Lab X2: Old garage

3DLee

I have started working on another building for the Crysis map I've been working on this fall. I still don't consider my previous building (The Zone guard outpost) to be 100% completed yet, but I wanted to apply what I learned from that building to a fresh concept before I go back to finish it.

As always, suggestions and critiques are greatly appreciated, especially seeing as this is only my 4th or 5th FPS game asset, and I'm trying to get a good technique down for creating buildings using high-res tiling textures and decals. You guys threw out some terrific advise for my last building, I'm learning a ton!

Reference that this is loosely based off of: http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb134/EvilViking13/CryEngine/Lab%20X16/garageref.jpg

This is still at an early stage - I haven't really started doing the damage detailing and decals yet, but I wanted to get some opinions before I get too much further.

P442

hey, this looks pretty good so far. The renders seem a bit too "foggy." Based on the size of the side door, the scale on your cinderblocks is a little too large and your bricks are a little too small. Also, I would not use corrugated sheet metal for the roof, as it would not bend around the corners like it is. I would probably model some kind of sign as well, to add interest.

3DLee

Thanks for the critiques! The fog is from the time of day settings, which I'm still new at. The ToD is very much a WIP, haha. I changed up the size of the textures, added more extrusions to the roof so the metal sheets make more sense, added more damage detailing, and changed out the base concrete texture for a more worn version.

Finally, I brought the model into the editor again and added props and decals (mostly Crytek's). I'm wondering if it's worth taking the extra time to make custom normal maps for the large green garage doors?

Viewport captures from 3ds Max:










Ingame renders taken in the CryEngine 2 Sandbox editor. Note that dark spots may be render artifacts.

uneditablepoly

I agree with the foggy comment, the shots could definitely do with some more contrast, some bolder dark values.

roosterMAP

i think u should work on the shaders. every part of that building looks like the same material... which it shouldnt.

3DLee

Thanks guys! RoosterMAP, what did you mean about the shaders? Each of my textures has a diffuse/normal/spec map with the exception of the doors and windows, but I'm not sure what you meant.

I went back and fixed a few small issues and did some heavy tweaking on the Time of Day settings. More contrast, more color, less fog, and a little more light. I also added a negative light to the interior to help darken the shadows (CryEngine sucks for interiors ). The render of the inside keeps ending up with black artifacts all over it, so I just screen-captured the editor.

brandoom

I think the out side of the building needs more random 'things.' IE, lights, electrical boxes, drain pipes... something other than just 4 doors.

Its looking pretty rad though. good work so far

roosterMAP

how bout you add some indoor lights. like an old oil lamp, campfire, or flickering lightbulb?

3DLee

Hmm, more random things and lights... I like it! I spent a couple more hours just generally detailing everything. I still want to add some Ukrainian signs to the main building like the guard outpost has, but seeing 3ds Max keep crashing on startup, this will have to do for tonight. I did manage to add some hanging fluorescent lights before Max got all crash-happy.

This may be a little much for a multiplayer map, but I may do an uber-version for my portfolio/singleplayer use, and then trim it down for multiplayer later.

Also just for fun, here's an excerpt from the Roadside Picnic novel that takes place in the garage (which inspired GSC Gameworld to make their garage model I do believe):

I lay flat on my belly and looked into the open doors. At first I couldn’t see anything because of the bright sunlight. Just blackness. Then my eyes grew accustomed and I saw that nothing seemed to have changed in the garage since the last time. The dump truck was still parked over the pit, in perfect shape, without any holes or spots. And everything was still the same on the cement floor -- probably because there wasn’t too much witches’ jelly in the pit and it hadn’t splashed out since that time. There was only one thing that I didn’t like. In the very back of the garage, near the canisters, I could see something silvery. That hadn’t been there before. Well, all right, so there was something silvery, we couldn’t go back now just because of that! I mean it didn’t shine in any special way, just a little bit and in a calm, even a gentle way. I just got up, brushed myself off, and looked around.

Night shot just for fun: