District 9 - Game Scene

[ae.]

Hey Guys,

Been working on a little project while on Holiday its a game scene for district 9 I have a bunch of things on the go nothing really too polished to show yet, so for now ill be throwing up my Mood/Concept Sheet that i am using to guide me through this project.

http://aelevel.net/conceptsheetd9.jpg

Expect a lot of updates shortly.

[Gallows]

What engine are you using? Also, do you need any help <3

[ae.]

What engine are you using?

I will be using UDK for this scene hopefully it works out for me :)

[JasonLavoie]

ae.... MAANN!!!

If anyone inspires me to get my ass into motion, its defiantly you buddy... can't wait to see what you cook up.

[psychoticprankster]

*Subscribes*

[tinokun]

Looking forward to this one! :)

[brandoom]

Ballllllin, I just happened to watch the movie last night.. friggin sweet. Looking forward to this:)

[BlackulaDZ]

i'll be watching this thread closely! cant wait to see this

[Richard Kain]

I would strongly recommend switching over to the Source engine instead of using UDK. The iconic element of this scene is the city-sized spaceship hovering in the distance. A scene like that would benefit considerably from having a 3D skybox. I'm not certain, but i don't think the Unreal 3 engine does 3D skyboxes. The Source engine has had support for 3D skyboxes since its initial release. Think about how the Citadel looked in Half Life 2. Having the hovering spaceship look like that in this scene would be awesome.

[JasonLavoie]

True... but have you played Bionic Commado (the next gen one)...

There is this amazinnngg level where there is a robot in the distance just fucking shit up, and its all 3d (obviously fairly low poly) but man... I'm sure if AE pulled something like that off with the spaceship it would look great...

And not to mention, would give him some practice with background modelling (thinking of texture sizes, polycounts, ways to push the silhouette etc.)

Either way I know this will be crazy uber, AE's got the gift :)

[Scott_W]

I would strongly recommend switching over to the Source engine instead of using UDK. The iconic element of this scene is the city-sized spaceship hovering in the distance. A scene like that would benefit considerably from having a 3D skybox. I'm not certain, but i don't think the Unreal 3 engine does 3D skyboxes.

While Unreal doesn't support the behavior of the 3D skyboxes in Source, it's not a big deal to build everything at scale within the map file. Throw in some nicely done height fog layers for atmospheric haze, a well painted skybox, the quality of the Lightmass lighting, and you could approximate a location from the movie very easily with enough time :)

I think the main cue the ship has going for it in the movie is the haze effect that happens with distance; where the ship fades from distinguishable metal plates and texture in the forground to almost a solid color at the furthest observable chunks of it. This could be accomplished with a scene post process where you interpolate between the scene texture and and solid color using the depth buffer as a distance mask, or done within the material for the ship itself. Or a combination of the two.

I'm curious to see how this pans out :D

[ae.]

Thanks for the comments guys!

With the background city I will be using two different techniques I was able to pick up from my Unearthly challenge entry, those being the mix between 3d models and a 3d plane that tricks the user into thinking the back round is 3D.

I hope to have some updates soon as I am still trying to get the scene set up properly in UDK.

http://www.aelevel.net/1d9.jpg


Here is a breakdown of what I am doing now:


UDK Scene: [][][][][] (Very-early Stage Block out)

Armored Hilux: [][][][][] (Low-Poly base mesh done)

Armored Truck: [][][][][] (No Progress)

Alien Ship: [][][][][] (No Progress)

[myles]

I would strongly recommend switching over to the Source engine instead of using UDK. The iconic element of this scene is the city-sized spaceship hovering in the distance. A scene like that would benefit considerably from having a 3D skybox. I'm not certain, but i don't think the Unreal 3 engine does 3D skyboxes. The Source engine has had support for 3D skyboxes since its initial release. Think about how the Citadel looked in Half Life 2. Having the hovering spaceship look like that in this scene would be awesome.

Unreal Engine 3 doesnt use skyboxes as Unreal Engine 2 or Source uses, all the skies are within the map itself, so using 3D geometry is a must and will work just as well as Sources 3D Skybox (if not better tbh)
Looks like you've started with a good point of view there Arman, if this is even half a solid as your Unearthly Entry it will be awesome :)

[Xoliul]

Good choice of scene, curious to see what you make of the vehicles.

And nobody should ever consider Source over Unreal. Really.

[ae.]

Good choice of scene, curious to see what you make of the vehicles.

And nobody should ever consider Source over Unreal. Really.

The vehicles will be the biggest selling points of this scene especially the alien ship so ill be spending a lot of time on them making sure they look good.

[ZacD]

Source is in need of a huge over haul.

[ae.]

Lots! of work to do still on the high-poly been really busy at work been trying to find time to work on this bad boy between work and life :P

updated(jan,18,2010):
http://www.aelevel.net/3d93.jpg

[roosterMAP]

the armor looks funny. why is there an angle on the curve near the door handle? the car itself is great. I would scrap the extra shit tho.

