Overview – Through Ash

Through Ash is a short, first-person tragedy game where you remotely control a logistics rover across a nuclear wasteland from inside a gradually degrading bunker. You can never step outside the bunker, instead you guide and monitor the last remaining rover through terminals and consoles. Every mistake, decision made that damages the rover’s health is tracked and slowly, as you progress, you realise that this “critical package” is more personal than you originally thought.

Game Format: Video Game

Intended Audience: 18+ (Distressing themes, references to death, content some players may find upsetting)

Genre of Game: Psychological Narrative Tragedy / Simulation

Core Concept

The core idea behind Through Ash is to create a sense of distance and vulnerability by separating the player from the physical world they are navigating. Rather than directly controlling a character, the player operates through a machine, reinforcing themes of isolation, detachment, and limited control.

The collapsing world is not explicitly explained but instead revealed through visual storytelling, environmental design, and subtle cues. This approach encourages interpretation, allowing the player to piece together meaning while maintaining a consistent sense of unease.

The experience is intentionally short, focusing on intensity rather than duration, ensuring that every moment contributes to the overall emotional impact.

Team Roles

Through Ash was developed collaboratively by a two-person team, blending technical design and artistic direction:

Worked closely with visual design to ensure the technical systems enhanced storytelling and atmosphere.

Creative Direction / 3D & Technical Art – Hugo Mazariegos Martin

Led the visual identity of the game, creating all 3D assets, materials, and environment elements.

Developed custom shaders, lighting systems, and visual effects to establish atmosphere and guide player focus.

Contributed to UI design for clarity and immersion.

Directed and produced the cinematic trailer and ending cutscene, focusing on composition, lighting, and pacing.

Collaborated on gameplay design to ensure visual design supported player experience and emotional tone.

Programming / Systems Design – Joseph Roberts

Implemented all core gameplay systems, including rover control logic, event triggers, and random timed systems to create tension and unpredictability.

Developed the interaction framework between the bunker’s consoles and the rover’s responses.

Handled gameplay scripting, performance optimization, and systems integration within Unity.

Development Goals

A key goal of this project was to achieve a strong and consistent visual identity that supports the narrative and emotional tone of the experience.

This included:

creating a cohesive environment through asset design and material consistency.
Creating a variety of random timed events that would pull the player away from the main console, forcing them to navigate back and forth across the environment.
Encouraging exploration of the full environment rather than allowing the player to remain stationary at a single point.

Another objective was to balance visual quality with performance, ensuring the game remained stable and playable while maintaining a high level of visual detail.

Target Outcome

The final outcome of Through Ash is a playable beta-level experience suitable for public showcase.

The game is designed to be presented in a short-session format, making it appropriate for exhibition environments such as pop-up arcade events, where players can engage with the full experience within a limited timeframe.

Key Features

Through Ash focuses on delivering a concentrated and immersive experience through:

a strong atmospheric visual style
environmental storytelling rather than direct exposition
a unique perspective through remote rover control
carefully constructed lighting and visual composition

These elements work together to create a cohesive and emotionally driven experience.

Tools & Technologies

The project was developed using industry-standard tools, supporting both artistic and technical workflows across the full production pipeline.

Key tools included:

Unity for real-time development, visual implementation, and lighting
Blender for creating 3D assets and environment elements
Substance Painter for material creation and texture development
Adobe Photoshop for supporting visual assets and refinement
DaVinci Resolve for editing a pre-rendered cinematic cutscene

These tools supported a workflow that combined asset creation, technical implementation, and visual presentation. Real-time elements were developed and refined within the engine, while pre-rendered cinematic content was produced using external tools where appropriate.