log 02: and so, i put him in a blender

october 10th, 2025

 

greetings. and salutations~~ it's been a bit busy over here at catskulls HQ what with me being neck-deep in coursework and my english matriculation exam, but now that that's done i feel like i can deliver another update on paranormal research society. this time with some screenshots now that i've actually done something i can visually demonstrate...

last time i wrote on here i was just here to introduce my game project. that's because at the time i hadn't actually done anything new, because for some fucking reason i decided to start writing a devlog after finishing my first alpha build...!? very logical i know. in the last few months i haven't actually done any new programming, really? or just worked on the game and its functions in the first place? like i mentioned, mostly because of exams, but also because i've been focusing on building a map for about two months or so...

all of my maps so far have been built exclusively in godot, which as one can imagine is not at all intuitive. the maps are expensive and also built like a 7yo’s art project made using popsicle sticks and cardboard boxes. so naturally, one is going to have to learn blender. *shudders*

learning blender was seriously a challenge. like i get that this software is industry standard and all that, but holy shit... but as i am developing a 3D game, learning to make 3D models is kind of unavoidable. like i can tell myself i'll never learn blender alllll i want but here we fucking are neck-deep in vertices and uv mapping. i decided to edit this map in blender instead of godot after getting a pc that can actually handle running blender, so i threw myself head-first into the blender hellhole and was forced to sink or swim. so as a result, i started swimming and i've been working on random models here and there. although, most of my efforts have gone towards the first map of the game (for?? now?? at least??), that being the paranormal research society headquarters. or this one guy's basement/living quarters. you can interpret this however you'd like

building a "simple" map from scratch was far more difficult than i had ever anticipated. like, not in a skill sense, but in a "how the fuck have i been at this for like almost two months but i'm still not even done with this map" sense. i guess this is one of the drawbacks to being a solo developer... i put so much love and detail into this map specifically but it's literally just one fucking room?? and it's taken so long and i haven't even modelled everything myself?????? for future maps i'll have to keep time consumption in mind because if i start making every single map from scratch and adding this much detail everywhere i'm not getting shit out before i graduate. very unsustainable. though, i think this specific map is actually worth it because the player keeps coming back to it throughout the game!

as mentioned above, i've learned the hard way that as a solo developer who is a full-time student, i cannot do everything here myself, which is why i've been using free CC attribution models off sketchfab and the like and at most retexturing them to fit my visual theme. what this effectively means is that i have slapped halftones over them! there are a few select models i've made from scratch, but a good chunk of them have been borrowed from outside sources. to everyone releasing their models to game developers, i will forever be grateful to you. like, i might actually start crying. you've saved solo developers all over the world and i love you

as i'm writing this, i'm more or less kind of done with the map..? i'm not quite sure if this is the version that'll make it into the game as there's a few textures i'm not quite happy with yet, but for all intents and purposes i'm calling it "done". the layout is fine (i think. there's some issues with object scaling and i'm too scared to find out how that'll go when i import the model to godot) and most of the textures are in place, so it's done enough. also i've spent the last four weeks looking at the same fucking 3D environment, the same fucking room, the same fucking furniture and the same disgusting basement so if i keep working on this any longer i think i'll do permanent damage to my psyche.

so, i'd like to present to you my first ever cohesive 3D environment made in blender! not too bad for a complete beginner, right!?

 

 

this area is the one i've spent the most time, effort and meshes on! no, the sticky notes are not separate meshes, thanks for asking! i've been sending my friends near daily screenshots of this area for a month now, and i don't think they even notice much of a difference with the screenshots i send them at this point!

one of them commented "you're putting your blood, sweat and tears into this" after like the 5th day working on the same goddamn area, which really gave me a reality check! i always add a very small, seemingly inconsequential object with meticulous textures.. but i think that's what makes this fun for me. i'm a firm believer in environmental storytelling and just from this one screenshot alone you can gleam a ridiculous amount of details about the character inhabiting the space, and that's very fascinating to me! this ties into my love of semiotics so well, i'd love to just spend years meticulously hand-crafting a detailed living space....

but like, we are on a schedule here. so this is pretty much the only part of the map that has this level of detail put into it. oh dear!

the screenshot above is actually of the area in godot, not blender. as it turns out, shaders and lighting are completely fucking different in godot so i couldn’t just import whatever i had going on in blender seamlessly…. which led to me having to adjust everything in godot. to the layman, this might seem like a reasonable task, but after having spent two months in blender and now having to battle with a completely new program and completely new limitations, i was prepared to fetch a rope. but alas, when you're out of coffee, it's better to have tea instead of walking off the nearest bridge. so i got to work on godot!

i’d like to think that having to work on the lighting in godot was for the better though, because in godot i got to play with color grading!! which is like, my favorite thing ever now… after crying about my lighting looking like a roblox game for a good ten minutes or so (i just started my period, the threshold for crying is NOT high), i started playing around with the color correction and ended up with the kind of visuals that make me weep (except happy this time). just compare the above screenshot with a shot of the same area in blender below:

 

 

isn’t the godot version way cooler?!?!? i think so, at least. i've always been one for color schemes that melt your eyes off, though i never manage to utilize them properly. i also didn't know what color grading/correction was, so i just kind of fucked around with the slider for a few minutes until it looked nice. for what it's worth though, this definitely no longer looks like a roblox game!^[1] this also made me more or less weep. in conclusion, i was happy with the results!

in addition to this desk area i spent way too much time on, there are also other areas of the map that are far more neglected, much like my dearest website navigator:

 

     

there are actually supposed to be two posters above the sofa in this last one, but i haven’t come up with any cute designs yet. i was hoping to find a friend who would like to draw whatever for me here… which is totally me wanting to collaborate and share the most important thing in my life with my friends and not me completely out of ideas as to what i should draw here

and thus, i finally conclude about two months of work learning blender and pouring my heart into this one stupid map for a game while juggling my first matriculation exam!!! as i’m finishing up writing this, my preliminary exam results are in and i’ve done pretty well :) so in conclusion, TIME WELL WASTED!!!!! I LOVE ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN!!!!!!!! at the time of writing, i have next week off and i’m planning to spend it on programming and stuff. or maybe i’ll get back to making maps! who knows? i’m a fickle individual and i have a new side quest to follow every week or so…

i hope you look forward to what i have to offer in my future logs! i’m hoping to deliver some gameplay clips for my next log. thank you for reading — i suggest you pick up an actual book next!

best regrets,
ellen alias catskulls

 

sources:

[1]: professionals at sleepwalk.nexus