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HR Giger / Alien inspired scene - UDK

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Fomori polycounter lvl 12
Hey everybody!

So, I've decided to go from working on characters (specifically cartoony ones which I've been doing for years) and other random stuff to moving into environments. I've got the bug and found myself thinking about them all the time. I have no experience of creating environments in a game engine. I am also brand new to UDK and have been running through some tutorials. The one area I still need to get to know is UDK materials - will pick up the Eat 3D DVD/3D Motive stuff for that. So lots of new stuff for me.

I have a Giger book and thought some of his more abstract, repetitive and mechanical paintings would make a great basis for something sci-fi - hey it worked for Alien. So I think this is going to get some influence from the Alien films, definitely because I didn't want to do anything too ambitious for my first project, so it's getting that Alien cramped corridor vibe.

This is my rough blockout and composition in Max:

Zu0qh.jpg

I want to give it a very dark atmosphere and a sense that something could be lurking in the shafts above the players head.

I've scanned in and cut out some parts I liked from the Giger book. Using this as reference for detailing the walls/panels/whatever:

8m8sl.jpg

And this is my progress on some high poly parts. I'm just creating and experimenting with segments that are repeatable that I will later put together:

F7B3y.jpg

I kind of want to stay away from some of the more decorative and organic "Alien body" type parts. But some of the parts are kind of looking like that. I want to go a bit more mechanical.

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  • Joshua Stubbles
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    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    Looks like a good start to me. As I'm working on Aliens, I'm very much looking forward to seeing this pan out :)
  • looprix
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    looprix polycounter lvl 8
    those parts look great, can't wait to see them textured and arranged in an environment!!
  • Macattackk
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    Macattackk polycounter lvl 7
    nice, ill definitely be watching this
  • jsargent
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    jsargent polycounter lvl 5
    looks great :) Subscribed
  • Fomori
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    Fomori polycounter lvl 12
    As I'm working on Aliens, I'm very much looking forward to seeing this pan out :)

    Sweet man! As in an Aliens game? I didn't know there was a game in production.

    Getting a bit more done on this over the next couple days. Will post an update then.
  • Darkleopard
    Great start. Im excited about this thread
  • salacious_Crumb
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    salacious_Crumb polycounter lvl 11
    Fomori wrote: »
    Sweet man! As in an Aliens game? I didn't know there was a game in production.

    Getting a bit more done on this over the next couple days. Will post an update then.


    Theres two. Aliens Colonial Marines which i think Joshua Stubbles is working on. And an Alien game by the Creative Assembly, set in the universe of the first film.


    Does look good. Will be following this!
  • Razgriz
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    Razgriz keyframe
    I did a sci-fi piece very similar to this a little ago, but I think you're doing a far more successful job at imitating the giger look in your pipes and shapes. Creating a reference board out of texture pieces alone is a great idea. Looking very interesting, I'll be following!
  • Junkie_XL
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    Junkie_XL polycounter lvl 14
    I'd like to see if you could resolve the corner pieces better before moving forward with baking that down. They have that 45 degree seam where the mesh passes through each other. They don't need to be hard 90 degree angles either. I would prefer to not see them at all and go with more of the curved shapes you have which look great.

    I'm tagging this as I love Giger. Looking forward to what you do.
  • Fomori
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    Fomori polycounter lvl 12
    Minor update. Have to admit I didn't get as much done over the last few days as I hoped. Think I have enough modular and repeatable parts to start constructing some of the elements in the scene.

    H9NJN.jpg
    Junkie_XL wrote: »
    I'd like to see if you could resolve the corner pieces better before moving forward with baking that down. They have that 45 degree seam where the mesh passes through each other. They don't need to be hard 90 degree angles either. I would prefer to not see them at all and go with more of the curved shapes you have which look great.

    Yeah I see what you are saying. I've done quick symmetric corner parts just to see what they look like and how they could be used. I think you're right that curved corners would look better.

    Any opinions on whether to take these into a sculpting app to add rust, damage or wear? Or just keep them clean? I'm trying to be weary of any un-noticeable detail that could be lost when baked down. Can always add those details in the texture.
  • marks
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    marks greentooth
    Fomori wrote: »
    Any opinions on whether to take these into a sculpting app to add rust, damage or wear? Or just keep them clean? I'm trying to be weary of any un-noticeable detail that could be lost when baked down. Can always add those details in the texture.

    If you look at your reference, does it look rusty to you? Seems to me that most of your texture level detail should be coming from grunge and your specular texture..
    Also some strong AO and directional shadowing will help make this pop like the ref.
  • SirCalalot
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    SirCalalot polycounter lvl 10
    This looks really promising.

    *Sees that you're influenced by Giger*
    *Sees phallic shapes in texture mood board*

    Good! carry on!
  • [HP]
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    [HP] polycounter lvl 13
    Loving those modular pieces man! can't wait to see how they look pieced together!
    Thread subbed!
  • Fomori
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    Fomori polycounter lvl 12
    marks wrote: »
    If you look at your reference, does it look rusty to you? Seems to me that most of your texture level detail should be coming from grunge and your specular texture..
    Also some strong AO and directional shadowing will help make this pop like the ref.

    Yep sounds right. I think the specular will be crucial for trying to get things to pop. I will probably get some grunge in the crevices to darken and remove spec highlight. Then give the more extruded sections that shine to give a nice contrast.
    SirCalalot wrote: »
    *Sees phallic shapes in texture mood board*

    Heh!

