Captain Nemo's office
polycounter lvl 8
So, I came across this excellent painting by Alex Broeckel of Captain Nemo's office inspired by Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and I thought it'd be fun to recreate it as an environment inside UDK.
The main things I want to accomplish with this project are to gain a more solid understanding of the normal mapping workflow (by including a lot of props in addition to the structural pieces), to tell a story with a scene instead of just presenting a collection of assets, and to get a handle on a true modular approach to environment creation.
So far, I've been working on high-poly versions of several props to get me into a regular production mindset before tackling the modular structural elements of the environment, and here's what I've got so far. I should mention that I'm not remaining entirely faithful to the concept, as I'm adding some more art deco / modernist elements.
Chandelier:
Desk and chair:
I'm still not wild about the chair's backrest compared to the seat, and I'll be adding the creases in the leather in ZBrush.
Captain Nemo's underwater rifle:
I've got a rough layout of the office blocked out in Max that I'll be using as a guide to create the actual modular pieces which I'll share soon, once a few dimension / proportion issues have been sorted out.
Thanks in advance for any feedback, crits and suggestions.
The main things I want to accomplish with this project are to gain a more solid understanding of the normal mapping workflow (by including a lot of props in addition to the structural pieces), to tell a story with a scene instead of just presenting a collection of assets, and to get a handle on a true modular approach to environment creation.
So far, I've been working on high-poly versions of several props to get me into a regular production mindset before tackling the modular structural elements of the environment, and here's what I've got so far. I should mention that I'm not remaining entirely faithful to the concept, as I'm adding some more art deco / modernist elements.
Chandelier:
Desk and chair:
I'm still not wild about the chair's backrest compared to the seat, and I'll be adding the creases in the leather in ZBrush.
Captain Nemo's underwater rifle:
I've got a rough layout of the office blocked out in Max that I'll be using as a guide to create the actual modular pieces which I'll share soon, once a few dimension / proportion issues have been sorted out.
Thanks in advance for any feedback, crits and suggestions.
Replies
You might want to exaggerate some of the smaller details so they are captured properly when baked. Little things like the rivets on the gun, and the folds and buttons on the chair padding.
You might want to also run a piece of decorative trip around the top of the glass dome fin part(s). You probably don't want to model the tiny ribs into the low poly and the normal map won't fake the silhouette properly if they are missing. With a tiny bit of trim you get more detail and a flat edge allowing the normal map to be contained and work like it should.
I'm definitely going to revisit the high poly models before I start creating the low poly meshes - thanks for the tips, Vig. Once I've got a pretty decent asset collection assembled, I'll be going back and adjusting them to make sure they're ready for baking.
A couple more props - wasn't sure about posting them, as they're geometrically pretty simple right now, and won't really look right until I get some textures on them.
An art deco standard lamp:
Antique table-top globe (definitely needs some more detailing, especially on the metallic arm):
And yeah, Bioshock is definitely a major inspiration in terms of where I want to go with this scene. I know everyone ragged on it, but it's still one of my favorite titles and the environment work is just gorgeous.
One of the things I thought would make this project so interesting is the potential for the scene to tell a story. Captain Nemo's state of mind is what I'll be focusing on, and I'm trying to emphasize a feeling of paranoia and isolation with the scene.
I thought that fashioning the doors of the office after bank vaults would be a nice way to convey this, and here's what I've got for the door at the bottom of the stairs (which is obviously beyond the scope of the original concept, and apologies for the shadow map artificating):
Anyways, thanks again for the feedback. It's been a fantastic project to research and work on, and later on I'll post up a rough scene layout in Max.
I'm trying to bear in mind that, although it's a small, quite claustrophobic environment, it still needs to have enough breathing room for a player and to function in a gameplay sense (think Bioshock-style FPS). As such, I've taken some liberties with the room's dimensions, and added a small hallway leading from the bottom of the stairs to the main office door, indicated in green in the image below.
The floor panel in blue indicates the placement of the hatch depicted in the concept, and I'm leaving the largest rear wall absent for now. I'm thinking of making the staircase a little more elegant than just some simple steps, so I'll be trimming the width of the stairs at either end as indicated in red to allow for a more ornate handrail, and to make approaching the stairs more visually appealing from the main office door.
Not the most exciting update I know, but I'm finding that planning and detailing my approach in this way is really helping me get a handle on what I need to do to fit the scene together.
