Jerusalem_Environment

Scampbell

Jerusalem level i am working on for my final portfolio. Done in UDK. Still WIP with allot more to do. i want to try to get this to look as best as i can so any comments are welcome on any thing. i will be posting more as i go. let me know if you would like to see something specific

Razgriz

Good start, There's a lot of cool stuff going on here. Without a specific description, there isn't anything in the scene that tells me this is located in Jerusalem. For the little flourishes running around the border of the walls, why not use Hebrew script instead? Also, your archways resemble Islamic (the blue and white striped ones) and Arabic/Persian architecture more than they do Jewish, unless this exists under Ottoman rule and isn't meant to be modern-day Jerusalem. So, I think a little bit more context would help.

Asset-wise, there are a lot of jarring transitions between brick textures, and the ground is in need of some vertex-painted sand in cracks and corners and such - although the heightfog does help.

Hope you find this useful!

Oniram

lookin good so far. id say your sky needs some work. id check out julio juarez's tutorial on doing skies.

also im not sure if you are going for the effect of sand being piled in the edges of the street where it meets the sidewalk, but if so its looking a bit like fog right now. if you're meshpainting that you may want to have less of a falloff

Scampbell

Thank you for your quick reply. yes is is Not supposed to be modern day. i agree about the blue in the arches i did that because of my color pallet, i am going with blues and oranges and yellows.just to still get that artistic look because most architecture there is just the tan stone so i want to add some more color and life. i like your idea about the script there instead i think that's a grate idea. i deff will be adding some mesh paint to brake that up i got my landscape the same i just need to bust out those textures and it will be done. and no height fog, its a blowing sand partial. im going for a really dynamic environment for my final demo reel.

Scampbell

Oniram: ill check that tut out right now thanks
and i'm using landscape right now and unfortunately the mesh still isn't tessellated enough to get that sharper falloff and i could not figure out how to increase the tessellation.

IxenonI

Solid start. The texturing looks promising. There might be bit too much bump on the wall on the right. This will look great with matching props and proper lighting. Can´t wait to see more...

Lonewolf

looking good!
btw
where are you from?

Oniram

ive always found it harder to pull off something like stone or brick when using landscape (or terrain before). if you were to build your floor as if it were actually ontop of the landscape, not the landscape itself, you may be able to get some better results out of it. you would be able to tessellate however much you wanted in max or maya or whatever.

Scampbell

Thanks guys

lxenonl- i agree about the bump on the wall i want to go in there and take out some small noisy detail thanks

Lonewolf- thank you (Phoenix)

Oniram-thanks again ya i just was looking at Julio Juarez's website and i seen that same thing your talking about.. thanks for the link and the replies

Scampbell

Minor update. Got rid of the landscape decided just to use a static mesh so i can get the clean details with the mesh paint. also mesh painted some of the walls let me know how you guys feel about those. haven't got around to redoing the sky yet will get that done soon. also touched up the Shader for the dome in the back. oh ya and the window on the left up close will be toned down and not so bright. Any comments on anything is always greatly appreciated.

Alberto Rdrgz

Need more contrast in the lighting.

EDIT: maybe a darker sky?

roosterMAP

lighting on objects and lighting of the skybox doesnt match.

love where this is going tho.

roosterMAP

another thing: its a shame I dont rly see the structure thats holding up the dome. Try to highlight it more. Maybe gold lining on pillars?

Scampbell

Alberto Rdrgz- ya im going to rework the entire lighting ill make sure i get good contrast in there too

RoosterMap- ya sky dome will change i just found a nice tut on one. i do plan on making just the top structure of the building holding up the dome just havent got around to it yet. but there def will be somthing ther. in fact might work on that now.. thanks

Scampbell

another small update, let me know if u guys like where the lighting is going.
i know that building in the back is off with the such bright lighting hitting it, still trying to figure out why its so bright i think it has something to do with my post process. still working on the sky dome but let me know how u think its going so far and if there is anything that is throwing you off.

