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Celtic/Norse Environment in UDK (remake) WIP

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Hey folks I am trying to remake my old environment with better art assets to bring it up to snuff with all that I have learned. I am doing great on the asset generation this time around (as of now) but am finding I may be biting off too much space. I need help in deciding to either shrink this bad boy down or to add more things ( long tables to fill space, etc...). I have a list of thing yet to be put in such as ( weapons, weapon rack, balcony, banners, finished support beams, antler chandeliers) basically every thing in the old screen shot. so C&C is welcome as well as some direction would be awesome!

enviroshot.jpg


Replies

  • Jessica Dinh
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    Jessica Dinh polycounter lvl 10
    Which is old and which is new?
  • duxun
    what i do is create main objects/pieces and start duplicate them till you can't anymore. then look at reference and create more assets that fit the enviro your making and remember to look at your scene zoomed out to get a grand view and judge it to your reference/ideas/picture in your mind how it should look/feel.
  • Loqq
    Top is new,bottom is old, hmm thought I explained that better
  • Amadreaus
    Composition wise, I think your first attempt is close to being fine. It could use some weather fx... it's a viking theme, so lighting, something to do with the hammer of Thor etc etc could be great. I think all you really need to do is continue updating prop by prop until it's fresh and reskinned, so to speak!
  • Loqq
    I have been working on this and here are some shots of what I am working on!
    First is a shot of the pillar that you can currently see in the screen shot. the second image is of the tables top that is in the shot as well. Next I have an Axe i am working on and lastly I have two different shot f the banner i am working on for this scene. the clan are know as the arctic wolves. C&C most welcome!


    screenshot1ey.jpg

    tabletop2.jpg

    wipaxe.jpg

    bannerwip.jpg

    bannerwip2.jpg
  • marq4porsche
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    marq4porsche polycounter lvl 9
    Dude, the original scene was awesome, you didn't really need to do it over. But as you are, I have to say your props can use a bit more love. The pillars don't seem done yet, you can give the edges of the wood some wear and tear like you've got in the old scene. Your patterns also look too bevel and embossy. They don't really feel carved out of the wood. You can also add some shadow detail into your textures, try an AO map on them.
    I don't really know how those banners are going to integrate into the scene. Try using a darker blue or maybe a red or green. Also don't be afraid to add some cloth detail into them man, go for the detail.
  • Loqq
    Ey man thanks for the comment. I sculpted out most of it in zbrush so it has ao from a bake. I will work on the wear on the pillar. I am tring to get the pattern for the banner now so, any thoughts on that? All of this is very much WIP atm
  • Loqq
    ok so did some work on the banner tonight I think I have it where i like it. Just need to add some wear to it now so it doesn't look so new.


    bannerwip6.jpg


  • Loqq
    changed the fabric up and added some wear to the banner let me know what you guys think.


    bannerwip7.jpg
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    The linework isn't consistent. Some parts are the same thickness everywhere (knot), some vary a lot (mountains, banner) and the lines are inconsistent between the objects (banner has lines about 1/3rd of the mountain). The shapes are inconsistent too, some are sharp, abrupt and modern (wolf and mountain) while others are fluid and flowing(axes and banner)

    You'll also need to put more effort in materials. This wasn't woven as a single object and then dyed into perfect rectangles.
  • Loqq
    Hey man thanks for the reply. I am not sure why the line thickness being all the same would be a good thing though?
  • LMP
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    LMP polycounter lvl 13
    I think he means the material pattern?
  • Loqq
    So my pillar got some lovin'. Let me know what you guys think I will post the original on here as well



    New One:
    screenshot2pf.jpg


    Old One:
    screenshot1uz.jpg
  • polygonpuncher
    which one is the new one and which one is the old one?
  • polygonpuncher
    which one is the new one?


































    i like the changes made to the pillar. Is there any way to make the knot design in the center appear to be sunken into the pillar itself? From the side profile it looks like it is just painted on.
  • Matroskin
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    Matroskin polycounter lvl 11
    it is hard to tell what material the new pillar is done from. There is no enough material definition in its texture.

    The same goes for the big gray donut thing. It looks like a blend between stone and wood.

    Edit:
    forgot to mention archtecture.

