[WIP] Snowy Keep

nightfrontier

Hey!

Backstory: I recently did a scene where I created an environment with the landscape feature in UDK (...in this thread). I've been interested in terrain and terrain generation for a long time so as vacation came up it was finally time for me to jump in! And I learnt a lot!

This time I want to make it a work in progress thread, my first one actually! So I can better document my progress and get feedback from you guys on the way. For the scene, instead of doing something new I figured I'd continue with the landscape and snow theme and try to iterate and improve upon my last attempt. I love iterating and finding out what comes out in the end. Here's a list of things I'd like to accomplish:

• Adding a structure or structures with exploreable interior sections
• Creating a new and better terrain
• Improving the sky, last one was flat and simple
• Learning more about particle systems and matinee

Currently I'm working on blocking out the main structure for the scene. I want the building to function as an oasis in the otherwise desolate landscape. The whole scene is cold and I want to counter that with a huge bonfire and light coming out of the structure.

nightfrontier

Just a small update. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of structure I want to create and how to fit it into the scene. I'm getting really close to something that I think could work. I'll make sure to put up some screen shots as soon as possible.

In the meantime I worked on the colors for the sky and tweaked materials for the terrain.

nightfrontier

Hey! Here are some new shots of the scene. Been quite busy the last couple of weeks but trying to squeeze in some hours here and there. I finally added a tower but also trees and background mountains to try and push the depth of the scene. The tower has been the hardest part for me on this one. Just had problems getting a clear image of what I really wanted. Still trying to figure out how far I should push the structure part of the scene.

Question: I have a snow particle effect but I have to use a lot of particle emitters to cover the whole environment. Is there any way to create a screen space particle effect? Or maybe have the particle emitter follow the camera / player?

The orange lighting is supposed to be torches and there is supposed to be a big fire at the top of the tower. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

nightfrontier

No replies yet... here are two new screenshots! After a lot of iterations on the sky and lighting I finally think I have something that I can be happy with. I did another pass on the background mountains and the trees. I also created and added torches and a fire particle effect. I still have a bunch of stuff I'd like to do and I'd still love some feedback and critique to improve the scene so don't be afraid!

anarcy

i really like this cept it needs somthing more it seems still a bit plain

Tairii

nightfrontier wrote: »

No replies yet... here are two new screenshots! After a lot of iterations on the sky and lighting I finally think I have something that I can be happy with. I did another pass on the background mountains and the trees. I also created and added torches and a fire particle effect. I still have a bunch of stuff I'd like to do and I'd still love some feedback and critique to improve the scene so don't be afraid!

DUDE, THIS IS AN AMAZING SHOT.

Keep working at it, up the detail a bit. This can go far. grr, I have a modeling itch now...

chrisradsby

Yeah it's still looking a little plain, add some more poly-detail around the entrance and maybe some kind of settlement or something at the bottom there next to the stairs.

nightfrontier

Thanks for the feedback! I was getting a bit worried that I was doing something wrong with my scene since nobody said anything!

I have a few ideas on how to expand the structure part of the scene. So I'll definitively be looking into that. I'm also playing around with matinee so I can post a fly-through. There are some effects like the fire and snow that can only be fully enjoyed in moving format!

I'll make sure to post again as soon as I have something to show.

danpaz3d

Looks great!
I agree with some of the comments though. Seems a bit empty.
You could put a few more trees around the place?
And another thing I think is that the sky is 'weird', I can't really tell if it's day or night.
I suggest making the sky a bit darker, or, get rid of the stars and add more clouds.
Just for some more contrast/definition.

Good work though. Looking forward to updates!

leleuxart

It's looking a lot better from the first images. I feel like a fire that big would be a pretty big signal and the Lord of the Rings beacon scene came to me immediately Maybe add a few more of the structures with fires back in the distance, if you want to take it in that direction. It was just the first thing that came to my mind. Here's the clip from LoTR

JamieRIOT

I echo what others have said so far. Also I think the tower needs some snow/ice added to it. If you looking at the structure only, you wouldn't say it was in the middle of a very cold and snowy landscape.

Jack Ryan

Try and think about the habits of people that would be using this watch tower. I'm sure there would be a table outside the watch tower, with a mug that once had ale in, and the paths that the patrolman would likely continously walk would be beaten. Right now a lot of the snow around your tower looks too perfect.

