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Environments of "The Unknown" - a TPP action/adventure Crysis modification

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teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
Hello everyone.

As I have mentioned in my previous thread (Sky city) I am currently working on a TPP action/adventure mod called "The Unknown" and I would love to hear your comments regarding the environmental part of the mod. But first I will tell you more about the project.

The main idea behind "The Unknown" is to use gameplay and environmental design as a storytelling device; idea that has been fascinating me for a few years.

The mod takes place in the year 1930 and tells the story of a fictional, British archaeologist-adventurer David Harrison. The man who is sent to the Eastern India, in order to investigate mysteries surrounding an expedition led by his friend, Klaus Strauss. However, what he will see there will forever change the way he perceives the world and himself.

While the story is still being worked on, my main inspiration are writers such as; H.P. Lovecraft and E.A. Poe, Noir-films, art of surrealist painters (mainly Zbigniew Beksinski) and "Blame!" manga by Tustomu Nihei.


I have recently changed my approach to the modelling; I decided to rely only on the modular assets to create my environments and remade most of my models since their quality was not high enough. The screenshots below show some recent progress. The scenes were created using a mix of my own assets and the ones supplied with vanilla-Crysis. With time I will be replacing most of Crytek's assets with my own.


You can find more screenshots in my thread on Crymod – http://crymod.com/thread.php?threadid=48271&page=11 . However, some of the early shots are no longer valid, as I have decided to remake certain things from the scratch, in order to keep a higher quality bar.

00000k.jpg 00085.jpg 00092.jpg 00093.jpg00096.jpg

I am looking forward to your critique regarding the idea, level design and my custom props :)

I hope I did not break any rules since I have not seen any threads focused on the level design here before.

Replies

  • brandoom
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    brandoom polycounter lvl 15
    Wow.

    Looks great! Seriously nice work.

    Maybe you could post some wires of your props?
  • Firebert
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    Firebert polycounter lvl 15
    holy smokes! this is excellent! serious banner material right here! i would love to see how each of these tie together to create the overall level
  • torontoanimator
    wait THIS is a model? thats freaking scary o_O it looks like a real place!
  • AnimeAngel
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    WOW! very nice, what a great place to run around in. It seems like an nice place to take the fam and go for a vacation lol
  • ScoobyDoofus
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    ScoobyDoofus polycounter lvl 19
    Hehe. Gotta love the Cryengine!

    This is looking really pretty nice. If I had a criticism to offer its that your color seems a little too muted.
  • fearian
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    fearian greentooth
    seriously nice looking. I think maybe a little more splashes of colour would look good but I think thats just me.
  • r4ptur3
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    r4ptur3 polycounter lvl 10
    absolutely amazing...
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    I am starting to think I'll never see something 'meh' inside of CryEngine.
  • Belias
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    Belias polycounter lvl 14
    *well made* , god bless your job .
  • P442
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    P442 polycounter lvl 8
    pshh, you just went out to new zealand or somewhere and took some pictures. nice try buddy....nice try.
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Hey guys, thanks for the feedback and your comments :)

    brandoom: Cheers :) I will try to post some wires tomorrow, although most of my assets are not that impressive from the technical point of view - some of them don't have individual textures yet and I am currently using some tileables as placeholders. They are also pretty simple since I have decided to make them as much modular, as possible - I prefer to work in the editor after all ;)

    Firebert: Thanks :) Although I am using too many vanilla-Crysis objects (rocks and vegetation for instance) at the moment to be fully satisfied with my work. I will try to make some modular rocks and cliffs soon, as the ones used in Crysis are pretty low-poly and hard to walk on.

    torontoanimator: Haha, that's CryEngine for you. On the other hand, making something with a more "artistic" style, rather than focused on photorealism, can be incredibly hard.

    AnimeAngel: Thanks :) I will try to make it less pleasant in the future ;)

    ScoobyDoofus, fearian: Cheers guys :) Regarding the colour - I have been aiming for that vintage-photo-look, but I think it will be better to make the colour palette a little bit more varied.

    r4ptur3: Thanks r4ptur3 :)

    adam: Thanks :) Although it has to be said that, while it incredibly easy to make a nice looking scene in a CryEngine2, it's also quite hard to keep the same quality at all times. Sometimes it just looks downright terrible IMO, as I am not very fond of the way normal maps are rendered in CE2. There's also the problem of them being not rendered at all. http://www.crytek.com/fileadmin/user_upl..._CryEngine3.ppt - page 14 shows what I am talking about. It is going to be fixed in CE3, but for now sculpting/high-poly efforts are not that noticeable.

