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[UDK] Fantasy, Skyrim inspired environment

polycounter lvl 11
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David-J polycounter lvl 11
Latest Update:
wip_17.JPG

So after all the time doing small scenes or single objects I decided to tackle something bigger (maybe too big). So here I am in UDK. This more or less gives a rough idea of the size and some of the elements I have so far.

Story behind it.

I imagine this place like the last stage in a game where you about to get the ultimate weapon. You've gathered all the different pieces, scrolls, etc. At the base you will see a big statue on top of those circular rock platforms. You will pay your tribute, or use a spell and finally you can climb to claim your prize.



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Other images for reference.

2.jpg
3.jpg

I wanted to do a natural bridge from the top of the area where the big structure is to the other piece of land to the right but I don't think you can with the landscape tool in UDK. So I am going to to make man made stone bridge.

Still early but slowly taking shape.

Replies

  • HandSandwich
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    HandSandwich polycounter lvl 18
    Cool idea. Like you said, it could be a little too big right now. This and this have good scale to them. I would shoot more towards that. But I know its early so keep it going!
  • The_Exec
    Looking cool so far - great ideas and reference for sure.

    One thing to remember as you go forward - Really focus on what objects have and give purpose to your scene. If it were me, i'd scale the size of the scene down quite a bit to make it more manageable. Focus on the objects you like the most and that tell the story (Altar area/Statue/Natural Bridge/Steps leading up the mountains). The objects that give the scene character. Looking forward to seeing where you go with it.
  • David-J
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    David-J polycounter lvl 11
    Here is an update. Being working on rocks and bringing into UDK the trees I made.
    The single rocks made it ok but I'm having some trouble with the rock piles I made. I am loosing the material ID's when I bring them into UDK. Something that I will have figure out.

    Other than that I am still working on shaders to get some variations for all the natural elements. BTW. Loving all you can do with shaders in UDK. Parameters FTW

    I will probably move on to work on the top of the columns and the statue that will be in the middle.

    @The_Exec - Thanks. Good advice. I'm focusing on that area first and I will expand from there.

    @HandSandwich - slowly but surely Will.

    wip_04.JPG
    wip_05.JPG


    BTW. Is there a way to change the title of a thread. I want to add WIP.
  • David-J
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    David-J polycounter lvl 11
    Here is an update. I've started to populate the scene. Need to start working on the ground textures and also modify the cliffs. Overall tweak everything so things match better.


    wip_06.JPG
    wip_07.JPG
  • David-J
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    David-J polycounter lvl 11
    a small update. I'm working currently on the temple in the BG. Having some ligthing issues but I realized that I didn't have the second UV set for lightmass.

    wip_08.JPG
  • danpaz3d
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    danpaz3d polycounter lvl 7
    Starting to look good. Only thing for me is the terrain material seems too flat/bright compared to the grass meshes.
    But yeah, looks good. Expecting big mountains in the background.
  • brier
  • Zamite
    danpaz3d wrote: »
    Starting to look good. Only thing for me is the terrain material seems too flat/bright compared to the grass meshes.
    But yeah, looks good. Expecting big mountains in the background.

    I think its more a matter of saturation, more green would probably work (and then yes darken it a bit). Add some soil patches too :)

    Looking good.
  • David-J
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    David-J polycounter lvl 11
    @danpaz3D - yeah. I agree 100% I'm having some lighting issues and also I have to tweak the landscape and grass textures.

    @Zamite - thanks. Yeah. Right now it's very desaturated. I will play with post processing a bit when I do another pass on the landscape.

    I just finished the temple that goes at the top. Here are some screenshots. Right now I will do a pass on the terrain to make it less flat.

    cheers and thanks for stopping by.

    wip_09.JPG
    wip_10.JPG
  • Darkleopard
    Definitely starting to look good. Love me some ruins in the jungle. The terrain needs more varying up though, not often everything is completely flat
  • chrisradsby
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    chrisradsby polycounter lvl 14
    You don't want that awkward middle-space in-between the ground and the trees. It's just empty space. Make sure you make the terrain a little bit more like rolling hills. Create some bushes in different sizes to place around, it'll help lots.

