(UDK) Sci-fi Subway Station

mikhga

Hi there!

Kicking off with an environment, my second yet in UDK, and I've chosen to do a sci-fi subway station. The concept is by Aaron Foster (RazorB / http://www.razorb-art.com) Used with permission.

The technical limitations for this assignment are 50.000 triangles and a maximum texture usage of four 2048^2. I'll be trying to make this environment as modular as possible, so any tips or recommendations you might have about that area would be greatly appreciated.

Here's the concept:



EDIT: Latest update 07/14:








Comments and recommendations are very welcome!

Thanks for your time!

biofrost

Not much to crit yet but you seem to have the scale down.

ayoub44

Great blockout

jordan.kocon

I think the wall on the left side is too close to the pillars. Just imagine if you added in the seats as you have them now, they would be really close to the pillars. Other than that good luck, I started on this concept a while back but never finished unfortunately.

mikhga

Thanks for the comments! I've extended the far wall a bit, hopefully it's better now. I've also started blocking out the textures/modules. I'm doing this very iterative, since I want to get an overall look before I start doing any serious texturing. I've also started blocking out the lighting a bit, any comments on that would be really appreciated!

mikhga

I've continued blocking out and iterating on the modules.

Olli.

the space is tight, makes me feel a tad claustrophobic. Probably because the whole waiting area is about the size of a normal "keep clear" area in train stations in finland.

but it matches the concept, so what the hell.

SaferDan

The platform looks a bit long but it could just be that vent texture on the floor that looks massively out of scale.

You should block in the chairs and doors so people can get a better sense of scale, the floor is just throwing it off atm

Ack Master

i agree with saso. it needs to squished vertically especially over the tracks area.

mikhga

Added some more stuff, blocking out colors such. Gonna see about correcting those proportions.

mikhga

Small update, been adding some more stuff successively, still just blocking out colors and such for the textures. A few single modules/props left to add and then I'll be starting the "real" texturing.

I'm also gonna try and fix those proportion issues.

BB-88

You've said you'll work on the proportions but here's just a few areas to keep in mind when doing them (some repeats of what's been said)
Back wall feels too far away
Horizontally the scene feels too wide
The angular panel things with the lights leading into the track are a bit longer and less chunky than in the concept, for me this is losing the vertical depth a bit
I think the pillars need to be a little bit closer to the tracks

I think once you get the hanging wires in and pull that wall forward the tunnel will start to feel more cluttered and cramped. Keep at it dude

mikhga

So here's an update. Most of the meshes are still missing proper textures, but I'm slowly but surely texturing away. I've also added some "steam" from a number of the vents, just to give it some mood, and because I wanted to try out Cascade a bit.

I've also changed the vertical proportions a bit, and hopefully they are better now.

Darkleopard

Will be watching, i like what i see

mikhga

So after putting this environment on ice for quite a while now, due to other work, I'm gonna get back on the horse. So here's a small update, nothing fancy, but still progress. And if you are wondering why one of the wall panels are gone, I felt that it wasn't really up to par, so I'm gonna remodel it. Any feedback and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your time and patience!

mikhga

Some more progress, been playing around some with the lighting and tweaking some other general stuff.

Would love to hear what you guys think.

St.Sabath

Liking what i see sofar,just a couple of pointers here

-the two trashcans dont make sense placing 2 of them right next to eachother,it might be better to seperate them and place 1 of em elsewhere.
-the floorpattern of the platform seems to be a bit big,it would be very uncomfortable to walk on if the pattern was that large,i suggest to make the pattern smaller.
-the pilars on the platform,to be exact where they meet the floor is missing some foundation .atm they wouldnt have much of a base to stand on since the floorpattern is so large,but then again,the floor pattern wouldnt proceed under the pilars base . instead i would have some sort of inset in the floor where they rest on.

just my 2cents,looking great otherwise.. :thumbup:

mikhga

Thanks for your comments! I agree with all you've said, especially with the pillars, and I'll try to address everything you've marked upon as soon as possible!

mikhga

Here's some more progress, I've changed the positions of the trashcans and done some more tweaking and texturing.

mikhga

Some more progress. Comments and feedback is always appreciated!

Macattackk

The lighting seems to be too generalized. Notice in the concept that the lighting is split up more so that the area with the tracks is more washed out and monotonous than the waiting area which is very hot and direct in the lighting.

mikhga

I haven't really started to focus on the lighting just yet, but I'll make sure to keep that in mind.

