Greetings! I'm running a bit late with posting, and it's pretty close to bedtime. But I wanted to get this online without any further delays. As you have seen in my many prior works, everything has been outdoors. I wanted to do something a bit different, and I decided on creating a setting inside a vast cavern. So to do this, I would need to create the interior first. I placed a cavern onto the terrain and increased the scale 5X to create the interior. I then had to work in the end pieces to make it appear enclosed. I got carried away with putting in assets and didn't quite get a bare interior. I was thinking architecturally when I was creating it, so many columns were needed, and put in. These 3 shots are the beginning of the interior.
I wanted it to be vast, as many literary MMO Dwarf habitats are quite spacious, and I wanted to convey that. I decided to keep just a tiny bit of Fog going to create a natural depth.
From here, I began putting in the platforms and walkway assets. Some took a bit of re-scaling and tweaking, but I managed to get it all into a puzzle like fit. I find it annoying to see gaps and visible seams in these things, so I try as best I can to make sure everything snaps in correctly.
At this point, a majority of the major structure is fitted together and in place. In the 3rd picture, you can see the makings of hanging decks/platforms. They were put in and adjusted, but after looking at it for a while, I decided to move them out of the scene. They're floating outside the scene if I ever decide to put them back in, but it seemed to detract from the overall interior size. After the primary structures were in and approved, I started working on sub structures and adding lighting. At this point I still had the main Directional Lighting covering the scene, and began putting in the game/local lighting as well as other details.
As I do with many projects, I import a few utilities using Gia Procedural Worlds. I import the 3rd Person Controller so I can wander my creation to see what works and what doesn't. I've found assets that had no colliders attached, and have fallen through floors or walked through walls, lamps, and other various objects. So many shots are using the 3PC for functionality and play-ability. The above shots are such an example. The last shot above is a view from the Cavern into the back Chambers.
Some of the detail I added was a Forge Area where blacksmithing would be done. I also take random interior shots as I'm working, just to capture depth, detail, and lighting. At this point, the Directional Lighting is turned off, and I'm strictly working with Point Lights and Spotlights. I think there are about 70+ scene light additions in the Cavern so far.
Above are a few more in Cavern shots. The first one is the King's Platform, and the rest are random positions in the Cavern with prespective views.Below is another view of the King's Platform after a few additions and more location lighting, with the illusion that the carpet itself is glowing.
At this point I started working on another platform area in the Cavern, just over the entrance and added details to it.
It was a bit of an afterthought, but it worked in well, and I enjoyed putting it together. At this point, I decided a majority of the Cavern was complete, and moved into the back Chambers to start adding.
First I had to create the main structure which was the support walls and the ceiling/decking for the upper platform. Once the platform was in, I could begin adding sub structures like stairs, railing, housing, shops, and of course, the Kings Chamber. The lighting had to be created as the Directional Lighting is/was also turned off for the Caverns. I added additional details to the scene, but I try not to add too much detail, as it is generally ignored/lost during gameplay. This is the upper platform and is mostly complete at this point.
Here we have a few shots of the lower level of the Chambers. I also had to import lighting for this level also, so there is about another 50+ lights in this are also. I added some shops, and utility areas along with a small stable area for the Ram mounts. At this point, it is not yet complete, but this is where it is so far. I will add more detail and tinker with other assets before I close this one out. So until then, thank you for taking time to check this blog, and I'll update this soon.
