Category: UE5

In week 1, I have developed my idea and do some research, and I decide to make a scene about a people who from outside place encountered with an ancient forest god in a dark cave. So I collect some reference pictures for the main character, the scene ( the style, the tone, the landscape, decorations like sculptures or stones), and I summarized them in Pureref.（Since the blog can only upload images no larger than 10mb, the images are a bit blurry）

I wanted to make a dragon boss with natural powers, so I also found some references for tree spirit.

My sketch of the main scene:

Story and character settings:

Character 1:
1. Protagonist:
The main character wants to save their famine-stricken homeland and start a journey to find the Spirit of Nature. In the end, the protagonist find it and want to kill the Spirit of Nature to obtain its power, to make the poor land in hometown can grow crops again.

Cycle of plunder
After the protagonist plunders the power of the Spirit of Nature, he or she may become the next target for others or forces seeking that power. This power continues to transfer between different individuals, creating a cycle. Just like the power of nature cannot truly be “owned” or “controlled,” it simply shifts from one being to another.
This is similar to the Chinese idiom “怀璧其罪” , which originally means that possessing a precious gem invites disaster, and it later came to symbolize being envied and harmed due to one’s talents.
So, as the second owner of this power, the protagonist may, like the first owner, bring harm or disaster to themselves or those around them.

Character 2:
2.Spirit of Nature：
A dragon-like beast formed from the power contained in the staff thrown away by Kuafu before his death. It guards the primal forces that sustain the forest, serving as the balancer of the forest’s ecosystem. Its body is ancient with rough bark, vines, moss, and rocks.
It has the ability to heal and drain life. After being defeated by the protagonist, its power is stripped away, causing the forest to gradually wither.

I summarized my research in figma, because I felt that in the brainstorming stage, figma layout is more flexible than blog, I can freely add or move some ideas and pictures. Feel free to check it.

https://www.figma.com/design/s03X2JToFwPwQPGotGGiHs/Untitled?node-id=0-1&t=4j9g3ekPMDHIgSke-1

some initial inspirations of culture and backgrounds research of my project 1

Inspiration 1:
Kuafu Chasing the Sun – a Chinese myth from 《Shanhaijing》

Giant Kuafu wants to chase and catch the sun, in order to save people from the heat and drought brought by the sun
On the way to chase the sun, he unfortunately died of exhaustion. When Kuafu died, he still concerned about his people in the tribe, so he throw out the wooden staff in his hands. The place where the wooden staff fell, suddenly gave birth to a large peach forest. This peach forest flourishes all year round, providing shade for passers-by. And his body, also turned into a mountain, called Kuafu mountain.

Inspiration 2:

LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS – JIBARO

Outsiders and predators vs. native cultures and resources

The male protagonist, due to his deafness, was not enchanted by the siren’s song, leading the siren to mistakenly believe he was a good person. However, he eventually killed the siren and stole all her jewels. Afterward, the spirit of nature revived the siren (the red water flowing from a heart-shaped lake). Upon her revival, the siren used her song to lure the protagonist into the lake and finally dragged him down to the depths.

• Theme: The power of nature is indestructible, Plundering of resources and wealth in a wrong way will come at a cost

Inspiration 3:
Princess Mononoke

Forest Guardian / Embodiment of Nature’s Power

• Mountain beast God and Huwawa

In Gilgamesh, the protagonist fights Huwawa, the guardian of the forest, to get the cedar wood.
Huwawa is a half-beast god with scales, lion paws, and eagle claws, but it is said to be a great tree. It protects the plants of the cedar forest and does not allow outsiders to harm them.
However, in the war, it was defeated and its head was cut off and placed in a metal bucket.
There are some connections between Huwawa and the Mountain beast god, as they have many similarities.

In ‘Princess Mononoke,’ some people say that the head of the Mountain beast god has the power to heal all diseases. Therefore, the red-nosed monk is ordered to enter the mountains to hunt the god. However, after they cut off the god’s head, they realized the liquid from the head absorbs the life of anything it touches.

• The power of nature is fundamentally sacred and uncontrollable.

During the day, the god is like a deer, while at night, it transforms into a shadow mage.

Therefore, I plan to design a story about an ancient forest guardian/god with nature power, and the protagonist as an outsider to enter to the forest, and encounter with the forest god.