Formative feedback helped me to see what I could improve and refine in my project. Below is what level my work was at when I submitted it for the formative:
Character
Main room
Corridor
L room
Asset zoo
From my tutors I received a list of what was going well, as well as what I could change or improve. For example, the anatomy of the character is successful, but the texturing needed more polish. For me this meant fixing trim sheets, adding edge wear to objects and any other effects. I also needed to think about lighting as I had no sources of light. I have however already remedied this by the time I made this post. What I didn't think about was extra polishing effects like SSS on the leaves of the tree, to get a green glow from where the light shines through the leaves, or how I could arrange the brick piles in the L shaped room better. I also needed to think about the direction of the light and what it hits, as I should be highlighting the hero asset in the centre of the main room rather than objects around the edge. The final few things were to make lightmaps larger to avoid strange lighting, and to try and troubleshoot the issue with the cushion's AO.
Here are some more burners that I distributed in the L room, primarily to show off the detail of the statues better.
I also added a subsurface map to my alpha sheet. I used a bright green to get the distinct pop of colour from the leave .
The effect is much more realistic than previously, and adds a new edge to the environment.
I also tried messing around with the brick arrangements more, trying out more scattered and messed around bricks. This stopped the room from looking too orderly and open.
I also adjusted my project settings, so that the level would open up with the project rather than go to a black screen and have to be selected. This was better presentation.
I adjusted the sizes of my lightmaps for the ceiling and floor pieces, as I was experiencing strange joins when building the lighting.
The largest improvements I needed to make were on my character textures. I refined edges and texture directions, particularly with the linen textures.
I also added creases to the skirt to try and give it a softer quality.
I did broader creases at the back for the upper skirt, as well as onto the belt.
I compeletely retextured the upper skirt as I wasn't happy with how the trims looked. I redid them with thinner and more precise lines, before stamping the alpha hieroglyphs on more neatly.
Next I used smart masks to experiment with edge wear. The pharaoh shouldn't look worn out or unpresentable, but the gold should have realistic qualities. As well as this, ancient period gold was generally rougher and less refined, which these masks demonstrated well.
I did the same for the rest of the jewellery.
I took a break and edited the collisions on the water. Initially the character couldn't stand in the pond as every mesh had a collision blocking the player path. Therefore I removed collisions from the papyrus and lotus entirely, and edited the water so that I could go through it. The pond retained its collision, but was improved so that it was closer to the original mesh.
I could now explore the tiny jungle in the middle!
I also added a few more dressings to neaten up joins of modular kits parts.
After this I returned to my character and continued to use smart masking on the ares of gold.
I also applied creases to the hanging piece of decorative material, so that it didn't look so rigid.
The edges of the collar had slight leather wear applied to break up the solidity of the texture.
I deepened the creases of the sash folds.
Lastly I added a bit more mottling to the skin to create a more textured appearance.
The pharaoh's improved textures and his pose with new and improved animation and lighting help to refine his appearance in game.
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