The Lion's Courtyard

I chose to produce a Roman Courtyard in UE4 for the competiton, which was heavily influenced by the environments within Crytek’s Rise: Son of Rome not just for its Roman theme, but also because the realistic graphics are still very impactful for a game over 5 years old. I wanted to follow a theme, and so chose a Lion to feature on my main fountain asset and through other aspects of the scene as a strong symbolism.  I believed it would showcase a variety of both man-made/organic modelling and textures, as well as testing my Zbrush ability. 

I  branched out from my comfort zone and tried some new software, believing this would be a perfect project to create some materials within Substance Designer and also make some assets within Marvelous Designer. 

With the amount I've learned over the last few weeks, I'm very happy in terms of my overall knowledge in Unreal Engine such as lighting methods, particles and material set ups. I really believe that these aspects can make a huge difference to the overall environment, particularly with particles and wind/shaders adding authenticity to the scene.

I kept my structural elements consistent, using only a few materials which were then created into smart materials that I could then re-use as I go. This saved a lot of time, however I also wanted to keep my main assets and smaller props unique, with their own Zbrush passes and texturing in Substance Painter. 

I will continue to develop my scene as a finished University piece, as I wish I had time to produce more decorative pieces and small props to complete it, but I really like what I have created so far,

Eleanor