Lost And Found - Walkthrough
polycounter lvl 10
LOST AND FOUND
Video on Vimeo :
>>>Here<<<
See the final results on my Game Artisans entry (sorry but, it's 16 pics max, so I couldn't put them here):
>>>Here<<<
Video on Vimeo :
>>>Here<<<
See the final results on my Game Artisans entry (sorry but, it's 16 pics max, so I couldn't put them here):
>>>Here<<<
Hi everyone! This is the last personal project I've made, and I would like to talk a little about it.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
This is not a tutorial, Im not pretending to teach you something here, its just about the process Ive made this. And one of the most important things is that I really dont think this process could work in production. But if you want to do something for yourself, and youre not very comfortable with environment design (like me :poly124:), this could be an alternative.
For this walkthrough I'll not go through the whole process, but I'll show the way I've thought the thing: make a quick scene, without global concept art to start with, and designing just a few splittable and reusable assets. (So if you want to know technical stuffs like modeling, texturing, baking and so on, just check out on this forum or google it, theres a lot of good tutorials about this).
WHY THIS WAY?
I'm not a skilled concept environment artist, but I like designing characters/objects. That's why the whole concept phase was based on object design: finding building shapes, designing special objects with a main and consistent style.
THE IDEA
What I wanted to do here was a kind of Underwater/Underground lost Village/Station, a sort of miniature Atlantis style.
THE DESIGN / SHAPES :
Here I used a black and white method, just to find some shapes, and playing around on Photoshop (alchemy is also good software to do that). Once I was satisfied of it, Ive add some colors and textures. Like Ive said, I like character design, and when you draw characters, most of the time the lines are not straight. Thats why even when I draw something that should be straight, most of the time the results are round shaped.
CUTTING :
The Main Structure :
Thats the main one. I wanted to do a huge structure with levels, a sort of apartment building. Once it was done, and when I was satisfied with the final result and color, I start thinking of assets, and the way I can cut pieces off this big guy ^o^
As you can see, cutting structures on several pieces doesnt mean Ive reused them all. It was more efficient and cohesive for the modeling part, and if I would, I could use them.
For the main structure, I had to redesign the central piece, where symbols take place. I didnt want to use 4 different meshes for each level, so it was easier to put a limit around it to cut it off and duplicate it on the UVs. I could do it without changing anything, but it would have been difficult on the texturing to hide the seams especially with normal maps. The whole structure have been reshaped for the same reason. In the concept you have this entire shape, its like the building was made in one unique piece. But the way I did it in 3D, and the way I wanted to reuse some parts of it, pushed me to modeling it this way.
The Watch Tower :
Thats the second one; the idea was to create a kind of watch towers. They contain a sacred fire; this element is used a lot in there. I also thought of reusable assets. If I wanted to, I could have cut it even more and make more assets, but in the end I didn't need.
The four-sided pillar :
Ive made 2 versions of it for more variation, with and without symbols (I just had to take them off on the textures). Again, you can see the way Ive decided to cut it.
The pedestal :
Then I did a kind of pedestal with stairs like I did on the concept, but instead of grass, I made a full stone/concrete one.
Once I had enough stuff to deal with, Ive made a quick scene on Unreal, imported elements, put some lights, capture it, paste it on Photoshop and then I had a overview to put/design new assets in :
These are assets made from the overview retouch :
The Hatch :
These are the last assets Ive designed in addition to those added on the overview. Those structures are under a dome, I thought of a hatch on the top of it. And it is, a two-sided one. Once it was done, I thought of a way to use the other side.
The doors :
And of course, Ive made a door. It must exist a way to get out of this place. Here again, I've cut it and re-use part for something. Notice that I thought in the design of adding parts of assets already made.
Something important to notice: cutting and re-use is optimal for non-realistic environment. Because those things are designed from scratch you can make anything you want with it, its more difficult for something real. For instance this bridge was created with different parts of assets created; it's just like playing LEGO or PLAYMOBIL.
To finish it, I've just added a terrain with 3 mixed materials, and a textured BSP path between structures.
So this is it: here I show you behind the scene. I've just over lighted three of the reused assets, I let you find the others!
(it's like a "Where's Waldo?" game, enjoy! Loool).
If you want to learn more about using UDK especially level building process, just take a look at the UDN website. There's a complete video set from 3DBuzz available (I guess, everyone already know that, but just in case).
One more time, this is not a tutorial, this is a walkthrough for a specific work, and this is not a very good method to do environment design (I guess, if I'd had a very good global concept art to begin with, the result would have been much better), but it is an alternative way. I just would like to share it with you fellas.
I hope you'll like it, be free to ask any question, correcting me or put some comments, any feedback are welcome.
And of course : very sorry for my english... I know it sucks
Replies
Am I right to say this is an underwater city or a city in a "bubble" of sorts? I like the consistency in some of the assets like the heavy doors or the hatch, gives me that "1000 leagues under the sea" vibe, though I think theres also a dominant "pagoda temple" design to the whole place.
It might just be personal taste, but the theme kind of gets confusing for me, although it is interesting!
Good job man!
The way assets are built looks good to me, nice texture work as well.
My main concern though is that to me it does not look like underwater environment. Actually i thought it was a night setting before i read the description :P The lighting might suggest some underwater (well, its blue...), but underwater setting requires other elements beside lighting to make it feel right. Those r bubbles, fish, sea plants etc. Bioshock is a good ref for that.
As underground it does not work either in my opinion because we cannot see rocks/ceiling around it. Ceiling limits r infinitively far, so it feels like an outside level with fog and night time.
@ crasong :Yeah, you're right, this was the idea : an underwater city in a "bubble", and your references are very good, it's totally that. That's my first one, and the problem with the way I did it, is maybe I didn't succeded to keep a cohesive style for all of the assets. I'll try to make something better next time.
@ Matroskin : I'm totally agree with you, and unfortunately I've notice that when it was done :poly136:. When I started it, I've made a specific shader with water effect (you can see it on the first tests screens), but for now I'm not very comfortable with shaders, so it was very present and in the end, that was too much. I've decided to set it down, but now it's just imperceptible...:poly116: And I thought : "Damn, why the hell didn't I added some "underwater" assets?!" (just like you said : bubble, sea plants etc.)
Maybe cause I'm a noob
I guess, I'll be more careful of those kind of details next time.
Great job on the concept stage too
Thank you