Scullery Chi
Third person adventure game
About the game
Set against the backdrop of a steampunk world, Scullery Chi is a 3rd person adventure that follows the story of Chi, the lowest-ranking maid in a specialized task force dedicated to capturing wayward elemental spirits known as ethers.
Project overview
Dates: 2023 - Present
Platform: Windows PC
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Team: Ksenia Minakova & Jess Pollard
Software used
Unreal Engine 5
Blender
Zbrush
Adobe Photoshop
Substance Painter
Marmoset Toolbag
GarageBand
My contribution
Environment & level design, game design
UE5 development and programming, technical art
Project management
3D modelling, 3D sculpting, texturing, rigging, animation, etc.
Additional concept art
Music
Gameplay & mechanics
Developing the prototype in Unreal Engine 5, we've implemented some of the game mechanics and parts of game art. Watch the demo to see our progress:
The Toy Box
The Toy Box, or "Gym" is a separate level that I use for developing in UE5. Serving mainly a utilitarian purpose, it allows me to build and test all of the mechanisms that will eventually go into the game levels.
Mechanics in development
Capturing ethers
Suck in wayward ethers and complete tasks.
Capturing some high-level ethers powers-up the vacuum. For example, a major flame ether can give it the ability to shoot fiery projectiles.
Look out! Ethers don’t fancy being caught, so they fight back.
Vacuuming collectibles
Vacuum nails, pins and pieces of broken glass as ammo and use them in combat.
Suck in small objects like pennies, marbles and buttons for fun and trade.
Collect cobwebs, dust bunnies and other junk to unlock achievements.
Object suction
Suck in medium-sized objects like bottles or croquet balls to trap them in the vacuum nozzle.
Use caught objects to solve puzzles: launch them to knock things over or toggle remote switches.
Weaponize trapped objects into a heavier type of ammo and use them in combat.
Shooting projectiles
Use reverse suction to shoot ammo and objects trapped in the vacuum nozzle.
Fire collected ammo to knock over small objects or break fragile things like glass jars or gas lamps.
Launch larger projectiles to affect heavier objects or to stun ethers possessing household goods.
Solving puzzles
Push boxes and roll barrels to adjust the environment and pave Chi's way from A to B.
Need to pull a drawer with no handle? Suck the nozzle on its surface and let the vacuum pull it out. Also works with heavy boxes blocking the way.
Shoot projectiles to trigger a domino effect and catapult Chi on top of a tall storage or over a fence.
Journal
Designed like a sketch diary and written in cursive, it is also an Enchiridion and an inventory log book.
Cross out mission objectives from the To-Do list, read Chi’s notes on captured Ethers, collected items and aquired remedies.
See more mechanics
Hero character - Scullery Chi
Reference concept art
Bringing Chi to life, I referenced Jess's 2D concept drawings and transformed her vision into a fully animated 3D character.
3D sculpt in Zbrush
I began with creating a digital sculpt of Chi in Zbrush. At that stage, I re-imagined the 2D design into a detailed high-poly 3D sculpture and outlined future solutions for Chi’s facial expressions that would avoid complex rigging.
3D modeling, retopology, UV-mapping in Blender
Next step was working in Blender to retopologize a high-poly sculpt into an optimized low-poly 3D model with UV-mapping.
Substance Painter – baking textures, material painting
After optimizing and unwrapping the 3D model, I used Substance Painter to bake all details of the high-poly sculpt into a normal map, and then hand-painted Chi’s Diffuse and Roughness textures.
Blender – rigging and animation
Once the 3D model and textures were ready, I went on to rigging and animating the character. Basic rig and animations were made in Mixamo and then heavily customized in Blender (including Chi’s voluminous dress with a bow, as well as her facial expressions and bouncy earls).
Unreal Engine 5 – implementation, materials and shaders
The last step of character creation was implementing the 3D model and animations into Unreal Engine. At this stage, I also set up a few options of production-ready materials and shaders for Chi, including Toon and Outline Shaders mimicking the comic art style of original concept drawings.
Level design
The distinct visual style of Jess’s original concept drawings was a solid foundation for our game level art.
For our demo, we picked the first game level – the basement of an opulent manor, where Chi is sent to capture wayward spirits that escaped from an old, sputtering boiler.
We started with some rough sketches of the basement that quickly evolved into making concept drawings and floor plans of the entire manor as main level design guidelines.
Once level design pillars were locked, I began prototyping in Unreal Engine 5. The first passes of basement layout also outlined some general spatial principles for the game puzzles.
The design went through many iterations of changes and revisions, starting with prototyping the greybox and continuing with implementing some of the production-ready props, setting up lighting, creating materials and shaders.
At that stage, the main goal was to establish visual guidelines and build a strong foundation for the future level design.
Currently, the level prototype is being re-designed into an actual playable level with the development and integration of game mechanics and puzzles.
Click me to see bloopers
Scullery Chi is planned to be released as a series of games continuing one story. The first game is set in the Marchlord’s manor and its grounds where Chi discovers Marchlord’s dark secrets and faces her fears.
Currently, Scullery Chi is at its prototyping stage. We are working on developing the game's core mechanics, building the first demo level and implementing UI.
What’s next?
Coming soon!
New mechanics
Environmental puzzles.
Vacuum powering up when collecting high-level Ethers.
Ethers possessing world objects.
Shooting possessed objects will stun Ethers.
Extended journal and inventory mechanics.
New art
New assets: Vacuum NPC, collectible items, etc.
New Journal design.
Parallax background art.
UI menus: death screen, title screen, etc.
We have exciting plans for the future of our game! Upcoming updates will introduce new characters and dialogue mechanics. We're also working on fear-based gameplay features that will add tension and atmosphere. A backyard store is in development, where you'll be able to trade collected items for remedies and other useful goods. Achievements are on the way to reward your progress—and this is just the beginning. Stay tuned!