The Last Gate

The Last Gate is a third-person RPG-like game that encourages player exploration.

Game Design - Foiliage and Atmosphere

Created a small cluster of individual grass blades using Blender and imported into Unreal 5. The grass is rendered into the environment through use of a material which is painted onto the landscape.

Grass blades -- Blender

Grass blades -- Unreal

Grass rendered in Unreal

Grass blades -- Blender

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Tree mesh -- Blender

Tree mesh with full leaves -- Unreal

Tree mesh -- Blender

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Created a tree mesh in Blender with leaf nodes and imported into Unreal 5. Using materials, the nodes were transformed into lushious blooms of leaves.

Using the Niagara particle system, fireflies were created and were implemented in such a way that they would spawn at dusk and despawn at sunrise.

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Below is a short video showcasing the prototype main menu for The Last Gate.

Game Design - Systems/Mechanics

The Last Gate features a unique combat-system which involves players making decisions as opposed to using attacks and defences. These choices will influence, and be influenced, by player stats.

Due to the complex nature of the stats and how these are woven through the narrative, tools such as Twine were used to visualise the different paths players can take to an end-goal.

The bespoke non-combat system (name withheld) is lightly inspired by the Self-Determination Theory framework and the three basic psychological needs. The mechanics of this system will be informed by scientific research, with some elements inspired by my own research.

UI Design

This is a UI mock-up of how the pause menu would look like made in Procreate for iPad.

In the given screenshot, the player has selected "Entries" which are snippets of lore picked up throughout the game either through story quests, achievements, or collectibles. On the right side of the image is where the text will be, along with a small image.

The pause menu also has Quest, Map, Inventory, Achievements, Stats, and Options elements.

The Well-Spring

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This is a mock-up of what the loading screen will look like between scenes made in Procreate for iPad.

The loading screen will mimic the appearance of the pause-menu book-appearance and will randomly present "Entries" depending on what the player has unlocked.