Downwards View of the Main Atrium
Aboretum Main Menu
Aboretum Branches
Looking into the Main Atrium
Aboretum Main Entrance

Aboretum

Aboretum is a 3D walking sim that encapsulates the overwhelming wonder that is inherent in sci fi with an ever present sense of calmness. You play as a small gardener android forced into independance by a dead goddess, attempting to reawaken a temple. The story will mainly be told through visual design and data log collectables. Scifi typically focuses on the negative allegory of capitalism. I felt inspired to instead focus on a positive interpretation- rebuilding within a desolate and particularly cold land. Technology and prospects of the future have always had a positive effect on me, and I wanted to share the feeling with others.

Inspiration

Aboretum is greatly inspired by other works within the sci-fi fantasy genre. Games such as Stray, Sky: Children of the Light, and the Last Guardian, inspired the color pallet and aesthetic of the environments.

How I built it

Aboretum is a walking sim originally built in Unity before transferring to Unreal5. Maya and Substance were used to curate assets and Photoshop was used to texture vegetation.

Challenges I ran into

My greatest challenge posed by this project was my initial lack of game development skills. I am not a code and faced many hurdles throughout. Unreal was also a new engine for me at the time, which I was also tasked with learning so I could transfer my game over.