The Floating Temple

I got the first area of the environment to a point that I can show, the first image is with grass that I made, the second with the hair emitter. I like the second much more just because of the amount. Will continue working till I'm happy with this area.

So I got inspiration for one of the plants in the environment from the shrub "Crataegus cuneata", a plant that is also used for bonsai trees, giving the inspiration for making a small plant.

The first concept for my Floating Island creation, the plan was to have multiple islands connected by suspension bridges. The trees would be homes to those living within them.

I ended up creating and trying this in blender, even adding a mountain to try and make the background a bit more engaging than just four floating islands but it still wasn't enough for me. How did the people end up living there anyways? I couldn't figure out a way that would make sense for these small islands to allow the suspension of disbelief, it was too out there for me. So, back to the drawing board.

My amazing second rendition of the Floating island piece. This time adding in one massive island as the central piece with the smaller islands floating around on the outside, linked by vines and vine rope. a ladder is strung down to the earth below, dipping below the blanket of clouds to create a bit of mystery. Where does it go? Who put the rope ladder there? A statue is nestled into the top of the mountain along with stairs and ruins that lead up to it and accompany it. I was much happier with this concept so I got to work.

I started with creating the mountain and the path leading up to the statue, then the stairs and trying out sculpting for the first time (really fun by the way). The trees were a low-poly alternative to what I ended up going back to in the last picture listed. The draw back is that the trees don't cast interesting shadows and instead are just big globs of green. Something I need to figure out is a tree that looks good but also doesn't crash my already sluggish PC. The foliage is coming along well too. Next, I will be working on finishing the Island piece of the main mountain, making it appear more like its floating.