Oil Field

[leviatan1001]

Hi there,
This is my neverending personal project. An oil field in a desert with an apocalyptic atmosphere.


·Newest images, clic here (http://forums.epicgames.com/showpost.php?p=28010322&postcount=35)

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/S_m3_JOucbI/AAAAAAAAAm8/itcC0MQfB5s/84.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/S_m3_bcAW4I/AAAAAAAAAnA/j-rcM4aiwPI/85.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/S_m4APHLHwI/AAAAAAAAAnE/53cqQyRK6Gc/86.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/S-98yqUA97I/AAAAAAAAAl4/WChk6Wu-MUQ/81.jpg

[Piranhi]

I've been watching this project for a long time via your blog. I loved the actual oil field, but the new section not so much to be honest. A few crits:

The brick texture just before the tunnel looks pretty blurry and it looks as if the Normals are inverted.

The cliff face in the same area also looks like it has stretched materials or no detail textures.

The lighting, again in the area in front of the tunnel looks very bland. I understand that it's extremely smoky and dusty in the area from the oil fields, but I would just have another go at it to see what else you can produce.

There are a few other little things, such as the brightness of the area surrounding the light, but I won't nitpick.

Anyway, I really like the scene so far, I just think the new area needs spicing up a notch.

[DELTATHUND3R]

Looks great...love the smoke matey..Overall its very good...Some minor texture issues easily fixed..
Great job matey.

[looprix]

I think the large rocks could be more jagged and have a more interesting silhouette. The rocks look too buldgey in pic #3.

The barrels and busted concrete wall look great.

The rusted car is too boxy, damage it some more with a better silhouette.

Lastly the sandy oil field ground could use more elements and contrast.

Looking sweet!

[leviatan1001]

Well, the high poly mesh looks better

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/7575/33137662.jpg

That was my first attempt in Zbrush.
I know after texturing it looks like crap. I have to learn about how to texture that kind of stuff.
* Using Rage as guide :P

[looprix]

Yea what went wrong? That's a beautiful ZTL. hrmmmm.....

Where did you bake from Zmapper, Maya etc.? ..and did you generate ambocc?

Did you turn off SRGB while importing the normal texture into Zbrush? ...also you can bump up the saturation in UDK on the normal texture and see what happens.

Maybe lower the contrast on the diffuse texture in Photoshop?. That's all I can think of - post the normal map that you generated.

[leviatan1001]

Yea what went wrong? That's a beautiful ZTL. hrmmmm.....

Where did you bake from Zmapper, Maya etc.? ..and did you generate ambocc?

Did you turn off SRGB while importing the normal texture into Zbrush? ...also you can bump up the saturation in UDK on the normal texture and see what happens.

Maybe lower the contrast on the diffuse texture in Photoshop?. That's all I can think of - post the normal map that you generated.

The normal map is ok. I backed it from xNormal. The problem is the texturing. The wire is completely quad, so i dont have any reference about where is this piece of wire in the 3d mesh. So i guess i need to learn something like bodypaint.
I also made the AO, and srgb is off in unreal. As i said, the color texture is the main problem.

[looprix]

See what the material and prop looks like if you just use a plain grey diffuse texture in UDK. Then slowly add texture from there. Good Luck

[leviatan1001]

See what the material and prop looks like if you just use a plain grey diffuse texture in UDK. Then slowly add texture from there. Good Luck

Yeah, nice tip, thank you

[leviatan1001]

Well, after many experiments, i have developed a workflow for terrains and rocks. Basically, i used tileable masked textures, multiply an occlusion and backed a normal from high poly version.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TBzCAByYw_I/AAAAAAAAAow/6qbTMRBFlEw/98.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TBzCAbsfHPI/AAAAAAAAAo0/_DW6zhILqMs/99.jpg

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TBy_6qN9NlI/AAAAAAAAAoo/9c4Bm5K7N48/97.jpg

[Winwarproductions]

Really good rocks. Reminds me of Silent Hill. I always picture myself in games. If I was in there, I would be afraid to go in that tunnel. Seems like a zombie game. Also if I was in the game I would notice you probably need some random smaller rocks at the base of the other side of the area. You have a few by the tunnel, but if you put more in the other area on last screen shot, that would be cool. The lighting seems weird with the scene as well. It has an erie feel of course but no sense of light source to make things pop out. You have good stuff in there that can pop out more. For example the light that's over the tunnel entrance. I can't tell from your screen shot views how far away it is from the truck, but maybe you can add a light with string intensity to the rear of the truck to highlight it, as if the light is touching it. Then add another one going toward the front but with less intensity to have an illusion of falloff light extending to the front. Pretty much try to paint a portrait with lighting. The same thing for the barrel at the entrance of tunnel. The more props the better as well, because there is more things to pop out even as the player walks through the stage.

