Hello from CMP Land. It's been a while since my last post, so let's jump in to my latest Unity3D project. It's called T'al'Kothia . I'm awful at names sometimes :)
I started a new scene inside the current project simply because all of the needed assets are already loaded. I enjoy making scenes so a standalone project isn't necessary. Besides, I installed Unity 2021 a few months ago and it didn't like my system, so I uninstalled it. It left a bit of damage behind that I still need to address, but 2019 works fine for me. In the beginning, I created an island and set the environment parameters using Gia Procedural Worlds. I turn the Fog off as I work at distances, so clarity is better for now. I can always turn it on later. Sometimes on a project I just dive right in and get started building; like I did with this one, and forgot about screenshotting. So the first pic below is the the first SS, which is inside a Temple inside a much larger castle platform on the edge of the ocean.
After Putting the temple together I added a few lights to set an ambience, but at this point it is mostly stock directional lighting. I did add the spotlights for up/down lighting dynamics as I didn't want to overpower the scene lighting to illuminate everything. Doing that creates some rather blinding angles along with more difficult lighting baking. The 2 pics below are also of the Temple. I thought the exterior turned out pretty good. I did add more to the architecture and detail later, which you will see.
After roughing in the layout, I jumped back to the Temple and started putting in details and working on the visuals.
After a short break I started back at the details and bringing the lighting more into standard using realtime torches, chandeliers, and tweaking the spotlights to enhance the coverage. I also added in the lighted Cathedral windows to create a translucent lighting effect and bring a bit of realism to the scene. I may put some Sun Rays in at a later time, along with dust particles, but it's taking shape.
As for the exterior, I wanted to add an architectural element to break up the boxy look of a large and very tall structure. In real world terms they are called Flying Buttresses. The are usually an addition to help support the sides of unusually tall constructions. The supports add an element of architectural engineering to the build. I also added in some trees and shrubbery around the perimeter for a lush visual. I try to use only trees that react to the Wind Zone since they are more realistic. I do not have the funds to buy the SpeedTree assets for every one, so I have to adlib :)
More structures being added to the scene. I try to create a purpose for every empty spot I see, so there will be player/NPC flow and great scenery to view.
This set of pics are mostly more structure shots, but I detailed the entrance to the Inn. I also created a raised campground platform as well as accompanying stables. Then added guard towers to the Main Gate. Behind each guard tower is a small habitable area complete with fireplaces for heat. Then I added another village structure (A Mage Village if you will) as well as started detailing the existing houses. The stairs are now bricked over creating an incline for smoother navigation to the 2nd tier.
The 4 pics above are of a Mini Mall of sorts. It houses a dozen or so vendors like Armorers, Specialty vendors, stash, Financier, crafting, and such. I added some specific lighting and a few trees for depth and visuals.
These 5 pics are of another structure I put together of an Elven Villa with an undercroft. The house is for an Elven Ambassador while underneath is a series of large archways. Underneath the living dome in the center is another large indoor area, complete with lighting at this point.
Added more housing and worked on a bit more lighting. I also added some detail to a barracks unit.
At this point, this is what the birds eye view of the area looks like. I tend to build in large squares due to the difficulty of working on sloped areas without being able to use a spline system. I don't use anything in geometry mode, so it's more difficult to lay in a proper wall or fencing system and make everything connect properly. I also laid in a walkway to create a flow through the structures to connect all the different areas. After I put the new stone floor walkway in, I went back and 'edged' the walkway on all the pathways. It was tedious and took over 600 boards, it's done and sets a good detail.
These are different views of the walkway after it's completion. I also decided to put up a couple windmills to create the civil engineering effect of a water system. When I build, I try to look at it from an engineering standpoint also, as if I were also the Civil Engineer of this build. While this castle was built on the ocean;s edge, going out a short distance would run out of territory, so I decided to add another 8k square meter territory to bolster the transition through the castle out to the pier/docks on the other side.
At this point, when the project is opened, it takes 6-9 hours to generate all the lighting/geometry/reflection calculations.There are a few million Texels to account for, including trees, leaves, water reflections, lighting glows, and typical scene lighting. So it consumes 98%+ of the CPU and over 85% of the RAM. My system runs 32Gb of SODIMM RAM, an i5 Quad core processor, and a Radeon graphics card with 4Gb RAM. So it puts a heavy burden on the motherboard. I will take a break from it for a while and let my system 'settle' after crunching numbers just so I don't cook the CPU.
I hope you enjoy the progress of these projects, and this one has a long way to go. There is still an 8k square meter island to populate, as well as the additional 8k square meter terrain that is currently underwater.
