really good stuff... i keep forgetting to take screenshots of the place, it's gotten such a grind going through it that i just try to be as quick as possible. but here's a couple of shots from various rooms in the place:
the room just before the first boss:
the fifth boss room (it gave us 5 tank mobs... assholes!!!):
Thanks Gir, much appreciated. It's funny to see the direction it went compared to the concept art, it looks a lot different. We're trying to follow the concept art as closely as possible so, considering we'll be taking it into UDK, it should look totally different from the game. That said the in game environments look absolutely gorgeous, I hope we can make ours half as awesome as the real thing, even if totally different.
Thanks Gir, much appreciated. It's funny to see the direction it went compared to the concept art, it looks a lot different. We're trying to follow the concept art as closely as possible so, considering we'll be taking it into UDK, it should look totally different from the game. That said the in game environments look absolutely gorgeous, I hope we can make our half as awesome as the real thing, even if totally different.
Well it will look diffrent, because you are gonna use normal maps. In WAR there is no normalmapping overall ;p. Al those bump-details are hand-painted.
Looking really good, some great progress, keep it up!
If I had to crit something it would be the logic behind some of the damage. At times it seems independent of the surrounding areas. Like the base of the pillars for example:
It's almost like it should be the reverse, the top and outer edge would be the most exposed but its the cleanest edges? Also the stone at times takes on an almost metallic property by bending and squashing instead of holding strong and chipping?
Hm, unfortunately that does make sense Vig, thanks. I'll definitely put some more work on the pillar before calling it done and I'll try to make damage less random. It's my first time tackling environment work so every kind of criticism matters. I'm not sure what you mean by it looking metallic, I'd love if you could point it out.
I think I'm finished with the pedestal BUT I have no idea how to retopo it. Any ideas? Can the basemesh I used for sculpting (second picture) be of any use?
It might be, see if u can decmiate/pro-optimize it, and see what comes up. Obviously, don't use that mesh, but see if it helps to define where your topology should be for the real render mesh.
I thought we matched the concepts pretty well :P there aren't many deeper tomb concepts up but the theme was more onyx & gold as you got deeper into the crypt. You guys are working off of the basic hallway set, there are variants that get more elaborate as you get closer to the last boss.
Looking good though, your initial blockout looks fairly close to the in game mesh (sans damage of coarse)
I thought we matched the concepts pretty well :P there aren't many deeper tomb concepts up but the theme was more onyx & gold as you got deeper into the crypt. You guys are working off of the basic hallway set, there are variants that get more elaborate as you get closer to the last boss.
I didn't mean to sound offensive or anything. When I say it didn't look like the concept I meant the few screenshots I've seen compared to the concept we had, but I figured there had to be more concept pieces for that area that that one image we have. Either way, it's good to hear from you we're on the right track.
Edit: BlvdNights, you answered as I was typing. That's actually the decimated high poly there. I'll take what I can from it, delete the messy topology, build the rest and see where it goes.
1) The glyphs from a distance looked smashed and compressed which would never happen on stone. On closer inspection it looks like tiny glyphs where used, it might help sell the damage if the glyphs over the damaged part where not intact or half the height of the other glyphs.
Now you can argue that "but if you look close"...
Should we require players to make sense of our details by getting close or should it read well at a medium distance without an explanation? Remember its important to take a step back and check how details are reading.
2) These are kind of soft dents, more of a characteristic of metal, than stone.
You can have soft damage but that occurs with weathering and the sharp edges get worn down over time by the elements.
3) This damage kind of dents in and seems to roll under. Also the surface directly under it also lacks damage. This type of damage would typically be on top.
4) From a distance this looks like a soft dent, but if you sharpened and contrasted some of the details it would hold up better at a distance.
Also, I was taking a look at the Eat3D! Old Pillar DVD and the guy just throws the sculpt into PolyCruncher for the low poly. Isn't that highly unoptimized or is it actually acceptable?
Felipe, did you ever try topogun? I use it currently in my workflow, and it's a huuge time saver, not only for how easy it gets to retopo stuff, but also to bake all the maps in a snap. I think u might find it useful for something like this...or anything really, btw nice work u guys are doing.