[Godling]

Really loving watching this project grow... very cool work Levi.

The rippled sand drives me nuts though. The striations in the sand are indicative of an "open" and wind-swept area (unless it's wet sand at low tide). The rippled-sand areas in the recent screens should really either be wind-swept flat or they should be pushed into corners and into small, flat dunes.

[DELTATHUND3R]

your workflow seems too have improved..rocks look alot better now..Well done:).

[tpotpro38]

No offense, but that does not look like anything close to the post-end or even end of the world concept. You might want to re-think the terrain a bit (maybe so craters of toxic sewage, etc.)

Not only that, but it looks like a normal yet abandoned oil field area. Also if it is to be destroyed, you might want to re-think on the lights, ground, machines and definitely the tunnel (irritating the shiznit out of me).

The tunnel can be collapsed instead of simply block off.

The light, what is up with that? either it sould be barely flickering or broken and off. Your ground is WAY too flat at certain areas, my suggestion for that craters.

The oil machine's need to be broken or destroyed or even in pieces. The pipes as should be blown open as well. Real quick back to the tunnel part, it looks to be too intact. Make it look more like crap and not so perfect.

Most if not all the barrels, should be on their sides, in pieces, or have a blown-up look to them.

The fire, don't get me started on that. If the place is destroyed, yet there would be fire, BUT if would be very minimal.

FINALLY, the gosh berdarnin (trying real hard not to curse) sky. Change the color to something more defined. Some of the shots you took, show nothing more than cloudy skies. (Here's the forecast for today: slight chance of rain and partly cloudly skies, next week we could see more sun and it would be around 80-90.) Maybe a red or firey orange color for the sky would be better.

I have finished my ranting, improvements can DEFINITELY be made, but good work none the less. (And that's what grinds my gears, back to you Diane.)

[leviatan1001]

Oh, i didnt noticed about the new replies. Thank you guys. Ill have your suggestions in mind.
The last days i have been working on new zones. That road zone and the end of the map where the tunnel is. I have made something like a cannon with a Dam, a HUGE dam. Something like the Hoover dam. I will think about tpotpro38 suggestions the next days, hehe.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TCP9osivkXI/AAAAAAAAApE/3WvKKuErvgE/100.jpg

Lens flares added:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TCP9o6ivM-I/AAAAAAAAApI/4dAjlfwrRiU/101.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TCP9pBKzh_I/AAAAAAAAApM/6LXAskxhntg/102.jpg

You will never see that cliff when playing, so its less detailed:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TCP9pR2BtnI/AAAAAAAAApQ/RBd0K2xogfM/103.jpg

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TCP9p-Xd3aI/AAAAAAAAApU/Q7jvD-4nWkY/104.jpg

[leon35]

Wow, looks awesome, but its been said before improve some of the textures. The sand texture looks awesome. The cloth texture is a bit on the meh side of thing but other then that this looks awesome.

[DELTATHUND3R]

Looks great as usual.You have some great enviros matey..Well done.

[leviatan1001]

Good news. HD video ^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxsiV7AdaBU&fmt=22

[DELTATHUND3R]

Video is excellent..

[Dario D.]

Great job. I'm loving the atmosphere/sound/etc in the video. :)

[Froyok]

On this screen : http://lh6.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TCP9pR2BtnI/AAAAAAAAApQ/RBd0K2xogfM/103.jpg
The cliff is made with a terrain (at the down of the screen) and mesh at the top ?


Very nice video otherwise ! :)

[TheOneandOnly]

I love the fact that everywhere you look there's movement and sound, it brings a great sense of realism. However I do have a couple of suggestions.

Firstly, I'm sure you've probably noticed, the long strips of fabric (As in the 3rd screenshot) occasionally clip with the items in that hut. Given how much attention has been given to detail in the scene that really stuck out in the video.

Secondly, a stylistic thing. Personally I wouldn't have the sparks / smoke around the pylons. You already have the movement of dust through the air around them, and I think that removing the particle effects would create a more eerie stillness, particularly when combined with the electrical buzzing noise around them.

