[UDK] Roman Street
polycounter lvl 5
Hey guys,
This is my first post here
A quick bit of background: I did a BA in Games design, but then recently decided I'd like to do Archaeology, as that's always been my other passion - Long story short, I finished my archaeology degree, and there are few jobs in either field :poly124: So I'm trying to update my games art portfolio.
Problem is, I haven't don't any 3D in nearly two years, so I'm pretty rusty and out of touch with current techniques. A few months ago I tried my hand at making some Roman streets, but I'm not happy at all with the result (viewable here).
I've recently been scoping these forums and the wiki, and I want to try my hand at a Roman street scene again. My goal is to try out all the things I don't know how to do, as well as improve the archaeological accuracy of the original scene (My field was Roman military architecture, not private housing). I'm hoping you guys can help me out, and give some critiques!
My Three Big Problem Areas are:
Texture sculpting - Did some Zbrush in school but haven't touched it in three years! Got my hands on a copy of mudbox now though.
UDK Materials/Shaders - As hinted in the title, my ultimate goal is to get this in to the UDK. I want some experience making more complex shaders though.
Lighting - It's an area I've always neglected, and it always lets my scenes down.
Project Brief:
So, as mentioned, it's a Roman street! Specifically, something in central Italy during the early empire (Julio-Claudian/Flavian). Basically, Pompeii and Herculaneum - which I'm drawing most of my reference from. I want it to be in the early morning, with a crisp feel to it. The street itself I want it to be fairly dirty. Pompeii's streets pratically functioned as an open sewer (Thus the crossing stones), and I want to try and capture that if I can. I really like the top right image from my mood board at the bottom of the post, in terms of lighting, colors and general dirtiness.
It would be a game environment, so my ultimate goal is to get it running in the UDK.
My first step was my mock up. Just set out my scene with some blocks with carved out doors and windows, and some basic lighting. It's all on a grid. I'm not entirely happy with it. I'm considering stretching the street much further in to the distance, and ending it with a town gate. Not sure about the position/size of the mountain either. Might also narrow the width of the streets, to add more verticality to the scene.
Thoughts?
Since at the time the fashion was to plaster everything, my texture sculpting will mainly involve the road and sidewalks. I might paint on damage with vertex painting though, and have been playing around with the vertex painting tutorials and the material instance tutorials:
Props will be few. Just the street altar and the fountain.
In terms of the houses, it's going to be a mix of modular and unique meshes. While the main shape of the facades will be unique, I plan on making a sheet with all the necessary Doric Order trim - Full entablature and column - to use for decoration. Doors, roofs, windows and the joists for the balcony will also be reusable. Still have to plan out my textures properly though. That'll be my next stage, before I start the full on modeling. I'm going to start with the smaller bits first, like the trim stuff, to kind of ease myself in to the project.
Lastly, here are some of my reference images and mood images:
Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated! Thanks! And sorry if the images are too big!
This is my first post here
A quick bit of background: I did a BA in Games design, but then recently decided I'd like to do Archaeology, as that's always been my other passion - Long story short, I finished my archaeology degree, and there are few jobs in either field :poly124: So I'm trying to update my games art portfolio.Problem is, I haven't don't any 3D in nearly two years, so I'm pretty rusty and out of touch with current techniques. A few months ago I tried my hand at making some Roman streets, but I'm not happy at all with the result (viewable here).
I've recently been scoping these forums and the wiki, and I want to try my hand at a Roman street scene again. My goal is to try out all the things I don't know how to do, as well as improve the archaeological accuracy of the original scene (My field was Roman military architecture, not private housing). I'm hoping you guys can help me out, and give some critiques!
My Three Big Problem Areas are:
Texture sculpting - Did some Zbrush in school but haven't touched it in three years! Got my hands on a copy of mudbox now though.
UDK Materials/Shaders - As hinted in the title, my ultimate goal is to get this in to the UDK. I want some experience making more complex shaders though.
Lighting - It's an area I've always neglected, and it always lets my scenes down.
Project Brief:
So, as mentioned, it's a Roman street! Specifically, something in central Italy during the early empire (Julio-Claudian/Flavian). Basically, Pompeii and Herculaneum - which I'm drawing most of my reference from. I want it to be in the early morning, with a crisp feel to it. The street itself I want it to be fairly dirty. Pompeii's streets pratically functioned as an open sewer (Thus the crossing stones), and I want to try and capture that if I can. I really like the top right image from my mood board at the bottom of the post, in terms of lighting, colors and general dirtiness.
It would be a game environment, so my ultimate goal is to get it running in the UDK.
My first step was my mock up. Just set out my scene with some blocks with carved out doors and windows, and some basic lighting. It's all on a grid. I'm not entirely happy with it. I'm considering stretching the street much further in to the distance, and ending it with a town gate. Not sure about the position/size of the mountain either. Might also narrow the width of the streets, to add more verticality to the scene.
Thoughts?
Since at the time the fashion was to plaster everything, my texture sculpting will mainly involve the road and sidewalks. I might paint on damage with vertex painting though, and have been playing around with the vertex painting tutorials and the material instance tutorials:
Props will be few. Just the street altar and the fountain.
In terms of the houses, it's going to be a mix of modular and unique meshes. While the main shape of the facades will be unique, I plan on making a sheet with all the necessary Doric Order trim - Full entablature and column - to use for decoration. Doors, roofs, windows and the joists for the balcony will also be reusable. Still have to plan out my textures properly though. That'll be my next stage, before I start the full on modeling. I'm going to start with the smaller bits first, like the trim stuff, to kind of ease myself in to the project.
Lastly, here are some of my reference images and mood images:
Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated! Thanks! And sorry if the images are too big!