Okay, so what you're looking at is a cliifside that overlooks the ocean. Obviously, the blue is ocean, orange is cliffside, gray is ground, orange sticks are trees, the metallic looking square is a small shanty, the small cylinder in front of that is a fireplace, the red thing is a crashed plane, the large orange block next to the shack is a rock formation, and the block that looks like sand is a rocky beach area. Confused? I hope not. If not, here's the general concept of the area. Two men were flying their small plane above the coast of southern Australia when they lost control and crashed right near a cliff that overlooks the ocean. The crash was fatal for one guy, but the other survived and now lives alone, stranded and surrounded by nothing but desert and ocean. He has constructed a shanty for himself from sheet metal, as well as a small bonfire area, a grave site for his friend, and two tall light stands to help illuminate his habitat. You can see the crash site as well, which tells you that he didn't venture too far away from it. Now obviously, there are many plot holes in this story, and as to how he collected all this stuff, but I don't care. If I held back and made this totally realistic, it would be boring. He just so happens to have this stuff. Deal with it.Before I even had a theme to go by, I knew a couple things that I wanted out of this project.
1) It had to be open ended, like if you took a chunk out of the map in Fallout 3. You can look around in all directions.
2) It had to be outdoors, so that I can show my skills in making exterior, organic environments.
3) I had to have something that would really let me sculpt some terrain, so I could show that I'm familiar with that tool set within Unreal.
4) It had to have a skybox.
5) It had to have some sort of water, whether it be a river, ocean, or lake.
6) It had to be more ambitious as far as scope goes. It'll take me until May at least. Trust me.
7) It had to take place during sunset. It's something you don't see as much as daylight scenes in games. Also, it'll be more fun and challenging to light as well as just looking prettier in general.
I this project fits all aspects very well.
Landmarks:
Shanty campsite- The metallic shanty mentioned earlier with a campfire in front of it. It sits right between the edge of the cliff and the wooded area. It contains many personal belongings, like a toothbrush, clothes, pictures, etc. Good little details that will tell a story. Situated between the campfire and rock formation are fixed up floodlights that he has duct taped and custom rigged together to stand properly.
Grave site- Not sure where it'll be yet. This can be pretty flexible. It will be a small dirt pile in the ground that has a small, crudely made wooden cross sticking in it. Simple.
Airplane crash- The prop that tells us how the player got here. It's a small plane that can only accompany two people. It'll have the front end all crunched up, with a good amount of grit on it. You know, it'll look like a crashed plane. For some reason, it keeps coming up as red and blue in my head.
Open space- Wide open area behind the crashed plane. It's almost completely flat, and you can see pretty far away. Minimal trees, but plenty of smaller vegetation. Gives you the biggest impression that it's a desert.
Cliff side rocks and beach- Next to the shanty is a bunch of rock formations that eventually lead to a half sand, half stone beach. If you are looking at the ocean, on the right opposite side of the cliff, there is no beach sand, but just steep cliffs.
Small wooded area- Located where the bulk of the trees are. It breaks the environment up a bit. Makes the composition of the environment better.
This all may sound kind of confusing, but after me, Joe, and Jake have our talks, it'll make sense like it currently does in my head. Haha.
And for a better idea of reference, here's my Photobucket page with pics of inspiration:
http://s573.photobucket.com/home/3DRyan
Now, it's on to learning more Speedtree and waiting for sketches. Huzzah!
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