3D Weeks 08-10 (Blocktober 2018 Update)

I super apologize for the late post as other projects had to take precedence over my Blocktober work. However, I have been working on the block out as much as I could in between. So here’s an update of all the work I’ve been doing for the past few weeks! (It’s quite a bit…)

Also Happy Halloween!!


I don’t quite remember where I last left off from the last post, but I think reposting the previous shots so that you guys can see the progress made would be nice to see! So here’s the image of the last update I posted, along with the stairs and platforms.

As you can see, there’s no buildings or foliage - save for the temple and airship. I also left the front gate blocked out just so I remembered the placement. The main focus of these was to just have a base land to work off of, which now you can see the progress I have made after that.

Here is the second pass, adding in huts for the villagers, and an Elder’s House at the base of the pathways (marked with a yellow outline). I have also added more detail to the front gate, creating a tunnel to connect the two sides, and the protrusions in the front.

I imagined the huts in this village to house a couple families (as they are pretty large for just a couple people). The Elder House would only house the village Elder and his/her family. The airship platform (marked in light blue) is meant for small transport/personal airships. It’s a secluded village in the mountains with not much real estate - so don’t expect a cruise ship-sized airship to be coming and landing here any time soon!

In the next pass, I have added trees, as well as buildings on the pathways. (Bonus points if you can spot the UE4 Mannequin in the scene.) The trees will be lined in pink, and buildings in peach.

The final pass includes foliage, as well as a minor alteration in the pathways. I also moved around the village huts and put each one onto a platform, as I don’t think people like building their homes on uneven ground. Rocks, a pond + waterfall and farmland have all been added into the scene as well. Rocks and farmland will be outlined in dark blue, and the pong + waterfall outlined in pink (same as the trees). A couple ladders were added to to the gates as a means for lookouts to climb up the gate and do a patrol.

As to how that pond can create a waterfall that huge without running out… I like to think the water comes from underground - funneling from the base of the mountain. The water then falls back to the base of the mountain. Almost like an endless cycle!

And if you want the see the entire scene without the colorful outlines, I got you covered!

And with that, this brings Blocktober to a close. I had a lot of fun blocking out an environment from concept to a grey boxed version in Maya, and creating some proxy art in the process! Just by doing this, I was able to learn a lot about the different tools in Maya for modeling. I also learned quite a bit about scale, and that I know I still need to work on that throughout my time level designing.

Overall, I would consider this mini project I set for Blocktober a success! I think sometime this week or next, I’ll go in and add some color to the scene just so you guys don’t have to deal with all this grey color.

And with that, I hope this post didn’t leave anyone disappointed with my lack of posting in the past 2-3 weeks. I should be back to a regular weekly posting schedule next coming week!