Decided to go back in time to work with Quake III Arena mapping. I’m focusing on coding shaders for my old textures.
As I’ve had recruiters and art directors going through my portfolio at random, I thought it was time to get in gear and work on an impressive project that will show my skills as a designer. I’m working on a forest scene that will include elements from several categories ranging from organic to synthetic to display my comprehension in building and texturing assets of any type necessary to convey a proper game atmosphere. The materials I painted on this terrain are from an old snow set I did a while back, now repurposed as a placeholder material. The scene will be a river mouth from an intro scene to the horror game I’ve been writing for years. I’m working on details using concept art as I build, my main inspiration being one of my most favourite photographers, sabbat noir. I think it’s time to finally visualize and virtualize.
Fog and lighting can change the entire mood in stark contrast.
For the first few stages of environmental design, I have to start with three programs.
First, blocking out the basic layout of the level.
Second, modeling assets and set pieces with scale in mind, using the blockout from Unreal as reference.
Third, Photoshop for texture work.
Then back into unreal for importing all the art and arranging, lighting, adding particle effects/fog/etc.
This particular set is going to be a run down hotel. Got the motivation for this style when playing Silent Hill Homecoming.
Miss Anneliese
I’ve been writing a horror game for the past five years that’s evolved quite a bit. I decided to name the main character after a good friend of mine who has inspired me more than she could know, the real Miss Anneliese. In any case, it will be a beautiful project.
I can’t stress enough how important blocking out a map is. As I’m blocking out in bsp, I’m thinking ahead keeping in mind texture modulation, light points, static mesh placement, and a lot of other elements. I’m exporting the entire scene to 3ds to reference the scale, and sticking to the grid to avoid future headaches with fitting pieces. Some of the geometry you see will be replaced by models later on in the process.
Wow the shaders actually show up on my p3d account. I’m not much of a modeler, but I built this as part of a modular set, however I didn’t realize shrinking some of the uv’s made the texture lower res in some important areas.
Started a very basic blockout in an attempt to revamp my concept process, but I’m starting to get tired of painting concept art. I can’t wait to jump into texturing an actual map. Concept is for a map we’re developing in Unvanquished focusing on modular set design.
Static mesh test. The model itself needs lots and lots of optimization. It’s not nearly good enough for what I can do with in-game modular meshes. Painted it quick last night. Diffuse is alright, normals look almost smooth enough. Threw the scene together in Unreal Engine 3, painted all materials myself.
For Unvanquished, I’m leading a project to make a new multiplayer map that’s going to push the game engine as far as it can go. The engine uses mostly BSP geometry, and I’m going for a more modular design process. I’ve done three concept sketches this week between working and being extremely depressed. I wish I could have done these without my terrible creator’s block and time constraint. There are three styles for my team to choose from, and once we decide on a set theme, I’ll begin preliminary static mesh sketches and colour layout.
I’m trying really hard to keep busy, however life outside the internet has been treating me terribly lately.
