(WIP) "Little Paris" / Bucharest Environment
polycounter lvl 9
Hey guys, this is my first post on the forums, even though I've been lurking for some time now (a long time, actually 
), so I guess I should introduce myself.
My name's Vlad, I'm from Romania and I'm currently trying to get a job in the industry as an environment artist.Not an easy task, apparently . I realized I need to upgrade my portfolio to a professional standard and to do that, I need some honest critique from people, both already in the industry or trying to break in, like I am. And what better place to get your ass handed to you (is that the expression ?) than Polycount? (and I do mean this in the best possible way:)).
So, on with the first project for my portfolio. I've been working on this one for the past few months. It's the first time I've actually put any of my art in a game engine, so I had a lot to learn, but I'm loving it. And before I go any further, I want to clear something up, so there's no confusion: I'm not trying to make an environment of Paris. "Little Paris" was the nickname given to Bucharest in its heyday, during the inter-war period, due both to its strong ties and similarities to Paris. Then communism came and pretty much ruined everything. So the environment I'm making is more of a collection of parts of the old Bucharest, brought into the present day. Meaning that the buildings are not new, but aren't delapidated either, as they are now in real life. They're just... used. As is the rest of the environment.
I've decided to use Cryengine 2 for this project, since I like it's lighting system a lot more than UDK's, even though CryEngine doesn't have lightmapping and so no Global Illumination.
Most of the buildings right now are unique assets. I've only started work on the modular buildings last week. (which I'll be using to fill a lot of the empty spaces, without it looking like I just repeated the same building). The first one is the one comprised of the yellowish modules. I still have to make the door and decorations for it (maybe a balcony as well).
The lighting is close to final, although I'm open to any suggestions, since I haven't given it much thought recently and I think it could use a bit more "punch".
The trees, grass texture and sky are from Crysis. I will be replacing the trees with my own, since I'm starting work on the vegetation next week. I'll also be replacing the grass texture (and adding more terrain textures) with my own as well, but the sky will most likely remain as it is right now.
Okay, enough with the wall of text and on with the images:
Cinema Dacia si actually a communist building, but I really wanted to make, mostly because it's awesome in real life (it's almost completely destroyed : no windows, cracked, roof ready to cave in, etc). And it's for sale. Anyway, I don't know if I should keep it or not. What do you guys think?
That's about it for now, I'll post some asset and wire shots tomorrow.
Comments and crits are really appreciated and thanks for viewing!
), so I guess I should introduce myself.My name's Vlad, I'm from Romania and I'm currently trying to get a job in the industry as an environment artist.Not an easy task, apparently
. I realized I need to upgrade my portfolio to a professional standard and to do that, I need some honest critique from people, both already in the industry or trying to break in, like I am. And what better place to get your ass handed to you (is that the expression ?) than Polycount? (and I do mean this in the best possible way:)).So, on with the first project for my portfolio. I've been working on this one for the past few months. It's the first time I've actually put any of my art in a game engine, so I had a lot to learn, but I'm loving it. And before I go any further, I want to clear something up, so there's no confusion: I'm not trying to make an environment of Paris. "Little Paris" was the nickname given to Bucharest in its heyday, during the inter-war period, due both to its strong ties and similarities to Paris. Then communism came and pretty much ruined everything. So the environment I'm making is more of a collection of parts of the old Bucharest, brought into the present day. Meaning that the buildings are not new, but aren't delapidated either, as they are now in real life. They're just... used. As is the rest of the environment.
I've decided to use Cryengine 2 for this project, since I like it's lighting system a lot more than UDK's, even though CryEngine doesn't have lightmapping and so no Global Illumination.
Most of the buildings right now are unique assets. I've only started work on the modular buildings last week. (which I'll be using to fill a lot of the empty spaces, without it looking like I just repeated the same building). The first one is the one comprised of the yellowish modules. I still have to make the door and decorations for it (maybe a balcony as well).
The lighting is close to final, although I'm open to any suggestions, since I haven't given it much thought recently and I think it could use a bit more "punch".
