Journey Down Environment.

JO420

This is an environment im working on,the concept is from an artist named Theodor Waern. He's doing a point and click game called a Journey down.http://www.twgrafik.com/


I really loved the style of the environment and it will be a good change from gritty and realistic.










I'm finishing out blocking the details and i will get it into UDK soon and start creating textures,models,etc. One thing i need to determine is how modular should i go with the env.

Mark Dygert

That's some cool concept art, and you're modeling is looking good so far. Looking forward to seeing more

BlvdNights

Looking good so far. Check out though in the concept how the subtly exaggeration of the world gives it personality. See if you can do the same in your scene.

Shogun3d

Good start!

Lighting is going to be key, and watch out for those sharp 1 pixel corners!

JO420

BlvdNights wrote: »

Looking good so far. Check out though in the concept how the subtly exaggeration of the world gives it personality. See if you can do the same in your scene.

Thank you,i think the exaggerations will be more evident once i build the actual modular pieces. I think tonight i am going to sit dow,give it a good look and try to figure out how much of this will be modular.


@kaburan Indeed! That along with materials as well,getting the wet look is important equally in the scene,that is if i am to get as accurate as the concept as i can. The textures will be hand painted as well which will also be fun

SanderDL

That's a great game!

Play it here:

http://www.bigbluecup.com/games.php?action=detail&id=1344:thumbup:

Jungsik

Nice~~~~!

JO420

Just a quick update. Last night i began to create the basic tileable textures which will be seen in the scene. The first one is a cobble tile for the pathways.The diffuse at the bottom left just has some basic color info with the AO applied so i can see the normals better in UDK


Last night i generated normals,AO light maps and height maps in z brush for this tileable texture and these are the first results of the WIP material/textures in UDK. Instead of using any sort of stencils in z brush i just hand drew all of the details maintain the hand drawn art style of the concept.



When i get home ill work more on this texture as well as get the blocked out scene in UDK.

Making these hand drawn textures is sort of new to me so this might be the first of many attempts

teaandcigarettes

Looks good so far, though some of the stones look a little bit blobby. I would pinch the edges a little bit more; it creates that nice, cartoony feel.

I'm wondering how did you make it tileable, though. Did you sculpt it directly on a plane and then removed the seams in photoshop? Or did you go straight into 2.5D mode and used the tilde button to wrap it around?

JO420

teaandcigarettes wrote: »

Looks good so far, though some of the stones look a little bit blobby. I would pinch the edges a little bit more; it creates that nice, cartoony feel.

I'm wondering how did you make it tileable, though. Did you sculpt it directly on a plane and then removed the seams in photoshop? Or did you go straight into 2.5D mode and used the tilde button to wrap it around?

Well thats the kind of cobble im going for,maybe it is too blooby,i dont know. This texture will be tiled many times on the floor so it may not be as noticeable. Im going to try to paint some of the diffuse tonight over it and see how it looks,if i hate it ill remake the texture again in z brush.



As for how i made this,it was in z brush using the wrap mode.

McGreed

You could always try using the script here:
http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/stone-placement-tools
to generate the ground map.

SHEPEIRO

JO420- looking good think your stones are fine...blobby they are but supposed to be...dont get sucked in by the trend for pinched surfaces they look great...

bretmcnee- probably cos your used to seeing an inverted (comparitively) green channel no biggy to swap

Taylor Hood

Pretty sweet dude, I like the textures and the block out.

nbac

i like your progress so far! i love those concepts of journey down ... i did a 3d conversion of a jd env myself i´d like to see it colored

Snader

The reference you show has a lot rounder cobbles. I like your current version visually, but if you're trying to follow reference you're quite off.

Is the game gonna be realtime or with rendered(+shopped?) images?

nbac

try it out - it is an oldshool point and click adventure (stills - no realtime)
first chapter is available for download

JO420

Quick update. Finished all of the block outs and i got the basic floor layout into UDK,imported the two textures ive created for the environment. The stone block wall textures is almost done then its on to making a modular set of stone blocks to use on the borders all around the ground mesh. I experimented with the lighting a tad and i think i'll have to spend much time on it to get it right.








@Snader quite right,its different,i almost considered redoing it but it grew on me.I might however have to make changes as the environment grows,i thought it would be fun to make a hand drawn environment and it all fits together in the end.


teaandcigarettes: i considered pinching more but i dont want to get into either extreme realisim or cartoony. I made the mesh for the normal bake in z brush using the wrap around feature.

