Plants..

Ok so i got up this morning and tried to finish my "autumn hawkbit", for this I decided to only have 1 head rather than a big bunch of them to save on tris, I can easily make a couple of planes to give the effect of more heads.
I think it works quite well but the head is a bit of a letdown on this one, that is more of a texturing issue more than anything, this was mainly a test and its sucessfull.

This itself is not going to be a major asset and it wont be that large to the player.



Testing in Udk they are actually alright, that is roughly the size they will be, maybe a little smaller. I think their soul purpose is to add a little bit of colour to certain areas. Ill try some mayweed next (the white flowers).



They're alright I suppose, these would be smaller than the hawkbits but it still reached 224 triangles.

I started on the rosebay willowherb


It was going well, apart from the triangle count. Just these flowers got up to 414 tris which I dont think is reasonable for a plant like this. Only the small flowers I think should be modeled. For plants like that rosebay as they are usually in large bushes it may be wiser to make alphas. I could however continue modelling them and take snaps of them for lod's.

as obvious and as cliche as they sound I could model some poppies to throw some colour around, particularly around the little fields I am planning as they seem to go for more for that sort of ground. According to websites they bloom early-mid summer, as my season is more mid/late summer I will have to be careful with this.

Few more plants I may do.
Poppies



Pennywort
Milkthistle
Veronica


My Pennywort


Thistlewip


Well thats me for today I think, its been quite slow going really taking a look back but im slowly getting there. Tomorrow I think ill try and finish this thistle then maybe look at modelling some other small assets (take a break from flowers for a bit)

Bradgate n Plants

Right, yesterday I went down to Bradgate in the hope to get reference snaps of the rockey terrain and how it interacts with the surrounding foliage and ground. Now obviously it still is winter at the moment (in photos it looked more like autumn) so it wouldnt technically be what I would use for my project but even so I thought it would help my design processes. Also popped over to Milton Mowbrey which had a little park but to be honest It wasnt all that useful.



Also went to a spot called Borrough Hill which was originally a hill fort, now only seen as the highest point in Leicestershire. Only the terrain remained.



Interesting imagery which ill no doubt use later on.
Today my plan was to try and model a few plants as i had never done them before. I will explore different ways of doing them. While in games you mainly see them as alpha planes but I would like to experiment with other ways.

Now I am by no means an expert on the various flowers that ill be doing in this level, my mother on the other hand is so I asked her to write down species which I could then look at and see how they are. (species present at summer/autumn).
Before I begin I will look around on the net and see what they look like! Flowers are not going to be my main focus in my level but little clumps of them with the various colours will aid artistically as well as realistically.

Dog Roses (ref from google search)

Managed to get a couple of shots of the leaves and the stem, didn't realize these had thorns also but.. they are roses after all.

Rosebay Willowherb


Codlins and cream

Bulrush/Typha


Oki ill leave it there for the time being, I think for modelling ill try the codlins and cream (stand alone flowers). I have got 1 theory for more complex plants for maybe ,modelling them straight then with bones rig them so I can vary the shapes and directions.

I think for the grass I will use alphas definatly but for the little plants an actual model may be good practise.





Experiment 1, using the lofting technique. This would work for the smaller of the flowers, not for a huge bush. The tricount is quite high here but that plant is seen more in clumps, if i was doing a small plant this would be fine.
Perhaps if i try a bush I could still have a couple of stems with heads on I can place. The head of the plant im pleased with, it instantly looked good. The texturing for the stem doesnt look realistic though, not entirely sure why.
Anyway Ill try another test using the same plant this time I think using 2 sided planes.



This is using that technique.. Hmm my thoughts on this.. It doesn't really work in my oppinion. It looks very fake to me compaired to cylinders. Still it was worth trying even if for background LOD plants, or plants which you cannot reach.

Anyway yeah, I had a quick look around for more weed plants (sort of low to the ground ones) Things like Dandelions.

(some sourcing)
http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/H-Flowers/Hawkbit,%20Autumn.htm

http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/G-Flowers/Groundsel,%20Heath.htm



So next step will be to try and modelling specific plants

More

This is a continuation of yesterdays work
Right, today iv started by working on the terrain around the workshop logging area.
Also just changed the environment slightly so its easier to see.





