[UDK] Overgrown Warehouse
polycounter lvl 12
UPDATE: I stopped working on this back in March, but decided to pick it up again for my portfolio. I rebuilt just about everything, including new textures.
--Old stuff--
After getting some great feedback on my portfolio(still looking for input), I decided to try and bust out a scene before Sunday. If I'm not 100% done by then, that's alright, but I'm aiming to get as much of the main stuff done as possible.
My goal is to utilize a lot of tiling textures for this and vertex paint everything. Nothing too complex as far as models go right now, but after GDC I may revisit some parts.
Here are some refs I'm following:
I'm following the layout of the concept the most, but with some details from the two photographs.
Blockout:
Task list:
- Finish tiling textures for everything (the roof mesh is UVed, because I baked down the normals for the panels)
- Get more foliage done(already have a few things)
- Small props: mattress, beer bottles, glass shards, broken concrete/wood, wires,
- Graffiti decals
Technical goals:
- Vertex paint the walls, ground, and roof
- Have a tiling alpha that moves through the UV space of the roof texture, so I can reuse the same mesh and get different holes
- DX11 tessellation on some of the textures
- I would like to rebuild a portion of the UDK vertex wind shader, so there's some movement for the plants, especially the ones outside, but that's the last thing on my mind right now
--Old stuff--
After getting some great feedback on my portfolio(still looking for input), I decided to try and bust out a scene before Sunday. If I'm not 100% done by then, that's alright, but I'm aiming to get as much of the main stuff done as possible.
My goal is to utilize a lot of tiling textures for this and vertex paint everything. Nothing too complex as far as models go right now, but after GDC I may revisit some parts.
Here are some refs I'm following:
I'm following the layout of the concept the most, but with some details from the two photographs.
Blockout:
Task list:
- Finish tiling textures for everything (the roof mesh is UVed, because I baked down the normals for the panels)
- Get more foliage done(already have a few things)
- Small props: mattress, beer bottles, glass shards, broken concrete/wood, wires,
- Graffiti decals
Technical goals:
- Vertex paint the walls, ground, and roof
- Have a tiling alpha that moves through the UV space of the roof texture, so I can reuse the same mesh and get different holes
- DX11 tessellation on some of the textures
- I would like to rebuild a portion of the UDK vertex wind shader, so there's some movement for the plants, especially the ones outside, but that's the last thing on my mind right now
Replies
Yeah, you're right. They were made for something else and scale wasn't a concern then. I thought I sized them down when I imported them, guess not haha.
Here's a small update. I ran into a few problems with how I did some of the assets, so I had to backtrack.
Currently, there is a base texture for the wall, base textures for the ground, and textures on the beams and roof panels. The roof panels are just a flat color with a normal bake and an opacity mask based on the world position. I need to re-do that and also figure out why it's casting the same shadow from each mesh :poly127: Also the ground texture is using vertex painting, with one channel for a wet version(which doesnt look wet in this lighting, actually) and another channel using tessellation to push down the mesh, so a water texture can show when I do one.
And some foliage in Marmoset. Still want to do a few more things, like various types of weeds and some larger stuff.
Here is a shot from earlier today and a paintover of where I want to take it by Saturday.
Paintover
Essentially, I'd like to have a good first pass of the lighting and PP done. I'm thinking dusty and mid-day, with strong highlights like in the first photo and the rays like in the concept.
For foliage, I'd like to get much of the outer area, closer to the wall, covered with grass and whatnot, with some coming through the cracks in the ground. I also want to get some big bushes and trees coming through the windows.
There's a few things left out of the paintover, but there's some other things I'd like to add in the end. I'll do another one closer to the weekend
Structualy the roof isnt attached to the building and those girders arent doing much at supporting the build.
I know its still early days but these things are well worth investigating at the beginning of the project rather than later down the line...
The shadow bugs me too. I haven't figured out a way to fix it yet. My panels are actually set up to use a tiling mask for opacity as they move through world space, so all the panels have different holes, but for some reason, UDK is making them cast shadows as if the texture was applied the same way to all of them. Having a better variety for the holes is part of the plan, just haven't done a better mask texture yet.
I agree, there definitely needs to be some more definition to the ground. My material I'm using right now is an older one. I think I'm gonna swap out some of the textures and model some large tiles in the ground.
I should look at some of my other photos for more examples of the supporting the roof. I noticed the concept and first photo both have those larger beams, so that'll be one thing, but I think some more beams between the roof and triangle supports will help as well. Thanks for pointing that out
Nothing is final and I'm still missing a few things.
What I'd like to do:
- Puddles on the ground
- Few types of plants/grass variations
- More ground clutter(dirty mattresses, broken beams, wood + the plants)
- Better lighting/shadow quality across everything(already at a really high lightmap res
- Light shafts
- Wall decals and a dusty look on everything
- More beams like in the concept
Anyways, I may pop in sometime later and give more feedback.
