Orrery Asset

After modelling my orrery and placing it in the level, I went back to the original mesh and decided I could improve upon it visually making it smoother whilst dropping the poly count at the same time. So for now the model has been removed from the level and will be added back in when finished.

Prototype Update w/Lighting

With my placeholders into my prototype I went back to look at the environment as a whole. I wanted to make some decisions on the final shape and size of the building, as well as how I was going to create the architecture.

I'm going to change the roof in the bedroom and raise it up to add some more height to the room. For the architecture I will be building the main walls with the UDK brush. I will then be modelling in the extra architecture, like wooden beams and windows and adding them in later. This gives me more control over how the building will look and will allow me to make a variety of beams instead of it being one standard straight wall. It will also allow me to have much more control over the textures.

I decided to shrink the size of the Pantry. For a room that's going to hold the food for one person it's going to need to be stocked but there is no need for it to be as large as it was.

After deciding on how I'm going to create the architecture, I moved onto creating slightly more realistic lighting, rather than having a basic light lighting it all. I created a light for the candles, lamps, and then lighting that would be coming in from the windows. After moving the lights where I wanted them, I liked the basic positioning of the lighting. However the brightness of the lights seemed slightly bright, and the falloff was too short, this left many areas rather dark. I need to go back and alter the lights. When doing that though I need to think about the light and colour that will be coming from many of my assets. With the variety of potions and magic that will be scattered all over there will be a lot of emissive lighting coming from them.

Placeholder Assets

I began to create placeholder assets for many of the objects I would be using in my level. These will be added in my level to represent where my final assets will be placed. As the final assets are completed I can then easily switch them out with the placeholders into my level.

Once I added the placeholders into my level I began working on one of my "hero objects". This would be an object that would really stand out and be the unique centerpieces for my environment. I made a list of the "hero objects" I will be having in my level:

Alchemy Table
Orrery
Fireplace
Stove/Oven
Chessboard
Telescope

I have structured this so that each room will have 2 Hero Objects.

The first object I began to create was my orrery. I knew I wanted it to be a very spectacular model visually, including having the planets rotating around the sun in the centre. To add some magic and fantasy to the object I want the planets to look like physical planets, and the sun will be a physical ball of fire, rotating in the centre. This means that not only will the model look unique, but it will look extremely colourful and stand out to the viewer.

Orrery

Sample Building Textures

The next step for my level was to add a bit of colour. This would help me understand how the environment would feel and what materials the walls and floor would be.

I decided on having the floor made out of stone, as this would be a good foundation for the house to built on. I knew I wanted my environment to be a shack, as most shacks are made out of wood, it was obvious what I would be using for the walls and the ceiling.

EDIT: After much consideration, I believe that I want the main structure of the building to be made from a stone/clay material. Then I will have support beams and extra features made out of wood.

Alchemy Table Prototype.

With the prototype made I then looked into some of the objects I would need for my level and decide on the most important ones. The Alchemy table was going to be one of the key objects within my environment so I created a simple object to place into my level as a placeholder.

Alchemy Table Placeholder

Start Prototype Level

The first step in creating my environment was to create a prototype level in UDK. I began by building the three rooms I would be needing to a rough size that I wanted using the standard UDK brush. Once I had the rooms laid out I then moved onto creating simple boxes to represent where objects would be placed within the level.

The Pantry

The Bedroom

The Kitchen

The Study/Laboratory

Brief outline

I've started this blog to show my progress on my university dissertation project, where I will be creating a fantasy environment of a wizards shack, this will include a Study/Laboraty, Kitchen/Pantry and a Bedroom.

For my dissertation I am asking: How do our preconceptions make something unauthentic appear authentic? Over the course of the coming weeks I will be showing my progress on both assets and the environment as a whole. This is for comments and helpful feedback to help me improve my work.