    You're also getting a straight horisontal line because most of the trees are the same height. For the first beauty shot makes sure you frame the building in the back, make good use of foreground (bushes?), middleground (ruins) and background (castle-thing) to get some decent depth.

    Other than that :) Good work! And keep going!
  • David-J
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    David-J polycounter lvl 11
    wip_11.JPG
    wip_12.JPG

    Here is the latest update. It took a while cause I hadn't use zbrush in a while and I wanted to see what all the fuzz about was with dynamesh. It is pretty cool.

    Things that are coming is a bush to break up the environment.
    A bridge on the background to enhance the silhouette for the background.
    The sky. I'm not sure what I want to do with it but I want something cool and detailed.
    Also some minor props to leave at the feet of the statue, some offerings. A plate, some flowers, coin, etc.

    Thanks Darkleopard. I agree. I started breaking up the actual landscape and added stuff to break up the flatness.

    thanks for the suggestions chrisradsby. I decided to add the bush based on what you said.
  • Two Listen
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    Two Listen polycount sponsor
    David-J wrote: »
    3.jpg

    Don't want to take focus from your project, but out of curiosity do you happen to know who made this image?
  • Joopson
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    Joopson quad damage
    http://kody.cgsociety.org/gallery/818102/

    That dude.

    Edit: Wow, I didn't comment on your work? It looks absolutely awesome so far. Very inspiring, and I can't wait to see more of it.
  • Sebeuroc
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    Sebeuroc polycounter lvl 13
    Cool project, man. I want to see more rocky outcrops like your reference images!
  • nufftalon
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    nufftalon polycounter lvl 11
    I really like where this is going. I think your doing a great job makes me wanna go ape and do a whole environment.
  • MisterSande
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    MisterSande polycounter lvl 8
    starting to come along very nicely! you could improve by adding more foliage and props (fences/barrels/decals).
  • S_ource
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    S_ource polycounter lvl 9
    Looking forward to more updates, one suggestion is to make the statue bigger think it would look better.
  • danpaz3d
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    danpaz3d polycounter lvl 7
    Looking much better!
    Crits:
    -Agree that you could/should make that statue a bit bigger.
    -The ground still looks flat. I recommend adding a bumpOffset to some of the materials on the terrain.
    -More grass! And add some color variation to them as well. Browns, greens etc...
    -Still looking for a mountain range in the background!

    Keep it up, it is looking better.
  • David-J
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    David-J polycounter lvl 11
    @Sebeuroc - Thanks. Yeah. When I started this map I was thinking way bigger in scope so I had those huge rock formations. As I started to build it, it became overwhelming so I decided to focus on the FG area with the statue and the BG with the temple. I will try to find a place for those large rock cliffs.
    @nufftalon - Thanks. Yeah! Go ape and start something big.
    @MisterSande - Slowly I will add stuff to populate it. I don't want it to be too obvious that men have been there. Just hints here and there.
    @S_ource - Thanks for the suggestion. I will scale it up and see how it looks for the next update.
    @danpaz3d - Thanks for the feedback. I already incorporated some of it. Going to battle the landscape material to add some normal maps into it. We'll see how that goes.

    So here is the latest update. I added more variations on the grass color. I added a lavender plant. Added some coins and a lavender plant as offerings to the statue. A first pass for the skydome and some improvements on the lighting.

    Next thing would be to populate with more things. Maybe some fences or something still not sure. Scale up the statue, work on the sky and more stuff as I go along.

    Cheers!

    wip_13.JPG
    wip_14.JPG
  • locater16
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    locater16 polycounter lvl 8
    It looks, interesting. But a bit uninspiring, like something I'd pass by without much notice on the way to other place.

