Introducing the "Broadcast Room" project

So here's what I've been up to since fall of 2009.  I've always been a fan of the game Riven.  Not so much for the puzzles or excitement but instead for the atmosphere and immersion.  I'm in love with the virtual world that Cyan created.

Being a programmer I couldn't help but dream of creating such a virtual world myself.  I do not wish to recreate the Riven game but rather an entirely new one.  Perhaps it will be set in the Myst/Riven universe or perhaps not.

As a first step towards this goal I've decided to create a sort of "technology demo" by modeling one very small area from the Riven game and rendering it using my custom game engine.

Here's the Riven scene I'll attempt to recreate:

I call this area the "Broadcast Room" because it's where the character Gehn supposedly projects himself into other areas of Riven.

At the time it seemed like a very simple prospect but, as it turns out, it has been much more difficult than I anticipated.  I'm learning a lot about 3D modeling and rendering and I now have a lot of respect for those who are good at it (Cyan team).

Here's a couple teaser shots of my progress:

Blender model

Not to shabby yeah?  We'll it took me forever so don't be too proud.  And of course, it's rendered with Luxrender which makes anything look good.

Anyway, progress is good.  Much of the modeling and rendering is complete.  This fall and winter I've been working on the game engine code.  Coding is more my element so that's developing quite rapidly.