[UE4] HL2:EP2 Outland Hut Environment

ZombieDawgs

Sup, I've started working at a studio recently and I've found myself with more free time after work (somehow??) so I thought I'd start a project based around one of my favourite games. Keeping the scope small so I can really nail the details.

Most Recent:






Ref:

http://i.imgur.com/NBFBECl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nojepon.jpg

John Baxter

Looking good! Are the walls modeled, tessellated, or POM?

Stavaas

It's a nice start, but I think you need to work on your scaling. That chair looks extremely short!

ZombieDawgs

John Baxter said:

Looking good! Are the walls modeled, tessellated, or POM?

Pure geo.

Stavaas said:

It's a nice start, but I think you need to work on your scaling. That chair looks extremely short!

You're not the only one who's said this, I'm referencing the original model from HL2, which is probably why it looks so janky. I'm conflicted if I should keep it like the old model or just resize it a tad for modern sake.



I don't have anything new that's finished at the moment, but here's a pic of the generator so far.

ZombieDawgs

Update on the generator:

ZombieDawgs

Today's update.

ZombieDawgs

Here's an update for today.

The further I progress into this, the harder I'm finding it to bring some of the original scene's colours through. EP2's lighting was very vibrant but bringing it in here I feel like I'm losing some of that. Materials are also starting to blend together colour wise; should look into that tomorrow.

ZombieDawgs

Finished off the outer shell of the building today, still a few minor issues regarding lighting but they'll be fixed in time. Started pushing the values around a bit more to get a better range of colour in the scene and push the aesthetic further. Floor textures are still WIP for the moment and there's still a lot of proxy geo floating around (some of it clipping aha) 

Going to start the simpler objects like the computers and so forth next.

ZombieDawgs

Finding it super hard to get the lighting working well with this scene. Looking at the reference from Episode 2 it actually makes zero sense how any of the cabin is lit as brightly as it is. The spotlight in the back is providing all the light in the original (somehow??) because the light is going the other way. I guess I'll have to interpret the lighting in my own way given how vague the original was. I'll still try and keep the mood though.

Aside from that I've been puddling away at other props and a small other project and just tweaking this one to find the right spot. I think this is definitely heading where I want it to go though. Still a touch too clean at the moment though. Also the light bleed on the top panels is an issue.

ActionDawg

I believe the lighting in the original does make some sense despite it being pretty blobby. It was baked, bounce light after all! The lighting in the original works because the interior isn't directly illuminated by the sun, so it's dark enough that the lantern and screens produce the most dominant illumination. The very saturated evenness throughout is actually primarily bounced exterior lighting coming in through the sunroofs and windows. It just doesn't look dark because of camera exposure.

It should more or less be directly replicable, if that's what you want. You can learn the sun vector from the nearby trees right outside in the next area (though it's not visible in the skybox). Then block out a simple exterior to bounce the light around. Pushing for really close to the original it might be actually work to tweak light intensities slightly away from their most realistic values, but I'd set everything for realism first and then work away from that as needed.

ZombieDawgs

somedoggy said:

I believe the lighting in the original does make some sense despite it being pretty blobby. It was baked, bounce light after all! The lighting in the original works because the interior isn't directly illuminated by the sun, so it's dark enough that the lantern and screens produce the most dominant illumination. The very saturated evenness throughout is actually primarily bounced exterior lighting coming in through the sunroofs and windows. It just doesn't look dark because of camera exposure.

It should more or less be directly replicable, if that's what you want. You can learn the sun vector from the nearby trees right outside in the next area (though it's not visible in the skybox). Then block out a simple exterior to bounce the light around. Pushing for really close to the original it might be actually work to tweak light intensities slightly away from their most realistic values, but I'd set everything for realism first and then work away from that as needed.

Thanks man, your point about the TV made a few things click into place. Guess the scene is generally a lot darker than I expected, I still like the outcome of it so far though.

Consoles, TVs and Computers still to make, as well as spending a bit of time on the floor.

ZombieDawgs

Can't believe I thought that previous image was worth putting up, it's so dark. 


Finally starting to be happier with the lighting. Various assets keep coming in from time to time as well. I think I'll spend this weekend getting all the assets from the original into the scene, then I can start adding polish and the extra touches.

ZombieDawgs

So I guess I lied, things took longer than I thought they would but assets have slowly been trickling into the scene, here's where some of it as now. Nothing huge added, but the devil is in the details right? Most of the things added are computers, panelling and fuse boxes, all that jazzy stuff.

Vincent074

I always like recreations of half life 2 in unreal, interesting to see where this is going

ZombieDawgs

Progress halted to a slower pace than I expected, still bumbling away at what I can. Interior is about 95% there in terms of assets. Just need to start adding details on details now. I also started the exterior, I'm not great when it comes to doing outside areas so this is going to take some more adjustments until I like where it is.

ZombieDawgs

Calling this one done, was a fun learning experience but on to making the next thing even better.

ZombieDawgs

And some assets;