Unreal engine 4 is our new toy! We took up the challenge to create this interactive scene of a winter chalet, which we now can show to you! Situated in a vast snow landscape this piece of enigmatic architecture is open to be explored. Can you unlock the secret chambers of this place?

The Masters bedroom – we liked the idea of a cavelike chamber with a spectacular view

The bridge crossing to the sauna chamber

Cyberlasse taking the tour.

Editing your scene inside UE4 is a pleasure, a true WYSIWYG experience.

There are 6 versions available of our winter chalet – content is same, just different sizes. So if you are short on bandwidth – load the smallest one :)

64Bit_Winterchalet_ZIP 370 MB
32Bit_Winterchalet_ZIP 370 MB

64Bit_Winterchalet_Unpacker 290 MB
32Bit_Winterchalet_Unpacker 290 MB

64Bit_Winterchalet_7Zip_Container 290 MB
32Bit_Winterchalet_7Zip_Container 290 MB

We conceived this interactive scene from scratch as our x-mas special 2014. Conceiving an interactive experience is quite something different indeed.

So why do we publish this here?

We want to give a basic idea what a small team of 1-2 people can achieve in a realistic framework of a few weeks. Altogether it took us a couple of months, but we worked maximum 1-2 days per week on it. Surely the scene could be further refined and polished – no doubt. But we had the feeling that half a year of tinkering with this place was enough and wanted to move on.

It was a challenge and great fun, to see how interactivity would influence the architectural experience here:

• How do you guide the spectator?
• How do you keep him interested to explore?
• How do you avoid disorientation?
• How do you improve navigation and ease of use?

It is another dimension of experience that surely is quite new to most 3d-cg-folks especially guys from the arch-viz industry. New frontiers to explore, and it is definitely fun! :)

In the end we want to celebrate the fabulous Unreal Engine here! Epic gradually made their great platform available to everybody and since 2015 it is completely free to work with. Up to the point of commercial success, you can play with this magnificient software as much as you like – only if you really profit from selling your product, you are required to give Epic its fair share. Let me emphasize this: In times of increasingly awkward software licensing procedures this is a very fair policy ! And last but not least all the people we met so far have been extremely helpful and kind. Thanks again for making this possible for us!

Anyhow we hope you enjoy our little interactive experience. Can you solve the little enigma – leading you to the secret outpost ? We are happy to hear your thoughts!

The snowspeeder is a hidden little feature that waits to be found :).

Well, honestly it must be mentioned that this 3d-scene requires quite a powerhorse of a PC to work fluently. Sorry, beginners fault, I suppose. You are still able to reduce the resolution in the main menu when you experience serious lacks. But it can be run on an Occulus, if you have the luxury and do own one!

Anyhow, enjoy the tour – xoio :)

P.S.: If you are interested how we apporach creating an interactive 3d environment you can read here:  www.xoio-air.de/2015/6-hints-how-to-create-unreal-scenes/

Atmospherics in Unreal – truly speaking for themselves.

Hmmm … so where might this room be found ?

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