Holly Hudson Portfolio  

The Kindred Wilds


The Kindred Wilds is an immersive cinematic trailer project for a first-person fantasy adventure game, created as my final undergraduate project at Middlesex University. 

In a team of four, we developed a short game trailer that tells the story of Keyleth, a young heroine who embarks on a quest to restore balance in nature and save her village from starvation. As the project manager, storyboard artist, level designer, environment artist, animator, and video editor, I played a key role in shaping the visual and narrative elements of the trailer.




The trailer takes viewers on a journey through a richly detailed forest environment, where Keyleth encounters mystical creatures and forms an alliance with a trapped forest spirit. 

Using the environment as a storytelling tool, I worked with my team to bring this fantastical world to life, ensuring each scene captured the magic and mystery of the forest setting. 

The Kindred Wilds began as a collaborative effort to create a trailer for a first-person fantasy adventure game. Our initial inspiration came from exploring various mythologies, and we crafted a story about Keyleth's quest to save her village. The cinematic trailer introduces her journey through the forest and the mysterious spirits she encounters along the way.

Our development process started with extensive research and storyboarding. We collected visual references for the forest, the hero assets, and the characters to shape the tone and style of the trailer. As the storyboard artist, I played a pivotal role in translating the narrative into visual sequences, focusing on using the environment to convey the game's atmosphere and story.



Next, we blocked out the environments in Unreal Engine 4.26 and started the process of modelling assets. Each team member contributed to different parts of the game’s world. I handled the environment art, lighting, and animation within UE4. I also modeled and animated the forest spirit creature, collaborating with my team to make sure the character interactions looked fluid and immersive.


One of the key visual elements in the trailer was the storybook introduction. We designed this sequence to introduce the game's lore, using hand-drawn illustrations textured onto pages of a book. I animated and textured these pages in Substance Painter, setting up the scene in UE4 with sequenced page flips that aligned with a voice-over.


Throughout the project, we conducted regular testing and iterations, ensuring that every environment detail, lighting setup, and character animation contributed to the overall mystical and immersive feel we wanted to convey. The Kindred Wilds is a testament to our team's creativity and collaboration, blending elements of fantasy storytelling, environment design, and cinematic animation into a cohesive and captivating trailer.