    Thanks for the encouragement guys! Hopefully I'm on the right track with this one.
  • cptSwing
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    cptSwing polycounter lvl 11
    agreed, very nice modular pieces. subscribed :)
  • urgaffel
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    urgaffel polycounter lvl 17
    This is looking quite interesting, subbed :)
  • raul
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    raul polycounter lvl 11
    looking sweet man! Wanna see what you plan to do with all this.
  • wretchedgoat
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    wretchedgoat polycounter lvl 8
    This is off to a nice start! love all the detail in the pieces. sub'd

    moar penises and skulls though.

    penis skulls?

    And i agree with marks, doesn't need to be damaged. What's going to sell it is the sheen and slimey feeling alien environments are like.
  • Fomori
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    Fomori polycounter lvl 12
    Just a little WIP of one of the main panels I'm constructing.
    Max's AO in the nitrous realistic mode giving a nice feel for the shapes.

    rwodm.jpg

    Still need to tidy up some of the parts on this. Max is crashing often with all these polys and my pathetic 4GB of RAM. Having to be a bit clever with scene management.

    Slow going with work and other stuff getting in the way.....
  • njc6425
    Love it man, loving the theme as well, hr giger is one messed up dude but his work is amazing. the textures came across nicely

    :)
  • Fomori
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    Fomori polycounter lvl 12
    Razgriz wrote: »
    I did a sci-fi piece very similar to this a little ago

    Dude, just gotta say yours is great. Maybe not hitting the Giger look but I think yours has a nice mix of Aliens and something like Mass Effect. Your incredibly well detailed ship is also a favorite of mine. Fantastic work.

    Anyway, finally have something to show. It's been very slow as there's so many high poly detailed parts to arrange (not to mention work and the wife getting in the way).

    So the inner wall is baked out and I have it in UDK.

    aidot.jpg

    sBxF1.jpg

    Just a flat colour with AO and a temp blotchy spec (texturing will come once I've got everything in place). Temp lighting as well of course. The blank area will have large pipes coming out of it.

    Wires:

    Q200x.jpg

    Looking at the scale of this wall I think I'm going to have to enlarge the humans scale and also make the ceiling a bit higher.

    I also need to watch out for too much high frequency detail. Maybe need to tone that down a bit with some of the other parts (although I need it for the Giger style).
  • SniperStealth
    I was just watching Aliens earlier today. With it still fresh in my memory, I can say you're doing a good job thus far in matching the style.
  • chrisradsby
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    chrisradsby polycounter lvl 14
    Really nice work so far !
  • wester
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    wester polycounter lvl 13
    Yeah this definitely looks great! I would say that the textures and adding that convex edge shine in the spec will make these pieces really pop.

    You might be able to work with the high frequency detail everywhere with it being geiger, and if you're clever with your lighting.
  • Four6810
    Awesome stuff. You really nailed the Giger look. Looking forward to more.

    I'm currently working on the Space Jockey and plan modeling the environment. Looking at these images is very inspirational and motivates me even more to start some environmental stuff once I'm done with the low poly model.
  • Fomori
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    Fomori polycounter lvl 12
    Bit of progress to post.
    Been working on the floor. These are repeatable floor segments.

    High poly:
    zakvL.jpg

    Low poly:
    WeK9r.jpg

    And in the scene:
    (still all with a basic temp AO+color and blotchy spec map)
    zvJI5.jpg

    Still some touching up and fixes to do, but does anyone know why after baking the lighting I'm getting a duplicated half getting darker shading? You can see it with that segment at the bottom.
  • Blaisoid
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    Blaisoid polycounter lvl 7
    shiiit, and that's just early wip textures. with finished ones it will be pure awesomeness.
  • stoyan3d
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    stoyan3d polycounter lvl 7
    Looks good, man! I like how it's inspired by Giger's style but at the same time has a unique feel to it. Very nice, can't wait to see it textured.
  • Joshua Stubbles
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    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    In general the Giger-esque textures are off to a good start. I'd say your geo pieces are way too low poly though. Giger's style is very organic and seeing these abrupt changes in angle on the floor pieces really hurts it. Spare some verts, add some slices and bend those pieces some. :)
  • GarageBay9
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    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    In general the Giger-esque textures are off to a good start. I'd say your geo pieces are way too low poly though. Giger's style is very organic and seeing these abrupt changes in angle on the floor pieces really hurts it. Spare some verts, add some slices and bend those pieces some. :)

    The other thing that I'd offer is that aside from straight edges, there's a lot of perfect 90 degree curves and turns in the borders of various pieces, as well as pure verticals and horizontals.

    Giger loves organic, varied angles and irregular sweeping curves. Incorporating some of that will really make this pop.
  • Fomori
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    Fomori polycounter lvl 12
    Yeah totally see what you two are saying about all the hard angles and lack of organics. I wanted the floor to be quite mechanical and functional. I think with the other wall, that I still need to do, I will try to work in some more organic Giger stuff. After that wall I will also be adding lot's of details on top of everything (like trailing wires etc.) which should break up all the hard edges.

    Anyone know why I've got that light baking seam at the bottom where I've duplicated and rotated the other half of the segment (it's darker for some reason)?
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