Birdhouse Garden Environment wip

[orionburch]

Made in UE3 -

~120,000 polys -

500,000 max polys -

128x128 up to 1024x1024 tex sizes -

This is a portfolio environment I'm working up for class. It's a Whyoming gorge with garden terraces and birhouses. Eventually there will be a land bridge in the middle with a dwelling. -

I have about four weeks left on this project, but I'm looking for any and all feedback. -
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Thanks!
-Orion

[IamWhack]

The birdhouses seem a bit bland. Aside form that it looks pretty good.

[TychoCelchuuu]

It seems like the ground ought to be distressed or the rocks ought to be dirty where they go in to the ground, but I have never been there in real life so it might be fine.

[doylle]

I have mixed feelings about the scene tbh.

At the one hand it looks very empty. It could definitly use more stuff in the environment itself. I know you still have to add stuff, but more fooliage (maybe different kinds), more props. The scene hasn't got a well-defined function atm. I think it would improve the overall look and feel if it had. (even if the function/theme was just "forest" or something like that, but hen you have to make it look like forest...)
I hope that wasn't to confusing

But on the other hand, i realy like the texures you used in the scene. I think those rocks look great. I alos like that three alot (the one you can see in the upper left corner in the first screenshot.) Any chance you can give us a short walk-through about how you made this? Looks interesting...

and finaly, can we get a wire-frame shot?

cheers

[Feld]

it looks like the tree is floating?

[master_f]

wow thats damn hot :O
i really like the style

but bout the stairs, i woulndt want to walk over those, i mean, they look good, but they arent connected with each other so that doesnt look very stable, or the poles have to be really deep in the ground

it would be cool if you could cover the whole area with foliage, especially at the edge of the rock and grass so the edge isnt so obvious

anyway, lookin forward for upadtes

[Thonz]

Is it in Roboblitz?

[orionburch]

Thanks for all the support and critiques, guys. To answer a few questions:

-Yes it is in the pre-gemini build of UE3 that ships with Roboblitz through steam : )

-Rather than pre-define a known theme I like to work with environments that define their own functional style through buildup. There is a purpose to the level, and as soon as i get the land arch and dwelling in it will hopefully become more clear.

-The environment is far from done, and eye-sore details like the rock meeting the ground, and a lack of variation in plant types will be fixed before the end.

-I'd be glad to do a walkthrough, although right now I can't say I know when I'll have time to do it. When the environment is complete, maybe I'll make a few specific tutorials about making individual aspects of the level.


Sooo here's another quick update, although I'll be working on it more tomorrow (hi-rez at the bottom):

I got the standing gardens in and fleshed out the birdhouse population on the terraces. : )









Those flowers on the standing gardens aren't casting quite like I want them but I think I know how to make it work. And lastly, I thought I'd post some wireframe shots, although at this point they might be too cuttered to really make anything out. Either way, this is a good presentation of the complexity:





Like before, here are the hi-rez links:

http://www.nickelcadmium.net/show/5-24-07_1.jpg
http://www.nickelcadmium.net/show/5-24-07_2.jpg
http://www.nickelcadmium.net/show/5-24-07_3.jpg
http://www.nickelcadmium.net/show/5-24-07_6.jpg
http://www.nickelcadmium.net/show/5-24-07_4.jpg
http://www.nickelcadmium.net/show/5-24-07_5.jpg

How's it looking thus far?
-Orion

[StefanH]

nice work

critique:
- texture resolution too low on the rocks or stretching, cant really tell.
- I don't like the fact that its all surounded by rocks. I think it would add a lot believability to the scene if you add some more elements for the level margins. Like a cliff, a fence with some wide view behind it. Add some more space.
- add transition from grass to rock with vertex color blend or something alike

[urgaffel]

To add to what StefanH said, maybe you could open up one side of the rock to water. A drop and then water or just a nice view. Also, how many lights do you have at the moment? There seems to be blue and red lights in there that tint the rocks a lot and it doesn't really add anything in my opinion. I look forward to seeing this progress.