Dev Log Week 21: Building What Others Haven’t

Gather round, kids. It’s time for another mildly exciting tale of a dev balancing stupidity and creativity.

This week I have been focused on building environments for the Charlie date night scene. I wanted a very specific look for the meeting place and the activity they do together. So, I scoured the asset stores looking for the perfect Goldilocks mix of sci-fi and modern day. Instead, I came up empty-handed and felt like a single guy walking into a wife-swapping party.

After some deep breaths and a few strong words into a pillow, I rolled up my sleeves and decided to make it myself. I started by gathering visual inspiration so I knew exactly what I was aiming for. The world of Moonlight sits in a space that’s not quite cyberpunk and not quite present day. It’s a limbo land that most asset artists would never bother creating for because it is too niche.

Normally, I rely on kitbashing (taking pieces from different kits and combining them into something new). That was part of the solution here, but there wasn’t a solid foundation to build on, so I had to start from scratch.

Once I got going, the environment came together pretty smoothly. The real time sink was in adding details that made it feel alive and believable for close-up shots. This extended its use beyond just a backdrop or establishing shot, turning it into a multipurpose environment that I can reuse later. I wanted the textures, the adverts, and the props to breathe life into every frame and help support the story.

This is the finished result, and I feel the time I invested here will pay off for this scene and for future scenes. I also created the environment for the date’s activity, but I’m not showing that just yet since it could be considered a spoiler.

Looking ahead, I have one more environment to finish before I can dive into the scene itself. Thankfully, this one should be much simpler and will only need a few props added to make it work.

Thanks again to all the guys on Discord who kept me company while I built this environment. Now I need to get back to work.

Cheers,
Bat