It was quite the experience building my first VR experience. Quite frankly it was a massive project to start in. I didn’t recognize how intense learning, designing, and implementing the entire project would be. However, it was an amazing opportunity and I loved every second of it.
I begin my project by carving out the landscape. As I wasn’t entirely familiar with Unreal Engine I spent a lot of time focusing on how to use the program itself. As it’s designed around C++, it was something I had worked with in the past, so I was able to quickly get up to speed with the software and begin carving out the initial steps.
I then added the beginning rocks to start carving out my idea for the narrows. Initially, I had thought about doing Kolob Canyon, but figured that the Slots would be a lot easier to design for and probably be a more interesting experience as there was more to see visually. I had to implement the proper textures and make sure that they were unwrapped correctly as importing from Blender to Unreal was a task and a half and it took a little bit to get it implemented correctly.
From there, I had to design the VR headset orientation and movement. I had no idea where I needed to start or where I needed to go. There was a template that was available but unfortunately I was too deep in my level design that it was hard to justify going back and redoing again. So, I found a tutorial online and set up my own orientation and movement with what was available to me. It was a great experience and I was able to learn how to further develop in Unreal Engine, especially for VR.
I added in some trees and foliage which really made the thing come to life. IT was a really cool experience watching something that I had looked at for so long look incredibly boring become super interesting and exciting in a matter of minutes. I really enjoyed this part and had a ton of fun making a super realistic scene, especially as I have been striving for realism in my artwork for a long time. It was thrilling to watch it come together and actually feel like I was there when I was in the headset.
I then added everything together and touched up the final details and recorded my final piece. I loved working in this project and I had a great time working in a medium that I was passionate about. Each moment that went by made me excited to develop and create something new. It was really exciting to share with my friends and my family members what I had created and I am really excited to dive back into the Virtual Reality space in the future with new projects.