This is so amazingly inspirational you have no idea how excited I am to see something like this. I've been itching to do a small hand-painted (with normals derived from Zbrush sculpts) diorama type of environment piece for long time. Your use of color here and awesome painting skills really gets me goin'.
I really dig your textures so far, but the floor texture kinda stands out to me. I think it's the really saturated blue tiles and to a lesser degree the red tiles. They seem a bit more muted in the concept and come off as a bit much in the texture. Maybe a tad too much color variation/saturation?
I'll be watching this thread for sure and I can't wait to see this progress. Thanks for sharing!
Sorry long time since my last message... But there's some WIP !
The modeling is almost completed, I still have to make the details (spiderwebs, ivy, mushrooms, ...) and the back of the dungeon (a quick "roof", or something like that )
I did all the UV sheets and started the texturing:
And the answers:
@sybrix: When I'll finish the whole texturing and lighting, I will retake some texture, color balance, details and so on. I always proceed like that, just like finalizing an image in photoshop with some post process and tweaking on the full image.
@seir: Many of the assts are created being modular IF i would make a game (you can assemble column in different ways, all floors and walls textures are tileable, rocks can be split in 2 sides to snap them on walls, ...), but in a so tiny piece of environment, I prefer create different assets for each levels
Thanks all of you for your comments and feedbacks !
Oh and i'm around 10K triangles for the whole Diorama... I know it's a bit much for a cartoon environment, but well... There are 3 levels, at 360° with cliffs and rocks :P
I still can gain some backfaces and optimisations, but with the fine details (see my last message), I should stay around 10K
I'm working on another piece of art, a next-gen one this time, that I'll post on Polycount soon, so it tooks time to finish this Diorama, and I wanted to add some things like pieces of tower, so it looks like more "complete".
This is the WIP, in Unity
And a closer look on the vitral
It's the Hero Quest characters I really wanted to make a tribute cause it inspired me so much to do this work
Awesome work, fantastic concept work and great texturing skills.
If I was in your shoes at this point it is definitely worth finishing it in the method you have started, but as a test to myself (if I wasnt burnt out with the project at this stage) I would look at sculpting the entire scene, (bare in mind this is no relation to your modelling or texture skills) but I think youll find it could be a faster workflow, especially with the cavity and ao from the hi-polys.
I love it so far the fantastic concept, and awesome box art on that game.
looking at it now an idea came to me... imagine the diorama rotating slowly, and some sort of battle between 3-4 characters, that loops, for example a guy falling to the bottom level, climbing up fighting again, and some other things happening simultaneously... that should keep the audience captivated lol
@Prtofdacrowd: It could be a very good work indeed, I agree all the assets would have a bigger "coherence" but I really wanted to make "real game assets" for this diorama. The Next One maybe
@Aga22: Funny that you said that: The first idea with my lead animator colleague was to do EXACTLY what u're saying: a little loop scene with 2 or 3 characters. But well, It would take me time to make them and him to animate them Maybe later !
For the Slow Rotation... Wait for the Unity version, it is already rotating, with different camera, user-controlled rotation, music... I'll show this up a bit later, when the 3D will be done !
So, little WIP on the Low Level Rocks:
And I realize I never showed u the final concept, my bad:
Man I just love the concept! On the model, my crit would be your texturing looks somewhat dull in colors as it is now but I guess it'll come together when you set up the lights.
I really like the vibrancy in your concept so I hope that'll translate to the finished product.
Man I absolutely love this so far, great job! It's a really good idea too. For texturing, you said you use PS and Mudbox. Do you mean you made a high poly for the cracks etc, or for the seam painting? I haven't used a 3d package for seams before!
@circle of friends: I said that but finally I tried, learned and LOVE 3D Coat I just have a really good feeling with this soft, for painting.
So all the "architectural" or simple assets and textures are directly made with Photoshop, and all assets wich require seems, or have more organic shapes (Rocks, etc.) are painted in 3D Coat.
And No, I didn't bake any occlusion or cavity from High Poly Meshes. I Didn't sculpt anything for this job, except quick Voxel shapes (just to make a Retopo + UV) for the rocks.