But of course you can argue that, it snows a lot... so it's covered up.

sneakymcfox

Jack Ryan wrote: »

Try and think about the habits of people that would be using this watch tower. I'm sure there would be a table outside the watch tower, with a mug that once had ale in, and the paths that the patrolman would likely continously walk would be beaten. Right now a lot of the snow around your tower looks too perfect.

This, also one thing that bothers me slightly is that the hill it's on is surrounded by other larger hills and would that watchtower not be on the tallest accessible hill but that's a minor grip, other than that this looks cool.

Bek

I agree that the sky is too bright, also look into the 'Rule of Thirds' for your screenshot - if the moon was slightly higher and more to the left, and the tower was more to the right (obviously by moving the camera) you'd be closer to the ROT. Will depend on your final aspect ratio though.

maxivz

What about doing some poly painting for the base of the tower? Otherwise i think this looks awsome, def an inspiration

garriola83

Who owns this tower? Where are their banners? Where's the life scattered about the place? I hope that helps. Good luck.

nightfrontier

Just wanted to thank you all for the great feedback! I'll definitely use it to improve the scene and I'll keep updating this thread as often as I can.

Kuki

I think you could really add some extra stone walls connected to the main tower, more like a defensive line, you know, something like the Adrian's wall

Zamite

I might be completely off with this so take it with a bit of salt, I don't know much about composition.

I get the feeling that when viewed from the entrance side there are some incongruences with the scene. With a bright sky like that, I would expect the flame to seem less bright (less contrast + light interference etc). I would also expect flames to pour out some smoke (but then its more particle work than anything else and that's up to you).

I was going to say that the orange hue is a bit too saturated, but after looking some "flame in the snow" and "torch in the snow" images on google I realized I could be wrong. Perhaps you can add to the feeling of the image by making the flame lights look less "omnidirectional". Open flames don't propagate to all sides equaly and are instead molded by the material they are burning on etc..

e.g.: some similar lighting artwork


Perhaps since the sky is that bright you can reduce the ammount of orange as the "white/blue" hue from the moonlight would propagate better. (Even on the back of the tower because of the reflecting snow).


Aaaaaaanyways... those are my two cents from someone who knows nothing about this :P

nightfrontier

Hey, back with a new screenshot.

There are a number of changes and tweaks.

• The sky is now darker and hopefully easier to recognize as a night sky.
• I added more trees and experimented some with adding some grass. The grass did not turn out that well but I haven't abandoned the idea entirely.
• Added new and improved battlements as well as banners to make the silhouette of the tower more interesting.
• Vertex painted snow between the bricks.
• Started working on some exterior props, right now there is only a simple wood plank but more to come (table, barrels, wagon).
• Added the first wall connected to the tower. More to come!

nathanbarrett

That looks amazing! At a glance it looks like concept art.

Can we see some model wireframes and textures please!?

danpaz3d

Yes! Looking much better!
Especially like the fire on top of the tower, adds character.

Crits:
- I'd make the moon a bit smaller and the bloom for it a bit bigger(and less saturated)
- Less snow around the staircase considering those torches have been burning for a while.
- Agree, no grass but you could put in a few shrubs (dead ones) and snow up those trees!
- Finally I'd up the contrast a bit for more depth.

Thats it!

Jack Ryan

Just adding the banners alone has given the impression it's a lot more lived in, good job

nightfrontier

Can we see some model wireframes and textures please!?

Yes, here you go! Everything is still work in progress. There are a lot of areas to be optimized and improved upon later

The first one is a screenshot of the background mountains. The second is a screenshot of the actual "gameplay" terrain. Where the tower is located. I removed the tower and lifted the terrains out of the scene to better show them without a lot of clutter and things in the way. Both terrains were generated in World Machine with some additional Photoshop help.

Here is what the tower looks like unlit. You can clearly see the vertex painting going on.

Two of the textures used in the scene; brick and wood.

And finally the wireframes for the entire scene. You can clearly see that there are parts that can be optimized further. The tower has a lot of extra edge loops because of the vertex painting. However, there is also an interior part of the tower that will probably be cut out later or optimized a lot.