Spontaneous Sunday - Killzone

Welcome to this weeks Spontaneous Sunday blog post. Sticking with last week's "classic FPS" theme, this week I have played Killzone (2004, Guerrilla Games, PS2).

"Killzone is a first-person shooter, developed by Netherlands-based Guerrilla Games and released on November 24, 2004 in Europe. Killzone takes place in the middle of the 24th century and chronicles the war between two human factions; the Vektans, and the Helghan. The game is played from a first-person view and follows Jan Templar, a high-ranking officer within the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance, as he battles invading Helghan forces into Vekta."

- Wikipedia on Killzone.

What do I expect from the game?

This is my first experience playing any game from the Killzone franchise, and I'm entering into it without much of an idea of what to expect. I know that it is a first-person shooter set in a war-torn futuristic setting. I also know that it was a rather popular and high-profile release that spawned a number of sequels.

I am expecting the game to have a story-driven single player campaign, and possibly an arena mode with AI enemies. There was a multiplayer mode originally but the servers are long shut down. I expect the game's strong suit will be gameplay, which I think will consist of intense combat, as this is a staple of the FPS genre. I think that the dystopian future setting will be another strong suit. I expect that it will be a good game overall, as it was a big title at the time and was published by Sony.

First Impressions - What do I think of the game in its first few minutes?

Before I started playing Killzone, I had a quick flick through the game manual, which is stylised like a newspaper from one of the planets featured in the game. This was a pretty cool idea that makes the manual more interesting and helps make the game world easier to buy into. I believe that game manual design is sadly now an extinct art!

The game begins with a cinematic showing Scolar Visari, who is the emperor of the planet Helghan and the game's main antagonist, addressing his army and giving a speech about his intent to wage war on the planet Vekta. As Visari speaks, the cinematic shows scenes of the invasion and battles between the two planets. This dramatic opening cinematic effectively establishes the two polarised "good and evil" factions, introduces the main antagonist and also gives a good idea of the environments and graphics of the game. 

The game's main menu is not terribly exciting. It takes a minimalistic approach to UI, with the 3 simple words "options", "game" and "extras". if it wasn't for the dramatic music and shots of characters in the background, the front end would be very plain. Left idle for a while, a game demo plays showing scenes and gameplay. This further helps to demonstrate the aesthetic of the game and the nature of the gameplay. The extras section allows you to view the trailer, rewatch the intro movie or watch "War Scenes" - which are randomly generated bot-on-bot matches. This is an interesting feature.

The game's front end.

I started a new campaign and was prompted to create a profile name using a very odd system of selecting letters. You have to hold the d-pad or analog stick in one of 8 directions, then press one of the face buttons to select one of 4 letters. I wondered if this was would be a precursor to some sort of mini game later in the game (turns out it wasn't). Confused but undeterred, I created my profile and jumped into the first level - "Helghast Assault".

The weird profile name entering system!

First view of the game world.

The first level throws the player into the deep end with an action-packed firefight sequence in which the player has to defend and move between trenches while fighting enemies. Core mechanics such as movement and combat controls and health and stamina meters are introduced. I was instantly impressed by such things as the facial animations and voice acting in cutscenes, and the quality of the war-zone atmosphere. The level definitely looks authentic and it is clear that the developers looked to real conflicts for reference. Explosions, quality voice acting and SFX and a washed-out colour palette all add to the believability of this opening level. There is a bit of a lack of direction as your objectives do not pop up on screen as they are completed or updated, and you have to manually open a menu which takes a few seconds to load when you want to check your objectives. I also noticed that the textures are pretty low-resolution which detracts slightly from the atmosphere - but this is to be expected of a PS2 game.

Each level features friendly AI soldiers.

I completed the first level in just over 10 minutes and picked up all mechanics needed to play the game in this time. I was also drawn in by the atmosphere and environment art. This tells me that it was an effective first level! On completion, I was presented with a few stats such as shots fired, kills, time taken and accuracy. Letting the player see information about their performance is absolutely vital as it helps them to invest more in the game, adds replay value and incentivises personal goal-setting and improvement.