This is also the first time I've attempted a truly modular environment piece, so if anyone has any insight, tips or things I should bear in mind, I'd love to hear them!
Here's what I've got so far:
I think the next piece I'll be tackling is the large curved glass wall to the right of the large airlock, probably followed by the large airlock.
You are doing a great job so far. Keep it up!!
Not a terribly interesting day update-wise, just a couple of wall sections. I seem to be working my way around the office mezzanine level in an anti-clockwise direction, so next up will be the large vault-like door / airlock section.
Porthole wall section:
Observation window wall section:
I think the wall sections will look much better when I've got the support struts in place, as well as a whole array of dials, controls, levers and pipes surrounding them to break up some of the larger surfaces. Obviously the observation windows will be looking out onto a small underwater scene, so this section will likely remain quite simple.
Although it's not immediately apparent in the concept, I'm probably going to make the opposite wall (to the left of the viewer's perspective in the concept) curved as opposed to angular (as I've roughed it out in the Max screens above) for the sake of symmetry. I went over the original 1954 Disney film very carefully today, and symmetry is very prominent in the original Nautilus interior designs.
Anyway, I'll shut up now and get on with making something a little more visually interesting. Thanks again for the encouraging feedback.
Back to work....
Your modelling is awesome!
In other unrelated news... damn you google image search for providing awesome looking vault doors. I modeled something similar two weeks ago =P
You know... it wouldn't take much to turn this into a TF2 Nautilus map... Just sayin...
Haha, yeah, that particular vault seems pretty prominent in the results, doesn't it? I like what you did with it in your map, though. The reason I opted for that particular door (aside from its internet ubiquity) was the main handles still resemble a ship's wheel and I thought it'd be a subtle way to reinforce the nautical theme.
When I'm done with the project, I was thinking of packaging up all the reference images I've collected into a zip file and making them available on Dropbox or something - there's a lot of really unique architectural and interior pieces, in addition to some high-quality scans of the original Disney blueprints for the Nautilus.
Thanks again for everyone's encouraging feedback - next update will be Captain Nemo's deep-sea diving helmet....
A couple of minor issues to fix, but I'll be revisiting each asset prior to baking to make sure everything's ironed out.
Since the rifle and the helmet are intended to be player-collectible items, here's the helmet mounted as it will appear in the office:
Thanks again for everyone's feedback!
I should mention that the wall sections are not positioned finally, as I still have to create the supporting sections and struts.
Although I wanted the scene to feel claustrophobic, right now it's just way too small of an area to work. Once I've expanded the room to be a bit more accommodating, it'll be easier to determine the dimensions of each modular element and to start figuring out specific section placement.
Hopefully I'll have an update on the arched wall section over the stairs posted up a little later tonight - thanks again for everyone's kind words and feedback.
Since I've yet to start any of the low-poly work, I'm still blocking out in Max to get an idea of scale etc. I've still yet to decide if I want to adhere to the concept by including the observation window wall section to the right of the main airlock - I'm debating whether or not to enclose the gaps between the walls and the central 'spine' pipe with glass paneling. I think this would look better approaching from the stairs, and could also create some interesting lighting possibilities. What do you guys think?
A more generalized layout overview, with some walls hidden to make it easier to see:
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts - thanks in advance.
Are the panels with the hand rails going to be glass windows that look out into the ocean?
It could give you some chances to do some really cool caustic lighting inside and out.
As for the glass panels, that's what I'm deciding right now. I was thinking that glass ceiling panels might be better for both lighting and general aesthetics, as opposed to sticking to the concept as it is right now.
To be honest, I think I'll end up replacing the glass wall section to the right of the main airlock with an ordinary wall panel, and give the scene a vaulted glass ceiling - not only will it give me more potential for caustic lighting as its a wider glass area than a single wall section, but it should make the scene more symmetrical and also create some visual interest on the ceiling.
So, all that's left to do is model some wall-candy, tidy up and finish some of the modular wall / floor / ceiling sections and finalize some proportions and then I'll be ready to start optimizing and unwrapping....
Thanks for everyone's feedback so far, I appreciate everyone taking the time to comment - prepare for a deluge of questions in Technical Talk shortly!
Thanks! It's been a fantastic project to research, and it's really made me think about and approach the workflow differently. It's also the first project where I've been thinking about lighting from the outset.
