Hello all,

I have been working on a hallway scene for a game that's premise is yet to be decided.

To start this off I'm no artist. I am however relatively versed at this point in 3D modeling however, more in context have become quite familiar with blender.

While I won't say personally the scene looks bad I will say it looks VERY cookie cutter.

And I am more or less wondering what the 3D guru's around here would do to add more of a fidelity flare to their scenes.

-Bloom? Is that applicable to indoor scenes?

-Some kind of Film-grain post-processing? (the kind of effect that seems to be used throughout all of Alien Isolation)

-Shadows of course (After FEAR 1 I am a HUGE advocate of Hard-Shadows :) )

But maybe I'm missing something. Let me know what you think of this scene and what techniques you would utilize to improve/stylize it.

I am using D3D11/C++

-Marcus

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First of all, add a light bulb .

Then,

-Shadows (like you said);

-Ambient occlusion (SSAO at the very least, or better (and more complex) if you have the time)

And some post processing:

-Bloom (for some glare when looking directly at the light bulb) dont go crazy with it though... just a subtle effect

-Maybe some lens flares (for a sci-fi look use anamorphic lens flares )

First of all, add a light bulb .

And then stop wallpapering over your windows!

Depending on the intended setting, a bit of grunge always adds a bit of visual interest - a dirty section on the wall, broken wall lamps, wear patches on the carpet, and stick the obligatory coke machine in there somewhere!

First of all, add a light bulb cool.png .

We all know light just spontaneously appears in any given place without any emitters or any reason whatsoever

anamorphic lens flares, now that's what I was looking for!

Alien Isolation which I have been religiously playing uses this technique on-mass

and it really does add a lot to the final render.

On the topic of bloom, I once had someone tell me that it really is only applicable to outdoor scenes.

But know that I think about it, saturation of light can happen anywhere if an emitter is present.

Also, coke-machine, yes!

-Marcus

I'm not an expert, but here's some thoughts (some reflecting what others have said)

• You have a very limited number of textures, and they're fairly plain (and flat). This gives you no opportunity to show off normal maps, parallax occlusion, etc. Now partly that's just the choice of location, so maybe not much you can do. But as others said, grunging it up can help. The scenario matters, obviously a fancy up-scale hospital is not going to have cracks, mold, chunks of wallpaper missing, etc like an abandoned horror hospital would.
• Mess, even little things like one of the ceiling tiles not sitting right. The papers are a good start, but it could be taken further. Think about what spaces are like that people actually live in. Gone Home is a good example... crap everywhere, but in a way that makes sense. You don't have to go that far though. ;)
• Ambient occlusion. The corners of your hallway really need to be darker, for example. It adds a little mystery and foreboding.
• Make use of lighting more, particularly light sources, if it's horror swinging or flickering lights add a certain something.
• Motion, such as the lights I mentioned, or trees blowing in the wind out the window. You need a sense that things can happen that aren't triggered by the player (even if this is totally false).
• I like bloom and god rays, not the biggest fan of lense flare myself. But it's a choice I guess.
• Leading the eye. Something I have read about but know almost nothing about so forgive any inaccuracy. Things designed to make the player focus on a particular spot or direction. For example highlighting an area by use of lighting/shadow, a trail of footprints, blood smears and wreckage going around a corner. Or use geometric proportions or shapes to suggest that a particular thing is the focus or that something is missing from the picture and should be found.

Blender Render, and it's vertex lighting seems to give an indisputable charm.

.

I think the simple addition of light, and the patterns of shadows and light cast on walls, help make many scenes come more alive.

(Sloppy mockup in Paint Shop Pro - I was probably a little too heavy handed with the light, but meh, you get the point)

I think the simple addition of light, and the patterns of shadows and light cast on walls, help make many scenes come more alive

Wow, you right. It makes it feel like it's actually connected with the world! I once read an article about projective light-maps. That could be a quick and simple way to accomplish that, however i'm sure there are a few ways to approach the frustrum of light coming through the window. (I also had a nerdgasm thinking about the particle system that could be implemented with the specs of dust crossing through the beams of light )

I haven't decided on whether or not I am going to do Shadow Volumes or Shadow Mapping, the latter I actually have some experience with.

Thanks for the input guys! I have to work on gameplay first being it's the most important thing but when I get to the polish phase I'll revisit this page

-Marcus

Just beware since lighting in general adds emotional weight.

A long dark hallway with a small number of windows, their rays twinkling but also ruining your night vision, everything else in shadow, can be the epitome of a horror game.

A long, brightly lit hallway with cheery music and light streaming through the window might be great for little Jenny picking out her first puppy.

A long dark corridor with a single yellowish dangling lighbulb at the end might work well for a hideout or crappy apartment.