With the paint wearing off on the back, down to the wood grain, I would expect more wear on the rest of the instrument.
The fretboard seems like it should have high roughness near the frets (accumulated grime) and the back of the head is surprisingly pristine… I’d love to see some baked AO there, and high roughness around the peg machinery where it meets the paint. Also more wear near the plugs & pickups?
Here a few of the animal assets I have been posting here for the past few weeks in-game. This was an assignment that my classmates and I were tasked with creating in a short time. If anyone has any feedback or advice please let me know!
@cheesechen12 really good progress! debris can definitly be challenging. I would approch it by modeling a couple of different meshes, blocks, wood, concrete and so forth and "drop" it with pyhsics sim inside unreal so you dont have to lay it out everywhere by hand. but definitly adjust some stuff by hand too. But - I am not 100% comfortable with this kind of workflow too as I havent used it a lot. Maybe also worth to create some preset rubble meshes you can quickly place and rotate around in the scene. Overall thou, I think the lighting looks solid, the overall size of the scene feels great and you are doing great progress.
@iriberri looks awesome. great textures! painted by hand? - only feedback I have would be just a bit softer shadows and some more details in the geometry i.e. wood planks are straight - can have a smal dent or offset to each other. Looks great nonetheless.
@murzbeast good variation and nice touch with the smoke and lava glow. My only suggestions would be - giving the meat a bit more specular and the bone a litte less - would try it out maybe. the glow on the flame could be more intense too to emphasize the heat. otherwise cool idea
TLDR: Your stuff is too clean and lacks a soul. Ideally you want to create art (for games anyway) that doesn't look like it's a render from a corporate catalog. Example:
Your problem isn't so much the models, but the materials/lighitng/composition of your scenes.
Most models for games and environments (yes those that target realism) all have a "lived-in" and slightly worn look to them. Here is your model (above). Not bad, a good start. It's just a chair right now though. fresh from the factory, never been used. Doesn't have a personality. (How can a chair have a personality? It can....want me to show you?) See below...these chairs still look mostly new, but they are not perfect. It looks like someone a little more heavy set sat in one at some point and caused a slight scuff or crack to the front of the seat and over time it discolored the wood a bit. It has different levels of worn off stain and discoloring from being handled by oily hands that would cause the discoloration on the top of the neck of the chair and not as much on the legs/seat of the chair. It has history, a story, a soul. I'd spend some time on Artstation looking for the things you're trying to create and see what the competition is doing Homework. You need to study your opponent or seek to gain the skills they've demonstrated and align towards what are attractive assets to hiring/employing studios. It's rare this industry wants showroom quality assets that look straight up perfect or taken from a sterile showroom. Infuse all your models/materials/environments with a bit more personality, and tell a story with each texture/material/model that you can. It's not just a chair. It's Morpheus and Neo's chair. It's not just a prop....sure it can be; but it could also be a supporting asset that then helps tell the viewer a larger story and in turn makes something memorable.
Most games have a "lived in" look to them or even more so...aged or war torn. If you can't demonstrate that quality/understanding of work in your portfolio; you'll most likely be passed over. Good luck.