A video showing a modern Japanese town created in Unity has been gathering a lot of attention, as spotted by 80 Level. The buildings and roads are so realistic that you could very easily be convinced that it was an actual place in Japan.

Japanese city rendered in Unity virtual reality. WIP.#madewithunity #unity3d #gamedev #indiedev #VR pic.twitter.com/T9roLPgTnb
— Sherman Waffle Studios (@WaffleSherman) October 21, 2022

The town in the video is a VR demo that is currently being developed by 3D artist Sherman Waffle using the JAPANESE CITY assets that they previously created and currently offer for purchase. The assets consist of a variety of objects that can be used to create Japanese cities or other Asian environments and are collected into a modular pack.

While it is immediately obvious that the streets have been meticulously crafted, smaller details such as the signs are worth paying extra attention to. The Japanese text that is written on the billboards and shop signs sounds very natural even to a native Japanese person and helps to further raise the sense of immersion created by the demo.

This makes sense when you consider the fact that the Japanese text included in the JAPANESE CITY asset pack was created in cooperation with Japanese VTuber Noto Muteki. When compared to the text and fonts used on the signs prior to Muteki’s adjustments, you can see how much more natural they now look. Coincidentally, Muteki is also a game developer and is currently creating a horror game where you fight off ghosts with guns and other weapons.

Images posted by Noto Muteki on Twitter. The image on top shows the original signs, while the image on the bottom shows the revised ones.
Image Credit: @NotoMuteki, Sherman Waffle Studios

In addition to the JAPANESE CITY assets, Waffle has also created and sells assets that replicate Kowloon Walled City, a city in Hong Kong that was demolished over 20 years ago. Those assets were used in the video below, which was also rendered with Unity:

Kowloon Walled City alley walkthrough in Unity HDRP, real-time. *SOUND ON*#madewithunity #unity3d #gamedev #indiedev pic.twitter.com/GTN4LpXPgd
— Sherman Waffle Studios (@WaffleSherman) June 28, 2022

It may not be too long before we can all take a stroll through the town for ourselves, as Waffle has stated that they are currently considering whether to offer a public release of the Japanese town VR demo. Those interested in the JAPANESE CITY modular pack can purchase it through the Unity Asset Store.

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-10-31 10:19 JST)