VR-Based Planet Cultivation Laboratory with Dynamic Materials and UI / UX Design
Yuqiao“ Yuki” HUANG
Art Creation
VR-Based Planet Cultivation Laboratory with Dynamic Materials and UI / UX Design
My Thesis is a VR-based planet cultivation laboratory. The player sits inside a retrofuturistic space capsule and adjusts environmental variables through the console to gradually evolve a dormant grey planet to maturity. Through the front window, the planet visually evolves in real time in response to player input.
I developed a complete planet evolution system with dynamic materials, which features three evolution stages, three evolution paths, and seven possible outcomes. Planet textures were created using Blender’ s procedural material nodes, and structural changes were driven by shape keys and morph targets, with smooth transitions achieved through material parameters and Blueprint timeline curves.
For UI / UX, I designed a fully UI diegetic system. The player uses levers on the main console to adjust conditions( temperature,
humidity, radiation, etc.), reads lab information on the left, and views planet archive analysis on the right. All feedback is embedded in the environment to reinforce immersion.
I designed the lab’ s spatial layout around the player’ s actual experience, with consideration for how players perceive space while wearing a headset. The entire experience can be completed while seated, which reduces motion sickness. After optimization, stable builds were achieved on both PCVR and standalone VR.
This project also gave me the opportunity to work beyond art, including system design, diegetic UI copywriting, and extensive Blueprint logic. It helped me acquire many of the skills needed to independently develop a game.
14 ART CREATION