The Result

Evaluaiton and Thoughts

                      So this was the outcome, I started out with a much larger vision in mind and maybe even more dynamic but time really got the best of me with this project. I also realised that this level could have been more interactive for the play and maybe better thought out in terms of setting. That being said I am happy to actually complete a large project such as this, 3 months is far too long to do one project and I did loose interest in it at many stages.

I learned tons about engine work and how important refference can be, especially in a situaiton like this when you are making something that pretty much exists in the real world. If I were to change anything I would definitely spend some time working out how to make puddles and cubemaps, I think that would have added to this level greately but I did not plan well enough to fit it all in.

Though I achieved what I set out to in a general sense, I think my work ethic can improve tons and doing something of this scale has definately iproved my pipeline and speed for making assets. I also wished I had spent longer on the surrounding buildings and lighting, I think maybe some more particle effects would have also brought this vision more to life but it has come to an end as it is and I will take these things on board on the next environment I work on.

Here is the finished flythrough!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xANLGxokicI

surrounding and skybox!

I managed to quickly make some tile textures and used VERY primitive shapes for the larger buidling blocks, I needed to have skyscraper's somewhere as this was meant to be Chicago, or Chicago esq.

The skybox was a pain but I soon discovered skypaint and that seemed to make life tons easier. I chose a daytime setting as I thought it would give a more natural atmosphere.

Particles and Vegetation!

 

I managed to get particles working! This was too add some life to the level, I also managed to figure out how to make haze using a refraction shader and a normal map. This meant the fire and smoke will also show some heat haze that adds more realism.

I was quite dissapointed because I had to cut back on the vegetation and didn't manage to get the foliage on the buildings but I did make some grass and tree's, using the vegetation tab I dotted them around the level and gave them a bending figure so they would sway, the results were quite promising. The grass blades were modeled using polys and not using alpha's.

decals and the small stuff

 

I added some decals and managed to churn out some small populating assets, cones, barrels, bins etc. I also made a road crossing decal, although it wasnt super high rest but paints a good overall image for the level.

The crack decals were done using crack brushes I found for photoshop and some concrete textures from the buildings were reused on the road block and concrete block.

The Vehicles

These are the final results of my vehicles, I wanted to do 3 but these took longer than expected. Although I was not completely satisfied with these results (more so the bus) I had to move on for times sake.

These were textured after baking ambient occlusions suing xnormal so this sped up my workflow, I also chose the tram from the moodboard I put together earlier on in the project, I found it to look the most interesting and it's colours really added to the level.

Buildings, and stuff

Setting up the buildings was quite a pain, as I had to make them in modular pieces to save texture space and tri's. These buildings were made based off the reference I collected from Glasgow as I though they were far more interesting that the usual industrial or office blocks.

Collisions were not working for me through 3ds max and I tried countless times, so the solution to this was just to use the cryengine collision material, I found this to be less glitchy aswel.

FMP: putting it all together

 

 

After putting what I mostly have into engine and compiling it all together, a few thoughts came to mind. Blocking off the roads will now have to be prioritized in the coming weeks and the buildings need to be textured, this is what I will be working on next. The tram can remain untextured for now.

I also need to work on foliage to add tons of green to the level, to which I will dedicate a week. At this stage (a week or two past half way) I really need to work quickly in order to finish everything. I also need to create a secondary focal point which I am considering to be some sort of military vehicle. This could also assist in a vehicle portfolio which is a bonus.

Another week needs to be given to the smaller assets, some of which are modeled. Such as traffic lights, street lamps, fire hydrants, bins, etc. Reaching this level I feel that my speed has increased and I can definitely apply it to the coming weeks as I am developing a more consistent pipeline with every asset, now it is time to really apply myself!