New Terra My Statement New Terra is a variety of environment concepts that tell the story from the perspective of an Amnesiac survivor that is exploring an unknown world. As for me, my name is Angel Gonzalez, and I am an illustrator and visual development artist. Video games and animation have been the catalyst for my imagination and inspiration. My work is a concentration on Environment Design and 3D space. These illustrations are for establishing a general scene with color, lighting, some props, and character design. I digitally illustrated with the use of Photoshop, traditional and some ZBrush for thumbnailing and process, New Terra is a collection of my interests and career directions. Everything that I have learned here at Ringling College of Art and Design is thanks to the guidance and knowledge from teachers, classmates, and friendships I developed in life to this point. My goal is to be one of many bricks that lay the foundation of an idea to places you have never been and maybe on the way up inspire others to make paths of their own.
Awakening Entry 1
Log-03-0400. Hello, I’m a part of the flight crew of the WAYFINDER colony vessel as for name, rank, and duty I have no idea, but for the time being, I’ll go by john, John Doe and these entries are for anyone who finds them. I awoke in the sand just lying there in my suit by the ship disoriented with a pounding pain in my head. My ears and eyes felt like my brain as if inflating trying to burst through my skull. I was in and out of consciousness on that black sand for three days; at least what from my suit’s tells me. The only identity and saving grace I currently have is that I am essential personnel of some kind. I can remember the ship’s functions, components, layouts, and I have extensive knowledge from advanced medical to even survival. The experience I have doesn’t tie me to one job in particular, and it’s more information than any ship engineer ever would know if I’m one. My memory loss is more than likely signs of Cryo-sickness from prolonged Cryo-stasis. Besides my status, I haven’t found a single soul. The ship is intact if wich is very likely I could find people, maybe in Cyro like I was. The most current issue is finding a way inside even though the ship looks intact, it’s rusted to high heaven. Searching I found most entries were buried or too high up to reach and to climb a ship that’s been rusting for who knows how long will prove likely fatal than fruitful. Log-03-0545. I found a breach in the hull. The problem is the only access point is flooded from high tide. The best course is to wait for it to recede, then I can find a way inside the ship. I know that the suit is rated for underwater, but the current is strong and full of debris I’d rather not get trapped under something. The suit will continue recycling for a day or two before I need anything to eat or drink till then I there is no rush. The breach in the ship was most likely from it buckling under its weight. My other question is, how did this ship even get here on the surface? The WAYFINDER is not meant for atmospheric flight, also even if this was an emergency landing of some kind. This ship would be scattered across the surface, not mention that it’s a leviathan it impacting alone would form an extinction-level crater. It’s a mystery or miracle how it got on the surface of this planet.
Log-03-0650. I picked up a signal I was excited beyond belief. The signal was leading outward away from the ship. Maybe I found someone I thought but what I saw where crystals, tall blue crystals with a perfect square facet all around also a few had groves that looked machined but most where clean other than that they were giving off a signal. The signal was faint, but in a discernible pattern, walking around the crystals, the signal would change in strength, but when moving away from the ship. My thought was someone was using the crystals as relays to bounce the signal off of. I had an objective now search the ship for people and supplies and then head out to and follow whoever is broadcasting, maybe find rescue, survivors or answers.
RUSTED ANOMOLY Entry 2 Log-04-0300. I Jhon doe entered WAYFINDER from section F32.waiting took longer than expected, but the call to come in at low tide was the best call. The bottom had a lot of sharp and loose metal that could easily puncture the suit, and the ankle-high water makes it easy to navigate to. Even though its low tide, I can’t relax; this section of the ship is half out of the sand, and I need mind the edges here or risk getting sucked into a pit and buried alive. Besides, all the debris everywhere didn’t take long to find my footing and reach some passages. The usual path up had collapsed, so had to take a lot of detours and couple times taking
maintenance routes noting each turn to backtrack if need be. Section F is an industrial part that houses a mining rig, many types of vehicles and large equipment in a big hangar, under that is cargo and processing. The hangar would be a good idea, but seeing the ship, I highly doubt anything up there is fully functional. Section F has large storerooms for cargo; it is a good option but not as secure as the panic rooms and is more than likely corroded. Each section has 20 these panic rooms, and are reinforced with specially stored supplies to keep roughly 30 alive for a year. Each room has food, water, equipment, power, and some Cryopods if and the goal if they’re not compromised. Besides Industrial Their about ten sections labeled alphabetically with about 80 t0 30 levels. One objective is reaching sections C, D, and E where passengers sleep in Cryo hopefully; there are survivors.
