[WIP Unity Environment] Cabin in mountains- need feedback

9999thStarvingArtist

Hello polycount! 
I have been working on this scene in unity on and off for a few weeks. I really like where it is going but I know it still needs allot of polish and there are many things I want to change. Just thought I should get some feedback so I can know what to work on next. I want to add a character, add some more buildings, add clouds, work on the mountain a bit more as well. If anybody has any ideas or opinions on what to work on next to make this piece stand out I would appreciate it, I have so many ideas but lack the experience to know what the best thing to do next would be. 



I should also give an explanation out this I suppose:

This is somewhat inspired by video game loading screens. I wanted to use video game art to make a mountain vista scene to show that I can make detailed nature scenes in the Unity engine, and just build my skills as an artist in general. I have messed around with game art for years but I decided that I wanted to start working on a portfolio and this is the first dedicated artwork piece that will be in said portfolio. I know it needs allot of work but I feel it has promise


Also: I did all the 3d modelling and placement for this. The textures are downloaded from online recourses or my mega scans subscription and edited adjusted and mixed together for my purposes. Someday I will work on some artwork to showcase these skills however the objective of this artwork is more to show level design skill and 3d modelling skill. 

9999thStarvingArtist

-Adjusted Mountain Top
-Added bloom and other effects
-made the flowers pop more
-messed around with the fence, thinking about getting rid of it. Need room to put an outhouse and wood cutting area

probably not going to do daily updates here but will if I have progress to show. Will be out of town for a few days so dont expect much

Boosted24v

Maybe something that is out of your control, but my biggest gripe would be the trees, they seem unnatural to me.

9999thStarvingArtist

thanks for the input. how do you think I could improve, more branches, more poly's? I actually did the texture by hand I could re-do that as well. No reason to put something hand painted into a scene that is aiming for photorealism although a stylized photorealism. 

teodar23

Its not a problem with the models, its more of an engine limitation, specifically, the lighting model. You need to fake subsurface scattering somehow. Im not a unity user so i cant go into details but basically the leaves look unnatural because in reality light passes through the leaves (to an extent) and that is visible on the back side of the leaves.
Since i posted, i could touch up on other things as well:
- there is visible texture stretching on the terrain, try to use a different uv method.
- maybe increase the polycount/tessellation of the terrain
- the cottage has very repetitive texturing
- there is nothing inside the cottage and very little outside
- you should look into editing the normals of those bushes/grass so that they dont look so disconected from the ground.

9999thStarvingArtist

Thanks so much for the feedback. I was having a hard time putting a finger on what was wrong with it but something just felt off. I am heading off for a few days but will work on your suggestions when I get back. I was already planning on building some rocks in 3ds max to make the terrain look more varied and put things inside and outside of the shack. thanks for the suggestion about the textures, I could easily throw some different log textures on there to make it look more varied. Also I will look into subsurface scattering, I'm sure there is some way to emulate it. Maybe I should just learn unreal  

Keep an eye out for me when I get back, I want to make this thing look perfect.