Fallen Eden
Fallen Eden is a short 3D experience made for Alex McDowell’s Planet Junk, a project that invites university students to imagine a future where human civilisation has collapsed. I, and four other students, created a dystopian future where Earth has succumbed to human littering, turning it into one big landfill.
As the art director and project manager my tasks were mainly to make sure that the visuals and mood of the project aligned with our vision and concepts, while also having an overview of our schedule, scope and deadlines.
A recorded walkthrough of the final experience. It can also be downloaded (for free!) at itch.io: https://sarahmarcussen.itch.io/fallen-eden
Scoping the project
Since we were a team of five people with just a couple of weeks to finish the project, I decided to focus on creating a shorter experience that took place in a smaller fragment of a larger world. A lot of 3D models were needed to populate the environment, and so we aimed for simple (low - mid poly) models as they could be produced quickly.
World size: a short route for the player to follow using limited space.
3D target: sketches for 3D surfaces. Aiming for a blocky, stylised look.
Shape language: round shapes for friendly objects and triangular shapes for hostile objects.
Art direction
Because of the setting, we wanted to create an environment that felt filthy and claustrophobic. We were also inspired by other pieces of media with similar settings such as WALL-E, although we wanted to create something that was tonally darker. To achieve the desired result, dark browns and some purples were the main colours for the environment, while a few, futuristic elements use cooler colours to create contrast.
