Vertical Farm Environment (large image)
polycounter lvl 10
So, starting a new project now. This time I will be creating a vertical hydroponic farm environment in UDK. Vertical farming is a theoretical way to farm in urban areas by essentially creating farm skyscrapers. Mine will be done hydroponically (no soil), so all it will need a lot of water piping. My goal here is to be as modular as possible so that the project can scale up as far as it needs to go. I'm a little uncertain about how this will turn out since I'm largely unfamiliar with UDK.
Moodboard:
Let me know what you think! I'm not sure what to do about a centerpiece so far either, so suggestions for that are welcome.
Moodboard:
Let me know what you think! I'm not sure what to do about a centerpiece so far either, so suggestions for that are welcome.
Replies
but this is only simple stacked horizontal farming
id recomend some biodome for entrance
My advice would be to plan this out thoroughly beforehand. Like, plan like an evil genius. A patient evil genius. More time planning = less time fixing / redesigning.
Also, once you've got some rough geometry to work with, get your meshes into UDK as soon as possible to make sure you nail down the scale and composition. You don't even necessarily need to UV your assets before getting it into UDK when you're blocking out the scene, so there's no excuse not to. Again, this will save you a lot of time and work in the long run.
All those tracks lead back into a room behind the walls, then down to the base of the skyscraper, so that production can be almost entirely automated. Everything would end up near the bottom of the skyscraper where they can be processed by hand and shipped. However, I'd like to make this idea more visually interesting.
What I think I'll do is get rid of the current windows and ceiling and opt for something a little closer to this pic:
Overall, I'd like to get more organic shapes in there, but I still need to make them modular (hair pull).
danshewan: thanks a lot for the advice, you've confirmed, in cocrete detail, the general direction I was headed. I really appreciate the advice
Will keep an eye on this
I definitely agree with your support comment. I was thinking of trying out guy-wires or some sort of suspension to maintain the futuristic look. Failing that, I'll just go back to beams.
Also, I just finally got my Wacom drivers working again, so I'll try some paintovers.
Also thinking of adding a flag here in the middle with some large slogan that fits with the universe. "Vegetables are for the Elite" or some such. Also, in this image you can see the guy-wires I added.
And Shepeiro, I love your avatar!
Here's my first crack at a palette:
Edit: does UDK have support for SSS? If not, is there a way to fake it?
Little backstory for the environment.
Vertical farm environment
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Background
These skyscrapers are created in an urban area in the near future to add automated farming to cities. Arable land has been vastly reduced, and environmental conditions are no longer conducive to healthy plant growth. As much of the farming process as possible is automated, so most of the plants are on tracks to be taken down to a processing floor to be shipped. The tracks also assist with rotating all plants into sunlight. They are grown hydroponically so no soil needs to be used. As long as a filtration system is used, they will grow. This actual environment is set at the very top of a "farm skyscaper", a very tall buildings built with floor after floor of farmland. Accordingly, only the very top of the skyline and sky are visible.
The world that exists at this time has seen globalism cause massive consolidation of industry such that it has superseceded the authority of most nations. A single corporation has dominated agribusiness (NORCO), and that is who owns the skyscraper. Because of the consolidation, the populace has been split into one very large poor population, and one very small wealthy population. The workers in the skyscraper are reminded by the large flag at the centerpiece that the vegetables being grown are specifically not for them, as their diet is based largely on corn and corn products.
Asset List
Tomato plant (2 variations)
Lettuce plant (2 variations)
Tomato track (straight and corner)
Lettuce track (straight and corner)
Track cieling attachments
Track floor supports
Railing and glass pane
Stairs
Polished Concrete wall sections
Single modular cieling section (truss, glass, pane dividers, and supports)
Banner
Guy wires
Guy wire anchors
Hydroponic hoses
Light fixtures
NORCO text
Sign mount
Plastic "ribbing" for walls
Background buildings
Plasitic trim pieces (straights and corners)
cool stuffs
I wonder if you could just bake those cylinders into the texture, and have the spaces between the cylinders be transparent (alpha channel). Keep the thicker support beams, then just pace that alpha texture onto curved faces between the support beams. You would lose some of the detail, but it would be much less expensive.
But I also wanted to say to keep up the good work. It's looking great.
by heavy i was meaning they looked too beefy... too strong... glass houses, habitat domes are nice and light in construction giving them that ethereal quality that i think your diamond patttern had
Here's some references for the roof support I used:
These are from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, in the contemporary building.
eden project
moar
que gardens
Maybe using not curves but edged windows. Would be easier to model and look better.
Can't find a good reference at the moment sorry.
As is, I have most of the meshes in, but all of the textures are still just placeholders from CG textures. The post effects are supposed to make the atmosphere look humid and thick.
How much more plant coverage is planned? Looking good so far. Thinking out loud here (which I usually do here), would there be more floor drains in an area like this?
Edit: I may also add a second layer of plants on the top story.
Keep it up though!
In short, Lighting. Everything's to noisy! :P
This is pretty legit. Another thing to consider is putting some more love into the foliage. Theyre totally monochrome atm and it gives a bit of a cartoon look
It seems a rather odd place to get your frag on to be honest.
ParoXum: can't argue with your texture comment, but I'm wondering why the structure looks unbelievable to you? Could you give me a little more info about that?
Thanks guys.