MaD

Like it.

You should try to break up the blockiness of your scene though. To many straight lines. Put some interesting stuff on you walls, maybe add a bridge in the foreground, break up that pave ways a bit...

Oniram

also itd be neat to see some props in there too. maybe some foliage hanging from windows n stuff. interesting factors to keep your eyes moving

chrisradsby

Kinda needs fog me thinks, I like where it's going. I would populate the scene a little bit more but messing around with post-process and lighting is more fun indeed.

Scampbell

thanks guys. yep i am almost ready to start making props and i like the idea of the foliage hanging, i started to do it on the right building close up it is no where near done i am testing to see if i can do it correctly and make it look good with mesh paint. i figured out "most" of the technical problems im sure there will be more but now i just got to get it to look good and pop because here it blends with the bricks way to much because it is just diffuse as of now. and as for the bridge in the front i originally was going to put one in but it would block the dome, but your right it does need something there. thanks all

aajohnny

Oniram wrote: »

also itd be neat to see some props in there too. maybe some foliage hanging from windows n stuff. interesting factors to keep your eyes moving

I agree with Oniram. It looks great, but it need more in it. Add some props and it'll be golden Keep it up!

Ravenok

My biggest problem with it, is that it doesn't "feel" Jerusalem.
It's a good job overall, but I think you should do a bit more research regarding the city itself:

Jerusalem today is quite like it was in history, especially in the old city, where things are preserved. The view of Jerusalem today still has all the ancient buildings: Tower of David, the Temple Mound, the dome of the rock, etc.

Color-wise - Jerusalem is more golden than what you did here. It's bright gold/beige against light blue sky. At night it's just all blue-ish hues, like the desert at night.

The fountain in the middle seems a bit out of place, like it doesn't fit. I don't think Jerusalem has so many of those around, it's more of a European thing. In general, your setting is very old-London like, 18th-19th century London. At least that's what it feels like to me with this lighting and the way the floor is designed.

I currently live in Jerusalem so I might be able to take a few photos for you and post them here sometime this week, if I find myself somewhere with a nice view to the old city.

Also keep in mind - Jerusalem is not necessarily Jewish. It's got all sorts of different cultures in it - Jewish, Muslim, Christian - there's EVERYTHING here. It's crazy. Everything's one big huge mess.

EDIT:
Maybe look at Assassin's Creed 1 for references, they did some amazing research. I could walk around Jerusalem in the game and it's very, very similar to those areas in real life. My father told me Acre was very accurate too, he could give me directions on how to get to the port of Acre - he actually identified the streets etc. So yeah, they did a pretty accurate job rebuilding those cities.

Scampbell

Blaken- Thank you i needed that. i was noticing the same thing as it started to slip away. im going to go back and start getting some more reference and any help in the future would be greatly appreciated. this is why im glad i posted this because you just pointed out my biggest worry about it. and made me realize i need to look back. And if you do find yourself in the area any photos would be greatly appreciated because looking online i found some nice photos but i could never be positive because like you pointed out every thing is mashed together. thanks so much

Ravenok

You're very welcome Glad I can help.

Well, I don't know what you've stumbled upon on your own, but here are a couple of things I can recommend you to stick to for now:




And here's a cool looking painting I would use to help stylize it:


Jerusalem is all beige, olive, and very clear skies with few clouds.
It's a lot colder here than in other places in Israel, and it's less humid. That could help you nail the atmosphere better. Those pics I put here are plain photographs of these places, and if I go somewhere near them in the upcoming days I'll take out my phone and grab a few pics that are more casual than those I posted above, to show you how the streets actually look.

Good luck, I'll enjoy seeing this develop I've been wanting to do that myself for a long time.

EDIT:
I now notice the pics I put here have a different sky than I described. I guess it's cuz its summer now, and the sky is pretty clear. Either way, trust photos more than me.

Scampbell

thanks allot man these really help im going to start turning it around right now.