Sci Fi Vehicle and Environment

Happy to show my latest personal work! This started off as a game-ready asset exercise that eventually morphed into a full environment......Might have got a bit carried away!
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I'm a big fan of Giorgio Baroni's Vehicle designs, and when I saw his concept of this little cube on wheels, I knew I'd have to take a shot at it one day. The design has a clean, minimal aesthetic which I really vibe with but also has some bold shapes and lines which I love. The sketch also allowed me an opportunity to make a few of my own stylistic choices that I hope do his concept justice.
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In terms of the environment I wanted to create a simple scene to help tell a bit of a story as well as create something that complimented Baroni's design. I stumbled across a photo of a tunnel midway through modelling that sparked a bunch of ideas and an opportunity to tell a bit of a story. I love Sci-Fi that's relatively minimal and keeps me asking questions so wanted to keep the scene a bit vague as well. Where was the driver going? Where have they gone? For what reason? Is this even earth?
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I really enjoyed adding a bit of life/nature to the scene such as the water, smoke, dust and various other atmospherics. It was a challenge to try and keep it understated and not too distracting. I originally played around with a version that included vegetation, but felt it took away from the harshness of the environment so ended up removing it.
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All assets were made by me excluding some Megascans rocks and textures as well as some brush/grunge textures by Jan Wyss.

Don't forget to turn sound on for some extra mood!

Modeled in 3DS Max and Textured in Substance Painter

Modeled in 3DS Max and Textured in Substance Painter

Really enjoyed creating a few graphical/UI elements. Style is referenced from an old Tractor on my parents farm.

Really enjoyed creating a few graphical/UI elements. Style is referenced from an old Tractor on my parents farm.

Main references used.

Main references used.

Topology. Could have reduced this a lot more, but I liked the idea of doing some nice close up vignette shots of the smaller details.

Topology. Could have reduced this a lot more, but I liked the idea of doing some nice close up vignette shots of the smaller details.

Original environment test in Unreal. I loved the natural Vignette the light falloff produced as the environment extends off into the darkness.

Original environment test in Unreal. I loved the natural Vignette the light falloff produced as the environment extends off into the darkness.

Quick paint-over. I wanted the main shot to have a bit of a side scroller feel to it. I could imagine the player leaving their vehicle and using the rope to climb up and out of the tunnel.

Quick paint-over. I wanted the main shot to have a bit of a side scroller feel to it. I could imagine the player leaving their vehicle and using the rope to climb up and out of the tunnel.

The tunnel was created using a blueprint that instances 3 meshes. A material then uses each instances unique location to drive various material params. Decals and water then did a lot of the heavy lifting!

I followed Ghislain Giradot's method for spawning water droplets from the hole in the ceiling. His videos are amazing, go check them out!

Still

Still