Soda Runner

Inspiration

Soda Runner is fake gameplay footage that was inspired by old shovelware videogames, especiallly “Pepsiman” and the animation work of Joel G. This project was created with a mixture of 2D and 3D animation.

Concept and 2D Animation:

I was inspired by the animation in Joel G’s series “ENA”, especially how it drew inspiration from old videogame art. Everything from camera angles to editing is done in a way that is purposefully emulating old games.

In order to create the illusion of gameplay, I created a 2D user interface to overlay on the 3D animation.

3D modeling and animation:

The Model in this video was made in 3Ds Max, rigged in Mixamo and brought back to 3Ds Max for animation.

I went with a super low poly style on all the models, with low resolution textures on top. The trees were done as 2D image planes, a method used in a lot of old video games.

Animations jump from one to another without any easing, and a fixed 3rd person camera adds to the videogame feel.

Bil3aks Studio and Music:

I knew music was gonna be an important part of this project from the very beginning, and I wanted to try and create something original instead of finding something online.

I worked closely with some friends at Bil3aks Studio in Jordan and Zaid Kreshan, to create a track for the piece that fit the video game aesthetic..