Electronic Media Studio: Introduction to Interactivity and Computation
60-210 • Spring 2021 • Prof. Golan Levin
https://ducksauceh.itch.io/night-walk
For this project I wanted to create an atmospheric, calming place. I wanted to replicate the feeling of a walk at night and focused a lot on the ambience and lighting choices and took a lot of inspiration from some of my favorite games that I really appreciate for their peaceful environments.
itch.io link: https://noonmark.itch.io/environment
As an inter dimensional gas station, I wanted to create a spot separate from the actual reality of the world. It is a place where the hidden and beautiful aspects of the world come to rest and have fun. It is a secret spot where only a certain type of person can reach. I wanted to also create a space where the size and shape of things can combine and move in different ways like the subway entrance and the cars.
https://leahmins.itch.io/unity-skin-environment
So I started this project, technically, at the beginning of this semester. The character you see there was created, modeled, rigged, textured (although the uv map didn’t get carried over so it didn’t work for this demo) by me for my 3D animation class. The animation you see here was done on Mixamo just for sake of time because I couldn’t get the idle animation done yet, but I did animate practically the exact same thing all myself too – you just won’t be seeing it for this demo. I had imagined an environment all along for my character, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to in time so this project was a perfect opportunity to do that. The terrain you see here I created in Maya and then brought to Substance Painter, and then to Unity. Connie and I worked on bringing in the animations I created and then scripted two third person cameras that you could switch between with the spacebar. This is definitely a work in progress for me – although I am proud of what I have so far. I hope to continue this in the future to fix the things that went wrong and keep adding on to this world!
https://minniebb3.itch.io/memories-ahead
When I thought about a place that has meaning to me I’ll be honest, Mcdonald’s didn’t come to mind. In fact, I’m not a huge fan of their food apart from the ice cream. So I started thinking about people that I cared for. Memories from the past usually corresponded to my family and very visual interactions with them. I vaguely remembered one place that my mom used to take me and my sister, Mcdonald’s. This was a routine spot during my childhood and I wondered why things that were once habitual stop happening. Besides the fact that this Mcdonald’s got torn down, I realized that interests change in adolescence which lead to new habits and routines. The real treasure of this place is not the food or location, but the people who were with me.
I used only two photographs, plus my memory, to fabricate this building fromthe Unity building tools. 
Try it here.
TW: anxiety
This project is about having anxiety. One experience with anxiety that I have that has felt very real for me is the debate of whether I should stay in bed or not. I feel safe in my bed and in my room, more than anywhere else. This is because I know that very few dangerous things could happen to me in my room. However, this idea turns ugly when the thoughts start to force me to stay in bed and feel very afraid of the possibility of going out into the world. It is hard to explain the logic behind these thoughts, as they are irrational.
My project is not totally a “game,” because the viewer is trapped in the bed. I wanted to create a visual for what it feels like for me to not be able to leave my room, almost as if the room is convincing me to stay in it. The pillow-covered knit walls give a sense of security and delight, like the posters in my own bedroom. However, the wires on the bedroom floor prevent the viewer from stepping anywhere besides the bed. The bed is small and centred in the middle of the room, adding to a feeling of dissociation. The wired roof allows for the anxious viewer to look outside, without actually being outside, a common safety hazard prevention for me. The variation in the darkness of the neutral colors also adds to a conflicting feeling. The bed and pillows are light, indicating happiness, however, there are dark shadows behind them.
The intention of this project was for me to embrace this feeling of anxiety, by making it into art, or something visual. When anxiety can be brought outside of the head and into physicality, it can be seen for what it is. Making and sharing this project has provided consolation for me.
This project was supposed to be about a one-sided conversation from conscious me to what I consider my uncooperative creative brain. I beg and plead it to show up and carry me when I need to. When assignments are due and the clock is ticking where is it? I can only assume it’s in an echo-ey, stairwell, distracted by every possible worry and dream it can muster. While ignoring my calls.
This project presented a number of issues. Lighting glitches, audio glitches, and confusing myself with pro builder geometry. My biggest failure in this project was the lack of spark. I tried making my scene more interesting by populating it with objects I thought were appealing and in some cases are symbolic. This does not come across though, I feel as if some of the objects are poorly assembled, and the lack of animation giving it a dead, still feeling. I still very much enjoyed this project though. I found working with the audio, building the rooms, and in all honesty, play-testing to be the most fun part of the project.
Introduction
Visualize a house project with Unity 2019
What you should know
Exercise files
1. Setting up the Unity Project
Installing Unity
Project set up overview
File management and project organization
2. Understanding the Unity Interface
Intro to the Unity user interface
Customizing the UI
Key navigating shortcuts in Unity
Unity documentation
Unity roadmap
3. Working with Assets
GameObjects and asset creation
The Asset Store and Package Manager
Guidelines for asset import
Importing assets into Unity
4. Applying Materials
Introduction to materials
Creating and organizing new materials
Material and texture properties
Advanced custom materials
5. Prefabs
What are prefabs?
Creating prefabs
Edit instances of the prefab
Prefab variants
6. Level Building
Introduction to ProBuilder
Exploration of ProBuilder tools
(At this point, my computer decided it couldn’t handle everything and decided to lose its mind, so I had to re-download everything onto an external drive, which meant that I had to relink the house in Unity. Unfortunately, that means I lost those book covers and maybe some other things, but I didn’t really have the time to go back and fix everything. But I did those steps in the tutorial before this happened, so it’s okay. Just a heads up for why things may look different from this point forward.)
Block the floor with ProBuilder
Props and scene assembly
7. Creating and Implementing Animation
Animation basics and editors in Unity
Animation controllers
Physics and rigid bodies
Create the first-person controller
8. Collisions
Unity collider components
Applying colliders
Optimizing collisions
9. Adding Audio
Introduction to audio in Unity
Adding ambient sound
The Unity Audio Mixer
10. Unity Lighting
Directional lighting
Point and spotlight
Area and emissive lighting
Finalize your lighting
Introduction to HDRP
Finalize HDRP for your scene
11. Baking Lighting
Introduction to light baking
Object and light parameters for baking
Texels exploration
Adding reflection probes
Lightmap results and settings
12. Particles and Shadergraph
Introduction to Visual Effect Graph
Creating the smoke effect, part 1
Creating the smoke effect, part 2
Creating the fire effect, part 1
Creating the fire effect, part 2
Intro to Shader Graph
13. Post-Processing
Installing the post-processing stack
Post-processing effects exploration
Other quality enhancements
14. Timeline: Creating Cinematics
Introduction to the Timeline Editor
Animating with the timeline
Add camera moves
Improving the animations
15. Introduction to Scripting
Introduction to C# programming
Writing the code
Implementing the script
16. Packaging Your Unity Project
Create a movie
Packaging your scene
Conclusion
Next steps
I am appreciative of the mention of how a project can get away from its original intent and still be an interesting piece of art. Starting a game and not knowing if it will become a horror or a walking simulator, but the genre having little impact on the expectations or quality of the said game is very comforting. Not having to stick to the confines of genre is very comforting.
I appreciate that she has such an intimate message in each of her pieces. I really love how she focuses on connecting with others in a very specific way, rather than just making art that is cathardic.