Environments of "The Unknown" - a TPP action/adventure Crysis modification
polycounter lvl 12
Hello everyone.
As I have mentioned in my previous thread (Sky city) I am currently working on a TPP action/adventure mod called "The Unknown" and I would love to hear your comments regarding the environmental part of the mod. But first I will tell you more about the project.
The main idea behind "The Unknown" is to use gameplay and environmental design as a storytelling device; idea that has been fascinating me for a few years.
The mod takes place in the year 1930 and tells the story of a fictional, British archaeologist-adventurer David Harrison. The man who is sent to the Eastern India, in order to investigate mysteries surrounding an expedition led by his friend, Klaus Strauss. However, what he will see there will forever change the way he perceives the world and himself.
While the story is still being worked on, my main inspiration are writers such as; H.P. Lovecraft and E.A. Poe, Noir-films, art of surrealist painters (mainly Zbigniew Beksinski) and "Blame!" manga by Tustomu Nihei.
I have recently changed my approach to the modelling; I decided to rely only on the modular assets to create my environments and remade most of my models since their quality was not high enough. The screenshots below show some recent progress. The scenes were created using a mix of my own assets and the ones supplied with vanilla-Crysis. With time I will be replacing most of Crytek's assets with my own.
You can find more screenshots in my thread on Crymod http://crymod.com/thread.php?threadid=48271&page=11 . However, some of the early shots are no longer valid, as I have decided to remake certain things from the scratch, in order to keep a higher quality bar.
I am looking forward to your critique regarding the idea, level design and my custom props
I hope I did not break any rules since I have not seen any threads focused on the level design here before.
As I have mentioned in my previous thread (Sky city) I am currently working on a TPP action/adventure mod called "The Unknown" and I would love to hear your comments regarding the environmental part of the mod. But first I will tell you more about the project.
The main idea behind "The Unknown" is to use gameplay and environmental design as a storytelling device; idea that has been fascinating me for a few years.
The mod takes place in the year 1930 and tells the story of a fictional, British archaeologist-adventurer David Harrison. The man who is sent to the Eastern India, in order to investigate mysteries surrounding an expedition led by his friend, Klaus Strauss. However, what he will see there will forever change the way he perceives the world and himself.
While the story is still being worked on, my main inspiration are writers such as; H.P. Lovecraft and E.A. Poe, Noir-films, art of surrealist painters (mainly Zbigniew Beksinski) and "Blame!" manga by Tustomu Nihei.
I have recently changed my approach to the modelling; I decided to rely only on the modular assets to create my environments and remade most of my models since their quality was not high enough. The screenshots below show some recent progress. The scenes were created using a mix of my own assets and the ones supplied with vanilla-Crysis. With time I will be replacing most of Crytek's assets with my own.
You can find more screenshots in my thread on Crymod http://crymod.com/thread.php?threadid=48271&page=11 . However, some of the early shots are no longer valid, as I have decided to remake certain things from the scratch, in order to keep a higher quality bar.
I am looking forward to your critique regarding the idea, level design and my custom props
I hope I did not break any rules since I have not seen any threads focused on the level design here before.
Replies
Looks great! Seriously nice work.
Maybe you could post some wires of your props?
This is looking really pretty nice. If I had a criticism to offer its that your color seems a little too muted.
brandoom: Cheers
Firebert: Thanks
torontoanimator: Haha, that's CryEngine for you. On the other hand, making something with a more "artistic" style, rather than focused on photorealism, can be incredibly hard.
AnimeAngel: Thanks
ScoobyDoofus, fearian: Cheers guys
r4ptur3: Thanks r4ptur3
adam: Thanks
To be honest, sometimes I regret that I work in CE2 rather than in, lets say UE3. It's so easy to hide any shoddy modelling or texturing in it, that I am afraid I can get plenty of bad habits which might hinder me from getting a job in the future.
Belias: Thanks Belias
P442: Crap, you just saw right through me...seems like it's the right time to evacuate :P
adam: Don't worry about that, I have taken it as a compliment
Minotaur0: Thanks Minotaur0
Anyway, I will try to post some wires tomorrow. I will be looking forward to your comments since modelling is the area I would like to improve the most.
edit: Damn, does anyone know how to change the thread title? I have made a spelling mistake (oh silly me:poly142:) but editing my first post does nothing.
That link is broken, could you relink it? It says /user_upl..._CryEngine3.ppt atm. Asking because im having some problems with getting my normal maps to look decent in cryengine atm
Ah, sorry about that - here's the full link http://www.crytek.com/fileadmin/user_upload/inside/presentations/2009/A_bit_more_deferred_-_CryEngine3.ppt
Anyway, the presentation above is just a list of features coming in the CE3 - page 14 shows the , SSAO related, problem with normal maps. As far as I know there, is no real solution for that at the moment.
kickass!
