The Arctic Epoch: Singapore
Tech Art Group Project | 2023
The Arctic Epoch: Singapore is a semester-long class project for Advanced Pipeline in Film and Game Arts at CMU ETC.
In the year 2070, as global climate change gets more and more acute, a new ice age struck the world with unprecedented ferocity. Within a month, Singapore, a once-thriving city, was transformed into a frozen wasteland.
A glimmer of hope, humanity seemed all but lost, or IS IT?
Software
Role
Unreal Engine 5, Houdini, Substance Designer, Github
Procedural Texturing
Visual Effects
Lighting
Interaction Programming (Blueprint)
Production
Time
Team
14 weeks
Christine Jung - Shader Technical Artist, Lighting Artist
Yuxuan Wu - Environment Artist, Look-Dev Artist
Laura Yang - Producer, Tech Art Generalist, Lighting Artist
Caiyu Zhang - Environment Technical Artist
Robin Zheng - Producer, Technical Artist, Look-Dev Artist
Frozen Lake Look Dev
I wanted to make a frozen lake surface with surge of fish frozen inside as a spectacle, to show the drama of the disaster and the desolation afterwards.
Frozen lake surface with light cracks
Frozen fish beneath the frozen lake surface
Adjustable snow in Substance Designer for quick iteration
Anti-tilling Material using distance blend
Snowstorm VFX
I wanted to create a snow squall that overwhelms and overpowers everything it passes through, in order to depict the despair in the post-apocalyptic environment.
Composition
It come with 3 layers, one is the snow flakes, one is the snow powder that overpowers the whole city, one is the snow being blown up from the ground.
Smoke simulation using Pyro in Houdini, exported as flipbook
Layering and adjustments in Niagara
Lighting Transition
I was responsible of designing and implementing the transition of the environment lighting from dark to sunrise, and the final lighting after sunrise.
I want the transition and the final lighting to give players a sense of hope for humanity in this devastating ruins.
Interaction Blueprints
I was responsible of making the interaction blueprints in the scene, I wrote a blueprint for the camera to shake at the beginning to showcase how ferocious the snowstorm is, and later trigger for the storm to slowly stop, and for the sun to rise.
Camera Shake
Snowstorm Stopping
Lighting Changing