[CE3] Beach Bar Environment

PogoP

Hey guys!

Just thought I'd make a thread for a scene I'm working on. I'll update this regularly to show progress and to show you guys what I'm working on.

It's a scene based on this really nice piece of concept art by Tuomas Korpi. I'm not sure exactly what the concept was intended for, but I love it

Please note however, this concept is merely inspiration, and I'm not intending to re-create it exactly. It just spurred me on to create a similar environment!



I am also learning Cryengine whilst making this scene, so it's going to be a long process. My ultimate aim with this project is to properly learn Cryengine, and so far I'm loving it. It's such a powerful engine!

I wanted to just dive in and learn Cryengine and put down a few props I made, but I think I need to take a step back and plan the island out a bit. I'll hopefully detail a lot of this island and make it a really immersive, exploration-type environment that you guys can play.

Here are a few shots of what I have so far.





And a few props I've made so far:









And I started making a bit of foliage too. Still very WIP! Need to explore the CE2 foliage a bit more

I'll hopefully have regular updates here for you guys, but it is kinda hard to find the time to work after working 9-5.30!

Any crits or suggestions, fire away!

Edit - Here's the latest update after a few months work. Thanks to everyone who helped!

AlecMoody

This is looking cool. I know you aren't copying the concept directly but one thing I really like in the concept is how the wood is painted. Its a lot of large color washes and not a lot of value variation or grain texture.

nathanbarrett

Some surf boards sticking out the sand would look sick!

LATTEH

oh wow i really want to see this finished. cant wait!

IxenonI

cool start, can`t wait to see where this is going...

Computron

are chalk boards and chalk really that specular?

Chimp

@computron: yeah i noticed that too however just in the ingame shot, the actual map is lovely in the editor shot. tweak it!

PogoP

Thanks guys.

I'm going to spend the next few days blocking out lots of assets and placing them in the scene, as Helder Pinto suggested I do. It will be a lot less overwhelming in the long run, as I'm only able to work on this after work.

And yeah, you're right about the chalkboard specular. It's fixed now.

I started blocking out a moped tonight:

marq4porsche

Pogo: It's looking great so far, the textures read very nicely. Some of the wood beams look darker in the concept though and there is a lot of white in the wood.

PogoP

Thanks Marq. I'm going to balance the textures soon, after I've blocked everything in.

Here's one last shot before bed. Time to play some Pokemon White in bed

SgtNasty

Great start, really like the concept you chose. I agree with Alec, I'm really missing the painted wood. I assume CE3's shaders work similar to UDK, so you could probably just add in color to the wood with a multiply node or w/e.

gsokol

Looks like a good start. Looking forward to seeing how you plan to fill the scene. Right now the area is pretty bare, I think it would be cool to populate the area with trees and a little bit of vegetation similar to the image you posted.

fearian

Whoo, I've been waiting for a new thread by you, Pogo!

Jonsnow

Nice start! Looking forward to seeing further progress.

Darkmaster

This concept is epic!!!!! Don't let us down!

ayoub44

for sure , i'm following this the concept have great color . good luck

theonebutcher

looks really cool matey! I agree about the sign spec though seems a bit intense. Cant wait to see more progress mate! Good luck!

PogoP

Thanks guys.

I toned down the spec a bit on the chalkboard, good point

I'm going to continue to block out this scene with a few more assets until the end of this weekend, then I'm going to do lots of foliage, decals and rocks to dot around the scene and populate the beach a bit more.

As much as I love the concept, it is quite easy to just make a concept in 3D, and it's not very challenging. I want to push myself and create a nice environment to compliment the lovely concept art.

Here's a few more blocked out assets:

laim1991

It'd be nice to see some umbrellas stuck in the sand and towels on the ground in the background to make the place feel less Isolated. I love the feel of the place though, already looks welcoming!

Saman

This is a pretty cool idea for an environment. I love the concept you've chosen. You should block it all out before going any further though. The concept is full of life, it's got lots of tree and vegetation surrounding the bar. You should block all of this in, with some basic models like the scooter, so that you know where you're going.

Looks cool though, I'll be following this one

PogoP

Been working on some foliage today, it's just a very basic texture done in Photoshop for the grass, need to detail it up. Also re-did the beach to allow me some more variation, and made another smaller palm tree. I want to add loads more stuff with the vegetation tool (washed up seaweed, palm fronds, rocks etc), then go back to the beach bar itself.

Olli.

What i'd suggest is to add a slight grey gradient protruding from the stem of the palm leaves using the alpha channel of your models vertex colors. It adds a neat ambient occlusion effect with pretty much no performance drop, and works exclusively with vegetation in cryengine.

krimzondestiny

This is awesome! I'm really digging it. I can't find anything wrong with the direction you're taking. It really reminds me of Dead Island ( I love that game). I was wondering, were you going for a deserted beachie-thingie, or a populated one? I think it would be interesting to see footprints in the sand.

chrisradsby

Palmtrees should probably differ a bit more in height This will be kick-ass when you get a super awesome cloudy skydome in

PogoP

Yeah I think I'm going to thin out the palm trees slightly, as they feel a little too dense in parts (can't really see it in that screenshot). I'll get some really tall ones in there too.

I'm not sure whether to make it more deserted, or more populated, yet. As long as I have a good base, I can take it either way.

