[STAGE]Mortal Kombat 3, Cyrax(Jades) Desert, Seforin

[seforin]

Hey everyone....well originally it was gonna be me and a team member but he got really busy last minute with some important things so it looks like its up to me to carry this along!




THE ORIGINAL
http://seforin.com/misc/Sef_Brawl_Concept_Origin.png



The idea:

It has been some time later, Cyrax still unable to leave the desert due to his previous commands has broken down due to the harsh elements of the desert...set in a alternate destroyed UK Time line...cyrax has broken down and his power core has sprouted new life in this once harsh environment





The challenge:


Engaging Large scale desert, Sand stroms blowing, Big Ben Crackingly apart, oasis easter egg...Toasty?


The New vision

http://seforin.com/misc/Sef_Brawl_concept_01.JPG

http://seforin.com/misc/Sef_Brawl_concept_02.JPG

http://seforin.com/misc/Sef_Brawl_concept_03.JPG



This competition ends on my birthday exactly so lets rock! I wanna party that day for good reasons!Im hoping time permits this month to do this.

[d1ver]

Nice idea!
Best of luck, dude!

[Sharvo]

Awesome idea, love the concept you did as well, looking forward to seeing your modelling etc. Good luck!

[seforin]

Ok SOOOOOOOOOOOOO I was talking to a little birdy who is on the inside of the MK universe and was suggested a few major changes to make it "fit" better....

mainly the point brought up even if this is a alternate destroyed wasteland/madmax destroyed UK I dont have any evidence of such asside from 1 building...I was then suggested to make a combination of 2 stages to be 1 mega awesome stage


So taking the original ideas of the desert stage and combining it with this!

ORIGINAL
Earth Realm city!:

http://seforin.com/misc/Sef_Brawl_Concept_EARTHREALM.JPG


To create a new destroyed waste land city

Here is were the new direction is aiming towards (note This was my buddys paint over and I have yet to paint a pretty version of this yet.)

http://seforin.com/misc/Sef_Brawl_concept_MidwayGuysDrawover.jpg



So With these ideas in mind I decided to borrow some elements from film that was out recently


Desert/destroyed City Ref

http://seforin.com/misc/LandOfdaLost.jpg


so with these new concepts//practices in mind I have started a rough blockout to start testing for unreal. (All super early I need to actually sculpt proper terrain etc..all out of max block outs!)


BLOCKOUTS



Full ring

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_Blockout_01.jpeg


Focal Points

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_Blockout_02.jpeg
http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_Blockout_03.jpeg



Proper Player Sizes

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_Blockout_04.jpeg




A break down of how I will approach this for models:

Asset List:

Modular foreground Tiles
Modular Middle Fillar Foreground tile (polycount face)
Base Sand shapes (rough sculpt +decimation to paint upon)
Sand dunes/spikes 1
Sand dunes/spikes 2
Sand dunes/spikes 3
Big ben (Focal Point!)
Desert Palm 1
Desert palm variant 2
Desert bush
Modular Road/destroyed road
Bridge
Destroyed building 6 stories tall
Destroyed building 12 stories tall
Destroyed building Rebars (inner building gutts) (6 stories?)
Cyrax Mask
Cyrax Arm
Cyrax Torso
Rocks 1
Rocks 2
Rocks 3



Well Im crunched on my time for both this comp' and real life...so lets hope I can nail this down. Thanks everyone! :D

[ScubaSteve]

I have a little free time if you like me to help you with some assets.

[EmAr]

One of my favorite stages from UMK. The elements you chose look good so far. Good luck :)

[seforin]

Hey Scuba, thanks for the offer...I need to see if I can devote a full ammount of time before I say I need the help 100 % just yet...I might not be able to touch this after next week...who knows...


But anyway Im keeping the dream alive! Here is a advanced blockout of what im thinking!

Gonna start brining this into unreal and working some lighting magic on it soon!

Then off to actual sculpting of the terrain base and the 1st pass of modeling!

Additional Ref

I was told near big ben is a big ass ferris wheel...felt like a good way to handle the blank space on the right side :p

http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk/britain/london/eyeandben5335.jpg


Blockouts!:

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_Blockout_05.jpeg

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_Blockout_06.jpeg


GET OVER HERE!

[ValugaTheLord]

Floor looks like Chocolate bar :3

[d1ver]

That's a rocking blockout you've got there dude.
Are you doing this with UDK? 'cause now I think would be a perfect time to transfer the blockout there. Your terrain is pretty smooth so unreal terrain will fit you perfectly. a 3d motive tut even shows how to make a terrain scene which has similar mood with yours. And then you just stick a couple of building in the sand and voila!:)
damn even I'm excited imagining it. Kick it's ass, man!

