P2: Creating a Gritty Office Den
Filling the room with furniture.
Objective
Fill the room with furniture:
- Sofa
- Cabinet
- Desk with chair
- Bookcase
- Lamps
- Floor coverings
- Wall Sconces
- Paintings
- + Additional elements
Plan
Download as many assets from filebase that will help me build the scene. Then figure out a layout that works for me.
Importing Assets
One great feature about joining GameDevHQ is filebase. Filebase is a plugin for Unity that contains thousands of game assets ready to be downloaded on the fly! Once installed, you can sign in, search, and download assets to your project folder.
I went ahead and downloaded 50+ assets that will help me furnish the room. It does take time to find what you want but well worth it! The gif below shows some of the assets I imported to my project.
Changing the Base Layout
One asset, in particular, gave me the idea to cut out an open space on the wall. It’s a bed that will add to the sci-fi/cyberpunk vibe of the scene.
I couldn’t let this one slide. So with the cut-out of the wall, on the same wall, I also added a door with a room. I don’t think the room will have a function yet, but it gives depth to the space.
Story
I think it is important to have a story in mind when creating a scene. It will help fill in the extra details. It could be a simple idea starting with the character.
What if this person who lives here is a zealous follower of an organization? Someone who researches a lot, reads books, and collects religious artifacts?
Something to think about.
Furnishing
I want the space to look as if someone lives there, and I want the furniture to be placed as if I would place them myself in reality. Sometimes I am in a hurry to do something, and so I leave things undone, or place things not in their correct position.
I placed all the furniture on the scene and moved them around until I found a layout that I liked best. Mind you, I went through a few layouts before deciding on my current setup. If only I had sketched out a rough idea, then this process could have gone faster!
Next, I added Light Fixtures, Wall Sconces, and a Ceiling Fan. I decided to add a bunch of hanging bulbs to the ceiling after looking at a Deus Ex reference image.
Next, I added paintings and rugs!
I now have all of the furniture required for the objective! But that’s not all!
Additional Elements
The additional elements are not needed but recommended. I want to make it personal and dramatic. I will add:
- Statues
- Clothing
- Electronics
- Candles
- Books
- Trash
- Vegetation
- and more.
Hammer the Smuggler
At this point, I didn’t have a clear picture of a character in mind who resides inside the scene. So I took a few minutes to come up with an idea.
The person who lives here is a black-market smuggler named “Hammer.” He loves to collect and buy historic items to sell them for more. He is also lonely and depressed, but also has a curious mind!
Electronics
It's a must to have electronic elements that make a sci-fi/cyber-punk scene pop! So why not add a few servers, with a laptop, tv, and a computer? Doesn’t sound much but that alone already makes the scene look good.
Hammer needs to provide his own “cheap” internet service for his black-market goods. He also needs all that storage for selling and storing his digital goods in hack-net.
Cardboard Boxes
What if Hammer receives a ton of packages of some sort? He is a smuggler, so I would think he would acquire packages from sources.
Having boxes around the scene gives a sense of disorganization. It can also give the feeling of being trapped and depressed if the scene is filled with a bunch of stuff.
Statues
Hammer is a collector. So it makes sense to add statues around the place. It can also give that creepy vibe like in resident evil.
Books
You can’t go wrong by adding tons of books around! Hammer loves to research the topics that he loves. You can say he’s intelligent, but also a weirdo.
Window Blinds and a Curtain
They are extra elements that make the room feel real. When the directional light passes through the window and the blinds, it will cast dramatically into the interior.
It makes sense to have a curtain to cover the bedside. So I added the curtain, but I also wanted it to be see-through so we can view the details inside.
Clothes and Candles
Hammer is messy, so why not scatter clothes around with an untidy bed? Also, he could be religious or spiritual in some way. It gives a hopeful feeling to his depressed state! Or at least I think so. So I added candles to fill the mood with hope.
It will make the scene look cool once I start lighting the area.
Vegetation
Plants are a must! Hammer loves them. I enjoy plants and I would love to fill my room with them if I had the chance!
Trash
I needed to trash the place to add towards Hammer’s depression. It gives that sense of living as well. We accumulate trash daily so it makes sense to add trash around, given the fact that you and I aren’t messy like Hammer… I hope not!
Misc
I also added other miscellaneous things that make sense. I will keep enhancing the place as I develop the scene.
Conclusion
All in all, it took a while to get to this point. I initially did not have a clear vision for the layout, but I did have an idea for a story and inspirational references to help me get to this point. Here are a few screenshots with the scene furnished in all of its glory.
*Warning* On this phase, it doesn't look pretty but it will soon once we add lighting, reflections, and post-processing!
Although not final, I might change things around during the development phase. The next post will be about lighting the environment!
Gabriel
