Game Development
Unreal Engine - Spring 2024
Team
Game Designer // Lead Programmer // Environmental Artist - Anika Richards
Trailer for puzzle-platform video game Timber where players experience first-hand the devastating effects of a world without trees
As no team member had previously worked in Unreal Engine, this project challenged us to step out of our comfort zone and expand our game engine toolset. Originally intended to be a fully playable 2.5D side-scrolling game, Timber was designed to provide an immersive experience demonstrating the consequences of a complete loss of trees and encourage the preservation of our forests. In my role, I gained experience working with UE5's Chaos Destruction System while contributing to the discussion of an extremely important social issue.
Timber is set in a not so distant future where rogue robots have cut down the majority of Earth’s trees. The story depicts the impacts of deforestation through a compelling narrative and immersive environments. To properly convey this message, we experimented with different stories and endings for the game to identify which narrative connects best to our goal.
“We wanted to ensure that the ending tied to our overall goal and made our narrative feel complete.”
The main antagonist in the game are robotic creatures inspired by logging machines. They act as a metaphor for anthropogenic (human-caused) de-forestation. In our narrative, these robots were created by humans to assist with logging practices, but became so efficient that they eventually became uncontrollable. Unable to stop them, the robots rapidly tore down all the trees and are the reason trees have disappeared from the planet.
To ensure the right look and feel for the environment, a variety of online images were sourced for inspiration of different colour schemes for the game’s overall aesthetic. These colours were considered, but ultimately discarded as they made the environment feel apocalyptic, not toxic as was intended.
"Too cyberpunk."
“Too similar to inspiration game Inside.”
“Too dystopian.”
“Too hellish.”
Throughout the game, the player encounters a variety of environmental hazards such as soil erosion, floods, acid rain, water pollution, and animal extinction from the lack of trees.
To create the soil erosion effect, I used Unreal’s built in fracture system to divide the 3D models for the ground into hundreds of smaller pieces. The breaking was controlled by a Unreal blueprint called FS_MasterField. From there, I used a trigger to spawn the masterfield which moved horizontally across the floor at a set speed, giving the effect that the ground is breaking under the players feet. All footage featuring this effect was shot as real-time gameplay.
The original project goal was to complete a fully playable game, however after considering these constraints, it was determined a teaser trailer was a more realistic goal for the scope of the project.
First time using Unreal Engine.
Limited experience with creation of visual assets and 3D modelling for games.
Short deadline to complete the project.
No budget and a small team of two.
Unreal Engine 5 Pipeline, Unreal Chaos Destruction, Blender Texturing, Sound Design
This project was a significant challenge and succeeded in pushing me well outside of my comfort zone. Despite not completing the goal of a fully playable game, it was gratifying to see the project through to completion while gaining invaluable experience with a new game engine. I developed a solid understanding of working in Unreal Engine and feel prepared to undertake a similar project in the future.
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