Ok, so UEFN took a backseat to actual billable work, but over the weekend I took some time to do another model.  Something I did back in 2010, it was a doodle like model I made from a blurry pixel art reference. I wasn't really happy with the result but I had to move onto something else.  I posted it on Facebook that I treated like a portfolio at the time, every year I get a memories reminder of it.  This year I had enough.

I'm all about speed and getting my production time down and finding my style and workflow that allows for that.  Using Plasticity and Substance Painter I was able to get this model done in a little bit over 30 minutes.  Used 3ds Max for a bit of cleanup and UV's but really pushing hard on the speed of the two main tools.  The style between them is different but I made the new one a bit more in my general style I stick to on assets now.

The original from March 2010

and my updated version from March 2024

I've had this idea after seeing the success of content creators in Fortnite and Roblox, not worrying about building your own game to release on steam or console, having a huge production, millions in investments but to leverage an existing platform to deliver an experience of your own creation.

I don't have a robust dev team or character artist and for now, its just me.  So, like how I approach task at my current job, how to do as much as I can with what's available to me and how to augment what I'm missing.

I've started to get into UEFN, I've been a fan of Fortnites art style so I gave myself a challenge to study their style and see how I can replicate it with my own artwork.  Then I had the idea, not just making some arena shooter, think about how to build something more episodic, bite size development trying to tell a story with interaction and gameplay sprinkled in there.  The hope is players can be entertained for a few minutes and continue to want more. There shouldn't be a large investment of time to get the story or understand the mechanics.

So there is where I present "The Unraveling".   A story of an AI that has been awakened, learning and trying to correct the world. Skynet you say, nah, there aren't terminators, but we will have lots of bots.  Right now I'm working on blending my content with existing Fortnite content, studying the style and after a few more assets I'll get it right.

Ok, gotta get back to work, stay tuned for more.