MY ROLE:
Project Manager
Designer
Developer
TIMELINE:
4 Week Sprint
My involvement in this project began when my professor tasked me with managing two groups: this one for a project called Requiem, and another one called Roman Forum. I have to be honest that this particular project didn't start on the right foot; from the beginning when we met with the art history students, they did not have the assets ready (nor the script) but we still met weekly to start discussing what each other's expectations and limitations would be.
I started by confirming the number of scenes we would need in total: 5 scenes. I assigned a scene to each team member:
1. Scene 1(Done by me) - the intro scene (360 image/short tutorial panel)
2. Scene 2 - aedicula/first tomb (Originally tasked to Donovan, but later on finished by Aiden (past/present view)
3. Scene 3 - Second Tomb/Main Room (Done by me) - both present and past view
4. Scene 4 - the dining room (next to my main room) - assigned to Ry, but we never received anything so it didn't make it
5. Scene 5 - The outdoors garden (final scene) - Done by Aiden - finished but when exported into Jacob's scene some assets were missing
6. UI design - Jacob - worked on this part
The Intro Scene
I found a 360 (AI-generated image) that was created by inputting the following prompt:
"Generate a 360 image of Ancient Rome, via labianca in front of the tomb of the hater"
After a few attempts, the image that was chosen resembled an approximation of what the entrance to the tomb of the hater would have looked like (other than that it was nearly impossible to find another 360 image/and google maps only shows current view)
The user begins with an intro panel that quickly teaches them to move the controller and hover on the first button to continue. after they press the button, the view fades to black and into the next scene, where they meet the narrator "Valeria Rossi" who guides them through the experience.
Scripts Used in this Scene
IntroTextControl.cs
The script used to toggle panel on/off, and also switch the text using an array of strings. By using a struct, I made a very scalable script to reduce redundancy and doing a lot of individual string/text variables.
The Main Room Scene
(Past/Present)
I also created the main room (tomb) scene where the sarcophagi are. This was one of the most important scenes according to Victoria, the leader in the Art history group, since it shows the wall reliefs, offerings, and important intractable objects that showed how ancient romans valued the afterlife so much, and would keep valuable objects near their sarcophagi.
I used a box-like room and made the walls narrow and originally made the room dark (since it's a tomb). I also used the pro-builder tool to create the arches in the ceiling and arch doors to connect to the dining room and outside garden.
After a 2hour meeting with Victoria, who gave me her feedback into exactly what this room required, I went back to make changes.
Original draft of Main Room (with a very dim room)
Original draft of Main Room (with a very dim room)
Original draft of Main Room (with a very dim room)
Original draft of Main Room (with a very dim room)
Next Iteration
After revising the scene with Victoria's comments. I created the present view of the scene. Basically it looked dimmer, with debris and abandoned.
Present Day Demo Video
For the "Reliefs" that would go on the wall, as well as the Bust of Haterus, since we couldn't find 3D prefabs, I had to resort to using sprite images, and I gathered them from Google maps, and made them transparent background (.png) on photoshop. I then superimposed them on the wall, and since Unity does not have blending filters, I simply reduced the opacity a little bit so it sort of looked like they were blending with the concrete walls
Reliefs for the walls being edited in photoshop.
Reliefs for the walls being edited in photoshop.
Past View (after time warp)
When the player would press a button, the character controller position would move them back and forth (x axis) so they would appear in the "past" view of the scene. The main difference was the room had candles, vases, decoration and more details, etc. It looked more like a sanctuary shrine, and that was my objective when designing it. The Art history students liked it and that was a success metric for me.
There are two doors that would be used to teleport for the dining room, and the outside garden.
Past View Scene Demo Video