Some advice!

broxxigar

Hello Polycount. I'm fairly new to this "industry", and i want some advice. I think of myself as being a environment artist like person. I mean i want really bad to create a world, where a game may take place. Now, i have some experience with Unity, but it doesn't feel like what i want...or maybe i'm not good enough to exploit all it can offer. I need an engine where i can create a game world like, let's say Destiny, or Dark Souls. Have you seen that lighting, and those colors. I like them very much..all those effects or whatever they are. I need an engine that can replicate that. And also a few advices on how to do that kind of world,/ colors / lighting / feel. I hope you understand what i'm saying here. Thanks!

EarthQuake

What you're after won't be found by chasing a specific rendering engine or specific rendering features.

The reasons those games look good are:
1. Art direction
2. Lighting, and the skilled people who create it
3. Art content, and the skilled people who create it
...
...
99. Engine specific features

Instead of lusting after some magic pill that will make your work better, what you should do is buckle down and practice. Learn art theory, study lighting, photography, and composition. Make a small environment from start to finish in any modern engine (unity, ue4, cryengine), rinse and repeat about 10 times, and you will see noticeable improvement in your work no matter what software you are using.

broxxigar

I'm sure you are right, but i'm certain that there must be some tweaks that i can do to approach that art direction. Like let's say the lighting color in Unity, wich can be changed etc. I'm new and i want to learn those kind of tricks, to improve my skills. I'm most experienced with Unity of all of them engines, but from what i tried until now, everithing is coming up not satisfying...it looks so "mobile" so to say...if you understand. And i need advice on how and what to add to make things better. Thanks for your time!

I found this tutorial, and that is the kind of lighting / colors / contrast i want to achieve, but is outdated and i can't do the scene. Do you guys think i can do something like that in Unity somehow?

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_expuF5SyA[/ame]

huffer

There are no shortcuts to make things look nicer. You need massive experience and years of work and very keen critical eye, so tackle something smaller first and keep adding to what you know.

broxxigar

Understood! I'll stick with the tutorials, maybe i'll get it done right after some time!

Eric Chadwick

Well the basics of lighting that desert scene are: sun light is a warm color, and the sky light is a cool color. Ambient occlusion creates soft shadowing. Fog helps soften the scene, and emphasize depth. Bloom add more softness and adds glows around the brightest parts.

We have some things here that might help you.
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Category:Lighting

I highly recommend the book [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/"]Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter[/ame] by James Gurney. You can take the lessons there and apply them to your game engine of choice, using his method of breaking down a scene, and seeking out the tools in an engine to help you replicate each real-world effect.

AdvisableRobin

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

Under section 3) there are a few tutorials for composition. They're very powerful, like second gear levels.

broxxigar

Thanks a lot guys!