    The ground is quite barren and needs some variation, same with the pedestal the statue is on. And those hills in the background look incomplete, waiting for a forest or snow or something.

    Some more dramatic lighting would help too. Something other than around midday, and a skydome other than clear blue skies.

    Personally I'm imagining light striking the front of the statue (in say, the early morning) to give it some more emphasis.
  • David-J
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    David-J polycounter lvl 11
    Here is the latest update.

    Thanks for all the feedback locater16. I tweaked lighting, skies, foliage, and other overall tweaks.

    Couldn't do much cause my hand started hurting so I couldn't work for a while but Im trying out a vertical mouse now and some other adjustments. So far my hand feels better.

    wip_15.JPG
  • David-J
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    David-J polycounter lvl 11
    So here is the latest update which is almost the final one. I'm playing with the LUT and tweaking the lighting.

    wip_17.JPG
    wip_18.JPG
    wip_19.JPG
    wip_20.JPG
    wip_21.JPG
  • Lord McMutton
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    Lord McMutton polycounter lvl 17
    Hot damn, this is nice. Just about the only issue I can see is that the grass cards aren't blending with the ground very well, especially apparent in that last image.
  • neverwander
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    neverwander polycounter lvl 7
    You also might want to model some small rocks/pebbles to scatter around the dirt areas, as right now they are pretty much just a brown splotch. The texture interest in the dirt is much lower than anything else.
  • David-J
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    David-J polycounter lvl 11
    thanks MArshal.

    Good tip neverwander. Will do that. Thanks.
  • beaulamb1992
    Looking really nice, love the atmoshpere and lighting youve got going on.
  • Joopson
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    Joopson quad damage
    At the moment, and I'm not entirely sure why, it feels too thrown together.
    Maybe play around with the composition, by looking at some images from Skyrim, or Oblivion, or even ancient Rome or Greece..

    greece_delphi_apollo_temple_tholos.jpg
    round-temple-at-olympia-dennis-dismachek.jpg
    delphi-athena-tholos3.jpg


    Note how, usually, when rounded structures (like yours) are present, they are part of a round temple, and not just seperate shrines, or what-have-you? They originally were to form a cylindrical temple. On a stand.
    Where, with yours, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the placement.
    Note, too, how most of these ruins are surrounded by all sorts of stones, and pieces of collumns, strewn everywhere.

    Also, the fog is making it look very CG to me. Maybe at some fog particles in there to break it up a bit....
  • locater16
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    locater16 polycounter lvl 8
    Wow, now there we GO! Very nice :)
  • Skummel
    I like it. Alot. It's nice to see your progress. The two giant identical statues reminds me a bit more of Lord of the Rings than Skyrim for some reason. Looks great though
  • AlanSMitchell
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    AlanSMitchell polycounter lvl 14
  • danpaz3d
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    danpaz3d polycounter lvl 7
    Yes! You're almost there. Scale is good, textures are better.

    Crits:
    - From a composition point of view its a little bit mixed up.
    - Back in those 'ancient' times they were all about alignment.
    - Align everything up then frame it so it all fits into one shot.
    - Give the viewer/player a statement to think of, like...
    'you're here at this sword statue thing, you must hike to the castle over there'
    - You have it a bit now but make it more obvious and easy to understand.

    - Finally I think the colors are a bit off. Either put some brown in to all the greens or put some green into all the browns.

    Keep going!
  • sziada
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    sziada polycounter lvl 11
    man, this is looking so good
  • salman_fas
    This is looking great. I would like to see some midrange plants. Right now there are trees and then grass. something in between.
  • Arctemple
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    Arctemple polycounter lvl 5
    Hey looking good. Gotta say though that I preferred the statue when it was in the center. Seeing them all large and in the background seems to feel out of place for me. Maybe they just need more large scale objects around them or around their bases to help out the silhouette.
    Just a thought :P keep it up.
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