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Darren Bucey
Art Creation
Ominous Ruins
In this Directed Focus Study , I recreated a concept design from The Art of Dragon Age : Inquisition by modeling , texturing , and bringing it into the Unreal Engine . I chose this piece because I love fantasy as well as Bioware games and their often stunning background art . While the environments in Inquisition aren ’ t as detailed as later Bioware titles , its fascinating , unique designs provided me an exciting challenge to bring to life .
I spent a total of 94 hours over the course of nine weeks on this project . I worked roughly six weeks on modeling and sculpting , and the remaining three were spent on texturing and making it work in Unreal .
This project was a large step forward for me in developing my time management skills as well as overcoming unexpected hiccups during development . I experimented with how and where to divide models , UVs and textures to not
just work in games but be usable in other areas . This included things like making sure texel density was similar , keeping detail on a limited number of maps , spreading multiple models across different maps instead of using singular atlases , and not just using tiling textures . It was a struggle and pushed me to my limits when it came to breaking down a unique piece with many unique forms . Once broken down , it proved far easier to place in trim textures and tiling textures that cut down on draw calls and allowed for a better texel density overall .
With this project , I proved competency in creating higher quality environment pieces in comparison with the simplicity that my previously mostly stylized assets allowed . In doing so , I now have a far larger idea of how truly difficult and intensive it is to bring such AAA quality items to life in games and how and where to look out for pitfalls and traps later with my future pieces as I continue to improve my skills .
8 ART CREATION