@AimBiZ: Yes that's the plan ! What I'll try: Dark ambient light, with saturate (but dark) colors on the textures. And use MANY Low Lights, ambient light, direct ou spots lights, and so on to "reveal" the vibrant colors where I want. (Most of them will be bake, so the only cost will be the baking time :P )
Reminded me of how much fun I had with Hero Quest Went to check out getting a copy again and they are like 300$ now... Awesome work btw inspiring for sure.
noice,
love the concept, and looking at those rocks the 3d is going to look amazing too!
btw, the style of those rocks remind me of Dishonored,
I see you live in France and are looking for work so if you're done with this project you should defenetly apply at Arkane Studios!
btw, if you would want to try out normal maps on this i bet nDo2 can give you some pretty good ones generated from that diffuse,
no need for high poly or sculpting
Sweet Jesus being able to rotate around it in browser is good.
This looks beautiful so far!
The only things I'd suggest at the moment is making the water in the dungeon a bit more reflective (perhaps with some specular highlights?) and having some sort of highlight on the steps too.
At the moment, they don't 'pop' as much as in your concept and don't carry over well enough in still images.
I don't think the castle top |-|_|-|_|-| shape is working, I like the semi-circle of the concept better.
Yeah I had the same feeling. The crenelations at the top aren't really needed, the concept feels more... er... betterer. Not sure why, might be that the rounded top feels like a more suitable cap to the big airy throne room. The side of the stone stairs leading up to the throne room look a little bland but both those things are small niggles, the piece is a really sweet little scene. Great textures, lovely touch with the particle effects. Fantastic piece and great presentation!
*edit*
looking at it some more I think the crenelations stand out because they are very square when everything else is rounded; the base, walls, details etc.
@ urgaffel You are spot on with the assessment. Most of the design is smooth and rounded, in particularly the top too, the ceiling and the windows are all arced. And in general nothing is really straight and rigid, for the most part everything is slightly askew. The top is not interesting, breaks the curved rounded shapes, and breaks the composition for me. It's the first thing people see when they look at an image (people start looking at images from the top left) and it doesn't draw your eye into the rest of the piece. Also I wish the windows had more emissive or self illumination, like the concept. The windows blend with the rocks a bit too much. Also I'd like a bit more glow on the top chandelier candles.
Also the circle chain for the chandelier in the concept is a lot more interesting, the circles are nice and work well with the design of the piece. The generic oval shaped ones in the final piece are just that, generic and boring.
I can kind of see where folks are coming from as far as preferring the rounded top, but the square crenelations don't ruin it for me. I do think the top level seems more 'open' in the concept which looks nice.
Stop me if this is crazy talk but I'd love to see what would happen if you FFD'd the whole thing and distorted the model so it matched the forced perspective in the concept.
Another thing that I really like in the concept is that the walls in the throne room are slightly bulging outwards, like a tiny bit of fish eye was applied. Maybe try doing the same to the mesh, might look cool (or it might look horrible... ) A wider FOV might help pushing it a little bit more over the top too, match the concept closer...
Replies
I really dig your textures so far, but the floor texture kinda stands out to me. I think it's the really saturated blue tiles and to a lesser degree the red tiles. They seem a bit more muted in the concept and come off as a bit much in the texture. Maybe a tad too much color variation/saturation?
I'll be watching this thread for sure and I can't wait to see this progress. Thanks for sharing!
Sorry long time since my last message... But there's some WIP !
The modeling is almost completed, I still have to make the details (spiderwebs, ivy, mushrooms, ...) and the back of the dungeon (a quick "roof", or something like that
I did all the UV sheets and started the texturing:
And the answers:
@sybrix: When I'll finish the whole texturing and lighting, I will retake some texture, color balance, details and so on. I always proceed like that, just like finalizing an image in photoshop with some post process and tweaking on the full image.
@seir: Many of the assts are created being modular IF i would make a game (you can assemble column in different ways, all floors and walls textures are tileable, rocks can be split in 2 sides to snap them on walls, ...), but in a so tiny piece of environment, I prefer create different assets for each levels
Thanks all of you for your comments and feedbacks !
