[UDK] The Natural History Museum.

JS_Morgan

Hi all long time since I last posted been very busy. I have been working on this project for the last few months to learn more about the fab UDK. Anyhow here are some renders and a link to a render on my reel I am updating at the mo feedback welcome.













The environment started out as a 3ds max project but halfway I decided to put into UDK so it is not the most efficient environment but more a test bed for playing in UDK. I have since been following Tor Frick's tutorials and have been pretty blown away... (Next project more modularity:)


Also thanks to this forum I got some great tips on Foliage thanks guys

http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryEnvironmentFoliage

I can also post some work in progress shots later...

AlanSMitchell

Great work man!

sushi

Beauty

JS_Morgan

Thanks guys will add some more work on later

Rokugan

This is really awesome! The only thing that I would say is that, considered the fact that you have some debris around and the place is covered by plants, the textures of the building looks a bit too clean and without damage.

ambershee

Cool! I'd considered building something based on that lobby myself not that long ago. I'd love to see it as a UT3 duel map

edwardsomatic

This is fantastic, my immediate thought was - dayum, wish I made that.
Could we possibly see some of the texture sheets sir?

nathdevlin

This is looking really good. What are you going for in this piece ? Is this an abandoned building or one damaged and overgrown ?

If it's abandoned with no structural damage I'd expect next to no vegetation in the scene and instead objects from all over the museum strewn about the place.

If it's supposed to be an overgrown lobby for this to happen I'd expect to see how external elements such as vegetation have ended up inside. Usually by way of structural damage to the building. At the moment I can't see evidence of this except a pile of blocks. It's not clear where these have come from.

The placement of the plant life could make more sense depending on what you are going for. In reality I'd imagine it would grow in spots where light and water get to. I would not expect it to be growing in dark corners where no light or water can reach.

Overall you've produced some nice art in terms of each asset. The scene as a whole could do with some more work to really define what it is.

spectre1130

Looks sweet as hell. the atmoshphere is banging. Just make some decals for the wear and grunge maybe.

JS_Morgan

Rokugan - Yeah its not the usual type of crumbled castle look Initially I just planed on making the museum. I spotted the last of us and thought hay tahts cool lets add a bit of that there was no concept just a place I could experiment...

nathdevlin - yeah I did plan on putting in some Eyptian coffins around some broken open and also adding some hanging vines but kind of ran out of time I may revisit this again later I did consider placing the plants where the light hits but used them more to beak up the corners and strait edges in the Env i.e hiding the bad bits ... Your totally right though and I think should be considered in the initial concept.

Thanks to the rest of you and here are some wip and textures (which should really have more grunge but run out of time at the moment the moss blend material in UDK breaks it up a bit though)

Oniram

your plants are too green i think. for an overgrown place youd figure that maybe some plants had grown and died in there too.. id scatter around some dead leaves and such, and give the building an overall grit/dirt pass. im sharing this link like crazy lately but its a good reference to look at old abandoned environments

http://500px.com/ernestsebastien

JS_Morgan

Oniram - Your spot on and great link I might give the textures a grunge mossey layer on the weekend. Great link by the way added to fav

Cglewis

I would agree with Oniram that the plants are to green, and im really confused by the seemingly random rubbish pile, where did it come from?

the enviroment looks reallly pristeen...how did the plants get in?

But its looking really good!

J0NNYquid

Oni's right, and upon looking at the scene closer, you could stand to really push the "re-taking" via nature aspect. It's a gorgeous scene thus far, but you have a great opportunity to tell a neat story with the scene.

For instance, some grime making it's way up the windows where plants are growing, cracked/buckled stone from periods of freeze/thaw that would occur over time, and more random debris in general. Take that debris pile you currently have, and apply that same level of destruction to the entire level. Right now, to me, it doesn't particularly look convincing. As Cglewis said, many areas are pristine, and it's jarring when they're right next to rubble/overgrown plants.

Another thing you might want to look into is some changes in lighting. I'm no good with paintovers, but maybe have some of the ceiling glass be missing/broken. That would give you the opportunity to do some neat shadows, as well as have a reason for a lot of the decay you see inside, as it would allow rain/snow/wind to get in. Anyways, you've got a really strong base to build on here, but there is a lot of potential for growth. Just my two cents! Best of luck.

JS_Morgan

Cglewis - the random rubbish pile was just a test but I think a disgruntled member of staff or hobo.

J0NNYquid - I have added some more moss to the textures now will update soon will also add some more litter and debris plant related.The building is abandoned not a crumbly ancient castle will post some more pics soon.

Thanks for all the valuable feedback guys

MGE_PM

you should definitely use vertex painting (not only moss, but some dirt, and damage (normal map). You could also add some dust particles and statues.

I love the lighting and atmosphere.

JS_Morgan

MGE_PM - Yeah I have used vertex painting in the images above for the moss but am actually adding moss to the diffuse textures at the moment will post update asap .. Thanks for feedback

MGE_PM

@JS_Morgan - What I am trying to say is that you can blend between normal maps as well. for example: create another normal map of but very damaged and blend between them in some areas. I'm Not trying to be pushy just trying to help

Cglewis

https://www.google.com/search?q=abandoned+structure&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=TGVqUpH5D7GayQHouIC4Cg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=862

So above is a link to a google image search for abandoned buildings....if you notice the general just disrepair and overall grunge that most of the images have.....and the lack of windows....I think what you have is good, but ot make it awesome i think that you need to push the grunge and disrepair more....right now it looks like someone just planted seeds on the floor and plants grew in the building...but the very act of plants growing with in a structure damages it. The floor is this nice green grassy carpet...and that looks good....but realisticly the concreat would be cracked and buldging and youd see grass growing between the cracks. Again this is just my two cents

as for the rubbish pile....if its a disgruntled employee why would he pick cinderblocks...and why there? ...as for the hobo...that idea can be soooo coooool!!!! you just need to flesh it out more...move around hte rubbish pile...add a can with fire or...something like that make it look lived in i hope you take this route it would be very cool seeing that fleshed out

Hope this helps

JS_Morgan

MGE_PM wrote: »

@JS_Morgan - What I am trying to say is that you can blend between normal maps as well. for example: create another normal map of but very damaged and blend between them in some areas. I'm Not trying to be pushy just trying to help

The vertex blend shader does blend between two separate normal maps the brick normal and a separate moss normal.Its controlled by vertec colour R channel multiplied with its AO. No worries....:)

JS_Morgan

Okay thanks for the feedback! have updated the images at the top of the page tHANKS