Just a couple of minor points in an otherwise fantastic environment though.

[Godling]

Very nice update Levi and an awesome vid.

My own thoughts (in the spirit of CC)...
The top of the L-shaped rock wall above the tunnel (w/tire and I-beams) seems to missing something... not sure what (old signage maybe or plants?).
Hanging light in the tunnel entrance wouldn't last a day in real life before some over-height vehicle smashed it. It wouldn't even be installed there in the first place really.
Clouds are moving a bit fast.
Sparks coming of the lamp post are to severe and could probably be toned down by 75%. Don't draw attention to this kinda stuff... instead let it flavor your scene. (The sparks coming of the tower better reflect power and scale and look fine.)
The Sun may look cool in those shots but is waaaay to big, unless it's a "story" point and it really is that big (sizzle).
Hanging/swinging sign (hazard) is distracting and would have probably fallen long ago considering the added wear and tear on the constantly swing hinge. (Maybe it fell to the ground and then got run over?)
The fire in the barrel would not be able to reach past the top lip in those winds. You might see the occasional lick of fire dance over the edge of the barrel, but certainly not roaring like it is.

Keep up the great work and looking forward to seeing more... and whatever you may be working on next. :)

[leviatan1001]

On this screen : http://lh6.ggpht.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TCP9pR2BtnI/AAAAAAAAApQ/RBd0K2xogfM/103.jpg
The cliff is made with a terrain (at the down of the screen) and mesh at the top ?


Very nice video otherwise ! :)

All the terrain and rocks are made in zBrush ^^
Thanks everybody for the comments, is good to come here and read all these good reviews. Thank you people.

[axelzellalex]

you could do a very creepy horror game with this, resi4 / silent hill 2 style

[Chris Newman]

You should make a defender style game out of this map.

In the game you have to defend the oil pump from BP employees trying to destroy it :rolleyes:

[leviatan1001]

You should make a defender style game out of this map.

In the game you have to defend the oil pump from BP employees trying to destroy it :rolleyes:

Haha, yeah, i like it. Or maybe GreenPeace people vs BP employees!! :D

[xGallox]

Tu trabajo es excepcional, felicidades :D.

[tpotpro38]

Well Well Well, looks like I have to get started again. *clears throat*

I watched the video and no offense but right off the bat, I hated it. For one, you said it was suppose to be end-of-the-world type of thing.

Problem with that is....YOU HAVE THINGS WORKING!!! Machinery, end of the world thing, NO! If it's the end of the world type of thing NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING of the machine type of ordeal should be working.

Sparks? NO! Again if the machines aren't working, there is no sparks. Flames? ARE YOU INSANE!?!? There sould be very minimal and small flames or just brunt ground.

And don't even get me started on that freakin light in the tunnel again or we're gonna be fightin! The sky should be darker as well as a different color. I mean what was with that one scene in the video where you get a nice view of a blue sky with puffy clouds. What is up with that? Also sky is NOT end of the world color. Either red, orange, mixture of both or even possibly green would be much better.

Oh yeah there was some pipes that looked bran spankin new, that is not classified as DESTROYED and or LOOKING RUSTED comparing it with other pipes. The electric towers shouldn't even be standing! They should DOWN, on the GROUND, either SMASHED or in PIECES!

The dirt/dust with the wind effect to it, I will say is a good touch.....BUT when you are finished with the dam and I see something like: "Oh hey look theres a chip and a crack..."
I will be giving you a ONE-WAY ticket to the worst ranting time of your life......THAT WILL NEVER END!

Now get to work and get'er done.

Oh yeah someone wants to talk/ask if he could use your level in a game. His e-mail is tpotpro38@sbcglobal.net since this is his account anyways, cause of our parody project.

I am a friend of his who greatly applies himself to detail, and YOU now know that DON'T YOU?

[SageHunter]

It all depends on what sort of "end-of-the-world" thing.
Machinery could and should still be working. Except maybe after a nuclear holocaust.
These sort of machines are built to last longer than the ones having them.
And why would the sky be orange? Doesn't make much sense. The end of civilization has nothing to do with what the color of the sky is...

And the electric towers... Why would they fall? Seems like you asume that post-apocalyptic means post-nukescape. Electric towers are constructed to be able to stand for a long time.

Oh, and ever heard of stainless steel? That pipe looked like a ventilation pipe. Since air constantly goes through it they have to be non-rust materials.


