Week 9 - Post Alpha

First thing I did after alpha was delete all the lanterns and the flame particle. I also turned off lens flare in the world editor for good measure.

Unlike my previous priorities, I began with the stairs as I knew from making them the first time, just how long it would take. Jon had organised a few late night lab sessions so on the first one I did the stairs.

Left is original, right is re-do

First thing I went about tidying up the main section of the stairs. I deleted the original and just re-made it from scratch. I added bevels and more geometry so it would have a softer look to them and not be as angular. I smoothed a lot of edges.

Left is new, right is old

Fun fact, the stairs were floating during the alpha cinematic. I did't realise this until I went in my scene after to decide what to do next. I'm unable to lower the stairs as everything lines up, so I added an extra step on the bottom to make it curve out more. I didn't remake this section as there's not that much wrong with it. I cleaned up some of the geometry and added bevels and smooths to the steps.

Left is old, right is new

It was the same case for this part of the stairs and was easier to add bevels and clean the geometry instead of completely remaking it.

I made a little cross for some details to go around the stairs and on the skirting trim that surrounds the hole in the floor.

Using this image I found (ref below), I modelled and placed it around the wooden skirting. Unfortunately, it looked a lot like the Iron Cross from far away (Possible WW1 crossover?!) so I rotated it 90 degrees and it looks a lot better now.

Using NDO, I made the texture maps and came out with a really nice golden trim for the crosses (see above). It's just a shame this small metal detail won't reflect as much as I'd like as there isn't direct light like that shining on them. But it's a good way to show off my use of PBR.

Left is old, right is new

The main change I made to the stairs was this skirting I added around the edge. It really helps show the smooth curve the stairs flows in and it looks a lot smoother than the little beam I had there before. It also provides enough space for the cross details to go.

Crosses on the skirting 

Cross image ref - http://www.needlenthread.com/Images/patterns/Ecclesiastical_Embroidery/Crosses/Cross_Pattern_10.gif