Cipher's Alley

This is the render I created for my Environments for Games course at Gnomon, taught by Jon Arellano.

One of the significant challenges I faced with this project, in particular, was composition. Urban environments lack organic forms, so I had to find a way to guide the viewer's attention and make the composition cohesive. I used wires and cables as guides, as well as contrasting lighting to emphasize the vending machine, which is the main subject.

The lighting was also somewhat of a challenge. Even though I found blue neon lights very appealing, I had to find the correct balance so I could maintain emphasis on the vending machine. The contrast between warm and cool lights helped to separate the foreground elements from the background.

I did not have a direct concept for this environment. I drew some inspiration from Cyberpunk and Sci-Fi genres, and avoided abstract elements that would make the environment overly futuristic; I wanted to maintain the filthy condition and accentuate the grungy aesthetic.

I enjoyed making the kit assets for this scene. My objective was to fill in as much of the negative space as possible; I ended up creating a wide selection of props to set dress the environment. 

All of the tillable materials were created using Substance Designer.

Graffiti decals were made from photos I've taken around West Hollywood, and concrete decals were sampled from photos of pavements and sidewalks.

This project was my first attempt at using RGB masks to blend materials.

I added curtains with parallax occlusion to the fake interiors