    To be honest, sometimes I regret that I work in CE2 rather than in, lets say UE3. It's so easy to hide any shoddy modelling or texturing in it, that I am afraid I can get plenty of bad habits which might hinder me from getting a job in the future.


    Belias: Thanks Belias :) Glad to hear you like it.

    P442: Crap, you just saw right through me...seems like it's the right time to evacuate :P
  • tbaugher
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    wow thats amazing, great job
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    Cigerettes, good reply. I'm glad my point wasn't missed. And while its no knock against your environment here, I'd imagine that it'd take a lot to make something look like shit within the lighting & atmosphere tools that CE2 offers.
  • Minos
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    Minos polycounter lvl 16
    Looks excellent :D
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    tbaugher: Cheers :) I am happy to hear you liked it :)

    adam: Don't worry about that, I have taken it as a compliment ;) But yes, it takes a lot of effort to make something bad in CE2 :p I have to admit, it's incredibly easy to work with (that's pretty much the thing that kept me motivated to learn modelling and mapping during the last few months :p) and having not to worry about the technical stuff leaves you more time, to focus on the artistic part instead. The only thing I would like to see in CE2 is a visual shader editor similar to the one in UE3, as without it, it's quite hard to deviate from Crysis's default look.


    Minotaur0: Thanks Minotaur0 :)


    Anyway, I will try to post some wires tomorrow. I will be looking forward to your comments since modelling is the area I would like to improve the most.

    edit: Damn, does anyone know how to change the thread title? I have made a spelling mistake (oh silly me:poly142:) but editing my first post does nothing.
  • Martin Henriksson
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    Martin Henriksson polycounter lvl 9
    adam: Thanks :) Although it has to be said that, while it incredibly easy to make a nice looking scene in a CryEngine2, it's also quite hard to keep the same quality at all times. Sometimes it just looks downright terrible IMO, as I am not very fond of the way normal maps are rendered in CE2. There's also the problem of them being not rendered at all. http://www.crytek.com/fileadmin/user_upl..._CryEngine3.ppt - page 14 shows what I am talking about. It is going to be fixed in CE3, but for now sculpting/high-poly efforts are not that noticeable.

    That link is broken, could you relink it? It says /user_upl..._CryEngine3.ppt atm. Asking because im having some problems with getting my normal maps to look decent in cryengine atm :p
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    That link is broken, could you relink it? It says /user_upl..._CryEngine3.ppt atm. Asking because im having some problems with getting my normal maps to look decent in cryengine atm :p

    Ah, sorry about that - here's the full link http://www.crytek.com/fileadmin/user_upload/inside/presentations/2009/A_bit_more_deferred_-_CryEngine3.ppt

    Anyway, the presentation above is just a list of features coming in the CE3 - page 14 shows the , SSAO related, problem with normal maps. As far as I know there, is no real solution for that at the moment.
  • Joseph Silverman
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    Joseph Silverman polycounter lvl 17
    Blame! meets edger allen poe? Seriously? There is no way this couldnt out awesome. Environments are cool, tons of detail but still pretty easy to make sense of.
  • motives
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    motives polycounter lvl 18
    hey are those baked lightmaps or does CE2 have SSAO in already?
  • Ark
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    Ark polycounter lvl 11
    No lightmaps in CE2 all dynamic lighting with SSAO.
  • snake85027
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    snake85027 polycounter lvl 18
    awesome job, i thought those pics were your reference photos, I had to scroll back up.
  • ES_139
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    this stuff looks great you should be really pleased with it!
  • Peris
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    Peris polycounter lvl 17
    Damn awesome! I love how good it looks with what looks like pretty simple assets with tiling textures =).
    kickass!
  • kite
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    kite polycounter lvl 17
    gorgeous work! reminds me of the over the top organic chaos of the jungles in king kong. The setting sounds really fun, look forward to seeing the bekinski influence
  • 3DLee
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    Inspiring work, great job! I agree that this does have a bit of a "King Kong" feel to it.
  • renderhjs
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    renderhjs sublime tool
    hard to believe that the engine is already that long on the market. It still beats most of the engines that come out these days (visually speaking).
    Your shots demonstrate this very well that again cryengine can do some very impressive stuff.
  • Snefer
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    Snefer polycounter lvl 16
    Simply awesome. I think you should kick up the colors a notch, otherwise..this is top class is style. Lovely mood :)
  • Red_Algol
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    owwwwwww whys it have to be soo fracking perty
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Hey everyone :)
    I'm delighted to see so many positive comments coming from such talented people.

    SupRore: Cheers :) I've always been a big fan of Poe and I fell in love with Blame! as soon as I saw Nihei's fantastic art. This episode is basically a two-level project - each of them will be kept in a completely different style. The first one (the one I have shown screenshots from) is based on some of classical action-adventure games such as Tomb Raider. The second one, on the other hand is going to be more surreal and inspired by Nihei's art. I have posted some early concepts in my thread on Crymod, in case you are interested. However, I have decided to scrap them and start from the scratch, since I wish to use this project as a base for my portfolio and I want to keep the consistent quality.

    snake85027: Haha, thanks :) However, if you want to see some really photo-realistic stuff then check-out the Reallifesis mod on Crymod.

    ES_139: Cheers :) But I am far from being completely pleased - probably because I know where all ugly things are hidden ;)

    Peris: Cheers Peris :) Indeed, the assets are currently pretty simple and just as you said most of them use tileable textures. I figured, it would be best to block out the level first and then detail those assets accordingly to the way they are used.

    kite: Thanks :) I have not watched King Kong unfortunately, but I did my best to come close to some of my references of Indian jungle. I will try to do some new vegetation models later, to make it even closer.

    3DLee: Cheers 3dLee. I'm happy to hear you like it :)

    renderhjs: Thanks :) I hope that CE3 will become more popular thanks to it going multi-platform. Its capabilities are so impressive that it would be a shame not to use them.

    Snefer: Cheers :) I will try to do that since many people pointed it out. On the other hand, it should be said that I am not really going for photorealism, so I will probably have to find other ways to achieve a more distinct style.

    Red_Algo: Haha, thanks :)



    Anyway, here are some of the props used in the level. I feel a little bit embarrassed to post them in such unfinished state, but I feel it would be good to receive some criticism. I will try to make some real textures later and do a Zbrush pass on some of them.


    00004d.jpg



    Also, I have started to work on some rock sculpts today – I figured out I am going to need some new rock models since the ones from Crysis are rather low-poly and terribly hard to walk on. Since the mod will feature some typical platforming gameplay-elements I will need a couple of new ones.








    I still can't figure out how to make those sharp, chipped-off edges. I tried messing around with some different brushes and alphas but I couldn't achieve desired effects. I am still quite new when it comes to Zbrush, so any tips will be greatly appricieated :).




    I am looking forward to your feedback and critique.
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Hey guys.

    I have finally managed to settle down a little bit after moving to Newcastle and starting my Uni course. Over the past two weeks I have been trying to learn zbrush. I have decided to redo the rocks from the scratch and started working on some of my modular models. I am looking forward to your critique.Any tips will be appreciated :)


    pillars.jpg
    rock1.jpg
    rock2.jpg
    stonewall.jpg
  • Zpanzer
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    Zpanzer polycounter lvl 8
    That looks awesome! Awesome props too and I love that you're working in modular design!
  • renderhjs
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    renderhjs sublime tool
    this could be interesting for you:

    Stone Tutorial - Video Tutorial
    http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=66251
  • mLink
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    mLink polycounter lvl 10
    wow.
    Awesome work!
    I thought those first pictures were just your reference
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Zpanzer: Thanks mate :) Glad to hear you like it.

    renderhjs: Thanks for the link, however I have already seen it. I am grateful to Bitmap for his fantastic tutorial, as his techniques proved to be very useful.
    Do you have any crits, though? I spent so much time in Zbrush lately that I need a fresh opinion. Cheers :)

    mLink: Thanks mLink :)
  • Kevin Johnstone
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    Kevin Johnstone polycounter lvl 19
    You can get sharper edges to those rocks by using the pinch tool on the edges you want the sharpness, you might also find its worth spending more time with the clay brush and alpha 28 ( the square) , set the focal shift down in the -50 range and it will be sharper again.

    I tend to use a LOT of clay brush then sometimes mallet fast ( though it rapes the meshflow and requires massaging afterwards), only when it looks mostly done do i get in with the regular standard brush and do more edge work and depth work.

    Great stuff btw, individual assets not holding up on their own doesn't matter so much if the scene comes together with good lighting and this one does.
  • CheeseOnToast
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    CheeseOnToast greentooth
    If you're using Z3.5, try messing with the new surface noise stuff and a bit of masking/layers/morph brushing. You can get some very naturalistic surfaces very quickly with it. You'll need to play around with the noise curve a bit to get chunkier, chipped surfaces, but it doesn't take much tweaking to get something good out of it.
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Kevin Johnstone: Thanks Kevin :) I am really happy to hear you like the environmental shots. Your work has been inspiring me since the time I came across your amazing models.
    Thanks for the great tips, I will try to make use of them :). Especially, I will try to play a little bit with the pinch brush.
    I have been using Clay Tubes previously, to create the major details and the surface, but I found it rather hard to get the surface to look right.
    However, I will spend more time with the clay brush as the rocks could use much more details.

    CheeseOnToast: Thanks CheeseOnToast :). Yes, I am using Z3.5, however I didn't have a chance to these features, apart from the new brushes and the surface noise.
    I will try to use the features you mentioned, however I will have to use them carefully as I wish to preserve to flat tops of these rocks. I want the player to be able to walk and jump onto them with ease.
  • AshleyTayles
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    AshleyTayles polycounter lvl 9
    I love the rocks. They're one of the many things I can't get to look good.
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Cheers Ashley :) Sorry for posting it just now, but I have completely missed your post the last time I checked this thread.


    Today I am posting another two assets I have been working on this week – a generic wall piece (I will have to figure out how to make it tileable later) and a small top piece.


    I've been trying to use the tips you gave me and I hope that effects are better this time. Especially playing around with the pinch tool proved to be very useful.
    I did not have much luck with the Surface Noise on the other hand. Even after adjusting the levels, playing with the size settings and using masking, it still looked too procedural for my taste. I decided to stick with alphas for the time being, although I am trying not to rely on them as much as I did before.

    Furthermore, I will try to post updated versions of my previous sculpts later. I still have to tweak some of them, but I will try to improve them as soon as possible.

    stonewall2.jpg
    walleh.jpg




    As always, I am looking forward to your critique :)
  • Shogun3d
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    Shogun3d polycounter lvl 12
    Some fantastic modular pieces, and I love the fact you are breaking up the walls with pushed out brickets, etc. Very good idea. I also wouldn't be afraid to have a piece or two that are well damaged and have some very unique characteristics like bricks missing, or jagged chippings, etc.
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks Kaburan :)
    I will try to damage a couple of brick here and there. Especially on the other side of the wall, as it appears a little bit flat after a second thought.
  • renderhjs
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    renderhjs sublime tool
    far better and more defined as the ones before you wanted to have crits on. The ones before were more muddy and had no clear shape.
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks render :)


    That's true, I have spent too much time clicking randomly with a Clay brush, without thinking how should I apply the damage. In the end they turned out rather blobby. I will try to work on them as soon as possible, as I am starting to feel a little bit more confident.


    I have tweaked one of the rocks so far. I tried to make the edges sharper and more defined.



    rock1p.jpg



    I hope I will be able to improve these pillars without having to go back to my base model. But I will probably have to make this modular stone wall from the scratch, as it looks more like made out of clay than stone. I will also have to change its topology, because I already had problems the last time I was sculpting it.



    Still, I would dare to say that time was well spent. Even if the effects were not as good as I would like them to be, I have certainly learned something in the process.
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Hey guys. I have decided to make a small update today.

    I've been tweaking and reworking some of the assets I posted previously.

    I remade the modular stone wall, that I posted a couple of weeks ago.
    While it certainly looks better than previously, I'm still feeling that something is not quite right with it. Maybe it's just me - I am spending most of my time working zoomed in, hence I can recognize even most minor faults.
    Nevertheless, I will be looking forward to your comments.

    stonewalla.jpg


    I have another model on the way and I will try to post it somewhere tomorrow - it has been giving me trouble for days.
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
  • dv8ix
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    I dont like the pillows.
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    Is the vegetation in the environment yours?
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    killingpeople: Cheers :) Do you have any crits, though? I believe there is still room for improvement.

    dv8ix: Do you mean pillows as in cushions? ;) Or these supporting blocks? I am not a native English speaker, hence why I am slightly confused.
    If you mean the latter - what can I do to improve them?


    adam: Unfortunately no - I have been using Crysis stock vegetation for now. However, I have been thinking lately about switching to UDK - that would require me to create a new set of vegetation.
    I will create some vegetation regardless, as I have been planning to create overgrown pieces as well.
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks to Sascha Henrichs and his fantastic tutorials, I felt forced to finally try out Mudbox. So far, I have been really impressed with it - especially with how user friendly it is compared to Zbrush.

    I've done some quick work on a generic brick model. It's nothing special since it's pretty simple, but I hope you will like it.


    longbrick.jpg




    As always, any feedback and critique (especially towards my previous sculpts) is welcome :)
  • whats_true
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    whats_true polycounter lvl 15
    As it stands alone, it looks like a turd.

    Less clumpy and more sharpness to it.
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