WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

[The Vulture]

Okay, so... better or worse? I always seem to find something to adjust, but I can't work on it the entire night.

[sarge mat]

Map for a uni assignment. Feeling quite happy with it but there is still loads to do. Quite a bit if empty space and some dodgy parts. Going to add rain if I can make it look good enough too.

One good thing about uni is we have testing seasons so its easy to get loads of people to test it for you.

Also remember that map river crossing, well its still coming I just re-started it.

[ElectroSheep]

The ceilling on the 3rd screen looks flat. it should be cool to make something instead of that.

[Skacky]

The Vulture: I liked the first shot more, but they're both fantastic.

[dux]

Some ideas.

[PogoP]

Here are those 2 environments I've been working on for uni.

The first is a handheld games environment for the DS:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7557268/Handheld/scene_redux4.jpg

And it's texture maps:

The second is that post apocalyptic environment. Been adding loads more props and generally making it look more lived in. Still got lots left to do!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7557268/Advanced%20Modelling/environment_test_shot2_1.jpg

Got so much left to do, and I'm going to be working on 2 more environments over Christmas. Wow!

Edit - Forum hasn't re-sized the images. Click the link below them or copy+paste the Image URL to view them properly.

[sarge mat]

Some ideas.

Thanks! Will get on that over the weekend.

[KungFuSquirrel]

Okay, so... better or worse? I always seem to find something to adjust, but I can't work on it the entire night.

A few absurdly nitpicky thoughts, as this is a neat scene already... As best as you can depending on the setup, I'd match the haze on both planets so they look like you're viewing them through the same atmosphere. Seeing one planet appear darker and more clear than the other gives the impression that they're within the atmosphere. Might not hurt to shrink the smaller one even further; you don't need to go to realistic scale (where it'd be just a tiny speck in the distance), but it might still help to make the sizes a bit more extreme. Maybe shift it more to the left, too?

I'd also look at the rings. The ring itself is weird; it looks like an additive texture on a ring when it really should be taking light and shadow from the sun and planet, respectively.I'd consider tilting the rings to be non-axial, maybe closely mimicking the rock arch on the right. That also should give you the opportunity to get some light casting on them, then get the rings fading out as they fall in the planet's shadow on the right side.

http://www.spacetoday.org/images/Saturn ... _07_04.jpg is good reference for the way that the rings interact with the planet lighting-wise.

Also, I think you absolutely nailed the terrestrial elements at the bottom. But the birds could maybe be re-framed for better effect. Maybe lower to the rocks on the right, maybe flying toward the sun through the gap at the bottom? It's kind of an awkward clump right now and gets in the way of the planets a bit.

The second is that post apocalyptic environment. Been adding loads more props and generally making it look more lived in. Still got lots left to do!

I think your barn and barn texture is letting you down here. The main chunk of the scene is gorgeous, but you've got some really bumpy and rough normals plus not a lot of breakup to the shape. I think a smoother texture with a little more structure on the front could be a real winner. Still, great work; the scene has come a long way already

[Mr. Happy]

MY GOD THE NORMALS, THE NORMALS!! That barn looks like it's made of wax

[PogoP]

It's not the normals, it's the weird lighting combined with the overly bright specular. The normal map isn't very intense.

It's fixed now anyway.

Maybe be a little more... constructive with your feedback.

[Mr. Happy]

Well let's see, the color variation in the barn looks more like camo than different boards having different amounts of weathering. Do the color variation per board. Also I think if it was weathered the red would be a little paler, not pale, but paler. Also I think you should darken the barn area so there is more contrast with the fireballs and with the light above the doors. About that light, an oil lamp sitting on some crates might be more appropriate. You could also have some hay barrels, broken farm equipment, or something else besides the tires to break up the line where the building meets the grass as the tires are flat, dark, and therefore blend into the background.

The barn door has no visual seperation or any kind of shape to it and the arrangment of the boards to indicate doorness: it looks like an extruded section of wall. Maybe use an X arrangement on it and trim on the edges. The hinges melt into the wall and are hard to see.

The lighting on the right silo has a blue tint to it in the center of the highlight that looks weird. Also it has a secondary tube shape coming down the side that doesn't reach the ground...not sure what that is but maybe have it's mouth angled towards the camera. The lightness of gravel might looks nice on the road.

All in all it's a nice scene but I think the barn is weird looking regardless of the spec map. Maybe post a new screen.

Oh one last thing, the top window of your barn would be more interesting as a door as they are used for loading/unloading hay barrels. They also have a small crane arm with pulley often.

Look at the wood on this barn:

[PogoP]

Awesome feedback, thanks Mr Happy. I'll look at everything you've said. Cheers!

[AlexM]

That NDS environment is looking really sweet Pogo. What is the triangle count?

[Mr. Happy]

Glad it helped sorry I didn't give better before.

@The Vulture didn't see your update before, looks great man. Perfect!

[Lunaran]

Okay, so... better or worse? I always seem to find something to adjust, but I can't work on it the entire night.

Other planets are behind the atmosphere, and are lit by the sun.

So, the small moon should not be any darker than the sky around it, or else it looks like it's somewhere up in the air at cloud level - it looks like it's occluding some air, instead of being behind the air entirely. Spaceballs-vacuum all the atmosphere off the planet and that moon would be a crescent against a black sky, right? So when you pour it all back you should only have that crescent behind the blue. The ringed planet does this well, but the moon doesn't. Neither of them should have fresnel terms like this, either - they don't look like the light on them is coming from the star. They'd both just be slender crescents against the black.

That ring? cosmically, rings are paper thin, so it won't be lit around the rim like a saucer - the whole thing will be lit like it's wax paper, glowing, and not like it has thickness. I think that might just be where the sky clouds overlap it, though, that makes it look that way, so I could be wrong on that part. But, where the planet's shadow crosses over it, it won't glow at all - you want this but you have this.

uh, thus ends today's lesson :science: