[UE4] Handpainted Lovecraft-Inspired Beach Camp

Azaraen · Jul 2016

I first made a concept which would help me develop the mood, color, and prop list of the scene, but the 3D environment will not look exactly like this. It should look good for somebody who would be walking into it, like in a game. Open to suggestions though!

I've started the blockout, added particles and sound. Next up is another pass at textures and some animations in the tentacles! (which I also need to add more of the tentacles still) My goal is to make it feel alive. As if it were implemented into the game build, working and navigable. The period is around 1930s, with hints of lovecraftian spookiness.

Current Progress:

Here is a video of it with effects and sound!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzSojvax2Jg

Azaraen · Jul 2016

Just need to figure out how to get it to work in scene now. I didn't have enough time to research it, so it may be absurdly simple. Like checking a box. So just imagine the moon behind the tentacle until I get that thing in!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5-LhyQEbxs

Azaraen · Jul 2016

I actually had a hard time figure out how to get the tentacle to loop in the scene, BUT I finally found a solution this morning. Don't know if this is the proper way to do it, but it works. Just change the Animation Mode from "Use Animation Blueprint" to "Use Animation Asset" on the skeletal mesh itself. I assume theres a better way to do it would be Blueprint / State Machine related. (ex. [start at scene load] ---- [animation_wiggle])

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eaxIQp-1nw

Azaraen · Jul 2016

Current Progress: (Added sand texture!) Planning on doing the vertex painting/lerping trick to add non wavy sand & have some pebbles.

Paintover: What I'd like to do to the sand texture. Have a pressed sand area where somebody (or many people) would've walked. And stones around the campfire.

Had a hard time coming up with a sand texture, so I resorted to zbrushing it. Not sure if I'm going in the right direction with this, but experimenting will help me figure it out.

darkmag07 · Jul 2016

For the wiggling tentacle, you could use the WorldPositionOffset parameter in the material and a SimpleGrassWind Node. Using weight paints as a mask, you can get more distortion in the tip of the tentacle versus the base. Further reading that could put you on this course.

Azaraen · Jul 2016

Thanks @darkmag07 ! I will revisited the tentacle and see how that material looks on it.

So I got some feedback on my overall composition. The feeback being there is NO main focal point. I agree, there isn't. I didn't make my concept with composition in mind, so i'm revisiting that now with these sketches.

Which one do you guys like?