Critique my environment?
Hey there. I've been working on this environment for my last portfolio piece. This is my first attempt at hand painted textures and I would definitely love feedback. It was rendered in UDK.
Things I personally would like to fix but do not know how are; I would like to change the leaves. I was going for a paint splatter cartoony leaf feel but they just kinda look like giant blades... I also wanted to know if anyone knew of any good vertex painting tutorials? I've seen the one on eat3d but I can't help but feel there is an easier way.
Things I personally would like to fix but do not know how are; I would like to change the leaves. I was going for a paint splatter cartoony leaf feel but they just kinda look like giant blades... I also wanted to know if anyone knew of any good vertex painting tutorials? I've seen the one on eat3d but I can't help but feel there is an easier way.
Replies
I'd suggest getting some reference for the style & technique your choosing, also that tricount is nuts for whats actually there.
Gud luck with it kiddo.
I fixed the seams in the mushroom house, I changed the leaves, fixed up some textures(though I still need to fix some).
I've plugged this thread before, and i'll do it again. Look at the rocks and grass in this scene - lots more than just solid colors and some edge detail.
I also think your lighting is way too blown out close to the sources - and the lighting in the background is destroying the depth of the scene.
As far as the trees, i don't think the problem is so much in the texture of the leaves but the shapes of the mesh. they're very sharp and straight blocks of leaves and they're fighting with the shape design of the rest of the scene. Grab that curly-cue moon and work that into the leaves and branches somehow - run with that shape and feel and it will probably help a great deal.
Thanks for the advice. I drastically changed the lighting and made some foreground elements to help capture the curvy moon style you mentioned. I updated the textures of the boulders and am in the process of modelling cattails to add by the edge of the water.
Now, due to the fact that the minigame in this environment requires lighting in the bacground of the scene, I needed to find a way to maintain that lighting while still giving depth and focal point. Hence the fog.
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>.<
I still think that you can have some alpha planes with some nice branches and brush to accent your trees and frame your shot.
The fill light that you have is that purple... generally purple i save for really hardcore lighting like dusk, or dawn where the light is very dramatic. Nighttime you might want to have softer colors, with some hot spots coming from light sources. Some bloom here and there, instead of the pink a bright silver maybe.
I'll see if i have time today to a paintover and illustrate some thoughts.
Its looking good tho. Keep working on it.
couple quick refs: 1 2 3
and a wee little paintover for ye:
Some one suggested I add more small emissives to give a little more mysticism to the scene.
I'm not sure how I'm going to give the appearance of the grass hanging over dirt into the water because my landscape isn't dense enough to paint that detail in there.
It's a higher ground.
The water is a great oppportunity to emmit a nice green bottom light. It could give some really nice up lighting to the tree branches as well as the rocks you have there. I would also get rid of that rock on the left and add a small puddle. This will help to call out the player path much better as it's getting lost and kind of dark on the left side. You can also have some nice particle effects emmitting from the water as well which would give some nice life to the scene.
I would also make it so that the cool colors are the places the player isnt supposed to go, and the warmer colors are the players path and where they're supposed to go. I would also duplicate those lamps you have on the ground around the scene to imply where the player needs to go, and to also develop a language that makes it easier for the player to find their way around. I would add a light to the top of the door tha twill also help illuminate the steps as well as help give some warm light to the front of the house.
Lastly the moon needs to be a cool color, and emit cool color. It looks warm and it's giving off a warm color as your mushroom house says. You have a warm rim light on the top right of the mushroom house and it's disorienting.
My paintover might be alittle too vivid and saturated, but the point is there.
Hope this helps. YOu definitely have a nice stylized scene going on here and with alittle more love could make a great graduation portfolio piece.
hmmm... I'm not so sure how I feel about it now...
Nice work otherwise!
Also I'm not sure if that's mist off to the left (in this one), but I think that it adds a cool element to it, sort of a surreal, artistic feel to the environment (that you have going on in the other parts that don't need changing. I'd keep the mist, possibly even add it in small parts around the scene.
Aside from that, I have mainly been working on the functionality of the game which can be seen in my newest video in the link below.
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Note, I know VERY little about kismet. If anyone knows anything that can help me there as well I would appreciate it.