The WW1 inspiration is plain to see in the first level.

What do I like about the game?

Killzone's strongest features are its environment art, atmosphere, audio and the weapon and vehicle models. The game features some really good environments that include decent lighting and particle effects for the time at which the game was released. The environments have clearly been well thought-out and this makes for some atmospheric levels. The game claims to "draw inspiration from the best-known real war scenarios of our time", and I think that this is evident when playing it. It is clear to see the influence from World War 1 (in trench levels) and modern Urban wars (in the street and interior levels). Destructible objects in the environment also add to the realism of the environments.

Audio is another strong point of the game, specifically SFX. The sounds of gunfire, explosions and environmental noises all come together to form a convincing war zone soundscape. Again, this helps to create a strong atmosphere.

The game features a lot of different weapons and vehicles. The weapon and vehicle models are all high quality and realistic-looking. In terms of design, there isn't much that sets them apart from the weapons and vehicles of other sci-fi FPS games, but they still look quite good.

A friendly tank.

What do I not like?

Though I liked the environments, audio and models in Killzone, I found more things that I didn't like than things that I liked - and some of them are quite glaring. Firstly, there is the controls. Though the button configuration is reasonable enough, the controls, including movement and combat, are clunky. This makes gameplay frustrating and rigid, and the game lacks the fluidity of movement that is so essential to the thorough enjoyment of an FPS game.

Another issue is the fact that the game doesn't do enough to get you hooked into the story in the early stages. Though the levels are fairly interesting and exciting, the objectives can be a bit banal and inconsequential. Also, as I mentioned previously, there is a real lack of direction in the game. Objectives don't appear on screen, so its easy to forget or not know what you are meant to be doing. There is no compass or mini-map at all either, so you often find yourself not knowing what you need to do or where you need to do it. The addition of a simple compass or map would alleviate this problem. It would also allow enemy positions to be displayed, which would also be beneficial.

Though the game does offer post-level stats, there is not really any sort of reward system, and the game doesn't do much to encourage replaying. The addition of challenges or things to unlock would add more depth and replayability to the game. Collectable items in each level would also be good, as this would also add more depth and encourage thorough exploration of the environments.

The environments effectively capture the chaos of war.

Final Thoughts

While Killzone does have a few positive points, I would have to say that I didn't find it to be an incredibly enjoyable or engaging experience to play it. Of course, as is always the case when I play old games for Spontaneous Sunday, it could be just the game showing its age, but I was put off by the clunky controls, the lack of direction, and the lack of replayability and depth to the objectives and goals. The game must have done something right if the developer and publisher decided to create a franchise of it, but I can say that it didn't really resonate with me. It did have its good points, and I'm sure that later instalments in the franchise improve on it and iron out the issues, so I may look into playing another Killzone instalment in the future.

Walther P38 3D Model - Maya and Substance Painter

I recently decided to create a gun 3D model in order to develop my Maya and Substance skills and my 3D asset creation pipeline. Having recently created an Artstation portfolio and Sketchfab account, I wanted to create a high quality 3D model that I could post to these sites. It's been a while since I made a weapon so I decided to create a WW2 German Walther P38 pistol. I started working on it last Friday and finished it yesterday. This has probably been my most demanding Substance Painter work yet. Here's some pictures and a Sketchfab of the finished product:

Walther P38 by TheoClarke on Sketchfab

Spontaneous Sunday is back! - Unreal Tournament

Semester 3 is now under way, which means that Spontaneous Sunday is back! For the first instalment of semester 3, I have played an influential game from FPS history: Unreal Tournament (2001, Epic Games, Digital Extremes, PS2). Of course, Unreal Tournament runs on the first generation of the Unreal Engine, which has since evolved into Unreal Engine 4 which is my primary game engine, so it will be interesting to see how the engine worked in the early days. I'm playing it on the PS2 and the servers are no longer active, so I won't quite be getting the full intended experience, but hopefully the single player campaign will give me enough to work with!

