Asian Bridge Fortress/Village (UDK)

ThinkKlinck

Hey all, so I'm working on this Asian themed village/fortress thing right now. Just blocked out the main parts of it, set up some shots I think would look good later on down the line, and set up some basic lighting. I was thinking the cool blue for outside and warm orangey glow on the inside. There's gonna be a ton of props like lanterns statues etc. to give it more flavor down the line. My plan of attack right now is
-finish a bit more blocking out (may add another building on the bridge)
-add supports for under the bridge between the arches
-do a quick paintover of one of the shots just to get colors down
-unwrap all the things
-create main textures for buildings bridge etc
-create mountains to replace blocks
-create boats
-create props

The story for the scene is going to be a kind of guarded paradise, very colorful green grass and a nice path leading inside the fence to the door, some potted plants, a fountain maybe, you get the idea. Outside the fenced area there wouldn't be any grass, mostly dirt and rock path that cut through the mountains to the bridge.

So right now if you guys would like to give me some advice on lighting, placement of some of the main elements, any sweet water and terrain creation tools (I was looking at world machine thanks to vertex 2), and any cool props you'd like to see that'd be awesome!







Reference:


Breakdown:

APiotrW

Looks really good. One point though: On the 4th picture the pattern on the side buildings is repeating too much. I think you should improve that.

ThinkKlinck

APiotrW wrote: »

Looks really good. One point though: On the 4th picture the pattern on the side buildings is repeating too much. I think you should improve that.

Yeah agreed, when I made the walls I created a kind of template in max so I could make a 3 kinds of windows and 3 kinds of trim then mix and match to make the different combinations. With all the stuff on the outside (overhangs etc) and separation between the buildings it inst really noticeable but once your in it kind of hits you immediately (the repetition of the template). Im wondering if I develop some more trim, pillars, ledges etc. for the inside to break up repetition if that would help. yeah? I also found 3 pretty solid walls of pagodas just now I think I can work in to make the buildings a lot more interesting.

ThinkKlinck

Big changes and additions. I had to unwrap everything and start texturing. you will notice that the metal poles are missing from the side of the new mountain bridge, they will be replaced with some wooden poles to hold flags. there will also be grass added to the top of the mountain bridge, as well as some variation in the height of the top of it, its very perfectly flat right now. Also added some floors fog to go above the water. also there are some obvious lighting errors on some of the meshes, light maps aren't done yet. Also the top plane seems barren (added grass as I said) but it will be filled with props like bushes, some trees, park elements etc. Once the main elements are tied up I'm going to start making the terrain this coming week. All critiques welcome!

killazzz

This is quite an ambitious project. I really like the reference your using, but you decided to take the bridge and change it to carved rock?
Its obviously man-made and i'd recommend re-thinking the bridge to better match the reference.
I also am not clear on why the smaller building on the right has a brick texture on it, shouldn't it match the materials of the main structure?
Your modeling skills are quite good, and you've really captured the silhouette of the main structure, if you moved the right building closer to the main structure and pushed it closer to the left side of the bridge I think it would look closer compositionally to your reference. I would really like to see the scaffolding as well as that will break up the right side more.
Anyways, thats my two cents, keep at it, im interested to see this progress!

Subbed:)

ThinkKlinck

Thanks for the feedback and subb! So all the changes to the original concept I made actually stemmed from changing a few of the buildings to the stone texture (the two center buildings in the cluster are also using it) and messing around a bit. While looking at it with the concrete bridge and metal poles it looked almost too modern to me, while sitting beside the buildings with older wood, worn roof tiles, etc. And after applying that different texture to a few of those buildings I thought maybe the redesign towards a bit of an older village with more wood, and stone etc rather than metal would make more sense for me. The reason being because there will be grass, bushes, maybe some small trees, ya know a kind of garden rather than a boring concrete block. That was the issue I had with this concept, nothing except the buildings is really viewable and really what can you grow on a giant concrete block? I imagine you could put some smaller houses, streets etc. up there but I liked the idea more of it being a pleasant area outside the main fortress but inside the main gates, and that really made me want to pursue the modified mountain bridge idea.

I totally see what your saying and stuff but that was kind of the issue when I had to imagine the rest of the environment, ya know, like what goes up there? and when I filled it in with what I thought would be cool (some greenery) I figured I had to fit the other elements to go with it. I know its hard to imagine right now because..well there is none haha but there will be a kind of pleasant park there I promise.

That all seem reasonable and good?

EDIT:
I know its a bit of a radical shift from the cold angry looking fortress, but I liked the idea of just staying protected and living pleasantly on this bridge rather than the kind of warlike theme it has at first glance. Its honestly mainly due to me wanting to do greenery in this project haha

ThinkKlinck

Havnt updated this in a while I guess, so heres mountains, water, changed that building texture back, uh, you can see most of the other stuff haha I really need some advice on lighting this thing, I want gloomy but with a few warm spots, gonna do some more props soon, probably a cool lantern at the entrance of the main area and near the park I'm planning across from the one house? Anyway, thanks in advance for the crits!

whats_true

The bridge looks boring, too bulky and blobby. Much prefer the built up bridge in the concept. Yeah, it might look too modern like you said, but you can still do half and half. Its just more interesting and makes more sence. This just doesn't have any character in it. Even if you did rocks, looking at it from underneath, its just the same thing, rocks. Mix it with bamboo pols holding stuff up, metal nailed into the ground, suspensions made out of vines, idk, something.

Lighting looks depressing with no actual light source. I have no idea were the sun is at. Even if you didnt want a sun, you still need something to give you a strong focal point with lighting. Right now, its makeing the textures look dark and bland. I prefer your old lighting. You went in the wrong direction when trying to update the lighting.

ThinkKlinck

whats_true wrote: »

The bridge looks boring, too bulky and blobby. Much prefer the built up bridge in the concept. Yeah, it might look too modern like you said, but you can still do half and half. Its just more interesting and makes more sence. This just doesn't have any character in it. Even if you did rocks, looking at it from underneath, its just the same thing, rocks. Mix it with bamboo pols holding stuff up, metal nailed into the ground, suspensions made out of vines, idk, something.

Lighting looks depressing with no actual light source. I have no idea were the sun is at. Even if you didnt want a sun, you still need something to give you a strong focal point with lighting. Right now, its makeing the textures look dark and bland. I prefer your old lighting. You went in the wrong direction when trying to update the lighting.

Honestly after uploading it and looking at it more I think your dead on with everything. I really like the idea of the suspension bridge made out of earthy stuff, bamboo, vines etc.

And the lighting is really not helping anything at all, would you think a cloudy day with the sun peaking through the clouds a bit would help? I could focus the light in the middle of the bridge where I plan on putting the garden area. Thoughts??

ThinkKlinck

Hey there, big update. Still looking to add some props and stuff. Changed the lighting, closest mountain, added small sand bench area, etc. Any prop recommendations, lighting etc. would be great!