MAJOR PROJECT II | COMPILATION

Quest of Twelve is an educational 3D VR game about the twelve Chinese animal zodiacs. The player is introduced to the Chinese zodiac's origins and cultural significance through a series of minigames, based on the twelve animals' backstory.

Link to Major Project I | Task 3 — Concept Presentation

2.2 PRE-MPII PROGRESS

During MPI, we anticipated a heavy workload due to the hand-painted art style and extensive detail required for this project. We began work shortly after the module ended to get a head start.

Textures were one of my major concerns, since we weren't familiar with Blender's compatibility with Unreal Engine (which was the game engine we originally planned on using) and Godot (which we decided to use after consulting with Mr Ronald, as it was beginner- and VR-friendly).

Figure 2.2-1: Environmental Concept Art, Sem 3.5 Week 7 (17/03/25)

Since I did the environmental design in MPI, I will also be creating a lot of the environmental assets in MPII. As a refresher, this was how our concept art looked like at the end of MPI. The following progress has been done prior to the start of this semester:

Base and mossy rocks.
Bamboo and vegetation.
Starting Island platform (lotus).

Base & Mossy Rock

Figure 2.2-2: Base & Mossy Rock — Texture Nodes, Sem 4 Week 3 (10/05/25)

Figure 2.2-3: Base & Mossy Rock — Close-Up, Sem 4 Week 3 (10/05/25)

I found a tutorial on anime textures that resembled what I had in mind. The cell shading and hatching were more realistic in the tutorial, so I increased the Noise Texture in my version to exaggerate the brush strokes.

The mossy rock texture is just the base texture with additional nodes to simulate moss. To distribute the moss in an organic-looking way, I used an Object Info node to vary the moss placement depending on the rock's position in the scene.

Figure 2.2-4: Base & Mossy Rock — Turnaround, Sem 4 Week 4 (15/05/25)

Pretty pleased with the outcome.

Bamboo & Vegetation

Figure 2.2-5: Bamboo & Vegetation, Sem Break (12/08/25)

Figure 2.2-6: Bamboo — Close-Up, Sem Break (12/08/25)

Figure 2.2-7: Vegetation — Close-Up, Sem Break (12/08/25)

Figure 2.2-8: Bamboo — Edited Texture, Sem Break (12/08/25)

I downloaded this free asset off of Sketchfab and made some changes to the image textures to better fit the hand-painted style. Not particularly happy with the outcome as it still looks rather realistic.🤷

Starting Island Platform — Experimental

Figure 2.2-9: Starting Island Platform — Engraving Diagram, Sem Break (22/08/25)

Figure 2.2-10: Starting Island Platform, Sem Break (22/08/25)

I imported the lotus design into Blender to be used as the engraving template. The design is virtually identical to the design presented in MPI, except for the additional star in the centre. I applied a Gaussian Blur to prevent the engraving from looking pixelated, and added a Displace and Shrinkwrap modifier to create the engraving.

2.3 MAJOR CHANGES SINCE MPI

There have been several major changes with the direction of our project, some of which I was not informed of or discussed with until the last minute.

Change of minigames — We had initially planned on two minigames: boat-rowing (Monkey, Rooster, Goat) and Ox-riding (Ox, Rat). My group members have decided to change this to the Dragon-riding game (one of our old concepts), as we were advised to play into the strengths of VR and give the players an experience they cannot get from any other medium: flying.
Downscaling — The sheer size of our project cannot be realistically completed within a mere seven weeks. I have warned my group mates about this since MPI, and they have finally decided to heed my warning. This means that the Gameplay Island will be completely scrapped and replaced with the Dragon-riding environment.
Godot incompatibility — Godot does not allows users to directly import Procedural Materials or Material Nodes from Blender. We have been limited to image-only textures, which means my rock textures cannot be used.
File size — VR is a finicky medium. Asset files must be small to avoid lag and system crashes, which means low-poly is not just a stylistic choice; it is a must. Mr Ronald informed me that the Displace/Shrinkwrap method used in Figure 2.2-10 would be very high-poly, and to replace it with an image/video texture.

Unfortunately, due to these changes, all of my assets created prior to this semester will be unusable.

Figure 2.3-1: Task Delegation, Week 4 (25/03/26)

I had an in-depth discussion with Mr Ronald about my group's messiness. Often, no deadlines are set and tasks are delegated as we go. This lack of structure is very frustrating for someone who needs structure like me, so I was advised to make this checklist.

*Sidenote: The tasks included are only the ones that I was made aware of during the time of creation (Week 4).

2.4 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSETS

From here on out begins the progress done during MPII.

Starting/Ending Island — Modelling

Figure 2.4-1: Starting/Ending Island — Concept Art, Week 5 (05/03/26)

Before starting work on the Starting and Ending Island, my group mates dropped yet another bomb on me: They wanted me to use En Yu's sketch, which confused me because they had approved of my concept art during MPI.

Instead of a lotus pattern on the Starting Island and a bagua pattern on the Ending Island, they wanted both islands to have the bagua. The Starting Island would be cracked and overgrown, while the Ending Island would be pristine. They also wanted a portal.

I get the feeling that they do not know the difference between a sketch and a concept art, as the concept art is supposed to be the final design. Nevertheless, I tried incorporating their feedback, despite my exasperation.

Halfway through modelling, Mr Ronald advised me to follow my concept instead of my group mates', as it better-suited the cutesy style we were going for. At this point, I just wanted to finalise the design because we don't have enough time to be indecisive. My final design for the Starting and Ending Island will be an amalgamation of both concepts.

