New to the forums and could use some beginners advice on environment art
null
Hello everyone, my name is Ragnar and I live in Sweden. I am very new to Polycount, but really glad that I found it!
I have spent countless hours on creating levels for about 5 years, especially on the Far Cry titles. During the past year I have felt that the maps I want to create, are surpassing the limits of what can be done in these map editors. Then a friend introduced me to how the gaming industry works and told me about level design and environment art. This sparked a fire in me and I decided to give it my best shot.
I downloaded Unreal Engine 4 & Blender (for now), and went through a bunch of tutorials on both programs to get some bearings. I am used to level editors that already have plants that move, realtime-lightning, AI, navmesh, pickups, weather, water etc. etc. So going from that, to this, is quite the change. And I can't seem to find a proper video or text that explains where I should begin. Which is why I made this post.
-What are the kind of things I really should know before starting?
-Where is the limit/boundry between an environment artist and another job role?
-What should I focus on first? Modelling, sculpting, texturing or lightning?
-If modelling/sculpting, what should I start with? Boxes, grass, chairs?
-What tools within UE4/Blender should I focus on learning thoroughly?
Really any information that gives me some stable ground during the beginning of this learning experience is highly appreciated! Any links to good tutorials will make me happy aswell.
For those interested, follow this link and you will see a few photos of my last 4 maps on Far Cry 4.
http://imgur.com/a/B6Yir
I have spent countless hours on creating levels for about 5 years, especially on the Far Cry titles. During the past year I have felt that the maps I want to create, are surpassing the limits of what can be done in these map editors. Then a friend introduced me to how the gaming industry works and told me about level design and environment art. This sparked a fire in me and I decided to give it my best shot.
I downloaded Unreal Engine 4 & Blender (for now), and went through a bunch of tutorials on both programs to get some bearings. I am used to level editors that already have plants that move, realtime-lightning, AI, navmesh, pickups, weather, water etc. etc. So going from that, to this, is quite the change. And I can't seem to find a proper video or text that explains where I should begin. Which is why I made this post.
-What are the kind of things I really should know before starting?
-Where is the limit/boundry between an environment artist and another job role?
-What should I focus on first? Modelling, sculpting, texturing or lightning?
-If modelling/sculpting, what should I start with? Boxes, grass, chairs?
-What tools within UE4/Blender should I focus on learning thoroughly?
Really any information that gives me some stable ground during the beginning of this learning experience is highly appreciated! Any links to good tutorials will make me happy aswell.
For those interested, follow this link and you will see a few photos of my last 4 maps on Far Cry 4.
http://imgur.com/a/B6Yir
Replies
From the looks of your images, you have been primarily world building with assets already available in the far cry editor? If that is the case, I think you need to ask yourself what are you feeling limited by? What really excites you? Because honestly you can start pretty much anywhere.
The limit between roles will vary greatly between studios. At one studio, and environment artist could do nothing but model and texture, whereas at another they may only be world builders placing assets in a level. In many cases it will be a mix of both these things.
As for where you should focus, start small. Take some baby steps. Tackle something that is interesting to you. Modelling, sculpting, texturing, and lighting are all part of the process, so following along a tutorial to make a small prop from start to finish is a decent place to begin.
I can't speak on the specifics of blender, but reading through the documentation for a program is a good start (even if it may seem a little boring). As for unreal, the material editor is an incredibly powerful tool to add to your arsenal.
Yes, that is the case. The games theme is set in the Himalayas, which means that the only props available are connected to this environment. And the amount of props available in each category is quite low.
- Around 90% of the jungle map's vegetation, is created by placing the same tree hundreds of times. Due to that there is only 2 leaftrees in the editor.
- The snowy valley had to be squished together inorder to fit the mountains. Because the terrain size can not be changed, and without mountains you are able to see the edge of the terrain and out of the map.
- The Favela could not have been created without exceeding the "Object Budget" several times over. The lack of objects meant that you had to custombuild certain things. (building a house plank by plank)
- To create a night time map, heavy fog must be activated. Otherwise there is an odd green tint on everything.
There are alot more limitations, but I decided to only list 1 for each map present on the link.
The thing I love the most is to create nature, so I want that to be my main focus. Would creating low-to-medium poly grass/rock/tree/bush, with a simple texture be a good start? Or are plants more difficult than, for example, furniture?