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[UE4] Warcraft Style Environment

EDIT-Most Recent screenshot 7/1/14
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Hi Polycount,

I really want to work at Blizzard as an environment artist for WoW team. So I am trying focus heavily on what the environment team does: Foliage, Rocks, Trees, and terrain textures.

I am trying to create something to Blizzard standard, I feel what I have right now really sucks. I've been looking at the Spires of Arak and Draenor screens as reference. Any tips or tricks on how to get better is much appreciated.

Below are the models, the cart is still a work in progress.
LSpm2PJ.jpg

Here is my environment painting.
02ZgsuI.jpg

Gif of my environment painting process.
xkXN8Ma.gif

A test scene of my assets in UE4, preview lighting. This will probably change the most, and I think i'll be redoing the whole landscape.
0uX24ha.jpg

And finally here are the textures. They're all 512x512 except the cart which is a 1024x1024.
BbLjIGq.jpg

For texture creation sometimes I use zbrush to create a base, sometimes I straight paint it in photoshop or 3D coat. I am unhappy with the rock terrain textures so those will be redone.

Feedback is greatly welcomed.

PORTFOLIO

Replies

  • locater16
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    locater16 polycounter lvl 8
    Looks pretty good so far! If... a bit flat? Like, maybe update the style a bit. "World of Warcraft as done in UE4" could be more than just "World of Warcraft". If you could make proper normal and roughness and metalness maps fit within the style it might look brilliant.:poly142:
  • Spoon
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    Spoon polycounter lvl 11
    The first image definitely comes across as being wow, to me.
    However, remember that wow is 10 (?) years old, so you should be aiming to do the next\current blizz level, and not what they had 10 years ago, I would suggest.
  • gekigengar5
    Locater16 - I am trying to achieve this without normals, but I will definitely create roughness maps.

    Spoon - Your question is exactly what I am thinking. What will get me a job, creating work in the style they are currently? Or pushing it further to a more next gen style yet retaining its style.

    Anyway thanks for the comments, and tips on painting will really help. Especially with terrain stone/rock/cliff type textures.
  • Snafubar7
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    Snafubar7 polycounter lvl 8
    Hey, good stuff so far dude. The most important thing is knowing the style above all else. Being current/next gen is just a matter of process. It can be learned or taught easily, just having the eye is most important.

    With your vertex painting here, tighten up the dark texture outlining on the pathway, not so thick.

    The cracked dry-ground texture is nice but it seems to fit more in a different environment.

    The damage/chips on the shingles texture are really uniform, might want to look into variation on that. Seems like each one has a circular chip in it around the same areas.

    Your tree bark texture is really nice, just model the base of the tree to be less cylindrical by indicating some roots. Deform the base a bit, but then that might call for a change to your texture. I'd say ground that tree better with a gradient on the bottom, through either vertex coloring it or making a new texture sheet and getting some unique detail there.

    The general shape of the canopy of your tree is really circular and doesn't have much volume. Don't be afraid to give it a defined overall shape. Get a chunk of leaves in one part, branching out from wherever, and have those secondary smaller leafy bits only slightly straying from that big chunk. Right now it seems way spread out and too even.

    keep going!
  • gekigengar5
    Snafubar - Thanks!

    Things on my to do list is
    -new stone/rock/cliff terrain textures
    -fix tree
    -redo environment, smaller

    I'll post an update when can. Thanks
  • SaboR1996
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    SaboR1996 polycounter lvl 8
    Have you had a look at the Siege of Orgrimmar raid art dump? that has some useful insight to the environment stuff at blizz, also sweet work.
  • Gannon
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    Gannon interpolator
    Cool stuff :D Snafubar pretty much nailed everything except I would add -

    I think you could try to make some hand painted height maps to soften the transition between the tileables.

    I believe there are still parameters in UE4 that will restrict specific textures based on terrain incline/elevation. You may want to set those up to help maintain consistency within the world. Or not, that's not the biggest deal.
  • Hyperloop
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    Hyperloop polycounter lvl 2
    I love the props, particularly the wagon!

    UE4 does indeed have some features that can blend your landscapes based on height and angle so that may be fun to look into.

