This week we were introduced to Unity, a new software. We were told about another project to be completed in Unity, where we have to showcase three different locations from where we grew up. We are also to include text information about what the locations are, and what they mean to us as a person.
At first, I was afraid of using Unity as I felt it would be like learning Maya from scratch all over again, but I actually found it surprisingly easy to use. This is because of downloadable assets you can use and drag into your world – it’s where things modelled in Maya are imported before going into a game engine and used in VR.
I had lots of fun downloading various assets to use to recreate the country where I grew up: Singapore. I decided to recreate 3 of the most renowned landmarks: Marina Bay Sands, the Merlion, and the Central Business District. Each of these overtly represents Singaporean culture, but also means something to me, having spent 18 years of my life there.
I downloaded assets of the Merlion and Marina Bay Sands that I found online, editing their size and structure in an attempt to recreate how it would feel when looking at these landmarks in real life. I decided to create a road with sidewalks, as similarly as I could to the ones in Singapore, which would lead the player to each landmark, where text would be displayed, showing which stop they’re at. At this stage I have half the roads done and the meshes of Marina Bay Sands and the Merlion uploaded. I’ve even included some decorative elements such as trees, flowers and lampposts. I have yet to upload meshes of the Central Business District and the explanatory text.
I managed to do quite a lot of this world in our session as I find Unity much easier to use than some of the other software we’ve been using. I was very proud of my work, and I intend to continue working hard on it as I want to do justice to the beauty of Singapore.