Some feedback points & actions taken:

 

F1 - Focus on making just the artefact area, cut out the cave system, and really analyse what it is about the artefact that makes it so unsual and different.

 

F2 - Look at how other games (i.e. Dear Esther, Uncharted 2) made their modular rocks to create their interesting formations.

 

F3 - Following from the point above, it was later then suggested to create some kind of structured formations in the large area to fill it out more but at the same time, give it more interest.

 

F4 - Change the shape language of the obelisks, the roundness of the current ones feel out of place when placed next to the main artefact.

 

F5 - Create more accents on the edges of rocks by using something like bioluminescent mushrooms or even just faked lighting to add even more interest to the compositions you are making.

 

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A1 - I only made the glow worm area, merged with a stalactite/stalagmite opening into the large artefact area. This ensured I remained focused on making these and concentrating on the composition for 2-3 parts instead of 10+. Also, I realised that anything appearing to defy gravity automatically gives you the sense it isn't from this world. So, I took the concept which inspired me, added chains but kept a calming colour scheme to give you the sense that it looks graceful, but making you wonder why it is chained down if it isn't something to be scared of.

 

A2 - I had already made my rocks when recieving this feedback, but I took a look and tried to use what I had to make new formations. For example, I had 2 large eroded rocks, but I tried to place them in such a way that they either connect to form a new extended rock, or so that they were stretched/sized and orientated uniquley to give you the impression they are different.

 

A3 - As I had ran out of my texture budget by this point, I couldn't make any more normal maps, so I made them out of what I already had - Despite my tri budget being huge, I refrained from creating any more physical assets by this point as I wanted to focus on the other things first so that if I had time at the end I could give it a go, but still have something in place of it if I didn't.

 

A4 - This was one of the feedback points which I picked up on myself, but had no idea what they weren't working well until the shape language was pointed out to me. I immediately looked up more 'pointy' kind of obelisks and used those as reference. After just putting in a base model, I could already see that they were going to work much better than the original.

 

A5 - I most definitely used faked lighting already, just used some more. In addition thouogh, I did put in the mushrooms as I felt as though it did need a little something to add more interest & highlights. Doing this I think ensured that I was hitting a broad range of values to make it come together aesthetically.

 

Conclusion:

 

The project itself went smooth in comparison to others I have experienced, though still not without some major issues for exmaple, the landscape/lighting as discussed in my blogs, textures looking very odd in some situations, running out of texture space etc. Modelling, texturing, and engine all went well as I kept to things that I knew (for the most part). In terms of baking, 90%  of my bakes were perfect which is good news for me because prior to this project, I was fuzzy as to what you have to do in order to get prefect bakes - I can finally get a non-chamfered edge to appear chamfered properly. The timeframe for the scale of my project I felt was just right as almost everything is modular and works well together.

 

Improvements for the future:

- Lock down a good design first (Or get 80% there): I didn't actually have any kind of design for the main artefact when I started the project in 3D, so I had to make it up on the spot and keep on iterating as I went along. Even though it turned out aesthetically pleasing, I don't like how I was just 'going along' (maybe I got lucky?). If I didn't end up with a good result and the artefact as an art piece let me down, I would be writing a very different summary for the project. Some improvisation and iteration is definitely good along the way as the design evolves for the better, but doing it all at once because I needed something to model, I feel wasn't the best way to go about it.

 

- Never stop analysing my work: I realised this just before the end of the project and will definitely carry it into future ones. I was around 2 weeks in and felt as though I was nearly done. I then forced myself to look and imagine possible assets or things that would add to the final piece. Just doing this gave me even more ideas as to what I could do to make it better. After adding more to the big area I felt it was just about okay - I realised there is so much more I could to with this space to make it more interesting.

 

- Look at how other games have made assets (Research rock making): My rock making process yielded fairly average results with seams everywhere. I did bake them down so the normal map was seamless, but the tiling albedo showed harsh seams as expected. Some feedback required me to look into how other people build their formations, but I didn't look into the texturing aspect. This is now a task I am setting myself - to improve upon my rock making. If I require an asset of which I do not know how to do properly, I will observe how other game makers have produced their level of quality.

 

- Create compositional areas (Attention to detail): I did this for two general scenes intentionally, but felt as though if I did this with all or most aspects, it would create a far more aesthetically pleasing and coherant scene. For example, instead of just doing this for 1 shot as the player walks through (Like I did), create compositional areas & clusters of assets - I.e. Build an arrangement of rocks that looks like a well composed image, or make a cluster of debri which is positioned in such a way that looks interesting instead of painting carelessly in the general area with the foliage brush. Build 'Beauty Shots' within the game.