Bergsbloss

The aim of the Bergsbloss ("Mountain Wisp") project was to produce a brief cinematic showcasing a small slice of a playable world.

The world itself was put together in Unreal Engine using 3d assets crafted with Houdini and Substance Designer. All effects (ie wisp, badder wisp, fog and other atmospheric effects) were made in-engine using Niagara.

One of my goals with this project was to develop my skillset in this workflow, so a deliberate effort was made to produce as many of the assets myself as time would allow.

WORKFLOW & PROCESS

Environment

For the backdrop environment, I generated a heightfield in Houdini and used it as a base for a landscape in Unreal Engine. A second heightfield was then generated for the actual playable slice. The in-engine images above show early concept tests.

3D assets

The various assets used to build the scene, from boulders to trees. Using Houdini allowed me to work procedurally which made iteration a breeze. Another perk was that also allowed me to experiment using RBD and other simulation systems to achieve interesting deformations and natural detail on objects, such as creating realistic rubble from master meshes.

The shale was made using a combination of mesh detail gathered through a Houdini process and a set of textures made using Substance Designer. Due to its procedural nature, this texture set saw usage with everything from shale plates to boulders.

Building the world

The Altar area transitions the scene from the barren rocky hills and into a denser environment with pronounced vegetation. To give hints of human presence and history, pillars and ruin debris are being introduced into the scene.

The Fractured Valley was a key area in the development, from lighting to vfx. This was the first area to feature heavy use of the generated assets to actually build the world, and also served as a test area for the wisp effect and the atmospheric effects.

Cave area housing the nigthmare wisp. The nightmare is a Niagara effect with several emitters working together in a blueprint to form an evolving abstraction.

Traversal segments to tie the main focal scenes together, using foliage sparsely and balancing the sets with vertex painted surfaces and placed trees to give a natural path feel.

As the goal was to create a game world more so than a cinematic, care was also taken in keeping the areas traversable in a game perspective.