Thanks again for everyone's input!
3DS Max.
Still quite a way to go before I'll be ready to begin optimizing. Aside from plugging a few holes, I've still got some modeling to do for the wall panels and a collection of pipes, dials and meters to add some variety to each section.
Right now, it feels like a poorly-thought out home improvement project - fix one thing, and two more problems present themselves. It's my own damn fault for not planning the scene as thoroughly as I should have, a valuable (if time-consuming) lesson in itself....
On a side note, Proportions are looking really great Now that you've fixed it up, granted they didn't look so bad before :P
Thanks, Vig, and yeah - I've already learned a lot in terms of how to approach a scene like this, and had I planned it a little more thoroughly beforehand, I would've been further ahead by now. As Rens said, mistakes are awesome!
And yeah, I'm much happier with the vaulted glass paneled ceiling - thinking about lighting even before I've finished the modeling stage has really influenced the final designs, and it's been fun to deviate from the concept as much as I have.
One thing I'm still undecided about is whether or not to include the portholes. On one hand, it'd break up the symmetry of the scene (as the opposite walls will feature two of the player-collectible props, the rifle and diving helmet) and offer a glimpse out into the ocean from an eye-level perspective, but on the other hand I'm not sure if it's too busy or a bit much in addition to the large glass ceiling.
What do you guys think?
I decided to place the portholes along the corridor leading to the stairs, to not only break up the wall sections but to also offer some more interesting lighting than just the point lights from the light fixtures that will line the left wall, but also to reinforce the sense of being on an underwater vessel.
Right now, I'm finishing off the high poly modeling on the floor and wall sections, then finally moving onto optimizing and texturing.
Not much of an update, but I'm pretty happy with the corridor floor section and am moving onto the various wall sections.
So far, one of the biggest challenges has been mixing the art deco and modernist elements with the more industrial, manufactured elements that define the environment as a submarine overall. Once I've got everything into UDK, I may have to go back and adjust things to ensure everything looks cohesive, but I think I'm on the right track.
Updates will likely be less frequent, as one of the main objectives with this scene was to become more familiar with normal mapping and texturing, which I desperately need to improve my skills in, so expect lots of questions!
Thanks again for everyone's feedback and input.
Can't wait to see some colour:)
ill definately be fallowing your progress
And yeah, I've been planning on including an exterior underwater environment all along - I'm thinking of a water volume that surrounds the scene, perhaps with some bubbles, small fish and appropriate lighting.
First things first, however....back to work!
I've started optimizing and unwrapping, but texturing is going to take a while - I really want to do the concept justice, so I'm taking my time. Personally, I can't wait to get to the lighting, either, but the textures are going to really sell a lot of the scene, so I've got to give them the love they deserve.
Thanks again for everyone's feedback and encouragement.
Some bits and pieces to break up the walls:
Right, just a few more bits to finish off, then begins the unwrapping and texturing.
As always, thanks in advance.
So, other than reworking some of the models, I've started texturing some of the simpler structural elements like the corridor wall panels. This is what I've got so far.
It's not hard to see that I'm much more comfortable modeling than texturing, but I'm determined to improve and do them justice, so apologies for the less-than-exciting choice of a first diffuse to post.
The thing I'm struggling with in terms of these pieces is achieving a balance of visual interest versus the reality of the surface properties. I didn't want to overdo the scratches or surface damage, but I wanted it to be a little more interesting than simply idiot-smooth. In terms of general color palette, I'm trying to match this reference from the original Disney movie:
Anyways, I'm not happy with the floor panel I posted earlier in the thread either, so I'm off to redo that, then move on to some more texturing.
As ever, thanks in advance for any feedback.
Thanks for the tips, Shep.
I initially had considered adding some leaking elements to the texture, but I hesitated because of the likelihood of that surface being rusted. This is what I meant when I mentioned visual interest versus the reality of how that surface would look. I didn't want everything to be overly filthy or damaged (as this seems to be a common mistake), but I definitely need to add something to the texture as it is right now.
I'll favor aesthetics over the 'reality' of the surface and try adding some leaks and rust, see how it looks. It's definitely been an interesting problem, trying to make an otherwise pretty boring surface both interesting and believable.
Looking awesome dan, love the concept and this is really coming along really nice.