Stop being so caught up in how things "should" be. Leaves no room for innovation.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Just because mankind dies off doesn't mean the stars will fade and the sky turn red...

I'm sure nature'd get along a bit happier without us...

[Xendance]

Well Well Well, looks like I have to get started again. *clears throat*


Wow, CAPS LOCK FOR MAXIMUM WINNAGE? Eh?
Look, if you want to give constructive criticism, at least try to do it without telling the OP that he's stupid.

[percydaman]

wow I really enjoyed that. I can see alot of effort went into that. congrats all around.

tpotpro38: Been a long time since I've seen such an arrogant cuss on any webforum I frequently visit. Get over yourself. It's his story, not yours.

[tpotpro38]

sorry for my friend being so weird, this is me the owner of my account, i just happend to read his post, LMAO. thats all I have to say about that.

[leviatan1001]

Hi all!
After a few hundreds of thousands of hours more of work, here is an update: :D

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0o0PwFaUI/AAAAAAAABCM/JBTB3rb_dhw/s1440/133.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0ow8VB6hI/AAAAAAAABCI/rc5Vyz4RVq4/s1440/134.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0o1S-w7rI/AAAAAAAABCQ/4Dfqv8S-Wp8/s1440/135.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0o6-UXXvI/AAAAAAAABCY/Gl7PgOBhcDk/s1440/137.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0o7IOhdzI/AAAAAAAABCc/28C2kPrRXWw/s1440/136.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0o8eSyJSI/AAAAAAAABCg/62mbqfvBz4U/s1440/138.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pFT2cRtI/AAAAAAAABCo/J5wt-8T3eiM/s1440/139.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pHdMx0eI/AAAAAAAABCs/EpZkYedb998/s1440/140.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pHbmAtWI/AAAAAAAABCw/zKJ_LxxADQQ/s1440/141.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pMvcjivI/AAAAAAAABC0/zLt6pLIXwRY/s1440/142.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pPzuhUSI/AAAAAAAABC8/Vetda42lgC0/s1440/144.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pRkmz0DI/AAAAAAAABDA/zt1CsAe48Wg/s1440/143.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pWfd9WaI/AAAAAAAABDE/xD9QsmtwOQ0/s1440/145.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pY7M2TZI/AAAAAAAABDI/DaDtnEsY9Qs/s1440/147.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pZi1e38I/AAAAAAAABDM/EVe9fythPVI/s1440/146.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pf41mLsI/AAAAAAAABDQ/mlNKTFSXQDM/s1440/148.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0phhe7KgI/AAAAAAAABDU/DB8ZOjh2iKw/s1440/149.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_FIwkRjgQ8DQ/TX0pirV3kRI/AAAAAAAABDc/1zmmO76NuV8/s1440/150.jpg

Whats new? Well, the most important thing is all the new HLSL stuff ive added. Metal props are using cook-torrance-oren-nayar, dust layer, fresnel reflections... Well, in short, all my stuff in the shaders thread.

Hope you like!

[TheDopefish]

Damn, that's looking incredibly good :D

[ShadoW_epicforum]

Looks good!

[Tom Shannon]

That's SO good lookin! So much detail. I do have to issue a gripe tho. The human eye does not have anamorphic lens flares or secondary reflections (we only have one lens), also, the anamorphic flare is from a very specific camera/lens setup and the blue of the flare is strange coming from an incandescent light. Honestly I wish there were less post process in general so I could see the great level hiding behind it. :D

[roosterMAP]

what post processes are you using?

[Andrey]

I'm impressed!

[leviatan1001]

That's SO good lookin! So much detail. I do have to issue a gripe tho. The human eye does not have anamorphic lens flares or secondary reflections (we only have one lens), also, the anamorphic flare is from a very specific camera/lens setup and the blue of the flare is strange coming from an incandescent light. Honestly I wish there were less post process in general so I could see the great level hiding behind it. :D

Of course the eye doesnt have those flares xD Im simulating camera lens, hehe.
A friend of mine also told me it has too much postprocess, hehe. What i told him was : this is a technical demo ^^

Thanks for the comment!

[leviatan1001]

what post processes are you using?

Uff, lots of them:

Anamorphic lens flares
Reinhard tonemapper
Lens Distortion with chromatic aberration
Image grain
Custom DOF
Custom SSAA
Color correction
Cross processing
Bleach bypass
Lens dirtness layer and that black/movie strips
Dunno what else... hehe, maybe i still forget some :P

[terranceklue]

I don't mind the lens flares... Bioware uses them in mass effect and i say if it looks great..why change it? Save realism for reality lol. Map looks awesome by the way. I don't really have any "real" criticism i can offer so ill give you a useless crit...a Drill site near a dam? seems dangerous lol. Well designed, well thought out, and well executed. Good Job!