Here's a current progress shot(added some grass and a large bush-thing, puddles on the ground, more beams in the roof, and worked with the lighting a little) and a paintover. I'm still throwing around the idea of other props for the place, probably a lot of spraycans and a cheap ladder, and maybe an old mattress or two? I'd like to get a few other variations of grass and weeds too.
Ok so my crits.
The grass seems to be to saturated, doesnt fit witht he whole mod of the scene. Can be that the Shadows under the grass is missing. Can be that its way to green atm.
The new roof is really coming along great! love it!
Keep at it.
Thanks guys! I agree about the grass. I was playing around with a new method for me with grass, which was starting with some of the fibers in Maya. I completely overlooked them growing from a central point. I did make a line of grass that was going to be placed in the cracks in my texture, but didn't like how they came out. Could because they're too dense, like you said, snow. I'll get back to working on those and doing a few more foliage variations.
Could I get some feedback regarding the concept? Keep in mind there will be a few other things, like spray cans and mattresses, but anything else I could add? I'm trying to figure out what the major aspect of my project could be, like a good high-poly model worth showing off or something else I could show off individually on my portfolio, instead of just shots of the environment.
Sorry about the update without work. I just really wanted to ask that^ before I head off to work
What was this building used for? Examples; storage facility, vehicle garage, weapon range etc.
Why is it derelict? (if it is) Is it occupied?
Where in the world is this place? Will reflect grafitti, signs, logos etc.
What time period/situation is this? Past, Present or future?
As always was there a zombie outbreak and this is a safe haven for someone,group of people? Or is it in a world of robots hunting people?
So many questions and ideas and its not even my project. I would sugegst gettingpen and paper and coming down with a firm idea of what you want and we can help push that
Try placing a mockup character (maybe a character mesh in udk) around your scene. It might help with giving you a better sense of scale.
And you will know exactly about scale relation between your props and character.
Gumustdo: I agree with you. I've messed with the meshes and the texture a little, but I think I may re-do my grass texture and get a few variations to use.
Here are some minor updates. Progress is still slow, I'm a little burnt out on this and UDK. I want to go back to CryEngine :poly124:
More goals:
- Finish highpoly for concrete pillars on right and mattresses
- Re-do grass and do more foliage variations
- Finish graffiti decal
- Finish lighting/post-process(and get shadows from the grass!)
- Other assets that help with the story? Broken pieces of roof? Broken glass shards? Beatup normal for the bricks?
- More 'overgrown' signs, like more decals on the wall, more grass, and more broken stuff?
- Mesh light beams
E: Is it possible to get better lit particles like this? My material is lit with a specular mask and the particle is set to receive dynamic lights. It doesn't react that well to the light coming through the windows. I'd like the dust to move through the light and be seen, then kind of disappear outside of the light. I also forgot to add light beams to my goal list, maybe I could fake the effect in the material?
Struggling on to go with HDR or not. I like the HDR, but I do think the highlights need to be toned down a little on the wall.
(Not the final bake, I went back and added some more tears. Will probably add more in the texture pass though)
Basic weathered concrete texture from ZBrush. Using AO in Diffuse and height as Spec.
I agree. I've been trying to figure out what I could turn this into, but I'm not the best at coming up with ideas. I did some more reference searching today for new ideas. I don't have much of an update, but I'd like to get some feed back on these options
1) Abandoned quarantine checkpoint/station/etc. I'm not sure how reasonable it would be to have it in a warehouse. I'd have things like tables with containers, cots, plastic sheets covering the door and windows, and maybe some items left behind from the people that were there? Some more research is definitely required for this one.
2) Standard storage warehouse with pallets of materials, but it's been abandoned and now used as a drug stash. This would give me more options for high-poly models for the portfolio, like this and some of the tools used for transporting the pallets.
3) A hacker hideout. Some servers, tables with laptops, etc. Inspired by the scene with Silva in Skyfall. The only problem is the issue with heat.
And continuing on with the idea of having people living here, I did some more research with squatters and have a few ideas for that.
And a picture so this isn't just text. I haven't changed much, just tweaked the HDR, made another particle system that's in the open areas so it looks like they're lit, and removed the grass to remind me to make new ones.
Been playing a lot of The Last of Us and Crysis 2 though, so a makeshift quarantine environment is still on the mind
Thanks! I went ahead and fixed some of the tiling and sharpness. No update from the engine though, I've been putting this on hold to work on my CE3 scene. But the login servers are down so I can't work on that, so it's back to this for now. Changed some things around and have a few new ideas of where I want to go.
Here's a simple ladder with one normal. Just trying out things. The flat planes are going to be duct tape with just photo normals. Really excited to texture this. I'll probably do a dDo pass just for the hell of it.