Practice 2: Creative Project Development

At this stage of my project, I have clearly defined both my deliverables and my wishlist goals. This helps me stay focused and structured while also pushing myself to achieve more if time allows.

Deliverables (Core Outcomes)

These are the main outputs I aim to complete for my final project:

A modular asset pack, including all the key building parts

A simple environment composition using these assets

A set of final rendered images for presentation

Well-organized texture sets for all assets

These deliverables focus on building a strong foundation, ensuring that my work is technically correct, clean, and presentable.

Wishlist (Extended Goals)

In addition to the core deliverables, I have also planned some advanced goals:

Creating a cinematic render or video for better storytelling

Improving lighting and overall environment quality

During the early stages of my project, I focused on choosing a title that sounds strong and clearly reflects the concept, mood, and uniqueness of my work.

Initially, my idea was to create a semi-realistic medieval environment, mainly focusing on modular architecture. But as my research progressed, I started exploring more hybrid designs, especially concepts that combine architecture with mechanical elements. That’s when my idea evolved into a moving structure supported by mechanical legs, which made the project more unique and technically interesting.

At that point, I felt that a simple or generic name wouldn’t match the direction I was going in. I wanted something that could represent both the fantasy aspect and the crafted, mechanical nature of the model.

While exploring different words and meanings, I came across the term “Aether.” I really liked how it represents the sky, mystical space, or unseen energy, which connects well with a fantasy world. Then I thought about the idea of creation and building, which led me to “Forge,” symbolizing craftsmanship, strength, and construction. Finally, I added “Citadel,” which represents a stronghold or fortress, giving a sense of scale, structure, and importance.

When I combined all three - Aetherforge Citadel - it immediately felt right. It perfectly describes the idea of a mystical, crafted structure that feels powerful and unique.

While looking into more structured environments, I came across this project by Laela Russell, an environment artist, which was created around 2 years ago. Even though it is a student project, the quality and detailing feel very close to industry level.

What really stood out to me in this work is the modular approach used to build the entire environment. Instead of creating one complete building, the project is broken down into smaller reusable parts like walls, windows, roofs, and structural elements. These pieces can be combined in different ways to create multiple variations of buildings.

The modular kit shown in the project helped me understand how environments are efficiently built in real-time workflows. Each asset is clean, well-structured, and designed to fit together properly, which makes the whole scene look consistent and realistic.

Another important aspect I noticed is the lighting and mood. The scene uses a darker, cinematic atmosphere with warm lights, which adds depth and storytelling to the environment. This connects well with the direction I am exploring in my own project.

From this reference, I learned:

How to break down buildings into modular assets

The importance of reusability and consistency

How lighting plays a key role in enhancing the environment

How to maintain a balance between detail and performance

One artist whose work strongly influenced my thinking is Rinse Wernik, and it completely changed the way I look at environment design. What stood out to me the most was how his work is not just about placing assets but about creating a meaningful structure and flow.

His 3D work especially helped me understand how complex mechanical structures can still feel organised and purposeful. The way platforms, stairs, pipes, and mechanical legs are arranged shows a clear pathway for movement. It doesn’t feel random; every part connects logically, allowing the viewer to visually travel through the structure from bottom to top.

Before this, I was mainly thinking about building individual assets like houses, stairs, and mechanical parts and placing them together. But after studying his work, I realised that every element should have a reason to exist. The stairs should lead somewhere, platforms should connect spaces, and the entire structure should guide the viewer’s eye naturally.

As part of my ongoing exploration, I came across the work of concept artist Jack Reeves, whose designs strongly align with the direction of my project.

His work focuses on hybrid environments, where traditional architectural forms are combined with mechanical systems. One of the most interesting concepts I studied is the idea of a moving structure supported by mechanical legs, similar to designs seen in Mortal Engines-inspired worlds.

This directly connects to my project, as I am also working on an environment that combines medieval architecture with mechanical elements. Instead of creating a normal static village, I want to explore the idea of a moving structure, where buildings are supported by mechanical legs, making the environment feel more dynamic and unique.

As I move forward with my project, I have identified a few key challenges that I need to manage carefully.

One of the main concerns for me is the timeline. Since this is a 3-month project and involves modeling, sculpting, and texturing, I need to plan my time properly and avoid spending too long on one stage. Managing time effectively will be very important to complete everything on schedule.

Another challenge is the complexity of the project. My idea combines both medieval architecture and mechanical elements, which means I have to balance different types of modeling, especially hard surface and structural design.

I also expect some difficulty while learning new tools and workflows, especially in Substance Painter, as creating realistic PBR materials is something I am still improving on.

How to make Copper material in substance painter - Metal Smart Material - substance painter

This video shows how to build metal materials step by step using a layered workflow, starting with a base metal and gradually adding color variation, edge wear, dirt, and imperfections. What I found most useful is how small details like roughness variation and masking make the material look more realistic instead of flat.

During my research, I explored this ArtStation project to understand the difference between high poly models and game-ready (low poly) meshes.

From the reference, I clearly observed how the same model is built in two different stages, one focusing on detail and the other focusing on performance.

The high-poly model contains a very high level of detail. It includes smooth curves, bevels, small mechanical parts, and complex shapes. This version is mainly used to capture all the fine details like edges, screws, panels, and surface depth. It is not optimised for real-time use but is important for creating realistic detail.

The low poly (game-ready) model, on the other hand, is simplified. It has fewer polygons and cleaner geometry, making it suitable for game engines. Even though it looks less detailed in geometry, it still appears detailed because of baked maps like normal maps, which transfer details from the high-poly model.

I explored this tutorial:

This video focuses on how to start building a mech in Maya using hard-surface modelling.

