The Utility Room

“At the edge of the Universe lies The Utility Room. The “behind the scenes” where all the heavy lifting takes place. There have been no work incidents in 13.8 billion years. You are arriving as a tourist. Don’t do anything foolish”.
The Utility Room is a unique VR journey developed in Unreal Engine that takes you behind the scenes of the Universe, a barren and rocky world of mountain ranges and surreal geometric caves inhabited by megalithic stone heads—some several miles high—working to keep existence stable.
The player enters through a monolithic door at the edge of space and disrupts the world’s fragile system becoming trapped inside. They cross territories that are foreboding with a pervading megalophobia. The player follows a narrative of environmental storytelling with minor gameplay elements. They are an unwanted guest in an unknown world that, despite being made entirely of stone, is organic and alive.
The journey ends with the player encountering the overseer known as Bin Man or the Cosmic Caretaker, a spherical anthropomorphic head who plummets the player into a sequence of experimental VR environments that reprimand the player for trespassing.

VR is weaponized as escapism. It is compelling because it replicates immediate experience. Immersive projects often rely on the familiar. The Utility Room challenges these norms. The player must adopt a new psychological approach. The gameplay only serves the authenticity of the world rather than providing activity for the player. I wanted to disarm them, restructure their reality and create disorder. Huge environments were possible because stereoscopic headsets allow for a tangible sense of depth. Rather than use duplicated assets for natural environments I sculpt, carving caves and rock forms out of VR clay using 3D stamps taken from scanned rocks.

PRODUCTION: Lionel Marsden - BinMan Games Ltd.
South Lodge, Alderwasley Park
DE45HP– Whatstandwell, United Kingdom
Tel. +44 7872696313
lionelpantonmarsden@gmail.com
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