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Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy VIII

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polycounter lvl 11
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pangarang polycounter lvl 11
The central hall for SeeD HQ! Reference images of this environment is near impossible to find! Since the game had a static camera, I was left to imagine what areas might look like. Also added some details not present in the original game, just to help make the walls pop a little more. The environment is still in very early stages but some feedback early on will help me steer this in the right path.

This will eventually be cloned to form a full circle, and then a central vertical cylinder for the elevator shaft.

testfu.jpg

test2f.jpg

test2ml.jpg

testai.jpg

testnw.jpg

test2oz.jpg

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  • EMC3D
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    EMC3D polycounter lvl 14
    Wow this is weird, me and some friends were talking about doing a FF8 scene over summer, and this pops up. I'm replaying this game at the moment, surely one of the best FF's out XD, goodluck and i cant wait to see it completed.
  • SaferDan
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    SaferDan polycounter lvl 14
    Ha yeah we were!

    as for reference i thinking could you get your hands on a Final Fantasy 8 art book?

    im sure you would be able to see more of the room and maybe even floor plans?
  • Hazardous
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    Hazardous polycounter lvl 12
    God damnit!! Im subscribed to this thread with massive massive anticipation man, dont let me down here!!!!! Its already such a promising start! I dont know how many times i played FF8 its my favourite of the series, and i dont know how many hours i spent running around balamb garden playing the card game!

    I think its looking awesome already, GO GO GO MORE MORE MORE!
  • achillesian
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    someone model quistis....










    naked.
  • ShadowFox
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    someone model quistis....










    naked.

    well it sounds like youve got the inspiration to want to see her :P get modelling boy!!
  • garriola83
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    garriola83 greentooth
    hazardous its my fave too, this thread better win
  • ErichWK
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    ErichWK polycounter lvl 12
    The wood seems kind of cloudy and a little dull to me. I also feel as if the AO may be a little too dark...maybe it's the contrast.
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    Balamb_Garden_Area_5.jpg

    balamb doesn't have wood, it's all ceramic/metal panels. it's a futuristic building...
  • Hazardous
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    Hazardous polycounter lvl 12
    Dont cop out on me man im waiting for this!!!
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    Pangarang: why does it look so dirty? is it going to be post apocalyptic? I feel like you're taking the environment the complete opposite of what it was supposed to be. In game it looks really sleek and modern while yours looks like an old building. I think stylewise you should look at Mass effect interiors, and the Brink airport level.
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    Balamb_Garden_Area_5.jpg

    balamb doesn't have wood, it's all ceramic/metal panels. it's a futuristic building...

    Yup. Doesn't look like FF8 at all yet.
  • Hazardous
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    Hazardous polycounter lvl 12
    dude delete that quistis post - my god !

    Pangarang: bombard this thread with shots man COME ON!
  • arrangemonk
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    arrangemonk polycounter lvl 15
    i thought the tread wold show some awesome art but its just achillesian's anal spam as always.... im dissapointed
  • pangarang
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    pangarang polycounter lvl 11
    Hey everyone, thanks for all your feedback sofar! The game we're doing at work is quickly approaching dev beta and finaling one week after that and I've had very little time to show my personal project some love. Having said that though, you guys have mentioned some points that I should address.

    1) Looks a lot grungier than the original Balamb Garden. I definitely agree. When I started this, I wanted to recreate the environment shown in the screenshot. But as I started working on the textures, I tried experimenting with a little grunge and then I remembered partway through the game, Headmaster Cid mentions that the Garden used to be a bomb shelter, which I thought was pretty cool, and so I started texturing keeping that in mind.

    Bad artist not planning properly and making shit up as I go along, I know :( So as it stands, I'm not sure which direction I should take - direct recreation from the game, or the same environment as it was in the past as a bomb shelter? Maybe I should just do both versions, render shots from the same camera to show the difference ... oohhh there's an idea ...

    2) Quistis ... the sad part is I can top that. Imagine a cosplayer of that same size but dressed up as Edea. Google it ;)

    @ Hazardous = Your enthusiasm for this thread is really giving me the inspiration to push on, more than you know, so thanks for that. I promise more screenshots soon!
  • Hazardous
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    Hazardous polycounter lvl 12
    I vote for recreation of how it was in the game, there was a few times when I thought, ' Damn id love to be able to move the camera around and see this from a point of view of my choosing! ', I always wanted to see a bit more of that place!

