FMP - Direction and Material Update!

So over the weekend I worked on some of the materials after some crit the main issues were that the corrugated metal was basically all wrong. So I worked that up from the start and after that the old tarmac needed some attention the shapes were really overly bumpy and rock-like. I feel this looks a bit better in terms of looking like tarmac but it is losing out a bit on the albedo. When it is vertex painted on the floor with some vegetation growing out of the gaps it should look better. In the image you can see that the vertex painting shader is working now needs a bit of adjustment as it is fading between rather than being a harsh line but that will come. 

Unfortunately the green came out a bit more saturated than I hoped for.

These material improvements did involve sitting in my room staring at a piece of new tarpaulin I found and shining light on it, simply staring at galvanised steel to work out how to create its wierd specularity (which isn't quite there yet)... as these are the clean materials I doubt they will be see as they are now in the final asset pack or the material pack however it taught me a lot and should provide a solid base. I also started working on a material for the edge of the pavement next to traffic lights and around pedestrian crossings. This is a substance render, its still WIP so would love any feedback.

The other important thing about this weekend was that the art direction was bugging me and the whole idea just didn't really feel that great. I feel like I was a bit too locked into the technical aspects and wanted to make sure I make something pretty! and also you know make sure it feels like Britain. So reference gathering started. After scouring the coast on google maps/streetview I realised that the things that are going to make it feel like Britain and feel like the slums have been built around a city under difficult times are all around me, in land-locked Leicester. After going out and getting some reference my SD card decided to corrupt and so I've cobbled together some key things from streetview.

Car Parks would provide a good large area to build a home away from the water's edge. A solid road structure, pavement, yellow lines and glowing bollards will create a sense of a previous city structure before the events leading to the sea level rising. Older buildings having large signs painted onto their brick will give a sense of the heritage of the city along with newer graffiti this will give the place a sense of life. I've made an adjusted whitebox with these elements added into it and I'll do a quick photobash to show the direction I want to go with the project. I also tried to break down how buildings are constructed to work out how to construct the tileset and what objects can be found and used in the construction of the slum buildings.

The building in the distance with the scaffolding around the top will be half submerged with people having made their dwellings above the water line. This phenomenon will be scattered around in front of this area with signs of fishing, boats and power sources dotted around the vista