William Nightingale
Student: 6059656 | Brighton Met | 2025
Production
Below are the main production elements for my game.
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The assets are not organised in chronological order
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Here is the link to the script for reference:​
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Modelling & Particle Effects
Modelled in Blender and imported into Unity via .fbx file
Particle Effects were created using Unity's built in effects
Cot
Made in Blender
In my script, I explained that the player starts off the scene in a cot. With this in mind I started work on the cot asset.
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Script Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16UPm3UDUSUU3ZAmylFiuW-oMyIKupZ7KwEUlP9a-Ydo/edit?usp=sharing
I went into Blender to start work on the cot. I created a cube mesh and created 10 planks of wood to act one of the cot walls.
I then created another cube mesh and resized it to go on top of the planks. I then used the bevel tool for the top cube to make the sides more rounded. I joined the meshes together using the shortcut CTRL + J
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After creating the first wall of the cot I copy and pasted the object to create a second wall, I then resized this new mesh to create a shorter wall that was half in height to the original wall. I also inserted another cube mesh and created some legs and leg supports for the cot.
For the top frame of the cot I got another cube mesh and started to extrude and shape the cube to create a frame for it as seen in the reference photo. Finally, I created the other walls for the cot by using the same process I did for the first set of walls.
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To make this in blender I needed to create a cube mesh and subdivide the top and bottom sides three times. I then used the move tool to shape the cube mesh and placed the top parts of the frame on each end of the cot.
After that I chose a colour texture for the cot. Games such as Firewatch do not use photos as images but rather whole colours. This helps achieve the cartoon, stylised look.
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I am very pleased with how this cot turned out. It achieves the intial look of the ccot I was going for from the begining. This was a fairly simple model to make so I encountered no techincal problems.
Campfire
Made in Blender
In my script I explained that the player meets Henry, The Forest Keeper by a campfire in the woods.
Scene 2 in my script:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16UPm3UDUSUU3ZAmylFiuW-oMyIKupZ7KwEUlP9a-Ydo/edit?usp=sharing
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I decided to take one step at a time and start to create a campfire asset in Blender. I will add the fire as a particle effect later.
I used this youtube video as a tutorial: https://youtu.be/pyK2RiiHOs4?si=goWcROKIThL5K7mj
For the campfire I started with an isometric sphere and beveled random areas to make each rock feel different.
I then copy and pasted the rocks until I got a circular shape similar to an actual campfire. I created the logs by creating a cylinder shape extruded the top in a left or right direction
I then edited the top of the log by extruding and lowering faces to make the edges of the log look rough and as if it had been chopped. The decimate modifier was then used to give the cylinder a more abstract and uneven look, similar to what a log looks like.
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The campfire turned out great. I found the process to be fairly easy to follow as the model was low poly. When the textures were added and the light source was included in the engine the model looked great and in line with the art style I am using.
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I am fairly proficient in 3D modelling however I found adding the textures to be a bit of a challenge, especially the logs as when initially inserted the log texture onto them they appeared warped and overlapping each other.
However to fix this, I found that by going into the UV Editing tab in Blender and unwrapping the model helped me to apply the texture and make the model look more like an actual log.
Campfire Fire
Made using Unity's shader graph & particle system
My campfire needed a fire so I started to work on a fire asset too
I started by setting up a shader graph for my fire in Unity by creating a 2D sample texture and adding a “Twirl”, “Simple Noise” and a “Multiply” float to it to create a very simple flame effect.
I then added a “Tiling and Offset” float connected with another “Simple Noise” and a “Multiply” float to add more texture to the flame particle.
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After I was done with the shader graph I created a particle effect and added my shader graph to it.
This is what it was looking like (see image 3). In the inspector I set the particle effect to a lifetime of 1 and a start speed of 0.
I then reduced the size of the particle to 1 at a time. I started to change the colour of the particle to a deep red to simulate the main part of the flame. I also changed the colour over time of the particle to make sure both ends have a gradient. This made one end brighter and the other end darker.
I increased the “Emission Rate Over Time” to 10 which created more particles and experimented with the Particle System curve to have the particles generate in random shapes, distortions and speeds.
After this was done I copy and pasted the flame particle twice, one particle effect having an orange gradient and the other with a yellow gradient. I then went back into the shader graph and altered the strength of the flames.
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I then put all of the particle effects on top of each other with the red particle effect being on the top, the orange in the middle and the yellow at the bottom.
