Problem

Our client approached the Magic Media team to assist with set dressing for several levels of the game. Switchback VR features a collection of levels directly inspired by other titles in the Dark Pictures Anthology series, so while some available assets could be used in Switchback VR, further 3D modeling, texturing, and set dressing work would be required.

The primary responsibilities of this project were to set dress the 3D environments to make them as immersive and believable as possible. Considering the title is a virtual reality game, it was of the utmost importance to have a keen eye for detail.

Solution

Each level the Magic Media team worked on involved dressing it appropriately according to the Dark Pictures Anthology games that inspired it using existing assets. A large portion of this work necessitated updating the textures on the existing assets to bring them to the level of fidelity needed for the PSVR2 headset. Additionally, we created several 3D models from the ground up where required assets weren’t available, and the 3D model for the roller coaster ride the protagonist is seated in throughout the game.

Communication was a priority for us during this project, so we engaged with the client using Microsoft Teams primarily to provide regular status updates on the project for each level we were responsible for. This also facilitated communication around our needs for project access in Unreal Engine for each level we were working on.

Result

Our client was thrilled with the work we completed populating the levels with the assets required, the texture updates, and the original 3D modeling work we carried out. Both in terms of our approach to the project and our performance throughout, the client was very pleased with the Magic Media team. Additionally, since its release, Switchback VR has been praised in gaming media for its immersion and fantastic visual quality.