Started work on the curved ceiling bit! It will probably look decently different once all the other props are in the scene and light is bouncing around everywhere but this is in UDK
First challenge! Very excited to learn with you guys. My thoughts so far are revolving around a vegetable grow station for space. I think I will turn all the electronic things in the room into irrigation systems etc. I am very new to all of this so any critics are super welcomed, good or bad.
Always put off entering these but going to try them every month.
total noob when it comes to actually trying to put anything into udk. so here is my first attempt at my blockout so far. not happy with it myself as some things don't sit exactly on the grid. maybe am just being picky.
I will keep bashing away at it and see how i get on.
My guess was close able air vents that are currently in the open position. I imagined square piping running out from all those points right there and meeting up with O2 silo's and some pump mechanism outside to pump air into the room.
If you look at the 2ed one in your picture, it looks like a flower is sitting inside he. my guess they are planters as well for smaller plants like flowers etc, that would not grow properly in the main bay where tress are grown.
I was experimenting with paint worn off of a carbon fiber floor panel built completely in a substance, but I can't get the texture resolution I need for a panel of that size (2048 x 2048 max).
I don't know if you're using tiling textures, but that can be a good way to get the resolution you need.
You might layer two tiling textures on top of each other(mesh underneath and painted lines on top) and a mask to blend between them. That way you can increase the tile of your black mesh independently.
That could be a solution, but there's more than one way to skin a cat. You might also consider breaking it up into smaller pieces so you don't have one 2k texture working to fill that huge area. Personally that's how I would do it, as well as make as much use of tiling textures as possible.
I'd love to hear input from some of the other guys here. Like I had always heard "games use tiling textures" but it took me a while to realize how exactly they were used. Going into games and closely looking at the environments was helpful, because you realize how much they get away with repeating their textures all over the place.
Exactly. Tiling a smaller texture would help greatly. There are a few techniques you can use to make the paint on top look like it's chipping away, but I think the one that'd work best is Vertex Painting in UDK. This way, you can actually make the floor modular (it doesn't appear to be at the moment) and you'll have complete control over breaking up the tiling. Another cheap technique would be to use decals for the metal, although I've never tried solid decals.
Update with basic colors and normals applied. Using a renderer atm because I havn't set it up fully in UDK.
@electricsauce
I would definitely look into vertex painting for that. It will make each panel look different. UDKs node editor is pretty cool once you get used to it.
Something I've been wondering. In this case the floor and overhang have unique numbers. Does this mean we will have to create x number of unique textures to accommodate all of them? Maybe an alpha plane for the text? Thoughts?
Something I've been wondering. In this case the floor and overhang have unique numbers. Does this mean we will have to create x number of unique textures to accommodate all of them? Maybe an alpha plane for the text? Thoughts?
Something I've been wondering. In this case the floor and overhang have unique numbers. Does this mean we will have to create x number of unique textures to accommodate all of them? Maybe an alpha plane for the text? Thoughts?
I am doing a tilable with alpha for the words and stuff.
aaronmwolford I was thinking of making one abd using decals or put all the numbers/letters on one sheet, tile it and move it around on a shader instance and blend it in with a lerp or vert paint. In the past, I've tried to put all my decals on one sheet, and then try to crop out what I don't need with the decal actor options in UDK, but for me it's too glitchy, the entire sheet flickers and projects at certain angles.
aaronmwolford I was thinking of making one abd using decals or put all the numbers/letters on one sheet, tile it and move it around on a shader instance and blend it in with a lerp or vert paint. In the past, I've tried to put all my decals on one sheet, and then try to crop out what I don't need with the decal actor options in UDK, but for me it's too glitchy, the entire sheet flickers and projects at certain angles.
Also, my take on the ceiling plates.
unique or a tile with both parts or what? What's your setup for this?
Looks good btw the only crit is that it could have some larger details and maybe some dirt, in the concept it looks near the botton on the edge or whatever of the main swoopy part it has more wear.