[Piranhi]

I've been following your Oil Field for a long time now and it really feels like it's coming to life. Great work.

[leviatan1001]

Thanks! :D

[BloodBrothers]

I saw how it looked a long time ago and how it looks now....Amazing, you are freaky good, good job, I have nothing to critizise about, but this is truely eye candy lol

[leviatan1001]

I saw how it looked a long time ago and how it looks now....Amazing, you are freaky good, good job, I have nothing to critizise about, but this is truely eye candy lol

Hehe, yeah. Indeed, i was watching right now the old videos. The first one was recorded in 2008!! Haha. Yeah, it has improved infinitely :D
Thanks!

[Dip2010]

wow this is looking great. im loving the atmosphere a lot. kind of like playing call of duty.

[Blizzard_Edge]

Hey leviatan1001, I found a video of your oil field demo on youtube. You're a very talented person with all your shader etc. research as well as the project you're making. :) Thanks for sharing!

I did have a question...I saw on your blog that you mentioned something about Epic removing shader source files in the March 2011 UDK release, and how you'd rather move to a different engine than get a new computer for DX11. Do you have plans to switch to a different engine? Is there no way to get back the shader features/files you lost? Has anyone from Epic commented about why they were removed? :( Thanks!

[leviatan1001]

Hey leviatan1001, I found a video of your oil field demo on youtube. You're a very talented person with all your shader etc. research as well as the project you're making. :) Thanks for sharing!

I did have a question...I saw on your blog that you mentioned something about Epic removing shader source files in the March 2011 UDK release, and how you'd rather move to a different engine than get a new computer for DX11. Do you have plans to switch to a different engine? Is there no way to get back the shader features/files you lost? Has anyone from Epic commented about why they were removed? :( Thanks!

Well, i guess that technology is too advanced for sharing it for free. I understand it. Luckily i have acces to them in my job, and i can keep burning GPUs xD hehe.
Well, i will not move to cryengine for now, that was an angry moment xD I've spent several years learning UE, i dont want to start learning from scratch again ^^
They public now unreadable shader files, so, there is no way to get text based ones working anymore. Because you need to modify Common.usf and add a line to call your new file.
But yes, im so dissapointed since i noticed almost every new feature was based on Dx11. All i can say is EPIC EPIC FAIL

[Blizzard_Edge]

They public now unreadable shader files, so, there is no way to get text based ones working anymore.
Just to make sure I understand...does this mean that people with the UDK cannot MODIFY Epic's shader files anymore, or that we cannot also create new shader text/code files of our own? It looked like from your blog there is still a way to directly input your own code, unless that really got removed in the March 2011 version.

And let's hope the April release has some cool things. I am hoping that with competition, Epic makes their engine (even the free UDK version) even better. :D

[leviatan1001]

All you can do is to use the custom node. What i found possible was to 'expand' the possibilities of the custom node and to modify the base shaders. I modified for example the default phong specular model to use a blinn instead. I did that in Common.usf. Its cool if you are a lazy boy and dont want to use always MLM_Custom and put all the blinn stuff each time.
Also, for lazy boys, if you always make an operation again and again, you could hardcode it in a new function you create in a new shader.usf
Anyway, making that was veeeery tedious, since it has to recomplite aaaaall the existing shaders. And that takes 30 minutes or one hour!

[Blizzard_Edge]

All you can do is to use the custom node. What i found possible was to 'expand' the possibilities of the custom node and to modify the base shaders. I modified for example the default phong specular model to use a blinn instead. I did that in Common.usf. Its cool if you are a lazy boy and dont want to use always MLM_Custom and put all the blinn stuff each time.
Also, for lazy boys, if you always make an operation again and again, you could hardcode it in a new function you create in a new shader.usf
Anyway, making that was veeeery tedious, since it has to recomplite aaaaall the existing shaders. And that takes 30 minutes or one hour!
Thanks very much for the info. :) It sounds like it might still be possible to use the custom node to work around the "UE3 look" to an extent, then...just more work than otherwise!

[Tom Shannon]

Lazyboys can also copy-paste shader trees and make instances. However I agree that removing the shader source is lame, lame , lame.