Inserting my log temp asset as well as the fences but also a little hut I made where wood would be stored. Im quite liking how this is going and with proper terrain and texturing it should look quite good.
The sides of the level im picturing being quite rockey with few bits of foliage added while I don't have proper reference at the moment this is loosely based on the fable oakfield village. I will be going to Bradgate tomorrow though as I recall that sort of terrain, also ill get some snaps of plantlife and other things that may be helpfull.

I also just quickly placed my 'chicken pen' and Teapots.. (thought the teapots could represent the chickens)


Next ill place a few of my market stalls.



I did place a few at the start of the level but i decided in the end that I wanted the stalls more in the center of the settlement than crammed at the start. I mentioned in a previous post that i wanted a transition between nature and human elements, at the start will be right from the road to the settlement which will be the natural element.




Im liking how this is going, quite a lumpy terrain.



Right while testing i looked back at the start and it made me think (as I liked the view element) that after the main settlement to have a path with houses on 1 side with trees/view on the other to reinforce this. Perhaps I could have a field as part of the view.. hmm..



This is a little test based on what I thought, changed the terrain slightly and added a few more buildings and trees.

Whitebox continued

Ok well I was continue to whitebox but I was still having the problem of not really knowing what the layout would be.

This is my most recent 'completed' one



Out of the others iv done this one seems the most advanced.. BUT im still not feeling it. I seem to be in a bit of a rut, it keeps looking too big and its not really matching what I was after. I dont feel like 3dsmax is the best thing to use for terrain testing. I think now ill export each test asset and arrange in UDK as its terrain editor was friendlier to use.

Now Rather than importing each asset straight away I made myself another little whitebox but without and ground with just a few buildings.



As shown, in my head this was more the sort of thing I was going for.
And below is taking it into UDK and trying just importing and moving the terrain around.





Straight away I was happy with it as I could see it from the players perspective, I think using UDK in this fashion is the way to go but ill export each test asset individually and place them there rather than on max.

So this is a start, the skydome texture is wrong and isn't mine and I wont be using it, just needed a test so get rid of the blackbackground.

Very plain at the moment but its getting there as a whitebox!

Continueeeed..!

Thoughts for the Whitebox so far?
Well yes its going much better now but the only draw back is that its taking a bit longer than my initial tests. Terrain is difficult to work with and in my previous tests It was only along the lines of quickly place it rather than thinking of the entire thing as a whole.

Ill be working on the Whitebox again today but my thoughts at the moment are that what I have has a few too many trees. Ill continue though and see what happens, can always delete trees if im against them.

Again im thinking out loud even while trying to finish the one that I am on! But I think having the level so from the village you can see the river (or at least evidence of one)


Right my comments on this..

Right the docks at the bottom I do quite like and having a field just above it (influenced by Oakfield in Fable 2) about having it raised with a fence around it.
The level continues to go up hill into the village. As I mentioned before I think there may be too many trees, so much that they detract too much from what im trying to acomplish. Then gets to the village which is quite similar in style to my previous whitebox but.. After thinking about having the river visible from the village I think I want to stop this and try again.

What I want to acomplish:
Want to create a riverside settlement which has interesting aspecs to eventually lead the player down to the docks being the "Objective" not as a game but simply as an area to walk. I don't think it should be very forest orientated, The trees should be used to mark where the player cannot go but not done so obviously. A few should be able to be walked around.
I want the village to be self supporting for this market about having someone who works with chickens, fruit and vegetables and fish from the fishing ports. The actual village section I want quite populated with buildings and the like and have the docks quite quiet in comparison. Having it like a filter of Human,bit more natural, then completely natural (being the river at the end. I want it to be a pleasant area to walk through but not namby pamby, cuddely, cute, blegh - The main reason that I want a day/night cycle, also thought it would be quite interesting for the use of lighting and shadows.
For the most I want the buildings inaccessible though there may be a couple of exceptions. I do want a pub building somewhere in the center of town, I think that even small settlements should have a central building.

Continued

Towards the end of yesterday I was getting a bit frustrated with my progress, still the dilemma of not having much control over terrain in 3dsmax (even with that paint select tool) so I stopped and thought id try it again. Another attempt with a little more patience and to work on one specific area at a time.
In this case I started from the bottom going up.



