Mantle is a full 3D Environment creation workflow product for Unity 3D.
Built from scratch, Mantle combines automated terrain generation from multiple map data sources along with procedural decoration from a custom design workflow to create 3D environment prototypes in minutes ready to export to any Unity supported platform and built with VR world-scale in mind.
Released on the Unity Asset Store several updated versions have been published and further development is in progress.
Creating a complex workflow tool designed for scalability and expansion on an existing software platform has had its challenges and is one of the more complex projects I've worked on. User feedback on detailed designer and developer workflow interactions have been pivotal in the design process for us with iterative revisions continually being worked back into the product to improve it as more and more use cases appear.
Mantle's existence stems from development on workflow tools for our Mobile strategy geo-locational game Fractured Skyline at Preliminal Games.
Planning and Prototyping
I am responsible for all UI planning and prototyping which began with an MVP interface that even at this early stage considered how system expansions could be accommodated.
Initially I created wireframes and interface blockouts using Illustrator to facilitate a smoother transition to our Flash interface workflow given our compressed team and budget.
1. Main UI sample layout, 2. Tab content layouts, 3. Generate Tab layout refinements, 4. Map provider choice UI, 5. 3D generation element selection UI, 6. Scene export UI
With early UI wireframing complete I created a Flash UI prototype that was then incorporated into Unity via Scaleform in co-ordination with our developer to create a working stand alone build to Mac and PC desktop.
Version 1.0 Wireframe and flow refinement
With a budget for a full 1.0 I went back to the drawing board for UI and the user journey flow now within the restriction of Unity's Editor GUI system. All UI was wireframed from scratch and flows explored.
1+3. Pre 1.0 User task workflow review, 2+4. Post 1.0 User task workflow review
1-2. UI Tab system high level block diagrams
1. Unity GUI block layout, 2. Workflow study
1-3. Detailed UI wireframes, 4. Popup search UI,
Design
I created all designs using Illustrator and then refine-exported through Photoshop for import into Unity as textures which I then applied and implemented through C# code.
1.Core elemental UI style treatment
1-3. Key system tab UI implementation, 4. About UI implementation, 5. Area search and select popup UI, 6. Mantle Product tab situated within a Unity window layout.
All interfaces shown implemented in Unity Editor GUI.
All interfaces shown implemented in Unity Editor GUI.
1-6. Various output samples from Mantle as shown in Unity
