In this project, as the Lead 3D Artist, I was at the forefront of the game's visual style and production pipeline. I modeled/textured props, rigged/animated the main player character, and created and set up materials to be used for environmental set-dressing.
“Riftkeeper” is an action-adventure game that focuses on an unnamed protagonist and employee with Omniverse Co. An ex-employee named Hiraeth has broken from the company with one mission: eliminate the core of the omniverse to collapse all timelines and dimensions into one. Players will aim to stabilize the three central worlds to save all universes and stop Hiraeth once and for all.
The project was developed by a team of less than 10 using Unity game engine over the course of ~2 months.
The character! - Agent #829
Based on the 2D concept art from a team member (as seen here), I created a game-ready 3D model of our character. After building the overall shape of the body, the topology was remeshed to create clean quads that allow for proper deformation.
I created a basic simplified humanoid rig in Blender and fit it to the character's body. Automatic weights were used to set up initial deformation, but weight painting was performed to fine-tune the movement of each limb.
Inverse kinematics were set up with the hands and feet to make the animation process easier, and more visually appealing.
A basic walk and run cycle were made to test the capabilities of the new character and rig, both of which came out looking acceptable!
One of my largest tasks beyond the character development was creating the 3D props and assets that would be used throughout the 3 levels.
Maya was used to model the mesh, Substance 3D Painter was used to create textures.
(Also retextured the player character to create the enemy!)
The first zone was Japan-themed, prompting me to create a few pieces that many might immediately associate with Japanese culture.
The next zone was western theme, prompting me to create some detailed saloon-style buildings, and a handful of iconic western props.
Most detail on the buildings were added during the texturing process in Substance Painter.
I created a handful of miscellaneous props to match the game's main style and character's color palette
The final prop I created was a chamber to house the rift cores. (Located in the hub level).