dagm_tsegaye’s submission — VIKING VILLAGE: 3D ENVIRONMENT ART CHALLENGE

Workflow and Final Render

General Workflow
For props requiring sculpting such as statues, tombs or totems I followed this step:
Blockout done in Blender, detailing in Zbrush (patterns or rune carvings done in illustrator), then I used Zbrush's decimation master to get it optimized, texturing done in substance painter.

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There are props made using sculpted props with trim sheet based props.

And there are props specifically made by reusing already existing trim sheets.

Creating the tatch and other foliages.
I've adjusted the normals to avoid ugly shadowing using Blender's normal edit modifier.

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Wireframe
Black Smith Hut

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Foliage

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Rocks

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Norse props for more story telling

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Townhall

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Weaponry

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Textures and Materials
Textures

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Materials
I've made basic shaders with Vertex paint alternate of it's self to overlay moss or dirt. And another for exterior ground. I've also made another shader based on the base shader to overlay color variation using a mask.

The unique shader setups are fabric and foliage. They both have opacity masks and wind attenuation control using a mask, but since foliage has Subsurface scattering I had to split it into a different base material. Here is a close look of the material and mask setup for

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Base material with overlayed details based on mask:

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Detail Lighting

Beauty Renders

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Conclusion
Here are somethings I wish I could've added to this:

• Practice dummy- an army against dragons, should have a small practice area and whats better than a practice dummy?
• More unique weaponry, such as archer tower or bow with large weapons. It's a fantasy it'd have been very cool to have these.
• At the moment I simply used a generic tree bark texture I found from free sites, I wish I sculpted it since it looks flat at the moment.
• Adding detail to the modular wooden walls of both the black smith and the town hall. I could've used floating edge decals/planes to add edge wear to them, instead of depending on an expensive shader (parallax occlusion). But I still can't fingure out how I can maintain the detail in the middle of the wooden planks with out using parallax effect.
• More narrative items. The last minute addition to the scene could've been better explored (IFF it makes it to final submission). What I had in mind is, an army living there, mines the bones from the dragons they've slayed. Hence the color of the bone marrow matching the flames and the emission from the totems and tombs.

The reason I wanted to make a large scale environment was to practice modularity, the bigger the scale the harder it is to resist the urge to create more props. By constraining my self to few props, I wanted to test my self on how I can follow modular workflow. Creating variations, reusing assets and making them look different.
Which I did, but it opened my eyes to where I should focus and improve and I appreciate what I got out of it.
Thank you again, for creating the opportunity to show case our my work to the badass vets.

Update on props and dressing (Not final)

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Created a new moss material, and overlayed it on top of the rocks for a bit more physically accurate look.
Changed tree bark texture.
Dressing and texturing update for props to add more story.
So, instead of having the bones laying around, why not have the marrows mined?
The village settlers mine these dragon bones for forging their armory (Hence the blue flame) and strengthening their spells (why the tomb and totel are glowing).

Shields for repair, back from battle.

Adjusted composition, reduced some clutter

Yes, I'm leaning into the fantasy genre of the environment!

Next, final presentation and clearer workflow explanation.

Dressing and Foliage update:

I chose to create mountain top plant, a typical one is a pine tree. I felt like it's over done, so I proceeded to looking up pine trees with interesting forms and leaves. I found a scrub pine tree which is found in europe and japan and it fits the mountain top look.
Here is what it looks like and how I made it:
Rerference

What I made

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Moss and Grasses

Prop and dressing update

I've added some tombs, totem, black smith table, flags, chains and hangers to add a bit more depth to the environment.
Flag Fabric
Used substance designer to create flag atlas. I've tried capturing possible details, reused pattern alphas for details and used a color that could help them pop out a bit while still complimenting the environment. I might change up some colors but I'm overall happy with how they came out.

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The chains and hangers are all made from the metal and/or wood trim sheet I've made for modularity.
Totem and Tomb

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Update on props and dressing

I'm aware it's an ambitious project therefor I have to create props quickly and import them into the engine to see how they look in the environment. Once I figure out what I think works, I'll proceed to detailing the prop.
I haven't been updating much and explaining the workflow in detail, BUT I'm hoping to do that later once the workload has died down.
Here are the props I worked on this week:
Weapon shelf

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Tatch roof

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Barrels and Bucket
These are made using trim sheets I made for the modular kits.

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Update:
Wrapping up first pass of the hall. Created more modular kits to build up the side tower.
For the stone wall, I used blender displacement and decimation modifiers for a detailed looking wall for the tower base.

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I've also created a super material for the mossy ground. Took a whole day but totally worth it since I can make a flat dirt floor up to a fully mossy floor while still playing around with exposure for both ground and pebble count.

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The floor got very flat so I had to make floor level variations. Therefore, I've made these curvy rock masses for a highland and unique looking scene.

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I've also applied some vertex paint to the hall roof.
Since I've used parallax occlusion shading, height map helped make the meshes high poly. There are some large parts still requiring dressing or maybe modeling, but the trim sheets are coming in SUPER handy.