My lighting setup right now consists of a few point lights with very low intensity for the track area, and for the platform I use the "Use Emissive For Static Lighting" option for my meshes with emissive-maps. But maybe that's a stupid approach? Any lighting tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the feedback!

mikhga

More slow progress, next up is the holograms I think. Feedback is, as usual, more than welcome!

SirCalalot

This is looking really nice so far!
I'll hold off critiques until you start on the lighting and composition

mikhga

Thanks! Hopefully I'll get into it more in-depth soon, because I'm really looking forward to your comments!

Mmachado

Can you show some wires? Are you using brushes?
Liking it

mikhga

Thanks!

I'm not at my work-computer at the moment, so I'll show you some wireframes tomorrow. I am not using any brushes, everything is composed of static meshes at the moment.

Paul Pepera

The drooping wires up top are too repetitive, try varying them more. Even in the concept there are slight variations in how they sag.

mikhga

I'll fix that right up! Thanks.

mikhga

Been working some on the lighting. Feedback would be immensely appreciated!

mikhga

Some more progress, got started with the holograms today. Mostly just fiddling around with the texture, so I haven't really started on the shader yet. Also quickly tested placing the text on the platform wall with a decal.

mikhga

More progress.

SirCalalot

Try changing your fog colour to a hue of blue.
As I think that the scene as it is just doesn't have enough foreground-background contrast.

That's just my opinion though, so feel free to ignore it

mikhga

I'll definitely try that out. Thanks!

Darkleopard

The signs need more orange and the lights need to stand out more by making everything else darker atmosphere wise. The wall opposite the lights is getting to much light also.

I think it would help if the support pillars casted shadows, that will go a long way to making the scene look better

mikhga

I'll try saturating the holograms more and I'll tone down the lights a bit. Regarding the pillars though, they are currently casting shadows, but maybe I should make them a bit darker to make them pop more.

Orangeknight

I cant see the image, could you try hosting somewhere else please.

leleuxart

Orangeknight wrote: »

I cant see the image, could you try hosting somewhere else please.

Same here. Nothing but the concept is loading for me.

mikhga

Sorry about that! Here's the latest update! Added it to the OP as well.

mikhga

I apologize for the hold up, but I am now finally ready to put the finishing touches on this environment.
I am going to improve the hologram shader, do something a little more interesting with the blood decals, refine the lighting and generally "grunge-up" the whole scene.

Any feedback from you guys would be appreciated!

Here are some shots, adding these to the OP as well, since I had some hosting issues:

SirCalalot

Right, I think you have some solid geometry and it looks good.
Currently it just seems like a nice subway station, but there isn't really anything to make the scene stand out.

You appear to have a couple blood splatters on the walls, but no real reasoning behind them - what's the story of this place? Who usually comes here?

As well as that, there is a lot of grey and brown going on, making little contrast to guide the eye around the piece.

I hope you don't mind, but I've done a paint-over with some ideas I think will to help push the scene:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a23vglqhmfevhom/Sci-Fi_Subway_Paintover.jpg

I made the lighting more blown out and harsher to provide contrast with the dark areas. I also added fog for brightness/colour and extended the tunnel to give a less cramped feel to the scene.

Lastly, I tried to tell a bit of a story with simple silhouettes - something for people to remember this scene by.

Again, these are just thoughts and I hope my post comes across as helpful (not annoying :P).

I really do love this piece and I want to see it pushed further

mikhga

@SirCalalot: Thanks for the help! Unfortunately I can not see the paint-over, maybe there's some hosting issues? Would love to see it! And the random blood splatter is just something I tried out quickly, since there's blood in the concept. I'll try to place it more logically.

SirCalalot

Bugger, I thought that might happen.
I've just changed it to a hyperlink for the time being, as I have no idea how to hotlink to images from DropBox

mikhga

Thanks a lot for that! I'll try to make the lighting on the platform a bit harsher and give some color to the fog I've currently got in the tunnel.

mikhga

So here's a little update, tweaked the lighting a bit and played around with the blood a bit more. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction.

mikhga

Here's another update, been fiddling around with the textures, currently working on the hologram shader.

Feedback would be nice as always!

mikhga

Another update, been working on the hologram shader, as well as adding a small hologram emitter on the wall.

Feedback appreciated!