Games Development / W2 - Individual Asset Creation

Games Development / W2 - Individual Asset Creation

9.10.2025 - 2025 / Week 2

GeXianjing / 0377636

Games Development /Bachelor of Interactive Spatial Design (Honours)

🌗 Game Concept — LUMIN DUAL: Xiao Hei & Xiao Bai’s Journey

1.Inspiration & Idea Development

The idea for LUMIN DUAL came from my interest in co-op puzzle games like Fireboy and Watergirl.
I’ve always liked games where two players must help each other, not just compete.
So I started thinking — what if I combined that idea with a family story?

That’s how the concept of Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai was born.
Instead of “light” and “shadow” as abstract forces, they became two siblings trying to save their lost mother from the darkness.

Their world is filled with puzzles that reflect both emotion and logic —
each stage shows how they must trust each other, just like real family members do in hard times.

“I wanted the gameplay to feel like a conversation —
when one moves, the other must listen.”

2.Story & Character Design

Plot Summary:
A long time ago, light disappeared from their world. Their mother sacrificed herself to seal away the darkness,
but now her power is fading.
Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai set off on a journey to collect the fragments of light to bring her back.

🐈 Character Design Process

I started by sketching how Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai should look.

• Xiao Hei is a small black kitten with round eyes and a smooth, soft tail. He moves quietly and can melt into shadows. His ears glow slightly when near Xiao Bai.

• Xiao Bai is a white kitten with a fluffy tail and golden eyes. She glows softly, bringing warmth and light wherever she walks.

When they stand close together, their colors blend — forming a silver halo that represents family connection.

For modeling, I used Blender to block out the body shapes using simple spheres and cylinders. I didn’t add too much detail because I want them to stay cute and stylized — closer to hand-drawn cats in animation.

Next week, I plan to rig simple animations: walking, jumping, and a special “nuzzle” animation when they reunite at checkpoints.

3.Game Rules & Core Mechanics

The game is designed as a 2D cooperative puzzle platformer.
Players control Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai — they must move together, but each can only survive in certain areas.

Basic Rules

1️⃣ Xiao Hei can only move in dark areas,
 if he stays in light for more than 5 seconds, he loses energy.

2️⃣ Xiao Bai can only move in bright zones,
 if she stays in total darkness, her light slowly fades.

3️⃣ When both stand close, a “Bond Light” appears between them —
 a glowing thread that can power up bridges or switches.

4️⃣ If they separate too far, the light breaks, and some puzzles reset.

5️⃣ Each level ends when they reach the exit gate together —
 symbolizing their unity and teamwork.

4.Design Logic & Creative Process

When designing this concept, I focused on the relationship between player emotion and gameplay mechanics.
Each rule reflects an emotional value:

• “Distance” becomes “separation.”

• “Light” becomes “hope.”

• “Shadow” becomes “fear.”

I observed how other co-op games balance tension and communication.
For example:

• Fireboy and Watergirl inspired the idea of two opposite forces that must cooperate.

  
  
  

• It Takes Two showed me how story and puzzle mechanics can merge emotionally.

  
  
  

So in my game, every puzzle isn’t just a test of skill —
it’s a way to express how far love and cooperation can go in overcoming obstacles.

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Future Plan (for W2 Asset Creation)

This week, I redesigned the main characters of LUMIN DUAL into two kittens: Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai. Cats move lightly, show emotion well, and make players connect more easily, so they fit my game’s soft atmosphere. Since they’re now cats, I needed to model both in 3D.

I’m not very experienced with modeling, so I decided to learn step by step from tutorials—understand the shapes first, then model, then import into Godot.

tutorial

Modeling Process of the Cat Characters

After redesigning the game characters as kittens, I started building the 3D models of Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai in Blender.
Since I’m still new to 3D modeling, I followed online tutorials step by step to understand how shapes are formed, connected, and refined.

1.Base Structure (Body and Head)

I began with a cube as the main body and added a Subdivision Surface Modifier to smooth the shape.
Then, I entered Edit Mode and used the Extrude Tool to pull out the legs, forming a simple standing pose.
Next, I created a UV Sphere for the head and aligned it to the body using Move (G) and Scale (S) tools to match proportions.

2️⃣ Symmetry & Proportional Adjustments

To keep the shape consistent, I enabled the Auto Mirror add-on (Direction: X-axis, “Use Clip” checked).
This allowed me to edit only one side of the model while the other side mirrored automatically.
I adjusted the body width, head height, and tail base using Proportional Editing (O) to make the silhouette more natural and cute.

 

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3️⃣ Detailing: Ears, Eyes, and Tail

• Ears: Selected the top vertices on the sphere and used Extrude (E) and Scale (S) to shape pointy cat ears.

• Eyes: Added two spheres slightly scaled down and embedded them into the head to create large cartoon eyes.

• Tail: Added a cylinder, slightly curved it using Rotate (R), and merged it with the body.

Each detail was kept simple to maintain a low-poly aesthetic that fits my game’s soft style.

 

Xiao bai sister

👻 Little Demon — Modeling Process
This model was inspired by “friendly monsters” often seen in casual games.
I started with a basic cylinder, using Subdivision Surface to smooth the overall shape.
Then I extruded the top to form the brim of the hat and added a curved cone as the hat’s tip.
The eyes were made from two small spheres, scaled and moved slightly inward to embed them into the surface.
The arms were two small cylinders, mirrored using the Mirror Modifier for perfect symmetry.
The entire model followed a low-poly style, which makes it easy to import into Godot or Unity later.

villain

Magic Portal — Modeling Process

The magic portal was more complex, divided into three main parts: main frame, ground plants, and inner texture.

1.Main Frame

Started from a cube, applied Loop Cut to divide sections,

then used Extrude to shape layered stone blocks.

Added Bevel Modifier to soften the edges and create a hand-crafted look.

 

2.Vegetation

The grass and leaves were modeled using planes, thickened with the Solidify Modifier.
I duplicated and rotated each leaf randomly to create a more organic and natural composition.

3.Inner Portal Texture

This was my first attempt at texture mapping.
I downloaded a ripple texture from the internet and mapped it onto the portal surface using UV Unwrap.
By adjusting the UV scale and Alpha transparency inside the Shader Editor, I achieved a subtle water-like ripple effect.

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🏔️ Floating Island — Modeling Process
This project focused on practicing scene composition and color balance.
I started with a cube as the base, applied Subdivision Surface + Proportional Editing to create a soft hill shape.
The surface was divided into three layers of materials:

Bottom: orange-brown rocky base
Middle: green grassland
Top: white snow-covered peak

Next, I generated trees using Array Modifier combined with Random Transform:
Each tree consists of a cylinder trunk and cone leaves, all rendered with Smooth Shading for a clean low-poly aesthetic.

4️⃣Export and Import to Godot

In the end, I completed the design of a single cat character and applied colors to it successfully.

However, I realized that in this assignment, I didn’t fully apply the coloring technique that the lecturer demonstrated in class.

Instead, I found that directly adjusting the material color and texture settings within Blender was a more efficient way to achieve the visual style I wanted for this particular character.

This experience taught me that there are always multiple approaches to visual design — the key is to choose the one that best fits the project’s purpose and your current workflow.