[WIP] NieR Automata Environment

Brandon_KyT

This is a scene I've been working on for the past few days, based off the NieR Automata "Become as Gods Edition" Thumbnail. All made using Maya, Zbrush, Substance painter, Photoshop and Speed Tree. Lighting and post processes done in UE4.  

Just wanted to see if I could get some input on how I could improve the scene. Also, if anyone could offer some tips on how to make my grass better it would be greatly appreciated!

Brandon_KyT

Quick Update: Added a few more assets and cleaned up the lighting

toxicsludge77

I really like the lighting in this Brandon! My suggestion would be to maybe add some bricks sticking out of the pillars to break up the linear silhouette of them, such as what is seen in your ref (you could possibly do this on the floor tiles as well).

Your grass is very 'vertical' - are you using self made textures or scans such as the ones from Quixel or textures.com? I think if you give them some variety in shape they would look a lot better.

Brandon_KyT

That's a good idea that I will implement, thanks for the feedback. As for the grass, those were self made. A lot of the textures I found online didn't quite fit the bill, but I will try using the one you attached, thanks!

Brandon_KyT

Update #2: Redid the stone columns to add some more geometry to them. The column texture looks a little too smooth/clay-like so I might go add a bit of noise to the texture later. Also revamped the ivy to give it more volume. 

teodar23

I dont know how close you want to get to the ref but there are 2 big differences right now.
First, your scene has barely any color. If you look beyond the green tint in the ref you'll notice some color here and there.
Second, you used only a directional light without any ambient or bounced light. I suggest adding a skylight or baking the lighting. Your scene has more pitch black areas than the ref.
Keep at it.

Brandon_KyT

Thanks Teodar, I increased the skylight intensity and have been tweaking a few of the other lighting settings as well. Still struggling to get the results I want for lighting. Will keep posting updates, thanks for the feedback! 

JamesBrisnehan

It's hard to tell, but I think in the ruins in the Nier Automata ref. missing a ceiling and/or back wall, which might explain how so much sky/ambient light is getting into that space. 

Brandon_KyT

JamesBrisnehan said:

It's hard to tell, but I think in the ruins in the Nier Automata ref. missing a ceiling and/or back wall, which might explain how so much sky/ambient light is getting into that space. 

Dude! I never thought about that, i'll give that a shot and see where it goes

Brandon_KyT

Update: I've had a lot of struggles with this scene in the past few days. It has been difficult to interpret the surrounding areas of the environment in the reference picture aside from the stone pillars in the front. I really wanted to give the scene a bit more context so that the viewer knew where they were in relation to their surroundings, so I decided to expand a bit. In terms of the changes, I'm actually quite happy with the result I have gotten from expanding the scene and will definitely see it through.

I still want to try and stay true to the reference picture. I noticed there were quite a few assets that don't accurately represent those in the reference, so I'll be going back and re-doing those soon. Just noticed that the UV's on the big circular piece need some help as well haha. 

Feedback is appreciated as always, thanks!

teodar23

You need to balance the colors and tones of your scene. There is too much green and the high contrast makes it almost painful to look at.
Are you using cubemaps for reflections or what? The water reflection doesnt match the environment.