Overall I like it but it needs larger details so it reads better at a distance.
Hi guys, I have a quick question - I decided to throw everything into UDK for this scene. I'm basically a noob with it - one thing I'm currently messing around with is lights... I know if I threw this into Cryengine I'd probably get the results I wanted without a whole lot of effort, but I've already composed alot of the scene in udk... SO.
(ignore shitty placeholder box behind the light) Is there any possible way to retain the nice lighting from the left side, so I don't get the dull, very static-y looking look on the right side? I've tried making them cast dynamic shadows and some other things but to no avail, I'm really just not getting the results I wanted when I build with lightmass. It is at production settings.... Is there some way to do this decently? Some other kind of light I should use instead maybe?
unique or a tile with both parts or what? What's your setup for this?
Looks good btw the only crit is that it could have some larger details and maybe some dirt, in the concept it looks near the botton on the edge or whatever of the main swoopy part it has more wear.
Overall I like it but it needs larger details so it reads better at a distance.
It's one plate, the inset areas are tiled, the metal trim bits and bumpy parts are unique, baked off a flat plate and laid out so I can recycle it later.
Thanks for the crits, I'll put some larger wear on it, especially on the bend.
@Higuy: You could try increasing the lightmap resolution for your static mesh. by default its set at 32 pixels which is pretty small. Double click your static mesh in the content browser and a window opens(I forget what the dialog is called) and it has the setting to increase lightmap resolution.
Edit: I should clarify, you should increase the resolution for any static mesh onto which the shadow is falling, meaning not just the crate, but the surrounding wall and floor as well.
@Higuy: Have you made sure your lightmaps have no overlapping uvs? I would make a separate UV set for the lightmaps as well. With dynamic lighting you have to go into the static meshs options and deselect "use lightmaps" or something like tht. This has to be done for every mesh you place, or at least I don't know a faster way.
I don't know if you're using tiling textures, but that can be a good way to get the resolution you need.
You might layer two tiling textures on top of each other(mesh underneath and painted lines on top) and a mask to blend between them. That way you can increase the tile of your black mesh independently.
That could be a solution, but there's more than one way to skin a cat. You might also consider breaking it up into smaller pieces so you don't have one 2k texture working to fill that huge area. Personally that's how I would do it, as well as make as much use of tiling textures as possible.
I'd love to hear input from some of the other guys here. Like I had always heard "games use tiling textures" but it took me a while to realize how exactly they were used. Going into games and closely looking at the environments was helpful, because you realize how much they get away with repeating their textures all over the place.
I split each strip of flooring into 4 sections which allowed me to increase the perceived texture resolution significantly. As it sits right now, it's just 2 materials, with a diffuse, normal, and spec map each produced from 2 substance graphs.
I'm having trouble with the lightmaps on the ramp section of the ground though.
@Higuy: You could try increasing the lightmap resolution for your static mesh. by default its set at 32 pixels which is pretty small. Double click your static mesh in the content browser and a window opens(I forget what the dialog is called) and it has the setting to increase lightmap resolution.
Edit: I should clarify, you should increase the resolution for any static mesh onto which the shadow is falling, meaning not just the crate, but the surrounding wall and floor as well.
Thank you so much man, got my lights working the way I wanted now too
Been messing around in UDK off and on today, heres where I am so far...
Obviously threes still a lot of stuff to be done but I've been testing out stuff like the floor and glass sharers, also tried out D11 image based reflections which are really cool. I might go back later and "clean" my textures, in the sense where they aren't as grimey and don't have as much wear. Depends on the type of setting I'll end up going for though, I think.
@AlexMasterCatSupreme, I'm really liking your stuff so far man, looks great for a blockout. Very interesting designs and so forth. Do you plan on keep it clean, or grunging it up a little bit like the concept?
Hey Bartalon thanks for the tips dude! I went and started over on my block out and much happier with the results this time, and now I am going to start working on some High Poly.
