This is an ongoing project for my YouTube channel that has seen much success. In it, I am remastering all of the Tony Hawk's Underground levels so they look like a modern game.
Tony Hawk's Underground was one of my favourite games growing up, because it combined the sport of skateboarding with storytelling- something that I haven't seen a game do as effectively since. I thought it would be interesting to see what they would look like if they were remade for modern gaming hardware, so. decided to tackle the project myself.
In this first video, I come up with a process to get the original geometry and models into Unreal Engine, so that I can then use that as a template. I focus on just the first level in this video. After I achieved that through a mix of my skills in Blender and Unreal, I start to make it look better by replacing props and materials. Then, I add a basic skateboarding controller and create the first mission from that game, so that it can be played as a proof of concept.
I followed up this video with a second part, in which bring in some of the cars from the game. Using a mix of existing models, and assets I created, I was able to replicate the look and functionality of the vehicles from the first two levels of the game.
Then, I followed the same process as with the first level. Using existing geometry as a baseline, I build out as many improvements as I can until I think the level looks modernized.
Then, I re-create the main character from the game using Unreal's Metahuman tools- utilizing the original games face model in place of a 3D scan.