Log-05-0300. I made my way to section A using the ship’s tram system planned to stop and search sections C, D, and E where all passenger pods are kept. I was not in the best of state after learning how long I’ve been here, pressed on I wasn’t tired I just thought even if the ship is deserted, the signal is still, they’re its someone. I reached Section E and made my way to the pods with no difficulty logs showed most upper sections where Intact. Searching section E, I was even more confused about this ship than ever. All pods were closed and empty; many where corroded some damaged but all empty. I hurried to section D same I panicked and ran to section C and the same all empty except one was different from the others. It was raised upright and open, but the scariest part is it was undamaged. The pod had no sign of any degradation like it was new. This was my pod; it just made sense, but no identification either on the small terminal or written anywhere. This seemed more like a coverup than an accident now, I just stopped trying to find answers. Log-05-0423. I proceeded to section A to gather my supplies. All three rooms were in excellent condition and supplies all well preserved, I shut one place and used the rooms air scrubbers to breathe here. The WAYFINDER was humanity’s last hope, and yet over 600,000 souls are gone without a single trace. How the fuck do, I know how many people are missing how all this crap works, yet I can’t remember who I am what happened or how I know all this shit. I have no recollection of any human contact. There are no answers here; only questions. The signal may have the answer.
Log-04-1401. I searched all levels in F, but half are buried, and The rooms above are heavily corroded. Even if rooms are damaged, not all is lost, I did find some refrigerated crates that still have power. I noted few rooms back that one console still had intact internals so I removed the batteries from the crates and plugged them into the console, the screen was dead, but I can use my helms displays instead. Each console is a black box that records all data when an accident occurs on board. I did find the WAYFINDER status log; it showed extensive hull damage all across, but not the cause; it also indicates that three panic rooms still function in Section A, making life more comfortable. besides that rest of the data was lost except for time recorded, and I regret ever seeing this; it is over 3000 years worth of recorded hours… how is that possible? How has this ship lasted that long? How am I alive.
MONLITH IN TH COLD Entry 3 Log-14-0900. This is john doe I’ve left the WAYFINDER behind me and made my trek into the unknown, following the crystals. It’s been two days since I’ve left the ship behind me, and right now, I’m in better spirits, guess wandering around what mostly felt like a tomb will mess with your head. I have acquired quite a bit of supply from the panic rooms and now dragging it behind me on a makeshift sled made from a panel on the ship. I’ve got a moisture collecter, spare recycler,multi-tool, laser scanner, climbing gear, camping gear with a tent that also acts as a solar panel, a butt-ton of MREs, water bottles, and a carbine with ammo and demo charges to spare just to feel safe. From what I can tell, there is no vegetation of any kind, and it’s very barren. The environment looks artic but no snow at all, just black sand rocks and cold. The sky looks clear, with no sign of imminent overcast, and that this planet is like the earth with one star and a 24-hour cycle that makes time easy to track. All seems normal, but I’ve noticed that the crystals have begun to change colors to a magenta, to orange-red, then back to blue, in a staggered formation. Log-15-0920. Just continuing inland following the crystal as before, suddenly, all suit sensors began going off. The suit picked up a sudden and steadily increasing drop in temperature. Before I knew it, the sky turned heavy overcast and wind picked up almost knocking me off my feet. I got my footing and bolted, still following the crystals. I was wide-eyed looking for cover and checking the temperature; it went from 25°F to 10°F and getting faster. Along with the wind came snow, I went from running to trudging my way to safety, and visibility dropped to nothing. The super blizzard only allowed me to see a foot in front, but I could see the crystals were glowing intense red-orange and were warm to the touch. Sensing possible salvation, I smothered the crystal trying to get as much warmth out; it was like it had a field around that slowed down the drop in temperature, but not enough. I looked ahead and saw a faint glowing trail that leads out to an intense glow at the end of its path. I trudged deeper on through dragging my sled in the blizzard, jumping from one crystal to another as a guidepost finally making it to safe harbor. Log-15-1518. I couldn’t move; it wasn’t from the snow and the ice; it was this thing in front of me this monolith. I recomposed myself and ran the last stretch taking cover by this thing. The area was giving off