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I am incredibly happy with the outcome of this particle effect. The tutorial was incredibly helpful in addressing all of the possible mistakes that could happen and how to fix them. The look of the fire is something I am very happy with and is a great addition to the level.
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However, there was one problem I had in making this particle effect and that was the speed of the fire. When I first made it the fire was too aggressive and quick. I tried to change the speed of emission for all the particles but it wasn’t doing anything.
But I found that I had to go into the Shader Graph and reduce the amount of noise of each particle to reduce the speed in which it was moving.
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Terrain
Made using Unity's terrain system and free, cpyright free assets from Unity Asset Store
I wanted to get familiar with Unity's terrain system so I started by creating a simple forest scene using the assets I had sourced from the Unity Asset Store.
I started by using the terrain tools from Unity and raised and lowered some parts of the generated terrain. I then added the tree prefab onto my map, making sure to not use too many trees as it would make the game harder to run. I added foliage to the terrain including, grass textures, flowers and wild mushrooms
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I am very pleased with how this terrain turned out. I believe it is accurately reflecting the aesthetics I set out at the start of this project. I found the terrain system to be a bit tricky at first but eventually I understood how each part worked.
Not any technical problems, I found this to be quite simple as the Unity Terrain system felt very streamline and easy to use. I did have to be cautious with how many tree prefabs I inserted as too many could crash the game.
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Swaying Trees & Falling Leaves
Made using Unity's shader graph & particle system
I wanted to make my environment feel more alive and immersive. By having the trees sway it added to this sense of grounded realism.
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The forest needed additional details to achieve this. Details such as, swaying trees and grass and leaves falling from the trees as well as some ambience could really make this scene feel dynamic.
I started to add to my scene by enabling the trees to sway in a wind zone. To achieve this I had to change the bend factor on the tree from 0 to 1 in the tree tab in the terrain inspector.
(Go to the Tree Brush tab in the terrain editor > click “Edit Tree” > Change “Bend Factor”)
Unity has built in sway animations for the grass so I did not have to worry about changing the bend factor on them. However I did randomise the height of the grass because wild grass is not the same height.
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For the leaves falling, I wanted something similar to what is seen in Ghost of Tsushima as it really gave the environment feeling organic and alive:
https://youtu.be/J-iNM2MfmSE?si=0XEBsN0DYozd2vky
For the particle effect it was fairly simple.
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I had to change the material of the particle with a leaf image
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Then I changed Y axis of the Velocity over lifetime to -2 (See Right image)
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I then gave the lead particle two different colour variations depending on the colours of the trees in my terrain.
This is what the foliage and falling leaf particle effects looked like after I had added the swaying effects, I am extremely pleased with how this turned out, the way the leaves fall is great and really fits in with the environment.
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Due to the tutorial being really well explained, I did not have any difficult problems when making this in Unity
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Henry the Orb
Made using Unity's shader graph & particle system
In my narrative, Henry is an enitity who guides thre player through each memory. I wanted Henry to be an unfamiliar entity who does not have any human characteristics. This is to sell the idea that the player is not in the real world.
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With this in mind it was clear to me that Henry had to be a glowing orb.
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Scene 2 Script Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16UPm3UDUSUU3ZAmylFiuW-oMyIKupZ7KwEUlP9a-Ydo/edit?usp=sharing
To create Henry I needed to create multiple particle effects.
I started to create a particle system that had a lifetime of 10 and a start speed of 0. I started to make Henry’s outer shell by grabbing a png image of a circle glow and created a material of it. I added the png image to the material’s Albedo tab in the inspector and added it to the particle effect rendering material tab.
This is what Henry was looking like so far (see photo 1):
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I then made the start size of the particles go from 1 to 15 and turned the maximum amount of particles produced from 1000 to 4. After this I then changed the colour of the particle to a yellow colour.
I chose yellow because of the emotions is conveys, this being happiness, optimism, intelligence and warmth. Something I believe Henry to demonstrate.
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To really get that constant glowing shell of the orb I changed the colour over lifetime so that it fades out on both ends. By adjusting the particle system curve to my liking so that I had a constant glow that did not move over time.
I proceeded to make the inner particle. I started by creating a new particle system and created a new material for it in Photoshop. I then added the new material to the render tab in the particle setting.
