The forest
This is the entry to a Dark Cave
I want this artifact location to be the first one the player encounters naturally.
Why a forest?
The Route
Directing the player
Fences & Flows
Vista & Pathway
Challenges and Critique
Why a forest?
Simply put…
Trees effectively obscure a pathway, and still allow for free-form traversal.
The Route
The player begins at the rolling hills
→ then runs through the central valley -
Then are funneled up through the eastern forest’s central path.
I am using Curvysplines with some custom shaders to display these animated graphics.
These splines also handle the placement of trees.
Fences & Flows
This is the player perspective from the start position.
FX All move in the direction of the cave.
Paired with the topology of the terrain - the player will be gently pushed where I want them to go.
There is a straight path to the forest entryway.
It is obscured by…
Topology
Fences - Impassible looking Rocks (A deterrent)
FOV is modified here to exaggerate the rocks.
This…
Pushes the player in the direction of the vista.
Provides a more direct path once it is discovered.
Vista and Pathway
This is the view from the vista.
You can see the open space leading to the forest.
Right now I think the actual stone/arrangement of the vista needs refinement.
I am putting more thought into the gameplay grammar of different points of interest. Vistas will have a common element to tie them all together.
The large trees are passable by the player, but the easiest route through the forest is the clear center path.
Of course - not everyone will follow this path.
That’s ok!
I’ll have other locations for them to visit from the beginning of the game.
The Canyon - The Mountains - The Lake - The Bog
Challenges and Critique
What needs improvement?
1.) The forest needs more iteration.
When I was setting up tooling, the terrain was more flat, and had a different perspective on the approach.
2.) The areas between the starting hills and valley need to be refined.
The route is a little awkward, and the vista does not “feel” like a lookout point.
->The elevation will likely need to be raised - and I need to create well defined grammar so the player starts to associate these locations.
3.) The grass system…
-> A replacement system is in progress
Click to play Video of forest v1 runthrough