Mythri: Light Your Path

This is my latest personal work, a Game ready 3D character as well as a scene for my Final Major Project at University for the Creative Arts.

It tells the story of a young half girl-half moth character who lives in a world where rodents have taken over the city and her whole species are forced to live in darkness. When her little sister is attacked by a rodent and left scarred for life, Mythri embarks on an adventure looking for Mount Luna, a Mountain that if reached, only those of pure intentions will be granted the gift of light.

The scene portrays the moment our main character reaches the goal she’s been seeking her whole journey.

Environmental assets used come from LUSH: Stylized Environment Set by PolyPeak 3D.

Videogame Synopsis

Name: Mythri

Physical appearance: Half moth-half human young girl.

Blurb:

In the eerie shadows of a world dominated by ruthless rodents, moths are on the brink of extinction, confined to a life in perpetual darkness. Amidst this oppressive gloom, Mythri, a courageous half-human, half-moth teen, emerges as the reluctant savior. Fueled by a personal tragedy that left her sister scarred by a rat attack, Mythri embarks on a daring quest to end the suffering of her kind.

Haunted by the memory of her sister's near-fatal encounter, Mythri sets her sights on Mount Luna —a legendary realm where only the boldest dare to tread. Whispers speak of a mystical revelation: "Only those who reach Mount Luna and dare to look it in the eyes will be granted light for all eternity."

As players guide Mythri through treacherous landscapes, they must navigate the intricate dance of stealth, solve mind-bending puzzles, and showcase nimble platforming skills to outsmart the relentless rodent foes. Each step taken brings Mythri closer to shedding light on her darkened hometown, with the hope of liberating the moth kind from the clutches of their oppressors.

In this atmospheric stealth, puzzle, platformer, boss rush experience, players will be captivated by the haunting beauty of Mythri's world inspired by Little Nightmares. Will she conquer the shadows, confront the menacing bosses that stand in her way, and illuminate her world with the eternal light of Mount Luna.

Game Mechanics:

· Moving   · Jumping   · Crouching   · Sprinting   · Lantern   · Camouflage   · Interact

Enemies:

· Spiders   · Toads   · Rats   · Bats

Concept art for the main elements of the scene

· 2D concept art for Mythri, our main character.

· 2D concept art for the Oil Lamp, prop which will aid Mythri in her journey through darkness.

· 2D concept art for Mount Luna, a mountain / monster which grants Mythri her desired light.

PureRef & Investigation

I created a PureRef with images that inspired the character and worked as direct references of shapes, texture or colour palettes, I also added my concepts to the PureRef to have them as guide during the whole process.

3D Model & Texturing

My modelling process starts by using Zbrush to sculpt the character in High poly using my concept art as reference. I then use 3D Studio Max for the character's retopology, where I kept in mind having a clean mesh that would work for animation, since my plan form the start was to create a game ready character from scratch. 

Once I was happy with the retopology, I opened the character's UV's and baked the maps in Marmoset Toolbag, to then import the low poly model and new baked maps into Substance Painter to start de texturing process.

The character's Hair and fur were created by using haircards for which I used a mixture of Maya's XGen and Fibershop to create the hair fibers which would be baked on to the planes.

Finally I imported the model into UE5 and used the environmental assets from LUSH: Stylized Environment Set by PolyPeak 3D to decorate the scene, Mount Luna was created using Landscape Sculpting in UE5.

Hero Prop: Oil Lamp

I followed a similar process with the Oil Lamp, but I did both my high and low poly in 3ds max and most of the detail was created through texturing in Substance Painter. 

Final Scene & Render

When I first started setting the scene in UE5 I created a rough blockout of where all the important objects of the scene would be situated, I also started playing around with the lighting. When I was happy with the composition of the elements I imported the final meshes and refined the night lighting as well as the VFX such as fireflies, which really brought the scene to life.