[UDK] The Tropical Island
Latest update sample:
Hello Polycount!
I'm finally getting around to posting my latest environment. Should have done it a while ago, but I've been caught up making miniature tweaks to it for too long. Now I long for some good feedback to take my scene to the next level!
So to sum it up; this is a tropical environment with a volcano island. Originaly I had all sorts of crazy plans for an erupting volcano and what not, but as I got working on this I realised I liked this more "plain look" better, although be it a bit clich
Hello Polycount!
I'm finally getting around to posting my latest environment. Should have done it a while ago, but I've been caught up making miniature tweaks to it for too long. Now I long for some good feedback to take my scene to the next level!
So to sum it up; this is a tropical environment with a volcano island. Originaly I had all sorts of crazy plans for an erupting volcano and what not, but as I got working on this I realised I liked this more "plain look" better, although be it a bit clich
Replies
I think your scene is looking really nice, and it is certainly a starting point for a nice portfolio piece. Some things to consider:
This island tells no story aside from a geological story I suppose.
The large boulders on the beach do not make too much sense, that's not really where they would be placed- rocks don't really float like that and it's not clear where they came from.
The water level might be too high. Beaches tend to be more gradual, this goes from forest - > ocean with a very slight beach transition which seems unnatural. Sand gets everywhere in real life. It should be up quiet a bit higher in this scene.
There is no key focus. Yes, you have a couple of nice establishing shots - but where's the meat of your scene? Is this a place where someone has survived alone ala Cast Away? Is there some sort of tribe of people on this island? In short, there's no reason to investigate it - I have no curiosity toward what the island represents or why it is here aside from "It's an island". HOnestly - I would put some smoke or something coming out of the volcano, because it just reads "I'm a hill!" without it.
But head up! I think it's strong as it is, but it has a lot more potential as a setting for something else.
I love ship wrecks!
Keep the thread updated please. I'd love to see your progress!
I would also, personally, like a different light setting, because I find the midday scenario rather boring, compared to what I think a dusk or dawn setting could look like.
Other than that it's shaping up to a nice portfolio piece. Goody work!
I actually started making a modern shipwreck for this scene a while back, but got a bit inpatient I guess and decided to post it before the ship was ready to be added. I will make sure to get it into the scene quite soon. While on the subject of ships I'd be thankful for any hints/tips/advices on how to set to textures for such big things.
Some subtle smoke will be added to the volcano in the future for sure.
Does anyone know if there is any way to keep multiple light and fog set-ups in one map and easily toggle between them?
Today's update is just small lighting test I did today for variation. Still not sure exactly what light to go for in final version.
Feedback is very welcome!
As for toggling between different light/fog set-ups, all I can think of would be to group your light/s and fog into their respective groups and in their properties just toggle the enabled check box.
That said, what you have so far looks fantastic! The foliage, ground textures, terrain, and lighting are all coming along nicely
The scene just needs something to set it apart from other Crysis-style scenes.
I have found a great tutorial for changing weather in UDK that is triggered by an object pickup. Which you should be able to utilise for yourself, as it details swapping between HeightFog actors using Kismet and Matinee.
As you are only using real-time lighting in your scene, replace your DominantDirectionalLight with some DirectionalLightToggleable actors - one for each lighting set-up that you want.
Then you can turn them on and off using Kismet.
I hope it helps!
Small update:
* Added the boat.
* Repainted the rocks so that they form more of a rocky beach, hopefully making more sense.
* Tweaked lightning and post process among other things.
Next things to make is improve the sky , and then some small tweaks. And hopefully I will have time/energy for the a second lighting mood.
Now it's time for pretty pictures. All feedback is highly appreciated.
*Tweaked sky.
* Added floating debris and lifeboat and birds.
* Added new day light setting for variation.
overall, i doesnt feel quite right for now
I hope it helps. Looking forward for more updates on this project.
When you want to have a think looking palm-tree forest kind of thing going on you need some bigger medium-sized bushed to be placed near the trunk of all the trees.
Pay attention to the lava rocks as well, the slope of the beach up to the grassline. The intention is that the ocean has been creeping up on the sand up to the grassline creating a bowl-shaped slope going into the ocean.
The rocks also look very randomly placed. Maybe try to work in some bigger rock-formations in there and have it going from "bigger rock -> smaller rocks".
Trust me , this stuff helps ^^