    I echo what the other here have said: it's a great learning tool to deconstruct an art style like this, but now that you've got it nailed pretty well, take it further and put your own spin on it!
  • locater16
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    locater16 polycounter lvl 8
    I'd say World of Warcraft style with normal maps and physically based rendering works perfectly fine: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135431

    Besides, normal mapping is such an optimized and low level thing nowadays that you wouldn't need to worry about it that much even on mobile games.
  • gekigengar5
    Locater16- damn that looks really good T_T. I think i'll try that for my next project but my current workflow would make it hard to incorporate good normals.

    jLLoPCZ.jpg?1

    Anyway small update, I have an updated tree. I will be creating a vertex shader so I can darker and lighten certain areas of the mesh. I'll have a bigger update for you probably at the end of the week. Thanks for the help.

    PORTFOLIO
  • Snafubar7
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    Snafubar7 polycounter lvl 8
    Nice! cool shape, and not too unique that you couldn't copy-paste everywhere. Good design is key. I know you know a bunch about shaders, so I say do whatever you can to ground the base of that tree to the ground. If it's sitting on grass, make it a darker green gradient coming up from the roots.

    gogogo
  • gekigengar5
    Alright some updates.
    -I created a rock terrain texture to help with some blending.
    -Re-did the environment with in a smaller scale

    I feel the scene is coming together. Things i need
    -sky
    -clouds
    -Props (fences, light posts, graveyard) if anyone has any suggestions to this i would be really grateful.

    Q6SHYn9.jpg

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  • gekigengar5
    Small updated.

    I started work again and a lot of personal things have come up so my progress is getting slower :\

    I created some tombstones to have a little burial site. I would like to think these were people who died on the road and were buried not too far from it.

    T8PNph4.jpg

    AmpYjGV.jpg

    I'm thinking I will create some
    -fences
    -lightposts
    -Wall and Gateway for the end of the road
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    yes ! very nice !

    I'd say grass planes and tree roots needs to blend more smoothly to the ground. I think it lacks some AO too, especially the tree trunks near the leaves (even WOW has a decent amount of SSAO)

    Overall, textures looks really good but the lighting is very weak IMHO, everything look flat and a few props seems to have been treated differently (grave stones for instance, the top/down gradient you painted is way too strong compared to the rest)

    keep it up, nice scene so far !
  • gekigengar5
    Cremuss - damn, I see what you mean about the tombstones. I did do a top/down gradient for all of my props, but as you said the tombstones are a bit too strong. I will try to tone them down.
    As for lighting I haven't touched it yet, there is just a directional light and skylight to help me see the forms of my landscape. I think in the end it'll be more of an evening or sunset, so I can bring out some moody lighting with lanterns and possibly fireflies.
  • jose.fuentes
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    jose.fuentes interpolator
    Nice!

    I really like the textures
  • gekigengar5
    Slowly workin' on more stuff. I've got a brick tile to use for the wall and gateway
    iXtAAx9.jpg
  • gekigengar5
    Quick sketch of the wall/gate I will be adding in.
    C&C welcome.
    RMytXRQ.jpg
  • Kimon
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    Kimon polycounter lvl 6
    Cool sketch! Those spike traps are HUGE but perhaps it's for when giants are attacking or something like that? :) Good job man!
  • Kharon Alpua
    I like what I'm seeing here, it feels well at home with Blizzard's style of art and texturing, and feels to me as if it could be something like a full next-gen overhaul for WOW, or at least would fit in with such an overhaul.

    Your latest brick texture, though, looks like the bricks are wedged off from quite a ways. A well constructed wall should have as little seam as possible between the frontmost edge of one brick and its neighbors. A structure like the one this texture implies would be easier to get a wedge, or some sort of explosive, into if the assailants got close enough to the wall -- it would be easier to destroy than a properly constructed wall.

    The_New_Stormwind_Castle_by_Lichlore.jpg

    Here's an example of a sound wall brick texture directly from WOW -- it's more important that the pieces all fit together tightly than that they be the exact same size, since a big factor in the strength of a wall is in how hard it is to get between the bricks. It's just that, in my mind, your texture would never fly in Azeroth, because Azeroth does have explosives -- and it just takes one sapper getting a few seaforium charges into those wedge-like corners to give your enemies a way through the wall other than your gate.
  • gekigengar5
    ~~EDIT~~
    I just realized I didnt place my wooden stakes/spikes T_T

    Update!
    -Created the wall/gate, fences, and lanterns.
    -Started playing around with lighting.

