I've been working with an independent studio now for about 6 months helping them create their flagship game for the PC. I'm very excited to be a part of this project because it's finally allowing me to utilize everything I learned in college. I've also learned several
new techniques for getting assets into a game engine since I began working with this talented group.
First up is a series of tents I created for the courtyard portion of the level. I modeled the original in 3dsMax before transferring the high-poly mesh into ZBrush for high-res sculpting. Once that was done, both the low-poly 3dMax model and the high-poly ZBrush sculpt were imported into xNormal for texture baking. Then it was just some opacity/painted layers via Photoshop and we're ready for these to go in game!
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(Above) A simple opacity map can work wonders! |
Next up, a wrecked wagon that will also be going in the courtyard. This was was a little trickier to pull of because of the many pieces that went into it. The torn canvas was even tougher because part of the mesh overlapped the wood, so the texture from the canvas was being projected onto the wood. Again, some creative touches in Photoshop/3dMax and the problem was solved. This one's ready for UDK!
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Here's a low poly render of the wagon. The canvas on the back was overlapping the wood so I had to argue with that before figuring out the solution. |
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And here's the game ready model! |
Here's a table I created as one of my first assets for this project. It took me a while to figure out the method they used for getting the models in game, but once I figured it out... It was on! I was especially proud once I finished this one, because I knew what I was doing from here on out!
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| Alternate lighting to show off the detail. |
And now, onto the catacombs portion of our level! After some running around above ground, the players find themselves in the spooky confines of the castle prison! By the time I was finished with the courtyard assets, we were running very near our deadline for finishing. Luckily, I managed to get these finished just in the nick of time!
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| Here's a pair of benches I created. These were originally planned for the catacombs but, since they came out so well, we decided to throw a few in the courtyard! |
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| Here's a group of lanterns that will be going in the catacombs. I made a few variations... Full candle, half candle, no candle, and no wall bracket so several can be scattered on the ground in various places. We also needed them for creepy underground lighting. |
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| What set of medieval catacombs wouldn't be complete without the hay pile bed complete with ratty blanket? Actually, this one just kind of came to me. I seriously doubt 14th century dungeons has fancy jail cells like in Goodfellas! |
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| One of the final assets I created just before we wrapped the art portion of the project. I figured a set of crates would look good in a dimly lit corner. Why? Well, when the player approaches, they'll notice one of the lids is slightly open. Why are the crates filled with bones? Well, that's between me and the crates! |
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| Shortly after art was wrapped up, an emergency email was sent out by our Project Lead. Turns out, we forgot to model something for the players to heal with! Oops... So I made this simple wooden medkit and sent it in. Turns out, someone else in the group made one also! So now we have medkits that will heal different amounts... Cool things can come from a potential emergency! |
Next up, a wrecked wagon that will also be going in the courtyard. This was was a little trickier to pull of because of the many pieces that went into it. The torn canvas was even tougher because part of the mesh overlapped the wood, so the texture from the canvas was being projected onto the wood. Again, some creative touches in Photoshop/3dMax and the problem was solved. This one's ready for UDK!
