University of Advancing Technology's Official Technology Blog

A monster tamer (think classic Pokémon games) meets rhythm game elements (similar to the popular Guitar Hero franchise) in Wumu Melody, Bianca Magaña’s Student Innovation Project (SIP). A Game Art and Animation major at UAT, Bianca drew inspiration from monster tamers like Temtem to roguelike rhythm games à la Crypt of the NecroDancer when it came time to create her own SIP. After further fueling her creative energy with ancient eastern mythology and Chinese pop music, Wumu Melody as a concept was born.

“My main goal was to create something unique artistically,” Bianca said. “I had this idea for this project for a really long time now. And I wanted to make sure that I did it justice.”

The game follows characters Liu Yao and Sun Shi as they use musical abilities to capture adorable creatures called Wumu, which derive their power from wood, earth, water, fire, or metal. Wumu Melody was initially concepted as a fully 2D pixel art style game, before Bianca discovered she would need to modify her approach in order to create something that she feels would “stand out.”

“I slowly led myself down this road in order to create a new visual experience that takes some stuff from the old—like pixel art—and some stuff from the new and combines them in this really beautiful way,” she said.

The 2D pixel art of Wumu Melody brings in the retro style of past generations’ video games, but the classic visuals are refreshed through their placement in a 3D environment. The main character, Liu, looks like she wouldn’t be out of place in Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow (1996) with her mint-colored hair and chibi-like features—but a lighting test made in Laitger shows how Bianca was able to add dynamic environmental effects to add extra depth to the character designs and environments, creating a modern result.

Bianca collaborated with two programmers at UAT, Mitchell Kelly (Advancing Computer Science) and Terrance Gay (Game Programming) to bring her vision to reality. Her peers assisted with dynamic lighting implementation, game design prototype creation, and the movement of Wumu Melody from Construct, a 2D game engine, to the 3D environment enabled through Unreal Engine 5.

UAT’s community proved to be the nurturing environment Bianca would need to complete Wumu Melody. She knew from her first visit that the cozy campus would be a good fit for her. “I liked the small, tight-knit community,” Bianca recalled of her initial campus tour. “I liked how everyone was very open to talking. And I've definitely felt that I could walk up and make casual conversation with nearly everybody here—we're a nerd school!”

Bianca credits Professors and subject matter experts (or “SMEs” as they’re called at UAT) Lynn Understiller and Jorge Portillo with providing her suggested methodologies, knowledge, and guidance to reach her SIP goals. The space they gave her to learn helped Bianca become more independent through the game development process.

“I feel like I was very unorganized before UAT,” Bianca said. “And taking these classes has helped me in that sense. And also, I did not know anything about modeling. I started here with zero 3D modeling knowledge, unwrapping knowledge—so all of that new information really helped and inspired me in order to create this project. I wouldn't have been able to do this if I didn't go to UAT.”

Bianca plans to continue to develop Wumu Melody after graduation and is considering various future options for funding, such as Patreon. She also hopes to break into the video game industry.

Wherever life takes her next, she is hopeful for the future and sees how the skills she’s learned at UAT will serve her well.

“All of the things that I learned from UAT, they kind of came into Wumu Melody in some way.”

Embark on Your Academic Adventure at UAT

Did this student’s story ignite your interest in UAT? Now is the ideal time to inquire further or even apply for admission! Whatever stage you are at in your academic journey, UAT’s approachable Admissions and Financial Aid teams are ready to provide support and assistance. Step into your future by connecting with us today.