enough heat that snow or ice couldn’t form around the base, and the temperature jumped back up safe levels the minute I stepped onto this bare ground. There was a wall of ice behind the monolith from ice melting and refreezing, which I’m glad for it made a natural windbreak. The monolith itself looks like a compressed cluster of the crystals with a porcelain-like shell and faint texture and deep groves that both spiraled to the top. The shell cover has holes in the probably damaged from the intense heat it holds. This structure is without a dought a machine and not of human origin that I know. Log-15-2220. Decided to shelter here, wait out the blizzard. I open my crates, seeing if the intense cold may have damaged them in and it’s content luckily no. I did find collapsible hard pack I could have used I don’t know how I could have missed that could have carried more. I decide to pul out the scanner I
packed and use it on the tower it read 420123 kelvin and rising. I should be on fire with that kind of heat. Still, ambient just a steady 80°F crystal where similar reading high but normal ambient .what does it do other than build up heat? I touched its surface, and it’s just warm like the smaller crystals; it probably also emits a field to keep it from destroying itself and no radiation either. This machine is not of human origin; I kept scanning over and over, but no other information came up, and composition is unknown. My guess its battery or geothermal generator of some type, also noticed that it’s not giving off the signal, but it goes past it. There is nothing else I can do but wait till this blizzard passes.
CAUSTIC LABYRINTH Entry 4 Log-17-0700. felt cold, and then pain in my ears, the sensors warning kicked me awake up to this intense temperature drop. This cold came from nowhere, I thought the generator shut off and I was going to freeze to death, but I tumbled away from the generator, and it was warm again. The tower switched from warm to cold, and the rest of the area was changed to green. I thought vegetation, but no, it was a
caustic green valley, and the wall of ice was gone revealing a new path into this valley. So this tower was not a generator but a terraformer, but even if it is a terraformer, it changed all this in two days, which just seems impossible. The WAYFINDER would take a century or two of hard work to get this result. I just realized it, since it was a terraformer, it wasn’t producing heat. It was sucking in all the heat in the area and using it as a power source. This thing consumed all the warmth on a massive scale; in doing so, it created an ice age from the rapid temperature change and used that heat to change everything around it. Now that all that energy was expended, it’s on cooldown. I am very lucky I didn’t get turned into a rock or something.
Log-17-1145. I wondered if the monolith confirms alien life without a doubt. As crazy, this theory seems, and I hate saying this what if the WAYFINDER condition and missing people was of outside interference. If aliens are responsible, what is their motive, for the attack and the abduction, why am I here and not on an alien ship, not to mention the untouched pod was very strange. Where they responsible? Do I have some value? Am I a sleeper agent? Aliens would explain the spotty memories I got. I can remember all things minus me, the crew, and how all this happned, and now their are aliens, this Is going to be an adventure.
Log-17-1100. At this point, I gathered and relocated some things and equipped the hardpack. The old path leads through and into the sulfur fields plateaus. It shouldn’t be too hard to navigate between all of them, I thought, and then I realize that the Crystal path was inconsistent in here, and I got lost, and the signal bounced all over labyrinth walls making it difficult to pinpoint the best direction.
Log-17-1506. I got tired, not knowing where I was going, and got my climbing gear out. I put on my gear and scaled the plateau, with some difficulty, these things were brittle and broke at the slightest misplacement of either your foot or pitons. At the top, I admired the view a bit, I still can’t believe all this born in a day, but it helps me get a better idea where I was going using the monolith as a reference point. I repeated this ten more times of climbing up, and till I ran into something, a massive obsidian pillar flew in absolutely silent, not only did make no noise, it didn’t even disturb the air. I kept observing the pillar eventually stopped a distance out from where I was and just hovered there in place. I quickly clambered down and ran torse the pillar taking a lot of twists and turns between the plateaus, but I made it out don’t. I Don’t know how long it took, but I made it out to a clearing with massive pools mile across. The pillar floated there. I was hoping it was a ship, but it began siphoning water out of the pools, then stopped and flew off in no time flat. It had an objective even it was just a machine; it has intelligence. Looking at the direction it took, I saw the crystal path again checked and my radio just in case, and it pinged a signal back confirming that I am back on track; also, the signal is much stronger now. I ended a half-mile, off course, but it was just a minor inconvenience. I checked the timer to prep a log, and my suit read that the air is breathable again.
