Environment Art Creation Note (Gaming)

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Sunday, April 02, 2017, 00:12 (2793 days ago) @ Korny

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A separate article on Karakter's contributions to the design of the Nora region in HZD reminded me of one big issue that I had with Destiny, and it's that the playspaces don't feel real. They feel like contained playspaces devoid of any life or signs that they were once realistically filled with people. While not reaching Witcher 3 levels of believable world layouts, Horizon does a great job with each region's cultures and ruins, making former cities feel believable, and part of this is through a world design based on deconstruction and reconstruction.

First, the artists designed a realistic town,
[images]
then they let disaster strike,
[images]
then they finally let nature reclaim the world, which was then modeled into the game and populating it with wildlife and machines.
[images]
It's a really neat approach that I would like to see more of, especially if we get to explore larger cities in D2.
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Alright. The method described here is as far as I know, the standard way a destroyed environment is made, and it has been that way for a while. It's far easier to add en-mass then subtract, then to try and make it all in one go. In Zbrush/Mudbox, which is the main digital sculpting tool that is used to make the highpoly detail, those details are made from a clean smooth state. When things are blocked out, it's done so in a clean state. The dirty, rough, crunched, dilapidated detail is the stuff that is made after the level designers have said GO.

If the issue is the play space, then that is a level design thing. If it is how it looks, that is an environment art thing. Keep note, I would say it is a fairly safe bet that a large amount of what we see today is only there because it survived the cut and madness of the original Destiny cycle. Hopefully, the same madness hasn't and won't happen again. That doesn't mean there won't be cuts of course, there are always cuts because there is never enough time.

Just wanted to make that note. ^_^