[UE4] 2048 Environment
polycounter lvl 3
Hello Polycount, first time posting.
I recently finished this small environment for a college assignment. It took around 2 weeks of work to complete, I'm calling the project finished as I have to move on to other things. Any feedback is welcome as I could apply them to my next project! (I could also make small changes to this aswell)
I used photo reference from Liam Wong and Masashi Wakui for inspiration.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ADNgN
I recently finished this small environment for a college assignment. It took around 2 weeks of work to complete, I'm calling the project finished as I have to move on to other things. Any feedback is welcome as I could apply them to my next project! (I could also make small changes to this aswell)
I used photo reference from Liam Wong and Masashi Wakui for inspiration.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ADNgN
Replies
I've shot with Masashi a bunch in Tokyo!
Give me a tag on Twitter if you post it there and I'll RT it! www.twitter.com/liamwong
I might keep experimenting with the pano, probably try a wider FOV.
And I'll definitely tag you in the post on twitter!
Your scene has heavy rain, but aside from the asphalt none of it appears wet. Your concrete sidewalk is visually identical in the open and under the overhangs that should be keeping it dry.
Also no visible raindrops hitting anywhere either, even though it's raining.
Nearly everything in your scene appears like you want it to seem weathered, but didn't really take it anywhere. However you have this one extremely glossy trash can that apparently isn't just brand new, it was hand polished at whatever store sold it, sitting in there that is totally out of place next to everything else in the scene.
Also there are obvious texture seams by the dumpster.
Now that the obvious stuff is out of the way. Your materials are all boring and uniform. Use vertex colour blend shaders and decals to add dirt, cracks, grunge, etc. This will go VERY FAR to improving the look of your scene, and is a relatively miniscule amount of effort to do.
Presentation wise. Don't take screenshots at absurd FOVs please, it just looks bad. Your scene is a cramped alleyway, not Hyrule Field, you could capture it with a 60 degree fov camera if you needed to, you don't need to go all the way up to 150 where your dumpster begins to appear bent. Your first picture is probably the most egregious example of this. Literally 2/3 of it is taken up by boring empty concrete walls, leaving the actual scene to occupy a tiny amount of the picture.
Mainly the issue about this not reading as being set in 2048. I'd think about layering some of your buildings higher to sell the kowloon walled city cyberpunk theme (assuming that's what you're going for)... or if you're working from reference/concept and the buildings are meant to be like that then forget the suggestion... however to help boost the elements of the scene further in the sci-fi direction... consider hologram signs, more cables, more pipes, more ground level clutter (paper, debris, broken glass etc), some elements that imply life being lived in these buildings (clothe lines, open windows, one or two broken windows, etc)...
Hope that helps,
Des
I agree completely with most of your points, especially on the textures. I have 3 other assignments that I have to get finished, so I won't be able to make any changes soon, but I definitely will come back to this as you have opened my eyes a bit more.
There actually is rain drops hitting every surface but its just hard to see in the photos, i'll probably do a fly through video soon.
On the FOV, you're right but I put the FOV up (its at 110) so I could capture more of the scene rather than having to take so much pictures. I also switched my monitor recently to a 21:9 so that is probably making the FOV seem more extreme, but I will go back and change it.
I totally agree on making the buildings higher and adding more clutter, i'll make the changes soon when I can and post the updates here.
Thanks for the feedback.
@PearseM1
If you haven't already, you should go look at material from Sleeping Dogs, it's relatively close to what you're attempting. (particularly the rainy segments of that game)
But to summarise it, I agree with most of your points and I will definitely be looking to change the building/ ground materials to make the scene seem more interesting. I'll give sleeping dogs a look, thanks.
@Envie
I mentioned they were good notes/critiques, frankly just delivered rudely. We're here to help people, not cut them down with comments like "What exactly makes this a 2048 scene? Aside from the bikes missing spokes (which just looks dumb tbh, give them spokes and rename it asian alleyway", that does not really strike anyone as friendly especially when it's their first time posting. Kindergarten or not.
Here it is subtle but you can see there are two complementary colors all over this picture. The Yellow lights, the soft blue reflections on the ground and the Blue bilboards form some kind of equilibrium that makes it more pleasing to look at.
So because I think you are a few tweaks away from a great image I took some of my time to show you what I personaly think you could embelish in the ligthing of your scene.
First I would crop the camera to capture less of the walls on the side, and ajust colors like shown here.
Put some more blue lights against orange ones.
Put more emphasis on the right side little orange balls of lights ( dunno what to call them ).
Also I agree with the others on this one, maybe a change in the building textures would be nice, the right one being different from the left one as well as those in the backgound.
This is optional but I would put some Zdeph on the background ( blur ) and add somthing too look at in the center of the frame like a 2048's like Sci-fi motor-bike or something like that. ( Maybe it was stolen and later the thief had an accident and ran away in the streets.)
Anyway I think it is a good piece of work and a good subject choice, hope to see some new WIPs of your's soon.
I'll be keeping an eye on how this progresses because I do think this scene represents a decent start overall, but still needs a lot more work put in to bring it up to what I would consider passably good.
Also, a while back I followed this for a project I was working on, I would recommend you give it a look as well as this may help you create more convincing rain for your scene.
There is nothing even remotely unfriendly or rude about frankly stating a negative opinion on someone else's work, and it has generally been my experience, that the people who understand that tend to go a lot farther than the ones who don't. We're here to tell people what we think is good and what is bad and why because that is what helps people improve their skills, not sit there passing out participation ribbons and patting them on the back for showing up.
Alright man, you're right.
I've made some changes to the environment so far, you can see some of them in this video here; (sorry for the jittery movements)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgKA3Fi3CqY&ab_channel=Peaman94
Changes:
- the rain drops to the ground
- Changed some of the lighting
- Added in more high rise buildings around (might add more)
- Added flying cars (this was just a test, currently working on a better texture)
- Added small models (payphone, bin bags, sewer covers)
- changed some textures/ fixed seems
There is more changes that I still plan on making, I need more clutter around the street, clothes hanging from windows, more signs etc.
I'll update this again in the coming days with more changes. Thanks for all the feedback so far!