[FINISHED] Viking Mountain Pass Environment
polycounter lvl 5
THIS PROJECT IS NOW FINISHED
Check out the artstation post here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Kr3zb4
Feel free to look through this thread to get an idea of what my thought process was in regards to design decisions etc.
Hey!
This environment is a new project I'm working on that is set in a dark fantasy world based on Vikings and old Norse mythology inspired mostly by God of War (2018) and Hellblade. To begin with, I gathered together as many images I could that I thought looked cool and created a few moodboards. I then selected three images I liked the most as main references, which I have posted below. I really wanted to make an environment that was tighter in scope, allowing me to focus on really high quality assets and a highly modular set-up whilst also working on a world-space that interests me hugely! Thus, the primary focal point here will be the mountain pass entrance alongside the guardian models.
^I liked the composition on this one, so block out lies on this composition as a base.
Next I started to block out the scene and look at which pieces I would be needing in terms of modular assets.
At this point I set up a trello board to manage how many of each asset I will need in the scene. Since most of it is rock types, trees, foliage and various landscape shaders, the tiling materials are of highest priority at the moment.
I then started playing around with materials in Substance Designer, creating some tileable cliff and wood materials.
Using block out geometry as scale guidance, I started creating geometry using the materials I'd created.
I also started working on the door asset, which is done in Painter for now. I will likely change various elements of the sculpt but I wanted to get a hero asset in as soon as possible before replacing more of the modular assets.
This is where I am at the moment in UE4. Thanks for reading and any feedback is welcomed!
Check out the artstation post here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Kr3zb4
Feel free to look through this thread to get an idea of what my thought process was in regards to design decisions etc.
Hey!
This environment is a new project I'm working on that is set in a dark fantasy world based on Vikings and old Norse mythology inspired mostly by God of War (2018) and Hellblade. To begin with, I gathered together as many images I could that I thought looked cool and created a few moodboards. I then selected three images I liked the most as main references, which I have posted below. I really wanted to make an environment that was tighter in scope, allowing me to focus on really high quality assets and a highly modular set-up whilst also working on a world-space that interests me hugely! Thus, the primary focal point here will be the mountain pass entrance alongside the guardian models.
^I liked the composition on this one, so block out lies on this composition as a base.
Next I started to block out the scene and look at which pieces I would be needing in terms of modular assets.
At this point I set up a trello board to manage how many of each asset I will need in the scene. Since most of it is rock types, trees, foliage and various landscape shaders, the tiling materials are of highest priority at the moment.
I then started playing around with materials in Substance Designer, creating some tileable cliff and wood materials.
Using block out geometry as scale guidance, I started creating geometry using the materials I'd created.
I also started working on the door asset, which is done in Painter for now. I will likely change various elements of the sculpt but I wanted to get a hero asset in as soon as possible before replacing more of the modular assets.
This is where I am at the moment in UE4. Thanks for reading and any feedback is welcomed!
Replies
Managed to work on some more materials in Designer to improve on the old pine bark material. Also made a birch material to add a little variance in the trees. Working with the references I gathered from God of War, I really liked the mix of birch and pine. In the context of my environment I think it works nicely to block out the path towards the door and emphasises some more of the shape language.
This was my first go at making a grass alpha in designer, so it will probably be improved later on. My plan is to map 2-3 of these onto a 2k atlas.
Some people that I showed the environment to asked what the runes meant, which was when I realised that I hadn't put any thought into that. Just thought they looked cool, so I decided to go back to the door sculpt and use runes that meant something in the name of story-telling as well as some more cracks and surface destruction.
That's where I am at the moment. I still want to get more foliage in here and start working on the guardians as well as some waypoints. Thanks for reading, feedback is welcomed
Mainly rethought the lighting since the overcast lighting I initially wanted didn't work as well as I thought it would. Instead I've tried to lead the eye more using two directionals; one high intensity directed towards the gate and guardians and one low intensity pointed a little lower. The second dir light is functioning as a sky light at the moment.
Still working on more foliage variation but I have managed to implement denser grass clumps and various moss clumps. I've also reworked the pine bark material yet again, this time I revisited the God of War trees and took direct reference from those. With the previously created bark materials, I put to use as vertex paints.
