flowing plains
Overview
Level Design/Level Art project created using assets from the Unreal Marketplace.
Role
Level Designer, Level Artist
Tools
Unreal Engine 4, Adobe After Effects
Skills
Level Design, Set Dressing, Lighting, Composition, Landscape Editing
Recently I was watching Howl's Moving Castle and Sword Art Online as well as watching a playthrough of Breath of the Wild. As I was watching these, I was thinking to myself how serene and soft the different plains felt in each of the shows as well as the game. Feeling inspired, I wanted to start to create a scene which involved soft rolling hills, spotted throughout with section of colorful flowers and windmills slowly turning in the wind. After this I started to gather some inspiration photos from some various animes as well as Breath of the Wild to serve as a sort of foundation for what type of assets I would be looking for on the Unreal Marketplace. As fate would have it, I came across a wonderful stylized set which mimicked a very Miyazaki-esque style. Listed below is some of the inspiration photos that I came up with to serve as a mood board for my environment.
After getting a good idea of what I wanted I started to thinking about some areas of composition and silhouettes that I would want to create within my level. Following that I began to place some major objects and play around with the arrangement of assets around the level which would help to achieve my desired aesthetic. Listed below is an overview video of the finished level!
Shown below are some of the detailed shots of the scene. When working through creating environments, I often like to plan out small stories in my head for the area, as that helps me to create a more natural environment. Using some creative story elements to help influence prop placement often makes the environment feel more alive and natural.
For instance maybe the small bridge in the town is currently being built and blocked off so I like to ask myself what a person building the bridge might place around their area as the construction progresses. For the windmill on the hill, maybe they sit under the tree and have a cold drink during the day helping me to decide to include things like seating, vases for drinks, etc.