Hey Bartalon thanks for the tips dude! I went and started over on my block out and much happier with the results this time, and now I am going to start working on some High Poly.
Yeah, looks good! Don't forget to cut out some edge loops from your ramp now that you have the contour down. You could probably get away with every other one if not more.
I finally found the confidence to post my work of this month. After failing to continue what I started in the last two month I have the first time the feeling that I can truly finish it this time.
This is where I am so far. I liked the fasceted look of the concept which inspired me to make the floor texture like hexagon metal tiles.
There is a shading error on one on the window frame structure on the left side which I have to take care of. The screenshot is from Unity, the Skybox is from the Asset Store.
@ Deforges: I like the texture of your door very much but I think you should try to make the black parts a bit more interesting, also try put more wear and scratches on the parts that are most exposed to such things like the edges of the frame and the lower parts where dirt would accumulate.
<font size="3"><font color="RoyalBlue">Welcome to the Monthly Noob Challenge January 2014 (15)!</font></font><br /> <br /> <br /> Join our <font color="DeepSkyBlue">Skype </font>group too if you want! Add me on Skype and I will add you to the group.<br /> Skype: alexmasterofcats<br /> <br /> You don't have to join the skype if you don't want to though, you don't need to ask to participate or anything, just start doing it and post in this thread!<br /> <br /> This month's concept:<br /> <img src="http://i.imgur.com/EAQM95k.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br /> <a href="http://www.routinegame.com/" target="_blank">Routine the Game</a><br /> <br /> Feel free to approach this however you like but I'd recommend making it as modular as possible to save time and keep things optimized<img src="images/smilies/pcount/icons/poly120.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Poly120" smilieid="55" class="inlineimg" /> It's up to you, as long as you are learning then it doesn't matter right?<br /> <br /> Also if you want to change up the concept a bit as some people wanted feel free, interpret this concept how you want.<br /> <br /> There are some things that I would like to point out to for newcomers,<br /> if you only want to do a few props as best you can, go for it! This way you can work on building up to a full scene. <br /> <br /> <br /> <font color="Red">RULES:</font><br /> <br /> <br /> <font color="Red">Please read all the rules.</font><br /> <br /> When you are just starting out making a scene can seem complicated or imposing, so break it down. <br /> <br /> Think about how you can re-use assets, re-use textures, break it down as simple as possible plan it out, a lot of people will break it down in their own way when they start out their challenge. Gather some refs as well for different parts of the scene, maybe gather some refs and make it your own. <br /> <font color="Red">Take your time planning and blocking out, it will set you up for success later on.<br /> </font><br /> <br /> <br /> <font size="3"><br /> All that matters is that you learn and give and get advice and are willing to be critiqued.</font><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <font color="Red"><font size="3">So here are the specific rules:</font></font><br /> <blockquote><br /> Try to do one crit for every post you make, this will make for a better learning environment and help us grow as artists.<br /> <br /> Must make your own textures, no stealing, we can't keep you from it, but the goal is to learn, even tileables, I mean you can take someone else's image and make it tileable, that's fine.<br /> <br /> You must use a game engine OBVIOUSLY. UDK or Cryengine will probably be the most used, but feel free to use any. <br /> <br /> You must try your best and finish as much as you can in this month.<br /> <br /> Post what you are working on in this thread so that way it's a more centralized place for advice and critique and we don't have 1000 disjointed threads littering the forums. <br /> <br /> <br /> Well that's about it, if you think the rules should be changed let us know.<br /> <br /> I would strongly encourage you to go and look at other games and see how they make their assets as well as get concept art to give it your own feel, but it must stay very close to the concept, if not super close. <br /> <br /> Please stay away from Ddo, yeah, it's great if you know what you're doing, and for a production pipeline supplement, but other than that, please don't use it. Ndo2 is allowed. This was talked about in the other thread, please don't complain. </blockquote>
Finished a plant harvesting concept. prob going to change it up. I have to work in low poly if I am going to finish a room this big. Largest concept / project / space i have ever done.