FUNGAL FLOURISH Entry 5 Log-32-1200. Hello, This is john doe; I haven’t said that name in a while, been wondering what’s the point of giving a name, especially if it’s not my real one. I guess it comforts me knowing maybe someone may read them, make my mark in a way, especially if these journals get corrupted. Besides that, I’ve been trekking for quite some time following the same crystals across a massive flat desert with a glass floor. While trekking, the obsidian pillar would fly back and forth over my head from my last location to the new destination, but now I spotted it, just over the ridge, where it slowed and dropped. The surface of the ground changed once I made it over, like coral or a salt flat. Log-32-1345. I began my approach of the pillar to deduce its function. The pillar sat in the middle of a massive valley; on my approach, I began to hear something; it was chirping. I rushed over to the edge and found an extraordinary site, extraterrestrial life. There is life on this planet. The valley was massive; it held all kinds of fauna. I saw large quadruped with long legs and body like that of a nautilus, walking in herds and bellowing loudly at one another. I saw Bird-like creatures that would flock into strange shapes, and a pair of smaller animals near some water that look like horses with big fins on their shoulders and head. Besides the fauna, the flora was unique, instead of plants, it seemed as it only consisted of fungi, and nothing else. What I thought initially was the top of a stone cliff is some type of fungus that merges its caps into a hard shell, probably to protect itself from the sun, along with other fungi that share similar characteristics, and much more below, but I don’t see a way down just a sheer drop. Log-32-1501. I went back to the section where the pillar touched down, it was just planted into the ground, once again like the monolith, its purpose was not clear, the best I can surmise it was a transport like an automated cargo hauler. This thing only seems to haul Sulphur, which made a lot of sense now. Sulfur is an essential component of organic life. The pillar just helps in creating and fertilizing this land, and all life here, maybe their sulfur-based organisms, I wouldn’t be surprised by what I’ve seen. So the monolith’s purpose is to create raw material for the pillar, and the pillar transports and pumps it into the ground. Maybe there are machines under the surface like these two made to refine and build. The pillar and monolith are just parts of an assembly line. I wonder if stuff like this is happening all across the planet. Whatever entities created these machines, creating life seems to be their goal, for the moment, but do they plan on colonizing once they find the best combination? I need to make camp
Log-34-0900. I’ve set camp using dried stalks as post, wrapping a tarp to each giving me a cover. Other than the campsite, I’ve been exploring edges of the caps in an attempt to fin way down to the valley floor. I have only explored the east side of the valley. I have no functioning compass, but I’m calling it east for now. East had nothing other than some new fauna, either than that no safe path down. Switching to the west side, I found a cluster growing at an angle allowing passage to the valley floor. The problem is it’s divided by another cluster. The clusters have passageways under them, and looking at this one, it’s a three-mile hike through to the other valley.
Log-34-0958. Getting back to camp, I found it ransacked. My tarp was torn apart. The two crates I brought covered with massive gouges, couple piercing deep enough to reach insulation, and my MRE was gone. A wrapper shredded to confetti was scattered at the camp. I’m so dumb the smell of MRE must have attracted an animal, one with some seriously sharp teeth and claws. The worst part about this, the carbine was in one of those crates. I was wandering around unarmed, thinking I’d be safe in the upper valley away from predators.
