FMP 17

PROGRAZES!

I talked to Bart who works at Crytek now, and seeing as i'm looking at applying i asked for some feedback and critique. It really helped me understand what i wanted to achieve and that my level needed to tell more of a story. This being the case I've decided to have it in the midst of repair and i'm looking to make the ship and harbour more interesting and have more character. I haven't had a lot of time to work on the project just a few hours here and there around work. Never the less I've managed to make cannon damage and sails, as well as a few small assets to populate the level. I used an environment probe to darken the interior more however i'm a little concerned about the amount of orange saturation its currently got.

FMP 16

Had a little break over Easter to refresh and to see the family but straight back to it today. Since my last update i've worked on creating tilling textures and implementing them into a quickly put together harbour town. I am on adding details to break up the repetitiveness and make it a little more interesting. It's acting as a nice backdrop at the moment but i would like it to be a scene in its own right.

I've worked on the lighting and adding some more focal details to various areas of the ship. Such as the metal hoop ties on the rear and the flags to the environment to add some movement and colour.

I'm pretty happy with the level of detail for some parts of the ship i just need to focus on adding little touches to parts of the ship to make it seem more grand and interesting. These could include guilding details on the back and little cherubs to denote wealth. I also need to create the front figure head and to create the ships wheel which i want to be interesting and detailed.

 The interior has changed as i have added objects and trying to focus more on creating a pleasing environment for the eye and to create focal points and details.

FMP 15 PROGRESS

More screens for this week's work, added loads of little details to bring the ship to life mainly focusing on adding some variation to colour and looking back at reference that i've taken.

Lots of work on the lower gun deck, added everything from plates and cutlery, to cannon ropes, cleaning equipment and hammocks.

Used the old door mesh rather than making a new one for internal doors throughout the ship.

Not a whole lot done upstairs other than improving some earlier texturing.

Added a separate larger row boat and support structure for it based of reference that i took at the cutty sark.

FMP VIS AREA PROBLEMS.

Tried putting in vis areas after some feedback but due to how they work and the amount of portals i had they just wouldn't work how i wanted in the transition. Because of the shape of the ship there wasn't any way to stop the popping of visable areas and even after i had multiple meshes the level wouldn't save the changes and this would leave my ship being invisible. I'm now using inverse lights to reduce the brightness indoors to make it more realistic. I think i will model some hammocks and some crew related items in the cannon deck to bring it to life.

FMP 13 PROGRESS

Progress for these week has been strong and the focus has been on adding some smaller rope details, working on critique given from the Polycount community and adding some of the harbour.

I've added the rope tie details this week and that was the focus for the beginning of the week, i created a set of rope ringlets that could be used around the ship and add some little details. These were created separately to the Tying rail so that i could swap out meshes and have more control for the aesthetics. As for the ropes that spurred from these locations i initially tried using rope entities. I hate rope entities. I had a lot of problems with the snapping not working and when i had finished placing a set they would later be found straddling the outer reaches of the level. Not quite sure why this happened and why it only happened to certain areas. This resulted me in having to create some static meshes that could be used for the areas that were not working to my satisfaction. I didn't get as much control as i would have wished because of this but i managed to position it in a way to show it in the best way. I had the problem that i had created to many rope ties and i wasn't entirely sure what they should do. From photos i could find of rigging it seemed some tied on to the ladder rigging and some controlled the tightness of the sails so i incorporated this into the design. I did remove some ropes as they had no purpose currently.

The railings were pulled out from the respective counterparts and used as the rope ties. I also changed the railings at the back of the ship to incorporate some details that locater16  had posted on my polycount thread. I lowered the sides and i'm going to create netting to straddle the posts as the project progresses. This will give the back a better aesthetics and interest that it currently lacks.

I've changed the cannon texture after feedback from polycount to be darker and more specular. It also has a hammered metal normal map that adds subtle detail. I've added metal to the outside of the wheel. The cannon may still require more work but for now i am fairly happy with how it has turned out.

The ship deck is looking a lot busier, this is something that i wanted from the beginning of the project, I've changed the resolution and texture of the mast so it has more pixel density. I added wood detail on the advice of Rich Cary. This has given it more interest and it isn't so uniformly red now which is much more natural and pleasing. I've also added some lanterns to the ship so i could put in some light sources and interest for the ceilings of the ship. I'm not sure if i'm happy with the final shape or texture as for now it is using a slightly modified metal texture. But for now it will remain the same, I may consider making it a different shape. It is using a cruciform to create the ambient glow and an emmisive texture to create the candle effect and the light flame. Because of the limitations of Cry i couldn't create a flickering texture or flip book texture flame as i would have in UDK but apparently i can do something similar but i have yet to research this.

I've darkened the interior space to be slightly more realistic but still light enough to see. I may create a fog volume to add some atmospherics to this. I've also added some rope piles to place around my level to break up the floor.

This week i created the harbour tie set and the wall. This swapped out the blockout mesh and allowed me to put some added decals to break up the detail. I added some high and low platforms and a walkway and stairs to navigate along the harbour. I want to add some diagonal support structure underneath to add visual interest. The harbour wall uses vertex painting to created a mossy recessed wall and a less damaged grout filled wall. I created two new decals to compliment this extension to the project. One is an algea texture to break up the transition and add some colour and another is a seaweed base decal for the lower reaches of the wall to add a black frame and rest zone for the players eyes.

FMP high res

FMP 11 PROGRESS

After feedback from Mike and Heather this week, i acted upon changing the shape at the front of my ship to be more authentic. I agree that it looks a lot nicer now and has a much better aesthetic. I had a few issue with the cry engine exporter not working as it wasn't exporting the material ID's with the mesh. I think this must have been the scene just not exporting properly any more as this had happened to a few of the other people using Cry in the third year. I fixed this by moving it to a new scene and re-exporting the mesh. 

I've done a few little changes that have really brought together the scene over the weekend. These included adding the plaque's around the ship and adding some rope geometry to break up the mast along the ship. I've added the door to the interior which I've made red to accompany the accented main mast. This has added more colour to the ship and is starting to make it seem more interesting instead of just wood and rope.

I added the ship bell to the rear section of the ship, this adds a focal point to this section of the ship that was other wise lacking any details. I've added green and gold highlights in the bell to add more colour and vibrance to match the gold plaques.

I've broken up the floor some more with some wooden slates to go over the metal grating. This would have been the method to stop water flooding the ship and it also breaks up the floor and adds some subtle details that the ship was missing here.

The golden plaque design was based upon the plaque of the HMS Surprise replica ship, using this as a template i changed some of the rear details to make it my own and had the two mermen in embrace to signify  the relevance to the ships name. Feel deep respect or admiration for.

I also worked on the interior space by breaking up the flat surfaces and tilling with supporting struts along the ceiling and along the rib cage sides of the ship. I've also added some hatches to the unplayable lower deck. This area would have been used for additional storage and possibly other areas the crew would have inhabited. For now i've blocked the rear area of the lower deck from the player to confine the playable area. This would have contained the ships galley and crew accommodation. I'm not sure if i want the top playable section to have the galley, as this would make more sense seeing as the dining room is here.