"Unreal Tournament is a first-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. The second installment in the Unreal series, it was first published by GT Interactive in 1999 for Microsoft Windows, and later released on the PlayStation 2 by Infogrames, and on the Dreamcast by Secret Level. Players compete in a series of matches of various types, with the general aim of out-killing opponents."

- Wikipedia on Unreal Tournament.

What do I expect from the game?

I have never played this instalment of the Unreal series of games (I have only played UT3), but I am given to understand that it is something of a quintessential title in the FPS genre and was well-received by players and critics. Therefore, I expect good things from Unreal Tournament. I expect that its strong suits will be the core gameplay and mechanics. I expect that it will be a well-designed, refined and entertaining FPS gameplay experience at its core, though I expect it may lack the depth of later FPS games in that it won't have the same level of customisation options, upgrades and progression etc.

I expect that the game will show signs of age in such things as it's graphics, UI and audio, which is perfectly forgivable seeing as its nearly 20 years old. Level design, however, is timeless, and I am expecting good things from the levels. I have quite a lot of experience with later FPS games, so this will no doubt be an interesting insight into the origins of modern FPS design.

First Impressions - What do I think of the game in its first few minutes?

The front end is not really how I expected it to be. The visuals and music feel like they would suit a mediaeval RPG better than a futuristic FPS. The game is a port of the original PC version that was released in 1999, before the PS2 actually came out, and this is somehow recognisable when seeing and navigating the front end - though I can't quite put my finger on why this is. With it being an early PS2 game, it is on a blue disc, which I discovered today means its a CD rather than a DVD and runs less smoothly and with more noise.

After idling on the front end for a while, the game enters "demo mode" showing clips of in-game action. Oddly, the demo shows action from a 3rd person chase-camera perspective instead of the first-person perspective that the game is played in, but it still gave a decent demonstration of what to expect from the gameplay and graphics.

A screenshot from the Demo Mode

I started a new game and was given an option to choose from a handful of characters and to choose the difficulty level - I decided to play as a character called "Thunder" on "Skilled" difficulty.

Character select.

Difficulty select.

I played the tutorial level first, which is a church-like environment in which a female narrator tells you how to move around, jump, collect weapons and so on. There's also on-screen graphics of the PS2 controller with the relevant buttons highlighted. It's an effective and no-nonsense way of communicating the controls. The problem is, however, that the controls themselves are of a very strange configuration. The left stick controls looking with the Y axis and left-to-right strafing, while the right stick controls looking with the X axis and forward-backward movement, which makes moving and looking a rather difficult task. Meanwhile, jumping is achieved by pressing L2. I've never encountered controls quite like this before and I think that whoever was responsible for the controls made some questionable decisions. Nevertheless, the gameplay seems fairly solid, and the fact that each weapon has two different modes of fire adds another dimension to the combat.

Screenshot from the Death Match tutorial.

I then jumped into the first proper DeathMatch level: "Oblivion", which takes place on a space transport vessel that is taking contestants to the tournament events on Earth. To cut the game's back-story short, there is a war with an alien civilisation in the 24th century, and Earth mining companies have set up the tournament to pit their workers against each other in an effort to alleviate riots within the companies... It is slightly confusing logic, but I shan't dwell on it.

The first round went surprisingly well. The level features just one AI enemy. I quickly hit the 15 kill goal and my only death was at the hand of my own rocket launcher. I even began to get a better grip of the wacky controls! The second level was in a parking garage and saw the addition of a 2nd enemy combatant, which elevated the action and provided a greater challenge.

What do I like?

I continued to fight my way through the various arena levels, which took me through such environments as an underground water treatment plant and mining facilities. Though the graphics are dated, the creativity and quality of the level design still shines through. The levels are small, but this means that they are easy to navigate and the action is almost constant. The gameplay is very enjoyable, with just the right amount of challenge, lots of pick-ups and varied weapons.