[seforin]

OK just a SUPER early lighting pass on things...seeing how things are gonna look...quick fog distance .. Nothing final on lighting or anything yet..I still need to space some stuff out now that im looking at it at a proper display in unreal

Time to make some awesome soon! Dark skies and moving clouds baby!

Anyway


Progress!!

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_01.jpg

Probably gonna start the foreground tiles first.

[seforin]

Fixed Da chocolate!

And a quick bake!


CHOCOLATE!

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_Tiles_Screenshot_01.jpg

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_Tiles_Screenshot_02.jpg


I'll toss this into unreal a bit later...kinda tired now :S

Oh also fixed the crazy camera shit

NEW CAMERA!

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_02.jpg

[sltrOlsson]

Aaahwe yeah! This is going to epic! Love the new camera!

[Liquid-Grievous]

nicely done..

[seforin]

ok well I noticed in unreal that the tiles didnt look good as a 5X5 because they tiled to weirdly (looked rather large)...........so made them 7X7 now and it seems to have done the trick, anyway heres some more progress

TILES!!!

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_Tiles_Screenshot_03.jpg

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_Tiles_Screenshot_04.jpg



I will toss a screen from unreal in a bit!

[seforin]

ok a few more updates...got some procedural rock walls in the foreground as well. Toyed with the camera some..

Trying to get all the foreground elements out of the way today if I can.

Da Goods

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_foreground_Stones_Screenshot_0.jpg
http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_foreground_Stones_Screenshot_01.jpg
http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_03.jpg

[Mr Bear]

Solid visualization so far Seforin!

[seforin]

a few people werent feeling greentooth in the center, so I changed that up with the old yin-yang again, also fixed the normals on the rocks...I had them jacked up to high...sorry about that :p

EDIT:I made some additional love to the ground with some bump offsets to not make it feel so flatsy


Fixes!

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_04.jpg

[LRoy]

I love the ferris wheel in the back

[ValugaTheLord]

i liked GreenToothie :(

Other than that looks awesome :D
Back ground is very well done =)

[seforin]

greentooth will make his way back in this scene as a secret later down the road :)

anyway I got textures rolling for the evening...semi productive day today...now to do the one thing I was avoiding....

trees..... bleh



MORE GOOD LESS BAD

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_05.jpg

[ebagg]

Too brown, needs some pinks and purples! >;D

PS: nice progress my brother from another mother.

[sltrOlsson]

Tasty shit! Why not look in to making your tile material into tesselated DX11 material?

Btw, i don't know if you've sean it, this is a great thred about making sand tile better.. http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1326628

[seforin]

hey Thanks for the link, yes I have seen this before and I planned on doing a combination of techniques similar to some previous work I did on the xbox in the past...mainly blending of different normals and vertex painting height map driven sand clumps//waves...similar to how I handedled snow in the past...

I would like to toy with DX 11 stuff but my pc isnt up to spec to goof with that..and im kinda aiming on a scene that will run real time on current gen systems...not ps4 and xbox 720 :p

And with some current tests ive done at work...I think DX 11 based terrain is neat...but still not 100 % there in my opinion..my methods of mesh driven vertex painting will ultimately give me the same results faster :p


Anyway I plan on working on this level in zones, right now I was working on the foreground elements..next will be mid ground (tree's and cyrax bits)

Sand will be one of the last things along with big ben I will be doing on this since both are equally as important and require the most trouble shooting to look right :D

[Mark Dygert]

It's coming along really well. I think your big bricks could use some rounding out.

[EmAr]

I like the progress. Keep it up :)

[seforin]

just a slight update this time...I promise I will have palm tree's going really soon...had a long day at work today so I didnt get home till almost 9:40 :\

Anyway enough small violen talk

Updated the lighting, tweaked the textures, and relayed out the foreground stones to feel more proper based on there scale!

more updates are coming soon!

NEW STUFFS!
http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_06.jpg

[Chandler]

This is the first stage I think of whenever anyone talks about MK, I really like the idea and spin you're putting on it. The 'wind lines' in the sand are a little confusing to me, since in the foreground they're perpendicular to each other when they should all be going the same direction. Looking good though, I'll definitely be watching this one.

[seforin]

hey sorry for the lack of updates...last asset I worked on took a bit to look and feel right....anyway check it out ! got some desert plants!!


