[UE4] Fallout 4 & Dear Esther Inspired Environment
polycounter lvl 11
Hey everyone,
I've been working on this the last few weeks after being inspired by some of the concepts in the Fallout 4 Artbook and wanting to learn how to use Quixel Suite 2. I'm not finished yet, and there's things I want to add and change but I'd love to know your thoughts so far.
I can also post some asset shots too if people want them, I'm just being lazy right now, haha.
I've been working on this the last few weeks after being inspired by some of the concepts in the Fallout 4 Artbook and wanting to learn how to use Quixel Suite 2. I'm not finished yet, and there's things I want to add and change but I'd love to know your thoughts so far.
I can also post some asset shots too if people want them, I'm just being lazy right now, haha.
Replies
The main suggestion I have is for the sand texture on the beach - there's nothing to bed in the surrounding seaweed and crates. Perhaps try adding some bits of flotsam and jetsam as either a vertex blend or small meshes around those props. Would be cool to see those boxes shattered/spilling open. The boat right now looks solid from a texture standpoint, but could really benefit from hanging wires, seaweed hanging over the railing and more details. The sea behind it also could use some rocks in it to sell the idea of the shore/ocean gradient in that space. Good work so far
Not that you necessarily have to do this, but as an idea some of your smaller objects in the foreground might benefit from an additional subtle light, such as a lantern laying on the ground or a torch/flashlight, just to draw the viewer in a bit more on those shots and bring attention to how the light interacts with the materials.
Getting water to look right is kind of a pain in the ass, but if you wanted to push it further you might try adding transparency to it based on zdepth, so there's less of a hard edge where the water plane meets the ships/barrels/terrain. Bonus points if you add seafoam lines but that might not be worth it since the water appears to be more of a background element. Just my 2 cents anyways. I'm digging how the lobster cages turned out!
Keep it up, it's looking good so far!
Something I'm not sure is on purpose-- it feels like a miniature, because of some scaling issues. The lighthouse door should be taller than a human, which would make the waste barrels about the size of a human right now. If it's on purpose, that's totally cool, just thought I'd mention it.
And I love the idea of a small lamp or something. I'd toyed with the idea of having a small scavenger hideaway somewhere in the scene but decided it'd make it too cluttered. Though if it were just one or two items, like the lamp and maybe an old sleeping bag, it might add a focal point as you said.
Water could use some zdepth yes, it did have it originally, but I'm not shit hot with node based material editors, so it looked pretty weird. I'll have another bash at it though!
I had originally planned on making a full size lighthouse, but decided that'd require a larger environment as a whole, which I could see myself getting burnt out on. The scale of the door was human error, everything else has been built round a Biped at the standard Unreal height. I could definitely go back and change it though, if you feel it'd benefit the scene as a whole?
Beautiful real life lighthouse, too! I'm from Massachusetts, and will definitely have to stop by Nantucket on my next trip back, to see this, and the island as a whole. Somehow I've never found my way there.