The levels all generally have something different or unique about them. "Oblivion", the space transport vessel level, has windows that allow you to see out into space, with stars whizzing past as the vessel travels at light speed. The levels also have good layouts that compliment the gameplay well, with different sections and routes that can be taken between areas, and well-thought-out pickup placement. Unreal Tournament features a mixture of symmetrical and asymmetrical level design, which makes for more variety and gameplay opportunities. The levels visual themes are also good, with each one having its own sort of visual style.

After winning a few rounds of DeathMatch, I unlocked the Domination game mode. This game mode consists of two teams fighting for control over set points in the map. This has become a tried and tested staple of FPS game modes - and its easy to see why when you play it in Unreal Tournament (an almost 20-year-old game) and realise that its just as much fun as it is in more modern shooters. 

Levels are unlocked one after another, and eventually you also begin to unlock new game modes and characters. This is how the game incentivises and rewards continual play. This works well because each level and game mode is varied, so you remain interested and want to see what is next. Also, the quick rate at which you complete levels and unlock new things keeps the variation and rewards coming. It makes for a well-balanced input:reward system.

A control point in the domination game mode.

Aside from the single player campaign mode, there is also the "Practice Session" feature, which allows you to instantly get into the action quickly and play maps that you have unlocked in single player, aswell as a handful of pre-unlocked maps, as any character and on any difficulty. You can also modify game settings such as time limit and number of bots. This provides a more player-controlled, arcade-y experience which makes for a nice break from the single player campaign. Again, this is a good way of balancing the game.

"Condemned" - Probably my favourite map from an environment art view.

Other strong features include such things as the inclusion of a choice of different characters. While your character is rarely ever actually seen, the simple inclusion of knowing that you are controlling a character adds to your investment into the universe of the game. Feeling invested into a game ultimately makes the whole experience more enjoyable. The music is also a strong point. The game features a large and varied collection of music, with most levels having their own unique soundtrack. The music is mostly electronic and drum and bass, with some classical soundtrack too. The high energy music complements the visual themes and gameplay well.

What do I not like?

Given Unreal Tournament's age, I will admit that I expected to find more things to criticise. In reality, there is only a handful of bad things to pick up on. Firstly, there is the controls. As I mentioned previously, I have never encountered controls like those in Unreal Tournament. The movement controls are more akin to that of a vehicle than of a character. In the end, I was able to get used to them after about an hour of playing, but as I was playing I found it hard to overlook the fact that the controls just don't make much sense.

It's clear to see why the movement controls in Unreal Tournament did not become the norm as the FPS genre evolved. Throughout my time doing these Spontaneous Sunday blog posts, I have played a number of old FPS games including Hour of Victory (Xbox 360, 2007) and Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30 (PS2, 2005) and have realised that FPS controls have come a long way to get to the optimal, standardised systems that we see in current-gen titles. The evolution of FPS controls is fascinating to me.

Another of the game's negative points has to be the audio. While the music was very good, the SFX, voices and overall audio quality left a lot to be desired. This is particularly noticeable when taking a lot of damage, as your character lets out the same single pained noise many times in quick succession. The audio can often be quite low quality, particularly the voice over for the tutorial levels, which can leave it sounding muffled and jarring (and also sometimes genuinely drowned out by the whirring of the blue disc inside the PS2!).

Final Thoughts

Overall, Unreal Tournaments interesting level design, solid core gameplay and mechanics, well-designed progression/unlock system and varied game modes make it a very enjoyable classic FPS experience. The action is fast-paced and fun. It is definitely deserving of its status as an influential game in the history of the genre. It's downsides, such as the unorthodox controls and audio quality issues, are forgivable given the game's age. Playing Unreal Tournament has been an interesting and insightful experience and I now feel like I have a better understanding and appreciation of the origins and evolution of both the FPS genre and of the Unreal Engine.

"Meet MAT: The 2017 Substance 3D painting contest"

This week, I have entered a Substance Painter 3D painting contest held by Allegorithmic. The contest involved creating a material for Allegorithmic's new mascot, MAT:

"For this contest the task is simple: nothing to model, no UV to unwrap – MAT is already fully modeled and is waiting to come to life with your brushstrokes! Just take your (digital) paintbrush, download the MAT model and start doodling away. "

I decided to enter the contest to put my Substance Painter skills to the test and also to develop my skills further. Having submitted my practical work last Friday, I was looking for something to do before getting started on next semester's work, so the contest came along at just the right time! I realised that there was a lot of people entering and talking about the contest online, so I figured it was an opportunity to get my art out there in the public eye.