Dat Palms!


http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_OasisArea_Screenshot_01.JPG

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_07.JPG

[Bogdanbl4]

i like this stage! but i think you need to add more sun light

where is Cyrax?? ))

[seforin]

maybe he's right here....

well a piece of him anyway ._.

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_OasisArea_Cyraz_Screenshot_01.jpeg


anyway gonna make his arm and then bake these guys out and place in the scene

debating about his torso being in the water...show his power core still glowing in the oasis pool....

So much to do such little time D:

[seforin]

nothing to crazy, just a update to the head with the high poly and low polys + bakes...was kinda hung over today...so not alot of progress...sorry tomorrow I'll have sexy for everyone!


hung over update!
http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_OasisArea_Cyraz_Screenshot_03.JPG

[seforin]

ok super quick material work and updates to the scene...I wasted enough time working on some generic 3D head for how small it is in screen.....so im off to build cooler stuff for the backgrounds today!


Da head
http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_OasisArea_Cyraz_Screenshot_04.JPG

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_08.JPG


http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_09.JPG

[d1ver]

Hey, man, nice to see you moving forward. It's also sweet to see someone taking that extra care in producing severed robotic body parts.:)

Even though it's coming along, I must say that so far I like the original concept better, so I took liberty of pointing out what I, think, made it better:

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/5324/seforinfix.jpg

1. Right now the lighting is too contrasty and hardly looks like an overcast day. In fact it's dark enough to hide some nice parts of the scene altogether and I doubt you want that.

2. The whole scene is greenish right now, which is not the color you'd commonly find in a desert. The original has very strong yellow and blue and they work great. Brownish or reddish or any sort of a dusty tint would probably work better here.

3. Looks like you've moved your sun out of the frame, which might not be the best move, because, as seen in the concept, the sun gave the scene a nice bright focal point that your eyes are drawn to, while now your eyes are getting pretty much lost.

4. It's obvious that a lot of stuff is still very wip, but a good skydome could help the scene quite a bit. Something with a nice cloud pattern and juicy contrast places(like in the concept).:)

5. If you break your image into thirds it seems that all your details are carefully placed around the most central part. Which is an odd choice for composition. If you give it 2/3 sky 1/3 ground as in the concept it won't be so obvious and might actually save a bit of work since making an interesting skydome is easier the making the dunes in the center look as interesting. But who nows, if you tilt the big ben more or move it around a little bit to eliminate that empty space to the left then the composition might still work.

Anyway, don't mean to sound rude, you're way ahead of me, man, and I wish you the best of luck in getting this as kickass as it gets! :)

cheers!

[seforin]

wowie wow wow what awesome feed back..


well man I took ALOT of what you said and applied it for my next update...did a few things this time around

first off changed the camera to be the rule of thirds as you suggested...unfortunately I can not really stick with my ORIGINAL concept that was just 1 building and no others, mainly because the guys at nether-realm called me on it :p..so its why I have been doing concept 2 to this point. But all the other feedback you gave I agree and will be placing into effect soon!

My lighting I will touch in a more final pass once I get the last bit of 3D in this scene

All thats left are the Ferris wheel , sand dune spikes , the actual sand on the floor itself And then big ben. And a PROPER sky dome with the sky in the center like you suggested (My skydome is STILL temp)


What I did today was

*change camera
*Modeled + textured destroyed buildings 1 + 2
*Modeled + textured Bridge (which after I put in the scene I realized was a giant waste of time lol)
*Added in TEMP water shader for oasis (I grabbed the one from the GDC tech demo, but I want to alter it to fit for my needs...but luckly its all just 1 texture rolling into it so editing it is easy!)



Da Changes!
http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_10.jpg

[seforin]

20 pounds in a 10 pound bag lately...sorry for the lack of updates...been busy with work lately :S Anyway I made some quick rocks, Toss them in the background to fill it up some

have a quick depth bias node on them to make them blend better with the sand....last 2 things I need to model geo wise are the big ben tower and the actual sand itself.

after that its all materials and VFX stuff :)

almost there!
http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_11.JPG


Also havent textured the sand dune rocks yet so dont worry

[adam]

Blahblahblah lets see BIG BEN

[ScubaSteve]

Blahblahblah lets see BIG BEN

what he said.

[seforin]

slight update..texture the rocks...

Im working on big ben but the pieces are chunk by chunk...wont make sense till I post them all so hold tight just a bit longer pwease!

RAWKS!

http://seforin.com/misc/brawl_desertArea_Rocks01.jpeg

[EmAr]

Nice! If the rest will be this good too, waiting is no problem :)

[seforin]

ok STILL working on this guy but didnt want people to think im sleeping on this...plan on having a big update this weekend and hopefully will have a finished and baked version within unreal! Anyway Big ben action WIP !

