It's been quite some time since I updated as well as worked on this project and there are several reasons behind that. Here's a quick overview of the reasons before I show the progress made.
Reasons
The project was originally a personal side project but developed into an assignment as part of a level design course at Playgroundsquad.
The shift in direction gave me much stress trying to balance internship applications on top of producing qualified work.
After this, my motivation dwindled and I focused more on my studies and now my internship.
However, I've now come to appreciate the work I've done and wanted to see it through till the end. Therefore I started work on the project once again, this time determined to not only utilize more level design principles and research of the level's environment but also create an aesthetically pleasing prototype.
I started by researching to see how environments like that of my project's goal were constructed in real life. As the project aims to take place in an illegally operated mine I had to understand how they look.
The picture above shows the original layout of the storage room (the second room the player would enter).
This room is a great example of the fact that this project was not only rushed due to the 4-week deadline but also indicated that I didn't research how rooms and architecture look in this scenario. I started scouring the internet as well as playing games in my spare time that included these environments, Generation Zero played a big part in restoring my motivation.
The picture above shows my references board of similar real life places.
The link above contains a video from the company Boliden AB, used as reference material.
I searched the web for reference images and videos that could help me convey the environment as well as create a more architecturally correct mine. The reference board helped me construct a vision of what I wanted from the environment. After finding the pictures I deemed would suffice I started sketching and remaking every location in the level, starting with the room previously mentioned storage room.
I'll be going over the sketch more thoroughly once the project is complete, however, the top portion was my initial idea but seeing as I want to emphasize real-world look and functionality I had another plan. The middle and bottom parts were parts of the same iteration. After establishing what to do I started the restructuring process.
First White Box Iteration
First White Box Iteration
Second Iteration
Second Iteration
Third Iteration
Third Iteration
The final version will be shown when the project has concluded. In the meantime, the project is undergoing daily progress and workings. There is no set deadline, although, I hope to finish it before the end of May 2023.
Thank you for reading! Hopefully, I've shown that I didn't give up on this project, just focused on other matters.