Fixing a couple of things

I've not been able to post much lately due to the christmas holidays.

I've currently worked on a couple of smaller props and also tried to sort out my windows. So far I've adjusted the bars so they all align but also try and fix the arch on top. I've made some okay adjustments but I'm not totally happy with it so I'll get some more feedback when I next see my tutor.

I've not got as much as I'd like to have had done (As I expected) But I feel quite confident about coming back to uni and getting back on track.

The concept has been confusing my slightly with these windows and don't conform to the usual standards.

My latest update. Added some cups and such to the globe table. Still feel the overall environment is a little dark

Floor Texturing

This week I really wanted to get a base texture down for the main part of the floor.

I've done this again within dDo and then exported it into UE4.

I'm fairly happy with how it is so far, I still think I'll make a lot of changes to the texture over time, I think it's maybe too saturated and the gloss is a little high.

Also not sure if the space between the planks is visible enough but I'll fix that soon enough.

I also need to fix the windows as well due to feedback from Darren

Edit:

I decided not long after this post that I wasn't happy with any of this so I completely re-hauled my lighting (again) and threw in a basic mesh/texture for how I want the carpet. Still very rough around the edges but I'm getting there.

Globe Table Modelling

So far I've pretty much finished all of the structural elements to the environment so I want to move onto the much more bigger and complex assets.

The one I've been eagerly awaiting to do is the Globe Table.

I started by gathering a load of research but also looking at a very similar one that made it into the final game, however the quality difference is astounding between the concept and the final in-game asset.

I couldn't find an exact reference to the table so instead I looked into how one would actually be constructed.

This is the in-game asset

I was looking for around a maximum of 2,500 tris for this asset, I know it's a lot but I wanted a lot of detail in that center globe, so far it's just over 2,000 without some major optimization.

This asset was a lot of fun to work on and I now intend on adding in some high-poly detail

The current look of the environment 

Current Screenshot

This week I finished off my progress review but I also refined the lighting some more as well as the particle effects.

I found some nice reference when playing Assassin's Creed: Unity for dust particle effects, seen below.

End of November Progress

Since the last post I've been quite focused on AGD as we've just hit our first major deadline, luckily everything went well and I could focus on my FYP a little earlier than expected.

I'm also working towards the progress review so the next week will mainly be focused on that.

I got round to texturing the pillars inside dDo, I tried out a few methods (Also Quixel updated to 1.8 and this added a few new features I wanted to try)

I also started creating my own wood textures. From the research I've been doing I've got together a list of materials that would have been used in an environment like this and I'm building up my own material library of these materials which I've sourced myself.

An example of the 'Rustic Pine' material I created.

To add to this I've been really working in the smaller details of my blockout and importantly the walls/floors themselves. Making sure these line up perfectly and have different material IDs applied so I can import my custom materials into UE4 and use them.

I'm focusing a lot on modalirty in this level to help keep the scope down but also to reduce the time it takes to complete this project.

This week I've completed blocking out the final versions of the side wall panels and the hand-rails for the stairs. I created a modular system of wall panels that covers all the areas I need using around 6 different meshes (With the different floor heights it meant I needed a couple more meshes) These then snap together in the environment.

The modular system I'm using

The same goes with the hand rails, I found some nice 17th century examples and also found some blueprints for them so the creation of them was made even easier. I'd like to take these into mudbox and add some finer detail on the posts themselves.

Once these were added into the environment I could adjust the length of the 'stage' and match this up to the concept

Finally I've added all these elements together and refined my lighting a little, I've added in some light shafts and got the bright and dark areas roughly how I want them for now.

I've had a few issues with shadows and also my cloth seems to go luminous in the light but these are small issues I'll fix along the way. My lighting skill in UE4 is basic so the following week I'll be looking at the Unreal tutorials from Youtube and also the Digital Tutors Tutorials.

Progress Update

I've been working quite hard this past week refining the blockout and also adding in the windows so I can get some 'natural' light into the environment.

I've also been doing a lot of research as well into the different types of wood and materials that would typically be used.

I found a set of around 5 different types of wood that we're common on Pirate ships and also wood that would have been looted from others.

In the original concept art the concept artists notes that they took a lot of inspiration from pirate ship captain's quarters for the look and feel but also the materials.

This is the list I've gathered so far:

Oak (Structural)Walnut (Spanish)
Teak
Beech Mahogany
Cypress
Yellow Pine

I've also been looking into cartography for the maps used throughout the hideout. I've found a couple of nice examples from the 1650s - 1720's. I did notice however that usually there would be mistakes such as listing California as an island so I've tired to find examples of these as well.

Finally on the environment itself I lowered down the ceiling to make the feel of the environment a little more claustrophobic as well as modelling new windows and adding in a basic lighting set-up.

I created a basic glass shader then used a mask to create some dirt, this is a little extreme here just to show it off.

The low-poly windows next to the high, I'm still aiming for fairly high polycounts but I want most objects to have a highpoly as well.

Again some more window modelling, these both use the same texture map.

The current state of the environment, going to add in some textures and more assets this week.

Current update and goals

Completely forgot to update on Friday so this post is regarding last week.

The past week I've just been adjusting the blockout some more, texturing one or two assets and creating a few more. These can be viewed below.

