[UE4] Warcraft Style Environment
EDIT-Most Recent screenshot 7/1/14
Hi Polycount,
I really want to work at Blizzard as an environment artist for WoW team. So I am trying focus heavily on what the environment team does: Foliage, Rocks, Trees, and terrain textures.
I am trying to create something to Blizzard standard, I feel what I have right now really sucks. I've been looking at the Spires of Arak and Draenor screens as reference. Any tips or tricks on how to get better is much appreciated.
Below are the models, the cart is still a work in progress.
Here is my environment painting.
Gif of my environment painting process.
A test scene of my assets in UE4, preview lighting. This will probably change the most, and I think i'll be redoing the whole landscape.
And finally here are the textures. They're all 512x512 except the cart which is a 1024x1024.
For texture creation sometimes I use zbrush to create a base, sometimes I straight paint it in photoshop or 3D coat. I am unhappy with the rock terrain textures so those will be redone.
Feedback is greatly welcomed.
PORTFOLIO
I really want to work at Blizzard as an environment artist for WoW team. So I am trying focus heavily on what the environment team does: Foliage, Rocks, Trees, and terrain textures.
I am trying to create something to Blizzard standard, I feel what I have right now really sucks. I've been looking at the Spires of Arak and Draenor screens as reference. Any tips or tricks on how to get better is much appreciated.
Below are the models, the cart is still a work in progress.
Here is my environment painting.
Gif of my environment painting process.
A test scene of my assets in UE4, preview lighting. This will probably change the most, and I think i'll be redoing the whole landscape.
And finally here are the textures. They're all 512x512 except the cart which is a 1024x1024.
For texture creation sometimes I use zbrush to create a base, sometimes I straight paint it in photoshop or 3D coat. I am unhappy with the rock terrain textures so those will be redone.
Feedback is greatly welcomed.
PORTFOLIO
Replies
However, remember that wow is 10 (?) years old, so you should be aiming to do the next\current blizz level, and not what they had 10 years ago, I would suggest.
Spoon - Your question is exactly what I am thinking. What will get me a job, creating work in the style they are currently? Or pushing it further to a more next gen style yet retaining its style.
Anyway thanks for the comments, and tips on painting will really help. Especially with terrain stone/rock/cliff type textures.
With your vertex painting here, tighten up the dark texture outlining on the pathway, not so thick.
The cracked dry-ground texture is nice but it seems to fit more in a different environment.
The damage/chips on the shingles texture are really uniform, might want to look into variation on that. Seems like each one has a circular chip in it around the same areas.
Your tree bark texture is really nice, just model the base of the tree to be less cylindrical by indicating some roots. Deform the base a bit, but then that might call for a change to your texture. I'd say ground that tree better with a gradient on the bottom, through either vertex coloring it or making a new texture sheet and getting some unique detail there.
The general shape of the canopy of your tree is really circular and doesn't have much volume. Don't be afraid to give it a defined overall shape. Get a chunk of leaves in one part, branching out from wherever, and have those secondary smaller leafy bits only slightly straying from that big chunk. Right now it seems way spread out and too even.
keep going!
Things on my to do list is
-new stone/rock/cliff terrain textures
-fix tree
-redo environment, smaller
I'll post an update when can. Thanks
I think you could try to make some hand painted height maps to soften the transition between the tileables.
I believe there are still parameters in UE4 that will restrict specific textures based on terrain incline/elevation. You may want to set those up to help maintain consistency within the world. Or not, that's not the biggest deal.
UE4 does indeed have some features that can blend your landscapes based on height and angle so that may be fun to look into.
I echo what the other here have said: it's a great learning tool to deconstruct an art style like this, but now that you've got it nailed pretty well, take it further and put your own spin on it!
Besides, normal mapping is such an optimized and low level thing nowadays that you wouldn't need to worry about it that much even on mobile games.
Anyway small update, I have an updated tree. I will be creating a vertex shader so I can darker and lighten certain areas of the mesh. I'll have a bigger update for you probably at the end of the week. Thanks for the help.
