A VR Nature Walk

Figure 1. Procedurally Generated mesh using a noise function.
Figure 2. Sand shader visible grains.
Figure 3. End result within Unity 3D.

Engines, Tools and Languages used:

[Unity3D, C#, HLSL, AutoDesk Maya, Substance Painter, ZBrush]
[Solo Project]
[2022]

Assignment and Approach

At the start of a semester which covered VR and AR topics we were told we could make prototype project to experiment and get familiar using the VR and AR toolkits that are available within Unity. This semester also offered the opportunity to 3D model and design next to programming. I choose to further develop my modelling and texturing skills for this semester which is why I made this Nature Walk Simulation.

Process and Results

I wanted to create an experience which made you feel small and relaxed within a forest, and I wanted the player to enter this experience through a cave so that the player experiences the big contrast between the dark cave and the beautiful green outside environment. That was pretty much the whole idea. Based on this I started by creating a 3D path and then started to build the world around it. Starting with the cave and ending with floating on a lily pad on the water. Not much more thought went info this project except for that the player had to experience this as tranquil and relaxing.

With the art I created I tried to go for a stylized look, I think the art does match this theme but a big part of a stylized look also comes from the shadows and I did not do much with lighting in this prototype. On top of models and textures I created I also wrote and implemented three shaders. One was a foliage shader to make the trees move as if there was wind, a simple scrolling texture water shader for the pond in the end and a polygon grass shader to generate and move the grass that is seen in the game. This same foliage shader is also used with different settings on the grass and the flowers and bushes around.