^Here you see my approach to the lighting. I also wanted the atmospheric fog to have a cold tint (visible on lit screenshot)
This tree stump is a decimation of the high poly, using its own uv sheet. The final version will use the bark materials I've already made.
God of War's colour scheme is my main inspiration for the fog/sunlight at the moment.
Thanks for reading
At some point I would break up the ground leading towards the entrance. This would increase sense of depth and give more detail where the player is supposed to go.
With the light, I think it seems only show only on the right being blocked by a big formation on the left - this could be more dramatic
Attempt to illustrate:
Keep it up!
BTW, i'd be interested in an actual walkthrough in Unreal video
I will likely include an Unreal Engine walkthrough video in the final Artstation post but I would be happy to post it here too, if I remember!
The most recent feedback has been really great and motivating, so I am posting my most recent progress!
I finished the Guardian model and decided to use some candle lights to make them pop more. On the topic of lighting, I have also worked a little more on the path lighting, getting some shadows in through various spot lights and adjusting the directionals.
^lighting only screenshot. Illustrates how I'm splitting the path up
There still remain a few assets I want to make, mainly foliage to populate the ridges in the foreground and perhaps overgrowing the door.
Thanks for reading!
I've made some changes to the overall environment design. Namely, the usage of snow. My main references use a lot of snow and it seems to help with creating more dramatic lighting rather than the muddy mix of warmer colours. This is also something the fog achieves, as I can make the contrast between warm natural light and cooler shadows more visible.
In terms of assets, I have made some changes to the moss texture, made a few foliage variations and added stairs/rock formations for the lead up to the door.
I'm starting to feel the environment coming together as I wanted to, so now will likely be post-processing changes and material reviews.
Thanks for reading, feedback is welcomed!
I see what you mean though. I've been experimenting with various waypoints and structures to give scale reference. The fog being further away makes sense, thanks for the feedback @wirrexx !
The road sign, can also help in sense of scale, usually they are a bit higher then a normal character or at the same length
Produced a flag for a little more sense of scale in the foreground as well as a rope mesh that indicates some sort of ancient human presence using the trees to their benefit.
I have also added a snow particle system based off the subtlety in my original main reference image from GoW.
Alongside various post-processing changes, I've altered the flag and played around with the fog and tree pitch/yaw.
I also talked to Nate Stephens, the Environment Art Lead on God of War, to get more of an insight into how the trees and various floating geometry was handled. That pushed me to study the GoW forests more, identifying the uses of floating geometry in bark, moss and snow pieces.
I'm not entirely happy with where my bark geo is at at the moment, so I will refine and try to get more depth in there going forward
I feel that I am starting to approach the end of this project. Since my last post, I have added a glowing circular rune-like pattern in the same nature as Hellblade's lore runestones. The concept behind it is to be the 'lock' and to pass it, the wanderer must fulfill the requirements of each rune.
As I said in my previous post, I have iterated on the bark floating geometry again. Main changes here are the extra geometry for depth on the bark.
The sand or gravel on the ground near the camera is very noisy, unrealistic. There is a second light that lights some assets especially on the left side but we cant see that light so a bit confusing.
The rocks in the distance dont have proper shadows, try enabling far shadows.
The fog is a bit too strong and too uniform, looks game-y. Should be more on the ground for atmosphere.
- I removed a few of the root mesh instances a while back to have some more chaotic shapes in the foreground. I also experimented with the road sign, like you suggested, but couldn't get it to work. I will explore this area of the piece more now though, thanks @wirrexx !
- Glad someone pointed this out before I post it to artstation @Eric Chadwick ! I'm making a few modular variants of these stumps. Not very happy with the top end of the silouhette either. As you say, it sways too far in the direction of the dark side of the force...
- Thanks for this detailed feedback @teodar23 . I'll work on fixing those issues. I don't understand what you mean by the rocks not having proper shadows? Perhaps this will become apparent when I look into far shadows but I didn't notice anything to be off in this section of the environment.
I'm thinking I might make some more cliff rock assets for the background. This time more blocky in nature, revisiting the shapes and silhouettes from God of War.
^My viking road sign interpretation. For the final post and sketchfab upload I will refine this more, since there are artifacts due to bad baking on closer inspection. Either way, I think it's pretty cute.
To brighten the sign I am using a very low intensity point light without shadows, matching the colour temperature of the shadows.