Observatory- Environment WIP thread

Paulewog

So i am working on an 3d environment. this is my second 3d environment ever created so I am still a pretty big noobie to this type of thing. Any critiques or advice would be greatly appreciated. My plan is to build the environment to be supported by a current gen game engine.

so moving right along. here is the latest build of my concept.


the building is an an overgrown observatory. the place is inhabited by a mad scientist who has converted the telescope into a crazy death ray. interior concept art will be coming soon. I have already gotten on to modeling the exterior buildings by first creating some modular chunks. will post those soon, but I just wanted to get this thread off the ground for now so aufwetersehen for now. :poly124:

arrangemonk

the base looks unstable to me, the observatory will crash soon, making the scientist to corpses, and its called "aufwiedersehen"

ralusek

i don't think it's too unstable if the art direction is going to match your concept. from what i can tell, this looks sort of steampunk era/miyazaki esque. think howl's moving castle, not exactly the most stable design. it's all about the lolz, especially if the scientist is a nut

myles

I like the concept a lot, and I don't think it matters that it looks unstable.
Although i would make it more apparent that the scientist living there was a bit loony and that the telescope was in fact a death-ray-of-doom, perhaps by adding a crazy attachment onto the end like some of these things.

Wilex

Nice concept but it doesn't make me feel mad scientist. It feels too tranquil with the lush overgrowth not forboding or crazy enough. Just my opinion though.

Best of luck it will be interesting to see your progress.

Vonklaus

Looks really neat! I see this thing on a large rock sitting out above the water in a tropical cove. Kinda reminds me of the Last Hong Kong movie, at least in its setting.

Paulewog

i definitely agree Wilex, the concept does not fit the art direction. maybe i should make the scientist friendly, but still crazy, because this environment is not evil looking at all. Either I'll change the scientist or rework the environment to fit a more sinister theme. maybe change the lighting to a grey dingy night. with green light spilling out of the windows.

danshewan

I think 'evil' scientist is more interesting, and still very much achievable with minimal changes to the concept. Look at your color palette - lots of pastel colors. What would happen if you used darker hues, experimented with contrast, weather conditions? Even using different shades of clouds could all contribute to a more sinister, ominous feel. Maybe consider playing with the perspective for the final shots - low angles to make the observatory more foreboding etc....

I like the concept, especially the architecture of the observatory itself. It looks almost like the minarets of a mosque. Depending on what you do with the colors and composition, it could have a really gothic feel to the final piece.

Keep going - great start!

jakelear

I think that if the scientist has fallen from greatness or something like that, the concept art works ok with the concept.

I imagine something like this:
The scientist was once a great man, furthering science for the betterment of the world. However, when his wife fell ill, he was unable to save her, actually worsening her condition through an experimental medication, and hastening her death.

Now he is racked with guilt and anguish, and remains alone, in his solitary observatory, and wants the world to share in his pain.

Paulewog

update on the modeling. I have the smaller buildings almost completed. changes to the concept have not been made yet but I can simply change out the lighting and swap diffuse maps to accommodate any changes. let me know what you all think!

Paulewog

jakelear wrote: »

The scientist was once a great man, furthering science for the betterment of the world. However, when his wife fell ill, he was unable to save her, actually worsening her condition through an experimental medication, and hastening her death.

Now he is racked with guilt and anguish, and remains alone, in his solitary observatory, and wants the world to share in his pain.

jakelear. I love that idea. I think i will run with that. but what mood should the lighting give? I am wondering if I should make the season fall. add red and yellow leaves with a thick dingy mist. decay the buildings a bit more?

Paulewog

Paulewog

here is a chair prop that will go inside the observatory. will model table and tea set. the professor loves tea!

Paulewog

here are some references for the death ray / telescope and the interior.

Killaball

I must say your texturing skills are fantastic from what I am seeing.

from the shots of the tower and chair are they rendered or screen grabs?

