[UE4] The Great Marsh WIP

Shirk · Mar 2018

Today I started work on a marshy swamp area, its inspired by the STALKER series. I think so far Ive got the atmosphere down to what I want for the most part. Im mostly doing this as an exercise to get better with foliage. I plan on adding decrepit wooden structures, platforms, and various other things to break up the scene a bit.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/o9/exdgwaqin48e.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/pz/35bq2bb132sv.png

Shirk · Mar 2018

Currently trying to come up with a good solution for making the shoulder of the road contrast less. I plan on vertex painting the road to break up repetition and such, I think I should make some smaller plants for the shoulder to help blend in with the taller grass.

Shirk · Mar 2018

Making some smaller plants I think really helped, as well as using another landscape layer to blend.

FreneticPonies · Mar 2018

Neat, nice atmosphere and foliage both.

Shirk · Mar 2018

Unfortunately Ive run into a bug with UE4 and landscapes generated from a heightmap not allowing for sculpting above the heightmaps limits.

macoll · Mar 2018

Really cool mood, and great foliage ^^

Shirk · Mar 2018

I ended up having to remake the entire map because of the issue with the landscape, and tons of crashing when painting on the landscape with foliage. Fortunately I was able to set up the landscape material to be somewhat procedural with spawning foliage to save me some time.

CarlCraft · Mar 2018

The pictures you post seem kind of low resolution, it's kind of hard to get a good look right now. Or maybe it's just my computer acting up?

Good start. Maybe incorporate some mountains/vistas? Dunno if you would find those in STALKER land though, but it's a good way to break up the horizon.

Shirk · Mar 2018

CarlCraft said:

The pictures you post seem kind of low resolution, it's kind of hard to get a good look right now. Or maybe it's just my computer acting up?

Good start. Maybe incorporate some mountains/vistas? Dunno if you would find those in STALKER land though, but it's a good way to break up the horizon.

The images are just quick screen grabs from the editor and uploaded to Imgur with a lot of compression, so its not your computer. Once the environment is closer to being finished Ill get some higher quality pictures. More trees and such are planned for the rest of the marsh to break up the horizon a bit, because with the fog and flatness of the marsh you wouldnt see very far.

Shirk · Mar 2018

Shirk · Mar 2018

With some struggling I was finally able to make a procedural blueprint to place stuff like guard rails, signs, and even utility poles with wires on them.

Shirk · Mar 2018

Seems like it was a bad idea to develop with 4.19 still in preview since the editor crashes on save, and crashes on vertex and foliage painting quite often.

Shirk · Mar 2018

Added some more foliage, going to work on some particle effects now.

Shirk · Mar 2018

Working on a train and its track now, I think it will be a welcome addition

CarlCraft · Apr 2018

Hey man, this scene was coming along nicely. Had any more time to work on it? Can we get a close up on the train?

Shirk · May 2018

CarlCraft said:

Hey man, this scene was coming along nicely. Had any more time to work on it? Can we get a close up on the train?

Sorry for the late reply! Ive been really busy with work lately so I havent worked on it since. The train is just a blockout at this stage.

AlirezaMorgan · May 2018

love the atmosphere
did you use a procedural for the sky ?

Ged · May 2018

such a good creepy/mysterious mood

Shyralon · May 2018

The scene is coming along great, especially the mood is very nice.
One thing I am not sure about is the sun shining through the fog, I feel the shots without look a lot better.
Would you mind showing your lighting setup? I am finding it very hard to create good overcast lighting

quakeshock · May 2018

The atmo is cool, but the sun takes away from the overall creepiness imo. I think that adding more variation in terms of the foliage and color gradiation to the ground, as well as making the road not as clean and pristine would also make this a lot cooler/creepier. Very solid start here.

RustySpannerz · May 2018

I actually like the sun, makes a nice change from the creepy environments we're used to seeing. It feels real.

DiegoBAQ · May 2018

absolutely stunning. Loved the atmosphere. I don't have much time to play games lately but the last thing I played very similar to this was the Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and this has a better atmosphere I think. Great job!

huffer · May 2018

Very nice work! Definitely has a STALKER feel.

Shirk · Jun 2018

Its been a while since I worked on this! Been meaning to finish it up but Ive been super busy with work and have next to no time even for other things. Ive revamped the mood and added some new foliage. I also replaced the road with a better material.

Shirk · Jun 2018

Shirk · Jun 2018

Heres a short video. https://www.dropbox.com/s/oje3tyy50wbjnos/2018-06-01_04-13-07.mp4?dl=0

Shirk · Jun 2018

I added some temporary rain, not sure If I like it though.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/j97iu6pwwakazv6/2018-06-02_10-47-13.mp4?dl=0

Shirk · Jun 2018

frmdbl · Jun 2018

The mood is very cool. I'd make that road a bit winding and generally imperfect.

FreneticPonies · Jun 2018

Awesome in general!

Shirk · Jun 2018

Started working on some misc junk props.

Shirk · Jun 2018

Bit of the junk, and a car. Ive never modeled a car and this actually turned out pretty well (its not textured yet).

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/15/tpfupb8gb5d1.png

Shirk · Jun 2018

This car isn't anything amazing. But Im happy that I attempted it and was actually able to finish the car in a few

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/ik/ttoyfze2isb1.png

Shirk · Jun 2018

Since the car turned out as well as it did, I thought Id give another vehicle a shot.

Image: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/294677139867828225/453834223409823745/car.png

Shirk · Jun 2018

Added the trucks to the scene

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/py/qckcc0gzqnfu.png

Bletzkarn · Jun 2018

I think you've nailed the fog. I would love to see some more lights in the scene to make use of volumetric fog lighting. Car headlights, lamp posts etc. I think it would also break up the colours with some nice contrast.

clark · Jun 2018

Wow! Looks awesome. I think the road looks great with the new material and a couple overlapping plants on the edges. I don't think it needs to be all chewed up and damaged (like a Fallout 4 road) unless that is what you want. It looks pretty natural like it is. The atmosphere and the junk tell a lot by themselves

Shirk · Jun 2018

I ended up changing around the lighting a bit more again, but Im not sure if I like it so much.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/kn/4npmvg1pbm07.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/qj/r3ddpl221wns.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/of/fw5wcabfyjmn.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/uf/qk0uygkibbzz.png

Shirk · Aug 2018

I decided that I didnt really like the rain. Thankfully, this scene is almost done, just need a few more things and then its ready! Unfortunately havent had the time to work on it lately and wont be able to get it exactly where I wanted to due to it dragging on for several months longer than planned.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/e7/d3atc1h5dhy2.png

Shirk · Aug 2018

8th_Scepter · Aug 2018

You've done a really good job on this, keep it up.

Shirk · Aug 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzc8yg8JebM

levsingh · Aug 2018

Hey, excuse me for the noob questions, how did you add water to the roads afterwards?

Shirk · Aug 2018

levsingh said:

Hey, excuse me for the noob questions, how did you add water to the roads afterwards?

I used vertex painting on the road for the water.

lloydj14 · Aug 2018

You've nailed an atmosphere in this scene. Feels well put together and the beautiful fog just brings it all together. Really liking the detail in road material but there is just 1 thing bugging me and that's the road paint markings. They need some damage so they fit in with the scene as they stick out atm at least to me.

[UE4] The Great Marsh WIP

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