My primary focus this week was on finalizing and submitting my proposal by the deadline. I made some last-minute adjustments to its content based on feedback from my supervisor, but largely my project goals have not changed. I also polished the formating and aesthetic elements to make the document more readable and visually appealing.
With my preliminary research and sketches done I began blocking out the layout within Unreal Engine 4. Even with most of the design figured out in advance I still made adjustments once in the engine as I began to get a better feeling for the scale of the environment. One of the main things I wanted to consider as I did this was how the structure would actually be assembled both literally in terms of the assets I would use and thematically for the type of structures I am referencing. Once blocked out with basic shapes I exported them into Maya to create assets more indicative of what I wanted the final design to be. I then began to consider what form the exterior elements would take.
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| Outside shot of environment blockout |
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| Outside shot of a second iteration of the environment blockout |
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| Outside shot of a third iteration of the environment blockout |
While It is too early to start getting deep into lighting I do want to consider how the scene will be lit and what I want to achieve with that lighting regardless. Monster Hunter: Worlds environments are predominantly lit with "natural lighting" what I intend to emulate to the best of my ability. However, these areas need to be lit to a degree in which a player could navigate them comfortably.
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| Interior shot of environment blockout with basic lighting, likely to dark at this point. |
I have been experimenting inside World Machine, looking at real-world references I iterated on several different types of terrain. Right now I am looking at terrain for the building to be set in but later in the project, I hope to use in the far distance to create a better sense of place.