BlvdNights

That AO technique you tried isn't working. In fact I'd say you've put too much effort into something with little to no great success. The floor tile feels blurry up close. If you wanted to do some fancy shader work, you should have focused on breaking up the tiling diffuse some more and used a lerp mask with different diffuses. The noise on the stone in the diffuse and normal is weird looking as well. I'd totally kill it personally. Your spec map isn't really helping either. I think you need to look at how cobblestone actually looks in wet conditions like in the concept.

JO420

BlvdNights wrote: »

That AO technique you tried isn't working. In fact I'd say you've put too much effort into something with little to no great success. The floor tile feels blurry up close. If you wanted to do some fancy shader work, you should have focused on breaking up the tiling diffuse some more and used a lerp mask with different diffuses. The noise on the stone in the diffuse and normal is weird looking as well. I'd totally kill it personally. Your spec map isn't really helping either. I think you need to look at how cobblestone actually looks in wet conditions like in the concept.

By AO technique you mean the light map for the diffuse correct?


I don't feel like the diffuse tiles too obviously,there is some varying colors in it but when i see it in game it seems to break up at a distance quite nicely.

The noise i agree onits gone as for the rain im still looking for a way to creat the materiali was thinking maybe its in gears one for the rain level

JO420

Its been awhile but im back on working on this little project, i redid the cobble floor tile texture, now it looks more smooth and the normals pop out alot more now. Overall im satisfied with the result but it might have to change as this scene progresses.









I am now working on the modular set for the stone blocks that function as ledges, after i finish the textures ill move onto making the bridge,lamp and little chain poles.

JasonLavoie

i'm really digging this so far man

JO420

And tonight i mostly finished the high poly lamp ill use for the normal bake,the base
,being stone will require some z brushing but that ill get to once i make the high poly for the bridge sides which is also stone.

JO420

And tonights work i got most of the high poly done,i need to make the actual walking part of the bridge which is just a block out and then get the stone parts into z brush and then on to the low poly model.

JO420

Another quick update,although the amount i can work on this nightly has been a wee limited,ive still managed to keep working on this scene. This is the work in progress for the bas of the bridge. so far all you see is the in game model with basic color and AO burn on the texture as well as normals. The next few nights ill be working on the texture and enhancing the normals. That will make some of the areas i z vrushed pop out a little more and hopefully i can finish by wednesday. Then on to the lamp which goes on the pillars of the bridge as well as a stand alone version of the lamp for other locations.

This will be the first full weekend i can work on this little scene and i hope i manage to make some more progress.

JO420

So another quick update,i am still chip away at this environment every free moment i can get and i have vowed to myself to take this environment to the end. So the texture and model of the bridge is finished. Overall happy with the look of it,at least for the time being. Also modeled out the low poly lamp,there are two versions,one which goes over the stone columns of the bridge and a stand alone light post as well,also made the small poles and chain that goes besides the bridge. If i have room in the texture sheet ill also have the ladder and the rings next to it as well. So tonight is to try to finish the texture for the lamps,pole,chains,ladders and rings so i think i am closed to finished with alot of the modular,instanceable assets then onto the buildings.

Also didnt have a real clear view on the concepts for the chains but i figured diamond shaped links would go well with the very triangle like style seen in the concepts.

SaferDan

This is looking really good I always said i was going to do this scene and you have beaten me too it! The concept is beautiful and you are doing an awesome job

JO420

SaferDan wrote: »

This is looking really good I always said i was going to do this scene and you have beaten me too it! The concept is beautiful and you are doing an awesome job

Thank you,i hope in the end when i finish it can be a nice center piece for my portfolio. Its been a bit more challanging to the type of work ive done in the past which has been gritty and realistic. Im trying to have it where there is alot of color in the environment so i have had to plan for this type of style to get it all to look right. The handpainted look has also been fun and challenging,trying to mix 2d looking detail along with normals i believe i can still get better at.

JO420

stand alone metal lamp post. Texture is still WIP.

SaferDan

I still need to get to grips with hand painted stuff it still terrifies me!

The lamppost is looking awesome! Maybe a bit more wear at the bottom? Just to ground it a bit more? I don't know that its a very minor nitpick!