Overgrowth - Level Art (Feedback Welcome)

CupMcCakers

Hello Polycount Community!

My name is George , I am working as a Level Artist on Wolfire Games' long awaited successor to Lugaru, Overgrowth. It's a game about kung fu rabbits  >:)

We are currently conducting an art pass over all of the games levels, and would like to invite some feedback before calling our work final.

The first level I will be sharing with you is Garden Duel. If you would like to hear more about our development process then feel free to post questions.

CupMcCakers

The next level that I will be sharing is one called Dog Fort!

CupMcCakers

On Overgrowth work is being conducted in passes, first comes a gameplay pass, followed by a couple of art passes. When artists like myself inevitably screw up something game play related, then sometimes it is necessary for a level designer to step in and asses the damage, which is is followed by a second game-play pass. 

We use slack for communication in the team, so even though there is a split between developers working together and remotely, communication is swift and for the *most* part everyone is able to stay on task and respond to feedback effectively. 

Below are some images of levels at different stages of completion. First is the Garden duel level showcased in the first post.

This level underwent some notable changes during the 2nd art pass, which included:

- raising the height of the garden walls (the ramifications of this gameplay-wise are still being considered)
- Generally making the level look cleaner, like in the first image, while still incorporating a much higher level of detail.



The next level is dog fort, which was also shown in the first post. This level is supposed to be a remote outpost, so in the 2nd art pass a lot of the work was done through lighting and post-processing in order to make the level feel a lot colder. In Overgrowth, Terrain textures are handled using detail maps controlled by weigthmaps. When these textures are altered, they update in the project automaticcaly, which allows for quick alterations.



Lastly, this farm level underwent a drastic mood change after the David, the project lead chose the level to display a fancy new rain effect that he had been working on. So on top of dressing the set with props, the sky was changed, and so was the lighting, PP and fog. The darker atmosphere also helps to bring attention to the door of the farmhouse, indicating that someone, or something, might be home. Towards the end of the 2nd art pass, dark decals were placed to simulate the effects of ambient occlusion shadows around certain objects.



We would be grateful for any comments, feedback or suggestions.

CupMcCakers

In this level, turner the rabbit attacks a watchtower construction site. The geometric rock formations are actually crete, an organic substance that is a valuable construction material in the game's lore. This is one of the larger levels in the game and went through a major overhaul.



This shot is from the level before it was revamped. We plan to release some of these cut levels with the game even though we wont be including them in the campaign. 

CupMcCakers

Canyon Ambush was the first level that I personally worked on for Overgrowth, and was one of the three levels where I was responsible for both art passes. I was initially handed a whitebox, and in the first image below you can still see that I have not finished replacing all of this placeholder box geo. 

My workflow on Canyon Ambush went something like this:

1. As I was still unfamiliar with the asset library and engine in general I created a palette of assets that I thought might suit the level.
2. Start placing the largest "architectural" meshes, these are the meshes that define the play space, they might be rocks, cliffs, terrain, walls and structures.
3. Conduct a pass with mid sized objects to further define the the play space.
4. Start experimenting with key visual elements and the composition of the scene, as seen below, this includes unusual rock formations, playing with the rock arch which is a key visual element of the level, the bridge, meltwater and the river.
5. Settle on the defining visual elements and refine those while stripping away those that seem too contrived or gimmicky or don't seem to add anything of value to the scene.
6. Began to play with lighting to try to create a sense of mood, and also casting some dramatic shadows and lighting to help guide the players eye upwards to where enemies come from. 
7. Placing more detail meshes, decals, blob shadows to simulate ambient occlusion shadows, 
8. After I became more familiar with the engine through working on other levels, I revisited this one and conducted another lighting and Post-processing pass. In this, I pushed the black and white points to increase the contrast, making the sky and light areas much brighter to help draw the players eye. I also put in some reflection captures to push the fidelity and really make the icy river pop.