12in12 February: A close look at the ovarian reproductive system. Curious about how menstruation works? Take a look yourself on itch.io
I always wanted to know more about the ovarian reproductive system, and I often feel that making a game about something allows you to get really cosy with it.
I started off with modeling the uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes.
Did you know that uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes looked like a hunched over dude carrying two eggs on his back with tentacle hands?
I rotated a camera around it when you click-drag, and set up a bunch of close up cameras with Cinemachine. Each one focuses on an important part.
A big challenge was modeling the insides and creating cross sections. I’m a 3D modeling noob, but Clayxels made the process super easy.
I wrote a script that turns these cross sections on and off depending on which camera is active.
Lots of progress happened here: Animated a follicle/egg moving from ovary to uterus, made particle effects for the blood, animated the camera to focus on where the action is at, and mapped everything to a timeline slider.
As a last step I animated the cross sections so it looks more like a CT scan and made the UI look pretty, and a little bit more detail inside the ovary.
I wanted to do so many more things, properly animating the follicular cycle, showing how the hormones work, allowing players to click parts and get more information about them, but I had to focus.
Making 12 games in 12 months is teaching me a lot. In February I learned how to make peace with the fact that not everything has to be as polished and finished as I want it to be. It can still be good.
