Posts by PaulH

You actually made me Google the visitor's center to see how feasible that was, however it doesn't seem like there's many shots taken of the outside, possible because it the movie is mainly set inside it. I think I'm going to stick to my plan of just making the car and a couple of other little props for a scene set around the car, then I'll move onto some environment stuff (not JP related )

This week I've been looking at subtle curves and differences between my model and the reference, based on points raised on the Polycount boards. I bought the windshield forward, curved it length-ways and upwards at the base, rounded off the sides of the vehicle, the bonnet and numerous other subtle tweaks. Thickened up and adjusted the front bumper too and bent it out of shape a little so it didn't look so straight. Also I modelled some new tyre treads based off the Goodrich All Terrain tyres linked to in this thread.

Still need to make new rims and haven't got round to adding windscreen wipers and all those other details yet. Renders still need work too

[Blocked Image: http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/7329/newer1.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/4711/newestwire.jpg]

Thanks, yep the tyre treads have been on my list to re-do since I made them, they were just a first attempt. Making some better ones at the moment actually and re-doing the rims to fit the original reference too, will post some updated renders this weekend hopefully

Updated original images to add perspective. Shadows are a bit blotchy in parts but i need to look into better rendering anyway

I have I'm re-rendering using a camera perspective at the moment, will update the images in a few minutes when done

You mean why did I render in the perspective viewport? I'm a noob I'll render using a camera for the next batch

Hi all

So this is something I've been working on for the last few months. By profession I'm a games and level designer, however I learnt 3D Max at uni and made a couple of small (crappy) props back then, after which I went into a job at Codemasters for a few years where I used Max to make racing game tracks. I've now decided to focus on crafting a proper model, for almost the first time I guess. Given how I like to tie my work into movies I decided to create the Jurassic Park Ford Explorer and set it in a JP inspired Cryengine scene, along with a couple of other props. One of the references for the car (not the scene) is below

[Blocked Image: http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9903/jurassicparkexplorer.jpg]

During the course of this project I hope to learn about quite a few new processes, including proper modelling, unwrapping, texturing (something I've not done much at all, I've just bought a graphics tablet for this purpose) and new lighting techniques within Cryengine. I don't however know if I'm creating a low poly or just a high poly though, i'm not trying to be an artist after all just making a scene for the portfolio and learning some new stuff.

Currently I'm still at the stage of creating the car - it's still missing a few details and things like windscreen wipers and I need to re-do the tyre treads as the ones pictured were my first attempt and I'm not overly happy with them. I think however now is a good time to gather any feedback, before I start the unwrapping process. So, critiques welcome!

Also, excuse the renders if they're not that great, i'm new to Vray and rendering in general too

WIP Renders:

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[Blocked Image: http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5125/89403353.jpg]

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Quote

Is it so bad with a moment of actual thinking on your own - "Hm, where am I supposed to go now?"

Sort of What I think the guys did well in Crysis 1 was give the player the impression that they were in an open jungle environment which they had free roam of, but they added enough subtle visual clues to guide the player and ensure that they didn't get lost. It's not a case of adding massive arrows pointing to everything, but I think subtle guidance is important.

You mention a large dome in the background? In the screenshot it kind of blends in and doesn't stand out, maybe it's just where you took the shot from. Also if this is some kind of base you'd expect a perimiter around it, the odd fence or two, sandbags, barriers etc. That kind of thing not only helps the player make sense of their surroundings, but helps lead them to certain entry points and means you can highlight the main routes in and out of the base. At the moment it seems like a bit of a random assortment of objects scattered about, like why are those sandbags just sitting by the road? Ground the area in realism a bit more and it might help. It doesn't mean you're telling the player where to go - as long as they can access the base from multiple angles they still have the choice, you're just helping them make sense of the area.

Just my thoughts on it anyway, it's coming along nicely

Been playing it yesterday and today, really enjoyed ME2 and enjoying this one too, however there are a couple of issues that the reviews haven't seemed to pick up on. One is that there seems to be quite a bit of disc swapping, recent games have done this more cleverly in that you swap discs maybe once during a play through, however whenever I visit a different planet for a mission it seems I have to switch discs.

Also the way ME structures its journal/mission log doesn't make it clear sometimes what to do or where to go for missions, and when you complete a sub objective of a mission the journal doesn't update with the new information to let you know where you stand. I currently have a few side quests open that I'm not sure what the next step is for them. It's probably because I've been playing Skyrim recently and that seems to do things a lot better. As well as this I find that wandering past people in the citadel you hear a little bit of their conversation and all of a sudden you get a new mission to go do something for them, this seems a bit odd, you should really have to engage with those people and listen to them before they give you quests.

The cover system is a bit hit and miss, I've died a few times because approaching a wall and pressing the cover button does nothing, you have to actually look down at the wall and then press cover to crouch down behind it, sometimes it just doesn't seem to work at all during firefights and can get a little frustrating.

Apart from those niggles though, it's still ME and it's still a good enjoyable game. I've just met up with Miranda who was one of the only people I made sure didn't die in ME2. Good times.

Just finished Darkness 2, decent single player but another of these games that feel that they have to tag on a pointless co-op/online mode. Should have just made the SP longer (had to play through it twice to get my money's worth). Also a bit easy on the hardest difficulty, I guess having four arms makes you quite powerful though...

Cheers guys, got a tablet on the way

Cool stuff HP!

Couple of questions (if I can briefly derail your thread) - what do you use to do your unwrapping? I've used the Max tools and they seem over complicated compared to program's like Modo, just curious what the professionals use...

Also do you paint your textures by hand/using a tablet? I ask as I'm currently working on something myself and am wondering the best way approach it

Nice work! I remember you from Interlopers

Looking good, nice concept! I'll be following this with interest, I like the 'making of' threads

Thanks HP

@Vulture - I think i asked around here a while back about importing vegtation from CE2 to CE3 and some of the guys seemed to think that there'd be shader related issues as the shaders were all re-worked for Crysis 2. So I gave up on that and went back to CE2 for now.

Levels looking nice, is it an extension of your harbour map? I'd mix up the ground vegetation a bit on the 2nd shot also for variation

Thanks, am using it for the vegetation, there's not so much for C2

Went back to this last night to finish it off

[Blocked Image: http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/5203/31694028.jpg]

At Crytek UK the designers create the levels in the whitebox stage (and control all the game mode related stuff) at the end of which the level is functional from a design perspective but probably looks a bit rubbish. Then designers work with artists on the next stage (greybox) where the level is fleshed out and a rough art pass is done, with some basic assets being added. Then the artists take control of the level and buff it up to final art quality.

@Vulture I've only been there for 3 months, got the job last October. Good luck with trying to get an artist position

I work in the UK studio chances are they do things a bit differently in Frankfurt

It's design and level design that I said they split though, level art is normally a separate job role in the industry

The job title is Designer, meaning I'm doing game and level design, they don't split the roles up like some companies, I don't do any of the art side of things really except in my own time