Here's the untextured model provided by Allegorithmic:

I took one look at the model and thought that it looked a lot like a speaker, so I decided to base my entry on the iconic Marshall amplifier. My entry took about 10 hours to make. While taking part in this contest, I created accounts on Artstation and Sketchfab - this is something I had been meaning to do for a while and will help me to get my artwork out there in the future.

Here's my finished entry!

and here is the Sketchfab model (my first ever!)

Meet MAT - Amplifier by TheoClarke on Sketchfab

RP4222 Design Practice 2 Submission Post

Welcome to my submission post for the RP4222 Design Practice 2 module. This blog post will act as my submission package for the module and will consist of the following:

• Presentation screenshots of my scene.
• Presentation video of my scene.
• A write-up detailing my design process, the motivation behind my decisions and the steps I took to try and achieve atmosphere in my level.
• Links to dev diary/reflective diary blog posts about this project. 
• My learning agreement poster.

Presentation

 

 

Please click here to visit an Imgur album with more screenshots.

Presentation Movie

Learning Agreement

Please click here to view my learning agreement poster.

Write-up

Idea Generation / Concept:

After the Design Practice 1 submission in January, I spent a few weeks doing some side projects and dabbling in new software. Then in mid February, I began idea generation for my semester 2 practical work. I put a lot of time and effort into idea generation for this scene. As with the previous environments that I have created during my MA, atmosphere has been the overarching priority and goal in this environment. Here's the criteria that I worked with when generating the idea:

• The scene needed to have a lot of potential for atmosphere. I had to be able to make good use of all the things that create atmosphere such as lighting, level layout, particle effects, weather etc.
• The scene/project had to be of an achievable scale so that I could get it all done in time. With my Milecastle environment that I submitted for the first practice module, I ended up having to rush to finish it, so I realised that I needed to keep realistic goals and prioritise and manage my time better on this module.
• I wanted to go with a historical theme again, as with my other scenes. My reasons behind using historical themes is that I have a personal interest in history which means I am more interested and I care more about what I create. Also, I think that having historical settings can help create atmosphere because it adds a level of relatability and mystique/intrigue. Portraying lesser-known periods of history is also a good way of making a scene interesting and unique.
• I decided early on that I wanted to make gameplay for the level and to spread this project across semesters 2 and 3, with semester 2 including the creation of all the art assets and environments, and semester 3 being the creation of the gameplay and level design itself. Therefore, I had to choose a theme that I wouldn't mind spending a long time on. I also had to choose something that would give way to interesting gameplay.

With this criteria in mind, I began to generate ideas and soon arrived at the idea for a scene containing a stone circle and taking place in Iron Age/Celtic Britain. This setting and time period would allow some interesting visuals, themes and gameplay. Information about this time is somewhat scarce, which meant I could take some more artistic license with my scene this time around.

At this early stage, I drew up some level layouts and rough concept sketches, conducted extensive research with books and online resources, and modelled a level blockout. This gave me a decent starting point for moving forward with the scene. I made a blog post about this which you can see here.

The story of the scene is as follows: the scene is set on the Celtic festival of Beltaine, which is a precursor to the modern May Day and involves the lighting of fires to mark the beginning of Summer in the Celtic calendar. The player plays as a Druid and has to collect a branch from 3 sacred trees and burn them on the altar in the middle of the stone circle. Upon doing this, dawn breaks over the scene, the rain stops and the level is completed.

Research:

Research is always a very important and ongoing process for me when I create environments. I like to make sure that the contents of my environments make sense. I think that accuracy and believability are very important to create a congruent and consistent experience for the player. My research activities included extensive reading from a variety of sources from books to websites to journals, visiting relevant locations (such as my trip to Ilkley Moor) and watching documentaries. My research covered topics including prehistoric monuments, Iron Age life, druidism and Celtic culture and mythology. This research allowed me to pin down the story of the level and build the level and its features with this in mind.