Your shots demonstrate this very well that again cryengine can do some very impressive stuff.
I'm delighted to see so many positive comments coming from such talented people.
SupRore: Cheers
snake85027: Haha, thanks
ES_139: Cheers
Peris: Cheers Peris
kite: Thanks
3DLee: Cheers 3dLee. I'm happy to hear you like it
renderhjs: Thanks
Snefer: Cheers
Red_Algo: Haha, thanks
Anyway, here are some of the props used in the level. I feel a little bit embarrassed to post them in such unfinished state, but I feel it would be good to receive some criticism. I will try to make some real textures later and do a Zbrush pass on some of them.
Also, I have started to work on some rock sculpts today I figured out I am going to need some new rock models since the ones from Crysis are rather low-poly and terribly hard to walk on. Since the mod will feature some typical platforming gameplay-elements I will need a couple of new ones.
I still can't figure out how to make those sharp, chipped-off edges. I tried messing around with some different brushes and alphas but I couldn't achieve desired effects. I am still quite new when it comes to Zbrush, so any tips will be greatly appricieated
I am looking forward to your feedback and critique.
I have finally managed to settle down a little bit after moving to Newcastle and starting my Uni course. Over the past two weeks I have been trying to learn zbrush. I have decided to redo the rocks from the scratch and started working on some of my modular models. I am looking forward to your critique.Any tips will be appreciated
Stone Tutorial - Video Tutorial
http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=66251
Awesome work!
I thought those first pictures were just your reference
renderhjs: Thanks for the link, however I have already seen it. I am grateful to Bitmap for his fantastic tutorial, as his techniques proved to be very useful.
Do you have any crits, though? I spent so much time in Zbrush lately that I need a fresh opinion. Cheers
mLink: Thanks mLink
I tend to use a LOT of clay brush then sometimes mallet fast ( though it rapes the meshflow and requires massaging afterwards), only when it looks mostly done do i get in with the regular standard brush and do more edge work and depth work.
Great stuff btw, individual assets not holding up on their own doesn't matter so much if the scene comes together with good lighting and this one does.
Thanks for the great tips, I will try to make use of them
I have been using Clay Tubes previously, to create the major details and the surface, but I found it rather hard to get the surface to look right.
However, I will spend more time with the clay brush as the rocks could use much more details.
CheeseOnToast: Thanks CheeseOnToast
I will try to use the features you mentioned, however I will have to use them carefully as I wish to preserve to flat tops of these rocks. I want the player to be able to walk and jump onto them with ease.
Today I am posting another two assets I have been working on this week a generic wall piece (I will have to figure out how to make it tileable later) and a small top piece.
I've been trying to use the tips you gave me and I hope that effects are better this time. Especially playing around with the pinch tool proved to be very useful.
I did not have much luck with the Surface Noise on the other hand. Even after adjusting the levels, playing with the size settings and using masking, it still looked too procedural for my taste. I decided to stick with alphas for the time being, although I am trying not to rely on them as much as I did before.
Furthermore, I will try to post updated versions of my previous sculpts later. I still have to tweak some of them, but I will try to improve them as soon as possible.
As always, I am looking forward to your critique
I will try to damage a couple of brick here and there. Especially on the other side of the wall, as it appears a little bit flat after a second thought.
That's true, I have spent too much time clicking randomly with a Clay brush, without thinking how should I apply the damage. In the end they turned out rather blobby. I will try to work on them as soon as possible, as I am starting to feel a little bit more confident.
I have tweaked one of the rocks so far. I tried to make the edges sharper and more defined.
I hope I will be able to improve these pillars without having to go back to my base model. But I will probably have to make this modular stone wall from the scratch, as it looks more like made out of clay than stone. I will also have to change its topology, because I already had problems the last time I was sculpting it.
Still, I would dare to say that time was well spent. Even if the effects were not as good as I would like them to be, I have certainly learned something in the process.
I've been tweaking and reworking some of the assets I posted previously.
I remade the modular stone wall, that I posted a couple of weeks ago.
While it certainly looks better than previously, I'm still feeling that something is not quite right with it. Maybe it's just me - I am spending most of my time working zoomed in, hence I can recognize even most minor faults.
Nevertheless, I will be looking forward to your comments.
I have another model on the way and I will try to post it somewhere tomorrow - it has been giving me trouble for days.
dv8ix: Do you mean pillows as in cushions?
If you mean the latter - what can I do to improve them?
adam: Unfortunately no - I have been using Crysis stock vegetation for now. However, I have been thinking lately about switching to UDK - that would require me to create a new set of vegetation.
I will create some vegetation regardless, as I have been planning to create overgrown pieces as well.
I've done some quick work on a generic brick model. It's nothing special since it's pretty simple, but I hope you will like it.
As always, any feedback and critique (especially towards my previous sculpts) is welcome
Less clumpy and more sharpness to it.