    What do you guys think of the new lighting? C&C welcome.


    Kharon-Thank you for the reference and explanation, I never really thought of making really tight bricks, I just went ahead and painted them. I will definitely put that thought process to good use on my next brick.

    5CcIpfE.jpg

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  • ScottHoneycutt
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    ScottHoneycutt polycounter lvl 14
    I'm watching this without having much to say other than good work so far. Lighting does help a lot ... I still feel like the scene overall needs something with the color to tie it all in better. Kharon Alpua's pic earlier shows how a unified color works so well. The close up on the lantern looks best. Overall I think too many colors as a whole without a theme. Consider the whole and not only the local color of each piece.


    http://files.shroomery.org/files/11-23/739275624-zangarmarsh_1.jpg
    http://images.mmosite.com/space/upload/070920/biggish/9b73401c9f69.jpg
    http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/97/640x359_16849_WoW_Gilneas_Scene_3d_fantasy_world_of_warcraft_environment_picture_image_digital_art.jpg
    http://www.step2digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/wowExample.jpg


    Regarding some things said earlier, stay with the diffuse only but take it as far as you can. WoW is sort of stripped down so anyone can play it. You aren't making something to work but to look as good as possible. :)
  • Fenyce
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    Fenyce polycounter lvl 11
    The wall feels a little weird. The detail size on the wall is much bigger then on everything else due to that you can tell that it's just scaled really big. (The highlight are so big compared to all the others, especially those along the gate)
  • Grindigo
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    Grindigo polycounter lvl 6
    I'd probably upscale trees a lot to change the vertical composition and add few bushes around, this gate makes everything else look squished and compacted.
  • Alphavader
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    Alphavader polycounter lvl 11
    I really like youre progress on this one.
    Iam just curious why you went for the "last gen look - or the warcraft look 10 years ago" - dont
    get me wrong - but i feels like you could spend alot more polys and
    texture space. I think you would get much more attention, if
    you grap the "warcraft base" idea and combine it with some newer tech
    like this

    a3595db217f605a40f93b7f4bfaeabf8.jpg

    or this



    002.jpg

    by considering the warcraft style.. Maybe just with a normal/spec map you could push it alot more.

    just my two cents. keep up the good work
  • gekigengar5
    Some good points. Rescale things. Definitely need to pull the scene together with color! Thanks.

    AlphaVader-Stylized PBR is a different workflow, I know this is last gen. But I'm trying to showcase a hand painted skill set with this. But my next thing project will incorporate a next-gen workflow.
  • jose.fuentes
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    jose.fuentes interpolator
    @Alphavader

    Did you make that dagger? It looks amazing
  • Andromeda
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    Andromeda polycounter lvl 6
    This is looking really cool!
    I'd definitely consider adding some height to the trees with foliage though, just to keep it balanced
  • Alphavader
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    Alphavader polycounter lvl 11
    Hey,

    no iam not saying do PBR - its just like, a hint
    "do you want to push the 10 years old warcraft style to a bit more to current gen?"
    But its youre project ;)
    @jose - nah, its really cool but its from stevston89 but iam working on one - should be done soon ;)
  • TomaszCzajka
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    TomaszCzajka polycounter lvl 3
    The geometry looks a little bit too rough for next-gen project, but textures and lights are impressive. I'll keep watching thread, good work!
  • gekigengar5
    Long time no update. I feel to be losing steam on this with going on a vacation, starting work, and school. Here is an update. I adjusted the size of the trees and wall/gate. Spikes in front of the wall were added.

    316299.jpg?948

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    5426608.jpg?948

    I made a short video fly though here


    PS

    Just for kicks, these are some of my homeworks I have done recently.

    This assignment was to create a Sci fi hospital hallway, the first image is what i started with but i was told to redo it since it wasn't reading very hospital like.

    4064406_orig.jpg

    2901441_orig.jpg

    This isn't exactly homework but I was tasked to create a crossbow, took about a day to make it.

    2913754_orig.png
  • Flatfoot
    How did you do your normals with the painted texture? I know when I had a painted stone texture using programs to create normals doesn't work well because it reads painted highlights in a funky way. Just curious how you did it on the crossbow, your stuff looks great!
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