Anchor 1

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NAHOMI A.

Environment Artist / Game Designer

Nibiru: Simulation City 1.0

Genre: Narrative exploration / light action
Type: Virtual exhibition experience
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Tools: Unreal Engine 5, Blueprints, MetaHuman, Blender
Iterations # 3 major world iterations
Playtests # 10
Role: Environment Artist, Game Designer

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OVERVIEW

Nibiru: Simulation City 1.0 is a virtual exhibition experience with exploration and light combat. You arrive as an invited guest, free to explore curated spaces, and slowly realize you’re a test subject inside a larger simulation.

PROJECT CONCEPT

Nibiru City unfolds like a one-night exclusive launch event hosted by the Astral Agency. You arrive as an invited guest, free to explore exhibitions, and slowly uncover that the city is actually a controlled simulation tapping into human data and consciousness.

GOALS & CONSTRAINTS

What I Wanted to Achieve

Create an immersive, explorable exhibition that feels like attending a curated event
Keep players engaged through light interaction, exploration, and subtle combat
Prioritize atmosphere and environment as the primary drivers of curiosity and immersion
Reveal the narrative gradually through space, progression, and NPC interactions

What I Limited on Purpose

Kept mechanics intentionally light to keep the focus on the exhibition experience
Avoided complex combat systems or advanced AI to stay within scope
Designed a short, focused experience rather than a long-form game
Framed the project as a one-time event with drops rather than a live-service experience

ROLE & SCOPE

ROLE

Environment Artist

Game Designer

SCOPE

Solo-developed project with limited technical assistance
Environment design, level layout, narrative flow, and gameplay structure
Implemented core mechanics, progression systems, and interactions in Unreal Engine 5
Received limited Blueprint debugging support for endgame logic

COLLABORATION

Blueprint debugging: HT

FEATURED TALENT

Models featured within exhibition spaces (credited in-game and in press materials)

TOOLS

Unreal Engine 5
Blueprint-based gameplay systems (tutorial-based, adapted, and implemented)
MetaHuman (character creation)
Blender (asset creation and modification)
Environment assembly and lighting

PROCESS & ITERATION

I began the project by building an initial version of the world to explore tone, atmosphere, and scale. Early playtesting revealed major issues with pacing and clarity, so I scrapped the first world entirely.

I then built a second world from scratch using assembled assets, but similar issues emerged during testing. At that point, I paused environment development and shifted focus to core mechanics, building and testing gameplay systems in isolation through early prototypes.

Once the mechanics were stable, I rebuilt the project a third time. I used a base world template and heavily customized it, designing the city layout, exhibitions, progression flow, and encounters myself.

Throughout development, I used short design notes alongside an 8-page game design document to guide structure and narrative decisions. NPCs were fully designed and implemented by me, including dialogue, roles, MetaHuman setup, clothing, and rigging.

The project went through continuous internal and external playtesting (≈10 playtesters). Progress was documented through screenshots, videos, and before/after layout comparisons, with feedback driving refinements to pacing, flow, and clarity.

City V1

City V2

ChatGPT Image Jan 13, 2026, 07_51_36 PM.png

City V3

ENVIRONMENT DESIGN
BREAKDOWN

The environments in Nibiru: Simulation City 1.0 were built to feel like a curated event space rather than traditional game levels. Visual density, lighting, and spatial composition create a sense of exclusivity and atmosphere, encouraging players to slow down, observe, and explore.

After early testing revealed pacing and clarity issues, the environments were rebuilt around finalized mechanics. The final city layout and exhibitions support player flow, narrative discovery, and moment-to-moment immersion, with environmental storytelling carrying much of the experience before dialogue.

LEVEL / EXHIBITION STRUCTURE

The experience is structured around a central city hub and three exhibitions, forming a loose three-act progression.

City Hub: An orientation space that introduces NPCs, missions, and tone while allowing free exploration.

Exhibition 1: Introduces combat and interaction in a controlled, readable environment.

Exhibition 2: Escalates difficulty and complexity, introducing stronger enemies and deeper narrative hints.

Exhibition 3: Framed as a private launch event, blending social spaces, narrative payoff, and final encounters. Each exhibition builds on the previous one while maintaining a cohesive visual language, reinforcing the feeling of attending a high-profile, evolving event.

CHALLENGES & SOLUTION

Challenge: Early versions of the world felt visually interesting but unclear in pacing and progression.

Solution: Scrapped two full world builds and refocused on mechanics first, rebuilding the environment around player flow.

Challenge: Balancing atmosphere with gameplay readability.

Solution: Kept combat intentionally simple and used lighting, layout, and spatial framing to guide the player naturally.

Challenge: Scope management as a solo developer.

Solution: Limited systems, reused a base world template for the final build, and focused effort on exhibition spaces and narrative moments.

LEARNINGS & CONCLUSION

This project reinforced the importance of mechanics-first iteration, even in environment-driven experiences. Early visual ambition without mechanical clarity led to wasted effort, while rebuilding around tested mechanics resulted in a stronger final experience.

Nibiru also highlighted the value of treating games as events and spaces, not just systems. By framing the project as a curated exhibition with a defined beginning and end, I created a focused, immersive experience that blends environment art, narrative design, and interaction.