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So after all the time doing small scenes or single objects I decided to tackle something bigger (maybe too big). So here I am in UDK. This more or less gives a rough idea of the size and some of the elements I have so far.
Story behind it.
I imagine this place like the last stage in a game where you about to get the ultimate weapon. You've gathered all the different pieces, scrolls, etc. At the base you will see a big statue on top of those circular rock platforms. You will pay your tribute, or use a spell and finally you can climb to claim your prize.
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Other images for reference.
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I wanted to do a natural bridge from the top of the area where the big structure is to the other piece of land to the right but I don't think you can with the landscape tool in UDK. So I am going to to make man made stone bridge.
Still early but slowly taking shape.
Replies
One thing to remember as you go forward - Really focus on what objects have and give purpose to your scene. If it were me, i'd scale the size of the scene down quite a bit to make it more manageable. Focus on the objects you like the most and that tell the story (Altar area/Statue/Natural Bridge/Steps leading up the mountains). The objects that give the scene character. Looking forward to seeing where you go with it.
The single rocks made it ok but I'm having some trouble with the rock piles I made. I am loosing the material ID's when I bring them into UDK. Something that I will have figure out.
Other than that I am still working on shaders to get some variations for all the natural elements. BTW. Loving all you can do with shaders in UDK. Parameters FTW
I will probably move on to work on the top of the columns and the statue that will be in the middle.
@The_Exec - Thanks. Good advice. I'm focusing on that area first and I will expand from there.
@HandSandwich - slowly but surely Will.
BTW. Is there a way to change the title of a thread. I want to add WIP.
But yeah, looks good. Expecting big mountains in the background.
I think its more a matter of saturation, more green would probably work (and then yes darken it a bit). Add some soil patches too
Looking good.
@Zamite - thanks. Yeah. Right now it's very desaturated. I will play with post processing a bit when I do another pass on the landscape.
I just finished the temple that goes at the top. Here are some screenshots. Right now I will do a pass on the terrain to make it less flat.
cheers and thanks for stopping by.
You're also getting a straight horisontal line because most of the trees are the same height. For the first beauty shot makes sure you frame the building in the back, make good use of foreground (bushes?), middleground (ruins) and background (castle-thing) to get some decent depth.
Other than that
Here is the latest update. It took a while cause I hadn't use zbrush in a while and I wanted to see what all the fuzz about was with dynamesh. It is pretty cool.
Things that are coming is a bush to break up the environment.
A bridge on the background to enhance the silhouette for the background.
The sky. I'm not sure what I want to do with it but I want something cool and detailed.
Also some minor props to leave at the feet of the statue, some offerings. A plate, some flowers, coin, etc.
Thanks Darkleopard. I agree. I started breaking up the actual landscape and added stuff to break up the flatness.
thanks for the suggestions chrisradsby. I decided to add the bush based on what you said.
Don't want to take focus from your project, but out of curiosity do you happen to know who made this image?
That dude.
Edit: Wow, I didn't comment on your work? It looks absolutely awesome so far. Very inspiring, and I can't wait to see more of it.
Crits:
-Agree that you could/should make that statue a bit bigger.
-The ground still looks flat. I recommend adding a bumpOffset to some of the materials on the terrain.
-More grass! And add some color variation to them as well. Browns, greens etc...
-Still looking for a mountain range in the background!
Keep it up, it is looking better.
@nufftalon - Thanks. Yeah! Go ape and start something big.
@MisterSande - Slowly I will add stuff to populate it. I don't want it to be too obvious that men have been there. Just hints here and there.
@S_ource - Thanks for the suggestion. I will scale it up and see how it looks for the next update.
@danpaz3d - Thanks for the feedback. I already incorporated some of it. Going to battle the landscape material to add some normal maps into it. We'll see how that goes.
So here is the latest update. I added more variations on the grass color. I added a lavender plant. Added some coins and a lavender plant as offerings to the statue. A first pass for the skydome and some improvements on the lighting.
Next thing would be to populate with more things. Maybe some fences or something still not sure. Scale up the statue, work on the sky and more stuff as I go along.
Cheers!
The ground is quite barren and needs some variation, same with the pedestal the statue is on. And those hills in the background look incomplete, waiting for a forest or snow or something.
Some more dramatic lighting would help too. Something other than around midday, and a skydome other than clear blue skies.
Personally I'm imagining light striking the front of the statue (in say, the early morning) to give it some more emphasis.
Thanks for all the feedback locater16. I tweaked lighting, skies, foliage, and other overall tweaks.
Couldn't do much cause my hand started hurting so I couldn't work for a while but Im trying out a vertical mouse now and some other adjustments. So far my hand feels better.
Good tip neverwander. Will do that. Thanks.
Maybe play around with the composition, by looking at some images from Skyrim, or Oblivion, or even ancient Rome or Greece..
Note how, usually, when rounded structures (like yours) are present, they are part of a round temple, and not just seperate shrines, or what-have-you? They originally were to form a cylindrical temple. On a stand.
Where, with yours, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the placement.
Note, too, how most of these ruins are surrounded by all sorts of stones, and pieces of collumns, strewn everywhere.
Also, the fog is making it look very CG to me. Maybe at some fog particles in there to break it up a bit....
Crits:
- From a composition point of view its a little bit mixed up.
- Back in those 'ancient' times they were all about alignment.
- Align everything up then frame it so it all fits into one shot.
- Give the viewer/player a statement to think of, like...
'you're here at this sword statue thing, you must hike to the castle over there'
- You have it a bit now but make it more obvious and easy to understand.
- Finally I think the colors are a bit off. Either put some brown in to all the greens or put some green into all the browns.
Keep going!
Just a thought :P keep it up.