I've also spent a lot of time researching the creation of atmosphere. Again, I've looked at many different sources for information and opinions to inform my own practice including books, websites and magazines. I've also looked closely at games and analysed the creation of atmosphere in them. For example, I wrote an essay about the creation of atmosphere in Battlefield 1 and in doing so, I gained a lot of new ideas and put them to use in my own level. My weekly Spontaneous Sunday blog posts were also ongoing up until the Easter break and helped to inform my decisions.

I made a Pinterest board of reference images which can be found here.

Creating the Scene:

Creating this scene has been a very in-depth process that I have documented through regular blog posts. Click here to see an archive of all the blog posts about this project. I have used many features of the Unreal Engine 4 that I had never used before and have learnt so many new skills. I've also started using Substance Painter. Between the end of my last project and now, I have pretty much completely overhauled my 3D asset creation workflow. My old workflow was outdated, inefficient and didn't always yield great results. My current workflow feels a lot more solid and yields better results.

The design process was definitely not a straight road. There was a lot of things I had to do and a lot of crossover, ongoing work and revisiting things, but to cut a long story short, the process of creating this level went more or less as follows:

Idea gen & concepts -> creating level blockout -> creating the landscape and textures -> creating basic trees and rocks, torches, stone circle placeholder model and cliff faces to act as level boundary -> adding water, fog and the Aurora effect -> creating the altar -> creating the 3 sacred trees and the stone circle itself -> creating more varied foliage types such as ferns and flowers -> a huge amount of VFX, post-processing, lighting and optimisation work -> Making the music and audio -> Making the presentation shots/video and submission package.

Here's a series of pictures showing how the stone circle itself developed over the course of the project:

Atmospheric Features:

Models and Textures

I aimed for a realistic art-style in the environment. This meant that I worked without somewhat generous poly-count limits so that the models could look as good as possible (but not impact performance too badly). The sacred trees are focal points of the level so have the highest polycounts, ranging between 3000 and 6000. The stone circle rocks range between 800 and 2000 poly. Meanwhile, the less important or smaller models, such as the foliage, have lower poly counts as they are less likely to be closely inspected by the player and have to be light on performance. I used Maya to model, Mudbox to create high poly's and Substance Painter to create my textures.

I used PBR textures for every texture in the level, which hopefully has helped to achieve a level of realism and quality to the art assets. I also used height maps on the most important assets for extra quality. Using Substance Painter has not only helped me to produce better art, but has also provided me with skills that will hopefully make me more employable as a game artist in the future.

Setting and Theme

I chose the setting and theme because I thought it would make for an interesting and unique level and  good gameplay - I can't think of any games set in Iron Age Britain or in which the player plays as a Druid (in the historical sense rather than fantastical as seen in RPGs). The chance to see a setting that hasn't been portrayed much would add appeal if the level was part of a shipped game. Information about Iron Age/Celtic culture and religion is scarce, so this theme allowed me to take some artistic license and I think it also adds intrigue and mystery to the level, while still having it loosely rooted in reality. The setting is a forest/natural outdoor area with water, trees, rocks and so on. This gave me the opportunity to hone my skills in creating organic and natural shapes.

Lighting

Lighting is often cited as one of the most important features of atmosphere in games, so I knew I had to make the effort to get it right and use it to good effect. The scene takes place at night, so is generally dimly lit, but also features the Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights which act as the main visible light source, so the whole scene is tinted slightly green. Also, if the player gets lost, they can look into the sky for the lights and use them to help re-orientate themselves. I used UE4's curve feature to make the aurora flicker. I used light shaft bloom aka "god rays" to add more life to the scene and quality to the lighting.

The same shot of the environment, lit vs. unlit.

The burning torches add more light to areas that require it, help to highlight important areas and guide the player, and also add more varied colour and contrast in the scene's lighting. When the level is playable, the player character will carry a torch. This will let the player directly affect the lighting themselves - this feature of interactivity with the surroundings well hopefully elevate the atmosphere.

I also made sure to include darker areas without torches and with overhanging trees. This is intended to add variety and mystery. The player is intended to feel cautious and intrigued in these areas which will provide different moods throughout the level as it plays out. Conversely, the stone circle area itself is well-lit so that it feels cordial and is easy to navigate back to.

Particle Effects & Weather

With this scene, I used particle effects more ambitiously than ever before. The particle effects in the environment include: fire particles for the torches, glowing dust particles, mist/fog particles and rain. I used particle effects to add another layer of atmosphere and life to the scene that couldn't be achieved with the use of geometry and lighting alone.

The most prominent particle effect is probably the rain because I think the addition of weather to a game environment affects the atmosphere dramatically. The rain effect consists of falling raindrops and a subtle distortion effect that is meant to mimic the visual distortion caused by rain to both the human eye and camera lenses. I also added puddles to the level by using a terrain texture with low roughness and a flat normal map. When the level has gameplay, the sun will rise when the level is completed. At this point, the rain will stop. This will provide a more meaningful contrast between the environment's two states.

Place, Scale & Focal Points

A sense of place and scale and the presence of focal points/areas of interest can add a lot of atmosphere to an environment by grounding the player within the world and providing a sense of direction. The level's shape is loosely inspired by a Celtic cross, with the player starting at the end of the longest side, the circle in the middle and the 3 trees on the other 3 sides. This makes for a pretty simple and easy-to-navigate level layout.

A screenshot showing the final level layout (unlit and without foliage or fog)

I wanted to make sure that the level has a good sense of scale and that there is allusions to a greater world outside of the level's boundaries. To achieve this, I created a cliff upon which the Oak tree sits. This provides a long sightline over a larger forest area and a river running through it. The river and forest can also be seen from the Hawthorn grove, which sits on the edge of the river. A smaller stream also runs through the level on the approach to the stone circle. This stream can be seen to stretch off around the corner. This suggests to the player that there is more to the game world.

Foliage

A forest/natural environment such of this required a lot of foliage. I used UE4 instanced foliage tool to add grass, plants, trees and flowers to the scene and make a convincing and interesting natural environment. I also used simple wind nodes in the materials of each of the foliage actors to add a more natural and lively effect to the scene. One of my ever-present goals was to create a lively scene, so adding movement was very important. I wanted to have a scene in which something can always be seen to be moving or changing in some way, and the foliage really helped to achieve this.

Post-Processing Effects

I used post-processing effects to influence the atmosphere that is brought about by the level's visuals. I used effects such as colour grading, lens flares and depth of field. I think that post-processing effects can have a big influence on the overall look and feel of a scene, and this project has given me a better handle of how to use them effectively. I tried to create a scene in which the colours really stand out and work together to create interesting visuals.

Audio

I made an original score and ambient SFX track for the scene that I believe captures and aids the atmopshere. I used classical instruments such as harps and horns aswell as synth strings and a variety of percussion in the music. I tried to channel elements of Celtic music. I was inspired by soundtrack music in general and also drew inspiration from the music of games such as The Elder Scrolls and Age of Empires.

Conclusion:

I hope that I have managed to communicate the motivation behind my design decisions in my environment with this write-up. This project has been a very valuable learning experience for me. Not only have I learnt how to use new industry-standard software, but I've also majorly developed my skill in software that I was already using. This project saw me using software tools that I had never used or barely used, such as vertex painting in Maya and Blueprints, curves, particle effects, post-processing and sequencer in UE4. Aside from software skills, I've also learned how to plan and execute an environment art project more efficiently.

The ultimate question is whether or not I have succeeded in creating an atmospheric scene. In my opinion, I have created an atmospheric environment and I'm really happy with how it has turned out. I pulled out all the stops and tried to make use of every tool at my disposal to achieve my goal, while also consistently trying to broaden my mind to new ideas about atmosphere by doing research.