Cave entrance

The last couple of days, I've been working on the cave entrance. This was because I wanted to make a more complete area of my level, to give people an idea of how the finished level will look. I'm concentrating around this part, the lower level of the canyon near the cave entrance.

This is the concept I have been working from:

I then took my blockout piece and imported it into zbrush. This was to keep the same scale so the piece would fit back into the level. I sculpted in the details while looking at the concept. This took about a day. I changed some minor parts of the design after I got some crit, namely the eyes are pointed downwards and inwards to stare at the player. The original design did not look as threatening, an instead looked too cute, like a rabbits face, which was not the intention.

I then retopologized the model in 3dsmax and baked the textures. This took about another day. After that, I put the model back into cryengine. And this is the result.

I am happy to get an asset like this into the level, it feels like the project has really started now. I will most likely work on the texture some more in the future, but next I am going to work on some foliage. I've already got a fern in the scene to add a bit of greenery, but I think next I will make the large scale trees that are in the level.

So the fmp has finally started. I've been continuing to block out, and I've also sculpted some rocks. As well as that, I've also made a quick fern. This is just so I can get an idea of what the level will look like. Taking a screenshot, I painted over it. This is how this area of my level will look later on.

I also had a go at blend layer. I got it to work, but at the moment it is still a work in progress. This is how it looks at the minute. I also couldn't get it to work with multisub materials, so I've had to cut some of the level up to have different materials.

Finally, I baked a wall texture. I took this wall carving, then sculpted it in zbrush.

I then baked this to a plane. This is going to tile up the walls inside the cave, to add a bit of interest to the corridors. Here is how it looks in engine.

Next, I am going to work on a hero asset. This is so I can get an area of the level (the part I painted) looking a lot more complete.

Project Proposal

For my final major project, I will be making a environment based around ancient Balinese architecture. The style will be realistic, and will be built in cryengine 3.

Bali is a small island that is part of Indonesia. The art style is very distinctive, and features ornate carvings. These will be the main focus point of my project. The level will show off sculpting skills, and the project will make use of high poly modelling (using programs such as z-brush)

the geographical location of the level and the ecological The other secondary focus of the project is on foliage modelling. The foliage will be appropriate re to biome. 

The level will be for current generation consoles and pcs. This means that the technical specifications reflect that. The target triangle budget for the whole level without instances will be 150,000. For textures, the maximum texture size for an asset will be 1024 (for hero assets). These will be documented in an asset list. Secondary assets will be around 512. My aim is to have a pixel density of around 256 per meter.

In summary, here is what the project will aim to achieve:

1.       Ruined jungle temple environment based around Balinese carvings

2.       Current generation graphics

3.       Running on the university computers at an acceptable frame rate (no slow down, around 30 FPS)

4.       Made in cryengiene 3

5.       High quality sculptures as the main feature

6.       Suitable foliage as the secondary feature backed up by research

7.       Aim to be around 150,000 triangles (without instances)

8.       Texture pixel density around 256 per meter

Foliage of tropical south east Asia

For the foliage, I’ve been doing some research into possible species that would grow in my level. There are literally hundreds of different species of plant in a square mile of rainforest, so I’ve narrowed it down to a small selection. I would then be able to make different variations of these plants to populate my level.

Firstly, there is the kapok tree. This is probably the first kind of tree you would think of when you talk about rainforests. Its large, it can grow to 150 feet tall. This large tree would be the main type of tree that will be in my level.

I’m also going to have fan palms. These palms are found in tropical climates, and they have a distinctive shape. These would provide a medium layer of foliage for the level.

Next is the king fern. This is basically a giant fern, which would add more medium coverage. I could also use these textures to make smaller ferns for ground coverage. 

For the vines there is a type of plant called liana. These are vines that grow out of the ground, and up trees.

For a splash of colour, I’m going to use orchids. They originate from that region of the world, and if I need some colour they will be very good.

I’ll be sorting out the tri budgets for everything in my next post, as well as showing my progress on my block out. I’ve been sculpting a basic rock texture for the cliffs so it looks less bare, so I’ll post that as well.