[CE3] Lil' Whiskey Saloon
polycounter lvl 6
Hi guys,
I've been working on this environment on-and-off for a good while now, so thought it was high time I shared it with you all to see what you think.
So yeah, its a saloon... but I wanted to avoid the classic wild west, hollywood style saloons and go for something a bit more authentic.
Here are a few shots of where I'm currently at, along with individual shots of some of the assets from the scene.
I realize I'm quite far along, but I still feel like the scene is lacking when it comes to the smaller details, and could do with just a general polish pass to make the scene look a bit more 'lived in' and take it to the next level, so if anyone has any suggestions or just feedback in general then it would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers!
I've been working on this environment on-and-off for a good while now, so thought it was high time I shared it with you all to see what you think.
So yeah, its a saloon... but I wanted to avoid the classic wild west, hollywood style saloons and go for something a bit more authentic.
Here are a few shots of where I'm currently at, along with individual shots of some of the assets from the scene.
I realize I'm quite far along, but I still feel like the scene is lacking when it comes to the smaller details, and could do with just a general polish pass to make the scene look a bit more 'lived in' and take it to the next level, so if anyone has any suggestions or just feedback in general then it would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers!
Replies
Fixed now!
As far as crits go, I think the lights are too bright with too much lens flare. Perhaps having some variation in the intensity of the lights would be good too.
For some small details, how about bar stools around the bar, more bottles(and pitchers?), candles on the tables, and a coat rack? Some more dust particles would help too, but that may be pushing it too far into something like The Order and I'm not sure if you wanted to do that.
I assume the engine is CE3 ?
In terms of missing details my initial impressions were the lack of bar stools beside the bar, even a couple would help.
Around the right of the door against the wall a bookcase could work or storage boxes and or a coat hanger.
Compositionaly the table on the right hand side would benefit from bottles or small props on it to lead the eye back into the scene.
The light getting cropped on the right leads my eye off the image consider moving this left a bit ( before the bottles )
i think the biggest problem is the overall composition, the scene is lacking a focal point.
the lights are placed in a way that would be realistic, but doesn´t help your composition, you should use the lights to highlight certain parts.
for example the center of your scene, that should be your focus by default is pretty dark, while there are strong accents at the right and left border of the picture.
i would turn down the green light rays to a subtle minimum. maby place the lights differently or turn the intensity of those to the corner of the scene a bit down.
the card table and the wall with the pictures would make a good focal point, because of the higher concentration of detail, but currently there are too many dark spots in between there.
i made a quick overpaint to demonstrate what im talking about
and maby tone down the lense flares a bit, or put some more effort into their shape, right now they look very bright and rather dull.
The lighting could be better though. Lamps themselves are OK, but I imagine the light being more directed from the top. The first thing is that then your beautiful detail would be stronger. The seconds is that now it looks more like ambient, less than artificial indoor light.
But the mix of cyan outside light and sepia/brown interior light seems very good to me!
The fallen lantern would be a problem - the oil would quickly run out, and the open flame would have ignited it. In only a few minutes, there wouldn't be much left of the bar. The lamps on the bar are also just asking for trouble - drunks + open flame + tinder-dry wood are just a bad combination.
The most common pictures on the walls would be of unclad ladies of questionable virtue.
The horizontal beams of light from the lamps are distracting. Please say no to lens flares! The only time you see a lens flare is through the lens of a camera. Privateer was a great game back in the day, but they have much to answer for popularizing that artifact in video games... sigh....
There really should be some gas lamps on the wall. Pre-electrical lighting was very inefficient and places tended to have many lights.
The amount of light really doesn't match with the lack of people; I'd expect a crowded bar with this much light, or one shut up with only light from the windows & doors.
I'd have to disagree with DWalker and say maybe the bar stools and other such things would be a good idea. The scene looks a little empty.
Keep it up
General feedback would be to copy and paste some of those props you already made around a little more. Think about telling a story on every table. More chairs, bottles, tables etc... Make it feel more dense could help it feel more used and how you would expect.
I don't currently get a sense of what happened or why its empty. I need to be told more of a story for it to really blow me away.
As most of you have mentioned I think the main aim should be on establishing a focal point in the scene as this is something its definitely lacking at the moment. Also, great suggestions all round for improving the dressing and busying up the environment. However, with that in mind @nathdevlin I agree with DWalker in that bar stools were generally not in use during this time period. I do think the bar looks a little empty however so Ill see if I can come up with a more creative solution to dealing with this.
@Goeddy - thanks for the paintover mate, I agree that toning down the light at the edges of the scene will help draw peoples eyes to where I want.
@romy @IchII3d Im hoping that once I manage to dress the scene a bit more comprehensively there'll be more opportunities to take shots from other angles and hopefully give each asset a bit more exposure. I agree that I could push the storytelling in the scene a little further as at the moment its all a bit unclear.
Also.. haha yeah I suppose the lens flares are a little bright at the moment, Ill look at either turning them down or doing something a bit more interesting (and less offensive) than the standard cryengine ones
Thanks again guys, all very helpful stuff.
I think one of the main things that makes or breaks an asset like this is whether you have a decent highpoly and a clean bake.
As for workflow, I created the highpoly in max - just poly modeling really and a lot of splines for the smaller fancy details. I then use xnormal to bake out my normal, height, ao and a cavity map to use as a base for my textures. Again I probably wouldn't usually have bothered with a height map/parralax occlusion for an asset this small but in this instance I though it would be worthwhile, even if it is quite subtle.
Hope that helps?
Things Ive updated:
Im going to be away from my PC over Christmas so its unlikely I'll be able to update this over the next couple of weeks. If Im lucky I might have chance to knock together a prop or two on my laptop...
Peace! (and Merry Christmas
http://www.crydev.net/newspage.php?news=119164
And Merry Christmas to you too.
Thought Id post the progress I've made on this scene over the past few weeks.
There's a few new assets in there including the coat stand in the foreground (also hidden behind the bar!), the beer crates scattered around and some book variants. Also been tweaking the lighting as I go along. I'm relatively happy with how its looking at the moment.
As a few people suggested I've taken a few other shots of the scene from different angles to try and showcase some of the different assets.
I think I've spent enough time on this now and I've been chomping at the bit to move onto something new so I'm calling it finished. Thanks again for all your comments and great feedback!
very well done!
Only small thing, in the last shot, the furnace/heating thing, the color of the glow + the lens flare is a bit odd.
-LA
love the stove and the register, perfect piece all round