[WIP] First environmental scene - still a newbie

ACoderTryingToArt

Hello,

This is my first artwork relating to environmental scene. It is still a work in progress. I am sure there are a lot of little things I am doing wrong; but I am happy to get some feedback. I definitely need to work more to add more detail to the scene as well. Please let me know what you think.

Some issues / things I've noticed:
- Grass looks like it is tiling - I need to add more variation here.
- Path needs more work - I think it is too dark and looks more like a shadow than a path.
- Texture by gate seems a bit of in terms of scaling.

Scene is generally sparse, but I am going to work on populating the scene more.

I am trying to implement an art style similar to Bouldars Gate or Dark Eden (this scene actually I referenced Dark Eden a little bit regarding placement of objects. mood/lighting.) I modeled all the objects my self, and the textures are from cc0textures.

Also, hard to see, but there is a character in front of the second building. Mostly that is for reference, but also I intend to animate him.

Do you think this artwork is OK for an indie game? Or as a user would it be unplayable? I am still trying to improve my artwork skills

teodar23

It doesnt matter if its indie or not, eye candy is always good and afrer all, if you get payed for your work, you must do your best. I wont go over the obvious issues that you have already mentioned, but i will give you this piece of advice: focus on what is most important. You seem to want to do a scene and that means modeling and texturing and you have your work cut out for you. No need to add extra effort with character anim and other extras. Focus on lighting and mood if you want that extra something. But, as i said, first things are good models and better materials.

ACoderTryingToArt

Okay, I appreciate the advice. Thank you! I will try to focus more on materials / lighting.

hghtch

Tiling. Use noise overlays with different scale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De8DUod26Mg These tips can be applied to about any shader environment, blender, UE, unity or whatever. Also I'd improve on lighting. It all looks almost unlit.

It seems dark, so go dark. Make sure you have some nice normal information and let them do their magic with some flickering torches that help convey the medival graveyardy like atmosphere. Maybe wet stones/low roughness. Give it some character.

Another point would be to create more irregularities in the shapes. It's all very blocky for now. But that could be your artstyle. But if so, you need to make sure your texture work compensates for it. Repetitive textures+repetitive geo isn't the best combination.

And you already mentioned scale. I'd make the whole wall have the scale of the inside of the gate. Sure, there were also castle walls with smaller stones, but these small shapes don't read so well from a distance and can easily create noise and a need for antialiasing.

But overall you are going in a good direction, I never played diablo beside for a few hours on lan party (shame on me I guess) but it directly gave me these vibes. So you have that going for you.

ACoderTryingToArt

Hello, this is all excellent feedback. I didn't notice these things at first: but after you pointed it out I can really see it a lot better.

I will definitely work to reduce to the tiling and try to get light/material working better for me. Yes it definitely looks very unlit at this point.

Thanks a lot!

ACoderTryingToArt

Added a bit of lighting, trying with having a darker scene.

For the lights, I couldn't get the fire to emit the way I wanted it to, so I am using spotlights for now. They seem to be working okay.

I added a bit more shape to the world, and tried to reduce the tiling effect on the grass. I think there is some more I can do with it and I will take a close look at it later. To resolve it I did a mix of noise + UV shifting techniques mentioned in that video

I also added a blacksmith in the scene.

I am not sure how I feel with lowering the ambient light so much - I will need to experiment with lighting more for sure.

starcow

I really like this style! Reminds me very much of Diablo! Love it! Keep on going!

ACoderTryingToArt

Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback

Added some more details + worked a bit more on lighting. I definitely want to reconsider the positioning of things, but I think here on out I am just going to focus on more finer details.

I am happy with out it is progressing

BohSheh

Making a game involves not just art but the experience as a whole , Minecraft , Undertale , you name it . Being an indie means there is even more things you have to compromise ,  time is resource . Say it took 1 year to finish , by the time the game has finished , this growing industry gonna look so different than it was before .  
Everything you worked from now will be part of your reusable asset library , make full use of it . Besides ,  please use assets from stores , it gonna save you alot of time . Focus on the composition , not only a single props itself .

Back to the art part , what is the concept behind this village ? It kinda looks like a Sorceress village to me ( this summoning circle looks interesting to me ) . If thats the case ,  make a scene that focuses on the circle itself . 

Are you using real photo reference ? There is a meaning on why things are place in this way . Do you have any rough sketch ? Show it to us!

And lastly, it kinda have the feel of what you are trying to achieve , keep it up !!

ACoderTryingToArt

Hello, I agree and I honestly genuinely appreciate the advice Yes I will definitely look at using assets from an asset store as I proceed with this project!

I still am trying to flesh out the full idea; but right now the concept is that this village is where a group of vampires have settled. The idea behind the vampires is that they are have some magic regarding summoning. I am trying to incorporate some magical elements to the scene (but I want to not sway too much into the fantasy direction - trying to keep it realistic if that makes any sense?)

I did not sketch before I started this scene - which I regret because I am having trouble placing things and composing everything together in a way that I feel is right.

The hint you gave regarding making the summon circle be the centre of the scene makes a lot of sense to me, and I will try to move in that direction a bit more as best I can.

Thanks for all your great feedback! It really helps me, especially being new to this area

BohSheh

Hey glad it helps! 

If you have trouble blocking things out , sketch is a way to go , but somehow starting from scratch is kinda overwhelming .

In that case , you can just "steal" it from different sources , AND blend it together ( photo , movie scene , game etc ) . Apparently Yoko Taro ( Nier Automata Director ) just steal the layout from Legend of Zelda , so no fell guilt doing so !! 

Block things fast , dont like it ? Repeat until satisfied . Satisfied? Proceed with the detail , same as painting , except we have access to advanced technology . And this is where ready made assets come in , you can basically just use and throw the way you like .

Your concept makes sense to me now . Good luck!!