Hi there, I'm currently work (on my spare time) on a small indy game, taking place in a steam punk world. I started a thread in CGTalk long time ago, but no one seems to pay attention over there, so I realized it could more relevant to Polycount community.
I'll try to post the evolution of my work, each time I create new assets (props, vehicles, enemies ...)
Basically, the game is freely adapted from an old 8-bit game , where the player controls an hovercraft in a gigantic maze full of rooms, mechanism, and traps. Here's a screenshot of the original game, so that u figure out :
First of all, here's the main vehicle. I made this one long time ago, and I'm not that happy with the result. I might refine it with proper normal maps, and may be a more functional cannon (a squared-shape cannon is just not useable, imho
Wireframe :
Rendered turnarround :
Replies
I quickly designed the landing site, and finished the plane itself yesterday.
Landing site :
Hi res version (before baking) :
Lo res version, 3DSMax screenshot :
Lo res version, inside the 3D engine :
A friend draw my attention on the fact that a wooden propeller might be the best idea, regarding the size & weight of the plane. I might model a new one, in steel, more plausible
I got to play this little demo when I stayed with astrofa in Orelans, and it's way cooler in motion.
Welcome to Polycount buddy!
If you want a crit, I'd say the yellow metal doesn't look as worn as the rest of the craft. It could just be the gif compression though, and its still looks sweet.
I'd go about adding more detail, like gears, spinning bits, etc. to really drive the steam punk motif, as it seems kind of simple right at the moment. I'd also add some more "pop" to the normal maps. They don't look to be adding a lot right this moment.
Other than that, it's all looking great. Here's hoping you see the project through to the end.
What do you mean by "developped for computer" ? Yes, it's made to run on a PC, not on a mobile or handeld device. That's why there are a lot, possibly, of waster polygons
Garland u're right, the normal maps are too shy at the moment. It's my very first normal mapped model and I still need to find the correct balance between nice details and chaotic bumpiness. I need to check Poop's tutorials again, and word my normals in photoshop a little bit more
Is there a pilot in the hovercraft?
Do you plan to make some npc's running around the level?
zenarion The hovercraft is meant to be unhabited, but I found out recently it's only 1m20 high !!! I didn't payed attention to its size, typical error
MoP The specular on the HI version is good, but the spec map of the LO version is not subtle enuf i think.
In the meantime, I started another prop : a Steam Mainframe
Here's a preview, LO, HI, and HI rendered in AO.
You could save some polys on the mainframe on the front detail and the top and let the normal map define that.
Here's a first draft of the diffuse map applied on the mainframe. Need some more tweaking, a bump & spec map and it will look quite nice
And then, to give u an idea of the actual size of this "mainframe" :
Awesome stuff keep chuggin' along!
kickass work !
Here are the texmaps, for those who wonders :
mgt_41_uv_sheet.jpg
technodookie Right, I'm trying to remain in the "Metal Slug" design line, with toonish proportions. It allows me to create stylish stuff with "realistic" materials
Johny Yep, the highlight is probably not in the most relevant place. Actually I made a first baking with a strong skylight, hence the hi amout of light at its top. I realized in the end it was not a very good idea. I'll try to correct this in photoshop.
Thx for posting !!!!
work on maps are very very nice, good job man!
and I got to say that this project is certainly promising
Can't wait to see what you come up with next!
Vacations are over, so the progress might be somewhat slower. Here's another piece of hardware coming along :
That photo set should have a great deal of large/detailed images of the gas works stuff. I think if you try to implement some of the things you see, such as vents, grates, panel lines, tubing/hydraulics, cables and so forth. It won't be long until you recognize patterns, and if you do a little research, you could make these pieces really shine.
That's what I need to improve, If I want them to be relevant as steam-punk items.
Thanks for pointing that out, as it was still unclear to me, thx for the flickr link as well !
Some pictures are almost like paintings, and it seems to be that some of the shots in there might have been inspirated by the Silent Hill serie, or may be the opposite
I did some urban exploration here, in France, with some friends who are really into that. I remember having visited some abandonned quarries, and an experimental skytrain rail, made of concrete. Poop here visited that as well, when he came to France
Just to mention that all those sorts of urban ruins are a true source of inspiration and thinking about what our brilliant civilisation may look like in the future. That's what i'm trying to explore in my game ...
Enuf said, I tried to add some pipe works to my contraption above, as Eric & StJoris suggested :
Here I am again, on tracks, with the latest prop I was working on, about to be finished :
I'll try to make a "beauty" render, within the engine, and show it to you in situation. I still need to finish both normal map & spec. map
i like to learn off those who show a great knack for these kinds of things : p
Ohsomogilicious : I'm using Max for all the stuff presented in this thread. The technique involved is quite simple : projection mapping of a hipoly mesh to a lowres cage, with an Ambient Occlusion shader. The resulting texture is then composited with random layers, and sometimes tweaked in bodypaint. Hope this helps
I was starting to think that U abandon this project, but U have not, and that great.
Keep it coming.
Once again, I'm not that convinced, but I need to pursue... The next one will look better
(screengrabs from the engine)
Edit : On second though, I will refine it, it really looks crappy with all that specular, way too soft and blurry.
I can't let it like that !!
What do you thinks guys, in comparison with the previous screenshots?
Here's another screenshot, a bit cleaner, but the same issues still occurs. Not really a problem, as the engine will cope with this easily.
Gee, I'm really sloooow.
hop. still a long way to go
What I think is funny (as in: great!) is that you have a very french style...very cite des enfants perdu/ circe du soleil...it translates very well in computer graphics. Keep it up and make me happy with great images :P
huge screenshot :
http://astrofra.com/posts/tank/mgt_51.jpg
... and a smaller one :
In the meantime, I did some more props :
Ingame screenshots of this thing will follow.
Here's the "in game" version.
Thx Aesir !! Video shots will come later, as soon as a plausible gameplay will emerge
Noticed now how your props (and even the floor there) has this really strong orange highlight - is that just an orange lightsource coupled with a high-contrast specmap? At first I though there was some more hi-tech mumbojumbo going on, like a fresnel/masked reflection map or something, but then again I don't
Anyway, love your work, looks like you have a nice texture workflow going Will be great to see this materialize into something more complete and gamey.
- BoBo
This thread was definitely abandonned, and so was this game project, but after monthes of reflections, I finally found a way to pursue this attempt.
Not that things have changed a lot, but my workflow experience matured a little, and I retrofited my ambitions to the workload capacity that usually comes with such an amateur and personnal project.
I'll take more time to detail the new roadmap and such, but in the meantime, please suffer an humble sneak peak
Edit: the image above is a direct screenshot of the game engine I'm using for this project. On a workflow point of view, the major issue I ran into when originally starting the project was the assembling technique of the levels.
I finally adopted for a tile-based approach, instead of modeling everything from scratch each time.
I'll post more on this topic that seems as essential to me as any other esthetic matters
Edit #2: more of the same, using the same tiles (and props), with a different light set.