Sunken City
Robert Novitsky
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Project Statement
Scufundat: The Sunken City, is a real-time 3D environment project that takes place in a post-apocalyptic future world. The project uses 3D modeled assets made with Blender and Unreal Engine 5 to create an interactive scene explored from the first-person perspective.
While post-apocalyptic settings are prevalent, and perhaps overplayed in science fiction media, this project aims to take a new approach to designing this type of environment. For instance, structures were developed off pre-existing architectural homes and fortifications that are meant for life on the aquatic and to withstand the test of time. The design process began with research to identify locations and architecture that would inspire this story. Next was aligning these locations and structures into a narrative that makes the story not only possible but believable. The story shaped the location I created. For instance, in this story, the ocean levels have risen and provided the constraint on designing homes built to survive within this environment. The rising water levels also made the nearby mountainside unhabitable forcing the citizens to see shelter on the water. Lack of resources created obstacles to how the homes would be connected uniting the village.
In the environment you will see five outposts guarding the village connected by a central hub. The central hub gives access to the dome home civilizations below where the people have created structures to grow vegetation in and practice religious beliefs. The structures convey story through the addition of assets, which include necessities such as beds they scavenged before the rising tides, lanterns and supply crates which strengthen the narrative and overall design.
