Swamp House Environment

Jonathan Gard

Working on this for my portfolio, and would love some critique! I'm currently working on finalizing the textures and learning UDK lighting for the presentation. No other maps than diffuse at the moment of writing.

What do you guys think of the overall feel?

Progg

Too monochromatic at the moment. If it's going to be in a swamp I would assume it would have some moss and other growth around the base, where it is in constant contact with the water. If nothing else, some green and yellows will help introduce some variety and help break up the monotony of browns.

Some foliage would really help sell it as a swamp scene.

Jonathan Gard

Thanks!

I'm working on the stone island/ruins which I hope will break up the color a bit, but I completely agree it need more vegetation, mosses and molds. I might have been too careful with keeping the wood clean.

Jeff Parrott

Looks good so far. Agree with the value change on things. Use values to separate the planes (ceiling, walls, ground, etc).

Get some lighting in there too. Flat shaded is not showing it off great.

Jonathan Gard

Thanks for the feedback!

Been working on adding some values and variety, mostly the rocky bits the house stands on. Also been teaching myself UDK so I can get the house properly lit up.

I have also been stalking the incredible Jessica Dinh's thread http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=105526

Really pushing myself here with the handpainting, and I'm getting fairly happy with my bricks!

Jonathan Gard

Still no lights, and the UVs on the rocks are a mess, but here's a new update on the textures. There will also be a gooey gradient creeping up on the rocks from where it touches the water.

Taking a break from painting, time to get this baby lit up in UDK!

Mischievous

Aww, that looks so cosy, I like the terrace idea too. An idea you could try to add some human element is to add some variety in materials used for stuff like walls or floors, as if for example, part of the staircase rotted away and broke, so the owner repaired it with what he had at hand, but don't know if that will fit what you're going for. Also if it was me making this, I'd add some variety in shape of the support beams, add slight distortion and twists, I wouldn't leave them totally straight.

S_ource

Id say more contrast.

Jonathan Gard

Mischievous:
Good point, I should add more patchwork details, since that's basically what the whole house is! The idea is that it's the parts of a wrecked ship simply added on top of an old lighthouse ruin. I'll be adding more support beams in odd angles, and a couple of broken steps to start with!

S_ource:
I'm hoping the contrast will come from lighting, but I am a bit worried about how it will look in daylight. I'll work on it when I go back to the textures!



Alright, so here's a first attempt at lighting in UDK. Probably too dark right now, still trying to decide what I want to display or not. Also, the light sources doesn't exist yet, there will be a couple of lanterns hanging from where the light is emanating from.

Bawwwcas

I dig it. I do like how you're playing with orange and green to set the mood. You are right about it being too dark, and I think once you add the environment lighting it'll look a bit brighter.

Jonathan Gard

Bawwwcas: Thanks! I've been doing some more practice with UDK lighting, but the more I learn the more I realize I don't yet understand about lighting.



Here's a render of today's progress in UDK, and the mood is something akin to what I had in mind with this project. Still a lot of room for improvement, but for now it's time to go back to the textures.

Jeff Parrott

Really dark at the moment. But getting there. Like the value changes and where the lighting is going.

Jonathan Gard

Jeff Parrott: Yeah, I see it too now. It's easy to get too adjusted to the darkness when you play around with the scene all day. Thanks!


Another update! This time I'm playing around with a bit of fog and emissive lights. Can't decide if I want the fog or not, I might just be impressed by all the shiny UDK toys...

Next update; foliage!

Jonathan Gard

Massive update since last week. Been adding more props, played around a lot with UDK lighting and fogs, and added more nature. Got a deadline for this project tomorrow evening, so any and all feedback is very welcome!

Limbs and branches for the trees are coming, and a couple of more props. Anything that I seem to have missed?

Mischievous

Hey not bad I like the house and the watery floor but the short dry trees don't make this look very swampy to me, for a swamp, I'd expect at least some overgrown trees and hanging moss vines, but that's just my view, there are many types of swamps heh.

Jonathan Gard

One final update before exhaustion sets in! This time with branches. I just felt it added enough to warrant an update.

Jeff Parrott

Looking nice. I like the framing. I would say push a good balance of warm/cools in the lighting. Like have the environment fog/lighting be a cool greenish blue and push the window lights to a orangey color.

J-Paez

I really like what you're going for with the mood in this environment, but just as a personal suggestion I think you should integrate warmer colors (maybe on the ground) to contrast the coolness of the fog. Something like this:
[IMG][/img]

Jonathan Gard

Mischievous: Thanks! Hope you like the new trees better, even though they're not final

Jeff Parrot & J-Paez: Thanks for the feedback! I've been trying to push the contrast and leaking the eye towards the house.

Here are the final renders for the deadline I had for this project! I'm fairly satisfied, but I still feel it needs a lot of work before I'm comfortable using it for my portfolio. We have a portfolio-building course in a couple of months where I'll be picking up this project again.

All feedback very welcome!

AimBiZ

Modelling and texturing wise it's good but I can barely see anything except the glowing bits in your presentation. The dark background is killing the silhouette. Put in some cloudy night sky, perhaps include a moon as well. It needs to be brighter and cooler. This way you can also bring in some outline of the trees further away and give the scene more depth.

Diffuse-wise it's too clean although you made a good job not making the tiling too apparent. To break things up you could make a dirt texture on a new uv-set with all the uv's layed out without overlapping and multiply it over the diffuse in the shader. I suggest starting off with baking occlusion and adding dirt wherever appropriate.