STILL WORKING ON IT!

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_BigBen_Screenshot_01.jpeg

[vahl]

detail seems too tight on the tower, I'd have made the rocks look more aggressive/sharp, but that's just me.

keep rocking boyo !

[seforin]

Noted, and relaxed up some


more progress..hoping to have big ben modeled out asap so I can bake and do unreal magic already!!!

MakeDaMagic
http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_BigBen_Screenshot_02.jpeg

[d1ver]

Nice progress, man, speed it up! Big Ben is fairly modular, so a few more pieces and I guess you're all set.

And yeah, Unreal magic is very important and you've got to have time for that!:) good luck!

[seforin]

OH MAN THE DEADLINE IS ALREADY THAT CLOSE?!

http://www.eclecticmamma.com/images/thumb/HerpDerpLlamath.jpg

ok guys im going into remi rage super duper crunch mode, im hoping to get this all finished

Anyway enough of that A UPDATE!

Rage-update!

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_BigBen_Screenshot_03.jpeg

[seforin]

just gotta do the lower level now and then im done with this and can bake it out and go on to the next thing

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_BigBen_Screenshot_04.jpg

[seforin]

well I got it finally modeled out, gonna build the low and bake it either tomorrow or later tonight depending on how I feel. And then gonna just chop it up within the low for my purposes

why did I think modeling big ben was a good idea?

http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_BigBen_Screenshot_05.jpeg
http://seforin.com/misc/Brawl_BigBen_Screenshot_06.jpeg

[seforin]

Tick tock...so much to do...tick tock ._.

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_12.JPG

[Gannon]

GO GO GO, Love the tower, it looks freakin sweet! GO GO GO

[seforin]

One more update tonight....got it textured up..need to go back and tweak things with it...but I still have alot to touch for my scene...gotta get sand rolling...fix the sky box...fix the lighting..and improve the foreground elements some...and then some special surprises I have in store I was keeping quiet till now...GAH so much to do!


http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_13.JPG


oh yeah one other thing.......

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_14.JPG

[seforin]

cutting it so close you can slice bread with it! (what?)

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_15.JPG


hitting near the home stretch, things I still need to do

Fix sand up more (still not 100 % with the blends yet

New sky dome//proper skybox

BRAND NEW LIGHTING


and lets not forget.........da secret :)

[Lamont]

I would put a sand haze and have sand in the cracks of things. This can be done with quick geometry added to the mesh. If the place is hot, then add a displacement sheet to the background to make things like a mirage with an alpha going from 1 to 0 from the sand up. It will fry your GPU when you do screens, so don't be surprised when the fans kick on.

Good job.

[bugo]

Yeah, I would do what Lamont said also, you can do that depth blending textures for the sand. You could also intensify the specularity on the rocks to look more gamey!

[seforin]

so your like all chilling there staring at this waste land, and your like, oh hey thats cool. Big ben haning out there being all big and all that.

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_17.JPG


then your all like, oh man CRAZY SAND STORM!, shits picking up! What do I do?!

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_18.JPG



And then your all like OH FUCK BIG BEN! NO!!!!!!

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_19.JPG
http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_20.JPG



YOU BLEW IT UP, YOU MONSTERS BLEW IT UP!

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_21.JPG

And then I go to bed finally for my birthday, goodnight!(or morning!)

when im more awake I'll toss a video up in this in motion, sand storms + trees saying + big ben crumbling apart!

bleh im tired!

[Mark Dygert]

Congrats on finishing, the effects could be really cool. Happy Birthday!
(your nuclear puddle glows kind of brightly)

I've got your videos right here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32lwKxakec8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb4eZ7Z5yk8

[seforin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns6OYSQ9pIE

hey guys did a quick video, I still got a ton of things im gonna fix with this but just wanted to show big ben in his crumbling action and some sand storm goodness!

[seforin]

yea yea contest over, just wanted to show a update to better lighting and some overall tweaks to things.

http://seforin.com/misc/BRAWL_UDK_23.JPG


still need to fix some lights and big ben crumble, but just wanted to show a update

[Isaiah Sherman]

Good job on the finished product! Taking something start to finish is always an achievement :)

[seforin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wswmx8PjMQ

OK im spent

Hope you all enjoy this

TOASTY!

[cholden]

The Ben Big collapsing is a cool effect. Any reason why you cut it off so short? Would be nice to give it time to settle.