After my meeting with my FYP tutor Darren I've got a list of goals I need to achieve by the next time I see him, these are:

- 3rd person blueprint needs to be implemented to show scale
- Flesh out my schedule a lot more
- Do a colour pass on some of the assets like the wood
- Start to set up my basic lighting rig to get an idea of the lighting

The textured cloth inside the environment, I think the bake came out quite nice on this. I want to add some overall transparency to the cloth but I'll do that when the lighting is finished.

The high-poly next to the low poly windows

As you can see I've added in the 3rd person character. I originally had my block for scale and this seemed alright but I'm not 100% sure on the scale at the moment so I'm going to get some opinions on it. It might even be a case of just lowering the ceiling as it feels really big.

Structural Modelling - Cloth and Supports

I'm not sure why I chose to do this asset first but for some reason it appealed to me as a nice asset to begin with. I've singled it out on the concept and added it below to show a comparison.

I decided to blog a little more about this because I came up with an interesting technique in creating the cloth seen on the concept.

I used the video linked below to get control of the cloth modifier (something I haven't had much success with before) and actually create something nice without having to sculpt from scratch.

Cloth Modifier Tutorial

The technique I used consisted of adding in collision objects to 1) Act as holders for the cloth to hang from and 2) To push and move the cloth to create folds.

I initially created a test cloth with the standard cotton settings but selected points on my mesh and added it into a surface group and attached it to the boxes. I then added in a second collision box to push up the cloth and create some more folds.

I've added in some images below to show how I did it. I then created a final version of the cloth and also used the spray selection tool to create the rough edges.

I then just used a FFD modifier to change the mesh and get it suitable for what I wanted.

From here I'll sculpt in some minor details then decide if it's better to project this high-poly mesh onto a 2D plane or re-topo it and create a low-poly mesh.

The original concept next to my WIP.

Two boxes to hold up the cloth and one to pull in one side of the cloth.

The original test showing the collision objects.

Showing the selection I used on the mesh itself.

Final Concepts

I just realised I haven't really made a post with images on the concepts I'll be using for this project. Below are a number of concepts (My main one at the start) which I will be using, these were all taken from the fantastic artwork in The Art of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

These concepts really inspire me and hopefully I can do them justice throughout this project.

The main concept I'll be using.

This will be used as reference for the windows and lighting.

Again another lighting and asset reference.

More great reference to base some of my assets off.

All of these pieces are available in The Art of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

Project Proposal

As a requirement for the module I have to submit a project proposal consisting of any technical details of the project along with any previous pre-production or research we've done into the project before hand.

In mine I've talked about how I intend to implement this environment into a current-gen game engine such as Unreal Engine 4 and what programs I intend to include in my pipeline such as the Quixel Suite and Mudbox.

Included also is the project schedule where I've gone into detail where my individual milestones are and what tasks should be started at what point but also where my other modules will fit into my schedule.

Link to proposal:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrmr9lwfvguqydp/L1050085_Rumsey_Chris_Proposal.pdf?dl=0

Initial Blockout

I started work on the initial block-out over the weekend. I wanted to get a rough idea of the size and scale of the environment so I can move onto a proper asset test.

I also brought this into UE4 to match up the scale next to a first person character. The game itself is 3rd person however I was looking at it from a 6ft character height and also the view of the camera which I would use to generate my screenshots.

I did however encounter one issue, this was to do with the units in Max. In UE4 the unit size is now 1 unit = 1cm therefore I changed my units in 3DS Max to reflect this.

However I didn't realise I also needed to re-change these settings in the .FBX export box as for some reason this doesn't reflect the unit setting you have set up in Max.

Therefore I ended up with a tiny environment into UE4 but after re-exporting and changing the units inside the FBX it was all fixed.

First test of the blockout

Added in the supporting beams and other structural elements

Mindmaps

At the start of the project I created a mindmap to work out all of the ideas I had in my head which would result in my nailing down an idea quicker.

I looked at the pros/cons for my concepts that I found but also looked at engines, new programs and any gameplay elements that I wanted.

I recently transferred this into FreeMind and can be viewed below.

After this I've created a more detailed version after I chose the concept art piece I want to work from.

There were a few areas that needed looking at such as what would be outside the windows and would anything be visible by the player?

Other things such as organizing the assets and the reference used was also considered.

Quick Update and Pre-Production

I haven't been able to do to much on this project without being signed off by my supervisor.

So far I've been gathering some more reference on Pintrest as well as learning some new software such as UE4 and the Quixel Suite.

For this I'm looking at adding in the PBR workflow to my pipeline.

I've also started layout out my environment from a top-down perspective just to get a feel of how big it should be. I have decided however to pull in the far walls a little so not make this environment too big but still maintain the depth seen in the concept art.

Quick layout drawing for the environment 

Original Ideas

Since the end of my second year I've been hard at work looking at different ideas for my Final Year Project. I've now decided to start updating this blog with my progress.

Here is a document I created detailing all the original ideas I have for the project. These have been sent to various tutors at University.

I don't want to progress too much over summer without full approval of my tutors but I do want to select one idea I like and then progress that a little further by completing the pre-production part of the project.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/du95r10619pwze8/Chris%20Rumsey%20-%20FYP%20Ideas.pdf

Initial Reference

18/08/14

I've just created a new board on Pintrest with the reference I've been gathering over the last couple of months.

So far I've settled on the idea of the Pirate Cabin from the concepts found in the Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag art book.

http://www.pinterest.com/chrisrumsey93/final-year-project-referenceinspiration/