sky tow boat

refriedspinach

hey guys, im new here and new to the industry. this is basically my first actual model ive made quickly screen capped in marmoset.

ive based the model from ian mcques amazing concept world of flying steel ship and alike.

its at 18113 triangles
using 4k texture map

any thoughts or opinions?

right now im trying to get the spec map to have more pronounced range, right now its to monochromatic. still kinda working on diffuse like adding more decals/ paint, etc. also going to build up more dirt on the floors execpt more into the corners so it translates up the wall/sides better.

BANGARANG!

this has a chinese junk ship feel to it thats working really well. what sort of game would this be in? how close would the camera get to it? the tiling texture on it works well in areas, but other areas (like the ships cabin, around the windows, etc) could use some nice unique details to keep the eye active.

refriedspinach

thanks for quick reply ya now that you say that it is kinda lacking in that area, theres not really anything interesting to catch the eye to bring you to the windows. what would you think woud be good idea? like maybe drapping an old cloth down the side or like big black tar-ish streaks or something.

im kinda trying to keep the style so it has a kinda painted feel but still is able to bring out the details.
im going to eventually bring it into udk once i start my environment project.

the world is basically going to be a junk world on floating islands. so like on big shanty town.

BANGARANG!

consider using more than one material. more than the riveted metal panels. from there, cut out invidual shapes that add more the silhouette and give you more opportunities to cast shadows. the cloth is a good idea, but go further.



the ships cabin is two type sof wood it looks like, with an irregular shape coming from that. the top half being thicker than the bottom and a nice edging coming down its hull from that.

the sale has character to it. asymmetrical forms caused from giant tears.



consider smaller details to be placed over your tiling textures and structural geometry. maybe your ship has been repaired and retrofitted over teh years, and from that you can see the layers of materials applied to it to repair it.

introduce some angles to the ship by using wires, lines, hoses, rope, and so on.

great start.

BANGARANG!

what game do you see this being for? an RTS? First person shooter?

refriedspinach

i imagine it would prob be for some sort or first person game were you would eventually get somewhat close to it. and thanks for the critique, really appreciate it.

might have i go take another pass im zbrush on the main hull pieces. and ill try to introduce some secondary materials onto it.

im also thinking about filling the decks with barrels crates, table, chairs, etc.

i know this is usually an unanswerable question but with my current poly count, how much more in your opinion you think i could add to it? its currently at 18113 tris.

BANGARANG!

unfortunately there is no hard answer here for triangle count. "however much you need to give it the forms & silhouette it needs." just assess your model critically: Does this edge add to the silhouette or help me control my materials? no, then optimize it out. your mesh seems wasteful in areas in that regard, as you just have a tiling surface with some edge loops happening that don't need to happen. if this is a for a first person game, get your camera closer to the boat and start referencing images of junk boats and ask yourself, 'what would go here?'. then, make that.

refriedspinach

mkay, thanks

oh and i forgot to say that my texture acutally isnt tiled.

BANGARANG!

ah. then it could be and you'd still get the same look. (i'm just talking about the metal panels with rivets on them).

refriedspinach

mmhmm, it would prob save a bunch of uv space, but im not totally sure how i would approach a tiled texture onto a complex shape like the hulls

refriedspinach

k so i optimazed some geo and added more stuff to it.
right now i just have base diffuse on the new stuf as well as normals on the tin and barrel
no spec throughout the whole thing(trying to focus on the colour)

refriedspinach

hey new update! slowly worked on it throughout the weekend.


still have to work on some of the diffuse and still have to optimize some topology and have to fix the back faces on the tires as well


any more crits/comments on it?

reverendK

I love the silhouette. I definitely think that the panel lines/bolts are too big. They might hold up a little better with more indication in the diffuse, but the scale of them now is a little off-putting.
also as much as i love the gradient from warm to cool along the length of the boat, i feel like a lot of the elements that cross from one side to the other are breaking it up too much - the tarps on the warm side and the steel tacked on to the side on the cool side are fighting with the nice transition you've got going on.

I'm also really not a fan of them windows. Both the texture and the model breaks the feel of the model - i think they're too big, too wonky, too square and too bright. They really look tacked on and not at all functional.

refriedspinach

ya im deffinatly with you on the windows... i got really kind of stuck on them. i want them to be virtually non transparent so i dont have to model the inside as well. ill really have to look into them.

and ya after braking it up with more materials the details on the hull are deff outa place and too big.

and thanks for the tip on the colour transition and how the secondary colours are disrupting the flow of it.

once i get some more free time ill polish it up some more

thanks for the great thoughts