Skyler Martin

What it was

One of the largest projects I’ve ever worked on, the final for my 3D modeling course: a landscape in Unity. Over a hundred hours of work learning how to whitebox, model, and UV in 3DSMax, bake and texture in Substance Painter, and ultimately port and build the landscape in Unity. It was simultaneously the most exhausting and most enriching project I’ve ever worked on.

General Design

The idea was to create a countryside, one that feels alive but also expansive. With subtle inspiration from Kakariko Village in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, I started by carving out a large valley to rest the landscape in. I repurposed colored planes for water, miscellaneous grass for wheat, and tree leaves to create bushes – I used what I had to make more, essentially. That being said, with 30+ props made from scratch, I had a lot to work with. I emphasized environmental storytelling when possible: such as empty bottles in the graveyard from people lost in their sorrows, or miscellaneous trash in the lake from the drunkard on the cliff tossing it off.