By changing the settings of this new particle effect to have the start speed be 0 and the shape setting be unchecked, this allowed Henry to take on a more spherical shape,
This was the result of this (see photo 3):
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To make Henry really feel alive, checked the Noise tab and played around with the separate axis. This made the particle only move in a certain area on the X,Y & Z axis.
I then played around with the scroll speed too, I found that the right amount for this was at -1.6.
I then also changed the colour over lifetime to the exact same settings as the outer shell to get the glow effect. However this time I deleted one of the colour tabs so I just had one to really get a nice strong yellow glow.
I then started to create a smoke effect to really dramatise Henry’s appearance. I did this again by getting a png image of smoke, removing the background in Photoshop and putting it on a material in Unity,
So I created a third particle system and names it “Smoke”
I then did the exact same process for the colour over lifetime for the smoke as I have done for the previous particle effects.
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I then had the start size of the smoke be a random number between two constraints. Here I did 7 and 12.
I then did the start rotation to also be between two constraints. This being 0 and 360.
I then changed the overall shape of my particle from a cone shape to a spherical shape and changed the start speed to 0 and the emission “Rate Over Time” to 30.
This was the look of the smoke (see photo 5):
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I really wanted Henry to have an electrical effect to really contrast with the forest so that the player could tell that Henry was not just a glowing light but really a creation of something that he was not familiar with.
I created a new particle effect and put the material I used for the inner circle to the electricity renderer.
I then enabled the noise and trails tabs on this particle effect and played around with the emission, shape, and size of each particle.
After playing around with all of those settings I was finally happy with how Henry had turned out. The sway of the orb, the colour and other effects he has is really what I envisioned when thinking about what Henry was going to look like.
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Hopscotch asset
Made in Photoshop
In my script I explain how the player is playing hopscotch in the sun and how the hopscotch is drawn with chalk.
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Script Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16UPm3UDUSUU3ZAmylFiuW-oMyIKupZ7KwEUlP9a-Ydo/edit?usp=sharing
With this in mind I copy and pasted the road texture to create a new one. I then dragged it into photoshop to create a texture that included the chalk texture.
To create the chalk texture I used this Youtube tutorial to help me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8vhle2fKHk
From 2:28 to 3:11, it explained how to create the chalk effect for shapes.
I started by grabbing an image online of a hand drawn hopscotch, dragging it into photoshop and changing the colour from black to white.
From there I added a layer style (Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options) and checked the Drop Shadow tab. I then put these settings in (Lower Right Image):
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I then added 77.44% of noise to the image to create this grainy effect on the image (see right photo).
I then changed the image effect from Normal to Soft Light.
I then copy and pasted the image into my road texture (top left image), flipped the image horizontally and minimised it to fit the sizes of the model.
I then created a material in Unity and added the new texture into the Albedo tab and left the filter type to Bilinear instead of Point (no filter). This is what it looked like in-game:
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I am very pleased with the look of the hopscotch I do beleieve it encapsulates the chalk texture very well and really sells the idea of the chalk having been written on the road.
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This was a fairly easy process to make. My strengths and knowledge in photoshop from previous projects gave me a strong starting point to allow me to achieve this look in my game.
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Flies Particle Effect
Made using Unity's Shader Graph
I started to work on some details to make this level feel alive and to really immerse the player. One of these details I thought of were rubbish bins with flies swarming them.
I started by creating a particle effect that had a vertical emission. I then swapped the material of the particle for this fly image I found online.
I then went onto the sizing tab in the particle system inspector and randomised the size of the flies so the swarm felt more grounded
I then added visual noise to the particles with a frequency of 0.6. This allowed the movement of the particles to be randomised.
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I then increased the duration of each particle to 5 so that they did not go away to quickly nor stay and make the game feel choppy.
I also changed the shape of the particles to a box instead of a cone so that the particles were contained horizontally.
I then added the same script I used for the campfire noise so that as you got closer to the bins the fly noise was more apparent.
This was the final look and sound of the flies.
Rain Particle Effect
Made using Unity's Particle Effect System
For one of my forest levels, the environment is quite grey and cloudy. I thought it would be wise to add some rain particle effects to the environment to make the area feel more alive.
I started by finding a tutorial on Youtube by Lord EvilM44: to help me achieve this.
https://youtu.be/MBVGUD5nZeA?si=C_hsqLxEgTPqGgla
I inserted a particle system and immediately changed the Emission from a sphere to a box.
