[WIP] The Complex

SINtuition

Hey guys, I'm starting work on a new environment in UDK. I'm hoping to push my limits and produce a nice portfolio piece in the process.

I'm planning on using story as much as I can in the visual design. I got the idea from the video Blizzard made about their cinematics and it really struck a chord with me. I wrote a short bit of story to guide the process of creating the environment:

The Complex: A war torn factory once the center of production for military machinery. As the war dragged on eventually The Complex was overrun and became the site of a fierce battle. Now it sits amid the scorched landscape, occasionally the site for desperate skirmishes.

Here is the level blocked out. I'm planning on keeping the camera withing the area in the middle. The sun light is coming from the right direction but I might change the lighting to make it look a bit more like its dark as the sun is going down.

SINtuition

Hey guys, quick update here. I've added in alot of base detail to the foreground structures and some details to indicate scale. I think with the lighting I might go for a much cooler color scheme with an overcast sky. I want to capture the stillness and dry/harshness of the environment.

I'm focusing on the modelling right now. I figured I'd try to work in a linear fasion along the lines of Modeling->Texturing->Shaders->Post Processing. I'd love to know what you guys think so far!

chazzur

Having that large area in the foreground makes the area seem too unused. I would probably populate it to give the viewer the since that the spaced is actively being used.

SaferDan

That's a really nice blockout! and yeah like chazzur said it needs more stuff especially in the middle though I am sure you plan to litter the place! Look forward to more!

SINtuition

I'm finished with the blocking out at this point. From here I'm planning to start making finalized assets. I just want to say thanks for the advice, I hadn't realized that the center area was lacking. I've made a few 'improvements' to give the area a little more visual interest while pushing the story-related design further. Let me know what you think!

gsokol

Looks cool!

Those tiny rocks scattered around...don't do it for me at all.

I dig the hole in the concrete, but you do still have a decently empty area here. While it would add a lot more work...I think having a semi truck or some sort of transport vehicle sitting there would be awesome.

SouthpawSid

gsokol wrote: »

Looks cool!

Those tiny rocks scattered around...don't do it for me at all.

I dig the hole in the concrete, but you do still have a decently empty area here. While it would add a lot more work...I think having a semi truck or some sort of transport vehicle sitting there would be awesome.

THAT^
very much that

SINtuition

Hey guys, time for a long overdue update. The project is taking longer than I thought it would. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of February. Thanks for all the feedback so far.

I've been working mainly on the points of focus(The crater, The warehouse, and the bombed building) I like the idea to add a vehicle to the scene. I've been batting around some concepts for an armored transport but we'll see. Anyway, here's the pics.

(BTW "Dig the hole" was that a pun? :poly124: )

chrisradsby

I'd say try to make a more interesting brick-texture, this one is not that good honestly. I like the environment as a whole though, I'd probably try to figure out nice textures just by applying some easy tiled brick textures over the walls in photoshop ^^

Oh well Keep working! It's looking good!

almighty_gir

oh man... i was expecting Complex from GoldenEye64

gsokol

I agree about the bricks.

What did you do for the tire marks on the ground...are those decals?

SINtuition

chrisradsby - Thanks for the tip, I think I might tackle some brick-work today.

GIR! - Haha sorry bro, didn't mean to disappoint :poly122:

@gsokol - The tire marks aren't decals, they're on a texture layer for each of the concrete slabs.

nick2730

almighty_gir wrote: »

oh man... i was expecting Complex from GoldenEye64

lol my first thought as well

Prtofdacrowd

This environment is starting to look exciting with some textures, I agree with the above brick texture remarks, but its uniformity and overall placement leads me to believe its only a placeholder?

I would have to say that the environment could use some more interesting silhouettes, the overall feel is blocky, I am still not sure if the buildings are BSP they are so square... Some nice placement of water towers, chimneys, ac units maybe a hint of the actual use of the buildings cause it looks like the scene was created for sake of a scene some nice storytelling of the environments everyday use. The military factory is a good idea, but its still removed from the scene.

I do see the water drums and chimneys in the scene but they are removed from the buildings, maybe drawing them in closer, incorporating a few of them into the building. I hope this helps I am quite excited to see what happens next.

SINtuition

Hey guys, got an update here. I've built up a new brick texture(Just diffuse/normal maps). My plan for the buildings is to tile the base textures over using texture coords then and then overlay some details like dirt/rust/water/etc.

@Prtofdacrowd Thanks a lot for the C&C. You gave me a bunch of ideas for the buildings. They're not BSP, but they might as well be .

I tend to lose sight of the forest through the trees, so my challenge really IS big picture kind of stuff. So thanks for the feedback so far, hopefully I won't use it as a crutch too much! :shifty:



Quick update on the warehouse:

chrisradsby

If you're going to have an obviously tiled brick then you need to cover up the obvious tiling patterns with pipes, airducts, ladders, windows, decals, grime etc etc. Good work so far though! I really like the blockouts! Looks awesome.

SINtuition

Hey guys another update here. I wanted to get the warehouse finished because I'm being featured over at Eye For Games Magazine :poly122: shameless plug :poly122:. Anyway, here's some pics. Let me know what you think so far!

Blaisoid

vents seem too bright on the first screen. they are distracting and don't really feel like metal.
the machinery looks really cool though.

SINtuition

Hi! Just another update here. As always, CC's are welcome!

@Blaisoid - Thanks for the feedback. I totally missed that! :poly142: I'll definitely fix that.

SINtuition

Hey guys, posting my final update on this project. It's been a really great experience and I want to thank everybody who offered advice and crits. Please feel free to offer any final advice. If you're like me, you see a finished work and think, "There's no point in offering advice because the project is too far along." While it's true that I won't be making any major fixes to this project, I'll definitely take any advice that I can get and apply it toward future projects. Thanks again!

nicafornica

that sunlight is nice.

care to elaborate on how you did it?

SINtuition

Sure nicafornica. It's a fairly simple setup in UDK based on the default lighting rig presets(in fact, the sky object is the one non-original asset used in the scene). The sun itself is nothing more than a Dominant Directional Light object(which can be found in the actor browser) When you add the DDL into the scene a bright circle becomes visible in the sky(Note, you can only add one DDL to a scene. If you try to add another it bawks at you) For the sun in this scene I turned on the Render Light Shafts setting in the DDL and changed the Bloom scale to 1.0. There is also a Exponential Height Fog in the scene which is adding the dominant blue hue to the atmospheric perspective. The sun looks so cool because of its interaction with the clouds in the sky object. The alpha of the clouds actually breaks up the light shafts making the sky look dynamic.

Valconeye

I really like the static meshes you've created for it, and the texture work is stunning. The tire treadmarks in the ground, awesome.

Nice work, a worthy portfolio piece!

nicafornica

thank you very much for the tip. Keep it going do quite agree about the tire marks and the cracks came out nice. the bricks is what needs a bit more work.