Rat Labyrinth

Introduction
Creative Concept
Asset Rollout
Development
Deliverables
‍Conclusion

rat labyrinth

ROLE
3D Artist (Intern)

DURATION
June - Aug 2024

TEAM
_2D
Evian Le
Alelxa Hernandez
_3D
Sunita Siebert
Jovonka Johnson
_{Immersive Dev}‍
Joyce Zheng
_Account
Cole Zoland
_Overseer
Irina Fawcett

DISCIPLINES
AR Development
Branding
3D Design

TOOLS
Blender
Substance Painter
Tiktok Effect House

Overview

As part of a required intern project at Paradowski Creative, our team developed an interactive TikTok Augmented Reality (AR) filter game, allowing players to navigate a challenging sewer maze from a rat's perspective. This creative and engaging experience encouraged users to explore, share their gameplay, and challenge friends, drawing inspiration from popular social media trends like "brat summer" and the "rat" aesthetic. The project culminated in a company-wide presentation, where we showcased our work during the final review.
‍‍

Our team divided the workload, and I collaborated with another intern to design and model 3D assets, ensuring they were optimized for TikTok's AR software.

01 Creative Concept

For our intern project, we had to select an idea from the Interactive Content Repository (ICR) for Paradowski's AR team to develop an AR filter. We chose the mini-game option to enhance interaction and engagement through gamification and branding. For the game component, we came up with the idea of a maze AR filter, and here are some key considerations:

Theme/UI Flexibility: We envisioned the ability to incorporate different themes and UI elements to enhance branding and user experience.
Low Poly Style: We opted for a low poly style to optimize the game’s performance across various devices.
Unique Controls: We explored creative control options, like using the nose for movement, to add a fun and innovative twist to the gameplay.
Balanced Team Contribution: We made sure to balance the contribution of 3D and 2D assets, providing equal opportunities for all team members to contribute.

The Rat Maze - Concept

Here’s how we brainstormed the concept:

02 Asset rollout

For the asset rollout, we decided to give both the 2D and 3D teams equal opportunities to shine, ensuring a balanced distribution of work.

‍2D Team:

Aimed for a graffiti-style aesthetic, incorporating branding elements like the Paradowski logo on the walls. This team focused on creating all the 2D assets, including:

Graffiti elements
Timer UI
Winning Screen

‍3D Team:

We made sure the environment was filled with fun, quirky elements and creatures that would fit the theme of a toxic sewer. This included a variety of assets to bring the world to life, such as:

Rigged & Animated Rat
Maze Floor/Wall
Rusted Pipes
Grates
Trash (bags, soda cans, pizza box, bucket)
Mutated Plant Life
Alien Dude
Loose Rocks
Crocodile Head

For the style, we adopted a low-poly PlayStation 1 aesthetic, ensuring that the assets were optimized for use in the Effect House AR platform. This approach also helped us keep the game running smoothly without compromising the visual appeal.

03 DEVELOPMENT

The development process within Effect House involved building the maze with 3D physics, creating a character controller with animations, and implementing UI logic for the timer and winning screen. Additionally, we utilized face segmentation to enhance the interactive experience, allowing for a more immersive gameplay experience.

Build up the maze (3d physics)

Character controller + animation

UI logic (timer + winning screen)

04 DELIVERABLES

CONCLUSION

TAKEAWAYS

Collaboration: collaborated effectively across 2D and 3D teams to balance asset responsibilities.
Optimization & Technical Skills: developed an understanding of asset optimization to meet the technical requirements of AR platforms like TikTok’s Effect House.
Communication: Strengthened skills in communication and feedback application through iterative design and testing.