    I actually find the original better than the remake mostly due to better architecture proportions and structure.
    The new scene has way too large gaps between pillars and pillars themselves look quite unsolid to support those huge arches. Pillars dont even have a solid base.
    I would really take the original's archietcture and keep it for this scene.
  • Loqq
    I am going to shrink the proportions of the scene. as for the material I am really not sure how you cant tell its wood. I mean is the wood grain shown on the pillar, or the cuts and nicks in it not enough to define it as such? Also I have no idea what "big grey doughnut" you are talking about?
  • Matroskin
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    Matroskin polycounter lvl 11
    the huge circle the donut that I mentioned :)

    As for the pilalr, I can't tell that it is wood (i mean new pillar) becuase it does not seem to have any wood specific patterns. Also the cracks are quite "stonish" as well. It looks to me more like a WoW stone pillar, but ochre (and therefore "wood") tone.
    Beside diffuse adjustent the wood texture bump overlay (thin vertical pattern) would help asd well ;)
  • Robbyh
    im realy fond of Celtic, aztec, mayan, and egyptian lore and 3D work !
    With this in mind id like to say i liked the old version of the pilar ! but thats just my taste since i like a more clean version than the "gooey" style.

    Anyway nice work !
  • Loqq
  • polygonpuncher
    I almost feel like the arches at the balcony area aren’t really there to support the structure. Are they meant to be there just for looks?
  • polygonpuncher
    I almost feel like the arches at the balcony area aren’t really there to support the structure. Are they meant to be there just for looks?
  • r_fletch_r
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    r_fletch_r polycounter lvl 9
    the scale feets pretty unclear at the moment. Looking at the floor i can see stone slabs and straw. but comparing the straw to the tables(or are they benches) the straw stalks must be as thick as branches.

    I would stick a human in the scene. it'll make it easier to judge.

    PolygonPuncher: its an A-Frame. the arch is decorative, although i would agree it looks a little wide.

    Also ideally this needs a viking metal sound track :D
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dmpZDWcNE8[/ame]
  • Loqq
    @ r_fletch_r: Yea I have a scale block in my Maya scene that i use for ref. I can bring it over so a sense of scale can be had.

    @ polygon puncher: The main support structure comes from the A - frame that is holding up the roof. The ones by the gaping hole are decoration.
  • polygonpuncher
    We need a balcony up in here.
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    Because the lines now are inconsistent. I'm not saying all lines have to be the exact thickness, but right now you have lines of a fixed width(outermost pattern, runes) lines with a gentle wobble(large knot, banner) and some parts are vector art (wolf, mountain)

    Stylistically, there's too many differences. It's not a consistent material or prop, it's a bunch of images from google/stock sites smashed together.

    istockphoto_5432722-mountain-logos-vector.jpg
  • Target_Renegade
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    Target_Renegade polycounter lvl 11
    Lots of promise, the scale does seem out, like its nearing hanger size. Pitch the camera up, and increase the size of the tables and show us what you get:)

    By pitch i mean elevate the camera vertically along the y axis, up.
  • polygonpuncher
    Snader wrote: »
    Because the lines now are inconsistent. I'm not saying all lines have to be the exact thickness, but right now you have lines of a fixed width(outermost pattern, runes) lines with a gentle wobble(large knot, banner) and some parts are vector art (wolf, mountain)

    Stylistically, there's too many differences. It's not a consistent material or prop, it's a bunch of images from google/stock sites smashed together.

    IMAGE


    I am a little confused... Are you talking about line thickness as in between the knot, the banner that holds the letters (or letters themselves) and the boarder? If that is the case then why would it matter if they all had constant line thickness when the idea is that the banner would have been woven in by hand. To have perfect everything would make it look like the Vikings had the item done by a machine. They would be inconsistent because that is how it was woven from the get-go.

    Sounds like you are trying to be little Loqq there by posting the image location of the mountain ;). The majority of the time game companies will just take images from stock sites or flicker to populate their world with what they need. As far as I know Blizzard is one of the only companies that would draw their own stock art from end to end. Most any game out there would be as you described it, a "... bunch of images from Google/stock sites smashed together"

    I may agree with the stylistically different choices between the axe, mountain, wolf, and knot though. Would be good to components of the images that were made by the same artist or something.
  • BeatKitano
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    BeatKitano polycounter lvl 16
    Snader wrote: »
    Because the lines now are inconsistent. I'm not saying all lines have to be the exact thickness, but right now you have lines of a fixed width(outermost pattern, runes) lines with a gentle wobble(large knot, banner) and some parts are vector art (wolf, mountain)

    Stylistically, there's too many differences. It's not a consistent material or prop, it's a bunch of images from google/stock sites smashed together.