Paulewog

killaball, thank you very much, they are both renders from 3ds max.

Target_Renegade

Really nice concept, however, the stone structure would`nt be standing on wooden struts. Unless its trying to defy physics, i might stand corrected. You could always add some iron in there, or some cogs just to add to the sense of support for the masonry.

man_o_mule

i'm loving the vines on this. i've been struggling making vines myself. can we get a close up of those please?

myles

How will you see the interior of the observatory?
I think you should add a little more contrast to you're leaves, they are merging in quite a lot to the stone, or consider making the stone more white like in the concept, because i think the two colours feel quite similar at the moment.
Oh and btw is that a guy stood on the top of the observatory on the concept ? :P

Paulewog

Renegade,
i actually imagined the framing to be old iron or steel but i guess it came through in the concept as being wood. Point taken though.

Myles,
I am changing the concept a little to make the observatory dome partially collapsed inward, this took some of the floor with it. I also feel like the leaves blend in too much. i am working on learning how to bake lightning maps into the building. I am hoping to bake in more blurred shadows to make the leaves pop more. and yes, that's the professor on top!

Paulewog

ok guys here is a very rough and early sketch of the interior space. will be fleshing this out more soon. the idea with this is that the professor had stared welding platforms where he needs them and kind of works around the advancing greenery that is growing around him. he also lives in this space so i will be adding a shrine for his fallen wife, and a bed with bookshelf as well as old blueprints and books strewn about.

Paulewog

a little update on the over paint. i added some more details and threw in a bit of color, the palette might change but i kind of like these colors. i want to keep the foliage more yellow or red to symbolize the decaying state of the professor's life

myles

I like that a lot, its nice you've transferred the foliage to the inside as well. I notice you're going for a bit of a steam punk sort of settings for the telescope and the technology surround it, I think you would do well to make the exterior a little steam punky, perhaps by having the same green lights/ small ray guns/ radar dishes on the exterior (not too many though).
The only thing that looks a little off is where your telescope connect to the base, be sure that you have lots of axis'/ cogs to make it more apparent that it does rotate. Also remember the top part of the observatory usually rotates and possibly you should make it out of a different material to make that more obvious.

Cheers!

nrek

Cool color concept Paul, I really like the internal lights behind all the gears and things. I really think you should bring back the big circular window though, that has so much potential to really bring some interesting lighting to the lower part of the scene. Also myles has a very good point about the rotating part of the dome. Putting in the track that the top portion rotates on would be a good idea. Keep it up dude.

http://www.museum.state.sc.us/!UserFiles/observatory.jpg

teaandcigarettes

Lovely concept and great modelling Paul

I'm not sure about the colours in your rendered shots. I preferred the mood in your concepts. The colours were much colder and it seemed more dreamy. I hope will get this kind of mood once you finish.

Anyway, can't wait for the updates

Pearson

This is looking really good! I think that you should transition your concepts away from the warm, cheerful lighting you've been using, though. Even your renders are warm and fuzzy. You should use the concepts to figure out how to get the feel you like before you get too much of your texture work done, imho.

Paulewog

OK so check it out, i have reworked the concept to make it fit the story a bit more. I have decided the feeling I really want to get across is mystery and intrigue. I changed the lighting to be far more yellow washed and added in atmospheric green lighting. The building and all of the machines withing are run on this glowing green power source. power cables are hung about the towers and bridge, most of which converge and plug into the laser gun.


I really need some feedback so dont be shy to give critiques or tell me what you think. the concept has really made a metamorphasis from the beginning but i think i like where its going now.


Thanks much everyone
take it easy
Paul H

Titus S

Hey Paul, how's i going

I'd say this... How is the place being powered? I think you could make a high steam punk or sci fi generator for your scene to balance out the lack of tech with all of that Victorian feel of the observatory.

killingpeople

yea, awesome. ship it, lets see the 3d version

Dippndots

awesome concept work man, can't wait to see the 3d version

kite212

Titus S wrote: »

Hey Paul, how's i going

I'd say this... How is the place being powered? I think you could make a high steam punk or sci fi generator for your scene to balance out the lack of tech with all of that Victorian feel of the observatory.

