Project:

An Oculus Adventure

'Truffle Pig'

Type:

Animation, VR

We are constantly dreaming of stories. Small stories, tall tales, long journeys – anything that feels like an adventure. With Truffle Pig, we created an existential journey through the life of a man (we named him Gustav) and his pet truffle pig. The entire project started from one beautiful landscape painting created by our talented design team, and ultimately evolved into an all-encompassing dive into the magical world of VR. We used the full mixed-media approach that is at our core, utilizing everything from 2D character animation, design and development, to our fully environmental and textural CG landscape chops.

Credits

Production Company: Gentleman Scholar
Creative Directors: William Campbell & Will Johnson
Executive Producer: Jo Arghiris
Head of Production: Rachel Kaminek
Associate Creative Director: John-Patrick Rooney
CG Lead/Unreal Developer: Tim Hayward
Art Director: Trevor Conrad
Producer: Sabrina Futrell Designers: Sarah Beth Hulver, Macauley Johnson, Jordan Lyle, Michael Tavarez, David Park, Lauren Tom
Lighting/Look Development: Ovi Bogdan
Cel Animator: Harry Teitelman
3D Generalist: Ben Grangereau
3D Modeling & Texturing: Tiffany Chou, Caleb Ollivant, Xiaoya Zhao
2D Animators: Sarah Beth Hulver, Macauley Johnson, Shawn Lee
2D Compositor: Justin Mays Music – Intro Video: The Purge – David Wingo & Explosions in the Sky

Music – VR: The Light – The Album Leaf

“We always love the challenge of attempting something we’ve never done before. For us, an Oculus experience seemed like a perfect combination of animation and storytelling through new technologies.”

Play The Journey

Creating a world that is immersive and engaging is not a foreign concept to us. However, creating a world that is immersive, engaging and looks perfect from every single angle, all the while making sure that people enjoy themselves along the way, was a bit more difficult. As our experiment progressed, we learned the rules quickly and we are proud to finally present a download of the experience to the public. We created two versions of the “game” each with a different approach. The first is a simple viewing experience that leads the player along a clearly defined path, allowing them to fully absorb the magical world around them. The other is an engaging free-play version, which lets the viewer really take control and explore each level.

We want you to take part. Become Gustav. Find your own way back home.

The story begins here…

If you have a PC but no Oculus Rift, no worries. You can still take part in the adventure.
GS recommends installing Truffle Pig with the default install settings and running Oculus Rift in extended mode.
Click Here to Download Truffle Pig 2.0

Behind The Scenes

We learned a ton throughout this process. Absorbing the constant dialogue of the VR community and conversations we had internally, we tried everything we could to bring new thinking to the table. It is always great to hear the do’s and dont’s, but as designers and creators we have a tendency to look beyond them and learn for ourselves. This means trying new things, even if they stray away from the norm. Having a chance to sink our teeth into a purely internal project allowed us to really take our time and arrive at a finished product that is a culmination of our creative process.

One of our greatest observations throughout this endeavor was how well equipped our artists are to handle a VR project like this. At the end of the day, we are thrilled to have discovered a new medium to pursue.