    istockphoto_5432722-mountain-logos-vector.jpg


    Is that KP's emerald toad ? :poly124:
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    I am a little confused... Are you talking about line thickness as in between the knot, the banner that holds the letters (or letters themselves) and the boarder? If that is the case then why would it matter if they all had constant line thickness when the idea is that the banner would have been woven in by hand. To have perfect everything would make it look like the Vikings had the item done by a machine. They would be inconsistent because that is how it was woven from the get-go.
    Consistent ≠ perfect. And it doesn't need to look perfect, on the contrary - the hard rectangles for the colours currently make the banner look fake. If it's woven in or sowed on, it'll not be 100% straight. But all the stuff will have roughly the same thickness and amount of 'wobble'. In the wolf banner, some stuff doesn't wobble at all - the wolf and mountain have dead straight lines. In the wolf banner, lines have inconsistent changes in line thickness too - the mountain has a lot of change with the lefthand side having about 50% thinner lines than the right side, while the Check the photo of a banner below.

    WCoB_banner_complete.jpg

    Another huge error in the wolf banner is slapping a 'fabric' texture over the whole. Every type of fabric has it's own structure. Cords and threads will also have patterns that follow its shape. And I think it's also an issue that the axes+goop and such are just random shapes on the fabric, with no separating line, because I don't think the vikings/picts/celts knew how to screenprint/stencilprint fabrics.

    fabrictypes.png
    Sounds like you are trying to be little Loqq there by posting the image location of the mountain ;). The majority of the time game companies will just take images from stock sites or flicker to populate their world with what they need. As far as I know Blizzard is one of the only companies that would draw their own stock art from end to end. Most any game out there would be as you described it, a "... bunch of images from Google/stock sites smashed together"
    The difference is that 'most any game out there' looks consistent, and believable, whereas this banner looks like random images together. "The majority of the time game companies will just take images from stock sites" and then edit the shit out of them to get them to look good together.
    I may agree with the stylistically different choices between the axe, mountain, wolf, and knot though. Would be good to components of the images that were made by the same artist or something.
    The sources don't matter. It's what you do with the images that matters.
    BeatKitano wrote: »
    Is that KP's emerald toad ? :poly124:
    Never heard of that before, no - I might have to implement that sometime though. It's actually the first image, the FIRST image that comes up when I google "vector mountain".
  • Loqq
    @ snader: The current image is just that and image, a perfectly laid out, flat, version of the final image. The wobble you are talking about comes from the fold in the fabric itself (normal map) not the flat image. I would not paint the shadows into this because then it would interfere with the lighting. If I were to take the rather large example you gave me and flatten it out all of the lines would in fact be 100% straight. The changes in line thickness you are referring to are line shading. If you look at any comic artist work the line work will have different thickness's based off of how far they are from the camera and the direction of the light.

    The fabric can not be sewn on in 3D thus you have to blend it in with the rest of the objects that are present in the image. If you look you can see the threads through the wolf head or any other darker area on the banner. The threads will also show up better when the normal and spec maps are applied to the actual in game model. The axes were a stylistic choice and the "goop" is ice. Selectively dyeing a section of a piece of fabric was not beyond these people especially for such a small space.

    As to your comment @ polgonpuncher about editing photos. You might be surprised how little they do actually edit them. What you see most of the time is them taking several images at once and then editing them to get the results they want. They are never edited in the degree at which you may think they are.
  • LMP
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    LMP polycounter lvl 13
    I just thought I'd toss these 2 cents out there... the design of the banner doesn't feel like something authentically norse or celtic.

    I think you should re-evaluate your design and research norse and celtic symbology a little more before designing the banner, a banner is a symbol, and it has meaning.

    The meaning of your banner doesn't work for me. Why is there ice on their axes? Why is there a mountain?

    A raven and or thor's hammer, and maybe some celtic knots are what you need to think about for this banner.
  • Loqq
    Hey LMP thanks man yea I am going to go back and look at it. I did do my research and found the wolf was also very much a part of who they were (Nordic people). The wolf hook for instance is a rune dedicated to this animal. The reason I didn't use it however is because it was heavily used by Hitlers Germany. The Runes at the top say "Arctic Wolves".I wanted them to be a close knit/tribe like people, their clan being the Arctic Wolves. The table has wolves on it, the pillars have a knot wolf paw on them and so will everything else be related to the wolf. The use of classic symbols such as Thors hammer are iconic yes, but not what I am looking for. The mountain (which will be removed or re imagined) represented the area in which they lived and the frozen axes (their main weapon) were a representation of their warriors. So in essence the great wolf looks out for the warrior people (his children) of the mountain.
  • Loqq
    Going for a more simple approach this time. Tried two different wolf heads, I like either one and may use both but your thoughts are appreciated :) Just trying to get the design down. I will make the design work look more sewn in after wards

    bannerwip9.jpg

    bannerwip10.jpg
  • LMP
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    LMP polycounter lvl 13
    I'm liking the direction of this design already, it feels a lot more believable already.
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    Second one looks best.
  • Lynx
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    Lynx polycounter lvl 12
    Nice work. I suggest you do not use that 'wolf head' icon, it is very recognisably the Clan Coyote's symbol from Battletech.

