Exploring Games Engines for Immersive Storytelling

Samantha Bendix Author

08/03/2021 Added

19 Plays

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I explore Unreal Engine as a research and development tool, while exploring design, pre-visualization, storytelling and games.

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[00:00:00.750]Hello. My name is Sam.
[00:00:02.730]I'm a senior graphic design major within the School of Art,
[00:00:05.970]Art History and Design. This summer,
[00:00:08.490]I participated in the story worlds and speculative design lab headed by
[00:00:12.720]professor Ash Smith.
[00:00:14.940]This lab is leading the creative and story development of the MR
[00:00:18.390]approach to disseminating network science for health on the worlds of
[00:00:22.710]connections, engaging youth with health research,
[00:00:25.470]through network science and stories and augmented reality funded by the National
[00:00:29.820]Institutes of Health. I worked on the WATER: Worlds of Connection project,
[00:00:34.560]where I worked on prototyping a water world.
[00:00:37.290]This is an experimental mixed story and design project that will ultimately be
[00:00:41.400]an immersive interactive storytelling experience that will feature elements from
[00:00:46.200]environmental and network sciences, health and game design.
[00:00:50.010]This project pushes the boundaries of storytelling and is a great example of
[00:00:53.970]interdisciplinary research,
[00:00:55.500]combining undergraduate student expertise from emerging media arts and design
[00:01:01.230]Networks are invisible, but they shape everything that happens in our world.
[00:01:05.100]Water is only one module in these large interconnections of systems and
[00:01:08.670]networks, but it is the central component of earthly life
[00:01:12.120]moving through complex networks
[00:01:13.590]that power planetary systems and the possibility of life outside of it.
[00:01:18.540]I studied these topics in addition to exploration of immersive and interactive
[00:01:22.650]storytelling through the lens of an online game, built through a game engine,
[00:01:26.700]such as the Unreal Engine with the aim of intriguing non-science identity
[00:01:30.780]students and getting them interested in positions in STEM and Data Science
[00:01:34.680]fields. Through extensive research,
[00:01:38.040]visual mood boarding and preliminary scenes.
[00:01:40.860]I have used the Unreal Engine to explore design, pre-visualization, storytelling
[00:01:45.870]and games. At the beginning of the summer,
[00:01:48.960]I went to a local middle school to discuss world-building and games with
[00:01:52.320]students there.
[00:01:53.550]The research and discussions that stemmed from that experience were a large
[00:01:56.940]driving force in the direction my research took.
[00:02:00.420]I initially began by exploring the creation of physical environments using
[00:02:04.230]assets provided by Unreal
[00:02:06.000]in addition to my own 3d models and mega scans from Quixel.
[00:02:10.110]Some of the environments,
[00:02:11.340]both worldly and other worldly include oil spill lakes populated with thermal
[00:02:15.690]vents,
[00:02:18.580]underwater city ruins,
[00:02:21.500]and icy landscapes.
[00:02:23.840]I worked with different ways of conveying a branching narrative.
[00:02:27.470]I started off with simply using level teleports,
[00:02:30.410]where the player had to figure out how to get to the next level.
[00:02:34.340]Then it escalated to a door teleport system where the player chose which
[00:02:39.140]one to go through.
[00:02:42.170]Another way I experimented with branching narratives was with AI.
[00:02:46.430]I used an NPC,
[00:02:47.840]a non playable character, as a stand-in and the player interacted with the
[00:02:52.070]character to have a conversation with it.
[00:02:54.680]The player is presented with a question and depending on which of the four
[00:02:58.310]answers, they picked determined the response.
[00:03:02.290]I also played with character creation and motion capture. Based on
[00:03:06.760]information gathered from middle school students, characters and the ability to
[00:03:11.290]customize them is extremely important because it allows them the opportunity to
[00:03:15.580]put a version of themselves in the situation or create a version of themselves
[00:03:19.840]they would like to be. I explored a variety of avatar creation
[00:03:24.370]software such as MakeHuman, a program
[00:03:27.160]utilizing 3d morphing technology designed for prototyping
[00:03:31.270]humanoid figures,
[00:03:33.250]MetaHuman, an online character generator by Epic Games that creates extremely
[00:03:38.050]photorealistic human models
[00:03:40.840]and ReadyPlayerMe, a limited cross-game
[00:03:43.300]avatar platform for the metaverse.
[00:03:46.600]I combine these avatars with motion capture data
[00:03:49.300]to test how animation and movement can be used as narrative and world-building tools.
[00:03:55.957]From all my testing.
[00:03:56.800]I have come to the conclusion that the Unreal Engine is a great tool for
[00:04:00.370]research and development, especially in the pre-visualization department.
[00:04:05.260]Particularly with water,
[00:04:06.700]this program offers amazing fluid dynamics and brings a very real feel to the
[00:04:11.200]procedurally generated water.
[00:04:13.780]Another thing I've noticed through my testing and research is that branching
[00:04:16.990]narratives seem to work best when there is an element of interaction,
[00:04:20.980]whether that be environmental or character driven.
[00:04:24.160]This seems to be true with younger audiences who wants an element of challenge
[00:04:28.030]and exploration in their narrative games.
[00:04:31.690]All in all Unreal Engine is a great tool to use
[00:04:34.570]as the foundation of this project.
[00:04:36.400]It offers a variety of different tools to bring our world to life.
[00:04:39.880]It is fairly intuitive and there is a plethora of amazing documentation to help
[00:04:44.320]with learning the software and customizing it to fit your needs. As for where
[00:04:48.280]WATER: Worlds of Connections is going, now that we've established a platform,
[00:04:52.150]we will continue to get feedback, refine,
[00:04:54.370]and set new goals and action items as a team,
[00:04:57.100]in addition to the creation of a concrete branching narrative and supporting
[00:05:00.790]asset development. To close,
[00:05:03.010]I would like to thank the middle school for allowing me to come and spend time
[00:05:06.700]with the students to talk about world-building and games,
[00:05:09.460]as well as Trish and Julia for being there as facilitators.
[00:05:13.360]I would also like to thank all the people who created the tutorials and
[00:05:16.330]documentation for Unreal Engine that I used throughout this project.
[00:05:20.350]This was an amazing experience,
[00:05:21.910]and I hope to work on more projects like this in the future.
[00:05:24.850]Thank you for watching.

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Exploring Games Engines for Immersive Storytelling

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