THE HUNTED Entry 6 Log-35-0713. Hello, it’s me again! John Doe, your favorite amnesiac from space, talking to you more than likely from beyond the ether. I’m on edge right now. Ok, so, After the camp got ransacked, I tracked the creatures from where they came. The animals came from the east. They climbed the wall up to where I last stood, my hunch those creatures I saw day prior are the culprits. These things saw me from miles away and pursued me up this verticle cliff, and that’s a terrifying thought. They have keen eyes and move in a pack. Meaning avoiding open spaces be the best plan to keep away from them. This time my carbine does not leave my side. This baby carries 50 tungsten tip sabot, their small rounds, but still, this carbine is a rail gun, that magnetically propels ballistics with enough kinetic force to penetrate 2.5 inches of steel, which should make quick work of anything; if not, I’m screwed. Log-35-0759 I made my way over the top of the fungal cliffs and arrived at the valley floor. The lower valley is darker, and my helm isn’t equipped with night vision, but it can highlight surfaces, but even with this feature, it doesn’t make me feel any safer. I moved into the passages under the cliff fungus, traversing slowly and methodically trying best to avoid attention. The route may be rough but it gives me cover from these creatures that can see from long range. Log-35-0826. By this time, I made a significant error. I’m writing this after what took place. I thought they where diurnal, but they were not, but these things are just as active In the night as the day. While I was making my way through this, I had a feeling that I was going to get a knife in my back. I whipped around and was face to face with one of these things. It’s a huge creature almost as big as a horse, with the build of a wolf and the face of a shark. This beast was huge, yet it moved with no sound. This thing was staring at me with bioluminescent eyes judging how to strike, a wave of its frills, and six more appeared from nowhere. These creatures in no time surrounded me. The silence was broken from hungry cackling like they declared that they won. I’m not done yet. I was new to them, and they didn’t know exactly how to fight me, so they were still cautious waiting for who’d strike first. There were two perched on a giant shelf mushroom ready to pounce, so I took the biggest gamble and charged them. I was screaming firing full auto with the carbine killing one and scaring the
shit of all the others. I just ran in the direction of the crystal path, behind me I heard screeching everywhere of all manner, it’s expected this gun is not quite. I thought, “I’m small, they can’t catch me, they’re too big to maneuver through this bush,” once again proven wrong, they flowed through the undergrowth like true sharks streaming and running at each of my flanks. Still, I saw they only went in a straight line, so I quickly fired at the leads of each group, and they tripped over their injured comrade. My hunch was right. They know the lay of the land, but they’re still too big, and the undergrowth restricts movement. They move like
a train, but one mishap and all the cars derail. Not long after I broke through the fungal growth to an open clearing, but I met a steep decline with shale like surface. I tumbled, not expecting a sudden change in terrain and slid to the bottom in no time. The creaturs who followed straight behind me flooded out. Charging me at full speed, they were on top of me in seconds. I saw those eyes, and black jaws so close to me, and raised my gun; I refuse to die before I reach the end
CONTACT Entry 7 Log-35-1128. I’m alive. The beasts stopped 5 feet from me, just staring catatonically. I got angry, once again, another a weird situation that I can’t explain. I threw rocks and screamed; maybe I was frustrated from the hell they gave me for them just to stop a few feet from victory. “what? I’m not good enough to eat!” I yelled it was like a joke was played on me at my expense. I got angrier raised my rifle, and began unloading round after round into the mass of braindead monsters. There was visra and limbs flying everywhere, and bodies were going limp. Still, these things stood there, covered in the guts of their friends unfazed. They just turned around like good dolls they were and walked back into the forest of fungus. I felt like I was being toyed with. Log-35-1200. I calmed my mind best of my ability and assed myself to see if I’m hurt in any way. The suit is intact, but there are new scratches on my visor. My PDA was cracked but functional. I was fine, I looked around realized I’m in a massive crater. And smack in the middle is a gigantic crystal mountain. The signal picked up louder than ever, but inside my head, it didn’t hurt, but every fiber in my being pointed in one direction and told me FOLLOW. This venture to find the truth started as a quest, and now was an urge to seek those answers. I Traveled the corridors of this mountain, winding deeper into its core. It was when I turned a corner and met a face, the face of a skull, a human-like skull, except for it was that of a giant. Moving past the first one was another giant skull; it was different but very much similar. I noticed the early skulls were crystalized and deeper in was less. Are the giants rotting? Is this a graveyard? Log-35-2100. I’ve been sitting here at this corner for three hours, and to the right of me is the last corridor. In that corridor is the answers I wanted. What happened to the WAYFINDER? What happened to her crew? What is this place? Why was the ship brought here? What are you? And who am I, and why am I still alive? It wants to tell me them, but I’m scared. What if it tells me something I’d never want to hear. Maybe theirs more to this than I know. This is john doe proud crew member of the Great WAYFINDER, signing off.