    http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Clan_Coyote
  • Loqq
    Oh snap thank lynx I didn't know that. I found it when looking for wolf head art and it was a black and white image of just the head, so thank I will not be using it now, suck cause i liked it too :(
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    And that's another reason why you shouldn't just grab any image you can find on Google and use it without changes. Google is for inspiration only.
  • Loqq
    Hey snader please keep your comments constructive and to the point instead of making snide remarks that help no one. (sorry for my tone you were correct I jut took it wrong)
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 19
    actually, Snader gave you some really helpful information. Feel free to use photo textures from a repository like cgtextures or Mayang - but anything you find in a google image search should only be used for reference or inspiration, chances are it's copyrighted material. And if it is free stock art it will end up making your stuff look cheesy.

    For graphical stuff like the wolf head and other iconography, it really pays off to draw it yourself.
  • Loqq
    I guess it all depends on how you use the images you find on Google. Yea I did get lazy this time, which wont happen again but saying to not use an amazing search engine for images is kinda silly to me. As long as you take the images and then change them (again my bad) I don't see why you should not feel free to use Google as a source for images. It is especially helpful to those of use who do not have the ultra steady hand for knot like these.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 19
    knot patterns are easy, it's just one element that's repeated over and over again, I created a knot brush to do the pattern on this piece from Warhammer Online:

    ordersiegepad.jpg

    if you're having trouble doing smooth lines, do a rough drawing and trace over it with the path tool.

    creating it yourself will help unify everything instead of using a bunch of random clip art samples that make it look like a PTA news letter.
  • Der Hollander
    Lynx wrote: »
    Nice work. I suggest you do not use that 'wolf head' icon, it is very recognisably the Clan Coyote's symbol from Battletech.

    http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Clan_Coyote

    As soon as I saw that banner, I knew that I recognized that image very clearly, and just a couple of seconds I remembered what it was.

    To keep the broken record on loop, as it were, taking the time to draw out a concept or pattern pays off big time in the end. From a texturing standpoint, it's important to do as much research as you can on your subject matter to understand the hows and whys of a specific design/culture. Then, take what you've learned from that and try to recognize patterns and utilize reference images to make your own content that will show off the fact that you can make an original design rather than pulling images from the net and pasting existing iconography for your textures.

    Sometimes, things can crop up in unexpected places that will give you some insight. Check out the "Snakes + Graphs" video specifically.
  • Loqq
    Ok time for progress. The banner logo is now custom made (thank you guys I needed that kick in the pants). Here is the latest shot.


    Still to do:

    Weapons/shields
    mugs/goblets
    weapon racks...maybe
    balcony
    surrounding area
    Celling
    metal plates...again maybe (research!)
    Door at the end of the hall

    beautyshot7.jpg
  • Harry
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    Harry polycounter lvl 13
    the new banner is a step in the right direction, but still doesn't look nordic at all.
    If you google celtic or nordic art you'll notice they almost always depict animal life in profile, similar to other less "culturally developed/exposed" cultures which were their contemporaries. I have no real idea why exactly this is so typical of early cultures, but your current design still is looking way too modern and the only thing selling it as celtic/nordic is the style of linework.
    They also seem to depict animals a lot more abstractly, using traditional line motifs and approximating the animal's character rather than adhering to it's true silhouette.
  • Loqq
    Hey man I will def look into it about making it look more Nordic, do you have any examples of what you are referring too by chance?. Do you have any thoughts on the rest of the environment?
  • Harry
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    Harry polycounter lvl 13
    i find the proportions a little weird, like the tables and chairs are all squished height-wise and the room is absurdly tall. But, it might be a kind of stylised or expressive architecture you wanna go for. The actual assets making up the room look solid to me
  • Loqq
    OK so I pulled the celling waaaay down and I agree it looks way better :)

    beautyshot9.jpg
  • NAIMA
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    NAIMA polycounter lvl 14
    Very nice , I woul dadd more dirth , may be also some straw and stuff around , plus don't forget to blacked areas where the smoke would arrive ....
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