    More balamb garden! :D:D:D:D:D:D
  • ShadowFox
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    I vote for recreation of how it was in the game, there was a few times when I thought, ' Damn id love to be able to move the camera around and see this from a point of view of my choosing! ', I always wanted to see a bit more of that place!

    agreed! by far my favourite of the series, i always wanted more views of the gardens and places! one day square enix may remake them all *dreams*
  • PolyHertz
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    PolyHertz polycount lvl 666
    My interest is peaked, Balamb Garden was great! Do you just plan on putting together the central area or the whole thing (that would be quite a project)?
  • Hazardous
  • Quokimbo
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    Hazardous wrote: »
    I dont know how many times i played FF8 its my favourite of the series, and i dont know how many hours i spent running around balamb garden playing the card game!

    OMFG I love that card game!!! I wish I could play IRL!

    On Topic: I can not wait to see more as well!
  • xvampire
  • crasong
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    crasong polycounter lvl 13
    I get where you're coming from pangarang, but if you think about it, the grungy part was all in the underground areas(i think where that fat ass owner of balamb garden was), whereas the school area would have been refurbished and clean.

    Just my two cents why its so clean looking! Hope to see more when you have the time! :D
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    the under garden was a load of oil pipes that led to a reservoir if i recall?

    was pretty cool, just junction fire magic to all weapons and go nuts with insane damage numbers xD
  • fearian
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    fearian greentooth
    xvampire wrote: »

    This is so bizzare, I already had this stuck in my head from seeing the first screenshot, but I didn't even notice what it was untill I heard it properly.

    Final fantasy as conditioned me! I think If you put a screenshot of a major city from any final fantasy game, the song would start playing in my head.:\
  • crasong
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    crasong polycounter lvl 13
    the under garden was a load of oil pipes that led to a reservoir if i recall?

    was pretty cool, just junction fire magic to all weapons and go nuts with insane damage numbers xD


    Good times indeed hehe. I had to replay a second time cause i didnt draw carbuncle(or was it leviathan?) from the dude the first time:(
  • bluekangaroo
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    bluekangaroo polycounter lvl 13
    this should be interesting to see how it turns out. I LOVED FFVIII!! It was the first FF I ever played and still my fav after all these years. Good luck
  • natetheartist
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    natetheartist polycounter lvl 9
    I say this will all the love and encouragement in the world, but. ...if you fuck this up, so help me...so help me....


    Seriously though, ....do a good job on this, it's officially personal.
  • pangarang
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    pangarang polycounter lvl 11
    After considering what you guys have said about the texture so far, I decided to go ahead and focus on the recreation of the environment in game first. If i'm not sick of the project yet, then continue with the dilapidated version. I'm redoing the textures from scratch and building materials that (god willing) resemble that of mass effect.

    Spent many an hour playing ME2 ... for research of course :P.

    Anyway here's an update.

    test2f.jpg
  • pangarang
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    pangarang polycounter lvl 11
    Got the elevators done today. Small update.

    test2ml.jpg
  • Hazardous
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    Hazardous polycounter lvl 12
    duuuuuuuuuuuude. Leave that mass effect stuff alone and finish this badboy!! go go go go go !!!!! I think you made a good choice by throwing all the textures away, really looking forward to every update!
  • gsokol
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    I haven't played the game in ages, but if I remember correctly, the circular path that people walk on should be MUCH larger than you currently have it. In the game there could be several npcs walking past each other at the same time, and on one side (near the area where you can practice fighting) there is a bench that people sit on.

    At your current scale, its barely big enough for 2 people to walk next to each other at the same time. Remember, this place is supposed to be a big school.

    your detailing is starting to look nice, but I think setting up a blocked out version and setting the correct scale before you start adding in a lot of details will help you in the long run.
  • Slave_zero
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    Slave_zero polycounter lvl 8
    I agree with gasokol. The size of this hall just doesn't match the impression I had from the original game.

    Balamb_Garden_Area_5.jpg

    Comparing the already posted reference to your scene I see the following issues:

    The platform where the elevator is located is not high enough. In the ref it looks like the platform is supposed to be at least as high as the elevator it self. But I'd rather get the platform 1,5 times higher than the elevators size.

    The area in front of the stairs is too small. Imagine the billboard placed in its center. The billboard it self has roughly the size of the elevator or at least its a bit taller than a human. A Bilboard of this size would probably take very much (too much) space in your current scene setup and blocking the whole area.

    From the last shot you posted I think the main-entrance path, which leads torwards the elevator is too narrow. But I can't tell exactly, as this impression might be due to perspective. At the moment I can't imagine that this passage is wide enough to provide enough room for the plant-thing while offering 2 passage-ways on each side for two humans walking side by side.


    To get further feedback I'd suggest you post a shot of your setup from the angle displayed in the ref. This way it will be alot easier to judge your scene.