Hey everyone. I am join for the first time. I'm very determined to learn a lot here and I hope everyone in does. Thanks very much for putting together these monthly challenges. If I am breaking any rules, please let me know right away and I can change it. Thanks again.
Honestly not sure what to make of those at the moment. Its really hard to tell what they are from the concept. I vision them as some kind of heat source as I can't really see why a screen would be put there.
Putting some fresh eyes on my own version of them I think I need to make it a bit thicker etc and change some other stuff around.
mats effect the rods attached to the terminals on the left wall seem a bit flimsy for the size of the object they're supporting. They're sort of just stuck into the wall like a toothpick in a sandwich.
I'd have to agree. I like the idea of some sort of heaters or something for the foliage inside - But that attachment to the wall could do with some added thickness, or at least some way to allow that 'monitor' to rotate would make more sense to me.
@Popolo, that computer looks sick, man. Really fits the 80's theme of the environment. Can't wait to see the rest of your retro stuff.
@Mats Effect, looking pretty good so far man but I think the little things under the window should be a bit thicker in your blockout. Otherwise, looking pretty nice so far!
As for me, I have another lighting issue in udk... I keep getting these black lines across my floor when I have the sunlight coming in at this direction:
Is there anyway to get rid of this, and the aliasing that shows up with the shadows? I'm using a dominant directional light moveable if that makes any difference - I tried a regular one (Dominant Directional Light) and the lights that came up with where much worse, basically no shadows at all. This is also at production lightmass settings if that makes a difference.
e: did some reading on lightmap resolutions and uv channels, managed to fix it...
Still have quite a bit to go. But here's my WIP so far with some basic textures slapped on with a few decals. Put really generic emissive maps for the lights, and some sort of heat source on the walls for the plants? I dunno, just winging it at the moment.
Need to add in more geometry into those bays now, as well as start on some foliage etc.
Goals so far: no high>low bakes for normals | ndo2 for normals | no photosourced textures (minus for random selections of grunge for decals)
Such a long way to go still...I haven't even begun to figure out whats goin on with the left side window, etc...#despair
Wasn't sure what to do with the beige terminal thing, wasted a day going in the wrong direction and decided on something more 70's/80's retrofuture, which I like more.
Barely into the diff/spec stage with it this, haven't done wear or labels/symbols/screen yet, but I wanted to at least post something tonight.
Replies
C&C always welcome!
Always put off entering these but going to try them every month.
total noob when it comes to actually trying to put anything into udk. so here is my first attempt at my blockout so far. not happy with it myself as some things don't sit exactly on the grid. maybe am just being picky.
I will keep bashing away at it and see how i get on.
If you look at the 2ed one in your picture, it looks like a flower is sitting inside he. my guess they are planters as well for smaller plants like flowers etc, that would not grow properly in the main bay where tress are grown.
Heres a door (screen grab from max)
You might layer two tiling textures on top of each other(mesh underneath and painted lines on top) and a mask to blend between them. That way you can increase the tile of your black mesh independently.
That could be a solution, but there's more than one way to skin a cat. You might also consider breaking it up into smaller pieces so you don't have one 2k texture working to fill that huge area. Personally that's how I would do it, as well as make as much use of tiling textures as possible.
I'd love to hear input from some of the other guys here. Like I had always heard "games use tiling textures" but it took me a while to realize how exactly they were used. Going into games and closely looking at the environments was helpful, because you realize how much they get away with repeating their textures all over the place.
@electricsauce
I would definitely look into vertex painting for that. It will make each panel look different. UDKs node editor is pretty cool once you get used to it.
In engines, things like that are handled by decals. They're like stickers. http://freesdk.crydev.net/display/SDKDOC2/Placing+Decals
next up the the "Bay" thing at the far right of the scene, as well as the roof above it.
edit: Quadchamfer is awesome
I am doing a tilable with alpha for the words and stuff.
If anyone need some inspirationial [ame="
Also, my take on the ceiling plates.
unique or a tile with both parts or what? What's your setup for this?
Looks good btw the only crit is that it could have some larger details and maybe some dirt, in the concept it looks near the botton on the edge or whatever of the main swoopy part it has more wear.
Overall I like it but it needs larger details so it reads better at a distance.
(ignore shitty placeholder box behind the light) Is there any possible way to retain the nice lighting from the left side, so I don't get the dull, very static-y looking look on the right side? I've tried making them cast dynamic shadows and some other things but to no avail, I'm really just not getting the results I wanted when I build with lightmass. It is at production settings.... Is there some way to do this decently? Some other kind of light I should use instead maybe?
It's one plate, the inset areas are tiled, the metal trim bits and bumpy parts are unique, baked off a flat plate and laid out so I can recycle it later.
Thanks for the crits, I'll put some larger wear on it, especially on the bend.
Edit: I should clarify, you should increase the resolution for any static mesh onto which the shadow is falling, meaning not just the crate, but the surrounding wall and floor as well.
I split each strip of flooring into 4 sections which allowed me to increase the perceived texture resolution significantly. As it sits right now, it's just 2 materials, with a diffuse, normal, and spec map each produced from 2 substance graphs.
I'm having trouble with the lightmaps on the ramp section of the ground though.
Thank you so much man, got my lights working the way I wanted now too
Been messing around in UDK off and on today, heres where I am so far...
Obviously threes still a lot of stuff to be done but I've been testing out stuff like the floor and glass sharers, also tried out D11 image based reflections which are really cool. I might go back later and "clean" my textures, in the sense where they aren't as grimey and don't have as much wear. Depends on the type of setting I'll end up going for though, I think.
@AlexMasterCatSupreme, I'm really liking your stuff so far man, looks great for a blockout. Very interesting designs and so forth. Do you plan on keep it clean, or grunging it up a little bit like the concept?
@Popolo, nice music man
This is where I am so far. I liked the fasceted look of the concept which inspired me to make the floor texture like hexagon metal tiles.
There is a shading error on one on the window frame structure on the left side which I have to take care of. The screenshot is from Unity, the Skybox is from the Asset Store.
@ Deforges:
I like the texture of your door very much but I think you should try to make the black parts a bit more interesting, also try put more wear and scratches on the parts that are most exposed to such things like the edges of the frame and the lower parts where dirt would accumulate.
Putting some fresh eyes on my own version of them I think I need to make it a bit thicker etc and change some other stuff around.
Made a small prop I will use as a door panel (with the tv-thingy) and to use for:
Will try to keep things blocky for a while to be able to spend a great chunk of the polys on cables hanging everywehere.
@Mats Effect, looking pretty good so far man but I think the little things under the window should be a bit thicker in your blockout. Otherwise, looking pretty nice so far!
As for me, I have another lighting issue in udk... I keep getting these black lines across my floor when I have the sunlight coming in at this direction:
Is there anyway to get rid of this, and the aliasing that shows up with the shadows? I'm using a dominant directional light moveable if that makes any difference - I tried a regular one (Dominant Directional Light) and the lights that came up with where much worse, basically no shadows at all. This is also at production lightmass settings if that makes a difference.
e: did some reading on lightmap resolutions and uv channels, managed to fix it...
@Popolo: dam it, the computer looks great. thats no noob niveau anymore :poly121:
Need to add in more geometry into those bays now, as well as start on some foliage etc.
Goals so far: no high>low bakes for normals | ndo2 for normals | no photosourced textures (minus for random selections of grunge for decals)
Such a long way to go still...I haven't even begun to figure out whats goin on with the left side window, etc...#despair
Barely into the diff/spec stage with it this, haven't done wear or labels/symbols/screen yet, but I wanted to at least post something tonight.
Now it is on to redefining models and doing some texturing.
I like what i have seen in this thread a lot of good inspiration