Greetings, all!
This thread will document my work for the Blizzard Art Contest. I'll start with my reference materials and direction.
Also, here is the objective for the environment section of the contest:
"Using your creativity and ability to work within the World of Warcraft art style, create a small environment diorama that would fit well in the game world. Your quest: Concept, model, and texture an environment piece that you could imagine stumbling upon during your travels across Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, Outland, Northrend, or Pandaria.
Required elements are trees, rocks, grass, and props, plus a small structure (such as a shrine).
Your final piece should have a structure similar to the example provided below. We're looking for lower poly-count models (e.g.: around 1,500 polys for a mature sized tree), so keep that in mind when creating your environment."
Out of all the races in WoW, Trolls are my favorite. I want to create something that will contain the personality and character of that race. I think one aspect of the trolls that wasn't thoroughly explored in the Wrath of the Lich King was Drakkari trolls in Zul'Drak. Therefore, I'll be basing my environment on that area.
Since it's been about 3 years since I played WoW. I resubscribed (for noble research purposes, I promise) and went straight to the area I wanted to reacquaint myself with.
Replies
I'm entering the contest as well and doing a goblin structure.
Good luck and have fun
For my trees, I'm using painted planes with alpha masks to simulate the branches.
Here is the result in max.
I also tried my hand at painting a tileable stone texture with trim. Watching Glode's videos on the subject helped a great deal; Here's the link.
I've also sculpted a stone brazier to hold fire. I'll be placing these intermittently around the temple.
I've also sculpted a mammoth statue for the top section of the temple. I've already built the lowpoly unwrapped it, and it's ready for painting.
Here's a crude photo bash of the temple with textures in a few places and trees. I wanted to block out my camera shot.
I realize I have a great deal to still accomplish at this point.