    Edit:

    The main passage seems to be too short. The passage in the background leading to the big doorway is supposed to have the same length as the main hallway in your foreground. Judging from the ref I think the radius Of the whole hall is too small and as a reault your passage ways are to short as well. But again: It' hard to judge correctly from the shot you posted.
  • pangarang
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    pangarang polycounter lvl 11
    Gsokol and Slave_Zero, thanks for your crits!

    I agree this screenshot isn't the best to show scale. I will update within the next few days of an overhead shot. IMO, the stairs and elevator are bigger than what I was working towards, and being the only indication of scale, makes everything else seem too small. But yeah, overhead shot will tell for sure.

    Thanks to everyone for their feedback so far. Please keep it coming!
  • pangarang
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    pangarang polycounter lvl 11
    Hopefully this angle will help critique easier! You may or may not notice the rough re-scaling efforts.

    screeniexu.jpg
  • odium
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    odium polycounter lvl 18
    Those steps seem either too high or too steep to my eyes? Also, wdith wise, too thin. Apart from some other geometry issues, like missing features on the inner walls and the like, not looking half bad.
  • bluekangaroo
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    bluekangaroo polycounter lvl 13
    ooh awesome, scale looks a lot better here. I cant find too many issues with it, looks like u fixed the stairs and size of elevator
  • Isaiah Sherman
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    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    Could we please not pollute this thread with cannot-be-unseen pictures?

    As for the work, I'm happy with how it's turning out so far. One thing concerns me, though. In the game you never really see the ceiling and some of your shots so far are insinuating where the ceiling would be.

    This eliminates some of the grandeur. I would suggest that if you're going for a lower shot in your final composition, make sure that either the ceiling is very high or that you can't see it at all.

    When you're up on the 2nd level of Balamb garden you can see straight down to the lower level like 50 feet below. This means the ceiling is REALLY high.

    niceman.jpg



    Great work so far :)!
  • gsokol
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    Looks like a nice improvement. I'd say it might help to have a simple human figure model standing around in a few spots to show scale better. While it looks bigger, its hard to tell how it would look if somebody was walking down the path.
  • Rurouni Strife
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    Rurouni Strife polycounter lvl 10
    I've very interested to see how your textures will impact this. I also agree with anyone who mentions scale. It looks improved, but still off a little bit. Do what gsokol suggested and see if that can make it more correct.

    With going for an ME look, I want to caution you to remember to not make it too clean. If you examine the Normandy closely, you can still see some specular dirt reflections. And for a purely artistic suggestion, consider making the middle of the path ways semi-transparent. I think it'd look more futuristic that way. But that's just me!
  • pangarang
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    pangarang polycounter lvl 11
    Whew, i haven't been showing this environment as much love as i've intended to these past few weeks but I'm back to working on it. Thanks for the suggestion Gsokol - i've included a screencap of the environment with some little guys standing around. Also added some props to add more sense of scale to this.

    testsw.jpg
  • MegaMoogle
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    MegaMoogle polycounter lvl 9
    Droooooool, oh man! This will be sick when you finish it! :D:D:D Can't wait to see more updates!
  • zerafian
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    Oh I hope this comes out good :)...This brings back memories of my first FF experience
  • Snowman
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    nice I can't wait to see what this comes out looking like
  • gsokol
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    awesome!

    this is coming along nicely. The sense of scale helps a lot.

    Keep at it.
  • bluekangaroo
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    bluekangaroo polycounter lvl 13
  • shinobix
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    shinobix polycounter lvl 16
    Lookin good so far. FF 8 was one of my favorites in the series. Will be keeping an eye on this one :D
  • mdeforge
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    mdeforge polycounter lvl 14
    I love you so much right now. Please finish this!
  • Karmageddon
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    Karmageddon polycounter lvl 7
    It's awesome to see all the FFVIII fans here, I'm also in love with the game and am really anticipating seeing this carry through.

    Maybe I should finish that Edea model I started...
  • shinobix
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    shinobix polycounter lvl 16
    Karmageddon,
    Do you have a posting of your Edea model anywhere?? I'd love to see it!
  • Karmageddon
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    Karmageddon polycounter lvl 7
    shinobix wrote: »
    Karmageddon,
    Do you have a posting of your Edea model anywhere?? I'd love to see it!

    Oh heavens no. I started it about a year and a half ago and never finished it - before I joined PC. I'll take a look at it and see if it's presentable but I doubt it.
  • shinobix
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    shinobix polycounter lvl 16
    Haha. Well, it'd be cool to see !
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