Asset sketches

These are some asset sketches that I've been working of for the environment, eventually ill want these finished up and in full colour but for now they'll do for getting the ideas down in 3d.

Asset update

Began working on the textures for the Benches, Not sure if it fits the overall theme to the room though so it could change at a later date.

And his another modular Ceiling arch asset I'm in the middle of making. Just finished creating the normal map for this asset so next i need to work on the diffuse and spec.

Environment progress

Some more progress on the environment and the modular pieces now moving on to texturing which is going really well! I've managed to used 2 textures, one for the walls and one for all the stained glass windows and this is used for all the wall pieces in the environment so its pretty efficient. Onto assets next!

Baking normal Map test

To add extra detail to environments and 3d assets in general Normal maps are used as they almost fake detail that's not actually there on the model but is instead inside the texture.
To do this a high poly model has to be made, in which you can bake down the normal map from this so you can apply it to a low poly model.
As i have not done this before i thought i would test it out on the floor tile for my church environment. I followed a blog post from one of my classmates who has already used this method and works great!
http://danielturnerdd3992.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/creating-texture-part-1.html

After following this process this is what i came up with.

This is the original floor tile... which is very boring and doesn't really contain any lighting information.
After creating a high poly tile like this but with individual tiles i came up with this..

Here i imported the floor tile into UDK, with the normal map, i then put the normal map into crazy bump to generate a diffuse and specular maps, i then added a quick scratched texture to the specular and this is the result.

There's still lots i want to do with this but  i learnt a lot doing this test. Eventually i would like to add a reflection to the floor tile and make it more glossy looking instead of looking too much like metal.

Church Environment Progress

After choosing the concept i wanted to go forward with i began working on the modular pieces that i would use for the environment. Here is a list of the pieces i have so far.

1. Straight wall- This can be repeated to make the length of the room longer, can also be rotated to use on the other side of the building.
2. Corner wall- This can be used for the four corners of the room.
3. Ceiling arch- Will be repeated throughout the buildings ceiling to break the shapes up.
4. Back room- This back room will fit into the archway space, a door can also be placed in the archway space.
5. Archway- This has been split from the wall pieces as it could be used in more than one place and is better as a stand alone asset.
6. Floor walkway- Walkway fits in between the archway and leads from the back room to the door.
7. Floor Tile- This can be repeated and re used to make the room bigger.

After creating the modular assets i needed to test these out inside UDK to test there modularity and if they fit together properly without gaps or problems. I came across a few problems here, such as edges not lining up properly and pivot points that needed moving in order for pieces to snap together correctly. After the tedious process of going through each piece and fixing them up i managed to get them to snap together to form this room. I then thrown together some quick assets to try and get another feel for the scale and what exactly i wanted in the room. Next i need to start actually designing these assets so i can make more interesting design in 3d.

More environment concepts

Here's another quick painting to try and figure out the Buddhist kind of environment. Although i do really like elements of the environment and i think it would be great inside UDK, actually looking what assets i would be making aren't really that interesting.. mostly trees, which is fine but i think i could do much more interesting assets and set pieces with the church idea and create much better portfolio pieces that could stand on thier own aswell as an environment. 

Here's a 3d mock up of the church idea, i like the idea of have large chunky shapes to get the art deco feel across. With this environment i could really make use of modularity as well.. as its something i would like to learn how to do as it would be benificial. I think this environment would also open up the opportunity to add some nice set pieces such as a confessions booth, the altar and religions statues and such... maybe even something a bit different and futuristic like tech god statues and such..have a bit of a twist with religions

I'm not really sure what direction i would like to take it, but definitely keep with the art deco theme and explore some story elements in there. possibly have a coffin at the front and then leaflets and such on the benches with information on.

Environment research continued

I decided to gather more research and think of other ways to get my theme across, i began to look at other religions when i came across Buddhist gardens which are beautiful and full of colour and intricate details.

I then came up with a quick sketch to try and visualise something interesting that could show come kind of story within. I wanted some kind of focal point with the small hut, inside could be a statue to worship and candles scattered around. I also was thinking of having a glass dome over the top of the environment, to contain the environment from the outside world which could be in ruins or destroyed, it kind of gives the viewer a sense that this little environment is kind of like an afterlife, something of beauty and peace. Another idea i had was to add in sci fi parts to the environment such as small drones floating around, that could be used as a source of information for the player and they would also maintain the environment. I am much more happy with this idea, it seems like i could include a lot more story elements and make something a bit different than the usual.

Environment research

Here is my first mood board for environment ideas, because my theme and religion the first thing that comes to mind would a church or a chapel or something of religion where people would worship. I looked at creating something a bit different like sci fi themes. From this i came up with an idea for a kind of industrial looking small church or chapel, something that looks quite out of the ordinary that would be associated with a church.

Once creating this i wasn't really sure on the idea, it felt quite familiar and nothing interesting so i thought about taking another look for some research to try and improve the idea.

For this concept i looked at a much more cleaner looking environment, not perfect.. but much more grander looking architecture with large windows and bronze/gold metal around, but again using wood to try and show the time period. Inspiration i gathered for this was from another mood board i made looking at art deco churches. These images are a huge inspiration, its something i really like, the large sold shapes and interesting statues.

I'm still wanting to do more research and concepts to try and explore other areas, but also to try and show some kind of story and character to the environment. A church is probably the most simple thought to do with religion and the afterlife so maybe there's something else that i could tie in.