I thought using the paint selection bit by bit is probably the way to go.
fairly quickly got it to this stage working on the dock area.



The idea of the boat house being connected from the ground going into the water area but rather than having the boathouse on 1 level, have some stairs going up to get to the proper level - might be quite interesting. Then the docks near by near a little beach where a couple of boats can be left (those not wealthy enough to have their own boathouse) As for trees around im not so sure about them but like iv seen in Fable I quite liked the idea for the area to be quite rockey with grass growing over it.



As before this will be ongoing throughout the day and hopefully ill get another whitebox made to aid in exactly what im wanting.



Bit further along..

Now While making this I decided that rather than having a huge open area to condence everything after placed, I tend to find from experience with the rooftop that more enclosed is better for the player to look around, has to have a balance between open and enclosed. While labeling this image actually I was playing with the idea of having an older unused pier and fishing hut away from the newer section. Having a difference of older and newer may be interesting to look around.

More progress..
Im still finding it difficult to control but bit by bit it shapes up.


Im trying to bear in mind to condense the area a bit, I moved the entire area forward a little distance. I want to get the sense of things being crammed in as its all they have got. In essance the boating area wont be very popular as it is mainly for the fishermen of the village but even so, trying to get the sense of them making something out of nothing.

More..more!..MORE!


For this progression I thought about having a small farm house which can own a little piece of land bringing in vegetables and fruit to the market each week. Im not sure if ill use this idea with the fruit bushes but its something to explore at least.

It Begins!

So, this is it. The official start for the final major project - Riverside settlement for me. Now I was hoping to get a few more whiteboxes done over the Christmas period but in the feedback sessions I was asked to try and enhance my rooftop and vehicle project. It taken the entire time to get them completed so didn't have the chance to continue. But I am back now and eager to continue.

My previous white boxes were done during the 'ok I know what my idea is but not really whats happening layout wise' period and I think i still am at that stage. I have a better understanding of what I want and by my 4th one it was starting to shape up.. but I still wasn't happy with how it was going.

To reiterate what i want;
A little road outside the village to start as the introduction to the level, trees towards the back of the village with gaps which allows the player to ride past and think 'Oh! whats down there then!' then a turning into the village starting with the main houses to the center full of various market stalls which the occupiers are hoping to sell.

From my research from West-stow I will not just be doing 1 of the houses but all variations if possible with the different thatching methods, but also I want to update them slightly to get out of the solid Anglo-Saxon tone and going more through the ages. There was also a workshop building at west-stow where the Blacksmiths do their work, and with that various props can be positioned around that area.

The entire village is on a sloping hill down to the river but also it will not be a regular hill but one with various forms.
A few sparse houses will be closer to the riverside with 1 small field (probably ploughed) with various agricultural tools scattered (base on the research I taken from that Art-In-Action venue) enclosed by rickety fencing.

Then the actual riverside which will have a small boathouse and a bit of a pier with various equipment used for fishing, eeling and other boating activities.

Along side all these will be a few natural props being trees, plants, animallife, produce on the market stalls and a night/day cycle looking at the different lighting styles.


Listing it like that puts it into perspective and hopefully ill be able to start another whitebox with these elements in mind and get a good layout going.




To be honest, even though I have pretty much just started this Im actually quite frustrated by my progress, I seem to be getting into that rut like with my last whitebox.
After consideration i think my issue at the moment is that as my village is quite terrain based and although I do know how to do some terrain modelling in 3dsmax I find that I don't have a lot of control over what I want. This is only the previs stage really and i appreciate that the models for the whiteboxing should be basic but I think I need to find a better way of doing it to solidify my idea.



I found a way to paint the terrain with pressure sensitivity in 3dsmax where I can change the brush size and all like in Photoshop for selecting polygons, the image above shows the greater control than what I was doing earlier.
What I did earlier was just tick soft selection and adjust the brush size, below that is a button for paint, revert and blur and in the rollout there is a "use pressure sensitivity" which makes it easier to select vertices. Below is a test result.

It would have to be done in sections though as the height is translated into 6 colours, red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue this isn't really enough for what I want. even though the control is better now, it isn't THAT good to be able to choose the colour and paint as its all dealt with pressure.