The building and all of the machines withing are run on this glowing green power source. power cables are hung about the towers and bridge, most of which converge and plug into the laser gun.


it pays to read once and a while

Wilex

Wow i haven't checked back in a while but im impressed being able to change your concept is definitley more of a challenge than just changing the story. Nice work Paulewog keep it up.

Titus S

kite212 wrote: »

The building and all of the machines withing are run on this glowing green power source. power cables are hung about the towers and bridge, most of which converge and plug into the laser gun.


it pays to read once and a while

Ah, didn't see that part.

Nizza_waaarg

new direction looks really interesting. Love how the building (and foliage) turned out so far, hope you can make the rest of the scene as cool looking.

also (sorry if it was mentioned before) but those supporting things underneath the cliff looked more like stone or brick or somthing, similar material to the tower itself... as opposed to wood. So that could be one way to go potentially ^_^

cool stuff man

Paulewog

hey again guys, just posting a little flow chart I made with the help of my friend Nrek. the red line represents a theoretical path that a player would use to traverse the level.
the bridge may become more crumbled with chunks hanging in a web of vines. the player would hop from chunk to chunk.

Paulewog

today i my goal is to finish the exterior of the large observatory. modelled this modular piece earlier to get my feet wet.

Eltrex06

WoW very nice man, i'm loving the direction that this is going. starting to turn out really good!

suggestion: i'de like to see more power cables dangling over the place. if a mad scientist lives there i would imagine he would have tons of cables connecting gadgets and dodads everywhere you look.

also i feel as though the yellow doesnt give it much mystery. its still very warm and fuzzy, though the eerie green is a nice touch. perhaps usng a darker shade and/or add more of that green. IMO

keep up the great work!

Paulewog

so here is where i am at with the observatory exterior. almost done. I need to add the door and a few more details. the top dome part is still unfinished.

I really need some feedback again guys, so please leave me some input.

Thanks Much
Paul H

Paulewog

i think my next step will be to input all of my finished pieces into my greybox scene. that way i can see the whole project coming together a bit more. i have the observatory, the smaller buildings, the bridge, and lamp posts done. maybe ill work on the lower structural framing after that. updates coming soon so stay tuned

Paul H

brandoom

Nice work on that tower Paulewog, looks great so far. I think you're concept is very sweet indeed, looking forward to the end result

Rojo

Nice work.

The structural foundation doesn't make much sense. Why is a top-heavy observatory perched on stilts, with a bridge leading to a mountain peak that goes to nowhere? From an engineering standpoint it makes more sense to have the observatory built directly into a peak, with stilts spanning the gaps. I guess it depends on how abstracted the game universe is.

I like the green but it seems overkill, maybe use it to highlight game objectives like the window entrance and the ray gun.

Paulewog

CANDLE PACK V1.0

here are some candles the professor has set up to mourn his wife. He also constructed the stands.

Paulewog

hello again Polycount!
quick update: I modeled some machines that will be running throughout the environment. mostly inside the observatory. these machines store and convert the liquid fuel into electric energy.

Matroskin

looks sweet.

Since there is some electicity involved could those machines have some wires as well?

Because right now the design suggests only liquid related function. If water is being transformed into electricity there could be also wires ind isolators:

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.elkraft.ntnu.no/eno/projects/generator.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.elkraft.ntnu.no/eno/projects/pictures.html&usg=__mvJqznFrMzkKoGW9uOZGw-C85oE=&h=453&w=340&sz=65&hl=en&start=3&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=iVQ6B3G6MdHyOM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=95&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgenerator%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

http://www.eswari.in/pdf/110kv%20isolator.jpg