Star Atlas | Space mining (RIP)
How to mine an asteroid? Peel it like an onion? Robot-controlled drilling? 'Floating' platforms, which are not directly connected to the asteroid? Space mining is technologically challenging and poses many obstacles, including navigation in space, extraction of materials in no gravity, and the transport of mined resources.
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My task was to create a vision for the environment of a new feature biome. Unfortunately, the development of this feature pack has been discontinued. But I still learnt so much during the process. Would love to keep on working on this task <3
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Art Direction: Marcel van Vuuren
In my vision the mining is done automatically by machines. I tried to find interesting patterns with displacement maps.
I swiftly realized the importance of streamlining my thoughts. I find it most effective to channel these ideas onto a single sheet, providing a visual platform for comparison and discussion.
Playing around with blender shaders
Finally I created a set of asteroids in VR using Medium.
More displacement tests. I love that randomnes and freedom <3
We liked the vision of a "eaten apple"
"Eaten" asteroid
A floating platform, just connected via conveyor routes and automated drilling
A very different approach. The mining facilities operate in groups. Like a group of blue whales.
I did the level design in UE5, but I am not able to show it.
Bad luck the production of this feature pack discontinued. I'd love to finalize the direction.