Limit Break and A New Project... The Everneath Tunnels

Back in April, I signed up to Limit Break, a 6 month mentorship program aimed at underrepresented people working in the UK games industry. I was lucky enough to be paired with a lead environment artist. During our first meeting we agreed it would be best to drop the Panda Hut project and work on something more original as Panda Hut has been done by other people quite a few times. I also realised that I've never made a 3D space, I’ve only ever made 3D sets in front of digital cameras, which is why my goal for the end of this mentorship is to create a real-time interactable environment in Unreal Engine!

The Project...

I've had an interest in Greek Mythology ever since I learned about it in primary school. During my secondary school years I discovered (and fixated on) a book called "Everneath" - a modern day retelling of the 'Hades and Persephone' underworld myth. The Everneath is a world between Earth and Hell where immortals called Everlivings live. Everlivings gain 100 years of life each time they drain the emotional energy of a forfeit - a human who has given up their life on Earth to unknowingly nourish an Everliving via a 6 month long feed. When the feed ends, the forfeits emerge as numb, elderly people with 6 months left to live on Earth. They spend this time regaining their emotional energy before the tunnels come for them in the form of a smokey whirlwind, they're then taken to the tunnels to spend eternity being a battery for the Everneath.

There's something about the tunnels that captures my imagination, the books' description leaves a lot to be imagined. It's described as being a long dark tunnel with walls of coal where hands stick out, some limp, some still, some waving frantically trying to grab something. It is a feared, forbidden place - no one has seen it but it’s existence is widely known throughout the Everneath. 

This trilogy has captivated my imagination for years, the morbidity of the tunnels in particular left a lasting impression on me and now, I finally feel I have the skills to visualise my interpretation with some help from my mentor.

When this project ends I might visualise the opposite of the tunnels next: The Elysian Fields, in other words: the heaven in Everneath, a place of only light and happiness.