At this point I had a clear idea of what the final scene would look like. I started by selecting the models intended for the foreground (the first plan) and used them as a basis for the detailed design.
I continued the sculpting process in Blender. For better sculpting results, I combined Remesh and Dyntopo tools. Since Dyntopo subdivides during sculpting, it prevents a sharp, pixelated look. Meanwhile, Remesh was used to balance the overall mesh topology. Basic references of stone, wood, leaves, etc. were of great use to the sculpting process. Elements are reused across multiple assets. For example, groups of separate stone tiles are combined to create stairs, following the rule of creating seven different rows to avoid visible repetition. They are also used for stone walls and deformed for floor variations.
Molded models
Since the scene is full of architectural elements, I naturally used the Trim Sheets technique for horizontal architectural elements, which allows good reusability and optimization. I filled square projections with trim rectangles, modeled patterns using masks that I painted as an alpha texture in Photoshop, and modeled additional damage.
leaves
For the first plan’s vegetation, I created trees using SpeedTree, Real Ivy, and Blender for smaller plants. SpeedTree proved to be an effective tool for generating and adjusting trees, so I used it to create some basic trees, tweaking parameters, and making manual adjustments to achieve the desired volume and shape. I created a diffuse map of a leaf branch texture for leaves with a smaller amount of detail. It’s important to keep in mind how it will look implemented on many intersecting leaf planes, so there’s less room for smaller details and more thought to be given to the main shape and leaf spacing. For a quick test, I created a few different textures, keeping in mind the proportions of positive/negative space. I also try to keep the values simple and subtle to avoid a noisy look.
The texture of sculpted and baked leaves and flowers is used to create smaller plants and as a leaf texture for Real Ivy. This software speeds up the process as it generates ivy and creepers using the colliders in your scene as a base to grow, climb and adjust, which is a real time saver. I also edited ivy using cutting and drawing tools.