[ae.]

updated above image needs ALOT! of work only been able to work on this a litle over the last couple weeks due to outside issues :P

[mLink]

Ouch.
I'd turn down the chromatic aberration, right now I feel like I should be wearing some 3d glasses just to view your post.
Looks like a good start, there are a few strange shaded areas ( like on the hood near the headlights) cause by uneven geometry.

[griffinax]

Ouch.
I'd turn down the chromatic aberration, right now I feel like I should be wearing some 3d glasses just to view your post.
Looks like a good start, there are a few strange shaded areas ( like on the hood near the headlights) cause by uneven geometry.

+1 on the aberration.

Looks neat so far.

Cheers!

[ae.]

Sorry about that guys :p I'll be sure to take it down a notch in my future posts.
Thanks for the comments I'll be sure to take them into consideration.

Hope to have more frequent updates :)

[hawken]

that certainly does look like it needs special glasses to work!

[ae.]

Once i get home ill be sure to update the image so you don't need 3d glasses to see it.

[Mike Barnucz]

The truck is shaping up, but I think you could push it some more. Here's the Hilux from the Top Gear Arctic special. It might give you some more ideas.

http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/23122008/36/t/toyota-hilux-s-good-enough-top-gear-99.html

[ae.]

@roosterMAP: The reference/Concept im using from the movie has handles that look like that.

@Mike Barnucz: Hey Buddy, thanks for the reference image the vehicle is a lot more curvy than the one in the movie for sure might take a look at the different models.

Slight Update, Hopefully i can get some intimate time with this over the weekend.( I know about the shadow issue):

http://www.aelevel.net/4d93.jpg
http://www.aelevel.net/4d9.jpg

[ZacD]

Can we get a normal looking render? No effects, just some lighting and AO?

[ae.]

Fine! ill do what you want gypsy :P

Updated above image :)

[sampson]

i think it needs more chromatic abberation and purple shadows... i know its the latest rage and it DOES look good but hides any imperfections there may be. maybe develop on teh concept so the armour does not look as bulky.

BEEF DAT UP

[nrek]

Hey ae. the truck is looking pretty cool so far, but I have lots of little crits for it. Most are pretty nit picky but I think some could really help with the beefy armor you have on it. So here we go.

1. The bars over the side windows are not made of tubes, they are flat pieces of metal.

2. The small cross bars covering the windshield sit on top of the thick metal tube with another thin metal tube running vertically that attaches them.

3. This thick pipe should be pushed out more and sit more over the corner of the hood, where the hood meets the fender.

4. 1. The plates are too tall.
2. The gap between the bottom of the plate and the lower armor panel is too small.
3.The gap between the top of the plate and the bottom of the window is too small.

5. This Front box thing is too wide and comes too close to the headlight.

6. Notice the shape of the plates. Its not just one thick rectangle, it has a ledge around it. Also I would make the center portion bevel in more to really make it noticeable.

7. the handle is flipped upside down.

8. This chunky part of the grill guard sits right below the headlight. This gives the truck less of a residential feel and more of a high riding utility vehicle.

Anyway, like I said its all pretty trivial hopefully some of it helps. And I may be the only one but i like the purple render lol.

LINK TO THE PAINTOVER

http://boards.polycount.net/The%20gap%20between%20the%20top%20of%20the%20plate %20and%20the%20bottom%20of%20the%20window%20is%20t oo%20small.http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/1957/aetruck.jpg

[commador]

Got two pics of the tires used in the film. TSL bogger Super swampers


http://www.yotatech.com/attachments/f11/73716d1240351349-new-38-5x15-boggers-super-swamper-weld-forged-wheels-co-boggers-002-640x480-.jpg

http://www.yotatech.com/attachments/f11/73718d1240351407-new-38-5x15-boggers-super-swamper-weld-forged-wheels-co-boggers-001-640x480-.jpg

subscribed. :)

[roosterMAP]

i RLY hope this gets made.

[ae.]

Hey ae. the truck is looking pretty cool so far, but I have lots of little crits for it. Most are pretty nit picky but I think some could really help with the beefy armor you have on it. So here we go.


Im using this concept:
http://www.wetanz.com/assets/Uploads/461UpArmouredHilux5finGB.jpg

But I like your crits! you don't have any side images of the car by any chance?

[SnowGhost]

Love to see the helix armored- its a awesome looking vehicle.

As for the armored transport, I know I saw some when I was in Iraq so I dug around looking for the name. Its actually belongs to the "cougar" type family of armored vehicles manafactured by Force Protection, INC. Used widely by British and European armed forces but also distributed to U.S forces.
http://www.forceprotection.net/models/cougar/

Not sure what variant it is, but I suspect its a Mastiff PPV.

[nrek]

Im using this concept:


Ah ok, makes sense then. This is the best "side view" I could get, its pretty blurry and not perfectly from the side so idk how much help it will be.
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6879/aeside.jpg

[ae.]