I changed the velocity over lifetime to be between two constraints and changed both Y axis to -25 and -35.
I then changed the Render Mode to Stretched Billboard to make the particles look more like rain droplets.
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I then changed the emission once again for the rain to ensure it falls at a more realistic speed.
I then had to change the opacity of the particle so that the droplets did not look like solid objects, this was changed from 255 to 190.
I then changed the collision type to world which made my particles bounce off the ground which was a problem.
However I fixed this by changing the bounceto 0 and the dampen setting to 1. The rain was pretty much done at this point however when the water fell it did not react to the ground.
However Lord EvilM44’s video ended there so it was up to me to add this detail to my game. [TECHNICAL PROBLEM]
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[TECHNICAL SOLUTION]
Using the rain particle effect I checked the Sub Emitter box in it’s inspector. This means that when these particles die or reach their collison they will emit another particle effect. All I had to do to add this was click the + button next to the collision tab under the Sub Emitter.
I then changed the emitter setting from Birth to Collision and the render mode to Horizontal Billboard to allow the splash particle to appear horizontally rather than in any other direction.
I then created a new material for the particle, this being a circle material I used for Henry.
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I then changed the size over lifetime to make the particles grow over time, just like how water would splash.
The graph for this just needed to start from the bottom and shoot towards the top.
After that was done I did a few tweaks on the settings, most importantly I increased the emission from 70 to 600 as this would make the rain fall a lot faster.
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This is what the rain particle effect looked like after.
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I am very happy with how the rain turned out. I set out to add a suitible rain simulation to my level and I have done this to a level I am pleased with.
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The Lake
Free and copyright free asset imported from the Unity Asset Store
In scene 5 of my game I will have a lake in it as seen in my script. To create the lake I used the AQUAS Lite - Built in Render Pipeline Asset created by Dogmatic from the Unity Asset Store
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/vfx/shaders/aquas-lite-built-in-render-pipeline-53519
Script Link (page 5):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TBSqeIyLmO1UQ91EK1_3Jo0phuUpBz_m647O6deb8Ac/edit?usp=sharing
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I downloaded the pipeline and imported it into my Unity project and started to create the terrain using the same processes I had used previously in my other scenes.
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I started by creating a terrain object and selecting a brush that was quite abstract. I needed the hills and surrounding area of the map to feel random.
After that was done I added a directional light and a fog element to the map to create a more soft and realistic look.
I then used the rock objects I had and inserted in the hills of the terrain to make them look like cliff edges.
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I added the grass and other detail meshes to the ground. After that I then added the trees and foliage in. This is what the main section of the game was looking like (see photo 3 & 4):
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After this was done I was happy to start work on the lake.
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​I started by changing the terrain setting to ‘Set Height’
This would allow me to lower the height of the terrain.
Once I had carved the base of my lake I then painted in the dirt material and added trees and foliage to the surrounding area
In the project tab I then selected the water material that I imported earlier from the Unity Asset Store.
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/vfx/shaders/aquas-lite-built-in-render-pipeline-53519
I then added the water and adjusted it to fit the lake’s shape
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The Waterfall
Made in Blender the textured in Unity using Unity's built in shader graph
I started by going into Blender 4.3 to create the initial mesh for the waterfall. I started this by first inserting a plane mesh and extruding it.
I then added multiple Edge Loops (CTRL + R) both vertically and horizontally. This allows me to have more freedom in how I want the shape of the waterfall to be.
By highlighting the areas I wanted to change I was able to strech them out using the scale tool. After that was done I started to make the sides more rounded​. I then transformed the overall shape of the waterfall to be at an angle.
Once I was happy with the shape of this model I used a subdivision surface modifier to increase the face count. I also increased the Levels Viewport to 3 and changed the UV Smooth tab to ‘Keep Corners’, this endured the model would have smoother corners.
I smoothed the entire object once more to ensure the UV shader will fit onto the model more smoothly and then added some more Edge Loops to my waterfall model. I did this so that when I eventually put on the shader, the look of it will look more natural and a lot better.
I then unwrapped the model’s UV using the Follow Active Quads Unwrap and then changed the UV so that it fit inside the box. For now, the waterfall model was finished and I then imported it into my Unity Scene.
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Unity Particle System
After the modelling was ​done, I imported the model via fbx. file into the Unity Editor. I created a particle system and changed the render mode to mesh. I put in the waterfall model I made in blender and inserted that into the mesh tab in the render inspector where I was then able to change the material. I changed this to a white solid material so that I could see the waterfall more clearly.
