Production

Development stage began with a quick paintover for better understanding of the concept and elements of the scene, and finding the necessary references. I found a place from the concept in the game, it was a courtyard of the Royal Palace in Vizima. I made a few screenshots of the various elements, what helped me to better plan the work. It was interesting and useful to study how the scene had already done by professional artists from CD Projekt RED. I also used photos of various abandoned buildings and screenshots from Uncharted 4. Then in 3ds Max I did a quick rough blockout using Perspective Match Tool to understand the proportions and composition, and then exported in Unreal Engine 4, where I adjusted the initial lighting. I think it is very important to set up lighting during the prototype stage while various details are not distracting you. And also it gives more time to experiment with different lighting settings, because with every iteration you’re reviewing it and make it better. I decided to use UE4 because it is very powerful and gives more freedom in choosing tools for modeler.