Zombie City

PROJECT INFO

PROJECT OVERVIEW

ENGINE TYPE

Unreal Engine 5

PROJECT TYPE

Environment Piece

START DATE

June 2022

PROJECT COMPLETION

August 2022

Zombie City is a take on the recently overrun streets of a small city. The environment piece shows off a number of elements such as an overrun military checkpoint. I emphasized creating an immersive environment, focusing on the atmosphere above anything else.

With the inclusion of various asset packs, building up this environment became a fun experience, significantly when I added in the extra effects such as the rain and fire, which mixed perfectly to create a severe and chilling effect. the later addition of the zombies actually within the world also aided in making the horror come to life and tell a story, for example, the zombie which sneakily killed the guard in the guardhouse, and the horde attempting to smash down the gates to get to the coved up bodies just beyond.

Showcase Video

MAP DESIGN

I produced a map design using photoshop before beginning the production of the map, although the main plaza area of the map with the fountain and guard towers was later cut, the street from the main checkpoint leading up to the plaza remained intact. The red dots represent where roadblocks have been placed on the road, the yellow dots show where military checkpoints have been erected. and the green dots show where military patrols should have been.

BLOCKOUT

I produced the blackout using the new modeling plugin available within Unreal Engine 5, this new tool enabled a fast development of the lockout section of the project. I took the fundamental areas of the map designs and built them up using the molding tool, I added some details in such as gates/fences, roadblocks, and vehicles to further add detail.

MESHING OUT

Finally, I started to remove the block out and replace it with meshes from various asset packs. I wanted to make the environment look as realistic as possible, so I added as much debris to the roads and the pavement as possible using the foliage tool to give off a neglected aesthetic. I added in a number of building presets along the streets to get a bit of variety in the buildings, and used low poly building models for any that were in the distance/ background. To make the environment look even more abandoned I added a number of abandoned vehicles to the area, making it seem as if everyone quickly ran for their lives as the world was ending.

I included a military checkpoint that was recently overrun, this checkpoint featured a small guard house and a generator, to explain why the lights are still on in the area. I wanted to have the military checkpoint look as if it had only recently been overrun by the zombies, so I had a number of bodies and a destroyed car set up around that area. in the ally way, there is a gate with a number of zombies attempting to break through, I really liked the idea of having this as it adds tension to the scene.

Please feel free to follow me on social media