I created an Unlit Shader Graph and used the UV note and Time node. This is because I am going to need to scroll a texture to simulate the water movement. By inserting a multiply effect and then plugging it with the Time node I was able to multiply the time with a Vector2 to create the ripple effect.
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By having these nodes, it will move whatever shape I add to it. In this case by adding the Voronoi node and an Add node the shader will now move this texture (top photo).
I then added another Vector2 property and named it Verenoi speed. I then added that to another multiply node and attached it to the Verenoi node. This made the texture move randomly.
This is what the graph was looking like and I was pleased with what I had achieved so far:
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I then applied the material into the render tab in the particle system. By creating two floats (this being Verenoi Speed and Scale), I was able to adjust the speed and size of the ripples to whatever I want.
Once I was happy with the look of the waterfall, I went back into the shader graph and started to work on adding colour and texture.​ I started by adding a Power node and making it’s default be 2, this now added darker shades to the water as well as lighter ones.
I then created a new property called RipplesColour and switched the mode to HDR. I also added another multiply node to multiply the texture with the colour and then again with a vertex colour node to control the colour of the shader via the particle system.
This looked great however there were to many dark spots on the water so I needed to change this.
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I went back into the shader graph and added a remap node and changed the X amount on the top line from -1 to 0 and the Y axis on the second line from 1 to 1.9
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​The result was a much more realistic looking water shader that i was happy to keep in the look of my game(see photo 8):​
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​The waterfall was done and I am extremely pleased with the outcome of this asset. However the waterfall does look a bit out of place at times.​
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In the future I will make sure to add more particle effects to it to simulate some splashes and steam maybe.
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Once that was done I added a few environmental changes to the scene such as, exponential fog and a gradient light.
I made the strength of the fog be 0.03 and with the same colour as the waterfall to act as a type of mistI then changed the gradient of the lighting to be more warmer to reflect the time of day (afternoon) and also the equator light to be a dark cyan colour.
This was the look of the cave at the moment: I then added a very small terrain in the background with trees and a few bits of grass. This was to sell the illusion to the player that they are in a cave behind a waterfall in the woods.
Sound
Edited in Bandlab and sourced from FreeSounds and myself
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Some of the sounds I needed for my project included:
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Footsteps
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Environment Ambience
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Baby Crying
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Rain and Thunder
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Waterfall Sounds
I went on to Freesound.org and found some sounds that best fit my game.
For noises such as the baby cries, waterfall sounds and , I mixed and edited multiple sounds that I had found on FreeSound in Bandlab.
Here is an example of the rain and thunder sounds. For this I added more reverb to the thunder to add more weight to the sound:
These sounds were sourced from freesounds.com and edited in Bandlab to create the sounds that I wanted for my game.
These were the sounds I recorded myself and mix with other sounds
Coding
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Using C# in Unity
Walking Script
Using C# in Unity
This is the walking script for the player.
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The script handles movement such as walking, sprinting, crouching and jumping and I am very happy with how this turned out. The script does exactly as I want it to do with no issues whatsoever.
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I coded this myself with help from tutors.
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Henry Dialogue Script
Using C# in Unity
Henry the orb speaks to the player multiple times in the game.
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This is the script that allows the player to talk to Henry
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Within this script the player must enter a trigger and press the [E] key. Pressing this key will make the scene fade to black and fade back out to reveal Henry the orb.
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Here Henry will speak using text that appears on the screen every 4 seconds. The text is also surrounded by a text box.
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After Henry has finished his dialogue, the screen will fade to white and the next scene will show.
I started writing a script that acknowledged when the player landed on a square, this was done by creating 10 triggers.
I then included text to update when the player progressed through the minigame and to also say a message when the player landed on an incorrect tile. If the player did this the numbers would reset.
This is the final script:
I then added some noises that played when the player jumped on the correct and incorrect tile.
After I had done that this was the gameplay of the minigame
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I then created a separate script so that after the player had completed the hopscotch minigame, the camera would look towards a house.
This would then begin dialogue where someone would call the player inside for lemonade.
By having the camera cut to the objective, it allows the player to understand where to go to progress the game.
When the player has arrived at the location the screen will fade to white and they will be back in a new part of the forest, as seen in my script.
Hopscotch Minigame Script
Using C# in Unity