I might give it a try if all else fails. I'm trying what I said earlier, got that decimated mesh, extracted the important polygons and am in the process of filling the gaps. If it sucks I'll probably try doing it from scratch, but I hope I don't have to do it again. :T
You could take the Lowest Sub-D Level and then just start deleting edges from that and placing them by hand.
Meshlab also does a pretty good job and can go lower than 1000 tris - I find it much better than Dec Master. Here's a video of someone using it to make a rock.
I wouldn't worry about those gross, destroyed models. Model things like normal and add silhouette detail to those edges. That's really the only detail outside of the standard shapes.
Looking great guys. I love the Warhammer world, and you're doing a great job in staying true to it.
I also want to complement you guys on the skulls you guys made. Warhammer has a very specific style to their skulls, and you have captured it perfectly.
Thanks man, if I recall correctly the skull was done by cox.
This is what I came up with after playing around with the retopology. I did as it was recommended before, got a decimated mesh and took the fine details from it, then rebuilt the flat parts to save tris. It's got 595 tris so far. Crits and comments please, I wanna nail this right before moving on to UVing and stuff.
Still looks like you could take some geo off of where the cracks could be. It's really hard to tell until you actually put the UVs on and see it with an AO or normal map on from the high poly.
Replies
the room just before the first boss:
the fifth boss room (it gave us 5 tank mobs... assholes!!!):
7th boss room:
8th boss (vulture lord) room:
but it does differ from the concept, and i'm looking forward to your rendition. make it gritty
Well it will look diffrent, because you are gonna use normal maps. In WAR there is no normalmapping overall ;p. Al those bump-details are hand-painted.
Still very good work!
If I had to crit something it would be the logic behind some of the damage. At times it seems independent of the surrounding areas. Like the base of the pillars for example:
It's almost like it should be the reverse, the top and outer edge would be the most exposed but its the cleanest edges? Also the stone at times takes on an almost metallic property by bending and squashing instead of holding strong and chipping?
Perhaps I could use this decimated mesh to define the cracks and bigger details and make the rest of the topology by hand?
Looking good though, your initial blockout looks fairly close to the in game mesh (sans damage of coarse)
Yep, that's exactly what I was suggesting!
You might even wanna try that with a decimated version of your high poly that still has most of the detail for the cracks and all that good detail.
I didn't mean to sound offensive or anything.
Edit: BlvdNights, you answered as I was typing. That's actually the decimated high poly there. I'll take what I can from it, delete the messy topology, build the rest and see where it goes.
1) The glyphs from a distance looked smashed and compressed which would never happen on stone. On closer inspection it looks like tiny glyphs where used, it might help sell the damage if the glyphs over the damaged part where not intact or half the height of the other glyphs.
Now you can argue that "but if you look close"...
Should we require players to make sense of our details by getting close or should it read well at a medium distance without an explanation? Remember its important to take a step back and check how details are reading.
2) These are kind of soft dents, more of a characteristic of metal, than stone.
You can have soft damage but that occurs with weathering and the sharp edges get worn down over time by the elements.
3) This damage kind of dents in and seems to roll under. Also the surface directly under it also lacks damage. This type of damage would typically be on top.
4) From a distance this looks like a soft dent, but if you sharpened and contrasted some of the details it would hold up better at a distance.
Meshlab also does a pretty good job and can go lower than 1000 tris - I find it much better than Dec Master. Here's a video of someone using it to make a rock.
I've decided to remodel this section due to make it look the same kind of rock as the other parts.
Maybe I overdone high frequency details, but however in normalmap it will look softer.
There is more to come till the weekend :poly124:
I also want to complement you guys on the skulls you guys made. Warhammer has a very specific style to their skulls, and you have captured it perfectly.
This is what I came up with after playing around with the retopology. I did as it was recommended before, got a decimated mesh and took the fine details from it, then rebuilt the flat parts to save tris. It's got 595 tris so far. Crits and comments please, I wanna nail this right before moving on to UVing and stuff.