Aerodynamics Lab
polycounter lvl 18
Ok, I've been working on this on and off at a snail's pace because I'm a jerk-off. Anyway, after playing Mirror's Edge I decided I wanted to do a clean modern architecture-type environment but with a more sci-fi slant. I'm a newbie at environments, so it's been tedious.
The concept is a vehicle engineering hangar/lab of some sort.
These will be techy looking windtunnels but they're placeholders right now (re: Decided they look like shit). It was my plan to put some interesting machinery/vehicle here being tested but we'll see.
This is the control room.
I posted this truck awhile ago in the mega WIP thread. It's got some shading errors under the windows that need fixing.
I realize that everything is pretty symmetrical but that's mostly intentional. I'll try to break it up a bit more once I add more stuff.
I'll post the control room work-stations next. Some fresh eyes would be much appreciated!
The concept is a vehicle engineering hangar/lab of some sort.
These will be techy looking windtunnels but they're placeholders right now (re: Decided they look like shit). It was my plan to put some interesting machinery/vehicle here being tested but we'll see.
This is the control room.
I posted this truck awhile ago in the mega WIP thread. It's got some shading errors under the windows that need fixing.
I realize that everything is pretty symmetrical but that's mostly intentional. I'll try to break it up a bit more once I add more stuff.
I'll post the control room work-stations next. Some fresh eyes would be much appreciated!
Replies
Some small crits:
The platform that the little guy is standing on is very plain in relation to everything else, maybe add some paint lines around the edges at the very least like the other parts of the floor below. Or maybe add some pipes and wires hanging down from underneath of it.
The back wall under the observation deck is looking a tad plain as well, maybe it could be a large techy door where the vehicles enter and exit the room.
If those things are still in a wip stage then nevermind, I'm sure you've got your own ideas about what you want to do with the scene.
Are those little black squares on the bottom left of the pic doors? If so maybe open one of them up and have some light streaming in from a corridor beyond. That might add a little bit of interest there.
I'm not totally sold on the diffused lighting but, as I'm not all that great at lighting myself I can't offer any advice, sorry. Who knows maybe it's spot on and it's just me :poly136:
I do think adding a vehicle floating in the air between those two large cylindrical things might be cool. I imagine that they are anti gravity devices.
Anyway this is shaping up really well, good luck completing it. I look forward to seeing more.
EDIT:
Forgot to mention one more idea, in the control room are those work stations? maybe have some of them activated so that the monitors shine light behind them.
I love those glass railings in the control room btw.
Lighting is probably one of the most time-consuming aspects but I never had much in mind beyond "sterile white" for the lab and some sort of saturated color for the control room. I wish Mirror's Edge had come with a proper editor, too! If anything does come to mind for lighting I'd like to hear it.
And yeah, one of the major ideas from the get-go was to have a prototype vehicle being tested.
Speaking of the workstations here's the high-poly for now. Will add some glowy screens for sure, since that seem to be the thing UT3 does best.
looks very promising from the visual style, I like it
it has the touch of 70's/80's clean scifi (with white and brown)
I like it over all though.
the four banks of flourescent tubes and white walls maybe?
ps likin italot so far, wants something sleek and shiney being tested
whats_true - It's just kinda floating right now, no glass there actually. Before it was just a bare wall but I was thinking about making it partially recessed, dunno really. Also, are you asking how I lit the map or are you saying there should be more light sources? If it's the former, it's just grids of point lights and lots of trial and error.
SHEPEIRO - Thanks!
Texturing the workstation now. I'll probably finish it later today, then start on more control room props. I'm going to save the lab stuff for the home stretch.
I also think I might hand-paint some shadows onto the stands there, so the desks don't look like they're floating.
Update - finished the desks and added some shadows to the stands. I'm not totally happy with the tables and the stands since any clean, solid colors tend to look untextured in games, but that is the style I originally wanted. I think the options are sorta limited without the usual wear n tear.
The workstations were looking like Xboxes so I made them black instead. I probably spent too much time fiddling with icons and things that aren't really noticeable. There's also an obvious seam down the middle of the back that I should fix.
Next I want to spruce up this entrance area. I was thinking of making a glass enclosed area with some vine flowers inside. Or it could be a hologram display - I'm undecided at the moment. The doors and wall lamps will be redone, too.
I'm gonna say its UE3... only because in that last screen, it looked like there is those grey and white blocks. Either way, I want to see moar!!!
Thegodzero - Jason guessed it, UE3. Pretty happy using it, but with all the cool stuff people are making with Crysis lately, I'm tempted to try it.
JasonLavoie - Thanks, that keeps me going.
Looks awesome. I especially like the ceiling in the first screen. Maybe some big warning signs would give it more of a lab feel.
Smallish update, half-way done texturing the plants. I'm not sure what colors to make the leaves.
The idea is that they will be lit from the top and bottom, but the lighting sucks right now. More soon.
I might go with some robotic arms right there. With a bunch or rubber and/or metal tubes coming off of them
Too often I just stare at the editor and read forums instead of doing something. Missing some details here and there (maybe some cameras and signs), but it's mostly there. Next thing is to add the big screens up front, maybe a big console for it, too. After that, the lab.
Jet_Pilot - Originally I was making a straight replica of a windtunnel so I saved a bunch of references, but I decided the type I wanted - the big open ones as opposed to closed chamber - aren't that advanced looking. So, like any artist I decided to make up a fancy bullshit design instead.
Right now, the idea is to make a design that appears as if it can extend/retract from the walls. I'm still considering robotic arms, though. Thanks for the crits.
Minotaur0 - Thanks! I'm kinda unhappy that you lose a lot of detail if you use anything remotely black + color correction though.
Very fresh and clean, yet still realistic ... I really like the direction you've taken with this.
I have to say though, the red of those leaves just looks ... wrong. It's an unnatural shade of red. I think green would probably work better here? You could try to keep them red, but you should really check out reference of ivy and other types of plants which can turn red naturally, I think generally they either tend more towards purple at the bases, or have more orange in them. Either way the red is too uniform now, IMO.
MoP - I think you were right about the leaves, since they sorta looked like rose petals instead. I made them green again - not totally happy but good enough.
Blocked out the big screen up front (placeholder texture) and the console. I decided against anything ceiling mounted that might block the view too much.
Lastly, I am making an exploded-view fan hologram + finishing monitor textures. I think the hologram should have some kinda wire-frame texture to improve readability.
Here's the redesign of the hologram machine, texture not yet 100%. There will be a couple other computers on the platform with it.
The WIP high-poly for the hangar door beneath the control room.
A scissor lift for the testing area, floating geo and all. The high-poly is good enough for now, unwrapping my low-poly model.
I moved the scene over to the UDK when it came out, but I think the new lighting may not really work for what I imagined. It could be that I just don't know my way around it yet, but the results are ugly enough that I'll either relight everything or stick with the old UT3.
Right now it looks like the top screen, but I think I might try for something more like the second screen, which is how it looks in lighting only mode.
The lack of vertex lighting also created a bunch of seams between modular props - gotta look into that.