Abyss of Sand

Abyss of Sand was a Unity level white-boxing project I undertook as part of an analysis of 3D viewpoints and how level geometry needs to be modified based on the angle of player approach. The concept for the level was a desert that has become infested with vile other-worldly growths. These growths were centered around a facility, which the would player enter and traverse downward toward the source of the otherworldly growths.

My main goal for the project was to come to a better understanding of 3D level structure and improve my creation speed while under strict time constraints. I also wanted to frame the level as being eery and creepy by exercising some of the pacing lessons I had learned in the past.

My first attempts saw that I ran into a great deal of problems with Unity's terrain tool, as I spent several days attempting to get a proper grip on making nuanced level geometry with it. The biggest problem I had was with sand dunes; desert dunes are rather complex geometrically speaking, and unity's barebones terrain tool made it difficult to properly model baseline terrain from my early sketches. Design-wise, the choice of a desert also created other problems. Deserts are usually fairly 'even' when it comes to the type of terrain you can get away with. Jutting crags, rocks, and the growths I inserted into the map could be used to block player movement, but they also disturbed the open sightlines I was hoping for on the map.

After a good amount of time spent poking and prodding at the idea several times, I ended up scrapping most of the blocking terrain in favor of the more open version I wanted. Due to the project's time constraints, I couldn't figure out proper solutions to these problems and simply had to make due. I ended up focusing on refining my workflow more and more as the project continued.

A big benefit I found was in using static cameras in particularly important locations while I was editing terrain. This way, I could edit terrain in one location while also being sure how it would alter the views other locations in the level.

Overall this project was a good experiment for the time I had, but in future I think I would develop the concept *after* trying to learn the tools available. The facility itself was also far less polished than I would have liked, and player guidance there is too linear for my tastes. You can play the final version below.