3D, Environment and Material Art Collection

Project Statement

Background

Tomb of Dawn encompasses storytelling and visual communication through environment art for games. Environment artists are required to construct cohesive 3D worlds that conform to both the story’s intent and the game’s visual aesthetic. This poses a challenge for artists, whether working individually or as a team, as it can be both challenging and time-consuming to create an environment that fits within a particular style and genre. This is especially challenging for junior artists and new team members. Tomb of Dawn focuses on using advanced game art creation techniques and optimised workflows, specifically within a New Zealand context, to render a cohesive 3D environment that fits within a particular style and genre of a AAA title and was inspired by A44 Games’ upcoming title Flintlock: Siege of Dawn.

Preparation & Workflow

Both reflective and reflexive research methodologies were used throughout the project. This enabled the candidate to not only interpret practices and perspectives of industry, but consider and understand the reasons for those decisions as well. The preparation phase of the project was vital in its development and involved conceptual ideation, reference gathering and component breakdowns of those references. A time-efficient workflow, using both existing assets as well as uniquely created assets, was used to meet project deadlines and optimise output. The production phase of the project involved initial iterations of each unique asset, testing and integration of those initial attempts, followed by a second iteration where necessary. The final phase of production would require independent feedback and critical analysis of the assets for any final refinements before implementation within the environment. The primary tools used for production included the following: Autodesk Maya, Quixel Bridge, Substance Suite, SpeedTree, Unreal Engine and Zbrush. The use of procedural tools, such as Substance Designer and SpeedTree, was greatly beneficial due to their non-destructive workflows.

Project Output Summary

The final output of the project includes a cohesive 3D environment, rendered within Unreal Engine 4, that fits within both the style and genre of A44’s upcoming title Flintlock: Siege of Dawn. The intent of the environment serves not only to lead the player, but also serves to create a sense of power and suspense within the story through its design. The tools, workflows and key findings have been documented with the hopeful intention of developing both efficient and effective workflows for producing game art.

Conclusion

It can feel quite overwhelming as a junior artist or new team member to take on the task of style-matching a AAA title. The environments we see within modern games are both vast and breathtaking. Tomb of Dawn would hopefully inspire like-minded artists to hone their skills, learn new workflows, grow from the challenges they would undoubtedly be experience and finally produce a small-scale environment that they can be proud of.

Cinematic Showcase

Beauty Renders

Material Renders

Breakdown

Unreal Engine Buffer Visualisations

Final Render / Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Ambient Occlusion

Reference Gathering

Here above you'll be able to see reference images from A44 Games' upcoming title Flintlock: Siege of Dawn. Reference gathering is vital in the preparation phase of the project and can often be the difference between a good game and a great game.

Moodboard

A moodboard was helpful in establishing the tone and atmosphere that I wanted to communicate through the environment. 

Basic Concept & Blockout Geometry

Using a very basic concept, I was able to determine a general direction with regard to level design. The blockout geometry allowed me to establish scene proportions and the relevant assets I would require to populate the scene. The final design did extend beyond the concept and was varied throughout the project's duration.

PBR Materials

All materials were created in Substance Designer. This procedural workflow allowed for both a time-efficient and non-destructive iteration process. 

PBR Textures

All rock assets used were sourced through Epic's Quixel Bridge. This allowed for a time-efficient approach. I was able to collate enough assets to fill the scene with sufficient variation. To texture these assets, the mesh maps were baked in Substance Painter, after which the models were textured using smart materials I created. The use of smart materials enabled me to texture many assets within a short time-frame, while maintaining a consistent aesthetic between the assets.

Foliage Creation

All foliage was created using SpeedTree for Games. This procedural tool, again, allowed me to create multiple variations of the assets within a short time-frame and with a non-destructive workflow. Creating the trees was a particularly challenging experience that required multiple iterations to achieve my desired outcome as I had never used SpeedTree before this project.

3D Modelling

All models, with the exception of the rock assets, were created in Maya and Zbrush. Maya was used to create the initial basic geometry. These models were then detailed within Zbrush. I used alpha brushes to optimise this process. The models were then decimated for optimisation purposes.

Level Design

Through feedback and critical analysis, I was able to examine the scene and consider the intent of the gameplay as well as the story. The silhouette of the environment needed to compliment that intent. Through small adjustments I was able to create an atmosphere which communicated power and suspense, while leading the player towards the relevant objective.

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Chinese Inspired Dojo Hallway

The aesthetic of this next project was inspired by a blend of Chinese culture and a hint of science-fiction in it's semi-stylised design. The aim of the project was to create an entire scene through the sole use of PBR materials and the tesselation of them using their respective height maps. There were no 3D models used for baking throughout the project, meaning the project is purely Substance Designer created with the exception of basic meshes used for tesselation purposes. This was a great challenge and unique experience.  The final output illustrates the potential of Substance Designer as a procedural tool within Game Development.

Beauty Renders

Breakdown

PBR Visualisations

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Metallic / Ambient Occlusion

Basic Geometry

The above geometry has been tesselated in Marmoset Toolbag using heightmaps created within Substance Designer to produce the final geometric results. Opacity masks were used to create the transparent gaps between the window bars.

Colour Palette

The use of a colour palette was necessary to keep a consistent aesthetic between all textures and ultimately helped me create a cohesive small-scale environment

Dragon Scale Pillar Texture Maps

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Ambient Occlusion / Height

Wall Panel Texture Maps

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Ambient Occlusion / Height

Lighting and Ceiling Texture Maps

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Ambient Occlusion / Height

Grip, Floor and Stair Texture Maps

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Ambient Occlusion / Height

Gate Wall Texture Maps

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Ambient Occlusion / Height

Gate Panel Texture Maps

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Ambient Occlusion / Height

PBR Materials

All materials were created with the sole use of Substance Designer. The workflow involved no modelling for texture baking as the goal of the project was to produce an environment through the use of PBR materials only. This posed an interesting challenge and required advanced procedural techniques to produce the final output.

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Realistic PBR Material Creation

The goal of this final project was to create two realistic materials using advanced Substance Designer creation techniques and specifically focused on hard-surface material design. The final outputs were produced through blending multiple Substance Designer graphs together, each containing unique sub-pieces of the final result. This blending was possible through the use of material height blends that used high-contrast based masks and height maps. The outputs were created solely through the use of Substance Designer. 3D Modelling was not used for the baking of height maps or textures.

Street Beauty Renders

Street Breakdown

Street PBR Visualisations

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Metallic / Ambient Occlusion

Street PBR Texture Maps

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Metallic / Ambient Occlusion

Street PBR Materials

The process to create the final PBR Material outputs involved the blending of several unique sub-graphs within Substance Designer. This aided in maintaining both an organised and optimised workflow as complex materials can become quite overwhelming to work with. The final graph comprimised of 3 separate sub-graphs which included the following:
- A stand-alone graph for the cobblestone bricks;
- A stand-alone graph for the concrete sidewalk;
- A stand-alone graph for the metal grate.

Panel Beauty Renders

Panel Breakdown

Panel PBR Visualisations

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Metallic / Ambient Occlusion

Panel PBR Texture Maps

Albedo / Roughness / Normal / Metallic / Ambient Occlusion

Panel PBR Materials

The process to create the final PBR Material outputs, like the street graph, involved the blending of several unique sub-graphs within Substance Designer. The metal panel material was unique in light of the fact that it used the sub-graphs to add small, but high-detailed fittings between the panels. The most challenging part of the creation process involved the creation of the loose cables. These cables were achieved through the use of uniquely created curves.

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Thank you for taking the time to review my work!