A Fading Memory - 2024 Thesis

As part of the Senior coursework at Ringling College of Art & Design, we're tasked with creating a thesis that reflects our strengths and focuses within the game industry. For myself, I chose to focus on lighting as I find lighting to be an integral part of creating the atmosphere around an environment as well as assisting in the overall narrative of the space.

In response, I developed "A Fading Memory" in which the player plays as Grayson, taking a trip down memory, reflecting and confronting past events through a series of bedrooms and memorabilia associated with each part of his life. In a lot of ways, this thesis is also personal to me and those who relate to themes of accepting and moving on from difficult life events.

Through this thesis, I was able to explore and create lighting scenarios that reflect the mood of each of the three bedrooms and their narrative elements. I'm excited to have learned so many new techniques and perspectives about lighting, and I'm excited to show what I've learned to other artists.

These series of shots are from Grayson's bedroom when he was 16, reflecting a somewhat naive yet optimistic part of his life.

These series of beauty shots are from Grayson's bedroom when he was 18, moving off to college. He was apprehensive yet hopeful during this time.

This last series of beauty shots are from Grayson's bedroom when he was 20, the room he was in a few hours ago. He's going through a rough spot in his life at college, confused and hopeless about what he's supposed to do.

Before tackling this project, I needed to understand what I was going to create on top of what type of lighting scenarios I should consider for each room.

In response, I created a PureRef board of items I needed to create and consider. This also includes real-life and 3D examples of lighting scenarios within a bedroom environment. 

With the moodboard sorted, I began my project, iterating on the set-dressing and lighting with each pass.

This first bedroom is from when Grayson was 16, with the feeling of the game starting as rather innocent.

These series of process images are from the first bedroom of "A Fading Memory" with its lighting scenario being based around golden-hour lighting.

The last phase's additional set-dressing to finish off the ambiance of the room has been supplemented by assets from Dekogon Studios from these asset packs listed below:

Suburbs VOL.5 - Around the House Retro

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/suburbs-vol-5-around-the-house-retro-nanite-and-low-poly

Suburbs VOL.12 - Interior Decor

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/suburbs-vol-12-interior-decor-nanite-and-low-poly

Laundry VOL.2 - Home Laundry

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/laundry-vol-2-home-laundry-nanite-and-low-poly

From the first to the second bedroom, the mood of the game shifts a little bit, going forward two years when Grayson was moving out to college. Things were slightly uncertain but optimistic regardless for Grayson.

These series of process images are from the second bedroom of "A Fading Memory" with its lighting scenario being based on overcast rainy-day lighting, supplementing the more apprehensive feeling Grayson had about moving away for college.

This was also an opportunity to learn and implement mixed lighting of baked and dynamic light sources. Shadows with baked lighting can sometimes appear unrefined and the light bounces at times can be too much or too faint for what I was looking for. Supporting the baked lighting with dynamic lights specifically with manmade light sources like the light fixtures helps a lot to create more refined shadow shapes and a more controlled method of light intensity. This technique would also go on to be used in the third bedroom.

The last phase's additional set-dressing to finish off the ambiance of the room has been supplemented by assets from Dekogon Studios from these asset packs listed below:

Suburbs VOL.5 - Around the House Retro

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/suburbs-vol-5-around-the-house-retro-nanite-and-low-poly

Suburbs VOL.12 - Interior Decor

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/suburbs-vol-12-interior-decor-nanite-and-low-poly

Laundry VOL.2 - Home Laundry

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/laundry-vol-2-home-laundry-nanite-and-low-poly

From the second to the last bedroom, the mood of the game enters a more depressing atmosphere as the last room takes Grayson back to only a few hours before something terrible. With that story element in mind, I set out to create a bedroom that reciprocates that feeling of disorder and darkness.

These series of process images are from the third and last bedroom of "A Fading Memory" with its lighting scenario being based on night-time lighting, supplementing the more melancholic and depressing atmosphere of Grayson's final bedroom.

Taking in the knowledge I learned from the second bedroom, I used stationary lights for the manmade light sources to adjust and control their intensities in the room as well as achieve more precise specularity on the surfaces in the room. 

The last phase's additional set-dressing to finish off the ambiance of the room has been supplemented by assets from Dekogon Studios from these asset packs listed below:

Suburbs VOL.5 - Around the House Retro

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/suburbs-vol-5-around-the-house-retro-nanite-and-low-poly

Suburbs VOL.12 - Interior Decor

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/suburbs-vol-12-interior-decor-nanite-and-low-poly

Laundry VOL.2 - Home Laundry

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/laundry-vol-2-home-laundry-nanite-and-low-poly

Throughout this whole process of creating "A Fading Memory," I learned a great deal about the lighting workflow and refined my approach to lighting each scene and its nuances.

Especially with the second room, the use of mixed lighting helped greatly with light sources in which I wanted more control and precision compared to the overall lighting I established with exterior lighting.

I'm happy with the results I've gotten out of this thesis while also making something special to myself narratively to show to my peers and other artists.

Thank you for reading my article!