The trees, grass texture and sky are from Crysis. I will be replacing the trees with my own, since I'm starting work on the vegetation next week. I'll also be replacing the grass texture (and adding more terrain textures) with my own as well, but the sky will most likely remain as it is right now.
Okay, enough with the wall of text and on with the images:
Cinema Dacia si actually a communist building, but I really wanted to make, mostly because it's awesome in real life (it's almost completely destroyed : no windows, cracked, roof ready to cave in, etc). And it's for sale
. Anyway, I don't know if I should keep it or not. What do you guys think?That's about it for now, I'll post some asset and wire shots tomorrow.
Comments and crits are really appreciated and thanks for viewing!
Replies
And it looks as though the normal maps on your roof material are inverted.
As a complete package, however, this is coming along REALLY well! I am excited to see this thread develop, and I hope that your first environment comes out well! Welcome to Polycount
Yeah I just noticed that too. But have you ever seen any photographs of a dark rumbling thunderstorm behind a brightly sunlit foreground? He hasn't done that here but he could easily for dramatic effect. At the moment though the sky just looks overly dark.
I agree about the wear and tear being uneven. I'm planning on using some decals, but later on in the project. I want to put all the assets in first. And I'll definately change the concrete slabs, they were pointed out to me by everyone that I showed this to
The lighting really is a bit too yellow, that's why I thought it needed more "punch". Trancerobot, I actually tried that kind of lighting yesterday, because I really like it and I wanted to change it as well. I'll post some images of it tomorrow, but I think I will stick with something else in the future. I'm not that satisified with how it looks right now.
Throttlekitty, you're right about the sky being too dark. I didn't know how to fix that, but I finally managed to figure out why it was so dark yesterday, so I fixed it. (the skybox was transparent, so the dynamic sky was showing through...:poly136:)
Darkmaster, the trees right now are just placeholders, they're from Crysis. I will be making 1-2 trees with grating around them and a small place for them with dirt around the bottom, to put around the city and either one or two bigger trees, for the park.
Snader, I checked the normals of all the roofs, they seem to be OK.
I will start work on the assets this coming week, because the city is getting larger and I really need to fill it:). Maybe do some signs for the buildings too (I'll show you the references).
I've been a little busy this weekend, so I wasn't able to post the wireframe shots. I'll be posting them tomorrow, along with the lighting updates.
Again, thanks for all the comments, keep 'em coming
First, the lighting. I tried what trancerobot suggested and even though I like it, I think it needs some more work. I'll test this lighting set-up more towards the end of the project. So I reverted back to what was there before, but made it less yellow and I also made the sky brighter.
The lighting that I have now:
I seem to be getting some seams on the thunderstorm skybox. Anyone know how to fix that, or why they're there (the images fill the whole canvas, so I don't know why they're there).
And the wireframes for the buildings:
I'll start working on the wear and tear and some assets next.
Thank you all for watching and if you have any other suggestions I'd be glad to hear them.
Considering the light angle and color I keep expecting the sky to be a little more orange like late afternoon.
I've changed the lighting a bit and I think it looks better. I also changed the concrete slabs with some newer ones and I've added a few more props: gates, fences and a new building. And a sort-of new building - it's one that was already there, but modified it a little to have a gate.
Ok, so here are the renders for the gates and fences:
And some new areas that I worked on (thanks to the fences
The new slabs:
The new building:
And the new building which I'll modify to fit in the new space in the park. Right now I've just overlapped copies of it to get an idea of how it will look:
And that's about it for this update. I've also created a few decals to dirty up some places, but I'm not very pleased with them, so I'll redo them.
Again, any suggestions, comments, critique, etc. is very appreciated.
Thanks for watching.
Could we see some flats? Would be great to get a hint how you have used your textures for the modular pieces!
Have you thought about possible props and stuff? It fells a bit empty atm. Maybe add some stores to your houses?
I'll be following this! (:
strlOlsson: I'm glad you like. Yes, I will be adding a few small props, more towards the end. I'm also planning on adding some ivy to some of the buildings, some of the fences, etc. That shold fill it up as well. Oh, and here are the flats for the modular pieces:
Jungsik: I'll take that as a compliment, since it wasn't supposed to be Paris
Thanks again for the comments.