The Mars Rendering Challenge was held by Launch Forth and showcases various visions of what life on Mars could be like. Significant research into the feasibility of what life could be like on the red planet led me to envision a planet that is still fairly desolate and lonely on the surface as gamma rays and surface realities would no doubt remain harsh and unforgiving. Some experts theorize that humans could colonize lava tubes on Mars, leveraging the readily available shelter. Part of the exercise was to utilize any models that had been generated, and I chose to use this rover modeled by 600v. The model was massive in geometry at several million vertices, a size not ideal for performant VR/ real-times experiences. Given this, a decent amount of time went into breaking the model apart for cleaning and optimization in Maya, UV layout, and all interior components and entryway were custom-modeled. I then texture mapped and baked all lighting for quality and performance, and added lighting and sounds to the environment.