Octopus Scientist Environment

[cruckz]

This is My final year Project blog. What I intend to do is to create a piece of environment art that has "life" injected into it, not just another Sci Fi hallway. My aim is to have a player be able to walk into the apartment and know what kind of person lives there. Another of my main aims for this project is to learn how to compose a full scene, looking at keeping textures consistant, lighting and making the scene feel lived in. I have taken some concept art from Crysis 2 which will highly influence the scene, I will also add to and change things to my liking as I want some creative freedom.

These are the concept and the environment from Crysis 2





From the concept my feeling of the character that would live in this environment is somebody who is extremely obsessed with there work and isn't very organised and rarely has visitors. Here is what I have created so far with very basic lighting. I realize that at the minute it is quite empty however there is still alot to go into the scene. I have created six different book covers all relating to octopus's and science related subjects.





For the Chesterfield Sofa I went round my local town and went into business's which had Chesterfields in and asked if I could take photo's for my project, everybody was more than happy for me to do it. These photo's were used for both the design and texturing process, but were most useful to see how they get wear and tear in real life. I also looked online for some nicer designs.




Again here is more photo reference for the chinese noodle pot




Please leave comments and crit

[Polygoblin]

Props look awesome! Nothing to suggest yet. Keep going

[cruckz]

Thanks a lot Poligoblin! Iv made some minor changes added another plant and lights for the tanks also created a rug and paper texture, these will most likely get reworked later.

I thought i'd also show the reference pictures I got for the tripod. not all of the details went into the model as I didn't want the mesh to be too expensive.

[Bek]

Love the concept art, props are looking really good too! Nice touch with the books, I like things like that. Keep adding clutter, looks great

[OddEyes]

I like what i see already. And the concept is pretty well illuminated, how about another window, or do you plan to create more artificial lights? and what engine will you be using?

[cruckz]

Just to make clear the concept is not mine. It's from Crysis 2.

@oddeyes I'm creating it in UDK, and as for the lighting It will be a very different set up as I have been to an old victorian mill to see how the light reacts in the space. and the final lighting will not be in the scene for a few months.


So I got in touch with the owners of Salts Mill an art gallery in Saltaire where a lot of David Hockney's art is exhibited. I asked for permission to go photograph the building and got permission to go to the upper floors that aren't open to the general public and take photo's of the empty space. This turned out well as the upper floor wasn't as well maintained, which fit well with the concept. Not only was it a really fun day taking photo's but I have a huge folder of textures to use for future projects.



no really big changes to the scene added the other window (with placeholder textures) and created a few more small props a monitor keyboard mouse and take out coffee cup. Buildings in the back ground are UDK's will be creating them to look more like the ones in Alan Wakes apartment if any of you have played it.

Here are the improvements im planning to make:
Replace the tiling ceiling texture with open insulation.
Create a crate or case that looks as though it could hold science materials.
Create bin bags and general clutter.
Add door and corridoor.

[cruckz]

added some beams but wasn't happy with how low they made the cieling look also made the room feel very industrial.



I replaced the metal beams with wooden ones, which apears to raise the roof and blends better with the floor and walls. The insulation has also been added and i think it adds alot to the scene.



I also created a military style box which needs some work but im not sure what exactly.

[Bek]

Perhaps some logo's / text / symbols on the military crate? Wear and tear? Unless of course you want it to contrast with the age of the environment it's in.

[cruckz]

I didn't have a Computer over christmas so there hasn't been as much progress on this as i'd have liked. so the small changes that have been made are the walls, and small corridoor. I have also added some post it notes to breathe some life into the place.





THINGS STILL TO DO!

-go back into max and edit the door width as they are too wide right now
-add more grunge/ wear and tear to the door textures
-add Wires plug sockets
-sort carpet alphas out
-create more assets to fill the room:
Lamp
radiator
filing cabinet
book case
ect
-create outside environment:
Building
billboard
water tower
Lowpoly highrise
Ivy
watershader and sand for riverbank

Please Leave feedback and or suggestions of things to add!

[Bek]

Does that note in the left hand corner say "Minecraft does not get work done.." ? :P

Perhaps some posters on the wall, or they might be too contrasty.. If I was living there I would totally use the beams to hang things (drying clothes, maybe speakers or cables) from the wooden beams. Perhaps something like that? Or maybe a sculpture of an octopus wrapped around the beams? And yes door frame is much too wide.