Binding (update 2)

We thought writing regular updates about how the project is going might be a pretty good idea.

We have been focused on figuring out some of the more creative parts of the project lately. Lighstromo's focus is bringing narrative experience to the audience. It means we look up to companies like Quantic Dream and TellTale games who have been consistently producing arguably the best narrative heavy games. We want to be like them one day, and it means we have to make really cool cutscene that can speak volumes without necessarily openly saying much.


Making cutscenes in Unreal 5 is technically not that difficult, but it still requires quite a bit of learning. For now, we have been using Mixamo animations quite heavily in our project for character movement, but we also wanted to have the ability to animate Billy's face. One of the faster ways to do so requires using LiveLink system (it's basically a motion capture app for your face!) which works with iPhones (I believe any iPhone with facial recognition system can utilize that). So, about 5 months ago we purchased a second hand iPhone, and finally it was its time to shine.

Here is one of the first test results with a bit of a fun approach:

We had a bit of a problem trying to connect a body animation and facial animation for a short teaser trailer which was... a really frustrating experience that lasted for a while. We could not get the head rotation to work and spent days trying to figure it out. In the end, we managed to find a solution and even recorded a tutorial for other Unreal engine users on how to fix it:


As for the teaser trailer itself: we wanted to show the unease of the main character, we wanted to show Billy as a curious, yet sad boy, who is just wandering through an old seemingly abandoned house. Seeing his friend, Tessa, makes a smile on his face appear for a second, before the hopeful scene completely changes to one of (possible) terror and fear.

Presenting to you the current work in progress version of this short teaser trailer. It's almost there, just needs some texture updates (the papers on the floor are too white), some dust particles would be great, and also Tessa herself is waiting patiently to get a fur update (we will probably be using XGen fur for her, similar to the system Metahumans are using). We hope you like this short teaser video for our upcoming game:





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