Thanks Olli, I'll tweak the vert colours.

marq4porsche

Maybe you can keep this variation and just add a few more versions as well. Maybe 4 altogether. That way there is some variety. I'm loving the color this scene has it feels alive already.

Olli.

Forgot to say in my last post that your ref is amazing, and I really hope you nail it. So far so good.

PogoP

I'll try my hardest to nail it! Everybody seems to be commenting just to say 'wow, that concept looks amazing!' haha. It's a fun little environment

PogoP

Hey again guys, got another update for you. Not been able to spend loads of time on this scene over the past few days, but I have worked on it a bit!

I've mainly been adding stuff to the terrain to make it a bit more 'embedded' and I've been tweaking foliage and existing textures such as the wood on the buildings.

I want to expand this scene and have some different landmarks as well as this hut, to give it a bit of a 'Dear Esther' esque exploration element. It was meant to be a portfolio piece but it's just too much fun...!

Cody

Looks great! With a sky that has no clouds, I think the shadows might be a little darker/crisper. Can't wait to see that vespa textured.

dragan01

hey, the scene is coming along great, and the reference seems so fun to work from. Could just be me, but from what I see in the 3rd last screen shot from your most recent update, a lot of the trees foliage seems almost identicle to most of the trees. try throwing a bit more variations.
Can't wait to see further updates! =]

Sarankan

Looking pretty nice, I know ther will be creative liecense but cant wait to see how you'r gonna match the colur palette to the ref..

PogoP

Yeah I think I'm going to sit down tonight and properly spend some time matching colours up properly. I think I will go for a very slightly pastel-esque colour palette, with slightly muted colours like in the concept. I'm also going to tone down the sand normal slightly and increase the brightness. Needs more foiage too

Jessica Dinh

What a fun scene! I think it's really looking great so far :]:] Excited for more!

BlvdNights

So many great colors on the shack in the concept you aren't incorporating! Do eeettttttttttttttttttt.

PogoP

I think the main reason there aren't that many colours, is that most of the assets aren't actually in the scene yet lol! Don't worry, it will happen

Laughing_Bun

I would ditch the mountains in the background. maybe go for something more open beach with some sort of a structural element, like a dock or road in the background. Right now it reads as a shack placed in a cry engine level. I know the concept is leaning towards dense jungle, but I think it would be wise to avoid that without some more of your own structures to make it unique. The concept has powerlines in it as well which suggests some of that. I don't really read it as being pressed right up against a mountain side.

PogoP

Well it is kinda difficult to just ditch a mountain haha, but I'll have a look at the scene and see what I can do.

PogoP

Had a bit of time to work on the scene this weekend, so decided to try and work on a bit of vegetation for the surrounding mountains. Also took the opportunity to update to the latest version of the SDK; it's incredible!

Now that the island itself is looking more 'dense', I'm going to focus on blocking out the beach bar some more. I've kinda neglected it over the past few weeks!

Computron

New SDK = Add POM for the wavy beach sand, and on the palm trees.

PogoP

Computron, your wish is my command!

Been working on some more atmospheric stuff over the past few days, trying to nail that slightly overexposed, just past midday, feel. Also added in a few blockout surfboard textures for a bit of colour.

I really need to stop putting off detailing the bar! Though to be honest, I am thinking of just finalizing the existing assets and using this scene to update my portfolio. I want to work on other things, and I want to explore different parts of the Cryengine that I can't really with this environment.





By the way, I've just noticed something. My secondary monitor completely washes out these images, takes out all the contrast... I always view screenshots on my right screen, and use my main monitor for art stuff. Do these images look normal contrast to you guys, or do they look washed out? Hmmmm.

marq4porsche

Dude the contrast is fine, it looks tons better than the last shots which were too dark. I love the detail you've got going on.

Jessica Dinh

Agreed, I think the contrast is much better than before. This is looking nicer and nicer :], inspiring !

Jonsnow

really nice progress, the contrast is is very close to the concept, good job!

PogoP

Thanks guys. Still got lots of tweaking to do with it, I'm still not 100% on the colours.

Gonna get that moped sorted out this weekend!

I also noticed that somebody else is working on this same scene, based on the same concept art haha. It is a nice concept though

Superfail

awesome work Pogop! you realy naild the feeling in that consept. Makes me whant to put aside some money to a vacation.

jonas-144

totally agree with superfail awsome job man!

theonebutcher

Looking great mate, only crit is that the grass might be a little low res? other than that mate, id say get some 3d clouds in there and your set! good work man!

StuButler

Congrats on the feature in the news again Liam. Looking really good. In the first picture of your last post, to the right of the front wheel on the scooter (centre of the image), the grass planes that run into the sand look awkward...

PogoP

Thanks all for the kind comments and crits. You guys help so much in keeping me level-headed and out of the clouds!

Thanks Stu! Nice spot, I fixed that last night.

Been working on some decals for the building, and finishing up various textures here and there. I'll work on the moped over the next few days, then I'm going to find a nicer screenshot location with better composition, then I can call it done for now!

I have a few more ideas hanging around in my head for new scenes, but I want to spend a few weeks honing my 2D concepting skills, and properly learn Cryengine!

PogoP

Hello again! I'll have some more shots of the scene later this week, but in the meantime, here's what I've been working on.



Didn't want to spend ages on this, it's a fairly small asset in the scene so I just wanted to give the overall impression of a moped. For all you moped aficionados, take the model with a pinch of salt!

Next step - Texturing! Fun times.