Grand Space Opera 3D Entry: James A. Ciomperlik

#1

James A. Ciomperlik has entered the Grand Space Opera 3D.

Challenge Page

Latest Update: Texturing: Planet

I spent a lot of time getting the clouds right.

#2

Hovering Droid-like character exploring the ruins of an ancient highly advanced civilization on a desolate alien planet.

#3

Nothing says saga more than an expansive desert. Next I will build the alien ruins. They are from a highly advanced extinct civilization. As such, some of the architecture will actually be hovering. I’m going for somethng minimalist here. I’m thinking lots of large megaliths with hovering orbs scattered about.

#4

Here i’m toying around with what to have the ancient alien ruins look like. I’ll probably add some variation to the ‘technoliths’. I’m also going to redo the sky. Thin the clouds out and add a gaseous giant… that has some small rings. That would make this a moon. After that i’ll start building the hovering droid character.

#5


What do you guys think?

#6

sand bump map looks a bit … big. might want to mess with your texture scale. i like the dunes though.

first off, the field of things really brings to mind the scale of what we are looking at. i dig that. hundreds of them receeding into the distance= very cool.

however, they do not look quite forboding enough… i have a small complaint about the hovering aspect of the egg thing on top, but that is just cause of my hard-edge scifi upbringing. give them more form somehow, some hints at some dark and mysterious purpose or something. good work so far!

#7

Here it is portrait. I agree about the hovering orbs… i’ll redesign those to have a more alien look. Next i’ll redo the sky.

#8

Here i’ve added the planet in the sky. I decided to make it a water world instead of gaseous giant becuase planets with water are more mysterious… as there could be life. I thinned out the background and volumetric clouds. Next i’ll work on the ‘technoliths’. Want to make them look more alien.

#9

Here i’ve added a hill so you can see the glowing objects better. I’ve also added two large saucer-like ships. Their hull is morphable… not rigid-hulled like the ships you may normally think about made of iron and titanium. This also goes along with the minimalist concept. I may add some alien plants in the foreground. I used the posterize filter in photoshop last.

#10

I like how the concept sketch is turning out, and the unique way you’ve presented ‘ancient’ alien architecture is quite imaginative. The image with the ship looks a little distorted, but from what I can make out, the morphable ship is a nice addition.
As for plants, I’m not so sure you should add those- I know its an alien world, but different as it may be, plants might detract from the feeling of the expansive desert. Just a tip.
Great work on the sand by the way.

#11

I like it better without the last additions. Without the hill and the ship the image gave a more infinite feel. Perhaps you could make the glows more visible by making the sky darker behind it?

Your concept is really nice - keep it up!

#12

Okay… so maybe i’ve gone a bit far here. I had originally intended to show a Hovering Droid exploring ancient alien ruins. Instead, I jumped back in time so you can see how the ruins were used. I may still add the hovering droid character. I need to figure out how to incorporate both ideas.

#13

Hi,

I like your style…reminds me of pink floyd art work…but, I think there should be more dynamic action taking place. Some excitment, pizzaz. This contest is about GRAND and BIG…think LARGE. Good luck and keep up the nice work

#14

i really like the ambience of it… you mention like alien ruins, but they seem really fresh… otherwise it looks really interesting a real story

#15

As you can see i’ve made numerous changes. I’ve changed out the planet to something more alien. One particular feature i am proud of are the ring shadows on the planet’s surface. I added more detail to the sand in the foreground… made the top less course than the bottom. The ships are different too. I completely redid the geometry and gave them a new texture job. Notice the reflection in the closer one? I also messed with the lense effects and volume effects. This one is almost finished.

#16

I added a long structure in the background… and a matching galaxy in the sky! I also tweaked the ground texture with some reflectivity. I used a photoshop filter to really bring out the color on this one. I think i settled on a title too… “Halcyon”

Jamie

#17

Here you can see the simple geometry i used. These were extremely easy to model. It’s the texturing and lighting and other effects that was hard.

#18

I used a lot of reflection. Here you can also see the sand bump map. Simple enough huh?

#19

I toyed around with the shadows a lot. It sure takes forever to render all the ahadows way out into the distance.

#20

I took extra care to make sure the shadows rendered properly even way in the distance. I spent a LOT of time getting the planet uber detailed. I like how the sand reflecting here turned out too.