NYU Shanghai, 2018
one last look
exploring urbanization through the lens of vr
project intro
Inspired by "walking simulators" such as Firewatch, Gone Home, and What Remains of Edith Finch, One Last Look is set on a Shanghainese traditional street (longtang), where the player is set to move through the street, causing its destruction. Reflecting on the rapid urbanization of Shanghai, this game places the user in a liminal space between what once was and what will soon be.
Project Length:
7 weeks
Technology Used:
Unreal Engine 4
Photogrammetry
3ds Max
C++/UE4 blueprint
My Role:
Environment Design
Lighting
Meshes
The design Process
Stage 1 - planning & collaboration
As is well known, everything has to start somewhere. “One Last Look” began in an empty classroom at NYU Shanghai with a whiteboard of premises for stories that could be translated to VR.
stage 2 - environment design & Gameplay
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
stage 3 - user testing & feedback
Good design comes from good feedback, so it was paramount to conduct rounds of user testing throughout the development of One Last Look. Once our basic environment design was done and dusted, it was time to build and test the destructible meshes - a critical piece of our gameplay.
After our initial testing, there were two main pieces of feedback:
The destructible meshes would cause the players to move involuntary, pushing them throughout the environment
Users noted that the absence of sound design made the game feel flat.
Following these results, I began to continue troubleshooting the functionality of the destructible meshes and how they interact with the player, while my colleagues focused on sound design.
Video documentation of our user testing