Hey nrek,

Thanks for the Image man i really appreciate it! im gonna take a step a little and see if i can meld these two different designs together somehow :)

[ae.]

Nom Nom:

Updated!

http://www.aelevel.net/HPTruck1.jpg

[ae.]

Done With The Highpoly which i have updated Above, Will start low-poly this weekend :)

[ae.]

so yeaah its been awhile :P

Been working on some other stuff i cant talk about right now, but behold LP+BAKE it has a few baking issues i need to fix before i start the texture:

http://www.aelevel.net/LPTruck1

[cycloverid]

Pretty good bake man, although I do think the tires look pretty blocky like some have said.

I was thinking about doing a vehicle one of theses days, what does the underneath look like? That seems like a tricky part to model!

[gsokol]

Looks nice :)

Can we see a wireframe of the Low Poly?

[vofff]

there is some wierd with the wheels. It looks kinda small?

[ae.]

Hey Guys thanks for the critiques!

@cycloverid: Do you mean the High-poly tires or the low-poy tires? Also i did not model underneath the car due to the fact it was never going to be looked at in the scene, i generally try to model things that the viewer will see, if the car was flipped over id model the undercarriage but for this scene i did not.

@gsokol: i throw a wire frame up with the texture flats when i get home from work :)

@Vofff: Hey thanks for the crit, i'll take that into consideration, it wouldn't be too hard to change the size.

Quick EDIT:
Id also like to note that i will be throwing up a new composition concept, as i will be changing the scene slightly to feed my needs for this project :\

[doeseph]

The wheels do look small in comparison to the body, especially with the amount of armor on it. And although this could be the angle of the render, your model looks to sit a tad bit lower than the reference shot.

Great job otherwise ae.

[z3phon]

Nice progress. I'll be following this thread. :)
looking forward to wireframe. :D

[Mistry10]

very nice work so far !

[roosterMAP]

good job! i still dont like the armor tho.

[ae.]

Hey thanks for the comments guys! ill be sure to adjust the wheels, Just a note depending on how my final composition shot looks the truck itself might be detroyed.

@roosterMAP: Thanks, I personally think the armor is nice and fits well in the D9 universe as it was based off the original concept art. Is there something regarding the armor you would do differently?

[ae.]

Just a few shots for you guys, Regarding the texture i didn't want to make it overly grungy so i kept it pretty clean. There are a few things that are popping out to me, so i might have to quickly fix those before i move onto my next piece.

http://www.aelevel.net/WIPd9truck.jpg
http://www.aelevel.net/Finalwire.jpg

[ae.]

Due to some sound advice i decided to pull a next-gen move and dirty up the fucker a little :P

http://aelevel.net/WIPd9truck2.jpg

Im calling this done unless anyone has any huge issues with it :) gonna start working on the mother ship next :D

[Skamberin]

Nothing huge to pick on but the wheels feel kind of flat, the pattern on them isn't pronounced enough to make it look like they would offer good grip. Maybe if you increased the strength of the normal map on them or made the pattern more visible on the diffuse it would look better.
That's just my noob opinion though :P
Otherwise it looks great :)

[roosterMAP]

very nice textures. needs other detail on the hood. looks empty.

[nrek]

Oh man those new grungy textures are a huge improvement, they make it feel like a part of the D9 universe. The headlights could really use some love because right now it looks more like a part of the sheet metal and not clear plastic. And I also agree about the tires feeling pretty flat. Keep it up man, I can't wait to see some progress on the mothership soon.

[SHEPEIRO]

looking good, but dont think you have enough contrast in your dirt, and not enough variation in the materials, looking at the concepts

where are the headlights, would really help to have them i think.

[snake85027]

I know you have the link of the first picture up but I wanted to post it anyway. I prefer the texture you had before. You can have it white like it was just dirty the edges up.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l74/spawn85027/Armoured_Hilux5_fin_GB_1100.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l74/spawn85027/FullPMV.jpg

[ae.]

Hey guys thanks for the crits!

Ill fix the headlights so it doesn't blend into the car material so much! Ill be starting the mother ship after i fix that issue thanks :)

[SimonT]

love district 9!

[JacekC]

distrit 9 cool

[ae.]

Update time!!

Been busy at work and such so not too much of an update, but i just wanted to pop in let you guys know im alive.

Right now theirs a lot of repetition going on in the metal plates ill break that up.

This piece is going to be modular so there will be a couple different big pieces connected together so i can get as much detail out of this model as reasonably possible.

Hope to have some more work done soon.

http://aelevel.net/WPAlienship2.jpg

Also i have an updated version of the truck here (small fixes):
http://www.aelevel.net/WIPd9truck4.jpg

[SimonT]

looks nice! go on!

[Minos]

Nice stuff, keep it up :)

[ae.]

Thanks guys!

Hope to have the HP done either this or next week :)

[Sparkwire]

How do you get stereoscopic renders like the one on the first page?