PORTFOLIO
gogogo
-I created a rock terrain texture to help with some blending.
-Re-did the environment with in a smaller scale
I feel the scene is coming together. Things i need
-sky
-clouds
-Props (fences, light posts, graveyard) if anyone has any suggestions to this i would be really grateful.
I started work again and a lot of personal things have come up so my progress is getting slower
I created some tombstones to have a little burial site. I would like to think these were people who died on the road and were buried not too far from it.
I'm thinking I will create some
-fences
-lightposts
-Wall and Gateway for the end of the road
I'd say grass planes and tree roots needs to blend more smoothly to the ground. I think it lacks some AO too, especially the tree trunks near the leaves (even WOW has a decent amount of SSAO)
Overall, textures looks really good but the lighting is very weak IMHO, everything look flat and a few props seems to have been treated differently (grave stones for instance, the top/down gradient you painted is way too strong compared to the rest)
keep it up, nice scene so far !
As for lighting I haven't touched it yet, there is just a directional light and skylight to help me see the forms of my landscape. I think in the end it'll be more of an evening or sunset, so I can bring out some moody lighting with lanterns and possibly fireflies.
I really like the textures
C&C welcome.
Your latest brick texture, though, looks like the bricks are wedged off from quite a ways. A well constructed wall should have as little seam as possible between the frontmost edge of one brick and its neighbors. A structure like the one this texture implies would be easier to get a wedge, or some sort of explosive, into if the assailants got close enough to the wall -- it would be easier to destroy than a properly constructed wall.
Here's an example of a sound wall brick texture directly from WOW -- it's more important that the pieces all fit together tightly than that they be the exact same size, since a big factor in the strength of a wall is in how hard it is to get between the bricks. It's just that, in my mind, your texture would never fly in Azeroth, because Azeroth does have explosives -- and it just takes one sapper getting a few seaforium charges into those wedge-like corners to give your enemies a way through the wall other than your gate.
I just realized I didnt place my wooden stakes/spikes T_T
Update!
-Created the wall/gate, fences, and lanterns.
-Started playing around with lighting.
What do you guys think of the new lighting? C&C welcome.
Kharon-Thank you for the reference and explanation, I never really thought of making really tight bricks, I just went ahead and painted them. I will definitely put that thought process to good use on my next brick.
http://files.shroomery.org/files/11-23/739275624-zangarmarsh_1.jpg
http://images.mmosite.com/space/upload/070920/biggish/9b73401c9f69.jpg
http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/97/640x359_16849_WoW_Gilneas_Scene_3d_fantasy_world_of_warcraft_environment_picture_image_digital_art.jpg
http://www.step2digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/wowExample.jpg
Regarding some things said earlier, stay with the diffuse only but take it as far as you can. WoW is sort of stripped down so anyone can play it. You aren't making something to work but to look as good as possible.
Iam just curious why you went for the "last gen look - or the warcraft look 10 years ago" - dont
get me wrong - but i feels like you could spend alot more polys and
texture space. I think you would get much more attention, if
you grap the "warcraft base" idea and combine it with some newer tech
like this
or this
by considering the warcraft style.. Maybe just with a normal/spec map you could push it alot more.
just my two cents. keep up the good work
AlphaVader-Stylized PBR is a different workflow, I know this is last gen. But I'm trying to showcase a hand painted skill set with this. But my next thing project will incorporate a next-gen workflow.
Did you make that dagger? It looks amazing
I'd definitely consider adding some height to the trees with foliage though, just to keep it balanced
no iam not saying do PBR - its just like, a hint
"do you want to push the 10 years old warcraft style to a bit more to current gen?"
But its youre project
@jose - nah, its really cool but its from stevston89 but iam working on one - should be done soon
I made a short video fly though here
PS
Just for kicks, these are some of my homeworks I have done recently.
This assignment was to create a Sci fi hospital hallway, the first image is what i started with but i was told to redo it since it wasn't reading very hospital like.
This isn't exactly homework but I was tasked to create a crossbow, took about a day to make it.