Start to finish screen shots of the Unity Scene being created
The first thing I did was model a simple map layout from my drawn concepts in Blender, then I imported it into Unity so I could test the scale and layout of the scene. I also used scale references provided by class tutorials to test the scale.
Next I added simple models to test the feeling of the environment when you move around. I also added the skybox for realism. I found that I made a lot of changes here, the environment felt too empty and felt very fake. After adding the refined models and texture, it still wasn’t what I wanted. I tried to add more trees to fill up the environment background, but it was too many polygons and would have made the scene too heavy.
To solve this problem I created an image with Photoshop brushes to create the effect of having a silhouetted forest background. It took a while of playing around with position and tree density to get the desired feeling.
The next technique I used to add a fuller background was a complete failure.
In Maya, I tried to put together a scene that I could use as a rendered image, but due to my lack of knowledge in Maya with cameras and lighting it didn’t look good in the scene and I had to take it out.
Although looking at it now – It could have possibly worked if I didn’t change the lighting in Maya and left it natural. If I had more time I would go back and add it to the image.
Once I spent hours arranging the tree density and the size of the background images, I was now able to start adding more texture detail to my scene. To create the ground I used the Unity 3D terrain editor, and looked at references for environment design and how to fill the space.