Figure 2.4-2: Starting/Ending Island Base — Original Design, Week 5 (05/03/26)

Figure 2.4-3: Player's POV from the Spawn Platform — Original, Week ? (05/03/26)
I checked my models from the player's perspective to get a better idea of the model's dimension relative to the player.

Figure 2.4-4: Rocky Alcove Reference, Week ? (05/03/26)

The rock formation surrounding the island is based off of this rocky alcove reference from Sketchfab. My model originally didn't have the rocks, which made the space look too open and empty. I think I managed to remedy this issue by having something wrap around the island and direct the player's attention inwards.

I wasn't sure about the straight walkway, however. Having the portal within the player's immediate line of sight upon entering the game does not promote a sense of curiosity, in my opinion. Furthermore, the width of the Island, walkway, and Spawn Platform is too similar, which makes it uninteresting.

With this in mind, I made a second iteration of the Island base.

Figure 2.4-5: Starting/Ending Island Base — Updated Design, Week 5 (08/03/26)

Figure 2.4-6: Player's POV from the Spawn Platform — Updated, Week ? (08/03/26)

Changes made:

Increased Island and Spawn Platform size.
Changed straight walkway → staircase.
Added short pillars to the Island and Spawn Platform.

Having the player climb up a flight of stairs and slowly discover the portal and bagua gives the player more agency and motivation. It can also feel as though the player is metaphorically and physically ascending to a higher level.

Ending Island — Texture

Figure 2.4-7: Ending Island — Textures, Week 6 (12/03/26)

Figure 2.4-8: Jade Accents, Week 6 (13/03/26)

Since my model is mostly greyish due to everything being made of stone, I used jade as an accent colour for a touch of liveliness, such as in the trimmings, the crystals, the bagua animation, and the portal glowing animation (not pictured).

Figure 2.4-9: Bagua Animation, Week 6 (15/03/26)

Figure 2.4-10: Portal Glowing Animation, Week 6 (15/03/26)

Figure 2.4-11: Lack of Transparency when Using MOV/MP4 Format in Blender, Week 6 (15/03/26)

The bagua and portal glowing animation were animated in Procreate and exported as image sequences (to retain the transparency in Blender and Godot).

Figure 2.4-11: Only One Animation Shows Up in Blender, Week 6 (15/03/26)

There's this issue in Blender where only one animation can be played at the same time. Could be because both animations have different lengths. Not too concerning, as the animations will be applied in Godot.

Starting Island — Texture

Figure 2.4-12: Starting Island — Textures, Week 6 (12/03/26)

The Starting Island uses an overgrown alternative to the Ending Island's textures. I painted the cracks and moss for the rock, stone, bricks, and cobblestone textures in Procreate, and edited the background rock and jade textures in the Blender Textures properties (such changing the Roughness, Alpha, and IQR).

Figure 2.4-13: Voronoi Texture — Close-Up, Week 7 (16/03/26)

Figure 2.4-14: Voronoi Texture — Without VS With, Week 7 (16/03/26)

I realised there was a certain unnaturalness to some of the new textures. The way the image texture is joined causes the mossy parts to stand out rather than blend into the rest of the texture (something I didn't notice when working on the texture as an image instead of as a tiled pattern).

A Voronoi texture node has been applied to the non-geometric textures (e.g. stone, rock). Instead of perfect squares, the texture is cut up into chunks and rotated to avoid obvious texture repetition. This simulates a more natural and seamless appearance.

Figure 2.4-15: Starting Island — Unused Texture Paint, Week 7 (17/03/26)

I added additional mossiness to the background rocks using Texture Paint, however, this was not used in the final submission as my group member already started coding using a previous version of the island.

Starting/Ending Island — Recolouring

Figure 2.4-16: Ending Island — Recoloured, Week 7 (17/03/26)

Last but not least, my group members requested that I recoloured the Starting and Ending Island to be lighter, as the island looks too dark in the final environment (twilight background). A bit sad by this honestly, because the jade accent colour doesn't stand out as well in this lighter colour palette.

After that, the models were sent off to be processed in Godot.

2.5 CHARACTER ASSETS (SCRAPPED)

Jade Emperor

Figure 2.5-1: Jade Emperor — Character Design Sketch, Week 2 (12/02/26)

Figure 2.5-2: Jade Emperor — Modelling WIP, Week 2 (15/03/26)

Figure 2.5-2: Jade Emperor — En Yu's Sketch, Week 3 (19/03/26)

Before the Jade Emperor was passed on to En Yu, I was tasked with modelling, rigging, and animation this character. While modelling, my group mates informed me that they actually wanted me to model based on En Yu's sketch (Figure 2.5-2), and that my version (Figure 2.5-1) was too realistic for their liking.😐 I wished they had told me this before I started work on the modelling. Fortunately, not much time had been lost.

2.6 FINAL SUBMISSION

Google Drive

Figure 2.6-1: Compilation — Promotional Video (Final Submission), Week 7 (19/03/26)

Figure 2.6-2: Compilation — PPT (Final Submission), Week 7 (19/03/26)

Figure 2.6-3: Compilation — Documentation (Final Submission), Week 7 (19/03/26)

3.0 FEEDBACK

3.1 SEM 4 WEEK 3

Specific Feedback (Mr Kannan):

Progress looks good so far. Proceed.
Build terrain in Unity, making it easier for measurements.
Use placeholders to get a better idea of the arrangement.
Start on one game first. Quality over quantity.

4.0 REFLECTION

QUICK LINKS

COMPILATION

Emily Soh Ching-Ling 0359478

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MAJOR PROJECT II | COMPILATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 INSTRUCTIONS

2.0 COMPILATION

2.1 PROJECT RECAP