Virtual world-building. 3d assets. 

Time TRAIN is a virtual world suitable for younger players, inspired by the idea of the implementation of VR as a tool for pain management in paediatric patients. 

I wanted to create a colourful place, full of magical and unusual objects; the world the child would be immersed in and fascinated by, temporarily forgetting about the unpleasant medical procedure they are undergoing in the physical world. 

I decided to build my project in the Unity Engine (2021.3.14f) as this is the platform I have been using for the majority of my VR projects during the VR university course.

I created two Unity scenes, the first one being a simple introduction to the story, with bright and child-friendly elements, interactable objects and a talking penguin. From this cold but still friendly and colourful place, the player and the penguins are teleported onto the train – the second Unity scene. 

The second part of the experience is a train journey where the player looks around to observe what is happening on the train and outside of it, both when the carriage is on the move and when it stops and at each station – this is when the player can have a glimpse at the outside world through the open door. The aesthetic of the train was inspired by London underground trains and Space Jam’s style movie where cartoon characters blend with real-life elements, and people. 

The train journey starts in the brick tunnel. This creates an environment similar to a train journey the player might be familiar with from their own experience or the movies. The tunnel effect was created by applying a brick wall material on a plane, adjusting the size and number of tiles on that plane and then multiplying the plane to create long walls. In some places, brick walls were replaced by “glass panels” so the player can see a bit more of the station’s environment when the train stops and goes through them. Since the player stays on the train, there was no need to create the actual tunnel for the experience, but just the side walls.

The first station the train stops at is an Icy Candy Land. It looks magical and inviting but to penguins, it is still too cold, and the penguin commenting on the story feels truly relieved once the train closes its doors and takes off to continue the journey. This land was created with models I made in Maya such as ice land and icebergs but also with assets I sourced from the internet (credited here). They are candy canes, stars, snowflakes and ice-cream cones. The colour palette of this place is soft, gentle and warm (pink and red), despite it being a place covered with ice and snow.

Next, the train goes through the tunnel for 40 seconds before reaching the Rainy City as it was called by the penguin narrating the story. 

The rainy city is built with assets from the Unity Asset Store and TurboSquid. It has typical English houses (also blue ones), several lamp posts, benches and a phone booth. There are two fountains, some trees and a tube entrance there too. The space is complimented by the backdrop adding to the mood of the city –  a photograph taken from a cable car in London. Two essential elements of this city are several random people seen from the train and the hail/rain (particle effect) is a reason the penguin refers to this place as the “Rainy City”.

The train starts slowly leaving the city to then speed up and go pretty fast for a total of 40 seconds before it stops in the forest. The penguin seems intrigued by the forest and claims they have never seen one before! 

The forest was briefly described in the document dedicated to animations in the project.

This place is inspired by the forest in Walthamstow and also by the Waltham Forest itself. It has trees, flowers, strawberries and a lovely ground created with a William Morris pattern. The backdrop was created with a photograph I took in the saved part of an old wood that was transformed through the “Clearing” project into a family-friendly nature site. 

The penguin seems intrigued by this place but at the same feels glad that the train continues the journey and moves forward. 

The hope is that the next station will be the longed beach all the penguins are so looking forward to visiting. 

The penguin narrating the story is not wrong, the train reaches its destination and stops by the beach. This place has loads of lovely sand, a wooden pier, palm trees, several holiday houses and even a massive inflatable penguin – all that penguins want when they are on the beach. 

Skybox creating not only the environment and sky but also the light and the mood in VR was carefully created by me for the Time TRAIN. Originally, I used a photo from the online HDRi library but then decided to implement the skybox generated by AI called skybox.blockadelabs. The first skybox in the experience is rather cold and icy, with mountains covered in snow and bright sun. The second skybox, implemented when the train approaches the beach is a warm, sunny and beach-holiday-associated environment that adds an extra touch to the Sunny City destination. 

Special effects such as clouds and snow in the first scene and hail in the second part were achieved thanks to the various use of the particle effects with diverse settings and images applied. From dusty-pink clouds, through crystal-like snowflakes to perfectly round drops acting as rain (or hail perhaps), all of them have an impact on creating the style and the mood of the Time TRAIN.

The experience finishes after the train doors open at the beach. The entire scene fades out to the black colour as a sign of the journey and the whole experience ending. 

The sound is only of the key elements building the Time TRAIN and corresponding with the journey the player and the penguins have together. I wrote a separate entry on the audio in the project.

I am pleased with the virtual world I created with my collaborators and excited about the passengers taking that VR journey with penguins very soon!