Annabelle Lin

The floating island world that I created was based on my vision of having a series of islands with Japanese-style buildings and a mystical ambience that lit up the night scene background. My original idea was to have multiple small floating islands, all connected by multiple rope bridges and a small building or temple on each island. However, I soon changed my plan when I was unable to create the type of islands I liked with the Unity world assets. There were also limited models of Japanese buildings and temples that were compatible with the Unity settings. 

I ended up creating two large floating islands that are connected with solid bridges and floating rocks. I was still able to incorporate Japanese-style aspects by allotting one section of the island to a Japanese temple, as well as including rock statues as shrines on each island. 

Since my islands were bigger, I used the extra space to add nature. One island has a grassy plain and waterfalls, and the other has a pond and a small forest with a clearing. I was inspired by my friend’s love of camping, where I added a campsite and fishing dock that the player can stand on. I also included small log stools in the forest clearing, and a blocked-off mine on the side of the island mountain. 

I also included my passion for video games into my world by adding small treasure chests throughout the world. Inspired by game quests, I created a glowing crystal that can be reached with some rock parkour. Many games that I have played have a mushroom forest, which inspired me to create one as well, which allowed me to achieve the mystical ambience on the island. 

Although this was not my first time doing 3D modeling, it was my first time building a world and playing with Unity. A struggle that immediately came up was that it was hard to determine the appropriate scale of each element without constantly going into game-mode and seeing the element from the player’s view. Where modeling does not greatly require you to worry about the size of the model, building a world required me to continuously take the player’s view into account. Additionally, with so many more elements, it was difficult to properly place every item. When I tested the game, I found that some elements were not connected, and others were not even accessible to the player because they were too big. 

After overcoming these issues, I created this final world. It was a new experience that I really enjoyed, and I hope that any person that plays my world is able to equally enjoy their time on the island!