The main idea of this tutorial is:

Start with simple base shapes

Build the model step by step using clean hard surface techniques

Focus on mechanical structure and joints

It shows how complex mechanical designs can be broken down into small parts like joints, pistons, and panels instead of modelling everything at once.

Another tutorial:

This video focuses on creating a complex mech model, showing a time-lapse workflow of building a detailed mechanical structure.

What stands out in this tutorial is the focus on:

High-detail hard surface modeling

Building complex forms using layered components

Maintaining a strong mechanical design language throughout

Unlike basic tutorials, this shows how professionals handle dense mechanical detailing while still keeping the structure clean.

This is very useful for my project because the following:

I can follow the same approach to build clean and structured parts

Currently, I am focusing on mechanical leg design, which is the key element that makes my project unique.

I gathered a variety of references from different sources to understand the design, structure, and implementation of mechanical legs. These references include different types of joints, pistons, supports, and movement systems.

What I found important is that these legs are not just random shapes — they are built using modular parts, such as:

Joints and hinges

Pistons and hydraulic parts

Base support and foot structure

This helps in creating a system that looks both functional and realistic.

Since my concept involves a walking structure, I need to make sure the legs feel believable and stable, while still matching the style of the medieval building on top.

This also connects well with my strength in hard surface modeling, allowing me to explore more detailed mechanical designs.

Currently, I am planning the software workflow for my project.

I am already familiar with Maya, ZBrush, and Substance Painter, which will be my main tools for modelling, sculpting, and texturing.

Now, I am focusing on understanding how to use them together effectively to achieve the level of detail seen in professional modular assets. Maya will be used for base modelling and modular pieces, ZBrush for adding extra details where needed, and Substance Painter for creating realistic materials and PBR textures.

I will be using Substance Painter specifically for material creation, where I can build layered materials, add wear, dirt, and roughness variation to make the assets look more realistic.

At this stage, I also realize that my main focus is to learn Substance Painter, especially for creating PBR materials, which is relatively new to me. This will be important for achieving realistic results in my project.

With my updated concept of a mechanical walking structure, I will also be focusing more on hard-surface modelling in Maya for designing the legs, joints, and mechanical parts. ZBrush may be used selectively for adding smaller surface details, but the main structure will rely on a clean hard surface workflow.

I have selected two main visual directions for my environment based on my research.

The first is a dark/cinematic theme, which focuses on:

Moody lighting

Strong contrast

Warm interior lights

Atmospheric and storytelling environments

The second is a bright fantasy landscape, which includes:

Open natural environments

Mountains and greenery

Soft daylight lighting

Clean and vibrant visuals

I chose these two references to explore different moods and lighting styles so I can decide what works best for my final project.

My initial idea was to create a semi-realistic medieval village structure, focusing on modular architecture while also trying to incorporate something unique.

During my research phase, I explored a wide range of references and noticed the growing use of hybrid designs that combine architecture with mechanical elements, particularly within semi-stylised and steampunk environments. I also came across a concept from several years ago that explored a similar idea, which stood out to me as a unique and underutilised approach.

At the same time, while analyzing industry workflows and references, I realized that many projects focus only on traditional medieval structures, and I wanted to take a slightly different direction.

Since I am also comfortable with hard surface modeling, I decided to push my concept further.

This inspired me to evolve my idea into a walking structure, where the building is supported by mechanical legs. This allows me to combine:

Architectural modeling (medieval structures)

Hard surface/mechanical design (legs and joints)

in a single project.

This new approach helps me stand out while still applying all the research I have done so far. Instead of changing everything, I am building on my existing idea and enhancing it with a unique element.

At this stage, my focus is to:

Keep the modular medieval structure as the base

Introduce mechanical legs as the unique feature

Balance both styles so the design feels cohesive

Through this process, I explored and learned from multiple tutorials to gain a more detailed understanding of different environment art workflows and techniques. Instead of relying on a single method, I experimented with different approaches across modelling, texturing, and material creation to better understand industry-style pipelines.

Currently, I explored three different tutorials to understand different workflows used in environment art:

1. Trim Sheet Workflow (First Video) This video mainly focuses on trim sheets, which are used to create multiple assets using a single texture.

Shows how to plan and organize trims

Helps create modular assets faster

Widely used in game industry pipelines (YouTube)

This is very useful for me because I can reuse textures for walls, beams, and edges.

2. Material & Texturing Approach (Second Video) This video focuses more on texturing and material creation.

Building materials layer by layer

Adding roughness, dirt, and variation

Making assets feel realistic

how to make my assets look less flat and more believable.

3. Environment Building & Workflow (Third Video) This video focuses on putting everything together in Unreal Engine.

Scene setup and composition

Lighting and atmosphere

Blending assets using techniques like vertex painting

how individual assets become a complete environment.

Now I feel more confident because I have multiple approaches to follow. Instead of copying one method, I can:

Use trim sheets for modular assets

This video mainly focuses on vertex painting and texture painting inside Unreal Engine, which is an important technique for environment art.

From this tutorial, I understood the key tools and workflow used:

Unreal Engine - for vertex painting, mesh painting, and final environment setup

Substance Painter / Textures - for creating base materials

Maya (or any modeling software) – for creating modular assets

What is unique here is how vertex painting is used to blend textures like dirt, moss, and wear directly on the model inside Unreal Engine. This helps avoid repetition and makes the environment look more natural.

Another tutorial i came across is Moss vertex painting:

This video focuses on how to add moss using vertex painting in Unreal Engine.

What I found really useful is how moss is not placed randomly, but is added naturally in cracks, edges, and cavities of surfaces like bricks and walls