Low Poly Scene, critique wanted!

le0tard

Hey guys! I've started a new peice which I hope can end up in my portfolio.
All tips and crits welcome! As of now I only really have time to work on the weekends, so it's
a slow process. Here's what i've got so far:


It doesn't show the topology correctly, but you get the gist of it. Whole scene at 5.3k tris atm. There is a bunch of
planes for assorted vegetation too, but i removed the here as they just obstructed the scene right now.

le0tard

I've also done the texture for the plaster wall;

le0tard

The house so far!
front and back, shadeless material

le0tard

the well:

ozzy310

Looks good so far

FemCharles

Nice job on the texturing so far!
Before giving any feedback, could we see concept you are working from and if not a particular concept references/mood board? This will help some of us understand better the final image you would like to achieve.

le0tard

FemCharles said:

Nice job on the texturing so far!
Before giving any feedback, could we see concept you are working from and if not a particular concept references/mood board? This will help some of us understand better the final image you would like to achieve.

Thx! I guess the reference would be Gilneas from WoW. I want to capture that dark sepia feel, but I dont want to tread too close to Blizzards actual gilneas art. Something like this;

FemCharles

ok cool! I think it would be worth time creating a mood board full of images that inspire you for this piece. It will help spark ideas that you might have not thought of before.

So my critique is that the house and the well are looking a bit flat.
How are you currently working? Is it currently made up of tillable textures or do you have unique UVs? It would be good to see the UV's of the model. 
If it is unique UVs then i think some more shadows and lighting can be painted in.
If it is tillable textures do you plan on doing a baked lightmap or vertex lighting? 
Geometry wise you can make the wind vane chunkier, it will get lost at a distance. Maybe add some handles to the basement doors.

le0tard

Thank you for the feedback!
The textures are on unique UVs, I have just recently learned about both light maps and vertex painting, but I have not yet used those methods.
The house texture is spread out across 3 diffuse maps, so I'll just post the wells diffuse layout, but i can post the houses too, if theres any demand for it!

And I'll buff up that weak-ass weather vane!

le0tard

Terrain + pine tree. Maybe too many branches? I want it to look a bit barren.

FemCharles

Awesome. So if you have unique uvs i think its worth going back over the texture to add some extra lighting information. i think you can add some more planar changes. I done a quick adjustment on the stone wall section to show what i mean.


All the planes that are facing up should be lighter than the side. The same as on the roof of the well, there should be a gradient light being strong from the top and then fading off. I think you already have some planar changes but its very subtle and i think you could push it further. Then i would start to think about adding some more colour. By this i mean having slightly different hues of blue for the roof tiles and for the stone. Thinking about bounce lighting to help add more different colours into your texture. 

Hope that helps!

le0tard

Thank you so much FemCharles! I get that often, that I dont push colours and gradients enough, and that i'm too subtle. And your edit is very helpful, i will use this when I give the textures their final work-over!

FemCharles

le0tard said:

Thank you so much FemCharles! I get that often, that I dont push colours and gradients enough, and that i'm too subtle. And your edit is very helpful, i will use this when I give the textures their final work-over!

No problem! I think it's actually really nice that you've got the subtly down. That's tricky in itself! All the ground work is there its just a case of pushing what you already have! You will probably notice it more once everything is in and textured.
I look forward to the update

le0tard

Now im kinda stuck on the level design. I want it to be a small and compact scene, but now I think it might be too cramped...
Any tips on placement etc?

le0tard

And ofc i still want generall critique too!

NoRank

Maybe you could add some grass on different places, some flowers and some rocks would be cool too I think. 

One wood mail box would be cool as well.

le0tard

NoRank said:

Maybe you could add some grass on different places, some flowers and some rocks would be cool too I think. 

One wood mail box would be cool as well.

Ah, ok! I was afraid the scene was too cramped already, but I can ofc add more props, it you think that would help the scene. I have
already tinkered a bit with a mailbox, lightpost, and broom/shovel/pitchfork things.

FemCharles

@le0tard

I think you are right. Currently some assets need some breathing room. However i still think it is lacking in dressing. Basically the problem isn't that you have too much stuff, rather the placement. I started doing a paintover for you. But then i stumbled across a bigger problem.

I don't know what this place is. It lacks story. This kind of loops back in when i talked about mood board and references. I think to make a really interesting environment ( a believable one.) It needs a back story. 

Is this somebody's home? What kind of person lives here? Is it a Inn? etc etc. When you start answering these questions suddenly it becomes a lot more clearer what type of things you need in your environment. I think the texture painting is really nice but as an environment as a whole it kind of tells me nothing.
Have a think of some ideas. I think it will take this piece to the next level and also be much more fun!