[WIP] - UE5 Cyberpunk Old Quebec

CedricArsenault

Hello Polycount!

I'm currently working on a UE5 environment set in Old Quebec, with a Cyberpunk twist.

There are still many things in the blockout and wip phase, but I think I'm far enough to get a first round of feedback.

Here's where I'm at so far:

And some of my references for more context:

The final piece will take place during winter, at night.

My main goal with this project is mostly to learn UE5 and how to work with Nanite and Lumen.

I'm also trying to integrate AI tools into my workflow, mostly for generating ideas and some quick textures (examples below).

More importantly, I really want to finish this piece, since I've had trouble doing that with previous personal projects.

As for the environment itself, I really want to push storytelling with this one.

I'm aiming for a retro-futuristic look with cyberpunk elements, while still keeping most of the architectural style that makes this part of Quebec interesting.

This was one of the first asset I made for the project. The textures are only a first pass, and I plan to update them later on:

I started this prop by quickly generating some Ideas with DALL.E 2 and looking at some other references:

I ended up sticking with this variation for the base shape:

As you can see, I only kept certain elements of the image (mostly the top and the base). I originally wanted to make a coffee vending machine, so I modified a lot of things to fit with this idea.

In the end, generating a bunch of images with AI helped me figuring out a base shape to expand on, and I plan to use this technique on other props.

I also used DALL.E as a reference base for some textures:

and to generate some quick placeholder cubemaps for the fake interior shader I'm working on:

I really want to push the quality of this environment as much as I can, so any kind of feedback is welcome!

Thanks for reading!

I'll post some more updates here once I have more to show.

CedricArsenault

Hello Again!

Small update since last time:

I decided to add an awning on top of the Poutine shop and started developing a shader, using tileables and masks, that I'll use on most painted metals.

I also did a first pass on the neon lights for the windows and front awning (I'm still figuring out the design of the text and fries neon sign on top)

I made this window variation re-using a wood trim sheet I used on some modular assets and an altered window frame texture for the middle.

Eventually I'll make some more variations, but I'll concentrate on finalizing a first pass on the Poutine shop for now, since it's the main focus of the environment.

Thanks for reading!

CedricArsenault

Hey Polycount!

I haven't posted any kind of updates since more than a year ago (which is a little demoralizing haha). But, I'm still slowly working on this thing, and hopefully I'll manage to finish it this year.

A few things changed since last time (and are still subject to), but it's still a big work in progress. I'll also go back to the blocking phase for a bit, try and add some more details to have a better idea of what still needs to be done.

I'm mostly looking for feedback on composition, lighting and design. I'm not really using any concepts, but I'm taking tons of inspirations from movies like Blade Runner, the game Stray and the amazing artist Cornelius Dämmrich. I'm also 100% open if you've got any other suggestions or critiques regarding the assets I made so far.

The interior of the restaurant. The design is inspired by the traditional french canadian tale ''La Chasse Galerie'':

One of the hero prop in the scene. I'm not 100% happy with it design-wise (mostly the cables on the side), and the modeling + textures aren't 100% final. The main shape is based on the FJay 561 Electronic Cash Register from 1974.




A quick screenshots of most modular assets I'm using for the buildings.

And as a bonus, a picture of the only employee of this restaurant. I've only done a blocking pass on the head, highly inspired by the viewmaster toys from the 70s. I'm really looking forward to texturing this one:

Thanks for reading! I'll post here and in other communities more regularly going forward, as I really want to push this project further.

CedricArsenault

Hello again!

I reworked the blocking of the interior a bit to have a better idea of the assets still needed:
 - I added an inset on the back wall for the bathroom door, as well as some more lighting in this area,
 - Some more wall decor and a coat hanger next to the door,
 - Lights, a menu, shelves and some clutter in the kitchen,
 - A small table in the left corner

For the table, I wasn't sure what to add in front of it as I felt it was a little weird to only have a wall there. It might be way too out there, but I made a quick mockup in Photoshop of what could be cool:

Deer heads are a pretty common decor in Sugar shacks around Québec, which I'm using as an inspiration for the interior. In this case, It would be a wood sculpture instead of an actual deer.
Also, I thought it could be funny to dress it up as a priest, since in the tale I'm basing the theming on, a group made a deal with the devil. It could just be sitting on the wall, judging the person eating. It's weird, but I promise I'm not on any kind of illicit substance lol.
The one thing I'm worried about is that it might clash too much with the rest, but I feel like it would be a fun prop to create.

What do you think? Am I on the right track? I'll eventually re-work the exterior, but I want to finalize the interior first as I feel like I'm making good progress so far.

CedricArsenault

Hello!

Small update:
I did a first pass on the kitchen wall, restroom door and added two new props (mop + bucket). Eventually I might do a second pass on these props, but I'll move on to the next thing for now (as there's still many things to do haha):



Next is the Canoe Light, for which I started modeling the high poly base (with a slight re-design from the blockout, based on a few references):

CedricArsenault

Hey, it's been a while!

In the past few weeks I've been finalizing the interior of the restaurant, mostly working on some props to fill the space (including the weird deer). I also used a few asset packs from Dekogon and some other assets to speed up the process.
There's still a few things I want to do (decal + detailing pass, optimization), but overall I'm happy with the results so far.

There's also the robot cashier I'll have to continue working on eventually, but for now, I'll move on to the exterior. I need to finalize the metal structures, add some snow, trash, a few props and edit the lighting a bit.

Feedback/critiques are very much welcome, thanks for reading!

CedricArsenault

I updated parts of the metal structure outside and did a first snow pass on the exterior using megascans tileables + assets:
The road is using displacement currently and is quite heavy on performance I think... I'll definitely have to do an optimization pass on a few things, but that's a problem for future me

CedricArsenault

Started placing a few new props and testing out the EasySnow plugin, which will look much better in video:

CedricArsenault

Final post is up on Artstation, I'll definitely make another post to present the props and a few breakdowns at some point. Not much traction here haha, but I'll still post the link and a couple images:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3E1q32