Summary
"Search Protocol" is a deduction puzzle game developed in the span of 3 months, in a team of 8, for a mock studio class. With the theme of "big hole", our team decided to make a game where a underpaid worker uses outdated technology to rescue lost explorers.
My role was this team's sole 3D designer. All models and UVs designed in Maya and all concepts, drafts and textures were done in Clip Studio Paint. This class project was completed on May 25, 2025.
Concepting
Cave Environment Concepts
Cave Monster Concepts
My work during the first 2 weeks of this project consisted of concepting for our game.
At this point in time our team had not settled on what type of game we wanted to make but knew we wanted it to take place in a cave or hole in the ground of some sort.
The left image were rough sketches of possible backgrounds and color we could play with based on cave reference photos. We played around with various genres of games, one of which included a platformer with enemies. The image on the right were concepts of enemies based on creatures found in caves.
Concepting took roughly 6 hours.
Iteration 1 - Console Version 1
After deciding on a puzzle game and establishing our setting, 4 weeks were dedicated to modeling, making textures, and UV unwrapping.
During this point in time, our game was established to be low poly and we wanted to elicit and unhospitable and eroded feeling from the environment. The key focus of many of these unwraps was to make the environment feel neglected. The left image were rough sketches of possible backgrounds and color we could play with based on cave reference photos.
The modeling, texturing, and unwrapping took roughly 16 hours.
Iteration 2 - Console Version 2
A style guide was establish and 2 weeks were dedicated to remodeling, retexturing, and UV unwrapping.
This overhaul required medium poly assets and new textures that were more coherent with the UI assets of our 1st prototype. The consoles, knob, and buttons were remade to be rounder and decided to use the texture above as a basis for most of our designs. The texture was made to provide texture and made to seem like dirty and rusted plates.
The modeling, texturing, and unwrapping took roughly 15 hours.
Iteration 3 - Additional Environmental Assets
Search Protocol Environment 3D Model - Texture
Search Protocol Environment 3D Model - Console Top with Buttons Close Up, Top-down
Search Protocol Environment 3D Model - Wireframes, Console Top with Buttons Close Up, Top-down
Search Protocol Environment 3D Model - Seamless Texture
The last 2 weeks of this project consisted of finishing the environment of the game by making a small cluttered space for the player.
The background utilized the iron plate texture was reused for the wall to elicit an industrial feel while staying coherent to the environment. The pipes and bolts were 3D modeled to feel intrusive to the player by taking up the limited space the player has.
Concepting took roughly 5 hours.