Gringotts Bank

For the final module of my first year at Falmouth University; I had to make a shop in the style of Diagon Alley, from Harry Potter. But I had my eye on grander things. Gringotts, the wizard bank! Aint no safer place, not one, 'xcept, perhaps, Hogwarts.

This project allowed me to use all the techniques I've learned since beginning my journey into Game Art in September of last year. 

I decided to use the Escape From Gringotts ride (picture on the left) as a reference as there were more photos online. I then used Vertex Painting to create puddles, and a simple Niagara Particle Effect with the goal of making the scene feel more like an old, Victorian street.

I have used a HDRI found on Poly Haven and the dragon animation was made by a fellow Falmouth Student, Sofiia Nikonova. All models and textures have been made by myself.

Of course, Gringotts wouldn't be complete without a dragon! Which was very kindly animated by a fellow Falmouth Student, Sofiia Nikonova.

The main teaching point of this module was the importance of optimisation through reducing draw calls. So my focus was on creating assets that could be reused multiple times, learning the Unreal 5 Material Editor to create a variety of effects out of a limited number of textures and creating a trim sheet which could be used to build almost the entire building.

In the end, I got it down to two trim sheets and three tileable materials. (excluding hero assets)