Deep Dive: Bring Me - The Ocean

ABOUT

Bring Me - The Ocean is a VR game where you are an abandoned plastic bottle on a captivating journey through the perils of climate change, shedding light on the harrowing path plastic takes to reach the heart of the ocean's crisis on the Great Pacific Patch.

With the help of Mother Nature, an Abandoned Plastic Bottle must escape from the clutches of the Environment and find its way to a recycle bin.


PROJECT OVERVEIW

  • Development Period: October 2023 - December 2023

  • Project Type: Interactive VR Game

  • Roles: Concept Artist, 2D Artist, 3D Artist, Voice Actor

  • Tools/Programs: Procreate, Photoshop, Blender, Shapr3D

  • Team Size: 8

MY CONTRIBUTIONS

  • Had major roles within concept and 2D art, creating multiple iterations to define shapes, textures, and visual style for VR assets

  • Built 3D models of assets and environments, creating concept sketches into interactive VR-ready assets

  • Lent my voice for the character Mother Nature, giving personality, depth, and life to the player’s gaming experience

  • Collaborated closely with the team to ensure visuals, models, and audio worked together to create an immersive VR experience.

  • Created concept art for the VR map, visualizing streets and the first-person perspective of the environment

  • Brainstormed rough 2D designs for environmental assets like graffiti, posters, and blueprints to set the style and tone

  • Modeled 3D buildings and structures for the VR map, refining scale, layout, and style to match the concept art

  • Developed 2D background assets for use in-game, ensuring visual consistency and immersion

  • Integrated 3D buildings and 2D assets into the VR environment, adjusting placement and scale based on playtesting feedback

  • Collaborated with teammates to ensure the overall tone and feel of the game was consistent and immersive

PROCESS/DEVELOPMENT

Early Stages

Production/Assets

Final Product

EARLY STAGES

  • Created environment and asset sketches exploring different street layouts and first-person perspectives for the VR map

  • Experimented with composition, scale, and mapping to establish the look and feel of the game world

  • Produced multiple concept variations to guide the team’s decisions on map design and asset planning

MID STAGE/ASSETS

  • Polished and refined 3D building models, adjusting scale, style, and details for the VR environment

  • Created concepts for graffiti and environmental art, adding visual interest and personality to the map

  • Worked on asset placement and variety, experimenting with combinations to make the world feel dynamic and immersive

FINAL PRODUCT

  • Created additional graffiti and environmental decal assets in order to enhance the storytelling and reinforce the game’s environmental message and visual identity

  • Provided support with minor 3D model adjustments and refinements to ensure the assets were consistent and ready for final implementation

REFLECTION

  • This project was my first time working on a VR game, which made it especially engaging and also gave me a new perspective on how environmental storytelling and immersion function within a virtual space.

  • I really appreciated the creative direction of the project, as well as the opportunity to collaborate with classmates that I had previously worked with, which made communication and teamwork more natural and effective

  • This project also served as a strong introduction to 3D modeling for me, allowing me to take on tasks I had not extensively explored before and further develop my understanding of asset creation within a production pipeline.