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Modular Townhall walls:
Just created half of the modular props for the exterior. Tested out what the look can be in UE:

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I'll continue working on the roof and the rest of the modular parts for the townhall next and wrap it up as soon as possible to create filler props such as foliage, props around the townhall, decals and landscape variations etc...

Update-Some hero props

While still planning mod kits and assessing time, I've started working on some of the hero props that will for sure be in the scene.
This is first pass look to test out if they have proper texel density and decide if I need to change my workflow.

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The Stairs will have another pass for a more detailed looking stone.

I have used adobe illustrator to recreate some patterns and symbols I found on good.
I've also proceeded to creating a damage variation that I can vertex paint into the main hall exterior floor.

Speaking of vertex paint, I've also created a wood base for the roof tile shingle material.

Here is how the scene is looking at the moment.

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Update- 3rd pivot on the scene and asset creation of the weekend

I've decided to focus on main parts of this village. This is considering if the deadline is close and I won't be able to be done with the scene. So far I've identified the Townhall and skeleton are important and the diorama focuses on them. I'll keep adding assets as I go. Such as carts, axe stacks, shields, torch etc...
I've also done a first pass for some assets, such as the roof tiles, the horn and wall material. And here is how they look.

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I coulnd't decide on the material of the roof (I'm probably going to choose the metal) shingles. And I also decided to create one of my favorite and fun asset in the scene; the siren horn.
Next up: I'll move to working on the modular kits for the wall, they're already blocked out but it's a matter of detailing them.
Needless to say, the weekend was great!

Update

After beating down my ego (it was hard, didn't know it worked out!) I've decided to reduce the amount of props I'll have to create. I've re-arranged the environment so it can focus a bit more on few themes. The tavern, the healing hall, mountain cliff wall and some smaller props will not be included anymore. Here is a shot of the new orientation and list of props I'll be working on.
Right now, I think it's much easier to digest the environment.

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Update on Blocking out

The shapes are reading well in engine and the block-outs now have a clearer direction for the details they'll have. There are a lot of mod-kits that could be shared through out the whole environment. But I've reached the sad realization that I won't be able to finish this, in time. I really like the idea. I'll see if I can cutout some items and compress the project a bit better so I can make it to the submission date. It might be a huge cut since the estimation is the BEST time possible and I'm not too enthused about that either.
Nevertheless, here is breakdown I've done to reach this conclusion.

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I'm in for fun, I might commit to it.
I'm not sure.
I definitely got too ambitious.

Update on Blockout

Since I don't have a concept of my own, I had to photo/concept bash props of my own. This will help me see scale, noting down parts that can guide where details will be, choosing between unique textures, trim sheets (which I'll depend on for the most part) and tiling. I know I'm stating the obvious, but since I don't have a specific concept to recreate I think it'll justify the steps I'll be taking later.
The next step will be taking a little time to see where trims work best than unique textures, decals, etc...this will not only affect my texture count or the shader complexity etc..., but it'll also affect my scheduling. I'll also dive into gathering more specific references for foliage, ground and micro props to really ground and give life to the environment.
For now, this is what I have planned as a concept for the shape and block out for the shield village. There is also a compiled final references of concepts I used. God of war concept arts are frequently used as reference, since I'm going for a fictional, fantasy based environment....they did an amazing job.
So tag me inspired and ready to embarrass him self.

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Village Layout Blockout

I've laid out a rough estimate of how the village's layout would look.

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I'm still not sure how I can fit the gears in the village. Their purpose is to raise shields and to control water flow from the mountain. This is for sure will be subject to change in the coming few days of the week.
Next, I'll be blocking out each building type I'd want in the village. Then I'll proceed to roughly blocking them out, to estimate how my trim sheets and mod-kits will be created and to check if I've missed anything.

Dragon Shield Viking Village

A village located at the highest mountain, is on an outlook to defend the islands settlers. This will be in the context of a fantasy world, so expect some mythological and realistic looks merging.
Here is what the scene will include

• Town Hall

  This town hall is located against a mountain wall.
  The building will feel more angular and bigger in scale to distinguish it from other buildings.

• Healing Hut

This is their hospital. It'll be surrounded by some herbs and gems used in the recovery process of injured settlers and soldiers.

• Settler and Soldier Huts

These will be used as fillers, and they share a similar look.

• Black Smith

These will be shorter and some even dig into hills to preserve expensive weaponary from being damaged during dragon raid. Since it's a look out village, it makes sense they treasure their weapons.

• Training Area

Located close to the black smith zones.

• Tavern

This will share a similar look to healing huts, but they're smaller and they're decorated with the bones and furs of the dragons they've slayed. It's a way of showing bravery and since it's being used on a tavern it's suppose to show their pride in it.

• Mart

These are small building selling different goods such as fish, meat, bread, pottery etc... ofcourse not all will look exactly the same, they'll look a little different based on what they're selling.

Name: Dagmawi Tsegaye
Country: Ethiopia
I have read the terms and conditions, I guess I'm just having fun. ¯_(ツ)_/¯