Objective: In this project, I want to offer an unique perspective of seeing the tabooed topic –death. There are many imaginations of death and the afterlife in different cultures and religions: some see death as a final, categorical ending, with nothing but emptiness beyond; some see death as a trial of virtues, where souls are judged and sent on to their destinations based on the merits they’ve shown when they are alive; some see death as a dissolution of individuality and a reunion with the sacred whole. The perspective in my project is to see death as a transmissive state: it is about leaving the former form of existence and channeling to a new form of experience. To convey this idea, I designed two scenes representing the two stages of death: a scene on a dark, deserted plain depicting the journey of leaving the old, deteriorated form and a second scene in a far-reaching universal transportation station for the soul that allows the player to channel in to another form of life.

Previous Research into the Common Elements of the Cultural Imagination of Afterlife

Scene Design

Scene 1

Entering: Broken Temple (broken body) Environment: Ruins, darkness, vast plain Models: Staircase, ruins, objects(?) Mechanism: The player will be emitting light (based on its Light value). When being at the temple, the light will be recharged slowly. When the player leave the temple, the Light value will slowly go down. The pace of moving is SLOW. Objects(?) on the plain that emits light will charge the player’s Light gets charged when approached; while objects(?) that emits red light (or moving black fog?) will decrease the player’s Light. Unity & Coding: Value System, particle system(fog/shining dusts), light emissions Objective: The player must find a way to the entrance of the next scene (possibly a staircase going up)

Compare?

Purgatory, limbo, Sheol

Scene 2

Entering: once player reached the top of the staircase, animation will play. Water will rise from beneath the ground and drown the ruins. The player will get on to/be a boat. Environment: Cloudy/Stormy, semi-dark, endless water Models: Boat, cargos(boxes?) Mechanism: the boat will be carrying various “cargos”, and some of them emit different colors of light. The boat will go through areas of swirls that also emits different colors of light. The same color attracts. The player can try to avoid the swirls and control the boat’s swing(?) to save the cargos, but in the end they will all fall into the water. Unity & Coding: Swirls, range/movement, tilt control(?) Exit: After all cargos have fallen, the ship will rise up into the sky and fade out.

Compare?

Plain of Forgetfulness, Purgatory

Scene 3

Entering: the ship lands at a platform of a floating train station. Environment: Universe, starry, the train station is emitting bright light, so it’s overall bright and crystal. Models: train station (simplified), humanoid model, animal model Animation: when the boat has landed, a group of spirits are there to greet it (wave/bow). Then they stand aside and make way for the newcomer. A spirit walks out from the boat, the boat’s light fades. Mechanism: When the player approaches the spirits standing along the way, simple animations (wave?) plays. Unity & Coding: Animations Various train tracks that leads to different places/ existence in diverse forms

(The Earth Station?)

Compare? The Successive worlds in which souls learn their lessons Greek/Judaism(Zohar)/“九界”/seven levels Muslim/Hinduism(Puranas)