Mamoru Kano's UE5 Game Now Features a Whirlpool of Giant Eels

Over the past couple of weeks, Game Developer Mamoru Kano has been engaging in a fantastic promotional campaign for his upcoming folklore-inspired UE5 exploration game Otoshi no Shima, demonstrating outstanding aquatic monsters created for the game with short behind-the-scenes demos.

Continuing to delight the ever-growing community of fans with his devlog, Mamoru has recently offered a look at the refined version of the previously demonstrated giant eel rig, demonstrating the creature moving in a line via Instanced Static Mesh, with its tail fin moving independently for enhanced realism. Additionally, the developer showcased a stunning scene of three eels creating a violent whirlpool by moving in circles in a mountainside lake, resulting in a wonderful yet eerie spectacle that I hope will appear in the final game.

As mentioned in our previous article, the eel rig features smooth movements and stable undulations, with the entire body responding dynamically and realistically to the motions of the creature's head. To accomplish this, Mamoru employed Unreal Engine 5's Control Rig, a powerful set of animation tools that enables rigging and animating models directly within the engine.

Previously, Mamoru also impressed us with a stunning animation of an enormous snake slithering through a swamp and coiling around itself, as well as an eerie sequence of the same snake appearing from under the water. You can learn more about the game and check out the earlier demos by visiting the developer's Twitter page.

And if you'd like to learn more about Unreal's Control Rig, here are some great tutorials that will help you get the hang of the system: