for the longest time it was clusters. fucking clusters. but now I know they're function, and it's useful. now it's the constant need to freeze to keep the performance smooth. maybe my computer still sucks. can't think of much else.
very functional, but the bend at the top has a very pleasing aspect to it if you ask me. if the vines climb all up and around it, i'm sure it'll look quite nice in a few years time. nice work
While I'll agree that aesthetically it needs a little work, the basic layout and functional design is a definite improvement. Just getting rid of a lot of the old clutter and putting the key site features front and center is good good.
Houdini was a niche high end (back when there was such a thing) 3d app that used to sell for tens of thousands of dollars. It looks like Houdini Master is now about 8 grand. No idea what kind of functionality it offers.
You'll be able to add positional colouring to the tile sampler if you bust it open and dig around in the fx map. I forget how it's laid out internally now but it'll likely be in the topmost function of the last quadrant node in the fx-map
search function is your friend http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84643&highlight=tileable+zbrush http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83452&highlight=tileable+zbrush http://wiki.polycount.com/EnvironmentSculpting?highlight=%28%5CbCategoryEnvironmentModeling%5Cb%29
When you use a normal map in code those 'few lines' reference multiple functions that can add up to total hundreds of lines in length. Those 'few lines' you're referring to arent really a few lines, believe me...
Many object properties are mapped properties, so they can be run on a selection or array. However most modifiers are not mapped, so you need to loop through them. Look up "Mapped Functions" in the Maxscript Help document for a more thorough explanation.
Cool project :) Noticed your ground-materials blend a bit soft/blurry: Do you use height-maps for the blending? (see topic Height-Lerp: https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-us/Engine/Rendering/Materials/Functions/Reference/Texturing )
I know its a fantasy creature but at the moment the wing size seems odd, they are sort of inbetween vestigial and functional and are throwing me off completly, the rest of the body looks good though, interesting to see where you go from here