I still can gain some backfaces and optimisations, but with the fine details (see my last message), I should stay around 10K
Fan-bloody-tastic work!
I can't wait to see the final result.
Are you planning on sculpting in Mudbox as well as texturing @Ulrick?
I'm working on another piece of art, a next-gen one this time, that I'll post on Polycount soon, so it tooks time to finish this Diorama, and I wanted to add some things like pieces of tower, so it looks like more "complete".
This is the WIP, in Unity
And a closer look on the vitral
It's the Hero Quest characters
For those who don't know (and that's a shame !):
Thanks for all your comments
As seir did, critics and advices are welcome
awesome work, sub'd, keep going with this!!!!
If I was in your shoes at this point it is definitely worth finishing it in the method you have started, but as a test to myself (if I wasnt burnt out with the project at this stage) I would look at sculpting the entire scene, (bare in mind this is no relation to your modelling or texture skills) but I think youll find it could be a faster workflow, especially with the cavity and ao from the hi-polys.
I love it so far the fantastic concept, and awesome box art on that game.
@Aga22:
For the Slow Rotation... Wait for the Unity version, it is already rotating, with different camera, user-controlled rotation, music...
So, little WIP on the Low Level Rocks:
And I realize I never showed u the final concept, my bad:
I really like the vibrancy in your concept so I hope that'll translate to the finished product.
So all the "architectural" or simple assets and textures are directly made with Photoshop, and all assets wich require seems, or have more organic shapes (Rocks, etc.) are painted in 3D Coat.
And No, I didn't bake any occlusion or cavity from High Poly Meshes. I Didn't sculpt anything for this job, except quick Voxel shapes (just to make a Retopo + UV) for the rocks.
@AimBiZ: Yes that's the plan ! What I'll try: Dark ambient light, with saturate (but dark) colors on the textures. And use MANY Low Lights, ambient light, direct ou spots lights, and so on to "reveal" the vibrant colors where I want. (Most of them will be bake, so the only cost will be the baking time :P )
love the concept, and looking at those rocks the 3d is going to look amazing too!
btw, the style of those rocks remind me of Dishonored,
I see you live in France and are looking for work so if you're done with this project you should defenetly apply at Arkane Studios!
btw, if you would want to try out normal maps on this i bet nDo2 can give you some pretty good ones generated from that diffuse,
no need for high poly or sculpting
A big step this time: It's almost done, just some things to polish, add some ivy, floating bricks, correct some color balance...
But there is the lighting in Unity and, bonus, the Unity Web Version
The Concept VS the 3D:
Some close up:
Some diffuse texture samples:
And the Unity Version: RIGHT HERE!
Thanx all for the comments !
This looks beautiful so far!
The only things I'd suggest at the moment is making the water in the dungeon a bit more reflective (perhaps with some specular highlights?) and having some sort of highlight on the steps too.
At the moment, they don't 'pop' as much as in your concept and don't carry over well enough in still images.
Good job ! I love it !
Yeah I had the same feeling. The crenelations at the top aren't really needed, the concept feels more... er... betterer. Not sure why, might be that the rounded top feels like a more suitable cap to the big airy throne room. The side of the stone stairs leading up to the throne room look a little bland but both those things are small niggles, the piece is a really sweet little scene. Great textures, lovely touch with the particle effects. Fantastic piece and great presentation!
*edit*
looking at it some more I think the crenelations stand out because they are very square when everything else is rounded; the base, walls, details etc.
Also the circle chain for the chandelier in the concept is a lot more interesting, the circles are nice and work well with the design of the piece. The generic oval shaped ones in the final piece are just that, generic and boring.
I can kind of see where folks are coming from as far as preferring the rounded top, but the square crenelations don't ruin it for me. I do think the top level seems more 'open' in the concept which looks nice.
Stop me if this is crazy talk but I'd love to see what would happen if you FFD'd the whole thing and distorted the model so it matched the forced perspective in the concept.
Great work!