Cyberpunk Noodle Shop Scene (UE4 wip, critiques greatly appreciated!)

lpfeffer

Hello, first-time polycounter here!

I'm currently trying to teach myself environment art, but my output has been kind of subpar so far, wich is why i want to do it right this time around and spend more time on the blockout / composition before going into the details (and in the end hopefully have something thats up to the game industry standards).

EDIT: Current status:

Reference board:

The idea for this scene is to make a diorama of a small cyperkunk-ian scene, with the hopes that having a smaller scope would help not having this project fall apart. The result of this approach so far is this image (blockout in UE4 + quick paintover):

However, i'm not sure if having it float in empty space is a good idea, or if the impact could be bigger if i build a scene around it. Here's the approach of that so far:

What are your thoughts on that? Keep working on a diorama or going big? I'm also super thankful for feedback of any kind on how to improve this thing as a whole!

lpfeffer

Worked on the blockout and composition. Again, happy for any feedback!

This time, i tried to push the world building and storytelling.

Ashervisalis

Put in some flying cars into the background right above the bridge! Also, a lot of trash on the ground. Looking good so far.

lpfeffer

Ashervisalis said:

Put in some flying cars into the background right above the bridge! Also, a lot of trash on the ground. Looking good so far.

Thanks! I already had lots of trash in mid, but not the flying cars! I'll make sure to get to that tomorrow. Is there anything that stands out to you as really bad, as in, what should be crushed before it creates problems down the line?

lpfeffer

Added more trash, a flying police car approaching the location, cables, vents and stuff on the rooftops, refined a little here and there and then did a quick paintover. What do you guys think? Composition ok so far?

lpfeffer

First (re-)import into UE4 + some basic lighting and fog setup.

One problem i have currently is that volumetrics by default get culled out at a certain distance. Which happens to be just before the police car. RIP emergency lights, for now.

CybranM

Looking good so far, I really like the theme your going for

Ashervisalis

Composition is good If you could put a texture on the distant buildings which add a lot of city window lights, that would be cool. The broken part of the building right below the retracting door I'm not buying. Its breakage looks a bit too cartoony.

lpfeffer

CybranM said:

Looking good so far, I really like the theme your going for

Thank you very much! @CybranM

snake85027

I really wish you would have opened up the ramen shop. I really was hoping to huge pots that have steam coming out from them. I miss those days in Japan.

lpfeffer

@Ashervisalis Texture for the buildings: Workin' on it! Broken glass: Thanks for pointing that out, i'll have a look at some reference.

@snake85027 Everything's still pretty much in flux, so that might actually change. Problem is, i only have one month to finish this, and i don't want my asset list to explode lol.

Ashervisalis

For the volumetric lights for the police car, I'd suggest checking out fake god rays / sun beam tutorials on youtube. You could even, instead of making them cone shaped or whatever, make them a plane, like the emergency lights are also scanning the environment. Just an idea.

lpfeffer

@Ashervisalis Thanks for the idea! I actually have an old project with fake light shafts lying around, but i just moved the car closer as an quick fix. But i might still need the fake planes for the police drone scanning thing. I basically want to have a spotlight project a line grid texture to give that "batman scannery" look.

lpfeffer

Quick update before bedtime, mostly lighting changes and moving / copying / scaling stuff around:

Tomorrow, i want to do the drone scan effect and a first rough texture for the buildings in the background.

lpfeffer

Hey y'all, quick update. I did a quick skyline photobash, but i think the composition still looks quite boring.

I think that the right of the image is still too empty. Also, having a trashcan right besides the menu dosen't make much sense on second thought. To be honest, having the entry of a noodle shop at the delivery parking space also dosent make much sense either, so i might just have to bite the bullet and turn this into a full blown backdoor delivery space and just hint the entry at the corner on the street.

-> What is your guys take on that?

My attempt on trying to adress some of that:

snake85027

would be cool to have some holograms of a ramen bowl or something.